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Grammy Nominated Justin Love Reveals That Hit Song ‘Focus’ Sung By H.E.R. Was Written About His Mom

Everyone loves H.E.R.

And the song that put her over the top was the 2016/17 hit song, “Focus” that appeared on her self-entitled EP, H.E.R. Well, the song that has been so many people’s “Baby Making Music” playlist was co-written by Justin Love, a emerging talent out of New Jersey.

Love, a self-taught Puerto Rican/ Cuban singer, met H.E.R.’s manager Jeff Robinson in New York City. Robinson invited him to a session with the new starlet and the rest is history. When asked about the song on popular YouTube star Terrell Grice’s The Terrell Show‘s “Song Association” series,  he revealed an exclusive nugget about who exactly the song was written about.

READ MORE: H.E.R. Announces The Inaugural ‘Lights On’ Festival

Love stated that he wrote the majority of the Grammy nominated song about a woman. But this woman was not a romantic love-interest. Instead, the song was written about his mother.

“You guys are lucky… Nobody knows what that song is about but me.” Justin smiles in the camera and shares.  “That song is about my mom. My mom would open up to me. I was my mom’s everything, her strongest anything. My mom, she opened up to me and was like I just want your father to love me… to touch me… me, me, me. Focus on me.”

“Focus was actually the first song I ever wrote (co-wrote) with anyone. I never wrote for anybody before. And I thought that was a perfect opportunity to let a woman speak on [something that mattered to her]. The most special woman in my life [inspired it], it weighed heavy on my heart and I thought she [H.E.R.] was the perfect person to relay that message.”

“So hands in the soap… my mom washed the dishes all the time… I would see her looking at my dad, while my dad is watching T.V.” He continues, “It’s [a song] about women period and what women go through.”

The host Terrell Grice and his popular show has made a name in the music world by providing one of the most comprehensive talent discovery platforms for R&B music. Scouring through the internet, he searches for voices that are undeniably some of the best vocals of his generation. American Idol. The Voice. X Factor. The incredible Stevie Mackey. Todrick Hall. Amber Riley. If they can sing… Grice finds them. And on this episode, Love sings the dickens out of the talent scout.

READ MORE: H.E.R. Performs ‘Focus’ and More on NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Justin finishes the segment with this.

“Long story short… I feel like it is really important for women to really speak upon whatever… anything… they go through. And if I can be a voice for anybody, I’ll put it in my pen and I’ll let a woman speak upon it. I mean ’cause only a woman can speak from a woman’s perspective.”

Justin Love has new music available.

The post Grammy Nominated Justin Love Reveals That Hit Song ‘Focus’ Sung By H.E.R. Was Written About His Mom appeared first on The Source.

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Rapper Big Pooh Makes Up For Lost Time With His New LP. Listen In. (Audio)

While Rapper Big Pooh has consistently dropped at least one album, EP, or mixtape every year since 2008, he seemingly sat last year out. The MC known for his role in the Little Brother trio dropped full albums with Nottz (Home Sweet Home) and Apollo Brown (Words Paint Pictures) in 2015 on Mello Music Group, and in 2016 he self-released the Everything 4 Sale EP. Similarly, Dr. Dre/Aftermath Entertainment affiliate Focus… had busy years in 2015 and 2016, but was relatively quiet in 2017. Heads recently learned that Pooh has been DJ’ing at events as well as managing a talented MC from his region: Dreamville artist Lute. So, the RPM (Rapper Pooh Music) collaboration album should satisfy listeners who have been eagerly anticipating this fix.

This duo knows fans been waiting because they address it immediately on RPM. The intro “No More Favors” features Violator DJ’s/Slum Village affiliate Scrap Dirty complaining about how long the album is taking and instructs the recording artists to stop doing favors for people until they sew up this project. For those not familiar with Focus…, he is the senior producer in Dr. Dre’s Aftermath stable. His production (Slum Village, The Game, Dr. Dre, Xzibit) is marked by clean samples and big drums. That is exactly what he serves up from the jump on RPM.

All 3 Little Brother Members Perform Together For The 1st Time In Over A Decade (Video)

The stripped-down lead single, “Pray | Prey” featuring Dancehall singer Cocoa Sarai released ahead of the project. The raw cut sets the tone for the album. “Check! 1ne” and “Check! 2wo” follow and are basically a two-part song, as there is no pause between them, and Pooh starts rapping again right as his guest Akilz Amari close out the first track. Justus League member Chaundon is the feature on “Check! 2wo” and he flips a dope Uptown flow many will compare to Camp Lo.

Former Major Figgas and Re-Up Gang member Ab Liva shows up on “Roses,” on which Focus incorporates all kinds of bugged out noises…mad scientist music. Out of the 12 tracks here, “City of Ink” sounds most like it could belong on an Aftermath release. It’s got that crisp thump. Another standout is “Burn,” a joint where Rapper goes for MCs’ throats while making insightful social commentary at the same time. Crooner C.S. Armstrong passionately delivers the hook, “How long will we watch the flame / ’Til the ashes fall down like the rain / How long will we watch them burn, burn, burn.

Rapper Big Pooh Releases A Phonte Collabo He Held For 7 Years & Explains Why (Audio)

The 28-minute project ends strong with “Who Are They,” a two-beat jam that starts with a ‘90s throwback feel and then drops into a smoothed-out vibe. Big Pooh buries the comp on this one, “We ain’t chummy, we ain’t cool, we ain’t fam, I ain’t ya big homie / I don’t associate with the phony / I put ‘they’ in a box and pack ‘they’ ass away / Why wait until you gone? Here’s a bouquet / Smell the roses.

Press photograph by Tobias Rose provided by The Elixir Group.

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