01x02 - Breakdown in the Bahamas

[bunniefuu]

A lot of dagger, dagger
The way he dagger…

Yo, this food looks crazy.

I might just get me
some of these lobster claws.

Oh, let's go. Hey! Is that rice?

-No, couscous.
-Couscous?

I thought it was baby rice.

So what songs
are still playing in your head?

And, like, which songs do you think
John would actually, like, record?

Wow.

I'm thinking,
"Pick mine, pick mine, please, pick mine."

Cherry's so sweet
Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet

-I paid her to do that.
-Sorry.

He wakes up singing "Cherry."

It's been in my head
for eight days or whatever.

You know I'm good for a fruit banger,
so you know what I'm saying.

The fact that everyone's responding
to "Cherry" so positively,

it makes me feel like, "Okay,
maybe I actually deserve to be here."

Like, maybe I am actually
gonna write that hit.

That song, it just sounds like the radio.

-Facts.
-I like this.

I'm in my bed, like, whatever.
I'm on the , like…

That sounds like a risk
that he might want to take.

I would like to see him
do something like that.

I think it's very important
to see the reactions

from your peers in the creative space

because we know when we feel those chills,

the world is gonna feel
the chills as well.

Granted, it's our song,
but it's a really strong, strong song.

Other than that, okay,
I'm going to say "Rescue You."

I'd go with "Rescue You."

That one sounds like less of a risk.

I feel, like, with artists like John,
they're always looking to evolve.

But he's got to service the fans too.

"Rescue You" to me sounds just
a little bit more like a John Legend song.

It'd definitely be a sound that his fans
that he already has would know and love,

but also be a step forward
in a direction he hasn't quite been yet

where he could pull in
a next wave of fans, if you will.

"Rescue You" is a no-brainer smash hit.

-It's a no-brainer.
-So we all agree, "Rescue You."

-Yeah, I love that.
-Yes, "Rescue You."

Yes, yes, yes! Yeah, yeah!
Yes, for sure.

Sorry, Trey.

I will rescue you

Ahead of my time like I already did it

-They still tryna predict it
-I told 'em stop playing with me

Been one of a kind
You'll never be my equal

My life is like a movie
There'll never be a sequel

Man, I'm so tired,
but I'm ready for the day.

-Same. Always, my dog.
-Thank you.

So we're one of the only all-female
production and songwriting teams

on this level.

We've been working together since .

Yeah.
We produce, we write, we do everything.

-Literally every-- we live together.
-Besides when we're in our rooms.

I heard that voice, and I was like,

"If you quit your job and move to Atlanta,
we are going to be huge, I promise you."

Yeah.

-And so we've been rocking ever since.
-Yeah, yeah. Hey.

-Big dog.
-Big dog.

-Big dog status.
-Big dog.

Sevyn went to sleep.
I stayed up till :.

My Lord.

Y'all vampires.

-When did we go? Four? Three?
-Eleven.

-Not true.
-He wasn't allowed downstairs.

-I wasn't allowed.
-Why?

She's like, "I'm tired."

"And one thing about me, I can't sleep,
unless you watch me fall asleep."

That's not what I said.

-She's like…
-Whoa.

-He has to watch you fall asleep?
-No way!

Because that would
just keep me up forever.

What's up, big boy?

-
Hi, Dada!
-Oh, I miss you guys.

I love what I do.

You know, music is my passion,
it's my heart, it's what inspires me,

but first and foremost, I am a family man.

My beautiful wife, Felisha, and I,
we're just blessed to have our son, Harlo.

He's ten months now,
and it's hard being away from my family.

Love you, too. Have a good day.

-You, too. Bye.
-Bye, baby.

I relate to John Legend because
I feel like he's a family man as well,

so to write a song

and to be here writing music
for John Legend is so special for me.

Tommy, I need more of you in my life.

I need somebody
to cook me breakfast, Jesus.

-Wait a minute.
-What?

-What are you about to do with that?
-Um, get into it.

-No. That is gross.
-I put mayonnaise on everything.

Have you ever tried it?

I haven't.

Try just a little bit.

I also have never tried
jumping off a cliff.

Just try it. Just a little bit.

Put it on the side.
You don't have to put it on the eggs.

-Isn't that mayo?
-Is this for the eggs or the bacon?

Both.

I literally put it on everything.
I put it on fries.

I use it like butter.

All right.

He looks like he wants to throw up.

Yeah.

It's good.

Don't play in my face.

It's good.

It's great.

All right, everybody. Let's go.

It's our last day writing for John Legend.

And we all know
that even if you have a good song,

it doesn't mean it'll get placed.

So our work is not done here.

-Let's go.
-Let's do it.

-Yeah, yeah!
-All right. Let's get it.

We're back. Like we never left.

Going into the session
with Tommy and Jenna,

I don't really know Jenna's flow too well,

because we've been acquaintances.

But the only thing I really care about,
no matter who I'm in the room with,

is, like, let's just get a great song.

-This is our room, y'all.
-Oh, let's go.

Oh, my homies.

I'm so uncontrollably obsessed
with Nova Wav.

I mean, they've written for Beyoncé.

I want the number one hit,

but I'm just super excited to see
how they, like, create together.

Sevyn, they couldn't separate us.
You can't break that duo up.

That's my dog. You feel me?

Today, I'm writing
with Harv, Sevyn, and Stephen.

I've already written with Sevyn,
and it went really well.

I held my own.

So, day two, I want to make sure
everybody knows that wasn't a fluke.

That's how I operate,
and that's what I bring to the table.

Because so far, we have
one really great song, which is awesome.

But we need as many
as we can possibly write.

How long have I known you?
Like, seven years?

-Long time.
-Yeah.

I've known her for
as long as I've known you,

but we've never worked.

We've never been put
in a session together.

-Is this the first time?
-Yeah.

People probably think
we do the same thing.

-So they're like…
-It could be.

I have known Whitney for a long time.

I've done a couple camps with her.

And I've heard Whitney say multiple times
that we kind of do the same thing.

But I honestly think we don't,
and we do very different things, so…

-It's kind of fun, though.
-It's fun.

It's kind of fun.

Yeah, but I know
it's probably a little strange at first.

I get, like, really nervous
about sessions.

Are you always like that?

-Always.
-We're nervous, too.

She usually kick people out
when she's singing.

So this whole experience
is actually new for us.

Oh wow.

I think I have a lyric idea.
Miles and miles.

I love that.

I'll go for miles and miles

Oh, I love it.

"My love for her goes on forever."

But I kind of like, "Till my legs go out."
It's kind of fire, too.

Oh.

Till the legs give out

-Yeah. A flip. That's cool.
-Yeah. Is that too much?

I mean…

I don't think it's too much,
'cause that's if you were running.

Yeah.

I had this idea, like,
"Don't take your love away."

I was playing these chords, like, um…

Love that.

You know, a lot of writers, producers
think, like, when you get married,

you kind of lose your inspiration.

But there are happy times in a marriage,

but then there's bad times.

Like, if I'm mad at my wife,
I'll go write the craziest breakup song.

Don't mean I'm living it, but I'm inspired
because we're arguing at each other.

I'm mad at you. I'mma go write a song.

So I think, you know, for me,
being married helped my inspiration,

because now there's nothing
I can't talk about.

Being in a relationship, sometimes
you get co-dependent on each other.

But when you're away from them
for a long time, you're like,

"Don't take you away from me."
You know what I'm saying?

And that's the thing, % of the times,
my person is the better person.

So even when they're wrong,
it's almost a blessing…

-…because you get to say, "Wait a minute."
-Exactly.

I'm inspired to write about Jenna,

because it has been three years
since Jenna and I have worked separately.

So being separated
isn't the most ideal situation.

But going into this room today,

I gotta make myself proud,
my co-writers and my girl proud.

So I'm coming with heat today.

I know it's our first time working.

Mm-hmm.

But, like, what's going on
in y'all's personal lives?

You know,
I'm just trying to stay hyper-focused.

-Yeah.
-Can't take on too much.

I feel that.

What about you?

I am recently out of a relationship.

Okay.

Thought I was prioritizing him,
but I wasn't communicating.

Mm-hmm.

I was chasing every single session.

Yeah.

-Because you know you have to…
-Yeah.

-…plant as many seeds as you can.
-Yeah. Mm-hmm.

-And I neglected him, for sure.
-Okay.

I think the hardest thing is breaking up
with someone when there's still love.

Yeah. And it probably even
feels bittersweet, in a way, being here.

And I can't even be like,
"But guess what?" And "I'm so excited."

You can't really even, like,
you know what I mean?

Yeah, for sure.
It's hard. It's definitely hard.

My partner and I
were together almost years.

When you've been with someone for so long,

like, communication starts to break down.

You're not, like, emotionally connecting,
because I don't want to sit on the couch.

And be like, I feel like such a failure,
because we're struggling,

because I haven't had the success that…

-I'm sorry. I just need a minute.
-Okay.

I…

I shouldn't even be here.

I should be at home,
like, driving for Uber.

My account is, like, negative as we speak.

I feel like a failure in my relationship.
I feel like a failure in my career.

Just a complete failure.

Trey is a super sweet, great guy.

I know that he has
a lot of emotions to give in a record.

He's already giving his emotions.

But he should channel that into the music
instead of running away from it.

To me, he's a hidden gem,
and he reminds me a lot of myself.

I know earlier in my career,
I doubted myself a lot.

But a lot of times
when you're creating music with people,

you have to go to uncomfortable places.
That's just how it is as a creative.

"I'll go for miles and miles
till my legs give out."

Feeling-wise, I'm thinking sex
on that first line.

Whitney's songs definitely seem
to have a little vibe to them.

I don't know if they're sexual

or it's just when she's in a relationship,
she writes those kind of songs.

But she's for sure in love.

Going the distance for the one you love

with a sexual undertone of,
"I can go all night."

It's sexual for a girl.
A guy's legs aren't giving out during sex.

Well, I mean…

My legs have never given out.

If they don't, they should, okay?

-It really just depends, okay?
-No, a girl's legs give out during sex.

Okay, okay, okay.

Page .

Sixty-three.

Old fights still keeping
My attention oh

If I tell you I was wrong

Would you keep us from an ending?

'Cause I need you more than I need air

-Ooh!
-
I only feel when I feel you there

Something like that.

I love that.

This needs to be one of them moments
where the stadium lights go up

and it's just like, we went to heaven.

I was thinking about,
like, changing it up.

Yeah, let me hear it.

Another idea I had before.

I was singing something like day by day,

like, how we take everything literally
day by day, second by second.

-I love that.
-Something like that would be fire.

Yeah, nice.

In this moment, this is a song
that Trey really needs to write.

There's an emotion that he has,
there's a heaviness that he has.

I know we're working for John
at this point,

but it was something
that he needed to say, you know.

And I think that's when
you get the greatest songs.

Sometimes it's not about the artist,
it's about the songwriter,

and it's the songwriter's story.

I'll take it

And then we go, "Baby, just stay."

Just stay

What do you think about us being a duet?

Okay.

-The male and female perspective of it.
-Yeah, for sure.

-We're already off to the races.
-Yeah.

I'm where I'm supposed to be,
but I need a reminder.

Yeah, that's fire.

Now who's gonna cut it?

You're cutting it.

-I think she should.
-Second verse?

-She doesn't want to cut it.
-Cut it.

I don't care either way.
I just want to get a good vocal on it, so…

I think you have a great vocal.

-I know.
-Okay.

Yeah, I'll go for miles and miles

'Til my legs give out

Go for miles and miles

-Wouldn't he do that kind of singing?
-Yeah.

And I'll go for miles and miles

Like, oh, okay.

If she wants to cut it, I'm totally down.

Should I hand you the mic back?
I don't know.

To my open world

Something chanty, chanty.

Mm-hmm.

I think I can, I think I can,
I think I can, I think I can.

-Yeah.
-I think I can… Ah! Ah! Ah!

-Hey, yeah.
-Something like that.

I'll take it away

It sounds crazy, bro.

Don't care about the distance

Baby, let's go missing tonight

-Cool? Is that tone sounding okay?
-It sounds great.

-Really?
-Yep.

We got minutes.
We got minutes to knock this out.

Gearing up to the listening party,
it's nerve-wracking.

This is the part where things
would naturally get very competitive.

But we're all listening
and we're judging according to

what our individual expertise are.

-I thought--
-Why don't we rush through that?

We can get back on track, I promise.

I hate being rushed so bad
on my own vocal.

Whitney is sort of
more conventional than I am,

so I don't know if we're gonna gel.

Yeah, I go for miles and miles

Ain't no burning out

Got me running wild

And we'll throw it over to Tommy,

and he has five minutes
to mix the whole thing.

For five minutes?

I hate this part.

All right, time's up.

-It feels good to get out of that studio.
-It really does.

-Look.
-Take our shoes off?

-They said so.
-What? I hope my feet don't stink.

Going into this listening party,
I'm feeling so much pressure.

I'm always trying
to deliver my best for John,

but I also feel like
he expects the best from me

because we've worked together before
and he knows what I can do.

So I'm trying
to just keep it all together.

When they come, don't talk
to them 'cause they're out of time.

-Nobody talk to them.
-They're grinding right now.

All night

No, I can do it.

Maybe that's the best one?

Okay.

Apparently, there's, like,
a yacht dinner happening.

I'm like, you could literally
just give me, like, takeout on a jet ski.

I'll trade that for having a good vocal.
It's fine with me.

Are you worried?

I'm not worried. I'm disappointed
because I want it to be more.

We could do some cool backgrounds
over top. It'll sound fire.

-Are you cool with that?
-Yeah, I mean…

Let me do it.

Jenna, we only have five minutes,
for real.

This will take five minutes for the verse.

Okay.

That first time you work with somebody,

you have a little nervous energy too.
It's kinda like going on first dates.

-It is.
-Facts.

I haven't been on one in a long time.
But I remember,

they're always trying to figure out
what makes somebody tick,

what's gonna annoy them,
what's not gonna annoy them.

We could just keep going. It's fine.

Okay. That's good.
That's good. That's sick.

There's no getting…

Okay, that… that… that's good. Hold on.

There's no getting far

I don't know what is happening.

I don't know who's on what page right now.

Jenna is cutting a five-part harmony
on the second verse.

I know Jenna wants to make it perfect
right now. I do too.

But I just… We have to finish.

Jenna, we only have
five minutes for real for him…

-…so we might--
-Okay. I'm almost done.

Okay.

-One more note.
-Let me start prepping.

There's no getting

The perfectionism is k*lling me right now.

When it comes to the vocals
and the production,

I cannot finish what I'm doing
until they're finished.

And we have such a little bit of time.

Yeah, please finish so I can get done
what I need to get done.

Because if you don't, we won't have
a song for the listening party.

Okay, one more time.

There's no getting with this love

One more time.

We'll be asleep by the time
they get here. That's what'll happen.

Facts.

Let's, um--

We don't got nothing on the second verse,
but I can do something super cool.

-You're good.
-You sure?

Yep. Just mute her on this line.

I want to throw it over to Tommy.

All right, Rich.
Expedite it. Overnight it.

I think it sounds good.

Yeah, I mean, this is…

this is what we gotta…

It's the time we got to go.
It's the time we got to go.

Nice!

-Well, well, well.
-Yer!

Look who decided to join.

-We was having our own party.
-Yeah.

That's cool. We're taking off.
It's good to see y'all.

How Sevyn get up there?

Tommy, don't hate on my boot, okay?

Hey, this is a big jump.

I'm afraid of heights.

Give me your hand. On some Rapunzel sh*t.

-Done.
-We back?

-Are we back?
-All right, let's rock.

I'm so excited. I can't wait to hear it.

-We're a little more tired than yesterday.
-Oh my gosh. Yes.

-That was a little harder to rally.
-It was a slow start for me.

We probably shouldn't have partied
as hard last night.

DJ Trey.

Um, so what? "Don't Take It Away?"

We didn't get extra time like some people.

Oh no! Wait, what?

-Oh no.
-Boom.

-So "Don't Take It Away."
-Yeah.

Featuring Stephen on the vocals.

Yeah, let's go.

I already know it's going to be amazing.

Long nights
We had more than I can mention

Old fights
Still keeping my attention, ooh

Who's right
If you're missing my intention?

If I tell you I was wrong

Would it keep us from an ending?

'Cause I need you more
Than I need air, yeah

Only feel when I feel you there

And love and w*r, what's fair is fair

So when it’s love and when it’s w*r
We’ll both embrace it

Don't take your love away

Don't take it away

Don't take your love away

Please don't take it away

I'm going to cry.

Aw!

Damn, my man is f*cking talented.

And even though I was so sad
not to work with him today,

I'm really proud
about how great this song is.

Kind of jealous, but still very proud.

'Cause I tried This world without you

Now it spins around you

Thought of you not in it, I can’t face

Don't take your love away

Please don’t take it away

It's hard.

Please don't take it away

-Wow.
-That just warms my heart.

-That was beautiful.
-That warmed my heart.

That is so good.

Stephen, what the f*ck?

Who is it about?

I'm not going to lie. It's about Harv.
sh*t's about Harv.

He was in a mood
because he was separated from Jenna.

He's got all of those feelings.

-That's why he was crying?
-Yeah.

-I knew it! I knew it was--
-Stop!

That's why he was crying?

So he was singing about you,

you sang about Felisha,
and you about your beautiful wife.

It was really dope to see.

And all lines were cleared by Sevyn

because we needed a woman's input
'cause it doesn't work unless we got you.

She was coming in,

-"Let's change this here."
-That's true.

-That's so great.
-I love that for y'all.

Incredible. Incredible.

So this song, I kind of
derailed the session a little bit.

-No.
-No, you didn't.

No, I have to be, like, vulnerable
and, like, talk about it.

Um, right now I'm going through
a really, really hard time.

Um, I'm going through a breakup.

I think for Trey,

learning how to navigate
through the emotions is very important.

I've worked with Trey
plenty of times outside of this camp,

and I know that he's special,
and I know that he's talented.

I just think as a writer, you still have
to learn how to navigate through that.

I'm kind of rediscovering myself
and finding my footing,

and sometimes you've got to
just take this sh*t, like, day by day.

So it's called "Day by Day."

-Beautiful setup, babe.
-Grace. Grace.

Grace from me.

It's a winding road in every direction

It’s a hot pursuit
We’re chasing perfection

But if we lead a little more
With love and reflection

One step at a time
Left foot with the right

We’ll find the connection

Take a look at me
Take a look at you

It's the way we move
It's the attitude

No ceiling in the room
It’s the latitude

Whichever way we go
I'll meet you there

We can take it day by day

Wake up in the mess we made, I swear

Everything is everything
Because I got you and you got me

I think I can I think I can, I think I can

I think I can… Ah, ah, ah, ah

Whatever it is
That's got you down

Just let it go

You gotta try it
Ain't no way

Whatever we got to lose
Shake that pound for pound

If it was meant for you
It comes back around, yeah

We can take it day by day

Wake up in the mess we made, I swear

Everything is everything

'Cause I got you
And you've got me

I think I can
I think I can, I think I can

I think I can… Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!

Nice.

Yes, yes.

Who made the track?

Bro.

Bro, you're gonna pull
that every time, bro.

I know that Trey writes for John a lot.

He so understands
John Legend's wheelhouse.

Sometimes it may prevent him

from venturing outside
of John Legend's natural sound.

"Day by Day" feels a little bit
like John's song "Green Light,"

but just not as good as "Green Light."

If you're not going to beat out a song
an artist already has in the same vein,

then don't even bother
going in that direction at all.

What I really loved is they both know
that they're incredible vocalists,

and they were like, "We should do a duet."

Who's doing duets? Have we heard that?
Have we seen that? So…

-Amazing.
-Thank you for being vulnerable.

I was going to say, from you sharing
that story and then hearing the song…

you can hear a song like that,
and just hear the authenticity to it.

I feel like in Nashville a lot of times
we get more technical and think about,

"How do you come up with this hook?"
Mathematically or whatever,

but that's what the magic of making music
is all about.

Feeling something and expressing it.
I think y'all did a great job in that.

-Let's go, girls.
-Yes.

-So Trey's running it?
-I can.

"Miles and Miles."

Just heads up, because we were
a tiny bit rushed, the second pre-chorus--

It's great.

We're all in the same boat.

To play something that I don't believe
is finished, it's very nerve-wracking,

and I feel like I'm standing naked
in this yacht,

and maybe people would say
I'm a perfectionist, but for me, I just…

that's how I roll.
Just the kind of songwriter I am.

You've been staying On my brain

Every hour, every day and night

Oh, and I

Empty all that's in my tank…

-Is that Whitney singing?
-…hear you scream my name one time

-You sound fire
-Sounds good.

Oh, just one time

Cuz I’ve been on a mission
Don't care about the distance

Baby, let's go missing tonight

Yeah, I'll go for miles and miles

Ain't no burning out

Got me running wild
Till my legs give out

There’s no giving just enough
How far can we take this love?

Miles and miles and…

I love it.

…miles

That still Jenna? Is that you?

Miles and miles

Okay. I love that.

And we go for miles and miles!

Whoo!

-Let's take this demo for a ride.
-Hey!

Come on, y'all!

-Let's go!
-Y'all bodied that.

I'm not too sure if "Miles and Miles"
is a John Legend song,

but John is such a brilliant, brilliant
songwriter and artist

that if he connects to the emotion
of the song, he can personalize it.

-The second half over…
-You sound awesome.

-You sound good.
-Thank you.

This girl carried it.
She was amazing, yeah.

Maybe I could have gotten a better song
in a different room, but I'll never know.

And even though I don't love it,
what if that's the song that he picks?

He'll never know that I was looking for
a straitjacket for the last minutes.

Just jump up.

Ah!

Yo, this looks crazy.

Tommy.

-What's poppin'?
-Good. How are you?

I'm very good. How you sleep?

I slept so good. I don't want to go.

I don't want to go either.

You got a couple seconds to talk?

Talk to me.

So I ain't Judy or Joe Brown,
so I ain't trying to judge nobody.

What was it that made it
a bad day yesterday?

I feel like this experience
has been very, very intense,

and I'm having, like,
a kind of intense moment in my life,

and I think those things compounded
and made me a little more anxious.

I know you're going through stuff,
but don't let your pain be your prison.

Mm-hmm.

Just confidence is key with this,

because I don't want people looking at you
in a way that they feel like you buckling,

because you don't do that, because even
when you down, you lift people up.

-Can't let them know you sweating.
-Mm-hmm.

Honestly, I can't thank you enough,
because I look up to you so much,

and you're such an inspiration.

And for you to see something in me,
it literally makes me want to see it too.

It makes me want to be it.

I'll be in a better space in Nashville,
for sure.

I'm excited. I just want the world to know
who you are like I know who you are.

Thank you.

See you in Nashville.

I can't wait. Thank you, Tommy. Love you.

Love you too, man.

It's okay not to be okay.
Just don't let them know.

That's true.

I've been where Trey's been before,

but one song can change anybody's life,

as long as you're focused enough to do it.

Meanwhile, this overexposure
Has us drifting apart

Getting colder
Need to feel warmer

Feeling this overexposure
Has us drifting apart

Getting colder
Need to feel warmer

Feeling this overexposure

I'm turnin' up before we're going down