More than a decade after the completion of the Human Genome Project, the world’s best minds have only just begun to unravel the DNA of the pop hit. The combination of science, art and psychology required to craft a self-perpetuating earworm is far beyond the reach of most mortals. There is simply no telling when lightning will strike the bottle.

This is exactly what happened to Jason Huber and Jordan Kelley of Nashville duo Cherub in the summer of 2014 when their crowd-pleaser, “Doses and Mimosas,” already two years in circulation, hit the Billboard Rock Airplay and Alternative Song charts simultaneously, creeping across the country and later across the world from one house party to the next, becoming an international sleeper success. After two more summers of near-constant touring, with audiences in Paris and even the local crowds at TBD Fest singing along to their wry ode to champagne and cocaine, the duo is keen to add more substance to their multigenre cocktail of a sound.

With 11 new tracks, including one with a guest spot from rapper T.I., Cherub’s new album Bleed Gold, Piss Excellence (out Oct. 14, 2016) aims to break through to the other side of their cult success. From start to finish, it sets out to revise their hedonistic vibe with an undertow of moody grooves, and succeeds in updating their sound—a digest of throwback party vibes recalling different eras (early ‘80s electro-funk, mid-‘90s trip hop, late ‘00s indie dance and current-era millennial club jams)—this time with more tonal shifts.

Cherub will be hitting Ace of Spades on Nov. 9, 2016, in the middle of their ongoing 50-date tour, with the promise of new fall bangers alongside classic summer jams. Veterans of TBD 2014 can relive their steamy set from that sweltering fall so long ago, and find new to love in the next-level Cherub of the present day.

We were able to drop a line to the duo between gigs in Arkansas, with Kelley temporarily without a voice and Huber taking the role of spokesman, giving his take on the phenomena of hit songs, meeting T.I. and the decision to go electronic.

Photo by Ford Fairchild

What’s your take on the runaway success of “Doses & Mimosas?”
The whole thing about that song is that we never picked it out to be a single. We originally recorded it for our record Mom and Dad, and when we released it, we put it out as one complete work from start to finish. We didn’t highlight a specific single. From that point, people started to react to that song. After we went out on tour, we thought that everyone had heard it, it wasn’t new anymore. Then all of a sudden people started playing it on the radio in California and it became more of a nationwide thing and widely recognized, as opposed to an underground, viral thing. Then the record label came into play and released it on this whole new scale, and then we had people in Paris start to play it. We got the opportunity to go over to Europe and tour internationally. There’s been multiple times throughout the lifespan of that song that Jordan and I have assumed that everybody has heard it that’s going to hear it and it’s old news, and then all of a sudden, it will grow another set of wings. It makes us realize how small our individual bubble is compared to the rest of the world, and it’s really cool to be able to have something as direct as that song to reach the world.

How did you begin the follow-up to that initial success?
When we were going into the studio to make the new album, we didn’t go in with any sort of preconceived notions or any one specific goal. We didn’t try to recreate the same magic that happened on previous songs. We’re really trying to go in and write some good music that first and foremost connected with us, but also connected with other people and played as a solid album, and not just a random collection of singles.

That’s always been our goal when we go into the studio, and we don’t think about too much other than that. We’re obviously inspired by our fanbase and the people that are coming out to shows and singing the songs, and the reaction that they’re giving us. But there isn’t really a specific goal going into the studio. It’s just about making some music and seeing what fits in.

How did the collaboration with T.I. get started?
It’s something that happened pretty organically, surprising as that may be. That’s pretty much how all our collaborations have happened; it’s not been something that’s been forced from our side or the other. It’s just us getting together and making music with people we enjoy spending time with. That specific collaboration happened when T.I. was introduced to [our] music randomly, and from that point he became a fan. He made a point to come out to one of our Atlanta shows. He was super nice; he invited us out to dinner and bowling with his family the next day. Then we got into the studio tracking for what we hoped was going to be on of his releases. We came back down again a couple of months later and then we tracked for our record. It was a really cool, organic relationship. And it was an insane thing for us, because we had both grown up as fans of his music.

At what point in your career did you have a “we’re making it” realization?
Probably going into Columbia’s offices and seeing our picture on the wall in between Bob Dylan and Beyoncé, just seeing us at a major label being associated with the greatest of the greats, that was an awesome and very humbling experience. It’s especially awesome because we haven’t had that cliché major label horror story happen to us, where a band goes in and they feel like they have to compromise what they’re doing and change everything. Our process throughout the whole experience has been really unimpeded. They just kind of magnify what we’re doing as opposed to trying to change it.

What was your first brush with electronic music?
I really got into electronic music through college. I specifically remember going to see this show, the after party for a band with an electronic set, and just thinking, “This is really cool,” being able to produce music onstage that is unattainable sonically as a rock band. That experience, and going to a lot of music festivals really opened my eyes to how this music can be performed. It made me realize that people performing electronic music don’t have to worry as much about what can happen technically as they can worry about the audience experience and the entire show itself. Some people are sacrificing the show just to be doing absolutely everything instrumentally. Picking those battles of what to focus on can be the hardest thing—that was a real turning point in my life, I think.

Do you aim to place a lot of humorous themes in your style and music?
There’s always been a juxtaposition in all the lyrics throughout the records. There’s obviously a lot of sincerity in all of it, but some of it is right alongside this kind of tongue-in-cheek quality. Our whole mentality is to take ourselves seriously, but not too seriously, which is kind of the way we live our lives, and it shines through in the lyrics as well.

What is the best way to experience Cherub?
Come to the live show. We play a solid mix of songs off of all the records, and really, the thing that has kept this whole act going is the fact that, we started playing shows for five people, then they told their friends and 50 people came out, and now we’re getting the chance to play to hundreds and thousands of people. We’ve been touring consistently for about six years, and we’ve got a schedule where, during the winter/spring time we’ll hit half of the country, and be complaining about not hitting the other half, and then come the fall time we’re touring the other half as well. It’s huge, the string of dates we’ve put together this time. This is the most extensive tour that we’ve done, and it’s awesome to get to go and revisit these places and these friends that we’ve met along the way. You meet people every day, and we made a lot of friends out there, so getting the chance to go see everybody is awesome.

Catch Cherub Nov. 9, 2016 at Ace of Spades, located at 1417 R St. in Sacramento. This all-ages show kicks of at 6:30 p.m. with openers Frenship and Boo Seeka. Tickets are $23 in advance or $28 at the door and are available at Aceofspadessac.com.

Let’s talk rap music, specifically how pumped we are that two of our favorite MCs T.I. and E-40 are headlining KSFM’s 102.5 Live concert on Saturday, May 18, 2013 at Discovery Park in Sacramento. This is an all-day ordeal, people, so eat your Wheaties because doors open at 10 a.m. Also on the bill are Far East Movement, Baby Bash, Drop City Yacht Club and Royalty. Tickets are just $19 (plus fees, of course, there are always fees) but that is still a steal for this lineup. Check out Facebook.com/KSFM1025 or Ksfm.cbslocal.com for more information and to purchase tickets as well as learn about giveaways, meet and greats and more.

Emerging from Under the Umbrella of Moguls to Fulfill His Own Blu Kolla Dreams

R&B artist Bobby Valentino has set out to make a name for himself as a musical mogul and has no intention to “Slow Down.” Valentino holla’ed at Submerge while touring through the American “backwoods” of South Carolina where there’s nothing to see but “cows and a lot of grass.”

Valentino has certain name recognition throughout the radio and R&B world. He’s that smooth dude who puts out those catchy hip-hop infused love songs, right? Well yeah, but the dude’s done more than just set the mood for baby makin’ or giving a shout out to your “big baby boi boo” on a Sunday night slow jam radio show.

Actually, this Atlanta-based singer started out with a group named Mista when he was a teenager in the late ’90s. The group had a hit single called “Blackberry Molasses” (featured in the T.I. movie ATL). But the success seemed to subside after that single.

“We were a one-hit wonder. That album was very big,” Valentino says.

Returning to high school meant that Valentino went from “being a superstar to being normal again.” Kids would sing lyrics from “Blackberry Molasses” when he walked down the halls of school, he says. The difficult times for the industry didn’t defer Valentino and he wanted to pursue music after high school, but his parents insisted he get the grades and graduate college.

“Being on top one day and on the bottom the next, they realized how unstable the music industry really was,” he says.

Through his college years, Valentino lived a double life. On top of the normal grueling grind of school, he didn’t give up on his musical career and would pull long days where he’d be in the studio at night and wake up early for class the next morning, he says. Although it was hard for Valentino to stay focused at Clark Atlanta University with a 20 to one female to male ratio, Valentino graduated with a mass communications degree in radio and television.

“More than anything from college, I learned how to multitask, how to be responsible and put the most important things first, and everything else, you know it’ll come later,” Bobby Valentino says.

After graduation, Valentino hit the ground running. With three demos post grad, he got signed as a solo artist by longtime connection Ludacris on his Def Jam imprint, Disturbing tha Peace Records. “When I was in the group Mista, Luda was on the radio. So there were a lot of times when he used to interview me on the radio. It’s just funny how things turn and that’s why you learn not to burn bridges,” he says. “He was interviewing me.”

Somewhere along the way, Bobby Wilson became Bobby Valentino from his affection for ladies and vice versa. The R&B love songs probably didn’t hurt either.

“I’ve always been smooth with the ladies, you know, and somebody just came up with the name and started calling me Valentino. I added it on to my real birth name, Bobby, put it together and BAM! You got Bobby Valentino,” he explains.

Under Def Jam and Disturbing tha Peace, Valentino had U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles like debut “Slow Down,” “Anonymous” and “Tell Me.” After sophomore album Special Occasion reached it’s peak of record sales, the vocal Valentino was released from Def Jam in February 2008. He then met with his team and decided the best thing to do was step out on his own. Valentino asked to leave DTP and officially split in April 2008.

“A lot of people thought I was done. People called me stupid for leaving DTP. People said, ‘It’s over with Bobby Valentino. It’s a wrap.'”

But he wanted to get to the next level as an artist, Bobby Valentino says. “You can’t always be up under the ‘umbrella’ all of the time. You got to step out on faith. If I want to be like Luda who’s a mogul in the game, I can’t be up under Luda.” The only way to do that on his own was to start Blu Kolla Dreams.

Again feeling the inconsistency of the music industry, from February to June of this year was a “real tough time” in Valentino’s life.

“Like I say: A lot of folks, when you’re on top, folks want to hop on the bandwagon, ‘Woo, you’re the best, you’re the greatest.’ But when you’re down, folks they don’t want to talk to you, they act like they don’t even know who you are.”

Valentino used that message to stay focused and started recording his next album. He titled the album Rebirth to “reflect everything that’s happened since he was ‘dropped,’ he’s turned into a new person and he’s humbled.”

“It was tough to actually get things done even though I had a name,” Valentino says.

Valentino kept his head up, kept faith and kept working, insisting, “God works in mysterious ways.” He must have been right because he’s featured on rap royalty Lil’ Wayne’s “Mrs. Officer” joint from Tha Carter III—a song that’s been spreading like California wildfires. Fans are getting a taste of the new album that’s due to drop Jan. 27, 2009 with first release “Beep” featuring Young Joc.

“I couldn’t ask for a better situation or a better set-up,” Bobby Valentino says.