Questlove Supreme: Teedra Moses

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Radio. Ladies
and gentlemen, Welcome to Question Love Supreme. I'm your host
Quest Love or had you realize the voice drop a

(00:21):
few really right?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
That we got jokes?

Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm sorry, I'm just saying, when you know the weird
O Younger Big Show, I was like, hey, guys, were
younger be here? From when Teacher's here. I'm like, if
you've reached the ladies and gentlemen, this is Quest Love Supreme.

(00:49):
I'm your host Quest Love, Wait interest hit me? Should
I even say that we're you know, how is Webby
legit enough for us to be like for that to
be the preface to our title, like the Webby.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Winning, Webb winning Image nominated?

Speaker 1 (01:07):
You know what?

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Who beat us?

Speaker 1 (01:11):
Was that? Jamil?

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah? Okay, yeah, spread the love.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Spread the love anyway, miir?

Speaker 4 (01:18):
If you try to say Webby winning enough times, it'll
be a hit on podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yes, I don't know. I still feel some sort of
way that you know, we we've been Webby winning for
the longest, they haven't given us our first award, so
damn like, wait of it, yo, guys, this is this
is this is notable. Mm hmm normally like you if

(01:42):
it's like Lenny Kravitz on the show or someone of noting. No,
but I mean, like, okay, so thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
You can't show up.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
I've been around that seeing what should look like. I said,
I shoud command to wound.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
So I'm like, is matching her Lenny Kravit's energy right now?
Hager coming to play anyway? Yeah, so like you, Well,
obviously you're fine because you know you got new art,
working fans and everything behind you.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Oh I'm good.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
I just can I just say something real QUI because
I usually don't. Sare no news about what I do
outside this show, but I'm just very excited number one
shout out some of other podcast loving Grid and Ja
dot L. But also because me and my godmother Diana
Williams are producing a book for my dad on all
his photography. We're gonna self published, and today we got
the word that a big publisher is like, I won't end,
So I just want to.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Let's go fucking go congrat.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
What was this? What was this era of photography?

Speaker 3 (02:41):
If you don't from the fifties to like the late eighties,
and I'm talking like from you know. He was the
photographer at the White House during the first met Black
Music Month event.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
He's from the.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
March on Washington to the twenty year anniversary, to make
it a holiday, just all the stuff.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
We we got to interview ya one day, just so
we can find out about ourselves, all right. So, Bill,
even though I know that you're not Team in Canto, yeah,
I'm still acting like you are. I know, because all
your peeps are you know about to.

Speaker 4 (03:17):
I mean, I'd love to be team money Bags along
with being Team in Canto.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
But you you created the thriller of Broadway albums. Yo? Yes,
so did you? My Hamlet a nice? So? I know
your Hamilton checks that are really nice?

Speaker 2 (03:32):
They're okay?

Speaker 4 (03:35):
So, uh, my girlfriend and I are getting a new condo.

Speaker 5 (03:38):
Yes he said, yes, he said it.

Speaker 4 (03:42):
So wait a minute, you're moving out of what we
can I'm staying in this place. But my girlfriend they're
selling we rented there, they're selling her place, so we're
buying a new place.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
Well that's good man.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
I'm not getting married. Everyone stopped with the knowing league
and everything. I've already been married.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
I don't believe you, because Fante I was listening. I
happen to be listening to a classic episode when Fante
was happily divorced and thought that was how I was.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Like, yeah, good old days.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
I mean, you know, we should all have blistened happiness
that includes you to Steve happiness what Yeah, happiness is okay,
all right, we're happiness his thing?

Speaker 6 (04:29):
Uh fanticolo? How man, everything's good, Man good. I'm happy
to have teacher here today. There's been a long time coming.
I feel like she's really one of the kind of
chronical unsung heroes of the genre, and I'm just really
happy to get her story today. So this has been
this is dream come true for me.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
Man still too young for unsung.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
Yeah song, but you know, yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
We're singing her well. Yeah. As as uh Fante mentioned
about our aforementioned guests, I'm gonna actually make it, Afro
mentioned there you go. I knew that that bill would
instantly prove that there you go we'd be winning. And
Afro mentioned the two words that were you know, make

(05:14):
it official. O. Our guest today is an awesome, awesome
singer songwriter hailing from the city of Knowledge. Yes, I
heard that residence of does not like us, saying Knowledge
we don't care what you do.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
It's just high.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
I already know where this episode is going on, having
having written, having written for the for the likes of
Mary J. Blige, n Via Nivia, Navia, Nivia. I gotta,
I gotta, you know, I gotta get the Lucien and
the human right getting correct. I gotta get it. Okay,

(06:03):
She's named after the Lucien's first It's also Macy gray Rock,
feels Neo, many others that we could name her now
debut classic, the almost twenty years old Complex Simplicity, was
released to critical claim in two thousand and four, instantly

(06:25):
granting her praise from critics and a very loyal fan base.
We're very happy that she's doing us the honor of
chopping and mixing us for this long overdue conversation. Ladies
and gentlemen, please welcome to Quest of Supreme the one
and only Tidra Moses.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yes, sir, Hello, Hello, Yeah.

Speaker 6 (06:43):
I think I'm gonna have to pull me some congyak
for this one, dude.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Now, really truly wish this was a visual show, because
this is the exact backdrop that Denise Williams was in
episode classic black and white photo above it and you know,
an empty there you go. Damned anyway, how were you?

(07:14):
Were you right now as we speak?

Speaker 5 (07:15):
I'm in l A right now.

Speaker 7 (07:17):
I live in Miami, though I'm oh.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Oh, okay, you live in Miami. I see, I see. Well,
you know, thank you for coming to the show. I
have to say, I think did you ever come to
any of our grammy jams? I think we played together once, yes,
but I don't think we've ever spoken.

Speaker 5 (07:36):
We've played together, we've spoken like I think it was
like a text or something once, yeah, but never really like, hey,
what's up?

Speaker 1 (07:47):
I feel like this is all right talking there you go,
long overdue, long overdue? All right, Well, I'll start like
I start with everyone else where. Okay, so where were
you born? I know that you're hailing from New Orleans,
but I don't know if you were born there.

Speaker 5 (08:05):
I was born in Jefferson Parish, which is right outside
of Orleans Parish, and that's pretty much New Orleans. So
I was born in Kenna, Louisiana, which is like the
suburbs of New Orleans.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Okay, gotcha?

Speaker 1 (08:18):
So New Orleans and Jason, what uh your family situation
is it? Is it siblings or your parents?

Speaker 5 (08:29):
I have two sisters, two brothers. Four of us are
from my mom and dad, and one is just from
my dad. Old gotcha.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
Can you tell us what your first musical memory was?

Speaker 5 (08:42):
Team Marie. My cousin was moving into a house behind
my t t's house, and we cut a gate in
because everybody, you know, in the South, we all.

Speaker 7 (08:52):
Live around each other and only lives around each other, so.

Speaker 5 (08:54):
We would cut gates or or cut like little paths
to go to someone's house. And we tore the gate
back from my teach's house to my cousin who was
moving to the house behind. And the whole time she
was unpacking, she was just playing that square of it
is a I was really little, but that shit was hard.
I loved it. I just I was a little kid

(09:14):
loving Tein Marie. That's my first. I guess gospel was
my first, because church. But the first time I really
was excited was.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
Teamory because it must be magic album.

Speaker 5 (09:26):
That was your yeah, that one, Yes they lost you,
that yeah, It's so good. And she was just unpacking
and dancing and like all in her song. It was
her first place, you know, And I was just watching that.

Speaker 7 (09:39):
I was loving the music.

Speaker 5 (09:40):
And I was supposed to be helping, but I was
a little kids.

Speaker 7 (09:41):
I couldn't really help. But that's my first memory of music.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, did you uh uh any experience like did you
go through church as a singer or no.

Speaker 5 (09:54):
I watched, and I think church made me feel like
I wasn't going to be I felt like I wasn't
good enough. I had a sweet, little soft voice and
church like. I come from Southern Mathist church and my
mother was also a singer in the church. She was
really big in our church, singing it in like on
the southern shippming.

Speaker 7 (10:14):
Circuit of gospel.

Speaker 5 (10:16):
So they had such really powerful voices that I think
I just never thought I was good enough.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
What was your mother's name, Shirley Moses? Okay, and so
she pretty much for the same thing, a mire.

Speaker 7 (10:29):
That's so weird that you said she was looking like that.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
I was like, exactly didn't have a gospel southern gospel
belter voice, so she felt like, you know, she had
a sweet songbird voice, and she just didn't feel like
she belonged. So okay, So you just tried to just
blend in with the the the rest of the choir.
You didn't do or anything.

Speaker 5 (10:52):
No, and I left New Orleans kind of before I
developed my voice. I would walk around the house singing
and sing in the shower sink to the radio, but
I had to develop my voice. Yet I didn't develop
my voice. So I got to California like high school,
so I was I was a little and while I
was in by the time we got to California, we
didn't really go to church as much. And it wasn't

(11:14):
sudden back it's it was just more like non the national,
not the dominational type music, which is totally different.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Okay, your experience in New Orleans is it? Could you
describe what the environment was? You know, oftentimes I think
everyone in New Orleans either you know, has second line
experiences or you know, it's it's almost like if if
if the movie Fame were a city, I would imagine

(11:44):
it would be New Orleans where people just bust out,
like you know, everyone has to sing or do something
musical just to just to live or breathe or whatever.
Was that the experience were you down there, like it's.

Speaker 5 (11:57):
Just music everywhere all day, even if it's not down
to like, but even it's not as as extensive as
the second line. You know, you in New Orleans. It's
music and partying all the time, music, partying and.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Drinking and drink and eating.

Speaker 7 (12:12):
And eating and eating.

Speaker 5 (12:14):
This is happening to New Orleans.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
I just know, pounds. You just gotta just just give
yourself that grace because you.

Speaker 5 (12:20):
Know exactly, here's such thing as being a pescatarian or vegetary.
You can't do anything of that stuff. Then you just eat,
you know.

Speaker 7 (12:31):
No, no, that's just.

Speaker 5 (12:35):
It's like in New Orleans. Growing up in Orleans' music
everywhere from you know, jazz on the streets if you're
in the city, you know, to gospel gospels, very very
big there, zodical, you know. Then they came Bounce, and
hip hop was always big for us. But before Bounce,
we just listened to New York hip hop, you know.
So it was like more based on that and music everywhere.

(12:56):
I don't ever recall, like even in the school I went.
I went to all black school, private school by the
name of Saint John of Walk, and we had choir
and our teacher was a lady named the Shatters who
passed not too long ago, but she's like the first
person that kind of showed me my voice. We just
had music everywhere, Sunday's on church, Tuesdays and Wednesdays or

(13:17):
whatever for choir her So you know, all my brother
and his turn to music everywhere. We had block parties,
and then outside of that then you do have second
lines and it's just music everywhere.

Speaker 7 (13:29):
It to the point that you don't even notice it.

Speaker 6 (13:31):
It's just that I wanted to ask you a question
since you're from the area, about zydaco, because that's just
a kind of music that we didn't really into Carolinas,
we didn't really get a lot of it, but like
a lot of my homies like Louisiana, Texas, you know
what I'm saying, And it has a big black following.
Like I followed a lot of like dance stuff on

(13:53):
ig like a lot of dancers and there's like some
zydacal dance like they were doing them. Motherfuckers was getting it.
It's not it's not stepping, it's like a it's it's
you dance because you're dancing close, like the man and
the woman danced close, so it's not like a step,
but it's crazy dance.

Speaker 5 (14:12):
I just know the music.

Speaker 6 (14:13):
It was a club them man, they was getting it.
Duing cowboy hats and it was all brothers, like brothers.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
I've never seen side because all my black all my
side of experiences are like the white guys, well there are.

Speaker 5 (14:25):
Because it's it's a little bit more cajun Ish than Creole,
you know what I'm saying. It's more Cajun Gatorish than Creole,
which Cajun and you know, Cajun and Creole is totally different,
kind of like white white.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Basically you know, more black, which part is which the
black part.

Speaker 5 (14:42):
Creole Creole is black and French African and French, and
then the Cajun is more from when uh, the Louisiana
purchase happened, and it went all the way into Canada
and then they migrated down the Canadians, the French Canadians
migrated down to Louisiana, and they're kind of like above us.
They're not really in the bottom. They're not at the

(15:02):
bottom with us, the Creole people, but they mixed eventually
came down. But it's more like here's a simple thing. Creole,
we eat our gumbowl with rice, okay, with with like
when they eating it with.

Speaker 8 (15:18):
Potato salad is totally different yet exactly it's just totally
different Cajus white French from Canada, Creole African French.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
Okay, so since you open the door, now I gotta ask,
are your culinary skills as good as your musicals?

Speaker 5 (15:38):
I can cook, I can really cook. But here's the thing,
I started trying to be healthy, so I have to
go back to my old ways to really you know,
throw it down for you. Like I don't use buttering
everything anymore, but I use butter and everything. But I'm
cooking cook because that's the base of all the food
really good. But you know what I mean. So I
can cook. I can definitely.

Speaker 7 (15:56):
I mean, nobody's gonna leave my table, not keys or
my bad.

Speaker 5 (16:00):
But that's the whole story.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
Believe this is what I'm seeing.

Speaker 5 (16:09):
Yeah, Like, what's you're trained to do in the South?
You train in those areas you go you know, you
go hard in those areas.

Speaker 7 (16:18):
Your bedroom, your kitchen, you get that together.

Speaker 5 (16:20):
You got everything that got mean your workout game must
be amazing.

Speaker 3 (16:23):
Okay, yeah, because you gotta have energy and you gotta
have room.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
Okay, And I'm at Wallstford's written now I forgot interview.

Speaker 6 (16:34):
So I was thinking about you. You're talking about your
l A days. I didn't know talk about your days
with the Good Life Cafe that I understood you came
up kind of around that.

Speaker 5 (16:44):
So, yeah, I moved to la at fourteen, and I
moved to l A.

Speaker 7 (16:49):
I moved.

Speaker 5 (16:49):
I didn't move to l A. I moved to West Covina,
which is in the valley.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
Oh wow.

Speaker 5 (16:53):
And so we would travel into the city to get
because I moved from New Orleans to West Kobina the valley.
It was culture shock. So I found friends that came
from you know, their parents have taken me out of
the city because it's gangs and stuff like that into
the valley. And so I found friends that I could
travel into the city way and we found Good Life
and the murd Park and all that stuff. And it

(17:14):
was just an unbelievable movement, you know, of musicians and
hip hop. And I also was with my sons, my
children's father Raskaz, and so he kind of would I
was kind of like a running around with him and
I would just it was amazing. It was in retrospect,
we didn't know then what it was, but in retrospect
it was kind of like a big pot of all

(17:36):
these creative people and it just kind of spilled and
bled onto you. You know, you learned about things that
I knew jazz, but I didn't know the kind of jazz,
and they were telling me about I knew about hip hop,
I didn't know like what you know. It was just
like a really really great community of young musicians and
young creative and not all musicians.

Speaker 3 (17:53):
Who else was in the Good Life Because I think
for some folks who never heard of it, well I
wasn't in it.

Speaker 5 (18:03):
I would witness it. I would witness it because they
would have these functions and you know people right.

Speaker 7 (18:08):
The one that I probably would probably was more verse.

Speaker 5 (18:11):
With was Unity.

Speaker 7 (18:12):
Bigger b I think his name was.

Speaker 5 (18:14):
He did this thing called Unity, Yeah, and he had
this thing where he would bring all of these different
artists to LA. It was like the first person to
bring all these different artists to LA. I knew Good
Life and I would be around that. But what I
paid attention to more so is when rads would go
to a Good Life. I mean, I give a Unity
and we would see like boutang plan all these different

(18:34):
people that really weren't coming to LA, you know when
they were first starting. But Good Life was more something
that I was around a few times. Unity was to
me the thing that I don't think it's talked about
enough in l A. Bigger B had a whole movement.
I think the first person that kind of had this
going on, it was pre my time was the Uncle

(18:54):
Jam Army guys. Yeah, but Bigger B was like that
for real hip hop, true hip hop.

Speaker 7 (19:01):
Lovers, you know, And I was just kind of like
a tag along the rest.

Speaker 1 (19:05):
Oh no, no, I was gonna say that. It just hit
me that my first year at Fallon, this new filmmaker
named Avert Deverney came to interview me. I believe her
first film project was about the Good Life Cafe. I

(19:25):
think it was called This Is It was called this
is the Life I think. Yeah, but has that has
that officially? Have you guys seen it? Has it officially
come out?

Speaker 5 (19:36):
Or I thought it was. Yeah, it was a show
I think, I think I don't really like but maybe
that's not what I saw. But I saw a documentary
type of thing about good life.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yeah, no, no, no, it was the first joint. Yeah, I
know that. Yeah, it's I know what or a bus
driver one of my favorite underground or I hate saying underground.
It's such a you know, it's like damning someone to
only the purple property at the beginning of the monopoly board.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
But critically, you know, if you're a fan.

Speaker 1 (20:10):
Of like Freestyle Fellowship, the Jurassic Five Cats, that's very
like yeah, John oh Medusa, like yeah, I'll say, like,
you know, when we first started, even though they were
at the tail end of oh Far Side also they

(20:30):
were at the tail end of their era. That's when
the roots first started coming out there. But we, like
I met a lot of those guys, so almost felt
like we were you know, they're distant cousins often doing
shows out there, and you know.

Speaker 5 (20:45):
People can ask a question really quickly. Why do more
people talk about the Floor Side, Because I think the
Far Side for the West Coast was kind of like
and maybe this is overstepping, comparable to Quests, the.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Bizarre Ride.

Speaker 3 (20:59):
Bizarre Ride, I mean, that's it, That's that's Midnight Marauders.

Speaker 7 (21:03):
Let's come up.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
Like that, because the thing is is that unfortunately, I
was trying to figure out another a two piece with Biscuit,
which is like Biggie Like Unfortunately, it's like you know,
for the Far Side one, it's been thirty years and

(21:26):
it's really technically two albums like that one album, they
took themselves out the running even though both classic. And
here's the thing Eminem will say all day that literally
Eminem's you know, said this a billion times that his
whole presentation, like the cartoony voice, the wordplay, all that

(21:50):
stuff like Bizarre Ride to the Far Side was Eminem's
blueprint for the first three, uh first three records of this.
Like if you listen to him rhyme and all that stuff,
like the cartoony voice and all that stuff, like he's
essentially just you know, that's him just overdosing on the

(22:11):
far Side. Yeah, you're right, definitely for a lot of
I mean, I wasn't those people that like went territorial,
like oh their East coast, their West coast, But I
definitely remember them changing the perception of of what we thought.

Speaker 6 (22:33):
Nah for us, it was for us on this side,
it was far side. Of course, absolutely souls the mischief
and the alcoholics.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
Alcoholics man listen then was my nigga. I love it.

Speaker 1 (22:45):
But I'll say that when we heard Bizarre Ride to
the Far Side, that was the prime reason why we
put Scott's Storch in the Roots because you know, they
were using It's so weird that, you know, even though
Tribe had been doing it the way that Jay Swift

(23:06):
was using Fender Rhodes on that album, you know, the
whole tremolo sound and all that stuff. Like I was like,
we need that sound too, so entering Scott Storage coming
into the Roots and you know, but yeah, we were.
Actually they've reunited with the is it Booty Brown that's
not in the group. I know that Fat Fat List,

(23:29):
Fat Lip is battle, so now it's bat Lip. Uh
everybody is for everything the money. Yeah, man, that that
streaks me so.

Speaker 5 (23:37):
Much too too. I just love what they did, and
I just would really like it when people talking about
that era they would get a little bit more because
they I really I saw how much they influenced a
lot of the rappers that came after them on the
West Coast.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
All Right, My gift to hip hop is I got
to start a life coaching service for rappers. No, it's real,
Like I'm currently I don't even know if I just
say this. I'm trying to get my life coach to
talk to both Run and D about how much valuable

(24:15):
time they are wasting because I mean, run the MC
is like are rolling stones, yo, and for them to
just it's a communication is And I've talked to both
of them and they're down to like, yeah, okay, how
do life coach like leg like hip hop needs this
and if you can, you.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
Got to get the guys together, you basically they got
to be together so that we can champion them so
then they can really win and we can champion them
like a lot of these other legends.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
Yes, so right now, the Far Side is back as
the Far Side, although technically now they spell it with
an F and not a pH, So I'm assuming spun
on his head. You don't. You don't know what's happening
right now.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
With the like no idea, none of this is that
not with that? Yeah, so they they're there now.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
If you go on their Instagram page as the Far
Side to words F A R, S I D E.

Speaker 2 (25:11):
Like the cartoon. Yeah, right, Like how is that?

Speaker 1 (25:18):
Yeah, Yeah, it's it's it's three fourths of them are
back now.

Speaker 6 (25:23):
So were you and Brass were y'all pursuing music at
the same time at that time coming up or were
you just were you like actually prefinded singing as well,
and he was rhyming or how.

Speaker 5 (25:40):
Was y'all doing? I was pushing him, he was did
he know? You can say, no, he.

Speaker 7 (25:49):
Didn't really know, Like I didn't really.

Speaker 5 (25:51):
I did wardrobe for years, Like I would be around
I mean, Hype did my first video. I would be
around Hype.

Speaker 8 (25:56):
He didn't.

Speaker 7 (25:57):
He didn't know, like everybody just didn't know, because.

Speaker 1 (25:59):
I Williams that, yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:02):
He did.

Speaker 5 (26:02):
I would be around ye, I would be around all
kind of executives because I did wardrobe.

Speaker 7 (26:06):
I would be with raz a different places. I mean,
I just didn't talk about that because it was his time.

Speaker 5 (26:12):
It was his time, you know. And I'm from the South,
you know, so I'm one of those women. It's like, Okay,
you do those and I trust that when it's my time,
I'll do mine, you know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (26:22):
But we're gonna focus.

Speaker 5 (26:23):
On you right now. But this just focuses stuff. It
came back to me, so I have to go figure
it out by myself.

Speaker 7 (26:28):
But he did introduce me to the guy that did my.

Speaker 5 (26:30):
First album with me, but he we didn't. He didn't
even know I really sing like that. I mean I
may have. He may have heard me singing a little bit,
and you know, I think I may have done some singing.
The teacher come do this song because he knew I
could sing a little, but it wasn't something that I
made a big deal about.

Speaker 1 (26:45):
Did it weird him out when you finally became transparent
with your voice and sort of came out the shadows
like Okay, I'm singing, I'm pursuing this. Did it?

Speaker 5 (26:57):
No? I don't think it weirded him out. I just
remember we worked together at this point. He introduced me
to the guy called Pauli. I did the first time
when we started working. Pauli started working, and then he
was supposed to be involved. He was supposed to be involved,
but I think it was just like, oh, it's my baby, mama,
she's singing, you know what I mean. I remember one
day we were driving somewhere and he was like, this

(27:19):
is really good. We're going to make a lot of money.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
We asked that because yeah, I dated someone who never
revealed to me that she was a classically chained pianist.
Oh wow, So accidentally.

Speaker 5 (27:42):
How long plus did you?

Speaker 1 (27:44):
It was like it was like two years. Like I
think I shared this story before where I was late
for a sound check, had to circle back to the
hotel and I was in one of those weeks that
had a piano in it. She was this, I mean
it was like a couple of steps steps above, like
for at least I mean, was it like, like did
you like I walked in the room, like, what is this?

(28:11):
It's like two years like you didn't tell me, you know,
I played piano. So yeah, that that was that was
weird to me. That's what I meant, Like, did you
hold it back for so long?

Speaker 5 (28:21):
No, he knew because I was. He knew I had
like a little bit. He knew I could sing a
little because he would hear me around the house singing,
you know, little.

Speaker 1 (28:28):
Things like that. So you said that your first entry
into the business wasn't even with singing. It was with
fashion first.

Speaker 5 (28:35):
Yeah. My best friend was a wardrobe She still is
to this day, designer Najra Kinzy. She was a wardrobe
stylist at the time, and I needed money. I got
laid off of my job from sitting there surfing the
internet too long. I was bored.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
What was your job beforehand?

Speaker 5 (28:50):
I was an administrator assistant administrator at a uh A
architectural firm that he'll built a high.

Speaker 7 (29:01):
Oh I was bored, ship Girl, and.

Speaker 5 (29:04):
The internet was new, so I would just be on
the internet looking at anything I could look at. And
this is back when it was dollar son.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
Phone the phone. I'm shocked that she's.

Speaker 5 (29:19):
Not a.

Speaker 9 (29:21):
Yeah, right right, talk about you talk about being a
stylist in like that moment first of all, when you
felt comfortable enough to make the transition to.

Speaker 3 (29:32):
Let people know, were you slowly letting people know, Like
would just sing a little bit while you're just you know,
fixing an outfit.

Speaker 5 (29:38):
And somebody was like, no, and maybe that's what you're
supposed to do, but I think that's corny and ship
I think whatever you're there to do, that's what you do.

Speaker 7 (29:47):
Yes, that's how I feel.

Speaker 5 (29:48):
So I would be there putting on somebody's shoes or
rolling down you know, and even with like guys trying
to talk to you or whatever you need. I just
always kept it as a job. This I'll take care of
my sons, you know. So I just kept it the job.
And like I said, I would be around these different people, dancers, singers, artists,
all this stuff.

Speaker 7 (30:06):
They're like, oh, hey, you teach your mobile and if
you smoke cannabis.

Speaker 5 (30:08):
If you're in a on video sets, you're gonna be
in a circle with all kind of people, so they
know we're smoking together. Once you're in decided with somebody
that's your best friend, so we would all be around
smoking doing you know, in between, you know, stuff like that.
But I just never mentioned it because first of all,
I'm shy, which nobody knows that.

Speaker 3 (30:32):
When it comes to her talent, I believe you're shot.

Speaker 5 (30:34):
I don't like subjection, you know what I mean. So
if someone was to tell me I wasn't good, it
was gonna either get violent or sad. I was going to.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
And you see him a little peky wired on us.

Speaker 5 (30:56):
I'm better now.

Speaker 7 (30:57):
But but the thing is, you go back, and I didn't.

Speaker 1 (30:59):
You just out there.

Speaker 7 (31:04):
I was young, you know, but no one knew.

Speaker 5 (31:06):
No one knew because I was just doing my job
and I just was appreciative of what I was doing
at that time. And I remember Ras and I broke up,
and that's when I started pursuing it because it was like,
I can't just I saw my friend doing what she
loved and I stopped. I stopped doing, uh the wardrobe
style because I broke my leg. And while I was

(31:27):
sitting there on downtime and collecting my eighteen hundred dollars
a month in the what do you call it when
workers camp, I was like, are you gotta figure something out?

Speaker 2 (31:38):
And did y'all have the twins at that point?

Speaker 5 (31:39):
Y'all with full fledge in this thing? I was, they
were like three years old. I was, you know, res
and I went together. I was pretty much taking care
of itut myself. And it was like, you gotta figure
this out because I couldn't. I couldn't go work at
the post office, so I wouldn't be with those people
that killed anybody, you know what I mean? Like, I
couldn't do that.

Speaker 1 (31:58):
But did you know you.

Speaker 7 (31:58):
Could write a song?

Speaker 3 (32:01):
And I'm like, did you know?

Speaker 5 (32:03):
I say this? I'm saying that from the standpoint people,
you can't stifle things in you. You can't like suppress
these things. They come out wrong.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
It's good.

Speaker 5 (32:14):
So I did know I could write songs because I
would get all the rads, would get these packs from
Dave J Dilla, and that's who I would write over.
I would write over unreleased J Dilla beats and I
didn't even know who somebody. Wow. When he was getting
these tracks, I didn't know. I was just singing over
him and I loved Like Water for Chocolate. I love

(32:35):
that album so much. And eventually he told me, oh,
that's the same thing that, did you know?

Speaker 7 (32:40):
And it came together. But I wrote so many songs.

Speaker 5 (32:42):
Over I wrote like maybe to one beat, three and
four songs because that's what I had. Did you tell?

Speaker 3 (32:48):
Did you?

Speaker 5 (32:48):
And j Dela ever?

Speaker 1 (32:49):
Did he ever know that?

Speaker 5 (32:50):
Like?

Speaker 8 (32:50):
Did you No?

Speaker 5 (32:51):
I didn't.

Speaker 1 (32:52):
I know.

Speaker 7 (32:52):
I never met this man.

Speaker 5 (32:54):
I didn't I didn't know.

Speaker 7 (32:55):
You know, I didn't know. I just loved music, and
so what RAS would have.

Speaker 5 (32:58):
I would go through whatever he had, and I remember
he particularly had the CD from Jay Dilla, and I
would play those that CD over and over and write
songs to those. I would write over Prince Records. I
would write over already written songs that I would just
hear the music and start to formulate my own song
over the music.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
That's harder.

Speaker 6 (33:19):
That's that's harder than a lot of people realized, to
like write over oh god, yeah, to take yeah yeah,
Like to just take something that's already established and just
write a new song over that. To hear that in
a different way, like that's that's.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
A skin book songs.

Speaker 7 (33:36):
I did that often.

Speaker 5 (33:37):
I just you know, I don't know if you guys
ever were in a place where you couldn't do it
or didn't seem like a realistic thing for you. I
just wanted to do it. However, I could do it
because it was in me and it needed to come
out to the point that it was making me depressed
and sad.

Speaker 7 (33:51):
I didn't even know why, you know, so I just
had to do it.

Speaker 5 (33:54):
And I would just takes a computer and put it
in his CD and just start the CDs of beats
and yourself.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Can I ask one question, because the thing is is
this might be the only chance that we get to
ask a former stylist a question. Okay, And I'm also
you know, I'm I'm a I'm a I mean, I'm
a Kenya Barrass supporter and completed. So you know, Zoe's
character on Grownish is a stylist.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
Now she is good for you and mayor.

Speaker 1 (34:24):
I'm supporting all my Kenya Bearrass projects. You know, thinking thing,
but my question is what is the process of being well?
First of all, who are your clients? Were these established music.

Speaker 5 (34:36):
Oh yeah, no, we were Will Smith's stylar team for
about two to three years. Police nas r Kelly.

Speaker 3 (34:46):
These are good, these looks.

Speaker 5 (34:48):
Yeah, we would. My friend she had two of us
from high school. Were just high school friends like having fun,
you know, and so she was the key. Nanga was
the key, my other We were all three best friends.
Nanga was the key. I was more administrative, and my
friend Myisha Loong. She was also like a second in
line for like creative, and we would kind of like

(35:08):
the mod squad. I don't even heard of mod squad
with June Ambrose. Yeah, we were kind of like that.
And you know, we would be on different different sets.
She would have three jobs going the time. I'm on
this set just one of our set. We got assistants
under them. You know, we had a whole thing moving.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
How do you secure Like, okay, so for me, my
crock obsessions getting a little crazy now, So how do
you secure accounts from? Do you go like from established
the companies and also from newer people, Like how do
you call them?

Speaker 5 (35:44):
You just call them so you would back then That's
all we had to do was call them, send them
a letter, let them know that we're working facts, and
back then a letter let them know that we're working
on something and if they were interested in that, artists,
they would then it's product. And back then, you know,
back then, and it was like lots of money involved.
They gave you. People were giving a lot of things away,

(36:04):
so we could know. But even when we would come
in with a new maybe because we had top clients,
when we come in with a new artist, we could
get them all. So, I mean we would do projects
sometimes and pay for nothing because we could get so
much stuff for free from these different home companies. You
just kind of we just reached out.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
But also know that it's problematic where an artist will
like an article or garment a little bit too much
and then you're not going to see it again. Yeah,
I've been I've been part of many video shoots where
it's like where are those Jordan's at? You know that
sort of so yeah.

Speaker 5 (36:41):
But now in the product place and the situation they're
giving it to you. Now where you're when you're going
to a studio service, which is you know you probably
know this, really you go and you have to pull
clothes from you know, the different department stores or Gucci
whoever they let out the clothes on consignment.

Speaker 7 (36:59):
This is where the problems came.

Speaker 1 (37:01):
That's where the rappers. Boy, where the boys are like,
you know, you.

Speaker 5 (37:09):
Might have to stand next to for all days, put
it in your bosom or something, because.

Speaker 7 (37:15):
They will literally try to take it.

Speaker 5 (37:16):
And then you know, you would be on sets with
rappers that had like fifty dudes from the hood, and
you're in the hood, you're not just you're in Queen's
Bridge with fifty people that's here, that's supposed to be here,
then hundreds of others that's not and five for two
one hundred and ten pounds, I have to protect this
whole trailer full of merchandise probably up.

Speaker 7 (37:36):
To about a cool hundred thousand dollars.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
You know, you know you've been in a situation before
Tjer where you was like, I'm not.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
People don't bridge, no.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
But you heard what she said to me. She said,
people not even tested, not even tested, no, Because it's.

Speaker 5 (37:50):
Like, at the end of the day, I come from
a place where I know what's going on. Yeah, you know,
so when I see and I also talk to people
with respect and tell people what's really going on. Like
I got kids to feed don't mess me up. You
take this stuff and I'm mess you know, I got
to step from my pocket and you take it. You know,
So you talk to people like they're like, oh, baby girl,
it's all good. You know, I got whatever. And if
I could get you something, if I you know, cause
it'll be like some free sneak, cause here you go,
take this. This is what you get. You can't have

(38:12):
this just have to be paid for.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
Just common sense, street sense, converce chucks. Thank you, teacher,
I appreciate that.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
Exactly more stylus question, like, on that note, since you
talked about being in ciphers and being on sets and whatnot,
did your experiences as a stylist, uh, kind of make
you a little apprehensive about entering the music business.

Speaker 2 (38:34):
Or where was it?

Speaker 3 (38:35):
Like, Okay, I feel like maybe I know a little
extra because I've been around.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
On the other side. Yeah, yeah, you know, it.

Speaker 5 (38:40):
Didn't make me apprehensive as much as it just may
like these people are crazy, you know as hell, Yeah
they're crazy, and it's different, you know what I mean.
So like I learned then this is not real world.
Like you're from a place where when someone says, hey, teacher,
you know, they really mean that, they mean it. Where
I'm from a new role as your face is what

(39:01):
you see on somebody's face is what it is. And
now I'm in this situation where you cannot tell who's
real who you know.

Speaker 7 (39:11):
So then I just got to this place so I
just assume everybody's faith.

Speaker 5 (39:19):
And it helped me moving forward to and it helped
me moving forward in the music to realize that there
are way more of a people than I thought. You know,
when you start out thinking everybody's little phone in your faith,
then when you start to meet genuine people and you
connect with your tribe, it gets really cool. So it
helped me to think that I could endure it knowing
what I was getting into.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
How did you make the transition from styling to songwriting.

Speaker 5 (39:43):
I broke my leg. I broke my leg. We were
doing a job and like to pay the Canyon or
something like that, and I had taken time off, and
I was this was my first job back, because now
I'm hating style. You know, I got to the point
where I was hating styling just like I was hating
I broke my legs, and I just kind of like

(40:11):
I was heeling up to go back to something that not.
I loved working with my friends and all this stuff.
But as much as I like clothes, I like put
them on myself. I'm not I'm not a person of
a service type of person. You know, I'm really an artist.
You know, I'm really an artist. So it was just
strange for me to kind of want to do this,
not open up my mouth and tell anybody I want

(40:32):
to do it, but I'm putting clothes on people that
are doing it and no envy of them. It just
became very frustrated, like I don't want to do this anymore.
And God literally broke my leg and sat me down
and made me have to figure out what I really
wanted to do and come to terms with because I
already knew. Just come to terms with it, like go
for it. Rapped this something really followed me. He just
had to help me. He didn't have a choice. He

(40:55):
did something so fu he didn't have a choice to
deny me what I was asking. And that's kind of
how it started.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
The summer.

Speaker 6 (41:04):
Yeah, so okay, without getting into what he did. So
when you you say he you know he did you
was that did he put you on in some way?

Speaker 5 (41:12):
Like with the job or right, and he just introduced
me to someone. The first person I went to sit
down with before I even went to go make my
album was Ritten Jerkins. He was working on my friend,
my friend, you guys have to parton me.

Speaker 7 (41:25):
I smoke a lot of candidates in my brain together.

Speaker 5 (41:31):
But my friend he worked with because at the time
we had worked with Will Smith for years, and my
friend he worked with Will Smith, and so he put
me he had he knew lots of different producers and
he was really good friends with Rodney Jerkins, and he
just would hear things. I don't know how he knew
I wrote, maybe I was, maybe I recorded something over
a beat, whatever, and I love him here because he

(41:52):
was my friend, so I didn't I don't let him
hear it whatever. And he was like your teacher. Come,
he's writing for Destiny's Child. Then he's working for working
on Justice Child's album, and now come to the studio
and meet Robby and blah blah blah blah. And that's
like the first person I sat down with. And I
think that's when we got a rat started to take
it serious that I might really start doing this, you know.

(42:13):
And then when that thing happened, and then he's just like, Okay, cool,
I'll introduce you to Paul Paully and Paul Pauly and
I just started kind of getting a vibe going. And
Paul Pauley, I don't think, thought I was that good.
He was like, you gotta sing more, you gotta push more,
you goat blah blah blah. And I was thinking, I
don't really want to do that, but okay, I'll try
because I just wanted to. I just wanted to make music.
And we just kind of started going from there. But

(42:35):
I don't know was.

Speaker 6 (42:36):
Paul was he Well, before we get into that, which
is your songwriting and stuff, dip it low?

Speaker 2 (42:41):
How did that come up?

Speaker 5 (42:43):
All of my songwriting came about while I was working
with Paul Paully working on my album. They were all
songs for me, every song I gave away until I
started to actively write songs for other which I learned
I wasn't really good at writing for other people. I
was better at writing songs for myself and then letting
them fit into my outfit, you know what I mean. So, yeah,

(43:05):
that's where all of my songs came from.

Speaker 1 (43:06):
That is it hard writing for other people because you know,
you would have to know their life experience in order
to speak for them.

Speaker 5 (43:14):
I think quest is like goes back to being a stylist.
I ain't really want to do it, and I'm a Sagittarius,
and it's like we really want to do what we
want to do.

Speaker 7 (43:22):
We so help and on doing we want to do.

Speaker 5 (43:25):
So when I would sit down to write for people,
I don't think I cared enough about what their experience was,
you know, like I didn't get it. I didn't care
enough to get into them. I had to literally write
for people that were just singing my songs. It was
so hard for me to try to figure out what
this little young pop girl on. I just had to

(43:46):
just put myself in that place.

Speaker 7 (43:48):
I couldn't consider them, you.

Speaker 1 (43:49):
Know, even if it's a situation of a big client
that yeah, Mary J Blige.

Speaker 5 (43:56):
I put myself in Mary J Blige's place. You know,
I couldn't be married. Plus I probably could be married
because you know she raised all of us, you know
what I mean. So, but the thing is like I
had to put my way of learning how to do
it was to say, okay, I'm to be commiss now
you becoming because trying to pull it out of them
or have these kinds. Some people it's just like a styling.

(44:18):
Some people don't know what they want to say. Fact,
you know, some people don't know what they want to do.
Very yeah, you know, it's very hard to pull personality
and all this stuff out of because you have understand also
at this time, we're doing better now. This time when
I was writing, it was trash out there. So I'm
coming in and I'm singing this song and it sounds
so great in the AARs like oh, and I was like,

(44:38):
I love it, I love it. I love that.

Speaker 7 (44:39):
This is great, this is great, this is great.

Speaker 5 (44:41):
But the bitch can't sing so that now she's trying
to sing this song and you hate this and now me,
you're looking at me, and.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
I did my job.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
Are you there? Nine times out of ten?

Speaker 5 (44:56):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (44:56):
For the vocal tracking like do they want you?

Speaker 5 (44:59):
Sometimes sometimes and then sometimes not. But if I'm there,
you know what I'm doing. I'm putting voice on it.
I'm just gonna lay myself all over this thing. We're
gonna straight up.

Speaker 7 (45:09):
And that trick, that's trick.

Speaker 5 (45:14):
You know, it just really hit me here are you
beating that?

Speaker 2 (45:17):
Like I am here in journey and.

Speaker 3 (45:19):
Everything I'm really I was thinking about this earlier. I
was like Teaser and Fonte are parade everything.

Speaker 5 (45:26):
Straight up and down.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
We didn't talked on Twitter about doing something. Listen, No,
everything you're saying, it's coming.

Speaker 6 (45:34):
It's coming. We just over the right time, but it's coming.
But no, seriously, everything you're saying that was exactly like
what I saw, kind of like working as a songwriter,
and it was just one of those things where it's like, Okay,
I done wrote the song, I done sang it, and
then tracked it, produced it. I'm gonna keep this ship
for me, you know what I'm saying, Like, rather than
sending it to whoever else and.

Speaker 7 (45:54):
Got a lot of money, I wasn't.

Speaker 5 (45:56):
I've never been signed to a publishing company, so nobody
was putting me in the studios. It's been full home studios,
and I'm spending all this money to go on these
studio to write these songs. Now, you know what I mean.
I'm spending all my money going to Sometimes I would
go in and they will put me in or whatever.
But when you're gunning to just get a song to
an artist, you're you're gonna go and be proactive and
you know, figure it out yourself. And then you're loving it.

Speaker 7 (46:17):
You're loving it, you love it, you love it.

Speaker 5 (46:19):
And then we go in and she can't sing it,
and you're mad at me. And I just never understood that.
Like I said, we're doing better thanw We're getting artists
that can actually perform, you know, but back then it
was rough.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
Yeah, that was why I think we saw like pre autitude.

Speaker 5 (46:34):
These girls. You know, I was like, Lord Hellers.

Speaker 6 (46:38):
Yeah, it was Yeah, that was why I think we
saw like in like the early two thousands, like when
you saw like Neo Carrie Hillson who like Sean Garrett,
like you started seeing those songwriters kind of become artists.
Like I saw that shit coming. I'm like, all the
work that they're doing, yeah, they might as well put.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
This out on it.

Speaker 5 (46:56):
Let me add this, Fonte, the producers getting forty fives
on the.

Speaker 2 (47:00):
Track and I'm getting let's talk about it. Let's talk
all the way about it, right, Let's hear y'all talk
about it.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
Talk about.

Speaker 2 (47:08):
Man. Well, I let teach you.

Speaker 7 (47:10):
You know, you're not getting paid.

Speaker 5 (47:12):
You're not getting paid to the producer gets paid for
making a track, he gets a front in the back end.
I don't know if it's changed out, because I don't
really write for people like that no more.

Speaker 7 (47:20):
My piece is with myself.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
No, it's worse, it's even worse. I don't do it anymore.
But it's it's yeah, it's trash.

Speaker 1 (47:26):
So you don't write on SPEC anymore. That's what songwriters
or songwriters are supposed to write on SPEC.

Speaker 5 (47:32):
Yeah, and I'm not. I'm not a work for hire person.

Speaker 7 (47:34):
I'm just not there.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
And I never really a publishing company. I found that
like whoa, Okay.

Speaker 5 (47:39):
No, and I own my own stuff, so I'm gonna
eat either way because people like me and I can
just tell my own stuff and not be all right.

Speaker 1 (47:49):
Take us on what's the beginning or the genesis of
what we now know is complex simplicity, Like the moment
where you're like, I'm on my.

Speaker 5 (48:01):
Own list, this is my part I've been waiting for.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
Let's go.

Speaker 7 (48:05):
Sour, that's the thing, right, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (48:07):
Family is completely we're not coming back after this, right,
it's done.

Speaker 7 (48:10):
We're not doing this after that. But I didn't take
them back because you know, that's how it was. But
I moved to a new place left and we get back.

Speaker 5 (48:16):
Together and then I'm like, Okay, I can't do this anymore.
He introduces me to this producer. But in this interim
of us not being together and the producer me, me and
the producer, my mom dies. That's my whole world. I'm
my family is everything to me. I was twenty four
five or something like that. I have these two sons.
The father is not he didn't want kids. He told

(48:39):
me that it was something he was where this and
I'm stuck. And it literally was like I don't know
how I was to explain it. What it was like.
I wasn't gonna breathe unless I got this stuff out
of me. You know, I wasn't gonna breathe unless I
got all this pain out of me. And that's really

(49:00):
where it came from. Me just writing, going every day
to Paula's houses in Glendelle and I lived in Pasadena,
which is very close to each other in LA and
going to his house every day and just you know,
first of all, the night before, sitting standing in front
of the Marita entire time, just writing so I don't
sing it to myself, you know, writing songs because trying
to make myself happy. I was very sad, and then

(49:21):
going in the next day and laying these songs, and
I remember we got down to this song that was
called what's the last song on my album?

Speaker 7 (49:32):
Do you remember the one to Mama?

Speaker 5 (49:36):
I think of you? Yeah, shout out to chanics. But anyway,
so I was, I was trying to I was trying
to perform it in the studio, and I just kept
falling that they were they felt so bad for me.
I literally would just keep trying to sing it, and
if I would get one note out, I would fall
down to the ground and just start crying because it's
just a year after she had passed. And I really,

(49:59):
when I look back and retrospect quas it was just
me just trying to get all this pain. I didn't
care about man of y'all hearing this record.

Speaker 7 (50:07):
I didn't care about if it was gonna be number one.

Speaker 5 (50:09):
That's why people want to seek for people say, oh
my wish this would I had no you have to
put intentions behind things.

Speaker 7 (50:15):
I had no intention.

Speaker 5 (50:17):
But to get it out, to get it happened, what
happened to it. I didn't care. And then when one
day Pauline was dropping me off at my house and
he was leaving, and I was like, we should call
it simplicit or something. I said it backwards. I said
something like simple complexity or something like that, and people
was like, yeah, complex simplicity.

Speaker 1 (50:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (50:35):
And then I started to think.

Speaker 5 (50:36):
About it, like maybe about a year after it came out,
and it was like literally what my life was at
that time. It was literally what my life was at
that time, complex simplicity.

Speaker 10 (50:46):
I was just.

Speaker 5 (50:48):
Life happens. But I didn't understand that. I was too
young to understand. People die, your man cheat and do
horrible things to you.

Speaker 7 (50:55):
He might not even say you can see you got kids.

Speaker 5 (50:57):
You know. I wasn't it at Paul for the life
I have fallen into, and complex simplicity was the beginning
of me starting to understand my path and how I
had to go. It was like, literally, like I guess
it's just that was the diary of me growing up.

Speaker 6 (51:16):
Talk about Paul Paulie because I never knew, like I mean,
I had never seen him produce. I don't know if
he did anything after that, but Your Record was the
first time I really saw him, you know, uh, really
featured in that way.

Speaker 2 (51:29):
What was what was his story and what was his background.

Speaker 5 (51:32):
Uh, he is Armenian and comes from wealth. His family
owned like Jewish studies and stuff like that. But he
loved music. He loved me just so much. And I
think the thing I knew that he did before Complex
Simplicity that did really well was that's the.

Speaker 7 (51:45):
Joint, that's the jam, turns it up.

Speaker 5 (51:47):
Oh yeah, right, yeah, he did that. And he worked
with Riz and you know, and I wasn't really eager
to work with him. I wasn't at all. But the first,
the very first song that he the first very first
beat he gave me was cough on that caution to
be no, let's put who song is that caught up y?

Speaker 7 (52:13):
Yeah, So that's the very verse beat he gave me.

Speaker 5 (52:15):
And that's the very first song I ever recorded, And
that's on the like, that's the very first song I
ever wrote in full. It's the very first song I
ever recorded. And we just clicked right away.

Speaker 7 (52:27):
He's the Sagittary's too.

Speaker 3 (52:28):
Oh goodness, yeah, I know that was crazy, like oh
that might be didn't want to stand until it was
this black lead.

Speaker 5 (52:36):
It was like he literally just starts screaming every like
Plie Polly was a great guy, and like we I
had a chance because we did an anniversary thing.

Speaker 7 (52:49):
You had a chance to see him.

Speaker 5 (52:50):
And he doesn't do music anymore, like you know, we
went completely away from music, and you know, has a
beautiful family and everything's actually he does the music. He
does Christian music because it's say it turns to turn
you out, make you go completely, it'll make you go
may So you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 7 (53:11):
He chose that rot.

Speaker 5 (53:12):
But really great guy, very very still when I hear
stuff he does, you know its still got that same time.

Speaker 7 (53:18):
Yeah, great guy.

Speaker 3 (53:19):
Can we just stay in complex and put simplicity for
a second, because I wanted to ask you a question
about songs, like I wanted to ask you know, you
said you were on the studio crying and I was
looking at the list and I was like, you'll never
find which could technically be like one of those songs,
but it comes so hard, And I was curious about
the story behind that song too, like and I guess

(53:40):
it's all rare.

Speaker 1 (53:41):
Yeah, how much of this is all about.

Speaker 3 (53:43):
I'm guessing all of it is.

Speaker 5 (53:45):
Which is the time I did.

Speaker 7 (53:47):
I didn't know that at the time they would be
like this time about Rat.

Speaker 5 (53:49):
I'm like, no, it's not because.

Speaker 7 (53:50):
It was pouring out so naturally.

Speaker 5 (53:51):
I didn't think it was about anything.

Speaker 7 (53:53):
I didn't know what I was doing, you know what
I mean.

Speaker 5 (53:56):
I just was pouring out. And you'll never find what's
the the lady I can't stand and right and people
and people's see sample and she was singing, you know
on that record, the samp that we sampled. You know,
you'll never find a better woman or a bigger fool.
So we knew. I knew that's what I was gonna

(54:18):
build off of. When he told me the sample, man,
you should hear me. And Paulie had this great thing,
like I've never.

Speaker 7 (54:24):
Had this before in my life.

Speaker 5 (54:25):
The same thing like with me and Ras had this
great thing and I've never had it again.

Speaker 7 (54:28):
It's like these two, those two.

Speaker 5 (54:29):
Guys, we had this connection that was something different. And
with Paulie in the music side, we would sit there
and like get so excited, you know what I mean,
so excited about the music. And so he would he
let me hear the sample, and he was let me
hear where it came from and let me hear what
he did. It was really amazing, and I was like
and he was just using a I think he used
a bit of her singing in it, and I was like.

Speaker 7 (54:50):
Okay, that's what I'm gonna do.

Speaker 5 (54:51):
I'm gonna speak on that because I was going through
a bunch of shit in my relationship at the time,
and I was leaving. I hadn't left yet. I mean
I was like one foot in, one foot out. You know,
when you're a mother of somebody's children, they kind of
got access to you, probably up until five. So I
always tell my homegirls like, if he got a baby,
mama and he's still smashing kids, not five, because that's

(55:12):
just kind of how it goes. I don't know why,
but it does.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
So this is essentially wait, can I ask it? How
familiar were you with Marvin Gayes here, my dear, and
how much influence did that have? I mean, at what
point did you realize that this wasn't just an album

(55:47):
of yours but this was your diary, your social media
you're Were there anything that was too t and I
that you decided no, I can't put this verse on
there or this this is everything not for sale?

Speaker 2 (56:01):
Not for sale?

Speaker 5 (56:01):
No I didn't. I didn't have that kind of stuff
or for cool at the time, I just was doing
whatever came out. I didn't know to filter myself. But
let's let's let me tell you this. I had heard
Here my Dear, great.

Speaker 7 (56:13):
Album, blah blah blah, but not really paying attention.

Speaker 5 (56:15):
You know. I hadn't really paid attention like that until afterwards,
I was. I got into it and I connected with
it so very much.

Speaker 7 (56:26):
I heard it before, but I think not until.

Speaker 5 (56:29):
I lived that and then experienced it after it. And
I remember one time I pulled up the Blakesleep and
I was playing.

Speaker 7 (56:40):
I was playing Here my Dear, and hand was like,
don't listen to that.

Speaker 5 (56:43):
No, don't. He was like that to yourself, don't listen
to that that you shouldn't you want to be happy,
don't listen to that. I mean, it was just like
I didn't know. I didn't to say when you asked,
when did I know? It was my dad diary. Plus
I didn't know the album was that good because I'm
hard on myself, right, so I never thought it was
that good.

Speaker 7 (57:03):
I didn't know that album was that good until about
three years later, and.

Speaker 3 (57:08):
Yeah, started coming back to me.

Speaker 5 (57:13):
Yeah, it started coming back to me, you.

Speaker 3 (57:15):
Know, and it became the international that motherfucker album.

Speaker 5 (57:19):
Yeah, people start coming up to you shaking and crying,
you know, freaking you out. You say, oh, well, maybe
you did something because of cool you know, maybe maybe
you did something. But I never I never took it
that serious to this day, I don't, you know. I
just feel like we do things it pours out of us.
I feel like we're just vessels. Like you know, you

(57:40):
got to open it and then you got the spout
and God pours into you and you pour out and
that's just how it goes.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
So I don't want to and I don't.

Speaker 5 (57:47):
Hold lot of ownership to the accolades that come with
it or the criticism. I don't hold that stuff. So
I can't really hold you know, like, oh I did
this stand. I'm just grateful I was.

Speaker 2 (57:58):
A vessel talk about being a girl.

Speaker 6 (58:00):
That one was so for us, like on the on
the like the heavy hip hop side. The thing that
caught me about that is it was a sample of
or a replay of a recogn nods that did called
one on One, which was it was on the street
Fighter soundtrack, which like that crazy so random, like it
wasn't like a big NAS record, but it was you know,

(58:21):
if you knew what you knew it And so I
was like, oh damn, she singing over that. Then the
beat drop, I was like, oh shit, she's singing singing
like this shit is hard? So how did that one
get chosen to be the single? And kind of what
was that trajectory like to see that record kind of
go up the label.

Speaker 5 (58:36):
Chosen as the single? I thought it was slow. First
of all, I didn't want to be.

Speaker 7 (58:41):
So mellow y'all.

Speaker 5 (58:41):
Still, I got this hyper I could have been a rapper.
You know, y'all have such a hyper personality. So I
didn't want to be so mellow. That's where Polly came
in to like smooth me out, you know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (58:51):
He was like, well, his number one question was always
ended annoying the shit.

Speaker 5 (58:54):
I mean he would always be like, what a lia sing?

Speaker 2 (58:56):
This?

Speaker 5 (58:56):
What a lising? This a li do? And I'm like,
why do you keep? Because I wasn't really I wasn't like,
you know, simp like soft like that essential like that.
I mean maybe I was, and I just didn't see it,
you know what I mean. Because my friend would always
tell me that's always been you. I didn't see it.
So when that when we first started on that beat,
it had these dirty, dirt, way dirtier drums, like kind

(59:19):
of Brandy signing, not not so like they didn't crack
like the ones that are actually on the record, and
Ras did that rasp. He was like, put the Mary
Jane Girls drums on it instead, you know. And that's
kind of how that came about. And the street side
of thing. I'm gonna tell you the truth. I didn't
know that that was a sample from NAS. I don't know.

(59:39):
I just would watch Belly every day, multiple times, multiple times,
didn't on my couch, smoking and joint. Why it probably
stipping some hype of tubac chuck from Trader Joe's. Yes,

(01:00:00):
this is a day where you just have to find
a little coin to get through, you know. And so
I would sit there and I would watch it, and
I just got so infatuated with not I like, I
made this idea about who this man was that probably
really wasn't him, and then I just got into like
listen to his music and all this stuff. I was
so so so so into him that I just started

(01:00:23):
writing this song, you know, with him in mind.

Speaker 7 (01:00:26):
Like, you know, it wasn't particularly.

Speaker 3 (01:00:29):
Oh God, but where was he going where my money?

Speaker 1 (01:00:37):
I put my money where my mouth is. I have
a closet full of twenty Africas. I knew that. I
was like, Yo, I'm gonna make me some Africa as
far as T shirts, I'm my only client. I got
like twenty Africa's T shirts in my closet right now.
That is my gym shirt, my pajama.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
Nah. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:01:01):
So with TVT, I wanted to ask you particularly what
was their deal as a label. I knew them particularly
from just doing all Little John stuff, you know what
I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
But where your dealings with them?

Speaker 8 (01:01:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (01:01:15):
TV tunes? Yeah yeah, tv Tunes? What was your relationship
with them?

Speaker 2 (01:01:20):
And how was? How did they go with them?

Speaker 5 (01:01:22):
So I went through I don't think I everatory eybody
it is. So I went through a production company that
was Paul Pauley and a guy named Dubs. I don't
know Dove's last slam and sorry Doves, I'm gonna tell you.
So I went through them, and what happened was they
signed me to TVT. I really didn't want to go
to TVT because you know, I've been working with I've

(01:01:43):
been working with all these major labels and I really
didn't want to go to TVT, but I did pray
and ask Goot to send me the best place. And
I definitely think that was the best place because I'm
a natural born indie artist. So we went over there
to them and also a lot of other places. They
liked me, but they didn't want me to write my
whole album. I know, I no one knew who I was,
but I knew I had to sit it was. The

(01:02:03):
whole point was for me to write the album, even
more than singing it. I wanted to write it, you know,
And so they agreed for me to do that. And
Brian shout out to Brian Leech, who is the owner
of Polo Grounds with Asaph, Rocky and all of them. Now,
he was at an R at the time, and he
really really you know, fought for me really really hard
and and took care of me while I was there.

(01:02:25):
But I signed to him directly. I signed him direct
I went through Bridgehood Entertainment, this production company, because that's
back when that's what people we do.

Speaker 7 (01:02:34):
You would go through a pressure company.

Speaker 5 (01:02:35):
And Doves tried to flip my advance in the streets.

Speaker 6 (01:02:47):
To break it to be slight, transparent, transparent to the
point of, yeah, well, yeah, he.

Speaker 7 (01:02:55):
Tried to cop he didn't go.

Speaker 10 (01:02:57):
He ended up going, Yeah, he wanted to cop bricks
with my money, honey, and so he yes, he tried
to flip my advance and ended up going to jail.

Speaker 5 (01:03:09):
And then I'm just here and Paulie was the music guy.
He was the business guy. So I'm just here and
it's just me and TVT and shout out to Brian
Leech because he took me and my partner, my sister
to Mia and he just took us under his wing,
kind of just looked out for us because we didn't
know what was going on. We didn't even know, we
had no clue what was going on, and he kind

(01:03:31):
of just took us in and looked out for us.

Speaker 7 (01:03:33):
And Steve Gottley was like nuts. But I dealt with.

Speaker 5 (01:03:37):
Him really well because I didn't have expectations. See, when
you come in and you've gone through the one on
one of the music people you know, and Hollywood people myself,
you know they currency already so I knew he was.

Speaker 7 (01:03:48):
Crazy, but he did give me what I needed, you know.

Speaker 5 (01:03:51):
I think I was the first. I think Lil John
was kind of pissed because I was like the first
one to get like a certain amount of money for
a video, but but I wanted Hype Williams. They were
so happy to be a smart all abel to get
Ky Williams that they just gave them, you know, and
it was still a discount belief right exactly. So TVT
I have no qualms. People have such bad things to

(01:04:11):
say about the people that put them on because it
didn't go right. You wouldn't be here without those people.
So I have nothing bad to say about TVT. Shout
out to Steve Gottlieb, and I love Bryan Leach. He's
one of my really really good friends. TVT was very
very good to me, and I think it was a
great place for me as well to hone my skills because,
like I told you, the first song I ever wrote
was on my first album, so I hadn't been doing

(01:04:31):
it long, so I got time to just like go
into studio, and a lot of times I was using
their money to write so much for other people that
I'm supposed to be working on my own, So they
helped me a lot. Brian Leach would just put me
in the studio any city I'm in I would get like,
I'm in such and such, can you put yourself? He
would put me in and I would just hone my skills.
And you know, the more you do anything, the better
you get at it. So TVT was a great college.

Speaker 6 (01:04:53):
And while you're doing all this, where are your boys?
How are you handling being a mom?

Speaker 5 (01:04:57):
I lived in California with at that time, I lived
and we live in an area called Altadena, and we
literally live like two streets over from each other. We
all it's like a little above Pasadena, a little neighborhood
nestled into the mountains, and they would look out for me.
And my mom was sick. She was probably she passed
by that time. My mom had passed by the time,

(01:05:19):
so she couldn't help out. But my sisters would help.
And Raz's mom she would help so much like my
first tour.

Speaker 7 (01:05:24):
She took them stuff like that.

Speaker 5 (01:05:25):
But for the most part, I was being able to
be there, definitely able to be there. I prayed and
ask God that my kids would be certain kind of people,
and I think that that God was like, Okay, well,
you're gonna have to be there.

Speaker 7 (01:05:38):
You're not gonna be able to do a lot of things.

Speaker 5 (01:05:40):
These other people are doing because you have to be
present for your kids and that's kind of how.

Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
It hands out. Does this explain why there was such
a long gap between albums?

Speaker 5 (01:05:50):
Oh, I gotta have something to say it because I
would really love to be somebody that could churn it
out like that, Like I just really have to have
some life experience. Like after I did Complact Simplicity, I
didn't know what to say. I just knew how to
make music really good, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (01:06:07):
How did you feel when the album was mastered in
sequence and done with? Like? Was it? Was it a purge?
Feeling like Okay, I got everything out that I wanted
to get out and what now?

Speaker 5 (01:06:19):
Or I wasn't I wasn't present, so I don't know.
I can't tell you like I was just rolling YEA
does understand? Okay, family fall apart, mom dies, Now you
have here an album, Now you on the road, blah
blah blah.

Speaker 7 (01:06:32):
I have time to think about it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:34):
You get time to process it.

Speaker 3 (01:06:35):
And then are you making sure you're making up for
what you're doing? Because I'm thinking about now you go
on the road singing the same sad songs that you
that you came up with, you know that you were
trying to get out of your system.

Speaker 5 (01:06:46):
That's no more.

Speaker 7 (01:06:47):
I didn't get ship one thing about a Saturdy tavist.

Speaker 5 (01:06:50):
On't we get it.

Speaker 3 (01:06:51):
Outand no, I knowd friends, I'm sorry, But once we
get out what we have to say, we.

Speaker 5 (01:07:01):
Don't care anymore. We don't care anymore, you know, like
once we say what we have to say, and we
can say some file ship and we don't mean to
be so, but but once we get it out, it's done.
And I was like, come on, look it maybe something
to eat, let's have a drink's good.

Speaker 3 (01:07:15):
You know, yeah, And then we just left with the
ship and be like, okay, well wait a minute, and
then get my mind right now.

Speaker 2 (01:07:20):
You just dropped the bomb and what a to do?

Speaker 1 (01:07:23):
That information?

Speaker 5 (01:07:24):
But it's not like I'm not offering a drink with
that information after information. So I'm on stage just having
a good time. Now I'm out here just having a
good time. You know. That's when it just turned into
so much fun, traveling all around, realizing I'm not the
only crazy one, because if you all here singing this
stuff with me, and you can relate, y'all just as
nutty as me. So I'm not the only one.

Speaker 1 (01:07:45):
I'm okay. I'm trying to remember. This is a legendary location.
The album cover. Did you shoot that cover? The infamous?
Do you know these style houses? Is that okay?

Speaker 5 (01:08:04):
So I think it's a missentry modern. Is that you're
talking about the style of it, the architectal style? No?

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
No, no, okay, So it's it's kind of the house
that you see in every holly to do with it?

Speaker 5 (01:08:17):
Yeah, it's what what was the Ricky Lyon? Is that
the first place that was? Yeah, that's the one I
saw it.

Speaker 1 (01:08:28):
It's literally it's called no Style s T a h L.
And it's, uh, that's.

Speaker 5 (01:08:33):
What it's called.

Speaker 1 (01:08:35):
Yeah, well not the it's it's it's just that's the location.
They titled it the Style House, and it's been used
in over you know, at least three hundred I mean
probably more than five hundred Hollywood movies. But it's it's
very recognizable. So when I saw that window thing in
the back's.

Speaker 5 (01:08:55):
The only part of the house this nice looking?

Speaker 1 (01:08:59):
I was I was going to ask you, okay because
similar to similar to the diner that Quentin Tarantino used
in pulp Fiction, which is another kind of Hollywood staple
like this. This diner is never used to serve food.
It's only used for movie houses to look like it's
a diner. But I went in there once and it

(01:09:21):
looked horrible. I always wanted to know, like if that
house was vintage or was it classic, or when.

Speaker 5 (01:09:28):
I was there, there was still a lady living there.
I mean, I don't know if it was this old couple,
but the old lady was still in there, and I
ended up seeing I saw her in her bed and
like she was kind of sick or whatever. But they
had like carpeted and it was kind of mill like.
Only one that part, that part of the house, for
the window winds in that area.

Speaker 7 (01:09:45):
That's the only part of the house that was nice.

Speaker 5 (01:09:47):
I'm sure now they probably invested more money in it
to make it better with maybe not really or maybe
not because it was it was doing what it was doing.

Speaker 1 (01:09:53):
Either way, you know, it's supposed to look like it's
nineteen sixty or sixty five.

Speaker 5 (01:09:57):
So that's not the part I'm talking about. I'm talking
about the other part of the house where it's okay
for it to look nineteen sixties. But there were technical
issues like mildew carpet, you know what I mean, Like
these things can be changed out. You could put more
carpet and still be nineteen sixties.

Speaker 1 (01:10:13):
So how did your what was the most apparent change
in your life now that you made the transition from
you know, not being a singer to being well known
in singing, Like what was the where were the pros

(01:10:34):
and cons of your newfound transition?

Speaker 5 (01:10:39):
The pros as a writer, I started making a lot
of money. That was really cool. I was literally without
a place to live. I'll stay homeless, but I was
without a place to live because I could live in family, right,
but I didn't have anywhere to live. I had to
I got invicted. Well I don't get evicted, but I
had to leave before I got evicted, And being a
kids would just kind of like.

Speaker 7 (01:11:02):
Stand where we could.

Speaker 5 (01:11:03):
And then like a three hundred thousand dollars check came,
and it just then it just started coming every few
months more and more and more.

Speaker 2 (01:11:10):
That it was that that was all songwriting royalties from
song because.

Speaker 7 (01:11:14):
You have understandabody.

Speaker 5 (01:11:15):
It was like checking for complex supposed to be like
that that was just you know, artist, I mean, that
was probably like a little sprinkling there somewhere, but it
wasn't like the bulk of it. And that was really
really cool. That was cool to like go from having
nothing and to see that like your intellect, your intellectual
property could garnishes. And people started to come at me,

(01:11:37):
you know, to kind of sign publishing, and it felt
very cool, cool to say no, I'm okay, so.

Speaker 1 (01:11:41):
Right now, song placement money is good money if you
can place it on the right artist.

Speaker 5 (01:11:49):
Yes, And I also think you got to own your
publishing because if somebody, if somebody gave you a check
and now they taken you know, see thou used to
tell me you used always try to get on pulish
and he was saying, didn't you. You must not believe
in yourself.

Speaker 7 (01:12:01):
You don't believe in it.

Speaker 5 (01:12:02):
Steve got be the owner of the owner of TV.
He would say, he would say, you don't believe in yourself,
You don't believe yourself. Why wouldn't you sell your publish
and you must not believe in yourself? And I would
live laugh like that. I would I.

Speaker 2 (01:12:13):
Believe in myself. That's why I'm not selling the shit right.

Speaker 5 (01:12:17):
But that was my that was my biggest change and then,
because you have to understand, I didn't meet people. I
wouldn't walk down the street and people noticed. It wasn't
like anything like that. And not until I got to
me like Europe or something, that's where people would notice me.
But I got to make money, which really kind of
Raphael Sadik is one of the artists that I watched
and looked at and what he did, and it was
kind of like, I love how his theme goes, Okay,

(01:12:40):
he doesn't Raphael can walk or he can walk around
be himself himself, you know every now and it's maybe Rafael,
but he doesn't get not an essene of course, but
I mean like he he he gets people that comes
up to but it's not like in a bothersome way.
He gets to do what he loves, live his life,
make his money, be a normal person, you know what
I mean. And I saw that from the gate and

(01:13:01):
I thought that was super super cool. So I was
kind of like, not never. I hate to say it,
but I've never really wanted any type of fame. I
just wanted to be heard because I'm not the type
of person that you can just run up on my
face with cameras and say something crazy to me or
and then I have to now conduct myself like a celebrity.
I'm not gonna conduct myself like a celebrity. I'm gonna

(01:13:21):
conduct myself like a real person with real feelings, and
I'm gonna treat you according to how you treat me,
no matter who you are, you know what I mean.
So that was something I was really grateful for. I
didn't really I didn't want that. Nothing I even see
that happen people.

Speaker 3 (01:13:34):
I was just gonna say, that's why it's important to share,
like your story, That's why I mean, it's remarkable in
that way because you are that person and the same thing.
I know Fante talks about that all the time, but
a lot of people don't know that, Like, you can
be a whole, working, successful musician and you don't have
to be on every commercial, every TV thing and be happy.

Speaker 7 (01:13:50):
Unless that's what you.

Speaker 3 (01:13:53):
Want.

Speaker 1 (01:13:54):
That's what you.

Speaker 7 (01:13:54):
Want, And I think it's beautiful when people want that
and they get that. But so when people ask me,
you know what anybody should to get to know what.

Speaker 6 (01:14:01):
You want anything more so than that, know who you are, like,
because I think there's some people that are like they
just have that thing of like like a Will Smith right,
just as it was not a singer, but just Will
is Will. Like he one minute he jumping out a plane,
and then he doing a movie, and then he's discovering Earth,
and then this nigga losing weight like you know what
I mean, Like he just always is doing something, and

(01:14:23):
and there are just sill some people that are just
those big personalities, and then there's just some people that's
just like, look, I just want to make what I make,
put it out, and then y'all leave me the fuck alone.

Speaker 5 (01:14:32):
Now you have a second job, and they don't ever
say I'm not so successful. I get up every day
and do what I want to do.

Speaker 2 (01:14:39):
You know what I'm saying that when I'm talking, I.

Speaker 5 (01:14:41):
Might not be in a cover or magazine. I might
not be the song you hear every time you came
on the radio. But if I wanted.

Speaker 7 (01:14:47):
That, please believe me, I would have it. I never
had intention of that.

Speaker 5 (01:14:50):
All I wanted to do was not work some type
of job I hate it, and be able to take
care of my kids. That was it.

Speaker 3 (01:14:56):
Yeah, that's why this is a surprise.

Speaker 2 (01:14:58):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (01:14:59):
I'm just saying that's why I was not surpris to
hear her response in that way, because if you're a real
fan of Teaser Moses and you kind.

Speaker 2 (01:15:03):
Of kind of had a feeling, that makes sense. Yes, yes, yeah,
how did so?

Speaker 6 (01:15:07):
Speaking of that, how did your situation with MMG, how
did that come about?

Speaker 2 (01:15:12):
And what was kind of the like, how did that go?

Speaker 1 (01:15:16):
Well?

Speaker 7 (01:15:16):
I lived in Miami.

Speaker 5 (01:15:17):
I moved to Miami, I think two thousand and nine,
all the two thousand and nine I moved to so
by twenty ten, I think Ross had caught lind to me.
I think he found out about me in Atlanta because
Atlanta is a really huge market for me, and so
he found out for me in Atlanta. He said some.

Speaker 7 (01:15:32):
Rashet girls telling him about me.

Speaker 5 (01:15:34):
Or something like that, and then he reached out to
me on DM because we only lived about ten minutes
twenty minutes away from each other like that, Yes, come
over and then we all hung out and it was cool,
you know, and that's he had it had just gotten meat.
Well he hadn't signed any about it yet. It got meat,
and he got wild and he kind of was like
kind of building his thing and I would just go

(01:15:56):
in and sing on stuff and it was cool. But
it just never panded to anything.

Speaker 2 (01:16:00):
Okay, gotcha.

Speaker 6 (01:16:01):
So the record when you put out Kanyak and Conversation,
was that stuff you recorded wow, like during the energy
time or was that just a completely different thing.

Speaker 7 (01:16:10):
It was during the MMG time.

Speaker 5 (01:16:12):
But I was never signed to them and anything that
I was doing for like.

Speaker 7 (01:16:16):
I pray for all that, like, you know, I was
taking care of that.

Speaker 5 (01:16:19):
Like it was just something I was doing while I
was discussing with them, you know, if we were going
to do something or not. You know. But I'm like
a one, I'm a I'm a woman, you know, like
I'm a grown woman. So it's like kind of different
to have this, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:16:35):
I don't really just slip.

Speaker 5 (01:16:36):
In line with everything. I'm teacher though, not girl woman
with two kids.

Speaker 4 (01:16:48):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:16:48):
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 5 (01:16:49):
But it panned out, and I was really grateful because
I would give him. I think probably up until like
maybe two hours ago, I was seeing all over his stuff.
I'm very loyal to anybody that extends a hand to me.
I'm very very loyal. If you need anything from me,
you know, I'm just I'm if you have ever done
anything to be helpful to me, I'm always seen and
so I would sing on this stuff or whatever. So

(01:17:10):
people thought I was still connected because I was seeing
it was.

Speaker 1 (01:17:13):
The process different than this record, and that you worked
with one producer yeah for the last and multiple producers
for this record.

Speaker 5 (01:17:26):
Yes, very much so, because I did tons of mixtapes
before that album came out, right, and so I was
kind of like it was just really liked.

Speaker 2 (01:17:37):
That was the one for me, Like that was it?

Speaker 5 (01:17:38):
Oh, thank you?

Speaker 7 (01:17:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:17:40):
But I would do these mixtape and I think because
like I said, the first album, I did you have
things saying I had not only did I have Paul Pauli,
I had Neo, and I had Paul Pauli and Neo
and they were helping me through this process of creating
an album. Then I didn't have that anymore. And then
so now I'm just making these mixtapes and I'm kind
of learning how to make an album brough exercising, making mixtapes,

(01:18:01):
making all these mistakes. So by the time I get
to konnak and conversation, that's just the mood I'm in.
But I kind of just gathered. I make music constantly,
always making music. I'll started just be like a first
and a hook vattle later for two years, you know,
and then I'll come back to it and the first
and the hook that comes to that, and then I
listened to the music and now now I'm doing more
to the music and things like that. And that's kind

(01:18:22):
of how the process was for Konnak and conversation. I
didn't have this pain to pour out.

Speaker 7 (01:18:30):
It was more so just like music coming.

Speaker 5 (01:18:32):
Out than these feelings. Do you see what I'm saying?

Speaker 6 (01:18:36):
So it was that hard for you because that was
that was Yeah, that was something that was tough, like
learning how to when you're used to, I guess creating
from a place of pain or trauma or like a
bad relationship.

Speaker 7 (01:18:46):
I got the whole Mary Blake, J Blos.

Speaker 5 (01:18:48):
The more saying I'm in the better than music. It
really is really whack, you know, to the point where
I'll thrust myself into some bullshit just to learn.

Speaker 1 (01:19:02):
You're not the first person I know that keeps their
ex on standby. Well no, no, no, I'm not saying you
said that, But I know people that actually, I gotta
get with my ex real quick. No, I know people
that actually right get their ex on standby so they
can finish this last verse or something I need.

Speaker 2 (01:19:22):
I need some toxic tails.

Speaker 5 (01:19:23):
You know. Really what it is is like you need
to feel because I'm a genuine person, so I can't.
I can't just you know, act like I feel something.
I always everything I said, everything I say and do
is coming from my heart, you know what I mean?
So like I just at that time, Kanyak and conversation
was more about.

Speaker 7 (01:19:39):
Okay, you're at a place where you you know, you're.

Speaker 5 (01:19:42):
You're not in pain anymore, you're killing whatever, and you're
ready to go out here and do your thing. You're
a grown woman, sexy, you five, you know, go out
here and do your thing. But it was different in
rightly because that ain't really.

Speaker 1 (01:19:58):
On that record.

Speaker 6 (01:19:59):
You work with two very good two good friends of
mine from the Bay, my man Tracademics. You did so
special record with my man Brandon, one one of a Kind,
One Oak. How did y'all, Lincoln, I was very surprised
to see you and happily surprised to see you work
with them.

Speaker 2 (01:20:13):
How did you come across the work?

Speaker 1 (01:20:15):
Oh my god, I never knew that's what one of
these stood for.

Speaker 2 (01:20:21):
One of a kind.

Speaker 3 (01:20:22):
I didn't the New York Club, But.

Speaker 5 (01:20:32):
Yeah, no, I definitely had to ask him that question
and he told me what was going on.

Speaker 7 (01:20:36):
I definitely had to ask him what because I like
Brandon could have just been right.

Speaker 2 (01:20:40):
That's what I always called him, Brandon. That's a shout
shout to them.

Speaker 5 (01:20:43):
The Bay is another place that you know, a lot
of support in the they and you know, I have
cities in America and outside of America that are cities
that I can always get my money from, and so
the Baby was one of those cities. And Tracademics hit
me long time ago. Was usually such a fan of
this is all social social media. How I met them,
you know, because he hit me and he was a

(01:21:04):
fan of complex simplicity. And I'm the type of person
that I don't just like eh, I don't do that.
I really always go look and see who this is.
I don't care if it's somebody that's huge or you
know whatever, I'll go check it out and see. And
I just loved his sound to this day, like we
work constant Man, always work together because he has such
a great song. And to me, I'm okay with evolving
into anything that I'm supposed to evolve into. But there's

(01:21:25):
a base to what my sound is, and I don't.
I don't like to really kind of like dismiss that base,
you know what I'm saying, Like it could be something
different and fresh and new, but it has to have
that face, and he completely has that face. We call
it Champagne soul. It's like it's really really sophisticated.

Speaker 1 (01:21:43):
You know, twirl.

Speaker 7 (01:21:44):
The girls don't twork, they twirl, you know. And so
it was just very easy.

Speaker 5 (01:21:48):
It was very easy for us to connect, and Brandon
kind of came along with that.

Speaker 2 (01:21:52):
Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, I like that.

Speaker 6 (01:21:56):
The record that on the Luxurious Underground Joint That's so
specially and Missing You, those are my two ones from that.

Speaker 7 (01:22:02):
I love songs for real, thank you very much.

Speaker 5 (01:22:05):
Missing You was like a village from the album that
was supposed to be The Young Lions. It was just
fillage from this album that I was dismantled.

Speaker 2 (01:22:13):
So, okay, yeah, the Young what happened? What happened with
that record?

Speaker 5 (01:22:16):
Well, Paulie wasn't there anymore. I think Brian was this
that I'll be working with one producer like we did before.
But like I said, you know, I hate to be vulgar.
People think it's vulgar. But I always say making music
is for me. I can't speak for other people. It's
like having sex. And I'm not a very for mystery
as a woman because I can't connect with everybody like that.
And I don't do things just to do them, you
know what I mean. So me and.

Speaker 7 (01:22:36):
Paulie we had this zeps, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (01:22:39):
We had the chemistry, you know, and I just didn't
find somebody else to do that with. So I would
go out and work with all these different people, but
I don't think that they were trying to recreate that
that thing. And so before we could figure that out,
I was ready to go, you know, and then TDT
kind of just went and fell apart. It went bang up.

Speaker 2 (01:22:59):
Interview. You're in your material.

Speaker 6 (01:23:01):
I think the person that I hear that you have
a really good chemistry with. And I don't know personally,
you know, if it compares to a probably or not.
But you and Bank, like yo, we y'all do not
fucking miss like I love the records y'all do together?

Speaker 2 (01:23:17):
What was it like?

Speaker 5 (01:23:18):
Really we really friends, you know, like Bink and I
really friends like Bank will call me invent and I
don't listen.

Speaker 2 (01:23:27):
Yes much.

Speaker 7 (01:23:33):
Yeah. So I think that's the thing. I think that.

Speaker 5 (01:23:40):
I've been in the studio with the most the most
world now and amazing producers, and like I said, it's
like sex. It don't mean it's gonna work, you know
what I'm saying. And I think me and Benk just
have a good chemistry. I think because I really genuinely
like him and he genuinely liked me, and we care
about each other. So it comes out that like that.
And I wish I could just have sex with anybody
but I. And that's kind of how it is with music.

(01:24:02):
I can't. I can't. I can come in here and
I can have every good intentions to make this great,
you know, but if it doesn't click, I don't know
how to go in the mold of like this isn't clicking,
make it click. I don't know how to do that
because I feel like I'm in my sweet spot when
it when it's like rolling, When I force it, it
gets really whack and I don't.

Speaker 7 (01:24:21):
Like that part of what I do. It makes me
start to feel like I'm like, so, I.

Speaker 2 (01:24:24):
Just like I don't make you questions. So were you
and Anthony together?

Speaker 6 (01:24:28):
You and Anthony when y'all did that one record, we
all together in the studio when y'all did that record,
we were.

Speaker 7 (01:24:36):
No, no, we weren't. I did that by myself and then.

Speaker 2 (01:24:38):
I sent it to Oh okay, okay, yeah, that was
another one of my face.

Speaker 5 (01:24:42):
And that was a track I don't want to say
because you probably know who because if you probably know them,
you're from Philly, no Carolina, you know. Okay, well some
friends of mine from Philly, I know, so I'm not
gonna say some friends of vibes from Philly. I only
had to much money to make the album, and they
wanted more money for the album.

Speaker 7 (01:25:03):
So I just took my vocals and gave them to
be being murdered.

Speaker 5 (01:25:06):
It it turned out way, but I thought it was
going to be with the first check, you know. And
that's kind of how that happened with the Anthony Hamilton record.
And then we sent it to Anthony and he got
on them.

Speaker 2 (01:25:17):
Okay, now that one that's you was Thope. I love
that record, Thank you so much? For real?

Speaker 6 (01:25:23):
Was your label situation with Shanicky when you in twenty fifteen?

Speaker 2 (01:25:27):
How would they work with them compared to TVT? How
is that for you.

Speaker 5 (01:25:31):
I learned to appreciate tv T a lot more, okay,
And I learned.

Speaker 7 (01:25:37):
That you don't want to.

Speaker 1 (01:25:42):
I learned.

Speaker 7 (01:25:43):
I learned that you don't need a middleman.

Speaker 5 (01:25:44):
That's what I learned. I learned you don't need a
middle man.

Speaker 1 (01:25:48):
Fact your current situation, are you your own manager right now?

Speaker 5 (01:25:53):
Or we have it's just we have a team. Me
and my sister are partners and that's kind of how
we roll. I guess I would be partly my own
manager because we just kind of work together on it.
But I've never had like big management or anything like that.

Speaker 1 (01:26:08):
But is that like being the wedding planner and the
bride at the same time.

Speaker 7 (01:26:11):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (01:26:13):
No, I don't be the bride and the wedding planet.
I really just be the bride and my sister. Yeah,
she she should be sitting here to tell you how
crazy I am. And you know, she takes on a
lot of hats and you know, stuff like that. It's
definitely I would love it for it to be, you
know where I'm completely detached from it, but it's just

(01:26:33):
not possible.

Speaker 3 (01:26:34):
What do your boys think about now that their they're artists? Contrast,
they think about the way that you have lived your
career and the things that they're gonna they're taking away
from it as far as you know, to being as
great indie artists.

Speaker 1 (01:26:48):
That you are.

Speaker 7 (01:26:49):
Well, they saw the up right now, right right.

Speaker 5 (01:26:52):
So it makes me feel happy that I didn't do
so bad in the down times to make them be
like I don't want to do this, you know, So
that makes me happy. And they just always have always
championed me, like I get nervous to let them hear anything.
Always have since they were you know, like I just
really respect their opinions so much, and I think more
than anything is kind of they were kind of like me.

(01:27:13):
They had it in them, burning in them. They didn't
even tell me forever. I didn't learn one of their
friends told me that they rap or whatever. You know,
I didn't even know. I think that they just.

Speaker 1 (01:27:21):
All of this family doesn't share their intimates.

Speaker 5 (01:27:27):
They told me because they told me, well, we thought
we thought that you wouldn't want us to rap, because
you know Dad raps, and.

Speaker 2 (01:27:33):
You know, you know how you feel that right.

Speaker 3 (01:27:38):
You and him are like friendly now, like it's like
thirty years twenty years later, twenty years.

Speaker 5 (01:27:42):
Later, I had listen. I love him with all my heart.
He's my first love ever, you know, first everything. You
know what I mean, And so I love him all
my heart. And but we don't have any beef nothing.
We super cool. We always like we could be We
could always be friends, because that's always we were. My
only Quama who ever has been not being a father
to his children. That was all it.

Speaker 7 (01:28:01):
That was it, you know.

Speaker 5 (01:28:02):
So now he don't like when I say stuff like this,
but like I can't rewrite what happened, you know, So
it's cool, Like we can sit down and talk. We
can be cool each other. He basically laugh.

Speaker 7 (01:28:10):
I'm making cool.

Speaker 5 (01:28:11):
But that's my only problem. So now that that's done,
let's have a shot. You know what I'm saying. It's
all good.

Speaker 7 (01:28:23):
But it's the one time that you did say something
to me.

Speaker 5 (01:28:27):
You were like, it's.

Speaker 7 (01:28:33):
Okay, it's okay, it's okay, no friends, it's no bad.
And you said nothing bad.

Speaker 5 (01:28:39):
You said nothing bad.

Speaker 7 (01:28:39):
You just asked me a question, and I was like,
that was it.

Speaker 5 (01:28:42):
I never heard from you again.

Speaker 6 (01:28:53):
Pretty well, so with them, So with your son's coach contra,
do you, I guess, do you play any role in
their career, Like, how how do you manage that? You know,
with them, you know, doing their thing and you're doing

(01:29:15):
your thing? How does that work?

Speaker 7 (01:29:16):
Those are my children. I am their mother.

Speaker 5 (01:29:19):
All I can do is off as artists to artists
off of them, because first of all, let's start here.
I ain't gonna sit up here pretend like I know
a lot about this business because I've been in the
industry at Teacher Moses. I haven't really been in the
music as the record business, right, Yeah, I'm in an
industry at Teacher Moses. I make how many off of
I very rarely opened for people. I was always doing
my own shows, my own you know what I mean.
So I don't really know much about that. So I'm

(01:29:40):
not going to sit down and ask like I know
of this stuff, you know. But what I do tell
them is about navigation of human beings in this space,
you know. And I tell them about being good. I
think one of the reasons they didn't want to tell
me for a long time because they knew if they
were whack, I was going to tell them.

Speaker 1 (01:29:55):
I was going to say, this is not good.

Speaker 2 (01:29:58):
It's not like I.

Speaker 6 (01:30:00):
Yeah you listen, yeah, like listen, bro, you want to
hear it from me, because if you hear it.

Speaker 2 (01:30:06):
From me, you know it's coming from a place of love.

Speaker 1 (01:30:08):
You hear from the internet.

Speaker 2 (01:30:09):
Them niggas don't give a fuck about nothing.

Speaker 5 (01:30:11):
They used to say all the time that they want
to be basketball players. Have you ever seen their dad?

Speaker 1 (01:30:15):
Have you seen.

Speaker 5 (01:30:18):
I told them all the time when they were a
little girl child told us to.

Speaker 6 (01:30:22):
Do five to you standing outside the trail in Queensbridge, son.

Speaker 1 (01:30:29):
Listen.

Speaker 7 (01:30:33):
Everyone says that I think the.

Speaker 5 (01:30:34):
Complex that you talk.

Speaker 7 (01:30:37):
I talked leg, I talk.

Speaker 5 (01:30:38):
Like a giant. But I think the complex simplicity because
I get this all the time.

Speaker 7 (01:30:42):
I think the complet.

Speaker 5 (01:30:42):
Simplicity album where my leg is kind of out of something.
I think people think that that's a long leg. Now
I haven't.

Speaker 3 (01:30:48):
I have a long leg, but that's.

Speaker 5 (01:30:56):
Definitely not say this Fante is so much more pleasurable
to see them doing what they're doing than it was
for me because I did it out of desperateness to
take care of my hids and to like get to
not be you know what I mean. Like they're doing
it because they just love it and they enjoy it

(01:31:17):
and they're happy about every single thing. I went to
see them. Was that last week the week before last
they opened it for Corday and they were on age
and these people don't know who they are and they
chant everything has staying it. It's like my heart just
wanting to bust wide open because it's just very good
to see your children pursuing their purpose and getting reaction
from it. You know, it makes you feel really really good.

(01:31:38):
And I also know how long they've humbled themselves and
just worked hard and kept their head down and they
you know, and now they's getting reaction to it.

Speaker 2 (01:31:45):
So it makes me feel really Nah, they've been on
it for a minute.

Speaker 6 (01:31:47):
I mean I see them like they going up now,
like I've seen like a lot of stuff like the
LA Leakers and all that. But I'll be telling them like, yo, nah,
them boys been on it for a minute, like they've
been at it.

Speaker 2 (01:31:56):
So I'm super super happy for them, brothers.

Speaker 1 (01:31:58):
That's dope. Epigenetics is a beautiful thing, man.

Speaker 5 (01:32:05):
And hip hop.

Speaker 1 (01:32:11):
The jeans down to that's that's awesome.

Speaker 6 (01:32:13):
I wanted to ask Teajer one thing I wanted you
to break down I think would be really helpful for
all our listeners and some who are you know, aspiring
artists and independent artists. For you as an independent uh
as R and B because that's R and B is
super I tell everybody it is so much harder doing
indie R and B than doing indie hip hop. Like

(01:32:34):
it's being too completely the words costs a whole lot
more way more specially so for you, what moves the
needle for you?

Speaker 2 (01:32:41):
Do you find? Is it shows? Is it videos? Is
it you know?

Speaker 6 (01:32:46):
Is it content? You know, just releasing ship on ija whatever?
What are the things that work for you as an
indie artist that you actually see dividends from.

Speaker 5 (01:32:57):
Well, I definitely, you know, well, I see differicends from
the shows, A definitely. That was That's what kept me
for the most part. But I think it's just the
only the publishing has always you know, those checks come through,
you know what I mean, And so yeah it comes
through and and.

Speaker 7 (01:33:16):
You know, merged us decent.

Speaker 5 (01:33:18):
But it's not because I'm not trying to push that
as much as you know, because I love music, so.

Speaker 2 (01:33:24):
I'm not trying to start a clothing line.

Speaker 5 (01:33:26):
I have to think and then like and have people
help me with that. But I think, more than anything,
what is the most productive, not just money wise right.
The shows and touching people have made me have like
this kind of more cult kind of following, you know
what I mean. I've been seeing the same people and
these these I have like a lockdown like ten to

(01:33:46):
eleven cities that I'm gonna always get my money in.
And I see these people all the time. I know
their children, you know what I mean. I know all
these people, and I think that I think the Internet
is great, and I think it can get you to
a lot of people. I think ultimately, a real connection
is when you're on stage, you know, and when you
get off stage and you talk to people and you

(01:34:07):
do like I'm a I was always big on before
people would doing this.

Speaker 7 (01:34:09):
Like these pop up shows.

Speaker 5 (01:34:10):
Okay, because I travel a lot, just because I like
to travel, you know, and so.

Speaker 7 (01:34:15):
I would just pop up in cities and just in
a small bar and.

Speaker 5 (01:34:19):
You get a guitar player. I love that kind of stuff.

Speaker 7 (01:34:22):
Like I love that kind of stuff.

Speaker 5 (01:34:24):
I love real connection with people. I think that's what
it is with me. I like your experience with me
to be very intimate, so it feels like I'm your friend.
I don't want you to fan out over me, because
that's weird to be. I just want you to be
my friend, you know.

Speaker 6 (01:34:36):
Yeah, that's about how do you use in terms of
using social media? Because I talk with a lot of
artists now, which we're different because we kind of came
up in an age before it, so we know kind
of what it was before. But artists now, like social
media is just something that you have to have some
kind of presence there, and that's not something that we

(01:34:59):
really had to have.

Speaker 2 (01:35:01):
So how do you navigate that in terms of using
your social media? What works for you, what doesn't? How
does that work for you?

Speaker 1 (01:35:09):
Well, you know, I.

Speaker 5 (01:35:09):
Started with my Space, and I'm always engaged, and I've
always engaged people, and I've always been transparent. I've always
been very transparent on social media to like I said,
to make people feel like I'm not someone up here.
I'm your homegirl next door. So when I say, you
know whatever, I'm seeing what I've been through and blah

(01:35:30):
blah blah. Or if I'm on a video telling you
this at a third You're not listening to me like
somebody talking down to you. Listen to me like someone
talking across you, like a friend. But that's kind of
how I approach social media. It's new now because it's
like called content, but I just always been doing this.
I've just always been being myself on social media. I
have to step it up now because it's like.

Speaker 1 (01:35:52):
I hate the job.

Speaker 7 (01:35:53):
I used to love it. But the thing is, I
used to love it.

Speaker 5 (01:35:56):
I used to really freaking you had to do engaging
as people.

Speaker 7 (01:36:00):
Until it became a thing.

Speaker 5 (01:36:01):
Right now it's like you know this and the third
but I actually do like it, So I'm triggering.

Speaker 7 (01:36:06):
My head back into like liking it.

Speaker 5 (01:36:07):
A lot of the things that are going on now,
I used to do them before, not because I thought
it was a thing.

Speaker 7 (01:36:12):
Because I just wanted to do it.

Speaker 5 (01:36:14):
Do you understand what I'm saying? So I just couldn't
I continue like I always say, you know, continue what
you're doing and go harder to anybody, just continue what
you're doing, go harder. And that's how I post social
social media. Just now, I'm fixing my mind being that
I'm moving to new music to continue what I'm doing,
but be more concise and like strategized about how you know,
strategizing how I want to do it.

Speaker 3 (01:36:35):
I love to watch you stand in your power on Instagram.
I was just thinking about that. I was telling the
guys that. I was like, I love that you stand
in the power who you are not just inside but
also outside, you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (01:36:46):
And I'm a pretty girl.

Speaker 3 (01:36:47):
Yeah, I mean you're gorgeous.

Speaker 1 (01:36:49):
That's what I mean.

Speaker 5 (01:36:49):
You're gorgeous and you're surprisingly sick. So I was like,
I love, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:36:54):
We shouted you out on that. I must shout out
the little brother shouting you out on our guest.

Speaker 5 (01:36:58):
Really, yes, change myself situation, baby, that are you serious.

Speaker 1 (01:37:04):
People?

Speaker 2 (01:37:05):
I never knew that, like.

Speaker 7 (01:37:07):
Little brother did say.

Speaker 1 (01:37:08):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:37:08):
And here's the thing.

Speaker 5 (01:37:09):
I joked a lot, like I think I'm cute, I
think I'm pretty, but it's far more beautiful woman whatever block.
But that's just a satittary thing. We big ourselves so
we don't wait for people to cheerlead for us.

Speaker 7 (01:37:17):
We just cheerlead by ourself.

Speaker 5 (01:37:19):
Like I keep my pom poms ready in case I
need to pick me up. And that's just kind of
how I am. So people experience and me being myself,
you know, and I think it's across from me.

Speaker 7 (01:37:30):
It doesn't come all.

Speaker 2 (01:37:35):
Yeah yeah in a different place.

Speaker 8 (01:37:37):
But you.

Speaker 5 (01:37:40):
I got pom poms. They's just locked down right now, girl,
I've seen them on the outage.

Speaker 2 (01:37:45):
Yeah, we've seen them on that. Yes, your your new
record so special? Round? I mean that make me with
uh Brodie Brown, uncle chum? Not that is that?

Speaker 5 (01:38:00):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:38:00):
That record is fucking great. I love it. How is
that setting up a new record?

Speaker 5 (01:38:05):
Like?

Speaker 2 (01:38:05):
Where are you? What you're working on? Now? Where you at?

Speaker 7 (01:38:07):
Yes, I'm working on i'n call the bullshit.

Speaker 5 (01:38:10):
It's based on what I went through after my kids
had grown up, right, and I didn't. I didn't date.

Speaker 7 (01:38:16):
I tried a.

Speaker 5 (01:38:17):
Little bit, but then I realized, you got out on
your plate, right, And I'm a person that when I love,
I get all involved, right, So I didn't have I
couldn't just have a man in my life that might
deter me from my responsibilities, which were taking care of
my kids and making music and you know all that stuff.
So I didn't really date. So by the time the
twins left and moved to LA to start pursuing what

(01:38:37):
they wanted to do with music, I just went out
in the world.

Speaker 7 (01:38:40):
I was like, Okay, I have a man.

Speaker 5 (01:38:41):
And you know, giving my life and all this stuff.
And I was trashed. It was trash out.

Speaker 3 (01:38:45):
There in California.

Speaker 2 (01:38:49):
Yeah, you know, I was.

Speaker 5 (01:38:50):
I was going out, but I traveled, so it's not
just in California. I'm in New Orleans, I'm in LA,
I'm in Miami. You know, I'm in New York. I'm
in all these places, right. And it wasn't that I'm
not saying that everybody was trashed. It just was trash
for me because I need genuine connection, you know. So
I've decided.

Speaker 7 (01:39:04):
I met this guy who's really good, cute, and I was.

Speaker 5 (01:39:05):
Just like, oh, hey, can be the one. I pulled
him in whatever, you know, because I'm a business woman.
That's how we handle everything else. Single mom and a
business woman is the worst because we think we could
make anything happen, right, And so I pulled this guy
into my life, and I pulled the biggest bullshit into
my life that I have ever experienced. I almost went
gayly you understand me?

Speaker 2 (01:39:29):
Yeah, okay, started.

Speaker 5 (01:39:34):
He worered me out, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 6 (01:39:36):
So it was just like, dude, that was on your
I g because I would see something that you would post,
would you post him?

Speaker 2 (01:39:42):
Sometimes? Okay?

Speaker 1 (01:39:42):
It wasn't no, no, no, no.

Speaker 5 (01:39:43):
No, I'm not I would never he could be my husband.
We could, I would you would never see some man, Okay, okay,
smart thing for women and music are no. But yeah,
it's just he just I liked him so much and
I just felt I just felt.

Speaker 7 (01:39:57):
Like it, because I'm into you, you should just really
be good.

Speaker 5 (01:40:00):
It just didn't pan out. It was just I put
myself in that situation and I wanted to blame him,
but I couldn't.

Speaker 7 (01:40:06):
So there's a period of.

Speaker 5 (01:40:07):
Time during that It's like four years that I wrote
all these songs, and it was like what was coming
out of me at that time, genuinely coming out of me,
not me trying to conjure it up. Like you know.
I have a record on the Eli Ka Trinada and
Duran Barnard, Yeah, simply called Fighting Farewell because I'm.

Speaker 7 (01:40:23):
Just I know I need to go. I knew this
is done girl, what are you doing?

Speaker 5 (01:40:28):
And I'm fighting. I'm fighting.

Speaker 7 (01:40:29):
So this is what this album is about.

Speaker 5 (01:40:30):
It's about, you know, trying to go out here and
date and the bullshit I encounter and the emotions I encountered.
But also the make Me album. We have a remix
with Currency and Eric.

Speaker 6 (01:40:42):
And Eric Belinger, Yeah, and we have to talk about
the Kate Trinada to be Your Girl, like like we
have to like and the record you did for him,
the Culture Joint on his album actually, and that.

Speaker 5 (01:40:53):
Was co written with my sons.

Speaker 2 (01:40:55):
He was.

Speaker 1 (01:40:56):
Yeah, it was yeah, the the remix bringing that song
back some twelve years after, not even twelve, it was.

Speaker 5 (01:41:08):
It was wild though. It was like twelve twenty twelve,
and I had record with Sleaks in two thousand and four.

Speaker 7 (01:41:15):
Yeah, it was yeah, it was a long time.

Speaker 5 (01:41:17):
Yeah, but I felt really good and I love him,
and I just thought it was super cool because we
got to we did that and now we all need him.

Speaker 2 (01:41:26):
You know, I can't talk that now. I was so proud.

Speaker 5 (01:41:29):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:41:29):
I was so happy, I'll say.

Speaker 6 (01:41:30):
However it happened without I was so happy to see
that be available on officially in streaming service.

Speaker 2 (01:41:37):
However it get done, I don't care.

Speaker 5 (01:41:38):
But we got together and we did it. Yeah, so
so yeah, but I was really appreciative, and I just feel, like,
to be honest with you, quest that made me feel
good as a songwriter, you know, I feel be Your
Girl makes me feel really good as a songwriter right up.
Because even if it's the original or the remix or

(01:42:00):
one of the other trillion remixes that people have done.
The fact that I did something that long ago, genuinely
from my heart and people still like it today, it
makes me feel really good.

Speaker 7 (01:42:09):
I love Maids for that reason.

Speaker 5 (01:42:11):
So the fact that I have a song that can
come on way later and people still get into it,
it just makes me feel really good. That's marks more
than the financial game of it. I feel really really
good as an artist that it's the same.

Speaker 2 (01:42:25):
I love it well.

Speaker 1 (01:42:27):
You know, I almost feel compelled to do our traditional ending,
in which we all say what we learned today. I
will say that it's don't come correct with teacher muses.

Speaker 6 (01:42:45):
You've done become part of a narrative.

Speaker 2 (01:42:51):
Yeah, she gonna write it. She's gonna write a jam
about your ad.

Speaker 3 (01:42:54):
All right, What else did we learn today?

Speaker 2 (01:42:55):
I learned I did not know.

Speaker 6 (01:42:57):
I swear I did not know that us shouting out
on the gangster girls that that you know that I
have no idea. Yeah, we was just I mean, we
were just showing you love, like I was. You know,
n we was just showing you love. I mean, I've
been bumping complex simplicity, and so you know, we're me
and Pools just talking ship that night in the studio,
were starting to keep it so, Nah, I've been a

(01:43:17):
fan forever, and you know, just I see.

Speaker 2 (01:43:20):
The people you work with.

Speaker 6 (01:43:21):
You work with like a lot of you know, homies
I know and people I really respect, and I just
really appreciate the way you've moved in this game. And
it's just You're always someone that I've always looked at,
you know, you, my brother Eric Roberson, you know what
I'm saying, just on the R and B level war
It's just like yo, it is people out here that's
eating like that are eating good and making good and

(01:43:41):
raising family.

Speaker 1 (01:43:42):
Kendred absolutely, Kendred the family.

Speaker 6 (01:43:44):
So and so I just you know, thank you and
commend you for just you know, being just that person
and that artist and just having that integrity and you know,
always putting your best foot forward in the music you
put out.

Speaker 2 (01:43:54):
It really means a lot, you know what.

Speaker 5 (01:43:58):
Everybody else go Yeah, you can so much.

Speaker 1 (01:44:02):
You can go ahead.

Speaker 4 (01:44:05):
It is your show.

Speaker 1 (01:44:06):
No Oh.

Speaker 4 (01:44:08):
I learned two things. One, uh Fonte and Teacher should
have their own podcast and conversation conversations, and two I've
never been so proud to be Sagittarius whole life.

Speaker 2 (01:44:24):
Yeah, this is like a Sagittary Sarious appreciation album. I
didn't know about big as Sagittarius, but.

Speaker 1 (01:44:30):
I know a whole lot now.

Speaker 3 (01:44:35):
I don't learned, all right, what you learn I don't, Oh, well,
I just do go quick. I have just learned that
what I already knew that teacher is my whole tribesman.
Every everything that she does I kind of do outside
of singing and songwriting. And also I've been learned that
Teacher Moses is an amazing softball player. I just want
to throw that out.

Speaker 5 (01:44:53):
On top of everything else that you.

Speaker 3 (01:44:54):
Do, this bitch can kill on the field.

Speaker 7 (01:45:00):
Well I had to that day. I'm kind of how
you can't do what I gotta do.

Speaker 3 (01:45:03):
No, you you stow, you stow bases and everything.

Speaker 1 (01:45:06):
Yeah, we played.

Speaker 7 (01:45:06):
We played a small can run fast.

Speaker 1 (01:45:09):
You'll own the softball team together?

Speaker 2 (01:45:11):
Yes, yes, yes, you know not know this.

Speaker 3 (01:45:15):
I used to play on the Boys and Girls cup
on the softballs. Yes, I'm here.

Speaker 2 (01:45:18):
My name is Steve.

Speaker 1 (01:45:19):
She knows what the sports are, the sports.

Speaker 5 (01:45:22):
I know what the sports are, all right, Steve?

Speaker 2 (01:45:25):
What you learn?

Speaker 5 (01:45:27):
Uh?

Speaker 11 (01:45:27):
I learned that she's cool and I like her and
she's a great interview. Thank you for doing this for
us today. Also in defensive asshole boyfriends, Sorry, but we
do we do help you come up with good materials.

Speaker 1 (01:45:46):
I'm ready.

Speaker 2 (01:45:48):
When is it coming? We have a date for it
yet not yet? Okay, this is okay, twenty twenty two,
it's coming this year.

Speaker 1 (01:45:53):
Yeah, okay, or you know our listeners won't be able
to see this, but okay. So she's alright, mentioned it
and I was like, all right. Instead of me looking
at my my psychedelic kaleidoscope imagery, I started putting uh
on my television screen.

Speaker 5 (01:46:11):
Belly, I tell you, I tell.

Speaker 1 (01:46:18):
You, Belly with the volume down is.

Speaker 2 (01:46:21):
Actually it's great. It looks amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:46:23):
It is a beautiful. I never really noticed the cinematize.
It's a video video.

Speaker 2 (01:46:29):
Yeah, no, script it is.

Speaker 7 (01:46:33):
I'm beautiful.

Speaker 5 (01:46:34):
It is beautiful, the.

Speaker 1 (01:46:35):
Lighted with the volume down? Who is she.

Speaker 5 (01:46:42):
Probably be very beautiful?

Speaker 7 (01:46:43):
Still she is?

Speaker 3 (01:46:47):
No, no, no, I just remember that her sister was on
a reality showing a gospel play. There's a whole nother
thing with Jenny Wye. You know, none matter, but I
know she's.

Speaker 1 (01:46:53):
Anyway, for real, teacher, This is long overdue. We thank
you very much for doing the show.

Speaker 7 (01:46:59):
Thank you guys much.

Speaker 5 (01:47:00):
I had a great time. I also want to say
to you before I go, congratulations on your great documentary.
Is really really amazing. I really appreciate that. And look,
I appreciate all that it's getting to because it was
so cool.

Speaker 1 (01:47:11):
Hopefully by the time this makes it to air, I
will winning. Yes, manifested, Yes, absolutely all right, so on
behalf of the Great Teacher Moses and I'm paid, Bill
and Chuck, Steve, Fon, Tikolo and Ev. This is another
classic much love Sacre Nate stravaganza. We will see you

(01:47:35):
on the next stor down. Thank you very much. Much
Love Supreme is a production on iHeart Radio. For more
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Laiya St. Clair

Questlove

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