August 11, 2023 • 29 mins
🎙️ Tune in to Episode 4 of Clearly Cultured with Mike Mills, J Mac, and Young Jas! Join us for a captivating chat with Monaleo as we explore her rise from 'Beating Down Yo Block' sensation to a power couple with Stunna4Vegas. Don't miss the inside scoop on shooting a music video while pregnant. Subscribe now for the latest cultural insights and inspiring stories!
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(00:00):
You are now tuned in to Clearly Cultured.
(00:03):
We're back with another episode of Clearly Cultured, the podcast, you guys.
Very special guest, very special friend as well.
Mona Leo is doing the show today.
What's up, big Leo? How are you?
I'm just excited for this.
I'm excited to branch out something different.
I'm glad we get some visuals with the voices.
I feel we always hear you guys' voices on the radio,
(00:24):
but now people can really put a face to the sound to the voice.
So it's cool. I'm glad to be here.
Yay. I got a question.
How is your mental health?
It's good. Honestly, it's really good.
I was concerned at first for like the postpartum experience,
but I have a really good support system like my mom to my mom,
son is mom, son, my my whole family.
(00:45):
Really, they really like circled around us and make sure that we felt supported
as new parents. So it's good.
It takes a village for sure. It does.
And you just had congratulations on the baby, too.
Thank you. Because it's not for some do an interview or anything since then.
Yeah. We've been knowing each other for what is like three years, maybe?
Like right before the pandemic. Yeah, right before the pandemic.
I feel like. Yeah. So for people who don't know, let's take it back a little bit.
(01:07):
Like, how did you first get started in music and everything?
So I have a younger brother. I always talk about him.
His name is Young Rampage. He's still in high school.
He's getting ready to graduate.
So I feel like people will be able to see more of him now because he's not.
Let me say this.
He doesn't have to be at school every single day.
Obviously, like when you are a kid, it's like difficult for you to like
be trying to do like have a rap career and also go to school.
(01:31):
But I feel like people will be able to see more of him in like this upcoming year.
So I'm excited for that to do more stuff for him.
But I have a younger brother. His name is Young Rampage.
I took him to the studio for like his I want to say was his 14th.
I can remember I took him to the studio, though, for his birthday
for the first time.
He was always a really good, talented, freestyle artist.
(01:52):
And I would always record videos of him rapping over beats, stuff like that.
Posted on my Twitter. Go viral.
So I took him to the studio for his birthday.
And he said that he wanted me to get on the song with him.
Me and my older brother, my older brother.
He wanted us to do a song with him for his birthday.
So I did my verse, wrote it real quick, and I just did it as a joke.
(02:12):
And I posted it to Instagram and it got a decent response from like my peers.
And from there, I was OK, this is going to be something that I pursue.
And then the next song that I ended up recording was Beat Down Your Block.
And I posted the snippet on Twitter and it went viral.
And labels started calling me.
I quit my job that I had at the time. What was you doing?
(02:34):
I was working as a crisis intervention.
So like for the city of Houston, if like when you call now,
I was answering like 911 phone calls.
So I was doing that and I quit my job.
I flew to L.A. I met with a label out there.
I had to turn it down all of the label deals because I wanted to stay independent.
But from there, I guess it was just up.
(02:57):
For real. Let me ask you, how did you come up with the name Monaleo?
So I kind of wanted to.
Well, obviously, I wanted to be on a play on Mona Lisa.
So I'm a work of art.
You know, this is this I felt about myself and I still feel.
So I kind of chopped off the Lisa.
I put Leo Monaleo and that kind of was my name before
(03:20):
I was ever thinking about being an artist.
So I had a lot of different ventures before then.
Like I did makeup and it was Monaleo makeup and I did clothing.
It was Monaleo clothing, Monaleo merchandise.
Small shit. Right, right.
Obviously, like it wasn't just like taking off,
but it was just like something that I was like branding for myself.
And they just kind of carried over to the music.
So when do you when you think you started that branding?
(03:42):
Like was that before beating down your blog?
Definitely way before long before.
So I probably was in.
I changed my Instagram name like when I went when I got into high school.
I think like my ninth grade year, I wanted to be like Monaleo.
Like that's the persona.
That's that's who I wanted.
I wanted to step into that.
And what that meant for me was just like a more confident,
(04:03):
strong, just beautiful, elegant version of myself,
because I feel like I went through a lot of things growing up.
And I just kind of wanted to transition when I got to high school.
So I guess that's where I.
Now, you got a lot of social media followers and they so loyal.
The only other artist I know who has loyal
followers like you is zero.
I mean, your followers to do anything you ask to ask them to do.
(04:27):
Yeah. Why are they so loyal to you?
You think I think we have this camaraderie amongst each other
and just there's a solidarity
because I'm a human being and they really they recognize that in me
outside of the artist.
They recognize me as being a human with real emotions.
I speak on real shit that a lot of people are afraid to talk about or
(04:48):
just are not ready to talk about, I would say.
So I think we built like a really close, tight knit relationship
because of me just being able to talk about personal experiences
and then being able to relate.
Right, because I see you in your car talking.
I see you at the mall talking.
I'll see you at your house talking.
When we when you had that party, what party was it?
(05:09):
It wasn't Halloween.
It was like a pink party like, oh, the girls outside.
The girls outside.
I mean, they were like on the gate.
We were like, this is like Michael Jackson is inside.
Like we were tripping out.
It was crazy. Yeah.
That was the first time that I had.
And I also I let the record go to show I grew up very, very introverted.
I grew up very I was just weird, strange, whatever you want to call it.
(05:29):
Kind of like the fly on the wall.
I never really spoke very much like when I was in room.
So to go from that to now being able to throw a party and people are lined up
wrapped around the gate, police coming to shut it down.
Like that was a really mind boggling experience.
But I talk about that.
And again, going back to what you said, I think that's why we have such a close
relationship, because they've also been able to see the journey of me
(05:52):
going from this person to now, you know, just getting bigger and bigger.
When I came to your party, I realized you were a superstar.
Now, you're one of my favorite artists.
I can't lie. You be saying this.
Yeah, you tell me, you know, I mean, you
want to pull out the phone.
I know you're ready for this.
I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you were ready.
(06:13):
I mean, I got a bad memory.
Here you go.
I do.
But I mean, I do know the songs, you know, you started off with Sobermind.
Why did you start off with that?
I wanted to. So first of all, obviously, when I was pregnant,
I could not drink, obviously, drink liquor.
So I didn't mean when I wrote Sobermind, I wasn't literally talking about sobriety.
(06:36):
I was really just talking about clarity mentally.
Like just I went through so many different emotions and hormones,
obviously, when I was pregnant and I had to face myself a lot of the times,
face the things that I didn't want to face.
And obviously, I couldn't mask that with alcohol or any.
I couldn't mask that.
I had to really deal with all of those emotions.
(06:58):
And it was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life
between pregnancy and labor and birth.
That was like the most difficult experience for sure.
So Sobermind was kind of like an ode to this new person that I was becoming.
Like, you know, just mentally, things were clearing up for me.
(07:19):
They were making sense.
My purpose became a little bit more clear throughout my pregnancy.
I was just able to see things for what they were.
And I think that's why I wrote Sobermind.
But also it can it's a double, you know, it could also double as literal sobriety
because I was literally sober, obviously.
Speaking of your pregnancy.
What about misunderstood?
Misunderstood.
(07:40):
I love that one.
That's another fable.
I wrote that for all of the black women in my life.
And I want to stop saying strong black women.
Like I want to step away from that.
Just black women in general.
I wrote that for all of the women in my life, all the matriarchs of the families,
like my mom, my grandmother, son's mom.
(08:00):
I wrote that for them and myself, obviously, my grandmother's because I wanted to just
talk about the experience of like being a black woman and having to kind of live this
double life, like have to present a strong, you know, present yourself as if you're strong
on the outside and then struggle with a lot of different things internally.
So I wanted to write that song for all the women in my family and they love it.
(08:24):
We love it.
We play it all the time.
It's something we do.
Also, speaking of your birth, how did you decide that you want to do it at home?
I've decided very early on in my pregnancy.
Like as soon as I found out, I knew that I wanted to have a home birth.
I knew that I wanted to be intimate because my mom and my grandma, they both had very
traumatic birth experiences.
My mom had C-sections with all of her children.
My grandmother only had one child because she almost died giving birth to a mom.
(08:48):
So I wanted to kind of take back my power, take back my control in that situation and
I wanted to do it from home.
You weren't nervous about it?
I was.
Yeah.
I was.
I didn't know how I was going to do it because I don't have a very, or at least I thought
that I didn't have a very good pain threshold.
Like I don't, I don't, I didn't have any tattoo, you know, anything.
So I didn't think that I was ready to experience that type of pain.
(09:10):
I've never broken any bones, nothing.
And you didn't take nothing?
I didn't take anything.
Oh my.
No, no, no, no.
I didn't take anything.
And he knows obviously because he was there.
Yeah.
He was there.
We were both like, that was difficult for us because I, at a point in time, I was ready
to go to the hospital because that pain got so intense and I was in labor for 48 hours
literally.
(09:31):
So towards the end, like, about like the, like the 46 hour mark, I was like, I can't
do this.
Did they tell you before like how long about it's going to be or no?
No, you never know.
It just depends.
Some women may be in labor for 36 hours.
Some women are in labor for four hours.
Like it really, you don't know.
Zance, you want to get pregnant or something?
No, Zance.
I need to get a sandwich right now.
What's up?
Do you think you'll have more?
(09:52):
I definitely think so.
Yeah.
I love that experience.
It was beautiful.
And watching you transition from, from artist now to mother, first off, congratulations.
Thank you.
I know we've said that, but I wanted to tell you that.
How, how is making this transition and for the people that are going to be watching this,
what are maybe some things that you could tell them to either prepare for or get ready
(10:13):
for mothers to be or thinking about being a mother to be?
Just make sure you have a really good support system.
I would not have been able to do it without having a really genuine support system and
people who want to see me do well, they want to see me succeed.
They were pushing me throughout the entire process.
Through labor, everybody was there.
(10:35):
They were rooting me on.
Like I was, I was ready to give up.
I'm not even for it.
Pretend like I was just being super strong the entire time.
Majority of the time I held it together, but towards the end I was, I was ready to give
up because it was, it was intense.
I was crying.
I was screaming like that pain was, I never experienced anything like that before.
So I would definitely say just prepare yourself for it to be difficult, but understand that
(10:58):
it's still a beautiful experience and nothing good comes easy.
I'll say that.
So, okay.
How did you know this stunner was the one?
Because you're very young, but you seem so confident in this man.
Definitely.
I see you everywhere with him.
It's like you believe in him and he believes in you also.
Exactly.
(11:19):
So how did you know he was the one?
I think it's kind of like the energy that he came with.
Cause honestly, me personally, like you said, I'm so young.
So even when we first met, I didn't, I wasn't thinking that it was like a very serious thing.
Like it was very much so like whatever.
How did y'all meet by the way?
We met at the studio.
Oh cool.
Yeah.
So I was, he was out there in the, we met at sugar hill actually.
(11:41):
He was in the lobby.
I like was coming in, saw him, introduced myself to him.
We shook hands and I actually thought he was rude at the time.
I was like, Oh, I don't really don't like him.
But like how you said, like how you said, he's really confident in me.
He believes in me and he speaks life into me in a way that I've never experienced before.
So that's something that's very difficult to come by.
(12:04):
And a lot of people don't understand.
We really, we bump heads a lot of the time.
He's a Capricorn bursaurus.
We bump heads a lot.
We also have, we were from two different places.
He's not from where I'm from and vice versa.
So we, you know, there's always just like some hurdle that we have to get over and people don't understand that.
But I think when you find someone that believes in you and that loves you and supports you unapologetically and through, without judgment,
(12:29):
I think that's something that you really need to hold on to.
Was this done as first child as well too?
Definitely.
So both of you guys, okay.
I don't do niggas with kids.
I made that very clear.
I'm like, that's not my vibe.
So it was definitely going to be his first child.
And then you said, you said it was rude when you first met him.
It wasn't even rude.
(12:50):
He was just, that's kind of how he is.
But at the time I'm very like open, warm, inviting.
He's not like that all the time.
So when I first met him, he was just very standoffish, understandably, obviously, because I mean, he had just moved down here.
He didn't know anyone.
It was just, he was kind of in his own little world.
And I thought he was being rude, but he wasn't.
And how did that barrier get broken?
(13:12):
How did y'all end up actually reconnecting?
He DM'd me on Instagram.
He slid in my DM.
And he said, he said, why haven't I ran into you yet?
I said, nigga, I just met you two weeks ago.
Good line though, good line.
I said, what?
He said, OK, well, my name is, let me reintroduce myself.
Just trying to be a Mac, trying to be a little Mac.
You know about that.
(13:33):
What was the first date?
What was the first date?
You know what?
The first day I invited him, so I had like four shows on one day.
I invited him to all of the shows.
I think he also had something to do that day.
So he ended up not coming to any of the shows.
But after I finished the shows and he was like, you like just pull up over here like whenever you finish your shows.
(13:54):
So I pulled up and it was kind of like club shows.
I'm going to be very honest.
It was club shows.
So we was kind of like club hopping and we were taking shots at all the clubs.
So I was a little inebriated.
It was a little tipsy.
And I went over there and he was very respectful, like very respectful.
He kind of like sat my shoes.
I had on these nice little glasses.
(14:16):
He like sat my glasses up.
Put my purse in.
You know, he was just making sure that all my stuff was like very taken care of and I can appreciate.
And obviously you don't applaud a fish for swimming.
This is what he was supposed to do, by the way.
But I could appreciate it at the time that he didn't try to like take advantage of me because especially like, you know, I was lit.
And he could have easily, God forbid, but he was very respectful.
(14:40):
And I respected that about him that because a lot of people I've met just in this industry, they're very weird.
They're very weird.
And they try to take advantage of you, especially like male rappers.
They try to take advantage of you in different scenarios, but he was very respectful.
So I think that's kind of how we connected and I respected him.
He respected me.
And then from there, it was just how you feel about getting married.
(15:01):
Because honestly, I don't really know.
I just want to know what you all think.
Well, let me say this.
I do.
Yeah.
So and so after I have so I have my son in May in July, he asked my dad if he could propose.
(15:28):
You're already married and I didn't even know that it's the wedding.
I'm going to walk out.
Yeah, he asked Leonard.
OK, so he asked him.
My dad gave him his blessing and he proposed.
It was very beautiful thing.
I loved it.
Yeah.
So Beyonce now.
Beyonce now.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
(15:49):
He did first.
Congratulations.
And you know what's crazy?
As we were pulling up here, I literally was saying I left because I was doing my hair
and I was like finger to say my hair.
I took all of my rings off.
So I had like a full except for this one.
This is so stupid.
You all know this is the promise ring.
This is the first ring that he gave me.
So it was a promise ring.
(16:10):
So I'm not even wearing the she got a big rock.
You saw it right.
Yeah, you saw it.
Yeah, it's a big rock.
You didn't even realize I didn't even think about it.
I wasn't even paying attention.
OK, it's better this way.
I was enjoying the basketball game.
Right.
But yeah, so he proposed and I obviously said yes.
And yeah, can't stun a cook.
No.
OK, can you cook?
(16:31):
Yeah.
OK, OK.
How can you cook?
You only 20 something.
I'm from Houston.
OK, OK.
I like cuisine.
I like good food.
I like down south, southern, fried country, fried, all that.
What's your best dish?
Smothered chicken, I would say.
Smothered chicken over rice.
Sometimes I put it over mashed potatoes if I feel a real starchy mac and cheese cabbage.
Yeah.
(16:52):
OK, but for your son now, because he's very young, what is it just like similar like,
you know, like.
So I was breastfeeding.
I was exclusively exclusively breastfeeding for the first couple of months.
And then it just got difficult because obviously I had to go back to the studio and you know,
so now we're doing I'm doing both.
So I'm like co feeding.
So I'm like breastfeeding.
(17:12):
And I'm also giving him like a natural organic formula.
Oh, nice.
Cool.
OK, also.
OK, now you excited.
Go ahead.
When the flowers don't die, because we didn't talk about the title of the project.
How did you why did you choose that title?
I think I consider myself like the rose that grew from the concrete.
So I feel like it was very unfazed by my circumstances.
And I kind of was able to grow and blossom in very, you know, questionable situations.
(17:38):
And so that's kind of how I came up with where the flowers don't.
Well, let me say so I did a song with no cat called Miss You Already.
And in that song, he said a line like talking about his friends and saying that they were on the other side where the flowers don't die.
And I thought that was so beautiful.
It really resonated with me for obviously personal reasons, because I identify myself as the rose that grew from the concrete.
(18:01):
So that's kind of how I wanted to.
That's how I decided that that line that he said would be good for an album title or project title rather.
What about Goddess? Tell us about this.
So I love Goddess.
So Goddess is I actually when I first recorded Goddess, I didn't it wasn't going to go on the project at first because I didn't like it initially.
And it was literally just four lines.
(18:23):
It was literally just the hook.
And I was like, I was about it.
I don't know.
It just wasn't doing it for me at the time, but I think Goddess is just talking about like how beautiful women are.
And, you know, sometimes men just don't step up to the plate.
And I was just I was really being satirical by saying like, how can God be a man?
(18:44):
Because literally, it's satirical.
Obviously, I believe in God.
I believe that there is a higher power.
I think everyone disrespect the higher power that I believe in. But like I said, it was satirical, fun, lighthearted.
Also only my bad.
Only feature on the project, Flo Milli.
You guys have done like a couple songs together now.
It's like three or four maybe.
(19:05):
And she brought you out of Coachella.
Like all the other.
How did y'all connect?
Y'all seem like y'all are real life friends.
We are.
We are really friends.
I wanted her to be on We Not Humping.
I wanted her to be on the original song, but it didn't work out that way.
So I put the original out and then I recruited her for the remix.
And then we met each other in person.
We instantly clicked.
We instantly vibed.
She was super genuine, super supportive of the entire process from start to finish.
(19:28):
So that's my sister.
Okay.
Love her.
Last one, Cologne songs.
And I want to know what are your favorite three Colognes for a man?
For a man, okay.
Well, Cologne song.
I was in the studio literally and somebody walked in and they had this really potent Cologne.
And I love, like when I came in, I actually wore kind of perfume.
I love scents.
(19:50):
The streets.
She wears the streets.
The streets, yeah.
I believe you.
It smells good on me that way.
But I love just scents.
And I asked him what kind of Cologne it was and he didn't remember.
And I was trying to like ask him, is it Versace?
Is it this?
Is it that?
Because it smells familiar.
But I just like what he, I literally was asking him what kind of Cologne is that?
It was like, I don't remember.
He didn't remember.
(20:11):
Right.
And I just wanted to write a song about it.
I feel like it was a good, it was different.
It was a different subject matter.
Right.
From what's out right now.
So I wanted to lead into that.
But my top three Colognes for a man, for my man, let me say that.
Bar number nine.
Okay.
I got that.
You got that?
I got that.
There's this Chanel Cologne that he wears sometimes.
(20:34):
Okay.
And the third one is like, I think it's called Prada Ocean, if I'm not mistaken.
It smells really good.
Okay.
What about you?
Favorite perfume?
I can't even decide, but I really, right now, I switch it up so much, but right now I'm
wearing this brand called K.I. Lee.
They have this green bottle perfume and it's called like pistachio gelato or something
(20:55):
like that.
That's what I'm wearing right now.
Okay.
What about the Barbie movie?
Did you go see it?
I did.
I actually did.
Oh my God.
It was so good.
I have to show you all the videos.
I got, I took my whole, all the women in my family, like my mom, son is mom, my dad's
wife, my younger sister, my friends, my home girls.
I took everybody to go and see the Barbie movie and I rented like a big old pink limo
(21:16):
to pull up outside and I threw like a little Barbie themed party and it was a bunch of
pink liquor there and it was pink booze and I took everybody to see the Barbie movie in
the pink limo.
We got shit faced.
So we didn't even get to see the movie because we got there, we were just in the movie theater
just laughing and giggling.
It was such a beautiful, it was so fun.
(21:37):
But yeah, I saw, I saw it kinda, I guess you could say I didn't really see it.
That's funny.
What a way to take your family and have fun with your family.
Absolutely.
Speaking about being with your family and stuff, like I know you have to work and you're
a new mom and stuff, like how are you gonna balance like all of it?
Because you're already back doing this, like your project and your son came in the same
exact week.
Was that a coincidence by the way?
Yes it was because he was due, he was due in June.
(22:00):
He came in May but I was working so hard in April.
I ended up being one centimeter dilated a month before I gave birth.
So I was on bed rest for an entire month before I gave birth.
But I knew that he was coming early because, you know, but as long as we monitored it very
closely, he was safe, he was healthy enough obviously to still be, for me to still have
(22:22):
him at home, everything was fully developed.
So that's how he ended up coming early.
But no, it was definitely a coincidence that he came the same week that the project came
because that was not the plan.
And one thing about you, you, and I love hearing the positivity and I feel like that's why
a lot of people are naturally gravitate towards you.
And I also love that you bring a family line.
That's one thing I want to ask.
So I love my family.
(22:43):
So you got a big family, right?
Yeah.
So where are you from?
I'm from Houston.
So I'm from Houston, Texas for all you guys watching.
But specifically for the people that are from Houston, I'm from Ridgemont.
So I'm from Ridgemont Heights.
Ridgemont baby!
Ridgemont baby!
That's where I'm from.
Speaking of Ridgemont baby, I love that song too.
You love that song?
I told you.
(23:04):
You see, I know all the songs because you really are my favorite artist.
I talk about this all the time on the radio because you know what?
I see a lot of artists, but on your album, it has so much flavor.
You got so many great fans.
You have so many different styles.
That's why I say you're going to be around for the long run because a lot of times you
(23:27):
see artists and you know that this person is not fake.
I mean, it's fake.
You seem real to me on every account or so.
I just want to say, man, I know that you're going to be around.
A couple more questions before we finish.
Wakesplitter, how many months were you in the down at the house?
I was...
The video, y'all.
I was nine months.
(23:48):
Yeah.
So I was supposed to be on bed rest.
That was during that month?
You were not dialing?
It was definitely during that month.
I was already dialing.
I had already got my labor braids.
So I got my braids May 1st.
I shot the video like that same week and I was nine months on May 1st.
So yeah.
And what about ass kicking?
The concept of the video was so live.
I never seen nobody pregnant doing a video like that.
I did all of my own.
That video literally sent me into early labor.
I was one centimeter dilated the very next day, the very next morning after I shot that
(24:09):
video because I was doing all my own stunts.
I was hitting people with chairs.
I was doing the fight in scenes.
It was crazy.
But I think I was, well, I was eight months shooting that music video.
It was crazy.
And like J-Mac said, he sees you in for the long haul.
Where do you see Mona Leo in five years?
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(24:32):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(24:54):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(25:17):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(25:41):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(26:07):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(26:28):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
And that's when I want to negotiate those major deals.
But yeah, I'm going to LA at the end of this week
to record another tape.
Yeah, it's going to be fire.
This idea, this concept for this tape is fire.
(26:48):
And I'm going to record it quickly,
because I want to move on this idea.
OK, who else do you want to work with?
I love Don Toliver.
Oh, yeah, he's dope.
I love him.
I love Frank Ocean.
I love Tyler, the creator.
I love SZA.
I love Gunna.
I like, I think that's like my top, like the artists
(27:11):
that I want to work with right now.
Because I'm listening to them.
I'm shuffling all of their music right now.
And I have been for a minute, so.
You always did love Gunna, actually.
I remember that idea.
I was going to ask something like, you always
knew it, Gunna thing.
Always.
Three artists from Houston you might want to work with,
but you haven't had the opportunity.
Girls?
I would say Ken Amin, Lieber Joe Lee, and Millie Books.
(27:33):
Millie Books.
I love Millie Books.
I love Millie Books.
She's so talented.
Oh, yes.
She's so talented.
I wish I had a record label and some money.
I would sign her.
She's good.
She's really good.
She has that real raw talent.
And I love that she's still in the thick of it, still grinding.
That's how she's the most passionate right now.
I love it.
But you know what?
All the real girls love her.
Ken Amin loves Millie Books.
(27:55):
You love Millie Books.
She next.
She next.
She next.
Yeah, she's next.
And speaking of, before we let you go,
I asked you this before.
But everybody knows you're the princess of hip hop out
of Houston right now.
How does it feel to have that crown?
If somebody don't believe me, then let's fight.
I was going to say, hold on.
Is that really what they say?
I mean, that's what they be saying.
Whoever mad.
I didn't say that.
So don't come at me.
(28:15):
Don't try to come at me.
Come at Jazz.
But if that is the general consensus,
then I'm appreciative.
I'm appreciative.
I'm grateful.
I want to maintain that title.
I want to keep giving back to my community.
I want to keep showing up for the people that show up for me.
So if that's the title, that's what they saying.
I'll take it.
Thank you.
Well, thank you so much.
We really appreciate you stopping by the show.
(28:38):
Thank you all so much for having me.
I really appreciate y'all.
These are three people that I really love.
They've supported me since the very beginning of my career.
So it was only right that I came on the show
to show support for them, because they've always
supported me.
So thank you guys so much for watching.
I'm Mona Leo.
I'm Klaylea Colchard.
Big Leo.
I'm Klaylea Colchard.
(28:58):
Let's go.
You are now tuned in to Clearly Cultured.
(00:03):
We're back with another episode of Clearly Cultured, the podcast, you guys.
Very special guest, very special friend as well.
Mona Leo is doing the show today.
What's up, big Leo? How are you?
I'm just excited for this.
I'm excited to branch out something different.
I'm glad we get some visuals with the voices.
I feel we always hear you guys' voices on the radio,
(00:24):
but now people can really put a face to the sound to the voice.
So it's cool. I'm glad to be here.
Yay. I got a question.
How is your mental health?
It's good. Honestly, it's really good.
I was concerned at first for like the postpartum experience,
but I have a really good support system like my mom to my mom,
son is mom, son, my my whole family.
(00:45):
Really, they really like circled around us and make sure that we felt supported
as new parents. So it's good.
It takes a village for sure. It does.
And you just had congratulations on the baby, too.
Thank you. Because it's not for some do an interview or anything since then.
Yeah. We've been knowing each other for what is like three years, maybe?
Like right before the pandemic. Yeah, right before the pandemic.
I feel like. Yeah. So for people who don't know, let's take it back a little bit.
(01:07):
Like, how did you first get started in music and everything?
So I have a younger brother. I always talk about him.
His name is Young Rampage. He's still in high school.
He's getting ready to graduate.
So I feel like people will be able to see more of him now because he's not.
Let me say this.
He doesn't have to be at school every single day.
Obviously, like when you are a kid, it's like difficult for you to like
be trying to do like have a rap career and also go to school.
(01:31):
But I feel like people will be able to see more of him in like this upcoming year.
So I'm excited for that to do more stuff for him.
But I have a younger brother. His name is Young Rampage.
I took him to the studio for like his I want to say was his 14th.
I can remember I took him to the studio, though, for his birthday
for the first time.
He was always a really good, talented, freestyle artist.
(01:52):
And I would always record videos of him rapping over beats, stuff like that.
Posted on my Twitter. Go viral.
So I took him to the studio for his birthday.
And he said that he wanted me to get on the song with him.
Me and my older brother, my older brother.
He wanted us to do a song with him for his birthday.
So I did my verse, wrote it real quick, and I just did it as a joke.
(02:12):
And I posted it to Instagram and it got a decent response from like my peers.
And from there, I was OK, this is going to be something that I pursue.
And then the next song that I ended up recording was Beat Down Your Block.
And I posted the snippet on Twitter and it went viral.
And labels started calling me.
I quit my job that I had at the time. What was you doing?
(02:34):
I was working as a crisis intervention.
So like for the city of Houston, if like when you call now,
I was answering like 911 phone calls.
So I was doing that and I quit my job.
I flew to L.A. I met with a label out there.
I had to turn it down all of the label deals because I wanted to stay independent.
But from there, I guess it was just up.
(02:57):
For real. Let me ask you, how did you come up with the name Monaleo?
So I kind of wanted to.
Well, obviously, I wanted to be on a play on Mona Lisa.
So I'm a work of art.
You know, this is this I felt about myself and I still feel.
So I kind of chopped off the Lisa.
I put Leo Monaleo and that kind of was my name before
(03:20):
I was ever thinking about being an artist.
So I had a lot of different ventures before then.
Like I did makeup and it was Monaleo makeup and I did clothing.
It was Monaleo clothing, Monaleo merchandise.
Small shit. Right, right.
Obviously, like it wasn't just like taking off,
but it was just like something that I was like branding for myself.
And they just kind of carried over to the music.
So when do you when you think you started that branding?
(03:42):
Like was that before beating down your blog?
Definitely way before long before.
So I probably was in.
I changed my Instagram name like when I went when I got into high school.
I think like my ninth grade year, I wanted to be like Monaleo.
Like that's the persona.
That's that's who I wanted.
I wanted to step into that.
And what that meant for me was just like a more confident,
(04:03):
strong, just beautiful, elegant version of myself,
because I feel like I went through a lot of things growing up.
And I just kind of wanted to transition when I got to high school.
So I guess that's where I.
Now, you got a lot of social media followers and they so loyal.
The only other artist I know who has loyal
followers like you is zero.
I mean, your followers to do anything you ask to ask them to do.
(04:27):
Yeah. Why are they so loyal to you?
You think I think we have this camaraderie amongst each other
and just there's a solidarity
because I'm a human being and they really they recognize that in me
outside of the artist.
They recognize me as being a human with real emotions.
I speak on real shit that a lot of people are afraid to talk about or
(04:48):
just are not ready to talk about, I would say.
So I think we built like a really close, tight knit relationship
because of me just being able to talk about personal experiences
and then being able to relate.
Right, because I see you in your car talking.
I see you at the mall talking.
I'll see you at your house talking.
When we when you had that party, what party was it?
(05:09):
It wasn't Halloween.
It was like a pink party like, oh, the girls outside.
The girls outside.
I mean, they were like on the gate.
We were like, this is like Michael Jackson is inside.
Like we were tripping out.
It was crazy. Yeah.
That was the first time that I had.
And I also I let the record go to show I grew up very, very introverted.
I grew up very I was just weird, strange, whatever you want to call it.
(05:29):
Kind of like the fly on the wall.
I never really spoke very much like when I was in room.
So to go from that to now being able to throw a party and people are lined up
wrapped around the gate, police coming to shut it down.
Like that was a really mind boggling experience.
But I talk about that.
And again, going back to what you said, I think that's why we have such a close
relationship, because they've also been able to see the journey of me
(05:52):
going from this person to now, you know, just getting bigger and bigger.
When I came to your party, I realized you were a superstar.
Now, you're one of my favorite artists.
I can't lie. You be saying this.
Yeah, you tell me, you know, I mean, you
want to pull out the phone.
I know you're ready for this.
I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you were ready.
(06:13):
I mean, I got a bad memory.
Here you go.
I do.
But I mean, I do know the songs, you know, you started off with Sobermind.
Why did you start off with that?
I wanted to. So first of all, obviously, when I was pregnant,
I could not drink, obviously, drink liquor.
So I didn't mean when I wrote Sobermind, I wasn't literally talking about sobriety.
(06:36):
I was really just talking about clarity mentally.
Like just I went through so many different emotions and hormones,
obviously, when I was pregnant and I had to face myself a lot of the times,
face the things that I didn't want to face.
And obviously, I couldn't mask that with alcohol or any.
I couldn't mask that.
I had to really deal with all of those emotions.
(06:58):
And it was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life
between pregnancy and labor and birth.
That was like the most difficult experience for sure.
So Sobermind was kind of like an ode to this new person that I was becoming.
Like, you know, just mentally, things were clearing up for me.
(07:19):
They were making sense.
My purpose became a little bit more clear throughout my pregnancy.
I was just able to see things for what they were.
And I think that's why I wrote Sobermind.
But also it can it's a double, you know, it could also double as literal sobriety
because I was literally sober, obviously.
Speaking of your pregnancy.
What about misunderstood?
Misunderstood.
(07:40):
I love that one.
That's another fable.
I wrote that for all of the black women in my life.
And I want to stop saying strong black women.
Like I want to step away from that.
Just black women in general.
I wrote that for all of the women in my life, all the matriarchs of the families,
like my mom, my grandmother, son's mom.
(08:00):
I wrote that for them and myself, obviously, my grandmother's because I wanted to just
talk about the experience of like being a black woman and having to kind of live this
double life, like have to present a strong, you know, present yourself as if you're strong
on the outside and then struggle with a lot of different things internally.
So I wanted to write that song for all the women in my family and they love it.
(08:24):
We love it.
We play it all the time.
It's something we do.
Also, speaking of your birth, how did you decide that you want to do it at home?
I've decided very early on in my pregnancy.
Like as soon as I found out, I knew that I wanted to have a home birth.
I knew that I wanted to be intimate because my mom and my grandma, they both had very
traumatic birth experiences.
My mom had C-sections with all of her children.
My grandmother only had one child because she almost died giving birth to a mom.
(08:48):
So I wanted to kind of take back my power, take back my control in that situation and
I wanted to do it from home.
You weren't nervous about it?
I was.
Yeah.
I was.
I didn't know how I was going to do it because I don't have a very, or at least I thought
that I didn't have a very good pain threshold.
Like I don't, I don't, I didn't have any tattoo, you know, anything.
So I didn't think that I was ready to experience that type of pain.
(09:10):
I've never broken any bones, nothing.
And you didn't take nothing?
I didn't take anything.
Oh my.
No, no, no, no.
I didn't take anything.
And he knows obviously because he was there.
Yeah.
He was there.
We were both like, that was difficult for us because I, at a point in time, I was ready
to go to the hospital because that pain got so intense and I was in labor for 48 hours
literally.
(09:31):
So towards the end, like, about like the, like the 46 hour mark, I was like, I can't
do this.
Did they tell you before like how long about it's going to be or no?
No, you never know.
It just depends.
Some women may be in labor for 36 hours.
Some women are in labor for four hours.
Like it really, you don't know.
Zance, you want to get pregnant or something?
No, Zance.
I need to get a sandwich right now.
What's up?
Do you think you'll have more?
(09:52):
I definitely think so.
Yeah.
I love that experience.
It was beautiful.
And watching you transition from, from artist now to mother, first off, congratulations.
Thank you.
I know we've said that, but I wanted to tell you that.
How, how is making this transition and for the people that are going to be watching this,
what are maybe some things that you could tell them to either prepare for or get ready
(10:13):
for mothers to be or thinking about being a mother to be?
Just make sure you have a really good support system.
I would not have been able to do it without having a really genuine support system and
people who want to see me do well, they want to see me succeed.
They were pushing me throughout the entire process.
Through labor, everybody was there.
(10:35):
They were rooting me on.
Like I was, I was ready to give up.
I'm not even for it.
Pretend like I was just being super strong the entire time.
Majority of the time I held it together, but towards the end I was, I was ready to give
up because it was, it was intense.
I was crying.
I was screaming like that pain was, I never experienced anything like that before.
So I would definitely say just prepare yourself for it to be difficult, but understand that
(10:58):
it's still a beautiful experience and nothing good comes easy.
I'll say that.
So, okay.
How did you know this stunner was the one?
Because you're very young, but you seem so confident in this man.
Definitely.
I see you everywhere with him.
It's like you believe in him and he believes in you also.
Exactly.
(11:19):
So how did you know he was the one?
I think it's kind of like the energy that he came with.
Cause honestly, me personally, like you said, I'm so young.
So even when we first met, I didn't, I wasn't thinking that it was like a very serious thing.
Like it was very much so like whatever.
How did y'all meet by the way?
We met at the studio.
Oh cool.
Yeah.
So I was, he was out there in the, we met at sugar hill actually.
(11:41):
He was in the lobby.
I like was coming in, saw him, introduced myself to him.
We shook hands and I actually thought he was rude at the time.
I was like, Oh, I don't really don't like him.
But like how you said, like how you said, he's really confident in me.
He believes in me and he speaks life into me in a way that I've never experienced before.
So that's something that's very difficult to come by.
(12:04):
And a lot of people don't understand.
We really, we bump heads a lot of the time.
He's a Capricorn bursaurus.
We bump heads a lot.
We also have, we were from two different places.
He's not from where I'm from and vice versa.
So we, you know, there's always just like some hurdle that we have to get over and people don't understand that.
But I think when you find someone that believes in you and that loves you and supports you unapologetically and through, without judgment,
(12:29):
I think that's something that you really need to hold on to.
Was this done as first child as well too?
Definitely.
So both of you guys, okay.
I don't do niggas with kids.
I made that very clear.
I'm like, that's not my vibe.
So it was definitely going to be his first child.
And then you said, you said it was rude when you first met him.
It wasn't even rude.
(12:50):
He was just, that's kind of how he is.
But at the time I'm very like open, warm, inviting.
He's not like that all the time.
So when I first met him, he was just very standoffish, understandably, obviously, because I mean, he had just moved down here.
He didn't know anyone.
It was just, he was kind of in his own little world.
And I thought he was being rude, but he wasn't.
And how did that barrier get broken?
(13:12):
How did y'all end up actually reconnecting?
He DM'd me on Instagram.
He slid in my DM.
And he said, he said, why haven't I ran into you yet?
I said, nigga, I just met you two weeks ago.
Good line though, good line.
I said, what?
He said, OK, well, my name is, let me reintroduce myself.
Just trying to be a Mac, trying to be a little Mac.
You know about that.
(13:33):
What was the first date?
What was the first date?
You know what?
The first day I invited him, so I had like four shows on one day.
I invited him to all of the shows.
I think he also had something to do that day.
So he ended up not coming to any of the shows.
But after I finished the shows and he was like, you like just pull up over here like whenever you finish your shows.
(13:54):
So I pulled up and it was kind of like club shows.
I'm going to be very honest.
It was club shows.
So we was kind of like club hopping and we were taking shots at all the clubs.
So I was a little inebriated.
It was a little tipsy.
And I went over there and he was very respectful, like very respectful.
He kind of like sat my shoes.
I had on these nice little glasses.
(14:16):
He like sat my glasses up.
Put my purse in.
You know, he was just making sure that all my stuff was like very taken care of and I can appreciate.
And obviously you don't applaud a fish for swimming.
This is what he was supposed to do, by the way.
But I could appreciate it at the time that he didn't try to like take advantage of me because especially like, you know, I was lit.
And he could have easily, God forbid, but he was very respectful.
(14:40):
And I respected that about him that because a lot of people I've met just in this industry, they're very weird.
They're very weird.
And they try to take advantage of you, especially like male rappers.
They try to take advantage of you in different scenarios, but he was very respectful.
So I think that's kind of how we connected and I respected him.
He respected me.
And then from there, it was just how you feel about getting married.
(15:01):
Because honestly, I don't really know.
I just want to know what you all think.
Well, let me say this.
I do.
Yeah.
So and so after I have so I have my son in May in July, he asked my dad if he could propose.
(15:28):
You're already married and I didn't even know that it's the wedding.
I'm going to walk out.
Yeah, he asked Leonard.
OK, so he asked him.
My dad gave him his blessing and he proposed.
It was very beautiful thing.
I loved it.
Yeah.
So Beyonce now.
Beyonce now.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
(15:49):
He did first.
Congratulations.
And you know what's crazy?
As we were pulling up here, I literally was saying I left because I was doing my hair
and I was like finger to say my hair.
I took all of my rings off.
So I had like a full except for this one.
This is so stupid.
You all know this is the promise ring.
This is the first ring that he gave me.
So it was a promise ring.
(16:10):
So I'm not even wearing the she got a big rock.
You saw it right.
Yeah, you saw it.
Yeah, it's a big rock.
You didn't even realize I didn't even think about it.
I wasn't even paying attention.
OK, it's better this way.
I was enjoying the basketball game.
Right.
But yeah, so he proposed and I obviously said yes.
And yeah, can't stun a cook.
No.
OK, can you cook?
(16:31):
Yeah.
OK, OK.
How can you cook?
You only 20 something.
I'm from Houston.
OK, OK.
I like cuisine.
I like good food.
I like down south, southern, fried country, fried, all that.
What's your best dish?
Smothered chicken, I would say.
Smothered chicken over rice.
Sometimes I put it over mashed potatoes if I feel a real starchy mac and cheese cabbage.
Yeah.
(16:52):
OK, but for your son now, because he's very young, what is it just like similar like,
you know, like.
So I was breastfeeding.
I was exclusively exclusively breastfeeding for the first couple of months.
And then it just got difficult because obviously I had to go back to the studio and you know,
so now we're doing I'm doing both.
So I'm like co feeding.
So I'm like breastfeeding.
(17:12):
And I'm also giving him like a natural organic formula.
Oh, nice.
Cool.
OK, also.
OK, now you excited.
Go ahead.
When the flowers don't die, because we didn't talk about the title of the project.
How did you why did you choose that title?
I think I consider myself like the rose that grew from the concrete.
So I feel like it was very unfazed by my circumstances.
And I kind of was able to grow and blossom in very, you know, questionable situations.
(17:38):
And so that's kind of how I came up with where the flowers don't.
Well, let me say so I did a song with no cat called Miss You Already.
And in that song, he said a line like talking about his friends and saying that they were on the other side where the flowers don't die.
And I thought that was so beautiful.
It really resonated with me for obviously personal reasons, because I identify myself as the rose that grew from the concrete.
(18:01):
So that's kind of how I wanted to.
That's how I decided that that line that he said would be good for an album title or project title rather.
What about Goddess? Tell us about this.
So I love Goddess.
So Goddess is I actually when I first recorded Goddess, I didn't it wasn't going to go on the project at first because I didn't like it initially.
And it was literally just four lines.
(18:23):
It was literally just the hook.
And I was like, I was about it.
I don't know.
It just wasn't doing it for me at the time, but I think Goddess is just talking about like how beautiful women are.
And, you know, sometimes men just don't step up to the plate.
And I was just I was really being satirical by saying like, how can God be a man?
(18:44):
Because literally, it's satirical.
Obviously, I believe in God.
I believe that there is a higher power.
I think everyone disrespect the higher power that I believe in. But like I said, it was satirical, fun, lighthearted.
Also only my bad.
Only feature on the project, Flo Milli.
You guys have done like a couple songs together now.
It's like three or four maybe.
(19:05):
And she brought you out of Coachella.
Like all the other.
How did y'all connect?
Y'all seem like y'all are real life friends.
We are.
We are really friends.
I wanted her to be on We Not Humping.
I wanted her to be on the original song, but it didn't work out that way.
So I put the original out and then I recruited her for the remix.
And then we met each other in person.
We instantly clicked.
We instantly vibed.
She was super genuine, super supportive of the entire process from start to finish.
(19:28):
So that's my sister.
Okay.
Love her.
Last one, Cologne songs.
And I want to know what are your favorite three Colognes for a man?
For a man, okay.
Well, Cologne song.
I was in the studio literally and somebody walked in and they had this really potent Cologne.
And I love, like when I came in, I actually wore kind of perfume.
I love scents.
(19:50):
The streets.
She wears the streets.
The streets, yeah.
I believe you.
It smells good on me that way.
But I love just scents.
And I asked him what kind of Cologne it was and he didn't remember.
And I was trying to like ask him, is it Versace?
Is it this?
Is it that?
Because it smells familiar.
But I just like what he, I literally was asking him what kind of Cologne is that?
It was like, I don't remember.
He didn't remember.
(20:11):
Right.
And I just wanted to write a song about it.
I feel like it was a good, it was different.
It was a different subject matter.
Right.
From what's out right now.
So I wanted to lead into that.
But my top three Colognes for a man, for my man, let me say that.
Bar number nine.
Okay.
I got that.
You got that?
I got that.
There's this Chanel Cologne that he wears sometimes.
(20:34):
Okay.
And the third one is like, I think it's called Prada Ocean, if I'm not mistaken.
It smells really good.
Okay.
What about you?
Favorite perfume?
I can't even decide, but I really, right now, I switch it up so much, but right now I'm
wearing this brand called K.I. Lee.
They have this green bottle perfume and it's called like pistachio gelato or something
(20:55):
like that.
That's what I'm wearing right now.
Okay.
What about the Barbie movie?
Did you go see it?
I did.
I actually did.
Oh my God.
It was so good.
I have to show you all the videos.
I got, I took my whole, all the women in my family, like my mom, son is mom, my dad's
wife, my younger sister, my friends, my home girls.
I took everybody to go and see the Barbie movie and I rented like a big old pink limo
(21:16):
to pull up outside and I threw like a little Barbie themed party and it was a bunch of
pink liquor there and it was pink booze and I took everybody to see the Barbie movie in
the pink limo.
We got shit faced.
So we didn't even get to see the movie because we got there, we were just in the movie theater
just laughing and giggling.
It was such a beautiful, it was so fun.
(21:37):
But yeah, I saw, I saw it kinda, I guess you could say I didn't really see it.
That's funny.
What a way to take your family and have fun with your family.
Absolutely.
Speaking about being with your family and stuff, like I know you have to work and you're
a new mom and stuff, like how are you gonna balance like all of it?
Because you're already back doing this, like your project and your son came in the same
exact week.
Was that a coincidence by the way?
Yes it was because he was due, he was due in June.
(22:00):
He came in May but I was working so hard in April.
I ended up being one centimeter dilated a month before I gave birth.
So I was on bed rest for an entire month before I gave birth.
But I knew that he was coming early because, you know, but as long as we monitored it very
closely, he was safe, he was healthy enough obviously to still be, for me to still have
(22:22):
him at home, everything was fully developed.
So that's how he ended up coming early.
But no, it was definitely a coincidence that he came the same week that the project came
because that was not the plan.
And one thing about you, you, and I love hearing the positivity and I feel like that's why
a lot of people are naturally gravitate towards you.
And I also love that you bring a family line.
That's one thing I want to ask.
So I love my family.
(22:43):
So you got a big family, right?
Yeah.
So where are you from?
I'm from Houston.
So I'm from Houston, Texas for all you guys watching.
But specifically for the people that are from Houston, I'm from Ridgemont.
So I'm from Ridgemont Heights.
Ridgemont baby!
Ridgemont baby!
That's where I'm from.
Speaking of Ridgemont baby, I love that song too.
You love that song?
I told you.
(23:04):
You see, I know all the songs because you really are my favorite artist.
I talk about this all the time on the radio because you know what?
I see a lot of artists, but on your album, it has so much flavor.
You got so many great fans.
You have so many different styles.
That's why I say you're going to be around for the long run because a lot of times you
(23:27):
see artists and you know that this person is not fake.
I mean, it's fake.
You seem real to me on every account or so.
I just want to say, man, I know that you're going to be around.
A couple more questions before we finish.
Wakesplitter, how many months were you in the down at the house?
I was...
The video, y'all.
I was nine months.
(23:48):
Yeah.
So I was supposed to be on bed rest.
That was during that month?
You were not dialing?
It was definitely during that month.
I was already dialing.
I had already got my labor braids.
So I got my braids May 1st.
I shot the video like that same week and I was nine months on May 1st.
So yeah.
And what about ass kicking?
The concept of the video was so live.
I never seen nobody pregnant doing a video like that.
I did all of my own.
That video literally sent me into early labor.
I was one centimeter dilated the very next day, the very next morning after I shot that
(24:09):
video because I was doing all my own stunts.
I was hitting people with chairs.
I was doing the fight in scenes.
It was crazy.
But I think I was, well, I was eight months shooting that music video.
It was crazy.
And like J-Mac said, he sees you in for the long haul.
Where do you see Mona Leo in five years?
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(24:32):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(24:54):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(25:17):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(25:41):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(26:07):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
(26:28):
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
I think it's in the music video.
And that's when I want to negotiate those major deals.
But yeah, I'm going to LA at the end of this week
to record another tape.
Yeah, it's going to be fire.
This idea, this concept for this tape is fire.
(26:48):
And I'm going to record it quickly,
because I want to move on this idea.
OK, who else do you want to work with?
I love Don Toliver.
Oh, yeah, he's dope.
I love him.
I love Frank Ocean.
I love Tyler, the creator.
I love SZA.
I love Gunna.
I like, I think that's like my top, like the artists
(27:11):
that I want to work with right now.
Because I'm listening to them.
I'm shuffling all of their music right now.
And I have been for a minute, so.
You always did love Gunna, actually.
I remember that idea.
I was going to ask something like, you always
knew it, Gunna thing.
Always.
Three artists from Houston you might want to work with,
but you haven't had the opportunity.
Girls?
I would say Ken Amin, Lieber Joe Lee, and Millie Books.
(27:33):
Millie Books.
I love Millie Books.
I love Millie Books.
She's so talented.
Oh, yes.
She's so talented.
I wish I had a record label and some money.
I would sign her.
She's good.
She's really good.
She has that real raw talent.
And I love that she's still in the thick of it, still grinding.
That's how she's the most passionate right now.
I love it.
But you know what?
All the real girls love her.
Ken Amin loves Millie Books.
(27:55):
You love Millie Books.
She next.
She next.
She next.
Yeah, she's next.
And speaking of, before we let you go,
I asked you this before.
But everybody knows you're the princess of hip hop out
of Houston right now.
How does it feel to have that crown?
If somebody don't believe me, then let's fight.
I was going to say, hold on.
Is that really what they say?
I mean, that's what they be saying.
Whoever mad.
I didn't say that.
So don't come at me.
(28:15):
Don't try to come at me.
Come at Jazz.
But if that is the general consensus,
then I'm appreciative.
I'm appreciative.
I'm grateful.
I want to maintain that title.
I want to keep giving back to my community.
I want to keep showing up for the people that show up for me.
So if that's the title, that's what they saying.
I'll take it.
Thank you.
Well, thank you so much.
We really appreciate you stopping by the show.
(28:38):
Thank you all so much for having me.
I really appreciate y'all.
These are three people that I really love.
They've supported me since the very beginning of my career.
So it was only right that I came on the show
to show support for them, because they've always
supported me.
So thank you guys so much for watching.
I'm Mona Leo.
I'm Klaylea Colchard.
Big Leo.
I'm Klaylea Colchard.
(28:58):
Let's go.
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