Idol Worship: Eliott Yamin Q&A
It wasn’t all that long ago that Paula Abdul’s heart belonged to Elliott Yamin. You could say the season 5 American Idol finalist, who made it to the Top 3 but eventually lost to Taylor Hicks, was her 2006 Danny Gokey — undiscovered, raw and soulful, with limitless potential and the vocal chops to make it in the music business. And one year out of Idol, it looked like Elliott had accomplished that goal and more, scoring a hit single (2007’s “Wait For You”), touring the world and selling upwards of 500,000 copies of his self-titled debut album. Now he’s back with his follow-up, Fight For Love (due out May 5) — another collection of undeniable pop-R&B produced and co-written by some of music’s biggest hit-makers (among them: Harvey Mason, Jr. and the Midi Mafia production team) — only this time, his promotional push hasn’t been nearly as peachy. Blame the economy, says Elliott, which has hit the radio business especially hard. But like any good Idol contestant, he’s not about to give up. After all, he’s come so far. We spoke to Elliott last week and let him vent a little. OK, a lot. Read on for our extended Q&A…
Your debut was a huge and somewhat unexpected success, so going into a second album, was it a case of, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?”
Elliott Yamin: I think we played it pretty safe on the first record. For this album, I wanted it to lean more towards pop-R&B and soul, and all the guys I worked with already had that in their repertoire. These are guys who are used to being on rhythm radio and having their songs on Chris Brown albums, so I wanted to make something that sounded contemporary, but was still me. I also wanted to write more this time around — to show that I’ve grown as a songwriter and an artist. I’m still not one of those guys who can sit down and write stuff on his own; I have to be around other people who I can bounce ideas off of, but I’m becoming a great co-writer.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Paula Abdul’s heart belonged to Elliott Yamin. You could say the season 5 American Idol finalist, who made it to the Top 3 but eventually lost to Taylor Hicks, was her 2006 Danny Gokey — undiscovered, raw and soulful, with limitless potential and the vocal chops to make it in the music business. And one year out of Idol, it looked like Elliott had accomplished that goal and more, scoring a hit single (2007’s “Wait For You”), touring the world and selling upwards of 500,000 copies of his self-titled debut album. Now he’s back with his follow-up, Fight For Love (due out May 5) — another collection of undeniable pop-R&B produced and co-written by some of music’s biggest hit-makers (among them: Harvey Mason, Jr. and the Midi Mafia production team) — only this time, his promotional push hasn’t been nearly as peachy. Blame the economy, says Elliott, which has hit the radio business especially hard. But like any good Idol contestant, he’s not about to give up. After all, he’s come so far. We spoke to Elliott last week and let him vent a little. OK, a lot. Read on for our extended Q&A…
Your debut was a huge and somewhat unexpected success, so going into a second album, was it a case of, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?”
Elliott Yamin: I think we played it pretty safe on the first record. For this album, I wanted it to lean more towards pop-R&B and soul, and all the guys I worked with already had that in their repertoire. These are guys who are used to being on rhythm radio and having their songs on Chris Brown albums, so I wanted to make something that sounded contemporary, but was still me. I also wanted to write more this time around — to show that I’ve grown as a songwriter and an artist. I’m still not one of those guys who can sit down and write stuff on his own; I have to be around other people who I can bounce ideas off of, but I’m becoming a great co-writer.
