Jon B shared regret over his choice of words when critiquing a song that sampled one of his classics. Speaking with Shirley Ju on the Shirley’s Temple podcast, the 50-year-old opened up about his initial reaction to the song “you & me,” which borrowed from his 1997 “They Don’t Know” hit.
“I regretted how I spoke on it the first time because I wasn’t used to being on podcasts,” the R&B singer explained. “First of all, I didn’t do a lot of podcasts. So I was sort of new to that whole thing of speaking my truths in a way.”
“I’m really trynna represent myself in a way I want to be remembered. Recently, I was on a podcast, the lady that interviewed me played me her (Chlöe) reaction to her being told that I didn’t like their song. It hurt me because I was like, ‘Man, that could be my daughter right there.’ It hit different because I never wanna come off like a hater, or like I don’t appreciate someone remembering me in any instance to make a joint,” he continued.
He continued to detail, “I’m trying to keep my legacy alive, and what I’ve been about so far has been authentic and real, speaking about real stuff. And so when someone kind of takes it and puts the flip on it and makes light of it in a sense and uses my melodies and the whole thing to preach something…it just feels different for me.”
The father of two also confirmed that he did not give preauthorization for the sample.
“I like having the ability to say ‘yeah’ or ‘nay’ before something is released,” he said. “If it’s out already, the damage is done, you know what I mean?”
Last year, Jon B shared his harsh reaction to Gunna and Chlöe’s 2022 “you & me” track while speaking on the Can We Talk R&B? podcast.
“They put that ratchet record out,” he described of the collab. “I couldn’t stand it. I wish they never did it.”
He continued, “Gunna, we gotta holler about that […] That’s some business s**t we gotta handle.”
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