Bruce Waynne: Frank was really meticulous and really tedious. Meticulous when he was putting things together and tedious in the process. So he would come back the next day and wrap it up or lay harmonies and try different things, or he’d be like, ​“Yo, check this song I did over here. What do you guys think?” We didn’t tell him what to write. He did his own thing and we just gave him room to figure out his thought process.

Dapo Torimiro: I remember one time he said he tried to describe his experiences through what he’s [feeling]. Most people write with what they see. But he writes what he feels, what he tastes, what he touches. So he’s writing with all his senses.

Dirty Swift: So we got together one night, it was really late in the studio. We probably finished at five in the morning and we wrote this song. It was [a song we called] Drought. The song wasn’t that great, but I could tell working with [Lonny] that we had something special. I can’t say exactly what it was, I just had a feeling. Bruce was on vacation at the time and I remember texting him and saying, ​“We got something here.”

Bruce Waynne: I was in St. Lucia and my partner Swift called me and was like, ​“Yo, Bruce, you gotta hear this record that Lonny did…” And then it just came together and I was like, ​“Oh shit, we got something. This is special.” That’s when all the placements [with bigger artists] started happening.

Dapo Torimiro: When John Legend heard Quickly, his album was already done. They were mastering his album. He paused everything and said, ​“I want this hook on my album,” you know, and then Brandy heard it. And Brandy said, ​“I want this song on my album, too.” I mean, it was crazy… Usher wanted the record, a lot of people wanted the record.