
Jam & Lewis are back for the first time with 'Volume One'
NEW YORK (AP) — If anyone questions being too old to try something new, look no further than iconic music producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
“As you get older in life, we realized that there’s less first times you get to actually experience things,” said Jam. “For us, all the first times are very exciting.”
Despite nearly four decades in the business, five Grammys and widespread reverence across the recording industry, the producing-songwriting duo known as Jam & Lewis recently accomplished one major goal: they released their debut album.
“Music has always still been a part of our lives, but we did take some time off to do some important things which was basically raise our kids,” said Jam, a two-time chair of the Recording Academy. “Now, we’re selfish again.”
“Jam & Lewis, Volume One,” which landed at #49 on Billboard's Independent albums chart, is a 10-song project featuring a who’s who of R&B singers. Some are previous collaborators, like Mariah Carey, Usher, Mary J. Blige and Boyz II Men. Others are new partnerships such as Toni Braxton, Babyface and The Roots.
“There’s a thing that we call ‘hang factor,’ and I don’t like working with people if I can’t hang with them,” explained Lewis. “We hang, we try to find out what the vision is, and then we start trying to create that vision.”
The hang factor helped birth records like “Somewhat Loved” with Carey, which currently sits at #10 on Billboard's Adult R&B chart, a mid-tempo track featuring her emotionally lamenting about lost love. “He Don’t Know Nothin’ Bout It,” which peaked at #4 on the same chart, mirrors past Babyface slow jams as he attempts to persuade a woman that she deserves better. There’s also a quintessential Toni Braxton sound on...