Welcome to Heat Check, a biweekly music column where AJC culture reporter DeAsia Paige explores the temperature of Georgia’s buzzing, expansive music scene. The column includes music news, trends and any Georgia-related music that DeAsia is listening to. If you’re a Georgia artist and have music you want to be considered for this column — or if you just want to talk music — feel free to send an email to deasia.paige@ajc.com
“Twin, where have you been?”
That was the line that inundated TikTok after the release of Muni Long’s 2023 smash “Made for Me.” Thanks to social media, the song became ubiquitous this spring, even topping Billboard’s R&B charts and leading to a remix with Mariah Carey.
But it wasn’t the first time the artist, born Priscilla Renea Hamilton, wrote a song that became a meme. Her breakout 2022 single “Hrs & Hrs” saw similar success — beating Beyoncé for best R&B performance at last year’s Grammy Awards.
Now, the songwriter-turned-singer is back with her sophomore album “Revenge.” The 14-track LP, out Friday, extends her knack for making singalong hooks and catchy R&B ballads. There’s the resentful blues of “Ruined Me,” the jazz-inflected tone of “Things I Never Said” and the piano-laced pop of the opening track “Superpowers.”
Credit: James Bee
Credit: James Bee
For Long, creating music that feels as real as it is proficient is the fulcrum of her songwriting.
“I really feel super confident in that if I continue to make quality music, that we might actually — and I joke about saving R&B — but I really think we might actually start seeing some real life being poured into the genre,” the 35-year-old said. “I’m excited for that because I think R&B informs pop music, it informs gospel, even rap. I look forward to leading the pack in that area.”
To do that on her upcoming album, the Gifford, Florida, native worked closely with Atlanta producers over the past two years. “Revenge” features credits from esteemed hitmakers from the city like OG Parker, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox (the latter two co-produced “Made for Me”). Tricky Stewart, another Atlanta legend, executive produced the album.
The collaborations hearken back to Long’s former life as an Atlanta resident (she lived in the city from 2008-2010), which she says gave her a “crash course in songwriting.”
Ahead of the release of her new album, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to Muni Long about making viral songs and creating an R&B legacy.
Q: What inspires you to write?
A: I don’t necessarily have concepts. It’s not that deep. I’m more so leaning into a feeling and things that go through my head that I may not say out loud and I know everyone can relate to. (It’s) the real human part of us that we don’t want to show anyone. It just depends. It starts with the music. How does it make me feel? What is it drawing out of me? And I just like to keep it real. I don’t really like to make things up, even if it’s a subject matter that isn’t something I’m going through. I’m able to build off stories I’ve heard that other people have told me.
Q: Were there any memorable moments when writing “Revenge?”
A: I know that the whole time period was after I’d just had my (1-year-old) son. I had a very traumatic birth and I was just navigating how I’m going to be a mom and still do this, so I think working on this album really helped get me back on track, mentally, so I wouldn’t have postpartum (depression).
Q: Can you speak on your creative partnership with Tricky Stewart on this album?
A: I’ve known Tricky for a very long time. He was one of the first big producers to give me my props and really encourage me when I was songwriting. To work with him in this capacity as an artist is not only really cool, but it’s super easy because we’ve both been working on our craft for so long. It’s just a level of professionalism that exists where we’re able to skip over the minutiae of it all. We can just skip to “This song is dope. How can we make it the greatest that it can be?” We only ever had one moment where we weren’t in agreement, but he heard me out and we ended up going in the direction I wanted to go. That was the day that we ended up writing the title track.
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journ
Credit: Robb Cohen for the Atlanta Journ
Q: What is like seeing your songs become memes and connect with people online?
A: It feels very much surreal because I’m in a bubble. When I see stuff, sometimes I wonder if this is real because I’ll randomly click on something because my music would be the music in the video. It’s hard to know whether it’s just my algorithm or is my song really that popular. I really don’t have any feelings about it because I’m so focused on the next thing and my work. I’d see it and be like, “Wow, that’s crazy,” and move on to the next thing. I don’t get caught up in the virality of it all.
Q: You’ve written for artists like Rihanna, Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande. For you, what makes a classic R&B song?
A: Two things — authenticity and feeling. It’s also about intention. Even before I walk in the booth, I know I want to bring something of quality into the world. It doesn’t matter what you say on the track, as long as the intention is there to make people feel something.
Q: How did “Made for Me” come together?
A: I had put this studio in my house because I was itching to make music after being pregnant forever. I actually wrote the song about my son. It was just piano and vocal for a long time. Then, when I was putting the final touches on my album, my A&R (artists & repertoire, a record label representative who helps with artist development) suggested I work with JD and Bryan Michael-Cox, who were in Vegas with Usher at the time. We brought them over. We actually worked on something completely different for the first two days. Nothing was working. And I was like, “I do have this song that needs some drums and additional production, would you guys be open?” They were. I heard the current version of the song a few weeks later, and we put it out. It was the hit that almost didn’t happen.
Credit: James Bee
Credit: James Bee
Q: Were you in a vengeful spirit when writing “Revenge?” The songs don’t sound that way.
A: Revenge doesn’t always have to be dark. It can be just glowing up. I saw something that said if she glows up after you, it was you, bro. So sometimes revenge is just being healthy, doing well, smiling, (being) happy. No matter what you’ve been through, not giving up and continuing to elevate, and that’s what this album is about — the best revenge is your success.
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