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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You are listening to us on Broadway World, iHeart, Spotify, wherever you listen to artists talking about art. Two years ago, I moved from New Jersey to Michigan. Michigan is the home of many, many incredible artists like our next guest. If you know Flint, Michigan, and you know some music and if you grew up at a certain time, I know you twirled to, ooh, oh Sheila. That was my jam, Melvin. I could see. We played it in the house last night and we danced and we did a little dip and a two-step.

[0:36] Melvin Riley: There you go. That's what I'm talking about.

[0:42] Robert Bannon: I tried to clap on key and on beat.

[0:47] Melvin Riley: I'm sure you did. I'm sure you did.

[0:55] Robert Bannon: That is very kind. That is very, very kind. Melvin Riley is here. He's got an incredible new album. Wait till you hear the title. Wait till you hear what he's doing. It's something that not a lot of artists are... He's doing... It's all original, real deal, making real music for you all. Melvin Riley, welcome to The Roundtable.

[1:07] Melvin Riley: Hey, thanks for having me, man. Glad to be here.

[1:11] Robert Bannon: I'm excited. You know, Flint, Michigan, and your history growing up here, how important is your roots here in the Michigan of it all to you and your career?

[1:21] Melvin Riley: It's amazing, man. We actually got our break out of Detroit from the Electrifying Mojo, which was on WJLB back in the day and a humongous personality on radio. And so Michigan, with all the talent that have come out of here and all the influences, Motown, George Clinton lives. I mean, Michigan is one of those quiet states that people really don't mention a lot of, but it's been a major influence in my musical journey.

[1:51] Robert Bannon: I love that so much. And, you know, when you... I have a joke and I try to sing the song, but when we talk about Ready for the World and you as the vocalist and producer and playing instruments and songwriting and co-founding it with number one hit songs, with Love You Down, with Tonight, with Deep Inside, all these songs that people grew up with, what's it like when you're at the, I don't know, grocery store and your music comes on or you're flicking through the channels and a commercial takes it? It has to be wild to hear it on the radio and people still connect all these years.

[2:22] Melvin Riley: All these years is the key, man. You know, when you were young, we were 19, 21, out on the road, got these number one songs. I'm in the studio writing, producing, but you never think about where it might be 30, 40 years from now when you're in the moment of recording, you just want to create a great song. And that's a testament to the years of writing great music. It goes on and it goes on, man. So if I'm in a grocery store with my daughter or my granddaughter, it is still that same feeling that when I was 19, when I first heard Tonight for the first time on the radio, it never gets old with me. I don't know about other artists, anybody yet? No, me, it's always a big deal.

[3:07] Robert Bannon: So you decided to come out with an album that's called No AI. And when you talk about an album, you're not just putting out a little EP, five songs, you have a full giant double album, 19 tracks. All you, No AI, your boy, everything. How did this come about?

[3:30] Melvin Riley: Well, that's all I've always done from the beginning is played my own instruments, played my own keyboards, my sounds, and I've never changed that formula. I don't want to, and I don't put down anyone else that does the AI music and hey, have at it. I'm just saying for my particular album, it's called No AI because I really put a lot of work into it, recorded man, at least two years and took a lot of thought, a lot of spirit, a lot of realness to this album called No AI. And I want this to go forever. So when you listen to the 19 tracks, I didn't try to just put songs on there. I wanted to put great songs on this album.

[4:15] Robert Bannon: And they are, I got a chance to listen to it. You get a chance to stream the whole thing. I always tell people, like I grew up from the days where you'd go to the store, you would buy a CD or an album, a tape, whatever. And you'd listen to it from beginning to end. It was a story. It was put together in a certain way. Listen to the whole album, everybody. Listen to all the tracks. Don't just pick and choose. Sit down, play it in the background. Listen to the whole experience. How do you describe the sound? Have you changed your sound? Is it still giving the classic sounds that you give? How do you describe what's on this?

[4:46] Melvin Riley: Yeah, it's all me. And to be honest about it, a lot of the Ready for the World, when you hear the Love You Downs, Can't He Do It Like This, Tonight, Oh Sheila, a lot of that is still just me in the studio playing those instruments and no discrediting the other guys in the group. But foundationally, truthfully, a lot of what you heard from the Ready for the World is what you're going to get from the No AI album, which is that authentic sound, melody, vocals, and real hooks, which I think nowadays we need to get back to the bridges, get back to the hooks, get the people involved. When they're riding, they should say, that's my jam. And that's what we're trying to go back to. Not just songs, but it's time for people to really eat that real food again.

[5:30] Robert Bannon: Yeah. Melvin, I need a song. I need a good chorus. I need a bridge. I want a key change. I want to play the drums. I want the goosebumps. I want to sing. That's what you need.

[5:42] Melvin Riley: You got to have all of that. You got to have all of that.

[5:45] Robert Bannon: It was funny. Before I was coming on to talk to you earlier today, I read a news article that title is saying that they're going to label music that is generated by AI. And I know there's very particular rules and things about AI generated music, who gets paid, who's the writer, all of this. What made you decide to take... Even though you say you've always done it this way, it is a stance to name it that. I'm doing it the real old fashion. This is good old R&B music. So was there a moment where you decided, I'm calling it this. This is No AI.

[6:17] Melvin Riley: It was always a... I knew it would be a little controversial because of people would be like, well, man, I'm using AI and I'm using AI. I didn't want it to be about anybody else's... What everybody does is what they do. I just think using the name No AI lets people say, well, let me check it out and see, well, can he even compete with the AI that's going on? When I'm letting you know I can and let's go ahead and let's do it. Because I think that authenticity is always going to be a great thing. But yeah, in writing that No AI, I just said, hey, it really is what it is. It's authentic.

[6:52] Robert Bannon: So who collaborates with you when you get in the studio? Do you still play the... You still on the keyboards? You still writing this music?

[6:59] Melvin Riley: It's all me. Everything that you're going to hear on this No AI album. I did a song with a guy, Simeo Overall, which is a great producer. Did a track with Derek Joshua. The Derek Joshua joint is called Forget About Her. I'm sorry. And then the joint I did with Simeo, I did a blues joint on there. And I did also a mid-tempo on the album, Friend Like Me and Quite Like You. So those were the songs that Simeo and I did. But other than that, everything is pretty much me. And it's like 19 songs. So I love collaborating with different producers and artists. It's just sometimes when you get into that zone, it becomes all you. And then you're just sitting there like, okay, can I call somebody else to come in on this? And sometimes you can, sometimes you can't.

[7:52] Robert Bannon: Go to IamMelvinReilly.com. The link will be below. You can follow him on Instagram. The album will be out and about and you can be listening to it and streaming it. I mean, he's been doing this since you were 19 years old when you got signed to a major label.

[8:05] Melvin Riley: 19 years old. And then we came out with Tonight, then Independently, then Love You Down. I mean, Oh Sheila, Love You Down, Gently. So it just grew from there.

[8:15] Robert Bannon: I want to know who Sheila is. And maybe she's the cougar on the new album.

[8:20] Melvin Riley: There's a track called Cougar. Maybe it is Sheila's back, y'all. You never know.

[8:24] Robert Bannon: You never know. So when I read your bios, a lot of younger or newer artists, I should say, have credited your sound. People like Alicia Keys, people like Chris Brown, people like Usher, people like Trey Songz, et cetera. Was that something that you were aware of? Did they see you? Do you hear it? Do you feel the influence in their music?

[8:49] Melvin Riley: I absolutely do. A lot of artists would let me know how they feel about my influence on them. And I'm so honored by that. And at the same time, when you're listening to songs, you can hear that vibe, that Melvin Riley, Ready For The World vibe. And a lot of artists will let you know, hey man, I was going for this. Steve Russell from Troop was telling me when he was working with Chris Brown, that's what he was looking for, that Melvin Riley, Ready For The World vibe. And of course, Chris Brown delivered, Usher delivers everybody. And I'm just glad to be a part of that swag. You got Teddy Riley that did the New Jack Swing thing. I think you got Melvin Riley that did that Slow Song Swag thing that everybody hears in that vibe. So man, I'm just honored to be a part of it.

[9:29] Melvin Riley: You know that generation, I'm a teacher during the day. The kids love to discover-

[9:34] Robert Bannon: Oh man, my mom and dad were both school teachers, right?

[9:39] Melvin Riley: The kids love to discover these songs because the beats and the samples and all of hip hop and modern day, the way music has evolved, they've taken the great samples and beats that you all have created and they spin it on its head. So when they discover your music, when they discover Prince, when they discover Michael Jackson, there's a vibe and a style, this will live forever. It lives forever. That is so huge. I love that. You want to be ingrained in that forever. When my granddaughter's granddaughters or whatever, grandsons, you made a mark in music. You did something that was relevant to this art, and you can't take that away.

[10:20] Robert Bannon: Yeah. So when you talk about the new album and you talk about these 19 tracks, who is this album for? Am I putting it on when I'm making dinner for a date night? Am I putting it on at the gym? Am I driving in my car home from work? What do you picture people doing when they listen to this music?

[10:37] Melvin Riley: I'm going to tell you a secret. I, for the first time, heard this album, if you know what I mean. And what I mean by that is when you are recording,

[10:46] Melvin Riley: Talks NO AI, Ready for the World, Keeping Real Music Alive!

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