Keri Hilson

On this week's episode of The R&B Money Podcast, Tank and J Valentine sit down with the incredible singer-songwriter and actress, Keri Hilson. Keri takes us back to her childhood when she discovered her special talents that foreshadowed her destiny for stardom. We get the behind-the-scenes scoop on her journey through the music industry, from her girl group days to working with legendary producers who helped shape her songwriting skills. Keri shares details about the personal and professional challenges she faced along the way. There are surprising revelations about delays that kept her long-awaited solo career on hold for years. Of course, Keri describes the breakthrough smash hit that catapulted her into the spotlight. Enjoy Keri Hilson on The R&B Money Podcast

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
R and B Money.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
We are.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Thank take out the child. We are the authority on
all R.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
And B.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Ladies and gentlemen. My name is TANKI. This is the
R and B Money Podcast, the authority on all things
R n B. Yeah. Oh, it's getting sexy today. What
this is? It's getting warm, it's getting interesting. You know,
there's brains, there's beauty. Yeah, there's a gift. There's skill,

(00:43):
real vocals, real vocals, all wrapped up in real awesome package.
Let's not waste any time on this, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Makes no noise from miss carry Hill stand.

Speaker 4 (00:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah, I don't know how to sing miscarry baby thing that.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
I don't have. Come on, come on, come on, I
always see come on, I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Know how to sing them. Come on, it's weird, come on,
excinitely weird. Now, there was a ten second grade series.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Okay nothing.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Life.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, you know what I mean. That's how you're feeling.
You're feeling like light and love. You want some grand
rise and ship right now.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
I am. Oh my gosh, oh get away from me.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
You an't even God.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Damn rocks things, Crystal, Crystal.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
I'll see where this ship going, all right, Christmas and
tarot card terms ship?

Speaker 1 (01:56):
How far you going? You got some Christmas?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Have an altar? Okay?

Speaker 1 (02:02):
You know? And you know what every crystal does you you?

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, I know what they do. Sometimes I have, Yes,
I charged them, Yes, under the full moon can be
charged with water with the sun. I charged my car
different things. You charge your car, Jay.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
Get about three twenty five to three fifty. Yeah, I
mean it's nice size battery.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Do you charge your body?

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Do you do?

Speaker 2 (02:28):
You ground that at your feet?

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Ever since I met everything, since we had we put
our feet on the ground.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
All right, thank you Eric bene these young pavement because.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
I'm a timbling kind of you know what I'm saying.
That's just where I feel like you got to wear
your timbling boots all time. Oh your funk what you're doing?
Remember you you've come on that the snow socks.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
So I'm asing it impeded the so I get my
I get a little danceability you had already it impeded.
But maybe it was the times all over.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
This is the talk about was the hell of a dancer?
Let's start there. I wasn't Chris Brown. Okay, that was
maybe his cousin Nick Brown. But I wasn't Chris Brown
should put that in the crayon Brown is nigga Brown?

Speaker 2 (03:27):
My god, it would be a whole box though Okay.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
It's so many that'd be a hell of rainbow.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Brown would have to be a whole box of crowns.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
First of all, that was nice with the dance. I
was nice with the choreography. My improv was a little
little little questionable.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
All right, but I'll give you that.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
You my chore thank you. My choreography was right?

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Did it?

Speaker 1 (03:50):
Thank you?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
You had you had it?

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Do you have some of them christals on you so
I can meditate why this nigga over here talking ship?

Speaker 1 (03:56):
First of all, I got a lot of I got
a lot of.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
You know, y'all make sure y'all google the Freaky video,
please and.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Google and google You're my Star video, which I did
really well in. You had said so yourself, I did.
I had to give it up. So you're not the
only one who dances Carrie.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
I actually don't, no, I mean, I've never considered my
It's just when you brought up the boots, it.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Was the timberling boots because I flipped thatause I did
the back flip in the boots.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
You know, that's impressive.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
If you notice that I did the Summer Salt in
the boots.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
No hands, impressive or just nasty business and out here.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Flipping n That's just where I'm from. From that it's
just out of pocket. Out of pocket. Anyway, Thank you
Carrie for for hanging out with us. I mean we've
been doing this for a month of Sundays. So this
is you know, this is not formal. This is love.

(04:59):
This is our opportunity to give you the love and
the flowers that you deserve and also an opportunity for
you to pop your ship because you because you are.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
What you're doing what you and you're doing.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
What you're doing, all right. So what we're gonna do
is we're gonna take this ship back to the beginning.
Oh lord, Yeah, we want to know where it come from.
We want to know where it stopped that.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
Yes, you gotta shout out your beautiful mama. I'm gonna
say hi to my gird.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
This man has had a crush on my mom for
twenty years now, pretend crush.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
Take us back? When did When was it identified that
that you had this.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
By others or me?

Speaker 3 (05:44):
Both? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Okay, I knew that I was special or different. Around
three or four, I remember people always asking me to
sing whatever song I knew whatever. I just remember being
at like family reunions and being that young and just like, okay,

(06:10):
I felt like a karaoke That's why I ended up
naming my publishing company Karaoke Music, I mean karaoke songs,
because I remember as a young kid, it was like
Carrie Sing, Carrie Sing all the way up through church retreats,
all the way up to high school, you know what
I mean. It was always that. So it was like
I was like, I felt like a karaoke machine. So anyway,
as young as three and four, that began, I was like,
why is everybody? But that would be the way that

(06:32):
that the only way that people would pay attention to me.
And so of course you're that young, you're going to
notice that pattern. It's just like, okay, when I'm singing,
there's everybody's everybody stops, everybody stops, everybody's looking down at me.
And you know, so my mom said.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
She knew.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
I guess around this she probably knew sooner she's let
me go to singing. Though singing, I would say, she
she finally believed enough to let me enter a talent
show in first grade, and she bought me sheet music.
Well if I was begging for a few years to perform,

(07:13):
and you know, but she let me do that just
to see, just like, what's this little girl?

Speaker 3 (07:20):
What is she?

Speaker 2 (07:20):
You know? All I ever did anyone else?

Speaker 3 (07:23):
Did anyone else in the family sing?

Speaker 2 (07:25):
My dad used to sing. My dad would sing at
the fireplace with some drinks.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
That's how he would wind down.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
He would come home tipsy and say, hey, everybody. He
would sit us down and perform for us at the mantle.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
Do you remember what he was saying?

Speaker 2 (07:44):
That it might I'm sure my mom remembers. I'm sure
my mom remembers his audience his We were a big
audience though. It was seven of us, well six others
than him. Yeah, six family of seven. Okay, so we
had a big ass audience. So we would sit on

(08:06):
the couch, line up, some of us sit on the floor,
and Dad would be at the fireplace singing for us,
and we would just clap. We were annoyed a little
bit sometimes.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Right, gig, I need you all to pull up.

Speaker 3 (08:28):
He's already talking to his pull up.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
Awesome, And my mom would be like, he's.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
Drunk because I have one. I'm an alcoholic. Everything goes
back to the fire.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Okay, I got it.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
That is awesome.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, so I got it from him for sure. But
my mother's mother was a performer, and my dad's side
all of them sing his sister, his mother, But my
mother's mother was a performer, like she was a what
do you call a baton twirler, there's a more professional
name for it, the major atte through adulthood. She was

(09:13):
for a long time, and she would perform and people
would come to see her, and so that I think
the performance probably came from her. I'm like the Yeah,
I'm like the mesh. Yeah, I'm like the mesh. Yeah.
And that was a later revelation.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Your first talent show?

Speaker 2 (09:33):
How do you use the first talent show?

Speaker 1 (09:34):
I won?

Speaker 2 (09:36):
I won, and it was a big one. It was
it was you had to compete for some reason one
through seven, like first grade through seventh grade, because we
didn't have middle school, so it was one through seven
and then eight through twelfth was high school. So they
had two categories. So I won for the elementary category.

Speaker 3 (09:56):
But you were first grade and you beat everybody.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Else everybody else alth seventh, yea, I sang I Sing
Home from the Whiz in a Poka Doddres and a
side pony pill place.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
Did you have all the theatrics and everything?

Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yeah, yeah, that's great. Mom coached me through. She brought
me the sheet music and the karaoke tape. Y'all remember, yeah,
did you ever have? Did any of y'all? No sheet
music and the tape to go with it? Like an
instrumental used to be terrible.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
We have to just learn it.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah yeah, a capella.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
Yeah, I have to record it off of the radio
whatever it was, then play the cassette a bunch of times,
and then just sit at the piano.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
Yeah. I never had a karaoke Tapeis he was rich?
You was rich.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
I don't think I could record me though. I mean,
if you could record you, that's a new level. I'm
just saying. We went to wad you track. I had
a team, but you could buy them from record stores
and piano stores. They had cover she cover music, she
music sheet music for covers.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
I wouldn't eve get new shoes, let alone, O got
that music. Start this back in tape. I enjoyed being poor.
I have way more. I never want to go back.
I never want to go back. All right, you win
the talent ship.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
It wasn't that enjoyable.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
And I want to challenge, does this push mom to
push you? Or does this or just or you just
let you know? You got it?

Speaker 2 (11:38):
I was pushing her, I got it.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
Yeah, he was pushing her into this.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Absolutely. My mom was resistant the entire time, but she
would actual yes enough for me to like, she would,
you know.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
What I mean?

Speaker 1 (11:51):
I told her she's well studied, smart, it's not just real.

Speaker 3 (11:56):
Real college to the thirteenth.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yes, she would. She would. She believed in like allowing
us to she would enrich our lives with a whole
lot of different activities. So, yeah, there were some things
I didn't want to do, you know what I mean,
But I had to do them. And if you wanted
to play the piano, you're gonna do that, you know
what I mean. She she did believe in that, which

(12:19):
I'm really really grateful because I'm like great at a
lot of things. I'm great at pretty much everything I do,
you know what I mean. It's good at least.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
It's popular ship. This is this is what this is
for continue.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
I don't suck anything, you know what I mean, anything
you throw my way, anything you think because I'm a girl,
because you know what I don't. I'm just saying it's
from the way that. Yeah, it's a character trait. Greatness
is a character trait. Excellence is a character trait, right,

(12:55):
But it's also from being exposed to so much so young,
you know what I mean. Just yeah, So when did.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
It become real? Like you as you're going through the
talent show process, I'm sure there were many of those
because it was a local thing. When does it become
like when does it get exposure on another level, maybe
a commercial or maybe a play, some musical theater or
a talent shows.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
No, it was I did do musical theater in elementary school,
and I remember doing a play at I believe it
was either the Fox Theater or the Rialito. But it
was like an African wedding. I didn't get to sing no,
but I was in it, and that was like the
bug that was like, I see, it's a full audience. Okay.

(13:51):
If I was carried now, I might have just went rogue.
I had a lot of moments where I felt like
it's real, it's nothing but a series of moments. Yeah,
it's a series. You got years in between them. Okay,
so I don't know the first one, but I remember
one of the big ones was joining the group under

(14:12):
Marvin McIntyre.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
Marvin McIntyre, Yeah, yeah, that was a big one.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
They formed. I was fourteen. They formed a group around me.
We were performing, We were showcasing for every label, all
every all of them, all the ones I grew up
reading in the credits, all of them. And we ended
up signing with Merlin Bob and Sylvia Rohne at Electra Electra.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
So we never came out, but I don't even think
we got that far. And if we did, if we did, shit,
we may not have ever gotten it.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
I didn't get to y'all goody.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
No, I think it was actually a demo deal. I
think it was a demo deal. Yeah, a development deal,
and so we disbanded before we got to that point.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
There's a development budget too, though, well just for everything
you say.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
So that's the real thing. And I started writing then too,
for the group. He's writing the songs that we would
perform years in. First we were doing covers and then
I remember this is it wasn't my first taste of
writing because I had a guy I went to church
with who had tracks and he was an ass He

(15:39):
was signed to ASCAP, and you know what I mean,
he was kind of in the mix. His name was Terrence,
shout out of Terrence, and he would give me CDs
at church of instrumentals. So I'm like, finally I could
like write to something other than a song like me
having to erase the arrangement and the singing on top,

(16:03):
you know what I'm saying. Like I had to imagine
the tracks were instrumentals, but I was writing a whole
new songs over them, and and that was I was
successful at being able to do that, which is now
I think informs the way that I create now because
I can really isolate, you know what I mean, any player, Yeah,
they gave it a name. I can do that with

(16:26):
voices too, Like somebody could be talking in a room
and I'm like, I didn't hear a word you said
a word.

Speaker 3 (16:34):
That's good and bad.

Speaker 1 (16:38):
Yeah I do that, but it's hyper focused. So it's
if I'm hyper focused on something, I could oh.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
Yeah, yeah he's on out, I'm gone.

Speaker 2 (16:47):
I guess that means I'm hyper focused.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
A baby, baby, baby, Well this is my family member.
They're still alive. They grew up, They fairy fine, but.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
Like full steps, like stopped out.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
He had this trip moment.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
What is going on? Prince was on TV and it
was my first time ever singing and hearing Prince. And
so for me as a kid, things would things would
hit my brain like and stimulate me in a way
that I didn't understand and I will completely be lost.
And I was just I remember walking towards the TV and.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
I hope it wasn't like a dance. I hope you
were break out.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
I just I just kind of stepped on the baby
and I remember screaming like what I look at his way,
So you stepped on the day. I didn't mean to.

(18:06):
I mean to, And so I can zone out. That's
the point of.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
The especially when music is involved. I remember those, y'all
remember those moments.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
God, now you can scare me, Like if I'm zoned out,
you could scare the ship out of me. You know
what I'm saying, Like my kids have done it. It's around.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
Around. So he's stepping on babies.

Speaker 2 (18:35):
Now you're writing, Yeah, I was writing songs, so I
was getting tracks and then it turned into writing for
the group, and that was real because he was like, well,
he put us all in separate rooms and he said,
here's the track I got. I want to see what
y'all can do. But had years, I had years.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
Yeah I got this smashed, yeah, real fasts. Yeah, I
like me.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
They were coming to the room like are you done?
Are you done? I was like, yeah, I'm done. Do
you have all the parts?

Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (19:03):
I got the harmonies, you know what I mean? It's
fully written.

Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
It's like I'm stuck.

Speaker 3 (19:09):
They had never really done it. I got it, I
got you, but they had never really done.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
They'd never really done it, and it's not it.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
Do you still?

Speaker 2 (19:14):
Easy thing? I reacquaint with them or one of them
really from that group? Really only once? And was it
been thirty years? Okay, not thirty years twenty five?

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Okay? But on the bad way?

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah? No, yeah one. Well actually yeah, they went as
separate as ways could go.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
Oh wow, okay, okay, you remember the name of the group.

Speaker 2 (19:40):
By design, by design, design, give it one became mine? No, no,
I know, I didn't really like that. I did not
like the name. I don't like the name.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
Don't never let her bring that back if she signs
the group. I know, yeah, we're not doing that.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
I didn't like the name. But one became one ended
up stripping, and one became the Minister of music.

Speaker 3 (20:05):
Yeah became.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
Okay, so that.

Speaker 3 (20:11):
Body was on the.

Speaker 1 (20:16):
Magic City got the best impossible Burger in town? What nothing?

Speaker 2 (20:25):
He goes to Magic City for the impossible Burger tank.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yes we do, I mean, yes we do.

Speaker 2 (20:31):
Apparently they do.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
Yes, we do that impossible burger magic shout out to
Magic I'm just talking to Lulu about that. He was
on the phone. He's like, he's like, you've been to
Magic City yet? I said no, but the Impossible Burger
is calling me. All right. So anyway, this group you're writing,
does anybody hear that, like hear these songs from this
group and identify you as as the writer as the

(20:54):
singular Yes, talent.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
That Anthony did was one of them. Shout yeah, he
was one of them. Focused Teddy Bishop.

Speaker 3 (21:08):
Oh yeah, these are well started getting around.

Speaker 2 (21:11):
It started kind of there's this girl. Yeah, there's this teenager.
She's also in college.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
So you're in college by now.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
I'm in college. Yeah. Because I was in the group
from fourteen to I went to college at seventeen. I
think we disbanded at eighteen. Yeah, fourteen to eighteen.

Speaker 3 (21:32):
How fast did you get in another group? Because I
met you when you were in a group.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, it happened faster than I wanted it to. I
wanted to work on Carrie, but then then I started
writing for those people and more right when the group
disbanded and Dent had the idea to again put a
group around me. It's not what I wanted, but I said,

(21:58):
I'll give you a little time on this. I gave
him a little time on.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
It, and he met me during that group.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
So I was nineteen, I think, or maybe it might
have been a couple of years. I don't think I
was twenty.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
Yeah, yeah, that.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
Was pretty Tony.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
Now.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
I like that name. You came front on Pretty It
was four girls.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
It's a nigga from Oakland naming his group after a
nigga in the Mac name Pretty Town.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yea, I know exactly.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yeah, So then there's that, but like and we were bad.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
These are these are the pretty Town you remember?

Speaker 1 (22:41):
You know what?

Speaker 3 (22:42):
No? I remember saying to Dent, I said, group is cool.
Her mm hmm. Her ended up being you. This was
just my assessment of it, you know what I'm saying.
And at that point, I'm the super young nigg in
the industry. I had got me some little records I'm cracking,

(23:04):
you know, I got placements and ship and moving around
New York as a writer. I was seeking them as
my partner, you know what I'm saying, because of our
mutual friend Stewart, right, so that like, man, Valentine, I
need you to come by. Man, I got these girls.
You know, I'm twenty twenty one years whatever I am
at the time, like you got you said, you got

(23:25):
yours over there. I come see what she got over there.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Back.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
I got me a little bag already coming. And then
you know, I.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
Was there too then because Shakir was very instrumental in
like setting up our showcases for then, you know, for
the girl.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
And I was kind of I was quietly a bit
of a taste maker for them, especially for Shakir, because
I was younger than them. So it was like if
our young partner who really out here, really moved went around,
if he fuck with it, It's something like That's how
they looked at me, like they without me even being
an actual an R. I was kind of like the

(24:08):
consultant that wasn't getting paid. I was getting paid in
the parties.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
That's when I started. Johntay Austin took me up under
his wing while I was that was a great wing.
So he was like, didn't I would say it was
my first songwriting mentor. And then Johntay like as a
actual songwriter, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, it's
a great wing. He brought me my first He taught

(24:45):
me how to cover my throat, brought me my first scarf.

Speaker 3 (24:48):
Of course.

Speaker 1 (24:54):
Elegant.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
We go over there right there and go open that
drawer right there. It's it's it's some things in there.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
He taught me so much though about like about just
formatting and arranging and just I just got to watch.
He brought me in. Yeah, and he brought me in
on his sessions and before long because I'm like I said,
I do everything what at least, well, I'm going to

(25:31):
I put effort like it's that trait, so like I
catch on quick, you know what I mean? And that's
I just God was looking back. God was placing me
in every scenario that I needed to become.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
Who I became, to grab all those tools.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yes, collecting tools for the toolbox. I don't know when
or how I'm Aneda, but I know I'm a need
at some point. It was never a doubt in my
mind that I wouldn't have become famous. I knew really
really really young.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
Did you know, I didn't know what I knew it was.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
What do you mean?

Speaker 1 (26:11):
I didn't. I didn't know. I didn't know what that meant.
I know there was a thing I was just I
just wanted to sing. I just wanted to be I
just wanted to be like John p Key, you know
what I'm saying, and just you know, in singing church.
That's that's all I knew. Even when I saw it
on TV, I was like, oh, that's cool. Like but

(26:32):
I never said, oh I want to be on TV.
I never I never said that.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
Okay, so you're saying your world was like just so
far from secular.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
It was so fanatic any of that, you know what
I'm saying, Like I was just it was just if
if they standing up shouting church. That was the hype
for me. That was like that was like, oh, oh
I'm here, I arrived.

Speaker 3 (26:51):
Yeah. I never I mean, to this day, I don't
I don't even consider myself ever being famous. I don't
think I've ever been famous in my life. So for me,
I look at it like you're there. I ran from
being famous, like you said, I always thought it would happen,
and I was like, I don't want it.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
M M.

Speaker 3 (27:09):
I just want to go shopping and ship. I just
want to be able to enjoy my money, So I
gotta get me some money. Like that's what you will
push me in somebody's department store, boutique. That's where you

(27:30):
were running to me. If you want to find me,
if your city got a fly boutigue or some cool
ass shoes somewhere, that's what I'm gonna be. But that's
all for me, that's what I wanted. I never I
knew fame was going to come if I did certain things,
so I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do them. I'm famous,

(27:52):
keep famous on purpose. And yeah, that's why guys like
al Jamal hate me. He's like, niggas, just go do
your thing, nigga, Aljamal Youth, you knew you had it,
Big Jason. All niggas that want to fight, niggas want

(28:15):
to fight you and beat you up and give your boye.
Niggas like go do but you saw that.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
I'm now I'm becoming the damn. I'm curious because you
guys are my friends. I feel like we're just talking
in the studio. But did you think that what you
saw your family go through or your brothers like that group, Like,
do you feel like getting that taste of it when
you were that young had anything to do with running

(28:45):
from it?

Speaker 3 (28:45):
I don't like to be bothered, Okay. I like to
eat in peace. I like to walk through the airport
in piece.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
I don't.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
I don't want the t s a girl to be
like I seen you, which is the podcast is fucking
made that. I'm like, oh, are you flying first class?
Because I know you don't like to pay for the
first class ticket.

Speaker 2 (29:11):
She's watching You.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
Got your blanket? I have my blanket, yes for me?
Like I just I like I like being normal. I
like normal life. I just want the money that come
along with y'all famous life.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
Once I got a taste of it, I need it.
How do I stay? How Once the nigga that was
doing security for me wouldn't let me in the club
because I wasn't that famous no more, I said.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
Oh no, no, no, no, this has never happened again.

Speaker 1 (29:52):
You knew I got to be famous at all times?

Speaker 2 (29:56):
Okay, all time.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
I need the access, at least need the options. Even
if I don't want to partaket.

Speaker 3 (30:05):
They don't know me and I'm not getting in and
somebody there, I'm just gonna go home. I don't care,
like they don't bother me, like I was sick. Oh,
y'all forul tonight, that's cool. I didn't really want to
be here anyway.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
It's a little room.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
Who got a sexual.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
Thoughts? What you're doing? You in there right now? There's
too many I'm away at the house.

Speaker 3 (30:35):
Uh hear me?

Speaker 1 (30:37):
H sickly?

Speaker 3 (30:39):
So you knew you knew fame was in the car, yes, somewhat.
Did you know as an artist or what? Did you
see it as like I'm going to.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
Be as an artist? So the groups, to me, I
kind of felt like they are in my way? Why
does this keep happening? So they keep putting me in groups?

Speaker 3 (30:56):
Did you also delayed in the back of your mind
know that it wasn't going to work in a group?

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Yes, huh, the back and the front.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
Hm hm, wow, it's that bullshit.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
You're just passing time in a sense because you're like
this opportunity.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
Mhm develop relationships. And that's when the idea to cultivate
songwriting happened. Was just like, that's a waste, that's a
waste of my time. But this ain't hmm.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
You found purpose within that.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Yeah, it was a waste of time.

Speaker 3 (31:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
I was like, well, while I'm in this space, I
can develop this.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yes, yes, So I was spreading the board and knowing
that it was possible that someone we would showcase four
would just be like I like her. Yeah, yeah, I
knew that was and it did happen.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
It was happening.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
It did happen.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
Okay, so when do you break free?

Speaker 2 (31:51):
College allowed me the first opportunity to break free, even
though we are in a deal that this is the
first group by design the second group. Uh, I don't know,
but I'm sure I concocted a plan and carried it
through and I was successful.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
Get out exit plan diabolical. I've been there.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
I'm sure that's how. I don't remember what I chose. Okay,
I'm sure I had some ideas and.

Speaker 3 (32:20):
I carried I'm getting out of this ship the spire
along fire start running. Then they're not as fast as me.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
The building later literally yeah.

Speaker 3 (32:44):
But it makes sense. So when do you get your
first hit record? Then as a as a writer.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
As a writer, okay, hip first hit, I can't play
that game. First placement, I remember my first placement. No,
I'm lying. The first one I got to check for.
It was Ruben Stuttered for the first album, for his
first album, his first album. I think that's the first
one that paid. I don't remember. I remember that like

(33:10):
the group of first I was working listen, bruh. I
was doing two or three occasional four sessions a day,
like you know how they do in La now where
the writer goes two hours here and then two hours.
They could work an eight hour day, but they've been
with four or five producers throughout that time.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
Yeah, that's you. That was me in Atlanta. I had
school in Atlanta where nothing is.

Speaker 2 (33:36):
My school was like an hour away, yes exactly, nothing
was close. So that was me. Then this is what
two thousand. I graduated in two thousands, so it would
have been like I guess two oh three ish. Sure,

(33:57):
and that was that.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
No, I can attest to that. Come to Atlanta and
Carrie's like she's come by the crib. I'm like, all right, cool,
She's like, we're gonna write. Carrie knew how to work
her little pro tool set up, like she really knew
how to get through all the shit. It was like
me going to one of the other Homies spots and

(34:19):
you know, I always had my home studios and I
had my different stuff too, and I'm like, oh, she
on her shit. I actually enjoy writing and working with her,
because you know, we all know this, We've all male
our female. You get to some people and you're just like, yo,
how are you even in the music business.

Speaker 5 (34:38):
You don't know what the fuck you're doing?

Speaker 3 (34:41):
Y Yeah, and I'm gonna call this engineer. Man, No,
this nigga ain't got here yet. It's like by this time,
I'm trying to go to Papa Dogs. I'm trying to
get a body here. Bron You wasn't ready. It wasn't.
I went to Carrie's house and I was like, oh,
she gets it.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
I was like, she fucking gets it. Like she is
on top of her shit. She's not wasting no time,
she's not playing around. We were going to and we
did write a song. You know what I'm saying like
that's something that we all shoot for, we all writers
and producers, and like we've all been there. You want
to finish some ship, yes, we want to write some ship.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (35:17):
And he wanted to be great, to be great yeah
every time. So yeah, the hook we were. I had
a food time. This was like upstairs upstairs at the
house that I stayed in during college, and I just
turned upstairs to this blue I call it the Blue Room,
but it was just my studio and have my pro
tools rigged.

Speaker 3 (35:37):
Mike.

Speaker 2 (35:38):
That was what I did with my first check, was
bought everything I needed.

Speaker 3 (35:43):
Question. I wanted to know what she did with that check.

Speaker 2 (35:47):
Yeah, that's what blew.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
I mean.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
I bought a car too. I bought a ooh that
thing was cold. I bought the first car I bought
myself was a BMW three thirty c I I see.
So I had the convertible and it was this you
probably remember you explain it, okay, But it was this
graphite color that looked one way when you look at

(36:13):
one angle, and then looked a different way when it
looked a different angle.

Speaker 3 (36:16):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (36:16):
It was that it was it was it was like
a purply gray, you know, like a periwinkle kind of
dolphin gray. Yeah, it depends on how it was. Everything
in the gray spectrum with a little purple in it,
a little.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
You still feel good about.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
I loved I loved that car.

Speaker 3 (36:36):
But did you have a publishing?

Speaker 2 (36:38):
I waited almost a decade to do a publishing just
about not really, I went a decade. I don't remember
what year I did that, but I know it was
a lot of offers for a long time. It was
at least maybe could have been from the moment from
the first check to the time when I it was

(37:01):
about that maybe eight or nine years.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
I waited.

Speaker 2 (37:04):
I waited, I stacked up. I had singles on the radio,
stacked up. I was like, because everybody kept saying, you know,
there was this thing about having records in the pipeline
and that's when publishing companies are interested in you. I
was like, well, let me see what they do. When
I got them on the radio, I just felt like that,
you know what I mean, Like I was smart move.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (37:23):
She also had the cheat code too, though, what was
the chica who was in? You know what I mean?
Like that whole.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
Way I know, Paulo introduced me to Ethiopia when I
was my artists stuff. Yes, yes, so I ended up there,
but no, I turned down a whole lot. We ain't
gonna name them, name, no names, but all the like
heavy heavy ones, heavy ones, heavy one.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
Once you get records, Once you get records on albums
are singles out, every single publisher is coming coming.

Speaker 2 (37:59):
Yeah there, and they are, And a lot of it
was laughable because at that point, like I knew, you
remember the Donald Passman book All you need to Know
about the music business, and like between that and the
relationships that I had cultivated over there was over those
years like I would ask questions, I would research, I
would look it up, I would you know what I mean?

(38:19):
I knew I wanted to be really, really wise with
these permanent decisions because I knew what a deal blowing
up looked like, you know what I mean? So I
didn't want to be there again.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
So when do you get to polo? When do I
get how does that happen?

Speaker 2 (38:35):
I was a writer. I remember passing him at some
session I was doing. I think he was leaving and
I was coming, or I was leaving and no, I
was leaving and he was coming. We passed each other
in the front. He was like, hey, a little Birdie
told me you would dope and I said, okay, so
I you know, I was leaving and he Our group

(38:59):
ended up up performing at this stadium at the same
our group and his group, Jim Crumb, I.

Speaker 1 (39:07):
Got you remember Jim Crubb.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
Yeah, So then we got to know each other. I
can't remember which order this happened. I think it was
Bertie told me you're dope first, and then or at
someble I don't know, maybe the group performance happened. I
don't know. It's all you know, y'all know how'd be.
But those two events happened. And so this is how
I knew Polo because I think I remember going outside

(39:30):
that session. I want to say, the conversation engaged like
I was just at first, I was like, oh, okay,
that's you know, that's nice. I didn't know really what
whire who, but he had an idea and he walked
outside with me, or walked me to my car, I think,
and was like like he made it like he was

(39:51):
working with Timbaland on something, right. I didn't really believe him,
but that was it. And then I was working one
night with Donnie Skantz, Donny's scant Scantleberry, Yeah, d scance.
So he we did a lot of we actually were
about to do it prop. We were doing kind of
like an alternative. We had a whole round of like

(40:13):
some really dope live stuff. We performed it randomly once,
I think. But anyway, so we were working and so
one night he asked me, and he's like, if somebody
were who would you want to be with as an
artist if you were thinking, because they both everybody at
that point knew that I wasn't vocal about pursuing the

(40:33):
artist thing. Carrie is a songwriter, she's an arranger, she's
producing your vocals, she's engineering your session, she's doing the
rough mix, she's you know what I mean. That's how
that was everyone's awareness of me. So this guy says,
whichever one it was, Polo or Donnie, says, if you
were an artist, who do you think would get your music?

(40:58):
And I say Timbaland hands down.

Speaker 3 (41:01):
You never met Tim.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
I never met him, And it wasn't long before somebody
made Timbleland aware of me. I meet with him at
a hotel. It's early morning. I was fresh off vacation.
I had these like dread things like these locks in
my hair. Vacation hair. Yes, exactly.

Speaker 3 (41:22):
You girls never want to go on vacation with your
with your every day hair. Go ahead, girls, take in
your vacation bid.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
And at that same studio loft that we you and
I worked in, and I had just gone to bed.
I had just gone to bed. This is that thing
about being ready, being prepared. I had just gone to
bed at like six or seven in the morning. So
I'm surprised that I even answered the phone call. Normally
after a session when I'm what I'm done, especially if

(41:58):
it's we're getting in, I got in in the morning.
I just happened to answer the phone, like just in
case something was wrong, and it was. I was finishing
up a record with Pope. I think it was Pimpan
all Over the World. I remember doing that song at
the student studio. Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure. I know
we did that song at that studio and I didn't
work it was I'm pretty sure it was that same day,

(42:22):
and because we did Pimpan all the World Runaway Love
during the same session, yeah, at the same spot. So
we had just gone to bed, and I'm just thinking
he just want to say something like I had literally
just hopped in again. It's like I would say about seven, Hey, hey,

(42:47):
Timbaland is in town and he wants to meet you.
I say. When he said like nine nine thirty, I
was like, I haven't been to bed. Okay, all right,
well this is it. So instead of going to sleep,

(43:07):
I go upstairs. I put together a demo, printed the
song titles, and then I put the sticker on the CD. Like, well,
I had never thought it had been years kind of
since I had pursued being an artist or even said
it to anybody, you know what I mean. Yeah, but
I'm gonna do that, you know what I mean. So

(43:28):
I put together a CD of I guess maybe I
think I had four songs on each side, so probably
eight songs. And then I got dressed, went to the
hotel and played songs that I've written for other people
that I was like, I guess if I were an artist,
this is what I would sound like. Let me try

(43:58):
to make this cohesive and put them in the water
sequence it like it's a project, like you know. So
that's what I did, and what he said, bounce records down.
Tim said, oh I know what to do with this.
I know what to do with this, so he says,

(44:18):
and I played on records. There was one record that
he really liked, and he said, that's your crimea River.
And I said, shit, shit, yeah this yeah, and it was.
It was a song I did with Dan Donnie called
Strange Angel, and it was alternative sounding, but it had

(44:41):
enough of a cadence that I knew exactly what tim.
I was like, oh shit, I could hear that.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
I can hear that.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
So anyway, so he says those two things that I'll
never forget. I know what to do with you. I
know what to do with this meaning this meaning you right,
And then that's your crimea River. I'm like, God, damn,
I manifested this ship. I didn't even know that word
back then. I didn't say that, but I was like,
that was one of my first awarenesses of God because

(45:10):
I spoke that. I spoke that someone maybe a year
or whatever before. It's like, if you could be with
one producer. And I remember really giving it some thought
because there were listen, I'm a Babyface fan, you know
what I mean. It was a lot of people I
could have chosen from Teddy Riley, it was a lot
of people that I really appreciated who were you know? Producing?

(45:32):
And I landed on Timbaland after giving that some real
It wasn't a quick conversation. It was like I don't
like to answer things inauthentically, so but I landed with
Timbland and then he's like, hey, so, what are you
doing tonight? I was like, I had sessions, but I
said nothing.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
Call everyone telling my mon available.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
I said nothing, and in the back of my head
I was like, yeah, in the back of my mind,
I was like, you asking me when I'm doing It's
not a damn thing. Nothing is going to be more
important than whatever the fuck you're about to Ask me.
Wh're about you want to do? Yea, And so he

(46:21):
said can you come to Miami? I was like, oh,
I didn't expect that talk.

Speaker 3 (46:27):
Yeah, yeah, what I was doing wasn't here somewhere else? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (46:34):
Are you ready? Are you ready to go? He gets
you back.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
The flight was at three o'clock.

Speaker 1 (46:40):
I love it. It's high level.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
I love it was that three o'clock.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
Are you are you ready? You say, I know you
got ready, yeah to come over here, but are you ready?

Speaker 3 (46:50):
Yeah? You go to Miami?

Speaker 2 (46:52):
And I was ready that day. I go that day,
hours after.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
The meeting, right, and you still ain't slept.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
Still ain't slept. And went straight to the studio and
we worked on that record. And I stayed at his house.
Did I say his house? I can't remember the first trip.
I think so. I mean, this house is so damn big.
It was like being in a hotel room. Yeah, I
think so, because it wasn't any time to think. It

(47:18):
was at his house. It was cold as hell. God
Tim mused to keep his house so cold. I bet
he still does. It was miserable. I was miserable. But
but but I was on such a cloud nine. We
went straight in and worked on that record that I
had just laid.

Speaker 3 (47:33):
It's fine, So I'm just gonna be in here.

Speaker 2 (47:37):
Telling other people.

Speaker 1 (47:42):
He's got to ask.

Speaker 3 (47:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
But immediately it was like this brother sister. You know
how you just meet people and you just know we
were meant to create something to get.

Speaker 1 (47:58):
It was that and that the like you're locking with Tim.
You got the writing going on with Polo, and once
you meet Tim, I'm sure you're anticipating that it's time.

Speaker 3 (48:12):
It's real.

Speaker 1 (48:13):
Now I'm getting what you waiting for. The artist that
I've always known I was going to be first time.
Does that happen immediately or is there some time? And
maybe some frustration in oh.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
About what.

Speaker 2 (48:36):
I would say?

Speaker 3 (48:38):
Now?

Speaker 2 (48:38):
Mind you? First, second night I was in Miami. We
were offered a million dollar deal. What's his name? That
was at Atlantic, Peter Edge, he was there doing some
things with Tim was working on some Brandy joints And

(49:00):
was it Peter Edge? No? Atlantic? What is.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
No?

Speaker 2 (49:11):
I don't remember who it was. Someone there for the
flying in just for the day, heard what we were doing.
He was at Atlantic and he was over Brandy's project.
So we'll figure out who that is later. Sorry, I'm sorry.
I've lived a lot of lots and I hate that
I can't remember that, but a million dollars deal first

(49:33):
or second night? Like Tim hid me, He hid me
in the room. He didn't want, you know, but the
guy had already heard what we were doing. He didn't
I don't know why he reacted this way, but he
was like staying there, literally staying. I was in the
lounge area. And maybe because we weren't supposed to be
working on anything else other than the Brandy stuff, like

(49:53):
he probably was like, yeah, I don't want them to
think that, but it was Tim's studio. They probably exactly exactly.
It's probably supposed to be mixing or yeah, yeah, but
that ain't what we were doing.

Speaker 3 (50:08):
I mean, obviously you've been a songwriter and you've been
making money. Had you made a million dollars yet? No,
because you hadn't done no publishing deal yet either.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
No, So no, I don't think you had chunk of
money like that, right, chunks of like.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
Yeah, pieces forty and fifties, yeah, a couple sixty five yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
But that's what I'm saying. So to hear that, even
that number, and now obviously the new artists, now, you know,
you hear these astronomical things off of you know, the
analytics of how many streams they and whatever they got
going on? Now where they getting these stupid deals that
they'll never pay back. But you've been in the game
that long to finally hear that number, that number used

(50:49):
to be really real number. It will wake you up.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
Oh my god, it won't wait.

Speaker 3 (50:55):
They won't give me what a million dollars doing your
doctor immediately? You know, it was different, It was different.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
It was and I was impressed. I was just happy.
I just knew I had some work to do because
I didn't have any songs as an artist, really, Like
some of the records I played were things I had
already played, you know what I mean, maybe one or
two of them. But I just didn't know, really I had.
It had been years since I had even thought about

(51:25):
what kind of artists I would. I lost sight. It
wasn't that I didn't believe, because I still knew that
it would happen. But I was just fully immersed in
songwriting that I or so fully, so fully. Let me
tell you something about this lip loss. It makes it's sticky,

(51:49):
it makes you talk funny. Okay, oh my god, Jesus,
so fully immersed. I was fully immersed in songwriting, so
fully immersed that I couldn't think. I didn't give myself.
I didn't have the bandwidth, so I had to figure
it out. But I got timbling. So that's yeah, I
got timbling, now, you know what I mean. And so

(52:09):
Tim and Polo are talking about doing a joint venture,
and I'm like, that's a pretty good combo, even though
at the time I didn't really believe in Polo that much.
It was really Tim was the draw, you know what
I'm saying Polo was cool. He was figuring it out.
His levels were real weird to me, you know, can
we like eq that and like what it was? His

(52:30):
tracks were messy, but they had potentially because he had umph.
Polo had a certain, a certain he was going to
sell that.

Speaker 3 (52:39):
What you sell it the jump producer executive. He gonna
make you believe in anything, y'all. Don't get it. You crazy, y'all,
don't get it.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
You're crazy here.

Speaker 3 (52:51):
Yeah, yeah, go to the basic level that that is
needed in this industry.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
It's needed.

Speaker 3 (52:58):
I said all the time. You gotta have that because
you can have something great in front.

Speaker 2 (53:03):
Of you college factor, Dame.

Speaker 3 (53:06):
Dash you know what I mean. You can have all
of those things. You can have the great artists you can,
but someone who can sell it to people true, Don
kingtt Don.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
King absolutely for sure.

Speaker 3 (53:21):
Really you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
He's not gonna be the mouth.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
Yes, you know what's now for you?

Speaker 2 (53:32):
Now it's back to music.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
You really, I love this.

Speaker 2 (53:37):
That's all that's left to do.

Speaker 3 (53:38):
This like you locked in fully, locked into this.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
Finished, I'm not finished. I'm not finished.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
Mother.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
The music.

Speaker 3 (53:49):
I love him, It's needed.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
It took a second in a second, a lot of
things happened that that prevented it. I blame it on
one thing, but really it was years of a struggle. Amen,
you got through that. I thought through that.

Speaker 3 (54:09):
I thought through that.

Speaker 2 (54:10):
But I'm free and I'm ready. You just can't, you know,
sometimes you can't create with burdens, with with with a
dark cloud, under duress, under duress, you can try.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
Yeah, but.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
Creativity, I think, and I feel closest to God when
I'm creating.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
A my my my mind.

Speaker 3 (54:36):
Come on, Bishop, Okay, come on, Ain't that that's that's
what they.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
Say, right, And that is supposed to be a burdenless space.
It should be, it should be, that is supposed to
be full freedom. I'm a channel in this moment. I'm
a vessel. I need to listen, I need to hear.
But there was so much stress, depression, division amongst my team,

(55:04):
everything just just I mean, one thing after next, like
so much. It just couldn't. It just couldn't. And then
my dad died, and then it really couldn't because that
was my that was that was it was my dude.
So yeah, but here we are back. I feel and

(55:28):
it's got to feel. It's gotta when you have the
freedom too, when you're not having to wh're not struggling,
you don't have to force things out and throw things out,
and you can take your time and make sure it's
what you want to present in that I'm I got.
I played it for someone the other day, like someone,
someone who, someone who knows, who really really knows, who's

(55:53):
been doing, who's been on top for a very long time. Yeah,
he called my music tall and mighty, m tall and might,
he said, I think I wrote it down. I wrote
it all down because it was like I was liked

(56:14):
and you get these you know, I've had moments like that.
I knew, I knew, I knew what I was doing
was if you got how much longer are you guys
in town.

Speaker 3 (56:22):
Long enough to hear it? That's all that mattered, But
how long we're here?

Speaker 2 (56:30):
Because I'm trying to see if you're gonna be here
when I get back, you get back Sunday, I leave
for Tonight's we're back Sunday. I was wondering if you
guys will still be here anyway. I would love to play,
but yeah, there are moments when you get this and
this was like yeah, so anyway, I feel like We're
starting to take meetings to figure out where we how
we want to do this thing, where we want to do.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
This got and lifted offering.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
Man, go ahead with some right here. I don't have cash.
Can I venmo in church?

Speaker 3 (57:05):
This for y'all? This you know, I mean that for y'all.
Just lifted in church, just praise and worship.

Speaker 2 (57:11):
Listen. Now we can talk about God. We can go
there too.

Speaker 1 (57:15):
Yeah mm hmm.

Speaker 2 (57:22):
He'll let you know. He'll let You'll make it real obvious.
God'll let you know. If you ask, he'll let you know.
He wants you to know.

Speaker 3 (57:33):
We want to know something to them. What who would
we like to know? Top five?

Speaker 1 (57:48):
Yes? Your top five? Yes, top five, you're top, come
on anything. All the songs.

Speaker 2 (58:07):
Okay, you got to go.

Speaker 3 (58:11):
You got to show. You got to doll your.

Speaker 4 (58:17):
Top Yeah right, yeah, your tip.

Speaker 3 (58:43):
All right?

Speaker 1 (58:45):
That boy good? Carrie Willson. Yes, your top five R
and B singers.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
Michael Jackson, gotta be in that thing.

Speaker 1 (58:57):
Michael.

Speaker 2 (58:57):
Okay, I'm an eighties baby.

Speaker 1 (59:00):
You like Big Mike?

Speaker 2 (59:00):
Which one?

Speaker 1 (59:00):
Which one you want? All Mike?

Speaker 3 (59:03):
Mike, Mike all the time, all the time.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
Yeah, mm hmm hmm. Mariah Carrey is in there, I think,
because I'm talking. If we're talking mine, this is carry
you list who matters to you?

Speaker 3 (59:23):
Little car?

Speaker 2 (59:24):
Who mattered to who raised?

Speaker 4 (59:27):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (59:27):
It was I wrote it, I wrote, I wrote, I
wrote a letter to go to camp.

Speaker 3 (59:31):
Mariah.

Speaker 2 (59:32):
Oh wow, yes I did. I was really young. No,
we moved. Mom said she mailed it. We moved and
I found the fucking letter.

Speaker 3 (59:42):
I was so mad she didn't mail it.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
She didn't mail it, she didn't send it off. I
had a real good shot, you know, I'm a writer,
like you know.

Speaker 1 (59:49):
I wrote, Yes, the.

Speaker 2 (01:00:02):
I found it in the door of the death like betrayal, betrayal,
how you rolling mom my first dose? All right, So Michael, Mariah,
Lauren Hill would be in that Lauren, Lauren's in there

(01:00:22):
for sure? Who I say, Mike, Mariah, Bobby Brown.

Speaker 3 (01:00:25):
Mm hmm, Bobby up there around Bobby.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
And I said, Lauren Hill was that for I'm gonna
give it to you. I'm gonna give you the fifth loot.

Speaker 3 (01:00:42):
Boy boy.

Speaker 2 (01:00:43):
Yeah, okay. When Jay told that story, when I said
I'm a huge tank, that was real. Like Polo asked
me to stop saying your name and interviews when they
were asking me my musical influences are people that I
was inspired by, Like he's to ask me to stop
saying Tank. Yes, Yes, that's what he did.

Speaker 1 (01:01:04):
That's what he did. We gotta talk, man, it's too much,
too much. Take it's too much.

Speaker 2 (01:01:17):
Yeah, Bobby, I don't know why. I don't know, but
I would.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
You know, Yeah, Top five R and B songs because
we know you're a writer.

Speaker 3 (01:01:27):
You know, we know what you do.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
Okay, rock with you? Yeah, up, rock with you. Yeah,
I'm gonna give it to rock with you. No, not
that one. Not even want to rock with you.

Speaker 5 (01:01:44):
Not just to a too for those because you can
kind of get both of them off.

Speaker 3 (01:01:52):
You said the title, it could be the Bobby all
the m J. But rock with You by Bobby Browns
is so cool. It is.

Speaker 1 (01:02:03):
It's a cultural.

Speaker 3 (01:02:04):
Yeah, yes, it's a it's a feeling you feel good
when you hear that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
You do, who don't, who don't? And it was a
toss up between that and Ronnie, but I think I
would give it to it was it was a toss
up in my mind, like which one? But it's a
Bobby one on there for sure. I'm talking all time.
It's hard to do top.

Speaker 3 (01:02:30):
Somewhere up there when you mentioned the the top ever
debut R and B album, because that wasn't he would
have it in the group. But I'm talking about strong
easy facts, facts, my prerogative.

Speaker 1 (01:02:44):
Easy facts.

Speaker 3 (01:02:46):
You can put that up against anything. You put that
album up against anything.

Speaker 2 (01:02:51):
That's very breaking my heart, pretty bad eyes. That's a
strong one, because that's like that was kind of the
eraror where you started to hear live music, you know,
and not everything wasn't.

Speaker 1 (01:03:04):
Programmed, started to hear.

Speaker 2 (01:03:05):
But yeah, I guess I don't know it just band
his voice is gonna cut through. Ready you're not? Yeah,
I'll give you what come on, Kevin and mad Yes,

(01:03:30):
oh come on, I started, I started?

Speaker 5 (01:03:34):
What was it it was? It was like, yeah, it's
like when the first time I saw him singing that
loud with the punch him in his face.

Speaker 2 (01:03:53):
Wow, you can't be Yeah, I do that okay.

Speaker 3 (01:03:59):
In full chat. I can get that off in falls
full chance. I can't get that off it. Just he's
gonna do it every night, every night, every day.

Speaker 2 (01:04:09):
Man, this is tough. All right. This was definitely going
in there. Don't stop the music. People's in Yarborough. I
don't know why it's people. I thought it was Yarbor
and people's. But anyway, that baseline and her voice. I

(01:04:35):
got four more.

Speaker 3 (01:04:36):
Come on?

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
Can I just throw them out there? Atlantic Star always girl,
you are me? Oh that should be and I dedicated
to you.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
That's enough.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
Nothing even matters. Ah, It's one of my ones. As
soon as I get home, Faith Evans, Yes, thank.

Speaker 3 (01:05:08):
You, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:05:11):
I'm giving.

Speaker 3 (01:05:12):
I get mad at people if they don't know that song.
What I've been mad at some people that you don't
know this song. I played it for an adult who
didn't know it, and it was like, wait, wait, wait.

Speaker 1 (01:05:23):
Wait way I got I got Faith Evans as a gift.
The girl at the time knew how much I love
Faith and got me the cossette as a gift.

Speaker 3 (01:05:34):
We need you on the podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:05:35):
Faith Please love her, love her and computer love.

Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
Come on with Charlie.

Speaker 3 (01:05:46):
Yeah, insane fact, we got something else for you. We're
not just gonna let you go out of here without
this right now? Huh what you got saying? Saying? No?

Speaker 1 (01:06:00):
I ain't saying no names. I ain't saying no names.

Speaker 3 (01:06:03):
Where you was what you did?

Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
Don't say? I ain't saying no name.

Speaker 3 (01:06:19):
Huh oh, we got carry he'llson hot in the hot seate.

Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
Now, I don't like I don't like y'all all that.
I don't like your games.

Speaker 3 (01:06:33):
You know what I mean? Because you know this is
this segment is important. I ain't saying no names thing.

Speaker 2 (01:06:39):
I gotta find a story in my head that people
can't link to.

Speaker 3 (01:06:45):
Man, listen, it's this up to you. It's your story.
But you gotta tell us a story because you hear
and this is I ain't saying no names. Will you
tell us a story funny or fucked up? Are funny
and fucked up? The only rule to the game is
that you can ain't say no names funny. And you've
had trivos in this game. You've been in this thing.

(01:07:06):
He was on the shelf for five years. Ship that
could have happen when I was on the shelf, when
you was off the shelf. You know what, what what
little Lillo say, Rit me off the plastic and make
a brand new Yeah, when you got off the shelf too,
you know yeah, you know you know that no boys allowed?
You know you know what I mean? When you were

(01:07:26):
you weren't playing with little boys. You told them, ain't
no boys allowed around here playing No little boy, little
last boy as a boy, I'm not playing you made
you had chains and ship. I remember you was selling chains.

Speaker 2 (01:07:40):
People still show up with their no boys allowed chain
to my current merch, the old merch on merch. Yeah
that's like what thirteen years.

Speaker 3 (01:07:58):
M Let me know your eddy, Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Let me bring you on and ship, Let me bring
you on in. This is this is, this is Carrie Hoiston.
You're turning me on.

Speaker 1 (01:08:18):
Knock it out.

Speaker 3 (01:08:21):
Ain't no boys allowed you to come in here as
a motherfucking grown ass man.

Speaker 1 (01:08:25):
Pretty pretty good around here, because.

Speaker 3 (01:08:32):
Yeah, carry I ain't saying no names. Oh yeah, the
deep side and took a sip of water too.

Speaker 2 (01:08:45):
All right. When you're a performer, yes, you know, we
know how important it is to give love to other performers. Yes, right,
especially when you happened to be sitting on the front
row at their show. M okay, mind you, no one else,

(01:09:07):
no one else was performing. Was anybody else performing that night?
Do you know what night I'm even referring to?

Speaker 3 (01:09:11):
Yet?

Speaker 2 (01:09:12):
Okay, it's fine, all right, fine for him too, Yes
he was there. Okay, So I remember I don't want
to be here energy. M M, I don't know why
I'm here. She was with a gentleman, he was she
was his guest. I know the guy very well. She

(01:09:35):
was with him, so she was his you know. She
didn't want to be there. It was very obvious, and
I felt disrespected by that. So when they came to
my dressing room backstage, I said something and we almost
got to scrapping. My decatur came out, her town came out,

(01:09:55):
uh and uh. It could have got real ugly.

Speaker 1 (01:10:00):
I appreciate you being in the front row on my
show and giving me no energy.

Speaker 2 (01:10:06):
I don't remember exactly how I said it, but it
was worse than that. It was, but it was that.
It was that it was like we spell artists. You
already know what it's like. You could give a courtesy, Bob.
There's a lot of things you can do, a lot
of things you can do to show to show love.
But she was this.

Speaker 3 (01:10:25):
Mmm damn in the front row.

Speaker 2 (01:10:30):
She was that business, looking at the nasty business, and
I just felt on her phone, Oh, while everybody else
is standing up around here, I was just like, oh,
this is intentionally rude, Like you you want to get slapped.
That's how I felt you've you're calling me, you're speaking

(01:10:52):
to a certain spirit.

Speaker 1 (01:10:53):
Yeah, you doubted.

Speaker 2 (01:10:59):
Like I said, I I've always been secular.

Speaker 3 (01:11:03):
Do they have those rocks?

Speaker 2 (01:11:05):
She doted up on them?

Speaker 3 (01:11:06):
They got those rocks?

Speaker 2 (01:11:09):
It up, that's why. That's why I got the gyms.
Now keep it, keep it on. Keep just why I got.
That's exactly why we haven't because this is on me, now, don't.
I don't like to go there.

Speaker 1 (01:11:27):
But it almost went there.

Speaker 2 (01:11:30):
Yeah, like people had to be ushered away, people had
to be it was. It was that because I had
to say something. I had to say something. I had
to figure out what the it was because I felt
disrespect the whole show. Come on, man, come on, you
don't do that unless you want, unless you are purposely

(01:11:51):
I guess. So now you know what I'm talking about.
And who remember? You don't remember who it was? Yeah,
she's pretty insignificant at this point.

Speaker 1 (01:12:02):
And well yeah, Carrie, uh, but I ain't say you
ain't saying he saying no name. We appreciate you, man,
you have you have put in a lot of a
lot of amazing work, a lot of amazing and from
what it sounds like, you have more amazing work to come.

Speaker 3 (01:12:25):
Yeah, we want to hear it.

Speaker 1 (01:12:26):
Being so, we are anticipating more greatness from you. You're dope.
We'll talk about it inside man. Thank you, appreciate it,
thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:12:37):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:12:38):
And likewise, and this is the R and B Money
podcast authority on all things R and B. This has
been the amazing carry my boys.

Speaker 2 (01:12:52):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 3 (01:12:54):
R and B Money. R and B Money is a
production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts
from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows. Don't forget to subscribe
to and rate our show, and you can connect with
us on social media at Jyvalentine and at the Real Tank.

(01:13:17):
For the extended episode, subscribe to YouTube dot com, forward
slash R and B Money