Whether or not you’ve heard of Clarence Greenwood, a.k.a. Citizen Cope, it’s likely that you will hear a lot of him in the coming months. The D.C. native’s new self-titled album has been acclaimed by the Washington Post, Rolling Stone and many others. Cope’s video for the song “If There’s Love” off his album has been in heavy rotation on M2 and is featured on the network’s new compilation. Even more recently, Cope’s song “Sideways” appears on Carlos Santana’s No. 1 album Shaman, which was released last Tuesday. Cope will play at the Black Cat on Nov. 29 and at the Iota Club and Caf? in Clarendon on Dec. 2, before touring with Santana. Voice Leisure talked with Cope about his roots, upcoming plans and life in the music industry.
Voice Leisure: You’ve worked with a lot of talented people. You’ve toured with Nelly Furtado and Ben Folds and you recently worked with Carlos Santana and on your album, you work with Me’Shell Ndeg?ocello. What person has been your favorite to work with and what do you take from each musician that you work with?
Citizen Cope: I loved to work with Carlos because he’s really just a humble, generous, spiritual individual and he was somebody that really helped. Just the whole process was pretty easy and surreal. I enjoyed working with him. I really enjoyed working with the musicians on the record, too. It’s really a dream come true to work with a lot of people that I’ve always wanted to work with.
VL: You mentioned that working with Carlos was surreal. In what ways?
CC: Just being in the studio and he’s playing guitar to your song it’s just very unexpected. It’s like a ridiculous thing; it’s like it didn’t really happen.
VL: Is there a big exchange of ideas when you work with these musicians? What goes on?
CC: I play a lot of instruments myself and when I get somebody it’s usually because I love their feel or their tone and it adds a lot especially in live instrumentation. It’s just cool to feel somebody else play with you at the same time.
VL: “Salvation” is my favorite song on the album. Can you tell me the story behind that or how you came up with the idea?
CC: It’s just a classic theme?a biblical theme or an American theme?it’s surrounded by the theme of the devil trying to steal your soul. Within that I did a story within that context but the song is not really about that, it’s about just following your first belief and what you believe in and to be true your head. Just following that voice in your head.
VL: You have a lot of powerful messages in your songs: anti-war, anti-corruption, anti-racism. Do you think any of that is muted since you’re on a major label and they distribute you? Could you say more when you were independent? Does Dreamworks give you free reign to do what you want?
CC: I think that you have to do it in a certain way. Bob Marley had those messages; John Lennon had those messages, but they did it within the context of popular music. Outkast does it. I think a lot of people still do it. I don’t think it’s muted because you do it at a major label. That kind of thing can be something that’s not considered commercial. I think it all comes down to how the music makes you feel and if it touches people. I think that sometimes when you have a conscience and say something with a conscience a lot people in radio are scared of that.
VL: How did it feel when you were initially dropped from Capitol Records a couple of years back? Did you ever lose any hope or did you keep on doing what you were doing?
CC: That just gave me more drive. People like that can’t keep you down. They can’t take what’s inside you. Record companies are record companies, they’re not any indication of how you are as a person whether they drop you or sign you and they’re no indication of how you are as an artist. I’m blessed to be on the number one record this week and I feel real good about that. I’m still out here. The people from Capitol Records that were doubting me aren’t with me anymore.
VL: Do you wish that your songs got more radio play?
CC: Who’s to say? Everything happens for a reason. I’ve been lucky to have the play I’ve gotten. At the same time, considering what I’ve been saying, people like to shy away from anything in rock and roll that says something. A lot people shy away from it and just make comedy-rock records these days. I just didn’t feel that way in my heart and I just made a record that I thought would express how I felt in my heart.
VL: You got a lot of positive reviews for your album, especially from the Washington Post. Do you pay attention to critics too much or are they people you don’t really concern yourself with?
CC: I got some positive reviews, I got some negative reviews as well. It’s great to hear that the people hear the music and understand it. I’m not going to lie, I like it when somebody understands my record. Especially as a writer, when you write lyrics you want other people who write, even if it’s not music, to have some type of appreciation for what you’re trying to do. But, you also realize that some people have their own agendas and they might not have heard it or understood it or it might just be petty things?they just don’t like you?I think sometimes people don’t like your record for non-musical reasons. You get people that politically don’t like the way that you wrote or might not like what you had to say, all that shit.
VL: I know you grew up part of your life in D.C. Any outstanding childhood memories you have of being in Washington that moved you forward musically?
CC: Not really. I was influenced by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers; just hearing a lot of different music. I lived in a lot of other parts of the country as well, so I was exposed to different things. It was really life more than music in D.C.
VL: How so?
CC: It was just a different place to live. It’s not part of a state. It’s kind of an outcast city for its residents. They’re not really given the same rights as other individuals in states. It’s a different experience to grow up in D.C. Plus, I was raised partly in Texas, so I saw two different parts of America culturally and that exposed me to different life views and everything.
VL: Here’s a more general question: What’s the best part about being a musician?
CC: Just being able to express yourself and to do something creative. For my type of person it’s a perfect opportunity to be able to live my life and to be self-reliant. Music to me has brought a lot of love and inspiration in my life that’s a great part of it. To be a musician is to have something positive to do and creative to do with your life.
