Sean Carter Interview (Part 1)

Shelly Silkee of Loving Left Eye interviewed one of Left Eye's producers, Sean Carter (not Jay-Z). He was producing music for her along with other artists during the 'Fantasy1.com' era. He talks about how they met, her group Jena-Si-Qua, how her song "Crazy" (used for her solo performance on the 'FanMail Tour') came about, and more!

Part 1

Every musician has their right-hand man. They have a person that helps keep them humble, the person that they can bounce their creativity off of and get an honest opinion, the person that helps them to develop and flourish. Sean Carter worked as a producer for Left Eye Productions, and as such was able to see the musically inclined and creative side to Lisa Lopes. Sometimes when two forces come together, one of those forces gets stronger….. or the forces collide and create a hurricane. This was Hurricane Left Eye Productions, and the winds of creativity are –still- blowing! This is an interview with Sean Carter as he relives some of the memories of his time with the late and great Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.

Shelly: As I understand, you worked with Lisa at Left Eye Productions as a producer. Did you work strictly on Lisa's tracks, or were there also other artists you helped with?

Sean Carter: Yes, I worked on other artists. She had a group called Rush that was actually my group until she signed them up. I think could still give rappers today a run and this was ‘97 – ‘98. That's another interview. Jena-si-qua, Andre Rison at one point believe it or not, Nandi, Krazy, Drip Drop, and Malik. So many! I can remember all of them. She had a gang of talent around her always. Rappers, singers, song writers, musicians, composers, engineers, and I worked with all of them in some form. The names are a little foggy because it's been so long but she was definitely a magnet for talent.

Shelly: How did you meet Lisa and/or how did you end up working for her?

Sean Carter: I met Lisa through some guys that were signed to her. A group she had called Jena-si-qua, I think. They lived across the yard from us in the same apartment complex. They were rappers and at the time I was in a rap group myself. So naturally we went at it at first, but we realized that we had that mutual respect for each other and we became really close. They found out we produced our own music and over time we eventually were introduced to her but as rappers. It didn't go well. Lol. She said our beats sounded pretty good but we needed work. Back to the drawing board we go. We never approached the group again about going back. My group eventually split up and I was just producing with a friend. Krazy, one of the Jena-si-qua members, contacted me and asked me to produce a couple of songs and he wanted to present them to Lisa. We did, and we went back for a second meeting. Jackpot! She loved it. She loved it so much that she wanted to use the song in the FanMail tour as a solo song for herself. So if u ever watch a performance of the FanMail tour, all of the Left Eye solo songs were done by me and a partner of mine. We instantly hit it off and started brainstorming on the solo project. My partner eventually left and it was just me. It never really clicked with him.

Shelly: That's awesome! I attended the FanMail tour! So when she was performing "Crazy", was that the song you worked on for her?

Sean Carter: Yes. That's the song I did for her, and that's what started it all.

Shelly: What was Lisa's creative process like when it came down to a song? Did she like to hear the beat first and flow off of that? Or did she come in with lyrics or a certain idea for a song and hope to build off from there?

Sean Carter: She did a little bit of both. With me it was more of a beat first scenario. I would make a bunch of tracks and come back to the studio and we would vibe out and come up with all kinds of ideas and plans and even new ways to put out records. We became very close because of that “beat first” mentality because usually other producers would force the song on to her, but under me we were able to make complete records. The track and the vocals truly became one in our sessions because there was no one stopping our creative process. It was scary how fast we came up with work sometimes!

Shelly: Was Lisa a perfectionist when it came to laying down a track? Would she constantly re-do things she recorded in hopes she could get it just right? Or was she so professional and good at what she did that the first time was a home run?

Sean Carter: Again, it was a little bit of both. She was a perfectionist and a professional. I was fairly new to this game as a producer when all of this started with Lisa. I say new as in new to selling my tracks and new to being open to producing for other artists, but when an artist like Left Eye calls, I was so ready to change my ways.

Shelly: So working with Lisa was different from how it was to work with other artists?

Sean Carter: I would go in with an artist and they would do a song and go home. Then we’d come back the next day and say, "I want to do it over. I can do it better."We would record the new version but almost every time it was hard to say if they did it better. Well that was until I met Left Eye. She would do it twice as good the second time. If she said “I want to re-record,” then you knew it would be better. Her clarity was special, but it was her through-and-through. It’s hard to explain but her better was truly better ALWAYS!

Shelly: Did you work on the Fantasy1.com or N.I.N.A albums at all?

Sean Carter: I did not work on those albums directly because we did so much work that the “alter-personality” artist was possible because we had songs and ideas that were not possible for the average artist. You have artists now with split personalities and that was Lisa first. All those tracks and songs and vibe sessions we had is where a lot of that started.

Shelly: Did she ever bring you to Honduras with her?

Sean Carter: I never went to Honduras, although I was supposed to go but I never did.

To be continued....