You don’t have to conform to everybody’s way of doing it or conform to the way that’s successful of doing it. Be creative and innovative in doing what you do. It’s better to make a difference than to just make a mark.

Back in the early 90’s, music was about stars and quasars and when I look into your eyes I see THE WORLD. It was all fantasy. Then I was like, ‘How about this?: “Girl this might seem strange, but let me know if I'm out of order for stepping to you this way...”’ and it became a direct conversation instead of me dreaming and wishing that this could be.

Ivan Barias: I met Carvin in ’94-’95, when we were part of DJ Jazzy Jeff’s production company, a Touch of Jazz. The first song we both did was “Just Friends” by Musiq Soulchild that’s the song that put us on the map as a tandem

Carvin Haggins: When I started writing in the early 90’s, I felt R&B didn’t do what it was supposed to do. It was all about stars and quasars and nothing real, just over usage of the words ecstasy, destiny, reality and fantasy. It pissed me off so much, I just wanted to write and make better music.

Philadelphia based Grammy-nominated songwriter/production duo Karma Productions (Ivan Barias and Carvin Haggins) have crafted records for Musiq Soulchild, Jill Scott, Justin Timberlake and Raheem DeVaughn. Look for their work on upcoming albums from Usher, Ashanti and Vivian Green