Ashanti

With her first record deal at 14 and her first album at 21, the musical chemistry between Ashanti and Irv Gotti changed the sound of R&B and cemented Murder Inc in music history. But the public response surrounding Irv’s episode of Drink Champs and The Murder Inc Documentary on BET has brought that relationship back into the public eye. 

On In Real Life with Angie Martinez, Ashanti responds with grace, detailing her version of the stories shared, revealing the lessons learned, and the impact it all had on her career. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Edie Martinez in Real Life podcast Hi Baby, Hi Mama.
At that time, I'm gonna start at the interview. Oh well,
first of all, before we get to anything else today,
I have to say, this is our first This is
of all the years I've known you and done things

(00:21):
with you, We've done interviews, I feel like we've been
at events, concerts. This is the first time I saw
you in action from beginning to today, where you were
trying to fit this interview in in the middle of
a movie shoot and in the middle of what did
you have a show? Yesterday? Two days yesterday, two days ago?

(00:41):
We are in Canada, everyone, We are in Canada because
she is shooting a movie. Yes, and you have to
be up at what time? Uh? Four am? Pick up? Yeah?
And what time is it now? It's some one a
m And weren't just starting, We're just starting. What is
that like? What is the thing that that moves that

(01:02):
drive like? It's a combination of knowing where I came from,
on where I've been, on where I'm going, where I
want to go, and just being independent and being a
woman in this very crazy, crazy cutthroat industry, you know
what I mean. And I feel like you know, I've
always been a person that kind of hustles, and I'm

(01:25):
like a workaholic, you know, And I know what my
my potential is. And sometimes when um, you know, you
have obstacles, you may not be able to reach where
you feel like you should be. I'm always trying to
beat myself, you know what I mean. So I think
that's where it comes from. Yeah, but you started in
the game young, and so when you're a young girl,
how old are you When I had my first record

(01:46):
deal when i was fourteen? Okay, so fourteen. But when
you when you had your first my first album came out.
My first album came out when I was twenty one. Yes, okay,
so that's young in your life, you experience this big
thing that most people at twenty one can't even dream
of experiencing. Right, Do you feel like you always then

(02:08):
set up your rest of your life chasing that? Are
you setting itself up for? Like? You know what I'm saying, Like,
because how do you do trying to Are you trying
to top that? Really? Always? You know what, It's crazy.
I'm very proud and content with what I've accomplished in
my career, but I'm always trying to do more and

(02:30):
do better, you know what I mean. And sometimes people
take it as I'm an appreciative and they're like, yo,
You've got to slow down and appreciate the moment. And
I'm like, I did, and now I want to get
a new moment. You know what I'm saying. You know
what I'm saying, Like, I appreciate it seriously, genuinely I do.
But I'm always like, Okay, now, what what else can
I do? What else can we expand with? You know

(02:52):
what I mean? So well you always like that, like
and she was always like, yeah, that takes a lot
of It takes a lot. It's like, Okay, we have
a show this weekend. Okay, let's do a walk through,
you know what I mean. So my mind is always
constantly killing ten birds with one stone? Do you think
that because I've been doing a lot of talk about this.
I was at a Tenner party recently. We were talking
about our superpowers, like what what are the things that

(03:14):
make you you and make you successful in the world
and the unique things that are like and so for mine,
I always say, like, I think I'm a super empathetic person,
like I could kind of put myself in people's shoes,
even bad people sometimes because you know, I always think
our circumstances make us who we are whatever. So that's
like one of my things. Have you ever thought about that?
For you? Like, what do you think is the thing
that because you've had phenomenal run, the fact that you

(03:38):
still here, you still look as good as you do,
You're still you're still trending topics will get to that
coming up in a little bit, But like that type
of stamina, that type of what you've been able to do,
do you ever think about what that is? Like? Why?
You know what's funny. I was talking to one of
my attorneys today and he called me a unicorn because

(04:00):
he knows what I've been going through, you know, in
the past couple of weeks, a couple of months, you know,
and even last night, you know, I was on the
phone arguing, you know, with the team just about what's
going on. And when I showed up to set, I
knew on my lines, you know, I was on for
I had to sing today on set, you know. So
it's about just living up to your best being, in

(04:25):
your best, highest version of yourself. That's what I feel
like all the time. Yeah, but in reality, we can't
do it all the time. You can put forth the
best effort, you can't, you know what I'm saying. Sometimes
you just can't. You can try, you know, but that's
the that's the difference. Try and focus on what it
is and get what you can done. Do you ever

(04:48):
disappoint yourself? Yeah? I do, because yeah, I hold myself
accountable and I hold myself to a very high standard.
Does it take you down? Like does it like if
you let's say, you put out something and it just
doesn't do what in your heart? I'm furious, Like where
is that? I'm devastated, like sad or angry both, you know.

(05:09):
I don't let it last too long. And the people
around me are like it's over, move on, you know
what I mean, Like, Okay, it hurts for a minute,
keep it moving. Sometimes it's for me sometimes certain things
like sit in the pit of my stomach and I'm like, damn,
should I have done that? Maybe I shouldn't have done that.
And then I'm a lever, so I'm back and forth.

(05:30):
I'm flip flop, you know what I mean. So, yeah,
that's what is there is there one thing that you
could tell is that took you down or sat with
you that maybe you should have did differently. Do you
have like any regrets or any like things that you
would I have regrets. I do. And it's crazy because
you're not supposed to have regrets. I used to say
I don't, UM, but I do have regrets, you know,

(05:53):
sometimes having faith in people and sometimes UM trusting people.
I regret holding certain people to a certain standard and
just knowing that, you know, eventually I got let down
really bad, you know what I mean? So I regret
sometimes um having faith in that and people certain people.

(06:20):
But how do you then move differently going forward? Like
is there something that you look in people that are
like because sometimes we do make the same mistake over now,
absolutely you separate yourself from that. You learn the growth
is in learning learn from that. If it's your third
or fourth, or fifth or sixth time making that mistake,
at some point you gotta learn from it and then
you move different You don't go down that path. What

(06:42):
can you tell us about um this whole murder inc
a story that has just been told in documentary Urban
joh On Drink Champs. You clearly decided not to participate
in the dock. Can you tell us why? I mean,
I mean, I think the world cause see why No,

(07:03):
I know, but I mean knowing that in hindsight and
seeing what they did. But I guess you probably knew
that from the beginning. Did they reach out? They reached
out to you? Yea, yeah, yeah, it definitely reached out.
It's a lot, it's a lot too consume, you know.
For the record, I love Murder Inc. You know, all
the guys, you know, John Crispy all, you know. I'm

(07:25):
cool with everyone. There's all love, you know. Um, It's
very unfortunate how Earth decided to handle his documentary, you know.
Um it's a little sad, you know, to see a
grown man conduct himself in that manner, you know. Um,
I feel like the Murder Inc. Legacy is so much bigger,

(07:49):
and um, we accomplished so much and made like amazing
history and I feel like, um, the way that he
handled it tarnished and cheapened the brand, you know what
I mean. And I feel like we all worked so
hard and for you to be that selfish to just
so mud on the name because you know, you might

(08:10):
have got a check or you might have you know.
I feel like that's so selfish and it's so um degrading,
you know. Um, yeah, so did you watch it? Um?
I watched a little bit of the I want to say,

(08:31):
the first episode, and I watched a little bit of
a third that's the one you were heavily in. Yeah,
and I'm sure you've seen at least clips of the
Drink Jamps interview. Absolutely absolutely. How does that? What's happening
on your phone the day that drops? What are those messages? Like?
Oh my gosh, Like you know what. The surprising thing

(08:52):
but not surprising thing is I genuinely got a chance
to see how many people love me. I genuinely got
a chance to see like people that I may not
talk to every day all day reach out as I've
seen people defend me. I've seen people that I don't
know to defend me, you know, and that says a lot,

(09:14):
you know what I mean? Um My poem was going crazy.
I mean Texas from exes and everything. You know what
I'm saying. So it was Texas from excess and everything,
and it was it was really like a bitter sweet
you know, because the one thing is that I'm it

(09:34):
wasn't surprising to me to an extent, you know what
I mean, Because I've accepted a long time ago that
that's the person that he is. But now the world
is seeing you know, what is that, by your definition
the person that he is? Like? What is that to me?
Like I said, I feel like I feel like Earth

(09:56):
is like mentally not in a good place. You know.
You see people that have um narcissistic ways, you know,
you see people that are very um selfish. You see
people that are hurt and in pain. And as a
grown woman, I feel like there is a difference between

(10:19):
when men are hurt and when women are hurt and
how we um carry that hurt and how long we
carry that hurt because I gotta imagine you've been hurt
in this. Absolutely definitely I've been hurt a lot, you know.
And I'm not intentionally trying to disrespect people, and I'm
not intentionally going out of my way to try and

(10:42):
ruin somebody, you know what I'm saying. Do you think
that's what he was trying to do? A million percent? Yeah?
I was torn when I watched it because you know,
I know Earth too, and you know I probably know
him as long as you do. Um. You know, it
was it was obnoxious. This is take me in your
relationship out of the equation. I'm just talking about the
behavior of that um And But also clearly he was hurt,

(11:08):
right clearly he he has his version of the story. UM.
But anyway, it's really not about that right now in
this moment, because he had to say, he had his moment,
he chose to do it the way he did. It's
really about how do you feel now because your name
was put all over the internet for all those days
while you were doing what prepping for this movie? A movie?

(11:32):
Doing shows and you've been so quiet for all these years.
I don't know how many interviews that you and I
have had where I know, damn well, what's your relationship
with a lot of people did but you never publicly
talked about it. Um And he for a long time,
never publicly talked about it. I mean he insinuated earlier,

(11:53):
but this was this was different. The motivation was different.
I think when you when you've come to um a
realization that you no longer can manipulate or control somebody,
you just let go and then you you know, you
just vomit and it looks nasty, It smells nasty, and

(12:22):
that's a reflection of the person that you are, you
know what I'm saying. So you know, when someone is
in pain, they kind of act out of character, you know,
and I see a lot of feminine qualities, you know
what I mean. And I feel like, um, aht, I'm
just saying, you know, it's what is it? What do

(12:42):
you think that pain is from? Is it something that
you think a lot of the pain is from, um,
not wanting to let go, you know, um, the times
or the control, That's what I was gonna say. I

(13:04):
feel like sometimes when a man feels like he's losing
control and you can't manipulate and he can't dictate, and
he can't tell you what to do with your finances,
and he can't you know, control you know where you
go and who you're with, and you know, I think
that gets to a man's ego. So then he turns
to bashing, and he turns to intimidation, and he turns

(13:26):
to you know, try to make you look bad, you
know what I'm saying, to boost his own ego, you
know what I mean. And I feel like, Um, it's
just it's really sad. It's sad to watch that take
me back to like, how did this even? I mean,

(13:46):
what would Is there anything you want to clear up
about his version of the story, because you know, like
I said, you never really talked about it, and the
fact that he has so clearly said that there was
a relationship there, that was love there. He talks about
being hurt seeing Nelly, you and Nellie for the first time.
You know. I don't know is do you want to

(14:07):
say anything about that or you want to Earth definitely
has his side and his version, you know. Um hm,
I think that sometimes when you know what, like, you
may think that it's something and the other person knows

(14:27):
that it's not, you know, and you manifest this thing
into something big and it's really not that, and then
when that person finally realizes that it's not that, it
turns them into a completely different person, you know, to
say what I'm saying. So I feel like, um, Earth

(14:48):
is flat outlide about a lot of things. And a
crazy thing is like when we were in a good space,
a positive space, like pillow talk is a dangerous thing,
you know what I'm saying. And there are so many
things that like I know, and there's so many things
that like you know, and for a long time and
probably forever, Like I don't, I don't have the desire

(15:12):
to expose certain things, you know what I'm saying. I'm happy.
I'm in a different space, you know, and I feel like, um,
you know, I operate at a very different vibration than him.
I don't plane him with you know what I'm saying.
So I let that sit down there and I'm over here.
You know what I'm saying. I don't. I don't need

(15:35):
to bring someone down to make myself feel like, yeah,
you know what I'm saying, like, I don't need that,
and I feel like, um again, that control when you
lose the reins, and yeah, well let me you know
what I'm saying. Then it gets into that and let
me start making up lies. You know. I hate when
he tells the story about um oh, Shanti is not

(15:58):
loyal and she didn't support during the trial, when clearly
you see me at the trial. Clearly you see me
on every single newspaper. Clearly you know, um, I was
shooting John Tucker must die in Canada. Ironically, we're in
Canada right now. You can actually I can actually pull
up video of you and I are doing an interview.

(16:19):
So we're having the same conversation. Basically, and legally my contract,
I was not allowed to lead a country. I left
like three or four times. You know, we weren't even
speaking at that time, but I left because I was supportive,
you know what I mean. UM, And it's just it's
it's weird. It's very weird that you like you when

(16:39):
you know you're lying and you just keep lying, you
know what I'm saying. And that's where it becomes a
little scary and a little mental because it's like dog,
we can see it. I believe that there is a
what do you call that? Um, not a caricature, you
know when the lady paints or does the drawing in court,
So it's me j job on the first pew. Is

(17:02):
it called the pews the seats at the court? I
believe it's in like the museum, like the New York
Museum or something. But you were disconnecting from wanting to
be in that business and in those in that relationship
at that point. So there was a time, and it's
so funny because I think I saw this on Twitter

(17:23):
the other day, there was a time that the label
as a whole decided to change the name from Murder Inc.
To the Ink for corporate reasons. Business. You know what
I'm saying, partnerships. I saw that in the doc as well. Yeah,
politically I don't see that part, but it was everyone
kind of agree, you know, let's try that, you know,

(17:45):
so to speak. So another one of um, you know,
Herb's stories is about how, oh, she didn't excuse me,
she didn't want to throw up the ms, and she
didn't want to be apart. She said she don't want
to be a part. I don't know if that's exactly
what he said. But even with that, he couldn't even
say a shanty said she didn't want to be a

(18:06):
part of Murder Inc. Um It was he never tells
the full story. He never says why you know what
I mean? And it's like, okay, yeah, me and Nelly
were dating. IRV was salty. IRV would not let me
come to the studio to record. IRV was telling everyone

(18:27):
not to record with me. Why do I want to
stay in that situation? How can I stay in that situation?
You know what he said to me? He said, nah,
you want to be with Nelly, go sign a dirty ant.
We don't want you. What am I supposed to do,

(18:47):
you know what I mean. So and then right you
weren't going to go down that road again, now you
know what I'm saying. And you know, as far as
like throwing up the ms and all of that, it
had nothing to do with wanting to um or not
wanting to be associated, because for me, it was family.
You know. I used to be up in the crack house,
uh making cheesecake and not like a crack house, the studio.

(19:11):
We're talking about the studio down at one Mercer. You know,
I used, Yeah, I was. I was in there with
the sweats, cooking and making cheese cakes and stuff. They
rolling dice and smoking, and you know, it was like
a family thing. So for me, I was just like, like,
it's this is weird. How was that to see your relationship?

(19:32):
I mean through the eyes of earth? Because he was
very detailed about how you made what was the song
that you made supposedly happy? I'm trying to figure out where,
like what made him even say that was I there,
I'm confused remember at all? You know what I'm saying.

(19:53):
I remember, Oh weh did I write happy? I wrote
Happy in the parking lot of uh c W Post
College I was actually on the way to see The
Nutcracker with my aunt and my cousin's and my six
to six Mazda. They called it the six Duce the
Red Yes, And I wrote happy in that parking lot

(20:17):
at night, waiting, I think, for my cousin or somebody
to show up. So as far as the beat goes,
I know IRV and Chink did the beat, you know
what I'm saying. But the story, yeah, the memory is

(20:38):
a funny thing. Yeah, two people could have come completely
you know what. My cousin calls that dumnesia. I felt
like him telling those stories about you was his way
of kind of like validating how much she contributed to

(21:01):
your music making, to the actual because I feel like
and when I'm watching him and he's spiraling and stuff.
When I'm watching him, I feel like I see somebody
who's trying to like he wants to prove some proof
what what is due owed to him and this is

(21:22):
why and going a little extra hard and I'm not
necessary maybe on some points, but I felt like he's
really trying to prove what he meant to your career.
I mean, he uses words like you know he made you,
which I hate when anybody says that about anybody, because
only God makes people. Um, but I don't know, what

(21:44):
what do you what do you credit him for? In
terms of that's again what separates us as human means.
I have always given Earth credit where credit is due,
you know, as far as creating beats and coming up
with concepts, you know what I'm saying, Like Chink seven,
those are the main producers that produced the majority of

(22:05):
my records. And they would come in with a beat
or would sprinkle his sprinkle on there, you know, or
give direction or whatever. You know, we talk about concepts,
he would say, oh, right about this or right about
And I've always said that, Okay, we'll talk about a concept,
I'll write the record, I'll go on our vocal produce myself,
you know what I'm saying. So again, it was very

(22:26):
weird to me that he felt like he had to
stand on top of the table and beat his chest.
Look what I did, guys, because it was like, bro,
nobody ever discredited you, So why are you going that
deep in that hearty? I think also because he's defending
why he is entitled to have masters and do all

(22:48):
of that. That's probably that's it. It's a choice, I feel,
because we haven't spoken in maybe a decade really, so
not even like text no nothing, no, no, no, I'm lying,
he text me. I want to say. Look, I think

(23:11):
I was like twenties sixteen or seventeen or something to
apologize for talking on radio. And I actually said he
would never do it again. Um. I gotta check Angie
and see if that was Let me see what interview

(23:32):
was that. But I think it was like around Jo
had just got out and I think he was on
like the promo tour for the Church movie he did
or something, and he was talking reckless and I got
a text and I was like, Okay, cool, you know
what I'm saying. So this this sudden surge of animosity, UM,

(23:58):
I think I think a lot of it came from
m he wanted to get ratings for his documentary. UM.
I think that. Um in my heart, I feel like
IRV is just hurt and he doesn't know where to

(24:21):
place his hurt and he doesn't know how to channel
it as a man. And it's sad, you know what
I mean. And this whole prisonna, you know, it's putting on,
you know, from what I know and what I've seen
Earth comes from a beautiful family, this whole tough gangster

(24:42):
that he's you know, portraying he's not. You know, you
did love him at one point though, right. I loved
b J. I loved Chris. You know what I'm saying.
I love John you know what I mean. Well, he
portrays it like it was some big like a grand
of a fair, like it was this ps uh. You know,

(25:06):
I feel like, Um, I definitely had a genuine love
for Earth because he helped to change my life. You know,
I had some of the most amazing times just writing records, touring,
you know, making history, you know what I'm saying, like

(25:27):
having chemistry with somebody to write these records with, and
you know, being a female in hip hop and R
and B like it was. It was like a perfect fit,
you know what I'm saying. Because I'm a girl, but
I'm still a tomboy. I was always with the boys.
I grew up the only girl in the block, you
know what I mean. So it was like a perfect fit.

(25:48):
So Um definitely, you know, and there was a period
of time where he a million percent was a soldier.
You know. Make sure Olish is number one everywhere you
know what I mean. And it was was Lear and
Julie and Kevin Kaiser. Yeah, you know what I mean.
But don't get a twisted It wasn't just for a

(26:09):
shot because he was making a lot of money. Don't
be fooled. Of course, you know there was always you know,
something for self involved. Yeah, but still I'm sure as
a young artist, young girl, you're experiencing the success. I'm
sure that is appealing. Absolutely, you know what I mean. Absolutely.
I'm just trying to get in the head of like
young and shanty in that space, like, I don't know,

(26:30):
do you have regret about that? Do you feel like,
I don't want to say, like you were taking advantage
of but like okay, mom says he took advantage, But
I'm just saying you were young and and you know,
there's a lot of conversation about young women and how
somebody in their life with power, you know, flexus their
power and puts pressure on Yeah, do you think that

(26:53):
that was attractive to you? Did you feel like manipulated?
Like do you feel like do you regret it? I
guess maybe all to another question, there is some regret
because again, me being the gullible Susie or the naive Nancy,
thinking that someone is a good person and they're coming
from a genuine place in their heart. You know, sometimes

(27:16):
I regret um believing in that person, you know what
I'm saying, and believing that they really meant what they said.
You know, there's nothing I can do about that. I
definitely feel like manipulation played a heavy part into um
Me and Earth situation. You know. Um He would say

(27:38):
stuff like, no one wants to record with you, nobody,
you know, nobody really nobody works with you like that,
you know what I mean. You know, he would say
stuff like, you know, we're gonna keep it in the
families in house, and on one hand, he would make
it feel like family, family, family, And on the other hand,
he would tell me, nobody even likes you. You know
what I'm saying. You're not gonna get beats from nobody.

(27:59):
Nobody's gonna give you ship, you know what I mean.
And it was hard because that gullible little Susie. Why
how come but I don't even know them? Why they
don't like me? You know what I'm saying, And growing
and becoming a woman and more mature, then you start

(28:21):
to reflect on on certain things, and it's like, oh,
that's what was going on. And then when I did
start to evolve and get in the studio with certain producers,
I would hear all the time y'all. We always reached out.
We always wanted to funk with you, you know, we
thought you didn't want to funk with us, and it
was like wow, you know. And it's crazy because me

(28:44):
and joh I think it was the night before he
went to jail, we had like a three hour conversation
and we both found out so much stuff and from
that moment we we had become closer than we ever were.

(29:04):
And um, I just feel like sometimes people conquer and
divide and keep people separate to do what they want
those people to do, you know what I mean. So, um, yeah,
I do feel like there was some manipulation. You know,

(29:27):
there were man, I mean, I don't even know if
I should say this. You know that there were threats.
There There were threats, you know, me dealing with Nelly,
you know, um, there was death threats. You know. I mean,
I don't know how serious they were because you know, again,

(29:48):
you try to personify this person that you're really not.
But we were saying not towards me, towards who I
was dealing with. You know, Um, you keep doing that.
I'm you know, so manipulation definitely played a part, um
power flexing, but when you're weight around, you know what

(30:11):
I mean. I just wonder when you snapped out of that,
was there a moment where you're like, yeah, this doesn't
work for me anymore. M I think for me, there
were conversations that we had. You know, Ear had said
stuff to me like, yo, I don't make mistakes. I'm
never wrong. I've never made a mistake. And I think

(30:32):
that's when I started to be like, that's dangerous because
if you really believe that, you're crazy. When I recorded
my last album on Universal, the Declaration, Um, I did
everything by myself. You know, he took a large percentage

(30:53):
and did absolutely nothing. Me and Chris became cool, and
Chris was coming to the meetings and you know stuff
like that. The other guy, Yeah, the good gutty. But
at that moment it became, you know, his feelings were

(31:17):
more important than the business, and um, I think that
shows true for a lot of his decisions. You know,
the downfall of murdering his emotions and stuff did not
allow him to function and run the label like you know,
a functioning strong man would, you know what I mean? Um, So,

(31:39):
I feel like around then, when I went independent and
realized that, you know, he would there was no purpose
you know, for for for us to do business. That's
when I was like, okay, that's he's not the person
that I thought he was, you know what I mean.
It's very contingent, you know. So um yeah, that had

(32:04):
to be probably after the declaration, but it's so, what's
so sad? Is? Again? I think I saw him in
a basketball game, him and his son, I want to say.
This had to be in like a twenties, seventeen sixteen,
somewhere in that vicinity, and he came over to me
and he hugged me and he was like, Yo, what's up.
You know, good to see you whatever, Hey, what's somehow

(32:25):
you've been my god? This is you know, I think
it was j J. You know, hugged the sun and everything,
and I felt like, okay, maybe we could be peaceful
and cordial, you know what I mean. And then you know,
the evil text started coming in, you know, and then
it's just like that's when I had to just accept

(32:48):
that he was just on a different path than me,
you know what I mean, And I had to kind
of like fall back. You know, you could try again.
I'm very forgiving. You know, I'm a liberal. I'm about
he's I used to text him, um white flag emojis.
That's that serious, that serious, random white flag emoji. You

(33:09):
know what I'm saying, Like, Yo, we've accomplished so much.
It doesn't make sense for you to have this much
hate for me. You know, Like I genuinely, in my heart,
I believe that IRV wishes death on me a million percent,
a million million percent. That's horrible, It's crazy. And that's

(33:30):
why I feel like accepting that I was once a
person that respected him and you know, had genuine love
and you know, appreciated and you know, loved the work
ethic and all the things that we've done. That's where
I feel like, Wow, so maybe I was wrong. But

(33:54):
the interesting thing is, though, when this is like a
mixing business and pleasure problem, So when the when the
personal relationship is no longer serving. But see, let's clear
this up. Okay, we're not going to say relationship. We
dealt with each other, but having a like was ev
my boyfriend was that his girlfriend never really never so

(34:19):
well he was was he married? He was still married
at the time, right, he was My point, Earth had
several girlfriends, you know, So I'm a little confused by
the thought you know what I'm saying, and the label
and the description. Mm hmm okay, So back to your question.
The personal relationship, Well, whatever person, and when you when

(34:46):
you take that out of the equation, what does that
do to the business relationship? For some people you move
on and you keep doing business, and you keep getting money,
and you keep expanding your brand and you keep successful.
And for other people you turn bitter. How did it
affect your career? Um, I mean Earth got into a

(35:10):
dark place, like he was blocking a lot of things,
you know what I'm saying, Like, Um, I mean Earth
was like telling DJs don't play the record. You know
what I'm saying. Like again, we already never called. But
that's something you know he did actual and and and

(35:33):
um again we already spoke about him now allowing me
to come to the studio. You know. Um, he was
just telling people don't work with me. He was telling people,
you know, I remember when Um he told my stylist
at the time Rosie, who was they've known each other

(35:56):
way before we did. He she was his assistant before
I ever was signed o him around, so they had
known each other for a really long time. And he
kind of was like, if you you funk with a shanty,
you don't funk with me. And that's what he told
every single person on the label in the building. If
you talk to Ashanti, if you go to Ashanti's birthday,

(36:18):
if you support her in any way, it's fuck you.
So that was like really weird for me. Did that
scare you in any way in terms of like your future?
Are you worried about your career at that point? You know,
it was scary. I will admit it. It was scary
because I understood that he had power and I understood

(36:39):
how the world viewed us together as a whole murder
inc you know what I'm saying with Earth being the
head of the label and you know, providing all of
these amazing opportunities. Um, you know, when a person gets
in that position to flex their power, it does become
scary and it's like, Okay, so if I don't agree
with this and I don't like this, and I feel

(37:01):
like I'm being forced and manipulated. What do I do?
How do I handle that? I still got bills. I
take care of my entire family. I take care of
a whole lot of people. What do I do? You
know what I mean? So's it's very scary. It's very scary.
You didn't let it make you want to stay that fear.

(37:25):
I stayed for a while, you know, because you know
when someone is consistently saying to you, you ain't ship
fuck you, You're not even fucking fucking loyal. You know,
I made you. I did. I made the world want
to fuck you. You know what I'm saying? Um, he

(37:46):
would say, you know, he would say, um, you know,
niggas want to suck you because I made you look
like that I made I made you fuckable in those
exact words. So sometimes you know, and like I'm strong,

(38:08):
you know what I'm saying. Again, Like I grew up
with boys. You know, I was always the only female,
but I was a tomboy. I had a dirt bike,
so you know, um, I was strong. I still am
very strong. But sometimes it would make me think about
things like damn did he you know? And then I

(38:33):
would have to snap out of it, you know, because
I started to trust my team more and and get
a team and build a team of people around me
that we're talking to me and explaining certain things and
strengthening my battery and sharpening my sight and my tools.

(38:56):
And you know, like Erv wanted his accounting to be
my accountant. You know, he wanted um, he wanted to
control all my finances. You know, he wanted me to
invest in It was Irvan jeffreies you know what I'm saying, um,
And I was like, well, why they don't say my name?

(39:17):
It says Irvan Jeffrey, motherfucker. So now I could laugh,
you know, but when you think about it in hindsight,
it is hurtful because this is a person that you
trusted and that you thought really had your best entrance.
I gotta imagine that you were huge, you had huge records,

(39:40):
you were big artists. I gotta imagine people were swarming
when you became kind of a free agent, right, is
that that happened at that time or were you not free?
Like I don't really know the business like what was happening,
but I would imagine where people who wanted to sign you,
people wanted to produce for you. There was. I went
in the studio with Dr Dre and it was like

(40:03):
a really dope moment. And I went and I played
records for him, and he was very impressed, and I
was just, you know, I was trying to act like
I was nervous, you know, And this is the first
time you're out of here with somebody else, out of
the squad, right, yes, not just not just something, not

(40:26):
just somebody talking about Dr Dre. Me and Dre were
talking about a deal, and when I was talking to
Earth about it, he has said something like, well, I
want of anything you make, like for the rest of
your life, you know, like something crazy. But he was serious,

(40:46):
you know, And I was just like, but I don't understand.
You don't want me around. You told me to get
the funk away from murdering. I get the funk away
from murdering. I go and try to get a situation.
And then you tell me, well no, because then I
want this and this and this forever. Okay, now what now?
What am I supposed to do? You know? And then, um,

(41:08):
what did you do? I got to a point where
I said, you know what, I'm gonna stop the music
for a minute, and I'm gonna go to Broadway and
I did the Whiz and I was Dorothy and the
Whiz and that was a completely different um, a completely
different layer and avenue and opportunity and just opening to

(41:35):
my career, you know. And it was something that it
forced me to take my mind off of what was
going on. You know, you got eight shows a week
to Mattney's on Wednesday, two on Saturday. You know, all
those lines, and it's not in a shanty concert. It's
an ensemble, so it's not like it's my fans coming.
I have to be all point, you know. Um. So

(41:55):
that was I don't want to call it a distraction,
but it was. It took a lot out of me
and I focused solely on that and that's why I
kind of like dipped off from the music for a
while because it was just so it was so negative
and it was just so vile, you know, um, and

(42:17):
I just it wasn't good for my spirit, you know,
So I didn't want to be around it. And that's
what I did. Wow, And then how do you even man,
there's so much I feel like we're gonna be talking
and you're gonna be it's gonna be your cold time
right to say to my god, because because Mike Guy,

(42:43):
I just I guess I'm wondering, like all the things
of somebody telling you you ain't ship without me, I
made you make another one who was Yeah, So you
don't believe that. You don't believe he made you absolutely
not funk out of here. What I believe is that.
And see, this is the thing. I'm not mad or hurt.

(43:08):
I can say. Yo, we were dope in the studio together.
Our chemistry was like unmatched. It was so dope. So
I know that and I respect that. You know what
I'm saying. And it's just like I'm not tearing him down.

(43:29):
I'm not trying to tear him. I'm not discrediting him,
you know what I'm saying. And I don't take nothing
away from everything that he put in. But you didn't
make me. You helped make me great. You pushed me.
I will always give him that. You know, I was

(43:50):
writing battling rappers. I'm the only R and B female
on the label. He would do stuff like give all
of us a beat and be like, yeah, whoever writes
the best ship to it gets to be Huh. I
was here first. You know what I'm saying. So you know,
he pushed me and I will. You know, I respected

(44:12):
that and I'm grateful, you know, IRV. He was very
harsh sometimes if I wrote something, you know, he would
be like, man, that ship is bullshit. I don't like it.
Do it over, you know. And on one hand it's
good because it makes you be your best, and on
the other hand, it's just like, damn, you gotta be

(44:32):
that hard, you know. You know what's so funny. When
I was watching him on Drinks and Listen, we came
up similar in terms of like being around a lot
of dudes. I could definitely be in a room full
of guys and they talk crazy, but you're so used
to it and you can almost engage. I played, you know,
I played monopoly with herb or he's talking and with
screaming at each other. I have guy friends like you
have guy friends. But something as I get older, sometimes

(44:59):
it's a lot line. It's like a fine line between
how you talk. I don't know. For me, that's just
me personally, I have I have changed a little bit,
like things that I tolerated when I was young, just
because I was comfortable in the room. You talk, you
called you say something to me, I'm gonna say something
back to you. That's how I was, That's how I survived,
That's how I came up. I was around dudes all

(45:20):
the time, so they were like bitch, and I'd be like,
fuck you you you know, I would just get in
there and play dirty. But at a certain point, you go,
you know what, don't talk to me like that a
million you know what I mean? You have to like
buckle up anyway. And I wonder for you because you
were around a lot of those, a lot of the
same type, right, dudes that talk crazy, but we're used

(45:41):
to it. At some point did that I don't know,
did something switched for you there? Uh? Because it's one
thing I don't know. It's hard because it's different when
you care when you don't care. It's like, you know, yeah,
I guess, Okay, fuck you too, you fat bit your

(46:03):
ass motherfucker? Now what really good? I feel like, you
know or fuck? You know? I don't want to suck you.
You know what I'm saying. No, thanks, no, you know
what I'm saying. So it's like, is there anything else
you want to clear up about the dock because it
wasn't just that. It was like, I don't know, is
there anything that was said about you that you feel

(46:24):
was unfair or has anything that embarrassed you about it?
Um or you know what was crazy to me? I'm
trying to understand why Earth thought that it was good
or cool to put on national television on b et

(46:45):
a shot. You got a fat ass, and I'm sitting
there looking at the ass and she got these little
sweatpants on. Why do you think that's cool? Mhm? With
everything that's going on and with women with like gender equality,

(47:08):
with women being taken advantage of, because like tone deaf,
my god, you just leaped up the building. What's happening?
Why nobody's saying that to you? I read an article
about there was somebody who like wrote an article about
the drink Champs interview. I wish I should pull up

(47:29):
her name because it was a dope story. But she
was saying two things that I thought was interesting. One,
it's like, you know when women just say women are
entitled to say no even on you know, big, real,
big level scary levels. But also I'm like, yeah, no,
this doesn't work for me anymore, and they shouldn't be
attacked for that. A million at any point, which I

(47:51):
found really interesting. But also in the article, she was saying, how, um,
it was really hard to watch nobody everybody laughing like
it was okay? How they were talking about you on
that How did you feel about that? Because there has
been conversation we know, you know, Joe Fat Joe put
had some comments about how he felt about how herb

(48:12):
was talking. I saw a lot of like chat about
how maybe Josh should have handled it. Um. I had
a conversation with John, you know. And it's funny because
me and Jah had a conversation about this interview months ago.
You know, he told me and um, when I saw

(48:32):
it first of all, I heard that it got edited
sixteen times, so what we saw was probably the light
version of what really happened. Yeah, and to be honest,
I think John told me that, you know, so um, um,

(48:55):
wait what were you saying? You said you talked to
him about it? Oh okay, So yeah, So I talked
to John about the interview and I was like, yo,
you know, you should have said a little more, you know,
and he's like, but Bonnie, I'm Switzerland, but Jah, when

(49:15):
you see somebody doing wrong, and then he gave me
a good example. You know. He's like, yo, yeah, I
love both of you, my brothers and sisters. You know,
you see your brothers and sisters fight, you gotta stay
out of it. Yeah, But if your brother calls and
blows your sister's head off with a fucking nine millimeter,
you're just gonna stand there, you know what I mean.

(49:36):
So I loove that you could like have that conversation,
like honestly, and it sounds like we absolutely hell spoke
about it and he he. I feel like he did
defend me. I feel like he didn't defend me enough,
you know. I feel like, but this is the thing too,

(50:01):
Like that's who earth is. We're all used to that,
so it's not really anything different. It's different maybe for
the world to see, but like everyone's kind of used
to him being like that. It's one thing when it's
like clothes and the studio talking shit and blah blah blah.
That's another thing when it's like when you have a

(50:21):
platform and you are publicly going out of your way
to disrespect me, to lie on me, to try and
paint a picture of me that is so false. That's
why I keep saying it's a mental thing, you know,
and it's not even to be funny, you know. It's
like I feel like he needs help because nobody in

(50:49):
their right mind is going to think that that's okay. Now.
I get that there's motivation, right, there's also alcohol and
lots of lots of women, But I don't know that.
I don't know if it wouldn't even write. I don't
know if there's a little bit of different motivation, right.
I feel like Earth wanted he He thought that he

(51:12):
could single handedly make the whole entire world hate me
and want to watch his documentary. So he did a
lot of this. What I feel he did a lot
of this for ratings. I don't think he anticipated the
ship backfiring on him and turned everyone off, you know
so fast. What makes me sad because I feel like

(51:35):
we as a label, as a brand, as as the
staple in music. I feel like we as murdered, ain't
deserved such a better story. You know, why didn't you
talk about how we made foolish? Why didn't you talk

(51:58):
about when you know we went down and to Puff's
office and got the Biggie verse. Why didn't you, you
know what I mean, why didn't you talk about how
I had to write the bridge for any funny on
on skytail and send it, you know what I mean?
Like why not talk about all the positive things that

(52:19):
we created and you know, the billboard charts and the awards,
Like why not talk about even the blood, sweat and
tears that went into naming the album and how excited
everyone was. And you know, you chose to go down
a path of trying to paint this horrible picture of
Ashanti for what What are you really gaining out of that?

(52:43):
You think that people are gonna watch a documentary because
you're trying to shoot on me when you're watching the documentary.
There's a couple of things that I'm curious if you
have anything to say about. Just number one, especially in
the comments, it was like him being married at the time,
You have any regret about that? You know? The crazy
thing is um When we had a conversation, you know,

(53:09):
Erv was like, I haven't I've been separated for years.
I lived by myself in an apartment. EARV had like
a lot of females, like a lot a lot of them, Yeah,
a lot of them. Yeah. He used to give me
his phones. I guess I'm even gonna get that to that,

(53:30):
but he had a lot of females, so to me,
I didn't know he was married for a long time,
you know. And then when situations, you know, grew into
situations or whatever, he would always just be like, Yo,
I've been single for a long time. You know what
I'm saying. It's on paper, but we both were legally separated,

(53:50):
you know what I'm saying. And then I also felt
like there was a lot of pressure, like okay, so
if I say, does that mean we're not we're not
going to record, you know what I mean. So it
became a lot a lot of pressure, and I remember
specifically being like, yo, I don't want to. This is

(54:13):
too much for me, Like, yo, you're married. I don't
want to. I don't want to go down that path.
And he would just be like, nah, it's you good,
We're good. I don't not over here with her. I
live over here. You know what I'm saying. I go
to see my kids. I live here. That's over. That's
I'm separated, that's done, you know. So it was it

(54:34):
was just a lot and then going back to that
gullible Susie that you know, naive Nancy, I don't want
to hurt no one's feelings. I don't want to hurt
you know what I'm saying, Like, I don't That's just
my personality. Is that part of the reason why it
was like kept so quiet? Or were you just private? Um? Again,

(55:02):
I feel like he painted it a little bit more
picture under see what I'm saying, Like, but you've always
been very private. Even your relationship with Nellie was like
we had to like you, We had to find out
almost when it was over, how real it was like,
you know what I mean? Like, yeah, absolutely, I've always
been a very private person and you know, keeping stuff

(55:24):
low into myself. I'm not one of those that has
to again go and beat my chest, you know what
I mean, That's just not me. The other thing in
the doc too, was that some of the other women,
like Vita's Charlie, it was like a portrayal of you
that you were like the coeen Bee of you know,

(55:44):
murder inc And and maybe their careers suffered because of
the personal relationship and how much attention and energy he
gave you. How did that, what did you take? What
did you make of that? Um? I saw, you know,
Vita had made some comments and felt like she had

(56:06):
um shown love and felt like she wasn't getting love back,
and that was just very weird to me because it
was never on that time and we barely I don't
think me and Vita had said more than like five
sentences to each other for twenty years, you know what

(56:28):
I'm saying. And um, but it was never anything negative, never,
you know what I'm saying, Like, I mean, I feel
bad that she felt that way, you know what I'm saying. Um,
But I'm I'm you know me, Angie, I'm a very
approachable you know. They they used to call me to
gummy beer, you know what I mean. So I'm I'm.

(56:51):
I'm not sure where that came from, but it was
always all love on my end. And I think I
think at the verses, I think she was talking to
my mom and I think she asked mom about managing
her if I'm not mistaken. So I don't know. So
you were surprised she was not the only one in versus.
Your old friend Nellie was at Versus. We talked about

(57:13):
this to my radio show. How you said, he what
did you say? Remember that's been a cute moment. Was
a cute moment not cute for you cute for usque
for us, something outside not cute for you, very unexpected.
You have a lot of history with DELI take I

(57:34):
know you don't talk too much about that relationship, but
now knowing not by your choice, but now that we
know a lot of your business, your relationship with herb
I'm just stop saying situation. So it's a situation where
we know so much that we didn't really know before.
I'm curious for you, like as a woman and everything

(57:56):
you experienced and that how you then how that translate
and changed for you now you're in you were in
a new relationship for a long time. Did that some
of that carry did you do you carry some of
that trauma, that baggage that into the next one? Or

(58:16):
was there growth a little bit? A little bit you know,
I do know that being a female from New York again,
just having a very savage like mouth. You know, there's
some people you can talk to like that. There are
some people you can't. He wasn't. He made it very
clear early, very early, that's not gonna work over. It's

(58:40):
not gonna work over. It was that shocking for you
a little bit because you had come from yes and
just it was the norm, you know, you know how
we speak the norm over there was definitely not the norm.
Did you Was that good for you? Like? I think
it was. I think it was good, you know. You Um,
there's just a level of respect, you know what I mean.

(59:03):
And sometimes when you're kind of like getting disrespected so much,
it kind of like it doesn't feel like you're getting
disrespected anymore because like you're used to it. And then
when someone from the outside is looking in and they
kind of show you like, yo, that's not how we
talk to each other, And then you're like mm hmm,
you're right, you know. Yeah, it's called adjusting and growing.

(59:25):
That's a tough adjustment though, sometimes adjustment. Yeah, And then
from that relationship to now are you in? I'm just
thinking about the trajectory of how you are in relationships
and what you've learned and what do you want now?
What I want now? I'm in an amazing space, you know.

(59:47):
My career, I just feel like it's like a a surge.
Like I'm here talking about celebrating twenty years of my
first album, getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, touring,
shooting movies, you know what I mean, putting out new music,
putting on new visuals books, you know, and I'm just

(01:00:10):
in such a really dope space. I want to continue
to expand and grow my empire. You know. Obviously I
want to get married. I still wanna have kids, you know,
And I feel like, after I finish with this the
rest of this year, then I'm going to really sit
down and you know, take the personal stuff serious. You're

(01:00:32):
gonna make some time for that in your life. Really,
I think I want to make some time. I keep
looking at this ring on your finger. You have two stars.
Is this symbolic? It's very symbolic. So since my star
on the Hollywood Walk up thame talk your ship, Ashanti, Um,

(01:00:55):
this is like super super special. My mom got this
for me, and it's like it's so dope. It has
me like with a microphone. On this side. It has
the Hollywood sign, you know, from Beverly Hills on this
sign obviously, the star on the pink diamonds, and I
don't know, it's still surreal for me that I gotta star.
Isn't really though, because so many people were like she

(01:01:17):
should have been had with that. You know, I'm super
humble and I'm I'm very grateful and I saw people
saying that, you know, and it it definitely. Um it
made me feel really really good. But just growing up,
you just never know, you know what I'm saying. And
it's crazy. I think my mom manifested it, you know,
because the whole story behind it. Her first time in
l A. She went to a souvenir store and she

(01:01:38):
brought a star and she's like, you're gonna get a star.
I would walk a fame. I'm like, my stop, you know,
I'm like, don't do that, you know. But she manifested it.
You know, she believed in me, and you know, it
makes a difference, you know what I'm saying, It really does.
So this is very special. I was gonna say, what
does it symbolize for you? In terms like gosh, it

(01:02:02):
symbolizes the sacrifices, the hard work, you know, the many
record deals that um I lost, you know, a lot
of the rejection and overcoming that you think about it,
like my name is like cemented into the ground like forever, forever, forever,
you know, and that's huge. What are you most proud
of about you? Well, your career and your life in general. Um,

(01:02:27):
I'm really really proud of the person that I am
and how I handle things, you know. Um, I think
I've weathered a very tumultiless storm. Um. I feel like
like we all have, we all have obstacles, and I
feel like certain people would not be able to move
how I move had they've been dealt the hand that

(01:02:47):
I've been dealt. And I really genuinely love that about myself.
Not to sound you know, but I do. You could
be proud of yourself. You could like it's it's times,
it gets a lot, and now that I do make
it look easy, you know. And I think that's part
of just being professional. That's part of being like a hustle.
That's part of being a go getter, you know. That's

(01:03:09):
how you stay successful. You have to. Yeah, you know
what I mean. And you have other stuff coming right. Yes,
I'm very excited for my official new single call Falling
for You, which should be available after y'all watch this. Um.
I'm very excited about the record. I wrote it with
Blue and it's just it's it's an Ashanti record with

(01:03:41):
spice on it, you know what I mean, sonically, but
writing with merit, you know what I mean. And it's
funny because all the teasers that I put on my Instagram,
everybody's like, Yo, what's the name is? I can relate?
This is what we want from you, you know. So
I'm excited about that. And what is it about it?
Tell me that is there? You want to I want

(01:04:01):
to hold it, to hold it, you know, falling for you?
It's basically just saying I'm not falling for this bs anymore.
It's crazy because it relates to like almost all of
these situations, you know, no more falling for you? You know.
I bet you think that I would never find another,
you know, like it's you know, it's real and came

(01:04:22):
from a real place. So so is this the beginning
of new music coming? Absolutely? I have so many records, Angie,
it's ridiculous. I'm gonna show you. Let me show you
my phone what its proof? I don't even I believe
you know. I want you to see this. Let me
see how many I'm gonna count them? Oh no, Wow?

(01:04:43):
Did I see Burner Boy's name in there? Oh? Sorry?
Do you see? These are scrolling so fast? Okay? But
the point is they're all records. Wow, what are you
gonna do with all these records? What is the have
to put them out? We have to the records are
What is the plan? Is there a plan? Yes, the
plan is we're gonna drop the single. We're gonna put

(01:05:06):
out an EP or an album. Me and Blew are
working on some stuff. Um, it's just so much music
and it's time, you know, it's time. So what is
this chapter called? What is this like? What do you
see for yourself in this phase? Like? What do you
think people are gonna a shanty twenty because I'm celebrating

(01:05:27):
twenty years. Um. This phase is being strong, being vocal,
being confident, um, having integrity, not being scared, and um,
being okay with I'm at a point where, um, I

(01:05:49):
can choose to do what I want to do. You know. Um,
I feel like I'm very humble, and i feel like
I work really really hard, you know, and I'm just
I'm about just like peace and positive energy, having fun
and celebrate in life, you know, and being successful. Live
your life. Boo, you already know it, and you have

(01:06:10):
a book told that people should know about. Yes, I
have a book. Cute is this book? Can we just
show the book really quick? It's so cute? How cute
is this book? My name is a story. My name
is a story. Cute is she? I want to squeeze
her face? You see my eyebrows though. Cute little baby?
Or she didn't know she was gonna be in all

(01:06:30):
this mess? Oh my god, Oh mama, just so cute,
you know. But I feel like this is important. It's
so funny the title of the book being called my
name is a story, and we're sitting up here talking
about my story. My name is definitely a story, for sure.

(01:06:53):
And I think that it's important for kids to feel
confident and who they are what they are, and when
you have a unique name like Ashanti, don't be scared
or fearful. You know, when the teacher mispronounced your name,
correct them and be confident with that and be okay

(01:07:13):
with that. You know, it's okay that your name is
not Susie or Emily or Sarah or Dan. You know
it's okay, and be okay with that and embrace it
and understand that your name is different for a reason
and you can celebrate that, you know what I mean.
And on the other hand, the kids that do have,
you know, common names, except that, hey, it's okay to

(01:07:36):
have a friend with a different name. Don't laugh at it,
you know what I mean. So I felt like I
wanted to do something unique and something meaningful, especially coming
out of COVID and seeing the kids going through craziness
with school, Like, I felt like it was great important,
What a great little message and gift to give to
some little kid who's struggling with you see, if they

(01:07:57):
see and everybody in the class, you will be all
surprised at so many people. When I went to Essence
and did the book signing, everyone had a story, my
name is this, my name is? You know? And then
like they never pronounced my name right, you know, I'm
getting this for my daughter. My name, her name is?
You know? So it was it was genuinely amazing, right.

(01:08:19):
So we got books, we got we got songs coming,
we got music, movies coming. We're up here in Canada
doing a movie, shooting a movie. You can't tell me
too much about the movie, but I know some insights, yes,
and I know it's very exciting for you. Yes, and
your future is bright, My dear, thank you. Anything you
want people to know or I don't know. Oh, I

(01:08:45):
want women to be able to feel comfortable and strong
walk in that purpose and I don't want women to
have to cater, bow down or feel scared in situations
when a man has the power. You know what I mean.

(01:09:07):
It's a scary scary times, a scary feeling. It's a
scary situation UM to be in. So I feel like
it's important to defend yourself. I feel like it's important
to create clarity, you know. And it's it's not important
to bash somebody. That's not my thing, you know what
I mean. Like, I don't have no um, I have

(01:09:28):
nothing to gain trying to hurt someone or trying to
be vile or disrespectful or degrading, you know what I mean. Um,
when I do have kids, I'm going to care about
what my kids see and what they you know, what
they take from how I um, what's the word I'm
looking like? Yeah? How I carry myself? You know what

(01:09:51):
I'm saying. I don't know if other people think about that.
And that's where it goes into you know, you can't
be selfish, you know what I mean? You just at
something And I'm gonna end with that about your purpose?
Do you know what your purposes? Have you thought about that?
That's a good question. I thank my purpose is to

(01:10:12):
show being an example of being gracious and um, being genuine.
It's very important to show so for me, I guess
my purpose is to continue to spread the message to

(01:10:32):
keep going and keep grinding and let the success speak
for itself. Well, you're doing exactly that, so you should
feel good about a thing. Thank you, so good to
see you, thank you so to day. I can't wait
to see the movie into the premium and the screaming

(01:10:53):
I'm for sure to thank you mama.