Interview with Anwar Robinson

Anwar Robinson became a household name when he reached the top ten of American Idol's fourth season. He is now getting ready to launch his debut album, Everything and give people a glimpse of his heart.

TheCelebrityCafe: How long have you been working on the album?

Anwar Robinson: Well this album, physically working on this album took about 2 and a half weeks to record and write. It was born out of a great process. My producer and I put our heads together and we came up with this project. A lot of help conceptually came from my management team.

TCC: What do you hope the album says about you?

AR: Well, I hope that the album connects to people and shows people who I am inside out. It's really like the album of my heart. Like, if you were to take apart my heart and look inside, you would see everything inside it. I want people to feel that. That when I'm signing, I'm singing about things they've been through and I'm singing directly to them.

TCC: So, would you say this is a love album or about your life?

AR: [Laughs.] It's definitely more of a love album. There is a song on there called "Push" that speaks about my mission in life to persevere and not let anything stop me from completing my tasks or my goal. That in itself is a love song—A love of your mission and getting your stuff donne.

TCC: Is "Push" your favorite song in the album or do you have a specific one that you're the most proud of?

AR: Everything is my favorite song, but "Push" is a very close second to it. Just thinking of those words, "push," it just moves me every time I sing it. I get excited about it. Everything is like the core of my heart. It's just the quintessential love song, especially when you find that special someone. It talks about what you would do, what I would do, anyway.

TCC: Have you found that special someone?

AR: Well, actually music is that special someone. So, I'm very much in love with my craft. It's not just a cliché when I say it because I've been performing for a very long time. I've been able to touch a lot of people's lives through music so I count it as the relationship that I have that has brought me a lot of joy. I almost said the most joy, but there's a few that have brought me even more joy. You know, my spiritual connection with the universe and our creator is definitely at the top of that list. My music is a gift from God and the fact that I am able to do what I do through music means the world to me.

TCC: How long have you been working with music?

AR: Wow, well I've been singing since I was a child, about 8 years old, playing piano since I was four and writing songs since I was a teenager. I've loved every bit of it.

TCC: What is it that you love so much about music?

AR: Everybody can relate to it, no matter where you come from. No matter who you are, no matter what you've been through; it's the universal language and everybody can relate to it.

TCC: Do you remember the first time you performed?

AR: There are milestones: There's the first time I performed as a child. I was ten years old. I sang "Little Drummer Boy." I was a little nervous; mom and the family were in the audience.

I remember performing on stage as a kid, in the boy choir, going all over the world and doing that. I remember the first time that I sang as a young adult in college and the feeling that that brought. That's when it finally got to me that, "OK you're supposed to be singing." I was 19 years old.

TCC: Do you have any future projects, in film or plays?

AR: [Plays] just opened me up to a whole different way of telling a story. It allowed me to explore some emotions that I wouldn't ordinarily ever get to explore while just performing music.

I'm looking forward to really promoting the life out of this album. It really, it's my first album of course, is so honest and so real to me. I want people to really get to know who I am through this album and I'm going to work as hard as I can. That's where we're keeping our focus right now.

TCC: Do you have any tour dates set?

AR: We're still working on general tour dates like for the late spring and summer, a lot of promising opportunities to open for some artists, go on the road with some acts that are in the R&B, Soul genre. We have some spot dates that are coming up. It's just a lot of appearances and promotional work. We go wherever duty calls for us to go.

TCC: What was the American Idol experience like and what did you take from it?

AR: American Idol, first of all I did it on a dare.

It was a roller coaster ride—emotionally, mentally. I was always thinking, "OK, I may go home this time, I might go home this time" like every time so I wouldn't be so crushed when it actually happened. By the time it happened I was already in the top 10 and everybody knew who I was. I was like, "Wow, I didn't expect to last this long." But I thank God for the gift that got me that far. It helped renew my purpose in my artistry. To reach millions of people like that is something I definitely don't take for granted. It was definitely one heck of a ride. The tour was exciting, recording the music for the albums we did, that was exciting. I met a lot of great people, it was a great experience.

TCC: Do you think it is a good launching platform for artists?

AR: If you know what to do with it, yes it can be. If you go there for the right reasons, make the right connections, make the right choices. It can definitely be a benefit. It doesn't matter how long after the process. There's a saying, "the cream rises to the top" and we've seen that with Jennifer Hudson, how she just took Idol and ran with it and made her own path. And now, she's the amazing Jennifer Hudson that we've all come to grown to love, that we the Idols already knew was there. She was always that talent. She was always a sweet person. The world getting to see someone revealed that way is an amazing thing. I look forward to that for my process. People are so receptive to what we're doing. I'm looking forward to it.

TCC: Do you still watch American Idol?

AR: From time to time. The ironic thing is that since American Idol I have to work quite a lot performing or at the studio, writing, working with other artists. So I'm actually living the life path. So I really don't get to see it that much.

TCC: Who would you say are some of your musical influences are?

AR: First and foremost Stevie Wonder. Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, R. Kelly, Prince; oh wow, there's a lot. Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, it goes on and on. I mentioned Jennifer Hudson, and Fantasia. When I watch people on stage I can see the passion in their eyes and that's what I look for. And of course great sounds because I'm a musician. I'm rather biased to good sounds. You see it in their eyes. You feel something when they go on stage.

TCC: Have you had the chance to meet any of them?

AR: I have gotten to meet Stevie Wonder—I met him when I was about 12 yrs old. I was in a boy's chorus and we performed with him and Ray Charles. I actually got to stand next to Ray Charles, it was kind of exhilarating. It was wonderful.

Female influences: I've met Aretha Franklin--she's very, very wonderful. I met Beyoncé, very nice young lady. Of course Fantasia and J-Hud, I chit chat with them online. That's goes to the extent of my idols. I know I'm going to meet so many more. I just take it all in stride, it's a part of the process.

TCC: Since I am calling you on a Friday night, what is your typical Friday night?

AR: If I wasn't writing or in the studio, I'd probably be watching the Steelers game. I think they're playing tonight or tomorrow afternoon--see, I'm so out of the loop. Or strategizing for the next move with my team. We work around the clock.

TCC: So that is your main focus.

AR: We definitely are focused on our goals, and we've been blessed enough to accomplish them so we gotta keep on our grind.

Everything comes out Jan. 25. It will be available on iTunes, Amazon and his website.