X Ambassadors caught up with Billboard’s Tetris Kelly on the red carpet at the 2019 American Music Awards on Sunday (Nov. 24), as they chatted about working with Lizzo, how writing with other artists compares to writing for themselves, and who they consider to be the artist of the decade.
The trio, who wrote three songs on Lizzo’s AMA-nominated album Cuz I Love You, are asked what it was like to work with her on the album. “She’s the greatest,” replies Sam Nelson Harris. “It was so easy. I think we wrote maybe three other songs than the ones that we did…I think in one day, we wrote ‘Heaven Help Me,’ ‘Cuz I Love You,’ and like three other ones that we never ended up finishing, but she’s amazing.”
The band are also asked to compare writing for themselves with writing for other artists, to which Harris says that when it comes to writing songs for themselves, they stress about it more and are much harder on themselves.
“It’s nice to work with other artists because not only are you getting out of your comfort zone, but you get to just go with what their vision is,” he explains. “You’re there for them. It takes the ego out of it a little bit, which is very helpful.”
Asked who they consider to be the artist of the decade, X Ambassadors go with Taylor Swift, who is being honored with the Artist of the Decade award at the ceremony. In light of her recent battle with her former record label, they are asked to weigh in on being an artist in the music industry when it comes to struggles such as hers.
“It’s important for every artist to feel like they are getting their just treatment,” says Harris. “It’s a tough industry. It’s very brutal and unforgiving, and I think if she feels she needs to be speaking out about anything, she should feel able to do that.”
You can check out the full video interview with X Ambassadors above.
dick clark productions, producer of the American Music Awards, is owned by Valence Media, which also owns Billboard.
