Exclusive Interview: BJ the Chicago Kid: What the Game’s Been Missing

There’s a void in R&B and Soul music. For every song about drugs and one night stands, there’s no aspirational or motivational counter-punch. That’s where Bryan Sledge, aka BJ the Chicago Kid comes in.

The passion in BJ’s voice can be felt instantly. A throwback to the days of Marvin Gaye, the Chicago crooner has been in the game for a long time. Though you may not be familiar with his name, you’re certainly familiar with the acts with whom he has written and toured, from Usher to Kendrick Lamar. The time spent behind the scenes has not been lost on BJ, as he has gradually learned the rules of the game and is now poised to strike.

He released his critically-acclaimed Pineapple Now-Laters in early 2012 and inked a deal with Motown Records a few months later. He’s now gearing up to drop the 2.0 version of the project.

RESPECT. caught up with him while he was down at SXSW to discuss his upcoming projects, working with Kendrick Lamar and timeless music.

Is the first time you’ve been down to SXSW?
Nah, this is my second year in a row.

Do you notice any difference compared to last year now that you’re on Motown?
We were doing a little bit more running last year. This year we’re doing only what counts. Last year I was here maybe five days, and I did maybe three or four shows a day. A day. So I wore myself out. This year we’re doing what counts.

A few of the new singers out there have some pretty lackluster shows. With your music having such an emphasis on your singing ability, how much importance do you place on live performances?
It all goes into the live performance, man. I feel like nothing is nothing if you don’t have a live performance. You can have good albums but if they don’t enjoy seeing you live [you’re done]. Your money don’t come from album sales. We’ve put all that together and we make sense of it all. I come from the era of loving to perform. I’m a fan of some of the greatest entertainers so naturally I fall into that genre of being one of the greatest entertainers of our generation.

You signed to Motown last summer, how do you feel you’re fitting in?
I love being at Motown. It’s a blessing. It’s such an honorable and legendary label. A label that has had such a great rapport with the people thus far and I continue to hold that up. I continue to help represent that.

What’s going to be different from what we heard on Pineapple Now-Laters last year compared to the newer version coming from Motown?
Growth. The storylines. More up-tempos, more feel-goods. I’m just not holding anything back — not that I have before but now it’s the full-throttle as far as features and whole nine. We’re gonna go totally in. Everything’s gonna be only if necessary. Features only if necessary. If it’s better for him to be on the remix then he’s just gonna be on the remix. We’re putting our best foot forward. [We’re] using the relations we have and using the friendships we have to make good music. Same thing we’ve always done just [at] a greater level.

It’s gonna be more conceptual. I grew up on conceptual songwriting. But as far as the natural progression, it’s just gonna be so raw, man. The feeling we had in [the original] Pineapple is the same feeling we have here. We just evolved. You can tell it has electricity with it.

“Good Luv’n” was on Pineapples and that was the first single you put out after signing with Motown. Why’d you choose to give that particular record a bigger push?
That record has such a timeless feel. I don’t feel like you could beat that feeling. At the end of the day, I want to continue to build off of what we started. You’ve heard, “If it’s not broke don’t fix it.” If it’s not broke, you can’t fix it. Letting that be the beginning and the start, we can only go up from here.

I’ve heard you bring up J Dilla’s name a few times in the past. What is it about him that you identified with so much?
I like the way he doesn’t care about the guidelines of songwriting. He doesn’t care about the guidelines of creating music. There’s a song on Pineapple Now-Laters called “The Big Payback” that has one verse. But it holds everything an original song would have, but it’s one verse, a vamp and we outta here. Dilla just helped me really understand [that] you don’t have to follow the guidelines. The music is about a feeling. It’s not about what you see, it’s not about timing, it’s simply about a feeling. And that feeling is what I will forever have fun with and roll with. That’s how it began, just a feeling Dilla gave us. The feeling he gives you within that two minutes that feels like the whole song.

In many ways, you’re a throwback artist. You don’t sound like most of the singers who are popping right now. So do you feel like you missed your time or are you right on time?
Hell no I ain’t miss my time. Miss what time? Music is timeless. My time is just beginning. I feel like everything I learned before today, whether it was being on the road with Usher or being on the road with Mary Mary, it was all to help me with my own vision. And that’s me being BJ the Chicago Kid signed to Motown.

Other people could look at it as time wasted, but I feel like, you could be under someone for so long but if you choose not to learn then now you’re forfeiting your time. Who cares if you don’t get paid? Okay, you’re not getting paid, but you could get paid in knowledge that could help you far beyond any money they could have paid you. I feel like it’s all about how you react in those situations. Because I stayed calm and stayed with a level head I’m here and I have my opportunity to accept with open arms and with readiness. If you complain and you worry about what other people think when you know what you’re here to do, that’s the problem. Don’t worry about what they think. Focus on you and you’ll get it done.

My time is now, man. Some of the hottest guys that the world loves [are] still calling me for verses, not for hooks. When Kendrick [Lamar] calls me for verses and not for hooks, it says a lot, man. That says that I’m just as equal as he is or anybody else that would have any bars on the song.

You worked with Kendrick a few times, was there any particular reason you weren’t on good kid, m.A.A.d. city?
We did about four or five records for that album. But me creating Pineapple Now-Laters and being subject to a concept for an album, I understand what it is. Maybe those songs just didn’t fit. I think the records we did are probably a little bit bigger than good kid, m.A.A.d city. I’m sure we’re gonna start releasing them so just stay tuned. We’re always working so there’s always something to come.

I know what it’s like to create an album with a concept or story and you have to be very disciplined to get your point across and that’s what he was doing. I’m still honored to have songs in a vault with him. Beyond what we recorded for my album or his album, we honestly have at least an album’s worth of material already. We just haven’t put it out.

You guys have great chemistry. “His Pain II” was a standout record on your album.
Thanks, man. I feel like that should have been one of the best songs of 2012. That song doesn’t force religion on anyone. It just says, “Okay, this guy’s a Scientologist, this guy’s a Christian, this guy’s a Baptist, this guy’s a Jew, this guy’s an Atheist. What we can all understand is that we’re blessed. Regardless of who you serve, we are all blessed and we can celebrate that one point.”

I feel like nobody has ever been that on-point in recognizing such a general subject. That’s what made that record so incredible and so strong and so powerful. You just recognize that you are blessed instead of trying to push someone in a corner because you believe in this and believe in that. I feel that’s what makes “His Pain II” so incredible [and] a lot of people still haven’t gotten [it].

You’ve had several dope collaborations with rappers. How do you walk the line of working with people you like but at the same time creating your own identity and not just being known as the feature guy?
Honestly, it’s simply being myself. Sundays I went to church but Monday-Friday I was on the block with some of the knuckleheads. One of the first rap songs I ever heard was “Brenda’s Got a Baby” by Tupac. This is my natural life. It’s me accepting the religious side and the urban, street side. That’s what helps me identify with all those stories. Some of my best friends still run the streets in Chicago. It’s a real life that I really come from and I understand how to explain it in a way that people can identify with.

You’ve written with the likes of Anthony Hamilton, Mario, Jill Scott, Musiq and plenty more. Can you pinpoint a certain collaboration or moment where you felt like the ball is really starting to roll for your career?
When we did “His Pain II,” I knew we was outta here. When we did “Walk of Shame” with Freddie Gibbs I knew we was outta here. I have a record with me and Schoolboy Q that’s not even out yet. When we did that I knew it was a wrap.

There’s just certain moments I know when that feeling, that vibe and those lyrics connect. When that beat connects and that electricity connects, it’s a moment. And I’ve had so many of those moments. I know this is what I’m here to do.

“Dream II” is about chasing your dreams and that’s not something heard too often in contemporary R&B music. That’s much more of a Rap thing.
Yo, man, I love you for noticing that. I feel like that gets overlooked. The only people who do that is like R. Kelly. We don’t get that from my generation, especially not delivered in such an incredible way. “Dream with the lights on.” How can he dream with the lights on? You dream with the lights on [by] living in reality but understanding how you can break that reality barrier. Understanding how you can defy the gravity of what hasn’t been done in the last five billion years. You have to believe in that. I feel like there’s nothing nobody can tell me about what I’ve went through, what I’ve lost, the people I’ve lost on my way. My journey alone lets me know that this is the beginning of why I’m here. This is just a little piece of letting people know that this real thing lives on and we’re bringing it back.

Are you consciously trying to bring some of those fresh topics to your side of music?
Absolutely. That’s part of the responsibility of knowing Stevie Wonder and having a song on his album or being able to say I’ve been to Teddy Pendergrass’ house or saying I’ve met Al Green. All this legendary stuff. And not just letting you be party to the music but teaching you how to get back with your girl when you done messed up. Teaching you how to make a situation better when it’s bad. It’s not just about partying it’s about helping you live. Because when you’re in the club you’re only there for about four, five hours, anyway. So you need something to balance out the other 19 hours.

On Twitter, a few days back, you mentioned the passing of Brenda Dopson, a lady who took you in when you moved out to LA. Then you said there were actually three families who helped you out. Can you speak a little on that time?
There was a friend of mine, but I had never met the family in LA. He said, “They have an open room you, man.” They could have been axe murderers, they could have been drug dealers for ten years and the FBI finally cracked down on them, but that didn’t happen. So I literally took a gamble on someone I never met. But, because a good friend of mine was their family, I moved in and thank god I did because it was in incredible step. That was the Stewarts, I appreciate them and I love them so much to this day.

Another family was the Atkins. A lot of people know them as Mary Mary, but it was the whole family that took us in. I even got a job with them so that I could actually make at least some type of money and move around and be in good company to the point where I could move my music around and it would be in good hands.

The other family was the Dopsons. They had me singing on Sundays after I ate dinner. They had me singing a the family piano in the front room with no TV on. It was musical. Everybody did music. Those are the three families that accepted me in and I feel like it was just a blessing.