SiR Deconstructs The Intricate Musicality And Songwriting Of Chasing Summer

By Ural Garrett


Before Top Dawg Entertainment reported the signing of singer SiR in early 2017, he had already cut his songwriting chops with music legends Anita Baker, Stevie Wonder, Jill Scott, along with a host of others. Meanwhile, the Inglewood, California native was known locally for his fresh, under-the-radar R&B/soul assignments, including Wooden Voodoo, the homage-paying Long Live Dilla, and debut album Seven Sundays. Nevertheless SiR's most ambitious project although, Chasing Summer, has gained traction as one of 2019's best due to its phenomenal songwriting and sonic cohesion.


It accommodates that the album is packed with an astounding roster of visitors, including Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Smino, Scott herself, plus a host of others. SiR also popped up on an airy collab with Rapsody and J.I.D. This year as well. Nevertheless, Chasing Summer boils down to how SiR tackles the nuance of each subject through its 45-minute runtime. From describing the isolation of being a side dude by way of the eyes of King of the Hill character "John Redcorn" and longing for creative anxiety relief with labelmate Lamar on "Hair Down" to penning a possible new hook-up anthem in "That's Why I Love You" featuring Sabrina Claudio, Chasing Summer's greatest moments are all backed by a striking soundscape.


Speaking with MTV News, SiR broke down the elaborate writing process in back of Chasing Summer, its down-to-the-wire final feature, and why his music engineering background allowed him to mold the sonics to his specifications.


Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.


MTV News: As a songwriter, you've written and co-written songs for legends and locally known artists around L.A. How much has the city of Inglewood influenced your songwriting even as soon as you're writing about broader subjects?


SiR: It's certainly a large segment of who I am as an artist. L.A. Shaped my whole perspective on life. I use a lot of what I've learned over the years. My whole lingo and conversation is L.A. It's a bit of L.A., Bay Area, and then some southern slang in there 'cause of my family member. I incorporate everything into what I do. In the event you really hope to talk about it though, I want people to know that I want my music to be Black in essence and also I can. On this album, I didn't hold back in what I was saying. I wanted to be as straightforward as possible, however I still wanted to resemble where I'm from.


MTV News: Chasing Summer has some heavy-hitting features from your TDE brethren Kendrick Lamar and Zacari, not to say Lil Wayne. How down to the wire were some of those features before you had to turn it in?


SiR: That Wayne verse came in hot on "Lucy's Love." It was hot off the press. That was the last song we actually worked on. [For] "Mood" ... We had some sample clearance issues. So we got someone to replay the sample to keep the integrity of the record. We used pieces from the old mix that we had alongside the new separated version, so we got so much more life in that song. That was crucial to me because I had so several ideas for that track and we had to change up a lot to prepare it work. Some days you wish to pull a sample from the world wide web that you cannot use. You forget about it, and it's embedded so much in your mind in the song. Any time it comes down to turn in the album, you've got to clear everything. We had to create some changes that I really wasn't satisfied with, nevertheless in the long run — and shout out to [writer/producer] Kelvin Wooten for that, because of that last-minute change — it came out phenomenal. That's been my main go to song on the album for a while and I can't wait to perform it.


MTV News: Can you recall the intensity of writing songs for Chasing Summer in comparison to the early moments of you getting your feet wet in songwriting?


SiR: It's easier and harder at the same time because I have to be more selectable with what I mention. I certainly remember being in a state of agitation and still attempting to figure things out, however right now I have a system. It varies day to day. It's not brilliant, although any time Once I went in writing for the album, I had a plan and stuck to it. I began the album with six songs that I really fucked with and then built around them and thought about what they meant. Some days I may write one idea and that will evolve into other songs. It might be three songs later before I actually have the entire idea come to light. It takes a lot of help. I listen to a lot of music and I play a lot of music with musicians, which the assists to give me an idea of how I want things to look like in the long run. On this album, most of the records were very much personalized. I think I was very straightforward with this album.


MTV News: You're already referred to as a singer/songwriter, however you engineer and mix a lot of your own music as well. What did you want the album to sound like on that side of the process?


SiR: I routinely think crisp-cut corners If I think of my building. It's layers like a home. This album was like a 10-story apartment building with fucking 300 tenants. I routinely look at it as it has to have shape. This one is like a luxury home from 1979 — super nostalgic. I habitually have an idea of how I want the drums and low end to sound like. I want my kick and my snare like where they sit with each other. I keep my vocals first and I take into mind layering my vocals next to bass. I also leave spaces for floating your music through, effects and things like that.


The blending process was actually very long because we kept adding layers musically. A month before we dropped, we were adding the last bit of pieces like the sax on "The Recipe" or the acoustic guitar on "You Can't Save Me." Those changes made the mix process longer than I normally would let it be. This is the initial time where I had a body of work where I feel like, ah, wish I may change this or that. We were really content and happy with the finished product.


MTV News: You kicked off Chasing Summer with the "Hair Down" video shot in Inglewood.


SiR: I'm a Park Circle boy. That one shot where I'm hanging out the window in Park Circle is certainly a moment forever.


MTV News: You also recently released the video for "That's Why I Love You." Should we expect any more visual treatments for the album in the future?


SiR: We're working on something special for "John Redcorn" that I can't mention much about nevertheless, although we're most certainly working on that along with a number of other videos. We're attempting to get as much as we can with this project. Be on the lookout. We're certainly working.