Maurice Joshua Interview
by Brent Crampton | Published July 2008 | Features Archives
MAURICE JOSHUA IS A Chicago native that's been circling the limelighted House block since his pupil-dilating classic anthem, "This is Acid" in 1988. Hot Hands Hula's vocals on the track, "Once you hear it, there will be no going back," foreshadowed the launch of Maurice's no holds barred career.
He went from learning tips and tricks with Steve Hurley and E-Smoove to a Grammy Award-winning colleague that would redefine the way people remix music. From R. Kelly, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Justin Timberlake to Kim English, Curtis Mayfield and CeCe Peniston, for years he's been a go-to-guy for major labels to break their mainstream artists into the House dance clubs.
And walking next to the baby powder and sweaty dance clubs of the House world while juxtaposed to keeping one foot in the door with the movements of pop music eventually led to his 2004 Grammy award for remixing Beyonce's "Crazy In Love."
One Sunday afternoon we caught up with Maurice for an interview. Check it out to read why "The King of the Remix" became the king of being fashionably late for the Grammy's, why DJing in the summer rain tops long walks on the beach, and the one remix project the king could never challenge.
5 MAGAZINE: I think you have a unique vantage point, having one foot in mainstream music and one foot in soulful House. How do you see the two interacting?
MAURICE JOSHUA: After the mid 1990s, House Music died out and hip-hop took the main stage. But now hip-hop is so stagnant - people aren't liking where it's at right now. I don't think hip-hop will ever leave, but everyone is talking about the same thing - I got this type of chain, this type of car... It went to that bling-bling stage and now people want some validity to their lyrics. They want to hear about what's really going on right now in the world - the struggle, the economy - and not about bottle service!
We need to bring this House Music thing to where it needs to be. I just think hip-hop and R&B got too mainstream, and because of that, a lot of people that are coming to the club are not hip on the House Music scene these days. Back in the day the clubs used to dictate what was on the radio. Now it's the opposite. It's terrible and it's terrible for House, but I think there is a resurgence happening.
The chance for House is perfect right now because I'm seeing the trend where you have hip-hop, R&B and pop artists trying to do House material. They can call it R&B or whatever, but it's still House Music. Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige - they're all making music with a faster tempo. And no matter what genre name you cover it up with, it's still House Music.
5: So the mainstream is venturing into House music - what are House people doing with House music?
MAURICE: I'm glad that there are more vocals and soulful records coming out. For the past number of years you'd hear a little sample chopped up and a snippet of a vocal and you didn't know what record it was. But now people are coming out with new ideas, though we need more people educated on what House Music is.
People still love the old classics so now we have to make the new classics. We have to create artists, brand it and keep it strong. I think we are missing key artists today, like the CeCe Penistons and Crystal Waters that understood dance music but had crossover appeal. We need to develop our artists and then I think it will definitely come around.
On the events side, a lot of promoters and club owners out here want a night to develop in a month's time and don't understand the branding in House music. Of course you can do a one-off night where you put a whole rack of artists on the bill and it will be great, but we need that great night every week. A lot of club owners don't want to put down the money that it takes to make it happen. It's more, "Ok, I want to see how many people are drinking..."
Chicago should have a great House night on a Friday and Saturday, or on a Thursday like back in the day.
5: In the commercial realm, is there still a high demand for the soulful remix sound, or do you feel you have been changing your style to bend with music fads?
MAURICE: It's definitely like that. I love the soulful stuff, but I was talking to this one A&R person who said to me, "Look, we love the soulful stuff, but why would we take a soulful mix when the radio station won't play it?"
They go for the progressive or harder stuff these days. Like our local station 107.5 WGCI; the mix show guys play House, but if I do a soulful mix, they can't fit it in their format. They are told what to play. They're going for the progressive type of mix. So I always give the A&R person a variation - a soulful version, a dub, a tech house type of mix. I'll send them three different types of mixes to see what they bite at.
But being a dance producer is a catch 22. If you have an R&B artist do a House track, he's considered a "producer." But if you have a House guy that makes House, he's only known as a "House producer." So no artists are coming to them asking them to do a hip-hop remix or something.
For example, with Janet Jackson's track, "Feedback", Rodney Jenkins produced it. And you know "Feedback" is going at 120 BPM - that's a House track. So people say Janet did a House track with producer Rodney Jenkins. But if I do it, they want to say I'm a "House producer." They won't say I'm just a "producer." So it limits what people perceive that I'm capable of doing.
5: But you've still found ways to extended beyond the House producer role as well?
MAURICE: Yeah, people don't know I do jingles and stuff for commercials. I've worked with Coca-Cola, McDonalds, video games like Dance Dance Revolution.
5: What's the biggest change in the remix industry you've seen lately?
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