RS: How about Grace Jones?
Jody Watley: Phenomenal, scary, strong, one of a kind.
RS: I read in your bio how you're inspired by her and I totally see it now.
Jody Watley: Oh love Grace Jones, oh my God, I mean when she would be on award shows and, you know, she'd have on Issey Miyake, and I mean when you saw that she was going to be on there it was like 'what she's wearing?' It's just like no one else, not trying to be in a mold. You know, there's nobody like Grace Jones and, if you look at something like Still A Thrill and some of my other videos, it was more in that vein because she stood alone, there were no dancers, just Grace, and very artistic, the whole Jean-Paul Goude approach to the photography and the artwork, and that stuff is just timeless.
RS: So right now what's in your CD player or iPod?
Jody Watley: Oh God, I just uploaded Diana Ross's Blue, the new jazz project that's been unreleased for so long, The Brand New Heavies. Let's see, The Bebel Gilberto, what else? The Makeover, I've been listening to that actually more than anything, can't get enough of that, and I have a bunch of dance stuff from all over the place. Weekend Players keeps coming back around, the new Zero Seven and Go Town Project, and I actually think the Nelly Furtado song is cute, I have the single of that, so it's a mixture. I also like Beyonce's Déjà Vu. So, you know, I have the really commercial stuff and then I have the off the chart sort of eclectic stuff.
RS: You said you're inspired by Grace Jones, do you see anyone in this latest crop of singers and artists that inspire you as well?
Jody Watley: No, not really, not in commercial music, no, but I like all the people that I work with on The Makeover, because they can do so many things and do it in a way that it still has quality. You know, I love Sade, I always look forward to her next record, I love Maxwell and I'm wondering when he's coming out again. But many of the
things that keep me inspired are sort of off the radar. But in commercial music, I would say that when I look at someone, when I look at Beyonce, there's a lot of her that reminds me of me, in her performance, the energy, the glam, you know, she works there, she rocks the big hoops, and she writes and produces so I can appreciate that. And it seems as though she is the benchmark for labels and with other female artists, because it seems like they all really want to be Beyonce.
RS: When you produce your music, what's your songwriting processlike? Do you start with the track, do you start with the melody, do you start with the lyrics?
Jody Watley: It depends. For the song I did with 4 Hero, which was the last song I recorded for The Makeover, they sent me the music and I wrote the song and in fifteen minutes I was done with it, it just came to me, it was perfect. And when I was done with it, and every time I listen to the song it's like a defining moment for me, what I came up with, and it was so effortless. Sometimes songs will take a while. So it really depends. I'll sing melodies into my little mini recorder and I'm always writing down lyrics and ideas and stuff like that, so it really depends on how it comes to me.
RS: Is there anything you'd like to say to all your dance music fans out there?
Jody Watley: Oh gosh, well, I think the best thing is to always try to thank people, those that continue to follow me and those who will read this article and have lost track of me, I'll say, you know, come up to the future with me because it's very good.
I'm just trying to do quality music and music that is young and it's modern but not in a way that is phony or in a way that is not reflective of the fact that I have matured. Matured doesn't have to mean old and stale and all of that. I love music myself, I'm a fan of music, and I can't tell you enough, I'm just trying to do good music and I really, from my heart appreciate it when other people get that and appreciate it. So thank you so much.
