Prof. Charlie Puth Mixes Jimmy’s Raw Vocals to Create a Song on the Spot

-Charlie Puth. You're a talented, talented man.

Thank you for doing 100%. -Absolutely.

-Appreciate it, bro.

-I actually had my hair like that in 2018.

-Did you really? -Really embarrassing.

-Oh, my God. Perfect. -Yeah.

-I will look up the photos later.

I want to say congrats on "Changes," by the way.

I love the song. It's so good.

-Thank you.

-Just released it on Thursday.

You also released a music video for "Changes" that's got a lot of people talking.

-I feel like I know what you're going to ask.

-Well, there's a -- there's a -- there's a part in the video where you and your beautiful wife, Brooke are dancing together and you're both holding her tummy.

-Aww.

I didn't leave much up to the imagination there, but, yeah, we'll be, uh -- We're expecting a baby in March.

-Yeah! Come on, bud!

Wow. Congratulations. -Thank you.

Thank you. -You're gonna be a dad.

-I'm gonna be a dad.

-You're gonna be a dad. -Yeah.

I was told not to reveal the gender.

-Yeah. No, don't do that.

But you're going to be a great dad.

-Thank you. -I'm so excited for you.

-I hope baby likes music because it's the only thing I'm good at.

-No. My gosh. No you're not. But baby's gonna love music.

Do you have music planned out for baby?

-Well, um, I feel like I'm going to do what my mom did for me.

My mom used to put the headphones-- It was the '90s, so the headphones were big.

-Yeah. -Just put them on her tummy and I think I listened to James Taylor and Luther Vandross, and I got a wide array of music, so I'll do the same thing, whether Brooke likes it or not.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Even just two little, two little AirPods.

Yeah. And just go, yeah. And just hold it there.

Just hold it there and go -- Yeah.

This is a five minute song, so get ready.

-Times have changed, baby. -Times have changed, exactly.

It's 2025, baby.

But "Changes" is everywhere.

You're performing "Changes" for us tonight?

-Yes, absolutely. -Thank you for doing that song.

There's a good -- There's a good kind of retro vibe to the song.

-Yeah, it's a kind of Peter Gabriel inspired.

-What is it? It's like -- It's the piano -- It's the keyboard? -It's the, uh -- the Bruce Hornsby.

It's kind of like it's not quite '80s and it's not quite '90s.

It's right in the turning period of like, inspired sonically of like 1989, right before things got a little more technologically advanced.

-I love how nerdy you are with all this stuff, like actually 1989.

-It's actually 1989. -It's 1989.

It was the fall -- It's the fall of '89.

And, uh -- And what kind of keyboard is it?

-It's a CP-70. I think y'all -- Y'all got one over there?

-You have a CP-70 out there? -It's Phil Collins -- You know "A Groovy Kind of Love" by Phil Collins.

♪ When I look at you ♪ ♪ Da da da da da da da da da da da ♪ It's like that keyboard that very, uh...

That 80s. It's...

That one. Yes.

It's a hybrid of an acoustic piano and electric piano made by Yamaha.

And it's severely underused in music.

And I just -- The day I started making the record, I thought to myself, why -- It's the first sound that popped up.

I thought to myself, why haven't I used this sound before?

Really interesting stuff. I know.

-No it is actually. No, it is.

No, I love you -- I love when you come on and talk about music and talk about your craft.

March 6, the whole album comes out.

It's called "Whatever's Clever."

Uh, where did the title come from?

"Whatever's Clever." -The title came from-- Well, what's funny is that the album is called "Whatever's Clever," but none of these songs are I'd consider them clever.

They're real.

And I think by me naming the album "Whatever's Clever" to get really artisty here -- by me naming the album "Whatever's Clever", it was kind of a cathartic way to say goodbye to a former way of like, thinking about like, "Oh, every song, this has to be perfect for radio.

This has to be perfect for X, Y, and Z."

Like, it's really songs for me.

And it's been very therapeutic making this album.

-Oh, really? -Yeah.

It's brought me even closer to my family.

And not that we were very close, but like closer in, like an even more emotional way because we all love music and...

-Yeah. -Yeah.

-Do you write the music first or the words?

-I usually come up with the music and the sounds first, like you see me on the internet, but this is, for the first time, I came up with like with the subject matter and then sound followed after.

-I'm so excited. I love the song.

I obviously follow you on the socials.

They have this thing on TikTok called Professor Puth.

-Yes. -Yeah. It's great.

I think this -- Is there eight or nine out now?

-There's nine out now.

And it started with my friend Justin.

It just started out as a text message idea.

I was like, "You should just call the series Professor Puth," because I want people to -- I want all of you to make music.

I want everyone around the world to know that they have it within them to make a song, even if they're not the most musically inclined.

You have a voice.

If you don't know how to play an instrument, your voice is your instrument.

And I just get -- That's what I preach every day on the web.

-Last time you were on the show, you made a song out of a mug and a spoon.

-Yes. -You saw that?

Yeah. -Three years ago now.

-Was that three years ago? -Mm-hmm.

-Thank you for doing that, by the way.

And I thought, if you're up for it, could you give us another Professor Puth lesson tonight?

-Yes.

-What do we have here?

-Here we have a laptop.

-Okay. -And do you remember what you texted me last night?

-Yes, I sang you -- You wanted me to sing you a line, any line of any song.

So I chose your song.

-Yes, which I appreciated because we're promoting it.

And that was very, very nice of you.

-I thought I had.

-Guys, he sang it perfectly.

I mean, I knew you knew how to sing already, but you really know how to carry a tune.

-Absolutely-- -Well... -All right.

-It was -- You worked hard all day.

You were -- I think you were driving home and you sent me this voice memo right here.

Tell me if this works.

-♪ There's been some changes in our life ♪ ♪ Oh, I can feel the distance ♪ -No, no, it's good. And I like this part at the end here.

-♪ Don't know why-y-y ♪ -Okay, yeah, yeah. I kind of improvised a little there.

I improvised. -Just wait.

So you went a little fast off tempo, but the pitch was perfect.

So what I did was in my hotel room last night, I lined it up to the tempo.

-♪ There's been some changes in our life ♪ ♪ Or I can feel the distance ♪ ♪ Space and time ♪ -Just wait, just wait. You're going to be -- You're going to be real -- This is -- This is what music-- Isn't music amazing?

Just wait.

So...

-Please help. Please help me.

-Okay. So check it out.

So now we'll go back to the vocals in a second.

But we want to make some drums here.

So I really like when you say "distance."

The "tst." That sounds like a hi-hat.

-♪ I can feel the distance ♪ -"Distance." So just take the little "tst."

And then just -- Tst-tst-tst-tst.

And it's a little hi-hat, okay.

So don't clap yet.

So... -Or clap.

-So now we make our kick drum.

-♪ There's been some changes ♪ -"There's been." "There's been" Been. Been.

Sounds like a boom. "There's been some changes."

But we got to pitch "been" down.

Hold on a second. Almost there.

And put a little oomph into it.

And then you put the kick drum with your with your hi-hat.

And it sounds like this.

-Yo, yo.

-Wait, can you -- can you -- Can you can you snap for me really quickly?

Just hold on. Hold on. Let me hit record.

Perfect. One second.

-I mean, I'm a musical-- -Okay, so that's the drums.

So let's go back. -This is crazy, man.

-Just wait. Let's go back to the vocals now.

-I mean, "There's been."

♪ There's been some changes ♪ -Put a little reverb on. -♪ In our life ♪ ♪ Oh, I-- ♪ -Okay, so what I'm going to do -- this is the part that gets a little strange, but it's worth it.

Right here is a harmony.

It's going to -- I'm going to manipulate your voice to sound like a little, like, high pitched, like Alvin and the Chipmunks. -Okay.

♪ There's been some changes in our life ♪ -And here's another harmony a little bit lower.

-♪ There's been some changes in our life ♪ -And here's a really, really low one.

-♪ Changes in our life ♪ -But look what happens when you put everything together.

-♪ There's been some changes in our life ♪ ♪ Oh, I can feel the dis-- ♪ -Let's put it with the drums now.

-♪ There's been some changes in our life ♪ ♪ Oh, I could feel the distance ♪ ♪ Space and time ♪ -Y'all can play along.

-♪ Has made everything different ♪ ♪ Day and night, oh ♪ -D-Minor. -♪ Everything has changed ♪ ♪ I don't know why-y-y ♪ What are you talking about?

Yo, what are you talking about?

Dude, you are brilliant. -It's cool, right?

-You are unbelievable.

Professor Puth.

Charlie Puth "Changes" is out now, and "Whatever's Clever" will be available March 6.

We're talking to Allen Iverson after the break.

Stick around.