So you want to be a songwriter? Well, it's easier said than done. While many aspiring writers grapple with the arduous tasks of penning records, 28 year-old songwriter, Eric Bellinger does it in his sleep. For years, Bellinger penned bangers for the likes of Usher, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Justin Bieber, and more. What many may not know is that his robust resume came at a price. Eric placed his aspirations of being an artist on hold, in hopes of creating a reputable name for himself as a songwriter. Now, he's living both of his dreams as a Grammy Nominated songwriter and an emerging R&B artist on the rise. 

This year, he notched himself three Grammy Nominations for Chris Brown's album X, including the infectious single "New Flame." On the artist front, he is quickly galloping his way up the ranks of R&B with his first two singles, "I Don't Want Her" featuring Problem and "Focused On You" featuring 2 Chainz. With writing credits on songs like Chris Brown's "Fine China", Usher's "Lemme See," Justin Bieber's "Right Here," it's easy to see why Bellinger's pen game is one of the best in the industry. We sat down with Bellinger to talk about his Grammy nominations, his single "Focused On You,” his forthoming debut album Cuffing Season, and more. 

Congratulations on your three Grammy nominations for Chris Brown's album X and the single "New Flame." How did you feel when you first heard the news of you being nominated for this year's Grammy's?

EB: Man, I was excited. You know, that's the day—especially when they put those lists out for songwriters—that's like back in the day when you were in high school and you ran into that gym door to see if you made the team. You running through the list and you're looking. You're like, "Oh, man! I made it! Alright cool! Let's go Varsity. Where's my jersey?!" It was the same thing. When they put the list out, I was going through scrolling nice and slow. I made sure I didn't miss nothing. I made sure the list I was looking at was a valid list because there were so many lists that went out that day. Once I realized that it was not one, not two, but three nominations, I was just thanking God. 

What's definitely dope about you is that besides being a great songwriter, you're an emerging artist. Talk about how you been trying to balance out being both a songwriter and a new artist. 

Man, it's tough. But, it's easy to be like, I could just focus solely on my artistry. But I'm the type of guy that I really believe what got me here—whatever I did to get here—is what I have to continue to do to stay here. So I'm never going to lose sight of the route that I took or what got me here. So whenever I'm in the studio writing for myself, if I hear something that I think could be great for somebody else, I'll just be like, "Yo. Let me shoot this over to them and just let them hear it." The joy of it all is that I'm a songwriter and I can write another one. It took me awhile to learn that. You know, a lot of the time, people will hear songs and be like, "Ah man. He should have kept 'Fine China.' He should have kept 'Lemme See.' You know what I mean? I used to really play into that. But, once I realized that I'm the source of these records, it was like, 'Yo. Why not do both?'

You just touched on it. Every time I've spoken with songwriters, they've always admitted to having that one record that they wished that they kept. In your case, which record would that be? 

Man, those two songs that I just mentioned ["Fine China" and "Lemme See"] are my favorite songs that I've written just because they both have so much soul in them. You know, "Fine China" is like, come on—that song is amazing. It's the same thing with Usher. How do you get a falsetto, smooth, sexy song on that hard of a club beat? So those two are like ooowwweeee! If it was me, believe me, we would have been going to the moon. You know what I mean? But I'm not bitter about them. I'm just excited because you know the songwriting is what catapulted my artist career. You know, I used the songwriting like the fullback and my artistry was the tailback. It's Super Bowl season. But, literally, I was piggybacking everywhere. It was like, "Boom. Eric Bellinger just released this song 'Fine China.'" On the same blog, me and Greg would be like, "Alright. Let's figure this out." We're gonna use this and piggyback. My artist career has been piggybacking and just following close behind my songwriter career. So I just look at it like they both went hand and hand. 

I'm not gonna lie. I was skeptical at first when you flipped Nas' "Oochie Wally" record for your single "Focused On You" with 2 Chainz. But, after a couple of spins, I realized you had yourself a banger. 

Yeah dog. It's hard man. It's a classic sample. It's an incredible melody. You got 2 Chainz on it. The video is insane. We were like, "We're gonna hit them hard with this one." And you know, sometimes, that's just how it be. You have to really give it a listen before you give your judgment on it. I'm glad that people gave it a shot and didn't just listen to it, and then it was out. I know that with some songs people really have to understand before they can just grab onto. 

From an artist standpoint, we need you to be honest. Which version do you think is better: Your record with 2 Chainz or Fabolous and Chris Brown's version with "She Wildin?'" 

My joint is clowning their joint, bro [laughs].

I wanted to make sure that I asked because I know both versions are currently out. 

For me, I hadn't heard theirs. I just heard someone like, "Yo, I heard Chris and Fab got a joint with the same sample." You know, I've been hearing it for a while. But I had already shot the video. We do stuff to the point we’re prepared. We had that video done a long time ago. I had the song done a year ago.

I think that's the issue with people when you play your record as a songwriter and as an artist. With all these social networks and all these Snapchats and Instagrams, stop putting your song on your networks! You know what I'm saying?! If you really wanna do something and impact, there's no way you can do that if you already have the song out.

If somebody hears your song and it's a dope song, they're gonna take your idea. If you’re in my session, then your phone is off. You're not recording my songs. You're not putting my songs out there. I think with the "Focused On You" record, we had sent it out to a couple of people to get on a feature. I think that was when people heard it or got the idea. Even if they didn't get the idea, it's a great sample that haven't been flipped in a long time. It could have been a coincidence. But once I started sending it out to people, a couple of of A&Rs got it.

It was like, "How were people getting this record?" So we were like, "We gotta move and put it out." I definitely think my record is a lot stronger. Even if I didn't do it, I'm a real songwriter and I'm a realist. If somebody comes with a better song, I will instantly say like, "Yo. That record is better." But I just personally think after listening to the record like two minutes in, it just gets kind of boring. It's just like, ehhhh. It's cool, but I think the song that I got never gets boring. It never gets dull. You get to the second verse and boom, you got 2 Chainz. It gets to the bridge, and then it takes you back to the sample part. I do and I will say that I thought it was clever how Chris Brown used the same cadence, but changed up the words. She wildin', she do her thang. Like that was clever. Like I said, I'm a realist. I will give credit when it's due. But, I just think overall with your question, I kind of have to go with mine, bruh [laughs].

I hear that. With your first single, "I Don't Want Her," you did multiple remixes with Trey Songz, Ma$e, French Montana, and Jermaine Dupri. Do you plan on doing the same thing with the "Focused On You" record? 

Nah. I think for this one we're gonna just impact with one solid remix. We already got a couple people that reached out. I think it was a dope thing to just try that out. That's why I just love being independent because we get to experiment. We get to see what works and we get to see what doesn't work. With that, it was dope because I was able to tap into each artist's fan base. Like we got the Ma$e version. Boom, Ma$e fans. We got the French Montana version. Boom, French fans. We got the Trey Songz version. Boom, Trey fans. We got the Jermaine Dupri version. Boom, JD fans. Also, with JD, that was his record when he had Kris Kross. So that was a dope connection to do with him. I really think that did well, as far as serving its purpose because at the time, I was branching out. I was trying to get more fans. I was trying to build the awareness. That was a dope idea for that. But now, I think we got people's attentions now. People are watching now. Now, we'll just hit them with one big remix. 

Because you're associated with so many people, and know some A-list artists, who can we expect on your album Cuffing Season album? Who are you trying to get?

I'm trying to get a joint with Usher on there. You might see something with Chris [Brown] and Trey Songz, Drake, Jhene [Aiko]. These are people that I'm really cool with, especially like Jhene. We're both from LA. I definitely want to make sure that I have my fam on the project.