Ant Clemons - Grammy-Nominated Artist and Songwriter Behind Records for Kanye West, SZA, Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran

How do you usually approach the creative process when you first get to the studio? How do you come up with the concept, and do you usually start with melodies before building the lyrics around them?

Amazing question. By the grace of God, this is actually James Fauntleroy’s studio. It’s called Laboratory, and he lets me work out of the B room whenever I want. I’m here pretty much five days a week. My process is coming in as early as possible. I try to get in during the afternoon, and today I started a little later, but I like to get in early and get out early. I love the Nashville style of songwriting, so I try to get in as early as possible.

I’m always watching Michael Jackson videos on my iPad just to be inspired. I’ll watch Moonwalker or Thriller or something that puts me back in the mindset of being nine years old, chilling in my bedroom at home. From there, after the mood is set, I start with chords. Either chords or drums, but most of the time recently, I’ve been starting with chords. It really depends on where the inspiration starts. I’ve been producing a lot, so sometimes it’s drums first and then chords, or chords first and then drums.

Once I have a foundation to start from, I begin humming melodies. But my goal is to figure out the story I’m trying to tell, because I love telling stories. Once I figure out the concept and where I’m going, that kind of dictates where the melodies should go. The music sets the bed, but the concept tells you what you can do to pull the right emotion out of it. Even while making the beat, I look for the right place in the music to place the why, so I know, okay, this moment right here is the most important part of the song for me. It’s the climactic part, or the payoff of what the song is really about.

In your opinion, what makes a great R&B hook?

In my opinion, R&B, at its core, is about love songs. So a great R&B hook is centered on love, whether it’s about heartbreak or finding love. It has to involve amazing storytelling, love, phenomenal backgrounds, and lush vocal stacks.

Brandy and James Fauntleroy are two of my favorite singers of all time, and the way they layer their harmonies in the background vocals is necessary for any R&B song. Kehlani is having one of the best moments in the world right now, and if you strip down the songs, her vocal stacks are some of the greatest in the entire world. So a great R&B hook needs love at its core and phenomenal vocal stacks.