Club Shay Shay - Anthony Hamilton Part 1

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Anthony Hamilton — Grammy Award-winning singer, multiplatinum songwriter, and one of the most soulful voices in modern R&B — joins Shannon Sharpe for a raw, emotional, and Southern conversation about music, manhood, heartbreak, and legacy. From the “born in a pot of collard greens” grit in his voice to the stories behind his biggest records, Anthony breaks down a life built on struggle, faith, and timeless storytelling.

He opens the episode performing “Charlene,” unpacking the real breakup behind it — waiting by the door, balancing ambition and love, and how men often hide behind their careers. Anthony talks about how long a partner should stand beside someone chasing a dream, the struggle of supporting a family with limited means, and why attention, not money, is the real love language.

After performing “Coming From Where I’m From,” he reflects on how growing up without his father pushed him to hustle harder, and how being adopted at 14 changed his life. He shares that his father didn’t return until right before his wedding — a reunion only made possible by his future wife. Shannon brings up viral memes about his music “sounding like walking home from work,” Flau’jae discovering “Charlene,” and Anthony realizing he’d officially become “old school.”

With “Her Heart,” Anthony discusses making mistakes, breaking promises, and how men grow emotionally. He opens up about crying as a man, why vulnerability is strength, and the meaning behind “I Cry.” Then the mood lifts as he performs “Cornbread, Fish & Collard Greens,” reflecting on why men rarely approach women anymore, social media replacing real connection, and the lost art of old-school flirting.

Anthony shares his favorite Southern dishes and his craziest food experiences before revisiting his early break as a background singer for D’Angelo. He performs “How Does It Feel,” shares lessons D’Angelo taught him, and remembers missing his final phone call. He opens up about D’Angelo’s pancreatic cancer, Angie Stone’s passing, their snowstorm sessions, and the heartbreak of their son losing both parents in one year.

Shannon and Anthony dive into Drake — linking in Toronto, studio sessions at The Embassy, and late-night rides in Rolls-Royces. Anthony compares Drake’s home to Prince’s legendary jam sessions, then takes us inside the homes of Nelson Mandela, Will Smith, and Jamie Foxx, plus his private talk with Barack Obama after performing for him.

He breaks down writing Donell Jones’ “U Know What’s Up,” creating “Thug Mansion” with Tupac, winning a Grammy with Al Green, and collaborating with The Roots, Jill Scott, Chris Brown, Jeezy, Rick Ross, Nas, and more. He discusses unreleased songs with John Legend and Ty Dolla $ign, appearing in DaBaby’s video, signing with Jermaine Dupri, and how music has changed in the streaming era.

Anthony reflects on grinding in New York City with just $67, how Nick Cannon bought him his first car, and the struggles artists like Kevin McCall face. He recalls working on American Gangster with Denzel Washington, Empire with Terrence Howard, witnessing a killing at seven, and his barber days — where the “struggle beard” became his signature. He shares the moment Michael Jordan gifted him Jordans and his experience working with Oprah on They Call Me Dad. He closes by reflecting on raising six sons, marrying young, and how dating feels different after marriage.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Also something when you were very close to Angie Stone,
you saw him at the funeral.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Sell them, both of them. I never seen anybody laid
the rest looking so peaceful. And she had a smirk
on her face, Like I told y'all, I'm serious man
in all Angie Stone, fast and.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
All my life, grinding all.

Speaker 4 (00:26):
My life, sacrifice hustle, Paed Price. Want a slice? Got
the brother Geysa all my life. I've been grinding all
my life, all my life, grinning all my.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
Life, sacrifice, hustle, Paed Price.

Speaker 4 (00:40):
One slice got the brother geist swap all my life.
I've been grinding all my life.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hello, welcome to another episode of Club Shape Shape. I
am your hole, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the propride of
Club Shade Shake, stopping by for conversation on the drink today.
This has been a long time in the Make It
seven eight years in the Make It, and we're making
it happened today. He's one of R and b's most
distinctive and relatable voices, one of the last soul superstar
singers that's had an impact on modern culture. They say
he sounds like he was born in a part of

(01:10):
college Greens. The National treasure, a narrate of love. A
Grammy Award winning singer, a multi platinum selling songwriter, soul
for storyteller, intergenerational artist, renowned musician, phenomenal producer, a veteran entertainer,
an actor, an author, and a publisher. He sold over
fifty million albums worldwide. A Charlotte Bread hitmaker, and a
local music legend. He's in the North Carolina Music Hall

(01:32):
of Fame. A gift to our generation, a staple in
the R and B community. Here he is from North Carolina,
a country boy. Mister Anthony Hamilton brood to see this
show is gonna be a little different. What we're gonna do.
We're gonna go in between Anthony performer song. He'll come
sit in the come sit on the chair, tell us
about the song, what he was thinking when he wrote

(01:53):
the song, what the song actually means. Because I'm sure
there are a lot of people out there that think
these songs are about them. And he's gonna set the
record straight. So here he is to perform his first song.

Speaker 5 (02:03):
Charlene woke govern in the morning, found a ladder.

Speaker 6 (02:37):
That she rode.

Speaker 7 (02:39):
She said, She sighed that I'm always on the road too.
Hard to swatting up then and not alone. She needs
a corn at night and she could go. She must
have tore me a thousand time to more silent crist
how used to doing no God, Nos, I left her

(03:00):
didn't mean nothing.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
No we didn't know you ben.

Speaker 7 (03:18):
Enough your sire and the love you wants to be
with you for life.

Speaker 6 (03:27):
All moner.

Speaker 8 (03:30):
Me.

Speaker 7 (03:36):
She knows I'm really love for some music games since
I haven't was a child. It's spend in my cream.
I can't support her, treat her transport you know her
to find nothing, but.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
I forgot about here.

Speaker 7 (03:55):
Damn the money diamonds and first what about the or
did she cap with them? Be best?

Speaker 9 (04:03):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (04:03):
She need us from me to leave.

Speaker 10 (04:09):
Mus be.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
Shed and I promise I be.

Speaker 6 (04:23):
To the toy.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
And stud mean she.

Speaker 10 (04:34):
She would promise.

Speaker 4 (04:38):
I can't little town. Her knows I need enough to
see sometime, said I her so mad that she's an.

Speaker 11 (04:51):
Me knows horay she come home day hackle in my life.

Speaker 6 (05:06):
No baby, biby know you send here self.

Speaker 9 (05:13):
I'm pretty homely normally.

Speaker 4 (05:16):
Believe you tell me. I'll tell you fly.

Speaker 12 (05:32):
Me shu.

Speaker 6 (05:39):
Mhm.

Speaker 4 (05:41):
Sometimes say I cry, charl need to listen. Could you
call on me because I'm more close Cha.

Speaker 8 (06:01):
Call me?

Speaker 12 (06:10):
Come on, come on, come on, we gotta talk about it.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
Let's talk about Oh man, no star shat, no start.

Speaker 12 (06:17):
We gotta talk about different, bro, Thank you better?

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Good to be here, man, Yes, sir, absolutely, mm hmm.

Speaker 12 (06:24):
So is this a real Is this a real story
that someone actually say Anthony? You working to bro? You
know what?

Speaker 2 (06:31):
It is a real story. Her name is not Charlne.

Speaker 12 (06:33):
Okay. So you protected you wanted to protect the image.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
You know, the little money I was getting in. I
wanted to keep it. Yeah, yeah, but yeah, it was
a relationship, you know, and uh, just working, being focused
on what I was born to do. Man, sing and
go get it. And sometimes it's not good enough to
to be successful in your business and home suffer. So

(06:57):
a series of events happened. We broke up and you know, heartbreak.
Heartbreak created a song, a staple song for me.

Speaker 12 (07:07):
But when you.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
The old saying you'll lose a lot of money chasing women, Yeah,
but you won't lose a woman chasing money.

Speaker 12 (07:18):
That's not true. You're telling you that's like.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
How do you find a balance, Because when you're trying
to achieve something great, people say, oh, it's work life balance.

Speaker 12 (07:27):
Work life balance is nine to five.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
But when you trying to get it like you were
trying to get it, yeah, there is no balance, and
you need to have someone that's in your life that
can understand that.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Absolutely. I think a lot of times, you know, people
think their life is going to be structured. Yes, you know,
like you said in ninety five, but music business is
not structured. One minute you hot and the next minute
you may not be. You'll be home for a couple
of months and the next thing you know, you turn around.
You got to hit record, and you're gone three four
months at a time and you're in the studio late nights.

Speaker 12 (07:56):
Right.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Well, you can be close to the house, but never
make it at home, you know. So you know, people
with that expectations of when you're here, while you're not
at the house.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
But I'm working and you could theoretically be at home,
but your mind is a thousand miles away and you're
thinking about something that you need to get done.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Absolutely, I'm at home land with you and I'm thinking
about these sixteen bars in there, you know, man, So
you know you have to compromise, yes, in these kind
of relationships, and you have to have a woman or
a person or whoever, puppy or whatever who understands that
lifestyle and they can handle it.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
Everyone said me being the next professional athlete, and I've
had relationship since I can I'm fine being number two
until they actually have to be number two.

Speaker 12 (08:43):
That training meetings and working out and the way you
eat is first.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
But you said you can handle it what I thought
I could, because I'm sure they probably say, well, oh man,
I'm gonna support you.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
I't.

Speaker 12 (08:56):
I'm pushing you, not you walking, I'm pushing you. But
when it actually.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
Happens, Yeah, and you have to be gone or you
have to be in a studio because when an idea hit,
it hits. You can't just like, Okay, I get up
and do it in the morning. No, it hits then
I gotta go, Right then, I gotta go, you know,
do what I need to do. How difficult is that
to get them to understand I'm not a nine to
five type of a guy. Yeah, and what you're accustomed

(09:22):
to or what you've been used to, is far from that.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
I think it's two ways to it. A lot of times,
you know men or women whoever will train them in
a way to make them comfortable because you want to
secure it because you know this person is special, right,
But then when the real life sets in, it's just like, wow,
I didn't train you on this on this part here,
So now you know, I may seem like I'm unbalanced

(09:47):
and I'm out a character, but ultimately this is what
I'm supposed to be doing. Yes, that's truly, Yeah it is.
And so you just have to let him know, like, hey,
that's gonna be some nice I'm gonna have to get
out of this bed and go. Like the other night
I was working in Bust of Rhymes called he needed
a hook real fast. I had to, you know, go
get it, even though by myself this that, but they

(10:11):
had to go. Right, Kids, y'all holding down, don't let
nobody in the house, but.

Speaker 12 (10:15):
You have to go.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
And and that's another way, you know, you suffer when
you have children. Yes, you know I have to sacrifice
time with them as well.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
Do the kids understand because I was very neglectful in
that aspect. I would promise my kids I was gonna
do something, but I had run myself into exhaustion. I
had lifted myself into oblivion and I was too tired
to do what I had promised them that I was
going to do, and they had to make sacrifices that
no other kids had to make.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, that's hard. That's a hard one because you know,
I think my first three. I have six sons, So
my first three, my older boys, Anthony and Marrond and Tristan,
they got more of the sacrifice time. Yes, I was there,
but you know I missed a lot of the school days.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
You missed the football practices and yeah, all that the
basketball and the PTA's and all the stuff.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
So I go harder now for my last three. Okay,
go hard them at the football games. But still then
like they were at the house, Max's wife had to
come and pick them up last night because you know,
I had to be here right to do this. I
ain't gonna miss it the club set.

Speaker 12 (11:19):
I appreciate that we're.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Talking about this because Anthony and I were we would
have been DM and we goes back seven eight years
and you when it when it came to my and
I was talking to about producer c J. I said, man,
we need to get Anthony Hamilton, but not just for
a sit down, but to have n't performed.

Speaker 12 (11:34):
C J was like, yeah, that'd be a good.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
Idea, and we just kept going, kept going, and it
took seven eight years and it finally happened. And man,
I'm so excited because look, everybody knows coming where I'm from.

Speaker 12 (11:45):
And Charlotte and I cried and her her all that,
I mean, we we grew up, we grew up, we
grew up.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
But now you old school too, cause it's like, yeah,
the Ogs used to be Luther and yeah, Teddy p Dottie.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
Half Away and Barry White.

Speaker 4 (12:05):
Now you that's you.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
Yeah, it ain't that, it's on. But I think I'm
I think I'm on age out of on now, you
know the aged out on. Now I think I'm old?

Speaker 12 (12:13):
What am I?

Speaker 6 (12:13):
Old?

Speaker 2 (12:13):
Grigg? I still out running a lot of them though,
I still out running, still out running? So how long?

Speaker 1 (12:21):
How what's what's the expectation having been mad and having
been in this music industry, because you got to move around.
You might be in Raleigh, and then you and Charlotte,
and then you're in Atlanta, and then you in in Florida,
and Jack from Jacksonville, Orlando, so forth. The song how
long do you think? I mean, it's hard for you
to say, but for a woman to say, it's okay,
he this man is chasing his dreams. How long do

(12:44):
you think as a realistic expectation for her to support you.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
I think it had happened. I think, you know, I've
met some really amazing women since my since my divorce.
Right now, I've been talking and and and seeing someone
who's pretty special. Okay, I think, uh, she kind of
gets it, yes, and so I'm willing to do the
work to try to see where it goes, where bounds
it out.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yeah, because you know, the thing is is that sometimes
I feel women want to finish product. Yeah the house
is already built. Yeah, everything is already done. But in
your life, but when you were coming up, you're trying
to build a house.

Speaker 12 (13:21):
You're trying to.

Speaker 1 (13:22):
Lay a foundation. The stronger the foundation, it can't be broken,
it can't be shook. But if the foundation is not solid.

Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah, you know, and that's women have taught. You know,
a man is supposed to be the security and all
that stuff, and sometimes the security don't look the same
as it does with somebody else.

Speaker 12 (13:38):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
You know, I'm I'm a provider. I'm there. I'm making
sure that certain things are done. But when I leave,
I'm gonna make sure that things are taken care of.
So when I get back, you'll feel as if my
presence was there. And I think if you try to
do that, you can have a better outcome.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
How hard weather for you to trace your dreams? Did
you ever feel like, man, this this issue ain't gonna happen. Man, damn,
it seems like every time.

Speaker 2 (14:04):
I mean, I feel like.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
I'm so close. I know this is my calling absolutely,
But how long? How long were you willing to stay
on this path?

Speaker 2 (14:11):
Had you not?

Speaker 12 (14:11):
Because I think it was with the Nappy Roots? Is
that when you they heard you in the business?

Speaker 8 (14:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah, yeah, this got special. You know I had been signed,
I got to sign the ninety three I used to
open up for Jodsy when a freaking U came out
and I was signed Uptown Andre Herrel really believed in me,
and uh Uptown and Andre Herrel and and m c
A they fell out. So here I am left dangling

(14:38):
in between papers. You hanging, So I'm left paperworking. So
from from ninety three and it wasn't until two thousand
and three when Jermaine, Damn, Jermaine put me out that
that success started to happen. But in between that, I
was signed a Soul Life Right Job Records, so many
different labels, and after about three of for those, you

(15:01):
want to kind of throw it, throw your hands up. Yeah,
But then God to give me something like it gave
me the Tupac record or the Nappy Roots or I
wrote CO wrote say what for Donielle Jones? So give
me a little things to.

Speaker 12 (15:16):
Keep you going?

Speaker 6 (15:17):
To let me going?

Speaker 2 (15:17):
Man, Yeah, it's like, nah, I got something better for you,
so just stay.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
Of course, was it hard to continue to chase your
dream when you didn't have a whole lot of money
coming here?

Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah? You know, being a barber, you know I can
make a couple of dollars and get a couple of
pieces of pizza, you know what I mean, get a
couple of pieces of pizza here and some water. But
you know, my landlord was like, Antie, I need my money.
You know, Miss Ryan, I appreciate you up there in Harlem,
but you know, and she believed in me. But still

(15:47):
the shame you feel not being able to hold your
part of the bargain up can kind of weigh on
you a little bit as.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
Well, because it's a situation like if if I had
provided a service, I'm got my money. I ain't try
to hear that. Well, hey, you know, I this money.
You know, hey, just bear with me, and so I understand.
You know, people like, well, you know, money is tight.
I still got I still got a mortgage to pay
on this building. So you know you're talking about this
tight that impacts me.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
It does.

Speaker 10 (16:13):
Man.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
You know, you come and get a haircut, so when
I ain't got I got about to. You know, the
haircut is ten dollars. You got four fifty in a
nickel bag. That ain't gonna work. That ain't gonna work. Man,
Come on, man, come get rid of that. It bring
me my money, So that'll be nice. I'll be show fitting, yeah,

(16:34):
show yeah, yeah yeah, all we work it out.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah yeah, you're gonna perform. The next song that you're
gonna perform is coming where I'm from. So we're gonna
take a listen to that, and then you come back
over here and talk to us.

Speaker 12 (16:45):
About let's do it. Man, let's do it.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
You all ready, let's do it.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
Well, Well, listen, shitty here, I guess I.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
Didn't make me got time in the store in that
tell started when I'm nine years old, WoT.

Speaker 7 (17:34):
Come and daddy was started rustling in there, couldn't tell
me nothing, running, you know, trying.

Speaker 4 (17:41):
To be somebody.

Speaker 10 (17:42):
My sword is on the staff.

Speaker 4 (17:45):
I was searching for something.

Speaker 6 (17:47):
I try to be good.

Speaker 7 (17:50):
I try to keep from trouble, living me too fast
and trying to make good on us.

Speaker 4 (17:59):
Telling me to get round from the time got on
yet day.

Speaker 9 (18:09):
From I'll carry out to walk doory.

Speaker 4 (18:16):
Time I gotta do little toy bak want to turn
up somebody.

Speaker 7 (18:27):
Else thet't wanna tell you, honey, one final pie.

Speaker 4 (18:32):
My family to have kids, don't like my daddy in
a field as some name.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Get home?

Speaker 8 (18:41):
Coming from from.

Speaker 4 (18:48):
From some time? I got a mong Yeah from.

Speaker 9 (18:55):
From so time you kind of crawling me louder from from.

Speaker 4 (19:02):
Sometime they have to pack the paint, Yeah from.

Speaker 8 (19:08):
Sometime, have wal.

Speaker 6 (19:12):
From some time to go to wherever?

Speaker 4 (19:17):
Yeah from see from from sometimes I'm railing.

Speaker 8 (19:26):
On it to.

Speaker 13 (19:30):
From little blues, little blues.

Speaker 12 (19:46):
On the face, come on to come on back. Let's
talk about this one.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
Yeah, this one right here. Yeah, we might have to
go in on. Yeah man oh yeah, you.

Speaker 1 (19:59):
Seem like you wrote this from a place of personal knowledge. Yeah,
and some of the best songs come you look at
Gloria Gainer, she went through something to say, I will survive.
Lenny Williams, he would really hurt people. Don't remember when
the TV used to go off at midnight.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yeah, I wasn't stand.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yeah, you talking about sometimes you gotta do things. You
got to cry a little harder. When you come from
where you come from, did well, there's some circumstances that
put you in a situation that you probably shouldn't have been.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
Here, absolutely absolutely, you know. And you know my dad,
we ended up bending our relationship for at least a
good twenty years, but wasn't around like I needed him to,
and I felt I felt betrayed. Now, you know, he
broke my heart and some things he said to me
and so on that when that happened to me, I

(20:51):
was on the question to make something, make him see
that he messed up, and so I grinded a little hard.
Then my mom and I had some situations. I ended
up getting adopted when I was like fourteen, into a family,
So that unstable situation in my life, it, you know,
it made me work harder. It put a little pain

(21:13):
in their little grit. Yeah, so you know, I probably
would have sounded a little bit like a very man
A lord had that that I happened, Yeah, that.

Speaker 12 (21:20):
Was that was That was pain.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
You mentioned your father wasn't around, So how how old
were you when he stopped coming around or was he
ever around?

Speaker 2 (21:30):
He was around? I do remember, you know, a couple
of outfits. You know, I spent the night a few times,
but I was sixteen. I wanted to go hang out.
I wanted a few dollars.

Speaker 8 (21:40):
You know.

Speaker 2 (21:41):
He just told me he didn't have time for you
know whatever. And at that moment I took it upon
myself to make a decision. It's like, you know what,
I'm gonna take myself out of the equation. And you know,
wasn't until I was about to get married. My Max
wanted to meet him. So she's big on family, so

(22:01):
I called him. She said, you're gonna call your dad
and invite him. I said, I wouldn't plan it on him,
not really, but you know I did. Working at this
he was working at a golf course, and I went over,
ended up getting in contact with him, went over and
I asked him, you know, hey, about to get married,
and you know she wanted to know if you would

(22:22):
be around. I don't know.

Speaker 6 (22:23):
I have something to do.

Speaker 10 (22:24):
Damn.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
This is what he said. And uh so even that,
I was like, all right it, we'll go right. Well,
so we talked a little bit and I told him
when it was and he was on the golf court.
He was driving off and for whatever reason, I said,
I love you. I said that, yes, it hadn't seen
him in a little while, right, And he rode for

(22:45):
a little minute and I love you too. And from
that he came to the wedding. Wow, and we've been cool.
We were cool ever since. He just passed away last year.
He was eighty one. He that so I was there, Yeah, absolutely,
but he lived you know, life, and I was there,
you know yeah. I didn't never question them about why whatnot?

Speaker 12 (23:01):
Why wasn't he there?

Speaker 2 (23:03):
No, I think I think that's you know, I didn't
need it. It wasn't gonna make me better. We're gonna
change anything.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
You can't get up a lost time. We could just
move forward from this point and move forward. I can't
go back and get back what was lost.

Speaker 4 (23:15):
No, you can't.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
And I didn't want to waste the time trying to
figure out something that neither one of us had the
answers to.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
Is that what you really wanted to hear from your dad?
You wanted your dad to tell you he loved you.
You wanted to know that he loved you.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
I think so. I think because at that moment I
felt like a little kid again, you know what I mean.
And I didn't expect to say it right, No, absolutely not.
I was like, what are you doing?

Speaker 8 (23:36):
Right?

Speaker 12 (23:37):
You know?

Speaker 2 (23:38):
But I'm glad I did.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
And it was Had you not been getting married, had
your soon to be wife not pushed you to go
ask your dad, would he be attending the wedding, would
you have made would you have contacted made the connection?

Speaker 2 (23:52):
I don't think it would have been the same. If
I had, probably would have been probably at a funeral
or something, but probably not not in the same manner,
right and maybe not right.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
You said your mom you ended up getting adopted at fourteen. Yeah,
so was your mom.

Speaker 12 (24:11):
So what happened in that situation that led you to
be adopted by another family?

Speaker 2 (24:15):
Just my mom taking the wrong man, I thinking that,
you know, took her off of her square, so she
wasn't her best self for a little while. And so
I needed to be somewhere stable because I know I
had to be this Anthony Hamilton that people here now,
and so I just prayed hard and God delivered the

(24:36):
family I need to be in.

Speaker 1 (24:37):
Did you always have this voice? Did you always know
you wanted to be a singer? You always wanted to
be an artist?

Speaker 12 (24:43):
Is that what you knew? You always?

Speaker 1 (24:45):
It wasn't football, it wasn't basketball, it wasn't anything else.
God gifted me this voice.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
You know what, When I was a little five four
or five years old, I always said I'm gonna be
famous singing, but I didn't know what fame was. I
just knew I wanted to do music, whether it be
on I thought being on a train. I was. I
always thought about getting on the train because I was
fascinated by Amtrak. I'm gonna go on a train. I'm
just gonna go to different places. I'm gonna sing and uh.
I just never stopped believing in that, and I just

(25:13):
stayed with it and put it into work. Actually, my
dad was almost signed to Motown, really, so I get
my voice from my dad and my and my mom's
side of the family, my uncle's. I went to a
funeral man and you talking about singing. So Casey and
Jojo are my my family as well. Okay, so you're
talking about some singing.

Speaker 12 (25:30):
Did y'all eat anything at the family? You just singing?

Speaker 2 (25:32):
Listen, look out look. I think I was so fascinated
by the voice. Is I got? I was hungry, so
when I hit the rod, my stomach was growling.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
Like Johnson Family vacation, How together, Steve Harvey gets what?
I think that was what that said said undertaining that Yeah,
you have siblings, Yes I do. My mom had three
of us.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
I'm the middle, my brother the younger, my sister's the older,
and then I have three brothers on my on my
other family.

Speaker 12 (25:59):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (25:59):
Actually just met two other another set of siblings my
dad at this funeral. There was a young lady and
a and a and a man that came over and said, hey,
I'm your brother. And they had a birth certificate with
my dad's name on it. But I didn't know. I
would have put him on the I would have put
him on.

Speaker 12 (26:18):
The bro sure exactly. He never mentioned that to you.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
I kind of remember the son's name vaguely, but not
not really. So now you know, they'll call and I'm
going a lot, and so it's kind of weird for
me to kind of just embrace it all the way.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
It's hard for me to say, fifties, I'm your brother.
You just try to pick pick up.

Speaker 8 (26:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yeah. But there's one daughter that I keep in contact with,
pretty pretty strong, but they're nice. I'm trying. I'm trying.

Speaker 12 (26:49):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
That's it's just weird. It's just weird.

Speaker 12 (26:52):
Your mom. Is your mom still alive?

Speaker 5 (26:53):
No?

Speaker 2 (26:53):
She yeah, cancer some years back.

Speaker 12 (26:56):
Did you make amends with your mom?

Speaker 1 (26:57):
Did you have a conversation as your mom and said,
I did what I did because I felt I wasn't
gonna meet make my ultimate destination because of some things
that you had around.

Speaker 12 (27:09):
It wasn't you, It was what you were around that
caused me to do what I did.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
Absolutely. You know, when she was transitioning, I was there.
I had got her about a house and put in
a house, her first house with windows in the kitchen.
And you know, she was proud of me, and I
was proud of her too. She came a long way,
We all came a long way. She actually got on
the plane to come see me in New York. Had
never flown before. Wow, she had come to see her baby.

Speaker 12 (27:36):
She got on a plane by herself, never flown before.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Never and came to see me. I was living in
Harlem at the time, but she came. Yeah, and we
stayed in the in the city, in the hotel, and
we actually went and had a beer together.

Speaker 12 (27:50):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Yeah. But yeah, I let let step go. Man.

Speaker 12 (27:54):
Life.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
Was it hard to let it go?

Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yes, because sometimes you know, people hold on the things,
and you know, my grandma used to say, boy, teeth
and tongue should fall out, but family never should fall out.

Speaker 2 (28:04):
Absolutely.

Speaker 12 (28:05):
You're gonna go through things, yeah, yeah, but.

Speaker 1 (28:07):
You one day you're gonna wake up and your parents
aren't gonna be there, or a brother or sister not
gonna be there, and you're gonna say all the things
you wish you had to say that You're never gonna
get an opportunity too safe.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
Yeah, you know what, I think, I've seen so many
people missed that opportunity. I just didn't want to do that.
You know, you sometimes you got to learn from somebody
else's mistake, and so I was just like, I can't
change it.

Speaker 8 (28:30):
You know.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
I'm pretty sure they went through their own hell, yes,
and their own you know, beating them the selves. Yeah, yeah,
so who am I If I ain't God, don't act
like it and let's just start where we are.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
When you when you get on social media and you
see them got to have tiktoks and they have videos
about man Anthony hammelt to make a song with dudes
gotta walk to work.

Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah it's funny, man. It's encouraging too, because you know,
people are not gonna talk about something that it don't
if it don't affect them, correct, So they do the
beer jokes and oh that I love it all. I reposted,
you know, yeah, you know it's it's good to be special.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Flage tweeted, man old school R and B really hits different.
I'm listening to Charlene by Anthony Hammel to sin more
like this. Charlne was released in two thousand and three.
Flage was born in two thousand and three. Kevin onstage said,
you make video for the heartbroken and we talked touched
on this a little earlier. You're old school now, you're

(29:28):
when when you know, like I said, it used to
be very white. It was Teddy pen the grass and
it was all the smoky Robinson when when we were kids,
that was old school. Now you're thought of in that
same breath, the old school R and B, because you
know you're hear it all the time.

Speaker 12 (29:45):
Also, R and B dead.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
I ain't never been to no funeral. Didn't tell you
nothing about you, No man, I ain't no. I didn't
get that. I ain't get the I ain't get the
wake time or the funeral time. I think the rendition
or the style of R and B that people are
used to, it's in there. It's mixed in the young
kids just have their own way of expressing themselves, and

(30:10):
that's some good stuff out there. Yeah, you know, I
just think, uh, times change and stuff moves. But the
core of R and B and the kor soul music,
it's in every rap song you ever heard, every country song,
every church record, it's there. I don't think it'll ever
go anywhere. There's nothing better.

Speaker 12 (30:31):
I think the R and B that we're used to
because it used to be a lot of people did
R and B. Yeah, how about this? Will R and
B ever be what it was was?

Speaker 2 (30:40):
I think they're coming back. I think you have some
of the new cats digging into it, and they're starting
to sample a lot of nineties record They are they are,
And I think I think that you're gonna have to
go back. Yeah, you can't keep dating so fast. They're
gonna get They're gonna get old. They want to slow
it down, want to slow When of the last time
I slowed drag.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
Bad please only at a wedding. I mean with the
eighth grade baby, see you know.

Speaker 2 (31:08):
Yeah, we got to slow down. Maybe we're vote different
than we slow down. God told Mighty.

Speaker 12 (31:13):
Please, we're moving too fast.

Speaker 2 (31:15):
At boy, they moving too fast running past the bull.
You known were running past the bull.

Speaker 1 (31:23):
I mean when you when you sit back and look
at you, you look back like where you started and
where you are. Now, what are some of the differences
that you see? Because, like I said, some of the
old school guys and now you're that old school guy.
How have you tried to bridge the gap?

Speaker 2 (31:37):
You know what I've I've done so many rap records
I've worked with I have songs with Wow Drake, just
did another one with bus Around the second one with
him Jadakiss, Young Jeezy and Alie Chopper. So that keeps
me bridging the gap. I sound like a sample. So

(31:58):
they want to be a part of that soul world
and they know where to come and get it, you know,
just like the tones, certain voices you can't you can't duplicate.

Speaker 12 (32:08):
But they know. Yeah, I mean so some people like
no matter what, man, that's such and such.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
Yeah, so I think that's an advantage I have just
to sound so much like myself that if you want
that sound, you got to come to me.

Speaker 12 (32:19):
You got to come to you.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
And so I always have a job.

Speaker 1 (32:23):
Have you ever been in a situation if somebody's sampled
and I asked, llll, I've asked a lot of people
that had things sampled.

Speaker 12 (32:29):
Do you have to hear it before it comes out?
Or you just take their word for it and they go,
do you right?

Speaker 2 (32:34):
Look, I was just listening to some the other night.
I had never heard really Yeah, so Prince Montana, him
and the Cokeboys, they did a since I sent Young
Mind with Jeremiah and Jeremy. I just heard that and yeah,
every now and again you hear it slipped through. But

(32:54):
they have to go through the label, right if they're
going to try to sell it. If they're just putting
that out on the mixtape, that's cool. I don't even
really sweat it, you know what I mean? No, I
mean because they is sharing with somebody like that. I
want my money.

Speaker 4 (33:09):
You know.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
You know certain artists, you know, they may not move
the needle enough for it to really matter.

Speaker 12 (33:16):
But if it's somebody gonna make some bread, I need
to get a little somebody. Let me get that.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
Let me get that justin Bieber, let me get that.
Get that jay Z, let me get it. But nah,
you can't. You gotta pick and choose what's gone.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
You know when you and I was talking and you said,
if I come on club Shadeha, what's the one song,
the one song you're gonna want me to perform?

Speaker 12 (33:37):
Yeah, if I if I can only perform one, yeah,
I said her heart.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
Man, I knew.

Speaker 12 (33:44):
That's what you you tell you tweet you taxt me back.
I knew it.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Look that song, man, it's super huge in South Africa
and even here in the States. It's just a song
that was written from a real place.

Speaker 8 (34:00):
You know.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
I was cutting up. You know, I was out there.
I was you out there, bad boy. I was here.
I was out there mad and you know, cutting up,
trying to find my way.

Speaker 12 (34:12):
Man.

Speaker 2 (34:12):
And you know, not a bad person, just didn't always
bad decisions, just made some decisions. That was a little
little bow legging.

Speaker 1 (34:21):
All right here he is, he's gonna perform her heart
Anthony always, oh yeah, I might crown this with that.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
I'm me too.

Speaker 4 (34:57):
I had having a messing yuh stand out of lady
and getting it traum.

Speaker 7 (35:08):
I'll let you down a thousand times broken promises. It's
like carrying away from you. My career was my excuse

(35:29):
until I saw you about too, drowning your own TV.

Speaker 6 (35:37):
And that's you all my arms. You wore got my horse.

Speaker 14 (35:48):
And saw walkin what I found in you, because ah,
her heart.

Speaker 6 (36:04):
Won't let me lose her no matter how I try.

Speaker 4 (36:12):
I just can't say goodbye and lose her.

Speaker 7 (36:22):
When all the folks were said and done, you would
dance some welcome me home. I was coming big it
cause you're love now gonna wave.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
And now I know you love me, mom.

Speaker 8 (36:46):
That me.

Speaker 4 (36:49):
And you fu to love to win it thme. I'm
never kind of kind of love, but forever.

Speaker 5 (37:02):
And that you go.

Speaker 8 (37:06):
My arm.

Speaker 6 (37:08):
You wont got my heart and I saw up.

Speaker 4 (37:17):
Again what I found in you, because her.

Speaker 6 (37:27):
Love all let me lose her. Her love more let
me lose nor and lose her. No world war let

(37:51):
me lose.

Speaker 4 (37:52):
Her set a hard up, let me lose.

Speaker 6 (37:56):
No matter.

Speaker 10 (37:58):
You know, I can't say good mane No, don't matter
how I got.

Speaker 4 (38:10):
I just can't say goodbye and lose.

Speaker 10 (38:18):
Don't matter how I tried, I just.

Speaker 4 (38:21):
Can't say goodbye and lose.

Speaker 12 (38:35):
Well.

Speaker 2 (38:36):
I felt that one. Hey man, I felt that one.
I had the feeling for years.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
Many said you had a habit of messing up. I
let you down a thousand times broken promises in a
situation like that. My grandfather used to say, promises like
pie crust.

Speaker 12 (38:56):
That thing that easily broke.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
Good God, I'm mighty.

Speaker 1 (39:01):
When you make promises like that, maybe I'm gonna do this,
but then something comes up. There's only so many times
she's gonna accept something came up. Absolutely, you mentioned that
you know you was acting up. You was all bowt
legged out there, Yeah, bow legged at one leg, not
both with this one.

Speaker 12 (39:19):
Yeah, you're a bad boy.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
Did Yeah. I was gragging that one so too off?

Speaker 12 (39:24):
So how do you how do you how do you
go to how do you go to her Anthony and
try to fix it?

Speaker 2 (39:31):
After a while, I just didn't try.

Speaker 12 (39:33):
You didn't Oh you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (39:35):
I felt like you know my words were in vain.
You know, I let you down too many times, and
you know it's it's probably best for me to let
you be and let you get what you deserve.

Speaker 8 (39:46):
And was it hard?

Speaker 2 (39:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
You know, after you've been did you try to go back?
Does this person know that this song is about her?

Speaker 2 (39:58):
I'm pretty sure they do, you know, the first time,
the first time in earlier in the career, in the relationship.
You know, you try and you yeah, I'm gonna do better,
and you do good for a long, long, long time,
and you go to church and you get double baptized.

Speaker 12 (40:15):
You really really trying.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
I really tried, you try, and I think, you know,
you have to Maturity in different areas of your life
come at different times when you're not sure of who
you are. You don't know how to you don't know
how to be the best version of yourself at that point.
So I was learning, even though I was a grown man,

(40:37):
I was learning. You know, it was a different life.
A lot throwed at you, you know, when you when
you're in this arena, you know, so how hard was
it to.

Speaker 12 (40:45):
Watch your cry and to know that you're the reason
for those tears?

Speaker 2 (40:50):
Pretty hard. You know, you cry, you know, you you
tie yourself to the bed and you watch the passion
of the Christ over and over again. You just try
your I gotta suffer too, Yeah, okay, you know I
just put it on repeat, you know. So, Yeah, it's
it's it's not a good feeling, you know, especially when

(41:11):
you your intentions are not hurt anybody.

Speaker 1 (41:13):
Right, But how does the I'm just trying to how
you you put that together in a song. We were
talking about it earlier. Some of the best songs come
from a place of hurt.

Speaker 12 (41:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
And and although you weren't on the receiving end, you
was hurting also because the person that you cared about
you were hurting her with your actions. And damn, babe,
I'm hurting you. But I can't stop doing what I'm doing.
That's the that's the that's hard, man.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
You pour another one and you just you try to
numb it. Yes, you know, and and you know that
can be a problem too.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
Yes, I was talking and I heard someone said a
lesson not learned in blood, it's destined to be repeated. Yeah,
so you gotta really really hurt. You said something very
interested that you know, A wise man learned from other's mistakes.
A fool has to learn from its own. Yeah, you

(42:10):
want to like see something, and you probably saw it.
In this industry, people had wives and had great relationships
and mess it all up.

Speaker 12 (42:17):
And you probably said, it ain't gonna be me, it
ain't gonna be me.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
Hey, I know what, I got it home, and I'd
be damn boy if I didn't do the same thing
that I said, I wouldn't let.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
Happen, you know. And that's you know, that's why you
have to humble yourself. A lot of times you do it.
You get to a place where you feel like you're
above you know those circumstances, Yes, and you move carelessly.
And sometime we you know, god to try to get
our attention in private, but sometime you have to expose
it so we can really pay attention. And you know,

(42:51):
I've been there, he.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
Said, I was trying to get your attention. Now I
got your undivided sension. I had to sit you down.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
I said, can you turn that down?

Speaker 1 (42:57):
And it's this thing on, come, somebody lights off. You said,
men use career as an excuse. Yeah, isn't that a
pretty good excuse?

Speaker 2 (43:11):
It is when it when it's when it's you know, genuine,
but when you know you at the studio, but you're
not at the studio, that ain't that.

Speaker 12 (43:20):
That's not a good that's not a good excuse.

Speaker 2 (43:23):
You look at you, look at you at the light,
and they're at the light too. It's just not oh man,
affordable studio.

Speaker 4 (43:29):
Huh.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
I mean that's just I just made that.

Speaker 12 (43:34):
He wasn't that. He wasn't that reckless.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
No, no, no, no, no, it went too bad. I
was pretty good.

Speaker 12 (43:39):
Men cry.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
I mean sometimes you know, men say, man, I can't cry.
That's a sign of weakness. Uh, that's that's that's that's
the up team's vulnerability. And a lot of times men
have a hard time being vulnerable in front of someone
they care about because they don't want the woman to
use that against them.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Absolutely, you know what I've done it. I think during
the Charlene days, I felt like they were taking advantage
of my tears. They saw it as a sign of weakness.
And the minute I was able to get my strength
enough to get up and get out and get back

(44:16):
on my feet, I had to realize, like, wow, maybe
that wasn't a person. I thought they were right in
those situations.

Speaker 8 (44:24):
You know.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
But now now I cry, I'll cry on stage. I cry. Whatever.
You know, if it hits me, it hits me.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
Is it a situation? If I tell you it doesn't
matter man the woman woman to man. If I tell
you something in confidence, if I tell you something that
that made me vulnerable. M should the other person ever
bring that up and use that.

Speaker 12 (44:44):
Against them.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
If you have bad intentions? Yeah, but if you really
care about that person, I think that's certain things to
stay within the ring that you guys right created because
you know that.

Speaker 1 (44:58):
Okay, so I know how he feels, I know how
she feels about that, and I know if I bring
that up, I know what it's gonna I know the
kind of response is gonna.

Speaker 8 (45:06):
Listen.

Speaker 2 (45:07):
Yeah, that's that's control in a way. You want to
be able to have control of their triggers so you
can manipulate their emotion and next thing, you know, whatever
you're gonna get out of it, you get it for
as long as you can until they catch on. Cat on.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
You know what, it's funny that you say that. My
grandpa used to have a say and say, boy, you
gotta be careful to let people know what make you tick.
You know, wind you up and make you tick when
they wanted to.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
Yeah, like hold on, I ain't want to do that.
It's like, you know what would that do?

Speaker 12 (45:36):
The right thing?

Speaker 1 (45:37):
When Marble come down? Hit that damn hit that dance
and get we hit that dance for? But is it
is crying a man crying? Is that a sign of
weakness or a sign of strength?

Speaker 2 (45:51):
I think it's a sign of freedom.

Speaker 12 (45:52):
M hmmm.

Speaker 2 (45:53):
I think I think if you free, you can express yourself.

Speaker 8 (45:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Yeah, And whether you're weak for a moment, that's fine.

Speaker 12 (46:00):
Yes, you know.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
I think we have this thing of men you can't
be weak and you can't have a day off of
being strong. And I think that's that's why, you know,
so many people blow their brains out or get on
drugs or you know, don't make it back right, because
just one or two days off from being you know,
from not being superman?

Speaker 6 (46:20):
Is it's okay?

Speaker 12 (46:22):
Right? Is that a thing that men feel that they
have to be superman?

Speaker 1 (46:25):
But because they have to wear that armor, they don't
want someone to see them in a vulnerable state because,
as you mentioned, sometimes people see in a vulnerable state
and they feel they can take advantage.

Speaker 2 (46:33):
Of absolutely, and you know it's it's looked at his
weakness or or lack of, lack of whatever it is
that makes you a man. And I don't think that's
that's the truth at all.

Speaker 1 (46:46):
And the song I cried, Mama told me that men
that man's own tears can make him strong.

Speaker 2 (46:52):
Yeah, it does. It makes you strong. You start to
feel alive, and you start seeing them where my strengths are,
where my weaknesses are. And then you get to know yourself.
So now you maneuver and you move a different way,
and you know, not to the beat of somebody else's drum,
not to the uh you know, somebody else's emotions like

(47:16):
you said, a chicken. Yes, yeah, So once you learn yourself,
you you move on your own.

Speaker 8 (47:21):
Right.

Speaker 1 (47:22):
So when you were in school, When you were in school, Anthony,
so what what type of what type of student? What
type of person were you when you were younger?

Speaker 2 (47:28):
I could have absolute donkey and class And I'm getting
it back. What am I?

Speaker 8 (47:34):
What? You know?

Speaker 2 (47:35):
You know, I was a good I was good, I
was respectful, but I was I was a clown. Yeah,
I'm really silly. You hear these songs. People think he's
all you know, he's just.

Speaker 4 (47:43):
He's too deep.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
Yeah, but now I'm a clown. I'm silly. You know.
I like the attention of making people laugh. You know,
I like to make people laugh.

Speaker 12 (47:53):
So what so what what did you say, Anthony? Get
out of class?

Speaker 2 (47:56):
Yep, yep, get out, go to the office, right, you know,
back then you get you get paddled.

Speaker 12 (48:02):
Oh yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 (48:02):
Yeah, that's probably why some of the kids got bad,
because they ain't ain't no paddling and parents ain't ain't
ain't no.

Speaker 12 (48:10):
Oh were talking. Now we put you in time out.
Time up, you've been back time.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
I like that. So I was. I was down in
a place called Maxton, North Carolina bike biker rally, thinking,
so my boys. I took my boys with me, and
you know, it's older guys, some of them probably have
been in the army, and they got the tussling and
all that. So there really wasn't no kids out there.
They got the tussling and that energy. Older man was like, hey, hey, now, hey,

(48:38):
y'all cut that out, all that all that that energy,
you know, and sometimes you you know, you you have
to really you have to really really allow the community
to be be a part of raising your kids and
raising you and like you said, learning from your mistakes.

(49:00):
That was the moment that they learned. I had told
them already you have to watch your energy because your
energy can affect somebody else. And at that moment, that
was a teachable moment for me to let them know, like,
this is what I was trying to tell you. And
so it took somebody outside of the household to be
that parental voice. And they didn't even know this man,

(49:21):
but I just wanted them to feel like a sense
of like when I grew up, how we were raised. Yeah,
it took the community. It didn't have to be your parent, no,
who would discipline you. It didn't have to be someone
that knew you per se. But it was just the
fact that we were able to teach outside of the house. Nowadays,

(49:45):
the kids they'll shoot you or kill you if you
say anything to them. So it's a different day in time.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
But it's funny that you say that, Anthony, because we
were having a conversation Oho and I was having a
conversation on Nightcap how the community if you were doing
something wrong. You are marrying Barney grand boys, which one
of you you shattered a spanking? Hey, do they know
you down here?

Speaker 12 (50:07):
Yeah? All right, stop all that cursive, stop all that talking.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Yeah, you know it. And it shocked my boys.

Speaker 4 (50:13):
You know.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
I was like, that's old school training. Yes, that's how
it should be. You know, the younger generation, they're missing that.

Speaker 12 (50:22):
You got another song. Corn Bread, fish and collar greens.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
I'm hungry.

Speaker 12 (50:27):
That's that's that seemed like a dish. That seems like
your favorite dish, you know.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
What, And I think it is one of my favorite dish,
but I think it represents a different things. The corn bread,
it's you know, it's the foundation.

Speaker 12 (50:41):
Yes, solid, gotta get something to stick to your real boy, and.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
The greens keeping keep things clean around there. And then
fish you learn how to move right. So yeah, you
want to talk about it.

Speaker 12 (50:51):
Y'all want you to perform. And then we were gonn talk.
We're gonna dive in deeper.

Speaker 2 (50:56):
Tottle sauce to hot sauce, hot sauce, all you alright?
You aight coslaw no.

Speaker 12 (51:03):
No cold slaw.

Speaker 8 (51:04):
A man.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
I thought, okay, you brought yourself back.

Speaker 5 (51:15):
M m m.

Speaker 6 (51:23):
Well well, well, well when.

Speaker 7 (51:29):
I knew just what it had to be, when I
heard you say it, what you said to be the
wever duel in sight, look as like you're looking up
or not but tight for the night. Check it bit
the not have bet at the bag.

Speaker 4 (51:41):
Keeping your wild. The way you act if a string
and tact.

Speaker 7 (51:44):
You're getting out of line in them, making your back
in your place, all the swelling in and all the
school stand in your place. Don't be no fool A
long way right. You look like the light they would
try to bite best off being a friend to me.

Speaker 6 (51:59):
You don't on the up in me?

Speaker 2 (52:01):
Better play a course, don't know.

Speaker 4 (52:03):
What I might do? Or redfish and card of grings.

Speaker 7 (52:08):
I got what you need if you all because I'm
a pimp pas because I'm a pimper.

Speaker 2 (52:16):
Green woo what I got what you need?

Speaker 8 (52:20):
Pall?

Speaker 4 (52:21):
I can rock the world and every girl.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
Now you.

Speaker 7 (52:27):
Canna walk around like it shit, don't stand I'm oning you,
Oh bigger gunn.

Speaker 4 (52:31):
I'm on your old. Take your stop, change the speed
if it smooth of dog that you really.

Speaker 7 (52:37):
Need, butter state your claim, get it with it, stand
in your lane, stop sward back.

Speaker 4 (52:43):
Hate to see and sit in the back.

Speaker 7 (52:45):
I don't appreciate the way you I can need to
fix yourself here, up and go fix yourself? Can't you
nothing want nothing to die? Everything is gonna bash your back.
You don't wise en up, wisen up, prison, cristen your leve.
I got it because I'm a pam stad p because I'm.

Speaker 6 (53:09):
A Perth Bay the time? Cre Whaco?

Speaker 4 (53:13):
What you if you call baby?

Speaker 10 (53:16):
Won't you all let me?

Speaker 15 (53:22):
Baby?

Speaker 4 (53:22):
Let me let me than you dare?

Speaker 8 (53:26):
Come?

Speaker 10 (53:28):
Get away this right now?

Speaker 4 (53:35):
You got me there?

Speaker 6 (53:36):
Wha show?

Speaker 7 (53:42):
I got adcus, I'm my pimps paid pond.

Speaker 4 (53:46):
Because I'm my pair blas the time?

Speaker 10 (53:49):
Who what you need?

Speaker 2 (53:52):
If you're pall?

Speaker 4 (53:54):
If you pull this go bad fishing time?

Speaker 8 (54:09):
Ah?

Speaker 1 (54:10):
You said this song is about approaching a woman. I
think I said, like, I forget where I read it at,
but this says like only twenty five percent.

Speaker 12 (54:21):
I think it's like from eight.

Speaker 1 (54:23):
Some of the local kids now have never asked a
woman out on a person out on the date.

Speaker 12 (54:28):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (54:30):
And you see on social media they'll be standing right
next to a person. Hey see me this person? Who
is this person?

Speaker 2 (54:37):
Find right down?

Speaker 12 (54:40):
You were standing right next to the guy. Excuse me,
what's your name? Excuse me? What's your what?

Speaker 8 (54:45):
What? What?

Speaker 1 (54:46):
What happened to being able to walk up to someone
with a different time now, so you have to be
careful walking up to someone and says, hey, my name
is Shannon, how you doing?

Speaker 12 (54:56):
What's your name?

Speaker 2 (54:57):
I think social media kind of mess up the intimate
part of getting to know people. Yes, you know, you
don't want to do the work, you want the instant gratification.
So I think just pushing a button is easier than
me finding out, like what she really likes, and you know,
just interacting with somebody well computers.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
I think the thing is anthony Also is that when
you look at a person and you watch what they post,
we feel after we see fifteen twenty posts, we kind
of know what that person like. We kind of know
what who that person is. Yeah, instead of doing the
deep dive and doing the homework, we just taking a snapshot.

Speaker 12 (55:33):
Of what we see.

Speaker 1 (55:33):
Okay, they post they're eating there this the end that Okay,
so that's what that person like to do. Have no
idea that could be a lot of this. Look, social
media is not real.

Speaker 2 (55:41):
Absolutely, the stuff they posted, the mess stuff, yes, and
and the stories. You know that story probably happened five
years ago. You know, all you got to do is
put it, put a filter on it.

Speaker 1 (55:51):
I mean, everybody on social media got me feeling broke.
They in the mall deeds, they out there in South Africa.
They got all these cars, they eating at these nice
I'm looking at my pocket. I say, man, man, you
got a hold in my pocket.

Speaker 2 (56:03):
Look I see all the time. If I see one
more broke person outliving me, I'm gonna look, I got
to change my life many Yeah, But.

Speaker 1 (56:14):
When when do Maybe it was always like this, but
we didn't have a social media to be able to judge.

Speaker 12 (56:22):
But when do we become so obsessed with impressing the
other person?

Speaker 2 (56:26):
You know what, I think it goes way back before
we got here. You know, you know we want to
be accepted. I think wanting to be accepted and feeling
like you've been broken away from what's truly important important,
And you know, when you told that you're not this,
you're not that, you're not worthy, then you want to
express yourself in a way for you to make people

(56:47):
feel like you got it all right. And that's not
the case. I think you spend more time trying to
show off to people that not even looking if you,
if you they ain't really looking at you, No, no,
not really. If you knew how little people cared about you.
They don't, you would care less than what they thought
about you. Absolutely, but people go.

Speaker 1 (57:08):
Out of their way because people actually think people actually
care about.

Speaker 2 (57:13):
What they do, what they say, they don't, and if
they do, it's infantect that that quick. Now they're own
to the next not giving the dog about that person being.

Speaker 1 (57:24):
From North Carolina. Obviously soul food, I mean North Carolina
have rich.

Speaker 12 (57:28):
But you get a meal.

Speaker 1 (57:30):
If somebody says, Okay, Anthony, I'm we're gonna cook Sunday dinner.

Speaker 2 (57:36):
Yeah, what you having to prepare? Shoo, man, Sunday dinner? Okay,
definitely putet a salad okay with eggs in it. Okay,
m pet heads or raisins on it. Man, Come on,
fight on, come in and fight on. Fighter gonna get that.
You know, I like turkey wing, baked turkey wing okay,

(57:58):
and fry fish.

Speaker 12 (58:00):
Catfish, whitey, Moro, croker.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
Perch, whiteing.

Speaker 12 (58:08):
That's your country. Yeah yeah, I'm talking about cop the
outhouse cut.

Speaker 2 (58:13):
Absolutely, you know, I want gravy under the rights and
on top of the right.

Speaker 1 (58:20):
I thought I thought this mand was gonna say, this
man said whitey. This man said croker. This man said perch.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
Yeah, you know you can get into the rich snapper
little lass.

Speaker 12 (58:31):
But yeah, you don't want to see band no dover soul.

Speaker 2 (58:33):
I mean that's mine, that's you know.

Speaker 12 (58:35):
You get this for Sunday.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
Now that Sunday.

Speaker 12 (58:37):
Not you want to fry. You want to come right
about the grease.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
Not when my socks and when I'm Dusty Socker is out.
I want that. I want that real deal.

Speaker 12 (58:48):
So are you?

Speaker 2 (58:49):
Are you so?

Speaker 12 (58:51):
You're not?

Speaker 1 (58:51):
So you're a fish type of guy. You don't you
don't need you don't eat meat, red meat.

Speaker 2 (58:54):
I haven't had red meat in some years. But I'm
about to backslide and get some boxtails when I'm.

Speaker 1 (58:59):
Just I'm just but they doing too much with oxtails
right now. They're putting oxtails and tacos. They're putting them
in the case oxtail and every everything ain't made to
have oxtails.

Speaker 8 (59:09):
An it.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
Yeah, you can't have oxtail rabbioli.

Speaker 12 (59:12):
Dam they got oxtail and grip.

Speaker 3 (59:14):
Now come on, no, no, that might be good.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
Now come on, come on. I'm not saying it's a
little weird.

Speaker 12 (59:20):
Shrimping grits. Yeah, fishing, grits all that. But you want
some oxtails and grits.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
I mean, ox tell is so good you can just eat.
I'll put them on white bread and handle board. Hold
that bread and put the numb so the bread come
through here.

Speaker 12 (59:36):
See, I figured that's how you. They come right up
by the grid right to put it right there.

Speaker 2 (59:41):
I just had something down to maxident.

Speaker 14 (59:42):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
They put the white bread on there, the sugar fried coastlog.
I didn't get the coast. I had the hot sauce. Yeah,
I got the dogged mm so that mustard.

Speaker 12 (59:52):
You put mustard on your fish. Now, I just want
hot sauce.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
You gotta come on, try it?

Speaker 12 (59:58):
Man telling you, But I can't, I mean I can't.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
I don't think I had croaker, a mullet or whiting
since no see that they see they got bones in it.
I don't want that though. I almost choked on theble.
I just started eating fish. I just started eating fish
probably about ten years ago. You know, bone got me
get a whole loaf of bread, tried to get it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
Out, you know, bread to get it out. I had
one that got stuck here when I was little, and
I didn't eat fish for about at least about ten years.

Speaker 12 (01:00:24):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm back.

Speaker 2 (01:00:26):
But the other day I was at home eating a
little too fast. The bone was right, I got that
bread did well. I thought it was a golden doodle bo.
I was trying to get it out of there. Yeah, yeah,
I did. I had to, but thank god it didn't, man,
because I was like, man, I'm enjoying fish. You know,
got been through that, but it's scary.

Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
So you you stopped eating red meat with any particular
reason that you stopped to eating.

Speaker 2 (01:00:49):
I went vegan for two and a half years. I
was there, it was it was good, you know. At
that moment, I was trying to figure out the healthier
stuff to eat because everything big, it ain't ain't good. No,
that stuff got more stuff in and anything exactly. So
if you're doing like raw and you know, real, then
that's healthy, you know, beyond and all that different burgers.

(01:01:09):
It's okay to transition and have some time, but you
can't make that lifestyle either. So I just wanted to
clean up, clean up a little bit and say you
can't help looking and all the meat.

Speaker 12 (01:01:23):
You can't choose, you can't have all the bad habits.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
I did it, Ma you know there you just have
to pick and chews. You can't put everything. You gotta
have a good ballot.

Speaker 1 (01:01:34):
One of your big breaks in the industry came, if
I'm not mistaken, you're a backup singer for D'Angelo.

Speaker 2 (01:01:38):
Correct, Yeah, yeah, And how did that?

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
Because I think Luther was a backup singer for roberta
Flat and there have been a lot of people that
start out as backups and they moved to the front.

Speaker 12 (01:01:50):
How do you think that helped your career?

Speaker 2 (01:01:52):
You know what, Man, that was one of the most
man just mostly exciting and just the deepest learning I've
ever done. Like I didn't go to four year college,
but I felt like that was a university that you
couldn't even pay to get in. You have Pino Paladino,
you had Roy Hargrove, Jacques Swarzbach and Russell Gunn, all

(01:02:15):
these Dante Winslow and so for me to learn what
true musicianship is, how to control the stage, how the
band should play, the dynamics and all the things I learned,
I saw the world through through a different through a
different lens, and I was able to learn how to

(01:02:36):
lead from learning how to follow. You know what, I
mean he was a great leader. He knew he knew
music like deep deep, like he was an alien. It
was just like Prince and James Brown and cats who
just come once in a lifetime, once or twice. Yeah,
di'angelo was one of those.

Speaker 12 (01:02:55):
How did this happen?

Speaker 2 (01:02:57):
How did you go?

Speaker 12 (01:02:57):
How did it happen that you ended up being a
a singer in it?

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
When I was signing Uptown, I had an album called Ecstasy.
They spelled it XTC and I hated it, but it
was called Ecstasy, and Keeto Maxenberg was working with him
at the time, and so he would come over to
Tone and Pope in the studio and play Brown Sugar
and we would play a few songs off of Ecstasy,

(01:03:22):
and so it was almost like a rival. And when
my album never came out, he asked, Hey, what was
that guy that was supposed to, you know, come out
around the time. They said, man, he's not doing an
a deal for us through and ask if I would
do background. And at this moment, I was signed a
soul life Sunshine Anderson had heard it all before and
it was all taking over the world, and I begged

(01:03:45):
my label to let me go out. I said it
would make me a better artist if you let me. Please,
let me go out and sing background.

Speaker 8 (01:03:51):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:03:51):
I was intimidated, Yeah, because you know, my musical ear
and stuff is not as as you know intricate is his,
and all the detailed backgrounds and the timing on it.
You know, I'm just bread and water, back and white, right,
And so I had to learn a lot. I had

(01:04:12):
to really pay attention. But it made me sharper. It
just made me a better artist all around.

Speaker 12 (01:04:17):
Why wasn't that hard?

Speaker 1 (01:04:18):
Because here you are, you your own, your own, your standalone,
and you're wanting to go out and be a back
You wanted to be a background singer to someone else.

Speaker 12 (01:04:28):
You didn't feel that that was insulty.

Speaker 2 (01:04:31):
No, I put my ego aside. I felt like, you know,
this is something, this is a different movement, you know,
to be a part of this, this is gonna be history, right,
a different type of history. And to be a part
of that. Man, I was like, only a fool would
turn that down.

Speaker 1 (01:04:46):
Wow, you actually performed one time with him? How does
it feel correct?

Speaker 2 (01:04:51):
You go on stage every night for over a year,
we toured the whole world, Brazil, everywhere, did a You're
opinion tour for Shoot four three four months, right, two months?
However long we were gone, we were gone a long time.

Speaker 12 (01:05:07):
You still kind of do a rendition of it?

Speaker 8 (01:05:09):
Right?

Speaker 2 (01:05:10):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (01:05:10):
Man?

Speaker 2 (01:05:11):
I love that guy.

Speaker 12 (01:05:11):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:05:12):
I want to make sure his music lives in my house,
in everybody else's house as long as I can.

Speaker 1 (01:05:16):
All right, you're gonna perform. How does it feel? And
then we'll get back and talk about D'Angelo in your relationship?

Speaker 2 (01:05:22):
Absolutely, let's do it alrighty?

Speaker 12 (01:05:26):
How does it feel?

Speaker 8 (01:05:51):
Well?

Speaker 6 (01:05:51):
That's all?

Speaker 8 (01:05:52):
Do you.

Speaker 15 (01:05:55):
Have it your way? And if you all you can
it said? And if you have me, I can provide everything.
Thatt you aside, babe, shit me get up, feel la.

Speaker 6 (01:06:23):
Leave that. I mean hold you come closer? Shot away.

Speaker 4 (01:06:38):
Said you open and got me?

Speaker 6 (01:06:40):
Pray when you want together?

Speaker 4 (01:06:45):
I just want to.

Speaker 6 (01:06:51):
Tell me how a billion said I want.

Speaker 10 (01:07:03):
Thinking?

Speaker 9 (01:07:05):
How does it? How they want to make your labor?

Speaker 6 (01:07:45):
Fear me man alone? How one of coming a mountain?

Speaker 8 (01:07:58):
Oh man.

Speaker 1 (01:08:36):
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Speaker 12 (01:09:45):
It's good to be right. What do you remember about
the first time that you met D'Angelo.

Speaker 2 (01:09:49):
I remember him being excited about me, which was which
was kind of you know, kind of cool, right, seeing
as he was just so so amazing, man. And at
that moment, Blau was actually singing background with us as well. Really, yeah,
it was me Blaud and Karen Bernard or the singing background.

(01:10:10):
That's the first set of background singers.

Speaker 12 (01:10:15):
Some hitels.

Speaker 2 (01:10:16):
Yeah, man, And you know, just he was excited and
he was just like fans of every texture that we
brought to the table.

Speaker 12 (01:10:25):
And you guys were remaining in touch.

Speaker 1 (01:10:26):
You guys were friend but unfortunately you missed the last
time he last phone call.

Speaker 12 (01:10:31):
Did you know he was sick?

Speaker 4 (01:10:33):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:10:33):
I didn't know, man, I hadn't I found out maybe, Oh,
I found out maybe two or three weeks before, two
weeks before he's passing me. But he had called me
like a week prior to that. And I was in
the dressing room getting ready and I heard the phone.

(01:10:56):
I said, I'll get in a minute. I went, I said,
I said, just as deep because I put his name
under something different. Yeah, I put it under D Bully. Yeah,
and uh, I said, man, that's the I know, that's
d Angela. So I called him back a few times
and he didn't he did, he didn't pick up.

Speaker 1 (01:11:14):
Yeah, you think about what he wanted to say. You
obviously you didn't know he was sick. You didn't know
this would probably be the last time. But you guys
would ever talk.

Speaker 12 (01:11:26):
Yeah, you have. You have that regret of not answering
that call.

Speaker 2 (01:11:30):
You know what it's not because we talk so much,
and I just kind of know kind of how it
would probably start off. He called me aunt Jeezy aunt
jeez and uh, you know, I think I think his
spirit's speaking to me. Yes, yeah, I think I kind
of know what he would say. I don't think he
would have poured all that heavy stuff on me, No,

(01:11:51):
but he would let me know, like, man, I appreciate you,
I love you.

Speaker 12 (01:11:54):
And you know, right where were you when you got
the news that he had passed?

Speaker 8 (01:11:59):
I was.

Speaker 2 (01:12:03):
We were on the road. Yeah, I think right before,
wasn't it right before the Atlanta show? I had a
show in Atlanta.

Speaker 12 (01:12:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:12:14):
He died of pancreatic cancer. Why is that so important
for black men to get tested.

Speaker 2 (01:12:19):
Early, because if you catch something early enough that there's
the chance that you can beat it. Yep, you know,
with proper diet and you know, and you know medical attention.
I think I think some stuff we can turn it around. Yes,
we got a better chance. Yes, I was called prostatect
cancer early.

Speaker 12 (01:12:38):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (01:12:39):
So my father. My father died at thirty nine. He
had two brothers that didn't make it to fifty of cancer.
So I knew, based on bad I had a high probability.
So I started getting tested at thirty five. Wow, that's
good winning for a routine. It's like, you know what,
you're at the age we're gonna do a colonoscopy. Okay, No,
we don't think anything, no symptoms. PSA level was fine,

(01:13:01):
come back my doctor, the urologists. Uh he didn't call me.

Speaker 2 (01:13:08):
Mm hmmm.

Speaker 12 (01:13:09):
It was someone else that called.

Speaker 1 (01:13:10):
So now all my intentas are, I'm like, okay, he's
he's always called me when everything's okay. Now I'm somebody
else is like this is such and such. I was like, okay, okay,
you seem like mister sharp. We did find we think
you'll find right now. But we're just gonna monitor it
and uh a couple of months later, I went in,

(01:13:32):
got everything taken care of, and I've been smoothed every since.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
That's good, man. You know, I just did a colonoscopy.
Uh in the skop he got all hard.

Speaker 12 (01:13:42):
Oh yeah, yea yeah e kg internal organs.

Speaker 1 (01:13:46):
I did all Yeah what these premiums calls. Yeah, I'll
be there, I'll get everything. Hey, I get my buddy.

Speaker 8 (01:13:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:13:58):
Yeah, you have to man. You know, you know when
I speak out about, you know, getting your colonoscopy and
you know, all that stuff checked out. So I'm you know,
I'm getting my grown man check ups. Yeah, and it
feels good. You can rest because there was a moment
when I wasn't going. It's like I don't trust the doctor.
I don't trust them doctors trying to kill me anyway.
But you know, you have to you have to know

(01:14:19):
what you should be working on.

Speaker 1 (01:14:21):
Anything, right, So maybe you have to change your eating habits.
And you know, you know, we hard. You know it's hard.
It's hard because we've ate you eaten a certain way
for so long. I remember my grandmother, you know, her
last couple of years. You're like baby granny, Granny, go dieing, Wait,
go give me some fry shrimp. I know that's right,
and so you know what I was like, you know, hey,

(01:14:42):
we we sneaky.

Speaker 12 (01:14:43):
Go get a prayer.

Speaker 2 (01:14:43):
I mean, she was eighty nine years ago, had a
nice that's a nice time, a great life. It's great life.

Speaker 1 (01:14:49):
This concludes the first half of my conversation. Part two
is also posted and you can access it to whichever
podcast platform you just listen to part one on. Just
simply go back to Club Shape a Foul and I'll
see you there.