Behind the Boards with Nova Wav: Producing and Songwriting Duo Talk Getting Inspiration for Beyoncé’s “CUFF IT” From the Strip Club

Eddie Fu
·8 min read

The post Behind the Boards with Nova Wav: Producing and Songwriting Duo Talk Getting Inspiration for Beyoncé’s “CUFF IT” From the Strip Club appeared first on Consequence.

Behind the Boards is a series where we spotlight some of the biggest producers in the industry and dig into some of their favorite projects. Here, we sit down with hitmaking producers Nova Wav to talk about their work with Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, and more.

Producing and songwriting duo Nova Wav are a secret weapon for some of your favorite artists, including Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, and many more. Most recently, Denisia “Blu June” Andrews and Brittany “Chi” Coney contributed to half of Beyoncé’s latest masterpiece Renaissance, including standout track “CUFF IT,” which won Best R&B Song at the 2023 Grammys on Sunday (February 5th).

While speaking to Consequence ahead of the Grammys, Chi says the inspiration for “CUFF IT” came from a visit to a strip club and thinking of how they could make the Queen herself dance. “We worked on ‘CUFF IT’ after coming from the strip club, getting some inspiration from that — feeling some happiness,” she recalls. “Everybody had been trapped in the house from quarantining. We just wanted something big, something bright, something happy.”

“She just wanted to go to the next step and she is one of the best dancers that we’ve ever seen as well,” Chi continues. “It was like, ‘Yo, how can we make her dance?’ What does that feel like?”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Nova Wav describe working with a “powerhouse” artist like Ariana Grande. “She can do production, she can record herself, she can do a background, she can record,” Blu June says. “She can do everything, she can write. She can literally do anything. You got to come with your A-game when you’re working with somebody like Ariana because she does not need anybody.”

Read below for a deep dive into five standout productions, including Beyoncé’s “CUFF IT,” Nicki Minaj’s “MEGATRON,” Ariana Grande’s “in my head,” Kehlani’s “CRZY,” and THE CARTERS’ EVERYTHING IS LOVE.

Beyoncé – “CUFF IT”

Denisia “Blu June” Andrews: As the record evolved, we kind of just fell in line with like, “Okay, we think this is the vibe, this is what’s happening right now.” We just knew that the album needed to feel good, it needed to feel like something new. It needed to feel like a renaissance. And so we just kind of fell in line with the vibrations.

Brittany “Chi” Coney: We worked on “CUFF IT” after coming from the strip club, getting some inspiration from that — feeling some happiness. I think we just all wanted to really, really spread some joy. Everybody had been trapped in the house from quarantining. We just wanted something big, something bright, something happy.

She just wanted to go to the next step and she is one of the best dancers that we’ve ever seen as well. It was like, “Yo, how can we make her dance?” What does that feel like?

Blu June: I mean, the theme of the album is escapism, right? So it was just wanting to create something that feels like even though we’re locked inside the house, and nobody’s really clubbing or doing anything like that, how can we make people feel like they’re outside when they’re actually not? That’s where we grabbed the inspiration from the song and just wanted to give something with that throwback feel but also felt like new age because even my 19-year-old nephew, he’s like, “It feels very retro, but it also feels new.” It feels fresh. So that was just like what we wanted to create — something that felt fresh but felt true to who Beyoncé is as an artist, and her maturity as an artist.

Nicki Minaj – “MEGATRON”

Blu June: We had never had a cut on Nicki before “MEGATRON.” Somebody we’ve collaborated with before, Pop Wansel — shoutout Pop — was working on some Nicki stuff. When we were in the studio, we weren’t thinking of Nicki or thinking of anybody specifically, but we had the hook, and we just did a song.

The next thing I know, it was like, “Hey, Nicki is going to release this record.” So it was just kind of out of the blue for us. And this usually happens that way, when you’re not really aiming for anybody. That’s usually where the magic happens. It’s just super organic and you know a lot of artists don’t really want to — most artists don’t really want to do something that sounds like them or something they’ve done before.

That was a really big dream to have a song with Nicki. Things were kind of slow at that moment for her [music-wise], so I’m just happy that it gave her some traction and got her back on her feet running.

Ariana Grande – “in my head”

Blu June: Ariana was finishing up thank u, next. We flew out to work on the album there in New York, just a handful of people finishing up the album. We sat down with her and she played us some songs. And she was like, “Oh, I’m looking for a song like this.” She talked about some stuff, she knows what she wants to say and went in and we knocked it out.

It’s always good when you can sit down with an artist because our job is to deliver the emotion, to say the things that the artists can’t quite put into words. And so, it’s always good when artists can trust you with their deepest and darkest secrets. One of our gifts is that people, the artists just trust us and artists have shared some very, very personal things with us. We’re good at putting things, making things super simple, making them clear, but also making them sound cool at the same time and making other people feel like they can relate even though it’s something that they might have never gone through or experienced.

Ariana, she’s a powerhouse. She can do production, she can record herself, she can do a background, she can record. She can do everything, she can write. She can literally do anything. You got to come with your A-game when you’re working with somebody like Ariana because she does not need anybody, you know what I mean? It’s always a great experience — we love Ariana.

Kehlani – “CRZY”

Blu June: When the A&R and label were trying to get her album ready, we were looking for a single and we were in Atlanta at the time. And we got a who’s looking sheet… I just remember looking at it and being like, “Oh, we could do this, right? We can do this single.” Like, just kind of saying it and not really thinking about it.

We ended up coming to LA. I think we had just moved here in 2016. And we happen to just be like, “Let’s do a record,” or, “Let’s just do a song.” Not necessarily for Kehlani or anyone, we just were doing a song and we ended up sending a song in and they were like, “We think this is the single.” We were actually very surprised, like, “Really?” It just happened so quick. I remember Chi had a beat and I was like, “Yeah, this beat is crazy. It feels like this is something that music needs right now.”

The bounce was so different, like sonically the beat just had like all these different sounds you don’t normally hear. And within a week, maybe two weeks of sending in the song and her recording it, the song was out. It just happened so quickly, we didn’t even really have a chance to really grasp what was happening.

Chi: [Kehlani] was going through a rough time at the time. And so to come in, and really, really give her something where it’s like, this is exactly what I need to say, this is exactly what I need to do. I remember doing the beat. And I remember the title of it was called “813 Sound.” The reason of that was because I’m from Tampa, and that was my area code when I was a little girl. I thought, “I just want to get back to what’s really me,” you know what I mean?” So, it was one of those quick ones where it was like 20 minutes and I thought, “Okay, this is dope.” Our sound is like, we’re dark and melodic and so it pushed through, the song pushed through, it kind of wrote itself in a way. It was incredible.

Blue June: I think a lot of different things had to happen. I think it had to be women who produced and co-wrote it because I think the things that she needed to say — I don’t think she was in a position at that moment to get those things out and I think a man wouldn’t have really understood that perspective. I just think that made it more special being that it was just all women that created that record. That’ll always just be probably I think both of our favorite moments in music for us, because that was like our stamp for our sound and it legitimized who we are as a production and songwriting team — like, “Yo they really got it, they really can do it.”

THE CARTERS – EVERYTHING IS LOVE

Blu June: With [Beyoncé and JAY-Z], they make us go in our bags, where we actually have to research different things to just make sure that we’ve given everything that we can give. I think that’s one of the things that we always do with them. But it was like no real pressure because they don’t make you feel like that. You know, it’s always a collaborative effort.

Behind the Boards with Nova Wav: Producing and Songwriting Duo Talk Getting Inspiration for Beyoncé’s “CUFF IT” From the Strip Club
Eddie Fu

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