Musiceat clean,” Saadiq says of the
album’s concept. “Then I started
thinking about people who are
addicted to drugs, like my brother,
and how much people wanted him
to stop, and I figured I couldn’t
even stop doing some of the things
I was doing when it came to food.
Addiction can take over your entire
life. This is a world epidemic.
I stayed in that space and I didn’t
come back out until I was done
[recording the album].” For Saadiq,
the toughest part wasn’t writing
songs about his late brother, but
having to play the LP for Jimmy
Lee’s son, J.J. “That’s when me and
my nephew had to look each other
in the eye. I was okay with making
it, but when I brought [Jimmy
Lee’s] son into the studio and I
played the record, it was really hard.”
Saadiq also uses Jimmy Lee to
point the finger at the U.S. and how
drug addicts are cast aside without
rehab. “Everyone has a Jimmy Lee
in their lives, or some Jimmy Lee
inside of them,” he says. “In Amer-
ica, as soon as addiction happenswas 14 years older, was fun, witty,
and smiling, even after he had
contracted HIV from sharing nee-
dles. “I always tried to stop people
from disrespecting him,” Saadiq,
53, tells EW. “There was always
someone saying something nega-
tive about him because of his
addiction. At the time I didn’t
really know why I was doing it.”
Fast-forward to 2017, and
Saadiq was reflecting on Jimmy
Lee’s life and what his brother
must’ve been going through men-
tally at the time. Then he wrote a
song called “Sinners Prayer” from
Jimmy Lee’s imagined perspec-
tive, where he pleads for God’s
help and his family’s understand-
ing. Pleased with the result, Saadiq
decided to dedicate his next album
to Jimmy Lee’s memory.
Though Saadiq’s brother is the
record’s central character, Jimmy
Lee offers a glimpse into various
types of addictions and their wide-
ranging side effects. “The thing I
thought about was dieting, trying
to eat different foods and trying to
to you, you’re an outcast, you’re a
nobody, you’re a smoker, you’re a
crackhead. I want people to be able
to take a deep breath and just hear
me. If you’re struggling with addic-
tion, whatever it may be, I don’t
want you to be so hard on yourself.
Love yourself and try to think
about getting right. Also talk to
your kids, talk to everybody about
what’s out there: the temptations,
whether you’re becoming an artist
or an athlete or a politician or a
student. We can still be uplifted,
and that’s what I really want
people to leave with.”