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December 19, 2024 12 mins

Anita Scipio Talks New Book Hip Hop Time Capsule, Reflects On Her Viral Moment W/ Will Smith + More

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Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up its way up at Angela Yee.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
And when I say special guests, this might be one
of the most special guests.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Somebody who a lot of us.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Know in love, right, Miss Anita aka Anita Scipio, thank
you for joining us today. If you don't know the
story of Miss Anita, you worked at iHeart for eighteen years.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
For eighteen years, yes, and you were the.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
First face people would see when they come in the door,
whether it's people who work there, guests who were coming in.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
And everyone loves you so much.

Speaker 4 (00:30):
Oh, and I just it was one of the best
times of my life. And I love everybody back. A
lot of people call me mama also, so it's just
one of the best things that ever happened to me
working there.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yes, and I want to say that when you retired,
we're happy for you, but we also were like, man,
now what are we going to do? And people miss
you so much that they would come up there looking
for you, and when they didn't see you, people were
sad disappointed.

Speaker 5 (00:55):
Yes, yes, I heard.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
A lot of stories of people saying, oh, I went
up there and I didn't see you. And even the
baby came up recently and he didn't see me up there,
and so he had his label Rep. Sherry reach out
to me by phone and we talked face by FaceTime
and it was just awesome to see him.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
I was so touched.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
And you also went at viral with Will Smith.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
Yes, Yes, on the day that I was retiring. I
met Will Smith about thirty five years ago. Because I've
been a receptionist for thirty five years and when Will
Smith was just starting and he was just doing his show,
I was the receptionist there when he came in to
do an interview and the Prince of bel Air and

(01:43):
I met him.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
He was so sweet.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
It was the first rapper that I had ever met.
I didn't know what to expect, but he was so
respectful and so kind, and he really left an impression
on me. And I remember telling somebody, I think that
young Man's gonna go places.

Speaker 5 (01:56):
Yeah, and as the understatement of the year.

Speaker 4 (01:59):
And then how ironic is it that on the day
I'm leaving thirty five years later, Will Smith comes up
to promote his new movie and I'm there and he
yells out, Mama, mama, and that was awesome and it
went viral and I became like a little mini celebrity
and I've been living off of that ever since.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
So it was a wonderful day.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
But it is a testament to just having great people
around you.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
You know.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
I think sometimes at our jobs it can be really stressful.
I know it can be stressful for you as well, yes,
but just to have good people that can uplift the
whole spirit of everything. I've never seen you not the
person that we want to come to and just give
a hug or give some flowers to Yes.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
And you've given me plenty of flowers too, that's for sure.
My mom always.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
Said, when you go to do a job, whatever you do,
put your best foot forward, no matter what's going on
at home, no matter when you come in that door,
you give everything that you have. And I really did
try to live by that, and that's what kept me
motivated and kept me going throughout the hard times. I
had some hard days, they're like you know, anybody else,
but I always remember trying to put that smile on

(03:09):
and leave all that stuff behind and just make it
a good day.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Well, you're also a big lover of hip hop I am,
and the culture and this inspired you to actually write
a book.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yes, So can we talk about this book because you
have it here with you.

Speaker 4 (03:23):
Yes, it's called hip Hop Time Capsule, Document your Personal Journey.
And I was inspired to write this book. On the
fiftieth anniversary of hip Hop. I went to Yankee Stadium
with my family and we were having an awesome time.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
When I got home, I thought.

Speaker 4 (03:42):
About all those people that I saw, all different ages,
all dressed up in their hip hop gear, look and fly,
you know, and I said to myself, Wow, each one
of those people have a story to tell about why
they love hip hop, what it means to them and
to their life now. And I said, what can I do?
You know, I'm thinking because I needed something, you know,

(04:03):
I'm retired. I needed something to focus on be productive.
And then I started saying, well, maybe let me ask
some prompt questions that can get people motivated to tell
their stories.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
To have their own time caps atourney.

Speaker 4 (04:17):
Yes. And in addition to that, my brother and I
my brother Hilton, his name is he's known as DJ Scipio,
and he knew so much more about the history the
origins of hip hop than I did. So I went
to him and I was able to ask him questions.
He was very, very helpful and I asked him to

(04:38):
come on board with me with this project. So together
we did the questions and that we thought, would you know,
like promote the most memories and reflections about what hip.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
Hop means to them?

Speaker 5 (04:53):
And I think we did a good job.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
And on top of that, we told our own stories.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
I was actually doubled in size and double yes.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
So when I was initially doing the book, it was
just gonna be one hundred questions.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
It was going to be.

Speaker 4 (05:10):
Quotes RTE fifty quotes, and it was the trivia, and
it did have some history.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
But then I started adding the.

Speaker 4 (05:19):
Pictures and telling the stories, and the stories got bigger
and bigger and longer and longer. Next thing, I know,
I had a project that was twice the size that
it needed to be. So I said, let me split
it up. So after this book, hip Hop Time Capsule,
Document your Personal Journey is coming in about a month
or so, hip Hop Time Capsule the next chapter. Okay,

(05:41):
so if you like what you see in this book,
I think you're gonna love what's coming up.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
But let me ask you a couple of the questions
from here, just so people can get a taste. Okay,
I know you answered these questions, but just so people
can have a sampling, right, but they can expect. Okay,
what are some old school lines or quotes that you
still recite today?

Speaker 4 (06:00):
Okay, one of my old school lines is by Eric
B and rock him and I think it's.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
President.

Speaker 4 (06:11):
I think the song is Eric for President, Eric B
for President, and he said thought I was a donut.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
That's my favorite.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
Yes, yes, so I even still say that to this day.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Okay, I want to say mine, but I feel like
it's inappropriate.

Speaker 4 (06:31):
I know there's another one by Big Daddy Kane and
it's really inappropriate.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
I won't even say it, but.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
All right, is it?

Speaker 3 (06:41):
What a quarter in your You played yourself? You get it?

Speaker 1 (06:51):
You played yourself? All right?

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Now, let me ask you another one. Yes, has hip
hop contributed to your personal growth? And if so, what
song or artists do you credit with your development?

Speaker 3 (07:03):
Okay?

Speaker 4 (07:04):
I liked songs like I enjoyed Queen Latifa Unity. You know,
I thought that that was a good one, and that's
the fact. Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
And then ladies, first, I love all the women empowering
type of songs, right, I love that too, and who
else I'm a little bit nervous, but what about me
and Pepper when they did let's talk about let's talk
about that very educational, let's tell about all the good things.
And it was the people needed to hear that, and

(07:36):
it coming from young people at the time that that
that's what made it more relatable.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
You don't want to hear that stuff from your parents,
you know.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
So it was.

Speaker 5 (07:45):
Yeah, yeah, exactly exactly.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
So that was a.

Speaker 5 (07:48):
Good one and I had quite a few.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
All right.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Lastly, I want to ask you what were your favorite drinks? Okay,
back in the day, was mama drink here?

Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah, when I was getting fresh and getting ready to
go out with my Chanelle number five perfume and my
high heels. I used to love Pina Colada. I used
to love rum and coat, and I used to love
Lancers Rose. Okay, yeah, I don't know that one and
that last one, but yeah, landing with my drink we

(08:17):
was back then.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
What's that Ammearetto sours?

Speaker 5 (08:20):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (08:21):
Man, I bet that was good.

Speaker 4 (08:22):
I used to Oh, I used to love i'm aretto
with milk and put some ice.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
In it and make it like a shake.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Oh that but this definitely would take people if they
when they get the book.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Ye, they'll take you down memory lanes.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
It'll take you down The questions were made to just
have you thinking and having fun and just going back
into all those good times, even some of the hard
times of your life too, because music gets you through everything.
And so we talk about all the social issues of
the day. And it's just a fun book. And on
top of that, I did QR codes for some of

(08:59):
the songs that are mentioned.

Speaker 5 (09:01):
I did QR codes.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
It's interactive.

Speaker 4 (09:04):
I did QR codes for some of the songs, for
some of the history for some of the articles. So
it's a party in a book and a history lesson and.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
Just a whole lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Oh well, I'm so happy for you people. I think
what else is great about this and why people will
love this. It really is like a time capsule, and
you know how you wish you would have wrote something
down or documented it, and even for future generations if
you have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, anybody, they can look
at this.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
That's what I had in mind.

Speaker 4 (09:34):
I saw people they looked like they were in their seventies,
and they looked like they were teenagers, and I'm like, wow,
everybody loves hip hop? What a wonderful thing it would
be to document your story, your personal story, because all
of our stories are important. And today, you know, in
a climate where a lot of you know, people are

(09:54):
claiming hip hop to some extent or another, it'd be
good to just have the fact straight what people have
been through and what it means to them.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
It's gonna be funny because the younger generation, their answers
are going to be so different.

Speaker 5 (10:06):
So different, yes, so different.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
They might they might ask, oh is a better lyricists
Biggie or Tupacs.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Some guys today don't know Biggie or Tupacs.

Speaker 4 (10:15):
It's an ass wild, that is wild. But I hope
it will inspire them to find out who they are.
And I also have Biggie and Tupac songs in the book.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yes you do you know?

Speaker 4 (10:25):
And well yeah, we have fifty trivia questions and fifty
quotes that are timeless. I went through all of the
artists quotes and I picked the ones that are timeless
and positive. So twenty years from now, if you go back,
it'll still be something that can touch your heart, motivate
you and you know, and just give you, you know,

(10:45):
a sense of optimism and hope. Which we need now
more than ever.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
Yes we do. How can people purchase this?

Speaker 4 (10:51):
This book is gonna be available on Amazon next Friday?

Speaker 1 (10:54):
Okay Amazon, I said, right in time for the holidays.

Speaker 5 (10:56):
Writing times for the holidays.

Speaker 4 (10:58):
Pick one up. I think you'll enjoy, joy give one
as a gift. It's gonna be awesome, if I may
say so myself, and.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
You can't say so yourself.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
And this is also something great to do with someone,
you know, you with your brother, Yes, and so I
know as you guys were reminiscing and going on the stories.

Speaker 4 (11:14):
It was wonderful sharing that time with the DJ Scipio.
He's a DJ in the South Carolina.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
He's got one of the Carolinas, one of.

Speaker 4 (11:23):
The top DJs, and he's he's got so much love
and respect and I just thought it would be awesome
to share this project with him. And he taught me
so much and it was just fun. So it's a
family affair. You can have fun with it.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Just enjoy it all.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
Right, Well, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
I have to say I was going through some of
the chivvy and I was ashamed a couple of things
I didn't know, but.

Speaker 4 (11:45):
I learned a lot Well, that's wonderful. That's what it's
all about, learning something, having fun, And like I said,
this is a party in.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
A book, so I hope everybody will pick one up.
It's been awesome doing it well.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
Thank you so much, Miss Anita. You know how much
I love you.

Speaker 4 (12:00):
Everyone up here, I love you, and I thank you
so much. Hip Hop loves me, and thank you so
much for having me here. Angela, I appreciate you and
I love you too.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
Thank you, hip Hop Time Captain Anita Scipio DJ Sipio.
Make sure you pick up this book on Amazon, available
on Friday.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
That's the way.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
Are you

Speaker 5 (12:19):
Well,

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