The-Dream on Why He'd Give His Kidney to Beyoncé
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, The-Dream talks about his friendship with Beyoncé and more.
You worked on the new song “My House” with Beyoncé for the Renaissance film — what was it like creating it?
It was beautiful. Me and that girl, man, we just clicked. It’s not even work anymore. It is, “Hey, well, what you doing? What you doing? Good morning, good morning, let’s do something. Let’s do it.” And then the song’s done.
So that was one of those things that happened pretty late. We were like, “Yo, we need something for this film.” And it’s October at that particular point. “Are you going to pick a record we already have?” And I think we thought about that at first, and then it was more so about, “Hey, let’s just do something from how we are feeling now. Man, let’s just have a good time.”
And then that record came about, and that’s kind of the end of the story. “How do we wrap Renaissance up in a way without also trying to compete with it or make something that’s light-Renaissance, because Renaissance is a special thing?”
Renaissance, the album, the tour and the film, has had such a profound impact. What’s it like to be a part of it?
It’s like everybody’s back outside and feeling some type of way. I always feel like this gift is definitely a duty. If you got it, you use it and you share it, of course. That album and place that Bey created gave everyone a green light to say, “Hey, man, let’s get out here and just go for it again. We know it’s crazy out here, let’s go for it again. Let’s try it.” And that’s what she did. And I’m super-proud of her.
I remember going to see your concert in 2012, where Beyoncé and Jay-Z showed up two months after Blue Ivy was born …
Yeah, I couldn’t believe she came either. Because Jay was going to come, and he was like, “Bey’s coming.” I was like, “Hold on. What? She can’t come. This baby’s fresh out the oven.” And I don’t even know if she knew at the time that I knew that, but man, it’s things like that that you know you’d give a kidney to that person. It’s the small things. ‘Cause she didn’t have to do it, and she did.
When you worked on “Single Ladies,” did you know it would become part of pop culture history?
Oh, absolutely. Immediately. I knew exactly what it was from the get-go. I didn’t know what it was when I was just talking shit about doing it right before that — because I was talking completely nuts and out of my mind, which is the thing I have to do to psych myself up at that time. You know how it is when you’re the young person and you’re just there? Like, “Yeah. I’m going to make …” In my mind though, I’m like, “What the hell am I going to make? What am I going to do today? You better do something. You just came here talking all that shit. You better write a record.”
And myself came through for myself, and I was like, “Oh, shit. This is a smash.” And back again, though, it was about her. Her story. Her things. And that’s my point. When you make something that describes the place and the feeling of a person and what they’re dealing with right now, you can wrap that into a song format, man, that’s the best thing an artist can do for anybody that’s investing in them as an artist.
You worked on the new song “My House” with Beyoncé for the Renaissance film — what was it like creating it?
It was beautiful. Me and that girl, man, we just clicked. It’s not even work anymore. It is, “Hey, well, what you doing? What you doing? Good morning, good morning, let’s do something. Let’s do it.” And then the song’s done.
So that was one of those things that happened pretty late. We were like, “Yo, we need something for this film.” And it’s October at that particular point. “Are you going to pick a record we already have?” And I think we thought about that at first, and then it was more so about, “Hey, let’s just do something from how we are feeling now. Man, let’s just have a good time.”
And then that record came about, and that’s kind of the end of the story. “How do we wrap Renaissance up in a way without also trying to compete with it or make something that’s light-Renaissance, because Renaissance is a special thing?”
Renaissance, the album, the tour and the film, has had such a profound impact. What’s it like to be a part of it?
It’s like everybody’s back outside and feeling some type of way. I always feel like this gift is definitely a duty. If you got it, you use it and you share it, of course. That album and place that Bey created gave everyone a green light to say, “Hey, man, let’s get out here and just go for it again. We know it’s crazy out here, let’s go for it again. Let’s try it.” And that’s what she did. And I’m super-proud of her.
I remember going to see your concert in 2012, where Beyoncé and Jay-Z showed up two months after Blue Ivy was born …
Yeah, I couldn’t believe she came either. Because Jay was going to come, and he was like, “Bey’s coming.” I was like, “Hold on. What? She can’t come. This baby’s fresh out the oven.” And I don’t even know if she knew at the time that I knew that, but man, it’s things like that that you know you’d give a kidney to that person. It’s the small things. ‘Cause she didn’t have to do it, and she did.
When you worked on “Single Ladies,” did you know it would become part of pop culture history?
Oh, absolutely. Immediately. I knew exactly what it was from the get-go. I didn’t know what it was when I was just talking shit about doing it right before that — because I was talking completely nuts and out of my mind, which is the thing I have to do to psych myself up at that time. You know how it is when you’re the young person and you’re just there? Like, “Yeah. I’m going to make …” In my mind though, I’m like, “What the hell am I going to make? What am I going to do today? You better do something. You just came here talking all that shit. You better write a record.”
And myself came through for myself, and I was like, “Oh, shit. This is a smash.” And back again, though, it was about her. Her story. Her things. And that’s my point. When you make something that describes the place and the feeling of a person and what they’re dealing with right now, you can wrap that into a song format, man, that’s the best thing an artist can do for anybody that’s investing in them as an artist.
