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If you’re into music, there’s a good chance Babyface has either written or produced some of your favorite songs. The 13-time Grammy-winning producer and singer-songwriter has cranked out hits for everyone from Boyz II Men and Whitney Houston to SZA and Ariana Grande. He’s also widely recognized for making his own chart-busting ballads.
“I have younger artists and rappers still reaching out to me to work with them,” Babyface tells the Weekly. “By all means, I should not be that person that you’re calling to do that anymore, but I still get those calls. And I’m still, by the way, into it.”
We spoke with the legendary talent ahead of his final scheduled shows at the Pearl at the Palms on May 9 and 10.
You’ve returned to the Pearl several times now. Was an extended stay in Vegas something you felt was inevitable or did it take some convincing?
I kind of always wanted to do Vegas. Over the years, I’ve done it here and there. It’s been a lot of years of tweaking my show because I go in and out in terms of whether I’m doing shows or not. I’m not always on the road. But doing the dates in Vegas has always been fun. It’s something I look forward to because you’re able to be a little more free there and do whatever comes to mind. You don’t know exactly what you’re going to get from night to night, which makes it fun and challenging. You might have to flip the script a little bit depending on who’s out there, how old-school they are or how new-school.
It helps to have such a huge catalog. How do you decide what to play with so many hits and so many folks having different favorite songs? Is the setlist different every night because of that?
It depends on what the audience looks like, if they’re older or if they’re a little younger. Usually I have somebody go look out and say, “Okay, is this a ‘Change the World’ crowd or not?” You have your people who are real Babyface fans, so they know all the music I’ve done for myself. So I go through the normal, top 10 records. I don’t go deep into the catalog of Babyface because I’m not sure who knows. And you always want to make sure you hit them hard so that you have the right to chill in the middle. You can throw a left ball once you’ve entertained. You cannot come out there throwing left balls because they might not be out there when you throw the right [laughs]. The fun part of the show is always when I go through the medley of things that I’ve done for other people. That’s where people are usually surprised about how many things I’ve been involved with and done. I’m surprised as well.
It’s like time travel. Music is the one thing that takes you back. Yesterday, I went to the store and I bought some peanuts and jellybeans because it was Easter time. My mom used to eat jellybeans and peanuts all the time. When I eat this combination of the salt and the jellybeans, it takes me right back to the living room where my mom was giving me those things. I can see her. I can talk to her. And that’s the same thing music does when you hear it. It can take you right back to a person, to a place, to a time. The songs are fun and great in that sense. But the real, special part about it is when you see how it touches people and where it takes them, and the memories that it takes them to.
Your friend Bruno Mars also performs here on a regular basis. What was his reaction to you joining him in Vegas to play some shows?
I said “Vegas is something I think I’d like to do one day.” And he started calling people, saying, “Okay, we gotta get him into Vegas.” That was really his move and always his move. Bruno, he came to a couple of shows, and he’s always been supportive in that way, as I have for him. What’s great about Vegas for Bruno is that he takes everybody’s phone away, so he can explore and do anything he wants. For him, that matters because he can keep doing the same show, and as long as everybody’s enjoying it, then that’s fine. You’re not stuck to this thing of, well, you’ve got to do something new. He’s such a perfectionistthat he’s not going to come out with anything ‘til it’s baked.
With Vegas in general, there are so many people who are coming to the city. You’ve got Lionel Richie, who’s been there many times. We went to see New Edition. I haven’t been there to see him yet, but I want to go see Donny Osmond, who was the King of Vegas. No one works as much as he works. It’s a cool thing to be a part of the family.
Does performing live still nourish you in the same way producing and writing for other people does?
I have a great time when I do it. I think I just like being able to do it all, and not having to have to do it. That’s been my blessing and my benefit, to really be able to go through both worlds. That’s what’s surprising when people do see the show, they’re usually surprised because it’s a pretty good show. They come there thinking they’re going to be bored with the night of slow songs, because this is the idea of Babyface. But that’s so totally not what it is and what the night becomes. People are always pleasantly surprised when they come to the show and they go, “Oh my God, I didn’t know that was going to be this.”
My favorite thing about your music is how you can play a supporting role in a song without needing to be the main character. Like how you approached the all-female collaborations on Girls Night Out, or the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. Why is it important to highlight women’s stories through music?
I think I’ve always worked, obviously, well with women. I’ve always been able to tell their stories and feel from their perspective. I always say it’s because when I was a kid, I was always getting my heart broken, so I knew how to cry [laughs]. In junior high school and high school, I was always that kid that was in the friend zone. I hung out with girls that I had crushes on, but it was never gonna happen. But I was close with them, so I would hear their stories and when they got their hearts broken. I was around it, and that all became part of the thing I used as my inspiration. It was like, “Wow, that sucks. He dogged you out. Well, I would never do that to you.” All of those things were part of growing up. So it only made sense, I think to me, that I could write from that perspective, and mostly with women, because guys can only say so much where it’s believable.
It sounds like having that experience created a new layer of sensitivity.
There’s no question about that. There are people that didn’t get their heart broken, but they were just players to begin with and knew exactly what to say—um, Bruno Mars. [Laughs]. But that’s where it comes from. When you’re writing, you can always reach back to that kid that had that broken heart. It’s the same feeling, and it’s still just as powerful. Your memories are everything, and your life is everything. You can pull from that again and again and again.
If you were going to have a biopic made about your life, who would you want to play you?
I just don’t like biopics. I’ve been approached so many times to do a biopic and I wouldn’t enjoy it, I don’t think. I’d never watch it. When my music comes out, if it comes on the radio, I don’t listen to it. Once I’ve done it, it’s done. I might listen to something from a while back, but then even when I listen to that, I’m like “Dang, I should have did this, I should’ve did that.” I would hate to see myself on the screen.
There’s a whole younger generation still discovering you. Is it weird to have new fans, even at this stage in your long career?
I think it’s been a blessing to have … I don’t know if you want to call it a resurgence. It’s hard to put that into words because recently, in the past three or four years, my visibility and everything has certainly gone up. My girlfriend Rika, she’s been the person behind that. She’s been really pushing and making me do things that I wouldn’t have done. It’s made a difference in terms of how things have changed in that way for me.
Overall, it has surprised me, the interest and the respect that comes from all different ages and how you can still touch people. … I’m inspired, and so I have my computer and my keyboard or guitar, so when I’m by myself, I’m sitting here writing ideas. What’s inspiring is that, yes, I’m certainly chronologically older, but not my spirit and not the music that’s still there in me. I never became such a know-it-all that this is what it is, and this is how it should be. I’ve always listened to everything and tried to learn from things that people are loving today.
These days, how do you decide who you want to work with?
It just depends on if it’s a fit, and if I really feel like I can bring something to the table. I don’t like to do it just for the sake of it, or a name or anything. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t have an ego when it relates to that. If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s not, it’s not, and that’s the first thing I’d say to any artists that have been to the studio: “Look, if you don’t like something, then I’m good. It’s not going to hurt me.” Because I don’t always know exactly what you’re looking for, and sometimes they don’t know what they’re looking for. We’ll have fun either way.
So what’s next after these shows? Will you be back?
Yeah, I think we’ll come back. At this point, I’m not sure exactly when. I know we’re planning on possibly doing a little thing with Charlie [Wilson] and El DeBarge and [K-Ci Hailey]. We’re going to do that probably in early fall, and then we’ll see what happens. Other than that, I’m just doing the same, working here and there, and looking forward to definitely hitting Mother’s Day weekend, because that’s a great weekend to be in Vegas.
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