Exclusive Marques Houston Interview
July 12th, 2010 | By Big Dom
At 28 years-old, Marques Houston is already a 20-year veteran of the entertainment industry. Bursting onto the scene at 8 years-old as part of R&B trio Immature, Houston had toured the world and made his film debut even before hitting his teens. The California native would go on to produce and star in hit movies including You Got Served while continuing to add to a music catalogue which is now eight albums deep. His latest musical effort is a nod to that longevity and announces his arrival as a respected entertainment veteran who has made the evolution from Immature to Mr. Houston.
Rhyme & Reason recently caught-up with Marques Houston to discuss life as a child sensation, avoiding the pitfalls of fame and fortune, turning 30, and whether or not we will ever see a sequel to You Got Served…
You’ve been a working musicians since the age of 8. When you look back on your childhood, how do you remember it?
When I look back on those days it was all just a learning experience. I was young and having fun, a kid getting to do what he loved to do – sing, dance and entertain – being so young and traveling the world and stuff like that. It was just great. If I got to do it all over again I wouldn’t change a thing.
So you never felt as though you missed out on a normal childhood?
Oh no, not at all. I still got to do things as a child. I still went to school for a bit, played basketball, had my childhood homies that I kicked it with, did a lot of neighborhood stuff… so I was a regular kid. I never allowed the industry to turn me into something irregular.
So many people who experience fame and fortune as a child seem to struggle with the transition into adulthood. You appear very well adjusted. How did you avoid the pitfalls of early success?
I take it as a job, just like anybody else who goes to work everyday, does their job, then comes home – that’s what I do. I’m not being an entertainer 24 hours a day. Most of the time when I am at home relaxing with my family and friends, I’m not being an entertainer. When I’m in the house I’m cooking or just chillin’ or watching a basketball game. A lot of my life is being regular. I’ve never allowed the industry to get to me, or the fame and the fortune, because it was never about the fame and the fortune, it was always about doing what I love to do – doing music from my heart and enjoying myself.
So when you look at someone like Lindsay Lohan who has fallen victim to fame and fortune, do you sympathize with her situation?
It’s a very sad and unfortunate situation. Some kids can’t handle the pressure of being so young and so famous, so they turn to drugs. For me it was never really pressure, I really liked it. Sometimes I think conditions are a little bit different for Hollywood actors; being young and a Hollywood actor and experiencing that major success with cameras always in your face at such a young age – like a Lindsay Lohan – sometimes you can’t get away from it and you don’t have time to just sit and think. So it kind of takes you there and maybe she felt like she had to drink or do drugs to get away from it all. I never felt like I had to do that. My life was never as publicized as some of these younger kids that I see. I feel sorry for them. I’ve always had my privacy with my girlfriends and stuff like that. My life was never a big public thing. I only put out in the public what I wanted to. I’ve controlled what my life is to people and I feel like once you lose that control over your life it’s downhill from there.
I was a fan of the House Party films back in the day and, of course, Immature appeared in House Party 3 and House Party 4. What was the vibe like on-set, surrounded by the likes of Bernie Mac, Chris Tucker, TLC…
Back then Bernie Mac was just the guy on the set, the cool uncle. He was like our uncle on the set. He wasn’t THE Bernie Mac back then. It was crazy to see his career evolve and him become such a huge icon, as well as Chris Tucker. When we first did the scene with Chris Tucker, I think that was like his first movie he’d ever done. I remember being on the set with Chris Tucker and he was just like, “Man, y’all are like my cool little brothers.” He was like a comedian coming up, so it was cool to be with people that talented at such a young age. We would terrorize everybody – we would go around feeling on all the girls – we were just like the terrible three. We were just having a great time. It didn’t even sink into my head that it was acting and that we were going to be in this big movie or anything like that. To me, we were just having fun on the set.
Let’s talk about your latest album – Mr. Houston. It’s quite a formal album title. How does that reflect where you’re at in your career at the moment?
Doing the Mr. Houston album was a statement, just allowing everybody to see the maturity and me growing in this industry. When you get to a certain point in your life people do respect you and call you a ‘Mr’ – and that shows a great deal of respect – and I have a lot of respect for the industry, I have respect for music, and I have respect for all of my fans, so we share a mutual respect and that’s all that is. It’s a statement album telling everybody that I’m a ‘Mr’ now. I’ve grown in this industry for 20 years and I’ve done it all, from singing to acting to dancing. People started calling me Mr. Houston about a year before I started recording the album, so I felt like it was an appropriate title. All the titles for my albums come from real life situations.
This is your eighth album. Does the writing and recording process get easier from one album to the next?
Oh yeah, definitely. The writing process gets easier, the recording process… I just don’t like the studio. I’m not a studio rat; I’m not one of those people who stay in the studio forever. I like to get in, do my thing, and get out. I can record a full song in 2 hours.
You’re also preparing to release your ninth album later this year. Having just dropped Mr. Houston, why is there such a sense of urgency to release more material?
I fell like, nowadays, you’ve got to keep your product out there, keep your face out there, ‘cause there’s so much music and so much talent out there that if you take a step back people can forget about you. The world is onto the next nowadays. I feel like, as an artist, you’ve got to keep up with yourself, keep yourself relevant and keep putting out music so that people understand that you’re an artist who is here to stay. You’ve just got to secure your spot.
You’re heading towards a big milestone next year – turning 30. Are you looking forward to hitting the big three-o?
Actually, yes! I’m definitely looking forward to being 30. I’ve been wanting to be 30 since I was like 24 [laughs]. 30 is a cool age. I’ll be 29 next month and then next year is the big three-o. I’m definitely looking forward to being 30 and just living the 30. I’ve seen a lot of people die and, not to change gears and get all sentimental, but I’ve seen a lot of friends of mine go and seen a lot of people who didn’t get to make it to 30. So hopefully I’ll make it and that’ll be a great milestone for me to be able to say that I’ve been in the industry for so long, since I was 8, which is a great thing. I’ve been blessed with a great career and I thank God everyday.
Outside of music, you experienced major success as a film producer and actor with You Got Served back in 2004. There have been constant rumors of a sequel to the film. Are we going to see another installment of You Got Served?
No, I don’t think there’s gonna be any more You Got Served films, but you’ll definitely be seeing my face soon in more television and film.
Do you prefer acting over singing?
It’s not what I prefer… I think singing is a part of me; it’s always going to be a part of me and a passion that I love. I think acting presents another challenge and it’s where my career is starting to shift [towards] because I love that as well. I don’t love one more than the other, I just love them differently. I think acting is more challenging personally, but I think the music industry is more challenging than acting.
‘Mr Houston’ is now available from digital retailers and will be released physically on July 16th.
Check out the video to Marques Houston’s hit single “Case of You” below:
