Steve Bartels is the new Def Jam CEO following in the huge footsteps of greats Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons, Lyor Cohen, Jay Z and L.A. Reid.
In a new interview will Billboard magazine, Bartels talks Kanye, Rihanna and Mariah Carey.
When asked what he thought of Kanye’s upcoming album he revealed,
It sounds incredible. He’s focused, energetic, happy and making unbelievably great music. Kanye always wants to make sure that when it actually arrives it’s at the best possible place it could be, that the first song is as big as the last. He’s the absolute bar of perfection in terms of that. I tell him all the time: Some of his previous albums are still testing out in the marketplace as high, if not higher, than when they first came out because the music is still fresh to people.
When asked about the first time he met Rihanna
She was signed in [then Def Jam president] Jay Z’s office — I remember her eyes and how amazing her presence was in the room. I remember taking [“Pon de Replay”] to a studio in midtown, this was probably 2006, I think LA Reid was there, and we played it to a bunch of radio programmers. Everybody was like, “I’ve gotta leave and put this on the radio right away.”
When asked why he thought Mariah Carey’s latest album wasn’t met with success.
Listen, sometimes an artist — and in the case of Mariah, an artist I’ve worked with for 10 years — makes an amazing album that just doesn’t connect with the audience. Of course that is very disappointing, but it would be impossible to pinpoint that down to just one thing. I’ve enjoyed incredible success with Mariah and many of those hit songs and albums have made Billboard history. But this latest effort just didn’t go all the way.
Read more HERE.
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