WEBVTT - Naika Opens Up on Music, Identity & Confidence 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.000 I want to make timeless music. I want to sell 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:04.720 out arenas. I want to travel and connect with people 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:05.960 that are connecting with the music. 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:08.039 What advice would you give to women who are constantly 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:09.560 being told like you're too much, or you've got too 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:12.800 much energy, or too much of this too much for 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:17.560 Naika is a French Haitian global artist. She exudes confidence, femininity, 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:21.280 and power. Her music celebrates identity, freedom and self expression, 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:24.759 and she has been on my Spotify playlist every single day. 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:29.240 I love that journey of tapping into my femininity, my woman. 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:32.520 It's something that has always fascinated to me. Female sensuality 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.320 is something that I always loved and connected with from 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:37.680 a very young age. I think also, we live in 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.400 a world that wants to dim that and make us 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:43.200 feel embarrassed or too much. When I'm at my shows 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:45.200 and I see the audience and I see the people, 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:47.880 and it's such a diverse crowd, and people from all 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.120 walks of life, from all different cultures like religions racist, 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:54.160 to me, that's such a big accomplishment. 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:56.680 What do you feel like your definition of lovers or 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.920 your expectations of what a relationship for you feels like 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.679 I'm Rasi Wukah and on my podcast A Really Good Cry, 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:08.559 we embrace the messy and the beautiful, providing a space 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.440 for raw, un filtered conversations that celebrate vulnerability and allow 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:17.319 you to tune in to learn, connect and find comfort together. Naiga, 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.200 I am so so excited. Don't think you understand how 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:22.399 excited I am that you are sitting on the sofa 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:22.880 right now. 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:24.240 I feel like I'm. 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.720 Honored by the way I watched you and Jay's videos 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:28.360 all the time, oh the time. 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:29.440 That makes me so happy. 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.600 I feel like we definitely manifested this because I have 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:34.959 been listening to your music every single day since I 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:36.920 heard about you, so that's at least over a year, 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.080 and you were on my Spotify rap. 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.000 So really, yes, of course you were. Are you kidding? 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:44.640 I'm not joking when I say I'm obsessed. 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:47.440 I just admire you so much, not just your music, 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.280 but honestly the way that you are. You show up 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:54.680 with confidence and femininity and lean into that so beautifully. 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:55.280 I felt. 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.800 That's why, honestly, I wanted to have you on, because 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:01.400 there's such an incredible conversation to be had around how 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:03.560 to lean into your feminine and make it something that's 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.360 so powerful. And every time I watch you perform, and 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.080 every time that I see you on stage, and I 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.519 mean I saw you yesterday and you were absolutely incredible, 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:14.880 but you make other women feel that way about themselves. 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.200 So yeah, I want to start off by asking you 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:21.440 tell me how it all started. We always musical, We 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:22.680 always interested in what you do. 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:22.959 Now. 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:26.720 Yeah, yeah, it's been my obsessions since I was a kid. Really, yeah, 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:28.960 my mom used to seem to me to do anything 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:31.280 as a baby, you know, for me to shower, for you, 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:35.320 for me to do anything. And she told me that 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.600 the first time that they saw me smile was after 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:40.360 she gave birth to me and they were in the 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:42.960 car and they put the radio on and then the 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:45.280 music started playing and then I smiled for the first time. 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:50.440 So it's always been my big love. And I just 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:52.959 feel so grateful that I get to do this today, 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:55.000 even though there was no other way, because I was like, 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.799 this is right, this is what I'm meant to do, 0:02:57.880 --> 0:02:59.239 so pushed through. 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.079 Until Yeah, how are your parents in this whole journey 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:04.760 watching you become who you are now? Like, were they 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:07.080 always really confident about it or you know, did they 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:07.959 have the reservations. 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.800 No, they definitely had reservation They definitely had reservations. My dad, 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.480 my dad loves music. My mom My mom sings or lot. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:19.520 She expresses herself with music. My dad loves like he 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:21.280 used to play guitar when I was a kid, and 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:23.600 he would sing to me. And sometimes I wouldn't go 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.000 to sleep without him playing and singing to me, you know. 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:32.400 But it definitely took them a minute to trust this path, 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:36.080 and I had to. I had to swim against the 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:40.320 current for a while, you know, and eventually, I think 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:44.080 it's like now, like two years or yeah, two years ago, 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.480 my mom started being like, Okay, it's working. 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:47.520 It's very fine. 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:49.040 Okay, fine, you can. 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:50.840 Do this, even though they had no choice in it. 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.200 But now that you can do it. So where have 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:55.760 you lived all your life? Where were you born? And 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:57.560 what brought you to where you are now? 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:00.960 Yeah? So I grew up very like normal lifestyle. For 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:04.400 my dad's job, so every four years we had to move, 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:10.280 change countries for his work. So I had a privilege 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.280 to grow up, you know, in different corners of the world. 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.040 When I was born, my parents were living in the Caribbean, 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.320 in Guadaloupe, but my mom gave birth to me in Miami, 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.120 and then I lived in guadaloup until I was two 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.400 years old. Then we moved to this little island called 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.360 Vanuatu in the South Pacific and I lived there for 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:31.920 four years, and I moved to Nairobi in Kenya for 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:36.240 four years. I lived in France for three years and 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:40.080 then South Africa for another three years, and then my 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:43.520 dad really unexpectedly lost his job. So my parents were, 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:48.279 you know, like our whole lives dependent on my dad's jobs. 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:52.000 So when that happened, my parents decided to start their 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.960 life over in the US, so they moved to Miami 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:57.880 and then I finished my high school in the United States. 0:04:58.040 --> 0:04:58.600 Oh my gosh. 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.920 Yeah, my parents actually born and raised in Uganda. Wow, 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:06.840 I've got so much African influence in Swahili in the house, 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:11.479 and yeah, African influencing the food that we ate as well. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:11.960 Wow. 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:14.479 Do you feel like your culture and your tradition, like 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:16.240 how much of a role does it play and what 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:17.839 you do and the music that you create. 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.359 I think that's been a big internal struggle for me, 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:24.240 is finding my place in the world and where I belong. 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:28.159 And it's something that is like a very push and pull, 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:30.360 you know, like sometimes I feel really whole in the 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:34.200 fact that I am a piece of multiple different things, 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:38.240 and then sometimes it's a bit ostracizing, I guess, you know, 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:42.200 to feel like you're never fully one thing and accepted 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:47.520 in one place. But I think embracing the multi cultural 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:52.279 and multifaceted you know, yeah. 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:53.680 All the different parts of yeah, yeah. 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:57.160 And I think what's brought me so much comfort too 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:01.280 is seeing how many peop will relate to that. And 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.400 I dropped a song called Layers last year, and the 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:09.479 response to that song brought me so much like warmth 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:12.680 to see how many people relate. And I think there's 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.680 so many of us out there that feel, you know, 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:18.640 in between, and feel like we're not fully accepted or 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:22.559 belonging anywhere. I always feel like my sense of home 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.640 is in other people, you know, and as well, like scattered, 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.400 and I think there's a lot of beauty behind that too, 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.160 And it's like everything there's like good and bad about it. 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:37.880 So I feel like most people in the world, whether 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.320 they're even part of one culture or not, there's always 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:43.560 a part of you that feels like you don't belong. Yeah, 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:46.320 Like whether it's in friends, circles, whether it's in culture, 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.840 whether it's in the place that you used to live 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:51.560 and don't live anymore, Like so many of us feel 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:51.920 like we. 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:53.839 Don't belong in so many different circles. 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:58.000 But having the ability to use that and create something 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.720 like you have created your music that helps people feel 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:01.320 like they belong. 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:02.760 So I hope. 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:04.560 Yeah, I really do think you do that. 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.240 I actually was asking my friend who loves you, and 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:08.880 she was like, I asked her, what would you want 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:10.080 to know and what would you want me to ask? 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.000 And she said that she is also from different backgrounds, 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.400 and how do you manage not feeling like you belong? 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:18.240 So I feel like that really resonates with so many people. 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:22.440 Yeah, you have to see like the the perks of it, 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.600 you know, Like I think people that have this experience 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.559 were very adaptable, We get along with so many different 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:32.560 types of people, were not like closed off, and we're 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:33.520 very open minded. 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:34.400 Yeah, exactly. 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:36.920 She's beautiful and I think that brings a lot of 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:37.800 healing to the world. 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:38.600 It does. 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:42.320 Do you feel like you carried a lot of values 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:44.920 and things from your parents into the way that you 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.240 live now. I'd love to hear were you raised from 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:51.720 in a specific religion or yeah, what did your parents 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:53.200 follow as you as you were growing up. 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.120 My parents are very like free spirited. 0:07:57.880 --> 0:07:59.040 My mom is. 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.480 My mom is a character like really, I can't wait 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:08.280 on counter? Yeah we should, it's incredible. And obviously my 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.960 dad too. She's just inspired me so much in so 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:16.200 many different ways. And I didn't grow up necessarily religious, 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.200 even though like sometimes I went to Catholic schools and 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:23.960 I grew up you know, with like experience, going to 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:25.760 maths and stuff like that. But I didn't grow up 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:31.240 in like a very like religious structure. But I did 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:35.320 grow up with spirituality through my mom. My dad is atheist, 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:39.680 he doesn't believe in anything. But my mom is very 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:45.920 connected to a higher power that she has always transmitted 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:47.760 to me as a kid, and I feel very connected 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:52.080 to the universe and to that energy. So yeah, so 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:54.960 I have that connection through my mom. 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:58.160 I feel like when we carry different parts of our 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:00.959 parents through what we do, it's just it carries you 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.679 in a different way. It's like they're literally passing you. 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:05.040 You don't realize how much of them that. 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:06.160 You carry it through what you do. 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:07.440 Yeah, of course, do. 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:10.520 You feel like people romanticize parts of your journey or 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:13.040 your life after obviously being in the public eye and 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.079 you obviously see how much hard work it takes and 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:18.480 all the things that you have to do in the background. 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:21.400 Do you feel since you've been in the public eye 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:23.840 and since you've been doing this has been difficult to 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:26.720 kind of manage that judgment all the way that people 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:27.240 perceive you. 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:31.400 It's so weird when people have an opinion of you 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:33.839 and they don't know you. Yeah, it's crazy. And when 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:36.439 that started happening to me, I was like I had 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:38.920 my clauset. I was ready to try and be like wait, what, 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.040 like you don't know me like that? But yeah, having 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:46.920 to navigate, you know, just letting that be and it's like, Okay, 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:49.280 these people don't know you, you know, and so you 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:52.640 can't say to heart the different opinions or full on 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:56.200 stories that people will make up about you. So that's 0:09:56.200 --> 0:10:00.000 been interesting and navigating that has been interesting. The first 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:01.319 time it happened to me was when I had a 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:03.880 viral video for this verse that I did on Don't 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:07.480 Rush in twenty twenty during pandemic, And that's when I 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.200 like really first started putting myself out there in the 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.080 Internet and stuff and that video went really really viral. 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:15.280 Like I was kind of having anxiety when this was 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:16.920 happening because I'm like, from one day to the next, 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:21.120 there's two million people one video and so many opinions, 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:25.520 you know, And but yeah, I mean it's just something 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.040 you have to Yeah. I used to be around yourself 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:32.000 and just just like let it be the Yeah. 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:33.640 I used to be one of those online warriors where 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:35.640 I would just want to respond back to everything. 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:36.559 Yeah. Same. 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.000 I then you just realize it is just like you 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:40.200 drop in the ocean, you know. 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.840 And you know what, I would never take the time 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:47.200 to like type something out to bring someone else down. 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:50.440 That's like trying to make something out of themselves. So 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.920 the minute that you're a person that does that, I 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.600 have no, You're just not even my type of person, 0:10:57.800 --> 0:10:59.160 you know. So it's like I'm not even going to 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:00.000 give you that type of energy. 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.880 It also valutes your energy, Like when you're coming from 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:07.040 a place of creativity and expansion and trying to build 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:10.160 and then you're you're channeling into the energy of someone 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:14.319 who's trying to bring you down, it's a completely different frequency. 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:15.400 That you're tuning into. 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:19.080 So it's so great that you've realized that in your 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.680 journey already rather than trying to Ye. 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.080 Yeah, sometimes I'm like about to cuss people out and 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:28.400 then I'm like, you know what, let me for a second, swimmer, 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:30.000 and then I'm like, no, I'm not going to do it. 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:32.439 Do you feel like your idea of you know, you've 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:34.280 been in this world for such a long time. Do 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:36.240 you feel like your idea of what success looks like 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:40.880 for you has changed from when you started being seasoned 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:41.880 in it for a while now. 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:52.640 M No, because I guess I I'm very ambitious and 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.200 I know what I want to build, but I also 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:59.480 am very aware that, like where I am up to 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:01.199 this point, even though I know where I want to 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:03.840 take it, I'm already successful in what I've built and 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.520 what I've done and to be able to me, there's 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:09.000 different ways of looking at success. Obviously, there's like the 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:12.440 numbers and the accolades or whatever, and the recognition, but 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.719 there's also like, I'm successful because I get to do 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.400 what I love and even if it's something that's seen 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.080 by the world, or if it's something that's seen by 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.920 small community people, as long as I can put food 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:28.800 on my plate doing what I love. To me that's 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.920 so I'm rich. You know, what's the dream? 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:34.040 Like? What is if we were all out here wanting 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:37.400 to manifest your dream life all year and the dream of. 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:39.920 What all of this could become. What is that for you? Like? 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:41.320 What do you dream about every day? 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:46.400 I want my music to reach the world. I want to. 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:48.720 I really want to get a Grammy one day. 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.200 Yes, it's Grammy season. 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:51.720 Yeah, I know. 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:53.160 Yeah, we're thinking about it. 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:57.559 And that's something that's on my vision board. Just unlike, yeah, 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.760 this is like a big I made it moment. Yeah, Gray, 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.840 I want to make timeless music, music that will stay 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:08.960 through that doesn't age. You know, that's a big one. 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:11.320 I want to sell out arenas. I want to travel 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.960 and connect with people that are connecting with the music. 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.240 And I think a big one too is just bringing 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:19.840 people together. Like when I'm at my shows and I 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.520 see the audience and I see the people and it's 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.440 such a diverse crowd and people from all walks of life, 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:29.320 from all different cultures like religions, races. To me, that's 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:33.400 such a big accomplishment. It's not an accomplishment, but like 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:37.679 it brings me a lot of joy and makes me 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:40.760 This is why I do it, Yeah, and bringing people 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.000 together in that way is something that is really special 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.200 to me, Like it's something that is very relevant in 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.080 my life. You know. I have a very diverse group 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:51.360 of friends, Like I have family from so many places 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:54.080 around the world, you know, and that's just like my 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:58.120 life is made up of that. And for it to 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.240 show up like that in my career and the music 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:02.160 that I make is really special to me. 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:04.480 It is an accomplishment because if you think about the 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:07.920 world is so divisive, like everything in the world ends 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:10.480 up being so divisive. So to have a talent that 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.400 can actually create unity and harmony between people. And I 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.280 was thinking that yesterday when we came to a show. 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:19.640 There was just people from so many different places and 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.520 you could tell that they definitely live different types of lives. 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:23.560 And I was looking around. 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:25.120 When we were waiting in the queue, and I was like, Wow, 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.280 it must feel so surreal coming out and when you 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:30.680 came out to meet people and thinking, gosh, all these 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:34.160 people from completely different walks of life are connecting to 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.680 my music, Like it is such a superpower and it 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:39.000 is a beautiful accomplishment. 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.000 Thank you so much. Yeah, I feel Yeah, it makes 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.520 it makes my heart superful. It's really happy. 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:47.960 I feel like your music is so emotionally intimate, like 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:50.480 you feel your emotions through when you sing. How do 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.400 you kind of choose between and what you share of 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.520 yourself and what you keep close to you or are 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:57.960 you someone who just kind of feels like you have 0:14:58.000 --> 0:14:59.440 to spill it all through your music? 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:01.960 To me, it's how I express myself. Yeah, the way 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:03.800 you see me now and like doing interviews and stuff. 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:06.840 It's it's new for me to be able to not 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:09.880 have that blockage. I feel like I was. I am 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:16.000 now unpacking my communication blockages, if you will. And music 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:20.640 has always been my safety in the way I express myself. 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.560 So I am very vulnerable in my music and it's 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:28.440 where I get to fully be me and express myself. 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.440 What do you feel like all the songs that you've done, 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:32.120 what was the hardest one to write? All the one 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:36.040 that felt the most, the most exposing of yourself or 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:36.800 of your inner world. 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:38.120 There's different answers to that. 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:42.600 Yeah, it doesn't have to be one. We can get 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:50.360 through them all. Let's go through the. 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:49.360 There's a song on No Let Me Start. I think 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:50.920 the first one that came to mind when you asked 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:52.920 me this maybe it's not an evident one, but it's 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:56.560 a song that is all in Frenchhi's called Bell. And 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.480 the reason why that song made me very emotional when 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:03.360 writing it because that song is it talks about the 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:08.240 relationship women have to experience with beauty and how so 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.600 much of our worth is dependent on how we look. 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:16.480 And that song has made me cry, even though it's 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.920 a beautiful song, it's very uplifting and everything, but it 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:25.000 came out of that frustration of that pressure that we're faced, 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.640 you know, and this like competition off of something that 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:32.080 we don't have control over, and that should you know, 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:36.080 what matters should be who we are inside. So that 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.920 one and there's a song on the album called what 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:44.600 a Day where I talk about different world topics that 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.200 frustrate me and like it just injustice in the world, 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:50.000 and I love that song. And that one was a 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.120 bit not that it was challenging to write, but there's 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:54.720 just so much going on in the world and to 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.040 fit every you know, we had to like be intentional 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:03.280 with what. You can't fit all of the troubles in 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.359 the world in a song, you know, And so in 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.280 that sense it was a bit tricky because if you're like, damn, 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:09.919 I'm leaving this out. I'm leaving this out, And I 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:12.199 honestly the song could keep going on for hours, you know, 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.440 but I loved I'm excited for the world to hear. 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:19.320 What's your creative process? 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:21.280 I'm seve intrigued, Like, do you ever feel like you 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:22.280 run out of inspiration? 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:23.879 Do you ever feel like you get a block? 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:26.840 And in those times, for anyone who's creative, what do 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.080 you do to get yourself out of that? 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:32.800 Twenty twenty three was a really weird year for me 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:37.680 because I found myself having to restructure my whole team, 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:42.480 so I ended up basically teamless. It's funny because the 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:44.840 EP that came out just before that period of time, 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:48.040 it's called Transitions, and I dropped and I named it 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:50.639 Transitions because I knew that it was going to be 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.040 a moment in my life where I transitioned from like 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:56.480 the beginnings of like dropping EPs too. I knew that 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:58.840 after that project, I was going to drop my album, 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.520 and I had a feeling that this was going to 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:02.919 be like a moment. Also in that project, I'm like 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.600 exploring different sounds in different worlds and stuff like that, 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:07.399 and so I had a feeling that it was going 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:09.520 to be a transition period of my life. But I 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.840 had God was like, oh, you wanted to unders be. 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.560 So that year was it was weird for me because 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:19.199 I was creating a lot. I was making a lot 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.720 of music, but nothing that I was connected to, nothing 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:23.680 that I wanted to put out. And then I found 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:29.600 myself without a team and having to fully restructure my 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.640 life and my business and everything. So when you asked 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:34.640 me that, I think that's the first thing that comes 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.359 up is that year when there was and I dropped 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:42.000 some songs. I managed to stay you know, putting myself 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:45.440 out there. But but yeah, no, of course I think. 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:49.080 I think it's normal to go through ebs and flows 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.680 and creative process. But my creative process I love melodies. 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:54.760 So when I go into the studio and I play 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.480 like either a beat or an instrument or whatever, I'll 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:01.000 usually lead with melodies right and see what feels good 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:03.719 and what sits right. But sometimes I do come in 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:05.600 with like a topic or something that I want to 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:10.000 talk about, or like a lyric or even a song title. 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:16.320 But usually I'm a melody. I love hearing it before you. 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:18.600 I just if you don't stop me, I'll just keep 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:21.760 going going on. I love spinning out melodies and freestyling 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:22.240 in that way. 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:24.440 Where do you get your confidence from? 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:26.879 I really need to ee this because I feel like 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:30.320 that's something I admire about you so much. And mixture 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.040 between your confidence and also have you always felt that 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:35.399