You know I have to ask you about this whole retirement thing. You’ve disappointed a gang of women who are addicted to your music. I’ve also heard that you’ve changed your mind. What’s the deal?
I’m still going to do it [retire]. You know why? At first, I was like “Okay, maybe I’ll do another one.” You know what I hate dealing with, though? When you got something you love, make sure that you let people know that you love it or you let the haters win. You know there’s so much negative tension brewing in music, especially my music, and that always happens when you get to a certain place. It’s the same negative attention that I get most of the time and then in the dark, everybody loves me.

You don’t think that people make it known that you’re one of their favorite artist?
Oh, no.

What do you mean by negative attention?
Let’s say this week we debut the “Make-up Bag” video, right? Now, if we go back through all my videos, we can see that “Make-up Bag” is definitely not the worst video. It’s probably the best video I’ve done, but when those people that love you don’t blast it off that way like, “That’s cool. You went from ‘Shawty is a 10’ all the way to here. This is great. It’s evolution.” Instead it’s like you leave it to the buzzards to rip it apart. That’s the attention that you get from it. It’s not the people who love you saying, “Man, we with you.” At the end of the day, I’m doing it for you guys, but if I feel like you don’t appreciate it, then I’m not going to do it.

So what can we do more of to show you our appreciation? Talk directly to your fans.
It’s what me and you are doing right now. It’s what we do when you came down here. We chilled out, got to know each other. It’s about that. It’s about, if you love it then go get the album. Don’t say nothing. Don’t say, “Why you retiring?” They don’t go beyond themselves to say, “Look, we listen to it over here.”

I think each of us might think, “What difference does it make if I go buy it instead of download it? I’m only one person. I’m still listening to it.”
That’s exactly it. You got it right there. It’s everybody thinking you don’t make a difference and the point is you actually do. I must be doing it for love. If you literally want to go by numbers, I mean, Shanel, you know how it works. I’m not making a killing off of doing R&B albums all myself. If anything I end up paying more out of the pocket, owing as an artist, than receiving money.

But you have to get some sort of satisfaction?
My satisfaction is your satisfaction.

So if you had to choose, would you rather be producing and writing for other people or being an artist?
I would probably rather write. It would be at my pace. It would be the more creative things I would do, because you have to understand, there’s a fan base for the type of music I make. But the same people that listen to “Purple Kisses,” “Falsetto,” and “Rocking That,” most of them have no idea that I wrote “Umbrella,” because of me giving up those records. I make that sacrifice.

So again, which one makes you happier?
Doing what I want to do.

So which one is it, money aside?
Doing what I want to do means you don’t have to go out there and promote. You don’t have to show up for beautiful Honey mag to take pictures. You know what doing what you want to do means? It means, I’m on my R. Kelly.

So the fame isn’t enticing at all? You don’t get off on that? The covers and the interviews…
No, the interviews and stuff are great. I don’t get off in that type of way. This is about the message of the music. This is not about me. I wasn’t the guy like, “I can’t wait to be an artist. I can’t wait to do a hundred sit-ups a day and get on TV.” That’s not me. Me and L.A. [Reid] just had this conversation the other day. If we wanted pretty guys to be on our label, that’s what we’d do. That’s not what Def Jam is. That’s not what real art is about. It’s about the art. I’m doing my interviews and I’m taking my pictures. It’s not about looking good. Of course, I don’t want you to take the worst picture of me with my ass out. On some realness, it’s really about the music. I’m there to promote the music not to promote myself. It’s about the records: “Fancy,” “Sweat It Out,” “Rocking That” and records on my album like “Right Side of The Brain,” which you’ve probably never heard. It’s not about the singles. When I do a video, it’s about the vision of the song. If it’s about that then I can put a video camera in front and show how we really roll out down here — when there’s a whole group of us and it’s super sexy. Another artist in my lane wish they [sic] had the mind to do some of the things on the thoughtful level that I could do.

So this is not your final studio album?

Regardless of what I said and what you might hear on my album that’s coming out, this is my last [album]. I don’t feel the love right now.

This is as of right now. Regardless of what I said and what you might hear on my album that’s coming out, this is my last. I don’t feel the love right now.

What if you feel an outpouring of appreciation and love from this album? Would it be a lot harder to walk away at this point?
Of course it would. I used to be able to move the masses. It’s not about rolling out the bed and doing it for two people, I can’t lie. If two people are like, “This is great” and 800 thousand people say “I’m about to download that shit for free. That nigga not hot, whatever.” Well, cool — that’s what’s up. Let me go ahead and get this money then.

Well what do you think about the music that people are consuming and supporting right now?
I feel great about it because at the end of the day I’m still a part of it. That’s the crazy part. You can’t literally turn on the radio and at the end of it pretend that we haven’t done anything for the last three years. Not a blogger, but someone actually interviewed me and said — this person evidently didn’t know anything about music — “Someone told me to ask you this: Why does everything you touch seem to flop?” I said, “Really? Everything like what?” They mentioned Mariah. I said, “That’s what you got? That’s it? That’s what I’ve done in three years? Mariah?” The last time I checked, me and Mariah have had a lot of success, especially with “Touch My Body” being her 18th Number 1. I was just like “Wow, really? Me and Mariah broke Elvis Presley’s No. 1 record and the only thing you can remember is we both just did this record, and why it didn’t do what it did, which probably had nothing to do with the music?” But it’s weird when you hear that from actual people who have voices. What your trying to give is the insight to that.

It’s really strange when you talk about this, I guess because our ladies are such huge fans. When you say “Right Side of The Brain” is something you probably never heard — that was probably the most played track in our office.
I’m going to just come and see your office. People don’t understand this is exactly what happened to Prince. He just literally was like, “Fuck you all.” Everybody lost out. He was like, “No, I’m going to keep all my shit and to myself. I’m going to do my shit how I’m going to do my shit, and if you just so happen to get invited to my house for me to do something, cool. If you don’t, you can keep guessing about what I’m doing.” Maybe I should do that. I should retire and just release mini albums, but all the way under the radar.

What about the fact that some of your biggest hits have been for other people? The Grammy wins for the other pop artist or whoever you’ve written for. Do you think that you seek a Grammy or anything like that to kind of validate your work, your solo stuff?
While Honey knows exactly what I’m doing, the 18 Grammy members that vote probably don’t. They probably have no idea. They not thinking New York Times just said that his album was top 10 last year and they probably really listened to it. But if they don’t know, they don’t know. That has to probably do with me and my work and whether I even want to get that. I think it’s actually better to play with a chip on your shoulder and not getting one, then at least you can keep looking at people like, “Why didn’t you give me a Grammy, again? That’s right, you were sleep. I got it.”

What’s a favorite song that you’ve written for yourself or anyone else?
Wow. On this album, it’s called “Take Care Of Me.”

You have a very distinct, unique voice and delivery. Is that something that you’ve worked on and perfected or is that just the way it’s always been? Is it a natural thing?
I think it’s perfecting a lot of mistakes. Nobody can do it. They probably can figure out how to do it, but they can’t do it. They don’t know exactly what the timing is and the pocket when I’m delivering my set-up lines before I get ready to deliver the word, or how I think about the analogy. I just spend so much time perfecting my own mistakes. Now people are telling other writers, “Write it in a Dream-type of bounce. Write it this way, make it do this and repeat this part.” I wasn’t thinking that I was doing that, to become [one] of the masters in that type of way, but I understand and I get it. Some of us, a long time ago, did that to follow the people we were following.

Who are some of those for you?
I think Diane Warren, definitely, Lionel Richie, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding…

Do you think evolution happened from your first album to now or from way before you were even working on your own stuff?
I think evolution happened from third grade on. To be a part of an actual band that plays instruments, and still go to the hood where rap is a form of music, and then going back to school to do sensible music. All of those things give my range, so much depth. So it’s no problem writing for Celine Dion, then coming all the way back and writing the hook for T.I. that has Keri Hilson on it. It doesn’t matter.

You said you didn’t grow up wanting to be the star or the artist. What did you want to do as a kid?
I had no idea what I wanted to do. I’m very good at art, drawing, graphics, and stuff like that so I was hoping to design cars for Cadillac or something. I didn’t know this is what I wanted to be. I remember when I got into the singing group, it was something to do, not really as a business. Of course, everybody listens to Michael Jackson and do what he is doing when you’re eight, but that doesn’t mean that you want to be Michael Jackson.

When you were in the group, at what point did you step back away from that and say I have a talent for writing and I’m going to pursue this professionally?
No, I didn’t step back. Sometimes it’s about winning. It doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the thing that you’re good at. At that time, a couple friends of mine said, “Get in this singing group. We need you. We like your tone and your voice.” The group just kind of broke apart. What was left out of all that was a passion that grew, not even about the writing and the melodies of it. The melodies came from the years of being around music. Evidently I had a talent for it. I had a very deep imagination. I would always write short stories. I meshed it with melody and that’s where the songs come from. That’s why my songs are so detailed now. It has to mean something when you turn it off.

Do you still dabble in art?
I haven’t put anything out in a while. I’m thinking about opening a showcase. The art stuff is still in me. I think the last thing I painted was probably four or five years ago. It’s one of those things that could go with your relationship. Sometimes it becomes a part of it and sometimes it gets weaned out. It depends.

Let’s talk about your relationship. So you are married to one of the most beautiful women in entertainment right now. This is also your second marriage. How is it? The second time around do you feel like you’re learning from your past? More prepared for this one?
Still learning. I’m definitely way more mature in this relationship. I’m probably just mature overall because my grandfather raised me. I probably should be more nonchalant. I’m in a place where everything is serious no matter what it is and she with me like, “This guy’s crazy.” Of course I make sense at the end of the day because I’ll explain [myself]. As far as money — you got to be careful how you’re spending. Are you thinking about 10 years from now? It’s certain things that become meaningful in a relationship that’s not that real when you’re just boyfriend and girlfriend. The things I think about are a little bit different and those are things she’s learning from me and what I have to do is be more patient.

So how about fatherhood, this time around? Obviously, you’ve matured and evolved in the same way.
Yes, definitely. You don’t know what life deals you in a good way or a bad way. Everything is definitely good now, depending on what your perspective is. My grandfather raised me in Atlanta. He spent a lot of time not around for certain jobs he would have out of the city. I understood, though. It’s funny what kids understand. It’s what we put into them. They’re not idiots. I definitely didn’t feel like he didn’t love me. I watched this man go and slave at work and that’s what I do, work. It’s about figuring that out.

Has it been easy to balance it all?
No, it’s not easy. The opportunity that I have is to be the best and greatest songwriter right now in the world. It’s only one room for No. 1. It’s not like they passed out a pamphlet like you can go write for anybody right now in the world that you want to. Opposed to five years ago, nobody knew who you were and you had all the time in the world to do absolutely nothing. That’s not the same now, but it’s what you pray for. Can I please have the opportunity? It’s not going to last forever.

You’re making your sacrifices now, so that everything pans out.
Everybody has to make a sacrifice for the come and go of a family. Even if you’re a child and don’t understand, you’ll understand later. Donald Trump’s daughter didn’t just wake up without any sacrifices from her father. You can’t build things when you want to build them, you have to build them when you have the opportunity.

Can you describe your family as it is right now? When I say family what comes to mind?
Rockstar comes to mind when you say family to me because this is totally different from how I grew up. There’s a mom over here that’s been in movies and is a singer. There’s a father over here, to a child, that is very ambitious and that has a never-say-quit attitude. Especially to my daughter, Navy, who’s five now. She knows exactly what I do and she knows exactly what she wants to do. Being a family across the board is almost like we’re all doing a part. Family overall means to me just moving forward. It’s not rockstar doing craziness. It’s thinking outside of the box.

But it works for you guys?
Right, it works for us. It has to because this is the profession we chose.

Do you think that makes it easier that both of you are in it?
Probably not. It makes it harder just depending on what you want because we can quit.

So what does Navy want to do? Did she figure it out?
Yes, she’s definitely going to be on TV somewhere. Her personality is off the chain. I already know what she’s doing. I’m good on her. When you say pose and she does like 20 poses, that means she needs to be on the camera somewhere. And I’m not for the camera thing. I’m not for that, but I’m definitely not like how my grandfather was when it came to me because we didn’t know what I wanted to do and a part of it was because there wasn’t enough of avenues or choices. For her, it’s like if that’s what your the greatest at, then go ahead. Do your thing.-Hony Mag