In an industry where an artist’s looks can easily overshadow their talent, Akon’s new dynamic duo Brick & Lace, are here to prove that they’re just as talented as they are beautiful. With a distinctive style of music fused with Dancehall and Reggae music, these two Kingston, Jamaica born ladies are here to usher in a new sound of R&B.

Read the exclusive interview below.

REALTALK WITH BRICK & LACE
BY: Clark Kent

Interview Audio

RTNY: Please introduce yourselves to those who don’t know who Brick & Lace are.

Nailah: I’m Nailah.

Nyanda: What’s up, I’m Nyanda.

Nailah: And we’re two sisters from Kingston, Jamaica.

RTNY: Who are some of the artists that inspired you to get into the music industry?

Nyanda: Well I would definitely say coming from Jamaica one of our biggest influences was Diana King, because she was a female artist from Jamaica who made it big on the international scene and really inspired us because when you’re from Jamaica, dreams seem so unattainable. Especially since you’re so far away, you’re on a small island and you think oh this will never happen, but she made it happen while being a female. And of course Bob Marley for putting us on the map. But Diana for being a female, and we got the opportunity to sing background for her and she was just a major influence.

RTNY: Your first single-Never Never has a Dancehall/R&B feel to it, which makes for a very unique sound. Is that how you plan to set yourself apart from other female artists?

Nailah: I definitely think what we’re bringing is kinda fresh; it’s a fusion between R&B and Dancehall with a Reggae influence. We just do us, we do Brick & Lace, that’s true to us.

Nyanda: We call our music sexy roots. It’s our roots in terms of it’s definitely that Jamaican sound, whether it be Dancehall or Reggae. And the sexy part is that we have R&B also and we harmonize along with the smooth melodies. We also have hardcore beats and hardcore DJ styles, that’s the overall flavor of the album.

RTNY: Having such a different sound and style of music, are you at all worried about your music not being accepted?

Nyanda: No, because at times I think people over think music, they listen with there head to much. I feel like once people really take the music and listen to the vibe, a lot of time they’ll get it. It’s not time to over think-it’s not science or mathematics, it’s just music that they can vibe to and I think they feel that.

Nailah: Instead of listening with their heads they should listen with their hearts. There are some heartfelt records on the album and I feel like if it comes from a true place then a lot of people can relate. And I think sometimes now people think too much with their heads, and it’s like do I like this record, what is it? If it’s a good record it’s just a good record, it shouldn’t matter what genre or style it is.

RTNY: The album is titled Love Is Wicked, what’s the meaning behind that?

Nyanda: We just describe love as being a wicked element in the universe; it’s wicked in a good way.

RTYNY: Who are some of the producers you worked with on the album?

Nailah: Well obviously everyone knows we worked with Akon, which was really a great working experience. We definitely had other great producers on the album like Will I Am, Tony Kelly, Raphael Sadiq, Cool & Dre out of Miami, so I definitely think the album has a lot of flavor. Some talented hands went into it.

RTNY: Speaking of Akon, how did you land a deal with his Akon Live label?

Nyanda: Well we were supposed to work with Akon as a guest producer. Funny enough we did one record and it turned into two, two records turned into three and he was like, “Listen man, I’m taking over your project”. He really put his money where his mouth was and made it happen. He linked up with Jimmy Iovine and got the paper work right, so now we’re apart of his family now, his Kon Live family.

RTNY: Usually new artists have little to no input on their first albums, but the two of you actually wrote or co-wrote most of your own songs. Having creative control of your album, is that something you planned?

Nyanda: It was something that was very important to us and it was actually one of the reasons why we did choose to go with Geffen. We’ve been in that situation before, where there was a lot of crazy differences and it was very difficult. And being Brick & Lace, these records are important to us and we wanted to be able to express ourselves a lot of the time. Of course producers gave their input too, but Geffen really wanted us to have control in terms of the direction of the sound and what we wanted to express musically, so they did give us a lot of freedom.

RTNY: What’s your creative process for coming up with material to write about?

Nailah: Just everyday stuff, through conversation, Nyanda and I, or whoever will sit down and just talk and sometimes that sparks ideas. You know it’s great to write about personal experiences or somebody else’s. But it’s definitely a collaborative effort, it’s not one person writes a song and the other person writes the song. It’s definitely ideas combined which creates a record.

RTNY: Hip-Hop has taken a black eye in the media lately with claims that their lyrics degrade woman and promote violence. Being women in the music industry, how do you feel about that?

Nyanda: Well that’s why we wanted to write Never, Never. We wanted to write a song for the girls, for the ladies saying you can have money you can have this. Alot of men are going to the clubs throwing money in the air at the women like we’re just objects. And it’s like…we wanted to say it takes more than that to get a lady.

RTNY: Who are some of your favorite hip-hop artists?

Nyanda: I love Jay-Z, Kanye West, I love Busta Rhymes, his flow is always right and tight. We definitely love our queen Lauryn Hill and we got a chance to work with her and sing background music for her.

RTNY: Had to ask this question for all the fellas out there, what’s your current relationship status, are either of you dating anyone?

Nailah: Oh my god, are you asking us those questions?

RTNY: Had to for the fellas.

Nailah: Yes we are, we’re single. It’s very hard to hold onto a relationship being in this industry. You can try and make an effort but for the most part, we were dating, because it gets lonely on the road.

RTYNY: Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans before I let you go?

Nyanda: Well Brick & Lace just want to bless up all the fans and tell them thank you so much for all their support and encouraging words on our myspace page, please keep the hits coming to our myspace page, myspace.com/brick and lace. Also our official website BrickandLacemusic.com-so we wanna just big up the fans and bless up the people

RTNY: Alright, thanks for the interview.

Brick & Lace: Thank you!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 30th, 2007 at 7:11 am and is filed under Interviews.