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We recently caught up with Mario Winans for an interview on Instagram Live. During our conversation, we discussed his history with Puff Daddy and Bad

0 Mario Winans Interview: Bad Boy Hitmen, Producing Hits, Solo Albums, New Music We recently caught up with Mario Winans for an interview on Instagram Live. During our conversation, we discussed his history with Puff Daddy and Bad Boys Hitmen Producers, creating some of his biggest hits, what went into creating his solo albums, what to expect as far as new music, and much more. YouKnowIGotSoul: Tell us the story of how you originally began working with producers Tim & Bob and Dallas Austin. Mario Winans: I had known them from Detroit, they were working at this studio called Sound Suite. I met them there, them guys was making some music that was incredible. We just started a friendship and kept in contact. They left Detroit and signed with Dallas. I was in Atlanta and I called them. They told me they were going to come pick me up and bring me to the studio to play tracks for Dallas. I went there and actually sang a song for Dallas, and my initial contract was to be an artist. I didnt want to be an artist, I wanted to be a producer! So I signed on as a producer with Rowdy. Tim & Bob connected me with that. YouKnowIGotSoul: Take us back to a young Mario Winans during that time. What was your mindset? Mario Winans: I was just eager and ready and hungry to get into it and to make hit records. Just absorb and soak it all in and grind. YouKnowIGotSoul: Which artist that you originally met made you feel like you had to step your game up? Mario Winans: When I first started producing when I was 14 or 15, that guy was Teddy Riley. I just wanted to make music that makes people feel the way his music makes me feel. Once I signed with Dallas, just seeing how he worked and all of the different people on the squad, it was very inspiring to me. I definitely wanted to grow and get to the next level. Once I got to Bad Boy, seeing my brother Stevie J. and D. Dot, it made me hungry. I started going hard. All I did was stay in the studio and lock myself in a room and create. YouKnowIGotSoul: Lets talk about your debut album Story of My Heart. What do you remember about it? Mario Winans: I love that album, its one of my favorite bodies of work I did. It was in the transition when Andre Harrell had just left Motown. That album was something I poured my heart into and didnt think too much. I went into the studio with my writing partner Kenny Hickson, and my other partner Paul Allen, and we just went daily, just creating records. YouKnowIGotSoul: Talk about joining Bad Boy and what it was like in the beginning. Mario Winans: It was a group of all stars. You got Stevie J. D. Dot, Ron Lawrence, Nashiem Myrick, Chucky Thompson, J. Dub, Prestige, Young Lord, Carlos Brody, along with Puff Daddy. It was a cast of producers that were so freakin awesome. Not just producers, but musicians and real creative people. It was like a crew that was so dope that I was like this is where I need to be. When I jumped on board, Puff had just put No Way Out out, and they were doing a bunch of different performances. When I got to rehearsal, Puff found out I played the drums, and then I was on percussion. Once Puff saw that, he said Id play drums on everything. It took it to another level. YouKnowIGotSoul: How did you guys as a collective make each other better? Mario Winans: We were competitive among everybody else. When we came to the studio, it was always open for any of us to jump on anybody elses tracks to do what we can do to enhance. It was no inner competition, we just wanted to demolish everybody who wasnt a part of our crew. YouKnowIGotSoul: In 1998, there was 112s Room 112 album, Faith Evans Keep the Faith album, and Totals Kima, Keisha & Pam album which all came out one week after another. Take us back to that moment. Mario Winans: It was just everyday. It was three rooms in Daddys House. Wed be in there making music all day every day. The artists would go from room to room and pick tracks. The writers would be there, it was like an assembly line. It was all we did and made sure we gave them the best records we could, and some hit records. It was really dope to have such a synergy and energy of all of the dope artists and producers. It was great times. YouKnowIGotSoul: When you look back at that era, do you recognize the impact you guys made? Mario Winans: Yes, Im very grateful for that. It was an era that still is continuing. Those records still play on the radio and thats what lets me know. I was actually having a conversation with Stevie J. the other day. We have a duty to make sure we continue to put out music that has a certain level of longevity to it. I think we have that responsibility. Thats where my focus is for the future. I recognize what we were able to do in the past, but my focus is on whats happening in the future of music. We have a duty as those who have carried music to make another impact. I think its really time for change in this game, so thats what were getting ready to do. YouKnowIGotSoul: True or false, thats y Read more