Everyone falls victim to self-doubt from time to time, but as time goes on, trusting your gut feeling becomes a lot easier. Ginette Claudette, one of R&B’s most promising stars, finally realizes the beauty of going with her first instinct.
On to Something, her first release since 2015’s All the Way Back, exhibits this new found confidence. It’s the first ‘sign of growth’ for Claudette as well. “I feel like I’m trusting myself and my opinion a lot more than I did on the last project,” she tells Rated R&B over the phone. “A lot of those songs I knew right away were saying something different that I had not said before. They made me feel different than I did before. So, I’m proud that I pushed for my ideas and I pushed for just where I thought the records could go.”
Rated R&B caught up with Claudette about On to Something, where she talked about the creative process, key tracks and more. Here are eight takeaways from our conversation with Claudette about herself and her new project.
1. It was a no brainer to go with “Twisted” as the lead single.
“There was so much love and energy around that record at the time we decided to release it. I was honestly just hanging out at The Stereotypes studio in Santa Monica, talking about new music and John (from The Stereotypes) was like, ‘Yo, ‘Twisted’ though. When are you going to put that out?’ I was like, ‘We’re getting ready, trying to decide what we’re going to go with [as the first single].’ So since everyone there and from my team loved it, it kind of felt like a no brainer at that point.”
2. The first line of “Twisted” refers to a conversation.
“The actual reference to that line is not about giving my heart away, but like ‘When is it the right time to have this conversation?’ You’re always putting this conversation off like, ‘Yo, it’s not a good time. It’s not a good time.’ So,‘When it the right time because I never know it.’”
3. There are three songs that didn’t make On to Something — but will used in the future.
“There is like black chalkboard in the basement of our hub in Toronto that includes a list of songs. I think that everything made it expect three other songs that I still love so much. I have every intention of using in the future, but they just didn’t make sense for this particular project. I think we did a really good job at honing in on all the dope R&B influences by picking the songs that we picked. But there are definitely some babies on there that didn’t make it.”
4. Even though “Real Thing” was the original title track for the EP, it’s still one of her favorites.
“My mind changes like all the time but ‘Real Thing’ was going to be the original title [for the project]. I actually wrote ‘Real Thing’ and ‘On to Something’ back to back, like one day right after the other. You know when you level up in a video game, you’re aware that you’re on to another level. That’s how I felt when I wrote those two songs. I felt different. I felt like I was writing differently immediately. So, that’s why I was like we’re going to go with On to Something. It started to make way more sense after we started to get into the meat and potatoes of the project. But ‘Real Thing’ is one of my favorites on [the project]. The concept of being the real deal in this industry and having to work so hard to prove that was kind of the motivation behind that [track].”
5. Her creative process thrives on the inconsistencies in life.
“Consistency can get boring. I think what gives me inspiration to write and to dive into music is the ups and downs of life and the inconsistencies.”
6. She credits August Rigo for helping her open up on her new work.
“I think over the last seven years August Rigo, who executive produced the project, really helped me develop that confidence to peel back like I have now. Just developing that relationship in the studio and him just being able to know me as a person is what helped me peel back the layers because it’s hard to get in a room with a complete stranger and then just open your heart up. So, shout out to him [laughs].”
7. “Flex” and “Love Me Back” capture her most confident and brutally honest moments.
“I’m not that kind of girl [who’s] forward like that and super like you know on her shit like; but ‘Flex’ brought that said out of me. I’m my most confident self. I’m super unapologetic and I don’t care about what your opinion is about anything. I don’t have to prove myself to you is kind of the sentiments behind [that record]. And on ‘Love Me Back,’ I was just brutally honest on that record. Normally, like I’ll think of something and I’m like, ‘Do I really want to say that?” But with ‘Love Me Back,’ it was like word vomit. It kind of wrote itself and I just went with it.”
8. Going back home for Christmas gives her a boost of energy.
“I’m really excited to spend Christmas in New York [this year]. I haven’t spent Christmas at home with my family in the last six years. So honestly, I’m looking forward to just sitting on the couch with family, just hanging out, catching up and doing the whole holiday thing. Plus, I think my mom is going to make Sancocho just because I’m coming. It’s a Dominican stew and it’s so bomb. I think I’m looking forward to that the most. So, I’m really pumped about hanging with my family. It always gives me a boost of energy before going back to work.”
Stream On to Something below.
