Beats, Rhymes, and Sisterhood with Roxanne Shanté and Cleotrapa

 

In this episode of ACross Generations we dive into the world of hip hop with two amazing guests: the legendary Roxanne Shanté and rising star Cleotrapa. They chat about everything from the raw early days of battle raps to today’s bold, boundary-pushing female MCs. It’s all about celebrating sisterhood, navigating competition, and owning your greatness in the game. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to a cross generations where the voices of black
women unite. I'm your host, Tiffany Cross. Tiffany Cross, Tiffany,
We gather a season elder myself as the middle generation
and a vibrant young soul for engaging intergenerational conversations. Prepared
to engage or hear perspections that no one else is happy.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
You know how we do?

Speaker 1 (00:27):
We create magic, cate magic.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
What's up?

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Everybody?

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Welcome to a cross generations. I'm your host, Tiffany D.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Cross.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
And today I want to talk about hip hop. So
I grew up in the eighties and the nineties, and
in fact, the very first album I was gifted was Hot, Cool, Vicious,
Salt and Pepper. I used to love Salt and Pepper.
You guys remember that album cover. It was like red
and blue and purple. I used to love EMC Light
and money Love Queen Lativa. And then when I became
a teenager, the genre changed to it.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
So then there was.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yo Yo, Lady of Rage, Eve the Brat, Trina, Missy Elliott,
and of course the legend herself, Lauren Hill. But no
two women dominated the genre during my college and high
school years like Foxy Brown and Lil Kim. These two
artists unveiled Black women's sexuality in an unapologetic way. It
made women the subject instead of the objects. Women to

(01:18):
control of their sexual narrative and centered their own desires
and their own sensuality.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
And then we were off, guys, because now Cardi B.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Megan and Stallion, Nikki Bandajs, Glorella and others have really
redefined the genre yet again in different ways. And I wonder,
as I'm older what to make of this new generation
of female rappers.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Sometimes I hear lyrics that make me WinCE, but then.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
I gotta check myself and say, well, what's the difference
between what this generation of MC's are saying and what
I was rapping along to with my teen and college years.
And quite frankly, we'll still rap along to today. So
I'm here to have an amazing conversation and I'm so
excited about the two guests joining me.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
We have Cleia Trappa.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
She is a dynamic rapper and artists whose bold lyrics
and unique style are making waves in the music industry.
She's here to share her perspective on hip hop and
the power of women in the game. And I will
tell you, guys, I've been Google stocking her for forty
eight hours. So I am officially a Clea Trappa expert
and we also have joining us. I'm so honored to

(02:22):
have this legendary woman with me. Roxane Chante doctor Gooden
to some of you folks. She is one of the
pioneers of hip hop. Roxxane burst onto the scene in
the eighties and has been a trailblazer for women in
the genre ever since.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
So I'm so happy to have you ladies joining me.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Thank you for having met.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
I've been telling you I was such a fan growing up.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
I was on the phone with my brother when you
walked in and I was like, yes, I'm about to interview.
So I've been talking about you all morning. So I'm
officially a fan of both you ladies.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
I appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
I think you guys are very well positioned to have
this conversation with me because one I love. We chatted
a little bit and you're a supporter of women, and
I think that is something that we don't often see
pronounced in the genre all the time. And you, off
the bat said, you know, I support my hip hop
says there's I support sister's period, So I love it.

(03:16):
What I didn't realize because I was so young, I
didn't realize that you were so young when you entered
the game. You were like fourteen years old, yes, and
entered in a beef. What was the scariest part about
that being just a kid?

Speaker 4 (03:29):
Well, you know when it comes to hip hop, especially
when it comes to being a female in hip hop.
I came in as a battle rapper. I came in
as a battle arder. So one of the main things
for me was I did it for the money. The
main factor was going out finding different battles, going there
and being able to win the money, bring it home
and literally just take care of my family. So it
had became a source of income. Where for a lot

(03:51):
of other people it happened to be something that they
liked to do. It happened to be a hobby, it
happened to be something fun. But for me, it was
a job from day one. I started literally entering in
battles when I was about ten years old. I had
something called the Nipsey Russell syndrome. And that's something that
I nicknamed it because when people say, well, who influenced you,
was there a female in hip hop that influenced you,

(04:12):
And no, it wasn't for me.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
It was Nipsey Russell. And Nipsey Russell was a.

Speaker 4 (04:16):
Comedian and he had the ability to be able to
rhyme at any time about anything. So for me, I
picked up on that ability and called it the Nipsey
Russell syndrome. So that's what allowed me to be very
good when it came to battles because people were not
able to They always came with something written, you know,
and and I respect those who come with something written,
but when you come with someone that has the ability

(04:37):
to just jump in at any time, whatever it is
that you had written is no longer going to work
for you because now you're going to lose because the
crowd is going to go with whatever has a constant flow.
So coming in at an early age and being able
to do that was great for me. You know, it
got to a point where in New York City, you know,
they wouldn't even allow me to enter battles anymore because
they would say, wait, if it's the little girl with

(04:59):
the bracest, don't let her innswer Because I was literally
just going around collecting money. You know, they'd be like,
oh no, let me see, open your mouth, let me see.
And you know they'd be like, no, you can't answer,
because it didn't matter who the competition was.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
And I walked with that proudly.

Speaker 4 (05:13):
Yeah, you know, and even when you know, when I
was listening to you do your intro for hip hop.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
You know, I love all of my hip hop sisters.

Speaker 4 (05:21):
I respect what they do, and you know today I
have a wonderful relationship with them, but we weren't in
the same class. You know, we didn't do the same things.
They had great albums, they were able to do great videos.
You know, I have great stories, I have a great history,
you know, And so now I could sit back and
enjoy my greatness.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yes, and we still enjoy an honor and salute your
great thank you. I was struck by you saying like
there was nobody for you to look up to. Of course,
because you were one of the pioneers. You're like the first.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
I can't even imagine who you would look up to.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
Well, you have Sha rock Shack, you have the Mercedes ladies.
There's an entire generation of female before me, but they
just weren't like me, right, So, you know, so it
was like There wasn't one that I could look up
that did what I did that would be outside that
time of night at that age, yeah, or would be.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
At those clubs or would go through those things.

Speaker 4 (06:12):
Like literally, I was the first little girl that they
would see in these places, whether it was the Fever
or you know, any club that you can literally name
from the eighties. You know, it was one of those
things where you'd be like, oh, wait, what's this little
girl doing here?

Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (06:28):
And you know, literally you'd be like, oh, I'm just
here to collect the money.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
You were too talented for the cipher.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
I'm just here to collective money.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
I love that clean trap.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
I have to tell you, as a journalist, I am
so in love with your ig feed now I'm a
new follower. I am obsessed, and grammar is such a
big deal to me. I am so great. I literally
think you are teaching people. You are educating.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
People on grammar.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
But I'm curious, did you do you consider yourself like
a hip hop artist? Are you like an in for like,
did you get into this to do that or were
you like.

Speaker 5 (07:02):
No, I definitely I definitely started doing music first, okay,
but in order to gain like a following, and just attention.
I started just doing videos and stuff because always had
a big personality, so that was like something that I
did to just bring attention to myself. But I would like,
you know, do freestyle videos and stuff like that on
the side. So that's how it kind of like intertwined.

(07:23):
But it was always music first.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
And so what do you make of because like there
is a contrast between when rock sante chante. It was
like rock and easet cipherss Like I don't even know
if that still happens, Like if people still go in
cipher's and freestyle and battle.

Speaker 5 (07:38):
That people's definitely still battle rap. I used to watch
that so much growing up, Like Queen of the Ring.
I used to be obsessed with Queen of the Ring,
Like it used to be so crazy and that me
and my friends we would like go online and like
write these big paragraphs, but it would be like raps,
but we would just be like sending them to each other.
But we used to watch Quen of the Ring all
the time growing up.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
I loved I was watching you and a video you
were rappers, and it was just you, like you're just
in camera rapping, you know, And I think at some
point through the commercialization of hip hop. No, no this
to it because I'm happy to see people making money
from it, you know. I think it came to define
so much about our culture. Who knew that it was

(08:19):
going to be this global movement, but there was There
were no special effects, so all we had to focus
on when I was watching you was just your bars,
just your lyrics. Is that intentional or do you want
to have like more flash? Because I enjoy just hearing you.

Speaker 5 (08:35):
I think that was like the vibe of that specific video.
I think I feel like you're talking about the one
when I was like outside the building.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
No, you were inside.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
It was like a purple wall behind you, and you
were like, you're talking about like measure don't ever.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
I don't know, but I do know.

Speaker 5 (08:53):
When I record, I definitely put like ad libs and stuff,
so like it's different versus like the videos and stuff
that people put out now to like promote their music
and just to show like their talent. They don't normally
have like effects and stuff, Versus when you will be
in the studio and playing your music, put them different
vocals down, you know, so it sounds more clear and

(09:13):
you can really like hear your voice when they when
we do those kind of videos.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
Who are some of the EMCs that helped influence your
style and who you look up to?

Speaker 5 (09:22):
I definitely look up to Nicki, Nicki Minaja, I love
nick Minaj, I love Foxy Brown, Missy Elliott like those
kind of U Yeah, because Foxy definitely like the way
she dressed, the way like she just expressed herself in
her videos.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
She's just so launchy and just so hard like.

Speaker 5 (09:41):
And Nikki followed those footsteps. So it's like, love Nikki
to death. And I think what Nicki is is more
different because she actually really made it like a brand,
like she really like it's she's been doing it for
a long time and consistently. It's it's like the same
way she she started. Obviously when you start, you're bigger,
but like she's still that girl. It's the same just

(10:05):
energy around her. She's really just she just grew it
bigger than life for realte.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
Well, who are some of the younger folks that you
watch now and you're like they're dope?

Speaker 3 (10:15):
You know.

Speaker 4 (10:16):
I listen to all of them and a lot of
times people tell me to pick a favorite, and being
the person not who I am. I really don't have
a favorite because everyone represents something like you can have
Lauren Hill days, you can have dominized days, you can
have Megan A. Stallion days. You can have Cardi B days,
you can have glow really days. You can have all
of these different days. You know what I'm saying, clear trap,
you could have these days where you're going to listen

(10:38):
to certain songs because that's what it does for you.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
So therefore, I don't have a favorite.

Speaker 4 (10:42):
I can't say, Okay, this is my favorite artist, this
is who I'm following right now, because this is who
I like. Because I may get in a car and
play something else and say, okay, you know what, this
is who I like. I think that comes from being
a mom so early that I tend to look at
them now. There's moments where, you know, I have given
my number out to everyone, and there are moments where
I will get phone calls from them, you know, and

(11:03):
they'll be like, you know what, big sis, I'm just
having a moment right now. Nobody understands what I'm going through.
And I'll say, okay, but listen the catches to keep
going through it.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
Don't stop.

Speaker 4 (11:13):
Whatever you do don't stop, because if you stop and
you stand in this, you may get stuck, you may
get stagnant. So just keep going through it, and he'd
be like, Yo, you know what, You're right, That's what
I'm going to do because you'll be surprised. People always
look at everybody for what they see on the television,
what they seeing on the internet, what they're seeing on Instagram,
what they're seeing on TikTok, all of these different things.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
But you also got to realize that these are.

Speaker 4 (11:34):
Real women who go through real issues, and sometimes the
trust level is not there because they don't know who
to trust. Because so many people want to say yes
because they want to wear your clothes, and they want
to drive your car, and they want to hold your jurney,
and they want to be able to get into the
places that you get into that they can't get in
unless they go with you. So in order to do that,
they want to pacify your emotions and your feelings. You

(11:56):
know me, I don't care where you're going, I don't
care what you drive, I don't care what you do.
The main thing is I care about you genuinely. So
people call me to get that genuine conversation you know,
to get that that one on one with someone that's
been there, someone that they can say, Okay, you know
what it's like to hold a million dollars, you know
what it's like to look at these things like recently

(12:16):
because now I have dispensaries.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
So let's talk about that after this show.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
Absolutely I could get you some brandygether. I got your hurage.

Speaker 4 (12:26):
So what I've done is what I've always told everybody
in even now sitting here with you. One of the
main things that I try to tell my hip hop
sisters is in the beginning, you are going to be
about name brands. But when you realize it, you are
going to make your name a brand and you won't
wear anything else. You know, you'll get to the point
where the name brands will call you up and want

(12:47):
to send you everything, and you'll say thank you, and
you will take it because you will like it. But
your main focus will be to understand that I no
longer need to chase name brands because my name is
a brand. So when I come outside, it doesn't matter
what I have on, I'm still gonna be Shonte, It's
still going to be recognizable. I'm still gonna be who
I am. But how do they recognize you? What do

(13:10):
they see you as? When they see you? You know,
when people see you, do they say, oh, I don't
like her, I don't like her style, I don't like
the way she is. Or do people see you and
stop and say peace, queen, I love you, you know
I like So it's all about how you want your
brand to be perceived. Yeah, you know, And that's why
when we look at these lyrics and we look at
certain things, I always try to remind them that when

(13:30):
you see these beautiful sisters and you see them sometimes
and they're wearing certain outfits, that is their uniform for work.
No one walks around like that all day every day.
They just don't yah, you know what I mean, In
their calmest moment and their most relaxing moment and their
moment of being themselves, you won't see them in that.

Speaker 2 (13:48):
But this is now the way that they.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
Have put that uniform on in order to show them,
you know, show what they're doing and everything else. And
I never want anybody to lose sight of the fact
that you know, with hip hop says, do you know
how hard it is to be a female rapper? If
you think it's hard being a woman, imagine how hard
it is being a female rapper, where everywhere you go
you gotta wonder, what is this for it, what is

(14:13):
this move for?

Speaker 2 (14:14):
You know?

Speaker 4 (14:14):
If the trust issues is there, you know, people can
say that they don't have them, but the trust issues there.
That's why so many female rappers, unfortunately tend to let
a man be their manager because they feel like, that's
my man and he loves me, and whatever I'm gonna
go through, I might as well let him be my
manager also. And I tell him all the time, like no,

(14:36):
because if he can't manage your relationship, you can't manage
your career, you know. And I say that as an auntie.
I say that as a big sister. I don't say
that as someone who wants to be you or someone
who wants to be in your place, because, like Rox Sanshaney,
like I love life and I love my life.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, and though it.

Speaker 4 (14:56):
Has never been easy, I wouldn't want it any other way,
you know, when you think about it, Like the end
of the year, I have the one woman show on Broadway.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
I just became a grand master.

Speaker 4 (15:09):
And last year at the end of the year, when
they were talking about rappers weren't going platinum, rock standshant
table and platinum.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
Very congratulations, thank you, you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (15:18):
So when you're talking about what doesn't sell and what
sells and what doesn't happen and what happens, it's those
who make certain moves and understand who they are, that
move properly and that they're just comfortable, like just being.

Speaker 2 (15:31):
That's where you want to get to the point.

Speaker 4 (15:33):
Of you want to get to the point of comfortable,
because if you had an uncomfortable childhood, which some of
us have had. We've had an uncomfortable childhood, the only
thing you want to do is be comfortable, you know,
in the latter part of your life. Like when I
was talking to you, I said, when I sat here
and I'm looking at you, and I see, I see
so much foxy, I see so much stuff you know,

(15:54):
so much, so much chocolate, yeah, smiles, so much pizzazzed,
so much everything you know. And when I look at
you and I see that, and I said, like, how
old are you? And then when you told me your
age and I was like, damn, I'm twice your age.
And then sir, so really, when time comes on you
want to be at twice your age.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
This is what you want to do. You know, at
twice your age, you want.

Speaker 4 (16:16):
To sit back and say, Okay, look, I got seven
million people waiting on me, you know what I mean,
and I got to get to them. And you want
to prioritize that because you know who's your pack and
who follows you and who you fit into. So you
know that those people they are guarantee you all the
time because that's the way you've treated your fans. So yeah,
definitely that's what you want to do. So you want

(16:37):
to be able to be twice you age from now.
Just imagine twice age from now. You want to be
able to say, Okay, I drive. I drive a new
car every year, whatever car want. I'm not even gonna lie, y'all.
I buy cheap cars because I like, I don't like.
I don't want no car notes. I don't want to
worry like I go out with people and everybody be

(16:58):
worried about where they cars park.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
My shit, I could hear because mine is brand new,
but it's paid off, you know what I'm saying. So
you know, so I drive a little broncho. You know
what I'm like? Nice little.

Speaker 4 (17:10):
Listen to a nice, unique little color that everybody doesn't have.
And then the main thing is when we're sitting down
and we having dinner. You know you worried about your Bentley.
You can't even digest your food properly. I'm eating food
off your plate because you're playing with it. I'm like,
listen your city here, worried about where your cars parked?

Speaker 2 (17:27):
You worried about it.

Speaker 4 (17:28):
If you're going to get told you're worried about this man,
you better worry about whether or not this cools off
so that you can enjoy your food and enjoy your life.
And I think that's what Rock Sanshinte represents. I represent
the life after and you can be comfortable with it.
Am I in a gated community? No navigate around my house. Yes,

(17:48):
I live in Newark and Georgia, but I live and
you know, you can look at that home. Then you
can go to another home. You can go to another home.
You can look at your businesses, you can look at
your children. Like when I look at my children. The
main thing at it, and the funny thing is about it,
is that my children, my oldest is close to your age,
and my youngest is older than you. So we just

(18:08):
leave we just we just we just we're just gonna We're.

Speaker 2 (18:10):
Just gonna leave them numbers, okay, okay.

Speaker 4 (18:12):
And the main thing about it is when I sit
back and I look at my children, I say to myself, like, man,
they really have the best of me because they're nothing
like me. Like, if there's something where my son is
handles management, So I am where I'm at today because
of my son. He handles management. He makes sure I'm

(18:33):
where I'm supposed to be doing what I'm supposed to do.
He's the one who says take that down. Like if
I post up something, you know my yeah, yeah absolutely,
So he sees something, he's like, take that down.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
The younger he'd be like, my min.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
What I love what you said about because this is
your centers black women, And I love that you said
you love your life. I think that's so important. About
the time you come into this.

Speaker 2 (19:08):
I'm dress you gotta love life.

Speaker 4 (19:10):
You and you getting ready to do a podcast with everybody,
and you show up like this, yeah you gotta love life.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
Well, you have to love yourself absolutely, you know, and
then that's love in your life.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
And so I really think like successful women make the
best friends because none of us cover each other's life.
You know, I'm happy to see somebody else shine. When
when Roxanne Chante was talking about yes people around you,
I feel like you're right at that point where everybody
around you they want to be next to you, you know, yes,
and everybody is a yes person essentially. How are you

(19:41):
navigating this newfound fame and success.

Speaker 5 (19:45):
Well, honestly, I look at it like I'm not too
into like making a lot of new friends at this moment,
because I feel like it is gonna give like yes, yes, yes,
and it is gonna give like I want to come
here with you, I'm gonna go do. It's like I'm
more into the people that was here before that, you
know what I'm saying. And as long as you still

(20:06):
around the outside me and my girls that have been
my girls since I was a little girl, Oh, I'm
okay with that. Like and then I'm not saying like
I don't want to be friends with nobody, but that's
just how it is right now.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
I'm playing it cool. I'm playing you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (20:20):
People come around and I want to get I want
it to be genuine, you know, not like oh girl,
you so funny.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
And now we're it's like, yeah, well I want to
I want to ask by something. You say whatever you
like about it. You're in the spirit of sisterhood.

Speaker 1 (20:36):
But we're talking about like friendships being in sisterhood, you know,
like connecting, And it seems you came into the game
and a beef. And I just learned about this this morning,
that there's a beef with you. And I forgive my ignorance. Y'all,
I'm forty five, so of get my ignorance out of
all the people. But I can't name one Ice Spice song.
But everybody was telling me, like, there's a beef. Do

(20:57):
you want to say.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
What I mean? It's not a beef.

Speaker 5 (21:02):
But it was a miscommunication and that's really what it was.
It was a miscommunication. And when you know, when you
have friends and you express yourself to your friends, because
obviously you want to have friends that you could express
yourself to me and tell them how you feel. So
it was just one of those kind of things where
I told my friends something and she just turned to

(21:23):
the ram like, I guess she ain't liked that I
even spoke up, And.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
So it was weird, like that, and that's pretty much.

Speaker 3 (21:31):
Did you guys make up now?

Speaker 2 (21:33):
No, I don't plan on making up with her. The
that's just the end of that. You know.

Speaker 5 (21:37):
I like people around me that I can express myself too,
that can express themselves to me, that don't think they
bigger than life and don't think they they too big
to be told about themselves. I don't like shit like that.
That's corny to me.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
So that's were you guys friends before or you became
a friend like before the industry or did you guys
become friends? I mean, I've been associated with the industry
before she was, so I would say we became more
cool after the fact, but like we would you know,
like each other's South Common and other stuff whatever. And

(22:10):
then when her song came out, like her Virus song
came out, we eventually seen each other at award show.
So that's how we became like, that's how we met.
And yeah, well I wish for you peers in this
industry and strong friendships that way, because you you know, like,
I think it's so bad that.

Speaker 5 (22:30):
In this industry you definitely don't you don't need in
the industry, but in general, you do need friends. Let
me tell you not connect. But friends, definitely, you're gonna
have your friends.

Speaker 4 (22:40):
You're gonna have your friends that are like your sisters,
and you're gonna have your friends that are there to
tell you what you're.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
Supposed to do when you're supposed to do it.

Speaker 4 (22:47):
They're gonna have the ones that check you and tell
you when you're in the right and when you're in
the wrong. But in the industry, people can say this
a million times if they want to. But that's not
gonna happen. Yeah, that's not gonna happen. It's not gonna
happen until either artist is at the level that they
want to be where they don't see the other one
as a potential danger, as a threat, or as full competition.

(23:13):
And that does not happen naturally. We are competitive beings.
People will say what they need to say when they
think other people are hearing. So they're going to say
what they feel needs to be said just in case
someone else overhears it. Girl, Yeah, no, I love you.
But what they choose to say at another moment, that

(23:34):
is what they really feel that is going to be
the issue of it. So because of that, no, that's
not gonna be the case, your best set of friends
are going to be the friends that don't do what
you do, don't go where you go, and don't want
what you have. Those gonna be your best set of friends.
I have the same five friends from my entire life
through force to care and everything. Like literally my same
five friends. That's what I have now. Like I said,

(23:57):
do I love my HIPOPO sisters absolutely? If I support them? Absolutely?
Some of them we have grown into a more mature friendship.
But when we were younger and we were very competitive.
The companies don't allow you to do that. Management doesn't
allow you to do that. Oh boyfriends don't allow you
to do that. Other friends don't allow you to do that.

(24:18):
So what happens is you waste a lot of time,
energy and resources trying to make that happen when that's
not a possibility. Now, people can say what they want
to say about rock Stan and Chante, but one thing
they can say, she the motherfucking truth. And people have
a hard time living alive when the truth is in
the room.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
But can I want to push back on this a
bit because it's your life experience, which I of course
understand and respect, but I have to say personally, I mean,
maybe news is different than hip hop, of course, but
I don't know where I would be in my career
without my close friends who we Yes, sometimes we are competitors,
but they are my sister.

Speaker 3 (24:53):
It's like we shared.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
Are they on the show with you?

Speaker 3 (24:55):
They happen?

Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, I'm saying, like they do the same thing you do.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Angela Rise, one of my closest friends, the male Hills
on the Clothes, joy An Read one of my closest friends,
Sunny Hostin on the View, one of my closest friends.
Like we are a tight crew. Carry champion Jamil Hill,
like all of us. We are all in the same industry.
We share salary information. If somebody invites us to speak,
we say, this is how much this person paid me.
And if they're not paying you that much, they need
to if somebody needs to be put on somewhere, We

(25:22):
travel every I mean, I just cannot imagine my life
without being to turn.

Speaker 4 (25:26):
To them here and tell you that news is absolutely different.

Speaker 3 (25:30):
But when you were talking about, say.

Speaker 5 (25:31):
Female rap is a little bit more competitive than the
journalism listen.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
Here, maybe, but I don't journals is very competitive. But
I want to say, because what you were talking about.
You were like, the industry doesn't allow manage. When I
got right, So when.

Speaker 4 (25:44):
I say the industry and when I say management, when
it comes to female rappers, they are always going to
be pitted against each other because they're only going to
allow it to be one female rapper at a time.
Now we have a few at a time, because I
am so thankful that we are now in a position
where we make our own business decisions, where we control
more of the management, where we control the company, where

(26:05):
people are doing more independent so there is more say so.
But when it first started out, it was like, literally,
you're over here, she's over here. You two guys don't
talk to each other for the main reason of what
you said, which is not to share information because the
win nobody knows.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
Nobody knows.

Speaker 4 (26:23):
If one artist doesn't tell another artist about publishing and
writers and how important that is, right, then you don't know.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
So they're getting.

Speaker 4 (26:31):
Publishing checks and you're not getting publishing checks. They're getting
royalty checks. You're not getting royalty checks because you don't know.
So you're talking about someone that comes into the industry
as a child, and you're learning as you go along.
Now in journalism. And this is to say that did
you start when you were fourteen? Were you on TV
WIN fifteen fifteen?

Speaker 3 (26:50):
Yeah, so you.

Speaker 4 (26:50):
Started when you were fifteen? Who handled your contracts?

Speaker 1 (26:56):
Well, at that time, I didn't have contracts. I came
up through in ABJ national assition journalist. So I left
home when I was sixteen and figured things out for myself.
I didn't get to the point of my career where
I needed like agents and lawyers until I was like
in my late twenties.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
Okay, that's out there.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
So now female rappers sometimes the point of their career
is starting to change when they're in their late twenties.
So now all of that time before then, from sixteen
to your late twenties, when you first started getting lawyers
and you first started getting contracts, and you first started
seeing that a female rapper has been out here busting

(27:33):
her ass from every moment all the way up until
that point. So now in her late twenties, she's trying
to figure out, Okay, what am I supposed to do
with life from this point on?

Speaker 2 (27:43):
Because the heat from.

Speaker 4 (27:45):
Then is not the same now because it's a certain
and I don't care what rapper it is. It goes,
it goes from a certain amount of time to a
certain amount of time, then you must transition into what
is going to be your next face.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
Yeah you see what I mean.

Speaker 4 (27:59):
So for you, when you started at fifteen and you said, okay,
well I was under this and this is what I
was doing, and it didn't get that point to my
late twenties, a female rapper wait to her late twenties.

Speaker 2 (28:10):
It may be over.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
But I guess the thing is when when a door
was open for me, I'm holding it on, like, come on, y'all, all, like,
come in here. I want I want to share that
success with people. I just it would be lonely for me,
and it hurts me that it. You know, I know
you have friends who you've had forever, but I would
love for like all these female rappers because everything you're saying,

(28:31):
the industry won't allow it.

Speaker 3 (28:32):
It's like, at the end of the day, that's the.

Speaker 1 (28:34):
White man's money, you know, and the white man is
protecting his money, Like we operate under a different set
of rules than the oppressor's rules. And as long as
they're dividing us saying no, you can't rock with this one,
or if as long as you're letting a man come
between There is something magical that happens when black women
come together.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
Oh no, it's a beautiful thing.

Speaker 1 (28:52):
So I don't like the idea that we can't be
in the same genre and be genuine friends and look out.
But that's I mean, but that's your guess what it
is though, that's what it really be. And I feel
like you could be one way, but majority is a
different way. So it's like, you're not gonna force yourself
to want to be around certain people, and I just

(29:13):
I'm not one of those people.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
So how does it change? Though?

Speaker 1 (29:16):
If you know, it's something like somebody has to be
the one to say no, since I'm here for you
to support you.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
That'll be cute if it changed.

Speaker 1 (29:23):
But but aren't we the changed you know, as women
and whatever genre.

Speaker 4 (29:27):
I'm gonna tell you, like when you think about it,
When you think about it now, Okay, I share my
platform with everyone, yes, and even coming up, I've always
shared my platform with everyone. Not I have not had
the the ability or the choice during that time to
share it with women, but I've shared it with all

(29:50):
of my hip hop brothers, from NADS to kill a Mic.
I have a show. I bring them on, we do
the show. But that is because that is the way
it was instructed. It was in struct at that Okay,
you have a girlfriend, and your girlfriend she wants to
rap too, but only one of you can be number one.
That's this is just what's told, Like, yeah, number one.

(30:12):
So for me, any chance, absolutely, if he comes back
for research purposes, I would love to be there. I
know he's married.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
I just kidding.

Speaker 4 (30:22):
I'm out of nowhere with came out of nowhere with.

Speaker 3 (30:29):
Right.

Speaker 2 (30:29):
But here's here's the thing.

Speaker 4 (30:30):
So you want to make sure that you share your platform.
Oh so I can sit back. Sure, I could sit
back and say, Okay, look at what my hip hop
brothers have done. And then I listened to their gratitude.
I listened to them give me flowers and everything else.
But I really went in the park for women. I
went in the park for girls. I went in the

(30:51):
park and literally got pushed down, microphone snatched from me,
fought and everything else because I wanted to prove that
girls were good, girls were great, that girls could do
this also.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
And when I went to the girls like yeah, we
can do this, and they was like you from the
group home.

Speaker 4 (31:10):
Wow, so the you you not, you know, and and
there's there was certain colorisms.

Speaker 3 (31:15):
Like I was just about to ask you if you go.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
Into the Roxanne thing.

Speaker 4 (31:20):
I was the first Roxanne, right, And then they said, well,
that wouldn't be the girl we would go after. Not
no brown skinned girl with a whole bunch of bushy
hair and slanted eyes. And even though that's what it
is now because people are drawing them on, everybody wants
that now, but growing up that wasn't the thing. And
they were like no, So they went and got a
light skin boxing and then when they got rid of her,

(31:43):
they went and got a Spanish roxand and I remember saying, so,
what are they gonna do now? And they was like, well,
you know, there's only one color left if they go
anyplace else.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
In your head, you know.

Speaker 4 (31:54):
But but for me, but for me, it was wanting
to represent like this is how great we are, like
being and being Coco complexion, yeah, being pe Cantan, being
this beautiful honey coded complexion, like my grandma and my mother.
I am so thankful to have been raised by these

(32:16):
women because they made sure I never forgelt bad about it,
never felt bad about it.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
Do you experience because I understand it, like from the eighties.
I'm like, guys in twenty twenty four and twenty three five,
are we still dealing with colorism? I mean yeah, and
y'd give me an example of how you navigate that.
I mean, I honestly don't be really caring because I
know I'm beautiful.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Nobody could tell me no, because you are very beautiful,
thank you.

Speaker 5 (32:43):
But obviously, like as a child growing up, it affected
me more like no, people will tease me of course,
called me all sorts of monkeys and all this other
stuff black people, black people, and yeah, so I just
look at it like I love myself even more for
going through all of that and just ending up being
who I am at the end of the day because

(33:03):
it's people that would have chewed some people up and
they probably would have hated themselves.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
Bab book, did you ever that, like, did it ever
penetrate where you were? Like this hurt my feeling?

Speaker 5 (33:11):
Yeah, of course, But I think all of that just
made me who I am today, Like.

Speaker 3 (33:15):
How did you overcome? Like how did you transition?

Speaker 5 (33:17):
I teach people back, Yeah, I teach people back. I
had a lot of a lot of what they called
it come backs, Yeah, exactly. I had comebacks for days.
That's why I'm as funny as I am today. That's
why my personality is as big as as it is
today because I had to. I had to come up
with shit a lot, and I was funny. I was

(33:38):
very funny. I was not letting nobody in that.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
So my level of self hate in the community is
definitely concerning. But then when it comes to the industry,
you know, like do you deal with people like trying
to lighten your skin. I'll tell you in news, when
the makeup artists would do my makeup, they would assume
that I wanted to look lighter when I like to
look more brunze.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
So there's this assumption and like, let me lighten your
skin or let me, you know, make your hair.

Speaker 5 (34:03):
Nobody's nobody's ever gonna play with my skin on no
no picture or no edit.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
I can not make up a lot of the time.

Speaker 3 (34:08):
Tool yourself.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yeah, I just had you did that.

Speaker 3 (34:11):
It is beautiful. I had to do that too, because
makeup parties don't always know how to do it and they.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
Don't know how to view it.

Speaker 5 (34:17):
But that's been going on, that whole lighting your skin
up I had just seen the other day online that
somebody had posted like a thread of pictures of Foxy
Brown which she was just lightened up, and it's like
they showed like the original picture and they showed the
edited picture. I was just like, well, I didn't even
know her skin looked like this in this picture. They
really would lighten it up. They would even put like
they'll make it like probably like a kind of like

(34:38):
black and white kind of things, so you don't even
really notice her skin color.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
It was just a lot of people they still do
stuff like that. I ain't gonna let the play with
me like that.

Speaker 3 (34:46):
Good. I love your confidence.

Speaker 1 (34:48):
I appreciate that, and I think we got to buck
the industry of you know, them dividing us. And because
they're the only people waining with that, I want to
ask you all a question.

Speaker 3 (34:56):
I might get I might get lose my a man.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
Corner here, But I was for real in the intro
when I was talking about some of the lyrics, I
hear now this, so this is the difference. Yes, Lil
Kim and Foxy Brown, they like own their sexuality. They
were rapping about sex and owned it. And I remember
being young like rapping along with it. What I noticed
is at that time they were talking about what felt

(35:20):
good to them, you know, what they like for them. Now,
sometimes the more sexual rap lyrics are all about what
feels good to.

Speaker 3 (35:29):
The man, like what I'm doing for the man.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
I don't know something about that.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
This concerns me.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
I'm not even trying to be one of those get
off my lawn people or cut it like, I ain't
even like that.

Speaker 3 (35:38):
But I hear it, and I'm like, this all seemed like,
is some of it anyway?

Speaker 1 (35:42):
Seems like it's for the men and not necessarily owning
sexuality in the same way.

Speaker 2 (35:47):
Do you all.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
Experience it or am I don't know. I'm not gonna
let it lie.

Speaker 5 (35:51):
I love female rap, yeah, but I probably don't even
listen to it that much to even peak those kind
of lyrics.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah, everything else.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
It seems like though, that that that is what rises
to the top, like you have like conscious like rhapsody
you know, out there. But it does seem like when
you're rapping about dick sucking, you know, like that's the
thing that gets heavy rotation. And I wonder maybe.

Speaker 5 (36:15):
Because it's the niggas, the niggas is behind everything. The
men are behind everything, so that's probably what they want
to hear. That's what they want to hear, that's what
they're gonna push.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
So then to me, it seems like we need more
people in positions of power. Yeah, you know, greenlighting. So
what is the industry? Well, I wonder, like, what does
it look like now, and especially what did it look
like then. I would surmise when in your era it
was a lot of white executives trafficking in black culture,
profiting off of it, and that's why a lot of

(36:44):
rappers are selling, you know, their masters and not being
paid what they deserve. Now, I don't know how diverse
the industry is on the executive and management side.

Speaker 5 (36:53):
I've seen a lot of more black women, though it
could be more. Yeah, but I've seen this. This is
a difference. It seems like there's a difference. There's more
black people. They could be more black women, but eventually
we do need to push them all the way to
the back.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:08):
Yeah, because I feel like you should be owning your
you know. And then I wonder what kind of so
are you with a label?

Speaker 2 (37:16):
I'm under a distribution?

Speaker 1 (37:18):
Yeah, okay, all right. They want to say who unitedstave. Okay,
all right, and you are you happy with house a
treat the outside? Okay, I'm good, yeah, because that's the
other thing you've had, financial longevity, Like you're okay, But
then a lot of times, like you know, people who
were hugely successful who don't the finances don't run as long.

(37:38):
And I remember method Man said this when he was
talking about all of these young rappers and these mansions.

Speaker 3 (37:43):
Like what kind of deals y'all get me? Because when
I was in the game, like, we ain't get those deals.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
He was calling it out a little bit like stop fronting,
and a lot of the lyrics I hear too, it
kind of transitioned to like look at what I got
and you ain't got nothing.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
And I'm like, damn, the.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
People who are buying your records, you don't have nothing,
Like I don't want to hear that.

Speaker 5 (38:01):
You know, it's crazy. People still won't want to wrap that.
They still absolutely that. I feel, I don't know. I
think it's something about the audience being attracted, like they
want that that they want to be able to put
that under their picture, like I got them shark boots
tool like yeah, even if they can't afford it if
they want to spend their last check, at least they

(38:22):
get to live a little bit like the rappers that
they look up to.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
For Yeah, it's cute. I want us to promote like
some black folks. I'm like, we're making Gucci rich, We're
making product right. You know we heard a black dollar
staying in the black community.

Speaker 2 (38:35):
No, that's true.

Speaker 5 (38:36):
There is a lot of black brands now too though, absolutely,
and they've been getting a lot of mentions to tell Yeah,
is a good example too, brand and black.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
That's a black band? Yes, yes, we shouting out the
black designers here.

Speaker 2 (38:51):
I love it.

Speaker 4 (38:51):
I think what it is is also hip hop started
off in poverty and the main goal was to rhyme
about the things that you wanted. And then there was
a generation of hip hop that was able.

Speaker 2 (39:05):
To achieve those things.

Speaker 4 (39:07):
What we want to focus now on is have they
been able to preserve.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
And keep those things?

Speaker 4 (39:14):
See I sit back and I watch a lot of
rappers and I say to myself, like, Okay, I understand that,
but in ten years, where are they going to be?
And it's so unfortunate that so many of our young
hip hop artists, when they're hitting close to that mark.
They're starting to die, you know, because it gets to

(39:34):
a point where it's hard for them to even think
about living without those things. But when they can no
longer generate those things. I think COVID scared so many
artists because those who were living huge check the huge check.
When those huge checks stopped, they one got a chance
to see who's around them. They also got a chance

(39:56):
to see what investments they need to start making and
where their money really needs to go. Because I've now
observed where it's starting to be pushed that it doesn't
have to be real, It doesn't need to be real
in order to be right. They are now pushing the
fact where Okay, my husband spent a lot for this.

Speaker 2 (40:17):
I've been stamming at a tubul.

Speaker 3 (40:19):
You can't even see what the tight.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
So my husband spent a lot for this.

Speaker 4 (40:26):
So for me to see another rapper and he has
a hundred of these around his neck, yeah, yeah, it
just doesn't seem possible to me. But then doesn't seem
smart to me either, you see what I'm saying. Still,
now someone comes along and says, we now make stones

(40:46):
that can fool even the jewelers. And if somebody comes
up to you and tries to test your jewelry. We
got something that will make it scream like it's still
a diamond. So now they're making everything fake gays be acceptable.
So now with everyone accepting everything that's fake, what really
do you have that is real? That's when you really

(41:08):
have to be into yourself. You have to feel really
good about yourself. You have to recognize the real in you.
When I see an artist and he walks up and
he just has on a regular pair of jeans and
his regular jacket, and I say to myself, he's smart.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
Others say he's broke. Others say he's this, but the catches.
I saw what he pulled up in. Yeah, I see
where he lives. I see his wife.

Speaker 4 (41:33):
So now I'm starting to notice the transition where people
want to talk about investments.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
Yes, people want to talk.

Speaker 4 (41:40):
About owning stuff. People want to be able to say, okay, listen,
we want you to be an entrepreneur. We want you
to do these things because when all of this is over,
when your time passes and it's.

Speaker 2 (41:52):
Time for you to pass the crowd.

Speaker 4 (41:53):
Today, the reason why life is good for me is
because when I understood it was time for me to
hand over.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
Yes, the ruling.

Speaker 4 (42:03):
The next it was okay for me because my thing
was like, okay, she's the next queen.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
That's fine.

Speaker 4 (42:11):
Now I don't every queen doesn't give their crown because
you get to keep your own jewels.

Speaker 2 (42:16):
That's your jewels, that's your name, those are your jewels.

Speaker 4 (42:19):
But what you do is you say, okay, listen, I'm
now passing the people to you. It is your turn
to leave. I let them here. Now you do this,
and then I go off and do what queens do.
I go live in another castle. I relax, I have grands,
I walk through the garden, I laugh, I giggle, you know.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
And I get a chance to talk to people every
day on the radio.

Speaker 4 (42:41):
But the main thing is I get a chance to
be okay because it's your turn there.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
And here's the thing. Heavy is the head that will.

Speaker 4 (42:51):
Everybody wants to crown, but they don't even understand what
you need to do because you have to die. Nowadays
you have to dodge everything. Before you didn't have to
dodge as much.

Speaker 3 (43:09):
What is the hardest thing about wearing that crown? Generation?

Speaker 1 (43:17):
You know?

Speaker 5 (43:17):
But I feel like people it's just you just have
a lot of people watching you, They watching how you look,
they watching you age you go age, Like, hello, the
way is if you're lucky, you're going to age.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
That's a blessing.

Speaker 5 (43:35):
But you know, and female rat people see it as
the end of your days and that's corny horny to me,
like that, that's ridiculous. And I feel like when it
comes to that crown, you just have more eyes watching.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
It's more Prussia. It's just too much. You just be
on and popping. I like chilling it.

Speaker 5 (43:53):
I like being in my own lane. But that crowd
it just makes you, you know, you go look crazy.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
Well you I have not seen you look crazy, and
I've Google stocks to you, so I know all your
look so I haven't seen you look crazy. And I
think one thing that our rock Sanchante has not talked
about is you became doctor Good and you've bring clause
in your contract that the industry had to fund your education,
and so you got your pH d.

Speaker 3 (44:18):
And I wonder for you. I anticipate even more success
than you've already.

Speaker 5 (44:22):
I was just so I want to go back to
school too. I was just telling them, now let me
just let me clear this up.

Speaker 4 (44:26):
I wasn't now it wasn't completed because they didn't complete,
they didn't finish paying for it.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
They only told part of the story.

Speaker 4 (44:33):
Okay, you see, but people had already because I had
already attended school and had already been going, people had
already took the assumption of giving me the title. And
I thanked them for it, and I'm I'm truly honored
by it. But how the industry did They still did
not take care of that. So even in that close contract,
they didn't take care of that. Marymount Universe, Mary, Yeah,

(44:54):
they didn't. They didn't take care of it. Well, you know,
I didn't want right whether I appreciate that, But the
thing about it is that you don't want to walk
with that because automatically people will be like, okay, well
what about this?

Speaker 2 (45:06):
This was said, that was said, This was said, that
was said, and that wasn't.

Speaker 4 (45:10):
It's just the fact that when you look at when
you look at Rocky and Shinte today, people say.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
Okay, she walks like a doctor, she talks like a doctor.

Speaker 4 (45:20):
The goal is when you talk to me, when you
leave me, do you feel better when you talk to
me and you leave me, did you learn something when
you talk to me? And you leave me, Do you
now have an idea of where you want to go
and what you want to do? Like, I'm not tearing
I don't tear down anybody's climb in this industry. Never,
I've never tear down anybody's climb in this industry. The

(45:42):
main thing that I want to see is I want
to see everybody on a path that in the end
you can invite me to your house for a barbecue
and say, look, these are my grands and this is
what I'm doing, and these are the things that I
have continued on in life with I think it's absolutely wonderful.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
And now when I'm.

Speaker 4 (45:57):
Sitting here with you two beautiful sisters, one of the
main things is we have learned how to take care
of ourselves. You know, when I'm sitting here looking at
your floorless skin, this has nothing to do with makeup,
you know, because you got to have a smooth foundation
in order to have a smooth face, and you got
so when I look at you, you know, I get
a chance to see like, Okay, this is beautiful. You know,

(46:19):
we could sit here and we can talk about all
of these great things. But let me ask you a question.
When you woke up this morning, How do you feel
about you?

Speaker 1 (46:30):
So I'm very intentional when I wake up in the morning.
These are hair clips that I'm wearing in my hair.
My natural's hair probably about this long. I have on
lashes and makeup, and so when I wake up in
the morning, I am intentional about staring at myself with nothing,
with no clip, like nothing, and I want to make
sure I like what I see. There was a period

(46:51):
where I got made up when I first started doing television.
I got made up for like two weeks straight, and
I loved it, you know, I couldn't the lashes, everything
was great. And then when the lastes came off and
I saw myself, I was like, Dade.

Speaker 3 (47:03):
Why ain't nobody tell me I was ugly?

Speaker 1 (47:04):
You know, cause I got oh you said this, But
I got for a brief second, I got so used
to this makeup. And so now the only time I
wear this makeup is when I'm going on air, and
I'm going on air with no makeup before too, because
I didn't get important for people to see this is
what I look like. Don't try to take it. I
don't wake up looking like this. This was an hour
and half wake makeup now. Stay now, see how honest

(47:24):
and truthful it is.

Speaker 4 (47:25):
Because when you're in a comfortable environment and you're having
a comfortable conversation, it allows you to reveal certain things
about yourself that you normally would not, you know, reveal
about yourself. I'm going to tell you how I felt
about me, but I need to hear, yes, I felt
about you this morning.

Speaker 5 (47:38):
I felt great. I love I love my face. And
that's why I be when I'm talking my shit on line,
when I'm online talking majority of the time, I'm bid faith.
I don't be caring, and I want people to notice
that too. Like I'm showing y'all how I am bonding.
Al I just woke up.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
Let me.

Speaker 5 (47:54):
I got Sathin to say, you know what I'm saying, Like,
I'm very comfortable with that, and I love showing myself
like that so that everybody knows, Like, girl, I'm just
like you. Do you feel me? I mean this this face
card is different, but.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
You know, yeah, I love it.

Speaker 3 (48:10):
How do you feel about you?

Speaker 5 (48:12):
You know?

Speaker 4 (48:12):
I feel absolutely great about me when when I think
about everything that I've been through, you know, abused.

Speaker 2 (48:19):
Child gro poems. Uh.

Speaker 4 (48:21):
The industry very early in age going through certain abuses
in the industry. One of the things that always makes
me smile is when I think about where hip hop
is today. Now, I'm gonna tell you all quick story
because I do.

Speaker 3 (48:34):
I know I was.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
I'm gonna tell you quick.

Speaker 4 (48:36):
Let me tell you quick, you tell, but let me
tell you a quick story about rock Stan and Shanta.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
Because I had started off as a battle rapper.

Speaker 4 (48:43):
I had got up one morning and they said, listen,
they're going to have this battle for world supremacy. Now,
world supremacy means you're the best rapper in the world.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
That's it. Nobody better than you. And I knew this, brown.

Speaker 4 (48:53):
Skinned girl, kinky hair, chinky eyes, you know, I knew this,
like nobody in the world is better than me.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
I didn't care.

Speaker 4 (48:59):
It was on DM side of kill who you said
it was. Nobody can do this rhyming thing better than me.
Maybe Nipsey Russell, but he not trying to hit pipe.
But nobody could do this rhyming thing better than me.
So they said, listen, we got this. They're getting a check,
a belt and you get the title of world supremacy.
And this was and this can be looked up because again.

(49:20):
You know, we live in a society where you can
look up everything. And I said it. I said, okay,
you're gonna enter me. They was like, yeah, we're gonna
enter you. So when I got down there, now I'm
fifteen years old, I get down there, I said, okay,
I'm gonna be the best in the world. I need
the world to know that the best in the world
is a brown skinned girl from Queens that done been
through a lot of shit. And this is who I'm
getting ready to represent hip hop.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
This is it.

Speaker 4 (49:41):
And I walked inside up there and I went inside
of that the hotel, looked up and on the wall
it said rock Sanne Shinte versus this one, Rock sand
Shante versus that one, Rock sand Shante versus this one.
So I'm looking at the wall and I'm saying to myself, well,
nobody battles anybody else today, not realizing fifteen year old,
still having a heart of goal, loving this thing called

(50:02):
hip hop, thinking okay, well maybe that's just how it is,
and not realizing that it was a process of elimination.
The whole thing was all the fellas got together and
said we got to get rid of her. So we're
all gonna battle her because she got to lose to
one of us. I had my little grape juice. That
was like my little super power, you know. That was
my little group home juice, this little concord grape drink.

(50:24):
And I drank some grape drink, and I give it
to him. Drink, Give rid of him, drink, get rid
of him. Now'm rhyming all day.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
Give it to him.

Speaker 4 (50:31):
So then when I look and I see you down
to the last MC. When I seen what the MC was,
they should have put him in the middle because I
knew he wasn't gonna win. So I was like, okay,
in my mind coming from the group home, in my mind,
I just wanted the money to go get me some
beef steak.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
Joby.

Speaker 4 (50:46):
It's this restaurant called be Steak Charlie's. I wanted to
go downstairs. I wanted to sit in the window and
I was gonna eat me a steak because I had
eight day asses up and I was gonna eat this steak.
You know, because this is how you have to keep
yourself esteem a certain way. Coming from the group home,
being brown, going through all of this, you have to
keep your your mind has to be a certain way,
because people will try to do anything to break you.

(51:07):
So I'm thinking, like, ya, I'm eat the steak after
I eat the ass up a one source. This is
how it's gonna be. And I remember one of the judges.
Now these were all judges that I loving respect in
the industry, and I remember one judge saying, what does
it take for her to lose? So I hear them saying, like, man,

(51:27):
she's not gonna lose. Like she's been getting nines and
tens all day. Every time they say something, she's throwing
it back at them. Every time she's doing she's throwing
it back at him. You know she's gonna get She'd
been getting nines and tens all day. It's no way
for her to lose. So I said, So I'm thinking, like,
why would anybody want me to lose? Like I'm representing
hip hop, like this is hip hop, this is a sport,
like this is it, you know. And when we finished

(51:52):
doing our rhymes, they start turning over the cars ten ten, ten,
ten nine. That's because one judge said, look, I just
can't take her voice no more. Like I've been hearing
this shit all day.

Speaker 2 (52:04):
I got it everybody want to get I gotta give
for a nine.

Speaker 4 (52:08):
And then this last judge gave me a four, gave
me a four, and he said, he said. The crowd
went crazy. Everybody was going crazy, and I was sad.
I was like, damn, this is hip hop. I know
I'm great at this. Nobody's better than me. And I've

(52:31):
been showing.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
It all day.

Speaker 4 (52:33):
Why would they do that? And I walked away and
I left out of there hating hip hop.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
Girl, that was your last back. I went back, went
back to the streets and everything.

Speaker 4 (52:42):
Hated hip hop fifteen years old, hated hip hop with
a passion. I still went back and made records because
I had obligations with the record, but my heart wasn't
in it. No more, didn't do no more because didn't
do no more battles, no more nothing. And you know,
I remember my little sister's thinking about like I'm gonna
buy them. She's skinned coats with the money, you know
what I'm saying, Like, I feel like I failed because

(53:04):
I had not had that before. And years later, you know,
I married a retired boxer, and you know, because we
had the same type of struggles and understanding of each
other and we happened to be an event and he
saw that judge and he was like, you know, I
could tell, you know, you could tell when your spouse

(53:24):
is uncomfortable.

Speaker 2 (53:25):
You know what I'm saying. So I'm like, babe, what's
the matter.

Speaker 4 (53:28):
He was like, look who's here? And I was like,
so just leave it alone. He was like, no, I
need to know why he did that. He was like, yo,
that changed your whole life.

Speaker 3 (53:37):
Yeah, thing's hip hop.

Speaker 2 (53:39):
He said, that changed your whole life. Why did he
do that? I need to know?

Speaker 4 (53:43):
And so I said, okay, let's ask him. And he
was like all right. So he pulled him over so
before my husband could even get anything out of his mouth,
before we could even ask him, he said, I want
to say something to you. I said okay, and he said.
You got to understand. At that time, hip hop was
a new genre of music. They were just starting to

(54:04):
take it seriously. Major labels were just starting to listen
to us. We were just getting out of the park.
We were just getting ready to start getting videos and
getting everything together.

Speaker 2 (54:14):
Like, you don't understand where hip hop was going.

Speaker 4 (54:16):
And all eyes were on this contest and we couldn't
let the best in the world be a black girl.

Speaker 3 (54:24):
Wow, sick.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
So it's a parallel. So let me just let me
make me nervous, So let me just finish.

Speaker 4 (54:32):
Yeah, so the best in the world couldn't be a
black girl, and it couldn't be you.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
And so that's why I did that. And so my
husband was still a little upset about it.

Speaker 4 (54:48):
But let me just tell you, as black women, how
we processed things and how things are processed so differently.
When he said that, and I thought about where hip
hop is today and how hip hop has grown and
all the things that hip hop has done. If Roxy
and Shante took that loss that day for hip hop

(55:10):
to be what it is today, then it was worth it.
So that's what I see in me every day. Every
day when I get up, I look in the mirror
and I see a billion dollar business, and I see
being a reason for.

Speaker 3 (55:28):
You. You certainly were, doctor Roxte at.

Speaker 2 (55:32):
Least one of the reasons for it.

Speaker 3 (55:33):
Yeah, you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (55:34):
So, because who's to say what would have happened if
but what if what happened in your life in your
career had that My children, My children are great. Yeah,
two time breast cancer survivor, I have a radio show
with seven million listeners per day, nas, and everybody just
titled me the grand Master iratulation. Thank you so much so,
and you know what it takes to become a grand master.

(55:55):
So I can sit back here and still go platinum.
And then I have a movie that's been viewed over
eighty million times most those one of the.

Speaker 2 (56:05):
Most viewed movies. Yeah, how can I complain?

Speaker 4 (56:09):
That's how I get a chance to walk the streets,
just the way I walk the streets. People see me,
I take pictures, We laugh, we smile. How can I
complain everything turned out just the way it was supposed to.
And I say that to say this to you. When
things don't turn out the way they are, that's because
that's not the path you were supposed to be on.
That's not the road you were supposed to take. Your

(56:31):
road is over here. Your path is over here, and
though it may be a little longer, you may have
to be a little stronger in it.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
But that's your fucking bath. Yeah, you see what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (56:41):
So you can't get mad when someone deviates and turns
a certain way from a path that you thought because
you thought it was gonna be an easy one, and
sometimes easy paths are just not meant for everybody.

Speaker 2 (56:52):
I'm built for this.

Speaker 4 (56:54):
I'm built for this the way this is, even being
a two time breast cancer survivor, I'm built for that.
When they when they came and they told me, I said, listen,
if you gotta take them, take them, You're gonna give
me some new ones.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
Great.

Speaker 4 (57:05):
I was tired of rolling up these crisson stuff from
in the day and broad Yeah, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (57:09):
So if you can, if you can hook me up,
hooked me up.

Speaker 1 (57:12):
That's a very enlightened view, and I appreciate your perspective.
I'm being built for that.

Speaker 4 (57:17):
That's that's how we gotta be as Black women, as
women in general, but as women, we have to look
at things differently.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
We are built differently.

Speaker 3 (57:27):
We are built differently, but we are also deserving of
a life of grace and ease and love and self love.

Speaker 2 (57:34):
We have to I mean self love. If you love yourself,
you're you're gonna.

Speaker 1 (57:38):
But even all this outside of here, like I hear you, like, Yes,
black women are different. I think all of us probably
have a path that somebody else couldn't survive, especially somebody
who didn't.

Speaker 5 (57:47):
Look like I think it's because you come from a
different hover That's why she has this view, which is
I love it one hundred percent because you are right.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
You know what I'm saying, And you're right.

Speaker 5 (57:57):
Also, we definitely do deserve a soft of life, so
less struggle. But that's not how it is for everybody though,
That's not how everybody comes up.

Speaker 2 (58:07):
That's right. You know what I'm saying. So you're right,
and you're right.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
Yeah, what I pray for us heart exactly. Well, we've
been doing a lot for a long time, yea. And
I mean this country rests on our backs. It's just heartbreaking,
you know. I want us, at least as a community
to be able to come together in love and support. Yeah,
and I just I think we need more of that.
And I to go back to our earlier point. I
think that starts with us as women moving in sisterhood

(58:34):
and you know, one and the best for everybody. And
I know you have to go, so I'm not gonna
get in trouble, but I just want to say ten seconds,
my friends who I talked about and the friends that
I've had my entire career, it mattered so much to
me because when we fall, and you know, as black women,
we are going to because as you say, we're built
for this in society, they don't value us in the

(58:54):
same way. It was so important to me that I
position everybody around me to be doing some and dope
and amazing. I wanted if I heard about an opportunity,
I'm telling the whole group chat. If I know about
something that's paying, I'm telling the whole group chat whatever
we can do, because when that fall comes, I want
to look to my left and my right and know
that somebody can catch me.

Speaker 3 (59:13):
And when I was you.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
Know, my show was unceremoniously canceled at MSNBC for just
being a black woman and telling the truth that made
white folks uncomfortable. The first calls I got were Will Packer,
So thank you, Will Packer. But also, you know, my
girl Jaml hit me like, yo, I got a deal
for you that we can do this. Black women surrounded
me and they were ready to catch my fall. So
I just want that for all of us. You know,

(59:38):
and hopefully I know black men. I don't bash black
men on this show, so I salute you brothers for
what you all do. But I don't like the animis
some sensing between us with our black men. So I
hope that we can come together as a community to
build that life of ease. Because when I hear you talk,
I still see that fourteen year old girl who's you know.

(59:59):
It's a journey home to ourselves in love. And when
I see you, I'm looking at your path ahead and
I'm like, it's so big and bright, and I hope
and pray that you have people around you who are
gonna lay hands on you and guide you and love
you and pray for you. And I just want us
to do that for each other.

Speaker 2 (01:00:14):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
I know you gotta go, and so thank you all
for joining.

Speaker 1 (01:00:19):
Normally I do a closing statement, but these ladies gotta go.
They big hip hop stars. So thank you guys for joining.
This episode of Across Generations will be back next week.

Speaker 3 (01:00:27):
Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time.

Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
Across Generations is brought to you by Will Packer and
Will Packer Media in partnership with iHeart Podcast I'm Your
Host and executive producer Tiffany d Cross from Idea to
Launch Productions Executive producer Carla will meris produced by Mandy
Bee and Angel Forte editing, sound design and mixed by
Gaza Forte. Original music by Epidemic Sound Video editing by

(01:00:52):
Kathon Alexander and Courtney Dan