WEBVTT - Ethiopia Habtemariam 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:08.200 The guest today is Ethiopia. Have to marry him. If 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:09.959 you have a great to have you here, thank you, 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:15.240 thank you for having me. So if you go on 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:19.160 Spotify and you look at the Spotify top fifty, it's 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:22.520 almost completely urban and it's almost completely hip hop. Why 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:26.280 do you think that is? Because kids love hip hop music. 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:29.319 Kids around the world love hip hop music. It's not 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:31.520 just in the US, that's around the world. Do you 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:33.800 have a feeling why that is? I mean, Steve Stout 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:37.440 says it's a universal language and it's the only music 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:41.160 people can make without instruments, and therefore it spread throughout 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:43.720 the world. I think that's a part of it. I 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.280 also think that hip hop is a part of a 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:50.239 culture and a lifestyle. Music and fashion really crossed, you know, 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:52.080 the cross section is there, and I think around the 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.000 world you can see kids dressed the same, they listen 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:56.600 to the same kinds of music. And I think hip 0:00:56.640 --> 0:01:01.640 hop has infused every area. Um. Yeah, And I think 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.120 it's a form of expression that just you know, kids 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:06.920 relate to. And where do you think it might be going. 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:12.280 I just had this conversation on Sunday. Um. I think 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:16.160 that people want music with more substance. I think that 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:20.440 kids are really emotional. And I was talking to my 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:22.759 god daughter about this, who's sixteen, who I don't think 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:24.920 it's really expressive. And she lives in Atlanta, and I 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:26.440 talked to her all the time, And when I'm talking 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:28.640 to her from l A, she doesn't really open up 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.080 to me that much. But when I go her social media, 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:33.280 I can tell what's going on with her by the 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:37.080 lyrics that she's posting. Right, So, kids rely on music 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.800 to really connect to what they're going through or what 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:44.640 they're feeling. And I think that um, they want more 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:46.880 substantial music that can represent what they're going through and 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:49.440 what they're feeling. And I think that you know, we're 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.840 seeing all of us are going through a lot. And 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:56.080 do you think that pretends I mean, hip hop is 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:58.920 going through varying phase. It was a sound of the 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:00.800 inner city that it was literally the sound of the 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:03.960 streets we have the riots in Then at the end 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:09.680 of the MTV era, it was about boats and babes, etcetera. Uh, 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.000 do you think it's going to in the era of 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:14.080 Ferguson and me too? You think it's going to be 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.519 grittier and more honest definitely. But I think look hip 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:21.160 hop is they're different forms of hip hop that exists, 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:23.840 is just it's just about what's the most popular at 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:25.760 the time. I mean, I think we can look at 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:28.680 Spotify today, we see how huge Post Malone's record is, 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:30.919 and I think you can see that Post is influenced 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:33.000 by a lot of different kinds of music and his 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:36.200 hooks are very melodic, um, and you can tell that 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.320 he's also you know, influenced by country music as well, 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:43.120 and he relates to a lot of different kids. UM. 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.400 But I do think what's gonna come up more is 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:48.000 more substantial lyrics. You look at j Cole's record, which 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.160 cut through in such a big way, and I wasn't 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:53.800 really surprised by it because I think a lot of 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:57.359 us were having the conversation around it's not just being 0:02:57.480 --> 0:02:59.720 one kind of hip hop that represented where the culture 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:01.840 was us And I think Jay Cole did the perfect 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:07.400 record that really um represented what the commercial sound was 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:11.519 from a production standpoint, but also lyrically touched on every 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.080 aspect of where the culture is now. Like there's a 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:18.640 little bit too much of one representation of the culture 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:21.080 where it can kind of feel like it's a little 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:25.399 um comedic in some ways and in other ways, you're 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:29.000 like kids are doing drugs and they're only talking about 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:32.560 certain aspects of you know, money or etcetera. Because they're 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:35.600 really just trying to hide what they really feel. They 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:37.880 don't know how to express the emotions that they're dealing with. 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:40.320 And I think that he really touched on that with 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:44.520 this record, um without without feeling too preachy. But the 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:49.200 previous record was kind of a disappointment, right record financially 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.800 I didn't think so it was pretty Yeah. I know, 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:57.080 Jay Cole has been extremely SUCCESSU. I mean, you know, 0:03:57.120 --> 0:03:59.840 I'm not gonna lie. I'm I'm a big Ja Cole supporter. 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.160 I signed him when I was at Universal Publishing when 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:05.840 he released his second mixtape, The warm Up, before he 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.240 you know, put out his first album, etcetera. And he's 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:11.640 one of the most authentic, realist artists that's been operating 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.680 and marching to the beat of his own drum and 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:18.080 it's been incredible to see. But he's been successful with 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:26.640 every record. Okay, so you're from Hotlanta. Okay, why is 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:32.200 Atlanta an epicenter of hip hop music? Urban music? I 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.840 wouldn't even just say urban music Okay, So I'm from Atlanta. 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:39.000 All right, I'm first generation Ethiopian American. My parents are 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:44.920 from Ethiopia, hence the name Ethiopia. Okay, let's go back there. 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:48.520 You've been living for almost forty years with the name Ethiopia. 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:54.680 Why why am I having years? Okay? Well, I didn't 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.720 want to go exactly exactly. You know, has that been 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:02.679 a good thing or a bad thing? Okay? So, early years, 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.360 elementary years, I was in Tuskegee, Alabama. My dad had 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.080 been the dean of the Vest School there since I 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:12.000 was a kid. And during the early eighties that's when 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.400 you saw all the commercials about the famine in Ethiopia. Right, 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:20.440 so you know I'm there. My name is Ethiopia tragic. 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:24.800 It was extremely tough for me. So anyone that knows 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:28.279 me from Tuskegee, Alabama actually knows me by my middle name, 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:31.400 which is haywan Um. And that was because I took 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:35.200 it upon myself to change the name while in school, 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:37.120 like oh no, I'm not gonna I'm not going through this. 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.560 You're gonna know me as haywan so Um. Then we 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:44.440 moved to Atlanta the summer before my sixth grade year 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:48.000 and go to sixth grade Ralph Bunch Middle School in 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:52.320 Southwest Atlanta. Who's in my class a group by the 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:57.400 name of Criss Cross, and they weren't discovered yet. They 0:05:57.400 --> 0:05:59.719 got discovered that year. But one of the members of 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.320 the group, Christmas the lighter skin one with the braids, 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:05.360 was one of my really close friends. And they get 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:10.680 discovered and become the biggest group in music at the time, 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:12.440 and it was crazy, you know what I mean. So 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:15.240 Criss Cross happens and it's like right in my backyard, 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:20.479 which was fascinating. No, I didn't, but I definitely, you know, 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:22.960 I was like super proud of of of them, of him, 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:24.920 of what was happening in the scene at the time. 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.000 And that's when I think I got to see firsthand 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:30.120 what was happening in the community. So it was like 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:35.120 Jermaine Duprie so so deaf. You saw ABC in Dallas 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.719 Austin start his you know, kind of run, and to 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:40.600 me as a kid, it felt like the biggest thing 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:43.440 in the world. I mean, I remembered when Criss Cross 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:46.800 was on tour with Michael Jackson. That was crazy, you 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.320 know what I mean. It was it was let's go 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.160 back your parents from Etho or from Ethiopia. How did 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:56.640 they end up coming to America? My father, UM, came 0:06:56.680 --> 0:07:00.520 on scholarship to the University of Colorado. UM, then went 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:05.440 back to Ethiopia, married my mother. They went to Canada, 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.000 had my older brother, and then my father went to 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:11.800 get his pH d at u C. Berkeley. My mother 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:15.960 went to u C. Davis and UM, yeah, so they 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:18.080 came for education. My father was you know, my father 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:19.840 didn't really come from much. He was like the one 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.680 kid out of eight kids to get chosen to go 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:26.320 to school. And my mom, on the other hand, came 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.360 from a very well off family. My grandfather was the 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:35.120 first pilot in Ethiopia. UM and um. You know, my 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:38.840 dad is ten years older than my mom and um. Yeah, 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:40.680 they fell in love and they're still married. They're still 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:44.360 So how many kid children in your family? Three? And 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:47.480 where are you in the hierarchy. I'm in the middle. Yeah, 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:49.400 but I'm special because I'm the special because I'm the 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:54.000 only girl. So we'll talk about that later. So you 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:59.240 you moved from Alabama, you moved to Atlanta, and if 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.720 you go on line, there was a moment where there 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:07.400 was a school presentation that changed the course of your history. Right. So, 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:11.840 freshman in high school, there's a career planning class that 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:15.800 was a prerequisite, right, And you know I loved music. 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.600 For me, being this, you know, young kid with the 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.120 name whatever, I just felt awkward growing up as a 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:25.400 lot of people do. Music was how I connected and 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.320 how I felt like I've related to a lot of 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:29.640 other people. Right. So I was always the girl that 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:31.960 was like writing down all the lyrics. I was a 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:34.640 writer myself. I would journal, et cetera. I loved music. 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.360 I lived in breathe music. I tried to sing. I 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.240 sang in talent shows. That didn't really work for me 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:42.720 because I'm toning up, you know that whole thing. But um, 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:45.240 freshman year in high school, I'm taking this class, the 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.160 career planning class. And my teacher asked me what I 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:49.160 want to do when you had to pick three different things, 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.480 and everything was music related. But I only knew about 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.200 music production or what I would read about in the fanzines. 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:57.680 I think I said publicity. Um, And at the time 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.200 she had a woman that Shaunty DAWs, who was the 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.840 head of promotions for La Face Records at the time, 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:08.840 come and speak in our class. And this woman was 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:13.400 the coolest, most confident, strong black woman I had ever seen. 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:15.240 And she was just, you know, fly to me. I 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:18.800 grew up loving like TLC and Aaliyah and like the 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:22.720 Fuji's and you know, um that was like my thing is. 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:24.920 So I'm saying this woman and she works in promotions, 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:26.280 I have no idea what it is. So i go 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.920 up to her at the end of class and I'm like, 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.959 can I shadow you for a day? And She's like, okay, 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.520 if your parents are okay with it. I asked my 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.640 parents and she let me come shadow her on the 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.960 day that her assistant was outsick. So I was answering phones, 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:47.760 et cetera, right, and and I was good at it. 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:50.360 So she said, as you know, I could come up 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.080 during the summer as long as my parents were okay 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:54.839 with them. My parents were like, we need to meet her. 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:57.720 And she actually was from my neighborhood. And so she 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.400 came to my house and met my parents and they 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.360 gave my blessed, gave gave the blessing and them I 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:06.360 interned that summer. And this was like the heyday of 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.360 the Face was a full record label. I mean, they 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:11.719 had they were with Ariston, but they had an and 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.760 our department, a production department, and marketing department, the video 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.280 depart I mean they were a full fledged record label 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.559 and Buckhead Atlanta and at the time they had Outcast 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:26.200 TLC Tony Braxton. These were huge artists. Um that summer 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:28.920 I got to go to like the Outcast Southern Play 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.199 Realistic Cookout. I'll never forget it because I got to 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:33.920 invite my eight friends. Right, I was like the coolest 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:37.720 person ever. And my older brother who was a freshman 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:39.559 in college at the time, took me and was like 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:43.040 the chaperone and we were doing everything from like stuffing 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.320 bags whatever. But the work we were doing was just 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.079 it was incredible to be around it. I remember seeing 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:51.920 Biggie Smalls there, Buster Rans there, and this was when 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:55.839 Puff was about to start building the you know bad Boy. 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:58.600 I remember the Craig the Big Mac tape. It was 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:00.920 promoting Craig Mac and Biggie's Malls at the same time. 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:04.440 So I was around that as a kid at fourteen. 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:09.439 It was it was yeah, it was. It was really incredible, 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:13.240 and Outcast to me was, you know, my favorite hip 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:17.560 hop group. They were UM produced by a production team 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:21.360 called Organized Noise that was also from Southwest Atlanta, who 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:23.480 I just had such a high regard for and I 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:27.040 loved their you know, their musical talent and gift. And 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:29.520 before I could drive, I would have my father drive 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.000 me on Sundays by their studio because I knew where 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:34.480 it was. I'm like, Daddy, can we drive? You know? 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.280 But because to me it was amazing to know that 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.240 the music that was touching the world in my eyes 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.200 was like happening right out of my neighborhood. So it 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:46.120 gave me this sense of hope that I could be 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:54.560 a part of that in some way. We'll take a 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:56.920 quick break and come back with more of my conversation 0:11:57.000 --> 0:12:00.880 with Ethiopia to Marry Him recording to the Music Media 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:07.480 Summit in Santa Barbara, California. This podcast is brought to 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:11.720 you by tune In, which brings together all the live, sports, music, 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:16.800 news and podcasts you love, original, live and on demanded audio, 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:20.520 all in one place. Go to tune in dot com 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:25.000 slash left sense to download and listen. Okay, let's get 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.280 back to my conversation with Ethiopia. Have to marry him 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.400 in front of a live audience at my Music Media 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:37.840 Summit in Santa Barbara, California. Okay, you know, traditionally, growing 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:41.760 up with immigrant parents can be difficult. They're strict, they 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:46.000 come from a different background. Did you experience any of that, yes, 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.480 But also so I never got a chance to go 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.760 back to Ethiopia until I was older, until I was 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:57.240 like maybe twenty three. And I didn't know why, because 0:12:57.280 --> 0:12:59.560 my father is the dean at this, you know, university. 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:01.880 I'm like, we're pretty well off, you know, I'm thinking 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:04.280 we are, but we're really not. We should be giving 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:08.240 my dad's position. Um. But it wasn't until I went 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:10.640 back home that I realized my father was taking care 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.440 of a lot of people, a lot of family members. 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:17.319 We have a huge family there, but here we did not. 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:19.880 I didn't know many family members. When my friends would 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:22.080 have family reunions and things, I couldn't relate to that 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.200 experience at all because I only knew my two aunts 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.160 on my father's side and my you know, my aunts 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:29.880 and uncles on my mom's side. But we had a 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.079 huge family, and my father was taking care of everyone, 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.360 not only on his side of the family, but also 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:37.880 my mother side of the family. They were really all 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:42.320 one family back in Ethiopia, and so my father worked 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:47.760 so much that he wasn't, you know, as tough on 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:50.640 me because he was just working all the time. But 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:53.720 also I was a really good kid, like I didn't 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.520 want to every disappoint my father or my parents at all. 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:00.760 And my mom she was probably stricter on me as 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:05.120 mothers would be. Right, Um, but she got sick when 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.439 I was in high school and with us, yeah, she 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:10.760 got sick when I was in high school, and um, 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.720 she wasn't at present, So you know, I really had 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:18.520 a lot of freedom. And so what are your siblings 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:22.840 doing today? My older brother is still in Atlanta. He 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:26.680 works at the Fox Theater there running production on that side. 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:32.000 And then my little brother, um, graduated from the University 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:34.600 of Georgia. He actually took this year off to help 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:38.840 my father. My father got diagnosed with Parkinson's in November, 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.640 so he's had to retire. My little brother is there 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:45.320 helping him, you know, deal with stepping down from being 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.680 at the university, et cetera. My little brother is like 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:52.520 an angel. He's brilliant, but also like this amazing, amazing 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:58.760 kid man. But okay, so your parents have a big 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:03.320 insistence on education because your father, Yes, so when I was. 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:05.280 You know, when I was younger, my father would like, 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.280 go to Boston. We'd go visit like M I T 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:10.720 and Harvard or whatever. My father wanted me to either 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:15.880 be a lawyer or be a scientist, et cetera. Um, 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:18.160 And I thought for a second mate about being a lawyer. 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:21.880 But once I got introduced to music, that was all 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:27.040 she wrote. That was it. Um. But I won't lie. 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:30.040 It wasn't It wasn't that easy. So when I, you know, 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:33.280 I go through high school, I graduate, and and and 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:35.920 so I in turned out LA Face and I just 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.400 get into the music community there. There's so much happening. 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.880 And then I found out about this internship program. I 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:44.800 got a paid internship when I was sixteen at Electoral Records, 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:49.440 the satellite office there in Atlanta. UM. I graduated at seventeen, 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:51.760 I get hired as an assistant at LA Face in 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:55.160 the production department, which wasn't really sexy, but I was 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.800 making a check and then I could still help out 0:15:57.800 --> 0:16:01.160 in marketing and promotions or whatever. Um. So I did that, 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:03.200 but my father was like, no, you have to go 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:07.040 to college. I'm like, just give me a year that like, 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.320 let me just see how this goes. It might turn 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.840 into something, and he was pretty supportive of that. My 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:17.280 mom not so much. But she had gone to Ethiopia 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:19.560 to go visit the family that first year, so she 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.360 didn't really like get to um told me back then, 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:23.680 you know what I mean. So my dad was coming 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:25.720 back and forth from Alabama, and I was just working, 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:29.800 and I really just worked my butt off. I did everything. 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:34.200 I would babysit to make extra money, and that led 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:39.240 to other opportunities. I ended up working opportunities. Okay, So 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:43.000 I babysitting for the woman named Lronda Sutton who started 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:46.960 l A Read's publishing company, hit Co Music Publishing. Okay, 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:49.440 she started it, and it was in the LaFace office. 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.640 She was fabulous. She would walk past my cubicle and 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:54.360 she would say things to me, like you're gonna work. 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:55.880 You're gonna work for me. One day. I like how 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.440 you answer phones. I was like, okay, that's good, you know. 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.880 And so she was a single mother there and needed help, 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.080 and so I was working as assistant. I would leave, 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:06.159 I would babysit for her until she was able to 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:07.720 come home, and then at night I'd be in the 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:11.119 clubs doing whatever. So when LaRonda left, hit coach. She 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:14.480 went to Edmunds Music Publishing in Los Angeles, and she 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:16.560 told me I'd make a great I'd be a great 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.960 music publisher. She knew my taste. I would play her records, etcetera. 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.800 And she was the one that offered me an opportunity 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:25.760 to work in publishing at Emmon's Music Publishing, and that's 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:29.440 how I got the job there. Okay, So you never 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:31.960 do go to college, never do go to college, and 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:38.840 any regrets there? Okay? No, However, I don't think it's 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.000 for you. I don't think that's the route for everyone. 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:44.160 And I do think education is important as long as 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.080 you know your interests and like the things that you 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:47.920 want to learn about. I think I'm in a at 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:49.760 a at a point in my life where there are 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:51.560 other things that I'm interested in that I would want 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:53.720 to like go back to school to learn about. But 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:58.040 no regrets. Okay. So you're in Atlanta, you're working in 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:02.800 La Face, You're starting as an assistant answering phones, what's 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:06.320 the next step up the ladder. At the same time 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.800 that I was doing that, I was helping out in marketing. 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:10.919 I was helping out in the promotions department, and I 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.640 was doing a lot, and I wanted a full time 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.239 job in marketing. I wanted to be in marketing. The 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:20.560 general manager there at the time, though, was like, you know, 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.120 you need to go to college. We're not gonna hire 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:25.959 you full time. You need to go to college. And 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:28.680 I was like, you know what, my father isn't even 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.360 making me go to college. And I had the support 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:33.960 of all the executives there, etcetera. And I remember, do 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:41.760 you guys remember the Impact Music Convention? Yeah, so I remember, Yeah, 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.119 I wrote, I wrote the g M a proposal and 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:45.560 I said, I sent it to him and I said, 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:47.720 this is why I L Facial sponsored me going to 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:50.679 the Impact Music Convention UM and so they paid for 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.480 my travel and my registration to go to the convention. 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:56.760 And he was like, when you come back, you have 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:58.840 to make a decision if you're going to go to school, 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:01.560 you know, or if you're just going to continue on 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.120 here working part time, but I'm not hiring you full time. 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.440 And I came back and I was like, I quit. 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:10.680 I didn't have a job in place, by the way, 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:12.439 I didn't know what I was gonna do, but I 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:14.560 just felt like they didn't really value me. And I 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.919 wasn't gonna be forced, you know, into being a scenario. 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:19.520 I had to stay a part time. I was doing 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:23.280 a lot for the company at the time. Um oh, 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:25.320 I remember when I was I met a guy named 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:29.760 Doug Brown. Doug Brown was partners with Johnny Wright. They 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:33.520 were managing Left Eye as a as a solo artist 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:35.240 at the time, and I was like the only person 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.199 that was like nice to him because LA didn't know 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:40.320 who Johnny Wright was and who Dug Brown was, and 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:42.040 they were like, who the hell are these people managing 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.320 Left Eye. I was a nice person to him, So 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:48.600 I got introduced to in Sync through that relationship. I 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:53.159 quit and started working with in syncing their charity organization, 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:57.080 like helping them put their charity like organization together celebrity 0:19:57.080 --> 0:20:01.879 basketball games parties. My goal was to like infuse the 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:05.560 cool urban scene in Atlanta to what InSync was doing. 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:07.520 But this was like right at the beginning. So I 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:09.480 would get like Germaine dupri and people like that to 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:12.120 come playing their games and stuff, and I just made 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:14.240 extra money doing that until I could figure out what 0:20:14.280 --> 0:20:16.240 I was gonna do next. And what did you figure 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:19.160 out you wanted to do. That's when Lo Rhonda offered 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:21.920 me the job of music publishing. And how long after 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:24.639 you quit was that that was probably a year and 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:28.400 a half. Okay, that was in Atlanta. That was in Atlanta, 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:31.240 and at the time, my father was very supportive. I 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:34.400 remember the sky Tell two A pagers. I told my dad, 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:36.280 I said, Daddy, if I'm gonna make it, you have 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:38.399 to buy me a sky Tell tway pager. You have 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:40.080 to have one in order to be in the music business. 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:41.639 So he bought me a sky Tell two A pager. 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:44.359 He bought me a Fox a fax machine that I 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.440 had in my bedroom and I had like I always had, 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.000 like the latest computer because my father had him from 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:52.639 work and I would I would just work from my 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:57.000 from my bedroom. Your father actually was very supportive, was yeah, okay, 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:59.760 so you work in publishing. What do you learn immediately? 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:03.000 Work publishing? Right, because I didn't know. I didn't know 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:05.240 what publishing was when I took the job. So I 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:09.159 was a song plugger. Basically, etmus Music Publishing was baby 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:12.360 Face and Tracy Etmun's publishing company. It was administered through 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:16.919 m I and UM. They had about ten writers signed 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:19.480 to them at the time, and when I got there, 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:22.360 the job was to really build morale amongst the writers 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.400 into help shop their songs. But it was a tough 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:27.960 situation because I think a lot of the writers were 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:30.159 under the impression that they would be writing with baby 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:33.800