The Brian McKnight experience- A blog entry by Ayob Vania (Afro Café’s intrepid content producer)

When I first heard that Brian McKnight was coming to our shores I was beside myself with excitement. I couldn’t believe that I would have the opportunity to see this living legend perform in my home town of Johannesburg.
Fast forward a week or so and I am talking to the producer and director of the show about the fact that Brian McKnight (a.k.a “Vocal Sex”) is in town and Katleho the producer is very keen for us to get some face time with the man.  I am assigned the responsibility of setting up an interview as well as ensure that we have access to the event. At this point I get into researcher mode and track down the company that is behind the Love Knight Tour, and secure an invite to the press conference. I am also very adamant that we cannot film the press conference for the show and would require a one-on-one interview with Mr. McKnight and they agree.
So there I was with an invite to the Love Knight Press Conference, an interview with the man himself in the bag, and media accreditation for the JHB leg of the concert. I figured I had done my job and all was cool until Katleho (afore-mentioned Producer) and Alex (Director) told me that I would have to interview Brian so that we can use it for our website.
What? Me? Do… The… Interview? I was thinking in staccato. This was too much to deal with. Not only do I get to meet this man but I also get to interview him. My first face-to-face interview on camera nogal. I mean I am not the type to get star struck… (Well there was that time I bumped into Ntate John Kani in a mall and I froze, I couldn’t even muster a Hello – but I digress) – but nerves definitely got the better of me and I went into a serious head spin for a day or two. When the dust settled I had collected enough research on the man to realize that I wasn’t as big a fan as I thought. So I called my sister who is probably the biggest Brian McKnight fan I know. She has at least 8 of his 10 Albums and plays his music so much that my 5- year old niece knows the lyrics of at least 3 Brian McKnight songs from memory.
When the day of the press conference and interview came my nerves were acting up again and I consoled myself with the fact that I was doing this for the mass of fans who would love the opportunity to speak to one of their favourite musicians.
I was however not prepared for what happened next: I mean, we have all heard the horror stories about American artists’ propensity for acting like Prima Donnas and falling victim to their emotions or should I say egos. Brian was quite the opposite. From the moment he walked into the room his commanding stature ensured that he was the centre of attention, something he didn’t seem to notice though. He was real, having a great time and cracking jokes with the handful of journalists who made time to come through. From the first question posed you could tell that this was an artist adept at handling the media. Questions ranged from his move to a new record label to the inspiration for his songs, but the reason we were all there was to find out what he had in store for his SA tour, and as he puts it his shows are more like watching a movie or a play or musical theatre, because there is a definite story arc, and journey. “So you will be taken on a journey of emotions.” He says that he can’t understand how some artists go on tour and only want to play songs from their latest release, he feels that he “wrote all the songs and love them so why wouldn’t I want to play songs from all my albums, so we’ll play One Last Cry…Back at One…Anytime” etc. His aim is to take the audience through a range of emotions, so he will throw in a couple of jokes and tell you a bit of a story and take you through some highpoints and low points and by the end of the night, “hopefully you’ve gone through every type of emotion.”
After the press conference I got to sit down and talk to the man. My moment had arrived and I was nervous as all hell. I just wanted to get it over with. So the minute we sat down and introductions were out of the way I put my foot in my mouth and labeled him as an R&B guy. He was quick to point out that he has done jazz, gospel, country, “I’ve done it all man!” Okay so maybe I was just trying to get him to focus on our interview now, because he had done three other interviews before ours and I needed to make sure that I got his attention. It isn’t easy doing a one-on-one interview with someone when there are like 10 people in the room listening in. Except for the fact that we were pressed for time, the rest of the interview was a dream. My nerves backed off around the middle of his second answer and I was able to actually enjoy the interview.
I learned that from the very beginning of his career he just wanted to be considered an individual and not be encumbered by other people’s thoughts and views. I took time to learn that he plays nine instruments because he’s always held the belief “that if I did it and did it wrong you could only blame me, but if I did it and did it right then you only have me to extol.” He also refers to himself as a writer first, before he is a musician. His dream and the reason for recording his 1992 self titled debut album was so that other musicians could see what he was able to do as a writer and that they would then commission him to write songs for them. Unfortunately [but fortunately for us], it didn’t work out that way; he has subsequently released 10 Albums, 25 hot singles, received countless Award nominations, and has written songs for a plethora of top musicians.
The interview was going really well but I wanted to get personal, and the first step was to find out about the vulnerability that is displayed in his music, and he says that “because people are automatically going to assume that it is fiction, you can sort of live along the line of, ‘‘I don’t necessarily have to tell you what’s going on with me but I might be.’ So most people won’t know, but the person who you’re dealing with, they may know because there are specifics in that song that tell them what’s going on…but the general public may not know because most people don’t ask questions about specific songs and if they did I would tell them and if they don’t they gonna consider them fiction.”
His advice to young musicians coming up into the industry is that “the powers that be are going to do everything they can to you, to take from you, the very thing you don’t want to give out; in order for you to get to your dream.” So his advice is that young musicians should read everything they are meant to sign very carefully and “before you even think about getting a manager or agent they should Get a Lawyer First!”
We talked about his relationship with his sons JB and Meeko – both of whom are musicians as well - and he says that after his divorce from their mother it was very important to maintain a relationship with the boys and that they spend a lot of time together. They have accompanied him on this tour as well and would be performing with him at the South African concerts. The older of the two JB is in the process of signing his first record deal and Brian assures me that they will be making sure that he gets the best deal possible. When I inquired about the possibility of a McKnight Boys project he was quick to mention that the boys are working on a project together, but until they ask he will not be getting involved.
Okay so basically we had to wrap up the interview because he had not had any sleep since arriving the previous evening.
The next night was the concert and boy did I have fun. My sister and her husband picked my wife and I up at about 6pm.
Fiso and Loyiso really did the local R&B fraternity proud on the night, especially Mr. Bala. I never thought that he was such an amazing performer, but brother pulled out the stops. My wife and I went into a little huddle trying to hide the fact that we were dancing, when he performed our all time favourite track “Girl Without a Name”.
I had the honour to be at the concert with one of Brian’s biggest fans and let me tell you that at some point my sister was in tears. Mr. McKnight, I don’t appreciate anyone making my 6- month pregnant baby sister cry, but I will make an exception for you because you didn’t just make her cry you made her smile, laugh until tears rolled down her face, jump around and most importantly you came through. You even autographed merchandise for your fans at the end of a one and a half hour set.
Brian McKnight definitely has the goods to back up the hype.