About Damn Time
Lizzo
(16 min / 1h12)Blake Slatkin, Ricky Reed
- Production
After years of hard work, Lizzo and her team felt that the second album was finally complete. But something kept producers Ricky Reed and Blake Slatkin in the studio working on a promising idea for one more single. The bet paid off, leading to the creation of the album’s Grammy-winning song, “About Damn Time”.
As a close friend and collaborator of Lizzo, Ricky Reed has played an integral part in her musical universe since 2016. After crossing paths with Blake Slatkin during the production of ‘Special’, the two forged an instant connection over their love of old-school funk and disco. What came next is history.
This 4-part series begins at the piano, where Blake and Ricky talk through the harmonic foundations of the song. Bouncing ideas off one another, they slowly reconstruct the track and demonstrate how a simple yet potent groove lured Lizzo back into the studio to join them on their mission.
The duo are accompanied in the control room by recording engineer Bill Malina, who reveals some of the technical decisions that brought their creative ideas to life. He discusses his approach to creating sonic consistency throughout the recording process, using careful equipment selection, mic placement and session management.
Eventually, all attention turns towards Lizzo as we learn how she penned the song’s unforgettable hooks and wordplay. Written in real-time as she freestyled over the track, her spectacular talent and presence perfectly tie the song together and demonstrate the power of an outstanding performance.
Subtitles in English, Portuguese
About Blake Slatkin
Blake Slatkin is an American songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his work with artists including Lizzo, Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X, The Kid LAROI, Omar Apollo, Reneé Rapp and more. To date he has achieved four Billboard Hot 100 #1s—Lizzo's “About Damn Time,” Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy,” 24kGoldn and iann dior’s “Mood” and The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber's “Stay”—and a score of top 10 hits. Slatkin—a Grammy Award winner for Record of the Year with Lizzo and Ricky Reed, multiple...
About Ricky Reed
Ricky Reed is an American artist, music producer, and founder of Nice Life Recording Company. Already highly accomplished as a musician and songwriter, Ricky produced his first international breakthrough with Jason Derulo in 2013. The song, "Talk Dirty", launched to the top of the charts in dozens of countries around the world, taking the radio and club scenes by storm. Since then, Ricky has gone on to produce hit records for a diverse range of artists including Twenty One Pilots, SZA, the Weeknd,...