j.Que "The Clutch"

Listening to j.Que’s music is like slipping on a favorite pair of jeans: it feels good, it’s appealing and you know that no matter how much trends may change, it will stand the test of time. Born in North Carolina and raised in Anniston, Alabama, Patrick “j.Que” Smith is a songwriter/producer who infuses his music with a wholesome simplicity and refreshing realness that make his songs stand out like a diamond amongst a pile of rocks. But the businessman in Smith knows that being successful in the music industry is not just about touching the soul; it’s also about hitting the mark and he did just that with Usher’s high-energy, infectious smash hit “Yeah,” a song that earned Smith three Grammy nominations and became his launching pad into the land of A-List producers. “I understand that sometimes to catch someone’s eye, you have to wear something that’s hot now,” says Smith. “I understand that to be in the urban music game and to stay relevant you have to, from time to time, do something that’s trendy. I can do that but I can also do this. I don’t mind writing songs like ‘Yeah’ but twenty years from now I don’t know if anybody’s gonna be singing ‘Yeah’ which is why I love coming right behind it and writing ‘Truth Is’.” Smith’s life has been filled with music since he was a child so it seemed a natural path for him to follow. “Both of my parents are ministers and my biggest musical influence was my mom. I’ve been around music forever and a day so naturally I started singing.” But Smith’s parents had other plans for him and he respected their wishes – for a while, anyway. “I went to school and I actually did very well in college,” he notes. “I followed my brother to Atlanta because he was pursuing music just like I followed my brother to college.” Smith attended a community college and later transferred to Auburn University where he maintained a 3.87 GPA. “Then I called my parents and told them ‘I think I’m quitting school. I wanna be a recording superstar’.” Needless to say his parents weren’t pleased to hear that their son was giving up his dream of becoming an attorney to pursue a career in music. “But they eventually came around,” he says, “because they didn’t want me to be 45 years old thinking ‘what if’ so they said ‘If you’re gonna give it a try, try now’.” With his family’s blessings 19-year-old Smith took the first steps to breaking into the music industry. “I moved to Atlanta with no money, a duffle bag of dirty clothes and a box of Ramen noodles,” he recalls. He formed a group called Melange and they began to make themselves known in and around Atlanta. While Smith was inclined to write songs because his band needed material, he doesn’t hesitate to admit that the real impetus for his songwriting was a girl. “I met this girl named Erika Nuri. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever met in my life. I asked her what she did. She said she was a songwriter and, in true guy form, I said ‘I’m a songwriter too.’ She asked to hear something and I told her I hadn’t recorded anything and I didn’t have my notebook but next time I saw her I’d sing her something. I got my notebook and went home and wrote my first song. I came back and sang it to her and my manager was like ‘Where did you get that song?’ ‘I wrote it.’ She said, ‘With who?’ I said ‘Nobody. Just me.’ From that point on she started handing me CDs and said ‘Why don’t you try writing to music?’” Smith became so proficient as a writer that even after his group disbanded, super producer Dallas Austin encouraged him to continue writing. It was good advice. Today j.Que is enjoying success as a songwriter and producer. He’s penned tunes not only for Usher and Fantasia but also for Avant, Jagged Edge, Chris Brown and Marques Houston and is part of a go-to collective of writers and producers known as “The Clutch”. In addition to his three Grammy nods, he has received four BET nominations and three BMI awards. But despite the success, very little has changed about j.Que who says the highlight of his career was working with gorgeous super model Tyra Banks. “It was cool when I got to work with her because she was so regular, so down to earth. Never in a million years did I ever think I would be sitting in a studio having a very real conversation with Tyra Banks about porn,” he laughs. Taking pleasure in simple things and not taking himself too seriously are common practices for j.Que, a man known in the industry for his friendly, outgoing demeanor, his keen sense of humor and his ability to be extremely at ease in his own skin. “I’m real comfortable being me,” he says casually. “I’ve had a lot of people tell me ‘Hey what you need to do is step it up to the next level.’ By nature, I’m not very flossy. I don’t like wearing suits. I’m comfortable with jeans and a T-shirt.” Today Smith’s goal is to keep making good music – music that even his parents can be proud of – even if it’s not gospel. “I love gospel music but you have to be able to write good songs and not go to hell,” he reasons. “I told my mom ‘When you and dad wanna have your alone time, you don’t wanna listen to gospel, so why can’t somebody make music for that?’” And that’s where j.Que comes in – at least for now. Tomorrow, he may be on to the next phase of his musical career. “I wanna build my own,” he offers. “The funny thing is I never got in it to be creative. I always wanted my own. I always figured that everybody had to have a plan. If you’re gonna do anything in a big way, you have to have a plan. All the goals that I set for myself that I said I wanted to do before I reached 30, I’m proud to say I’ve done.” Now, he says, it’s time for a new pair of jeans.