Mr Hudson Interview

This was my FIRST INTERVIEW! Well obviously not ever, but first with a pop star! It was a bit daunting at first seeing as he's worked with loads of big names, but he was very friendly and easy going which was refreshing. Here it is from October 2009...

New BFF to Kanye West, Mr Hudson has definitely been a busy boy recently. Promoting his new single and album at all hours as well as jetting back and forward over the pond to our transatlantic cousins is not even beginning to take its toll on the singer/songwriter/producer/all rounder, but between all this I managed to grab him for ten minutes while he was “horizontal on a nice sofa in a posh hotel in Trafalgar”. From that first declaration it was clear to see that Mr Hudson was refreshingly normal, Kanye West and Jay Z’s superstar behaviour (and tantrums) do not appear to have rubbed off on our Birmingham breed pop star. Incredibly gracious to the media interest surrounding his new work, Mr Hudson is more than happy to talk to me, “you put so much time and work into the music that you want to explain and talk about it as much as you can”.

Although routinely the name Mr Hudson is linked to Kanye West and their number two single ‘Supernova’, Mr Hudson was originally ‘Mr Hudson and the Library’. Notably scarred by other less sensitive media outlets, Mr Hudson emphasised that he did not “ditch” the band: “ this album and the previous one [with the ‘Library’] are three years apart, in which I did a lot of touring around the UK and Europe, and half of them are still playing with me”.

This reformation obviously then lead onto the introduction of
synths into his music, with an inevitable contempory pop feel fused with futuristic R’n’B, a mix echoed by Mr Hudson’s label manager Kanye, perhaps because Mr Hudson helped produce some records on his album too, both sharing the advice around.

When questioned about the studio time, Mr Hudson said it wasn’t all him taking orders from Kanye, “He let me make the record, he was just supervising it and executive producing it. There were mostly high fives in the studios, then if ever something went wrong a couple of arm wrestles - obviously if they were physical Kanye would win, he’s superhuman! I am a weed”. Mr Hudson is notably grateful for Kanye West plucking him from “obscurity”: “It kicked the door in. It was his idea to get me on the Jay Z album [Blueprint 3, which he helped produce], he shone a light on me and demanded that people listened. He saved my life”.

Taking inspiration from Damon Albarn, David Bowie and Prince, the singer describes his new single, White Lies, as a “Good contrast to supernova, it still has the synth sounds but it’s bit darker – in a minor key. So you get to see a darker side to Mr Hudson”. The single is steadily climbing the charts and is out now, with the album out next Monday, 19th October, which is going to be “Wide screen, punchy and pop music, not throwaway. I’m really proud of every song on there, it’s the sort of pop music I want people still listening to in 20 years time”. Looking to the future, Mr Hudson is lending his magic touch and wealthy advice Adele and N Dubz.