Tyrese Gibson, often known simply as Tyrese or Black-Ty, is an R&B singer, rapper, and former male fashion model. After releasing several successful albums, including Tyrese and 2000 Watts, he made the transition into films, with lead roles in several Hollywood films, including Baby Boy, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Waist Deep.
EUT: I hear you’re going on tour!
Tyrese: Yeah, the preparations are going well. We’re going to be touring the States and overseas as well this time. Black Buddafly are going to be one of my supporting acts.
EUT: You’ve done a double album, one rapping and one singing, where did you get the idea to do that?
Tyrese: I just decided that I needed to let my rapping side out of me. I used to rap in a group a long time ago [Triple Impact] before I even started singing. Me doing the hip hop thing has always been there but I decided to do R&B because I had the opportunity.
EUT: How did you get the Black-Ty persona out of Tyrese?
Tyrese: The time was now and hip hop is kind of crazy right now with people like Jay-Z, Eminem and Canibus. These are the people that I looked up to before I got into the game. There are also people who are no longer alive that I look towards as well. Nobody can question it and I’ve always said I don’t want to sell the most records or be the biggest rapper, I just want to get this out of my system and make some great records.
EUT: You’re the first artist to do this, what was the feedback like? I’ve been listening to you sing for years, then I heard your rap album and I was like ‘no way, this isn’t Tyrese!’
Tyrese: I haven’t had any negative comments yet, so far so good.
EUT: How is the writing process for writing raps different to writing songs?
Tyrese: It’s very different because I come up with faster rap lyrics than R&B lyrics and for R&B you have to know what to do. I’ve been writing R&B songs forever but it takes so much more work than with hip hop because it has to have a structure and melody. With hip hop you just have to go.
EUT: Has anyone told you they want the ballad-singing Tyrese back?
Tyrese: They still got him! He’s all over the other CD. They’ve now got Tyrese and Black-Ty.
EUT: Do you think people are taking you seriously as a rapper?
Tyrese: Absolutely, go on the Internet, everybody says they’re feeling it including Snoop [Dogg], Method Man, Ludacris, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Akon…It makes me feel good because when you try something new you want to get positive feedback from people big in the game. It’s not just about asking random people in the street ‘hey man what do you think of the new record?’ It’s better to have opinions from your peers.
EUT: We’ve seen all your sweet boy videos with your shirt off but what are your rap videos going to be like?
Tyrese: You never know, my shirt may still be taken off! LL Cool J takes his shirt off but he’s still rapping. I don’t want to go off and be like Andre 3000 now just because I rap. Being a rapper is not much of a stretch of who I am already. The video is gonna be looking hip hop with some real swagger.
EUT: What are you bringing to the hip hop game?
Tyrese: I’m bringing me. There is nobody in the rap game that I can be compared to or anybody who went from R&B to hip hop the way that I have because it’s never happened before.
EUT: What are the differences between Black-Ty and Tyrese?
Tyrese: Black-Ty can say things that Tyrese should never be able to get away with!
EUT: Are you going to do another double album in the future?
Tyrese: Yeah maybe, but my next album is called Black Rose. It’s going to be R&B and hip hop but on the same CD this time. The first part of the CD will be R&B and the last part will be hip hop. I hope it will be out this December.
EUT: It was really nice talking to you, I’ve been listening to you for a while.
Tyrese: [In a Cockney accent] I really love your accent by the way, it’s quite nice. Thank you, I really appreciate it. It’s been a pleasure talking to you and hopefully we’ll get back on the phone and talk again. Bye!
www.tyrese.com
Rashmi Shastri – February 2007
