Speaker 1: R and B Money.
Speaker 2: We are.
Speaker 3: Take pologize.
Speaker 1: We are the authority R and B ladies and gentleman.
Speaker 3: Name is Tank and this is the R and B
Speaker 3: Money Podcast, the authority on all things R and B business,
Speaker 3: big business, tenured business. Uh. You know, sometimes you in
Speaker 3: this game and then you're no longer in this game.
Speaker 3: But sometimes you in this game and you stay in
Speaker 3: this game a long time because you've done some real
Speaker 3: cool ship.
Speaker 1: Starting with cool ship?
Speaker 2: Are you cool? Lady?
Speaker 1: Was young?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: We go back like a six back, come on oolosis.
Speaker 2: I got it now. I was like, oh, hilariens.
Speaker 3: Doing this a minute A man?
Speaker 2: I thought you're about to say a million years?
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, not a million, but it.
Speaker 4: Is close A minute, yes, a minute, yes, all like.
Speaker 2: Both of you, which is screw.
Speaker 3: We can get into that, get it. We're gonna get
Speaker 3: into that all really like all really good stuff. And
Speaker 3: I say that because you know, going through this business
Speaker 3: can can can do so many things to you if
Speaker 3: you're not grounded in who you are. And every time
Speaker 3: I've seen you since the beginning, you are one hundred percent,
Speaker 3: one hundred and fifty percent you that you're bad. Listen,
Speaker 3: you are you? You this is this is you, that
Speaker 3: is anyone.
Speaker 1: Knows you know, that's the case to have on Chuck Taylor.
Speaker 2: I really am that is so funny thing. I take
Speaker 2: it as a compliment.
Speaker 3: But yeah, because because because the consistency is everything right,
Speaker 3: and you know, having the friendships and having the relationships
Speaker 3: with good people's everything, especially people you can depend on,
Speaker 3: you know what I'm saying. And a lot of times
Speaker 3: it's not even it's not even business when it comes
Speaker 3: to that type of thing. It's like it's like that
Speaker 3: person is going to say you good, that's a family,
Speaker 3: like that type of thing that is bigger than this business.
Speaker 3: And you you don't have that with everybody that you
Speaker 3: come in contact with this thing, and so you know,
Speaker 3: to to you know, to.
Speaker 1: See like you know what I'm saying, every time I
Speaker 1: see you them like.
Speaker 2: Like she cares you know, you know, yeah, yes, yes, And.
Speaker 3: So like for for us and even this pot it's
Speaker 3: always great too because we love to get into the
Speaker 3: intricacies of how this sting moves and everybody is all
Speaker 3: is so enamored with you know, who's in the video
Speaker 3: and who's on the songs and all of these things.
Speaker 3: I mean, maybe now they're into the producers and somewhat
Speaker 3: the writers.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: But you've been orchestrating it from an artist, songwriter, producer
Speaker 3: standpoint since the beginning, which has helped shape all of this,
Speaker 3: like yeah, you know what I mean, and so you're
Speaker 3: you're important so that they understand like women in this
Speaker 3: business also make this motherfucker shack.
Speaker 1: Period a lot.
Speaker 2: More now, thankfully.
Speaker 3: Heay.
Speaker 1: First of all, we're gonna get it back. R and B.
Speaker 3: We're gonna get it back. Bella's begin ass kick.
Speaker 1: Just saying getting whoop?
Speaker 2: What you posting?
Speaker 1: Mighty hoodie over the head?
Speaker 2: You up?
Speaker 3: That's how we getting whooped?
Speaker 2: Right, you're it down.
Speaker 1: It's just I can't do it for myself. They're gonna
Speaker 1: pull the VIDI over.
Speaker 2: You got to keep that apack you now.
Speaker 1: Just moments. But let's start from the beginning. Let's start
Speaker 1: from the beginning. Let's start with.
Speaker 3: Was this always a desire of yours to be in
Speaker 3: the music business? Because this ship is different?
Speaker 2: No, I mean, well, you got to think like I
Speaker 2: didn't know I could. So I didn't grow up. I'm
Speaker 2: not from LA I'm from New York. I didn't I
Speaker 2: didn't know anyone that was in music like I. My
Speaker 2: father loved me ZI. So then by proxy, you get
Speaker 2: exposed to all the things that they list your parents
Speaker 2: listen to, and I'm looking at their vinyl and listening
Speaker 2: to songs over and over and over again. And I
Speaker 2: didn't think about this until years later, but I was like,
Speaker 2: I used to sit there, pull the jacket sleeves out
Speaker 2: of albums and listen to records with the lyrics. So
Speaker 2: like from then, I loved songs and lyrics and I've
Speaker 2: always been a lyric girl. And it's funny now I'm like, oh,
Speaker 2: I've been doing this since I was a kid, but
Speaker 2: I never knew anyone that did. So when I went
Speaker 2: to college, I went to USC in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3: What got you to USC? Because that's not and smart.
Speaker 1: I want to start there.
Speaker 2: I was a dean scholar in high school and I.
Speaker 3: Don't even know what that means.
Speaker 2: It just means you get good grade.
Speaker 5: No, I'm just saying, I heard yeah, yeah, so you
Speaker 5: just yeah, so.
Speaker 2: You ap class ap classes, and so you you only know,
Speaker 2: especially back then, like you don't. I didn't know what
Speaker 2: I wanted to do. I have peak kids that do
Speaker 2: or they fascinate me because I just was like, I
Speaker 2: don't I don't know, like my parents work jobs, you know,
Speaker 2: And so you're like, I know, college from everything I
Speaker 2: seen on television is how people have careers. So you
Speaker 2: go to college because you're like, well that's why you
Speaker 2: go to college and you get a good job. You know,
Speaker 2: there's your whole life. You hear that. So I went
Speaker 2: to college and I don't know if I was like,
Speaker 2: this is the college I want to go all that
Speaker 2: stuff that people experience. Now, I was just like, they
Speaker 2: gave me the most money. I sorry USC, like cause
Speaker 2: I know it's like a big teda school, but I
Speaker 2: used to I literally be like, why did you pick us?
Speaker 2: I'm like, they gave me the most money to go there,
Speaker 2: so I picked there because we didn't have money.
Speaker 1: And the USC is not cheap, no, but.
Speaker 2: It's private, so they give you more funding. I guess.
Speaker 2: So that was it. It was like I was in
Speaker 2: music the whole time but didn't know. So I was
Speaker 2: like doing things like this thing they used to have
Speaker 2: called Songfest where they would have organizations with COMPEDE. I'd
Speaker 2: work with the Black Student Union of course, because I
Speaker 2: wasn't in fraternity or anything, and you would put together
Speaker 2: like a show. They would take popular songs and change
Speaker 2: the words and like it had a theme and you
Speaker 2: perform at the shrine. And like one year I was
Speaker 2: in it. The next year I was, you know, like
Speaker 2: choreographing and directing it and had to get music made.
Speaker 2: I was figuring it all out. I didn't know I
Speaker 2: was in music. I was just doing like the song
Speaker 2: fest thing, so you don't think, like it doesn't feel
Speaker 2: like it's possible. And I had roommates in college that
Speaker 2: were from Los Angeles that used to go to like
Speaker 2: rapper videos and like all in a video, you know,
Speaker 2: and I would be at home because I wasn't cool.
Speaker 2: I would be at home and be like how do y'all?
Speaker 2: Like how did you do that? Like how do you
Speaker 2: know about videos and where artists are going to be?
Speaker 2: Like that's crazy? And I loved music so much, but
Speaker 2: that's not a career. Like I'm not a singer, I'm
Speaker 2: not a rapper, I'm not a dancer for real, Like
Speaker 2: that's not a career. So I think it was more
Speaker 2: so it was like my junior year of college, this
Speaker 2: guy I can't remember his name now, but He used
Speaker 2: to be in one of my classes and he was
Speaker 2: an engineer. He was older and he was getting ready
Speaker 2: to graduate, and you know, he's an engineer major. So
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, you know, he's like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: going to start my job at Coke. And I was like,
Speaker 2: you don't work at Coke and as an engineer and
Speaker 2: he's like, oh yeah, I just did engineering, So I could,
Speaker 2: you know, have these skill set because I want to
Speaker 2: be this person in business And I was like, oh
Speaker 2: my god, like it never. I was like, oh, you
Speaker 2: could like get an education and still like be whatever
Speaker 2: you want to be. And so I was like huh
Speaker 2: and he was like what. And I was like, well,
Speaker 2: you know, I really like music, but you know, like
Speaker 2: I'm a communications major and like I'm trying to figure
Speaker 2: out like how go get a comms job somewhere or whatever.
Speaker 2: And he was like, you know, how long have you
Speaker 2: been working? And I was like shit, I I since
Speaker 2: I was fifteen. And he's like, well, you could work anywhere,
Speaker 2: like do something you want to do. And I swear
Speaker 2: on everything I love because I am so corny. I
Speaker 2: went back to my apartment on campus like with this
Speaker 2: like determination, like a scene from a sitcom and like
Speaker 2: called my parents and was like, I'm gonna work in
Speaker 2: the music industry.
Speaker 1: Off of one conversation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm dead ass serious. My parents were like okay,
Speaker 2: you know, but it was like I had all this courage,
Speaker 2: like I have found purpose. It was so funny. And
Speaker 2: from that moment on, I was like researching and internships
Speaker 2: and like just like how do I get in? How
Speaker 2: do I get in? How do I get in? And
Speaker 2: you know, eventually I got an internship.
Speaker 1: So you didn't ask none of your video of Vixen help.
Speaker 2: Me, you know, take me down to bless them. Their
Speaker 2: desire for music was a little different than they enjoyed
Speaker 2: the fruits of hip hop. At that not so much
Speaker 2: a way to say that. End up, I did not
Speaker 2: say that. They just enjoyed being on set. From what
Speaker 2: I understood, I was never invited, of course, because you know,
Speaker 2: I'm not cool. But so I started like intern Somebody
Speaker 2: introduced me to a gentleman, Kerry Gordy, who is the
Speaker 2: son of Barry Gerdy, who I kind of thought it
Speaker 2: was going to be an internship, but was really like,
Speaker 2: damn near a full time job, which I didn't care.
Speaker 1: You still still at this point, I am.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he's like great, Like I don't know if
Speaker 2: you know Carrie, but like he talks really fast and
Speaker 2: he's like great, I love it. And I'm just like
Speaker 2: my god, like also, you know Barry Gordy and like you.
Speaker 1: I mean yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2: I'm so far removed from like you know, I'm going
Speaker 2: to school full time, I'm working forty hours a week.
Speaker 2: I'm like I'm doing whatever to make sure I survive.
Speaker 2: And you meet a guy who's like related to Barry Gordy,
Speaker 2: Like this isn't real, this is not real life. And
Speaker 2: so he and his wife had a production company and
Speaker 2: they no, lie, We're like we had this album we
Speaker 2: finished and we need to turn all the credits in.
Speaker 2: So like here I'm like going through nothing. When I
Speaker 2: say I know nothing, I'm like calling, like call Aftra, okay, hi,
Speaker 2: Aftra this far and I have to say that this
Speaker 2: musician did this and that I mean like literally talk
Speaker 2: about get it from the mud, just like go figure
Speaker 2: out how to deliver an album. I'm like, I don't know.
Speaker 2: It was the hardest thing I ever did in my
Speaker 2: whole life, shout out to adding people.
Speaker 1: And it was way different.
Speaker 3: Phone calls and and hold, but.
Speaker 2: It was please and you're like hi hi, hi, hi yah,
Speaker 2: So okay, just do I put yes because and the
Speaker 2: other part was it was this immense pressure. One I
Speaker 2: wanted to be great, and two I didn't want to
Speaker 2: mess up right, like because the first thing I learned
Speaker 2: was like, if we don't turn this in, like we
Speaker 2: gotta pay fees and fines. And so now I'm you know,
Speaker 2: I didn't know at the time, like I shouldn't have
Speaker 2: probably been delivering an album, like I didn't know nothing.
Speaker 2: So it's funny to me now, but like that was it.
Speaker 2: And then I probably wasn't even there six months when
Speaker 2: someone else that used to work there was like, you
Speaker 2: know what that Jive they're hiring and I'm like a word.
Speaker 2: He's like, yeah, I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get
Speaker 2: you a meeting with the with the president, and I'm like, okay,
Speaker 2: you know, Like so I'm I'm so like, oh my god,
Speaker 2: like Jive records, like are you kidding me? Like try
Speaker 2: called quest like Will Smith, like like I was just
Speaker 2: I couldn't all my favorite things in the entire world,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, you know, receptionist job, and I go
Speaker 2: for a meeting there and you know, they're just you know,
Speaker 2: they're interviewing me. Da da da da. I don't even
Speaker 2: think I told them I was in college because I
Speaker 2: was afraid that they wouldn't hire me. So I was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm available and I could do whatever and it's fine
Speaker 2: and blah blah blah. And they were like, Okay, I
Speaker 2: got the phone call. I tell you almost die. I
Speaker 2: about died, Like I thought, like it just didn't make
Speaker 2: any sense to me, you know, cause it just doesn't.
Speaker 2: You don't know it again, you don't know anyone that
Speaker 2: this happens for. There wasn't Instagram where everybody's famous and
Speaker 2: those famous people like nobody I knew. And so now
Speaker 2: you're in the office and like trave called Quest walks
Speaker 2: in and you're like, you know, now you're talking to
Speaker 2: camal aka q Tip and you're you know, driving them
Speaker 2: around everywhere. Like that was my job was like as
Speaker 2: you get home. I got hired as a receptionists. But
Speaker 2: the good news was it was pretty much the satellite
Speaker 2: office of the New York Office. So I did you
Speaker 2: do everything everything, mail records, you know, so and so's
Speaker 2: in town, drive them everywhere, like d nice, I gotta try.
Speaker 2: I got a signed to to Derek when he doesn't
Speaker 2: even he didn't even know this till later is so funny.
Speaker 2: I'm so corny. It makes me laugh. So I was
Speaker 2: assigned to him. They would rent a car for me
Speaker 2: because I was too young to rent my own car,
Speaker 2: and they would I would drive them around to go eat,
Speaker 2: to go to whatever they were was also doing. He
Speaker 2: wouldn't he was doing like TV show auditions and stuff.
Speaker 2: So I would just be with him like for days
Speaker 2: at a time when he was in town and like
Speaker 2: his intern, basically like drive him everywhere. Years later, when
Speaker 2: when he started to like his DJ thing really started
Speaker 2: to be like, I don't know if you remember me,
Speaker 2: but I used to like be your intern, he was
Speaker 2: just like, oh yeah, because I was sitting in the audition,
Speaker 2: like I got to see him do TV auditions, like
Speaker 2: I got to see everything. I used to go. I
Speaker 2: used to have to go. This is so long ago,
Speaker 2: but I used to get sent over to Fresh Prince
Speaker 2: of bel Air to go wait for Will to sign
Speaker 2: all the autographs. They'd be like, go over there and
Speaker 2: have him signed autographs, and.
Speaker 1: So you would have all the pictures picture yep.
Speaker 2: And I would just be sitting there like they just
Speaker 2: walk by, and then Benny Madina would be like, all right,
Speaker 2: you can go in now, you know, and then Will
Speaker 2: would sign all the seven hundred thousand and then I
Speaker 2: drive it back. I was so and I'd just be like,
Speaker 2: I'm lucky as much stuff to me, you know. He
Speaker 2: was so nice and I would just be like, oh
Speaker 2: my god, Will Smith is nice. Oh my god, he
Speaker 2: said a joke to me, like it just didn't make sense.
Speaker 2: And so I love that part, like the discovery and
Speaker 2: the newness, and like I think as my career expanded,
Speaker 2: that's what I started to become attracted to, which is
Speaker 2: the newer generation of people and their excitement, you know,
Speaker 2: the the dream in your head, Like when I met
Speaker 2: you and they're like, this is Tank the new guy
Speaker 2: from Virginia and he's a singer, and like I'm like,
Speaker 2: and you're just you could just see like I can't
Speaker 2: you know, like I'm gonna be this you know. Yeah,
Speaker 2: It's like that's the wonderful. That's the part that like
Speaker 2: you know that you just you cove it because you know,
Speaker 2: then there becomes other times that you need to you
Speaker 2: need to have sensory recall and be like, oh yeah,
Speaker 2: I do love this right because because you love it,
Speaker 2: and then sometimes you don't because it is a tough business.
Speaker 2: It's a tough business.
Speaker 3: So when do you get out of When do you
Speaker 3: get out of assisting and and and doing getting autograph
Speaker 3: sign to finally getting a real position somebody saying hey,
Speaker 3: I think you would be great at this.
Speaker 2: So it's it's interesting. I was very again, do everything.
Speaker 2: You know, you're doing the list for the parties, you're
Speaker 2: I mean literally everything. And one of the things was
Speaker 2: that Jive and a company called Zomba Publishing at the
Speaker 2: time were connected and they were in the same building
Speaker 2: and so it's a satellite office. And the woman that
Speaker 2: was running that used to ask me she was not
Speaker 2: a she was not proficient in R and B and
Speaker 2: hip hop music. That wasn't her bag. So she'd be like, hey,
Speaker 2: you know, if you want to listen to these demos
Speaker 2: and you want to like da da da da da songwriters,
Speaker 2: And I was like, of course, it was like a
Speaker 2: light again. It's like a moment where I was like,
Speaker 2: I love songwriters. I love song I was like, this
Speaker 2: is what I want to do. I want to work
Speaker 2: with songwriters. I don't even know what it's called that.
Speaker 2: If there's a job for songwriters and publishing, publishing, right, oh, publishing,
Speaker 2: Like it was just like this discovery and so I
Speaker 2: would listen to songs, give her things like tell her
Speaker 2: what I thought was good or not, and like I
Speaker 2: was answering phone, so shit, I was important. Like that
Speaker 2: was exciting for me. And she was like one day
Speaker 2: and they call me the baby because I was like
Speaker 2: so much younger than everybody around there, and they'd be like,
Speaker 2: get into the baby to do it or whatever. We
Speaker 2: got to get the baby a cary, you know, we
Speaker 2: gotta get the baby a car because she can't run
Speaker 2: a car. Like it's just silly stuff. And she was like,
Speaker 2: you know, a woman I used to work with by
Speaker 2: the name of Kathleen Carrie is hiring at Sony Publishing,
Speaker 2: like for a job. And I was like, it's like
Speaker 2: I should call her and just you know, you should
Speaker 2: meet her. And I'm like, you know, oh my god.
Speaker 2: And at this time I'm not just working at Jibe.
Speaker 2: I'm like meeting artists that are like you should manage me.
Speaker 2: And I'm like okay, and like let's go to figure
Speaker 2: out how to make a demo, and like getting to
Speaker 2: an R people and like playing their stuff and then
Speaker 2: almost getting a deal. So I was starting to like
Speaker 2: move around before people would be like you got to
Speaker 2: move around? Like I was just kind of like, well
Speaker 2: we probably need some music, well we probably need some photos.
Speaker 2: You know, you just were doing all of the things.
Speaker 2: And she introduced me to Kathleen, and I didn't know nothing,
Speaker 2: Like I really was just like I'm this, I'm bad.
Speaker 2: Kathleen's like, you know, sweet, and I could tell she
Speaker 2: liked me, but I did not get the job. And
Speaker 2: you know, I remember calling my mom was so sad.
Speaker 2: You know, I love my mom. I love my mom.
Speaker 2: And I was like, Mom, yeah, they hired somebody else
Speaker 2: and this and that and whatever. My Mom's like, I
Speaker 2: don't know, I think that's your job. And I'm like, Mom,
Speaker 2: I don't think you heard literally hired another person, not
Speaker 2: my job. She's like, I don't know. I just feel
Speaker 2: like it's your job. I'm like, Mom, Jesus, like you're
Speaker 2: so cute, it's not my job. Two weeks later, my
Speaker 2: phone is Kathleen. Kathleen was from Dallas and so she's like, harka,
Speaker 2: that's like your head. She starts the conversation. I'm like hi.
Speaker 2: She's like, so, I've been thinking I really like you
Speaker 2: and you just don't know anything. But I just feel
Speaker 2: like there's something about you that's making me feel like
Speaker 2: I should see you again. So I'm confused because I'm like,
Speaker 2: I know, they hire somebody else, can you come back in?
Speaker 2: And I was like yeah, right. So apparently whoever they
Speaker 2: offered the job to, something weird happened and she didn't
Speaker 2: get the job, and it was a she that's all
Speaker 2: I know. I come in. I'm like, Okay. In my head,
Speaker 2: I'm like, be calm, be cool, Like don't you know
Speaker 2: everything people say you like, don't get too excited, like
Speaker 2: I still don't know, Like I feel like it's like
Speaker 2: a thirteenth interview. At this point, I brought a CD
Speaker 2: of music of things I like, things I would sign things.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm all yeah. And so I'm meeting with
Speaker 2: her and the number two guy and they're asking me
Speaker 2: different questions and they asked me like I put my
Speaker 2: favorite cover, which was risky because I did intros Ribbon
Speaker 2: in the Sky because I was like I don't think
Speaker 2: Stevie Wonder should ever be covered, but this is the
Speaker 2: one time I felt like it did it just I
Speaker 2: was just like ah everything, I knew why. And so
Speaker 2: they're like, I think we'd like to hire you, right,
Speaker 2: So my ass is like, okay, cool, like that sounds great,
Speaker 2: Like I'm trying to be an adult. My ass is like,
Speaker 2: are you I'm going insane? So I'm like cool. I
Speaker 2: was like, can I can I use a restaurant? Like
Speaker 2: I'm dying, I'm like trying to call my mother. I'm like,
Speaker 2: oh my god, oh my god. I come back out
Speaker 2: like sure, that would be wonderful. Like he let me know,
Speaker 2: like the offer is, and like I'm stupid.
Speaker 1: Somewhere of.
Speaker 2: Your office would be your assistant. Mind you, I am
Speaker 2: an assistant, So I'm like I have an assistant like
Speaker 2: like this, it's not real. Like she hated me, by
Speaker 2: the way, shout out to her. She was much older
Speaker 2: than me at the time because she was already there.
Speaker 2: So she was like who is this child? And yeah,
Speaker 2: they like she was not having it. She quit after
Speaker 2: like a few months. But I didn't even know how
Speaker 2: to use her because I honestly she was older, So
Speaker 2: part of it was like.
Speaker 1: What I'm imagining?
Speaker 2: Do you mind?
Speaker 1: Don't even know how to ask for some call? But
Speaker 1: could you give me?
Speaker 2: Do you think I have to take a flight? Do
Speaker 2: you know I'm supposed to call the book? She's looking
Speaker 2: at me, like, girl.
Speaker 1: Said, right, I should have that when I fly.
Speaker 2: They're like, she's looking like you know, And it was
Speaker 2: just big, like it was just how and why and
Speaker 2: like and Kathleen, who's so wonderful, who I credit for
Speaker 2: so much of of just taking a shot on me.
Speaker 2: Because even after I started, I remember, since then, every
Speaker 2: day I thought I was gonna get fired, right, Like
Speaker 2: You're like, okay, they yeah, You're like, they don't. I
Speaker 2: don't know nothing. They gave me this big ass job.
Speaker 2: I got an assistant. I don't even know how to.
Speaker 1: Use her, like, and you're at Sony.
Speaker 2: Publishing, Sony Publishing Publish and I'm exactly and I'm sitting
Speaker 2: in the office, my office just like.
Speaker 1: How old are you?
Speaker 2: I think that was like twenty two? Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 2: was wow. Yeah, I mean at this point now I've
Speaker 2: graduated and I'm like, I don't know nothing. I know nothing.
Speaker 6: So here's my question, Yeah, how did you used to
Speaker 6: fill up your day.
Speaker 2: That was the problem. So initially I was listening to everything,
Speaker 2: like I was pulling out all the music and familiarizing
Speaker 2: myself with the roster and like dreaming of where I
Speaker 2: thought people should work. I can knew that much. But no, no, right,
Speaker 2: I just was And Kathleen again, she walks by my
Speaker 2: office and she's like, I was like, I don't really
Speaker 2: know where to start, Like I was just very honest,
Speaker 2: and she's like, and she used to tell this story
Speaker 2: which used to make me feel so good, but she
Speaker 2: was like, you know, one day I just told her
Speaker 2: to pull out the directory and call people and introduce herself,
Speaker 2: and she would say it. I never had to tell
Speaker 2: her anything again to that, which is not true. But
Speaker 2: I appreciated that she felt like I was a self
Speaker 2: starter because I was. I wanted to figure it out.
Speaker 2: So then it was Hi, this is Eric Grayson Sony
Speaker 2: pushing and like each person and then they'd be like,
Speaker 2: come on in and then you you know, and then
Speaker 2: eventually you get a rhythm and you get it. But
Speaker 2: it was really for me, like I didn't even know
Speaker 2: then that I was in the industry, because for me,
Speaker 2: I still was a kid excited to be around all
Speaker 2: of these people. So I don't know, I never I
Speaker 2: don't think that, like looking at myself as someone ever happened,
Speaker 2: because I was always like, holy shit, that's so and so,
Speaker 2: or I'm with such and such or that's and I'm
Speaker 2: at this convention and like it was always just like
Speaker 2: I can't believe I'm here. At some point, somebody's just
Speaker 2: gonna be like, dude, dude, what are you doing here?
Speaker 2: You know, and it never just never happens.
Speaker 1: It's interesting to hear.
Speaker 6: The beginning for you because it brings back a memory
Speaker 6: for me where I had my first job opportunity.
Speaker 1: Was with Ira Jaffe.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, Famous Music, yeah, which I was signed to.
Speaker 6: I remember I was signed to Famous Music and then
Speaker 6: Brian Pastel left and then Ira offered me his job
Speaker 6: and Brian had signed me right right, and I'm like, no, like.
Speaker 1: No other guy right.
Speaker 6: And I think at the time I might have been twenty, yeah,
Speaker 6: nineteen twenty something around that, and I'd only been signed
Speaker 6: there maybe a year if that six whatever it was,
Speaker 6: And I remember Ira was saying to me, he was like.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you the weekend to think about it.
Speaker 6: Right, and then we talked again that Monday, and we
Speaker 6: talked and he could just hear it in my voice.
Speaker 6: I had been fighting with it all weekend or whatever,
Speaker 6: because you know.
Speaker 3: In my mind, I'm like, oh man, I go from
Speaker 3: being the writer and now I'm signing everybody.
Speaker 1: I'm about to be cracking. And that's why I asked, like,
Speaker 1: how do you feel up your day? Because I was
Speaker 1: even I was I was thinking about it, like when
Speaker 1: I get there.
Speaker 2: What do I do?
Speaker 1: What would I be doing?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 1: Will I not be taking these niggas calls?
Speaker 6: And H was like, Jay, I think you would do
Speaker 6: great at this, but I don't think it's time yet.
Speaker 6: And he kind of let me off the hook, right,
Speaker 6: and I'm just like, damn, I think you kind of.
Speaker 1: Fired me already. I don't really know if I wanted it.
Speaker 6: So it's just interesting for you to tell your story
Speaker 6: because like I had those thoughts in my head of like,
Speaker 6: how how would I do it if I was on
Speaker 6: the other side of this, right, and for you to
Speaker 6: and it was it's crazy because like you're practically the
Speaker 6: same age when it's happened for you, So it's just wild.
Speaker 6: It's wild to hear that.
Speaker 2: It's funny now, but because I always you know, now
Speaker 2: I'm you know, the O G. But I always tell
Speaker 2: people like nobody knows what they're doing.
Speaker 5: We're unks now, Yeah, not like I like, I like,
Speaker 5: I was like, I'm kind of o G.
Speaker 2: I kind of dig it.
Speaker 1: They don't mean the same as you said.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It was like if you're in your title, if you're
Speaker 3: unk and your O G, that means you still in it.
Speaker 1: That's you still got some cashe be feeling about. What
Speaker 1: about they start calling you popa.
Speaker 3: Nigga?
Speaker 1: That's when you that's when you ain't in it.
Speaker 3: Just disrespectful to.
Speaker 2: I was like, first of all, that went somewhere way
Speaker 2: over there, went from.
Speaker 1: Like what's it gets there?
Speaker 3: I know, I know the disrespect you to give its
Speaker 3: start running off.
Speaker 1: My accomplished motherfucker when.
Speaker 2: He takes all a shirt. Yeah, he starts doing maybe
Speaker 2: I deserve you as Sony.
Speaker 6: Yes, who's like the first like big artists, big writer
Speaker 6: that you like, oh ship or somebody that you see
Speaker 6: early on that you're like, oh this artist is about
Speaker 6: to crack the writer.
Speaker 1: The writer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I think when we I say we because
Speaker 2: my mentor whether he claims me or not Big John
Speaker 2: and I we I think we changed publishing at that
Speaker 2: time a little bit because it really wasn't artists forward.
Speaker 2: It was a lot of like songwriter, singer, you know,
Speaker 2: songwriter and producer and it was him to some extent
Speaker 2: and Susette Williams who I will marrish forever. That was
Speaker 2: like we could we could sign artists. We could like
Speaker 2: we could do this different. There our senior people at
Speaker 2: the time that were our cohorts, but not but much
Speaker 2: older than us. We're still like signing the traditional writers.
Speaker 2: We were like show you know we could sign we
Speaker 2: could go after the brat or we could go after
Speaker 2: you know, jay Z, who Big John ended up signing, right.
Speaker 2: I tried to sign up like a joke, Like they
Speaker 2: were just like how much girl, get out of here?
Speaker 3: Twelve?
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were like hmm, you know, we really believe
Speaker 2: in you, but not that much. But you know, it
Speaker 2: was different then, and you see like Big John's not
Speaker 2: his just all his accomplishments, but also like his relationship
Speaker 2: with Jay it started from back then. So I think
Speaker 2: like we saw the talent easily at that point. It
Speaker 2: was just about competing, right, And in those days, you know,
Speaker 2: I had him like he's like I was. I felt like,
Speaker 2: I think I got one deal away, one deal we
Speaker 2: both wanted away from him, maybe maybe more later, but
Speaker 2: which was Dutch. I said that we'd be clubbing, and
Speaker 2: I remember and I got Andrew and we were going, yeah,
Speaker 2: and we were going I mean when I say like
Speaker 2: he was doing all the things like I was like,
Speaker 2: oh my god, I have to go back to the company.
Speaker 2: And it was so funny because when I got the
Speaker 2: deal and John is we're both our birthdays are three
Speaker 2: days apart other than the years, but like our we're
Speaker 2: both scorpios and competitive, you know. And I remember because
Speaker 2: I love John and I remember seeing him as like
Speaker 2: the b and my awards after, like are you mad
Speaker 2: at me? And he was like, what, no, He's probably like, girl,
Speaker 2: you got one out of nineteen deals.
Speaker 1: I ain't thinking about it.
Speaker 2: But in my head I was like, I hope he's
Speaker 2: not mad at me, you know, for winning a deal,
Speaker 2: like cause I just he just meant so much to me.
Speaker 2: But I also was like I wasn't gonna let the
Speaker 2: deal go right. So it was that and we'd be
Speaker 2: clubbing was so big and it was exciting. It was
Speaker 2: attached to a movie like I was popping, you know
Speaker 2: in my head. But you know I was just like,
Speaker 2: oh I did something, and you just learn, like you
Speaker 2: just learned. You learn what's a good deal, what's not
Speaker 2: a good deal? Like you just have that, you know,
Speaker 2: you have that thing. So I think everyone at that
Speaker 2: time we were all kind of going after it wasn't.
Speaker 2: I don't think I had some special vision. I just
Speaker 2: think we were all like, this is how signed, you know,
Speaker 2: and then either you wanted or you didn't, Like you
Speaker 2: won the deal or you didn't.
Speaker 1: So how did okay?
Speaker 6: For the for the audience, right and for people who
Speaker 6: don't really know much about that side of the music business,
Speaker 6: what were you for you? Because obviously, you know, times
Speaker 6: are different, but certain things still remain.
Speaker 1: What were things that made you want to sign a writer? Producer?
Speaker 6: Are this writer? What those things like? What were some
Speaker 6: of the things that stuck out? What you were like, yeah, like, okay,
Speaker 6: this looks like somebody I would want to work with
Speaker 6: or sounds like somebody I would want to work with.
Speaker 2: It was it grew different over time, like because you
Speaker 2: also start to recognize, like I was lyric and melody
Speaker 2: for me, was like more my thing, right, which again
Speaker 2: I didn't. It wasn't automatic. I wasn't like, oh I'm
Speaker 2: into lyric and melody. It was more what I discovered
Speaker 2: about myself over time. So I liked writers, you know,
Speaker 2: I liked you know, I got that handled babyfaces, you know,
Speaker 2: camp catalog everything when I was at Sony, So I
Speaker 2: mean that was babyface, right. So I liked beats, I
Speaker 2: loved I obviously loved hip hop and from New York.
Speaker 2: But it was really about what things would say and
Speaker 2: when I my god, I'm like, this is so funny.
Speaker 2: When I I was a kid, before before music videos,
Speaker 2: before MTV ladies and gentlemen, which actually was a thing,
Speaker 2: I used to sit in the car with my head
Speaker 2: back when my parents were playing music, and my parents
Speaker 2: would be like, what are you doing, and I'd say,
Speaker 2: I'm making music movies and I would make videos up
Speaker 2: in my head to the songs that were playing.
Speaker 1: Right, So, because they were so vivid.
Speaker 2: They were so vivid, and the songs, the lyrics, the
Speaker 2: story is what always captivated me. And so for me
Speaker 2: it was about like, yeah, of course, like they're working
Speaker 2: with so and so, and they have this potential in
Speaker 2: that potential, but it was also just like from talent,
Speaker 2: it was someone who could tell a great story. And
Speaker 2: it's still that way to me. I think it still matters.
Speaker 2: I don't think that would. I hope that never changes.
Speaker 6: I mean I personally don't think it ever will. Yeah,
Speaker 6: that part of the music business, I think, you know,
Speaker 6: because it's it evokes emotion. Yeah, like you said, like
Speaker 6: I love you got to have the track for sure,
Speaker 6: but like when you find the writer that can really
Speaker 6: tell you a story and really put you into a
Speaker 6: place so that you can make music movies, you.
Speaker 2: Know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Like that, that's just a whole other level.
Speaker 3: That is absolutely and it's like even as we said,
Speaker 3: bringing today's time, whether it's where it's R and B
Speaker 3: a track don't matter. That story yeah, of whoever it
Speaker 3: is walking down their street in their hood, right, and
Speaker 3: the play by play of what that looks like.
Speaker 2: It's so real. Like if you think about just like now,
Speaker 2: like modern times, if you take someone like Charlie Hansom, right,
Speaker 2: who's a producer and an instrumentalist. Charlie is like you know,
Speaker 2: when I met him, he had just done fade for
Speaker 2: for for and I think works with thug Travis, Like,
Speaker 2: I mean, like all the all the guys is now
Speaker 2: Morgan Whelan, you know him, and j Cash and and
Speaker 2: and post and like, to me, it's like that just
Speaker 2: shows you how transferable you know, story is. It's just
Speaker 2: what venue is it in?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 2: Like is it in country and you're talking about whiskey
Speaker 2: and you know the love you've never had? Or are
Speaker 2: you talking about you know? So I always find like,
Speaker 2: to me, those examples are so extraordinary because it really
Speaker 2: is that way. And I think that's that gave me
Speaker 2: a lot of benefit. Like even before I could really articulate,
Speaker 2: like articulate what it was, it was like I could
Speaker 2: see where someone else could be that they weren't already
Speaker 2: as writers. Yeah, I think that if I had a superpower,
Speaker 2: I'd be like, you should be writing this, Like you
Speaker 2: should be doing more pop, more global, more that, more this,
Speaker 2: even though you're writing R and B records or you're
Speaker 2: doing whatever.
Speaker 6: So as a publisher, right because then you know the
Speaker 6: other side of that is what does a publisher do?
Speaker 3: Right? So?
Speaker 1: And we all know and in any.
Speaker 6: Job you can pick you can pinpoint and pick out
Speaker 6: the things someone doesn't do. Everybody always you know, everybody
Speaker 6: wants to put a spotlight on you don't do this,
Speaker 6: and you didn't do that, and you just chased the
Speaker 6: charge or you got blah blah blah blah. But like,
Speaker 6: as a publisher, so when someone would sign to Sony
Speaker 6: and they would sign and you would sign them, what
Speaker 6: would what were the things that you felt like, Okay,
Speaker 6: as a publisher, this is what I need to do
Speaker 6: to get them to this next place.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it would start with like introducing them
Speaker 2: to and our people that maybe they didn't know, right,
Speaker 2: Like that was initially like the very basic things of
Speaker 2: like publishing, of like oh okay, here's just new writers
Speaker 2: or just whatever. Them having a HiT's helpful because they
Speaker 2: want to know them. But then you're like, let's put
Speaker 2: them in community, like what other writers and what other
Speaker 2: producers do they not know? Let's put them with their
Speaker 2: with their their other halves or their other cohorts. Because
Speaker 2: you're like, you may be writing with so and so
Speaker 2: all the time, but what would happen if you tried
Speaker 2: writing with this person? And then then you learn, even
Speaker 2: as a publishers and a young executive, like writers come
Speaker 2: away from that with new things as well. So they develop. Also,
Speaker 2: it's not just like oh I put them together and
Speaker 2: there's this new chemistry and now it's they got a hit.
Speaker 2: It's also like they came away better at something, and
Speaker 2: so then you just start taking them on a journey
Speaker 2: and then you try stuff like you would be like, huh,
Speaker 2: it would be interesting to see what would happen if
Speaker 2: you put you know, this person and that person together.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it's trash and sometimes it isn't, but you can't
Speaker 2: be afraid it's funny. A producer I ran into, like
Speaker 2: recently at the ASCAP Awards was like so excited to
Speaker 2: see me. I had worked with them actually in my
Speaker 2: sony days, who is now managing who dragged me over
Speaker 2: to their writer who had won an award and was like,
Speaker 2: remember the story I told you about the young the
Speaker 2: executive that told me don't be afraid to be whack.
Speaker 1: This is her.
Speaker 2: Oh god, I said that it was kind of sounds
Speaker 2: like something I would say, but that but that is true.
Speaker 2: Like I used to be like, don't be afraid really
Speaker 2: to try things, Like I'm of an efficient speaker, so
Speaker 2: I was like, don't be whack, don't be afraid to
Speaker 2: be whack. But it was like, why not, because you
Speaker 2: don't know what beauty is gonna come of that collaboration.
Speaker 2: And so that, to me, in addition to like shopping
Speaker 2: their songs and all that other stuff, is the ultimate
Speaker 2: best you could do for a writer because you're introducing
Speaker 2: them to what could be the evolution of themselves, you know,
Speaker 2: and that's profound. You I mean, you guys are both writers,
Speaker 2: you know, Like it's profound to learn things from people
Speaker 2: you just didn't even think was possible.
Speaker 1: He's one hundred percenter guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, he never he's over there
Speaker 2: like I don't do that collaboration.
Speaker 1: It was so funny. This is funny. I don't know
Speaker 1: if you.
Speaker 3: Saw this right, because because they they posted like they
Speaker 3: have this thing where they talk about records that you've done,
Speaker 3: so had they did that for me just randomly, right,
Speaker 3: I just randomly saw it, and I'm going down I'm
Speaker 3: reading the comments and they're like, there's a lot of
Speaker 3: Tank records on here.
Speaker 1: I guess he ain't really one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: I'm like, this is hilarious because how people take things.
Speaker 1: It's just so funny.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and you know, because when he did his he
Speaker 6: did his drink champs, and he talked about you know,
Speaker 6: being one hundred percenter and writing records.
Speaker 1: He did not ever say though, I don't collaborate. He
Speaker 1: never said that, right learned that someone had to learn.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that's I mean, you do meet incredible talent
Speaker 2: and you're like, listen, even though you can do everything,
Speaker 2: imagine what somebody else might bring to your know.
Speaker 6: It was so surprising when I met him years ago
Speaker 6: and I understood that, you know, all the shit that
Speaker 6: he could do, and I'm like, damn, he really is
Speaker 6: cool with everybody just working though, and everybody you know,
Speaker 6: chiming in and this person having this idea because I
Speaker 6: do know a couple other one hundred percent.
Speaker 1: Like yeah, yeah, nobody, no, no, ya, I don't want
Speaker 1: anyone any room.
Speaker 3: Yeah what nig you just you just want to be
Speaker 3: in there by yourself. Yeah, you hang out with you,
Speaker 3: I meet the room.
Speaker 2: The first time I've had a session like that, I
Speaker 2: was confused. I'm not gonna lie where. I was like
Speaker 2: as an an R and didn't. They didn't want the
Speaker 2: producer there either, and I was like, but the producers
Speaker 2: are good, okay, And then I had to go like
Speaker 2: call and get another studio room and be like they
Speaker 2: need to be in there by themselves.
Speaker 1: People just take themselves too serious and gonna take.
Speaker 2: The beat over there, and the producers are like, I'm like, well,
Speaker 2: you could just work on more beats. Like, I don't
Speaker 2: know what's at this point. I don't know. It's so
Speaker 2: awkward to me.
Speaker 3: It's like everyone has their process, everyone has I mean,
Speaker 3: if they're getting results there, I will allow it, you
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying. But at the same time, I'm
Speaker 3: of the mind of you know, if if, if, if
Speaker 3: we're all really good, yeah and we all sitting.
Speaker 1: Here, our chances are better, oh man, are better? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: we ain't. None.
Speaker 3: Don't get left on the floor because somebody going to know,
Speaker 3: don't don't don't remember this facts.
Speaker 1: We've had so many of those.
Speaker 2: Mom Come on, man, it's really true.
Speaker 6: Because I want to go to because it's something that
Speaker 6: he brought up earlier, you guys connection, Oh yeah, because
Speaker 6: that's before it's you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I want to. I want to.
Speaker 6: I want to tap into that because you know the
Speaker 6: other part too with with you know, they're always like,
Speaker 6: well the discovery on R and B money, Yes, right,
Speaker 6: when we have we have artists, we have executives, writers, everything.
Speaker 6: But I always wanted I always wanted to highlight the
Speaker 6: connected fiber and I know you know what I mean, Like,
Speaker 6: you know, I know how we connect. But I think
Speaker 6: it starts with tank. It does even before it starts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right, I think so, I think so. So.
Speaker 2: I I was sick of working. So I've always been
Speaker 2: an intra ultrapreneur or whatever. I was always working in
Speaker 2: and out of companies, like the corporate structure. I think
Speaker 2: when I started to feel like it didn't make sense
Speaker 2: in terms of business, maybe that lack of control, I
Speaker 2: would be like, eh, this isn't like, this isn't We're
Speaker 2: gonna go through an era. And I was usually right
Speaker 2: that things were changing in a way that I wasn't
Speaker 2: excited about. So at Sony it was like that. I
Speaker 2: was just like, you know, I really love writer producers.
Speaker 2: There were so many that were asking me to manage them.
Speaker 2: Back then, you were like, no, I have a job.
Speaker 2: Nowadays everybody's doing everything. God bless them, take all the money.
Speaker 2: But I was always like, you know, it was a choice.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like a dot. At the same time, and
Speaker 2: Barry Hankerson and you know, Jomo Hankerson, who I adore,
Speaker 2: was like, yo, you know we're doing this publish thing
Speaker 2: with em. I like you can come like help us
Speaker 2: do that. So I was like, okay, if I do
Speaker 2: that manage producers, I'm like, all right, I'm out.
Speaker 3: So I quit.
Speaker 2: I quit. I was like, all right, I'm gonna go
Speaker 2: do and that. I mean, listen, my deal was up.
Speaker 2: You know, we are executives, got deals, and my deal
Speaker 2: was up and they hadn't spoken to me in time.
Speaker 2: And my humble opinion because I was like, well, they
Speaker 2: ain't come, so I better figure it out anyway. Then
Speaker 2: they want to sit down and be like, so what
Speaker 2: are we going to do for the next deal? And
Speaker 2: I was like, you know, like cause I'm you know,
Speaker 2: I'm moving. I'm still the girl that's like, there's no
Speaker 2: stopping the babies on the go. So I was consulting
Speaker 2: for Blackgrounds, which was very It was Aliyah Rest in Peace,
Speaker 2: Static Major, this guy over here, Eric seats like, oh
Speaker 2: my gosh, like the talent is just insane, Rap and Nissan.
Speaker 2: I mean it was like everyone that everyone that Major
Speaker 2: favorite hits right really truly, especially especially R and b honestly,
Speaker 2: and I was somehow supposed to run the publishing company,
Speaker 2: which when I say that, because it was a small
Speaker 2: company and everyone had to do everything. So I think
Speaker 2: Jomo when I first started, because this is back in
Speaker 2: New York now, Jrumo was like in Australia working on
Speaker 2: Aliah's al and so I'm there for least a month, like, hey,
Speaker 2: is somebody coming in to work. We're gonna be there
Speaker 2: next week, child, next week was like months. I was like, okay, listen,
Speaker 2: and you start picking up and you're you know, doing
Speaker 2: the things or trying to organize this craziness and brokering
Speaker 2: the deal with em I, which was cool, and dealing
Speaker 2: with all of them, and then Los Angeles at Jomo's hotel,
Speaker 2: He's like, we signed this guy. You know he's gonna
Speaker 2: be this and that. He's the church kid. But we're gone,
Speaker 2: we're gonna church kid. We're gonna get him out of that. Sorry,
Speaker 2: I love you.
Speaker 1: And I was I had no.
Speaker 2: Idea, you know me, I'm believing it, like, oh no,
Speaker 2: don't hurt the church guy.
Speaker 1: Drive around the hood.
Speaker 2: The church guy, yes, said, he comes in and this
Speaker 2: is Tank. Tank's a writer and a producer and a
Speaker 2: singer and this and that, and I was like, wow,
Speaker 2: like he was so the same honestly and just like
Speaker 2: really pen and voice was very impressive, like and still
Speaker 2: even then was reminiscent of you know, old school soul
Speaker 2: like even then, like even then, it wasn't like it
Speaker 2: was unique in that.
Speaker 1: As a young punk.
Speaker 2: No, I was like young, but you were green in
Speaker 2: the ways of like I remember being worried about you.
Speaker 2: Is that weird?
Speaker 1: No, I remember being like are.
Speaker 2: You I was like, I don't know, he seems so
Speaker 2: nice and oh boy, you know, I listen. Blackground was different.
Speaker 2: It was different, yeah, Berry, you know, managing the guy,
Speaker 2: the Kelly guy and the and the Yeah, it was
Speaker 2: a different life. So I was definitely like it was.
Speaker 1: A hood label.
Speaker 3: It was a street hood.
Speaker 2: It was label full of R and B singers, full
Speaker 2: of R.
Speaker 3: And B singers, and all of our management and administration
Speaker 3: was all from the streets.
Speaker 2: That is all of them true.
Speaker 3: Like I literally would get picked up in the morning,
Speaker 3: oh gosh, and be driven around l A from Inglewood
Speaker 3: the contents to this is my little Niga tank.
Speaker 2: I know who that is. I know who that one was.
Speaker 3: This is my little nigga tank.
Speaker 1: To keep an eye for.
Speaker 2: Yeah, facts, yep, yep, see ray yep.
Speaker 3: And I was like, I.
Speaker 2: Knew when everybody when everyone.
Speaker 3: First, yeah, but I didn't know what that meant. Like
Speaker 3: I'm from these coasts. You know what I'm saying. You
Speaker 3: know my few guys, you know what I'm saying. Whatever
Speaker 3: it is, But we are driving from sun up to
Speaker 3: sundown and introducing me to people on different blocks who
Speaker 3: run all these different blocks and do all these different things.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, what does this have to do? What
Speaker 1: does it have to do with music? Any of these
Speaker 1: guys producing song?
Speaker 2: I mean, you have to know I knew. I knew when.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, this is so funny. I can't believe
Speaker 2: I knew when every all the executives had nicknames, that
Speaker 2: something was different.
Speaker 1: Hmm.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no one had like a real government name, and
Speaker 2: that was different. I would be like, oh, who is
Speaker 2: this one? And G such and such and Hugets such
Speaker 2: and such, and you know.
Speaker 1: I was like, huh, I had seen things I had
Speaker 1: never seen before.
Speaker 2: I had seen things I want to unsee.
Speaker 3: Yeah, things I can talk about. I remember going to
Speaker 3: New York and and they're like, this is von'sip, He's
Speaker 3: gonna be looking out for you while you know. I'm like, okay.
Speaker 3: I would just roll around with Von Zip around New
Speaker 3: York and he would take me two different garages where
Speaker 3: he housed all his cars. He had cars, and damn
Speaker 3: near every garage in Manhattan. He was nice, really nice
Speaker 3: upscale cars. And I'm like, we will take you to
Speaker 3: see my mother. And then something I had never seen
Speaker 3: before in my life.
Speaker 1: We go to a club.
Speaker 3: And we get into this club and the people in
Speaker 3: the club is just not treating Vaughn the way he
Speaker 3: felt like he needed to be treated. So he said,
Speaker 3: all right, let's go. We all show these motherfuckers. We
Speaker 3: go to the to the car Cadillac, he hits the trump.
Speaker 3: There's two coolers. We're in the parking lot of the club.
Speaker 3: There's champag and there's ice cooler cooler. He turns the
Speaker 3: music on, blasts starts inviting everybody who's waiting in line
Speaker 3: to get into the club to come into the parking
Speaker 3: lot and party and drink with us.
Speaker 6: So club Tailgate, Club, I'm trying to follow this whole thing.
Speaker 3: Club Tailgate, and we out there in the parking lot,
Speaker 3: which is.
Speaker 2: Possible having a time right.
Speaker 1: And he's just you know, he's hosted.
Speaker 2: I'm just like Hugger, Huggy Bear, Flint brown Sugar, Brown
Speaker 2: Sugar that did not know. One had to.
Speaker 1: Happy to be here. I have no idea what's going on.
Speaker 2: I kind of did and didn't. Right. It was like
Speaker 2: I know enough to not want to be driving around,
Speaker 2: but I didn't know too much, so I would just
Speaker 2: go do my job.
Speaker 1: You were smarter than I was, Like it you know what.
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't. Okay, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're
Speaker 2: gonna take care of him.
Speaker 1: He can be as How long were you at Blackground?
Speaker 2: So I consulted for Blackground for two years, sadly when
Speaker 2: baby Girl passed away, which was a whole other thing.
Speaker 2: But but I was always like I was consulting with them.
Speaker 2: I was managing producers. I was they brought me. I
Speaker 2: was managing god so many people. It was just random.
Speaker 2: It was just always like I was getting hired to
Speaker 2: help work on projects, and that was like I enjoyed
Speaker 2: it for a long time. And then I think I
Speaker 2: worked with like Gosh who all focused. We did a
Speaker 2: deal with doctor Dre. I was working with at the time,
Speaker 2: it was like the number one DJ in the country,
Speaker 2: which was Phelli Fell I was working with. I mean,
Speaker 2: he was god everything back then we were working. I
Speaker 2: was working with Geez, I mean like people, you know,
Speaker 2: they knew me. No, I was working with oh Isis.
Speaker 2: So there was this group called Isis back in the
Speaker 2: day that had a song called single for the Rest
Speaker 2: of Your Life, which was amazing. I love that song
Speaker 2: this day. And there was a guy named Quadrilamin who
Speaker 2: was managing boys to men who had Isis and it
Speaker 2: was like could not He was like, I don't have
Speaker 2: time for this new group. Basically, can you come in
Speaker 2: and work with them? I did the Maya Mega and
Speaker 2: Megan's sister Lamaya was in the group, which was We're
Speaker 2: cool to this day. When I met Megan good, like,
Speaker 2: it's so crazy how everyone's still here, just bigger and better,
Speaker 2: I think so, like it was fun, like that was
Speaker 2: a fun time, but I moved around so much. I
Speaker 2: felt like that was sort of how the inner scope
Speaker 2: of it all started to happen, because they were looking
Speaker 2: for someone apparently that could kind of self manage and
Speaker 2: move like. I didn't know that at the time, but
Speaker 2: it was like being called in for a meeting. And
Speaker 2: Jimmy was someone who I as an executive, was on
Speaker 2: my list of people. Right. It was like Susanda Pass
Speaker 2: It was because she was to me, is the first
Speaker 2: day in R. Ever she signed the Jackson five, so
Speaker 2: like she's the best person ever in the business ever.
Speaker 2: And Jimmy, you know, for all the reasons. He was
Speaker 2: also cool. He was from Brooklyn, Like, he didn't dress
Speaker 2: like other executives. He wore a hat. I was like,
Speaker 2: oh my god, the guy wears jeans and sneakers. Like
Speaker 2: what's not the love about him? You know? And so
Speaker 2: when I got the phone call to take the meeting
Speaker 2: and they were like, hey, we think we want you
Speaker 2: to do an R, and I was like, you know that,
Speaker 2: you know that could be cool, but going inside a
Speaker 2: company here's me again, just sounded.
Speaker 1: Like Wow, at this point, you haven't done A and R.
Speaker 2: No, No, you're doing it, but you're not doing it.
Speaker 2: You know. Yeah, you're helping, Yeah, exactly, you're helping make records,
Speaker 2: but again you do You're like, I'm not an A
Speaker 2: and R. So then they said the magic thing, which
Speaker 2: is like we'll just come meet with Jimmy was like Jimmy,
Speaker 2: I mean Jimmy, I mean like sure, you know, I
Speaker 2: mean y ivy, I mean you know if you insist, yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean sure. And then you meet Jimmy and there's
Speaker 2: just no not doing like when you meet Jimmy especially
Speaker 2: then there's just no not wanting to work with him.
Speaker 2: Like he's just too special. And I'm glad that he
Speaker 2: ended up doing the documentary when he did, because it
Speaker 2: was it's always so hard to describe, you know, for
Speaker 2: people that didn't experience, you know, his vision and his brilliance,
Speaker 2: his charisma and all those things. So you can now
Speaker 2: just be like, oh, see the movie, right, because that's
Speaker 2: literally how it was. Every day. It was chaotic. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna hold you like it was not like
Speaker 2: there was. It was chaotic, but he had a view
Speaker 2: and a point of view and a vision and an
Speaker 2: ability to spot talent that like was just i'ned. I
Speaker 2: learned so much just working there, because you got to
Speaker 2: see even the way he thought about music was different,
Speaker 2: Like he was like he was the first people that
Speaker 2: was like you know, what do you just say sell
Speaker 2: the T shirt and give the CD away for free, right,
Speaker 2: which was like this idea that people weren't valuing music
Speaker 2: the same way. And so if you sold the experience
Speaker 2: of music, right, if you give them, if you put
Speaker 2: it in a venue or a product or a thing,
Speaker 2: that people because people loved music. It wasn't that it
Speaker 2: was that this idea of like buying a CD was
Speaker 2: getting old and antiquated. He knew that way early, Like
Speaker 2: that's why the headphones became a thing. That's why the
Speaker 2: Pussycat Dolls were a brand.
Speaker 3: The journey for you is like so interesting, right of course,
Speaker 3: starting in the beginning where you say you you you
Speaker 3: were you were kind of developed, developing this thing that
Speaker 3: you just ended up being anyway, right, And so as
Speaker 3: you just as you reflect on your on your journey
Speaker 3: in the business, like what is the part that you've
Speaker 3: played so many parts? What is the part that you
Speaker 3: play and I'm just say played would play that? Like
Speaker 3: to you is like this is this is where I
Speaker 3: really love to live, you know what I mean, whether
Speaker 3: it be defining the writer or finding the artist, or
Speaker 3: or cultivating the album or your anr And you know,
Speaker 3: like what part of it like for you is like
Speaker 3: where you like get you get the smile and like,
Speaker 3: oh yeah, I'm about to kill this because this is
Speaker 3: what I you know, this where I like to get
Speaker 3: the hands dirty.
Speaker 2: It's funny because when I started to look at there
Speaker 2: was pre pandemic generalists and multi hyphenans and all that
Speaker 2: was like not a thing. You were just like, girl,
Speaker 2: what are you doing? Like you're doing this, You're doing that,
Speaker 2: You're doing this. I don't understand. Like so much stuff
Speaker 2: was like post it. Now, I think everybody kind of
Speaker 2: figured out like it's okay to lean into your talents
Speaker 2: or your purpose or whatever your what you want to do.
Speaker 1: But pivot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like the pivot right. It became a thing where
Speaker 2: I was like, hey, when I was doing that, y'all
Speaker 2: was like what are you doing? Right? So I think
Speaker 2: where I've learned that I love is helping people fill
Speaker 2: in the white open spaces. So whether that is away
Speaker 2: musically or an extension of a business that they don't
Speaker 2: see because it's learned that from Jimmy, or creating something
Speaker 2: that hasn't existed, or seeing a way through that's a
Speaker 2: challenge that could help something be bigger. That's the thing
Speaker 2: that gets me like that. The challenging things is like
Speaker 2: you know, happily and also sometimes to my dismay, is
Speaker 2: the thing I love the most, And I say to
Speaker 2: my dismay because it's like the hard thing so right,
Speaker 2: Like it's like, oh, that's super hard.
Speaker 6: To do that. You can't always find the pieces to
Speaker 6: the puzzle.
Speaker 2: And I love to find the pieces to the puzzle.
Speaker 2: I love even now to talk to like young artists,
Speaker 2: young managers, like they're so stuck and you're like, oh,
Speaker 2: if you do this, did you ever think about And
Speaker 2: they just come away like, oh, you unlock something for them,
Speaker 2: you know. Or you talk to a business person, you know.
Speaker 2: I have a client, Malcolm Lee, who is a director
Speaker 2: who you know, it's like he loves music. He's an
Speaker 2: amazing director and he loves music, always has And when
Speaker 2: I go back and look at his films and First
Speaker 2: Best Man and Girls, you just see how music plays
Speaker 2: a role in all of it. And you're like, how
Speaker 2: do I get more involved in music? How do I
Speaker 2: be more in the music and business? I'm like, and
Speaker 2: I remember staying him off for like years, being like,
Speaker 2: you don't want to be in a music business, like
Speaker 2: make movies, buddy, Like you don't want to do that.
Speaker 2: But then when he called me during the pandemic and
Speaker 2: was like, you know, I'm still like. I was like, publishing,
Speaker 2: that's what you should do. You shouldtill publishing company. I'll
Speaker 2: help you do that. I help you figure that out.
Speaker 2: You're the director. Everything stops and ends with you, including
Speaker 2: the music choices all that. We should build a publishing company.
Speaker 2: So it's like those kind of things get me excited.
Speaker 2: And then going to every you know, publisher and lawyers
Speaker 2: that were like, ah, but director with a publishing deal,
Speaker 2: like you know, and yeah, shocked how many people? And
Speaker 2: I was member like talking mad like no, I'm telling you,
Speaker 2: I'm telling you where some people in his life were confused.
Speaker 2: So it just wasn't common. And I'm like, they don't know,
Speaker 2: they just know that they're not in the music business.
Speaker 2: I'm telling you, I'm telling you, you know. And finally,
Speaker 2: you know, publishers were like, oh yeah, you know like that,
Speaker 2: you know, well, how would that work? And this is
Speaker 2: kind of putting it together and being like getting the
Speaker 2: deal and it happened, you know, and now building the
Speaker 2: publishing company so so you know, now he's got you know,
Speaker 2: a publishing entity. So that stuff's fun to me, Like
Speaker 2: that's exciting of like that doesn't exist, or that's hard,
Speaker 2: or that's a challenge or that's my favorite part, like
Speaker 2: and it just doesn't. It just it's whatever it's needed.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 2: It's like I feel like I've always been a facilitator
Speaker 2: that I speak, you know, creative, but I also kind
Speaker 2: of have an organized mind and a real mean execution gun, right,
Speaker 2: and so those if you can compliment any dynamic you're
Speaker 2: in by activating any of those things, and if you
Speaker 2: don't make it about you, which I think I never have,
Speaker 2: That's why I was so nervous to do this, then
Speaker 2: you can really be a part of some cool things.
Speaker 2: You know, you can you could you know, quolely be like,
Speaker 2: oh yeah, the first project I was ever like part
Speaker 2: of was like Lauren Hill, or like, yeah, I worked
Speaker 2: on Mary J. Blige's breakthrough album, or like I worked
Speaker 2: with Black Eyed Peas, or like I I music supervised
Speaker 2: the Best Man, I produced and directed. You know, you like,
Speaker 2: after a while, your list just goes up and people
Speaker 2: are like my friends are always like damn girl, like,
Speaker 2: but in your mind at the time, it's just the
Speaker 2: thing that you're like, I think I could do that.
Speaker 3: I've never seen you, like I've never seen you promote you.
Speaker 1: No, I haven't. I've never seen you do that. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: Like even in having this conversation with you, it's like,
Speaker 3: oh shit, you know what I'm saying. It's like you
Speaker 3: do so much and I think it's this is why
Speaker 3: this conversation is needed, you know what I mean, because
Speaker 3: you're You're an inspiration to somebody.
Speaker 2: I feel super honored because honestly, when I ran into
Speaker 2: Ja and Jay's like, you should come on the podcast,
Speaker 2: I was like, like the podcast is for like people
Speaker 2: like that do stuff. Like I literally was like Jay,
Speaker 2: like that's like, you know, my friends have been on
Speaker 2: the pot, like Mike I used to manage Rico Love
Speaker 2: who I adore, And I'm like, Rico's been on the podcast,
Speaker 2: like Tron Thomas, who I was like the first deal
Speaker 2: in Interscope.
Speaker 3: But listen to what you're saying though, as you say,
Speaker 3: these people listen to your connection looking at this to
Speaker 3: the fibers like like.
Speaker 2: Us, yeah, you when you go out and you hear.
Speaker 1: A record like love to this Day, right like because
Speaker 1: even for me, I didn't write that song. I didn't
Speaker 1: I remember the little apartment that she played me the
Speaker 1: song and that dog that kept barking, that little.
Speaker 3: Dog, and she's like, I know you don't like the dog, but.
Speaker 1: He's not going to.
Speaker 3: Just playing the song because I gotta get out of
Speaker 3: this apartment with this dog she'sus barking at me. So
Speaker 3: I hear it different than the audience. Yeah, right, And
Speaker 3: people that hear these things different than the audience should
Speaker 3: be on this show. To me, Yeah, whatever part you
Speaker 3: played in that, right, that is an album that you
Speaker 3: were a part of.
Speaker 1: Get to wherever it got. And now this song, this
Speaker 1: song lives forever.
Speaker 2: When I see the Little Kids Assembly Internet, I'm like classic, Wow.
Speaker 1: Who would have thought?
Speaker 2: Wow?
Speaker 6: Now I knew it was a hit record. I did
Speaker 6: not know that Little Kids and an Assembly.
Speaker 2: Would be singing in the second grade.
Speaker 6: Twenty twenty four will be singing this record. I remember
Speaker 6: calling Keisha. I was mad that what's the song that
Speaker 6: I was in the video?
Speaker 1: I was in the first two. I changed my I
Speaker 1: was mad that that was the first single.
Speaker 2: It was love. Yeah, yeah, I was mad.
Speaker 1: It's not my album, not my artist, but I'm mad.
Speaker 1: I'm like, Keisha, no, this ain't it. What is y'all
Speaker 1: doing what are they doing over there? Because for me,
Speaker 1: I was so attached to this song.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's why I got the with No pun inten
Speaker 3: I got New York.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I was so in love that was with that song,
Speaker 6: you know what I mean that I was just like,
Speaker 6: nothing can come out before this record.
Speaker 1: It obviously worked and the you know, I mean other
Speaker 1: two records they did cool, they did not like love.
Speaker 2: Well, that was the thing. I think back then it
Speaker 2: was a progression. Nowadays like it's just like throw everything.
Speaker 2: But back then it was like we're going to introduce
Speaker 2: her and.
Speaker 3: You used to get chances back in the day. Well, no,
Speaker 3: you get chances too, But there was a period where
Speaker 3: it was just like you got one shot at this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, and she she was you know, you were
Speaker 2: telling her story, right, you were like, this is what
Speaker 2: you I changed my mind. She's on the block.
Speaker 6: I mean it was la but you know, like, yeah,
Speaker 6: people still think we shot that in the back whoop,
Speaker 6: Sorry it.
Speaker 2: Was in the bay, I said, was in l A.
Speaker 2: But yeah, and then you know, you got to learn
Speaker 2: her story and then she was in full glam in
Speaker 2: the middle of Times Square, you know, not even.
Speaker 1: Know before that.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, because I said I was in the
Speaker 6: first two was I just wanted to be over Oh.
Speaker 2: Well you know why that one? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that was the second video.
Speaker 2: But then we but I'm saying we, and then then
Speaker 2: you get the movie, you know, and you get what's
Speaker 2: his name at the time, it was the big Everybody's
Speaker 2: music director, Benny. And then you're in Times Square like
Speaker 2: we gotta catch the flight. We got to get out
Speaker 2: of here in an hour. Yeah, and that was it.
Speaker 2: That was it.
Speaker 1: She was But that's but that, you know, like people
Speaker 1: need to know.
Speaker 6: The people, yea, who make these things happen, who are
Speaker 6: part of these things, who are the unsung heroes, who
Speaker 6: are the in the shadows. You know that this thing
Speaker 6: doesn't happen by yourself. And especially in this day and age,
Speaker 6: this has to be spoken about because everybody keeps thinking that,
Speaker 6: you know, artists do it by themselves, especially now because
Speaker 6: of the Internet and because oh I just uploaded, Well
Speaker 6: after you upload it, what about that manager that reached
Speaker 6: out to you, that helped put you in a room
Speaker 6: with such and such, And then what about when they
Speaker 6: helped you get on another record or putting somebody else
Speaker 6: on the remix for you to help the record continue
Speaker 6: to grow.
Speaker 1: And what about the lawyer and what about the marketing.
Speaker 6: Person and the A and R and all these other people,
Speaker 6: like listen, I am absolutely an advocate for independence because
Speaker 6: we should be able to lead our careers. But there
Speaker 6: takes a building, however you want to look at that,
Speaker 6: a team and a team to help you reach these heights.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it just does.
Speaker 6: Yeah, And I for me personally, I'm tired of people
Speaker 6: not mentioning.
Speaker 1: The people who played the part.
Speaker 2: I understand that. Ain't listen, I listen. I'm very grateful
Speaker 2: and appreciative. I think there's a part of me that's
Speaker 2: always going to be the little girl that's still like
Speaker 2: I just can't believe any of it happened. And I
Speaker 2: think there's a part of me that's like, you know,
Speaker 2: God is like it's always going to cover you, right,
Speaker 2: Like I'm always going to be covered in wherever I'm
Speaker 2: supposed to be or what's meant for me, And so
Speaker 2: I think I'm not I think self promotion is important,
Speaker 2: Like obviously I had to think about it. I was like,
Speaker 2: let me think about it, and like, see this felt safe.
Speaker 2: I know y'all it's a nice show, like you talk
Speaker 2: about positive things show. Yeah, I don't want to get
Speaker 2: you know, yelled at and what happened in that did
Speaker 2: not to do. You're like, I'm like, I don't want
Speaker 2: to be on those shows, but I I but I
Speaker 2: still really feel like I was a part of a team.
Speaker 2: Like like so it feels a bit and maybe this
Speaker 2: old school, I don't know, disingenuous to be like I
Speaker 2: was you know, I was this and I was that,
Speaker 2: and like there was hundreds of people that made all
Speaker 2: of these things happen, right, Like so many people, so
Speaker 2: you to be like stamping it all the time, which
Speaker 2: I think happens a lot now. It's just like as
Speaker 2: long as you say it louder, like oh, that's the
Speaker 2: person that did this, and you're thinking there's thirty people
Speaker 2: back there that help do all that. So that for
Speaker 2: me feels weird because I'm like, just we've only just
Speaker 2: talked about Michelle, Thomas, manny Ron and Keisha and you
Speaker 2: as part of it. There's there were dozens and dozens
Speaker 2: watch I.
Speaker 3: Think I think the beauty of it is as as
Speaker 3: as much as we would We're gonna get Michael Jordan, right,
Speaker 3: We're gonna interview Michael Jordan's, but we also we'd love
Speaker 3: to talk to Craig Hodges, bj Armstrong, We love to
Speaker 3: talk to Steve Kerr.
Speaker 2: I'm not in my head like yep, I know exactly
Speaker 2: who that is.
Speaker 4: Like, it's sports, it's team got.
Speaker 3: It because all of those roles yea on that team vital.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and your very vital part. Thank you guys, you're
Speaker 2: vital too. If Jay did not show up in that
Speaker 2: white T shirt, I'm not sure video would have got
Speaker 2: done that day.
Speaker 3: From the baby, she definitely was like, I'm not about
Speaker 3: to be in no video with no nigga.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I'm like Larry was the love interest and girls loved
Speaker 2: him too to his day. At least we didn't try
Speaker 2: to make you body roll or anything.
Speaker 6: No ever, Like it was just like a soap opera though,
Speaker 6: where I just just like the cheating boyfriend.
Speaker 2: He was cheated and every video practically she should have cheated.
Speaker 1: She made Yeah d on gin she did. She put
Speaker 1: Tyres in that she did?
Speaker 2: She really, that's right, Ty was.
Speaker 1: I was vixing once myself.
Speaker 2: Santana wasn't another video. We just pulled people.
Speaker 1: In me and Bryce Wilson wanted the same.
Speaker 3: Bryce Wilson was part of convincing me to do the
Speaker 3: video too. Yeah, because he did.
Speaker 1: The Tony practice video. I mean, shout out to other
Speaker 1: figs out y'all, I'll see you stick Erica.
Speaker 3: You've worked on a lot of great music, a lot
Speaker 3: of great.
Speaker 1: Artists, great artists.
Speaker 3: I want to go back to when you were pulling
Speaker 3: out those sleeves and reading those lyrics.
Speaker 1: Do people want to know? They want to know on
Speaker 1: this show, yo for sure? Top five?
Speaker 7: Your top five, top five, your top five ay easing.
Speaker 3: Call and me song.
Speaker 2: We want to know you o this.
Speaker 8: Out big for you? What was your pokop?
Speaker 2: Fun?
Speaker 1: That's why you was worried about it.
Speaker 3: That's why this is.
Speaker 1: Why Erica your top five car and B singers.
Speaker 2: Oh singers okay mm hm, oh my goodness. You know
Speaker 2: I should have wrote this down and thought about it.
Speaker 2: It's never easy. I mean Stevie okay, yeah, sorry, probably
Speaker 2: Lufa yeah yeah. I don't feel like I don't feel
Speaker 2: like he gets it enough of the conversation. Yes he does, Okay, yes, okay,
Speaker 2: good beast singers. You know, even though his music is
Speaker 2: different now and he's newer, I would say Labyrinth.
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm.
Speaker 2: His voice is extraordinary. If you heard this song, the
Speaker 2: song Jealous that he wrote and sang like ten, I
Speaker 2: don't know, ten fifteen years. I mean it's the pureness
Speaker 2: of his voices. Yeah, I know. I mean it's all
Speaker 2: gonna mostly be old school. Oh it's mine, Anita.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I love.
Speaker 2: Singers. I'm trying to keep the singers. Philip Bailey, maybe.
Speaker 1: Maybe Philip baby Love give him a full confidential spot.
Speaker 2: Philip Bailey by the reasons, I mean.
Speaker 1: False settle like none. Author, that's.
Speaker 2: No stress, do it all?
Speaker 1: Top five R and B song.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, so so amazing.
Speaker 3: To the moons?
Speaker 1: Is it?
Speaker 2: Luthers? Sorry? Is that so amazing? Is that the name
Speaker 2: of it? Yeah? That song kills me. Try a little tenderness,
Speaker 2: m yes, mm hmm. That's just lyrics, lyrics. Yes, you
Speaker 2: bring me joy?
Speaker 1: Uh uh, that's just.
Speaker 3: Like is you name these songs, like the care that
Speaker 3: went into production, the care that went into lyricism, the
Speaker 3: care that went into the.
Speaker 2: And the way the performance of them was so meaningful,
Speaker 2: like whoever was bringing her joy? You was like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm a love girl.
Speaker 1: So yeah, clearly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a love girl. Oh my god, how did
Speaker 2: I miss Aretha on the other list? Yeah? Read the
Speaker 2: frank Oh my god? Oh what's the Wreatha song? Girl?
Speaker 2: I can't think now. Sorry. It's one of my favorites too.
Speaker 2: I'll come back to huh oh yeah, like where's my phone?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 2: Natural Woman? I was like, it's a big song. I
Speaker 2: just was like, why my brain won't let me again?
Speaker 2: The lyrics and the performance. You're just I want to
Speaker 2: feel like a natural woman? A refa is that five?
Speaker 2: I think that was fine too? Oh you counting? You
Speaker 2: know Valentine? You know what's Jay Valentine. It's probably gonna
Speaker 2: be between what's see the name? I don't know the
Speaker 2: names of songs. This is me all day, Like, what's
Speaker 2: how's the song going? Wake up everybody? No one want
Speaker 2: to sleep in the world. Can't get no besting that
Speaker 2: if it's just let it be come on? No no, no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: thank you?
Speaker 3: That one.
Speaker 2: That one? Please sing that song? Yeah, that would be
Speaker 2: the other one. That's fine. P yeah that song that
Speaker 2: makes me happy? Yeah? Yeah, that's it. I just yeah,
Speaker 2: I feel like.
Speaker 3: I want to know what those sessions were, Like, I
Speaker 3: do too, you know what I'm saying to.
Speaker 1: You, know what, moving on?
Speaker 2: Know what, You're always here to bring us back, bring
Speaker 2: us back to the hood, bring us back to the hood.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. I'm just a little girl making music.
Speaker 4: News on my head.
Speaker 1: Somebody had to figure out a way to fill up
Speaker 1: those shoe boxes of money. Don't tell the truth in here, Lord, don't.
Speaker 2: You do it. I don't even yeah that those are Yeah,
Speaker 2: I would say that for me. So that's what that's
Speaker 2: what moves me. Is just like things about love and
Speaker 2: things that make you feel good. Everything else, you know,
Speaker 2: turn up, it's fine, But that's emotion.
Speaker 3: Yea emotion.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think music should make you feel
Speaker 2: things like whatever that is, whatever you need that to be.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're gonna build a vultron. You're super R and
Speaker 3: B artists. So with this artist pick, you got to
Speaker 3: pick the characteristics from one artist, make this one artist, okay,
Speaker 3: from a bunch of de however many artists you want
Speaker 3: to pick from, Okay, but these are the characteristics we're
Speaker 3: looking for. We were looking for the vocal, the performance style,
Speaker 3: the styling, the heart of the artists, like the passion
Speaker 3: of the artists. Okay, so what one vocal are you
Speaker 3: going to get to build your super R and B R.
Speaker 3: Just one there's one mm hmmm.
Speaker 2: I'm probably gonna say Stevie because he has the most universal.
Speaker 3: Every year, everywhere. Okay, all right, I just saw Stevie
Speaker 3: the other day. He went crazy like still like I was,
Speaker 3: I was crying on the inside crazy. I can see
Speaker 3: me crying.
Speaker 2: I was like finished, Yeah, he's he's it, he's it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: he's it for me. Yeah, Okay.
Speaker 1: Performance style.
Speaker 2: This is going to be controversial.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 2: Chris Brown yeah yeah, okay, I mean I know Michael
Speaker 2: Jackson and then for you Yeah, I just I think
Speaker 2: Chris is just extraordinary as a performer. He is leaves
Speaker 2: all the things on the stage.
Speaker 3: Yeah I love that.
Speaker 1: Sorry, old people, Hey, I'll be I'll be at every
Speaker 1: like this.
Speaker 3: Yeah me too.
Speaker 2: I'm like even when he's done in Afrobast, the way
Speaker 2: that he belongs the great word is extraordinary is different.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he just it's he belonged. He never seems like
Speaker 1: he's got a place, never doing anything.
Speaker 4: It's pretty well.
Speaker 1: He does the work right there you go, there, you go,
Speaker 1: Like he does the deep dive, he's he's yeah, you say,
Speaker 1: where are you.
Speaker 3: Doing this at? Okay, let's go over there and let's
Speaker 3: hang out with him and let's see what's going on. Yeah, food,
Speaker 3: and then he'll tell you about him. Yeah you heard
Speaker 3: about I never heard him. Well, yeah, he worked with
Speaker 3: him like he does the work, and that's to do.
Speaker 4: Yeah, styling, the drip styling.
Speaker 2: Hm, it's just hard because I don't care about the
Speaker 2: least like Marvin.
Speaker 4: Mm hmm.
Speaker 2: Maybe because he was just fly.
Speaker 3: It's just fly, like just just anytime you.
Speaker 2: Old photos of him with the thing, and like he
Speaker 2: just seemed so effortlessly fly.
Speaker 1: I like that.
Speaker 2: I like the down play. You know, I'm not trying
Speaker 2: to be cool, but I am. Yeah for me, Yeah,
Speaker 2: but yeah I'm not a drip, but I'm not the Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm missing.
Speaker 3: All the dripping.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Okay, see thank you. I mean clearly I'm
Speaker 2: still wearing dirty converse, so obviously.
Speaker 1: That's all right. The passion of the artists, oh gosh,
Speaker 1: who make you believe it?
Speaker 2: There's so many. Maybe it would be between Marvin and Stevie.
Speaker 2: I think again. I just think they cared about music
Speaker 2: till it hurt. Marvin Wonder, Stevie Gay.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2: I feel like, yeah, I just feel like, at least
Speaker 2: for me, they just sound like they care so much
Speaker 2: or mars means get cared so much. But yeah, man,
Speaker 2: I just you can't be that, you can't create that
Speaker 2: and just not care with every part of your soul.
Speaker 3: And and another another edition for you, big publisher, who's
Speaker 3: going to write for this artist?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, yeah, oh my gosh. I mean I
Speaker 2: hate to be redundant, but I mean Stevie.
Speaker 1: Amazing. He is one of the greatest of all.
Speaker 2: I'm like, how do you miss that?
Speaker 1: I mean Stevie, Stevie, like Stevie. Stevie's the guy.
Speaker 2: Like, I mean, there's so many though, I mean, is
Speaker 2: the Rod Tempertons on the like, there's just I mean,
Speaker 2: there's just all the all the amazing penmanships of pens
Speaker 2: out in the world.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Writers are Writers are special, man. Okay, they really are.
Speaker 2: You y'all really are.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 2: We try to, I mean because think about honestly, okay,
Speaker 2: because it's the flowers, right, it's you know, to express
Speaker 2: yourself in a way that is meaningful but also relate,
Speaker 2: can can touch so many people, right that that you
Speaker 2: can articulate emotions so well that people from anywhere can
Speaker 2: catch the same Like, yes, that's what I wanted to say.
Speaker 2: And then for yourselves, you can do it for you yourself,
Speaker 2: and you can also give it to another artist and
Speaker 2: they can have that same experience. That's such a gift,
Speaker 2: Like that is such a gift. Like that part, to
Speaker 2: me is like nothing happens without that. And yes, the
Speaker 2: voices and the look and the drip and the performance
Speaker 2: and all those things matter, but like without that piece,
Speaker 2: there's nothing, like it's someone's humming and it's you you
Speaker 2: feel it, that's amazing, But there's nothing without that, like
Speaker 2: that story, that that feeling. That's to me, you know anyway.
Speaker 2: So to be able to do that is just like
Speaker 2: I'm always like I think that's also why because I
Speaker 2: can't do it. So I'm like, oh, wow, you're really special,
Speaker 2: Like that's amazing, Like you said that that way, Like
Speaker 2: even when you think about like Phineas and Billy right,
Speaker 2: you're like, what were you thinking when you said that?
Speaker 3: What?
Speaker 2: How did you how? What?
Speaker 6: I think most writers can't even truly explain it. Yeah, honestly,
Speaker 6: like you know, we all know each other and we
Speaker 6: all had conversations about you know, like you said, what
Speaker 6: were you thinking about her?
Speaker 1: And it's just as you have the conversation.
Speaker 6: Usually a veers yeah, it goes off into like wait,
Speaker 6: hold on, we were talking about yeah, oh yeah, but
Speaker 6: then was the how Yeah, because it's and we talk,
Speaker 6: we speak about this.
Speaker 1: I think it's it's our form of magic. Yeah it is.
Speaker 2: I mean when I said when I worked with Rico Love,
Speaker 2: I remember like he would do a song and you know,
Speaker 2: daddy song right like Usher, and I would be driving
Speaker 2: with the song playing like and I know, Rico, I
Speaker 2: worked with everything. How the hell did you write this song? Bro?
Speaker 2: Like it's amazing, amazing exists.
Speaker 3: In this weird space where for us it's just like
Speaker 3: it's just kind of what we do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially he's not going to booth and just you know,
Speaker 2: like I go in there.
Speaker 1: And I get to test Rico Love, like this song
Speaker 1: like this week O he played this coming right up.
Speaker 2: Ahead.
Speaker 1: That's what I called you.
Speaker 2: I mean, even like if you take Sean Garrett when
Speaker 2: he did Buttons, I was in the studio in Sean
Speaker 2: Garrett and poloed it Buttons, and I and I remember
Speaker 2: sitting there the beats playing the beats crazy and Sean
Speaker 2: is like, okay, take it back, take it back. And
Speaker 2: when you're watching it, like what the and next thing
Speaker 2: you know, it's like and you're like, yeah, yeah, that's
Speaker 2: what the studio like, yo, And it wasn't finished. You
Speaker 2: just were like there's just no way this this boy
Speaker 2: is getting something. And that record was so huge, and
Speaker 2: I'm like that's the part like that, I guess that's
Speaker 2: what are you like your self promoting all that, Like
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, cool, Like but he was the one
Speaker 2: that was there with the thing coming through him on
Speaker 2: on the microphone and made that song like I just
Speaker 2: was there right like, So that part is like it's
Speaker 2: just such a gift. It's just a gift to be
Speaker 2: in the room. And that's the part that I I
Speaker 2: hope we don't lose, Like I just hope we don't
Speaker 2: lose that because it is so so much gratitude, like
Speaker 2: truly even being here you guys, this is so fun
Speaker 2: with you. Okay.
Speaker 1: Uh, I ain't saying no next day, saying no next.
Speaker 2: What you did?
Speaker 1: Don't say she.
Speaker 2: Okay, there's just so many you guys have so many
Speaker 2: names not to say.
Speaker 6: So you here right now this last segment of the show.
Speaker 6: All right, it's called I say names. Okay, well you
Speaker 6: tell us a story funnier, fucked up, funny and fucked up.
Speaker 6: The only rude to the game. You can't say no names.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was working one night in the studio with
Speaker 2: the producer that never would finish songs on time, so
Speaker 2: you literally have to stand over them and keep their
Speaker 2: train on the track, like you literally have to stand
Speaker 2: over them to get the songs done. Very very famous producer.
Speaker 2: So I was working trying to get them to finish
Speaker 2: said song and what started at like seven pm. I
Speaker 2: think I got out of the studio at like one
Speaker 2: o'clock in the afternoon the next day to get the
Speaker 2: song done for my record because I had to be
Speaker 2: at a meeting with someone that I worked with, executive
Speaker 2: at another studio.
Speaker 1: To discuss.
Speaker 2: To discuss the an anxiety ridden producer who was upset
Speaker 2: that their song had been changed. So I thought I
Speaker 2: was going to be able to go home, take a shower, sleep,
Speaker 2: and all of these things. But I was being summoned
Speaker 2: to be at this other meeting, which was like at
Speaker 2: two o'clock in the afternoon. So I'm not cute I
Speaker 2: don't ever smell, but you know, I did put a
Speaker 2: sweatshirt on trudging over to said studio, and I was
Speaker 2: really asked to be there because I didn't know this
Speaker 2: at the time, because the producer was pissed. I didn't know.
Speaker 2: I just thought it was a meeting between Producer A
Speaker 2: and big producer Executive B. It was not, and Producer
Speaker 2: Executive B knew that it wasn't going to be uncomfortable,
Speaker 2: and so I got invited over there with no sleep,
Speaker 2: with no shower, already frustrated from the night before, only
Speaker 2: to have to sit and listen to Producer A scream
Speaker 2: and curse out Producer B for changing a song on
Speaker 2: what was one of the biggest songs of that time period.
Speaker 2: They didn't change it back. Song was a big hit,
Speaker 2: but I sat there and listened to screaming, and then
Speaker 2: I ended up being like the person in the room
Speaker 2: that was like, oh, you're you're my person, Like you're
Speaker 2: my person. So I look like the bad guy sitting
Speaker 2: in the room while Producer BE is screaming at Producer
Speaker 2: A about how the song got changed and was forever
Speaker 2: changed even though it was a hit. M So y'all
Speaker 2: can figure that out and put that together. It's not
Speaker 2: maybe as juicy, and thus for us we know that
Speaker 2: in it was not comfortable because we had no power
Speaker 2: in the situation. And also like that was what used
Speaker 2: to happen all the time. So you're just like and
Speaker 2: I'm not the like and so now you're like, you're
Speaker 2: the label, you know. So that was bad too. But yeah,
Speaker 2: that's my little story. Hope it lived up.
Speaker 3: Those uncomfortable moments.
Speaker 1: Those are real situations.
Speaker 2: It was bad and I was not prepared. I was tired,
Speaker 2: and it just was not I couldn't even say anything.
Speaker 2: It was just like, what do you got to say?
Speaker 3: I was like, I didn't even know this was gonna
Speaker 3: happen because I think ship jamming, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Could you imagine that that would be.
Speaker 1: Exactly what he said, jamming me.
Speaker 2: Eric.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you.
Speaker 3: You know you have a family.
Speaker 2: Thank you guys. This is fun.
Speaker 3: We we we all we all take each other back
Speaker 3: to humble beginning just when this ship was different, the.
Speaker 2: New guy from Virginia that was gonna get.
Speaker 3: Yeah from Maryland, from Maryland v the DV because I performed.
Speaker 3: I've performed at every church in Virginia. So it works,
Speaker 3: but you know it's it's it's been a great, great
Speaker 3: journey for you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: We're happy to have you, happy to have you to
Speaker 1: give your story, your.
Speaker 3: Your perspective and get an opportunity to speak on just
Speaker 3: what you've been able to do in this ship. You
Speaker 3: know what I mean, the work that you've been able
Speaker 3: to put in like whether you like to do it
Speaker 3: or not, it is important and it was needed.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 3: My name is Take and this is the Army Money podcast,
Speaker 3: the authority on all things R and B. And this
Speaker 3: has been an episode with a family member who really
Speaker 3: does all things.
Speaker 2: Thank you.