the beat
S
A
A
D
IQ:^
P
A
R
A
S
GR
IFFIN
/GE
T
T
Y^IMA
G
E
S.^
K
IN
D
N
E
S
S:VA
NN
I^
B
A
S
SET
T
I/
G
E
T
T
Y^IMA
G
E
S.^
S
O
L
A
N
G
E
:^
JA
MIEMC
C
A
R
T
H
Y
/GE
TTY
I
MA
G
E
S.^ H
Y
N
E
S:AND
R
E
WTO
T
H
/GE
T
T
Y^IMA
G
E
S.^
R
O
B
Y
N
:^
D
A
V
ID
M.^
B
E
N
E
T
T/
G
E
T
T
Y^IMA
G
E
S
.The R&B star first met
Bainbridge at a mutual friend’s
wedding on an island off Cape
Cod, Mass. Two years later she
enlisted them to participate
in several New Orleans studio
sessions that helped shape
her acclaimed 2016 release,
A Seat at the Table.
Bainbridge ended
up co-producing a
handful of tracks,
including “Don’t
You Wait” and
“Don’t Wish Me
Well,” along
with Sampha,
Kwes and Dave
Longstreth.
A Seat at the Table
was Solange’s first
album to debut atop
the Billboard 200, also
hitting No. 1 on the Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart.
“It’s funny that we started out
as complete idiots, reading
Alternative Press in bad
Travelodge hotel rooms,” says
Bainbridge of their early years
with Hynes. In the 16 years since,
Bainbridge has become an
integral part of Blood Orange’s
artistic evolution: They
shot the video for
“Chamakay” and co-wrote
and produced tracks
on Cupid Deluxe in
2013; co-wrote
and produced
“Thank You” on
Freetown Sound
three years later;
and harmonized
with Los Angeles
newcomer BEA1991
on “Saint” last year on
Negro Swan. All three
albums hit the top 20
on the Top R&B
Albums chart.
In the video for “Who Do You
Love?” off Kindness’ 2014
album, Otherness, Bainbridge’s
cousins and the Swedish
alt-pop star’s friends and
family shared screen time in
Stockholm, where part of the
clip was filmed. “Now some of
those family members
and friends are even
[closer] because of
it,” they say. More
recently, the pair
played hot potato
with the track
“Send to Robin
Immediately,” on
her 2018 album,
Honey — it was
originally intended for
Something Like War.
“It’s enjoyable having a
small catalog of songs
that we’re working on.
It’s a mystery where
they’ll end up.”
In the mid-2000s, Adam Bainbridge was producing grime music, including a remix with London legends
Ruff Sqwad, and sleeping on hotel room floors as the touring DJ for Dev Hynes’ dance-punk group Tes t
Icicles. By 2009, Bainbridge was creating a new brand of outsider pop as Kindness, eventually hitting No. 13
on the Next Big Sound chart in 2015 — and becoming a frequent producer for Solange, Robyn and Hynes’
Blood Orange. Robyn is even featured on Bainbridge’s upcoming third album, the self-produced Something
Like War, out Sept. 6 on Bainbridge’s Female Energy label, which also features Sampha, Seinabo Sey and
Jazmine Sullivan. “I’m trying to give people an opportunity to flex,” says Bainbridge. “To be the best, or the
most free, version of themselves they can be.” —HARLEY BROWN
SOLANGE
SOLANGE HYNES
BLOOD ORANGE ROBYN
ROBYN
IN DEMAND
Kindness
ARTIST-PRODUCER
THE SOLO ARTIST ALSO CRAFTS EVERYTHING FROM SLINKY
SYNTH JAMS TO ARTFUL R&B FOR THEIR FRIENDS
R
aphael Saadiq has spent the last
eight years working on projects for
others, including playing bass guitar
on Elton John’s The Diving Board, co-
writing Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky” and
composing music for HBO’s Insecure. In 2018,
he earned his first Academy Award nomination,
alongside Mary J. Blige, for “Mighty River”
from Mudbound. But the Grammy Award-
winning artist who broke out as a member
of R&B/soul trio Tony! Toni! Toné! hasn’t
released a solo album since Stone Rollin’, in
- On Aug. 23, Saadiq will return with the
intensely personal, self-produced Jimmy Lee
(Columbia), which addresses the loss of his
brother to addiction. “When you’re on drugs,
people don’t look at you in high regard,” says
Saadiq. “But I always looked up to him. So if
I could give his son a positive spin on the dad
he never really had... it’s the best feeling.”
How did you know it was time to record a
new album?
My brother and other siblings I lost growing
up are always on my mind. I never want to
take anybody down a sad road, so I wouldn’t
have done this album if I couldn’t pull it off
to still be uplifting. People know me for love
songs like “Anniversary” and “Lay Your Head
on My Pillow.”
You are now co-managed by John Legend’s
manager Ty Stiklorius of Friends at Work. How
did that come about?
A few years back, there was a lot of betrayal by
a lot of people working close to me — business
managers — but I’ve moved forward. The lyrics
on the album’s opening song, “Sinners Prayer”
[co-written with Taura Stinson], talk about
that: “Fingers on the triggers aimed at my
dome.” I worked with John on his Christmas
album and liked the way his career is handled.
He’s his own brand. I pretty much had been
managing myself with a team around me.
Why did you close the album with Kendrick
Lamar on “Rearview”?
When I was going through all the bullshit,
Kendrick’s “Alright” was my go-to when I
would drive back to the Bay Area. That’s
why I put him on the last track, because I’m
saying, “There’s more life ahead of you than
behind you.”
STILL ROLLIN’
BY GAIL MITCHELL
Q&A
Bainbridge
Saadiq
(right)
40 BILLBOARD | AUGUST 10 , 2 019