The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta producer Johntá Austin readies solo debut
Artist is renowned for work with others.
Johntá Austin could likely walk through Lenox Square mall unnoticed, but the Grammy-winning songwriter and producer is responsible for a mountain of recognizable songs.
Mariah Carey, Usher, Justin Bieber, Mary J. Blige, Lionel Richie, Drake, Janet Jackson and Ciara are only a few of the marquee names on Austin’s resume, with major hits including “We Belong Together” and “Be Without You” bearing his imprint.
The Atlanta-bred artist, 39, is renowned for his work with others. But since 2008, he’s labored over a solo album that will finally arrive for public consumption on Friday. “Love, Sex & Religion” was recorded primarily in the studios of producer pals Jermaine Dupri and Troy Taylor and aims to present a deeper facet of R&B, with meaningful lyrics and memorable melodies.
The first single, “Love Angel,” is about “how desire is angelic,” Austin said.
During a recent call with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the thoughtful singer-songwriter-producer touched on the inspiration behind his soulful solo album, the future of R&B and why he’s rooting for fellow Atlantan Lil Nas X.
Q: You’re one of those guys who could have reestablished yourself in New York or Los Angeles, yet you’ve stayed true to Atlanta. What is the allure?
A: My family is here. And it’s the culture, man, that raised us and gave us that vibe and that energy to do what we do. I still call myself a southern boy. If you want to get out and turn up, Atlanta has that. And if you want to stay out of the mix, Atlanta has that as well. But the energy that allows us to make the content is here.
Q: This long-in-theworks album is called “Love, Sex & Religion.” Why those three tenants of life?
A: (Laughs) It covers it all, doesn’t it? For me, I feel like they could exist together. Love and religion exist, but add sex to that mix and people go, “Ohhhh.” But I feel like they are all intertwined because the Creator, whoever you believe it to be, came up with all of those things to be intertwined. I believe love is pure, sex is pure. It’s the religious aspect that has made us treat sex as a forbidden thing, but I think it’s a beautiful thing. We wanted to challenge that thinking. We have songs like “Born Again” and “Making Love to God.” I think it might raise some eyebrows when people see the titles, but when you listen to the lyrics, it makes sense.
Q: How did this become the right time to finally release the album?
A: I decided to go for it. People have heard about “Love, Sex and Religion” since 2008. When I joined Twitter, I joined as Johnta LSR (@johntalsr as my handle). “Born Again” and “Making Love…” were the first two songs that we recorded for the project back then. They’ve undergone some cosmetic surgery over the years. I was listening to George Michael’s “Faith” one day and remembered how controversial that was, blending the physical and spiritual, and I was like, “Man, we could really go there and go even deeper.” More recently over the last year, more songs have come in. (Atlanta producers) Bryan-Michael Cox and Troy Taylor and I got to talking and decided, it’s never going to be the perfect time. The perfect time is whenever you make it.
Q: Do you feel as if R&B got a little too glossy, a little less meaningful in the past decade?
A: It’s crazy because we would have songs like (Mariah Carey’s) “We Belong Together” or Usher’s “Burn” that Jermaine (Dupri) did and those songs are great and sit at the top of the charts for weeks. But ultimately the shift in R&B came when hip-hop became a lot more popular, and it was jams you could play in the club. It’s that need to want to hear yourself in the club that tugged on some R&B artists. To a degree, I started hearing where we sacrificed songs. I get it; it’s fun. You don’t want to be next to JayZ or Puff (Daddy) in the club, and it’s all their songs being played and you can’t party to your own music. But as a result, the songs and the storytelling we got used to hearing in R&B, we didn’t hear anymore.
Q: You and Jermaine worked on Mariah’s “We Belong Together,” which Billboard listed as Song of the Decade from 20002010. And now we’re almost at the end of another decade.
A: I know! Soon we’re going to pass the torch to another song of the decade.
Q: The way Lil Nas X is going, it might be him (the Atlanta rapper-singer just broke the Billboard Hot 100 record with 17 weeks at No. 1 on the chart for “Old Town Road”).
A: I would love nothing more than for Lil Nas X to get it, to pass the torch to someone in Atlanta.
For more of the interview with Johntá Austin, visit The Atlanta Music Scene at AJC. com.