Eric Benet is a busy man. Aside from being a singer, an actor and father, the R&B veteran is now a record label owner and reality show producer. In an interview with Singersroom, Benet talked about his record label Jordan House, where he signed Calvin Richardson and Goapele as acts. He also talked about the upcoming reality show “Sub-Stars” and working with Kevin Hart on BET’s “Real Husbands of Hollywood.”
Read excerpts from Eric Benet’s interview below.
On his record label, Jordan House…
“The One” was really the foundation of Jordan House. Jordan House was only a record label that I released my album on, but I had such great success with my record that I loved the idea of reaching out to some artists, who I felt like their particular creative journey was where I was trying to go with Jordan House. It’s really about knowing what the potential is in certain artists and calling and seeing if it can happen.
On Calvin Richardson and Goapele’s sound…
Well, I think for every artist; we endeavor to grow and step out a little and evolve. But, at the same time, we don’t want to do anything, speaking for myself, that is non-congruent with who we are and what we are. I think the same thing applies to both Goapele and Calvin. With each artist, we sat down and talked about the kind of project that each one respectively will make and Calvin was very clear. Calvin was like, Look E, you know what I do; I like soul music. I basically want to do a sexy ass record. I want to do a record where people put it on and kind of just want to stay home, cut the light off, and cuddle up with who they’re with and make a couple of babies. And that’s pretty much what we did. But with Goapele, she is a dope blend of eclectic soulful, alternative; Oakland, California kind of soulful thing. She wants to do that again, but she also wants to try some new things. So, I think for every artist, it’s all about look let’s look at your body of work and let’s look at what we’re trying to do here.
On “Sub-Stars” reality show…
Well, I had a friend of mine, who had this concept for the show, which was based on traveling all around the country and trying to find the most talented people. For anybody who is a subway commuter, you’ve been walking through the subways, and you saw some crazy talent. You probably was like damn, why is this person not signed or have a record out? So, Sub-Stars is an opportunity for incredible talent like this, all around the country, to have a platform. The television show will be talent competition based, and the winner will be signed to my label…
Read the full interview on Singersroom.
