Rashid Williams

Credit: Mapex Drums

Drummer / Musical Director

John Legend / Jill Scott

CHANGEOVER: Talk about who you are, what you do and how you got into the music industry.

RASHID WILLIAMS: My name is Rashid Williams but Rashid is not my first name. It’s actually Jimmy. Rashid was what made sense at the time, and that's what my family calls me, but it’s my middle name. My company's name is Little Fat Jimmy. I've been touring as a drummer for 16 or 17 years now. I grew up in New Jersey, south Jersey to be exact. That's really how I got my start in music. Like most musicians, especially black musicians, I grew up playing in church. From church came that really nice local artist gig where you start traveling and doing different things. Then that turned into my first R&B gig, which was with Eric Roberson. I was about 17 or 18 at the time. He was doing really cool gigs in Philly and the Tri-State area and was eventually asked if I had my passport ready to go. They needed me to go to London with them and that sent me off to the races. It’s been an experience and pretty cool world from there.

What's it like being the heartbeat behind so many artists like Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, N.E.R.D and John Legend, to name a few? What is that experience like? 

First of all, it's not what people think it is unless they look at it in a very shallow sense. The shallow view is “oh, my God, it's so much fun. It’s just incredible!” The real deal is that it's a lot of pressure when you realize how important the drums are in any band. Usually, if a band is good, the drummer is good. If a band is bad, it could be just because the drummer is bad. With these artists, in any regard, the ones that I've worked with and the ones that I’ve never worked with, what’s needed is a good rhythmic foundation. The way songs are being written today, the cadences are getting more complex because the music is getting more dimmed down and the vocals have to go above and beyond. Being the drummer in the situation, we always want to play our chops but that's not always smart. If nobody's dancing in the crowd to a song that they've been dancing to in their car, it’s usually because the drums are wrong, the drums don't feel right or because the beat just isn’t hitting the same way it did on the album. In reality, it's a lot of pressure. I've been blessed that with all the gigs I've done, I tend to connect well with the rhythmic needs of the artists. I do not take the approach like others may and say, “oh my God, I just walked into an Alicia Keys rehearsal and life is good.” No, in reality my approach is that I just walked into an Alicia Keys rehearsal and if she's not dancing, I didn’t do my job. That’s reality.

[Video: DRUMMERWORLD]

How do you deal with that kind of pressure?

First of all, I try not to suck. Part of that pressure is realizing and being comfortable with the idea that everything happens for a reason. Nothing is by accident. I took a long time to establish who I am and realize that if the person I'm working for doesn't like who I am and what I do, it's probably best that way. I'm OK with that. I'm very secure with the understanding that everybody's not going to like the way that I play drums. For those who don't, and who don't feel it, I would rather they get a drummer that's really great for them.

Do you solely work for John Legend or are you currently playing with other artists as well?

John is my primary gig, so to speak. I'm also Jill Scott's musical director. I count on tour mojo, as we call it, so that I never really have to say no to one artist to do the other artist’s gig. Times do come up where I will need to sub out a show due to a conflict. There's also times where John just has a really important show and his musical director might say, “I know you’ve got something else going on, but if you can make this, that would be great.” Everybody I work for understands that I didn't hire the sub because he sucks. I hired him because he's a decent drummer.

There's also the spot dates that might come up. In 2019 I ended up working with Chromeo because it just so happened that I had time. I had three months to commit to anybody who wanted to pay me. We did NPR’s Tiny Desk and then they asked me to come out on tour with them. The other thing I learned is that it's really cool to have a lot of gigs even if I can’t make it to them all. Having a gig, to me, is more about gaining the artist’s trust and them being able to trust what I bring to the table. Sometimes what you bring to the table is a replacement and they have to know that I brought the best possible replacement without bias. So far I've been able to establish those relationships. I even had to sub out the Chromeo gig a few times, but they were very happy with who I put in my place.

Credit: Mapex Drums

Having the gig isn't just about having the time, because I'm working with two artists and I'm really busy. To give you a more realistic example, in 2012 I got the call to do J. Cole. At the time, it was understood that he didn't want a drummer. He told me himself, and I already knew that he didn't necessarily want a drummer, but they thought it would be a good look for him. So I went. After the first day, he apologized and said, “I didn't know that I would be OK with a drummer.” We ended up becoming really cool. I did his gig for the time that I could until I had to go back to Jill Scott. I told him I would get somebody that I promised was going to be incredible to take my place at the drums. That person happened to be a gentleman named Carlin White, who still works for J. Cole today. It's funny because Carlin is also my backup call for John Legend when I can't make it. If I’m on Jill Scott and Carlin can't make the John Legend gig, then I’ll call my Jill Scott sub, Cleon Edwards, and ask if he can do the Jill gig. If he can do the Jill gig, then I'm going to work with John. The only way that works is if the artist trusts me.

In 2017, Carlin called and told me his brother was getting married during one of the weeks that J.Cole had a tour in Australia and New Zealand. This was five years after I played with J. Cole. He said that some of the show was still exactly the way it was when I left and asked if I could do the tour since it was too much travel from Australia to the wedding. The only conflict I had was two shows with John Legend and asked Carlin if he could work those shows for me in return since John knew him already. It all worked out and when I got to the Australian tour, the first thing J. Cole said to me was, “thank you for learning all the new stuff. You still clearly know what you're doing. You work great and love having you back.” That relationship reminded me that having an artist’s trust is really important because seeing my familiar face was a great look on Carlin's part. Carlin, in return, did exactly what I did to get him into the situation by getting the artist’s trust.

Let's just back up a minute and talk about being a musical director. What exactly does that job entail? 

You're responsible for anything that musically happens on stage, which is a very sticky description. It's like being a football coach or basketball coach. Any coach for that matter. Everybody's glad when the team wins. When a team loses, they all go talk to the coach.

With Jill, we do not run Pro Tools on her stage. That's one of her long standing points of consistency. She's big on having a very musical stage. The first part of my job is picking the proper band members who will give her the level of musicality that she's looking for. Once we get past the band members, and choosing personnel, then comes putting together and building something that's going to intrigue and pique the artist's interest in songs that they've been singing for years. Jill's first album came out in 2000 so last year, before COVID hit, we were on a 20 year anniversary tour for her first album. Bringing songs that she's been singing for 20 years, and trying to make them feel new, is not the easiest thing in the world to do. However, as a musical director, my job is to do just that. My job is to make the segues fun. My job is to create the energy in the room that's going to get us to the end result. On top of that, it also involves sending out the music, checking in with everybody, and making sure that the bridge between band and management is strong, so that when management pisses off one of the band members, they're not going to quit the gig. It's a lot, but essentially my job is exactly what it says. Musical director. I direct all the musical points.

Credit: Brandon Artis Photography

Let's switch gears and talk Cirque de Soleil, as you’re on their roster. What’s the story behind that?

I've always produced music that was a little more cinematic, so to speak, than most. Nowadays, somebody can make a beat for you but I'm the guy that can't make beats because it doesn't really work that way. I need to compose a piece that you're going to like. What I've learned is that the best way to deal with it is to just release my own music so that people understand.

Years ago I started working on my own stuff, and producing my own style, of what makes sense to me. I was actually on tour with Eric Roberson when I was still a teenager. When he heard my music, he said that it sounded like Cirque du Soleil. I had never heard of it and didn't have a clue as to what it was. I looked it up and was able to find some stuff on the internet and thought he was absolutely right. My music definitely gives off those vibes so we reached out to Cirque du Soleil.

My mom manages me, so she's involved in everything I do from the endorsements to the opportunities, everything. We reached out to them and submitted some music, which they accepted, and that put me on their composer roster. When I was around 22, and just starting with John Legend, we were in Paris, the place where Cirque du Soleil began. After the show, a gentleman at the front of the stage kept calling my name. I didn't know the guy, and wasn’t sure he spoke English very well, but he knew my name. I went up to him and he asked if I was the Rashid Williams that composes music for Cirque du Soleil. Turns out he was the guy that reviewed some of my music and didn’t know I was a drummer. He then suggested that I go and audition for the drummer roster of Cirque du Soleil as well. When I got done with that run, I sent him an email and let him know that I was home. He told me about auditions that were coming up in New York and said I should come up. The rest is history. I got the music, went up and auditioned and got accepted onto their drummer's roster as well. I never went on the road with them because I was touring so much with John and then came Jill not too much longer after, along with a bunch of in-between artists. I really don't have the time to go on another tour with another artist. However, It was great to get on their roster just in case I ended up with an excessive amount of downtime if they had an open spot.

Obviously, the music industry is currently on hold because of COVID-19. What have you been doing in the meantime since everything has been brought to a halt?

I've been making the most of it and have been doing a lot of recording at home. We were on tour with Jill when everything happened. The NBA shut down on March 12th. I remember being on stage that night, March 12th, at a Jill show. We were playing the show and I always had my phone right next to me on the table. Being the musical director, I was watching the time to make sure we didn't go over time. A notification happened to pop up from my news app saying the NBA officially shut down due to COVID-19. I was literally in the talkback microphone saying to the band, during the show, that the NBA just shut down. We only had three weeks left of tour. I was so glad we only had a few weeks left because the virus was about to get really bad. That night, when we got off stage, the tour manager came and got me and wanted to let me know what was going on. He told me that management and Live Nation wanted to shut everything down and that they might be sending everybody home the next day. Long story short, the decision was made that we were not going to do the rest of the run. Everybody ended up going home the next day.

Credit: Mapex Drums

My house initially wasn't set up with a studio. As soon as I got home, I immediately built up one of the bedrooms as a small recording space where I could record drums and do some video content if necessary. Luckily, I got an early jump on it so I've been recording a lot. I was able to do pretty much every virtual John Legend performance that he did last year, which was cool to stay working in that regard. The biggest thing that I'm really excited about is to finally put out some music because I've had so much time to just be home and work on my own project. It's been a bit of a blessing in that regard.

I always say you're either going to come out of COVID broke or a business owner because it pushes us to start our own things. I've just been recording, recording, recording. I had a few John Legend trips, but outside of those trips, if he did a performance and it had live drums on it, It was me. I recorded at home. It's interesting, to say the least, but it's affected me in the biggest way. It took touring away. I haven’t been on tour since March however it also gave me an opportunity, and a chance, to really focus on what I need to do to financially stay afloat. 

Time is the most valuable thing that we all have and are all conscious of. I'm sure it is impossible to figure out how to make it through such a hard time. You have to get up every day, and it's hard to do most days, but you have to get up every day and say, ‘hey, I have time today.’ Now we all have nothing but time. It just becomes a very important part of the process. 

What do you miss the most, as well as not miss, about touring?

What I miss most about touring is the daily realization of a dream. When I was 12, I saw Janet Jackson’s Velvet Rope tour. Lil’ John Roberts was on drums and I thought, ‘that's what I want to do.’ Every night on tour is the reminder that I’m doing it, I’m literally doing it. All these years later, I’m still doing it and that is a really cool feeling. The adrenaline rush alone is incredible. That realization every day, and getting to play drums for a living, is what I miss the most.

What I don't miss, and what I've learned now, is that it was also holding me back and took up so much of my time. It was holding me back from focusing on me and really finding a space where I could thrive without the tour. I don't miss the fact that touring takes up hours and days and months of your life, and you end up missing all the beautiful points. COVID is one thing but being away from your family just because you have to go to work every day is a whole other thing. I do not miss the monopoly of my time and the taking of all of it. I don't miss that.