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February 26, 2024 44 mins

Muni Long speaks with us today about the frequencies of creating and how she channels the lyrics for the music she writes; for others and now for herself. Long has spent the last decade writing for various artists from; Rihanna, Madonna, Ariana Grande, and many more. And is now fully standing in her artistry, releasing her new single, "Made For Me"

Long has enough points on the board to now set a standard and hopefully a new precedent for all artists. She speaks with candid honesty about her boundaries in the industry.

**Since October '23, "Made For Me" has climbed the charts reaching No. 1 at R&B Radio!!

Connect: @CariChampion @MuniLong

Learn More: MuniLong.com

Listen:  Made For Me

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've been offered, you know, publishing for songs I didn't write,
and trying to take opportunities from other artistss like, I
don't want to do none of that, And I always
make it clear, make sure you let them know I
don't believe in that practice. So it's not just a know,
it's a know. I'm please don't continue that, you know
what I'm saying. I prefer that you didn't involve me

(00:21):
in anything that does that to people, because I feel
like there's so many hands in your pocket as an artist,
as a songwriter, it's just.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
So hard to even just be stable, you know. Oh,
and it's not right. It's not okay okay, and that
ladies and gentlemen, it is money long. I appreciate her
honesty and more importantly, I appreciate how naked she is
on today's podcast, Sit back, Relax, prepare yourselves for a dose,

(00:50):
a healthy dose of honesty.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
If it's the greatest suspersion the entertainment connect, you win.
Carry Chapion and Carrie Chappy is going to be a
CHAMPIONA champion and Carri Chapion, they champion. They Cary Chapion,
They carried Shep and entertainment.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
Get Naked Word.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Money Log has been a force in the music industry
for many years, writing hits for artists like Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Madonna,
Mariana Grande. She's also known as a buzzworthy artist herself.
She has hits like Hours and Hours time Machine, and
those have earned her three Grammy nominations and a win.

(01:39):
A win for Hours and Hours. It's really hard for
an artist to get nominated for a Grammy, let alone
win a Grammy, but she explains that it's not easy.
People have called her difficult to work with, but she
considers herself an advocate, an advocate for artists. That title

(01:59):
can be misconstru by some, but most importantly, it's not
for her. She believes in the work that she is doing,
and she believes in her music. Welcome to Naked everyone.
It's money Long Champion and Creed Chapion and cured cha
money Long. Thank you so much for coming on Naked

(02:21):
My podcast is exactly what it means. It's like, I
just ask people be as transparent as they can possibly be.
I do understand sometimes it's hard to do that, but
I appreciate you for just taking the time. It congratulations,
thank you.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
If you released the album single same, it was supposed
to be a whole form a pack, but oh we
couldn't get it ready in time, so we just settled
on one song and it's called Made for Me.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
People are really liking it so far. Well, let's go
back to the beginning, because you have a very interesting story.
Probably not unlike others, but as a woman in this industry,
being a creative sometimes we find ourselves was being taken
advantage of and not always necessarily getting our just due.
From my understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong. You

(03:08):
grew up in a musical household. You you were someone
that literally was able to take your talent uploaded on
social and it became a movement. That's how you grew
your base.

Speaker 4 (03:21):
Tell me about that.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
Definitely grew up in a musical household. My biological father
played trumpet. He was also a singer. My mom sang.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
It was always me in the house.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
We had a piano in every house that we uh
we ever lived in, and music was just kind of
like I thought that it was like that everybody's house,
you know. It was such a biby art of just
our every day and I think that's why it was
so like normal for me to pick it up as

(03:55):
a pastime, a favorite pastime. And as soon as I
got introduced to, you know, the freedom of the internet,
YouTube and you know, uploading my own videos, myself singing,
and you know that I had a period before my
Space through I was uploading like you know, I had

(04:17):
like the long, skinny Logitech microphone and I was recording
songs on that and they sounded terrible, but some people
like them, you know, and transitioning to YouTube where it's
like you get to see my face and I'm literally
making up these songs in my bedroom just for.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Fun, not thinking anything of it.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
And I mean, who would have known, you know, fifteen
years later that had being an influencer and going viral
and social media would be what it is today to
where I even you know, everything came full circle and
I had a really organic, huge.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Moment with I saw hours and hours last year. So
that's very cool.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
I just gave give you fifteen years in sixty seconds. Well,
Well that's beautiful because I love that, and that just
gives everybody the introduction of where I was going next
in the fifteen years. First you looked twelve years older
in the fifteen years because everyone starts so young, so
you probably still are twelve years old.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
But in the fifteen years that you've been in this industry,
you quickly became someone who has been You're an advocate.
You are an advocate for songwriters. You're an advocate for
those who sometimes are marginalized. Do you like that term
being called an advocate? Is that an appropriate term for
you and what you do? I mean, I guess you know,

(05:41):
if you.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Look out of all the words that you could use
to describe me as a good one, but I think
I'm just trying to be the best human that I
can possibly be, and I always try to treat people
how I want to be treated. Nobody wants to live
in house that's fallen fart, you know, Like I think
with music and the way streaming has changed, the revenue

(06:06):
like still the same money, it's just not going to
the peoplehere shooting doors and uh, like the house is
burning and people are complaining about music being this ticket sales.
But you know, part of the problem is we're trading
convenience for quality and so not necessarily like fighting for anything,

(06:29):
because I feel like anything that you fight for resists you.
I'm more so just like showing people there is a
way to do it, that you can have massive success
and treat people right and do the right thing, you know,
especially even I'm just trying to be like a benchmark,

(06:50):
right for you know, an example for people to be like,
what's it called set a new president. That's what I'm
trying to do because I've been offered, you know, publishing
for songs I didn't write, and you know, trying to
take opportunities from other artistss like I don't want to
do none of that. And I always make it clear,
make sure you let them know I don't believe in

(07:11):
that practice. So it's not just a no, it's a know,
and please don't continue that, you know what I'm saying.
I prefer that you didn't involve me in anything that
does that to people, because I feel like there's so
many hands in your pocket as an artist, as a songwriter,
it's just.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
So hard to even just be stable.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
You know.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Oh, and it's not right, it's not okay. It's interesting
you said something. No, and please don't do It's not
just no, it's no, and and and that and that
to me is important in any aspect of your life.
But you said you're not. You don't try to fight anything,
because that means you're resisting. I believe, and I'm paraphrasing.

(07:53):
I love that. I love that thought process. When you
started writing for the likes of a real or Ariana Grande,
I mean you have really amazing credits. You realize something
quickly in terms of being a songwriter. I believe you
said you had to be and I'm not referring to
them in general, but because of who you are and

(08:14):
you can sing and you and you can present in
front as well as right behind the scenes, people wanted
you to be a little more demure and they also
were trying to take money out of your pocket. Give
me an example. Talk about that experience for me.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
I think, you know, it just comes with the territory, right,
There's certain things that you just know. Okay, this is
the way it is, the stat quote, right, And so.

Speaker 4 (08:42):
I learned.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
One of the things I did learn very early is
that the energy that you bring with you in the
room is going to sort of season the music. So
if you've ever been in a recording seio or if
you've ever seen like you know and when they have
like on the news sometimes like the phone calls of
the nine one one calls and you see the little
frequency line going up and down. Right, That's what it

(09:05):
looks like in the studio. And it's a bit different,
but same concept. Where we sing on the mic, it writes,
you know, a frequency into the program. Well that that
frequency is happening all the time, whether you see it
or not. And just like you know, I always give
the example of when you tell someone I love you

(09:26):
so much, you feel that it feels a certain way,
or when you say, oh my gosh, bitch, you know,
like you feel that and it makes you angry or
however you want to feel about it. And so it
matters the energy that actually bring it to the room.
If I ever had a moment where I did not
want to do something, or didn't want to work with
an artist, or felt like I was, you know, going

(09:48):
to be in a horrible situation, you can't predict those things,
right because it's like you go in the studio and
you make something incredible and here comes the vultures. But
for the most part, when you go in and you
enter into the space with the highest intention, I would
always sit in my car and say like a little
prayer affirmation before I got out, thank you for an

(10:09):
amazing song, number one song. I thank you, you know
for channeling through me today. And you just open yourself
up to possibility and that helped me from you know,
getting to it in my head because I'm a channeler.
When I write, it's not like, really, you know, I'm
a genius. I'm coming up with the stuff myself. I'm

(10:29):
literally just like opening my mouth and I'm surprised a
lot of times at what comes out.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
And I don't take all the credit. I'm just a conduit.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
And so you can't have any negative skewed energy frequency
when you're operating that way. I mean, it is the
wild wilde, but it's all your man of business. It
is what it is. It's been like this for years
and the only thing you can do is just operate
at the at the highest level that.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
You possibly can.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
Is not specific to any artists, any manager, or just
sometimes situations arise and they're not really the most able.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
I hear you talk and I think to myself, is
there an industry in the world outside of music, outside
of anything that we're doing. Is there any industry in
the world where you don't see someone trying to get
over or not operate in a way that's high vibration,
high frequency, or or where you have to decide if

(11:33):
I if I stay here, I have to really create boundaries.
And boundaries are tough, they're hard, they're hard, they're heart
professionally and they're heart personally. And then the cost of
creating boundaries and living by those boundaries could also reflect
negative negatively on how people want to work with you
or how they Yeah, they label you difficult.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
Until you until you get enough points on the board
to establish yourself as someone who is viable and who
consistently can create things that hold value, they're gonna look
at you and be like, who can are usually the abby?

Speaker 2 (12:11):
You're not cleaning my toilets?

Speaker 1 (12:13):
Like you know, it's definitely that, And especially being a
black woman, you can feel the energy in a room
where people are just like, who told you to be
so confident?

Speaker 2 (12:21):
Who told you to be out there so sure of yourself?
How dare you exactly? Like, you know, go get my coffee?
And you just have to You have to understand it's
the human condition. It's not personal to you. It's not.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
You know, people like to say paying your dues. I
feel like that's a little bit deceptive every person in
the world, no matter who it is, no matter what
it's for it to be a nonprofit, it could be
you know, supposed to be saving the children.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
It could be whatever at the core of you.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
If you're not doing the work and you're not on
this planet with the understanding to express your highest version
of yourself, there's going to be you know, you know,
on a scale a bit too small, like there's little
boo boos and uh oh's that you shouldn't be doing,
and then there's a big, huge things that affects you know,

(13:16):
millions of people. And that's just the way humans are
till they learn there is a better way to do things.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
I yeah, an human condition, which is why it's in
every industry and across the board. But there's an extra
layer of what I like to call texture. When you
are a black woman, if you think about from the
moment you started in this business to where you are now,
how would you describe it? Would you describe it? And
if we let's use references that people could explain. Let's
say when you first started, you were you were going

(13:47):
your appetizer and have you gotten to the point where
you're like, I got this entree and I got this dessert,
and when I walk in the world, I'm just making
up like an example of having a little to a lot.
How do you describe your journey of being an artist
from fifteen years ago to today. I would say my
journey of being an artist from then to now is

(14:09):
I just still fulfilled in like a home. But I've always,
you know, been a big head in the clouds Delulu,
where when I didn't have two pennies, I still would
save those up, you know, have the best experiences I

(14:29):
could have. I was telling a friend the other days,
like I didn't have the money to do this. But
in the beginning of.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
My career, I flew to Paris just to get some
Christian moved On custom shoes because I really wanted them.
And by the end of the trip it was only
two days left.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
I ran out of money.

Speaker 1 (14:47):
I had to figure it out, you know, And I
never let my circumstance stop me from having a good time.
I don't know, you just have to make the best
right and I've always done that before I had any
sort of widespread recognition. So I feel you know, with

(15:08):
with time and through my journey and all the experiences
that I've had, people that I've worked with, the ups
and downs, I just learned how to be comfortable and
vulnerable being myself in front of people. And that's the
hardest part, right is That's what authenticity is. It's just
like I own my mistakes. I own everything that I say.

(15:32):
Sometimes I might have like hair and makeup or an
outfit that is so great. I like, I don't feel
ashamed or embarrassed by any of my choices. I'm not
afraid to fail and look goofy or make a mistake.
And that is an amazing place to be, especially when
you're doing it on the ward stage. Yeah, and that's
the opposite of where most people live. I have the

(15:54):
same Moubaton story.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
I saved up all my little pennies, went to Paris
and I bought them shoes and did have no more
money to eat food. I remember, like it was yesterday.
I was like, it's okay, it's fine, but I'm not
even comfortable out of the control. Gave me corns, but
I remember I just had that. But I was gonna live.
You weren't gonna tell me. I couldn't live. I'm gonna
walk around Paris and enjoy the architecture with my sack.

(16:18):
I'm gonna eat off this one crossalp. Yeah for the
whole time here, everybody, you know what time it is.
We have to pay these bills so that the podcast
can continue. You can fast forward through the commercials, or
you can just listen. You may hear me, you may
hear somebody you know, you may learn something. I appreciate you.
We'll be right back and just a few moments.

Speaker 3 (16:37):
Every champion and carry champions to be a champion, a
champion and carry Champion and carry Chat, be out a
champion and carry Champion and carry.

Speaker 4 (16:45):
Chap entertainment and Naked Weird Kerry Champion.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
Then carry champions to be a champion of Champion and
carry Champion, Nigger Champion.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
They care with Champion, they care with Chat.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
Thank you all for your patience. Welcome back to Naked
and Here's more with money Long your first two LPs,
you were a writer for all these major artists, but
then you do your own work these two LPs. What's
the difference between writing for someone else and writing for
yourself and creating the work that you love.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
Uh, the difference you're writing for myself writing someone else
technically isn't There's no difference because it always comes from,
as I said, channel right, writing for myself. Th though,
I know who I am, I know what I will
and won't say things that I don't want to project
ont in myself or anyone else. Writing love sotells are
is so easy for me because that's just who I am.

(17:46):
I believe, I believe in fairy tales. I read a
lot of romance novels and things like that, and so
that's docgnential to me. I just want to make people
feel good, like I know exactly what it is sound wise,
And it's a lot easier to make music for myself
because I don't have to go through all these filters

(18:08):
right So, like when I'm in a service position, when
I was, because I don't write for others anymore, and
at least not right now, and I don't plan to
and the near few drugs want to take some time
to explore myself. But when I was in the service position,
it was like you have to kind of dig a
little bit, do extra work, find out like where are

(18:28):
you at in your life? You know, what do you
want to talk about where do you see this music
being played? Are you are you in the club with
it or are you trying to make stadium music? Are
you trying to make something that you can sing acoustically,
or do you rep on a showcase like your voice
or the lyrics. You have to figure out what the
artist wants to do. And I think that's probably the

(18:51):
best thing is that I don't have to go through
that anymore. I can just you know, wake up and
be like this, this is what I want to make,
this is what I'm writing. Well, for me, I would
think that would be a tremendous amount of pressures that
would make my stomach curd especially if I and by
the way, which is why you do what you do,
Especially if you're writing for an artist that's already proven

(19:13):
and has a style, maybe that's even easier, perhaps that
they already have a style and the way they want
to go about it. But tell me about a difficult
time in the studio or what's arguably the most difficult
time for you as a creator, not necessarily dealing with
anyone else, but for you when you are in a
studio and you were singing, and you wrote it and

(19:34):
it doesn't come out the way you want it to,
or it's not quite hitting exactly as you wanted to.
I'm assuming you've had those moments because artists are so
very material and protective and precise, So I would think
that you would want it to be perfect or the
vibe to be real and what you want, and then
you want that to come out the way that you

(19:56):
had a couple of moments that weren't very becoming was
like maybe when the producer like, I don't need a
lot of coaching and hand help, you know, hand holding
when I'm working, I just kind of need you to, like,
you know, play me what you got. Let's get a
little cord regression going, and then leave and come back

(20:17):
for the opens, you know.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
Yeah, and man write really fast.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
And I think the only time when it was like
difficult or it felt like it was kind of like,
you know, starting to stop, was when I was in
the room with somebody who was just constantly like picking
apart the idea before it sort of presented itself as
it wanted to. Because I really think that, yeah, I

(20:42):
think like the songs tell us what they want to
be if you really pay attention and you sort of
like form themselves. And so when you have somebody that's like,
can you change that lyric or I don't like the ability,
like fa fam let me let me do meet please,
you know what, Let me do it and come back
with your critique. Yeah, Like I don't even know what

(21:02):
I'm about to do, so yeah, like yeah, right right.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
You know, when you're dealing with someone like a producer,
do you say, wait, give me a minute, let me
just figure this out first. Do you say that tried.
I'll try that.

Speaker 1 (21:14):
But then if I feel too much resistance, whether it
comes from the artist, producer, or even another co writer,
let you know what, I'm gonna take a break. I'm
gonna go get some yogurt. You know, if you could
take a walk. It's kind of cold in here. We'll
go throw out and I let them have it, like
maybe there's something that y'all really need to get out.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
When you need me, I'll be here.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
There have been sessions where I just completely sit there
and do nothing, and I don't ask for anything either.
Like you know that's the thing too, where people just
because they're in the room, they want a percentage.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
I don't believe in that. I don't do that? Say
that again? Because they're the room. They want to what
they want? A percentage of the song?

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Oh yeah, like they want They're like, while I was
in the room, I help inspiration Like no, I'm wow, Wait,
you don't do that. And it's because I'm a channeler,
right that. I know that that's not true. There's no
way because I'm getting these downloads directly.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
Wait a second, So so if I am a Carrie
Carrie chaerbyan is a you know, the reason I am
asking you these ABC questions is because I just don't
get it, Like I'm not in your world. I don't
understand it. So I'm good it either.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
So wait you telling me I can I can quote
unquote say I'm a writer. I'm sitting in the room,
I don't do anything, and I can percentage because if
you decide to go a totally different direction, I'm like, no,
I was a part of the inspiration. I was the vibe.
I want to get paid. People get paid that way.
Had that happened to me several times?

Speaker 1 (22:41):
Literally where you know your publisher or your manager session,
you come and we're supposed to write a song together.
But I'm so fast, right a lot of times I
will have to intentionally purposely include like what do you
think about this? Because it's not it's almost like, you know,

(23:02):
like when you're watching tennis and it's just going back,
but you're not playing with somebody who is as fast
as you, so you gotta slow down, you know, and
that's really annoying sometimes.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah, so she just said it was too slow.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
No, seriously, like it's exactly like that, like listen, even
ready when I'm ready, like this is this isn't at
the highest level.

Speaker 2 (23:24):
I can't slow down for you.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
And so I've had moments where I'm going so fast
and it's just coming. It's coming that Literally the co
writer is sitting there like.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
How is she doing this? And they've you know how
many times have I heard that? It's just did you
write that? Right now?

Speaker 1 (23:44):
I'm like yeah, you know, yeah, and then they submit
to splits afterwards and it'll be like twenty five percent.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
It's like, what, wait, you can you can't negotiate that, correct?
I mean in the beginning, now I can.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
Now I'll just because I'm willing to walk away and
was like, oh, you know what, throw the whole song away.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
I don't care.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
But in the beginning, I had to be strategic, right
because if it was like a Mariah Carey or Madonna, right,
I want that placement. I want that credit because it
only it expands my brand right and expands my network.
And so sometimes I've taken it on the chin just

(24:29):
so that I could get that credit because a lot
of those artists, a legacy artists, they don't play that
like if you if you don't get splitsed together, they
won't use the song because they don't want anybody coming
back later and try to claim anything and you know,
hold up money. So I had to you know, be
flexible in the past in order to gain a certain

(24:52):
amount of uh status as a writer with the credits
that I earned. But now I don't do that, and
people be at publishing managers and artists like just to
sing the song. No judgment to people who do that,
who allow that to happen, but that's not a boundary
that I can allow to be you know, moved. In

(25:14):
my case, I can't do it.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
I'm I'm even more curious because I get what you're saying. Yes, Mariah, yeah, Madonna,
I'm not pushing back on that. I get the end
goal It's a part of the d goal to get
you where. This is a part of the journey to
get you where you want to be when you wow.
So when you have to sit in a situation that

(25:36):
is uncomfortable at this point of your career, you can
walk away there there are few there are exceptionals. Now
walk away.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
I just don't like, I mean, even before I'm really
I have I have exercised the muscle of my intuition
and my inner voice right to where when an opportunity
is presented to me, immediately I check in with my
gut and if I you know, like you might see

(26:05):
me go and immediately if I feel any sort of
dread or hesitation, I'll.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
Be like, I'm not sure about that one, let me
think about it. Or I'll be like, let's wait for
like a week or two.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
And usually those things end up being like God is
the bullet, because there's things that you don't know, right
and who knows?

Speaker 2 (26:33):
God knows you know you are.

Speaker 1 (26:36):
A part of him, And like, just like your pinky
is a part of your body, you're a part of
the overall and you have access to the plans and
the thoughts of your collaborators, right and so I believe
that we're all connected.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
And if you just take a tiny second to just
tap in and be like shtudy, that is that a
good idea? Is that for my highest good?

Speaker 1 (26:56):
You know? Does that take me in the direction that
I ultimately want to go? And you'll get a nudge,
you'll get like a I'll do that, or you'll get
like a little flutter. At least that's what I get.
I get like a little like you know, and I
have the ooh, that sounds fun. Most of the time
those experiences are the best ones. So I've learned to
really trust that.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
It's almost like the best way to start out.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
And I get this example, like, have you ever been
running laid or waiting out the door and something tells
you grab a jacket, grab a jacket, and you don't
do it, and then you be cold?

Speaker 2 (27:32):
You know, So just start there, Start with that small
simple thing. You know.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
Sometimes I'm walking through my house and you're ready to leave,
and I'll look at something and I'll have the urge
to just pick it up to take you with me,
like a notebook or a pen or something, and I'll
end up needing it later on in the day. Or
I might need it the next day or something like that.
So I've really taken the time to just listen to
that small, still voice and become super familiar with is

(28:00):
they're a songwriter artist that you like in yourself too,
or that you admire that the way in which they've
been able to create their own and build in this industry,
that that is. Someone say that's the north Star.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
I like for me, it's Oprah like Aunty Oaps is
my g I'm like, we can do we can do
no love that o Auntie Oaps can do no wrong.
So someone's talking about her, I'm like, I don't care slander,
I don't want to hear it. I love her. Is
there someone who is your Aunty Oaps? If you will?
I have a few.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
I was just watching some of those leaked clips of
the Kanye unreleased footage, and I'm just like, sometimes it
scares me because I hear him talking and a lot
of the things that he says I can relate to,
and I feel such a connection with him and just
how larger than life he is and how much impact

(28:53):
he has had his passion for music, even when Genius
came out, a few of my peers called me and
were like, Yo, why can that documentary?

Speaker 2 (29:04):
All I could think about was you, you know, you
remind me so much.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
And he's one of my favorite creators in the world,
like whether it's fashion, furniture, or mass Yes, by the way, Yeah,
so I would say I would say Kanye don't as
far as like because he's dope. Well, I mean, you know,
likes he does say things sometimes that are very free

(29:27):
thinking and against what the general population may believe or
may be you know, ready to hear. And so you
know that fart is kind of just like hopefully he's okay,
but artistically absolutely fashion you know, just his vision. Absolutely Kanye,

(29:49):
he's okay.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
So I say that all the time. I love Kanye
is as as narrated as some very significant portions of
my life, like I he is, and I'm able to
separate the artists from the person. Sometimes from the arts
from the artists, like some things, yeah, I don't fool
with you with their but as an artist, no one
could deny our talent. And you're talking about that documentary.

(30:10):
What I mean, he's a genius, Like he really really is.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
I think that's part Like you know, sometimes we don't agree,
you know, and it's not just limited to Kanye, right.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
Sometimes I was just saying this.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
I'm not gonna say no, but sometimes you fall in
love with an artist and you start hearing them talk
and he's like, yeah, I wish I wish you didn't
talk like, you know, we don't have the same views politically,
or you know, there may be like certain misogynistic, patriarchical
things that you believe in that are just like why
would you say that? You know, But again, you know,

(30:43):
everybody's here for their own journey and everybody has freedom
of expression. I really try to just objectively observe and
that keeps you a lot of stress free, you know,
just kind of be like, oh that's how do you
feel about that? Okay, cool, you know, and just have
no opinion. You just like observe, right. But yeah, artistically,

(31:05):
man is definitely Kanye. I love Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Aliyah.
These are people who just inspired me to want to
do music. And you know, a yeah, I remember being
glued to the television watching their videos and their live shows.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
So yeah, those people for me. Oh those that's a
great list. That's a great list. I mean, with that list,
let me ask you, minus Alea, because we didn't really
get to know her. She was gone, I think, way
too soon and way too young, so we didn't get
to know her as I think a woman like a
full grown woman in a lot of ways. But when

(31:42):
you think of that list and now we watch those
artists grow up in front of us, literally all of them,
what do they have in common with you?

Speaker 1 (31:56):
I would say, just like the musical choices, fearlessness, willingness
to be themselves, you know, I think that's what draws
me to.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
A Michael R.

Speaker 1 (32:09):
Conner and a Chanton as far as like pushing boundaries
a lot of times, you know, because you may or
may not yet be established, you know, as I reference before,
people will look at you and be like, who do
you think you are? You know, who are you to
have that sort of confidence and be so sure that

(32:29):
you're going to do these things right? And it isn't
until after you do them that people's perspective if you
change it, and in the moment you may be unsure.
But then for me, I watch a documentary or I
see a little sixty second clip on TikTok or on Instagram,
and it is very much in alignment with how I
think and you know, has seing value these and principles

(32:54):
that I live by.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
And so it's just like.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
Constantly, you know, drift a little bit, but you're like, oh,
I don't know, maybe this isn't good, and then I
see something it was Nope, yeah, back on direct, You're good,
you know. And so I think I like to do
something called frequency matching, which is like there are people
who are where I want to be or who I've
gone where I want to go, and I just go

(33:19):
and watch them and you know, align myself with that frequency.

Speaker 2 (33:25):
So what I'll do with yourself? Let what would that
feel like?

Speaker 4 (33:28):
Man?

Speaker 2 (33:28):
That must be amazing. You know, like when I go
to a concert, I don't just sit there and watch.
I'm just like, Wow, this is amazing. I love this
for me.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
This is for me, like you know, and try to
elevate my my thinking, my acceptance, and my ability to
receive moments like that. And so I think I'm purposely
aligning myself with these people. Like maybe five years ago
I didn't have anything in common with them, but now
I do because I intentionally watch them and see what

(34:00):
they're doing and how they're speaking and who they're working
with what it takes to be this gigantic.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
Hey, y'all, it's that time again. We got to take
a click break. This one's really quick, but you can
still fast forward through it. We'll be right back in
just a few moments with money.

Speaker 4 (34:14):
Long, Every champion and carry champions.

Speaker 3 (34:16):
To be a champion out a champion and carry Champion
and carry chappy out a Champion and carry Champion and
carry Champion entertainment and naked weird erry Champion and carry
Champion is to be a champion of Champion and carry
Champion thet a champion and.

Speaker 4 (34:37):
Carry Champion and carry Champion entertainment and nake.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
You where y'all should do me a favorite. I also
post YouTube clips at Carrie Champion, so go hip with
the YouTube click because money Long's hair is bombed anyway,
I digress. She's back with more gems. Hope y'all enjoy.
I had two correct me if I'm wrong solo epiece

(35:03):
before this latest single. Is that accurate?

Speaker 4 (35:06):
Man?

Speaker 2 (35:07):
I wonder if you could walk me through what you
put out before and what this latest single is now.
Is there a difference in the messaging. Is there a
difference in your voice? Is there a difference in the
frequency your word? That means I want to make sure
that I'm being accurate. Yes.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
So I was independent for two years before I partnered
with Depth Cham and I actually put out three epis,
one which I still own fully, and that was sort
of like me finding my voice, figuring out how I
wanted to present myself.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
What does money long look like? What does she feel like?

Speaker 1 (35:46):
You know, like the words you use, texture and what
is my what is the texture? What's my aesthetic? Just
figuring out like how I wanted to present myself. And
it was in the middle, like literally in.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
The middle of the pandemic.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
Everyone I wanted to work with was available, was slightly
more expensive because we had to have COVID you know, protocol,
And so at first EP I was discovering how I
want to sing, you know, do I want to have
a soft voice, Do I want to build? Don't want
to be sexy? Do I want to sound like a rapper?

(36:21):
And so I did a bit of all of that
on the first EP and then the second one was
a little bit more, you know, I branched out a
little bit more with the sound choices and the topics
that I talked about I was a little bit more
sliptungue with the stories and some of the things that
I was discussing.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
And then the third one I was, you know, I'm
a lover. I love love. I said that already, and so.

Speaker 1 (36:52):
I think the comment thread through all of them, and
they're about like relationships and even loving yourself things like that,
and so this third one was really about out love.
And then I actually made three different versions of it.
So it was the first one which was like seven songs,
and I did a second one which was like eight,
and then I added five more and put all together,

(37:14):
so it turned out to be eighteen songs. And I
didn't know which one was gonna do anything. I mean,
we had our guesses. I just shot videos for everything
and go and behold hours and hours just exploded.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
And then you know, I hope you can continue. Thank you, agal,
And that's pretty huge and exploded. It is like an
under cell of it. That's huge. To be nominated and
to win, it's huge, it's huge. It's huge.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
Yeah, I mean, to be a black woman in the
fourth quarter independent, you know, over the age that people
would generally say should be mainstream, right, So I'm thirty five,
and I know people don't necessarily think you're viable any
after a certain age, which is it's so silky, right,

(38:03):
But I did literally had every check every box that
normally people would say, hell no, absolutely not, it's not
gonna work. And not only did I have like this
gigantic splash, I denominated for three Grammys as an independent artist.

Speaker 2 (38:23):
That's that's crazy.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
And one of them was Best New Artists, which is
like such a coveted, you know category, So to be
known as like you know, you're you're one of the
best expressions this year out of all the music that
comes out. I mean, I think they said there's like
thirty thousand new songs of a day.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
Something crazy. It give me chills, give me killed chill chills,
like my arms. I'm like, good for you. That's just
put it in context and sell that. Don't underseller. That's
a that's bold. Let me leave with that. Thirty thousand
artists today somewhere in the you troh something like that
or a week still, it's a lot. It's a lot.
Like to be able to narrow it down, you know

(39:05):
what I mean. It's it's like it's like watching TV
there's so much content out there. How do you find
what you're gonna watch? How do you find the good stuff? Brandon?

Speaker 4 (39:12):
I think.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
I pay attention to the people, like what they're saying,
the feedback that that instant bio feedback is priceless. When
you put something out and it's not good, they want
to let you know. And I think, you know, being
a songwriter for so long, it doesn't hurt my feelings
because the only bad that I believe, the only bad ideas.
And when you don't say out loud, you don't share,

(39:35):
and so I take direction you very well. If somebody's like,
don't do that again, you know I may or may
not do again. I just really believe that it's an
interactive experience, right because I'm not making the music just
for myself.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
I want you to consume it.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
So after I cannelate and record it and make it
all pretty and take my pictures and shoot my videos,
the rest is up to y'all. I love it, So
talk to me as inclosing, because I went aroundabout way
to get a good feel of who you are, and
I feel it. So I appreciate you for being so
candid and so honest.

Speaker 2 (40:09):
It's hard. It's hard for people to do that in general.
This latest single, what do you want the people to feel?
What do you want them to take away from it?
What was your headspace from writing?

Speaker 1 (40:20):
I think I would love for people to hear my
music and be inspired to just love, not be too cool.
You like somebody, call them you know you're not being thirsty,
and I simpen if you miss someone, tell them right.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
I think we need.

Speaker 1 (40:40):
Love right now in this time, in this generation or
soft crazy foolishness happening and people arguing and like take
me out of the group jet police. I do not
want to see you know, your screenshots of you talking
crazy to your significant others just hurt. It really hurts
my heart, Like I don't like people get hurt, like
the fighting video.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
Just I just don't like it, you know.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
And so my offering is of love, and that's what
the song is about, and it could apply in any situation.
Even though a lot of people are saying like, oh
my god, this is gonna be the next big wedding song,
which I received that, Yes, I hope that oppen think
very much. And it could be about the love between
you and your mother. If the love between you and
you know, your pet, your your children, you know your

(41:24):
best friend, your sister.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
It's just about.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
Feeling like you have a genuine, genuine connection with someone
like where have you been?

Speaker 2 (41:33):
All my life?

Speaker 1 (41:34):
And I'm sure everyone has had that at least one
time in their life with a friend, a brother, a colleague.
I just want to spread love, man, that's my ultimate goal.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
Dinging man, I want to spread love. Okay, I like it.
I received it. Money Long. You've been a pleasure and
I appreciate you for taking the time and being here,
being so patient. Thank you for having me really, I
mean you're really You're really honest and true. Like some
people are knows the Naked so yeah, yeah, but you

(42:05):
are a knower. There's doers and knowers, and you have both.
So that's great. That's the way I turn it. Thank
you again, good luck with everything. I am sure that
I will talk to you down the road at a
different capacity on all your success and continued success. I appreciate. Yeah,
thank you so much much much, so much. The reason
why we decided here on Team Naked. If you will

(42:27):
to re air this Moneylong interview from October of last year,
a few reasons her album was just coming out. She
knew that she had some hits. But she also talked about,
as you heard in this particular interview, that people thought
she was a diva. They thought she didn't want to
compromise enough, or she was a problem. And she was

(42:47):
very adamant about doing things her way because she's an artist,
an artist who knows her art. And I understand that,
and I'm sure you all can understand that when you
really believe in something and you have conviction, you won't compromise.
But I say all this to say is that what
is meant for you is meant for you. Your success
will come. I'm sure, as she mentioned, she did not
feel as appreciated or as celebrated, But here she is

(43:10):
some months later after we first talked to her, and
made for me literally top ten on the Billboard Charts,
R and B Digital Sales number one. I mean, she
really has done the thing with this single performing on
Late Night show. She has promoted her single and herself
in a way that I think is respectable. She didn't compromise,

(43:32):
She did what she wanted to do. And shout out
to the team naked our bookers, if you will, because
they were ahead of the game and got us that interview.
I was really really impressed with her, even more so
now because we're watching her success. As she predicted and
as she knew, she deserved to be celebrated, So lesson
for all of us. There's no deadline, no timeline on

(43:54):
being successful. When it's time for you to have your moment,
you will have your moment. I think of the Grammys
and Killer like a sweep Killer. Mike has been in
this game for so long. He won three straight Grammys
and I was so impressed because he said, You're never
too old, and I hope you're inspired. Money Long is young,

(44:14):
thirty years old, thirty plus years old, thirty five to
be exact. But she has been told by many maybe
it's not her time, No, not right now, but yet
and still she persevered, and here we are celebrating her
in a huge way. If we haven't heard, made for me,
get from out under that rock you've been in, because
she is to be celebrated. Thank you all again for

(44:36):
listening to this revisit of Naked. I'll talk to you
guys next week.
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