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Thought it was an alright read so there ya go, Gil Smith who works with Wayne backstage on Tour talks about what it's like and also talks about Keri Hilson. This is the guy that produced the MTV Unplugged Album as well.
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When it comes to seeing a concert, music fans tend to concentrate on what is on the stage.
But Gil Smith II, the music producer for both Lil Wayne and Keri Hilson, works primarily backstage.
“I love working with Gil,” Hilson said. “He’s got a great musical vision.
“Me and Wayne aren’t the only people he’s done it for. His experience just has made him incredible.
“I’ve worked with him before. Now I’ve actually seen some growth. He’s always been great, but now I really really appreciate working with him.
“He makes my tour life on stage go very smoothly.”
Not surprisingly, Smith has mutual admiration for Hilson.
“I want to just let people know to be on the lookout for Keri,” he said. “She’s an amazing talent. She’s a true singer and an amazing writer.
“I’ve been with her since October of last year, and this tour here, I’ve been seeing her confidence and sureness about what she’s doing.
“And it’s gone through the roof. She’s just a great person. I think she writes amazing music.”
Smith, with his partner Adrian “AP” Porter, was instrumental in putting the I Am Still Music Tour together from choosing musical selections and doing the production to coordinating acoustic arrangements and mixes.
“Wayne, he’s a different artist, and he’s very confident about knowing his music. So in terms of rehearsal and stuff like that, he doesn’t really show up,” Smith said.
“He says, ‘Hey, I know my songs. You do what you do and let me know what’s what.’
“We kind of put together the show and then we bring him in on the last couple of days and say, ‘This is the show. This is what song we’re doing here.’
“For the most part, everything sticks. He might make a couple of changes, and we’re off.”
Smith said one of the biggest challenges with the I Am Still Music Tour was keeping it current with Lil Wayne’s musical catalogue.
“The crazy thing is between the first leg and the second leg, which is roughly about a month, he released six to eight songs.
“We had to figure out how to incorporate these new songs with what you have now and in a certain time frame.”
Lil Wayne’s set on Aug. 13 at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre will run 75 minutes.
“Because Wayne has so much music, we try and just encompass everything,” Smith said.
“He has different fans. There are people who have just come to know him since ‘Tha Carter III’ and the people who know him from his mix tapes when he was 14.
“We know that they want to come and hear some of the old favorites, so we try and break the set list into sections like the mix-tapes section or ‘Tha Carter III’ sections.
Smith, who also produced Lil Wayne’s “Unplugged” album, said the rapper is one of those rare talents.
“I just want them to really be able to experience Wayne and in a way that shows he is a true artist,” Smith said of the I Am Still Music Tour.
“Everything he’s doing is 100 percent him and not the average coming to an average hip-hop concert where there’s a DJ in the background and they’re just rapping.
“You’re getting so much more. He’s singing and he’s rapping. He’s running across the stage.
“There’s elements where there’s rock, and he grabs a guitar and rocks out. There’s a crooner part and acoustic guitar. He’s doing things you wouldn’t expect from a hip-hop artist.
“I want people to come away from the show saying that he’s a talent and he’s a true artist 100 percent.”
Source
When it comes to seeing a concert, music fans tend to concentrate on what is on the stage.
But Gil Smith II, the music producer for both Lil Wayne and Keri Hilson, works primarily backstage.
“I love working with Gil,” Hilson said. “He’s got a great musical vision.
“Me and Wayne aren’t the only people he’s done it for. His experience just has made him incredible.
“I’ve worked with him before. Now I’ve actually seen some growth. He’s always been great, but now I really really appreciate working with him.
“He makes my tour life on stage go very smoothly.”
Not surprisingly, Smith has mutual admiration for Hilson.
“I want to just let people know to be on the lookout for Keri,” he said. “She’s an amazing talent. She’s a true singer and an amazing writer.
“I’ve been with her since October of last year, and this tour here, I’ve been seeing her confidence and sureness about what she’s doing.
“And it’s gone through the roof. She’s just a great person. I think she writes amazing music.”
Smith, with his partner Adrian “AP” Porter, was instrumental in putting the I Am Still Music Tour together from choosing musical selections and doing the production to coordinating acoustic arrangements and mixes.
“Wayne, he’s a different artist, and he’s very confident about knowing his music. So in terms of rehearsal and stuff like that, he doesn’t really show up,” Smith said.
“He says, ‘Hey, I know my songs. You do what you do and let me know what’s what.’
“We kind of put together the show and then we bring him in on the last couple of days and say, ‘This is the show. This is what song we’re doing here.’
“For the most part, everything sticks. He might make a couple of changes, and we’re off.”
Smith said one of the biggest challenges with the I Am Still Music Tour was keeping it current with Lil Wayne’s musical catalogue.
“The crazy thing is between the first leg and the second leg, which is roughly about a month, he released six to eight songs.
“We had to figure out how to incorporate these new songs with what you have now and in a certain time frame.”
Lil Wayne’s set on Aug. 13 at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre will run 75 minutes.
“Because Wayne has so much music, we try and just encompass everything,” Smith said.
“He has different fans. There are people who have just come to know him since ‘Tha Carter III’ and the people who know him from his mix tapes when he was 14.
“We know that they want to come and hear some of the old favorites, so we try and break the set list into sections like the mix-tapes section or ‘Tha Carter III’ sections.
Smith, who also produced Lil Wayne’s “Unplugged” album, said the rapper is one of those rare talents.
“I just want them to really be able to experience Wayne and in a way that shows he is a true artist,” Smith said of the I Am Still Music Tour.
“Everything he’s doing is 100 percent him and not the average coming to an average hip-hop concert where there’s a DJ in the background and they’re just rapping.
“You’re getting so much more. He’s singing and he’s rapping. He’s running across the stage.
“There’s elements where there’s rock, and he grabs a guitar and rocks out. There’s a crooner part and acoustic guitar. He’s doing things you wouldn’t expect from a hip-hop artist.
“I want people to come away from the show saying that he’s a talent and he’s a true artist 100 percent.”
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