Amerie on How Trusting Her Gut Led to the Biggest Hit of Her Career With ‘1 Thing’

This week, Billboard is publishing a series of lists and articles celebrating the music of 20 years ago. Our 2005 Week continues here with a conversation with Amerie about her 2005, which included the release of her biggest and most-beloved hit to date: the pop&B classic “One Thing.”

When Amerie recorded her Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “1 Thing” in New York City, she was a twenty-something singer/songwriter fully immersed in her craft, using a bag of Guacamole Doritos to keep her motivated. Racing to finish the go-go-tinged track, she and producer Rich Harrison paced through the arduous 12-hour session, as the singer occasionally treated herself to one or two chips after completing a section of the song.

“I was growing and vocally coming into myself, and that was playing off what [Harrison] was creating,” she recalls of the song’s creation. “He was able to create based on what I was bringing. I was like his muse. For me, we’re like musical soulmates. We just fit. When it came to anyone really doing anything, there was going to be an element of me and Rich in that, because we created something special together. It’s hard to get away from it.”

For Amerie, it’s hard to get away from music. After a 16-year hiatus since her last studio album, In Love & War, the singer-songwriter will mark her triumphant return to music with her upcoming self-titled album — while also releasing a new novel, This Is Not a Ghost Story.

“Overall, it’s easier for me to take constructive criticism as a writer of fiction versus songwriting in music,” says Amerie, whose new book drops June 10. “When I try to create songs, I do the least amount of thinking. With writing, it’s very cerebral. Doing so much writing and rewriting helped me get my ideas across much clearer and faster in my songwriting.”

Below, Billboard speaks to Amerie about the 20th anniversary of “1 Thing,” why the label was initially against the record, if Jennifer Lopez almost had the song before her and more.

I heard Doritos played a huge role during the recording process of “One Thing.” Is that true?

I remember I needed a [metaphorical] carrot. I was almost like a puppy. I needed a treat, and I gotta space them out. It’s like when you study; if you read two pages, you get two cheese balls. So for me, it became a game and kind of way to keep me going in the studio. It was like, “If you get this verse right, you get a chip.” [Laughs.]

So when I recorded “One Thing,” I was eating the Guacamole Doritos. I don’t even know if they make ’em anymore, but it was like, “You get a chip after finishing a take.” It was like I’d get two chips and then I’d have a tea — it was green tea. That kind of kept me going through the session, because you gotta belt that song out. Like the whole song. That kept me going those 12 hours [of recording]. 

Your producer Rich sampled The Meters’ “Oh Calcutta” for the song and it had such a go-go flare to it. Was it easy for you to adapt to that kind of production?

And he did that. The original sample, you can feel the vibe there, but the way he flipped it is what really made it feel go-go. It was pretty easy, because I was used to Rich at that point. So all of that was different from some of the stuff that we did before. There’s a certain kind of common thread that he has in his percussion and his production, but I will say when I first heard it, it was a little like, “OK.” It was that moment when I was like, “All right. I’m gonna sing over this. ‘Kay.”

But Rich and I have such a trust sonically. We always fit together like two puzzle pieces. There’s so much trust there that he didn’t really have to convince me to be like, “We should try this, or try that.” That’s kind of why we gelled so much when we started working together. When we met for the first time, I played him so stuff that he written and he played me some stuff that he was working on. I kind of knew there was something there and then when we actually went in for our first session, we just clicked really quickly. Nothing has ever been a reach for us. 

The label said the record felt “very linear” when they first heard the record. What were your initial thoughts to their feedback?

I remember they sent some different suggestions of the hook that I thought to not really be right at all. Not terrible on their own… but trying to make that hook a part of the song was a bad idea. I was like, “Don’t you hear that sounds not good?” But they were just thinking, “What is a big hook?” Thinking, instead of feeling it. But their reasons were good. They were trying to make the biggest record possible.

It’s like a careful dance everyone has to do on their sides. At the end of the day, you just have to remember, everyone is not going to get it every time. 

Did you have an “A-ha” moment when you guys leaked the record and the feedback from the fans came back positively? How did the label take it?

Well, I think they were playing catch-up. I didn’t have an “a-ha” moment, because everything was moving too fast. For me, it was, “How do we catch up?” The label was on board and I’m glad it worked out. It was too quick for me, but I did learn an important lesson, though.

One song that was gonna be a single was “Talkin About,” which was so dope. The reason why it didn’t was because I was traveling a lot. Again, things were happening so quickly and they were ready for the video, but I just didn’t like the video treatments I was getting. They weren’t the worst, but they weren’t exactly right. I took too long to decide, because I was overseas, and all this stuff was happening. Because I took so long, it gave them too much time to be like, “You know what? We can just work on another album. Let’s put the money towards another album.” I was like, “Wait, no!” But they’ve already made that decision.

So then I learned an important lesson — you gotta be nimble and move fast. When things happen quickly, switch. And don’t be a perfectionist — ‘coz I am a perfectionist, and being a perfectionist sometimes will freeze you. 

Were you a fan of the movie Hitch, and how much the song was incorporated into the film?

Carl, what if I hated the movie? [Laughs.]

And that’s OK! 20 years later, you might have different thoughts.

No, I thought the movie was really cute. I really did like it. I enjoyed it. There’s so many people around the world that know the song because of the movie, which surprises me every time. It shows you the power of multimedia. You have the music itself, but just from the film, I’m so surprised how many people know it from that ’cause they would be like, “Hitch! Hitch. ‘1 Thing.’ Hitch.” So they’re attached together. I’m glad it was attached to something that was a feel-good movie. It made sense. 

You handpicked Eve for the remix. What went into that decision considering the standard formula back then was grabbing a male hip-hop star to balance out the song with a female R&B artist?

Looking at it now, there’s so many female rappers, and so many of them made such inroads in the game that you can forget that it was pretty difficult [back then]. You can count on one hand how many were really prominent. It didn’t feel like it was groundbreaking at the time. She was just dope, and had good energy. I knew she would bring a lot to the record.

I heard Jennifer Lopez first wanted the record. Was that true?

I don’t know that for a fact, because I didn’t know if it was her who wanted the record or people working with her that wanted the record for her. So I don’t know that. 

I thought it was funny, because then Rich produced J-Lo’s “Get Right” shortly after.

Rich and I really did create a sound. Like, he was already doing music, of course and I think he actually played a song with Mary [J. Blige] on [The Breakthrough]. He had a really beautiful song with her that had this hypnotic vibe to it. In any case, he already has his place in it. I was trying to get in the business for a minute and I’d been writing and just trying to figure it out, but when we came together, we really did create something new.

“Touch” was the next single after “1 Thing.” Looking back, would you have done things differently and gone along with another single on the album?

Looking back, I think the next single should have been “Talkin’ About.” The third single was gonna be “Talkin’ About.” It’s not that we should have never gone to “Touch” ever, but I think it should have been “1 Thing” [first] And instead of “Talkin’ About” being a third [single], we should have went ahead and secured it as the second. Then, after that, “Rolling Down My Face” should have been three. 

I always thought “Like It Used to Be” was the sequel to “Why Don’t We Fall in Love,” and that it could have worked too.

That’s interesting. I think if there’s any songs that are really essentially puzzle pieces to moments in a relationship, really, they can all fit in all different kinds of ways. “Like It Used To Be” could have been a single. It could actually work now.

Fast forward, you’ve returned to the music space with your new single “Mine” produced by Troy Taylor. It was one of the few records you’ve teased on IG Live. Why was this the first one to come out?

“Mine” we teased when we did a three-song sampler and just played everyone a verse and a hook of three different songs. We listened to how they were feeling about it and we knew how people felt about “Undeniable” as well as one of the up-tempos we played for people too. Those are still coming, they’re still on the album. For the first song, I wanted to give them something that they haven’t heard the whole thing of and come back to “Undeniable” because the song is dope and I want them to hear it for real on streaming and with great amazing quality. I also just wanted them to have something different.