Speaker 1: R and B Money, Honey, we are thank take out
Speaker 1: the child. We are the authority on all R and B.
Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tank Who this the
Speaker 2: Army Money podcast exquisite, the authority? Oh what on all
Speaker 2: things R and B? Man?
Speaker 3: Uh, your musicianship, your professionalism, and your education is in
Speaker 3: question today?
Speaker 2: Yes it is. Because he's here? Who without? Who? Keep going?
Speaker 2: Because he's here? Who he's here? Who the fuck is here? Robert?
Speaker 2: Rob Ship Robert.
Speaker 1: Let's let's paint the scene before we get into the test.
Speaker 2: Let's paint the scene. Let's get into it. You win a.
Speaker 1: Grabby fitty, right, you win his flip pace, his flowers celebration,
Speaker 1: and then.
Speaker 2: You look on social media you're big mangled by Team Breezy.
Speaker 1: They on your shout out to a little brother, Chris
Speaker 1: Broun shot the team your ass full transparency. I'm like,
Speaker 1: how did Robert and coulds end up in the same
Speaker 1: section at the club?
Speaker 2: How does it even happen? And I'm sure Roberts sexual ladies.
Speaker 2: What I don't want no bottles. I don't know bottles.
Speaker 2: I don't want no bottle. I don't mean no one.
Speaker 2: I have no idea I don't have to.
Speaker 1: Give it to that. Explain, explain, explain your yeah, yourself
Speaker 1: at the So the funny funny part is so.
Speaker 4: That actually that actually happened with one of your friends
Speaker 4: the first time I won R and BR by the year,
Speaker 4: because I won it in twenty twelve, So let's just
Speaker 4: be clear.
Speaker 2: That's the second time.
Speaker 4: So eleven years ago I won for Black Radio one
Speaker 4: and I was up against Tyrese and I heard he
Speaker 4: wasn't too happy about that. Somebody told me they were
Speaker 4: with him at the Grammys and before they announced who
Speaker 4: the winner is, he stood up, And that was before
Speaker 4: I was on. I wasn't I didn't get on I
Speaker 4: g T twenty sixteen or something like that. I wasn't
Speaker 4: even on Twitter and stuff. But you know, but I'm
Speaker 4: used to that makes sense, you know. Tyresee sings slow,
Speaker 4: sultry music. He does implore the great musicians to do,
Speaker 4: you know, have them with his thing.
Speaker 2: You're you're in that. So here's the thing. So here's
Speaker 2: the thing.
Speaker 4: Me and Chris Brown were in the in the traditional
Speaker 4: R and B category, right, that was that was a
Speaker 4: category tradition.
Speaker 2: He should have been in the progressive. He doesn't even
Speaker 2: know what he wants. He's like, I think, what what?
Speaker 4: No, because I have no because my other two, the
Speaker 4: other the other two that are in R and B
Speaker 4: are both R and B songs. So I still have
Speaker 4: two R and B song Grammys, and one of them
Speaker 4: is a credit progressive and one of them is traditional.
Speaker 2: Of course, so I wasn't trying to do a bar.
Speaker 2: I was just saying I have always have them. So
Speaker 2: my brother, technically, I think we were in the tradition category.
Speaker 4: Chris should have been in the progressive category, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean, because if you're really doing traditional, my
Speaker 4: album had all real instruments, yes, no attitude.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was traditional traditional. Now technically people are like,
Speaker 2: you shouldn't have been in the category.
Speaker 4: You shouldn't have. I should have because that's the album idea.
Speaker 4: I didn't R and B record, you know what I mean. Now,
Speaker 4: I'm a jazz musician also, so when I do a
Speaker 4: jazz record, unfortunately I'm not. Unfortunately, I go and it's
Speaker 4: a big house, and I go black music is a
Speaker 4: big house, and I like to go room the room,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. And so sometimes I like
Speaker 4: to go into the jazz room. Sometime I like to
Speaker 4: go into the hip hop rooms. Sometimes I like to
Speaker 4: go into the R and B room, you know what
Speaker 4: I mean. So these records are like R and B records,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. Now, So it's more I
Speaker 4: feel like in that sense, Chris should have been in
Speaker 4: the in the more progressive R and B. You know
Speaker 4: what I mean that in that sense, you know what
Speaker 4: I mean. So when I saw I was in the
Speaker 4: category with him, I also was like, oh, snap, you know.
Speaker 4: And I also was like, oop, I'm not winning, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean? No, but true transparency, I thought
Speaker 4: Mary was gonna win.
Speaker 2: I was.
Speaker 4: I was prepared for Mary to win because her album
Speaker 4: was a good record, and I feel like the campaign
Speaker 4: behind the record was very very very very strong, and
Speaker 4: she's Mary, you know what I mean, And I just
Speaker 4: felt like she was going to win. I didn't write
Speaker 4: no thank you speech, no nothing, because I just knew.
Speaker 4: I even made a video saying all right, y'all, I'm
Speaker 4: gonna lose, watch me lose.
Speaker 2: That's probably what you want, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I just to make sure whenever I get nominated, that's
Speaker 2: what I do, you know.
Speaker 4: No, Honestly, like even when I won for Black Radio
Speaker 4: one back in two thousand and twelve, I didn't think
Speaker 4: I was gonna nominated. For Me and my record company
Speaker 4: got into argument because they wanted me to put it
Speaker 4: in the jazz category. Case, you know, you put your
Speaker 4: album where you think it's supposed to be. They wanted
Speaker 4: me to put it in jazz category cause they said
Speaker 4: that the jazz people know me and you know that
Speaker 4: I was a Jeniat beforehand in jazz records, but I
Speaker 4: purposely went on to it with Maxwell for three years
Speaker 4: before that record and did the dance with you know different.
Speaker 4: I was in the R and B room for a
Speaker 4: long times. I was also Bellows mus the director for
Speaker 4: nine years since he started. We were the Calls Together. Yeah,
Speaker 4: so me and with the Calls together his first songs.
Speaker 4: We rolled him in my dorm room for his first album.
Speaker 4: You know allows my longest, my longest collaborator, my favorite
Speaker 4: and longest collaborator, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So here's the question. Have you won a Jazz Grammy. No,
Speaker 2: I've been nominated for Jazz Album of the Year. I
Speaker 2: wondered about this.
Speaker 4: I've been nominated for Jazz Record of the Year, but
Speaker 4: I've never won the first Grammy I ever won, no
Speaker 4: I've I've also been nominated for Best Progressive.
Speaker 2: Alternative.
Speaker 4: When there was an alternative it was called Urban Alternative
Speaker 4: in two thousand and nine.
Speaker 2: There was an Urban.
Speaker 4: Alternative before they put out because you know, the progressive
Speaker 4: the progressive category came after Black Radio. When I won that,
Speaker 4: then they made a progressive category R and B progressive, you.
Speaker 2: Know, so you made them.
Speaker 4: I pretty much opened that door. Yeah, just me trying
Speaker 4: to keep throwing bars. But that's what happened. Boy, that's
Speaker 4: what happened, you know what I mean. Sean's also Michelle Decachello, Yeah,
Speaker 4: because she really it was the reason why there was
Speaker 4: an alternative Urban Alternative category because she went in there
Speaker 4: campaigned for it because of her music. That's why there
Speaker 4: was an urban alternative category. And I was in there,
Speaker 4: me and Belada the song called All Matter on my
Speaker 4: on one of my records, do it in that time
Speaker 4: in two thousand and nine. That that was my first nomination.
Speaker 4: And then that was basically out of the box R
Speaker 4: and B for bot people, you know what I mean,
Speaker 4: because we were always putting a certain box. If you
Speaker 4: want to do R and B if it don't sound
Speaker 4: like this, then you you can't Winogrammy.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean. That's a big reason why
Speaker 2: we wanted you here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because you also represent other side of contemporary are
Speaker 1: more popular R and B in that space, pop R
Speaker 1: and B or hip hop r and B. Like you said,
Speaker 1: you know, they they were in a sense creating and
Speaker 1: finding sub genres of R and B for you to
Speaker 1: fit it absolutely the music that you were making and
Speaker 1: what you were bringing to R and B.
Speaker 4: Because if you listen to it, it's not necessarily jazz.
Speaker 4: Because they want to make everything I do jazz because
Speaker 4: my first few records are jazz record so they tend
Speaker 4: people tend to think everything I do is jazz. It's like, no,
Speaker 4: everything is not all the way jazz. I'm a jazz
Speaker 4: musician as well. But I can make an R and
Speaker 4: B album. I can produce an R and B record.
Speaker 1: But also then I think that you know, I think
Speaker 1: the Grammys are working on it, trying to figure out
Speaker 1: how to identify all of these things, because R and
Speaker 1: B at this point is so many things, and it
Speaker 1: should be and it just is.
Speaker 2: And so the.
Speaker 1: People who are figuring out these these categories have to
Speaker 1: be very well versed in understanding what the difference is,
Speaker 1: what the very differences are. You have a full live
Speaker 1: R and B album that is as traditional as it gets,
Speaker 1: it gets p J.
Speaker 4: Mortin's album Live Musicians. I'm not the only one in
Speaker 4: the category that's like that exactly.
Speaker 1: So it's like with you two in the category is
Speaker 1: like that makes sense absolutely, But then you have Chris Brown.
Speaker 1: Even even Mary I wouldn't put so much in that
Speaker 1: traditional space because she didn't make a traditional R and
Speaker 1: B album.
Speaker 2: She made R and B as we know it. But
Speaker 2: it's still progressive for.
Speaker 4: Us because technically Mind is progressive too, because it because
Speaker 4: what would you when you listen to the album, it's
Speaker 4: in a sense it's progressive because it's not. It's also
Speaker 4: not a traditional record with the hip hop stuff I'm
Speaker 4: mixing in there and how you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's it's it's it's hard to it's still
Speaker 2: traditional though. I hear what you're saying. That's why I wasn't.
Speaker 2: That's why I feel like if anybody because.
Speaker 1: Because if we're calling Chris Brown progressive, then your albums
Speaker 1: are like our nine Day.
Speaker 4: I feel like it's progressive because most of its AutoTunes.
Speaker 4: Also because of the production. It is more progressive, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean production production. First of all, let
Speaker 4: me be clear, not that he needs it needs altitude,
Speaker 4: but I know you said it's the texture, the sound
Speaker 4: more progressive for sure in that sense, you.
Speaker 2: Know what I mean. But but it's it's so sonic.
Speaker 2: It's the drums used. It's huge. But people the way
Speaker 2: we're talking, people in those rooms don't know how to
Speaker 2: do that.
Speaker 1: But people in those rooms should know. It should if
Speaker 1: it's those rooms, tasted room for me in those rooms, sorry, camera,
Speaker 1: we'll spilled over. It's spilled over, spilled over exactly. The
Speaker 1: people in those rooms these are and and and maybe
Speaker 1: they are and we don't know what the rooms, but
Speaker 1: ultimately they change over time, and they have to change
Speaker 1: through us and through.
Speaker 2: Us promoting membership and being a part of it.
Speaker 4: Now they just added another category. I believe it's for
Speaker 4: me again. It's literally this new category just came, just came,
Speaker 4: it's starting now. It's it's a category called.
Speaker 2: What is it called I'll turn into something something something.
Speaker 4: Basically, the category says a category that mixes jazz, hip hop,
Speaker 4: R and B with vocals or without vocals, and basically
Speaker 4: that that's what I am.
Speaker 2: You it's me they that's what that's what it is. Section. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so that team breezy because then it really don't jump you. Yes,
Speaker 2: in that scenario though, I should have been on the
Speaker 2: losing end of that. I should have been the one like,
Speaker 2: why am I in? You know what I mean? Well,
Speaker 2: we can't call that because Grammys is as we're you know,
Speaker 2: as as we had.
Speaker 1: To learn, you know what I mean and doing the
Speaker 1: education of it. It's like some of it is impact,
Speaker 1: some of it is success, and in these in these
Speaker 1: different occasions, it's not any of that, right, very true,
Speaker 1: none of it where a bass player can take album
Speaker 1: of theater and you're like, who's Robert? You see what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So there are those moments. But I think it's,
Speaker 1: like you said, representing in those rooms. And I think
Speaker 1: the responsibility is on us as well, because our participation
Speaker 1: is needed in terms of trying to to help. They
Speaker 1: would welcome our voices in our and our opinions, you know,
Speaker 1: and obviously that's a that's part of our job. That's
Speaker 1: part of our job. Even with this this podcast, yes
Speaker 1: to you know, like I run into people on the
Speaker 1: streets every day. Literally that are just you know, I
Speaker 1: learned this from the podcast. I learned that from the podcast.
Speaker 1: Hopefully they learned from the podcast. Listen, join the Grammys
Speaker 1: if you have you know what I mean, if you
Speaker 1: know anyone that is actively in the music business and
Speaker 1: you can get you know, not what is it, I
Speaker 1: don't know the term of it is slipping my mind
Speaker 1: right now. But when someone gets you an invite, and
Speaker 1: if you can figure out a way to get you
Speaker 1: an invite and become a member of the Grammys, you should,
Speaker 1: and now your voice will be heard and you can
Speaker 1: start running for positions within the Grammys to you know,
Speaker 1: to help and be on the boards and all these
Speaker 1: other things. Like it's it's a job, so you can't
Speaker 1: be mad at the people who actually do the job.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and that's a good problem to have. That means,
Speaker 2: that means the music is changing, it's moving, it's growing,
Speaker 2: it's breathing, you know, it's not staying still.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you know, I've been in the musicment it's
Speaker 1: a really long time, and probably the last four to
Speaker 1: five years is when I was really introduced to Neris
Speaker 1: and the Grammy boards and the committees and that whole
Speaker 1: thing and how to get how to be a part
Speaker 1: and how to really have real membership in the last
Speaker 1: four or five years of my career, which is crazy.
Speaker 2: I've been in this shit a long time. So because
Speaker 2: we didn't have platforms like this that were telling us
Speaker 2: like no, no, no, no, no, you can go there
Speaker 2: and be, you know, absolute part of it. So did
Speaker 2: you ever talk to Chris? Yeah, so we we.
Speaker 4: He sent me a message really nice, you know, apology.
Speaker 4: I think he posted on this thing too, but apology.
Speaker 4: And then we talked a little bit after it and
Speaker 4: he was like, man, you know, you know, he's like
Speaker 4: I was. He basically said he was down to work
Speaker 4: and I would love to work Chris super talented, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean, I would love to work with Chris Brown.
Speaker 1: You know. So I think his fans would love it too.
Speaker 1: And I think that you know, it was you were
Speaker 1: right here in the middle. Yeah, you know, of his kids,
Speaker 1: of him being overlooked a whole lot.
Speaker 4: But the funny thing is I didn't have my phone
Speaker 4: on me because my in real life, I didn't try
Speaker 4: on my tuxedo for the Grammys till the morning of
Speaker 4: the Grammys m because it was the Taxila that water
Speaker 4: a year before at the Oscars, and you.
Speaker 2: Thought that you were in the same Boom shade. There
Speaker 2: we go, but I actually lost weight. Oh that's what
Speaker 2: I'm I like that dude. The pants were too big. Wow. Wow.
Speaker 2: He always loves to.
Speaker 1: Go back to my Steve Harvey suits every time he
Speaker 1: gets a chance. Every time he gets a chance, keep going, Robert,
Speaker 1: disrespect is gonna it's gonna stop.
Speaker 2: It was just a family feud. So look, my pants
Speaker 2: are too big.
Speaker 4: So we ended up having to clip paper clips on
Speaker 4: the side of my pants to go to the Grammys.
Speaker 4: When I ended up winning, I jumped up and the
Speaker 4: paper clips went their way. So I'm running up to
Speaker 4: the stage. As soon as I get up there, I said,
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, y'all my pants my paper clips fell out,
Speaker 4: not paper clips, what do you call them?
Speaker 2: The safety pants?
Speaker 4: And I had to hold my pants up the whole night,
Speaker 4: literally keep one hand like in my pockets.
Speaker 2: Didn't look cool. You look like a nigga who was
Speaker 2: ready to fight. Boom Exactly. I put it up his
Speaker 2: fans exactly. You know about having it, But what do
Speaker 2: you say.
Speaker 1: So? Because if you get the slacked in between your thighs,
Speaker 1: you really can't get your stance right.
Speaker 2: Black people love to adjust when we're about to fight,
Speaker 2: when we adjust everything anything. You taking all that stuff,
Speaker 2: getting the away, getting to see those.
Speaker 4: Jacket didn't have pockets, and I couldn't hold my pant
Speaker 4: the phone in my pockets because I had to hold
Speaker 4: them up. It's too heavy for my pants. So I
Speaker 4: had like my assistant holding my phone the whole night.
Speaker 4: I didn't even know none this was happening until I'm
Speaker 4: during the actual Grammy doing the televised portion and some
Speaker 4: people were like, yo, you're trending, and I was like what,
Speaker 4: And then I was like, yo, get my phone.
Speaker 2: Then I saw all the text and all the things
Speaker 2: and what it was. I was like five number five
Speaker 2: trending on Grammy night. I was like, oh my god.
Speaker 2: I was like, this is a blessing. I was happy.
Speaker 2: I was like, this couldn't have worked out.
Speaker 1: Take it.
Speaker 2: This worked out?
Speaker 1: Ever.
Speaker 2: Make the t shirts? Oh, absolutely sold out. I need one.
Speaker 2: I sold out of it. But I just made some
Speaker 2: more from my festival than Napoo that I do on July.
Speaker 2: Because I do a festival. Yeah, I do a festival.
Speaker 2: We never get host host. Oh you'll be invited now
Speaker 2: and y'all should do the R and B. Did she
Speaker 2: do the podcast there? I like, Naple, I'm like, let's.
Speaker 4: Do you're from the bank, y'all heard it first. I'm
Speaker 4: gonna ask next year. You know you just asked jazz Nap.
Speaker 2: Now what you meant year? It's in July July? What July?
Speaker 4: Well, normally it's like twenty nine thirty, okay, so it
Speaker 4: just passed. We just said the next year.
Speaker 2: Okay, boom. I would love that anyway. So let's get
Speaker 2: into let's get into who where in the where the
Speaker 2: who issues? What the fuck? I'm from Houston, Texas. Yeah,
Speaker 2: born and raised and love. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I was raising watching my mom do that. She had
Speaker 4: the rehearsals at the house with the with the with
Speaker 4: the cats and the musicians and stuff. So I was
Speaker 4: just all the ways around music all the time. I
Speaker 4: went to the High School for Performing Artists where I
Speaker 4: met be Cos. You know, I actually met be Cocks
Speaker 4: before that. We're in the competition together, but were in
Speaker 4: high school together too. We're in high school together, but
Speaker 4: I met him in eighth grade at a at a
Speaker 4: talent competition. He had a band hit, a group called
Speaker 4: business or pleasure.
Speaker 2: Whatever you want. Okay, business in the front, yeah, pleasure. No,
Speaker 2: shout to becots.
Speaker 4: But we met in the talent competition that he told
Speaker 4: me at that time, Yo, you should come to the
Speaker 4: high school performing Arts.
Speaker 2: I didn't even heard of it. In the audition and
Speaker 2: I got in me because Beyonce was there with us.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, you know, and you know pros time.
Speaker 4: So it was fun because I used to pick Brian
Speaker 4: up for school every morning, Me and Brian and my
Speaker 4: boy Troy pick him up for school every morning. And
Speaker 4: I'll be playing my jazz stuff, my Herbie Hancock, my career,
Speaker 4: you know, my JA in high school and Brian would
Speaker 4: be playing the R and B stuff and tell me
Speaker 4: what's new coming out? And he was a line of
Speaker 4: note freak, you know what I mean. So even back
Speaker 4: then in high school, read the line of note of
Speaker 4: this that. So that's where our music things like, you know,
Speaker 4: co existed, you know, and that's where I learned a
Speaker 4: lot of R and B stuff and understanding this and that,
Speaker 4: and you know, one to the studio with him, and
Speaker 4: in high school and Greg Hurtis, you know, we're at
Speaker 4: high school, you know, shout to Greg. So yeah, man,
Speaker 4: I had a that was pretty much the fruit of everything.
Speaker 2: What is your intro into professionalism?
Speaker 1: For you?
Speaker 4: The intro to professionalism, I'll tell you my very I
Speaker 4: don't think I've ever said this out loud and not
Speaker 4: on the podcast anyway. Uh, I was in eleventh grade
Speaker 4: and I'm in school. Uh, these people come to me,
Speaker 4: they come into the classroom. That Robert the people. I
Speaker 4: would need you to get out, go go on the hallway.
Speaker 4: Jennifer Holiday is performing in Houston. Her piano player missed
Speaker 4: the flight. She's performing in Houston that night. Piano player
Speaker 4: missed the flight. They came and got me out of
Speaker 4: school to go play with Jennifer piano with Jenma Holiday.
Speaker 2: So we noticed kid. Yeah, literally, that was my first
Speaker 2: eleventh grade that can what to learn the show? Learned
Speaker 2: the show. That was my first professional like on a
Speaker 2: big scale.
Speaker 1: Hold on j Holliday, Okay, because she's not singing fifteen minutes, Nay,
Speaker 1: she doing about hour and a half two hours a show.
Speaker 1: You had to be reading music. Absolutely, you were reading
Speaker 1: music at that level.
Speaker 4: And eleventh grade I had to play, to play in
Speaker 4: big band, to play and all the things I was
Speaker 4: in in school. My school is it's super high level.
Speaker 4: You had to the test and everything. You had to
Speaker 4: be at it. So when I got into college, it
Speaker 4: was a joke. College honestly was was funny. I just
Speaker 4: went to college just for because we had to know
Speaker 4: so much in high school. Bro like seriously, So yeah,
Speaker 4: I read, I read the show I did. We did this,
Speaker 4: we did a sound check.
Speaker 2: Hold on, he's getting all my motherfucking mass this is yeah.
Speaker 4: I called my mom was like mo from the office
Speaker 4: of school because there's no cell phones. So I was like, Mom,
Speaker 4: I'm not coming home after school because I'm going to
Speaker 4: play with Jennifer Holliday.
Speaker 2: She was like, first of all, my mom's a singer. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so you know.
Speaker 1: What.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the mess of thing is she had a
Speaker 2: gig already that night, so my mom couldn't come.
Speaker 4: You know, my mom's work. She worked five days a week. No,
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, six days a week and sometimes on Sunday nights,
Speaker 4: but not really. But yeah, And that was my first
Speaker 4: that was my first real like hello, you know, this
Speaker 4: is it?
Speaker 1: This is it?
Speaker 4: And then I got I got a full scholars with
Speaker 4: the Berkeley in eleventh grade and the New School in Manhattan,
Speaker 4: so I chose the New School because it's in New York.
Speaker 2: So what is the New School? Like, we're very.
Speaker 4: The New School is a it's a conservatory in New York,
Speaker 4: and it's the New School is the umbrella. And under
Speaker 4: that they have a liberal arts school called Eugene Lane,
Speaker 4: and they have an art school called Pratt and then
Speaker 4: and then they have the New School, which is sorry, man,
Speaker 4: It's College of Music, which is the music part, and
Speaker 4: it's pretty much a jazz conservatory. That's where I met
Speaker 4: bala our first day of school. He was there for
Speaker 4: jazz voice, for jazz vocal and uh, and you were
Speaker 4: studying I was studying jazz pan jaz. And then the
Speaker 4: first day of school, they put all the freshmen in
Speaker 4: the room and they put you on stage based upon
Speaker 4: your scores when you auditioned.
Speaker 2: And they put me in.
Speaker 4: Balaoup together on stage the very first day of school
Speaker 4: and we did the song together.
Speaker 2: And after that it was like, I'm sure you and
Speaker 2: I had the highest school.
Speaker 1: And after that, let's put the exceptional people and then
Speaker 1: are you like whoever was in the crowd, he probably
Speaker 1: wasn't you know what whatever, And it was like oh, oh, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: so soon if one of our guests comes on, they
Speaker 1: were like, yeah, I once in a new school, and
Speaker 1: yeah I watched.
Speaker 2: You weren't were your scores were scoring? The scores weren't
Speaker 2: scoring or snoring scoring with snoring.
Speaker 1: That I'm so tripped out right now about that eleventh
Speaker 1: grade two hour billy holiday show.
Speaker 2: Jennifer Holliday, I'm sorry that the chart after chart. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's great. That's crazy when I am telling you all
Speaker 2: the things.
Speaker 4: But the good thing about it is, since my mom
Speaker 4: was a singer, I didn't heard all these heard before.
Speaker 2: So here's the other part.
Speaker 1: To the people you know, as you're as you're a
Speaker 1: learned and study musician, you also.
Speaker 2: Play by ear.
Speaker 1: Absolutely started off because because that's because there's a difference, right.
Speaker 1: I know a lot of guys who have the studied information,
Speaker 1: but when it comes to feel.
Speaker 2: It's gone, it's not there. It's just you don't believe them.
Speaker 2: I don't believe that. I don't believe you. So did
Speaker 2: you play for extra credit or did you get paid?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: The gig they called me from school, but now were
Speaker 2: out of school with the gig is a gig. I
Speaker 2: got paid.
Speaker 1: It's very few guys that I've seen with the education
Speaker 1: and the feel like Tim Carmon in the field is
Speaker 1: one of the first guys because we're all out of
Speaker 1: the DC area that I saw that was like extremely studied,
Speaker 1: Like you know, we're doing that dream Girl soundtrack and
Speaker 1: he's like, okay, yeah, I'm ready.
Speaker 2: Yeah, when you're ready.
Speaker 4: That's what I tell all the cats from church, just
Speaker 4: so many, so many incredible, incredibly talented people. But if
Speaker 4: you don't know how to read, you reach a certain feeling,
Speaker 4: a certain ceiling, and that ceiling you can only reach
Speaker 4: a certain amount of money. M you can't call yourself
Speaker 4: the music director of this and that. If you don't
Speaker 4: know how to read, pick up a book, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean? You know I mean, now you can
Speaker 4: finagle it. And if you know, if you got your friend.
Speaker 2: That know how to write, you know right now to
Speaker 2: transcribe for youscrib about thank you AI.
Speaker 4: You know what I mean, certain things, You got a
Speaker 4: certain certain situation. You gotta know how to read, you
Speaker 4: gotta know how to write, You got to know how
Speaker 4: to do these different things, you know. So so yeah,
Speaker 4: it's important. It's like I said, it doesn't ceiling your
Speaker 4: reach where you just become the killing musician. Everybody's killing
Speaker 4: now what everybody's good?
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? What else you got? You
Speaker 2: know what I mean? What else do you have? It
Speaker 2: is my thing, wow, because if you don't even have
Speaker 2: your own.
Speaker 4: Sound, you just sound good. That goes with singing and playing.
Speaker 4: You know, everybody sounds good now, that's the standard. If
Speaker 4: you don't sound good, it's your fault. Now, especially with
Speaker 4: all the information out there, all the tools out there
Speaker 4: and just all the lessons you need are online. If
Speaker 4: you suck, it's your fault, you know. But after you
Speaker 4: learn the tools into your camera.
Speaker 2: If you suck, you.
Speaker 4: Suck, it's your fault. All the tools are out there
Speaker 4: for you to be good at your instrument. Whatever youment
Speaker 4: is your throat, your hands, whatever you do, all the
Speaker 4: tools are out there. So if you're not at least good,
Speaker 4: it's your fault.
Speaker 2: Period. That's it.
Speaker 4: Now that you can go further and everybody doesn't have
Speaker 4: a sound, And that's what I look for when I
Speaker 4: hear musicians or I hear singers, or like, what do
Speaker 4: you what story are you telling? I've heard that story
Speaker 4: before totally better than you, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: But if you're telling your own story, I can't hear
Speaker 4: that before or like, that's your story to you. That's
Speaker 4: why I I'll take a singer who's who's who has
Speaker 4: something to say, versus the greatest singer who's sing what's
Speaker 4: already been said. I don't care about that sounds the same,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean that that that sound? You know,
Speaker 4: that's what I was telling them about talking about you.
Speaker 4: Why you wait trying to tell you Tank, that's one
Speaker 4: of my favorite bro. That that that's just you and vocals.
Speaker 2: That's it.
Speaker 4: No auto tune, no producers messing it up, no sounds,
Speaker 4: no nothing, just you and the keys, pure talent, pure
Speaker 4: honest story. Every song's amazing. The singing, the songwriting, every
Speaker 4: the plan, the plan, it's all great.
Speaker 2: Bro, Yeah, it's incredible. I didn't want, you know. J
Speaker 2: J forced me to do it good. Absolutely, that's what
Speaker 2: That's the thing that nobody can't do that.
Speaker 1: You called me one morning said, listen, Bro, this was
Speaker 1: like the eighteenth idea because he's gonna get me with
Speaker 1: twenty five singing.
Speaker 2: The morning He's like, Bro, and you should do like
Speaker 2: an EP you piano, like just.
Speaker 1: Just rocket EP right, just right, now while the world
Speaker 1: is down and everybody trying to figure it out. I said, Jay,
Speaker 1: I don't feel like doing the EP. I'm just chilling,
Speaker 1: relaxing in the house, like I ain't bother nobody. No,
Speaker 1: So I said no to like all eighteen ideas, right,
Speaker 1: I'll call you late, all right, So we get off
Speaker 1: the phone and I just.
Speaker 2: Walk over to the piano.
Speaker 1: And I just start playing music and I called Jay
Speaker 1: back about fifteen minutes. I was like, Okay, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do it. I hear, I hear whatever you said. Jumped
Speaker 1: into the universe and ran over to my house and
Speaker 1: hit me over the head and said.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's how I felt about Jamie Fox. I
Speaker 2: want him to do that too. I said that for years.
Speaker 2: Oh no, he would love to. I've never met him.
Speaker 2: I just he would love to do that. He should do.
Speaker 4: That's where he lives, that's where he lived in his
Speaker 4: comedy shows he was doing because I remember the first
Speaker 4: time he did when I saw him do that, and
Speaker 4: he imitated blow at one one of those things. He
Speaker 4: did a prince thing and then he went into a
Speaker 4: blow yeah thing, and I called aloud, like, yo.
Speaker 2: Jamie Fox is imitated He's like what I was like,
Speaker 2: I was like, you made it. He's like, why that's
Speaker 2: his voice? Boy? But when Jamie would do that the shows,
Speaker 2: I'd be like, oh man, that's that's like, couldn't be
Speaker 2: it's real. That's just that was his separation too, literally,
Speaker 2: the separation from everybody because everybody's using the same tools
Speaker 2: to make the same songs.
Speaker 4: You're hearing the same songs over and over again, and
Speaker 4: the same tools. When you're sitting at the pian just
Speaker 4: you and your voice, you can't hide behind nothing at all,
Speaker 4: none at all, nothing at all.
Speaker 1: Okay, So Billy, I mean, Jennifer Holiday, the first gig,
Speaker 1: your first big check, yep.
Speaker 2: What's next after that? What does that lead you to?
Speaker 4: So that led me to I mean, I still you know.
Speaker 4: When I was high school, I was playing three churches.
Speaker 4: I was playing seven Da Adventist Church on Saturdays Saturdays,
Speaker 4: Catholic Church early Sunday morning, and then Baptist Church around
Speaker 4: the corner from the Catholic Church at eleven.
Speaker 2: How different is each church musically? Well, lucky for me,
Speaker 2: all those three churches I played for were super hip.
Speaker 2: It was like a movie.
Speaker 4: The Catholic Church Saint Mark's shout out Kim Roych she
Speaker 4: passed away, who's the choir director. She was a jazz
Speaker 4: singer and the preacher, the priest love jazz, so we
Speaker 4: would go in and switch up all the stuff into
Speaker 4: jazzy stuff. So was it your normal kind of Some
Speaker 4: things were normal Catholic church. Some of the hymns they
Speaker 4: want to keep sacred, but most of the stuff we
Speaker 4: tore it up.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 4: And we would get invited to like different like you know,
Speaker 4: choir choir, choir days or you know, choir concerts.
Speaker 2: Will be the only Catholic church there. Wow.
Speaker 4: And then they were selling them like next Saint Mark's
Speaker 4: Cothlic church. I'd be like Catholic church and we go
Speaker 4: up there and get crazy.
Speaker 2: And her husband was amazing bass players, Dereck royight Man,
Speaker 2: he was oh man, we would kill him. It was
Speaker 2: it was. It was crazy.
Speaker 4: So anyway, that was my situation there was. It was
Speaker 4: Dough and be Cox. I had him singing in every church.
Speaker 4: He was in the choir at every church I played that.
Speaker 2: He was in the choir. Say, he was every every church.
Speaker 4: And his first gig on piano was because I couldn't
Speaker 4: do the at his first gig on piano was at
Speaker 4: my Catholic church because I couldn't do a Christmas program,
Speaker 4: so I had to teach him Hallelujah, the Christy Jones version, whatever,
Speaker 4: the well, all the different parts, you know, all that.
Speaker 4: I have to teach Brian that on piano. Yeah, so
Speaker 4: you can learn it and do the thing. So he
Speaker 4: sucked for me. Yeah, sell from your church. That's a
Speaker 4: hard song, it absolutely is. It's a lot, there's a
Speaker 4: lot going on. It took yeah, so we worked on it.
Speaker 4: It's a it's a monster of a song.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, so we worked on that. I'm going to google it.
Speaker 2: We worked on that.
Speaker 4: But anyway, Yeah, I ended up going to New York
Speaker 4: for college and then, like I said, me and Balad
Speaker 4: on those stage the first to work together. I mean
Speaker 4: to do a song together in college. And then right
Speaker 4: after that, one of the one of the professors, just
Speaker 4: like you guys, they would see us in a practice
Speaker 4: room all of the time working together. Me and but
Speaker 4: I started writing songs and stuff and you're like, yo,
Speaker 4: you should do a demo. My friend has a studio,
Speaker 4: so we started going up this guy's studio house around
Speaker 4: the corner and we let a demo do a demo tape,
Speaker 4: and allows management at the time took it to Jimmy
Speaker 4: Ivan and they played them.
Speaker 2: One of the songs we wrote in my dorm room,
Speaker 2: a song.
Speaker 4: Called what will You Call Jimmy I being played a
Speaker 4: verse in the chorus of that signed him sign.
Speaker 2: That's it. That was it. So he didn't come back
Speaker 2: to sophomore year to school. So at that point we did.
Speaker 4: His first album came out, and I was his music
Speaker 4: director from that point on until like till I got
Speaker 4: signed to Blue Note. I got signed to Blue Note
Speaker 4: Records in two thousand and five.
Speaker 2: Did you do any any songs on his albums? The
Speaker 2: very first album? Yeah, I wrote. I wrote like two
Speaker 2: or three songs on there, yep. And then yeah. Then
Speaker 2: after that, you know, I got.
Speaker 4: Signed started doing my own things around two thousand and
Speaker 4: seven when I stopped paying below, but I kept playing
Speaker 4: for a while.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
Speaker 4: And that was my chewing all over the world with
Speaker 4: touring all over the world below opening up for Erica
Speaker 4: I do in common because I was during the time
Speaker 4: of the Neil Soldier.
Speaker 2: This is like, yeah, this is likeety nine, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean.
Speaker 4: He took me to Jay Dilla's house when you know,
Speaker 4: when Firs his first album, that was one of the
Speaker 4: first person people they had him work with for his album.
Speaker 4: So I got to go to Dila's house and work
Speaker 4: with him on that and all that stuff. And and uh,
Speaker 4: I used to go to the jam sessions with him,
Speaker 4: the Roots, you know, play with the roots, you know,
Speaker 4: because the Roots was in these jam sessions every week
Speaker 4: at the spot called the Black Lily in Philadelphia. That's
Speaker 4: kind of where that neo soul sound was born, you know,
Speaker 4: in the Black Lively and Philly is this where Jill
Speaker 4: Scott was the host yep, she would host it. That's
Speaker 4: where I saw jazz intel of them. She was like
Speaker 4: fourteen years old in the club smashing, smashing, smash. Who's
Speaker 4: this little girl in here?
Speaker 2: While she in here? And why she singing like that?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
Speaker 4: Smashing, you know, and uh, you know music soul child,
Speaker 4: all the all the Philly you know. And I started
Speaker 4: playing with the Roots from that because I used to
Speaker 4: sit in and jam and they knew me as Bellows
Speaker 4: jazz friend. You know, where's your jazz friend that you know?
Speaker 4: So Amir started quest Love started, you know, calling me
Speaker 4: to do shows with the Roots. So I started playing
Speaker 4: with the Roots a lot, you know, cutting my teeth
Speaker 4: with them. So that's kind of where I learned how
Speaker 4: to play hip hop. So did you finish at the
Speaker 4: new school or no? Did you leave too by the
Speaker 4: skinning by the by barely finished? I finished, I wasn't there.
Speaker 2: So you have a degree in piano. Yeah, but it's
Speaker 2: it means nothing. No, no, no, you mean nothing. You
Speaker 2: don't need it. Explain that, well, it's a bachelor's degree.
Speaker 2: So with that, he just had a Mike Tyson moment. Scott,
Speaker 2: it means nothing. It means nothing. I just metto.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I mean it's a bachelor's degree in jazz piano.
Speaker 4: So it's like you're hung up at the house now.
Speaker 4: I don't even know where it is. I've never touched
Speaker 4: it except the graduation I touched it. I think my
Speaker 4: dad has it somewhere. But it's you know, you don't
Speaker 4: need it to do anything.
Speaker 1: Because before you alluded to that college was just like
Speaker 1: by the time you got to college, it was like
Speaker 1: I was in my last.
Speaker 4: Year of everything when I got to college because I
Speaker 4: cancel it out of everything they had. So when you
Speaker 4: give you the test as a freshman, to give you
Speaker 4: a test for your placement, to see where they're going
Speaker 4: to put you.
Speaker 2: And I can't. I can't sit it out of everything
Speaker 2: my first year. So I just I know all this. Yeah, literally,
Speaker 2: So I just took a bunch of like film classes.
Speaker 1: What is this?
Speaker 2: Get this side of him? This is beneath me, This
Speaker 2: is beneath me.
Speaker 1: Whenever you need, you have to go into your African
Speaker 1: when everything you're Royal African man.
Speaker 2: Whenever something is beneath you can bring this to me.
Speaker 2: This is you at at.
Speaker 1: This is.
Speaker 2: New school. Yes, this is a new school. You must
Speaker 2: be new. This school is never going to let us.
Speaker 1: Man, this is this is what we want to come.
Speaker 1: We would love to go because we have no we
Speaker 1: don't know what we knows. We don't we haven't canceled
Speaker 1: out of anything.
Speaker 2: We haven't canceled out of ship. I mean he's been canceled.
Speaker 2: But I need your help take my kids maybe like
Speaker 2: a week?
Speaker 1: Oh man, Wow, okay, so you plan will blow your
Speaker 1: cutting your teeth. You're meeting everyone, but you still haven't
Speaker 1: done a record for yourself. And this is you said
Speaker 1: like a nine year seven seven nine year, I said, So.
Speaker 2: I played this about seven years.
Speaker 4: So I played with Bloud started, you know, we're in college,
Speaker 4: and he got signed like ninety nine. Album came out
Speaker 4: like two thousand and two thousand and one. Matter of fact,
Speaker 4: it's right after d'angelo's album, the untitled. Right after that
Speaker 4: come me and Bellowed snuck into the studio to watch
Speaker 4: them make that because we were in the same and
Speaker 4: we're at all that electric Lady blows the studio the
Speaker 4: top of the cdoc Erica was doing Mama's Gun studio
Speaker 4: B and d Angelo's at the bottom studio a recording. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 4: So we used to go down and you know, sneak
Speaker 4: in there and watch some of the recording sessions and
Speaker 4: stuff while we were working on his record, you know,
Speaker 4: finishing up his record. So it was around there, and
Speaker 4: then I did a demo in like two thousand and two,
Speaker 4: demo album called Mood, and then Blue Note signed me
Speaker 4: in like two thousand and five, and then from there
Speaker 4: I've been I was on Blue Note for to like
Speaker 4: twenty sixteen.
Speaker 2: And you put out your first album one year two
Speaker 2: thousand and five, first major album, was it? So was
Speaker 2: that the demo you turned in or was it the
Speaker 2: demo was it was on.
Speaker 4: Another label from Spain called Fresh SAMs, another label from Spain.
Speaker 4: It was called a label from Spain because they were
Speaker 4: signing new artists. It was it was a jazz label
Speaker 4: and they would come to New York and find young
Speaker 4: artists who wanted the record and they'll pay you nothing,
Speaker 4: barely anything, but they would You could do a record
Speaker 4: and they'll distribute it and do the whole thing. Yeah,
Speaker 4: So it was just like, oh, that's a business card.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you. I'm glad you mentioned that. Give us
Speaker 1: the rundown of new artists new record deal in the
Speaker 1: jazz space, is there is initially? Is their money there?
Speaker 4: Hell no for three hundred police, Uh no, there's no
Speaker 4: money in jazz, there's no. But there's barely a budget
Speaker 4: to do the damn record really, so it's like it's
Speaker 4: literally for the love, there's no there's no budge because
Speaker 4: jazz musicians don't make people don't buy jazz even before
Speaker 4: streaming and stuff, you know what I mean. Jazz was
Speaker 4: such a small part of the of the whole pile
Speaker 4: of music, you know what, I'm such a small part,
Speaker 4: so you don't make a lot of money, and jazmugicians
Speaker 4: weren't making a lot of money. There was a very
Speaker 4: few who cut through and make a decent living, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean. You know, but other than that,
Speaker 4: you kind of like check the check and trying to figure.
Speaker 2: That shape, you know what I mean. So, so it's
Speaker 2: really about gigging. It was really about gigging a lot
Speaker 2: as much as you can get that. That's what it's
Speaker 2: about and the love of music. But you know, after
Speaker 2: a while, you got kids, so do you have So within.
Speaker 1: Those deals though, the way they're structured, are they are they?
Speaker 1: Are they more artists friendly?
Speaker 2: Though? Since there's no upfront money or is it still
Speaker 2: a bad you know, royalty rate.
Speaker 4: It's a terrible deal, bro It's nothing. It was, especially
Speaker 4: back back then when you're first getting signed. Most jazz
Speaker 4: musicians are just happy to get signed. You're just happy
Speaker 4: somebody's gonna put your record out and distribute the distribute
Speaker 4: that joint.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 4: Like literally to make a jazz record back then in
Speaker 4: two thousand and five, for sure, you know you're lucky.
Speaker 4: If your budget's like twelve thousand dollars, what maybe fifteen
Speaker 4: thousand dollars. I think my first my first budget to
Speaker 4: make the album, to make the whole album, because you
Speaker 4: make an album in like a.
Speaker 2: Day, maybe two days.
Speaker 1: And to survive too though, Yeah, that's all, that's everything,
Speaker 1: because you gotta have gigs.
Speaker 2: You got to.
Speaker 4: That's why most jazz musicians it's hard to rise to
Speaker 4: the top because when you when you do get a
Speaker 4: record deal, they don't give you money to sustain your life.
Speaker 4: They just give you money to make that record. So
Speaker 4: and your record doesn't crack off all of a sudden
Speaker 4: your tour in the world, that's not how it goes.
Speaker 4: So you still plan side man gigs with different other
Speaker 4: artists that already have gigs, you know what i mean,
Speaker 4: trying to figure it out. So it's hard to become
Speaker 4: famous in jazz because people keep seeing you with other
Speaker 4: people as a side man. It's like being an artist,
Speaker 4: but you keep having to sing background for these other people.
Speaker 4: But you are an artist too, and you have a
Speaker 4: record out, but if they keep seeing you singing background,
Speaker 4: it's hard for them to see you as a as
Speaker 4: an artist artist, you know what I mean. Ever, like
Speaker 4: most people, that's a lot of people's way. You go
Speaker 4: through background everybody done it, you know, but in jazz
Speaker 4: you kind of never stop doing background stuff. Kind of
Speaker 4: everybody plays with each other, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: That's kind of how it was. I didn't want to
Speaker 4: continue to do that, you know what I mean. I
Speaker 4: wanted to just now I want to do that.
Speaker 1: So is there a different cachet when you walk into
Speaker 1: the jazz clubs, like, oh, I'm signed to Blue Note. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that does give you a difference.
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, yeah, absolutely, And you know for festivals and
Speaker 4: things like that, it's a big brother, you know, like, oh,
Speaker 4: you sign a Blue Note, okay, because Blue not has
Speaker 4: they have marketing money, they can they can promote you
Speaker 4: to a certain extent, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: The cool thing about jazz though, is that it's global,
Speaker 1: like you play, I mean music too. Yes, but the
Speaker 1: average R and B singer is not playing in Brussels, No, true,
Speaker 1: you're right, right, But the average now I want to
Speaker 1: say average, the new are established.
Speaker 2: Either one can catch a gig in Norway playing jazz bro.
Speaker 4: I went to Europe with So I've been touring for
Speaker 4: years with other musicians and you know, doing jazz tours
Speaker 4: around the world since two thousand nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 4: When I started playing Maxwell in two thousand and nine,
Speaker 4: he was my whole band. Like that was when he
Speaker 4: came out Pretty Wings and all that. That was my
Speaker 4: band he was using. So I toured with Max and
Speaker 4: on our days off we would do it. I would
Speaker 4: do gigs with my band, you know what I mean. Yeah,
Speaker 4: his first time going to Europe was when I was
Speaker 4: on tour with him, like twenty ten. That was his
Speaker 4: first time going to Europe first time. And you have
Speaker 4: been going to Europe since.
Speaker 2: I've been going to Europe for twelve years before that. Yes,
Speaker 2: that's crazy.
Speaker 4: Also because you think about it sometimes it's it's the
Speaker 4: language barrier too. When you're playing instrumental music, there's no
Speaker 4: language barrier. M when you're an R and B singer,
Speaker 4: it's all about what you're saying, you know what I
Speaker 4: mean a lot of times and it's you know, it's
Speaker 4: it's it's that. So I think a lot of people
Speaker 4: maybe get scared of that, or or also you have
Speaker 4: to cut your teeth. You have to really tour places
Speaker 4: over and over again to build an order out there.
Speaker 2: You have to you have to do that.
Speaker 4: People don't understand how important that is unless you got
Speaker 4: a record where it's like, Okay, I could tour the
Speaker 4: world off this one record because it's connected everywhere, connected
Speaker 4: so much. Other than that, as an artist, you kind
Speaker 4: of got to keep going to London there unless you
Speaker 4: got pony.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can kick you off. Quit. I'm just a bachelor.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, like certain places I know I can go,
Speaker 4: and I know I can clear four thousand people one show,
Speaker 4: five thousand people, one show, just.
Speaker 2: Me ticketed, not festival.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but because I kept going one of the country
Speaker 4: so many times, so much, and I tweed it the
Speaker 4: right way, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I know I can do that. Not twelve Oh that's
Speaker 2: not a tune.
Speaker 1: Oh man. People don't really know where I got that from.
Speaker 1: But you picked it out immediately and it thinks which
Speaker 1: are super.
Speaker 2: Superman. He knows his music. He may not know it's mad.
Speaker 2: That is crazy because I played this every time you
Speaker 2: with the super first grade.
Speaker 1: What is the bird?
Speaker 2: It's a fine. Robert O. Man, we want some information
Speaker 2: from your brother. Don't bring me some tissue.
Speaker 1: Musical journeys, all the music you've heard, all the music
Speaker 1: you've covered, you've got to have some favorites. I do, Robert,
Speaker 1: we want to know y'all. Top five, Yeah, your top.
Speaker 2: Five, say it again?
Speaker 1: Top five.
Speaker 2: Your top ORANGEB singer? What else? R and B song?
Speaker 1: Come with you?
Speaker 2: You got to you got your show. I know you do,
Speaker 2: and I want to top Yeah.
Speaker 5: Your sex A chocolate says so beautiful?
Speaker 2: Don't you agree? Oh? Glass?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: Your top five R and B singers, Top five R
Speaker 2: and B singers. So you said the R and B.
Speaker 2: So we're talking about R and B.
Speaker 1: We're tall talking about R and B, but we are
Speaker 1: also talking about those singers who are influential and instrumental
Speaker 1: to you, to you, to Robert, Robert. Okay, I like,
Speaker 1: do we get to safely say Robert's great.
Speaker 2: Top five singers all time, dead or alive? Yours? Stevie
Speaker 2: half of the top Donny mm hmm, Kimberell, Yes. Blow.
Speaker 1: Oh this is really hard, Layla, Layla's a savage list, Laylasten.
Speaker 1: I mean it's and I've seen blow terror room apart art.
Speaker 1: He woldn't even stage that long. No, he's incredible, bro.
Speaker 1: Most people haven't seen what I've seen because I've known
Speaker 1: him for so long. I knew him when he was
Speaker 1: kind of still saved.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? However, because I used to.
Speaker 4: You know, his dad was a Muslim, mom's Baptist, so
Speaker 4: he knows the Koran and and he was he used to.
Speaker 4: I have seen the video knocking people out of church.
Speaker 4: He's eleven.
Speaker 2: He was a healer. Yeah, he was an evangelist and healer.
Speaker 2: Like it's deeper than most people know, got it, most
Speaker 2: of God, most people? It makes sense.
Speaker 4: He used to be god man. He was Derek Holey
Speaker 4: two point oh when I met him, he was eighteen,
Speaker 4: Like it was crazy.
Speaker 1: Grade five, Yes, Top five Army songs your whole while
Speaker 1: we wait album next, We'll make that.
Speaker 2: We'll make that one. That one just what you gotta cover.
Speaker 2: Work around that.
Speaker 4: But you know, getting out of here Army song, a
Speaker 4: lot of it, and for me is nostalgia because growing
Speaker 4: up what my mom was playing and stuff, you know.
Speaker 4: So I would definitely say one of the one of
Speaker 4: the songs that made me want to play piano is
Speaker 4: giving you the best that I got. M I need
Speaker 4: a baker, Yeah, give you best I got. I had
Speaker 4: forty five, I was in third grade, fourth grade.
Speaker 2: Wore that out. I can't help it. Michael Jackson, written
Speaker 2: by Stevie Wonder. I wanted to that's another one.
Speaker 4: When I was in third grade, I used to unfold
Speaker 4: the Off the Wall album and play it back forward
Speaker 4: back for hours to sit there reading the line of notes.
Speaker 4: I knew who Greag Philly Games was when I was
Speaker 4: in third grade, and now he's my uncle grade game.
Speaker 4: You know what I mean, Uncle Greg, Great Feeling Games.
Speaker 4: I didn't know what that instrument was, but I knew.
Speaker 4: I loved the roads. I know what it is now,
Speaker 4: but I didn't know what it was. But that, bro,
Speaker 4: you're not playing at this point. Oh no, no, we
Speaker 4: didn't get to what age did you start playing? I
Speaker 4: started playing with one finger Happy Birthday at church when.
Speaker 2: I was eleven.
Speaker 4: You just start playing to your eleven eleven and you're late,
Speaker 4: super late. Another song from my childhood Isley Brothers smooth Sailing.
Speaker 2: That's Angela Wimbush wrote it smooth Sally anything that you
Speaker 2: know from me? I love that song. It takes you
Speaker 2: back to a place immediately. Don't listen to they know
Speaker 2: about I don't know.
Speaker 1: Come on, Oh my god, that song is such a
Speaker 1: good something man, Jesus, I'm like, what a song.
Speaker 2: That song will never get old.
Speaker 1: It will.
Speaker 2: So it always feels like a first listen, like, alright, man, it's.
Speaker 1: That was yeah, bro, let's create a vultron this oh
Speaker 1: musical vultron. All Right, your super your you're super R
Speaker 1: and B artist, Right, We want to know who you're
Speaker 1: going to get the vocal from.
Speaker 2: Mm hmmm.
Speaker 1: Who you're going to get to performance style from, who
Speaker 1: you're gonna get the styling from. Who are you going
Speaker 1: to get the passion of the artist, the heart of
Speaker 1: the artists?
Speaker 2: Right? Mm hmmm mm hmm. And who's going to play
Speaker 2: for that artist? Hmmm?
Speaker 1: Who's going to m d that band? Empty the band?
Speaker 1: So let's start off with the vocal. You get one
Speaker 1: vocal to build your super R and B Stavis.
Speaker 4: You know why because like when you say Stevie, it's
Speaker 4: like which Stevie, because there's a million of them.
Speaker 2: He doesn't have one Stevie voice. There's a million. He
Speaker 2: misses it. He misses it. No tempo, no year, no
Speaker 2: year period.
Speaker 1: Okay, performance style Michael Jackson, see Michael Jackson.
Speaker 4: Okay, just purely when you walk out on stage going crazy.
Speaker 4: No one has the Michael Jackson effect.
Speaker 2: No, you stand there and watch them.
Speaker 4: You just fucking stand there before you even do anything.
Speaker 4: You stand there and then you start doing stuff. We
Speaker 4: all got to stand there. And from Michael Jackson.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, it doesn't always go the way he went with
Speaker 2: Michael Jackson. But but come on, I haven't seen a
Speaker 2: couple niggas standing there and be like, have you ever
Speaker 2: seen his life? It's the styling of the artists, like
Speaker 2: what they're wearing.
Speaker 4: Ye can't do Michael twice, I like, you can't whatever
Speaker 4: you want just just for the sake of just just
Speaker 4: for the sake of, like, you know, just some different ship.
Speaker 2: Let me just see, let me see. That might be fun, Prince,
Speaker 2: might be fun. Me, Michael, Prince, that might be fun.
Speaker 1: That could be fun. This is great, Now, this is great.
Speaker 1: It's great because of because of because of the first two.
Speaker 1: You don't to accept whatever he has that for sure,
Speaker 1: whatever whatever, that level of talent, and.
Speaker 4: He's going to bring his guitar and you don't even
Speaker 4: know what part of what it's going to be when
Speaker 4: he shows up.
Speaker 2: You have no idea, Michael, you kind of know what
Speaker 2: the vibe is. Yeah, Prince, you don't Prince gonna bring
Speaker 2: to work with him too. He's gonna bring them. He's
Speaker 2: gonna bring to you. Feel me here. Ain't got a
Speaker 2: couple you feel me with him? No, he's not ice.
Speaker 2: You gotta have some of your feel me. He keeps me,
Speaker 2: Apo keeps you know, I mean, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And Lisa I met him, want Sheila. He had like
Speaker 2: eleven your filmies. Yeah, and it all had on yellow Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: my tay you feel Yeah, it's all ly here.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I got on your and you feel me right now?
Speaker 2: I have one of your feel you feel me? Yeah,
Speaker 2: I like that. The passion of the artists, the heart
Speaker 2: of the artists who mean it. James Brown.
Speaker 1: A man this my no, no, no, I'm not even
Speaker 1: my You got the an alphol five, I mean both
Speaker 1: round of all times. Yeah, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, James Brown,
Speaker 1: all all pioneers, absolutely, all changed the game, all some
Speaker 1: point change all pioneers. Who's the m D for this artist,
Speaker 1: who's making.
Speaker 2: It all go?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: I might the m D might be Earth Winding Fire.
Speaker 2: Have them do the music? Oh my god, because I
Speaker 2: just it's Adam Blackstone, you know, going in fire show,
Speaker 2: you know how to do a show. Yes you feel me.
Speaker 2: First time I saw earth When the Fire Alive, I
Speaker 2: was like, what the fuck is going on?
Speaker 1: How many members are in earth Winning Fire? It's only
Speaker 1: but it's only four though, something like that.
Speaker 2: Like Maurice he was he was the the little Verdine
Speaker 2: Philip Philip, And then I think it's just yeah, that
Speaker 2: was but.
Speaker 4: On, Yeah, they're on, that's everywhere. That was my second
Speaker 4: concert ever. Michael Jackson was my first. I was seven.
Speaker 4: I was twelve when I saw Earthline Fire. My mom
Speaker 4: made me go see them. She said, you want to
Speaker 4: be a musician.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 4: It was Saturday morning. She woke me up, Come on,
Speaker 4: we're going to see Earthlin the Fire. That the Houston Rodeo.
Speaker 4: And I was like, Mom, sleep, I don't want to go.
Speaker 4: Stay boy, get your ass up. Then goes the Earthly Fire.
Speaker 4: Momm good, you want to be a musician. She almost
Speaker 4: spanked me for not wanting to get up and go.
Speaker 2: She made me go shout out to your mom. Absolutely,
Speaker 2: but all right, Rob, we can't let you leave this. Ye,
Speaker 2: yeah we can't. We can't. Yeah, We're gonna give them.
Speaker 2: Ain't saying no Nick, ain't saying no name, no names.
Speaker 2: Don't say I ain't saying.
Speaker 1: Whoa Oh my god, so right now, very important segment
Speaker 1: of the show. Yeah, I ain't saying no names.
Speaker 2: Right. Will you tell us a story funny or fucked up?
Speaker 2: Are funny and fucked up? Yes? You know what I mean?
Speaker 1: These travels, Yeah, these jazz, R and B travels, hip hop,
Speaker 1: hip hop, be bop by dibbity bop, all of that,
Speaker 1: all of every genre.
Speaker 2: Everything you got to Grammy.
Speaker 1: Of Robert Glasper, the things you've seen, things you might
Speaker 1: have experienced that was and fucked up.
Speaker 2: Don't rule to the game. You can't say no name,
Speaker 2: no namest rule to the game. Gotcha? Okay, So I'm
Speaker 2: gonna and I guess this point there was no cell
Speaker 2: phones allowed maybe, but I was doing a gig. I
Speaker 2: was doing a gig.
Speaker 4: Let's leave it at that, and I don't think there
Speaker 4: were any cell phones allowed that and that's why.
Speaker 2: But this particular singer was also uh uh I had
Speaker 2: a church? Was R and B singer? Okay, but was preaching.
Speaker 2: I know they had a church or yeah maybe they did,
Speaker 2: maybe they didn't don't know.
Speaker 4: And uh, this person was actually on a TV show
Speaker 4: I had just saw I was talking about the religious
Speaker 4: part of this person's life now, like you know.
Speaker 2: Or religious. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I was like, oh man, that's great. I just saw
Speaker 4: it like the night before. So I'm doing this show
Speaker 4: and this person shows up to the show. I was like,
Speaker 4: oh man, this is great, big fan.
Speaker 2: And so I'm playing the person sitting in the front row.
Speaker 2: I'm doing my show.
Speaker 4: So at the end of the show, I hit this
Speaker 4: vamp and I kind of sitting to the person like
Speaker 4: you want to sing, and they're like okay, sure, and
Speaker 4: they come up and they say, everybody's grown in here, right,
Speaker 4: oh yeah, yeah, like yeah, And then the first words
Speaker 4: the person saying was the first lyrics were I don't
Speaker 4: mind hair in my teeth. That's the first who first thing,
Speaker 4: mind you. I'm sure everybody in this room knows that
Speaker 4: this person is now a preacher, like that was a
Speaker 4: it was a thing. So I'm not thinking that's what's
Speaker 4: going to come out of this person's mouth. But this
Speaker 4: this person continues to talk about uh eating pussy for
Speaker 4: about ten minutes in song form. And when that happens,
Speaker 4: another person who I didn't know was there that is
Speaker 4: in the gospel world big time. In the gospel world,
Speaker 4: runs to the stage, jumps on stage, grabs the mic
Speaker 4: from that said person and praise for him, no way,
Speaker 4: praise for him, gives the mic back, runs back off stage,
Speaker 4: and that was end of my show.
Speaker 2: It was so amazing. That is great. It will be
Speaker 2: more amazing if you you the names but can't say
Speaker 2: the name. Not saying the names.
Speaker 4: What that's the most recent the recent funny like seriously
Speaker 4: funny thing. And the fact that like there were no
Speaker 4: phones really so it was even more like you have
Speaker 4: to be there. Yeah, it's a urban legend.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, it was great. Don't mind getting hair in
Speaker 2: your teeth? The first line, first line, you mind getting
Speaker 2: hair in my teeth? Are you biting the is everybody
Speaker 2: grown in here? I like to bite it. You never
Speaker 2: like a little bite?
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: I never met one that is great and then didn't
Speaker 2: know bullet.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: Okay, not you. Why I gotta I know a singer
Speaker 2: that sound like that.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: We ain't saying no name. Brother, Robert Glaser, Yes, man,
Speaker 2: we love you, brother. Appreciate you absolutely. Absolutely, We appreciate man.
Speaker 2: You appreciate keeping what we love and what we do
Speaker 2: in the forefront. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, thank you for having me on there. Thank you
Speaker 4: for having us getting it out in the world. Take
Speaker 4: I want to do a song with you. What do
Speaker 4: you mean as soon as okay? Good letting the world
Speaker 4: know this right here. That's because you see it. I'm
Speaker 4: saying I would like to grab me. I'm saying I
Speaker 4: would like to I don't believe together. Yeah, I think
Speaker 4: we could do that. I'm really serious, pretty sure for sure.
Speaker 1: No, and and in thanking you brother even for just
Speaker 1: being just a solid guy to So for those that
Speaker 1: don't know I ran up on Glass, I'm knowing to
Speaker 1: run up on people.
Speaker 2: It's kind of thing.
Speaker 1: If I fuck with you, if I with you, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna run up on you. I'm gonna tell you how
Speaker 1: dope you are. And I'm going to invite you to
Speaker 1: the podcast. So I'm at the you know, the Adam Blackstone,
Speaker 1: Miss Diddy shut out, shout out amazing artists that come
Speaker 1: up there and perform, and you grace the stage that night,
Speaker 1: and I was like, and it's funny thing is, yes,
Speaker 1: I will run up on people that I know, usually
Speaker 1: like you know, if it's my homie.
Speaker 2: But we didn't know each other. We didn't know each other.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna say, how
Speaker 1: talented this man is for one, which I have no
Speaker 1: problem with giving people their problems, but then also I'm
Speaker 1: going to say, hey man.
Speaker 2: We need you on this podcast. We respect what you do.
Speaker 1: BT respect what this man does, and you know, invite
Speaker 1: him to the BT Awards and the Soul Trained Awards
Speaker 1: and every other award that y'all do.
Speaker 2: I have a war and you have one. Yeah, I forgot.
Speaker 2: I have one for Black Radio the year where your
Speaker 2: docum to the wars to get it, No, man, but
Speaker 2: I once radio. I forget what the category was. I
Speaker 2: think it was.
Speaker 4: I feel like it was Best Jazz Album, but you
Speaker 4: know what I mean. But I have the Silver Train,
Speaker 4: like the actual award, and it was when Don Liz.
Speaker 2: Was still alive. That's the train right there. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: forgot about that, man.
Speaker 1: But yes, brother, thank you because you know you kept
Speaker 1: your word. I ran upon you, I said, a bro.
Speaker 1: And the funny thing is when I ran up on
Speaker 1: you was like Jay Valentine, I knew you. I love.
Speaker 2: I've been wanting to get in the podcast.
Speaker 4: I've been with people and they've been telling like I
Speaker 4: one time I was with Brian He's like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 4: doing the podcast tomorrow R and B. I was like,
Speaker 4: one time I was stokely and he literally I brought
Speaker 4: him out here to do something, or yeah, okay, he
Speaker 4: was performing with me somebody.
Speaker 2: So it worked the same time.
Speaker 4: Like there have been so many people that are about
Speaker 4: to go do you'all podcast, I was like, I want
Speaker 4: to do that podcast.
Speaker 2: I'm really glad y'all inviting me on here. Thank you,
Speaker 2: I appreciate you, thank you for thank you for pulling
Speaker 2: up on absolutely.
Speaker 1: My name is Tank, I'm Jay Valentine and this is
Speaker 1: the Army Money podcast.
Speaker 2: The authority on all things R and B and.
Speaker 1: Traditional progressive whatever A n B all all R and
Speaker 1: B super first grade himself.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna get a shirt that's super first grade.
Speaker 1: R and B Money. R and B Money is a
Speaker 1: production of the Black Effect podcast Network. For more podcasts
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