June 11, 2025 • 38 mins
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Bio
To her careers as an entrepreneur, author, MC host, and inspirational speaker, Catrese
Alston, under the artist name Queen Diamond, has added singer/songwriter to her list of
accomplishments.
She has just released four songs, hip-hop and R and B, but “Money Wave” is THE song.
“‘Money Wave’ is talking about me, in a sense, and also as it relates to money,” she
said. “It’s talking about how you get that money and live that life.”
It is kind of like her inspirational speeches rendered in hip-hop, with a beat and a chiming melody
and an upbeat rhythm that perfectly punctuate the lyrics, which are possibly the only hip-hop in
existence that includes the word “portfolio” and the term “LLC.”
Imma show you how it’s ’bout to go down
Portfolio fat like them 808 drums
LLCs, that’s how freedom comes
Every single deal—ka-ching—outcomes
“It’s basically telling you how you can make it,” she said. “I’m telling them you got to
have those LLCs in place, and you got to be able to turn those deals into money
outcomes. Sometimes you don’t have to move where everybody can see everything.
You need to move in silence. And when you move in silence, but you move effectively,
those checks gonna scream loud.”
Turn a risk into a ring the way I marry sums
Power moves quiet, then the check screams loud
Jumpin’ off the jet in designer, head-crowd
Eagle-eye vision—spot a bag in the cloud
It is almost certainly the most fun financial advice you will ever hear.
It is also a personal statement of intent.
“I have held back. I’ve had a lot of challenges in life, and I have kind of been on the
back burner because I’m always putting everybody else ahead and helping everyone
else. But now I’m gonna show you how it’s about to go down for me.”
Music is something she has always wanted to do, but life, the need to make a living and
some extreme hardships intervened.
“I got pregnant at a young age. My mom was murdered when I was five. My
grandparents raised me and my brother, but they both died by the time I turned 18. So,
I’ve always been independent and finding my way, and music was what always made
me feel better.”
She passed her love of music on to her children, who are now singers and rappers in
their own right, and she has her own production company, BossCat Entertainment.
“I pushed them and supported them, and now they’re pushing and supporting me.”
The tipping point that decided her on doing what she always wanted to do, began during
the time of COVID, when she discovered she had stomach cancer. She beat it, and
early this year she celebrated her fifth year of remission.
One particular moment was when she was playing around with her music with a friend,
who said, “Oh my God! You should be doing something.”
“And I said oh, no, that was a dream I had before, and she said, ‘Okay, you’re not too
old to live your dream.’ And I said, ‘You know what? That’s one of the things I want me
to do.’ And so now, after overcoming cancer and even going blind in 2023 and getting
my vision back, everything that I always wanted to do, I’m going to do it.”
Of the four songs she has just released, “It’s My Birthday” is pure hip-hop celebration,
with what sounds like a bass sax joining the drum in the beat, and “Pleasure and Pain”
is an R&B and hip-hop fusion on relationships — the pleasure and the pain.
The other two, “Money Wave” especially but also “Stone Cold Lover,” are Catrese
staking out her ground as Queen Diamond.
“‘Money Wave’ is letting you know I’m coming forth. I’m wearing the crown, and it is the
Queen Diamond era.”
In “Stone Cold,” the singer is talking to a lover, but warning him, too.
“I’m trying to reach my goals, and although I may want someone to be beside me, and I
may care about you, you can’t let your emotions get involved, because I’m on a
mission.”
I’ma show you how it’s ’bout to go down—
Risin’ to the top, we don’t play ’round—
Money wave comin’, watch me surf that
“Money Wave” is all about the mission, and money is a big part of that, but it’s not
everything.
“I’m about building a legacy,” she said. “When you leave this earth, what do you leave
behind? I’m not talking about things that can disappear. Materialistic things, they can be
dissolved. How have you impacted somebody else’s life, through inspiration, through
words, through mo
https://www.lbdcorptherightchoice.com
Bio
To her careers as an entrepreneur, author, MC host, and inspirational speaker, Catrese
Alston, under the artist name Queen Diamond, has added singer/songwriter to her list of
accomplishments.
She has just released four songs, hip-hop and R and B, but “Money Wave” is THE song.
“‘Money Wave’ is talking about me, in a sense, and also as it relates to money,” she
said. “It’s talking about how you get that money and live that life.”
It is kind of like her inspirational speeches rendered in hip-hop, with a beat and a chiming melody
and an upbeat rhythm that perfectly punctuate the lyrics, which are possibly the only hip-hop in
existence that includes the word “portfolio” and the term “LLC.”
Imma show you how it’s ’bout to go down
Portfolio fat like them 808 drums
LLCs, that’s how freedom comes
Every single deal—ka-ching—outcomes
“It’s basically telling you how you can make it,” she said. “I’m telling them you got to
have those LLCs in place, and you got to be able to turn those deals into money
outcomes. Sometimes you don’t have to move where everybody can see everything.
You need to move in silence. And when you move in silence, but you move effectively,
those checks gonna scream loud.”
Turn a risk into a ring the way I marry sums
Power moves quiet, then the check screams loud
Jumpin’ off the jet in designer, head-crowd
Eagle-eye vision—spot a bag in the cloud
It is almost certainly the most fun financial advice you will ever hear.
It is also a personal statement of intent.
“I have held back. I’ve had a lot of challenges in life, and I have kind of been on the
back burner because I’m always putting everybody else ahead and helping everyone
else. But now I’m gonna show you how it’s about to go down for me.”
Music is something she has always wanted to do, but life, the need to make a living and
some extreme hardships intervened.
“I got pregnant at a young age. My mom was murdered when I was five. My
grandparents raised me and my brother, but they both died by the time I turned 18. So,
I’ve always been independent and finding my way, and music was what always made
me feel better.”
She passed her love of music on to her children, who are now singers and rappers in
their own right, and she has her own production company, BossCat Entertainment.
“I pushed them and supported them, and now they’re pushing and supporting me.”
The tipping point that decided her on doing what she always wanted to do, began during
the time of COVID, when she discovered she had stomach cancer. She beat it, and
early this year she celebrated her fifth year of remission.
One particular moment was when she was playing around with her music with a friend,
who said, “Oh my God! You should be doing something.”
“And I said oh, no, that was a dream I had before, and she said, ‘Okay, you’re not too
old to live your dream.’ And I said, ‘You know what? That’s one of the things I want me
to do.’ And so now, after overcoming cancer and even going blind in 2023 and getting
my vision back, everything that I always wanted to do, I’m going to do it.”
Of the four songs she has just released, “It’s My Birthday” is pure hip-hop celebration,
with what sounds like a bass sax joining the drum in the beat, and “Pleasure and Pain”
is an R&B and hip-hop fusion on relationships — the pleasure and the pain.
The other two, “Money Wave” especially but also “Stone Cold Lover,” are Catrese
staking out her ground as Queen Diamond.
“‘Money Wave’ is letting you know I’m coming forth. I’m wearing the crown, and it is the
Queen Diamond era.”
In “Stone Cold,” the singer is talking to a lover, but warning him, too.
“I’m trying to reach my goals, and although I may want someone to be beside me, and I
may care about you, you can’t let your emotions get involved, because I’m on a
mission.”
I’ma show you how it’s ’bout to go down—
Risin’ to the top, we don’t play ’round—
Money wave comin’, watch me surf that
“Money Wave” is all about the mission, and money is a big part of that, but it’s not
everything.
“I’m about building a legacy,” she said. “When you leave this earth, what do you leave
behind? I’m not talking about things that can disappear. Materialistic things, they can be
dissolved. How have you impacted somebody else’s life, through inspiration, through
words, through mo
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
If you love entertainment, current events, and Hollywood, do miss
Creator to Creators Hosted by the filmmaker Mio Shabine, known
for the shutter Hit documentary or Noir and the acclaimed
film Anatomy of an Anti Hero Redemption. This show features
interviews with filmmakers and creatives from around the globe. Join
(00:25):
the fun with guest celebrities and gain valuable insights. Subscribe
now and follow Creator to Creators.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hi, guys, welcome to another episode of Creators to Creators. Today,
today we have a special guest.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hi, I'm Queen Diamond.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome, Welcome to the show. Thank you for coming on.
I love going back to the beginning. I always say
the beginning charge our trajectory in life. You know, our
little habits we pick up along the way follow us
into our adulthood. Tell me a little bit about your childhood.
What was was that like and have you always been
(01:04):
interested in music?
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Well, my childhood is very interesting. I was raised by
my grandparents. My mother was murdered when I was five
years old, and so and my father had never been
in my life, and so my grandparents at the time,
we were living in Newark, New Jersey, and they decided
that they wanted to take me and my brother to
(01:30):
North Carolina. And so I was partly raised in New
Jersey and then partly raised in North Carolina. But music
has always been a part of my life in church.
Outside of church, I sung in the choir. I sung
with the ensemble is what they called it back then.
(01:52):
Now they call it the praise and Worship team. And so,
and I always loved R and B and break dance scene,
and so I used to do dance challenges all the time.
So I used to always participate. And I had a
lot of friends, and I used to live across the
(02:13):
street from the library, So at the library, we would
all meet over there and I would sing and they
would dance, and sometimes I would dance with them as well.
And so it's just always been a part of my life.
My grandmother had a jukebox, and so she had all
these records. And during that time, I was listening to
(02:35):
a lot of the Sam Cook and Otis reading. And
I used to love Kenny Rogers, used to listen to
him all the time too.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Like I love all kinds of music. I love that.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
So you have a really eclectic kind of taste in music,
which is awesome. Yeah, let's let's get into uh, you
know this amazing single money Waves. Tell me about the
like the process of making that, what inspired it?
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Okay, So, actually I was I had flew to Atlanta.
I was here in Miami and one of my daughter's
friends that's an engineer. She had told me about him before,
and I did a song with him before, and so
I wanted to do three more songs. And so I
(03:34):
had wrote those three songs out and in the night
before I was listening to some beats. Me and my
daughter was actually listening to some beats and I heard
a beat. I was like, oh, I love this beat,
but I don't have anything to go with it. And
so when we get there, we're waiting outside and he
tells me, you know, the wait for a minute. He's
(03:56):
kind of still setting up, and so I said, okay.
So while we're out there waiting, we were listening to
that beat again, and my daughter was like, Mom, won't
you just write something real quick while we're waiting. I
was like, now, it was like yeah, I said, what
in the world am I going to write like right now?
And then I thought about it. I was like I'm
(04:17):
gonna write about me, I said, me and the people. So,
you know, like I'm always have people coming to me
because I am a business woman as well, and so
they come to me and they always want to start
a business and then but they don't know what to do,
(04:40):
what stage start that business. So I'm always giving them,
you know, ideas and how to structure and how to strategize.
And I realized one day, I'm helping everybody else to
start their businesses, and my business. Even though my business
is to help them start a business, I still want
to do other businesses myself.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
I want streams of income.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
And at the time, you know, I was going through
I was one of those people that back in the
day who had children who could not, you know, fulfill
their dream because you know, in life, you go through
struggles and it takes you in a different direction. And
so I always lived through the music through my children.
So I pushed them and all of them sing and
(05:24):
dance amazing. And so now they're pushing me, which is
amazing to see them support me the way that they do.
And they always say, Momy, you be getting us cronk.
But so what happened was while I was out there
thinking about all of that. I said, my life has
(05:46):
drastically changed from how I used to be when I
was that person that used to live in the projects,
that person that used to be on welfare, but now
working my own corporation, having a career and just doing
(06:10):
what I want to do. Now, I'm just living in
freedom now. So I said, let me type about that.
And I said, I started just writing, like I didn't
have any particular order or anything. I just start writing
about me and what I do and the moves that
I'm making. How I made those moves, How did I
(06:33):
make money, How did I get to this place, How
did I help other people get to this place? What
have I been doing in my life since then? And
I just started writing. And then when I started writing
what I wrote, I probably wrote everything like in about
five to eight minutes.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Oh wow.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
And then I went back and I looked at what
I wrote, and I said, Okay, I got to put
this in some kind of order. It got to make sense.
I got to make sure it rhymes. You know, I'm
thinking about all of that. So then I go back
and I said, and it has to be able to
impact somebody else, so they can hear the message in
what I'm saying to them, because for me, it's not
(07:10):
just about me. It's about impacting others. It's about building
a legacy. It's about leaving something behind from my children
and my grandchildren from generation to generation. And if it doesn't,
if it doesn't work with them, because sometimes it doesn't
always work through your children, but it'll work through somebody
else out there that'll catch the vision, that'll catch the message,
(07:30):
and it'll take off with it. And so that's what
it's about for me.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Love.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
And so then next thing I know, I hadn't wrote
it and I hadn't even had time to correlate it
with the beat yet. So then he tells me he's ready.
I go inside and I told him, I said, hey,
I had these other three songs, but I just wrote
this song and I really want to do this song.
(07:56):
So he was like, I said, a matter of fact,
let's do it first because I need to figure out
how I mucha put it with the beat. And as he,
I said, can you play the beat? So I sent
him the beat. He started playing the beat, and as
he was playing the beat, I started saying things with it.
And then I when I was doing it. I ended
up having to change a few things around. And then
(08:19):
my daughter was like, oh, oh that sounds good, but
whon't you add a little attitude with it, and why
don't you do this? And so she her and my
godson was there. They were supporting me all the way through.
So then after that I put the song together and
we did it. We did it piece by piece.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Amazing, amazing, No, it is.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
It is a powerful anthem, for sure. And I love
I love music that you know that is very much.
You know, you can bump it and it's for this time,
but also it teaches you something. It's like, oh, snap, okay, yeah,
this is something that's very important that you don't really
get in a lot of music today. You know, a
lot of times you hear music that is very much
(08:59):
you know.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
About.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Sex, or it's drugs or worship of all that other stuff,
and it's like, it's good to hear financial literacy. I
think it's very important to put in music, especially hypnois.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Yes, yes, because you know, our young people now, I
think they've gotten too focused on hip hop music and
fighting and violence and being on the streets. But you
can be in hip hop and you can be in
R and B and you can be a entrepreneur, you
(09:35):
can be that corporate person. You know, you can do
designer without doing it illegal. It's a legal way to
do it, and it's a legal way to do it
where you can become a millionaire if you want to.
That's but you you have to hear the vision. Once
you hear it, then you can execute it. But that's
what they need to hear over and over again in
(09:55):
order to get their mind conditioned to do something different
than what they doing. Yes, absolutely, so that's what I
am where I am in my music. My music talks
about my real life situations, and it talks about even
in encounters that I've had with other people, and even
if it's my actual encounter, it's a real encounter that
(10:18):
I've experienced or I've seen through someone else, and I
just put it on paper, and I don't want to
be able to say something positive. But I also want
people to understand that life be life in and we
go through struggles and we need to learn to be
transparent with people to know that it's not going to
always happen the way we want it to. But if
(10:39):
we don't give up, if we persevere. It can happen
because you know, I wrote a book, but if people
knew all of the things that I went through, they'd
be like what I wrote a book called Her Her Strength.
I didn't want it to be just about the woman
her strength. But the way it's spelled, it's like a
capital H law case e capital to our strength all
(11:01):
put together because he he needs strength, her needs strength.
We all need strength and what we do. And I
had the strength to go forth in this music even
at the you know rate of where I am today.
You know, you're never too old to do anything that
you want to do. As long as you have breath
in your body, whatever your dream is, you can make
(11:23):
it happen. Absolutely. I stopped trying to wait to be
set at other people's table.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I said, I'm gonna create my own table.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And if I create my own table, other people are
gonna sit at this table. But when they sit at
my table, I'm gonna give them food to eat. I'm
not gonna just let them watch me eat. Right, that's
the difference between me and other people.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I love that. I love that. And speaking of your story,
I mean, you have such a an amazing story. And
I read you know, you know, you surviving stomach cancer
and losing your vision. I mean, I'm sure that impacted
you in so many ways, but I'm sure that also
(12:06):
gave you a new sense of purpose even in the
music world.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yes, it did.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Actually, it's one of the reasons why I got back
into writing and wanting to do music, was because when
I went through the cancer, which was detrimental, I had
to have major surgery and then doing the chemo and everything,
(12:35):
I couldn't do anything for myself. I had went from
a size fourteen to a size two. Literally I was
that little. I was smaller than my daughter and she
was three four at the time. And because I couldn't
eat anything after the surgery, for I had to do
(12:56):
juicing for like three months, three to four months I
had to do juicing, and then after that I went
to period soft foods and then I was finally able
to go to solid food. But through it all I persevered,
and in the meantime, I was losing people I love
(13:17):
to stomach cancer, pancreat added cancer, and that could have
been me. And so for me, it was like it
gave me a new sense of purpose that I'm going
to live in freedom every day. I'm not going to
let things stress me out. What I can't control, I'm
not going to worry about it. But what I can
do is control how I react, how I respond, what
(13:40):
I do, and understand that every no does not mean
it's not going to happen. Sometimes knows it's just a
delay until the real yes comes. And so I said,
I'm going to pursue everything that I ever wanted to
do in life, and that's what I've been doing. I've
been pursuing everything that I want to do in life,
and music was definitely one of them. I wanted to
(14:01):
get back writing in my journal, and that's what I
started doing. I just started writing songs before I even
started listening to beats. I just was writing songs. Whatever
came to me. I started writing. And then when I
lost my vision that got the cancer in twenty I
found out in twenty nineteen. I had the surgery in
twenty twenty and then after that, I lost my vision
(14:27):
in January twenty twenty three. Wow, and I'm telling you
that literally changed my life. I have a new found
respect for people that are blind because I had to
learn how to touch and move my way around through
everything with no vision. I had no vision for about
(14:52):
two or three months or two and a half months probably,
and then having to depend on somebody else to guide
me or feed, you know, cook my food and they
tell me, oh, you know, your chicken is at six o'clock,
your drink is at twelve, or you know one, you know,
(15:13):
learning things like that, not being able to even talk
to me, not talk see anybody. I had to talk
to everyone. So I didn't give up. Because I was blind,
I could still hear. And so so what happened. Let
me tell you what happened that got me back into
the music.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
My husband.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Does music too. He you know, he writes, he raps,
but he loves hip hop. He normally does hip hop,
so he writes and he raps, and so he I
was getting into a depression and he said, you gotta
get up. He said you got to get up, and
he said, I know what we can do.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
You love music. He said, let's do a song together.
And I was like, how am I supposed to do
a song?
Speaker 4 (15:59):
And see, I can't write it, and he said, you
just tell me what you want to say. So I
told him what I wanted to say, and the song
was called we got us, and so I told him
what I wanted to say, and then he wrote it down.
And then what he did was when he put the
(16:20):
beat on, he would tell me what I wrote and
each part, and then I would do it. I would
wrap it or sing it, and he would record. And
he recorded it right there at the house. And then
when he finished mixing it and getting it all together,
placing everything together, he let me hear it. I was
(16:44):
blown away. It gave me a motivation I never imagined,
and I fought through that and my vision started coming back.
But it didn't come back immediately. I started singing. Silhouettes
or people's faces looked blurred. Everything looked blurred. But after
(17:09):
about another couple of months, I started seeing things again.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
And that's such a blessing.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
It is a blessing. My eyes are still not completely healed.
There's a film that goes over your eye to protect
the eyegate, but mine has not grown back since then.
And you know the hospital that messed my eyes up
because they've gave me the wrong solution to go on
(17:37):
my eyes.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
It had salt in it.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Instead of the regular steril solution.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
They gave me solution with.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
Salt and it took away both my corneas.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
My eyes were like literally like a hulk green like.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
It was unbelievable when I was able to see the
pictures because he took pictures. He said, I wouldn't have
believed it if he didn't take the picture, So he
took pictures and he did videos. When I had to
go to the eye specialists every day for a month
and I had to put drops in my eyes every
thirty minutes for a whole month, and then it went
(18:16):
to every hour. Now I still put drops in my eyes,
but not as often as I had to before. Yeah,
but it made me appreciate life more because when I
couldn't see, I could hear better, and I could feel
even when I things I took for granted. Feeling the
breeze against my face when I walked out the door.
(18:37):
I couldn't see anything, but I could feel the breeze
as I walked outside. Those are things that I think
that being so busy in life, we take for granted
and not take the moment to enjoy it. And so
now I enjoy everything. Everything I love.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
That's beautiful. Wow, thank you for sharing that it's beautiful.
You know, I really I love that.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
You know, when when an artist or a creative can
take control of their own narrative and not be controlled
by you know, the music world. You know, there's all
these conglomerates, there's all these people that want to tell
you what you should do or what you should talk about,
or this is the mainstream, this is what you should do.
But you're like, no, I'm going to create and believe
in what I want to. You know, I'm gonna do
(19:26):
it my way and not your way, because there is
multiple ways you can do it, like your lyrics LLC
and and you know, you talk about that like those
kind of talk those conversations. I think it's so important
to talk about that because there's a lot of artists
that get into this game and get into these bad
deals and get screwed, you know completely, yeah, because the
(19:49):
studios are taking their money or you know, they're thinking.
You know, I've heard so many stories of people getting
a million dollars and not knowing that that money is
also is your tour money, it's this, it's all that,
it's all these.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Other things that it's going to.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
So it's how important is it for artists to know
about the business side of music as well, and not
just the creative process.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
It's extremely important.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
Because you'll have situations that we see that you're just
talking about of artists that are literally broke. They do
not know how to read a contract, they do not
understand the business side of it. And so one of
the things I have a nonprofit organization as well, and
so one of the things that me and some of
(20:38):
my friends have talked about was doing some workshops to
teach artists how to put everything in order, like get
your business in order. It is so important that you
know how to copyright. It's important that you know who
to sign up everything with. It's important that you read documents,
(21:01):
you read that fine print, and you understand what your
rights are as an artist. And you know, they get
these agents and they put all of their trust in
that and all they do is just sing and rap
and they don't read anything, and they allow them to
(21:23):
handle everything. No, you need to be that person that
understands everything from step A to step Z in whatever
you do. And so those are one of the things.
Even they need to understand financial literacy. They need to
understand what to invest their money in and how to
(21:45):
generate other income and not just focus of it, focus
on it being from the music side, but there are
so many other things that other people do. A lot
of them think that the artists just make money from music,
and it's not true.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
What they don't understand.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
They have a lot of different avenues and streams of
income in other places that they invest in, but they
don't really talk about that they keep they have kept
that secret for so long. I wonder why, though I
really don't know, and for all we know, it could
be in their contract. For all we know, those that
(22:22):
are pulling their strings like their puppets could be telling
them that, well, this is what you need to do.
You don't need to share this when you're you know,
doing your song. You need to just say this. You
don't need to let everybody know everything. But I beg
the different on that you may not need to let
everybody know every detail, but you do need to let
(22:43):
people know, hey, this is not the only way. We
have a lot of young people that's coming after us.
And so if you really a true icon, if you
really want to be a true legend, then what you
have to do is be honest, be transparent. Another thing
that people get afraid of is they so afraid somebody's
(23:03):
gonna become as successful as they are if they do
what they.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Do, which is wild.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
It's like, I mean, you gotta you can't sit on
the information forever like you got you want to pass
it along. And I think it's you know, especially in
the community when it comes to you know, you hear
those artists like you know, those Angie Stones. When I
saw that story of like she was, you know, she's
been in the game for many years and then she
was like I didn't know I was they were taking
(23:29):
money from me. And it's just kind of it's gnarly
to think that someone can be so you know, in
the business for so long and yet still getting robbed
of their incentives.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Absolutely, I think that we sometimes you get so excited
about the opportunity that you don't ask questions, you don't
look into anything, You just go with the flow because
you're excited about that moment. But that moment can mess
(24:03):
you up for a lifetime. And I'd rather take my
time and have fun with it and learn everything that
I can learn then get caught up in a moment
that will cause destruction for the rest of my life,
instead of set me up for a greater future.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Absolutely, absolutely, I love asking every guest this question. There
is no wrong answer. I promise the three levels of influence, money, power,
and respect. And if you could choose only one of
those things, which one would you choose?
Speaker 3 (24:37):
And why I would choose respect?
Speaker 4 (24:41):
Okay, I would choose respect because if I can get
the respect of the people, that means that I can
gain the money and the power. Respect is much needed.
(25:02):
If they don't respect you, then why would I follow.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
You if I don't.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
If you don't if I don't, I can't get your respect.
You're not gonna listen to me. If I don't get
your respect, I can't influence you to do anything. And
so even in business, if you don't have the respect,
how can you make money?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
How can you have any power? Because they don't they don't.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
If they don't respect you, they're not gonna purchase anything
from you, They're not going to invest in anything from you.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
So for me, I'd rather have the respect of the people.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
That I am someone that they can model after, that
I am someone that can they can listen to and
their life be impacted and changed. Because if I can
do that, they won't mind investing in me, will will
(26:03):
be pouring into each other, and that is to me,
is more powerful than anything in the world.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
There are some things that money can't buy. Mm hm, that's.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
Well said.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
I like your answer, you know, I I love asking
this question too. If you if you could collaborate with
any artists living or dead, who would it be and why?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Oh wow, that is.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
A question. Well, to be honest, if it was someone
that had passed away, I must say that I was
mesmerized by Michael Jackson. To be honest, Michael Jackson, even
(27:02):
though he changed his entire appearance, and it may not
people may not understand that. They may feel like he
did it because he wanted to be like somebody else.
I think he did it because that's who he felt
like he was on the inside, and it didn't matter
(27:23):
to him what nobody else thought. He made that change.
But he was very talented. Yeah, he was very talented,
and I would have loved to have worked with him
to larn Dell's dance moves. And Michael Jackson had a
(27:45):
lot of respect, He had a lot of influence, and
he also impacted the world.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, I think he was someone that was bigger than
the corporation that built him. Yes, they scared them, the corporations,
the powers that be. And I don't think there'll ever
be another Michael, Unfortunately, I don't.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
I don't think either.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
I think that was it. That was it. I haven't
seen anyone like him. You know, we have a lot
of great artists, women and male that are extremely talented
and who who does have a great influence. But I
have not seen anyone like Michael at all. Yeah, at all,
(28:37):
And so it would be him.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I know.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
You probably would think I would choose a female, and
I love my female people. I do. I do. And
actually there are a couple of females that I loved,
especially growing up, and that was Whitney Houston was one
(29:04):
of them. Yeah. I loved Mariah Carey. I loved her
as well, and as far as on the hip hop side,
I I loved Queen Latifa, to be honest, she she
(29:26):
was very diverse. She's a very diverse woman and in
acting and a lot. Actually I met her once on
a set, yeah, when they were playing when they were
doing Stars I at the time, I was hired as
a makeup artist to do all of their makeup and
(29:47):
they ended up asking me to be a stand in.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Oh that's cool. It was very cool.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
And I was able to eat with her and Brandy
and some of the other people on the set, and
I was She asked me a question. She was like, hey,
that salad looks good. She was like, where did you
get that from? And you know, on the inside, I
was like, oh my god.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
But of course I.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Played it cool.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Ye yeah, yeah, sure, for sure.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Yeah, And I listen. I used to love wearing my
heels all the time. So I'm the only one on
the set where heels and I had these purple heels,
well they were there was purple shoes with but the
heels were black and brand decomplimented my my shoes. And
so you know, I said, you know what, I'm feeling
real great today they met.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Do you I mean I always say that I think, well,
I don't know today's artistry, like as far as like
females and I don't know, do you feel like music
is changing for the better in that retrospective, like women
in music, do you think they're getting their due diligence now?
Because you know now we have essentially you can you
(31:02):
can make a song in your basement and it can
go number one, Like you have technologies, so it makes
it possible that we can kind of compete on those levels.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Now, do you think women are getting there? Justice?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Justice?
Speaker 4 (31:19):
I think it's the greater opportunity for women now and
doing that music. And because I think that the chains
the COVID caused the chains.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
To be broken off.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
On in the music industry and people around the world.
Now can hear you without you having to beg somebody
to be on their label? You know, I remember different
people just begging people, can you just listen to my music?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Can you listen to my music?
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Or you know, having to go through so many loops
and hurdles to get their music played on the radio
or anywhere. And now you can get your music played
on TikTok and Facebook and Instagram and just so many
different platforms Spotify, all of these different platforms, Amazon Music,
and I mean it's absolutely amazing and it's like the
(32:15):
chains that have been broken off, and it's up to
you whether you take that opportunity or not. So, yes,
women have a lot of great opportunities now. All they
have to do is just make the move. And which
is money Wave. It's just telling you make the move,
you know, create those make that portfolio fat. I've made
my portfolio fat in a lot of different areas, not
(32:40):
just in music, but in a lot of different areas,
even in film, like I'm using my music too and
the film that I've written, nice, Nice, and so I've
got my casting crew and we've been filming for a
year now. I don't want to rush it.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
I want to make sure that every the sound and
everything is good. But that's excited. That's what I talk
about in Moneywave. You know, portfolio fat like.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Them drums, you know them drums, like they give you
that that feeling on that that sound come from them
that at a drums, you know. And a lot of
people don't understand how alcs work. I have a C Corp.
But I also have ALC and it's a difference between
the two, and sometimes I have to break down that
(33:28):
difference so people can understand. Depends on your situation and
how you need to be set up, right, but that's
how your freedom come. That's right, not just working for
somebody else.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, you know, that's that's a big one.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
You know.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
It's like some people like to work for people but
you know, I think that I mean, what it's.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
What you want, you know, I feel it's what you want.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
It's what you want, right. I love that that freedom talk.
I feel like it's it's financial freedom is you know,
it's like what jay Z said in a son he said,
you know, screw being rich and dying broke and what's
the point of that? You want that legacy. I love
that that's what you're doing and talking about. What advice
would you give to artists who want to stay independent
(34:11):
or build their business around their art like you have.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
If they want to do that, then they have to
invest in themselves just as they.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Would if they was on somebody's clock.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Right all that time we've put into other people's business
and on the clock, and we clock in on time
because we want that promotion. I feel like if you
do the same thing for yourself, learn your craft, find
out everything you need to know. It's so many resources
(34:50):
out here now. You don't have to wait on somebody
to tell you anything. If you're not computer savvy, learn
how to be computer savvy, or find someone that you
can trust that is computer savvy that won't mind working
with you, but give it everything you have within you.
If you want to be successful, learn the business side
(35:12):
of it. Be independent, learn every avenue you need to
learn and listen. If you do that, you'll you'll see
yourself with a greater outcome than you would have waiting
on somebody else to do it for you. There's nothing
wrong with going through other people that have the business
(35:36):
acumen or knowledge of you know, doing these type of
things and providing you a service, but you make sure
they're providing you the best service that you deserve, and
then you still do things.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
On your own. Don't let that be where everything stops.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Right, you know that. Thank you for that advice. If
you could go back and tell your eighteen year old
self something that you know now, what would it be.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
I would go back and tell my eighteen year old
self that you are beautiful and you are smart, and
there is nothing in life that you can't do. All
you have to do is write the vision, make it plain,
(36:35):
and execute it. Don't worry about not having no money,
don't worry about how it's going to come, because if
you take that first step foot forward, everything else will
fall into the place. If you don't give up, if
you persevere, don't be distracted by everything else around you.
(36:57):
Even when it seems like you are at the bottom
of the barrel, that barrel will never run dry. If
you keep moving, it may get low, but it'll never
run dry. And as long as you have breath in
your body, do everything, everything that your heart desires to do,
(37:22):
because you can do it, you have the strength to
do it, and God will see you through. That's what
I would tell that eighteen year old person. That's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Amen to that.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
I love it. I love that.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Where can people find you on social media to follow
everything you got going on?
Speaker 4 (37:39):
They can find me on Instagram. I'm ask Cat Live.
That's a s k C A T L I v E.
I'm also a Boss Cat Queen Diamond on Instagram, on TikTok,
on Boss Cat Queen Diamond Facebook, It's Katrice Thoughtscat Queen
(38:01):
Diamond Austin.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
You can google me. I'm all over Google too.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
Yeah, so yeah, they can find me on those different platforms.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Beautiful, Well, it was it was a pleasure. It was
a pleasure speaking to you, and thank you for sharing
your amazing, incredible story.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Absolutely, and thank you all for listening and always remember
to live, love, laugh. We'll talk to you guys soon.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Bode bye,
If you love entertainment, current events, and Hollywood, do miss
Creator to Creators Hosted by the filmmaker Mio Shabine, known
for the shutter Hit documentary or Noir and the acclaimed
film Anatomy of an Anti Hero Redemption. This show features
interviews with filmmakers and creatives from around the globe. Join
(00:25):
the fun with guest celebrities and gain valuable insights. Subscribe
now and follow Creator to Creators.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hi, guys, welcome to another episode of Creators to Creators. Today,
today we have a special guest.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hi, I'm Queen Diamond.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome, Welcome to the show. Thank you for coming on.
I love going back to the beginning. I always say
the beginning charge our trajectory in life. You know, our
little habits we pick up along the way follow us
into our adulthood. Tell me a little bit about your childhood.
What was was that like and have you always been
(01:04):
interested in music?
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Well, my childhood is very interesting. I was raised by
my grandparents. My mother was murdered when I was five
years old, and so and my father had never been
in my life, and so my grandparents at the time,
we were living in Newark, New Jersey, and they decided
that they wanted to take me and my brother to
(01:30):
North Carolina. And so I was partly raised in New
Jersey and then partly raised in North Carolina. But music
has always been a part of my life in church.
Outside of church, I sung in the choir. I sung
with the ensemble is what they called it back then.
(01:52):
Now they call it the praise and Worship team. And so,
and I always loved R and B and break dance scene,
and so I used to do dance challenges all the time.
So I used to always participate. And I had a
lot of friends, and I used to live across the
(02:13):
street from the library, So at the library, we would
all meet over there and I would sing and they
would dance, and sometimes I would dance with them as well.
And so it's just always been a part of my life.
My grandmother had a jukebox, and so she had all
these records. And during that time, I was listening to
(02:35):
a lot of the Sam Cook and Otis reading. And
I used to love Kenny Rogers, used to listen to
him all the time too.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Like I love all kinds of music. I love that.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
So you have a really eclectic kind of taste in music,
which is awesome. Yeah, let's let's get into uh, you
know this amazing single money Waves. Tell me about the
like the process of making that, what inspired it?
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Okay, So, actually I was I had flew to Atlanta.
I was here in Miami and one of my daughter's
friends that's an engineer. She had told me about him before,
and I did a song with him before, and so
I wanted to do three more songs. And so I
(03:34):
had wrote those three songs out and in the night
before I was listening to some beats. Me and my
daughter was actually listening to some beats and I heard
a beat. I was like, oh, I love this beat,
but I don't have anything to go with it. And
so when we get there, we're waiting outside and he
tells me, you know, the wait for a minute. He's
(03:56):
kind of still setting up, and so I said, okay.
So while we're out there waiting, we were listening to
that beat again, and my daughter was like, Mom, won't
you just write something real quick while we're waiting. I
was like, now, it was like yeah, I said, what
in the world am I going to write like right now?
And then I thought about it. I was like I'm
(04:17):
gonna write about me, I said, me and the people. So,
you know, like I'm always have people coming to me
because I am a business woman as well, and so
they come to me and they always want to start
a business and then but they don't know what to do,
(04:40):
what stage start that business. So I'm always giving them,
you know, ideas and how to structure and how to strategize.
And I realized one day, I'm helping everybody else to
start their businesses, and my business. Even though my business
is to help them start a business, I still want
to do other businesses myself.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
I want streams of income.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
And at the time, you know, I was going through
I was one of those people that back in the
day who had children who could not, you know, fulfill
their dream because you know, in life, you go through
struggles and it takes you in a different direction. And
so I always lived through the music through my children.
So I pushed them and all of them sing and
(05:24):
dance amazing. And so now they're pushing me, which is
amazing to see them support me the way that they do.
And they always say, Momy, you be getting us cronk.
But so what happened was while I was out there
thinking about all of that. I said, my life has
(05:46):
drastically changed from how I used to be when I
was that person that used to live in the projects,
that person that used to be on welfare, but now
working my own corporation, having a career and just doing
(06:10):
what I want to do. Now, I'm just living in
freedom now. So I said, let me type about that.
And I said, I started just writing, like I didn't
have any particular order or anything. I just start writing
about me and what I do and the moves that
I'm making. How I made those moves, How did I
(06:33):
make money, How did I get to this place, How
did I help other people get to this place? What
have I been doing in my life since then? And
I just started writing. And then when I started writing
what I wrote, I probably wrote everything like in about
five to eight minutes.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Oh wow.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
And then I went back and I looked at what
I wrote, and I said, Okay, I got to put
this in some kind of order. It got to make sense.
I got to make sure it rhymes. You know, I'm
thinking about all of that. So then I go back
and I said, and it has to be able to
impact somebody else, so they can hear the message in
what I'm saying to them, because for me, it's not
(07:10):
just about me. It's about impacting others. It's about building
a legacy. It's about leaving something behind from my children
and my grandchildren from generation to generation. And if it doesn't,
if it doesn't work with them, because sometimes it doesn't
always work through your children, but it'll work through somebody
else out there that'll catch the vision, that'll catch the message,
(07:30):
and it'll take off with it. And so that's what
it's about for me.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Love.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
And so then next thing I know, I hadn't wrote
it and I hadn't even had time to correlate it
with the beat yet. So then he tells me he's ready.
I go inside and I told him, I said, hey,
I had these other three songs, but I just wrote
this song and I really want to do this song.
(07:56):
So he was like, I said, a matter of fact,
let's do it first because I need to figure out
how I mucha put it with the beat. And as he,
I said, can you play the beat? So I sent
him the beat. He started playing the beat, and as
he was playing the beat, I started saying things with it.
And then I when I was doing it. I ended
up having to change a few things around. And then
(08:19):
my daughter was like, oh, oh that sounds good, but
whon't you add a little attitude with it, and why
don't you do this? And so she her and my
godson was there. They were supporting me all the way through.
So then after that I put the song together and
we did it. We did it piece by piece.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Amazing, amazing, No, it is.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
It is a powerful anthem, for sure. And I love
I love music that you know that is very much.
You know, you can bump it and it's for this time,
but also it teaches you something. It's like, oh, snap, okay, yeah,
this is something that's very important that you don't really
get in a lot of music today. You know, a
lot of times you hear music that is very much
(08:59):
you know.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
About.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Sex, or it's drugs or worship of all that other stuff,
and it's like, it's good to hear financial literacy. I
think it's very important to put in music, especially hypnois.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Yes, yes, because you know, our young people now, I
think they've gotten too focused on hip hop music and
fighting and violence and being on the streets. But you
can be in hip hop and you can be in
R and B and you can be a entrepreneur, you
(09:35):
can be that corporate person. You know, you can do
designer without doing it illegal. It's a legal way to
do it, and it's a legal way to do it
where you can become a millionaire if you want to.
That's but you you have to hear the vision. Once
you hear it, then you can execute it. But that's
what they need to hear over and over again in
(09:55):
order to get their mind conditioned to do something different
than what they doing. Yes, absolutely, so that's what I
am where I am in my music. My music talks
about my real life situations, and it talks about even
in encounters that I've had with other people, and even
if it's my actual encounter, it's a real encounter that
(10:18):
I've experienced or I've seen through someone else, and I
just put it on paper, and I don't want to
be able to say something positive. But I also want
people to understand that life be life in and we
go through struggles and we need to learn to be
transparent with people to know that it's not going to
always happen the way we want it to. But if
(10:39):
we don't give up, if we persevere. It can happen
because you know, I wrote a book, but if people
knew all of the things that I went through, they'd
be like what I wrote a book called Her Her Strength.
I didn't want it to be just about the woman
her strength. But the way it's spelled, it's like a
capital H law case e capital to our strength all
(11:01):
put together because he he needs strength, her needs strength.
We all need strength and what we do. And I
had the strength to go forth in this music even
at the you know rate of where I am today.
You know, you're never too old to do anything that
you want to do. As long as you have breath
in your body, whatever your dream is, you can make
(11:23):
it happen. Absolutely. I stopped trying to wait to be
set at other people's table.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I said, I'm gonna create my own table.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And if I create my own table, other people are
gonna sit at this table. But when they sit at
my table, I'm gonna give them food to eat. I'm
not gonna just let them watch me eat. Right, that's
the difference between me and other people.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I love that. I love that. And speaking of your story,
I mean, you have such a an amazing story. And
I read you know, you know, you surviving stomach cancer
and losing your vision. I mean, I'm sure that impacted
you in so many ways, but I'm sure that also
(12:06):
gave you a new sense of purpose even in the
music world.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yes, it did.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Actually, it's one of the reasons why I got back
into writing and wanting to do music, was because when
I went through the cancer, which was detrimental, I had
to have major surgery and then doing the chemo and everything,
(12:35):
I couldn't do anything for myself. I had went from
a size fourteen to a size two. Literally I was
that little. I was smaller than my daughter and she
was three four at the time. And because I couldn't
eat anything after the surgery, for I had to do
(12:56):
juicing for like three months, three to four months I
had to do juicing, and then after that I went
to period soft foods and then I was finally able
to go to solid food. But through it all I persevered,
and in the meantime, I was losing people I love
(13:17):
to stomach cancer, pancreat added cancer, and that could have
been me. And so for me, it was like it
gave me a new sense of purpose that I'm going
to live in freedom every day. I'm not going to
let things stress me out. What I can't control, I'm
not going to worry about it. But what I can
do is control how I react, how I respond, what
(13:40):
I do, and understand that every no does not mean
it's not going to happen. Sometimes knows it's just a
delay until the real yes comes. And so I said,
I'm going to pursue everything that I ever wanted to
do in life, and that's what I've been doing. I've
been pursuing everything that I want to do in life,
and music was definitely one of them. I wanted to
(14:01):
get back writing in my journal, and that's what I
started doing. I just started writing songs before I even
started listening to beats. I just was writing songs. Whatever
came to me. I started writing. And then when I
lost my vision that got the cancer in twenty I
found out in twenty nineteen. I had the surgery in
twenty twenty and then after that, I lost my vision
(14:27):
in January twenty twenty three. Wow, and I'm telling you
that literally changed my life. I have a new found
respect for people that are blind because I had to
learn how to touch and move my way around through
everything with no vision. I had no vision for about
(14:52):
two or three months or two and a half months probably,
and then having to depend on somebody else to guide
me or feed, you know, cook my food and they
tell me, oh, you know, your chicken is at six o'clock,
your drink is at twelve, or you know one, you know,
(15:13):
learning things like that, not being able to even talk
to me, not talk see anybody. I had to talk
to everyone. So I didn't give up. Because I was blind,
I could still hear. And so so what happened. Let
me tell you what happened that got me back into
the music.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
My husband.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Does music too. He you know, he writes, he raps,
but he loves hip hop. He normally does hip hop,
so he writes and he raps, and so he I
was getting into a depression and he said, you gotta
get up. He said you got to get up, and
he said, I know what we can do.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
You love music. He said, let's do a song together.
And I was like, how am I supposed to do
a song?
Speaker 4 (15:59):
And see, I can't write it, and he said, you
just tell me what you want to say. So I
told him what I wanted to say, and the song
was called we got us, and so I told him
what I wanted to say, and then he wrote it down.
And then what he did was when he put the
(16:20):
beat on, he would tell me what I wrote and
each part, and then I would do it. I would
wrap it or sing it, and he would record. And
he recorded it right there at the house. And then
when he finished mixing it and getting it all together,
placing everything together, he let me hear it. I was
(16:44):
blown away. It gave me a motivation I never imagined,
and I fought through that and my vision started coming back.
But it didn't come back immediately. I started singing. Silhouettes
or people's faces looked blurred. Everything looked blurred. But after
(17:09):
about another couple of months, I started seeing things again.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
And that's such a blessing.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
It is a blessing. My eyes are still not completely healed.
There's a film that goes over your eye to protect
the eyegate, but mine has not grown back since then.
And you know the hospital that messed my eyes up
because they've gave me the wrong solution to go on
(17:37):
my eyes.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
It had salt in it.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Instead of the regular steril solution.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
They gave me solution with.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
Salt and it took away both my corneas.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
My eyes were like literally like a hulk green like.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
It was unbelievable when I was able to see the
pictures because he took pictures. He said, I wouldn't have
believed it if he didn't take the picture, So he
took pictures and he did videos. When I had to
go to the eye specialists every day for a month
and I had to put drops in my eyes every
thirty minutes for a whole month, and then it went
(18:16):
to every hour. Now I still put drops in my eyes,
but not as often as I had to before. Yeah,
but it made me appreciate life more because when I
couldn't see, I could hear better, and I could feel
even when I things I took for granted. Feeling the
breeze against my face when I walked out the door.
(18:37):
I couldn't see anything, but I could feel the breeze
as I walked outside. Those are things that I think
that being so busy in life, we take for granted
and not take the moment to enjoy it. And so
now I enjoy everything. Everything I love.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
That's beautiful. Wow, thank you for sharing that it's beautiful.
You know, I really I love that.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
You know, when when an artist or a creative can
take control of their own narrative and not be controlled
by you know, the music world. You know, there's all
these conglomerates, there's all these people that want to tell
you what you should do or what you should talk about,
or this is the mainstream, this is what you should do.
But you're like, no, I'm going to create and believe
in what I want to. You know, I'm gonna do
(19:26):
it my way and not your way, because there is
multiple ways you can do it, like your lyrics LLC
and and you know, you talk about that like those
kind of talk those conversations. I think it's so important
to talk about that because there's a lot of artists
that get into this game and get into these bad
deals and get screwed, you know completely, yeah, because the
(19:49):
studios are taking their money or you know, they're thinking.
You know, I've heard so many stories of people getting
a million dollars and not knowing that that money is
also is your tour money, it's this, it's all that,
it's all these.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Other things that it's going to.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
So it's how important is it for artists to know
about the business side of music as well, and not
just the creative process.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
It's extremely important.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
Because you'll have situations that we see that you're just
talking about of artists that are literally broke. They do
not know how to read a contract, they do not
understand the business side of it. And so one of
the things I have a nonprofit organization as well, and
so one of the things that me and some of
(20:38):
my friends have talked about was doing some workshops to
teach artists how to put everything in order, like get
your business in order. It is so important that you
know how to copyright. It's important that you know who
to sign up everything with. It's important that you read documents,
(21:01):
you read that fine print, and you understand what your
rights are as an artist. And you know, they get
these agents and they put all of their trust in
that and all they do is just sing and rap
and they don't read anything, and they allow them to
(21:23):
handle everything. No, you need to be that person that
understands everything from step A to step Z in whatever
you do. And so those are one of the things.
Even they need to understand financial literacy. They need to
understand what to invest their money in and how to
(21:45):
generate other income and not just focus of it, focus
on it being from the music side, but there are
so many other things that other people do. A lot
of them think that the artists just make money from music,
and it's not true.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
What they don't understand.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
They have a lot of different avenues and streams of
income in other places that they invest in, but they
don't really talk about that they keep they have kept
that secret for so long. I wonder why, though I
really don't know, and for all we know, it could
be in their contract. For all we know, those that
(22:22):
are pulling their strings like their puppets could be telling
them that, well, this is what you need to do.
You don't need to share this when you're you know,
doing your song. You need to just say this. You
don't need to let everybody know everything. But I beg
the different on that you may not need to let
everybody know every detail, but you do need to let
(22:43):
people know, hey, this is not the only way. We
have a lot of young people that's coming after us.
And so if you really a true icon, if you
really want to be a true legend, then what you
have to do is be honest, be transparent. Another thing
that people get afraid of is they so afraid somebody's
(23:03):
gonna become as successful as they are if they do
what they.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Do, which is wild.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
It's like, I mean, you gotta you can't sit on
the information forever like you got you want to pass
it along. And I think it's you know, especially in
the community when it comes to you know, you hear
those artists like you know, those Angie Stones. When I
saw that story of like she was, you know, she's
been in the game for many years and then she
was like I didn't know I was they were taking
(23:29):
money from me. And it's just kind of it's gnarly
to think that someone can be so you know, in
the business for so long and yet still getting robbed
of their incentives.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Absolutely, I think that we sometimes you get so excited
about the opportunity that you don't ask questions, you don't
look into anything, You just go with the flow because
you're excited about that moment. But that moment can mess
(24:03):
you up for a lifetime. And I'd rather take my
time and have fun with it and learn everything that
I can learn then get caught up in a moment
that will cause destruction for the rest of my life,
instead of set me up for a greater future.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Absolutely, absolutely, I love asking every guest this question. There
is no wrong answer. I promise the three levels of influence, money, power,
and respect. And if you could choose only one of
those things, which one would you choose?
Speaker 3 (24:37):
And why I would choose respect?
Speaker 4 (24:41):
Okay, I would choose respect because if I can get
the respect of the people, that means that I can
gain the money and the power. Respect is much needed.
(25:02):
If they don't respect you, then why would I follow.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
You if I don't.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
If you don't if I don't, I can't get your respect.
You're not gonna listen to me. If I don't get
your respect, I can't influence you to do anything. And
so even in business, if you don't have the respect,
how can you make money?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
How can you have any power? Because they don't they don't.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
If they don't respect you, they're not gonna purchase anything
from you, They're not going to invest in anything from you.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
So for me, I'd rather have the respect of the people.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
That I am someone that they can model after, that
I am someone that can they can listen to and
their life be impacted and changed. Because if I can
do that, they won't mind investing in me, will will
(26:03):
be pouring into each other, and that is to me,
is more powerful than anything in the world.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
There are some things that money can't buy. Mm hm, that's.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
Well said.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
I like your answer, you know, I I love asking
this question too. If you if you could collaborate with
any artists living or dead, who would it be and why?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Oh wow, that is.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
A question. Well, to be honest, if it was someone
that had passed away, I must say that I was
mesmerized by Michael Jackson. To be honest, Michael Jackson, even
(27:02):
though he changed his entire appearance, and it may not
people may not understand that. They may feel like he
did it because he wanted to be like somebody else.
I think he did it because that's who he felt
like he was on the inside, and it didn't matter
(27:23):
to him what nobody else thought. He made that change.
But he was very talented. Yeah, he was very talented,
and I would have loved to have worked with him
to larn Dell's dance moves. And Michael Jackson had a
(27:45):
lot of respect, He had a lot of influence, and
he also impacted the world.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, I think he was someone that was bigger than
the corporation that built him. Yes, they scared them, the corporations,
the powers that be. And I don't think there'll ever
be another Michael, Unfortunately, I don't.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
I don't think either.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
I think that was it. That was it. I haven't
seen anyone like him. You know, we have a lot
of great artists, women and male that are extremely talented
and who who does have a great influence. But I
have not seen anyone like Michael at all. Yeah, at all,
(28:37):
And so it would be him.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I know.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
You probably would think I would choose a female, and
I love my female people. I do. I do. And
actually there are a couple of females that I loved,
especially growing up, and that was Whitney Houston was one
(29:04):
of them. Yeah. I loved Mariah Carey. I loved her
as well, and as far as on the hip hop side,
I I loved Queen Latifa, to be honest, she she
(29:26):
was very diverse. She's a very diverse woman and in
acting and a lot. Actually I met her once on
a set, yeah, when they were playing when they were
doing Stars I at the time, I was hired as
a makeup artist to do all of their makeup and
(29:47):
they ended up asking me to be a stand in.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Oh that's cool. It was very cool.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
And I was able to eat with her and Brandy
and some of the other people on the set, and
I was She asked me a question. She was like, hey,
that salad looks good. She was like, where did you
get that from? And you know, on the inside, I
was like, oh my god.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
But of course I.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Played it cool.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Ye yeah, yeah, sure, for sure.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Yeah, And I listen. I used to love wearing my
heels all the time. So I'm the only one on
the set where heels and I had these purple heels,
well they were there was purple shoes with but the
heels were black and brand decomplimented my my shoes. And
so you know, I said, you know what, I'm feeling
real great today they met.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Do you I mean I always say that I think, well,
I don't know today's artistry, like as far as like
females and I don't know, do you feel like music
is changing for the better in that retrospective, like women
in music, do you think they're getting their due diligence now?
Because you know now we have essentially you can you
(31:02):
can make a song in your basement and it can
go number one, Like you have technologies, so it makes
it possible that we can kind of compete on those levels.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Now, do you think women are getting there? Justice?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Justice?
Speaker 4 (31:19):
I think it's the greater opportunity for women now and
doing that music. And because I think that the chains
the COVID caused the chains.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
To be broken off.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
On in the music industry and people around the world.
Now can hear you without you having to beg somebody
to be on their label? You know, I remember different
people just begging people, can you just listen to my music?
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Can you listen to my music?
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Or you know, having to go through so many loops
and hurdles to get their music played on the radio
or anywhere. And now you can get your music played
on TikTok and Facebook and Instagram and just so many
different platforms Spotify, all of these different platforms, Amazon Music,
and I mean it's absolutely amazing and it's like the
(32:15):
chains that have been broken off, and it's up to
you whether you take that opportunity or not. So, yes,
women have a lot of great opportunities now. All they
have to do is just make the move. And which
is money Wave. It's just telling you make the move,
you know, create those make that portfolio fat. I've made
my portfolio fat in a lot of different areas, not
(32:40):
just in music, but in a lot of different areas,
even in film, like I'm using my music too and
the film that I've written, nice, Nice, and so I've
got my casting crew and we've been filming for a
year now. I don't want to rush it.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
I want to make sure that every the sound and
everything is good. But that's excited. That's what I talk
about in Moneywave. You know, portfolio fat like.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Them drums, you know them drums, like they give you
that that feeling on that that sound come from them
that at a drums, you know. And a lot of
people don't understand how alcs work. I have a C Corp.
But I also have ALC and it's a difference between
the two, and sometimes I have to break down that
(33:28):
difference so people can understand. Depends on your situation and
how you need to be set up, right, but that's
how your freedom come. That's right, not just working for
somebody else.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, you know, that's that's a big one.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
You know.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
It's like some people like to work for people but
you know, I think that I mean, what it's.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
What you want, you know, I feel it's what you want.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
It's what you want, right. I love that that freedom talk.
I feel like it's it's financial freedom is you know,
it's like what jay Z said in a son he said,
you know, screw being rich and dying broke and what's
the point of that? You want that legacy. I love
that that's what you're doing and talking about. What advice
would you give to artists who want to stay independent
(34:11):
or build their business around their art like you have.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
If they want to do that, then they have to
invest in themselves just as they.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Would if they was on somebody's clock.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Right all that time we've put into other people's business
and on the clock, and we clock in on time
because we want that promotion. I feel like if you
do the same thing for yourself, learn your craft, find
out everything you need to know. It's so many resources
(34:50):
out here now. You don't have to wait on somebody
to tell you anything. If you're not computer savvy, learn
how to be computer savvy, or find someone that you
can trust that is computer savvy that won't mind working
with you, but give it everything you have within you.
If you want to be successful, learn the business side
(35:12):
of it. Be independent, learn every avenue you need to
learn and listen. If you do that, you'll you'll see
yourself with a greater outcome than you would have waiting
on somebody else to do it for you. There's nothing
wrong with going through other people that have the business
(35:36):
acumen or knowledge of you know, doing these type of
things and providing you a service, but you make sure
they're providing you the best service that you deserve, and
then you still do things.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
On your own. Don't let that be where everything stops.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Right, you know that. Thank you for that advice. If
you could go back and tell your eighteen year old
self something that you know now, what would it be.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
I would go back and tell my eighteen year old
self that you are beautiful and you are smart, and
there is nothing in life that you can't do. All
you have to do is write the vision, make it plain,
(36:35):
and execute it. Don't worry about not having no money,
don't worry about how it's going to come, because if
you take that first step foot forward, everything else will
fall into the place. If you don't give up, if
you persevere, don't be distracted by everything else around you.
(36:57):
Even when it seems like you are at the bottom
of the barrel, that barrel will never run dry. If
you keep moving, it may get low, but it'll never
run dry. And as long as you have breath in
your body, do everything, everything that your heart desires to do,
(37:22):
because you can do it, you have the strength to
do it, and God will see you through. That's what
I would tell that eighteen year old person. That's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Amen to that.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
I love it. I love that.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Where can people find you on social media to follow
everything you got going on?
Speaker 4 (37:39):
They can find me on Instagram. I'm ask Cat Live.
That's a s k C A T L I v E.
I'm also a Boss Cat Queen Diamond on Instagram, on TikTok,
on Boss Cat Queen Diamond Facebook, It's Katrice Thoughtscat Queen
(38:01):
Diamond Austin.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
You can google me. I'm all over Google too.
Speaker 4 (38:09):
Yeah, so yeah, they can find me on those different platforms.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Beautiful, Well, it was it was a pleasure. It was
a pleasure speaking to you, and thank you for sharing
your amazing, incredible story.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Absolutely, and thank you all for listening and always remember
to live, love, laugh. We'll talk to you guys soon.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Bode bye,
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