(26-12-2010) Producer Teddy Riley recently gave a phone interview to TODAYonline during which he spoke about the new album "Michael" but, he also talked candidly about some of the lessons he learned from the King of Pop. Riley said that for him, the album is a true representation of Jackson himself and that Jackson will forever be the man who taught him to "be strong" and stay the course.
"My biggest lesson, as far as learning from working with Michael, and knowing him and being a friend of his, is stay strong on what you feel is right, and stay hungry and stay humble," he said over the phone from London. "It will bring you a long way."
As for the criticisms that have been levelled at the album, Riley seems unfazed saying, "No, it doesn't bug me. I'm here for one purpose and one purpose only - to protect Michael and protect his legacy," he said. "And by any means necessary, I will go up against anyone. I will go up against the people who feel like they know him when they weren't there. It could be family, it doesn't matter who it is. I feel like [the album] is not for them. It's for him. And that's the bottom line.
"It's terrible having to deal with the hating and things that people say about you that you can't control," he continued. "But sometimes, it's good for you. Because you are nobody if no one is talking about you... then you're finished. I kind of like it, though. Bad, good, ugly - it doesn't matter. I am living under the wings of the great Michael Jackson. He lives for controversy. And I'm learning to."
Riley, who first worked with Jackson on his "Dangerous" album, had already made a name for himself both as a producer and as a member of the R&B group Guy. But even so, he says he was still intimedated when he first began working with the legend.
"I was very intimidated at first, but I got through it," Riley said about working with Jackson for the first time. "It became smooth sailing after a while. And I rolled with the punches. He taught me how to be strong and hold my own. He taught me how to work with him."
Dangerous was a huge success with hits like 'Remember The Time,' 'Jam' and 'In The Closet.' "Anything that Michael touched turned to platinum, not gold," Riley said of Jackson's work. Interestingly, echoes of Michael's work from the '80s and '90s can be heard in the Riley-produced track, 'Hollywood Tonight' from the new album.
"That was intentional. I thought it was a great idea to get that feel, you know, and make the song feel like it was the next level of Billie Jean. It's a different climate, different story, but you still have the taste and the touch of Michael. That being said, it just takes his story further."
Riley said the good thing about working with Jackson is that he always knew exactly what he wanted. "When it came to working. I just kind of went into 'Michael mode', in terms of putting the songs and putting everything on it. 'Michael mode' is very intense. It's no holds barred; you just reach for the sky. You do not accept nothing less than great. And you have to be strong."
Source: MJFC / todayonline.com
"He lives for controversy." The same sentence again...like on Oprah.
