WEBVTT - Yvette Nicole Brown 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:25.120 That's okay because no one here is. 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:27.880 Hello. 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:33.880 Listeners of teen Beat or teats, Hmm, no, it doesn't 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:36.640 sound like I hoped it would, So let me know 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:38.320 in the comments what your thoughts are on that one. 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:40.640 I am Danielle Fischl, the host of teen Beat, a 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:44.199 podcast where I sit down with interesting people with just 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:48.040 one goal to make them admit they were awkward teenagers. 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.279 We all were, but some of us had to live 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:55.560 those years out on television, experiencing puberty and childhood confusion 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:58.480 in front of millions. So now is my chance to 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.400 settle the score and force other celebrities to spill their 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:06.400 guts and expose their upbringings funniest memories. The concept is simple, 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:09.720 I gave you my childhood, it's time we hear yours. 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.400 And this week I'm chatting with one of the funniest 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:18.200 people in anything that involves a camera. Television, movies, cartoons, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:22.240 game shows, talk shows, award shows, after shows, probably dog shows. 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.280 Anything she appears in or on is made infinitely better 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.600 because of her involvement. You probably know her best as 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:33.600 Shirley Bennett from the cult classic TV show Community, stealing 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:37.600 scenes like some sort of charming pickpocket and leaving behind 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:41.240 a path of memes like my favorite donning her passive 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:45.800 aggressive smile with the catchphrase that's nice, or you know 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:48.520 her as Helen from Drake and Josh, or her Emmy 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.280 nominated appearance on The Black Ladies Sketch Show. 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.400 How about from movies like Zootopia Too and. 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:59.000 Somehow Avengers Endgame and here's some range. She's hosted The 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:02.800 View and The Talking Dead, which probably have more in 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.160 common than we'd like to think. She won Celebrity Family 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:10.440 Feud but lost Celebrity Jeopardy, was signed to Michael Bivins 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.480 and saying let's hear it for the boy well dressed 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.680 as a bird. Plus, she is also the only person 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.639 in history to have appeared on both Real Housewives of 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:25.160 Atlanta and Critical Role Guys. She has done it all 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.560 except appear on the teen Beat podcast with Daniel Fischl, 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:32.000 and we are taking care of that today because underneath 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:36.160 all that talent and before the incredible achievements, she might 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:40.240 be hiding an awkward teenager ready to share embarrassment with 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:44.720 the world. So please welcome to the podcast. This week's guest, 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:46.440 Yvette Nicole Brown. 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.840 Wow, that might be the best intro I have ever 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:52.639 received in my entire life. 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:54.280 Wow, I was like. 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:54.880 Did I do that? 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:56.040 I did that? 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:56.280 Was? 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:57.240 That was awesome? 0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:58.600 Isn't it so great to. 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:02.919 Hear your accomplish read back to you in someone else's 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:05.880 voice when you're just like not really fully prepared for it. 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:07.959 It's like, Wow, look I did all. 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.639 That, especially when it's someone like you who's climbed the mountain. 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:12.560 So it's really nice that you took the time to 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:14.760 do that and to do the research, and that was 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.040 really lovely. Thanks well. 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:19.280 I am so happy that you're here, so honored that 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:24.000 you're joining me today. You have truly done just too 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.200 much in your career in the best way possible. It's 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:31.680 really impressive. I want to start with the East Coast family. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:34.080 Yes, you're Cleveland born. 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.320 And bred and yet somehow entered the Philly centric universe 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:41.800 of Michael Bivens's motown record label BIV ten. How old 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:44.280 were you when you were signed to him and how 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.080 did you get connected to a member of Bell Bivdevo. 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:50.240 I was nineteen when I met him. I'd been a 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:52.040 fan of New Addition since I was twelve when they 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:53.120 first came out in eighty three. 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:54.000 I was like that's it. 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:56.480 That's my group, and they're up for the Rock Hall 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:58.880 of Fame right now, So please vote, everybody, get out 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.240 and vote for new edition. So I've been an Inny 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:03.360 for Lifers what they call us, since I was twelve. 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:05.280 But when I was nineteen, I was a sophomore in 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.440 college and Michael was was, you know, talking about boys 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:11.680 to men and another bad creation, and he was managing 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:13.720 and I'm like, I'm a singer. He's got to manage me. 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:15.840 He's got to manage me. So I kind of stalked 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.680 him after a concert in Cleveland. Jeff Dison, his bodyguard, 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:21.840 helped me find where they were staying, and I stalked him. 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.640 I was like, mister Bimmins, massing for you. Mister Bimin's 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.000 massing for you. Mind you. Michael was maybe three or 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.080 four years older than me. Mister Bibvens, what am I daughters, 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:29.720 I'm like two. 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:32.440 So he finally let me sing for him, and the 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:34.320 next day called me and said, I want to manage you. 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.000 And then I was in the East Coast family. It 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:39.160 was the most miraculous thing, but the craziest thing about 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.640 my stir with Michael. So we go from fan of 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:45.320 New Edition to sign by Michael and on biften Records, 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:47.720 to working as Michael's assistant when I first moved to 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:50.960 La to then playing his mother in the New Edition movie. 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:54.000 So I literally it's a full circle. 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:55.760 I have that in here that I was going to 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.440 ask you. Didn't you playing his mother in the movie. 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:00.960 Was that something like you guys had stayed in touch 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.080 and you were like, hey, let's work together, or did 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:04.320 that just want? 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:06.279 I mean we stayed in touch, like me and Michael 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.159 have been in touch since I first met him, but 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:10.599 we weren't like, it's not like we're doing a movie 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:11.760 of our life. 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:12.880 Do you want to play my mot No? 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:16.120 I auditioned to it at least twice with every other 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:18.880 black woman of a certain age in Hollywood, and just 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.039 so happened that that's the mom I got. We all 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:24.719 auditioned for random mom right then they once they picked 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:27.719 the mothers or the actresses they wanted, they then put 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.839 us with the different New Edition member And I got Michael. 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.320 From mister Bivens at nineteen to play in his mom. 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:37.600 Mom and I'm still friends with his mom. I owe 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.680 a call. His mom is a vibe. Shirley Bibvens is 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:41.200 a vibe. 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:42.159 He's a vibe. 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:47.200 What a trajectory of friendship. I love that you were 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.279 one of maybe two hundred and fifty young adults he 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.800 signed at the time, including like we mentioned, another bad creation, 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:55.440 Boys to Men and mc brains. 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.880 Was was it as fun as it sounds? 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:01.560 It was the most fun because you know, one you know, 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:03.839 you grow up in your dreaming, like I always wanted 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:05.960 to be a singer, even more than being an actress. 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:06.679 I want to be a singer. 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:09.880 So I'm already living like that dream just being around them. 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:11.719 But it was also at the beginning of Boys to 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.840 Men and Boys to Men became a super nova. This 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.520 is before the Road, you know. So I got to 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.479 watch them grow. And I just went to the amazing 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:22.719 concert new Edition Boys to Men Tony Brax and go 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.000 see it if you haven't seen, to be at that 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:28.159 concert and know that everyone on that stage was my friend. 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:30.919 Everyone on that stage I have their phone number or 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.160 have a memory with them. And to be able to 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:36.479 celebrate all of them as they celebrated each other. You know, 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:38.719 I just did a film, a lifetime film with Tony Braxton. 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:41.080 She's like my sister, so it was like, it's just 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.040 amazing the full circle moments I've had. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.040 I know you've had a few, probably at your age. 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.000 I'm the older. But even when you get you hold 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:49.000 you have you cross forty yet? 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:50.760 Oh yeah, forty, I'm going to be forty five. 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.240 Oh my god, you're still a baby. But like, once 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:56.279 you cross over forty, it's like your life plays in 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.159 front of you a thousand different ways, either the children 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:02.000 you're raising, or people you worked with, or you know, 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.760 thirty years of a show, like all of that stuff, 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:07.160 it just comes back in ways, and it's nice to 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.360 still be alive to witness those wins. 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:13.520 And to correct and like you said, to celebrate those 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:18.360 accomplishments of your friends who it is rare to have 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:22.360 a long career in the entertainment industry. So the fact 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:26.160 that you can count on multiple hands the people and 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:28.480 going look at you and look at you, and we're still. 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.120 Doing it, it's such a great feeling. 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.920 It's amazing. It's Yeah, my husband is a massive fan 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:38.520 of the One for All music video you appear in. 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:40.720 Oh yeah, and you know that is the most random 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:41.880 thing I've ever heard. 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:44.800 Oh really, Oh yeah, big big fan. What do you 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:46.360 remember from filming that day. 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.160 I remember that we shot it in Houston, and it's 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.080 my first time going to Texas and it was so hot. 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:51.680 I remember that. 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.640 I remember just thinking that it was going to be 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:57.680 a moment, and I think we all thought that this 0:07:57.880 --> 0:07:59.840 was our beginning. You know, it was not true for 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:02.120 most of us, but we were like, this is it. 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:03.840 We about to be shot out like a cannon. And 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:07.760 one of my sharpest memories is I remember Mary J. 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:10.720 Blige's first album, What's the four One one had just 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:13.880 come out, so we were on set listening to Mary J. 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.280 Blige and she and I think she's maybe one year 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:18.600 older than me, but I remember going, gosh, she's amazing. Yeah, 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:20.920 I was twenty she was twenty one, and I was like, oh, 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:22.920 this is so great. She's gonna be a big star. 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:26.320 Like I just have snapshots of moments like that. And 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.880 then just getting to spend the whole day with everybody 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:31.160 in the East Coast family was really wonderful. It was 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.199 we did that day and then the day we were recording, 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:34.960 and we traveled a bit and toured a bit with 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.319 each other. So I have a lot of memories from 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:39.880 being a teenager just chasing that dream Well. 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.200 One of the very specific questions he wanted me to 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:46.520 ask you is about Fruit Punch, the kid at the beginning. 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:48.880 Of the song. He was dressed like Rkle and we 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:50.400 never heard from him again. 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:56.360 That was Ryan, That is Michael's cousin. His mom, Dianne Bivins, 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:58.960 was like our road manager of the East Coast Family, 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.800 and she actually is the first person outside of a 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.000 high school teacher, that told me I should pursue acting 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.000 because I auditioned and stuff while I was I started 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:08.880 auditioning during the East Coast Family, but I was still 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:11.760 in Cleveland, so it didn't stick. But she's the one 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.880 that put that in me, besides my my acting teacher 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:15.640 in high school, MSSC. 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:15.880 Curry. 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.240 She's the one that told me you could do this. 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:20.679 So anyway, Ryan Fruit Punch was her son, and so 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:23.520 I don't know that he ever had dreams of being 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.560 a performer. I just think he was a cute kid. 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.480 And Mike was like, come about this this manhole and 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:30.680 you know, start the song. 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:33.640 He's like, all right, done, done. 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.719 Are there any fashion trends from this day or from 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:39.719 the specific time and hip hop and R and B 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:41.560 that you would like to see come back. I can 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:45.240 give you some examples like airbrushed overalls with one strap 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:49.200 off starter jackets, biker shorts are kind of back, like 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:52.600 we already have that baggy designer leather jackets on women. 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:56.080 Maybe even shoulder pads, anything you're fond of. 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:58.920 I'm a fan of shoulder pads, a good fan. I'm 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.280 a big fan of men's wear. I'm in a tie. 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:05.240 I'm in a tie only video on a vest i 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:08.240 like a few French rolls and a little tendrils. It's 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:10.160 a lot of some hair things that we might or 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:12.760 may not want to bring back, you know. And then also, 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:14.840 I this wasn't in the video, but I always fly 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:16.040 a flag for hair and pants. 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:18.400 Oh I love it. I love it. Not not an 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:20.640 empty hammer hammer pants. It's a little too much for me. 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:25.559 When a low drop crotched. You know, it's a wonderful. 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:29.599 Garment, absolutely, especially in like a nice thin fabricable. 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:31.520 Oh yeah, linen. 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:33.760 Silk, come on, come on there, it is there. 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.960 It is so on community. Did you talk music with 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:38.800 Donald Glover? 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.160 I feel like he was heavily inspired by the era 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:43.000 you grew. 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:44.920 Up making music. And I was in a Donald Glover 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:45.920 music video. 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:46.720 I feel like I know this. 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:47.640 Yeah, I was. 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.160 I feel like I play I'm in like a dream 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:51.040 sequence and one of his in one of his. 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:52.360 Videos, like, I feel like I know this. 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:54.240 Yeah, did you talk music with him? 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:55.559 I feel like you would have had a crush when 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.000 you was a kid too, So I think that's well. 0:10:57.120 --> 0:10:59.280 Did he think maybe we I ended up in the 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:00.880 video because he had? 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:02.640 I think you did. I think that's how it worked out. 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:05.320 We did. We? You know, a lot of us on 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.400 the show are musical. Kim Jung actually has a beautiful voice. 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:09.679 I don't know if people know this about Ken Jong. 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:11.320 He's an amazing singer, and I think and he plays 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.160 panel too, So we all had a lot of conversations. 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:18.640 Donald was the most efficient user of time on the 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:19.360 community set. 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:21.439 He created Atlanta. 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:25.160 On off time, on community he created he became Childish Gambino. 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.920 At our community table, we had the. 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.040 Wu Tang I don't know what it was, called the 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:32.559 Wu Tang aggregator or Wu Tang. It was this thing, 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.160 this Wu Tang clan thing where you could find your 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.920 Wu Tang name by using this little whatever. 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:38.200 This thing was. 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.040 So we all got our names, and Donald's was childish Cambino. 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.400 That's how he became childish Cambino happened at the table. 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:45.800 We'd have a break and he'd be with his computer 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:50.040 doing beats. Like he's always been just an efficient user 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.440 of time. Yeah, you know how they say in Hamilton, 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:54.960 you know, why do you write like you're running out 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.280 of time? Donald does everything like he's running out of time. 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.080 So we did talk about it, but it was like 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:01.400 something he was just doing. 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:03.480 You know what I mean, he was just constantly creating. 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:05.599 He's always creating. He's one of I've said this in 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:07.640 other interviews, but he's one of the most creative people 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:10.000 I've ever met. Never met Michael Jackson, never met Prince 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:12.880 so I can't speak on their level of creativity. But 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:16.200 Donald can do everything creative. He can bake, he can dance, 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.320 he can draw, he can knit, he can knit. Wow, 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:23.319 he can dance. He does comedy, he writes, he sings, 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:26.679 he he raps like he literally anything creative he can 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:28.839 put his hand to and make it magic. So we 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:30.560 saw that he would come in go I wrote this song, 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:31.760 and it'd be a song that ended up on his 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:33.319 album Camp Like he's just he's a. 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:36.719 Beast, right, Yeah, I had a wonderful time with him. 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:39.040 It was clapping for the wrong reasons is the name 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.840 of the video that I was in, And uh yeah, 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:47.160 I remember also thinking that day, Wow, he never really sits. 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:50.800 He doesn't he doesn't relax because you know, when I 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.600 was needed, I was there, and then when I wasn't needed, 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.320 I was just like relaxing, and he when he was 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.720 not needed in front, he was on something, he was 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.880 working on something, he was writing something, he was just 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:02.719 he was. 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:03.319 Go, go go. 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:05.840 But boy, it was a really cool experience for me 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:06.960 to see him in action. 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:19.520 I love that he's a sweetheart. 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.120 We saw each other recently, you and I both freaking 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.440 out at a Janet Jackson concert, and I don't know 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:31.960 about you, but I was absolutely blown away by how 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.120 great she still is. 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.480 Listen, I love her so much. And this is not 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:39.800 news to anyone that's ever heard me talk about Janet 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:43.040 like she's my number one, Like I think she's just 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:45.439 First of all, she's very kind. I'm blessed to say 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:49.800 that we're friends now. She's very kind, very loving, very supportive, 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.720 very accessible. And then that's just her as a human being. 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:55.880 But then you moved to her as an artist and 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.520 the fact that she has perfect pitch, the fact that 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:01.319 she can stack vocals like her other stacked vocals. 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:03.400 She's a beast in the studio. 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:06.640 Jimmy jam has told me stories of working with her 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.240 and how amazing it is, and she's humble. Yeah, and 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.280 she just regular, you know, she's just she's just the best. 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:14.720 And she's you know, coming up on sixty and you 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:18.600 would do sixty where that woman got the knee ware 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:20.680 at the knees of a thirty five year old, she'd 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:23.280 be the way she dances, my lord. 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:24.800 It was. It was really incredible. 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:28.360 I mean I went in having really no expectations because 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:30.080 I didn't know, like when was the last time I 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.160 had seen her perform, And literally just kept looking around 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:34.880 like is this Relia? 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:39.280 And she sang the entire time, the entire time. 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:41.400 I kept thinking, when are they gonna put When is 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:42.920 she gonna sit down to take a break? 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.120 Nope, saying the entire time Mike was on. 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.560 Mike was on the entire time, danced the entire time, 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:51.640 up and down the stage the entire time, not even 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.080 super long wardrobe changes, just. 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:55.600 She was just moving. 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:56.800 She gave us a show. 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:58.000 She really did. 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:01.600 She really did who were your favorite singers and rappers 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:03.760 growing up? I know you mentioned Janet's your number one, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:04.640 So who are ausition? 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:10.040 Okay, Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney, Houston. I can't believe Prince, 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.520 Michael Jackson and Whitney being gone. I just don't even 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:14.800 know where to file that. And then I'm you grew 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:17.240 up in the seventies and the eighties, so I'm a 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:18.880 you know, I like some seventies R and B. I 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:22.760 like some Shallamar, some dbars switch, you know, like when 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.520 people were really playing instruments and really singing heat Wave, 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:29.960 earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Luther Van dross Aker, 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.400 I mean I could. My R and B list is long. 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:34.480 And then I also love like Dolly Parton. She's one 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:37.600 of my favorites. Ronnie Millsap. I used to love country 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:39.800 back when I was a kid too, so it's everywhere. 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:41.600 And then my brother loved Kiss, so I grew up 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:42.920 listening to Kiss and loving Kiss. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:43.640 So I'm across. 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:44.360 I'm all across the. 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.080 Border, You're all across the genres. Yeah, you love it all. 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:51.240 What was high school like for you? Were you were 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.240 you an entertainer at your school? 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:56.720 You know, I think I was Junior High was rough, 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:58.680 and when I talk about my embarrassment, it's gonna be 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.800 a doozy from the seventh grade. But by the time 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.160 I got to tenth grade and I had my braces 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:07.560 and figured out my acne cream, I think I found 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:10.040 a sweet spot where I was not the most popular, 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:11.640 but I also was no longer the outcast. 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:16.080 Everyone was right sweet spot. Nobody's paying any attention. 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.600 Yeah, I'm just listen. I'm the same way on red carpets. Now, 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:20.240 when I get dressed for a red carpet, I'm not 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:21.320 trying to be best dressed. 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:22.680 Don't want to be worst dressed. I want to be 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:23.360 right in the middle. 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:25.440 Just ignore, just to you. 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:26.840 Want to give you a good interview, but nothing too 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:28.480 clickbaitableaven nothing. 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:33.480 So I got to that sweet spot. And I think 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.080 the reason I bodied that lane so well is that 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:37.480 I have such a love for other people. 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:39.200 So throughout school. 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:42.120 I collected all the other misfits and the underdogs. Everybody 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:44.520 could sit with me, everybody could hang with me. So 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:46.880 by the time I graduated, I knew everybody. You know, 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:48.960 And that's that's the best way I think to go 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:51.760 through life. I I as a kid. After what I 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.320 tell the story of when I was in junior high 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:58.520 I never understood who got to decide who was popular, Like, 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.040 why did you get to say that you matter and 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.080 I don't matter? Why do you get to say that 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:03.840 they don't matter? 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:04.720 What you know? 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:06.600 I'm not saying that you're not a great person, but 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:08.720 why do you have to be greater than me? Why 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:10.439 do you have to make me feel bad? So I 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.359 decided I'm not I don't believe you. 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:14.400 Oh you love that. 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:16.760 You can say I'm not cool or I'm not whatever. 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:17.560 I don't believe you. 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:19.359 I think I'm great, and I think these people with 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:21.040 me are great and we're gonna go be great. And 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:22.520 if you want to come be great with this, you can, 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.200 but you're not gonna make us feel bad about who 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.120 we are because you've decided that we're not cute enough, 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.320 tall enough, clear skinned enough, straight to you. Whatever the 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.560 thing is, I've never understood that. I've never liked it, 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:34.359 never understood it. 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.399 I feel very much the same way, But it is 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:42.240 it really, I think just comes from such a scarcity mindset. 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:45.840 It's when people feel as though there's. 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:49.000 Only one spot and if someone's gonna claim it. It's 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.640 gonna be me and I'm gonna fight everyone else away 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:55.959