Students, musicians and music professionals gathered at Morehouse’s Ray Charles Performing Arts Center Friday night to hear Offset dissect his recent album “Set It Off.”
“I gotta present the story,” the Atlanta rapper said about his creative process. “As an artist, I have to paint the picture that I’m trying to tell to my team....when I work, it’s no structure to it. We just create and get in the lab. I’m very outspoken on my ideas.”
Friday’s event was hosted by Grammy U, a membership program within the Recording Academy that offers resources for emerging music professionals. The workshop, titled “Unwrapped,” included a panel conversation that revealed the storytelling and creative vision behind “Set It Off.” Friday marked Grammy U’s second “Unwrapped” program. In May, the organization hosted its first “Unwrapped” with singer Tori Kelly in Los Angeles.
“Set It Off” is the Atlanta rapper’s second studio album. Released in October, the 21-track LP included features from artists like Travis Scott, Don Toliver and Cardi B. On Friday, Offset was joined by his engineer JRich, producer Southside and fashion director SheShe Pendleton. The group offered insights behind “Set It Off” tracks “Say My Grace,” “On the River,” “Worth It,” “Fan,” and “Don’t You Lie.”
“With this album, I felt like I had something to prove with me being by myself,” Offset said.
During the presentation for “On the River,” the album’s opening track, Offset and Southside discussed their close creative partnership, which they described as “brutally honest.” Southside is an Atlanta-based megaproducer who has made hit songs Future, Kanye West and Drake. He produced several tracks on “Set It Off.”
Although Southside didn’t produce all the songs on the album, Offset said Southside still managed to provide sound guidance to ensure his friend and frequent collaborator had a great project. It was Southside who urged Offset to make “On the River” the album’s introduction.
“He can be brutally honest, too, and I don’t take it personal,” Southside said. “That’s our friendship, though. We’re real friends. I can pull up on him in the studio any time. That’s how we are. That’s how we’ve always been.”
JRich, Offset’s day-to-day engineer, outlined the the technical process behind composing the album’s beats. When recording songs, Offset employs the punch-in method (where he just freestyles each line instead of writing them down). JRich explained how they often record in the most unusual places at any time of the day.
“Last night, we recorded until around 5 a.m,” JRich said. “He had a studio set up, but he wanted to record in his living room, so I put the equipment together really quick and knocked out a few records. All of this has to be ready to go. He woke me up at 3 a.m. this morning.”
Later in the event, Offset described the video shoots for his songs and detailed some of the very last-minute decisions that go into submitting an album to a label (Offset is currently signed to Motown Records). For example, the Don Toliver-assisted “Worth It” (the most popular song on “Set It Off”) was one of the final tracks to make the album. The song was originally a Don Toliver cut. Offset said Toliver initially didn’t like the song but later changed his mind.
The music video for “Don’t You Lie” was shot at his home. Offset said he only paid about $3,000 for the shoot, encouraging artists that not every video has to be a big-budget production. One of those big-budget productions on “Set It Off” was the “Fan” video. The track was one of the first singles on the album. In the video, which also stars streamer Kai Cenat and actress Paige Hurd, Offset channeled his inner Michael Jackson by referencing the dance moves and videos from “Thriller” and “Smooth Criminal.”
Offset said the video was a 26-hour shoot that took place in New York City. SheShe Pendleton, who offered creative direction on the video, said it was her favorite project to work on. Pendleton said Offset received direct support from Michael Jackson’s estate, including them allowing him to wear his popular outfits.
Pendleton started as Offset’s personal shopper. Now, she’s his manager, creative director and fashion director
“I almost cried, y’all, because I love Michael Jackson,” Pendleton said about “Fan.” “As a stylist, I get to say I pulled Michael Jackson’s clothes, and not many get to do that.”
Offset closed the event by thanking his fans for their continued support, especially in his hometown.
“If you’re creative, you just got to be a creative,” Offset said. “When I say that, I mean that money doesn’t determine how far you’ll go. All of us standing up here started with zero, and maybe people were around saying this might not be the direction you should go (in), but if you really believe it in your heart and you know (your purpose), then you just have to continue creating.”
In April, Offset stopped at the Coca-Cola Roxy for his first solo tour. His latest single is “Style Rare,” which features fellow Atlanta rapper Gunna. Earlier this month, Offset welcomed his third child with Cardi B.
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