December 2, 2023 • 24 mins
Join us as we chat with Rosetta, a talented singer, about her creative journey, and her unique sound. We explore how her music connects with listeners on a deep, soulful level.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And God, I see, and now I'm free and there will
never be another me.
Best believe.
You know you're done havingyour fun with me.
Never thought I'd see the dayyou would run game with me and
this pain and swallow.
It will be the death of me.
You don't know what love is.
You never did.
You never know what love is,Cause you too sick.
(00:22):
I showed you that good love butyou lane switched.
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Thanks for stopping by episode seven of the Stuber
podcast, and we are justlistening to the sultry musical
stylings of Mrs Rosetta.
How are you doing, rosetta?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I'm so good, I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Oh, we are happy to have you today.
I want to first say thatactually you're my first musical
talent on the show, so thankyou for.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I peeped that Everybody go listen to the
podcast.
It's amazing.
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yes, Nice and that actually, that honor shouldn't
be taken lightly, because itwasn't just random that I asked
you to be on the show.
It was because your music, uh,your voice and and your choice
of uh beats with it andeverything.
(01:36):
I was like she has the itfactor, she has uh the lyrics to
go with it along with the beat.
So, um, I had to approach youand ask if you would be willing
to be on the podcast.
So we're gonna definitely uhexplore some more of your, your,
your songs.
Um, but quickly just want tointroduce you to our, our
audience.
Uh, rosetta, you hail from newyork, representing nyc yeah bow,
(01:59):
bow, bow.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, east coast in a house okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So when I go to New York, I need to go bow, bow Okay
.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I don't know about that.
Um, you know, you know, just uh, you know what's up, how y'all
feeling.
Okay, I like that, all right.
So, uh, she's got a solid headon her shoulders.
Graduated from St John's yeah,St John's university, Jamaica.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Queens Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
All the SJU alumni Make a queen.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Okay, shout out all the SJU alumni.
Yeah Well, tell me about.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
SJU.
Yeah, so St John's is in Queens.
I graduated there with a BS inhealthcare and a minor in
psychology.
That's my second passion.
You know, music is my first but, I love to help people.
I work with children currentlyin lifestyle medicine, so it's
really important to me.
I think preventative care andhealthcare is super important.
(02:49):
It's what we need Healthcareworkers.
You know they don't get paidenough, but they're here not
because of the money but becauseyou know they actually care
about people, so I love that.
St John's was a good experience.
New York City is a differentplace in the Bay Um, but I you
know I enjoyed the experience.
It was nice.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, yeah, we're going to talk about, uh, your
transition from NYC, the bigapple, to here, uh, cali, uh, so
it looks like you're um a veganright.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
I am a vegan.
Yes, I'm a vegan.
Shout out all the vegans.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Right.
Um, that's a tough a toughthing to do is is maintain a
vegan.
Yes, I'm a vegan.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Shout out all the vegans Right.
That's a tough, a tough thingto do is maintain a vegan
lifestyle.
Yeah, so it's been rocky for mefor the last couple of years.
My job is a non-for-profitfocused on lifestyle medicine,
so we focus on whole food,plant-based eating, a little bit
more strict than vegan, to likeno processed food, no oil,
things like that.
But I really believe in thework and I've been working for
them for about three years andthey really have taught me just
(03:51):
the importance that food ismedicine and it really is.
And you know, obviously youcould still be vegan and be
unhealthy and, you know, havecookies and treats and stuff,
but it's still a little bitbetter than you know.
A lot of like the meat and thedairy, I think sometimes, like
we adapt, like the hormones ofother animals and stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
And I'm a big animal lover.
My whole thing is like, youknow, if you wouldn't go out and
slaughter it yourself, thenmaybe you shouldn't be eating it
.
But no judgment, you know, I'mI'm a black woman.
I grew up, you know, in theAfrican-American standard
American diet food you know,fried chicken, mac and cheese
all the things are so great.
So I, I, I love it, and I'm notgoing to say that I don't crave
(04:32):
it sometimes, but, um, I justbelieve in the lifestyle and I
think for me, once you're aware,it's kind of hard to not make
better decisions.
But, like I said, it's aprocess.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yeah, no, I tried it for a good six months and I just
found that the options weren'tkeeping me satisfied.
I kind of just digressed.
It's hard, and then that was awhile ago.
Then recently I tried it again.
I started following this guy onInstagram and he really kind of
he goes at it in a very fun, uh, joking way, Like you know.
(05:07):
He just kind of criticizes thechoices that we make, but he
makes it seem funny.
Um, but he's got us really oneating watermelon and natural
sources of, of, of, of hydratingoneself.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So that's helped a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
And I don't think that people are aware that there
is a lot of protein in, likeyou know, plants and like
vegetables and fruits and thingslike that.
We think we have to get all ourprotein from meat, but we don't
.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And it's just about being creative, because I felt
the same way, transitioning,like what am I going to eat?
Like I don't really know, but I, I'm trying to get creative,
but I, I'm trying to getcreative, I'm trying to come out
with some content of, likevegan meals, because I think
sometimes it's nice to see whatpeople can come up with.
Yeah, yeah, yeah Cool, so youeating out or you do a
(05:58):
combination of kind of there'ssome spots, you cook a lot, I
cook a lot Since I moved toOakland.
Shout out to Vegan Mob andthey're amazing.
I know they're moving back toSF like they're opening a spot
over there, but they've beengreat as in like eating out Um,
solely vegan is really great outhere in Oakland.
I'm still looking for places,but I would say that California
(06:19):
in general has a more varietythan the East coast.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Really.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Oh nice.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Well, that's a little bit about Rosetta and how she
her lifestyle, but we reallywant to dig into your musical
journey and let's start withyour beginnings in New York.
Right, you came up in the earlydays in New York, so what was
it like growing up there in NewYork?
Right, you came up in the earlydays in New York, so what was
it like growing up there in NewYork?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
What was it like growing up in New York?
Yeah, okay, what was the?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
New York accent.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
I know everybody says that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I hear a little bit of it.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It's a little bit, but I don't know.
Like I feel like I really I'veonly been here for like a year
and a half.
Y'all, so y'all are ripping offon me in the Bay.
Real, real well, I think I havemore like sayings that I say
more than the accent.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
But yeah, I grew up in New York.
I actually grew up upstate.
So my family, my parents, arelike from Long Island, Queens
area.
I was born in Long Island butwe moved to Rochester, so that's
where I'm from.
Shout out the Rock, the ROC 585.
That's my city.
That's close to Buffalo, ify'all don't know Some people
(07:32):
might not know the Buffalo Bills, but yes, I grew up in
Rochester and it was kind oflike you know the suburbs and
stuff.
I was a big theater kid.
Nice Shout out to the theaterkids.
I was a big theater kid.
I Shout out to the theater kids.
(07:59):
I was a big theater kid.
I was in an acapella group inhigh school and I was like a
student director, all thesethings.
I used to be into sports but Ikind of dropped that.
I was like, oh, I'm so sad.
I'm like I love music.
And then I moved back to thecity.
When I went to college is whenI went to St John's and that was
like a big experience for mebecause going from being a
theater kid to kind of likeliving in a big city that never
sleeps and that's full ofopportunity, it kind of forced
me to like figure out what myartistry was.
(08:20):
I think a lot of times like Iconsider myself an R&B, neo-soul
artist, no-transcript sing, andI'm into theater.
(08:56):
But what is my artistry looklike?
So shout out to the citybecause I think I learned a lot
about who I am as an artist andwho I want to be there.
But shout out to the Baybecause I feel like there's a
sense of community andcamaraderie and like just love
(09:16):
out here.
That's different than in thecity.
I feel like in the city, justin general, like people are just
, you know, mean and rude andworking all the time and it's a
filled city with lots of people.
Everybody's kind of doing theirown thing and I really just
appreciate the sense of like,love and community here.
I feel so loved in the Bay.
I feel like people reallyappreciate my art.
(09:37):
People are not looking to, likeyou know, um put you down
because you're not doingsomething, but like more like
appreciating who you are as anartist.
So I love it here yeah, reallylove it here.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, so do you see yourself settling down here in
the bay, or that's a goodquestion?
Speaker 3 (09:53):
yeah, um, when I moved here I was trying to get
out.
I'm not gonna lie to y'all.
I lived in the?
Um Tenderloin and it was roughfor me living in SF.
But now living in Oakland andfinding my way, I would say it's
a possibility.
I'm still a New York girl.
I still love the East Coast.
(10:15):
There's something about theenergy that the East Coast
brings that the Bay doesn't, butI think there's a lot of things
out here in the Bay that Ireally appreciate, that I could
see long term for myself.
I think it's a stay tuned typeof thing gotcha yeah just kind
of follow one's heart.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
So what?
What again prompted the movefrom NY to here?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
y'all, it's a story oh yeah um.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I think off here you mentioned, yeah, okay long story
short.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I moved here for love it.
It was definitely for love.
It was for music too.
Yeah, because I think the Bayin California in general
everybody looks at Californialike another state that you can
make it in and things like thatopportunity.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
So it was a win-win.
But I definitely moved here forlove.
The love didn't work out, but Iwill say, you know I'm a big
believer in everything happensfor a reason Sometimes.
You know I'm a big believer ineverything happens for a reason.
Sometimes you know you needcertain things to push you at
your comfort zone for otherthings to emerge.
So I'm happy to be here.
I stayed because the musicthing has been working out for
me and because everybody outhere has shown me so much love
(11:18):
and appreciation and opportunity.
So I'm not sad I could havegone back home after that
situation didn't work out, butI'm happy to be here and I'm I'm
happy for that situationbecause it brought me here.
Yeah, so it's cool.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
That's a big change.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
A huge change.
I don't really have family here.
I actually met a second cousinhere.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yeah, we never grew up together, so that's cool.
You know I, when you move to aplace without people and then
you only have one person thatyou kind of know and then that
doesn't work out.
You're kind of like in thisweird limbo place.
But I feel like I'm finallygetting my footing.
(11:57):
You know, I don't like say myage, but I'm 26,.
You know, your twenties arehard.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I know they're very they're very hard.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Um, my advice everybody just keep pushing
through you know your twentiesare hard.
I know they're very, they'revery hard.
Um, my advice everybody justkeep pushing through.
You know there's good and baddays and you know getting over
the hump is hard, but I'm happy,like I feel like it's a process
of life.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Wow yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Heavy.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, definitely, Um, and I could definitely talk
about those, those 20, thoseyears of twenties and kind of
trying to you know, um, feelsupported, not feel alone.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Um, what's your advice?
That's funny Something.
You're old.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I like what you said about pushing through.
Uh, there, cause there are,there are some days where you
just have to remind yourself ofof you know your purpose, have
to remind yourself of of youknow your purpose, and so I like
your advice of pushing throughbecause that that you know,
looking back you, you realizehow much stronger you are from
that time compared to that time.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Exactly, yeah.
So and that's what I think itis is like just being aware of
that.
Look at where I was and how farI've come.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, yeah, being aware of that.
Look at where I was and how farI've come.
Yeah, yeah, um, all right.
So now we want to talk about.
You know, what's kind ofkeeping you inspired is?
Uh, you're singing right, andthat is a dream that you are
living, yeah, and so let's talkabout that talent.
How did you discover your voice, so to speak?
(13:29):
Or, you know, was there someonethat inspired you or did you
just, you know, go to church orwhat?
Was there something worthsinging?
Did you do it at home?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah, so my dad's not going to like this, but my dad
is a singer.
He doesn't jack, that he's asinger.
He won't say that he's a singer.
He is a singer, he has a voice.
My dad has six brothers.
Well, five brothers, the six ofthem and my um, my grandfather
tried to do the johnson six.
That's our last name, johnson sohe tried to do a spin off of
(13:59):
the jackson vibe right, thejohnson six.
It didn't really go well.
Um, but I feel like my dad waskind of grown like, grew up in
that environment of music andlike playing instruments and
things like that.
He used to play saxophone.
That's what I played like inmiddle school and beginning of
high school.
So I had that, like you know,inspiration of, like you know,
(14:21):
this is what you can be into.
Even though he never pursuedmusic, we still always sung
together with old school songsand like introducing me to music
, even though I didn't alwaysknow the lyrics correctly,
because he never knew the lyricscorrectly um so it's something
that we definitely, I feel likeyou know, was able to understand
(14:41):
each other through the music,amongst other things, but he's
been a big inspiration.
I think he'll probably besurprised that I'm saying that,
um, but definitely my father.
And then I would just say thatboth of my parents are very open
and creative and love musicthemselves.
So growing up in a household ofhearing old school stuff and
(15:01):
like realizing that they I feellike they realized that I was
like a really creative kid, sothey put me in everything and
that really helps me kind ofrealize, oh, I really love this.
Like I really was in theaterand you know I used to play
piano and all those things andthat was really young, like you
know, seven, eight, nine, 10.
And from then on it was kind oflike once I was really in
(15:23):
school and the opportunities Ijust took, you know, advantage
of those opportunities that werein front of me.
So I'm appreciative of that andI mean it was a great
experience.
Growing up, I think music wasall around me.
My parents never made me feellike it wasn't something that I
couldn't pursue.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
OK, which is important, so it started at home
.
Okay, which is important, so itstarted at home.
And now would would you saythat there's any artists that
you really admire, someone,someone that you would love to
like work with down the road?
Speaker 3 (15:52):
yeah, I'm a big jasmine sullivan fan, I love her
, oh my goodness, I actually didthat song with one of my best
friends, um, in high school.
Yeah, we didn't win the talentshow.
We should have won.
Honestly, I'm not even gonnalie, we really bust the windows
on that stage.
Okay, we was getting it.
I love her so much.
(16:12):
It's funny because I think,when I think about like artists
that I used to listen to growingup and artists that I listen to
now, she's one of them becauseshe really was out when I was
you know like 10, out when I wasyou know like 10 11 years old,
and she's been in the game for10 plus years and she's just, uh
, just iconic.
I love Mary J Lauren Hill likeI love them, and I feel like the
(16:33):
new girlies, like I love SummerWalker okay, jhene Aiko yeah.
I'm definitely a neo-soul R&Bartist and I make songs, you
know, for the sad girls.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
You know I'm like a sad girl for real myself.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
So I really relate to all of them because I feel like
they really make music abouthow they really feel about
situations and they're notholding anything back in their
lyrics but, like in the house,how they convey the music and
their voice.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And I want to do that myself.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh, you're doing it.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
That's what I was trying to say at the top of the
show, doing it trust me.
That's what I was trying to sayat the top of the show.
Like you, I love everything.
Be airing out all my tea.
I'm like, uh, yeah, this is,this is what I'm going through
yeah, oh yes, we're gonna getinto that.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
A lot of things you just hit upon we're gonna get in
that, but before we do that, Iwant to uh talk about your
latest single barely love.
Right, that is the latest one,are you gonna?
Speaker 3 (17:22):
drop another one, but yes, barely love is.
Barely love is the recent one.
Are you going to drop anotherone?
Yes, barely Love is the recentone.
I have some unreleased stuffthat I'm dropping soon, but
Barely Love, yeah, barely Lovejust dropped this year.
Guys Go stream it.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, so set this song up for us.
We're going to play a bit of it.
Give us some background on thissong.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
I wrote this song when I was going through a
breakup with my ex and we'reactually super cool right now.
Like me and my ex were, we'resuper cool.
I'm big on, like you know,being able to mend relationships
if you can.
It's very platonic, very healthy, but at the time it wasn't, and
I don't know I, when I wasgoing through the break, it was
around the holiday times.
So I I remember it wasliterally I wrote this song on
Thanksgiving and um, you know, Iwas just going through it and I
(18:10):
was just like, oh, it's theholidays with my family.
You know, I really wish I'd bewith my ex right now and I'm
like, but we don't, we don'teven like, we barely have love,
we don't have trust, we don'thave nothing.
And it made me realize thatsometimes it's hard to build a
relationship when you want it,so bad when there's no
foundation, and I think a bigfoundation is trust you know,
(18:33):
like just because you lovesomebody.
That's not everything, you know.
It really isn't everything Like.
Love is, you know, a part ofthe foundation.
But you need trust, you know,you need to be able to
communicate, you need tounderstand each other.
Compatibility plays a big partin it, you know, I think all of
(18:54):
those things.
So I was kind of in a place oflike I want this so bad, but how
can I have this if we barelyhave all of these things?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Right, yeah, yeah, like trust and love go hand in
hand.
Oh my God, so so much, yeah,all right, so so let's, let's
have a listen.
This is Barely Love by Rosetta.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I'm so used to your lies I never know what's true,
and even when I look in youreyes, I never seen the real you.
There's no more compromise.
I'm better off without you.
But I'll tell you I'd ratherdie than let the cycle continue,
(20:04):
cause you, you questioneverything I do for you, and
every time you switch up on meit feels like deja vu.
You're no good for me, but Inever leave.
I never leave.
(20:24):
I just stand by your side and Iswallow my pride.
Give you all that I have, allthat I have.
And it wasn't enough.
It wasn't enough.
Tell me how we have trust whenwe barely have love.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
We barely have love.
Oh, my goodness, I think yousung that at the event where we
met.
Yeah, I did you know.
The lyrics had me captured, thebeat had me captured.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And I think it's so important to have that.
That's a winning combination.
You can have good lyrics butnot a good beat, or vice versa.
You agree with that or no?
Speaker 3 (21:05):
oh no, I definitely agree.
I think that, um, every song iswhat you make it and I think
for me, especially finding um abeat or music anyway, that I
relate to it.
I have to feel it.
I was just talking about thisactually yesterday when I was at
the studio and I'm just likefor me being able to write
something.
I have to feel it.
I was just talking about thisactually yesterday when I was at
the studio and I'm just likefor me being able to write
(21:25):
something.
I have to feel it in the musicto begin with.
Yeah, um, it's so important.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
And that's, I think that's the why we made that
connection, Cause that is, youhave that as your um, your
foundation, that you want tofind the right sound.
You know, um, and I and I, andthat's what I appreciate.
Now, you talked about itearlier.
You mentioned you say you're asad girl and, uh, that that for
(21:49):
me, is a uh, I don't know ifit's a lost art, but it's
something that, um, I want totalk about.
And so, before we, we, we gointo that, uh, your, that topic,
I want to play a little snippetto kind of get the conversation
going.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
So let's take a quick little listen.
Lots of people feel the way I doabout sad music, especially
sensitive types.
People play the happy songs ontheir playlists about 175 times
on average, but they play thesad songs 800 times, and they
tell researchers that theyassociate sad music with beauty
(22:27):
and wonder and transcendence,the so-called sublime emotions.
And you know, just think of howmany musical genres tap into
sorrow.
Right, there's Spanish flamencoand Portuguese fado and the
Irish lament and Americancountry music and the blues, and
then even lullabies, which, allover the world, we often use
(22:49):
our most heartbreaking melodiesto sing our newborns to sleep.
Why on earth do we do that?
And then it's not just music,right?
We like rainy days and tragicdrama and cherry blossoms, which
we celebrate over equallylovely flowers, partly because
they die.
Young Philosophers call that theparadox of tragedy.
(23:11):
Why do we sometimes welcomesorrow, when the rest of the
time we will quite naturally doanything we can to avoid it?
There's actually a scholarlydebate raging over this question
, but I have come to believethat, really, what we are
craving at bottom is that stateof longing, that joy that's
(23:33):
laced with sorrow, which isoften triggered when we
experience something soexquisite that it seems to come
to us from some other world, andthis is why we give painters
and rock stars such exaltedstatus, because they're the ones
who bring us the breath ofmagic from that other place,
except it only lasts a moment,and we really want to live there
(23:56):
for good, because we know thatwe live in a deeply flawed world
and we have this stubbornconviction that we come from a
perfect and beautiful one thatremains forever out of reach and
lots of people feel that way.
And God, I see, and now I'm free and there will
never be another me.
Best believe.
You know you're done havingyour fun with me.
Never thought I'd see the dayyou would run game with me and
this pain and swallow.
It will be the death of me.
You don't know what love is.
You never did.
You never know what love is,Cause you too sick.
(00:22):
I showed you that good love butyou lane switched.
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Thanks for stopping by episode seven of the Stuber
podcast, and we are justlistening to the sultry musical
stylings of Mrs Rosetta.
How are you doing, rosetta?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I'm so good, I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Oh, we are happy to have you today.
I want to first say thatactually you're my first musical
talent on the show, so thankyou for.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I peeped that Everybody go listen to the
podcast.
It's amazing.
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yes, Nice and that actually, that honor shouldn't
be taken lightly, because itwasn't just random that I asked
you to be on the show.
It was because your music, uh,your voice and and your choice
of uh beats with it andeverything.
(01:36):
I was like she has the itfactor, she has uh the lyrics to
go with it along with the beat.
So, um, I had to approach youand ask if you would be willing
to be on the podcast.
So we're gonna definitely uhexplore some more of your, your,
your songs.
Um, but quickly just want tointroduce you to our, our
audience.
Uh, rosetta, you hail from newyork, representing nyc yeah bow,
(01:59):
bow, bow.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, east coast in a house okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So when I go to New York, I need to go bow, bow Okay
.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I don't know about that.
Um, you know, you know, just uh, you know what's up, how y'all
feeling.
Okay, I like that, all right.
So, uh, she's got a solid headon her shoulders.
Graduated from St John's yeah,St John's university, Jamaica.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Queens Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
All the SJU alumni Make a queen.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Okay, shout out all the SJU alumni.
Yeah Well, tell me about.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
SJU.
Yeah, so St John's is in Queens.
I graduated there with a BS inhealthcare and a minor in
psychology.
That's my second passion.
You know, music is my first but, I love to help people.
I work with children currentlyin lifestyle medicine, so it's
really important to me.
I think preventative care andhealthcare is super important.
(02:49):
It's what we need Healthcareworkers.
You know they don't get paidenough, but they're here not
because of the money but becauseyou know they actually care
about people, so I love that.
St John's was a good experience.
New York City is a differentplace in the Bay Um, but I you
know I enjoyed the experience.
It was nice.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, yeah, we're going to talk about, uh, your
transition from NYC, the bigapple, to here, uh, cali, uh, so
it looks like you're um a veganright.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
I am a vegan.
Yes, I'm a vegan.
Shout out all the vegans.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Right.
Um, that's a tough a toughthing to do is is maintain a
vegan.
Yes, I'm a vegan.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Shout out all the vegans Right.
That's a tough, a tough thingto do is maintain a vegan
lifestyle.
Yeah, so it's been rocky for mefor the last couple of years.
My job is a non-for-profitfocused on lifestyle medicine,
so we focus on whole food,plant-based eating, a little bit
more strict than vegan, to likeno processed food, no oil,
things like that.
But I really believe in thework and I've been working for
them for about three years andthey really have taught me just
(03:51):
the importance that food ismedicine and it really is.
And you know, obviously youcould still be vegan and be
unhealthy and, you know, havecookies and treats and stuff,
but it's still a little bitbetter than you know.
A lot of like the meat and thedairy, I think sometimes, like
we adapt, like the hormones ofother animals and stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
And I'm a big animal lover.
My whole thing is like, youknow, if you wouldn't go out and
slaughter it yourself, thenmaybe you shouldn't be eating it
.
But no judgment, you know, I'mI'm a black woman.
I grew up, you know, in theAfrican-American standard
American diet food you know,fried chicken, mac and cheese
all the things are so great.
So I, I, I love it, and I'm notgoing to say that I don't crave
(04:32):
it sometimes, but, um, I justbelieve in the lifestyle and I
think for me, once you're aware,it's kind of hard to not make
better decisions.
But, like I said, it's aprocess.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yeah, no, I tried it for a good six months and I just
found that the options weren'tkeeping me satisfied.
I kind of just digressed.
It's hard, and then that was awhile ago.
Then recently I tried it again.
I started following this guy onInstagram and he really kind of
he goes at it in a very fun, uh, joking way, Like you know.
(05:07):
He just kind of criticizes thechoices that we make, but he
makes it seem funny.
Um, but he's got us really oneating watermelon and natural
sources of, of, of, of hydratingoneself.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So that's helped a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
And I don't think that people are aware that there
is a lot of protein in, likeyou know, plants and like
vegetables and fruits and thingslike that.
We think we have to get all ourprotein from meat, but we don't
.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And it's just about being creative, because I felt
the same way, transitioning,like what am I going to eat?
Like I don't really know, but I, I'm trying to get creative,
but I, I'm trying to getcreative, I'm trying to come out
with some content of, likevegan meals, because I think
sometimes it's nice to see whatpeople can come up with.
Yeah, yeah, yeah Cool, so youeating out or you do a
(05:58):
combination of kind of there'ssome spots, you cook a lot, I
cook a lot Since I moved toOakland.
Shout out to Vegan Mob andthey're amazing.
I know they're moving back toSF like they're opening a spot
over there, but they've beengreat as in like eating out Um,
solely vegan is really great outhere in Oakland.
I'm still looking for places,but I would say that California
(06:19):
in general has a more varietythan the East coast.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Really.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Oh nice.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Well, that's a little bit about Rosetta and how she
her lifestyle, but we reallywant to dig into your musical
journey and let's start withyour beginnings in New York.
Right, you came up in the earlydays in New York, so what was
it like growing up there in NewYork?
Right, you came up in the earlydays in New York, so what was
it like growing up there in NewYork?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
What was it like growing up in New York?
Yeah, okay, what was the?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
New York accent.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
I know everybody says that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I hear a little bit of it.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It's a little bit, but I don't know.
Like I feel like I really I'veonly been here for like a year
and a half.
Y'all, so y'all are ripping offon me in the Bay.
Real, real well, I think I havemore like sayings that I say
more than the accent.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
But yeah, I grew up in New York.
I actually grew up upstate.
So my family, my parents, arelike from Long Island, Queens
area.
I was born in Long Island butwe moved to Rochester, so that's
where I'm from.
Shout out the Rock, the ROC 585.
That's my city.
That's close to Buffalo, ify'all don't know Some people
(07:32):
might not know the Buffalo Bills, but yes, I grew up in
Rochester and it was kind oflike you know the suburbs and
stuff.
I was a big theater kid.
Nice Shout out to the theaterkids.
I was a big theater kid.
I Shout out to the theater kids.
(07:59):
I was a big theater kid.
I was in an acapella group inhigh school and I was like a
student director, all thesethings.
I used to be into sports but Ikind of dropped that.
I was like, oh, I'm so sad.
I'm like I love music.
And then I moved back to thecity.
When I went to college is whenI went to St John's and that was
like a big experience for mebecause going from being a
theater kid to kind of likeliving in a big city that never
sleeps and that's full ofopportunity, it kind of forced
me to like figure out what myartistry was.
(08:20):
I think a lot of times like Iconsider myself an R&B, neo-soul
artist, no-transcript sing, andI'm into theater.
(08:56):
But what is my artistry looklike?
So shout out to the citybecause I think I learned a lot
about who I am as an artist andwho I want to be there.
But shout out to the Baybecause I feel like there's a
sense of community andcamaraderie and like just love
(09:16):
out here.
That's different than in thecity.
I feel like in the city, justin general, like people are just
, you know, mean and rude andworking all the time and it's a
filled city with lots of people.
Everybody's kind of doing theirown thing and I really just
appreciate the sense of like,love and community here.
I feel so loved in the Bay.
I feel like people reallyappreciate my art.
(09:37):
People are not looking to, likeyou know, um put you down
because you're not doingsomething, but like more like
appreciating who you are as anartist.
So I love it here yeah, reallylove it here.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, so do you see yourself settling down here in
the bay, or that's a goodquestion?
Speaker 3 (09:53):
yeah, um, when I moved here I was trying to get
out.
I'm not gonna lie to y'all.
I lived in the?
Um Tenderloin and it was roughfor me living in SF.
But now living in Oakland andfinding my way, I would say it's
a possibility.
I'm still a New York girl.
I still love the East Coast.
(10:15):
There's something about theenergy that the East Coast
brings that the Bay doesn't, butI think there's a lot of things
out here in the Bay that Ireally appreciate, that I could
see long term for myself.
I think it's a stay tuned typeof thing gotcha yeah just kind
of follow one's heart.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
So what?
What again prompted the movefrom NY to here?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
y'all, it's a story oh yeah um.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I think off here you mentioned, yeah, okay long story
short.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I moved here for love it.
It was definitely for love.
It was for music too.
Yeah, because I think the Bayin California in general
everybody looks at Californialike another state that you can
make it in and things like thatopportunity.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
So it was a win-win.
But I definitely moved here forlove.
The love didn't work out, but Iwill say, you know I'm a big
believer in everything happensfor a reason Sometimes.
You know I'm a big believer ineverything happens for a reason.
Sometimes you know you needcertain things to push you at
your comfort zone for otherthings to emerge.
So I'm happy to be here.
I stayed because the musicthing has been working out for
me and because everybody outhere has shown me so much love
(11:18):
and appreciation and opportunity.
So I'm not sad I could havegone back home after that
situation didn't work out, butI'm happy to be here and I'm I'm
happy for that situationbecause it brought me here.
Yeah, so it's cool.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
That's a big change.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
A huge change.
I don't really have family here.
I actually met a second cousinhere.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yeah, we never grew up together, so that's cool.
You know I, when you move to aplace without people and then
you only have one person thatyou kind of know and then that
doesn't work out.
You're kind of like in thisweird limbo place.
But I feel like I'm finallygetting my footing.
(11:57):
You know, I don't like say myage, but I'm 26,.
You know, your twenties arehard.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
I know they're very they're very hard.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Um, my advice everybody just keep pushing
through you know your twentiesare hard.
I know they're very, they'revery hard.
Um, my advice everybody justkeep pushing through.
You know there's good and baddays and you know getting over
the hump is hard, but I'm happy,like I feel like it's a process
of life.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Wow yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Heavy.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, definitely, Um, and I could definitely talk
about those, those 20, thoseyears of twenties and kind of
trying to you know, um, feelsupported, not feel alone.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Um, what's your advice?
That's funny Something.
You're old.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I like what you said about pushing through.
Uh, there, cause there are,there are some days where you
just have to remind yourself ofof you know your purpose, have
to remind yourself of of youknow your purpose, and so I like
your advice of pushing throughbecause that that you know,
looking back you, you realizehow much stronger you are from
that time compared to that time.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Exactly, yeah.
So and that's what I think itis is like just being aware of
that.
Look at where I was and how farI've come.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, yeah, being aware of that.
Look at where I was and how farI've come.
Yeah, yeah, um, all right.
So now we want to talk about.
You know, what's kind ofkeeping you inspired is?
Uh, you're singing right, andthat is a dream that you are
living, yeah, and so let's talkabout that talent.
How did you discover your voice, so to speak?
(13:29):
Or, you know, was there someonethat inspired you or did you
just, you know, go to church orwhat?
Was there something worthsinging?
Did you do it at home?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah, so my dad's not going to like this, but my dad
is a singer.
He doesn't jack, that he's asinger.
He won't say that he's a singer.
He is a singer, he has a voice.
My dad has six brothers.
Well, five brothers, the six ofthem and my um, my grandfather
tried to do the johnson six.
That's our last name, johnson sohe tried to do a spin off of
(13:59):
the jackson vibe right, thejohnson six.
It didn't really go well.
Um, but I feel like my dad waskind of grown like, grew up in
that environment of music andlike playing instruments and
things like that.
He used to play saxophone.
That's what I played like inmiddle school and beginning of
high school.
So I had that, like you know,inspiration of, like you know,
(14:21):
this is what you can be into.
Even though he never pursuedmusic, we still always sung
together with old school songsand like introducing me to music
, even though I didn't alwaysknow the lyrics correctly,
because he never knew the lyricscorrectly um so it's something
that we definitely, I feel likeyou know, was able to understand
(14:41):
each other through the music,amongst other things, but he's
been a big inspiration.
I think he'll probably besurprised that I'm saying that,
um, but definitely my father.
And then I would just say thatboth of my parents are very open
and creative and love musicthemselves.
So growing up in a household ofhearing old school stuff and
(15:01):
like realizing that they I feellike they realized that I was
like a really creative kid, sothey put me in everything and
that really helps me kind ofrealize, oh, I really love this.
Like I really was in theaterand you know I used to play
piano and all those things andthat was really young, like you
know, seven, eight, nine, 10.
And from then on it was kind oflike once I was really in
(15:23):
school and the opportunities Ijust took, you know, advantage
of those opportunities that werein front of me.
So I'm appreciative of that andI mean it was a great
experience.
Growing up, I think music wasall around me.
My parents never made me feellike it wasn't something that I
couldn't pursue.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
OK, which is important, so it started at home
.
Okay, which is important, so itstarted at home.
And now would would you saythat there's any artists that
you really admire, someone,someone that you would love to
like work with down the road?
Speaker 3 (15:52):
yeah, I'm a big jasmine sullivan fan, I love her
, oh my goodness, I actually didthat song with one of my best
friends, um, in high school.
Yeah, we didn't win the talentshow.
We should have won.
Honestly, I'm not even gonnalie, we really bust the windows
on that stage.
Okay, we was getting it.
I love her so much.
(16:12):
It's funny because I think,when I think about like artists
that I used to listen to growingup and artists that I listen to
now, she's one of them becauseshe really was out when I was
you know like 10, out when I wasyou know like 10 11 years old,
and she's been in the game for10 plus years and she's just, uh
, just iconic.
I love Mary J Lauren Hill likeI love them, and I feel like the
(16:33):
new girlies, like I love SummerWalker okay, jhene Aiko yeah.
I'm definitely a neo-soul R&Bartist and I make songs, you
know, for the sad girls.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
You know I'm like a sad girl for real myself.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
So I really relate to all of them because I feel like
they really make music abouthow they really feel about
situations and they're notholding anything back in their
lyrics but, like in the house,how they convey the music and
their voice.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And I want to do that myself.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh, you're doing it.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
That's what I was trying to say at the top of the
show, doing it trust me.
That's what I was trying to sayat the top of the show.
Like you, I love everything.
Be airing out all my tea.
I'm like, uh, yeah, this is,this is what I'm going through
yeah, oh yes, we're gonna getinto that.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
A lot of things you just hit upon we're gonna get in
that, but before we do that, Iwant to uh talk about your
latest single barely love.
Right, that is the latest one,are you gonna?
Speaker 3 (17:22):
drop another one, but yes, barely love is.
Barely love is the recent one.
Are you going to drop anotherone?
Yes, barely Love is the recentone.
I have some unreleased stuffthat I'm dropping soon, but
Barely Love, yeah, barely Lovejust dropped this year.
Guys Go stream it.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, so set this song up for us.
We're going to play a bit of it.
Give us some background on thissong.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
I wrote this song when I was going through a
breakup with my ex and we'reactually super cool right now.
Like me and my ex were, we'resuper cool.
I'm big on, like you know,being able to mend relationships
if you can.
It's very platonic, very healthy, but at the time it wasn't, and
I don't know I, when I wasgoing through the break, it was
around the holiday times.
So I I remember it wasliterally I wrote this song on
Thanksgiving and um, you know, Iwas just going through it and I
(18:10):
was just like, oh, it's theholidays with my family.
You know, I really wish I'd bewith my ex right now and I'm
like, but we don't, we don'teven like, we barely have love,
we don't have trust, we don'thave nothing.
And it made me realize thatsometimes it's hard to build a
relationship when you want it,so bad when there's no
foundation, and I think a bigfoundation is trust you know,
(18:33):
like just because you lovesomebody.
That's not everything, you know.
It really isn't everything Like.
Love is, you know, a part ofthe foundation.
But you need trust, you know,you need to be able to
communicate, you need tounderstand each other.
Compatibility plays a big partin it, you know, I think all of
(18:54):
those things.
So I was kind of in a place oflike I want this so bad, but how
can I have this if we barelyhave all of these things?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Right, yeah, yeah, like trust and love go hand in
hand.
Oh my God, so so much, yeah,all right, so so let's, let's
have a listen.
This is Barely Love by Rosetta.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I'm so used to your lies I never know what's true,
and even when I look in youreyes, I never seen the real you.
There's no more compromise.
I'm better off without you.
But I'll tell you I'd ratherdie than let the cycle continue,
(20:04):
cause you, you questioneverything I do for you, and
every time you switch up on meit feels like deja vu.
You're no good for me, but Inever leave.
I never leave.
(20:24):
I just stand by your side and Iswallow my pride.
Give you all that I have, allthat I have.
And it wasn't enough.
It wasn't enough.
Tell me how we have trust whenwe barely have love.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
We barely have love.
Oh, my goodness, I think yousung that at the event where we
met.
Yeah, I did you know.
The lyrics had me captured, thebeat had me captured.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And I think it's so important to have that.
That's a winning combination.
You can have good lyrics butnot a good beat, or vice versa.
You agree with that or no?
Speaker 3 (21:05):
oh no, I definitely agree.
I think that, um, every song iswhat you make it and I think
for me, especially finding um abeat or music anyway, that I
relate to it.
I have to feel it.
I was just talking about thisactually yesterday when I was at
the studio and I'm just likefor me being able to write
something.
I have to feel it.
I was just talking about thisactually yesterday when I was at
the studio and I'm just likefor me being able to write
(21:25):
something.
I have to feel it in the musicto begin with.
Yeah, um, it's so important.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
And that's, I think that's the why we made that
connection, Cause that is, youhave that as your um, your
foundation, that you want tofind the right sound.
You know, um, and I and I, andthat's what I appreciate.
Now, you talked about itearlier.
You mentioned you say you're asad girl and, uh, that that for
(21:49):
me, is a uh, I don't know ifit's a lost art, but it's
something that, um, I want totalk about.
And so, before we, we, we gointo that, uh, your, that topic,
I want to play a little snippetto kind of get the conversation
going.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
So let's take a quick little listen.
Lots of people feel the way I doabout sad music, especially
sensitive types.
People play the happy songs ontheir playlists about 175 times
on average, but they play thesad songs 800 times, and they
tell researchers that theyassociate sad music with beauty
(22:27):
and wonder and transcendence,the so-called sublime emotions.
And you know, just think of howmany musical genres tap into
sorrow.
Right, there's Spanish flamencoand Portuguese fado and the
Irish lament and Americancountry music and the blues, and
then even lullabies, which, allover the world, we often use
(22:49):
our most heartbreaking melodiesto sing our newborns to sleep.
Why on earth do we do that?
And then it's not just music,right?
We like rainy days and tragicdrama and cherry blossoms, which
we celebrate over equallylovely flowers, partly because
they die.
Young Philosophers call that theparadox of tragedy.
(23:11):
Why do we sometimes welcomesorrow, when the rest of the
time we will quite naturally doanything we can to avoid it?
There's actually a scholarlydebate raging over this question
, but I have come to believethat, really, what we are
craving at bottom is that stateof longing, that joy that's
(23:33):
laced with sorrow, which isoften triggered when we
experience something soexquisite that it seems to come
to us from some other world, andthis is why we give painters
and rock stars such exaltedstatus, because they're the ones
who bring us the breath ofmagic from that other place,
except it only lasts a moment,and we really want to live there
(23:56):
for good, because we know thatwe live in a deeply flawed world
and we have this stubbornconviction that we come from a
perfect and beautiful one thatremains forever out of reach and
lots of people feel that way.
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