The Untold Stories Behind the Songs That Changed Everything

We Need To Talk with Paul C. Brunson

In this episode of We Need To Talk, Paul C. Brunson sits down with music icons Estelle and Akon to discuss the stories behind their most enduring hits.

Key takeaways

• Estelle describes how 'American Boy' was recorded in just 15-20 minutes, a feat she attributes to decades of vocal training and preparation.
• Akon leveraged the rise of ringtones as a 'walking billboard' strategy, recognizing that 15-second clips could drive global song awareness.

Main topics

• Songwriting processes
• Music business innovation

Notable quotes

It takes you 10 to 20 years to get to 15 minutes.

Conclusion

A masterclass in combining creative passion with long-term strategic v

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) Welcome to We're Talking. For Black History Month, we're featuring two songwriting heavyweights, Estelle and Akon. They reveal the stories behind some of their biggest songs, reflect on the moments that changed their careers, and discuss what it means to create songs that live across generations. Speaker 3 (0:32) At what point do you write the iconic... Speaker 3 (0:37) That every, what is it? Speaker 1 (0:39) But you Speaker 3 (0:41) wanted this though. You wanted a song that you could sing to the end of time. Speaker 1 (0:46) Any Speaker 3 (0:46) country in the world, any city in the world. I Speaker 1 (0:49) have a few of them, thank God. Come on now. Won't Speaker 3 (0:53) you Speaker 1 (0:53) do it? Won't you do it? When Speaker 3 (0:55) do you write? Speaker 1 (0:56) I write that in 2006. Speaker 3 (1:00) Okay, so you're in the States. Yes. You're signed to John Legend. Speaker 1 (1:05) And I learned to, when he's like, come to Miami. I've got sessions with Will.i.am. I've got some shows out there. Come on. Cool. Well, they set up a session with Will.i.am for me to be there too. And he plays. Speaker 1 (1:18) he plays the bass of it not the intro just the like the bass line of it and he's playing that whole thing he starts running the track and i was like Run that back. What is that? Speaker 3 (1:31) Okay. Speaker 1 (1:31) He's like, I don't think. I said, no. I said, if this isn't a hit, you're going to make your money back because I'm going to Ibiza with it and I'm going to make you your money back. I'm going to go take this record. We're going to release it in Ibiza. I had a whole independent plan for it. I was like, it's going to be good. I'm going to perform it. Just in Ibiza. That's Speaker 3 (1:48) it. Speaker 1 (1:48) Just in Ibiza. I and Apple will love this, okay? Because I know this. It felt like garage. It felt like that vibe. John's like, what have you been doing out here? And I'm like, I've been on the beach. Because while you've been recording, I've been enjoying myself. I've been having a time. These guys loves me. These men love me. And I've been loving the men. It's been glorious. And he's looking at me like, such a child. I'm just like, absolutely. I'm going to have a good time. He's like, well, come on, let's write the record. And he puts in, this time he did the melody. He's like, you know, like, da, Speaker 3 (2:23) da, da, da, da, da. And I'm like, yeah. Speaker 1 (2:26) And I was like, we back and forth on the different things. And then we filled in the words. One of his friends actually came up with the... We was like, don't like his baggy jeans. But all my like was underneath them. One of his friends said that, and I was just like, okay. Who are you, young son? Like, what is this? Anyhow. I vocal a demo vocal with everyone in the room and we're like, this feels special. Cause it felt fun. It was genuinely, we were just in there like talking shit. Yeah. Just Speaker 3 (2:57) having a good time. Speaker 1 (2:58) Having a good time. And then John leaves, you know, I stay in Miami a couple of days and I revocal it. It took me all the 15 minutes. Wow. I did it with the biggest smile on my face. I was just having all the joy. I was just like, and he gave me notes on it. It was like, you know, when you sing it, like be bright. like i was just like oh that's easy yes Speaker 3 (3:19) i Speaker 1 (3:19) can channel um holly from heidi hi like all the british comedies and all the fun dixie i was like that was my channeling And then we would have all these conversations about the Motown lights and what made them great. And that was our other thing, was music. And one of the things about the Supremes that no one really knows is Diana Ross was put in the front. This is so the story goes. Diana Ross, I'm sure, would say something different. But she was put in front because her voice was light. It wasn't so gospel-y. It wasn't so black, right? And so the idea was like, well, just do a lighter. version of the record, sing it lighter. Oh, that was a Speaker 3 (4:01) jealous note to you. Speaker 1 (4:02) Yeah, he was like, you know, sing it lighter. He said, remember the Diana Ross? And that was the conversation we were having. I was just like, yeah, let me try. Let me try. So when I sang it, I was like, I was in my Supremes. I was in there like. Speaker 1 (4:15) I was really like, I was really doing Diana, like, you know, in my head. Oh, Speaker 3 (4:20) wow. And Speaker 1 (4:21) I was giving Polly in the, like, I really want to get with you. You know, like, go in. Speaker 3 (4:26) Yes. Now I see it. I see it now. Speaker 1 (4:28) Exactly. Think about how she would do, like, can't hurry love. Like, oh, you just have to. The shoulders and the cleavage, you know, the décolletage, like, the whole, like, that was everything I was giving. And so. All of that intention went into that record. Speaker 3 (4:44) And Speaker 1 (4:45) it was just fun. It was the whole point. It was like, I kept saying in the booth, I remember going like, this is going to be fun. People are going to have fun to this. It's going to be so joyful. You know, like this is it. Speaker 1 (4:56) And that's it. It took us, like I said, 15, 20 minutes to hit and I left it and went home. That's Speaker 3 (5:02) the only point that almost feels disappointing to me. Speaker 1 (5:06) Look, but it takes you 10 to 20 years to get to 15 minutes. It takes me 10 to 20 years of studying, of practicing the house, of singing every minute I got, annoying every single person around me, annoying myself. Speaker 3 (5:19) Yes. Speaker 1 (5:20) Like stretching my vocal, like training myself to sing octaves that were not natural to