Speaker 1: Welcome to Behind the Influence, a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and TDC Media. I think I've I've really written
Speaker 1: and recording the best music I've ever done so far
Speaker 1: in my career. I'm really excited to put it out.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing so many drama stories about things happening and
Speaker 1: what do I believe in? What do I not like?
Speaker 1: It's just awesome to have a team behind me. That's
Speaker 1: like for me. I am going through ship. I'm maybe
Speaker 1: depressed some days. I'm not all perfect and dope. As
Speaker 1: I have any seen him. She's really talented. If you
Speaker 1: guys don't know about Macy, kay, you're sleeping on the job, honey.
Speaker 1: I feel like this is my second home now because
Speaker 1: I'm doing I'm doing a show called music House on
Speaker 1: my Heart, so I'm here all the time. I feel
Speaker 1: like it's my second We already started this and I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna keep rolling with it because you know, the
Speaker 1: chemistry is so real right now. I don't even want
Speaker 1: to Yeah, I don't even want to stop and be like,
Speaker 1: hold on, let's do an intro. That was intro. We're
Speaker 1: basically bribing Brian here to play Macy's sing all that
Speaker 1: she just played for me cry for Help. It is
Speaker 1: so good. Such a departure. Not in it. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying the other stuff wasn't good, but such a departure
Speaker 1: from your other music. Yeah, it's so different, and like
Speaker 1: I want people to recognize that. I think too. I mean,
Speaker 1: opening line, it's different than anything I've ever heard. And
Speaker 1: if you don't know what I'm talking about, go check
Speaker 1: out It's right, it's it's already been released. Go check
Speaker 1: out the song. You will not regret it, you guys.
Speaker 1: It's Yeah, it's definitely a shocker. It's a shocking opening line.
Speaker 1: I mean, like I thought of it as like I
Speaker 1: would want to listen to the rest of the song
Speaker 1: just to be like, where is this going? Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I've gotten a lot of feedback like that as well.
Speaker 1: So and just just so like, so your last song.
Speaker 1: That my not your last song, because you've had many songs.
Speaker 1: But my god daughter is obsessed with Macy. Just a
Speaker 1: little backstory. Isabel. Layla is Isabel's mom. So Leyla's my
Speaker 1: best friend. Yes, So Layla is my best friend from college.
Speaker 1: We've been best friends forever and her daughter is my
Speaker 1: god daughter. Isabel obsessed with Macy. Macy had this bob out.
Speaker 1: It was like a summer. It was vibe, right or
Speaker 1: is it? It was fine because I always want to
Speaker 1: say kill my vibe, but it's just vibe. And my
Speaker 1: goddaughter would dance this forever. And I'm like, oh, Macy's
Speaker 1: coming out with a new song. I'm going to play
Speaker 1: it for her. And then I hear the first line
Speaker 1: of this song, I'm like, yeah, Isabella will not be
Speaker 1: dancing to this song. Not yet. There actually is a
Speaker 1: clean version. Okay, so what is it? Hey want to
Speaker 1: play chess? It's I mean, it's it's just it's like
Speaker 1: bleeped out, like it's just what everyone knows, right right,
Speaker 1: But yeah, there's actually whenever I do it live, I
Speaker 1: have to like do a clean version for you know,
Speaker 1: all of the general public. Yes, So what is the
Speaker 1: do you just not say I say, hey want to
Speaker 1: love or like you know that's cute? Yeah? Yeah, the
Speaker 1: difference she's like a love let's I tried to figure
Speaker 1: out like replacement words like want to hug or like
Speaker 1: want to hook up or something. I think love is fine.
Speaker 1: It works, is natural. Yeah. So for those of you
Speaker 1: who are not familiar Macy, is a very very talented
Speaker 1: female artist who actually caught her start on YouTube, and
Speaker 1: when it makes perfect sense for this show behind the
Speaker 1: influence of millions of subscribers on your YouTube channel. When
Speaker 1: I first discovered Macy, she was doing covers, but before
Speaker 1: that you did have a legit music career. You just
Speaker 1: kind of like went solo, decided to do your own
Speaker 1: thing and start your YouTube channel. And that's when I
Speaker 1: saw all of her amazing covers, which if you guys
Speaker 1: haven't seen those, go check out her YouTube channel because
Speaker 1: your voice is insane. And then the reason we thought
Speaker 1: this would be a great tie in for the show
Speaker 1: is you actually were able to leverage your fan base
Speaker 1: on YouTube and digital on through Instagram, Twitter, to them
Speaker 1: launch a really successful which is still up in common.
Speaker 1: It's still and still absolutely growing, and so let's talk
Speaker 1: about that a little bit. When you first started the channel,
Speaker 1: was your motivation or was the game plan to always
Speaker 1: do what ended up happening? When I started it, no,
Speaker 1: I was like twelve, and I was like just wanting
Speaker 1: to do covers. I just found out I could sing.
Speaker 1: I wasn't I wasn't seasoned in writing or producing yet
Speaker 1: at all. So starting the Channel. It was more for
Speaker 1: fun doing covers, and then once it started taking off,
Speaker 1: I started going into original stuff and writing. But even
Speaker 1: before I started the Channel, I was already touring and
Speaker 1: doing stuff, you know, live and everything. It's a little
Speaker 1: backstory just so for people who don't know the story.
Speaker 1: You were into music prior to launching a mus account. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I actually moved to Atlanta when I was like twelve,
Speaker 1: and I was in a girl group in Atlanta and
Speaker 1: was where we had full artist development, which now is
Speaker 1: like really not a thing. I'm so glad I went
Speaker 1: through it those especially at such a young age where
Speaker 1: you could actually be like okay, because nobody knows who
Speaker 1: they are at twelve, like at all. So you go,
Speaker 1: You're getting all the great training that you needed that
Speaker 1: could probably help you now. And honestly, like, I feel
Speaker 1: like I have some sort of advantage because I had
Speaker 1: artist development to handle things under pressure and you know,
Speaker 1: to be juggling so much and and you know, like
Speaker 1: having interviews and shows and stuff all while you know
Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff behind the scenes are happening. So
Speaker 1: that was a great way for me to really figure
Speaker 1: out the industry. I think too, I was trained by
Speaker 1: like amazing people in Atlanta, so it was great. After
Speaker 1: the Girl Group, I kind of took those producers and
Speaker 1: writers that I had worked with in the Girl Group
Speaker 1: and just made connections through there. Then was managed by
Speaker 1: another uh female, strong female. Her name's Amber Grimes, and
Speaker 1: she helped me throughout the industry in Atlanta and producers
Speaker 1: and nears who now, funny enough, are all out here
Speaker 1: doing amazing things and like writing hits for Beyonce. It's
Speaker 1: crazy and I'm like, it's so awesome. But yeah, So
Speaker 1: from Atlanta, I actually started auditioning for reality shows because
Speaker 1: I just felt like I was boxed in in Atlanta
Speaker 1: in a way. So I was like, I feel like
Speaker 1: I need to like figure out how to get to
Speaker 1: l A. And I was like, I'll just start auditioning
Speaker 1: for reality shows. So I auditioned for reality shows like
Speaker 1: what kind of reality shows, American Idol, The Voice, all
Speaker 1: of that. And also all while I was doing that,
Speaker 1: I also had my YouTube channel happening, so I had
Speaker 1: reality shows contacting me as well to audition. Because reality
Speaker 1: shows are not always stand in line an audition. It's
Speaker 1: like you'll get called in and be like, hey, can
Speaker 1: you come auditions. So I ended up lanning this reality
Speaker 1: shows called Rising Star, which brought me to l A.
Speaker 1: And I was out here for three months staying and
Speaker 1: they put us in this amazing hotel is called the
Speaker 1: SLS and and it was just like that fancy for
Speaker 1: a show. We're literally living there for like three months.
Speaker 1: That's insane. And yeah, I was at the pool over.
Speaker 1: I was like, I had to be like fourteen fifteen,
Speaker 1: You're living at the fucking s l S as a
Speaker 1: fifteen year old. My mom was loving it too, she was,
Speaker 1: I mean, I was a minor, so I had to
Speaker 1: have my parents. That's hilarious. Yeah, we were like, we're
Speaker 1: just balance. So yeah, it gave us like a weekly allowance.
Speaker 1: Was great. But anyways, yeah, that was an amazing experience
Speaker 1: as well. I mean, I think when you're in when
Speaker 1: you get into the reality show world and the TV
Speaker 1: side of things, it's a lot different than like traditional
Speaker 1: music industry. It's like very staged and all of that.
Speaker 1: I definitely found myself through reality shows, I think too.
Speaker 1: A lot of like experiences that I experienced at a
Speaker 1: really young age to you know, be documented and comparing
Speaker 1: like where I am, um, where I was when filming
Speaker 1: those and then where I Am now was just like
Speaker 1: really dope to look at. So yeah, once I went
Speaker 1: through the reality show, it kind of gave me like
Speaker 1: a another platform on top of YouTube to like bounce
Speaker 1: off of. And then at the same time, I was
Speaker 1: still just trying to like figure out how to get
Speaker 1: in touch with the executives and all that. So I
Speaker 1: was going I was going to music conferences as well.
Speaker 1: So in Florida and Atlanta, there are a lot of
Speaker 1: music conferences and a lot of executives that are there,
Speaker 1: so I would pull up, I would like try and
Speaker 1: make relationships, and I ended up making this really dope
Speaker 1: relationship with Reverb Nation and the owner of Reverb Nation,
Speaker 1: and he was like, oh, we had a band cancel
Speaker 1: on this opening night of this conference was called Driven
Speaker 1: Music Conference, and he was like, do you want to
Speaker 1: come perform for like all the executives at the executive dinner?
Speaker 1: And I was like duh, And I ended up performing
Speaker 1: there that night. Florida's A and R was at the
Speaker 1: executive dinner. I ended up leaving super fast because I
Speaker 1: had to show the next day. So he apparently was
Speaker 1: trying to find me after the dinner ended up not
Speaker 1: connecting at all, and he had sent someone out to
Speaker 1: like go to my show. The next day, this girl
Speaker 1: came to my show and was like Florida's and R
Speaker 1: has been trying to like find you for Like, was
Speaker 1: that the craziest thing to hear? Yeah, because I'm like,
Speaker 1: when you're doing stuff, you feel like nobody's watching, when
Speaker 1: really there are people in silence watching you at all times.
Speaker 1: And that was like a crazy moment because I'm like
Speaker 1: I was feeling like no one was like getting what
Speaker 1: I was doing. At the time, I was like, I
Speaker 1: feel like run down. I was like sixteen seventeen, and
Speaker 1: I had been doing this for like not super long,
Speaker 1: but like five years felt like a long time for me,
Speaker 1: And especially when you're so young, it's like your whole
Speaker 1: high school career basically, so you've given up normal high
Speaker 1: school things to pursue this passion. So yeah, that does
Speaker 1: seem like a really long time. Yeah, so that hindsight,
Speaker 1: it's not that long the career of somebody, but for
Speaker 1: that age, yes, I was like getting impatient and and
Speaker 1: then to hear that was like, Wow, this is like
Speaker 1: it's really dope to have recognition finally, So I ended
Speaker 1: up meeting with the A and R after the conference
Speaker 1: and he brought me to the studio Flow heard me
Speaker 1: live on the piano as well. I didn't have any
Speaker 1: original music at the time because I was doing covers
Speaker 1: on YouTube and I think I had like five six
Speaker 1: hundred thousand followers at that point. He signed me on
Speaker 1: the spot, and then two weeks later I was on
Speaker 1: tour with him, which was crazy. Was on tour with
Speaker 1: him for two years after That was the most influential
Speaker 1: time of my career. I think even when as I grow,
Speaker 1: I think that will still be the most influential time
Speaker 1: was being on tour with him because I literally learned
Speaker 1: I was his like guinea pig the entire tour, like
Speaker 1: I was his shadow. I was watching his interviews, his
Speaker 1: you know, performances, as rehearsals. I mean even in the studio,
Speaker 1: like when we had time off, I would be in
Speaker 1: l A with him as well, just the studio with
Speaker 1: the whole team and watching you know him take meetings
Speaker 1: at Atlantic and like movie meetings, like behind the scenes stuff.
Speaker 1: And I was like, this is so crazy, Like it's
Speaker 1: literally preparing me for what It's just kind of priceless,
Speaker 1: like you can't pay for that type of training, I
Speaker 1: feel like, and and he wasn't even considering it training.
Speaker 1: But in my head, I was like, this is like
Speaker 1: boot camp for me because he had made it and
Speaker 1: he you were basically able to see every aspect of it,
Speaker 1: from media training and being able to do a proper
Speaker 1: interview to the amount of hours he probably put into rehearsal.
Speaker 1: What was a common misconception that maybe you had at
Speaker 1: the time something you thought about the music industry that
Speaker 1: after being with Flow change your perspective on it. I
Speaker 1: think it was his ability to always like be on.
Speaker 1: In my head, I didn't realize like when you are
Speaker 1: that known. He had just released My House and it
Speaker 1: went straight to number one, like at the time that
Speaker 1: I was on tour with him, so he always constantly
Speaker 1: had to be on, like all the time. So when
Speaker 1: we were walking out in l a, like I would
Speaker 1: be in like sweats and like a sweatshirt and he
Speaker 1: would like be like, you have to go change because,
Speaker 1: like I'm going to tell you, like, this is not
Speaker 1: how you have to always be dressed looking ready like
Speaker 1: all the time. And it was true because every time,
Speaker 1: even when we were just trying to go for breakfast,
Speaker 1: like he was constantly being like stopped or you know,
Speaker 1: like taking meetings like in the middle of the day.
Speaker 1: It was just like stuff like that where I had
Speaker 1: no idea. I was like, I really, you know, you
Speaker 1: really need to be on at all times. In a way, though,
Speaker 1: I do think it's important to be real with your
Speaker 1: audience as well though, but he was definitely a really
Speaker 1: like dope person to be around when you know, he
Speaker 1: was like constantly being pulled and pushed in different directions,
Speaker 1: but he always was like dressed, ready to go all
Speaker 1: the time, which was like a huge learning experience for me.
Speaker 1: So he basically went to Flow University, learned what you
Speaker 1: had to learn, and then and then after that, my
Speaker 1: contract just ended. It was a mutual thing. He was
Speaker 1: an artist and you know, had to do his own thing.
Speaker 1: Was just so busy, and I was like, I just
Speaker 1: really need to focus on my stuff. I learned so
Speaker 1: much from him and that experience. You know, a lot
Speaker 1: of things in between as well. There were good times,
Speaker 1: bad times, but at the end of the day, I
Speaker 1: feel like I learned so much from that situation. I
Speaker 1: ended up moving on was independent for like a year
Speaker 1: and a half after that, um, and that's when I
Speaker 1: met you, right, Yes, so I finally got to release
Speaker 1: my own music. It was crazy because that through that
Speaker 1: whole deal, I hadn't released anything, which was really frustrating
Speaker 1: for me. I was learning so much and I felt,
Speaker 1: you know, like I was on tour touring Wembley Stadium
Speaker 1: like the biggest crowds I've ever been in front of ever,
Speaker 1: and I just hadn't released anything, and I was still
Speaker 1: feeling like I hadn't shown or got and to prove
Speaker 1: myself to anyone. Not that that was the goal, but
Speaker 1: I just was feeling like I needed to speak my mind.
Speaker 1: And that's frustrating. I mean, especially you. It's your passion
Speaker 1: to be an artist and you're of course you're learning
Speaker 1: and it's invaluable, but you're seeing someone else put content
Speaker 1: out and music out and you're just like, I want
Speaker 1: to do that too, exactly. So, and then even the
Speaker 1: artists we were doing shows with it was like up
Speaker 1: and coming artists as well, and you know, he was
Speaker 1: also watching, you know, the way that they were doing
Speaker 1: things as well for my career as well. So so yeah,
Speaker 1: after that was independent for a while, released my own music,
Speaker 1: you know, through my channel and stuff. I ended up
Speaker 1: petting like a million subs during that point. That's that's crazy,
Speaker 1: by the way, to have a million subscribers. It's really
Speaker 1: hard to get to that point on YouTube. I feel
Speaker 1: like that's the threshold. Once you hit a million, it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: you're legitimately you have a presence on YouTube. How was
Speaker 1: that for you? Well, I mean it took all that time,
Speaker 1: from like when I was in Atlanta all the way
Speaker 1: until the beginning of this year. What do you think
Speaker 1: helps your YouTube channel grow? What was there a spike
Speaker 1: in growth? It wasn't a slow and steady climb. It
Speaker 1: was a slow and steady climb. Like there was no
Speaker 1: like of course there were like the viral cover videos
Speaker 1: and like because my main content was cover music. It
Speaker 1: was always the main source of content was music, which
Speaker 1: I'm really proud that I stuck with that like my
Speaker 1: entire YouTube career, because now I'm like, they're wanting original
Speaker 1: stuff because of the renditions that I would make, they
Speaker 1: were so different from the originals. They almost sounded like
Speaker 1: totally different. So they're like, we need the original stuff.
Speaker 1: And sometimes it's hard for cover artists to stray away
Speaker 1: from covers because the audience is so used to hearing
Speaker 1: renditions of songs and stuff. But luckily my audience was
Speaker 1: like so for me putting out original content, so that
Speaker 1: was really exciting. It was a steady build though. It
Speaker 1: was like eight nine years of work and it wasn't
Speaker 1: like a, oh, I'm gonna do this prank and I'll
Speaker 1: get a million followers overnight. No, it took like so long,
Speaker 1: which but that's I feel like that's what creates longevity though,
Speaker 1: because it's like the whole theory of it's a race,
Speaker 1: it's a marathon, not a race. So it's okay, so
Speaker 1: you get a million followers overnight or doing a prank,
Speaker 1: but then what right, and you're not curating a real
Speaker 1: fan base. And I'm kind of grateful that it didn't
Speaker 1: take off overnight because I don't like think I would
Speaker 1: know how to utilize everything, and like not that I'm
Speaker 1: like slow with doing things, but I'm just like, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm very grateful that it happened to the way it
Speaker 1: did because I feel like I would just be so
Speaker 1: overwhelmed with what was going on and everything, and I'm
Speaker 1: just like really glad it happened that way because I
Speaker 1: have time to prepare and think about things. So now
Speaker 1: when something does happen overnight, I know how to like
Speaker 1: bounce off of it and take advantage of it. So
Speaker 1: and even in the last year, I would say, you've
Speaker 1: evolved so much as an artist. You had that time
Speaker 1: to curate the audience and not really like rush because
Speaker 1: if if people's first impressions of you were a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago, you're not the artist that you were
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. No, Yeah, and I mean
Speaker 1: I also signed to a brand new label at the
Speaker 1: end of last year, which was a big deal, very
Speaker 1: exciting because you were independent, which obviously affords you a
Speaker 1: lot of freedom. But yeah, being with the label is
Speaker 1: obviously great. It's because it's just awesome to have like
Speaker 1: a team that believes in you so much. At the
Speaker 1: end of last year, I signed with rebeca music group
Speaker 1: who connected me with Empire. So Tina Davis was she
Speaker 1: was shown my music and vibe actually, and she really
Speaker 1: loved it, ended up wanting to sign me. And I
Speaker 1: was signed an Empire in November last year. So it
Speaker 1: took this whole year too to come up with the
Speaker 1: EP and so many songs were written, so many songs
Speaker 1: were recorded, and it was just an amazing experience because
Speaker 1: this was this was another part of my career that
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, I'm like in the game now, like
Speaker 1: as far as music was because YouTube was like, I
Speaker 1: know how this works, but when it comes to like
Speaker 1: actual music business, being in the commercial world, it was
Speaker 1: like I was. It was my first time being in
Speaker 1: riding camps that were just dedicated to me. Like I
Speaker 1: would walk into the studio see a whiteboard with like
Speaker 1: my name on it, with like all the BMG writers
Speaker 1: who were coming in, and the scheduling and everything seems
Speaker 1: so organized. I was like, this is so crazy to
Speaker 1: me that I don't have to do this by myself now,
Speaker 1: not that it's anyway, you know, taking advantage of a situation,
Speaker 1: but it's like this is just so too. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know how to do all the things yourself, which
Speaker 1: I think is invaluable. And I think that's good that
Speaker 1: you didn't have that right away, because now you know
Speaker 1: how to do every piece of the puzzle and we
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Yeah, yeah, you appreciate it. But now, ow,
Speaker 1: it's really nice. I'm assuming because I've been in that
Speaker 1: position to as an on air talent, being the editor,
Speaker 1: being the producer, being the writer on my own stuff.
Speaker 1: And it's nice to just kind of show up and
Speaker 1: do your talent, do your thing, not that you can't
Speaker 1: do the other stuff or that you don't want to
Speaker 1: do the other stuff, because it's fun. Sometimes. I'm sure
Speaker 1: you're gonna want to write and produce your own songs
Speaker 1: and even edit your videos stuff. And you were telling
Speaker 1: me you're still editing the music for this, and it's
Speaker 1: not all of the work taken over. I'm still writing
Speaker 1: the songs very hands I'm still yeah, I'm very hands on,
Speaker 1: but it's you know, it's just so it's like we
Speaker 1: lifted off of your shoulders, like you know, and the
Speaker 1: whole team Empire has just been so freaking amazing. Like
Speaker 1: the support and the team that are behind every single
Speaker 1: move that I make is just awesome. And you know,
Speaker 1: they still let me have it my creative you know
Speaker 1: mind work through every move that I make. But they
Speaker 1: have their opinions and they're like, you can be an artist,
Speaker 1: and we're so just friendly, but like we're going to
Speaker 1: give you our opinions, and I value their opinions because
Speaker 1: they're so amazing and just have done so many dope
Speaker 1: things with dope artists, but they still let me be
Speaker 1: an artist. So I'm just I'm super grateful for that.
Speaker 1: And then we're here now and I think I've I've
Speaker 1: really written and recorded the best music I've ever done
Speaker 1: so far in my career. I'm really excited to put
Speaker 1: it out the rest of it. It's so excited for you.
Speaker 1: We are going to talk about the single, but I
Speaker 1: just want to touch on because a lot of artists
Speaker 1: who are listening to this, they may be indie right
Speaker 1: now and grappling with the idea of signing with the label,
Speaker 1: but there's so many stigmas with signing with the label
Speaker 1: versus being independent. What has been your experience overall in hindsight?
Speaker 1: Were there are things that you had to adjust to
Speaker 1: that We're like, any challenges with signing with the label
Speaker 1: versus being independent. There's an obvious thing where you don't
Speaker 1: have to answer to anybody when you're independent, but then
Speaker 1: when you're with a label, there's so many perks that
Speaker 1: come with it too. What was the biggest adjustment for you.
Speaker 1: The biggest adjustment I think was really being open to
Speaker 1: other people's opinions on things. When I was independent, it
Speaker 1: was like me and my management R and R, who
Speaker 1: have been with me forever, just us discussing, you know,
Speaker 1: what I wanted. And then now it's like, okay, well
Speaker 1: I have to Now I have a team which I
Speaker 1: value so much and love and respect. Now it's like, okay,
Speaker 1: well we want to try this and do this and
Speaker 1: do this, and then I'll oversee it and I'll make
Speaker 1: a couple of comments and stuff, and that was That
Speaker 1: was kind of the biggest adjustment I think was really
Speaker 1: having so many people, you know, so many cooks in
Speaker 1: the kitchen, but like I definitely they let me have
Speaker 1: the final say of things. But I'm just I think
Speaker 1: that was the biggest adjustment. Was having a lot of
Speaker 1: other people involved, which is an amazing thing, but definitely
Speaker 1: having to work with other people on creatives and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. It's been what's been your favorite thing about
Speaker 1: ending with a label? Favorite thing? Just like the team,
Speaker 1: having a like a support system, just having like a family.
Speaker 1: And honestly, Empire is like such a dope label label
Speaker 1: because they consider like their artists family. Like Ghazi wants
Speaker 1: to meet with every one of his artists that he
Speaker 1: signs before signing them, like he doesn't just want to
Speaker 1: sign them on the spot and not meet them. So
Speaker 1: I felt, really, you know, it felt good to have
Speaker 1: someone who actually cared and just isn't there for like
Speaker 1: numbers and stuff, music farm, farm factory, where it's just
Speaker 1: pumping out whatever they think about. They actually, yeah, I
Speaker 1: want to have a relationship. And and Tina Davis is
Speaker 1: my an R, and and she is just so she's
Speaker 1: doing more than what an ant R should be doing. Really,
Speaker 1: she's just literally like so hands on and like so awesome.
Speaker 1: And then you know, like I have my project manager
Speaker 1: and like you know so many different people that are
Speaker 1: in charge of different things, and you know, a person
Speaker 1: who like has my studio schedule, and like it's just
Speaker 1: awesome to have a team behind me that's like for
Speaker 1: me and so many dope creative ideas happening. Just so
Speaker 1: happy for you to be signed by them. Was it
Speaker 1: just like a pinch me moment? Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: know who they have signed and I it's yeah, it's amazing,
Speaker 1: and it's it was mostly driven towards like the urban,
Speaker 1: a lot of hip hop, a lot of rappers, a
Speaker 1: lot of R and B. So to come into the
Speaker 1: label as a pop artist was really dope because I
Speaker 1: think I also have a you have an R, but
Speaker 1: you have an urban vibe. Yeah, I do, and I
Speaker 1: like I love that about my voice and also my
Speaker 1: style is is I was. I grew up in a
Speaker 1: you know, I came up in the music industry and
Speaker 1: in R and B and like trained in Atlanta. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was dope. It was really really dope to to
Speaker 1: be in that environment. So to come into the label
Speaker 1: as well having a pop side now to the label
Speaker 1: is like really really cool, just like spreading into different
Speaker 1: areas and branching into like different genres, like they have
Speaker 1: country now they have you know, a whole Asian market
Speaker 1: and and K pop and like so many different genres now.
Speaker 1: It's like really cool to see them growing. I remember
Speaker 1: hearing about Empire when I was in Atlanta when I
Speaker 1: was like thirteen, and I was like, Okay, it's cool
Speaker 1: there like a distribution company, and it was cool to
Speaker 1: see them. And now the fact that they have like
Speaker 1: a whole to like so many different locations and like
Speaker 1: a whole like building, it's like crazy. And and I
Speaker 1: respect Ghazi and what he's built and like it's been
Speaker 1: just so so cool to see somebody who's so artist friendly,
Speaker 1: because not a lot of people are like that, and
Speaker 1: I've been in situations where it's like not like that
Speaker 1: at all, and it's really cool that I hear that
Speaker 1: a lot in the music industry, especially people who signed
Speaker 1: the labels. It's like the worst. Yeah, And I just
Speaker 1: think having someone at the head of the label who
Speaker 1: wants to be personal, personable with all artists that he signs,
Speaker 1: it's just so amazing. Sorry, I just got so shocked
Speaker 1: and I tried to throw some gum away and it
Speaker 1: like slowly fell out, and I looked at Alison and
Speaker 1: she was like, slowly put it back in. Whatever it happened.
Speaker 1: It's really it's authentic, it happened. So I want to
Speaker 1: talk about your single because i'd heard it before Alison
Speaker 1: Brian just heard it and they both loved it. How
Speaker 1: has been the response for this single, cry for Help?
Speaker 1: I mean, overall, it's been amazing, Okay, Like the response
Speaker 1: has been so crazy. I mean, this whole new world
Speaker 1: of like TikTok and Triller and like all these new things.
Speaker 1: I mean, the algorithm is crazy on TikTok, so the
Speaker 1: song has gone viral on TikTok, which is really dope,
Speaker 1: which has translated into streams and stuff. It's crazy, like
Speaker 1: the behind the scenes were work on like apps and stuff.
Speaker 1: It's just so, but how does what how does a
Speaker 1: song take off on because okay, so one of my
Speaker 1: best friends, her brother had a single and somehow someone
Speaker 1: on TikTok got ahold of it and it went viral
Speaker 1: and somehow that song just shot to like Spotify top ten.
Speaker 1: I think it was like up to four or something.
Speaker 1: And it all happened because of TikTok, because of tick.
Speaker 1: Like I that was another thing that Empire was like,
Speaker 1: you have to make a TikTok and I'm like, I
Speaker 1: don't know what the hell can we talk about TikTok.
Speaker 1: I don't know what TikTok was. I mean, I get it,
Speaker 1: but I don't get it. I get it. But so
Speaker 1: baby Ariel was in here and she's like the most
Speaker 1: followed person on TikTok. It was musically we did a
Speaker 1: TikTok together and to me, and I'm sure I'm missing something,
Speaker 1: but it just seems like you're putting a video. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there there's no it's literally like there's so many different
Speaker 1: things you can do. It's like lip sinking or people
Speaker 1: are talking and stuff are like doing a skit or something.
Speaker 1: But then it's the difference between doing that on your
Speaker 1: insta TikTok. At first, I thought TikTok had all these
Speaker 1: and I think they do have special editing features and
Speaker 1: they have duets and things like that. Trailler does the
Speaker 1: same thing. They have these like special things you can
Speaker 1: do that you couldn't do on Instagram. So I guess
Speaker 1: that's the thing or the demo that's on TikTok. I
Speaker 1: think it might be the demographic that's TikTok because it's
Speaker 1: literally like they're young. They're very young. And that's why
Speaker 1: I was scared for the song to be on there,
Speaker 1: because like it's not a clean song. Just to let
Speaker 1: you guys know, the first line is Macy, you want
Speaker 1: to take this. I feel very uncomfortable saying it out loud.
Speaker 1: It's hey, you want to fuck? Yeah. The first line
Speaker 1: is hey, you want to fuck? Like you said no.
Speaker 1: But but I'm a mother now I can't say just kidding.
Speaker 1: I say the effort for like a down verb adjective
Speaker 1: efforts my favorite, but in that context, you're being quite
Speaker 1: forward with the fellas. Yes. So with the TikTok market,
Speaker 1: they were like, oh, like, I think because you can
Speaker 1: choose as an artist, you can choose what part of
Speaker 1: the song you want to put in it. And I
Speaker 1: was like, okay, well, I'm not going to choose the
Speaker 1: part of the song, but that's the part I saw
Speaker 1: people doing. Yes, So my label was like, Okay, we're
Speaker 1: going to put in like the first line, and then
Speaker 1: we're also going to do um the chorus part. And
Speaker 1: I was like, all right, see how it goes. So
Speaker 1: I did a TikTok myself. I was like one of
Speaker 1: the first ones who did the song on TikTok and
Speaker 1: I did the first verse and I was like, all right,
Speaker 1: let's see how it does. It literally went viral like
Speaker 1: two days after. But but is it because you have
Speaker 1: a ton of followers on TikTok. I don't though I
Speaker 1: made a TikTok like the day the song drops, then
Speaker 1: how do people even find it? So the song ended
Speaker 1: up it started trending more people, I guess, like one
Speaker 1: TikTok person who had like over a million followers like
Speaker 1: found the song and did TikTok, and then it was
Speaker 1: like people started doing it aft by the way, it
Speaker 1: makes sense, like who doesn't want to say, hey, want
Speaker 1: to funk? It's like I just said that work. I know.
Speaker 1: It's like I feel like this is what like freaking
Speaker 1: kids now like high school, they're like this is these
Speaker 1: are the type of because honestly, if we want to
Speaker 1: really go I don't know if we're going to go
Speaker 1: deep into the meaning of the song. I mean, like
Speaker 1: the meaning of this song is like there's people online
Speaker 1: now a days are they feel like they're so put together,
Speaker 1: Like it feels like on the outside it's so put together,
Speaker 1: you know, everything seems so perfect and like just when
Speaker 1: it's not, and like on the inside, we really just
Speaker 1: don't know what's going on behind the scenes, behind the camera.
Speaker 1: And I know it sounds it's like overdone and cliche
Speaker 1: to say, but it's like it it's not always perfect,
Speaker 1: Like it's not always how it seems. Cry for help
Speaker 1: is like I don't have my ship together. I don't
Speaker 1: have everything perfect or in line or anything. I am
Speaker 1: going through ship. I'm may be depressed some days, I
Speaker 1: may not be like I'm not all perfect and dope
Speaker 1: as I may seem, um, and it's just a cry
Speaker 1: for help. Like I feel like people think they're alone
Speaker 1: in it, and like at times I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: alone with you know, my struggles and my day to
Speaker 1: day feelings and personally, and you know, I have so
Speaker 1: much happening in like my business life. I don't really
Speaker 1: like take a second to stop and reflect on everything
Speaker 1: that I've done behind the scenes and like what I've
Speaker 1: been through and like just really sat and been like whoa,
Speaker 1: Like this is all it's success. I think it's I
Speaker 1: think it's hard. There's like a lot of layers to it. One,
Speaker 1: if you are somebody who's considered a public figure, you're
Speaker 1: obviously have an online presence, which means you're obviously online,
Speaker 1: which means you're seeing other people's online stuff and no
Speaker 1: one's putting out there. Oh I just went to my
Speaker 1: sixth meeting where nobody signed me. Like, no one's saying that,
Speaker 1: but what they are posting is their shoe at Universal
Speaker 1: Music being like meetings, So that's what you're seeing, but
Speaker 1: you're not seeing that after that meeting and they didn't
Speaker 1: get a call back. No nobody says that, so we
Speaker 1: even I even see like people borrowing like cars and
Speaker 1: like clothes and like taking pictures in it as if
Speaker 1: it's there's and like really they could like look like
Speaker 1: the richest, most happiest person online when really they are not.
Speaker 1: They could be like living in a on account or
Speaker 1: something that annoys me beyond and like I'm just like
Speaker 1: I wonder what's going through their mind when they're like
Speaker 1: they come home and they're off all of that, like
Speaker 1: cry for help. The song is like what I think
Speaker 1: about is like maybe that it's like what is really happening,
Speaker 1: Like they don't really have their ship together, you know.
Speaker 1: But the problem is it's like a it's a bad
Speaker 1: cycle because those people are trying to catch up with
Speaker 1: the other people, but the other people are trying to
Speaker 1: catch up with also might not really have it together.
Speaker 1: So like there's this vicious cycle of seeing that person
Speaker 1: as a lambo. I need to have a lambo, so
Speaker 1: let me rent a lamba with that I should be
Speaker 1: paying rent with just for this Instagram blex. And then
Speaker 1: you go home to your ten roommates and your shitty
Speaker 1: apartment and you're like, okay, so now I'm getting likes,
Speaker 1: but now what So it's just like a bad site,
Speaker 1: and the people were looking up to it's not what
Speaker 1: it seems either, like even the people if you're looking
Speaker 1: up to a celebrity who has all the designer clothes,
Speaker 1: you're not realizing, like designers are giving those clothes to
Speaker 1: those celebrities for free, not that they can't afford it,
Speaker 1: but it's like everything is so unrealistic and unattainable. And
Speaker 1: I get that, I hear that. I think it's really
Speaker 1: I wish and I hope for like the next generation,
Speaker 1: Like I think about my son. This is gonna sound
Speaker 1: really cheesy, but I'm sad for like the kids coming
Speaker 1: up in this I mean too, Like that's I think.
Speaker 1: I think also with the kids that are on TikTok
Speaker 1: and like all of those types of people, they didn't
Speaker 1: they didn't they don't know any difference, Like they don't
Speaker 1: they didn't grow up playing outside or you know, doing
Speaker 1: normal kids stuff. It's like all digital now, which it's
Speaker 1: a blessing and also occurs because I mean people literally
Speaker 1: can now make a living off of posting and social media.
Speaker 1: But then also the the sad part is like how
Speaker 1: like I look at videos now and I'm looking at
Speaker 1: these couples and like these family channels, and I'm like, so, like,
Speaker 1: how much of this is like real? I'm hearing so
Speaker 1: many drama stories about things happening, and I like, so
Speaker 1: what do I believe in? What do I not? Like?
Speaker 1: It's really true? And I think I think the solution
Speaker 1: to it all, which no one's ever going to band
Speaker 1: together and do this, is just to keep it real.
Speaker 1: Because at the end of the day, digital is great.
Speaker 1: Online is great. You know, like you could have a
Speaker 1: hit out. You don't need a label, you could have
Speaker 1: a great voice, put your ship out there and be
Speaker 1: the number one person on Spotify tomorrow because the internet
Speaker 1: is the ultimate equalizer, Like you don't need labels, you
Speaker 1: don't need big managers or agents. So it's a huge
Speaker 1: blessing and I love digital for that reason. What I
Speaker 1: don't love it for is all the fake flexing. It
Speaker 1: bothers me beyond, and that's what I want cry for
Speaker 1: help to. You know, although it is vulgar and and
Speaker 1: raunchy in a way, I do want people to see
Speaker 1: beyond that and just know that there are people that
Speaker 1: are being real and like showing you that they don't
Speaker 1: have their ship together and stuff and I think that
Speaker 1: song is what you know, relates, it relates to that
Speaker 1: and just lets people know they aren't alone. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's really it's a really great song. It's unfiltered, it's
Speaker 1: super real, and it is the tone of the other
Speaker 1: music that you plan to release, going to kind of
Speaker 1: like piggyback off of that general vibe. Yeah, there are
Speaker 1: a lot of in the my project coming up the EP,
Speaker 1: there's just it's all honesty, and I mean since I
Speaker 1: released Vibe, I've been through I mean even since I
Speaker 1: wrote Vibe, which was like two years before I released it,
Speaker 1: I've just grown so much. I've been through so many
Speaker 1: situations and relationships and situation ships and you know, I
Speaker 1: mean there's there was so much to talk about. So
Speaker 1: there's definitely a lot of honesty and also like you know,
Speaker 1: having fun and and you know, living life and stuff,
Speaker 1: because I feel like that's where I'm at in the
Speaker 1: point of my life right now, is just living your
Speaker 1: life and being present in moments. And there's a variety
Speaker 1: of songs of different cons ups on the EP. Do
Speaker 1: you know which one is going to be your next single?
Speaker 1: Right now? I'm not allowed to say, Okay, don't say,
Speaker 1: I don't say it, but there is a single, yes,
Speaker 1: And how do we feel about this single? I'm really excited.
Speaker 1: Is it similar to this one or is it it's
Speaker 1: actually different. It's a little bit different. I mean all
Speaker 1: of the songs are sort of in the same direction.
Speaker 1: I'm a sucker for ballads, so like I have a
Speaker 1: voice for ballots, you have to take advantage. I have
Speaker 1: to do at least like a couple of ballads. I'm
Speaker 1: just so excited for those, really, because it's just it's
Speaker 1: a lot of like the words. You may think it's
Speaker 1: like it means something about like a relationship or something,
Speaker 1: but I really was in the mindset of like something else.
Speaker 1: And it's just kind of know when that's going to
Speaker 1: be released. I don't have a release date. Don't release date, okay,
Speaker 1: but you have to let us know. I will so
Speaker 1: back to cry for help. I actually was lucky enough
Speaker 1: to get also Snike pick Go the music video, which
Speaker 1: is actually finally released by the time this Yeah, so
Speaker 1: we can we're gonna say it's out because right today
Speaker 1: it's not out, but it's gonna be out. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be it is out now, so go check it out,
Speaker 1: right now can ever help. Music video now officially out.
Speaker 1: It's official, so talk we I just watched it. It
Speaker 1: is so good. And I'm not just saying that I'm
Speaker 1: a sucker for music videos. I love music videos that
Speaker 1: surprised us and shock us. And this music video it's
Speaker 1: a shocker, folks. Yes, it's it's amazing. It was directed
Speaker 1: by Michelle Parker, who is just so dope. I am
Speaker 1: very hands on with my visuals. I came from the
Speaker 1: video world. I felt like I literally went through school
Speaker 1: just by like being a YouTuber, because you learned so
Speaker 1: much about editing and and audio and visuals and like
Speaker 1: different like hidden things and videos, and it's just it's
Speaker 1: it's a really cool thing to go through as a YouTuber.
Speaker 1: So when it comes to my original stuff, I am
Speaker 1: very very hands on in the creative process. So this video,
Speaker 1: I had an idea, I had a vision. I actually
Speaker 1: came to Michelle with a totally different vision for the video.
Speaker 1: I like edited a whole piece from like, you know,
Speaker 1: different music videos from the past, like Rihanna's videos. I
Speaker 1: would like I just edited this whole piece. I was like,
Speaker 1: this is what I wanted to look like, just over
Speaker 1: the top type of stuff. And then I had like
Speaker 1: another idea like later that week, and I was like, well,
Speaker 1: what if like we did something with like Barbies or something,
Speaker 1: and like I was a Barbie or like, I was
Speaker 1: just like thinking of different things to do with like
Speaker 1: this whole Barbie thing. So then I got on the
Speaker 1: phone with like my whole team and then the director
Speaker 1: as well, and she created this like super dope treatment
Speaker 1: of like sugar baby vibes, but like psycho vibes. In
Speaker 1: the first literally in the first thirty seconds, I look
Speaker 1: at mazing. I'm like, you're a psycho in this ship.
Speaker 1: And she's like, I mean, you guys have to see it.
Speaker 1: I Am not just saying this. You will be you
Speaker 1: will be entertained. It's it's honestly, like I just psychotic.
Speaker 1: I think I've done that like five million times on
Speaker 1: this interview. Like, make sure you guys check it out.
Speaker 1: They just have to google it. Right. It's not on
Speaker 1: your YouTube channel obviously, right, So it is. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: like you put on your YouTube. Yeah, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: on my YouTube channel. Oh my gosh, okay, so on
Speaker 1: your channel. Yeah, so it's on her YouTube channel. Make
Speaker 1: sure you guys check that out. It's very, very very psychotic.
Speaker 1: I love it. But she's also such a babe through
Speaker 1: this psychotic behavior, which I appreciate. I'm going to have
Speaker 1: you introduce your song because we're going to play it.
Speaker 1: That's how we're rolling out of this, bitch. I'm not
Speaker 1: calling you a bit. I'm saying we're rolling out. I
Speaker 1: literally think when you were like, I'm gonna finesse and
Speaker 1: get your song premiered here, and I was like, I
Speaker 1: can't you a bit? And then you were like, I it,
Speaker 1: You're not that kind of it. You know you're like
Speaker 1: this because I feel like there's like a your bitch
Speaker 1: or bitch and that's like the homie bitch. That's like
Speaker 1: bitch and it really means I love you. Let's drink
Speaker 1: some wine and celebrate. But okay, I'm gonna have you
Speaker 1: intro your song because I don't want to do that.
Speaker 1: You've you've got to do it and say, you know,
Speaker 1: whatever you need to say. But guys, I hope you
Speaker 1: enjoyed this interview. I sure did well. Before we leave,
Speaker 1: I do want to say I literally met you, like
Speaker 1: what was it like two years ago or something like
Speaker 1: half ago, and like your support by not even knowing
Speaker 1: me that well, Like it's so real, and like I
Speaker 1: just appreciate you so much, and like you're like one
Speaker 1: of the like literally like the like one of my
Speaker 1: favorite radio hosts and like, to be honest, like not
Speaker 1: a lot of people will like hop on the bandwagon
Speaker 1: and be like I'm here to support you, and I
Speaker 1: feel like, oh, I not only hop on I bully people.
Speaker 1: I was bullying a big ep at I heart radio
Speaker 1: to play your ship like raight up, Like you are
Speaker 1: just so like supportive of my career and you don't
Speaker 1: even know me that well. It's just like this is
Speaker 1: so real, Like I just love it and you can
Speaker 1: I feel your vibe and like, well, let me tell
Speaker 1: you something about your vibe, Penny. The reason I support
Speaker 1: you is because not only are you talent is talented
Speaker 1: people are everywhere, but you have something that I hope
Speaker 1: people can look up to and aspire to be, Like
Speaker 1: because you work hard, are we going to like wear
Speaker 1: the tissues? You work hard, You're really talented, and I
Speaker 1: think you have a really good head on your shoulders
Speaker 1: and you're not above the work, like you've put the
Speaker 1: work in. So I want you to get the fifty
Speaker 1: Grammys that we talk about because they're going to and
Speaker 1: anyway that I can support you, whether it's you know,
Speaker 1: doing some kind of weird ship with this computer that's
Speaker 1: in front of me and making sure that every song
Speaker 1: he thinks he's playing is not actually what it is.
Speaker 1: But it's your song. I will figure it out. I'll
Speaker 1: make it happen. I'll hire some kind of like computer hacker.
Speaker 1: Go ahead, introduce your song. I'm so excited for you
Speaker 1: can gratulations total loom. So here we go. You are
Speaker 1: now listening to I think this is the first time
Speaker 1: it's been on the radio. Hey guys, I am a
Speaker 1: c Kate and you are listening to my new single
Speaker 1: cry for Help. That wasn't fact though, Hey, I want
Speaker 1: to fuck Did I just say that? Oh my god,
Speaker 1: I feel stupid. Am I think I made to stop
Speaker 1: t buck away. I don't want to drown you. And
Speaker 1: my mistake it was saying, don't stand so close somebodys
Speaker 1: while my always stuck upon my fucking blue so busy
Speaker 1: trying to love the pain? Why am I aspecting like
Speaker 1: I'm still cold? In said that this my cry for
Speaker 1: he can get you push it together in the grounds.
Speaker 1: Everything I try, but this it just sticks for him.
Speaker 1: And when the family made guy, I'm trying to trying
Speaker 1: to bathe in whatever do I guess get an alive
Speaker 1: and give them up. I didn't push it together. Consider
Speaker 1: that this is my cry for help again, I got
Speaker 1: no keys, just let me in and the yolka and
Speaker 1: he plays it feels like I'm never done scream Why
Speaker 1: am I always stuck up on my fucking brog? So
Speaker 1: where is he trying to mount the pain? Why am
Speaker 1: I always said, Tony come stick coldish? Consider that this
Speaker 1: was perfectly sticking rush it together in the produce every day.
Speaker 1: Try this just stakes forever. And when the family did go,
Speaker 1: it's where I try to believe me. What the funny
Speaker 1: do I guess get an early evential evening is getting
Speaker 1: rush it together? Consider that this is my cright for help.
Speaker 1: You see that this repart. You see that this why
Speaker 1: am I always stuck up on my bucking bro up loose?
Speaker 1: So there's a trying amount the pain. Why am I
Speaker 1: always saying that I come selling cold? Consider that this
Speaker 1: my cry phone can think they get muship togetherful in
Speaker 1: the prodest livery thing true, But this one just takes
Speaker 1: for him, and when the funny guys trying to believe
Speaker 1: it try whately do I guess getting out of your
Speaker 1: giving push aga. Consider that this is my cry for
Speaker 1: help behind the influence of the production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and t DC Media.