Interview of Walter Earl
By K. Bradley Reeves for "The Guardsman," newspaper of City College of San Francisco
Besides producing young local rappers Don Wann, Big Thizzle and I Ron, Walter is one of the premier jazz pianists around, having studied with Kenny Kirkland and Joe Sample. Currently, he's working for Narada Michael Walden, producer of Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Christina Aguillera and just about everybody else. Walter created the soundtrack for the upcoming movie "underdog."
G.: What do you see wrong with current black music?
W.E.: In San Fran? Well, for one, if you're from here you just don't get props. I see guys producing big-name artists just walking the street. Back east they'd get mobbed. In New York and L.A. they've really supported their scene. And San Francisco is really, really happening, but nobody's been marketing anything but grunge-type music or gangsta rap out of here. And the thing is, I'm talking to triple-platinum producers who don't even like rap.
G.: Where do you see yourself in this?
W.E.: I'm coming from a positive standpoint. The music that kids hear today is just so dark, because everything around them is dark. They listen to their friends, and a lot of these kids are just too ready to die. But it's hard to leave that world when you're not around anything positive.
G.: Where do you see positive change coming from?
W.E.: Well, these kids don't realize you've got to have business sense. You've got to know how to help yourself. You've got 15-year-olds thinking they're grown. It's a power thing. And we've got a lot older cats feeding into that shit, like, until your name's in the paper or on a video you're nobody. Kids don't know what real empathy is for another human being. So what does this mean to the City College students who'll read this? Yes, Virginia, there is a live music scene in San Francisco. Young black people still do play excellent live, original music. They don't just spin records, press buttons or talk about their sex life to a beat.