LeMarvin 'Confusion' album

For all its challenges, growing up in the ‘hood has at least one advantage: you develop a natural resilience to whatever life throws at you. R&B singer LeMarvin Harris can certainly attest to that. The Inglewood, CA native has survived the street life, a stint in the Navy, and a series of failed record deals. But as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. And today, with a huge Internet following and a much anticipated debut album (West Side Story) on Brookland Entertainment, LeMarvin is a musical Hercules.

Born in San Francisco but raised in Inglewood, LeMarvin grew up in a single-parent home after his parents split when he was 13. “I was on my own a lot, running with the wrong crowd,” he remembers. “But I got into music. That kinda saved me from the streets.”

His interest in music began in high school, where he played the trumpet in the school band. Like many young Hip-Hop-loving boys, he experimented with rap but admits he “wasn’t too good at it.” Then at 16, he discovered his voice while singing along to New Edition and Color Me Badd songs on the radio. Realizing he was on to something, LeMarvin joined an R&B group named Last Minute. After performing with the group one day at a local talent show, LeMarvin was approached by artist manager David Esterson. Though LeMarvin wasn’t a lead singer in the group, he apparently stood out enough for Esterson to want to manage the talented teen as a solo act.

Under Esterson’s guidance, LeMarvin began recording songs and honing his craft. Graduating from high school, he continued his musical pursuits full-time, much to the chagrin of his mom, who worried about her son’s future if a career in music didn’t work out. However, after much urging from his mother, LeMarvin enrolled in the Navy. He spent two and a half years as an E3 Airplane Maintenance and traveled to China, Malaysia, Australia and Abu Dhabi. However, the military life didn’t suit LeMarvin for very long.

“The Navy took a toll on me,” says LeMarvin. “I wasn’t going to work. I was drinking a lot and I was getting into it with petty officers. So one day I just went home and never came back.”

While AWOL, LeMarvin returned to the studio, diving head first into marathon sessions with producers and writers. (He eventually turned himself into the Navy and served two months in military jail and at a halfway house before being formally discharged in 2002).

With the Navy situation safely behind him, LeMarvin began shopping his demo. He landed his first deal with Tracey Edmonds’ Edmonds Record Group. The deal was short-lived, and LeMarvin suddenly found himself shopping his demo again. But not for long. He eventually signed with Flyte Tyme Records, owned by veteran producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Yet, that deal was even shorter.

Returning to the drawing board again, LeMarvin hooked up with a new batch of producers, The Co-Stars (Fantasia, Jaheim, Chingy, Jojo, Bone Thugs & Harmony). They recorded a new demo and in 2007 shopped it all over New York City. “We had about twelve meetings. The last meeting was with Universal Motown. Eric Nicks [at the time, Sr. VP of A&R] signed me that day.”

Things got off to a good start. LeMarvin completed a full album, shot promo pictures and released a single – more than he’d accomplished with his prior recording contracts. However, not unlike many major label situations, the project’s momentum slowed to a near standstill and LeMarvin grew restless. “I had to move on,” he says. “I wasn’t doing nothing but getting old. There was no bad blood or anything. I just needed to get things moving.”

Again for the third time, LeMarvin was back at square one. “I was kinda depressed for a little while after that,” he says. “I thought [Universal Motown] was my last shot.” Still, he kept recording. During that time, LeMarvin received numerous phone calls from A&Rs, but the jaded artist was hardly motivated to pick up the phone. That is, until Eric Nicks called. Nicks had since left Universal Motown and struck a distribution deal with Monte Lipman, president of Universal Republic Records, to form Brookland Entertainment.

“E. gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse – an independent label and creative freedom to write on my album. Plus, I’d already dealt with E. I knew he had my back. So I signed with Brookland instead of going back to those big companies.”

Now, having weathered several disappointments and false-starts, LeMarvin will at last release his long-awaited debut West Side Story, in Feb. 2009 on Brookland Entertainment. The album captures the sound and feel of everyday West Coast life through LeMarvin’s laid-back eyes. The lead single,” Around My Way” featuring The Game, takes the listener through a typical day in LeMarvin’s neighborhood as he croons a smooth story over the “California Love” sample.

Referring to his style as “street sexy,” LeMarvin doesn’t try to paint pretty pictures in his music. He tells things like he sees ‘em. “I don’t beat around the bush,” he maintains. “I’m not trying to say this clever and do that clever. I say things straight up. It’s me. It’s real and from the heart. I think fans will realize I’m different for that.”

West Side Story features production by the Trackmasters, the Co-Stars, and up-and-coming producers August Rigo and Justin Graham. The album also includes songwriting by writing collective The Clutch and additional vocals by Tank. West Side Story is a culmination of patience, hard work and incredible talent – attributes LeMarvin credits to his life experiences. Now, with West Side Story, he wants to share those experiences with the world.

“At the end of the day, I want to connect with my audience,” says LeMarvin. “I want them to feel what I feel and see where I’m coming from. But I want to do it my way.”

LeMarvin interview
MissTheda: What made you want to pick up the microphone to sing?
LeMarvin: It was kinda like basketball. You know when you pick up the basketball for the first time it's like ok, I like this and that's how it was picking up the mic - you just can't stop. You can't put it down you feel me, and as soon as I got in the booth, it was a different thing from just singing out loud at home. It's like more of a challenge and its more layers to it. So I just got infatuated with it and trying to master it. I'm not even half way to mastering, and it's always a challenge but it's fun though - so that's what got me into it, I just couldn't stop.

MissTheda: I know that you're still doing your thing, but what has been your biggest career highlight so far?
LeMarvin: Working with Mac 10. I never thought I would meet that dude. I mean I see him in traffic and what not, I see him on TV. I see him everywhere, but I never thought I would work with him. I'm a fan. It's not just that, but that plays a big part but he actually asked to work with me and that was crazy. So that's my highlight right there.

MissTheda: What do you want people to get from your music?
LeMarvin: That I'm just like everybody else. I've been through it and whatever you go through, you can get up out of it and do it. You can do whatever you want to do if you put your mind to it.

MissTheda: So how would you define your album, Confusion?
LeMarvin: I wanna bring something that sounds good but it's not a love song album. Like my song "Too Many Patrons," it sounds great, but I'm talking about getting' too drunk. One of my other songs called "Good For Nothing," it sounds good too but I'm talking like yeah 'I ain't shit' and I'm not even begging for you to take me back, I'm just telling you this is why I do this, I ain't shit. Songs like that, when people hear them, they may say things like this nigga is crazy but let me go and get the album or something so I can hear the rest of these stories this nigga got going on. Confusion is basically just crazy stories that sound good and are about things I've been through or other people that I know relayed to me and I'm just relaying it to the public.

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LeMarvin - Confusion