The Blackshakespeare Chronicles - Deitrick Haddon - D DAY

How does 7 Days differ from Crossroads?
Haddon: On all my records I produce and write all of my music and on 7 Days I didn’t. I kind of let go of the wheel and let producers Tim and Bob take the lead…and that’s kind of a big deal for me. I trusted Tim and Bob to deliver a fresh sound for me and they did it. That’s the real big deal about it.

How do you feel about the overwhelming comparisons with your musical styling and those of legendary artist Sam Cooke?
Haddon: I feel blessed and humbled because I think Sam Cooke was one of the greatest talents that ever walked the planet. His ability to perform live was amazing. His ability to mesmerize and capture a crowd was off the chart. And then his ability to articulate his music was phenomenal. So those are big shoes to fill when people relate my music to him.

You recorded Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” on the soundtrack for the movie The Gospel. What do you think Sam would have said about your contribution?
Haddon: It came about by the production team called the Trendsetters. They had the opportunity to do the song and they gave me the song. If Sam were alive today, I think he would say Deitrick you did OK. [Laughter] I have all of Sam Cooke’s documentaries of his life and of his performances. He was a very detailed person. He would really express the way he said his lyrics. I’m not a real detailed person. I just like to get in there and sing it and it comes out the way it comes out. I sing it how I feel it and it just comes out that way. Sam was able to do both. Sing it how he felt it as well as articulate it the right way. So he would say Deitrick I give you a B. I give you an A for feeling but I give you a C for articulating. I did it in one take and the guys said we got it and I said OK and we went with it. So I don’t think he would be disappointed but he would have probably said you could have done better.

Sam eventually went R&B. Al Green, who ironically also recorded “A Change Is Gonna Come”, eventually went R&B. Has Deitrick Haddon ever consider going R&B?
Haddon: I had the opportunity many times to go all R&B. Back in 1990 I had a deal on the table with Arista Records and pulled back from because I wasn’t ready. Tim and Bob were actually producing that record along with Tony Rich. We were all at a studio called Sound Suite Studios in Detroit Michigan. Here we are years later and I had a chance to work again with Tim and Bob and YES I have considered going crossover and that’s what our attempt is. That’s our goal. And because I don’t want to loose my fan base we gradually take them there. We are not just going to abruptly turn the gospel record into an R&B record. Now this is my perception of crossing over to R&B. I think gospel is supposed to be secular. I think that when Jesus saved us he said, “Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall become witnesses unto Judea and unto the utter most parts of the world.”