NEED TO KNOW
Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds is indeed thankful for the “mmrs.”
The renowned songwriter and producer, 67, caught up with PEOPLE ahead of his run on Uncle Charlie’s R&B Cookout tour later this month to discuss a few of his biggest hits — as well as the process of producing a track for Fall Out Boy that, as he now recalls, differentiated from much of his previous work.
In 2007, the pop-punk group released its third album, Infinity on High, which featured two tracks produced by Babyface: “I’m Like a Lawyer with the Way I’m Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)” and FOB’s multi-platinum single “Thnks fr th Mmrs.”
While creating the latter, as Babyface now says, he learned a bit from both working with frontman Patrick Stump and playing around with the “different amps” they set up in the studio. And as for what led him to his work with FOB, he attributes his experience executive producing the 2001 soundtrack of Josie and the Pussycats with getting him there.
“I learned a lot, actually, from doing the Josie and the Pussycats project as well. So it taught me that I can go down that road if I want to, if I need to,” Babyface says. “And it was fun… Something that I say, you don’t want to get to a point to where they just think of you as an R&B dude, because then that’s your limitations. You’re limited immediately and you’re not going to get a lot of calls.”
“So with this, it allows me to still be able to work with a number of people, and to this day, still be getting calls to work with people,” he adds. “Had I just stuck on just doing just ‘Babyface’ and just ‘Babyface music,’ then that would not be. That wouldn’t be an open door at all.”
“Thnks fr th Mmrs,” which the RIAA certified as six-times platinum in 2023, saw some additional love from Babyface back in 2023 when he performed the track during his NPR Tiny Desk Concert alongside a few other fan-favorites, including Tevin Campbell’s “Can We Talk” and Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You.”
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In March, FOB drummer Andy Hurley reflected on the group’s experience working alongside the 13-time Grammy winner, telling Drumeo that the process of teaming up for their 2007 hit was “pretty amazing.”
“We were gonna record at his house for the drums,” he said. “And then it was just not the right room or drums. So we ended up recording the drums for the song with [producer] Neal Avron, who did the rest of the record. Because it was mostly Babyface working with Patrick to kind of co-write, help write or change parts — and especially vocally, I think was where Babyface really came in.”
“He’s a legend, so working with him was one of the cooler things I guess I’ve gotten to do.”
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