REPLAY: Andra Day

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

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Honey, we are.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Take Melchi. We are the authority on all things R
and D.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tank and this is
the rmy Money podcast.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
This sorry.

Speaker 4 (00:27):
On no things RN B oh.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yeah? Is it in your soul? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (00:38):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (00:39):
I feel it? Can you can you feel it?

Speaker 4 (00:42):
How can you feel it?

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Is you multi talented man? How can you write it?
Can you sing it?

Speaker 5 (00:50):
N you act it?

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Is it?

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Jazzy? Is it j Can we tap into the to
the renaissance? Yeah? Doesn't make you rise? Doesn't make.

Speaker 6 (01:07):
Thank you man.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
You're like.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
You're like so cool, Like your energy is like it's
like the best energy in terms of how you make
people feel welcome, how you make people feel like you care,
how you make like it's like certain people have that,
you know what I mean, where it's like this nurturing

(01:37):
kind of instinctive like you're not it's.

Speaker 7 (01:39):
Just you, you know.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
What I mean? Like like even your in your essence
when you walk by and your smells, I want to
hang out of her house.

Speaker 6 (01:46):
It does smell good.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
I'm like, what is that essence where I just kind
of want to, you know, hang out of her house?

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Like it's some beads at your house. Yeah, there's a
felt you know, there's a jaguar somewhere.

Speaker 6 (02:05):
There's definitely the Palo Santo and the candles, and you.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Know what I'm saying, it's just for me, Like that's
how I was raised, you know what I mean, And
those things like kind of just defined my childhood from
it being my grandmother, my great grandmother, my mother, my cousin,
my uncle, my great all in all in one house.
I felt that I felt that energy and that love
and that spirituality.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
And you just you carry that with you everywhere.

Speaker 6 (02:30):
Thank you. That's listen, no matter.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
What you got on jeans, right now, you got this.
It's the whole.

Speaker 6 (02:34):
I also have a broken ail.

Speaker 8 (02:35):
I would like to start this whole thing by just
admitting it so I don't have to hide my hands.
I was thinking about doing the whole podcast like you,
because because the thing is that you know what I mean,
or just to hit you with.

Speaker 6 (02:51):
Di bro, that's so random.

Speaker 4 (02:52):
You say that.

Speaker 8 (02:52):
I was literally with rants the other day and I'm terrible,
I'm trash.

Speaker 6 (02:56):
He's like you play. I was like, no, I was
a ballerina, but you know what I mean, drop a
little three you know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
Drop a little ballerina that would drop a little tree.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Listen the terminology lets you further know that's not really
her thing.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, drop a little thing, shot exactly down.

Speaker 8 (03:19):
So no, no playing ball. That just they betrayed me today.
So this is where we're at.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
So you said you you you're a ballerina.

Speaker 6 (03:26):
I was. Yeah, I danced for like twenty two years.

Speaker 9 (03:29):
I was. I danced for twenty two years.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
That's how talented people though I didn't. That's how talented
people say. It's a miss stint in my.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Life for a year.

Speaker 6 (03:45):
I doubt, I doubt.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
I don't understand that it is.

Speaker 6 (04:00):
A fortnight for.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
The London England. They know who I am. Okay fortnight
to make it back? Do you use it?

Speaker 6 (04:22):
Do you you know?

Speaker 8 (04:23):
I have it for a while, But I actually did
decide on this album cycle I do want to incorporate
dance more. I miss it, you know what I mean,
Like it's like exercise regular for me. I enjoy it,
but dancing is what it's still a passion of mine.

Speaker 6 (04:35):
I would love Yeah, I'm definitely.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
To see you on stage doing that, Like I would
love to see a performance with that incorporated like always
like like like my daughter she modern, Yeah, so all
of that, all of that from Harlem School of the Arts,
professional for like all of that, she has all of that.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
I'm like, we have to use.

Speaker 6 (05:01):
All of it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, like.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Sing Pink on stage doing all of their so lad.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
It's crazy.

Speaker 8 (05:12):
So it's interesting too, because I think we're kind of taught,
especially in music. It's like you have to do it
a certain way. But I also feel like now it's
like the wild West, you know what I mean. I
look at even this album and like all the art
and the stuff surrounding it, the activations, I look at
it as like installations, right, our installations. So I'm like, yeah,
of course you can incorporate dance and it doesn't just
have to look like this and be a routine with

(05:34):
you know, certain costumes. It can be more interpreted, it
can like play with the music a little more.

Speaker 6 (05:38):
So I agree.

Speaker 8 (05:39):
I think using everything is actually a lot more engaging
and interesting for the I like stuff like that, So
I want to like give that to people.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
You know what I'm saying, I'm gonna need you to do.

Speaker 6 (05:50):
Okay, you go ahead, because absolutely not Okay.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
I was going to say no to you don't have
to say, you know.

Speaker 6 (06:09):
The energy and your big time.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
I would love I would love for you to dance
in the piece.

Speaker 8 (06:14):
Yes for me, Yes, I definitely plan on doing that. Yeah,
so you're going yes, that's a yes for sure?

Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah for for me? For me?

Speaker 6 (06:23):
Oh really, okay, I would do that. Yeah, that would
be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
I think that would be crazy and I have just
the thing. Okay, it's so opposite, but it would be
so dope.

Speaker 6 (06:33):
Oh, I love that.

Speaker 8 (06:34):
I can see you visualizing it to be money already
knows what happened.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
Gone, and I got your permission already. He has all
the dance it in his head.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
I can't.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
He just can't get my body.

Speaker 8 (06:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (06:51):
Yeah, you can bring your elbows together.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
I didn't know either, just now, can you.

Speaker 8 (07:04):
I could definitely bring my albols together. I'm not buffing on. Yeah,
pretty pretty tested.

Speaker 10 (07:11):
Okay, it's very easy.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
I didn't know.

Speaker 6 (07:20):
I couldn't do it.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Can you do it?

Speaker 6 (07:25):
That's crazy?

Speaker 3 (07:25):
These niggas.

Speaker 6 (07:26):
You feel bad?

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Right, there's no drug testing, R and B music, Okay,
no rules me from trying to stay young. Let's do this.
Let's go back to the beginning. I start thinking, let's
go the beginning San Diego Southeast Southeast.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
That's so like, listen, listen, listen, it ain't sweet. I've
been in Nick Cannon is down, Michie Slick is dow Home.
I'm going on. Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't come in
green today.

Speaker 8 (08:00):
No, look, there are a lot of colors out there though.

Speaker 6 (08:07):
For sure. That's definitely yes.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
So when when did you discover or when does someone
discover just kind of identify that you know, you had
something something different.

Speaker 8 (08:18):
I mean, I went I think actually when I was
fairly young. I was like about six years old. I
think I started dancing when I was like five, so
that was first. But my parents discovering that I could sing.
I was like six years old. I was just singing Whitney.
I think I was singing a Whitney song and that
just they told me. They just remember me singing the
song and being like, oh, she kind of sound like

(08:38):
you know what I'm saying, Like she's hitting the notes,
she's doing you know what I mean. But my father
actually has a really nice voice, and so does my mother,
but my mom's too shy, and you know what I mean.

Speaker 6 (08:46):
My dad, he was in the service, you know what
I mean.

Speaker 8 (08:48):
So that was like the first time, and then I
went to a performing arts school starting in the sixth grade.

Speaker 6 (08:54):
It was like six to two senior year actually, same school. Yeah,
same school the whole time. Yeah.

Speaker 8 (08:59):
It was actually really cool just because like you know,
you use the word nurture, and they did. They really
nurtured just the creative arts. It was a performing arts school,
so we did shows, we did plays, you know, I
learned I did jazz, vocal production, and classical and danced
there as well too. So it was at a fairly
fairly young age six and then really kind of dove
into things when I was like around ten eleven.

Speaker 9 (09:19):
So did you decide to go or did your parents
let you decide to go to performing art school or
was that something that was sought after?

Speaker 8 (09:25):
I think it was always So I went to it's
what's called a feeder school. I went to a school
called Valencia Park. Shout out a VP, but I went
to a feeder school. It was like a few feeder
schools in San Diego, Zamorano, Oak Park. Valencia Park was
one of them. Oh Faarrell, And so it was just
kind of always a known thing I always loved dancing.
I always loved performing, and I heard I knew about SEPA.

(09:48):
My parents knew about SEPA School for Creative and Performing Arts,
and so it was kind of natural. I went to
Valencia Park and it was a feeder school for that
performing arts school. I did dance at VP as well too,
and so it's always been a thing. I don't know,
I can't really pinpoint a moment of like this is
I'm gonna do this, you know what I mean? It
just has always been always. My parents have always loved music,

(10:09):
They've always loved the arts. So I just think like
it was always there was never really a plan B,
except for one time I wanted to be a paleontologist
and then they were like you should keep singing.

Speaker 6 (10:17):
And I was like, all right, I know, I just was.
I was dinosaurs. I was just like, oh my god,
this is amazing.

Speaker 3 (10:26):
Do they have dinosaurs in San Diego?

Speaker 6 (10:28):
They have a great they have a great zoo. I
was like, amazing zoo. They what did you know?

Speaker 3 (10:35):
Your mind?

Speaker 8 (10:35):
Like when you're young, I'm idiotd my mind go on tangents.
I'd be like, I'm a lawyer, you know what I mean?
But and I just like dinosaurs. But then they were like, well,
mainly you just gonna have to dig through a bunch
of dirt to find these skeletons. I was like, oh, yeah,
you're right, I'm gonna just sing and I'm gonna singing dance,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
That's the only other thing you've ever wanted.

Speaker 6 (10:51):
To do well when I was that age, you know
what I mean?

Speaker 8 (10:55):
Now I have like there's a lot of companies and
a lot of things that I'm doing and want to do,
so and these became one of those things, producing movies, writing,
co directing.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yeah, but you were in like it's like my daughter
the same way, like getting this space where it's almost
like early college where you're where you're like you're hyper
focused on that thing.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
Like, yeah, I was supposed to go.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
To a school, you know, uh performing our school, but
they didn't have a football team.

Speaker 6 (11:26):
Mine didn't either.

Speaker 8 (11:28):
But but because we didn't have a football team, you
were allowed to play for other schools in the area,
Like you could choose.

Speaker 6 (11:33):
So if I wanted to play for.

Speaker 3 (11:35):
In high school, yeah, and high school, yeah.

Speaker 6 (11:38):
That's like Lincoln Park, I could play for Lincoln.

Speaker 9 (11:41):
It was too niggas walk around smoking cigarettes with church
for me to go to school to the arts.

Speaker 8 (11:46):
I was like, I want to say, that's completely inaccurate, but.

Speaker 3 (11:58):
Right I don't know what y'all doing.

Speaker 5 (12:02):
I was no football. You can pick though, at least
in California.

Speaker 3 (12:10):
I didn't know. Yeh, in California it's like Maryland.

Speaker 9 (12:12):
So if you go, it was if you go to
a school of the yards, unless you pick what high
school you want to play.

Speaker 3 (12:17):
Sports for.

Speaker 6 (12:19):
Everything.

Speaker 9 (12:19):
Yeah, so we'll still get the experience, okay, because you
don't you know, you can't be with the band niggas
and the hoop team.

Speaker 3 (12:24):
It can't be all. Yeah. I just needed a different experience.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
My high school was horrible, fire shooting, but we played football, basketball.

Speaker 5 (12:39):
I was like, but y'all gated No, we was gated up.
It was Eastside High the front of the school, no
front of we had. We had chains on the door
so you can get out of one door.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
But you know what I'm saying, You knew what that was. No,
it was different. But see I was also the church kid,
so you know what I'm saying. All the people was like,
you know they love me. You know what I'm saying.
Like blessings.

Speaker 9 (13:05):
That the door.

Speaker 6 (13:10):
Protect right protector.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
In these church that say protect. They needed me because
I was pray Royer.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
So at what point do you say it should be
a profession, Because even as you're being groomed in this space,
it's still just you know, it's still just love at
this point, you know what I mean, It's still just.

Speaker 6 (13:33):
It's still is definitely love.

Speaker 8 (13:34):
But I think the school that I went to, you
know what I mean, it was singing at home, singing
in church, singing in school like and but it was
such The school was amazing, honestly, you know, you really
got familiar with putting on a stage show.

Speaker 6 (13:48):
It was Broadway focused. That was amazing.

Speaker 8 (13:49):
And I have friends, amazing friends, a good friend and
my Schandra Prophet made it all the way to Broadway.
She's in The Lion King, you know, and so so
it was kind of really geared towards that. And you
got to see the whole production and you got to
do the music and the dancing and you know, learn
the lines. But the kids did also the production. They
did behind the scenes, you know what I mean, they
were the lighting tests. So yeah, it was really it

(14:10):
was really like all encompassing. So so the school kind
of geared you toward doing that as a profession, you know.
I think for me, it was just like do I
want to dance? Do I want to do Broadway? Or
do I want to And I think around the age
of sixteen, I was really clear that I was like,
now I really want to be a recording artist, Like,
I want to write my own music.

Speaker 6 (14:27):
I want to.

Speaker 8 (14:27):
I like the idea of creating and kind of forging
my own path, you know what I mean. So, plus,
I was like, I'm not gonna lie to you. I
was like, how much do you get paid not being
a principal on Broadway? I was like, I'm good. This
is R and B money, right.

Speaker 4 (14:41):
Money?

Speaker 3 (14:44):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (14:45):
No, So it was cool.

Speaker 8 (14:46):
I love like it was just the passion of creating things,
making things and just you know, I just love you know,
the work of so many artists and that really inspired me.
And so I'm like, okay, cool, they're writers, those people
are making their music there, you know what I mean,
And that's that's what I want to do.

Speaker 6 (14:58):
So it was about like sixteen.

Speaker 9 (15:00):
Any things that you were connected to in San Diego
that kind of gave you an inkling of what the
business was.

Speaker 8 (15:07):
M that's a good question. Things that I was connected to, oh,
you know, but again it was still more theater based.
Like there was a there was a theater that I
would do during the summertimes. It was called like Theater Noir,
and there was this director and he would just put
on shows.

Speaker 6 (15:23):
He did Fame. I did Fame.

Speaker 8 (15:26):
There, I did uh Boogie Knights, which is just kind
of like a Medley show. I met some managers. I
went to a few studios. I actually used to record
with a few producers out there. Actually, if you know
San Diego is on Peter pan Av If you don't Skyline, no,
I don't know Peter.

Speaker 6 (15:45):
That's good, but no.

Speaker 8 (15:49):
But yeah, so I don't know, you know, I don't
know that there were things that gave me an inkling.
I was just very I was obsessed with it, you
know what I mean. So I feel like I was
looking up stuff all the time.

Speaker 9 (15:57):
And because I asked you that, because going to school
of the arts, right, and I think people feel as
if from putting their kids in these types of schools,
obviously you learn the arts, yeah, but at some point
you got to learn the business business.

Speaker 8 (16:12):
Yeah, the business was definitely on the ground, like that
was experience, you know what I mean. I feel like
there were things in San Diego, but there were things.
There was just some things that when you want to
be a part of this your whole life, you know.
But again, I'm looking at it from the other side, right,
things are so different now. But it was like a
record label is the best thing to have, and you've
got to get a manager and you gotta you know
what I mean. So it was like trying to find

(16:33):
people in San Diego, and I had like a manager
out there, but he was kind of an unofficial manager,
you know, And so I don't know. It's kind of
funny because figuring it out on the ground kind of
you have good experiences like I won't I feel like
it made my skin a little bit thicker, sure, but
then you also have experiences that you're like, I don't
want my kids to go to and I don't want
you know what I'm saying. Like, So, but that was

(16:55):
it was just I always wanted it. So it was
like wherever I have to go, you know what I mean,
and whatever I have to do. I would kind of
try to get money together to travel up to La
as much as I could, you know, to sing, and
you know, I was telling people, I was like the
thing at a certain time was like you get into
a party and then you got to meet somebody famous
so you can get them you're down, you know what
I mean, Like that's what you would think, you know
what I'm saying, Or printing CDs and I would sell

(17:17):
them on the beach in San Diego or like you know,
so it's just whatever, the whole thing, that's why. Yeah,
oh yeah, definitely. And I put on like shows I
did something at it's actually the Grove in Anaheim. I
remember at the time I was opening for it was
like San Diego. So I was opening for Polla DeAnda
and Baby Bash like that whole like yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (17:40):
So and I had to put everything together, had to
do the booking.

Speaker 8 (17:43):
I was kind of like my own promo person and
was hoping to meet people through that. Put together the
background singers and the show and the track and the
all of the promo materials and you know, so it's
like it's really when I try to recap it, it's
really like it's there's a lot of tentacles. It's really
nebulous because it was just like, cool, if this good,
I'm gonna go do that.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 6 (18:01):
It's probably a long way around.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
But well no, it's it's actually like you didn't skip.
You just didn't skip. No steps, no steps. Yeah, it's
some little steps soon.

Speaker 8 (18:14):
Steps and then going to like you know, they used
to have the like modeling agencies and the acting agencies,
the John Robert Powers and what's the other one, what's
the Casablanca or whatever.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
It's just a cattle call people.

Speaker 8 (18:24):
Yeah, when you're young, you just this is this. Every
opportunity felt like the opportunity and the big shot.

Speaker 3 (18:30):
Did you ever go there yet?

Speaker 4 (18:33):
No?

Speaker 3 (18:34):
I got convinced. I got convinced to go to one thing.

Speaker 6 (18:37):
Mm hmmm.

Speaker 3 (18:38):
I stayed for five minutes. I was like, hell no, broke.

Speaker 4 (18:47):
I did not clo.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
I was like just like auditioning, you know what I'm saying,
for for parts, But it's like like a couple of.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
Auditions I walked in to.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
You know, of course it's a big call, and I'm
like when I see the big call and I see
all these people, I'm like, no, I can take that.
But then but then you see an a lister walk in,
You're like, what you doing. I'm going on for that part, Like.

Speaker 3 (19:13):
I can't remember. I can't remember who it was. They walked.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
Oh my god, who was it they walked in and
I walked out.

Speaker 3 (19:25):
I cannot remember who it was. It was.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
It was somebody though it was it was like why
I wanted to get an autograph. I want to take
a picture, but we're here for the same spot. So
rather than like lose my cool, I'm gonna just get
on out of here because I know, damn well.

Speaker 6 (19:44):
They're going to see it.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (19:49):
I think the thing I went to is like he
supposed to be in the background of something, and I
was eighteen.

Speaker 3 (19:54):
It was like, you're going to be in the background
of some independent movie.

Speaker 9 (19:58):
We're gonna pay you forty dollars.

Speaker 8 (20:01):
I would go to these audition things are like great,
now all you have to do is pay us seven
hundred dollars for pictures, and I.

Speaker 6 (20:09):
Be like, I think I have seven dollars. It's just everybody.

Speaker 8 (20:14):
It's like again, when you're young like that, it's just
like every opportunity seems.

Speaker 9 (20:18):
But it also separates who really wanted and who doesn't.
I didn't want to be that, you know what.

Speaker 5 (20:23):
I mean, it was just another that at that particular
moment for me, was just a hustle.

Speaker 3 (20:27):
I didn't want to sell more drugs. You know.

Speaker 9 (20:30):
Prison wasn't where I wanted to be. So I'm like, okay,
I gotta stop selling dope. I'm gonna go out here
and think I'm gonna be an actor in the back
of somebody's movie.

Speaker 6 (20:38):
Right, that's real. And that was the thing at the
time too, You're right. It was for modeling. Acting.

Speaker 8 (20:42):
That wasn't my focus. But I thought, well that could
be a way into music. I could meet somebody and
you know what I mean. So it was just all
all connected, you know what I mean. But now, oh yeah, I.

Speaker 6 (20:52):
Wrote a song called is It Love?

Speaker 8 (20:55):
Is it love that makes you feel this way?

Speaker 7 (21:00):
She love Love Love Love.

Speaker 6 (21:02):
Yeah, it was a song I wrote. I was. I
was probably like I was, oh, you know what. That
was the first solo song I wrote. I think. I
was like, well, you were sixteen. I was about to
be seventy.

Speaker 8 (21:15):
When I was sixteen, I was in a group with
like like a few home girls in high school and
we were called Intimate, Intimate, Intimate, yeah no, yeah, So
we had our little group, so we wrote some things together,
but the main one I wrote was that that is

(21:35):
it Love was the first one that I wrote, and
I was also in actually very very briefly, but it
was like they weren't really I think the group was
kind of disbanding at the time. But I had auditioned
that one of their members was leaving for the group.
Remember the R and B group isis back in the day. Yeah,
so they one of their members had had left, and
so they were auditioning people and then I ended up
getting the part. But we never really did anything because
I think they were kind of disbanding at this point.

Speaker 6 (21:57):
But yeah, like I said, I was down. I was like,
let's do it, you know what I mean, Like your first.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
Sounds way better than mine. Your first song sounded great.

Speaker 6 (22:12):
That was definitely a b C.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
That is not giving a b C. That is like
we should do that, now give it.

Speaker 6 (22:19):
But I didn't know. I wasn't in love. I was like,
this feels right love right. Yeah, I wasn't exactly. I
was like, you know my favorite I'm gonna put this
in here. Yeah you know.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
So yeah, so you're going through all these progressions, of course,
not skipping any steps in anywhere to get it when
when when is when a where's your discovery?

Speaker 8 (22:52):
Yeah, so that was I actually started working with this
manager that which was I. When I say names, it
was actually you listen. It was a terrible experience, but
still some good things came from it. And so I
won't I will say that, but I do say that
because I always like to remind people like those experiences
can happen, but they don't have to take.

Speaker 6 (23:12):
You out, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 8 (23:13):
So, so my my big break actually really came through
Stevie Wonder that he's kind of like like I look
at him as like my godfather when it comes to
the business and singing.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
Yes, don.

Speaker 6 (23:27):
Didn't get expensed.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
So you were in l A at this point though,
you no.

Speaker 6 (23:35):
No, no, I was still in San Diego at the time.

Speaker 8 (23:37):
I was just commuting back and forth, you know, It's
like and so I was working with this manager and
he happened upon actually Kyle Miller Morris, who was his
wife at the time, with Steve's all the time, and
they were just in a pastry shop, he says, and
I have come up to LA to sing. I was
singing in front of a couple of songs that I wrote,
you know what I mean. It was kind of like
a retro soul vibe to it, and I was singing

(23:58):
a couple of songs I wrote at a st rip
mall and Malibu. I think we were just still there
and in front of like some shoe store, and so
we just had some clips to that. So he played
it for her while she was in there, and then
she revealed to him after she saw it. She was like, well,
I'm actually Stevie and his wife.

Speaker 6 (24:11):
I love this. I want to play it for him,
you know.

Speaker 8 (24:14):
So she played it for him and he actually really
liked it, and so they orchestrated a call, which I'm
in San Diego.

Speaker 6 (24:19):
Let me tell you something.

Speaker 8 (24:19):
I'm in San Diego sitting my mother's entire apartment.

Speaker 6 (24:24):
It was definitely smaller than this room. I was like,
I was like, it's about the size and this would.

Speaker 8 (24:27):
Have been luxury lower the roof closing the walls. That's
like my mother's spot. So I was sleeping on her
futon and it was just like a tiny little apartment
behind seven eleven, next to a dumpster, you know. And
then I'm sitting there on the phone with Stevie wonder
like hey, and he's like talking about a certain type
of song he wants to write and asking me about
my music, and he's asking me like detailed stuff like wow,

(24:47):
you know. I think he loved that it had like
the sort of retro soul and jazzy or feel to it,
and so we would ask me things like how come
they're only two minutes long? And I love that he
clocked that because I loved some of the records that
I love from Billie Holliday and people back in the
day were show order, you know what I mean, And
I love it was just a taste. And then he
talked about this song that he wanted to do with me.
He also asked me what my sign was and went
into that for a while. And then my mother was like,

(25:09):
do the dishes, and I was like, I'm actually super
busy right now, I'm on the phone with Stevie, So.

Speaker 6 (25:16):
For me, yeah, no, I still.

Speaker 8 (25:21):
She did not believe me, and I do that right, yeah,
and I got exactly but no, So that was really
so to that point. It didn't end up working out
at the time, and what I was told was that
they didn't like you. You weren't good enough. You know,
the conversation wasn't good enough us, Okay, you know what
I mean. The music, Yeah, that's what I was told

(25:43):
from the person I was working with at the time.
So I didn't find out until a year later when
my idea was up with that manager. They held onto
my information, Kai and Stevie and they reached out to
me again and were like, hey, we hope you're not
still with this person, and they explained to me what happened,
which is that he told them like they have to
pay something like fifty thousand just just to meet me

(26:03):
in the studio, you know what I mean. So I
didn't know about that. I just thought I wasn't good enough,
and it is what it is, you know what I'm saying.
So I say that because that's why I say, like
things like that don't have to be the end, you
know what I mean. Like, so they actually introduced me
to my producer who did my first record, and so
that's the rest of us kind of black history from there.

Speaker 6 (26:20):
Yeah, so very grateful.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
God, Yeah, that's just that's the unfortunate part of this business.
Just sometimes we just we go through things like that
with people who just have very heartless individuals in this business,
and you know, I attribute it to them just not
having any talent, not having any gifts. Yeah, and so

(26:43):
when it becomes a thing where you'll do anything for money,
like that's the thing, you'll do anything to people, Yeah,
you know.

Speaker 8 (26:50):
And I think sphere, I think it's really truthfully, at
the root of it is a fear based you know
what I'm saying, Like you just don't you have to
get yours by any means necessary, and you don't think
you'll ever have something or you don't you got to
hold on to it because you're scared if you lose it,
and all this stuff as well. I think it's definitely
like a fear thing, you know what I'm saying, Like,
which I think is what kind of like makes me

(27:12):
have empathy, you feel me like, I go, all right, cool,
I could sit and be mad at this person and
be like but I'm like, you know what, You're just scared,
you know what I mean, And that's where you're operating from.
So I hope you God willing, you know what I'm saying,
by his grace, I hope you find a way out
of that, you know what I mean.

Speaker 6 (27:26):
Yeah, So I have.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
Take that however you want to.

Speaker 5 (27:41):
Squashing no, be I don't wish you well, that's.

Speaker 3 (28:06):
That is our balance.

Speaker 6 (28:09):
That's why this works. I like ex.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
Me you know what I'm saying. You rot that.

Speaker 3 (28:27):
So they introduced your producer, who does your first single,
your first.

Speaker 8 (28:30):
Album, first album? So that was Adrian Gerberts was his name.
He was a producer. He was a very unknown producer
as far as I knew here out of London, you
know what I mean. He was an English dude, and
so it was just you know, he just he loved
my voice. He was passionate about it, you know. And
and then and so we did the record together. And
then from there I was introduced. We did kind of

(28:50):
the label circuit and we're like, you know, doing the
kind of this meeting with the labels everybody was doing
with Stevie No no a lot of the time. Yeah
he was. He was more hands off with this. But
and then from there I was introduced to Rafael Sadik,
who also like produced, So it was Adrian Gravits and
Rafael Sadek that produced my first record. So yeah, it
was cool. It was you know, things were happening. I
was like, okay, can't you know what I mean, after

(29:11):
all this time, like.

Speaker 3 (29:12):
Raphael still ain't done no record for me.

Speaker 6 (29:15):
Let's okay, let's put it on wax right now.

Speaker 8 (29:17):
Ray, I would really loved to do a record.

Speaker 6 (29:23):
No, he's amazing. Yeah, he's really amazing.

Speaker 8 (29:24):
Yeah, he's so cool too, Like he's really He let
me sit in there and mix the record too, you
know what I mean. I had some people mixing it,
but I can be huh, I can be quite controlling
sometimes I'm working on me, but so I need there's
just details that I wanted to hear. So he let
me sit in there with his mixed engineers Jerry, Bobby Campbell,

(29:46):
uh Ari, and we just kind of mixed the record
and worked together. And then he worked on songs with
Musical two. So yeah, he's amazing. He's definitely someone I'm
always gonna work with. He did music with billy billy
music with Musical too.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
And what was the call out from the first album?
What was the first track the first single?

Speaker 6 (30:04):
Yeah, oh, the first thing.

Speaker 8 (30:05):
Well, it was a song called rise Up Yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
Put your Order in three make a Booth.

Speaker 8 (30:16):
Which I would tell you was not on the album originally,
by the way, that was a very that was a
last minute addition to the record.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
Yeah, I wrote that the album was done already.

Speaker 8 (30:24):
It was done, completely done, Yeah, and so, and I
had been doing the whole I was actually really I
think tired, Like you said, no skipped steps, you know
what I mean. So by this point I was just like,
oh my, I'm with the label now and I'm going
to these sessions and writing all these songs, but the
album is done and I'm not loving what we're coming
up with and all the things.

Speaker 6 (30:41):
So I forgot.

Speaker 8 (30:42):
I had done a session with this lady named Jendall
Sevio and we did Rise Up. And so when I
was in the meeting with Warner, they were like, hey,
you know, we love it, blah blah blah, but we
really want to play you a song. And I was like,
they were like, you wrote it. I was like, well,
let me hear it. Put it on a love put
it on it.

Speaker 3 (31:00):
If you said I wrote, I was.

Speaker 8 (31:06):
Listening and right right because I was like at this point,
I was like side eye and everybody. So and they
played it and I was like, oh, it like kind
of just quieted the room for a second.

Speaker 6 (31:18):
I was like, yeah, no, it was just very very apparent.

Speaker 8 (31:20):
I was like, this absolutely has to be on the album,
absolutely has to be the first single. They tried to
go in and do do the drums remix and get
the big DJs, the and all the stuff to put
the stuff on there, you know, but I was just
the whole time was just kind of like, ya, I
think the song is like what it is, you know
what I mean, like, I think the song is like
this is who I am, and so it just nothing
ever works, nothing ever sat properly. So it just what

(31:42):
it what exactly what we made it to be is
what ended up out there and what people heard.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
I have one question about it.

Speaker 6 (31:49):
Each other, Yeah, well it just felt better. I mean,
what what was the thing is that because I wanted to.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
Time it comes on, I'm like, you know what each other.

Speaker 8 (32:05):
I had this thing that I was really like, I
wanted to play with vowel sounds, and I wanted to
do I don't like the feeling of like no no
either that or I was just like really like wold
and but I just I like playing with vowel sounds,
and so I'm like, you know what if I just
twist this vowel a little bit or twist certain things
and it feels better like that. The other part is

(32:27):
I'm like, if I really love the performance of something,
you know what I mean, like the feeling of the
performance of it, and I'm like.

Speaker 6 (32:32):
I'll try to reapproach it.

Speaker 8 (32:34):
Yeah, but I'm like, it's probably just gonna have to
have that mistake in there if I'm really like, I can't.
I can sing it better, but I can't get that film. Yeah,
I can't get that feeling.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
But that's not a mistake, that's feeling.

Speaker 8 (32:44):
Yeah, it was a feeling, and I think at the time,
so I was very much I was like, I just
want to sing and things that sound weird, not that
it's for weird sake, but just because, like you know,
I just hate being limited, like this is how I
sing and I have to sing this way. And I'm like, yeah,
but I'm I'm feeling like changing the place I'm singing
from or doing experiments and stuff like that.

Speaker 6 (33:01):
Honestly, Yeah, I.

Speaker 3 (33:02):
Had as you know what I mean, So rise Up
just goes crazy. Yeah, it just goes. It goes crazy.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
Like my daughter Jordan at her graduation, she that's the
solo she sang for her graduating class. I cried a
little bit, you know, I cried crazy, you cry crazy.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
I cried enough. But it was but it was just
like the song and that the.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
Moment, like all of these things, the song is such
a defining moment for so many moments, like.

Speaker 3 (33:45):
Not skipping the steps.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
Do you feel a sense of like finally, when when
this record becomes because this is a different level of
hit record. Yeah, different level global. It's global, it's it's
on TV. Yeah, it's American Idol, it's it's everywhere.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Yeah, that's not a normal hit record. That is a phenomenon.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
Wow, yeah I got I got the account.

Speaker 3 (34:19):
To prove it.

Speaker 6 (34:23):
I really know. Yeah, yes I did. Actually, Actually, to
be honest with you, that's what I always tell people.
I was like, I really you know what I mean.
It's not just like fake humble tip.

Speaker 8 (34:32):
It's just like like we freestyled it, right, which sounds like, okay,
a flex But it was one of those things that
I realized like like when we freestyled, not the whole thing,
but like most of it, like rise up, do it
a thousand times again. It was just she was playing
these chords and it's like it's just simple chords, simple
four chords, you know what I mean, repetition whatever.

Speaker 6 (34:50):
And I was like, I literally prayed.

Speaker 8 (34:52):
I prayed when I was in the car, and I
was like, God, I don't even want to be here,
to be honest with you, you know what I mean. I
was like, friend, it had been diagnosed with cancer, like
you know, just weren't happening in the career, and it
just felt like such a long time, and like I
think it was the first time. I started to be like,
is this not going to happen, Like, you know, I
don't know what else to do. I don't know, you know.
And so I just prayed and I was like, Lord,
just you speak, you know what I mean. I don't

(35:12):
want just like you inhabit the space you speak and
let whatever come out. So she started playing these chords
and I just started singing, and a lot of the
song I have it.

Speaker 6 (35:19):
I'll find it at some point, I'll find it. I'll
send it to you.

Speaker 8 (35:22):
A lot of the song came out just in that
first kind of like playing around take and so I
would tell people, I'm like, yeah, I did write it,
but like it was definitely you know, the moments where
you're clear you're a vessel you know what I'm saying,
And you're like, okay, so that's why you know the
song doing what it did. I I will say, like, yes,
it felt like yes finally, but it also felt like

(35:43):
whoa that I didn't expect you know what I'm saying
like that, I did not anticipate it. I didn't anticipate
it doing what it does for people, or like being
the anthem for Black Lives Matter.

Speaker 6 (35:55):
I didn't anticipate.

Speaker 8 (35:56):
It, Like I'll put it like this, I didn't anticipate
it being like life changing and saving.

Speaker 6 (36:02):
Like when we do tours and we do like meet and.

Speaker 8 (36:04):
Greets, right, I always tell my team because they'd be
like Andrew, you know what I'm saying, meet and greets,
Like we got to get out of here. But I'm like,
my nigga, who do I rush the nigga who's like
parent was diagnosed with cancer or the nigga who just
tried to kill herself, you know what I'm saying. Like,
I'm like, so it's like I get a lot of
that and it's amazing where it would you would think
it would depress you. It just re reminds me of

(36:25):
like the power of music, which I believe is at
its core. I believe it was designed to be healing.
But I get people all the time, it's like, wow,
I was literally going to kill myself.

Speaker 6 (36:34):
I listened to your song. I didn't.

Speaker 8 (36:35):
I'm like, wow, you know what I'm saying, Like, or
I just or I was had the bottle of pills,
or I had this, or I'm going through depression, or
I lost a family member or I had one family.
Say this woman she was diagnosed with cancer. We were
on stage and we brought her up and so we.

Speaker 6 (36:50):
Just had the audience. We just prayed over her. You know.

Speaker 8 (36:52):
She did end up passing away, and then her family
was like, oh, you know, her request is that you're
there during her dying moment. So it was like me,
her and her family, and I was like, like, you know,
it's one of those things that you're like, you guys,
I really don't you know what I mean. I feel
like this feels very intrusive, and I don't, but you're
just reminded like it's not about you. They just want
what they believe that spirit is, you know what I'm saying. Like,
And so I definitely did not anticipate it doing what

(37:15):
it did, and I'm super super grateful.

Speaker 7 (37:17):
Yeah, amazing, thank you.

Speaker 3 (37:21):
I was just when you said, like, who do I.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
Rush, It's like, yeah, rush, Yeah, I'm so connected.

Speaker 6 (37:28):
Right, You're like, sorry, I'm busy. We have to you
know what I mean.

Speaker 8 (37:31):
I'm like, spot, it's hard because this person has been
waiting since they heard the song, you know what I mean,
to come to this show for however long, the year, whatever,
and has this heavy, heavy story and that's what they
want to get off. And so it's hard to be like,
I don't have time to hear your life change, you
know what I mean. I'm like, it's you just got
to make time. You gotta figure it out, you know
what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (37:52):
And I think because a lot of times we're on
the other side of it, we're so we're so used
to just just ring and bing the vessel and just
doing what we're called to do that we never really
get to stop and and kind of visualize and understand
the effects of what we do, like to really have

(38:14):
those conversations, like I really just I just make it
a point to just just stop and talk to anybody,
you know what I mean, just see where it's going.
And it's like he said some of the craziest conversations,
some of the craziest connections. And then for me, like
Jai'll tell you, like I've never met a stranger, I'll
just treat a connection.

Speaker 6 (38:34):
I can see that, and I like that.

Speaker 3 (38:37):
We'll just talk till we figure out some common ground.

Speaker 8 (38:40):
When I first met you all those years ago, that's
I was like, you were so nice. It was actually
me and Ed Sheeran. I don't know if you remember that.

Speaker 6 (38:46):
Night, no way, it was before he blew up. It
was crazy.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
You know.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
He was circular.

Speaker 8 (38:53):
Yeah, he was doing his circular singing dah da daha,
and all the ladies in the audience was like, oh
my god, this white boy ginger and take my brawls
off and throw it.

Speaker 6 (39:00):
It was crazy. Yeah, the night was nuts, and you
were just so kind and so cool.

Speaker 1 (39:02):
And I believe it was that that was a time
to We used to have a time at Army.

Speaker 6 (39:09):
Yeah, it was so fun. It was so fun. It
got crazy when he went to the Key Club too.

Speaker 1 (39:16):
I remember so many nights. I remember we saying Jealousy.
One night it was a Grammy night. I think it
was we say the Grammy Knights.

Speaker 3 (39:24):
Lonnie. I think texts, he says, jealousy.

Speaker 1 (39:28):
I remember when Brandy sang and all the dudes and
was in the corner hugging each other like it was
just like they were funning over Brandy, like she's Brandy.
Like like Christopher Williams, you know what I'm saying, pull
it up on the motorcycle.

Speaker 3 (39:43):
God knows what the book bag. You know, I said,
don't touch my bag, nigga.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
Shout out to Christopher Williams. He is not a game.
I gotta get here on it. But that time, it
was like, you know what a time and I said.

Speaker 6 (40:03):
One of the steps.

Speaker 8 (40:03):
You know what I'm saying, It's one of the steps,
Like I think that, and it's like very fond memories.
So it was a long journey, but I'm they're all
fond memories, you know what I'm saying. So like and
meeting you for the first time too, because I was
just a big fan of your voice and your music.

Speaker 6 (40:15):
And it's like, wow, he's just so cool.

Speaker 8 (40:17):
You know, that felt like another step, This is my
big opportunity, you know. Yeah, yeah, I know it was.
It was actually that experience was amazing. So yeah, that
was actually when I first met you is the.

Speaker 3 (40:26):
Tour after that is? Then we do we go straight
on a world tour.

Speaker 6 (40:29):
Like after we after we dropped the album.

Speaker 8 (40:31):
Oh, actually, how fast I don't remember how quickly. My
memory is terrible. I don't remember how quickly we went
on tour after that. I think it was fairly quickly.
Actually after we released there, Yeah, no, we started touring
pretty immediately. But my first tour was opening actually for
Lenny Kravitz, which I thought was just like, so.

Speaker 9 (40:51):
Yeah, some tequila listen, it's gonna be it's gonna be
one of the nights I'm gonna easy to just keep
coming back.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
Could your hand flat? No?

Speaker 8 (41:13):
It was actually, well, it's funny. Touring with Lenny was
an amazing experience. A he was just really amazing and
it was just like mister sir Kravitz.

Speaker 3 (41:22):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (41:22):
But yeah, it was great touring with him just because
it was a great experience learning a lot watching him.
Also what was really interesting too was just to see
like his audience. You know what I'm saying, It's a
really really I had no idea who was going to
show up and who would be in the audience each
city we showed up. You know what I'm saying, So
it was like really interesting to be surprised by like
the diversity and like the group of people in his audience.

(41:44):
So I was like, Okay, this is really interesting, Like
you know, he's like tapped something here, and so it
was just I mean, he's a legend, and so it
was just great watching him how he manured with his
band and with you know what I'm saying, like and
he runs a tight ship in a great way, and
then he puts on a great show because of that,
you know what I mean. Like, but the first time,
I'm not gonna lie to you, the first night I
was tricked on that tour because the first night I
got to it was Toronto. Toronto was the first date,

(42:06):
and that was the first time I had been to
I think it was the first time I had been
to Canada.

Speaker 6 (42:10):
But I get in my hotel room and.

Speaker 8 (42:13):
I'm like, nigga, I opened the door and I close
it back because I was like, oh shit, like I
accidentally opened the wine cellar, you know what I'm saying.
I went, so I gotta had to go back get
the key and doll stuff, and they were like, no,
that was your room.

Speaker 6 (42:23):
I opened it up.

Speaker 8 (42:23):
I was like, no, the wine cellar was just a
huge middle section. My room was massive. I was like,
this is the biggest thing I've ever been in in
my life.

Speaker 6 (42:32):
It was so huge. It had multiple rooms with a
pool table and an entertainment room. It had a whole
wine nigga. I was like, is this Did they accidentally
give me Drake sweet?

Speaker 2 (42:41):
Like?

Speaker 8 (42:41):
I was like, this is so higg I was like,
what is going on? And then we get to the
first day of tour and they had this huge spread
and they was like all of this charcouterie boards and
seafood and you know what I'm saying, like everything. It
was like so amazed. I was like, yo, tours lit
like I don't know what Michael Jackson was talking about.

Speaker 6 (42:58):
That shit fire Like amazing. You know, I love tour.
But next tour day I was like it was me
and a roach in my time in the hotel.

Speaker 3 (43:06):
I was like this, that's for you, bro.

Speaker 8 (43:10):
That the first day had me me up. I was like,
I'm in some trouble right now. That second day was
very clear.

Speaker 6 (43:17):
I was like, what is all that I've been in rooms?

Speaker 9 (43:19):
Right?

Speaker 8 (43:20):
I don't take my sweat, I'm not sleep standing up
in the middle of the room.

Speaker 6 (43:23):
I still like.

Speaker 3 (43:24):
To take me like Jay is a day room exactly.

Speaker 6 (43:29):
I was like, your day room. But these bad bugs
are gonna last for a couple of weeks.

Speaker 3 (43:33):
I'm like, yeah, I'm not sleeping in here.

Speaker 8 (43:37):
We're the same when the cups of that, Oh, we're definitely.
I feel back for that because they got a book
Hotels Corre. I got a book hotel all the time,
and I'd.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
Be like, I'm like, bro, it's fine, it's the days in,
but it's the upgraded.

Speaker 8 (43:47):
Version, upgraded days in the day.

Speaker 6 (43:53):
Wait, what's the days what's the upgraded days in?

Speaker 4 (43:56):
I don't know, hotel.

Speaker 6 (43:57):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
So as you walk you just know it's chicken.

Speaker 6 (44:01):
I feel so bad. I feel bad.

Speaker 8 (44:03):
They walk into a room and they could look around
and they look at me. They'd be like, we're not
staying here. Don't even drop a bag, We're leaving immediately.
I just yeah, dirtiness, it's more you travel. You just
be like, bro, niggas are dirty. Planes are dirty.

Speaker 9 (44:16):
Some cities you go to they don't have free star.
You know, many times a promoter has said that to
me on the phone. You're right, yeah, and I'm like, yeah,
so how far is the nearest four or five stars city?

Speaker 3 (44:30):
Right, let's contract four stars are better.

Speaker 8 (44:36):
So you were like, what's the nearest city so we
can read route the day and give me a two
hour commute time.

Speaker 6 (44:41):
Because I'm like, no, I.

Speaker 3 (44:42):
Remember plenty of nights where because.

Speaker 8 (44:45):
You know I sleep in the suv. I was sleeping
the suv before I was big South.

Speaker 11 (44:49):
Oh yeah, yeah, in two thousand, two thousand, and I
remember many nights God Rest the soul brother Window was
sleeping in the chair in his room.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
In the chair. Yep, I can't get in that bed.

Speaker 6 (45:04):
I'm not doing it. No way, I'm not doing it.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
I'm not doing.

Speaker 8 (45:08):
Me.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
I'm but making it in sleep. We got I can't
know there we got in the morning.

Speaker 8 (45:20):
I'm not mad at you, because that's why you sound
the way you say, how you prioritize sleep. I was like,
they gonna get this twenty four hour no sleep performance.
I was like, I am not getting in it because
some things last a lifetime. You never know, you know
what I'm saying. I'm like something some bikes. Yeah, I'm not.

Speaker 3 (45:39):
Mad at I wouldn't. I didn't get spoiled.

Speaker 6 (45:45):
They would have started with the Roach Hotel, I would
have been good. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (45:48):
But I was like, I know, but I also started
as a background singer too, so I wasn't part of
the A group. I was part of the B group,
So you know what I'm saying. It was definitely motel
life where you just walk out of your room outside.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 6 (46:01):
You're right, You're right yet so for me, it was
just like a right, okay, this is you know, there's.

Speaker 8 (46:05):
A little bit of that in me too, because there
are moments now that I think about it, I was like, yeah,
there were moments like we just started out, I would
literally be asleep on coats on the airport floor, you
know what I mean. So, yeah, that's something I would
never do that, would never do that. Now, I'm not
gonna lie. I'm terrified, you know what I mean. People's feet,
but everyone has their everybody it has Yes, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (46:27):
Like like you were a big question you dropped the bottom.

Speaker 6 (46:46):
I feel you a little bit. I feel you on
that definitely.

Speaker 1 (46:59):
Okay, so you go all crazy on tour. Is the
movie next or the movie comes after your next project?

Speaker 2 (47:07):
Uh?

Speaker 9 (47:07):
No?

Speaker 8 (47:08):
The movie came right after, so this is actually the
album that we're releasing is only my second album, Like
it's just been such a long time. So the movie
actually came like after we did the whole album, so like,
and we did a couple of tours too. I did
a solo tour as well, and then we toured with
Leon Bridges and so yeah, we did a few tours
and festivals and we did the whole circuit, you know

(47:28):
what I mean. It was an amazing experience, and it just
because of the nature of Rise Up, it honestly just
kept going and kind of does keep going. Like I
tell people, this sounds so bad, y'all. I don't even
know i'd say this, but Rise Up is sometimes I
feel bad because I'm like, Okay, I gotta, We're just
we gotta.

Speaker 6 (47:45):
We just donate, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 8 (47:46):
And we gotta donate because I'm like, Rise Up will
stream and it's amazing because the song has that power
and it's oftentimes people are like I need this to
get through this moment or yeah, but like during the
Black Lives Matter movement in the march, if there's a
huge crisis that happens oftentimes it was Skyrocket because it
just becomes the song of them.

Speaker 6 (48:04):
Start feeling bad.

Speaker 8 (48:05):
I'm like, nig, I feel like this is like a
war weapon, like I need to do something with this.
So it lasts kind of The Psycho lasted quite a
long time. And then so once we kind of really finished,
and I really decided in myself too, I was like, Okay,
I'm grateful for this, but I really want to now.

Speaker 6 (48:21):
I want to start working on new music. I'm in
that place, you.

Speaker 8 (48:23):
Know, And what I wanted to do this time was
like I wanted to produce more on this project, and
I wanted to. I loved my touring band, like they're
my family. They've been with me since the beginning. And
there's something about them, you know when you find those
players that you're like, they're so genius, but you're also
comfortable enough to like, yeah, you're connected, they understand you.
It's instinct like, and you're comfortable enough to fail around them.

(48:48):
Does that make sense? Like I always telling people I
don't play. I wish I did. I want to learn.
I'm working on it, actually, but I don't play, you
know what I mean? So everything is guesswork for me?
You know what you want to hear I do, so
it's all my you know what I mean. And they're
really like tapped into that. So I was like, okay.
And then we know, like in the business, like we
work in the music industry, and the people who are
treated probably the worst are usually musicians, you know what

(49:10):
I'm saying. So I was like, dancers and dancers absolutely,
and so I'm like, well, I'm tired of kind of
fighting for them, so I just want to bring them
in the studio, make them producers, you know what I'm saying, because.

Speaker 6 (49:20):
They all have great years, they're really visionary. So I
was like, that's what I'm gonna do.

Speaker 8 (49:23):
I'm gonna just build this next record and it's just
going to be us in the studio producing, doing what
we do on the road, you know what I'm saying,
and like, and so it definitely took a lot more
time than I had anticipated, but it was worth it,
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
Like you're saying, this is going to be your second
this is the second. I start counting the years.

Speaker 8 (49:41):
Yeah, it's been seven it's been since I released my
last record.

Speaker 6 (49:47):
It's been nine years.

Speaker 8 (49:49):
Yeah, and we did we did do three movies in between,
so it wasn't.

Speaker 6 (49:54):
No, well you know what's so funny? Are just so funny?

Speaker 1 (49:58):
No?

Speaker 6 (49:58):
No, I want no no.

Speaker 8 (50:01):
But when she do, you know, when she don't pull
up on me, we will be right back here talking
about but no, she's so But it's funny because in
the beginning of my career they asked me.

Speaker 6 (50:15):
They were like, you know, they ask you crazy questions.
Who do you want to model your career after.

Speaker 8 (50:18):
I'm like, y'all, come on, bro, like just you know,
like it feels like a weird question to answer. And
I don't know, maybe I was just arrogant at the time,
but I was like, I don't like that, you know
what I mean, Like, let's just I can tell you
artists I like. But they were like, we really need
to know, we really need to talk.

Speaker 6 (50:30):
It's okay.

Speaker 8 (50:31):
So I was like, and one of the people I
named was Shade, and they were like, well, she only
releases some records like every seven years, every nine years,
every whatever. And at the time I was like, no, no,
we're going to release more records. I just you know,
I like the vibe.

Speaker 6 (50:42):
I like whatever. No, nine years later exactly, so it
just happened that way.

Speaker 1 (50:47):
Is that of course, I know you take your time
making music, but also is that kind of a testament
of the success of that first record, Like you said,
that record.

Speaker 3 (50:57):
Has not come to a close.

Speaker 1 (50:59):
And from a business standpoint, you've you you as as
a writer and a producer. If you know that language,
you continue to do very well. So it's not like
you have to rush. Yeah, thing, is that part of it?

Speaker 8 (51:15):
I think I think that. I definitely think that's a
part of it. Like I said, the cycle was really long,
and it does all right. Yeah, there's a little bit
of like not feeling like I have to rush, like
I want to take my time to be and I'm
like that I really I am a perfectionist, which is
terrible sometimes, you know what I'm saying, because you can
really self sabotage that you really can be in your

(51:35):
own way. And that is a balance that I'm trying
to learn, like be precious but not too precious, you
know what I'm saying. Because so it does afford you time,
not as much time as I've taken, but but it
does afford you to also I just have adhd I
get distracted. Everything's interesting, you know what I'm saying, I
keep standing at that. Curt, I'm like, why is that
one different from the rest of them?

Speaker 3 (51:56):
You know what I'm saying, Well, we're still working on that.

Speaker 8 (51:58):
That's over. I was like, you know it turn over,
but I like it. I like the variation, you know.

Speaker 6 (52:04):
No, so there was like.

Speaker 3 (52:05):
Taking at the track.

Speaker 6 (52:09):
At all. I was like, I want to shoot. I'm
kidding no, but yeah.

Speaker 8 (52:21):
So it definitely does afford you time, but also the
time in between the record because I'm so hands on,
you know which, like I said, I'm really learning to
in my life. I'm like, all right, cool, this is great,
hold on to this. This is a detriment, like grow
from it, move on, you know what I mean. But
I'm also like it was also the movies, Like, so
we I started the record, we started producing the record

(52:41):
and writing in twenty seventeen, and then I got the call.

Speaker 6 (52:48):
I got the call.

Speaker 8 (52:51):
At the end of twenty seventeen about like, hey, we
want you to do Billie Holiday, And I was like,
the hell are y'all talking about?

Speaker 3 (52:57):
You just got the call?

Speaker 9 (52:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (52:59):
They had for it.

Speaker 6 (53:00):
No, I hadn't at this point yet. I did. I
ended up auditioning for it.

Speaker 8 (53:04):
But they just got a call to meet with Lee,
you know, because his team and everybody was like, she's
the perfect person for it, which makes me laugh so
much to this day because my response was like, what
are you talking about?

Speaker 3 (53:12):
Nick?

Speaker 6 (53:13):
I just love Billie Holiday. I'm not an actress, you
know what I mean?

Speaker 9 (53:15):
Like they know about that, that that call you went
on earlier, that that model.

Speaker 8 (53:21):
Stuff on John Robert Powers the pictures that I right,
I pay some hundreds for the pictures. I was like,
I'm gonna go another way.

Speaker 6 (53:33):
But yeah, So so I think that.

Speaker 8 (53:36):
It took a long time because we ended up doing
that movie and then we've shot i think two other
movies on the in between, so that definitely took a
lot of time. COVID hit, you know what I mean.
It's just like the timing of everything was crazy. And
you're right, like Rise Up still does its things, so
you know, it's definitely there's I'm looking at my team now,
there's definitely more pressure.

Speaker 6 (53:54):
Now, my god, look can we close do you?

Speaker 3 (54:02):
I mean?

Speaker 1 (54:03):
I mean we just can't glance over you know, over Billy.
It's hard to glance over that. When you were nominated
for an Oscar. You want to that golden globe that
you you won that, Yeah, you.

Speaker 5 (54:16):
Won that Grammy Grammy.

Speaker 3 (54:20):
Yeah, uh a celebration. Celebration. Of course.

Speaker 1 (54:27):
You were as you say, because I'm not an actor,
as you just say, said that, that is so wrong.
It's not even close to not You're not you. I
don't know what you were thinking at the time, but
when you got in front of that camera, Jesus Christ,

(54:49):
thank you so much.

Speaker 8 (54:50):
Well at the time, I was not though. If they
would have shot the movie at that time, you would
have been like.

Speaker 6 (54:54):
Jesus, so, how long did you so you went to prep?

Speaker 8 (54:58):
I did, Yeah, definitely, so so I once I actually
agreed to do it because Lee and I were both skeptical.
You know, his team's telling him you got to meet
with her. He's like, why would I meet with her?
She's not an actress. My team's like, I mean, I'm like,
I'm not an actress. Why But I was like, you
know what, the long way around, not skipping steps to say,
you know what, Lee Daniels is a good person to know.
I should probably just meet him, you know what I mean, Like,
definitely not going to do this movie, but why not?

Speaker 6 (55:20):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 8 (55:20):
If I want to do music or play some music
or whatever something like that. Let's just let me just
chop it up with him real quick and just see,
you know what he's talking about. So we met and
it was just like, I'm such a huge fan of
Billy Holliday, So I like that she's really probably one
of my foremost inspirations, and she is.

Speaker 6 (55:36):
Actually I'm just like, but so I really really love her.

Speaker 8 (55:40):
So meeting with him and his passion he was he
was a fan of ladies sings the blues, that was
his thing. And so once he discovered more about Billie
Holliday and her fight with strange fruit, Like most people's
idea of her is that she was a godmother of
jazz music, right, you know what I mean. She was
probably the most famous jazz singer you know at the time,

(56:00):
and and she was a tragic drug addict, which is
not the case, you know what I mean. Those things
were true in her life, you know, but she was
hunted and so like I knew that as a study
of her because I became familiar with her when I
was like eleven years old, and I just was a
huge fan of her. Like I said, the way she
sang you know, I was trying to play with my
voice more because I love her identity, and so I

(56:21):
really love I sat with him and he was really
so enamored and so passionate about this story. He was like,
people need to know this about her, And so he
breaks down what he's going to do and how he's
gonna like, you know, just he's trying to vindicate really
her legacy. He was like, I'm making this for black women,
like I'm you know, I want people to know she's
a fier. I'm so moved by her story and by
this song Strench Fruit. He wasn't even really familiar with

(56:43):
the song, and so.

Speaker 6 (56:47):
And so I was.

Speaker 8 (56:47):
I really loved that. I was like, I really love
how passionate he is. But I'm excited for him and
whoever he gets to do the movie.

Speaker 6 (56:53):
But I still yeah, because I was like, I love her.

Speaker 8 (56:58):
So I told people, I said, my biggest fear was
like people would be like, oh, I love Billy Holliday.
Oh my god, you remember the amazing you know, Diana
Ross and Ladies Sings the Blues. Oh you remember the
amazing Audrey McDonald on Broadway? Dude, Oh you remember when
Andrew did it, you.

Speaker 6 (57:10):
Know what I mean, Like, I don't want.

Speaker 8 (57:11):
To be that.

Speaker 10 (57:12):
I was like, oh my god, like everybody yoh broh
yeah exactly, like wow, you are Prince Petty.

Speaker 3 (57:25):
That is our friend.

Speaker 8 (57:28):
So so yeah, so I was like I can't so yeah,
So I met with him and he introduced me. He
was like, you know what he didn't. What I love
about Lee is he didn't just kind of throw me
to the wolves and be like whatever, let's see. So
before we even did the audition, he got me with
Tasha Smith Smith, who was my acting coach, who is

(57:49):
an amazing director, actress coach, like she's just all the
things and a sister, you know. So he linked me
with her and to prepare me for the audition. So
I just thought that was really like That's why I
tell people. I'm like, you know, I'm grateful, and I'm
grateful that people love the performance, but it would not
have been that performance without eight I think there are

(58:10):
very very few, and when I say a handful, I
mean maybe like three fingers directors in Hollywood that can
pull performances out of actors the way Lee does, you
know what I mean, There's just like very very few
people of Scorsese's like that, Lee is like that. Like
so it was a combination of like her coaching, her
believing in me even more than I did in the beginning,
and him believing in me and his direction, you know.

(58:32):
So he got me with her. And then he said
he saw a little tape of He always when he
tells the story, he says, he saw a tape. She
sent him a clip of me, just like going through
the scenes, he said, And in that moment I knew.
He's like, you weren't acting, you were just being you
know what I mean? He was like, that was the
moment I knew you were billying. So so and then
they did this thing where like I was preparing for

(58:53):
the role like a lot before before because I got
it at the top of twenty eighteen and start filming
until the very end of.

Speaker 6 (59:05):
Or did I get it twenty seventeen. I can't remember.

Speaker 8 (59:08):
We didn't start filming U til the end of twenty nineteen.
So I was kind of in her headspace changing for
a long time. I started smoking cigarettes, I started drinking alcohol,
started cussing for which I didn't do. It still hasn't
gone away, but and you just went you just yeah, yeah, yeah,
what she told she trained me from a different thing.

(59:28):
She said, but what you did Sis is you did
what I trained you. But she also trained me to
just do what you need to do to get it,
you know what I mean. And so she trained me
in this particular way and then she said, you also
incorporated some method and so it was just like and
then they we didn't get in and start coaching heavily
until that was Lee's call. Lee was like, I don't
want you to get with her until two weeks right

(59:50):
before we go to film, and then intensively work with
her because he really and it worked because he had
this idea that he was like, I want the anxiety
and because Billy would have that in her life during
this period of her life. I want the anxiety and
the nerves, and I want her to be super present
and I want all that to work for her. And
so it was a combination of all of my preparation.
Those intense took so dope and smart. I was super

(01:00:13):
grateful just it all came together.

Speaker 6 (01:00:14):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
You are absolutely amazing.

Speaker 6 (01:00:17):
Thank you. I appreciate it. Takeing movie special that afforded
me some more time.

Speaker 3 (01:00:23):
I just didn't like the way you left your band
in the middle of it.

Speaker 8 (01:00:25):
No, yeah, it's exactly this fake turner.

Speaker 6 (01:00:31):
Nigga Cocaine is a hell of a drug, Like you
do some crazy things. Yeah right. It was like, come on, Billy.

Speaker 8 (01:00:43):
No, there were so many moments they were like working
the script because she's super lovable, like when you read
her biography and all the things. But she did crazy
ship too, you know what I mean. So, and she
would do stuff that you would be like, wow, I
really can't stand that. But for whatever reason, people still
loved her. So they it was like an artist. Yeah,
she really was, and she was she Here's the thing
about Billy. She was a woman of a different time,
you know what I'm saying, Like, and you forget that

(01:01:04):
like she was like her saying was like I didn't
want to be nobody's I didn't want to you know
what I'm saying.

Speaker 6 (01:01:10):
She ended up working.

Speaker 8 (01:01:11):
She started working in a she was raped at ten,
and then she started working in a brothel by the
age eleven.

Speaker 6 (01:01:17):
I think with her mom, you.

Speaker 7 (01:01:18):
Know what I mean.

Speaker 6 (01:01:19):
So, and she had women too.

Speaker 8 (01:01:22):
She ran girls like she was a She was a
hard woman and she was from a different time, and
she had to survive. And so her saying was like
I didn't want to be nobody's damn maids. So she
used to like clean the steps of people's houses and
like wealthy white people for like a nickel in Baltimore
or you know what I mean. And so she just
like she dealt with a lot of men who were
super abusive, you know what I mean. She was stolen

(01:01:43):
from oftentimes, and you know, she was abused physically, abused
sexually all the things. But she it made her hard
and it made her very like you know, but truthfully,
it also made her a fighter and made her who
she was. You know, so like people forget like to
be a black woman in the twenties and the thirties
and the forties.

Speaker 3 (01:02:01):
It's way different.

Speaker 8 (01:02:02):
It's way you know what I mean. Like, so yeah,
it's interesting. So yeah, she was, she was out there.
You should read her biography if you haven't read, it's
funny as well.

Speaker 3 (01:02:09):
You you just amazing. It's just tough to do.

Speaker 1 (01:02:13):
It's just it's just because like you said, to be
that to be that one person out of all the
people who've come before you, Yeah, to not nail it,
Oh my god, right, that that pressures territory.

Speaker 6 (01:02:26):
That was terrible.

Speaker 3 (01:02:27):
But for leader to say, let's use that.

Speaker 6 (01:02:29):
Yes, exactly, use that anxiety, Use that anxiety.

Speaker 3 (01:02:33):
And that's why a part of it, why she was
using drugs absolutely.

Speaker 8 (01:02:36):
Well, and her people forget about that all the time.
I'm like that she didn't just be like, oh, let
me pick it up. And a lot of these drugs
were planted on musicians, you know what I mean, This
was put like that's why people the drug war was
not in the eighties, that started in like the thirties
and the forties, you know what I mean with jazz musicians,
particularly black jazz musicians.

Speaker 10 (01:02:52):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:02:53):
So, and it's still and it's still the thing.

Speaker 9 (01:02:55):
It's so you know, once again, we always we try
to have moments as many moments on this podcast as
possible to be informative. Yeah, and you know, for me,
I would just you know, to any young artists that's
out there, understand, when they're giving you these things is
to control you, you know what I mean, because you're
you're not on your dean at this point, you're not

(01:03:18):
standing on your platform. They're knocking you off of it
by telling you, oh, it's just gonna take the edge
off or it's gone. Now you're on lean. Now you're
smoking way too much weed. Now you're doing coke.

Speaker 3 (01:03:28):
Now you're doing whatever the thing is.

Speaker 6 (01:03:30):
Like you look cooler.

Speaker 8 (01:03:31):
It's cool as an artist for you to do this thing.
And that's the vibe, and that's all this stuff. Like
I love that you bring it up too, because I
tell like, you know, like I said, the drug world
to me when I go we talk, we can go
back like chattel slavery, right, you know, segregation right, Jim Crow, reconstruction,
you know, lynching and America.

Speaker 6 (01:03:50):
The thing I believe as a community that took.

Speaker 8 (01:03:52):
Us out the most is drugs because it took our
soul and our drive and our motivation. We went through
chattle slavery, and we still became land on owners and
community owners. Like when people go, oh, black people, we
need invest in choice businesses, we have. We have done
that over and over and over again. Every time you
walk through Central Park, that was a thriving black community.
Every time you go to these major lakes and enjoy
the water, those were wealthy, thriving black communities, right. And

(01:04:13):
so the drugs, I feel like, is the thing that
I look back on that. I'm like that that's a
part of the institution and that's what took the soul
and the drive, you know what I'm saying, Like not
that we are still going to thrive and we still
get it back, but I agree with you. I definitely
feel like the thing that you that's to control you. Absolutely.
I took the men absolutely, which was absolutely.

Speaker 3 (01:04:35):
That's the foundation.

Speaker 6 (01:04:36):
Yeah, absolutely, what we were about the.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
Strong men in our community. It's the fathers, the grandfathers,
you know what I mean, and all that being passed down,
it started missing generations because yeah, they were either strong
out or sit in.

Speaker 6 (01:04:50):
Jail, right exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:04:51):
Yeah, yeah, wow, Yeah, So you did amazing. You got
two more movie, did two more movies which help you
pass you know, the nine.

Speaker 4 (01:05:01):
Years what's going on.

Speaker 8 (01:05:12):
I started buying property. It was like just small, like
small things. And we were filming The Lee and I
did a movie called The Deliverance.

Speaker 6 (01:05:21):
I'm so excited about that.

Speaker 8 (01:05:22):
It was like and this was like Leah is so amazing,
Like I honestly he has really just loved and supported
me and put me in great positions. So like this cast,
like to be able to lead a cast like you
know of Oscar winners and nominated actors and actresses. It's
like my castmates were Glenn Close, Monique Angreen, new Ellis,
Caleb McLoughlin, Demi Singleton, Uh, Anthony Jenkins. Like it was

(01:05:48):
just it was such an incredible cast of of of actors.
And so when I was in Pittsburgh, I was kind
of looking around at the market and I was like,
you know what I mean, Like it was like, there's
a lot of new bills, there was a lot the
disparity between housing prices was like pretty drastic because they're
building so much. It was like a lot going on.
So I was like, I don't know, let me just
like dip it and just see, you know what I mean. So,

(01:06:09):
I don't know, it's cool to me. Listen, when you
think you're never going to be able to afford to
buy a car and you are able to buy a property,
I'm like, that's pretty it's pretty exciting.

Speaker 3 (01:06:17):
Give me two of those. It is a long way
from the seven eleven, long way from eleven.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
I mean the first no, No, I'm gonna just hold
them until to the time. You know, Cassandra Yes, the
new album Yes Ladies and gentlemen, please go get that.
And I think I think you know. Also, just on
a on a serious note before I get to this
next segment, I just I just think you're needed. I
think your talent, your gift, your energy, like that's something

(01:06:50):
and it's a great time for you because because because
of of how things have turned and how they're now needing.

Speaker 3 (01:07:00):
What we do.

Speaker 6 (01:07:01):
Yeah. Right, that's real and.

Speaker 3 (01:07:04):
It's refreshing that.

Speaker 4 (01:07:06):
This whole time.

Speaker 5 (01:07:09):
You know, I didn't know she wanted one.

Speaker 1 (01:07:17):
I thought it was just saying southeast like south, get no, right,
but you you need. I think I think you're just
you know, you're You're a dope example of what I think,
you know what I think young girls should be able
to see and aspire to.

Speaker 6 (01:07:36):
Thank you. Wow, I really appreciate that. Thank you, Thank
you that really does.

Speaker 3 (01:07:39):
That is that is a thing.

Speaker 7 (01:07:40):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:58):
To a special talent moment in our God where I
want to get into your mind. You've been inspired by
so many, so many of the greats.

Speaker 4 (01:08:17):
You've been able to.

Speaker 3 (01:08:19):
Portray one of the crates.

Speaker 1 (01:08:22):
But we want to know right now as we vibe
you'r we want to know.

Speaker 3 (01:08:34):
Top five, ye your top five, top five.

Speaker 4 (01:08:47):
Your top five are the easy whatever?

Speaker 3 (01:08:56):
We are to know? We want that sys.

Speaker 6 (01:09:18):
Your that was definitely one of my top five R
and B performances. I love that. Can I say that?

Speaker 3 (01:09:39):
Yes?

Speaker 6 (01:09:40):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (01:09:42):
Andre Day, Yes, I was want to say.

Speaker 6 (01:09:46):
You go ahead. Somebody told me they were like, it
sounds more expensive.

Speaker 1 (01:09:49):
I'm like, whatever, I want to go into my fortnight
and Day your top five R and B singers.

Speaker 8 (01:10:01):
Top five Armie, this is so hard. I saw that question.
I was like, so are we not? Are we doing
the all encompassing? Are we not including jazz?

Speaker 3 (01:10:16):
Whatever?

Speaker 6 (01:10:16):
Okay?

Speaker 8 (01:10:18):
I would have to say, Okay, there's two worlds I
live in, so I would have to say, okay, I'm
gonna do two top fives.

Speaker 6 (01:10:30):
Can I do that? Because they're like, okay, so we're
gonna start with.

Speaker 8 (01:10:40):
Whitney for sure. We're going to go to oh this
is so hard, bro Okay, Whitney Aretha mm hmm. We're
gonna also say.

Speaker 6 (01:10:58):
So hard.

Speaker 8 (01:10:59):
Okay, We're gonna say Michael that's all and Shady and
Anita Baker. Yeah yeah, but okay, so on the flip side, right,
you know what I'm saying, right, Yeah, it's like a
little the jazzier side. We're gonna say Billie Holliday, Absolutely, yes,

(01:11:21):
she's definitely. We're also gonna sayla Fitzgerald for me, it's
also Eric Bad, Jill Scott, and Lauren Hill.

Speaker 3 (01:11:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:11:36):
Yeah, you see what I'm saying. I'm like, I kind
of had to do like who do I leave out?

Speaker 6 (01:11:40):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (01:11:41):
Made it his Mike.

Speaker 8 (01:11:46):
I was actually thinking about going with like should I
do all women do all that?

Speaker 6 (01:11:52):
Because that's so I'm like, bro, how did I leave out?
You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 8 (01:11:55):
Luther and Stevie and beyond I love Beyonce.

Speaker 6 (01:11:59):
Yeah, I was like, I have to hit him with.

Speaker 3 (01:12:06):
Those are those are two really crazy top.

Speaker 6 (01:12:09):
Fives and jazzmine She's still Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:12:13):
I'm gonna say your top five R and B songs.

Speaker 8 (01:12:20):
Okay, top five I know, Okay, top five R and
B songs. Hmmm, I'll just mix them all together. This
is not this is missing so many songs, but okay,
so I'll say to be quick, I'll say God Bless

(01:12:44):
the Child. I love bill song, which is more of
a jazz but uh, human nature Michael Jackson.

Speaker 6 (01:12:54):
Also, you know what I mean, Jesus songs. This is
so crazy.

Speaker 8 (01:12:59):
Uh oh, I love Erica's bag Lady too.

Speaker 6 (01:13:04):
I love bag Lady by Erica. That's one of my favorite.

Speaker 8 (01:13:06):
There's so many though, that's so hard to say. So
I'm just gonna you just already know she's one of
my favorites what I say so far?

Speaker 6 (01:13:16):
Mm hmmmmmm mm hmmm. And angel Anita Baker m m.

Speaker 3 (01:13:26):
That's a great.

Speaker 8 (01:13:28):
And then right now I'm just trying to I feel
like you can pick any Shaddy song, Like right now,
I'm just trying to like pick which you were.

Speaker 6 (01:13:35):
But I'm like, how do I leave exactly? Like, oh gosh, yeah,
we're going with that. There's I love.

Speaker 8 (01:13:45):
I love everything she's done. I love everything she's done.
So yeah, I'm just gonna have to just say all.

Speaker 6 (01:13:50):
I can't pick. I can't pick. I can't m M
my god, uh huh. You can't just be like vibe
for day, Like.

Speaker 1 (01:14:01):
It's bigger than vibe. Like that word is that word
is an understate.

Speaker 3 (01:14:06):
You learn at that theater in New war just figured this.

Speaker 6 (01:14:09):
Let me tell you something.

Speaker 3 (01:14:14):
That was just.

Speaker 6 (01:14:17):
I had a home grow on the school named Jennison Class.

Speaker 3 (01:14:27):
Come on, man, where are you going? Yeah, come on,
go down Southeast. Some of that, I.

Speaker 1 (01:14:36):
Ain't saying no nixt, I ain't saying no names. Ain't
saying no names. I ain't saying no names for you?

Speaker 3 (01:14:42):
Was what you did? Don't say? She saying the off

(01:15:02):
is the greatest part. Okay.

Speaker 9 (01:15:06):
So yeah, we had a very very very important part
of the show segment that's called I ain't saying no names. Okay,
tell us the story funny and fucked up? Are funny
and fucked up? The only rule to the game is
you can't say no name.

Speaker 6 (01:15:22):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:15:23):
And listen, You've been.

Speaker 9 (01:15:24):
On tours and movie sets, a whole bunch of cool ship.

Speaker 3 (01:15:28):
So much, so much cool in champagne, so much.

Speaker 8 (01:15:30):
Yeah, you know, you have all these stories and then
you get in like on in the lights and in
the camera, and my god, well yesterday I went to
wait a minute. Okay, let's see. I do have a
funny story. But bro, I don't know if I can
even tell the story without y'all knowing exactly who it is.

Speaker 6 (01:15:52):
Okay, let me see.

Speaker 3 (01:15:58):
You know that's the story you want? Now, that's what's
the one?

Speaker 6 (01:16:04):
Which were you thinking of? Which one?

Speaker 3 (01:16:06):
Said? Yep?

Speaker 6 (01:16:11):
Okay?

Speaker 8 (01:16:11):
So all right, y'all gonna know, but whatever it is
what it is. So I just remember, like you know,
you meet people sometimes and you know, you meet some
people that you're like, you know, you can tell from
their artist persona, you can tell from everything. You're like,
that is a huge personality, super duper ego probably you
know what I'm saying, all the things, and sometimes you
meet people that you would think that and they're really sweet,

(01:16:33):
they're cool, you know whatever.

Speaker 6 (01:16:37):
So I think there was one artist entertainer Mogel. There
was one person. No, no, there was one person.

Speaker 8 (01:16:51):
One time we were doing Essence Best were you? There was
this the one which Essence was it? I wasn't there,
So no, I just remember there was one time we
were in our dressing room and it was myself and
a bunch of other artists, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 6 (01:17:05):
That we're there. It was like.

Speaker 8 (01:17:08):
And I remember we were just kind of everybody was
in their dressing room. It was like a common room,
and then everybody was in their respective dressing rooms, you
know what I mean. And this artist like kind of
came in. They sent their team and or their security
team in, you know what I mean, and they and
they were like this honestly, is more funny than anything.
But uh, so they sent their security team and there

(01:17:31):
was a common room. Each person had their dressing room.
This person had their dressing room too, and then we
had a common room and they were nice. Dressing rooms
was nice. So everybody was in their dressing room and
they send their team in and to go like kick
everybody out of their respective dressing room. So it was
like common area can't be used. And it was like
and anybody and these are other artists, like people that
you know, you know what I mean, And so they
go in and they're just like, all right, this person

(01:17:54):
wants to come in, so everybody has to get out.

Speaker 6 (01:17:55):
Everybody has to you know what I mean, whatever all
the stuff. So, you know, out of.

Speaker 8 (01:17:59):
The we saw them kicking everybody out of the common
room and we were like, all right, cool, and then
they came in and started kicking everybody out their individual
rooms and so I was like, my god, you know
what I mean. You know, so most people, including my team,
were like, we're not gonna leave unless we feel like
somebody official, you know what I mean, it's telling us this,
you know, like, and so everybody kind of stayed in

(01:18:20):
their dressing room and then so the person finally came
into the common area and no one had left their
dressing rooms, and they were like, all right, everybody, we're
gonna pray. And I was like, oh my god, look
at me. I had underestimated this person. They want to pray,
my bad Jesus, let's go ahead and do it. I
judged them that was totally wrong.

Speaker 6 (01:18:36):
Blah blah blah blah.

Speaker 8 (01:18:37):
So we all come out of our common dressing rooms
and we all get in this massive circle and we
start praying. Well, we all bowed our heads to start praying,
and so he's like, my head closed, my eyes, I
did the thing, you know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (01:18:49):
Were you still kind of looking but you're not.

Speaker 6 (01:18:51):
No, not at this point. We're not there here at
that bart the store.

Speaker 8 (01:18:54):
So I had my heads bowed, and then all of
a sudden, I hear I woke up this morning and
I was me and I was like, I was so
I was like, and it was a whole thing, and
I was like, by the time we were dead, I
thought to myself, I was like, did they.

Speaker 6 (01:19:10):
Make me pray to them?

Speaker 8 (01:19:14):
Look at that, because damn not, I'm gonna gonna have
to repent and be like, God.

Speaker 1 (01:19:17):
My bad.

Speaker 8 (01:19:18):
I ain't nobody else I know that.

Speaker 6 (01:19:22):
God, I didn't know God you, I didn't know he
was gonna do that, you know what I mean.

Speaker 8 (01:19:25):
So I had to go and be like, yeah, not
me at the end of the prayer talking about and
Jesus name.

Speaker 6 (01:19:30):
Okay, all right, thank you.

Speaker 5 (01:19:32):
No.

Speaker 6 (01:19:32):
So that was a really interesting story.

Speaker 8 (01:19:33):
That was probably my first experience with like something that
was that random in that bizarre but still funny and entertaining.
Like I don't know, I like a good charismatic verson.

Speaker 3 (01:19:42):
Pray to me. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:19:43):
I was like I was tricked. I ain't realizing until
we said Amen.

Speaker 1 (01:19:49):
I was like to who, Lord, bless these people holding
my hand?

Speaker 6 (01:19:56):
No, no, no, you did it wrong. It's me blessed these.

Speaker 8 (01:19:59):
Peop holding No Lord, just me bless me.

Speaker 1 (01:20:03):
I'm a blessed these people holding my hands. Wow, I
know the way truth and the light.

Speaker 8 (01:20:16):
Oh my god. My whole team was cracking up right
there you go. Yeah, it was like that.

Speaker 3 (01:20:23):
Watch me work, watch me nay name, watch.

Speaker 1 (01:20:31):
Me with with two whips, whip whip, watch me name.

Speaker 6 (01:20:40):
That's pretty much it. Yeah, it's crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:20:43):
I was like, oh wow, I'm just going down my
mental rollerdecks of you know, a couple of people that
I know are capable of that anyway.

Speaker 3 (01:20:53):
Andrew Day, you are just you're You're really really awesome.

Speaker 6 (01:20:56):
Thank you so much. I love this podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:20:59):
Thank you just to like, you know, just all you
know inside and out, you know what I mean. And
I think that you know, we need we need more
of that. And I and I and I and I
pray yeah to yourself. I pray that you you, you are,
You are blessed to go in as many spaces as

(01:21:20):
possible to be as infectious as you are.

Speaker 6 (01:21:22):
Thank you. I appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (01:21:24):
Your thing is just that it just becomes contagious and
everybody can be more like you.

Speaker 6 (01:21:29):
Thank you so much, and I'll play the same for you.
Well you've already done it. You're already doing it.

Speaker 3 (01:21:33):
You know there's still still more work to do.

Speaker 6 (01:21:36):
Yeah, thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:21:38):
This is home for you whatever, whenever, whatever you want
to do.

Speaker 6 (01:21:42):
I love the aesthetic specific.

Speaker 3 (01:21:50):
Kick you out. You got two trages, ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker 1 (01:21:58):
And this is the Army Money Podcast at the authority
on all things R and B.

Speaker 3 (01:22:03):
And this has been life. This has been loved. This,
this has been fairly man, the most Beautiful, the most Talented,
and R and B Money.

Speaker 9 (01:22:18):
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
j Valentine and at the Real Tank. For the extended episode,

(01:22:40):
subscribe to YouTube dot com for slash R and B
Money

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