FULL INTERVIEW: MC Lyte On Beef With Roxanne Shanté, Advice For Women In Rap Feuds, Her New Man + More

MC Lyte On Beef With Roxanne Shanté, Advice For Women In Rap Feuds, Her New Man + More

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
It's way up at Angela. Yeah, and it's definitely way up.
We got two Brooklyn girls in the building. I'm here
with EMC Light.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
Yes, it's a pleasure.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
It is such an I always tell you, like, I
want EMC Light to come up here because you are
just somebody that I've looked up to ever since I
was young, and then haven't met you one person. So
many years ago when we hosted something together it was
like a New Year's countdown or something.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
I was like, this is so surreal to me.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
I don't even remember that. Let me tell you. You've
done everything so many years. Yes, in this thing right,
People are like, you don't remember that event we did,
Like I do events three hundred days a year. All right.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
What does EMC light do for fun? Besides work?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Goodness? Besides work?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Well, work is fun, besides That's why I said besides
besides work.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
I like to bowl. Oh okay, yeah, I love watching documentaries,
all right. I love going to the movies.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Okay, all right, what's the documentaries. Let's talk about that
for a second. What are some of the ones you've
seen recently that you're like, I would recommend this because
i'd be watching the documentaries too.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
Well, there there are a few. I probably don't know
the names of them, but I remember the content. Okay,
So remember the triplets that didn't know they were triplets,
they were separated at birth.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
I didn't see that one.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Oh my god, I met I think in college. So
the two of them met and then they met another
one and it was just like it was crazy. Then
there's another one where there were two sets of twins,
but they were with the wrong twin. Okay, so one
of the twins went to school. They said, oh my god,
he saw him. It was like, you look just like
my brother.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
I feel like I saw this on the news.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Is this the same documentary or do you like these
are two different triplet documentaries?

Speaker 3 (01:45):
I do, I do, but it's different. And then of
course there's Sarah is the school that was upstate and
they were all living in a house. And then the
one of the girls, her father was in prison and
he would talk to all of them from prison. Well, anyway,
he came out and went to live with them, and

(02:07):
first they were like, oh my god, this is creepy.
Your father's living with us. And then all of a
sudden they got used to it, and he was giving
them advice and all that night. Anyway, girl, it wound
up being a tortuous situation.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Okay, not nice.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
Even the daughter left. She was like, I know he's
my father, but I'm out of here. Y'all could keep them.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
No shade, But I kind of feel that way. I
couldn't imagine living with my dad. Well, yeah, unless it
was a big house and he was in the basement
or something. Anyway, let's talk about what we're here for.
The I just like to get a little insight on
what you do, because every time I see you it's
work related. You're working, you know, You're always doing things,
and I appreciate you for that. But you are putting

(02:46):
out a new album which is amazing. I sell you
at BT Awards and we spoke about it briefly, and woman,
that's the song that we've already heard. We saw it
with Rahiem DeVaughn and Big Daddy Can and what a
nice group of people. And you've been on the Queen's
R and B tour. Yeahs, but how does all this
fail for you? Just knowing that like all this time,

(03:09):
all this longevity, because everybody is not gonna make it
this long to still be respected and also revered the way.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
You are, well, you know what, I consider myself blessed.
I am in gratitude that, you know, the day I
decide and I look at a few others l L
and Common and ghost Face, it's like, Okay, you wake
up one morning, you go, you know what, I want
to stick my toe back in this water, and that
there's a place we can actually do it and there's
a home for it and people love it. With L's platform,

(03:38):
we saw last year for the fiftieth we saw cruises,
we saw festivals, we saw tours and it was great.
You know, I performed on the cruise, I performed on
the festival, and then I went out and did a
couple of dates on the tour and everywhere was packed.
So there is an audience. People want to see it.
They want to you know, feel us as the artists
that they grew up with and so glad to still

(04:01):
be in it and still rocking. And the process for
the album was just it was fantastic. I love being
in the process of making an album. It's one of
the best feelings to wake up every day and go
to the studio. If I lived my life like that,
it would be fantastic, But we know at some point
you gotta deliver the project. You gotta go perform, and
you gotta do you know, all of the other stuff

(04:23):
that comes.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
From it comes with.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
And speaking of delivering the project, I know it's been
like Okay, it's coming out this day, but that it's
coming a little bit later, a little bit later. So
talk to me about that part, because I know it's an.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Samples, Yeah, sample clearances, you know, it's it's making the
decision as to whether or not you want to use samples,
because of course we know that when we hear a
record that has a sample in it, it feels like
you go, you're transported back to that time, so you
get layers of soul that just aren't aren't in today's music.

(04:54):
And so we went through the samples. But of course
you know Warren who Warren Campbell, who is executive PU
seeing the project and producing most of the songs on it.
He's also a musician, so he can play all of
the instruments. So we've ended up having to play all
the samples.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Get expensive, yeah, and it takes a while sometimes to
even contact.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
And even when you even after you clear the master side,
you get you still got to clear the publishing side. Okay,
so we're still in the midst of all of that.
So that's the whole You could us a sample yourself.
I mean, you got classic songs and then I'm not
having it. Then you did, I'm still not having it.
You remember that, Yes, son.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
Still a lot of the songs still hold to today though.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah. And you know what, the the remix I'm still
not having it was Bill Withers and he controlled his publishing.
So we just called and said, wow, can we have this?
Can we And they was like yeah, go ahead and
music and they signed our paperwork and we did it.
But now that was years ago. It's such a big

(05:54):
business publishing and samples and you know, the master sink,
licenses and all all of those things. It makes so
much money that there's no way you could just call
somebody and say can you give me this and them
say yes, and really have the power to do it.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
What about your catalog?

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Because I know a lot of people are doing deals
for publishing, and they are doing deals with their masters.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
What have you done with yours?

Speaker 3 (06:18):
Nothing? I'm keeping it and keeping it all well. First off,
I don't own my masters. Unfortunately, I came in at
a time with the record labels. You you didn't really
think about it. You said, oh, give me this opportunity. Okay,
I got it, but.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
Today it very bad.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
I know.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
There's like a timeline where they.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
Well, you have to you have to go after it.
And I think it's like thirty five years. Once upon
a time they said twenty. I don't know if they
pushed back and now it's thirty five. But no, I
do not have my master's back. But I've got so
much more new music that I own the masters too.
That's what I concentrate on pushing.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
That's a lesson because you were a teenager when you
first came out, and it's her, and that was a
time when nobody really knew the business.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
It was kind of a wild wild West for music.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yes, it really was. And you know they sign and
it says you're fifty. Okay, so let me slow down.
I used to work one week, go to school when
week work once week. It was part of the co
op program. And I worked at bear Stearns at the
World Trade Center. Okay, right in the building five that
just fell, and nobody knows why. Okay. So I used
to work in that building, and so being there, I

(07:22):
was surrounded by brokers, and so I got this record contract.
I don't know the first thing about getting an attorneys.
So I let one of the brokers look at at
the contract and he said, well, everything looks good except
they want to own fifty percent of your publishing. I
was like, is that a bad thing? He was like,
just tell them that you don't want to give it
to them. I said, oh, okay. So I called up
the record label. I was like, okay, so the contract

(07:44):
is cool. I just I don't want to give up
fifty percent of my publishing and they said, oh, well,
then there's no deal. I was like, oh okay, so
then I'll sign it right.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Well, he gave me some good advice, he did, but
you didn't feel like you had the leverage because you
wanted to Yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
Yeah. It was like, okay, I'm not gonna make zero
of a hundred percent or something from fifty. Yeah, So
I signed my publishing. Okay, well on no songs.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
You know what I always wanted to ask you too,
because during that time coming up, I remember you engaged
in some hip hop beef activities and we're watching a
lot of that play out now.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
But how was that for you back then?

Speaker 2 (08:17):
Like when you and Voxanne Chante kind of went at it,
you had to respond, but it felt like it was
really just on wax. It wasn't like if I saw
you as on Yeah, what was it like?

Speaker 3 (08:26):
It was just on wax. And you know, many years later,
I went to her ice cream shop. She had an
ice cream shop in Jamaica, Queen, So I went there.
I patronized her business. You know, we said, we talked,
and we cleared the air, and I think, you know,
unfortunately I don't know what it is today, But back then,

(08:47):
most beefs were fueled by the men. They weren't. We
We two women could kind of work things out. We're
gonna talk or we're not gonna talk, but we ain't
gonna be bickering and all we all we understand what
this game is, and some of us just are We
just don't get along to be friends, but we can
be cordial and say hello to everybody.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Ain't got to be besties, right.

Speaker 3 (09:07):
And be a part of the tribute and do all
of the things that we need to do well. I
tend to think that back in the day, it was
men saying you're the only you're the best. You gotta
fight for your right to only be the queen on
the throne, or whatever it is that they say to people.
But I think once you get older, you're able to
work it out. And that's what happened with Antoinette and myself,

(09:30):
and that's what happened Rocks and Shanta.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
But it also was something that just happens in hip
hop too, because it is the guys do it all
the time, and I've heard women say this, like, why
do people get mad when we you know, the guys
are doing these dischecks toward each other. Why do they
act like it's a big deal when women do it?
Because it's a competitive sport. Run and you were saying
some vicious things. I'm not gonna lie.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
Well at the time, I mean, my stuff was just
so off the wall. It was like pop your head
in a microwave and watch a skim bubble.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
You know.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
It was just what is the most outland thing that
I could say right here? And that's what it was
made about. I think maybe they expect more from women
because it's so few of us, so few of us,
how are we not gonna get along? At least be
cordial enough that we don't have to dig so under
the ground. But it is a sport. We have to

(10:19):
remember that, and some are better at it than others.
And when someone sees all of the light or no
pun intended, all of the shine or whatever going to
somebody who's they deem as not deservant, it's like, I'm
going after them kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
So, I mean, what advice would you give today now
if some of these lady, these women rappers were to
come to you and be like, like, I gotta go.
What do you think I should do? She came at me?
Do I need to respond? Should I not respond?

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Like?

Speaker 1 (10:48):
What would you say?

Speaker 3 (10:49):
Oh? Well, it's a different it's a different day and time.
And when you're of a certain age and you're in
the thick of the flow of how it goes, you
might have to diss someone to stand up for your space.

Speaker 1 (11:06):
Because you can't be a punching bag either.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
You can't be a punching bag and look the other way.
There are times when you know, I've heard a little
line or two in somebody's stuff, But it's like if
they didn't have the goal enough to just say it,
and they had to hide it beneath metaphors. Then I'm
not even going to address it. And so my thing
is not unless it's proven that they're talking to you,

(11:29):
ignore it.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Okay, that's good advice.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
Unless they call you out directly, the subliminals shouldn't even matter.

Speaker 3 (11:35):
Yeah, I mean not unless they say, you know, the
light that hails from Brooklyn, right.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
What I felt like a shot exactly.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
Now you also have a song about the Kings, because
you know, we do the queens and King and yes,
King King as well, and the album feels like it
is going to be something that is like a light.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
It's very inspirational, but you know, I get down into
the you know, I do what's necessary. But it is
a journey, so it's not one dimensional. We've got definite
songs that address social topics. But then also we've got,
you know, songs that are just kicked back. I got

(12:20):
a song called Kickback Relax with Q Tip on it,
and it's basically like, Okay, this game is so full
of hustle and bustle, it's time to just unplug.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Both have such distinctive wayes too. That's going to be
a nice one. Yeah to hear both of you. And
he also produced Lal's album right Yeah. His full project
Ella was like I'm just being on Q Tip to
right No.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
I love I love these thematic albums that sort of
bring new purpose to collaboration. And so we're seeing you know,
ghost Face coming and I guess it's through NAS's company,
so you're able to see you see that together. And
then you've got Freeway that's down with Jada right now,

(13:01):
so they're kicking off a bunch of songs versus together
that I'm seeing online. And then l L with q Tip,
which is is great rock and common Pete rock and common.
You know it. It feels like a new era.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
Who's somebody that's not doing music anymore? Right now?

Speaker 2 (13:18):
That came up and you came up that You're like,
if I could get them to just uh, I've always
wanted to work with this person. This could be dope
to just bring this person back in the music.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
Scene, right.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
I can't.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
Hm.

Speaker 3 (13:34):
Shine was tough, Okay, Shine was tough, and I don't
think we got enough from him.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
I know that was unfortunate how.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
The whole thing went south, right, But yeah, he just
has something to say in a really in a different way.
His flow was really different to me. Rage. Oh, she
just did something with the guys with with Dog Pound.
But I'd like to see her do some stuff, you know,
her solo stuff would be nice to hear. I wanted

(14:05):
to hear more from the Boss, but unfortunately.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
I remember that album when that came out Deeper Yes,
and she was with Onyx.

Speaker 3 (14:13):
Yes, Yeah, that's that whole lineup, because I remember seeing
them at the Palladium and it was Onyx and the
Boss and it was one other person. I can't remember
who the other person was, but I remember being in
VIP running into run DMC. It was just like a
whole deaf jam situation. It was so dope.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, she was really dope. And now I'm glad you
said that because I remember her whole album. She had
this one song, I Don't give a fuck. No, it
was the whole song was how she don't give it right?

Speaker 3 (14:39):
I love it just the gall You know.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
It's interesting because Terrey is here. She's twenty one years old.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
You just met it when you came in, and I'm like,
emc Light is coming today, and her mom is here too.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
Her mom is like I'm standing for.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
That, And I was playing her some EMC light sounds
so she could be familiar because she's young, you know.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
But like I said, I felt like a lot of
those songs.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Could still today, like be brought back or have people sampled,
like maybe like yes, okay.

Speaker 3 (15:07):
Yeah, a large percentage of the plaques that live on
my walls samples okay yeah. And once in a while
ago there's there's actually a list online that's public that
you can say who sampled this or who sampled this artist,
or who sampled this record, and you will get a
long of all the people and have sampled something at

(15:28):
one point or another.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
Man. I was also showing her the Poor Georgy video
and I was like, look, you see who's that right there?
And I'm like, that's Laurence Hill in the video. And
I remember that because I always tell you, guys, did
that off Broadway play together during that time? So you
met her early on in her career. That was that
was before the Fujis, around that.

Speaker 3 (15:45):
Time, definitely before the Fujis, And she was on a
soap opera. Yes, she's acting as the World Turns, And
so I remember them telling me that they were starting
a group, she and y Cliff because they both were
in the play. And then it just so happens that
the label that they were signed through, rough House out
of Philadelphia, was the same place we had link Q signed,

(16:08):
and so we ran into them at the record label
with link Q and the Fujis. It was like, oh, yes,
y'all said, y'all was doing this, and then they blew up.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
Isn't that fascinating to see at the beginning of people's careers,
how you could meet somebody.

Speaker 3 (16:24):
The beginning stages, at the.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
Beginning stages, and you've done so much the Hip Hop
Sisters Foundation, I know that's something that's near and dear
to you heart. And what I love is that MC
light has always from the beginning of your career, I
feel like you had the foresight to know, let me
also be diverse.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
Well, yes, always wanted to be diverse, So it really
took preparing for each of the moments that called for
a certain or specific talent, so acting or voiceover such.
But with Hip Hop's Sisters that came in to be
with doctor Lynn Richardson, who I met in I don't know,
maybe twenty eleven. Actually we had been on the same carpets,

(17:03):
in the same rooms, on the same panels forget your
Money Right. You remember that, I do remember then you
get your Money Right? Where We went all across the
country doing these panels to collegiate folks, teaching them how
to get their credit straight, how to do well. She
was the COO of that. Once Felicia stepped away, she
became the COO and so we met a couple of times.

(17:26):
But it wasn't until she saw Hip Hop Sisters, which
was the artistry part of the organization. She said, I'd
really like to talk with you about starting a foundation,
and so we started the foundation together.

Speaker 1 (17:38):
Maw. That was amazing.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
I remember those and I think people talk about like
financial literacy. It's really a hot topic right now, as
it should be, as it should have been, But you
were pretty early on in that space also.

Speaker 3 (17:50):
Well, yeah, because of her. Yeah, So I was able
to learn such a great deal of things on this
road with her, especially hearing her talk about it like
over and over again. It's become a mainstay for me.
You know, ten, ten, thirty, fifty, Okay, what's that? Ten?
Ten percent of the money you earn, you save ten
you tie. Then if you're not a member of a church.

(18:13):
You tied to an organization that you believe in, whether
it's you know, police brutality in getting into the neighborhoods
with community service, or battered women or you know, whatever
that thing is for you. Then thirty percent you use
for your incidentals, hair nails, all of that stuff, and
then fifty percent you keep in your checking account for

(18:35):
your bills.

Speaker 1 (18:36):
I know that's right.

Speaker 3 (18:37):
Look followed the remedy, y'all.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
And then you know.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
The other thing about mc latter is I feel like
during this whole journey of watching your whole evolution, we
also never got a lot of personal stuff. But then
as of late, I feel like you've opened up a
lot more about that.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
Is that a weird space for you to be in?

Speaker 3 (18:56):
No, not so much. Okay, yeah, it just feels like, Okay,
this is it, this is who I am. This is
most recently I think you might be talking.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
About and then and then a boyfriend and posting that
we had never had really seen you can.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
I tell you I have so many photos in my
phone of he and I, but to post them it's
just like do I want to let people in on that?
Like it's just room for ridicule. But I can also
say that the fans have been so completely supportive. You know,
they're like, oh, good for light. You know I wasn't

(19:33):
lying when I said in poor Georgie, light needs love too.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
But you know you don't like roughnecks clearly because you know,
maybe you went through.

Speaker 3 (19:45):
And you know what's so funny. I talked to my
brother and I said, so I've got this guy. He's
a little square. He was like, that's good because these
bigannies are too too slick for themselves.

Speaker 1 (19:59):
That's what he says.

Speaker 3 (20:00):
So we just talk about the rough next a little
too slick for them.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
So that was our song.

Speaker 3 (20:04):
Though.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
That's when, because we all went through that phase, we
were like, I need a rough egg.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
Look. It was a place in time we have evolved.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
There was one line where you said he got to
eat his food with his fingers, and I'm like, now
that's too far.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
My grandfather said, anything with a bone you can pick
up with your hands.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
Okay, there's a chicken.

Speaker 3 (20:25):
You know, like, come on, if we're going out to
eat and I see you with a chicken leg and
you try to eat it with a.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Wife, and that's me. But I do that because I
don't want to mess up my lipstick. I'm dainty.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
You're a woman, and I'm talking about a man. If
you're trying to if you don't pick that piece of chicken.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
Up and just eat it, and.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
If it's a flat, you can't do it all right, right, well, listen,
they're telling me you have to go. I know you
have a lot going on, and I definitely appreciate these conversations.
There's so many mc like questions I want to ask,
but just no that I'm always a fan, have been
a fan every time I see You've always been like pleasant,
you know how sometimes they tell you don't want to
meet your heroes because it could be devastating, but it's
been amazing, you know, justin thank.

Speaker 3 (21:11):
You so much. Well, this leaves room for me to
come back.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
Yeah, it definitely does. The album is now going to
come back, come out in September.

Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah, one of one in September. Right now, we're rocking
the King King. We're letting everybody know that King King
is the single list on all platforms. The video is up,
you know, go visit whatever your streaming platform is of choice.
Check it out. King King.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
That's that voice right there that we with Queen Latif.
All right, well, thank you so much. Now can you
do way up with angela.

Speaker 3 (21:40):
Ye, Way up with angela yee?

Speaker 2 (21:43):
All right, save that because that's worth money, all right,
all right, mc light, thank you so much, thank you,