Eric Nam Creates the Playlist of His Life

And then he has that part in the second verse.

♪ You're everything I see in my dreams ♪

I get so nervous every time,

even to this day, whenever I do that part,

because I'm like,

please don't crack.

Don't crack.

Try it.

[laughs] It's really hard to do.

Hey, this is Eric Nam,

and welcome to The Playlist of My Life.

[chilled hip hop beats]

John Legend's Ordinary People is

the first song on my playlist,

because I think

the opening line,

the melody,

I just really love as well.

♪ Girl, I'm in love with you ♪

♪ But this ain't the honeymoon ♪

♪ Girl, I'm in love with you, ♪

♪ But this ain't the honeymoon ♪

♪ 'Cause we're ordinary people ♪

It takes you to another place.

It kind of elevates it.

♪ We don't know which way to go. ♪

And it,

the runs,

his voice,

the smooth, honey silkiness with which he sings it,

with just enough rasp.

It feels right.

[chilled hip hop beats]

Do y'all remember O Town's All or Nothing?

Do you?

If you do, you will know immediately

how solid of a song this is.

♪ 'Cause I want it all, or nothin' at all ♪

♪ Or nothing at all ♪

It's a great song.

And it was one of those songs

where you could practice singing,

'cause it has all these long notes,

and these melodies that require a lot of breath control.

♪ I know nah-neh, neh-neh ♪

[laughs] I don't remember the words,

but I know the hook,

♪ 'Cause I want it all ♪

And it's, everybody got to sing it.

♪ Or nothing at all ♪

Come on, guys.

♪ Is this where it ♪

I don't hear you?

You know it, you know it,

you all know it, don't pretend like you don't know it.

Do not be ashamed of liking these boy band hits,

from the late nineties and early two thousands.

[chilled hip hop beats]

This one's called Ne-Yo's

♪ Sexy love ♪

♪ My sexy love ♪

I did not realize this,

but my brother told me the other day,

he was like, Do you remember when you sang this,

at like school assembly?

And I was like, I did not.

And he's like, You did.

I was like, All right, you should've stopped me.

Horrifying flashbacks,

but still, great song.

It's that repetitive melody.

I'm a big melodies guy.

Like, lyrics kind of comes second to me,

but it's a [vocalizes melody]

♪ Hey, just one touch ♪

♪ And I erupt ♪

What's erupting? I don't know.

That's a question you have to answer.

[chilled hip hop beats]

John Mayer's Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,

Live at the Nokia.

♪ Slow dancing in a burning room ♪

This, Live at the Nokia

is one of my favorite albums of all time,

because it just captures a crowd,

and a live moment.

I don't play the guitar,

so I can only,

I probably don't even do it justice,

when it comes to how much of a genius he is.

But the melodies that he comes up with on a guitar,

that [vocalizes guitar melody]

[John Mayer's guitar melody plays]

That, that riff is so catchy,

and it's so good.

Like cotton candy for your ear holes.

It's incredible.

[chilled hip hop beats]

The next song is Eric Nam, that's me.

He has a song called I Don't Know You Anymore.

It is my first single as a fully independent artist,

which is a big deal for a lot of people.

Me.

Talking about guitars,

there's like, a guitar riff that just goes through,

there's this like, [vocalizes guitar riff]

♪ I can't tell you where we went ♪

To be honest, when I first made the song,

and I was like, I don't know, guys, like,

I don't know if it's like, a great song.

But then like, I played it for people,

and then I started listening to it more and more.

And they're like, This is the first single.

For some reason, this resonated with people the most.

♪ Nothing even left to take back ♪

♪ Can't lose something you never had ♪

♪ All I know is I don't know you anymore ♪

And that's, that's the hook.

The core of the song.

So

come to my concert, we can sing it together.

Right?

[chilled hip hop beats]

This song is La Camisa Negra by Juanes.

I was in

Panama.

Or I say Panama,

in high school.

And this one summer, I was living there.

Juanes and Shakira's La Tortura,

and Daddy Yankee's Gasolina.

And these songs were just everywhere.

Like it was,

it's kind of disgusting how many times

I listened to these songs.

Like, it was just on repeat,

and it's the guitar riff that's really fricking addictive.

[vocalizes guitar riff] And it just,

once it's in, like, the moment I hear

that first riff in the song,

my body has a physical reaction of like,

whoa, who's playing this?

[La Camisa Negra plays]

And Shakira goes like, [sings in Spanish]

And then he's like, [sings in Spanish]

And you're just like, oh my God, sensory overload.

[chilled hip hop beats]

Adele,

Chasing Pavements.

I remember just hearing,

her voice and just getting like goose point.

Goose points?

What's? What's goose points?

I remember hearing her voice and getting goosebumps.

It's the build up into that hook.

And it goes

♪ Oh, oh, Should I give up ♪

'Cause the front part of that song is so,

♪ I made up my mind ♪

♪ Don't need to think it over if I'm ♪

Like, that's the thing that I love about great songs.

It's like, it takes you on a musical journey,

and it's that climactic build that,

that we get from this song,

that I think really hits a lot of listeners.

And that's probably what so many of her songs

are really, really good.

What, that's what she's so good at.

That's why everybody gets so emotional.

♪ Will I give up, or should I just keep chasin' pavements ♪

[chilled hip hop beats]

[snaps fingers] Mr. Bruno Mars.

With his song Treasure.

When I was in Korea, when I was starting my career,

they asked me to sing this song,

or maybe I don't remember what the exact situation was,

but I went on a TV show and I sang this song,

and that clip went incredibly viral.

And then I became like,

everybody asked me to sing this song wherever I went.

The notes in there are insanely high.

It requires a lot of technique,

and it's a very hard song to sing.

Am I saying that I can do it?

Yes. I am.

So the reason this song is so hard is,

A: Mr. Bruno Mars has a ridiculously crazy range.

He sings really high,

in ways that most people, I don't think, even attempt.

And there are a lot of runs,

and a lot of breath control that's needed,

because think about it, there's [vocalizes melody]

♪ I know that you ♪

Even that [vocalizes melody]

At a high pitch.

♪ Whoa oh-oh-oh I know that you ♪

Really hard.

And then he has that part in the second verse.

♪ You're everything I see in my dreams ♪

I get so nervous every time, even to this day,

whenever I do that part, because I'm like,

please don't crack.

Don't crack.

♪ You're everything I see in my dreams ♪

Try it.

[laughs] It's really hard to do.

All right.

So thank you so much Teen Vogue for having me,

and I hope you guys enjoyed The Playlist of my Life.

I'm on tour.

I have a brand new album,

it's called They're Back Again.

Stay healthy, be happy,

and I'll see you at ericnam.com.

Thanks guys. Thanks Teen Vogue.

Bye.

[chilled hip hop beats]