You may not know who Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd is, but if you’ve ever heard 112’s smash hit “Peaches ‘n Cream” or Justin Bieber’s “Despacito” remix, then you know his work.
Poo Bear is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter from Atlanta who has written for Usher (“Caught Up”) and Chris Brown (“I Can Transform Ya”) in addition to Justin Bieber and 112.
On Wednesday, June 13, 2018, he held a Q&A at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta to discuss his prolific career and share key insights about the music business. The talk was sponsored by ASCAP, which is America’s first performance rights agency. Atlanta radio legend Rashan Ali hosted the conversation along with Jason Reddick, an ASCAP representative.
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Music always played an influential role in Poo Bear’s life. He grew up in a very Christian household, so he had to put off listening to Stevie Wonder until his mom went to bed at night. Those nights ended up becoming the foundation for his songwriting career. “I wanted to write music that made me feel the way that Stevie Wonder made me feel,” he said.
He signed his first record deal at just 12 years old with the independent label Jungle Juice Records. His advance was a jean suit. His music made its way to the radio when he was in high school, but he chose to keep that information secret because he wanted to remain humble. That plan worked until 112 began picking him up (in very nice cars) after school. Everyone caught on shortly after that.
After graduating high school, he accompanied 112 on their European tour, carrying bags with pride and being humbled by it. “No matter what you’re a part of, you have to start somewhere,” Poo Bear said. He ended up writing more than a handful of songs for their classic album, Part III.
Like any “overnight success,” Poo Bear put in years of work (in other words: writing bad songs) before he finally achieved some real success and notoriety. The sex anthem “Anywhere” by 112 was the first hit he ever wrote. He followed that up by writing “Love Is Such a Crazy Thing” for P!nk’s first album.
“Peaches ‘n Cream,” which is arguably 112’s biggest hit, came out of literal hunger, Poo Bear said. He was at a studio in New York with 112 when Diddy turned to Poo Bear and asked what he was thinking. He responded that he’s hungry. Then after some more prodding by Diddy (“what exactly?”), he eventually said “peaches and cream” because he missed Atlanta. And just like that, a hit record was born.
Poo Bear cautions that hits don’t always come about so readily, however.
“It took for me to be honest with myself to know that I could grow and get better,” he said. Another element of the growth process as a creative is surrounding yourself with honest people who will make it clear to you that you need to be doing better. “Hold onto the dream and vision, but don’t get discouraged,” he said.
There’s also an intangible element, too, of course. “Having the will and desire to write hit songs—that’s what you need, the will and desire to want to do it,” he said.
For Poo Bear, writing a hit record means following a certain process. First and foremost, the most important thing for him in songwriting is the concept. “Once you get a good concept you just need to support it with subtopics,” he said.
Reinforcing the concept of the song throughout the track is important to him. Next, come the chords and then the chorus.
The combination of the three usually results in a finished product, but he warns all creatives that some songs may take years to be released. For example, he wrote Usher’s “Superstar,” “Follow Me,” and “Caught Up” two years before Confessions came out.
In the Q&A portion of the event, Poo Bear said it is extremely important for artists and songwriters not to get complacent once they achieve success. Music is constantly evolving, and you need to stay hungry and keep challenging yourself to remain relevant within the industry. Poo Bear challenged himself by setting a goal to break into the crossover Latin music market three years ago before it became the huge sensation that it is today. His work with Bieber on the “Despacito” remix is a testament to his accomplishment in that endeavor.
There were other challenges in his life and his career too, such as moving to LA after his run with 112 was over and having to start all over again.
Maybe the most important information Poo Bear shared with the audience that night is about the importance of publishing. “People get amnesia when it’s time to create,” he said, meaning that nowadays artists have to be picky about who they allow into the studio with them because people are quick to take credit for something they didn’t accomplish.
His advice? It’s best to get the credit splits taken care of during the final recording session of the song so that no one has to be responsible for recalling who did what later on.
As an appropriate follow up, the next question was “what earns you credits on a song?”
Poo Bear emphasized it’s not just coming up with the concept that gets you credit for a song. In some cases that may be true, but usually, there has to be a substantial contribution as well. In the case of one line earning you credit, it depends on how relevant that line is to the song and whether or not that’s what people remember. Using Drake as an example, whoever came up with the lyric “Nice for What” definitely earned credit for that record, Poo Bear said. (Coming up with the main line of a chorus definitely warrants a songwriting credit.)
Poo Bear shared three final pieces of advice to close the evening. One is to “embrace the weirdness and madness that is part of the creative process.” The second is not to disrupt “the flow,” but nurture it instead, and lastly, putting your music out there for people in real-time is the best way to gauge its success and be heard. Paying for promotion isn’t necessary if the product is good enough, and the only way to make it good enough is to hone your craft.
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