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Speaker 1: Pushkin. Alicia Keys started her career as a soulful, piano

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Speaker 1: playing singer songwriter a lot like a young Carol King,

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Speaker 1: But in the twenty years since, we've seen her grow

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Speaker 1: into one of the world's biggest pop stars, and, like

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Speaker 1: at the Kobe Memorial recently, someone the country turns to

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Speaker 1: when we need a unifying voice. Reading Alicia's newly released

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Speaker 1: memoir More Myself, you understand right away how someone's so

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Speaker 1: young carries so much wisdom. Raised by a loving single

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Speaker 1: mother in the middle of New York City in the

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Speaker 1: eighties and nineties, she was bound or grew up smart

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Speaker 1: and grew up fast, or maybe not make it at all.

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Speaker 1: Alicia spoke with Malcolm Gladwell by Zoom recently about her

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Speaker 1: childhood navigating the dangerous city, about writing her book and

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Speaker 1: how it informed her new music, and shared some astonishing

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Speaker 1: stories about some of the amazing people she's crossed paths

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Speaker 1: with over her career. This is broken record liner notes

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Speaker 1: for the digital age. I'm justin Richmond. Here's Malcolm Gladwell

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Speaker 1: with Alicia Keys. You wrote this book at the same

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Speaker 1: time that you were doing your latest album, you know,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I started to write the book before the

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Speaker 1: latest album, for sure, But they definitely have synergies they

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Speaker 1: and I feel that their companion pieces they belonged together.

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Speaker 1: Was it strange to work on a book at the

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Speaker 1: same time as music or it was the same process

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Speaker 1: for you? Well, no, it's not the same process at all.

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Speaker 1: It's totally foreign, completely brand new, much much more in

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Speaker 1: depth and depth. You know. Obviously the book writing process

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Speaker 1: and the length of time that it takes it was

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Speaker 1: much longer and much more patients required to really follow

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Speaker 1: through with everything and find the through lines and really

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Speaker 1: be clear about the intention and the meaning and that

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Speaker 1: you know that it makes sense the whole way through it,

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Speaker 1: that it really brings you there. But emotionally, I think

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Speaker 1: it was similar in the sense of, you know, just

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Speaker 1: I think with music you also do have to find

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Speaker 1: the truth in what you're trying to convey, and you're

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Speaker 1: just doing it in a much more concise way, which

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Speaker 1: can also be harder because you don't have the length

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Speaker 1: to deeply explain what you're truly trying to say. So

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Speaker 1: and in those ways, they both have their challenges. But

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Speaker 1: obviously music is more like a second skin for me

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Speaker 1: than book writing, So in that way, it was totally different.

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Speaker 1: But I think what was good about both recording the

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Speaker 1: music and writing this book at similar times is that

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Speaker 1: I was asking myself too similar questions. And the question

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Speaker 1: that I was asking myself and I was understanding more

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Speaker 1: than ever before, was this question about identity and who

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Speaker 1: actually am I? And who who of who I am?

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Speaker 1: Who is who I've been told to be? And who

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Speaker 1: is who I'm actually And that became a theme that

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Speaker 1: was both I was deeply able to search through the

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Speaker 1: book writing process from looking you know, from my very

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Speaker 1: beginning stages to now, and then I was also able

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Speaker 1: to search from this music sonic lyrical process. So I

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Speaker 1: think it was it was really cool for that because

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Speaker 1: although it was the same question, it was two different

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Speaker 1: expressions of the question. So that made it cool. Will

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Speaker 1: you tell a story about how Swiss came to you

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Speaker 1: and says how how can we never talk about big Italian?

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Speaker 1: Which I so an inspiration. I love that because we

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Speaker 1: always have to pick a side, right, you know. I

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Speaker 1: have to say that I've always been fortunate because as

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Speaker 1: I grew up in New York City, you know, the

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Speaker 1: heart of the city right there, melting pot for real,

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Speaker 1: there was never a moment that I wasn't seeing people

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Speaker 1: of all kinds of descents and all kinds of beliefs

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Speaker 1: and religions and places and styles and energies. And I

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Speaker 1: think that really made a difference for me. I didn't

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Speaker 1: feel like I had to pick a side, because I

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Speaker 1: think I think if I grew up in a smaller

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Speaker 1: town or I don't know, I think it was just circumstance,

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Speaker 1: and you know, just how my particular childhood was. I

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Speaker 1: never felt like that. I definitely felt I understood there

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Speaker 1: were different sides, but I didn't feel like I had

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Speaker 1: to pick one, you know. And but I also didn't

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Speaker 1: realize think what his question when he asked, when he

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Speaker 1: said that it was, I was very defensive. Were you

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Speaker 1: talking about like everybody knows that? And the more people

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Speaker 1: that I started to encounter that actually didn't know that

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Speaker 1: started to prove him right. And and I guess so

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Speaker 1: in regards to picking sides, maybe we I picked a

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Speaker 1: side in a way. I didn't think I was picking

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Speaker 1: a side. I didn't feel like I needed to pick

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Speaker 1: a side. I didn't realize I was picking a side.

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Speaker 1: But I think in some ways perhaps I did. So

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Speaker 1: that was what was really interesting about it. It just

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Speaker 1: kind of he put myself. He threw me in front

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Speaker 1: of the mirror, and I was like, oh, maybe. So

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Speaker 1: it's so good about people who you who love you

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Speaker 1: and who you love like how they can provoke you

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Speaker 1: to think about things that you would never there wouldn't

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Speaker 1: have been a reason to think about when he asked

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Speaker 1: you that we said that to you, was that the

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Speaker 1: beginning of the process of the new album? Were you

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Speaker 1: already immersed in it when we said that too, I

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Speaker 1: was already writing it. I think that it really gave

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Speaker 1: it a perspective that I did not have prior, and

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Speaker 1: I started to really think about it. Turned it gave

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Speaker 1: me the questioning of myself to not only think about race,

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Speaker 1: or to think about religion, or to think about color,

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Speaker 1: but to go even deeper and think about emotions. Because

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Speaker 1: for me, that's my biggest trouble I find, or my

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Speaker 1: biggest challenge, or my biggest lesson or my biggest opportunity,

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Speaker 1: or whatever you want to call it, is I find

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Speaker 1: that I it's been very difficult for me to access

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Speaker 1: my emotions, and so I finally come to a place

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Speaker 1: where I can acknowledge the myriad of emotions that make

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Speaker 1: us all up who we are. And you know, because

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Speaker 1: the world is so structured, and you know, we kind

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Speaker 1: of have been so taught to be in control of

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Speaker 1: our everything, you know that we don't think we're not

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Speaker 1: encouraged to kind of see these darker or deeper or

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Speaker 1: bluer or scarier or more vulnerable parts that are inside

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Speaker 1: of us, that are really a healthy part of why

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Speaker 1: you are who you are. But if you don't know

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Speaker 1: that side, how can you really know yourself? And so

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Speaker 1: that's that's what it started to send me down that

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Speaker 1: rugget hole and away I went. I want to go

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Speaker 1: back to what it meant to grow up in the

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Speaker 1: eighties and nineties in New York. Um, before I get there,

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Speaker 1: I want to touch on this question of racial identity again,

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Speaker 1: because you make that comment about your mom that she's

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Speaker 1: the blackest white woman you've ever known. So it's almost

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Speaker 1: as if, like, so, you have a white mother and

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Speaker 1: a black father, but you have a kind of black

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Speaker 1: white mother and a black father. Is that fair? That's

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Speaker 1: what you're saying, right, Yeah, I mean she totally is.

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Speaker 1: I mean, if you when you meet my mother or

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Speaker 1: when you ever spend time at my mother, you can definitely,

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Speaker 1: you know, she she has a certain spirit and she

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Speaker 1: has a certain energy that that definitely, you know, anybody

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Speaker 1: would say she is one of the blackest white people

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Speaker 1: that you have you have ever met um, And she's definitely,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think We've always had such a really diverse,

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Speaker 1: interesting group of aunties and friends and and you know,

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Speaker 1: her colleagues and friends and my friends and and sister

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Speaker 1: friends and all the people that you know, I've been

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Speaker 1: able to attract and just have been a part of

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Speaker 1: my life that have really created such a, like I said,

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Speaker 1: a really robust, dynamic experience in regards to what people

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Speaker 1: look like, what people believe, feel, dance like, eat, you know,

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Speaker 1: live the whole thing. And so it definitely painted a

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Speaker 1: colorful picture for me, and I really appreciate that. What

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Speaker 1: would your mom say if if your mom was on

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Speaker 1: this call and I said to her, your daughter describes

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Speaker 1: you as the blackest white woman, what would she say?

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Speaker 1: I think She's like, yeah, I think she right. I

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Speaker 1: think that. So what's here? They're painted picture of growing

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Speaker 1: up with your mom and Behattan Plaza. Prist of all,

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Speaker 1: what your mom is very is really into music, the

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Speaker 1: world you grew up with his intensity musical. What's she playing?

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Speaker 1: You're you're seven years old? What's your mom playing? Um?

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Speaker 1: I mean I can remember correctly. She's playing Bobby Caldwell,

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Speaker 1: she's playing John Coltrane, she's playing La Fitzgerald. She's playing

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Speaker 1: Marvin Gaye, she's playing roberta Flat, She's playing Areta Franklin,

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Speaker 1: she's playing Nina Simone, she's playing you know, all these

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Speaker 1: really epic Stevie Wonder, She's playing all the greatest of

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Speaker 1: the greats are coming through those speakers and those and

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Speaker 1: those those record players, because that's what it was, a

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Speaker 1: record player, and she had all the albums on all

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Speaker 1: the shelves, and it was just the soundtrack was so beautiful. Man. Yeah. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: And you're saying the book that you from the age

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Speaker 1: of four you knew you were you were going to

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Speaker 1: be a singer. I mean, but at the age of

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Speaker 1: four us when I fell in love. I was bitten

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Speaker 1: and smitten. I think that that's when I really fell

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Speaker 1: in love with the possibility. Because my my little sweet

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Speaker 1: teacher at the time, as Hazel, who was kind of

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Speaker 1: the music teacher at my kindergarten. She always so passionate

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Speaker 1: and so lively, and she always wanted to expose us

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Speaker 1: to different sounds and places and performances, and so our

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Speaker 1: little selves were always going somewhere and singing some little

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Speaker 1: songs somewhere. But she also did these plays, and those

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Speaker 1: plays were the first opportunity that I had with kind

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Speaker 1: of trying out to sing in front of people. And

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Speaker 1: it was so scary and I was so so terrified,

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Speaker 1: which you know, it's so terrifying to sing in front

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Speaker 1: of people you know, much less in front of people

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Speaker 1: you don't know as much easier, but in front of

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Speaker 1: people you know, it's super terrifying. But I tried and

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Speaker 1: I sang. We were doing the Wizard of Oz and

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Speaker 1: I sang Somewhere of the Rainbow. And I had to

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Speaker 1: learn it, and I had to learn all the words,

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Speaker 1: and I had to learn the melodies and sing it.

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Speaker 1: And when I did, I felt something. And that was

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Speaker 1: the moment that I just I didn't feel scared, I

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Speaker 1: felt good. And that was the moment that filled me

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Speaker 1: up in that way and started that journey. So I

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Speaker 1: didn't exactly know it's gonna be a singer at that second,

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Speaker 1: I don't think, but I did know that I felt

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Speaker 1: something that I wanted to feel again. It found your

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Speaker 1: world at that moment. Yeah, there's a couple of moments

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Speaker 1: that I wish you'd did more of it. When you

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Speaker 1: start talking about your relationship to to to pianos and

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Speaker 1: to a to the piano. If you're keep talking about that,

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Speaker 1: I thought that was So is there something can you

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Speaker 1: remember the first time as a child that you understood

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Speaker 1: what a piano was and what it could do and

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Speaker 1: what you felt at that moment? Well, I feel like

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Speaker 1: pianos have always been around me. My grandmother on my

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Speaker 1: mother's side always played piano. She was actually, you know,

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Speaker 1: a singer and a writer herself. And then you know,

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Speaker 1: I think got married quite early, so my grandfather, you know,

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Speaker 1: call it right out of college nineteen plenty, whatever that is,

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Speaker 1: and then right away they started having children, ended up

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Speaker 1: having nine children altogether. And let me tell you, I

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Speaker 1: have two and I'm trying to figure out how to

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Speaker 1: get some space. So I don't know how she would

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Speaker 1: have nine and like be able to do anything besides

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Speaker 1: everything that was needed for that, you know. So I

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Speaker 1: think at that point, you know, her dream was deferred.

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Speaker 1: And so but ever since a little girl going to

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Speaker 1: visit my family there there was always a piano there.

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Speaker 1: There was always a piano at my other grandmother's house too.

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Speaker 1: My father's mother, my Nanna's house, she always had a piano,

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Speaker 1: and I think her kids at one time took piano

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Speaker 1: and didn't really stick with it, but it always was

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Speaker 1: in the house. So there was always a piano fortunately somewhere.

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Speaker 1: So I think from a very young age, I definitely

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Speaker 1: knew exactly what it was. I knew what it was

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Speaker 1: meant to do, and I was very attracted to it

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Speaker 1: from a very early age. I would, you know, in

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Speaker 1: New York, I would pass by the Segway shop and

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Speaker 1: they all those pianos in the way, and I was fascinated.

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Speaker 1: I was. I was almost just drawn like a like

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Speaker 1: a magnetic force towards it, and I would stick my

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Speaker 1: nose to the window and just look at it. I

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Speaker 1: would want to play it. I would want to hear them.

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Speaker 1: They look so beautiful, they're like art. And so I

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Speaker 1: was very very enamored with it. And and then you know,

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Speaker 1: but we never had a piano because that's like, first

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Speaker 1: of all, our apartment was tiny, and you can't fit

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Speaker 1: something like that into our place. And and it wasn't

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Speaker 1: even really a consideration or a thought until the opportunity

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Speaker 1: arose that we actually were given a piano, and that

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Speaker 1: was another thing that changed everything. So I once that

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Speaker 1: happened and we actually had the opportunity for me to

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Speaker 1: play one consistently, that's when I started asking if there

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Speaker 1: was a way I could learn, and and it felt

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Speaker 1: like in that way, I was just drawn to it.

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Speaker 1: I can't explain it except anything like that. It wasn't

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Speaker 1: someone wasn't always necessarily playing around me and said, hey,

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Speaker 1: Lee should up on my lap and learn. The wasn't

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Speaker 1: necessarily that where I didn't have a big like church

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Speaker 1: experience where a lot of people learn in church and

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Speaker 1: kind of jump in and start to learn there and

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Speaker 1: that's how they played. That wasn't my experience either. But

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Speaker 1: it just so happened that this fascination and the love

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Speaker 1: and the draw and the power was always there. And

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Speaker 1: then when it finally revealed itself, it was like again

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Speaker 1: that same family where it's like it found me, how

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Speaker 1: old were you when your family got that piano? And

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Speaker 1: now I started playing and I started to take lessons

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Speaker 1: at seven, So I was right. I was right about

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Speaker 1: that age. Yeah, and it was just beat up. Oh yeah,

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Speaker 1: it was a you know, a hand me down piano,

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Speaker 1: which was the most beautiful thing I ever saw in

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Speaker 1: my life. I couldn't have been more excited or more grateful.

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Speaker 1: It was this kind of beat up brown wooden, upright

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Speaker 1: old player piano. So it had the doors in the

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Speaker 1: front that was slide open where the twenties or the thirties,

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Speaker 1: and whatever saloon it was in or wherever it came from,

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Speaker 1: the playing paper would have been inside of it. And

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Speaker 1: it was in the corner and played for all the

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Speaker 1: people in there, and they probably were dancing to it,

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Speaker 1: and a lot of times it probably wasn't played that

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Speaker 1: often from someone's fingers, or maybe it was, who knows.

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Speaker 1: But it found its way to my living room and

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Speaker 1: became the divider between my little parts of the living

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Speaker 1: room that was my little bedroom and the actual part

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Speaker 1: that me and my mother used to sit in and

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Speaker 1: watch TV. And it was the wall and there was

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Speaker 1: where please tell me you still have that piano, believe

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Speaker 1: it or not, I don't. I know, I didn't, you know.

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Speaker 1: Before anything started to take off or happened, I was

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Speaker 1: able to get another piano I'm trying to think of

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Speaker 1: when I'm actually trying to think of when the cross happens.

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Speaker 1: I think I got there's a piano that was a

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Speaker 1: part of the first deal I had, and it was

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Speaker 1: a far superior piano in my little brown one, and

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Speaker 1: I would and at that time, I didn't know what

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Speaker 1: success was, and I didn't know about ever make it,

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Speaker 1: and I had no idea. I was just like, WHOA,

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Speaker 1: this is a beautiful piano. And I, in my spirit

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Speaker 1: and my mother we said, well, who should we give

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Speaker 1: the other piano too, so that someone else can learn

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Speaker 1: and someone else can have a beautiful experience. And so

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Speaker 1: that was all we've been thinking that. We weren't thinking, I, oh,

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Speaker 1: we better hold this because this would literally be like

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Speaker 1: the most museum worthy piano ever. We never we never

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Speaker 1: thought about it. Somewhere out there, someone's got that piano,

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Speaker 1: I think, and if they knew it was yours, you know,

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Speaker 1: it's with a million dollars. When we come back more

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Speaker 1: from Alicia Keys. We're back with more from Alicia Keys.

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Speaker 1: Tell me about Manhattan Plaza. I was, I you know,

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Speaker 1: I've been in New York for twenty years. I walked

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Speaker 1: by Manhattan Plaza a million times. I had no idea.

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Speaker 1: First of all, no idea took that's where. But I

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Speaker 1: had no idea that it was this kind of world

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Speaker 1: under itself of all of these creative types from Broadway.

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Speaker 1: And so just describe for its Manhattan Plaza for those

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Speaker 1: who don't know New York. So Manhattan Plaza is like

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Speaker 1: a once in a lifetime creation. Basically it was built

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Speaker 1: to support artists and creatives in that area because it's

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Speaker 1: on forty second Street between Ninth and tenth, and it's

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Speaker 1: two twin towers and one is on Tenth Avenue, one

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Speaker 1: is on Ninth Avenue. And it was an experiment that

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Speaker 1: the city did at a certain point to try to

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Speaker 1: create an affordable living space for people who were creatives. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: this New York City is all about creative people and

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Speaker 1: that industry, in the entertainment industry. And so what they

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Speaker 1: did was they created a system that you would pay

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Speaker 1: only a portion of what you made that month. So

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Speaker 1: you know, as we know, artists have very fluctuating incomes.

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Speaker 1: It's not always uh, you know, you don't get a

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Speaker 1: check every week. You know, you don't have a retirement plan. Um,

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Speaker 1: it's very very unstable, and sometimes you're working a lot,

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Speaker 1: sometimes you're working not at all. And so depending on

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Speaker 1: whatever was happening for you that month, you would pay

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Speaker 1: a portion of what you made. And I remember my

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Speaker 1: mother told me that her her rent was about seventy

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Speaker 1: five dollars, So that was you know, at that beginning time.

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Speaker 1: And and and so what they created was a really

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Speaker 1: special place that also had had like a playground for kids.

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Speaker 1: So in between the buildings there were these special things.

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Speaker 1: And so in a lot of ways you could live

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Speaker 1: in that building and kind of it was its own world,

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Speaker 1: unto itself, and everybody who was in that building knew

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Speaker 1: each other, and all the kids kind of played together,

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Speaker 1: and you know, they're sometimes you know, you even me

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Speaker 1: discovering who lived in that building, I'm like, wow, Terence Howard,

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Speaker 1: Larry David Sami Pel Jackson. You didn't see him back

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Speaker 1: in the day. I don't recall seeing Sam Jackson, but

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Speaker 1: I would have remembered if you had. I think I would,

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Speaker 1: But I could have been so young that you know,

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Speaker 1: it just doesn't dawn on you like that, you know,

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Speaker 1: But I feel like I would have known if I

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Speaker 1: if I saw him. But you know, he was he

339
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Speaker 1: was also in that building, you know for a time. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's crazy. It's like it's not only in New York

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Speaker 1: kind of thing. There's don't exist anywhere else. But seriously, seriously,

342
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Speaker 1: but it's plumped in the middle of Times Square in

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Speaker 1: the eighties and nineties and Times Square in the eighties

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Speaker 1: and nineties. You know, is that the world's most pleasant place?

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Speaker 1: Were you aware of that fact that it was sort

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Speaker 1: of the world outside Manhattan Plaza was a little scary

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Speaker 1: or just did you just not did that not register

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Speaker 1: to you when you were a kid. I knew very

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Speaker 1: clearly if you you know, to go to school in

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Speaker 1: order to come back from school, in order to you know,

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Speaker 1: if there was any activity that I was doing, because

352
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:06,920
Speaker 1: my mother was big on that. You know, I'm my

353
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Speaker 1: mother's a single mother in a real mean city with

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Speaker 1: a daughter, and so she was definitely focused on making

355
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Speaker 1: sure that I had places to go in places to be,

356
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Speaker 1: because she knew if I didn't, then I would I

357
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Speaker 1: would find places to go in places to be. So

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Speaker 1: every time I walked out on the street. Even one

359
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,399
Speaker 1: of my earliest recollections early in the book that I

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Speaker 1: Love a Lot is the first time that I asked her,

361
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Speaker 1: I asked her who were the women on the streets

362
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Speaker 1: who in the winter barely had any clothes on? And she,

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Speaker 1: you know, probably struggled trying to answer that question for

364
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Speaker 1: whatever I was six year old or whatever that was. So,

365
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,159
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of that, a lot of that

366
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Speaker 1: energy of Hell's Kitchen, which literally was as it sounds.

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Speaker 1: That name was perfect for how it looked and how

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Speaker 1: it sounded and how it was. And so I was

369
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Speaker 1: very familiar with the life outside of that, which was

370
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Speaker 1: full of a lot of a lot of pimps, a

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Speaker 1: lot of prostitutes, a lot of x orated stores and theaters, um,

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Speaker 1: a lot of heroin addicts, drug addicts. UM. It was

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Speaker 1: definitely full of the New York scene. So so I

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Speaker 1: was very aware of what that was, and I think

375
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Speaker 1: it actually informed my um a lot of my character.

376
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Speaker 1: UM and you and I noticed as I reflect back,

377
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Speaker 1: that I've always been very you know, my exterior has

378
00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,960
Speaker 1: always had to be well in place, and that is

379
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Speaker 1: a lot because of you know, those streets that I

380
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Speaker 1: grew up on. Yeah, you sound like you you had

381
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Speaker 1: a pretty wild am I right, I was reading between

382
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Speaker 1: the lines in your book I was like, how wild

383
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Speaker 1: was Alicia when she was in when she was a teenager.

384
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Speaker 1: What I wanted was your mom. I wanted you to

385
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,840
Speaker 1: I wanted your mom the way in and say, tell

386
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Speaker 1: me the real story, what was going on when you're

387
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Speaker 1: fifteen years old? I definitely, I was definitely. I just knew.

388
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Speaker 1: I knew it all like all fifteen year olds to

389
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,720
Speaker 1: I just I knew I was grown too, because I

390
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:27,160
Speaker 1: had to be very independent from a very very young age.

391
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Speaker 1: You know, my mother needed me to be able to

392
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Speaker 1: get around the city. She needed me to be able

393
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Speaker 1: to get to where I was going get to school.

394
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Speaker 1: If I had a piano class or a dance class,

395
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Speaker 1: I needed to get there. I need to get back home,

396
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,600
Speaker 1: you know. And so I was definitely always on the

397
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Speaker 1: streets and I was always able to kind of meet

398
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Speaker 1: up with my friends or go where I wanted to go.

399
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Speaker 1: In essence, she was definitely on me, for sure, and

400
00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 1: she was wild. So you did not want to upset

401
00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,119
Speaker 1: that woman. To this day, you don't want to upset

402
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,440
Speaker 1: that woman. It's really just so much more than it's

403
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,200
Speaker 1: necessary that you just like, let's just let's just get

404
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,480
Speaker 1: it right, please. So she and she you know, hey,

405
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 1: I'm not even mad at her. She had to do

406
00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:08,960
Speaker 1: she had to be. And I know when I have

407
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,320
Speaker 1: to go in on my kids like that too, because

408
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,080
Speaker 1: they have to understand how serious it is that they

409
00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,000
Speaker 1: would never know in their young mind what I know.

410
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:19,960
Speaker 1: I understand why she had to, you know, I do.

411
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,760
Speaker 1: She had to make a point and I had to listen.

412
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,320
Speaker 1: And she didn't have a dad to send down and say.

413
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,440
Speaker 1: At least she put the bass voice on. It wasn't

414
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,440
Speaker 1: like that, you know what I mean. So I understand.

415
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,639
Speaker 1: But but she so I was definitely, I just I

416
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,920
Speaker 1: think I was. I was very smart. I really I

417
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,680
Speaker 1: knew how to navigate. I also had a lot of

418
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:43,119
Speaker 1: older friends, so I felt a lot older than I was.

419
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:45,399
Speaker 1: I asked it, a lot older than I was. I

420
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,680
Speaker 1: was probably pretty fast in regards to my experiences and

421
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 1: things like that. So I just had a sense of

422
00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 1: stuff that most people of my age never did. And

423
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 1: I just I couldn't go back, like I didn't know

424
00:23:57,920 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 1: how to go back. I was already I was already

425
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,240
Speaker 1: so well responsible and kind of crazy and loud mouth,

426
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,720
Speaker 1: and you know, thought I was extraly tough and all

427
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:10,800
Speaker 1: the stuff that you think as a kid, because you know,

428
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 1: it's irrelevant though, because you had your whole timeline as

429
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,399
Speaker 1: an artist is sped up. So what happened to you

430
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:24,359
Speaker 1: at nineteen is what usually happens to singers at twenty five. People,

431
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,520
Speaker 1: I think, forget if you grew up in New York,

432
00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:28,840
Speaker 1: particularly as you grew up in New York, you're just

433
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,399
Speaker 1: you're two three years ahead of everybody else. You just

434
00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,440
Speaker 1: have to grow up so much faster. Something d you

435
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,800
Speaker 1: way earlier. That is true. I mean, so sign at sixteen,

436
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,200
Speaker 1: graduated high school at sixteen, went to college is sixteen,

437
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,040
Speaker 1: and also started, you know, the experience, the journey of

438
00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:50,960
Speaker 1: trying to become an artist at sixteen, and so all

439
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 1: of it just was like boom, here you go. Tell

440
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,359
Speaker 1: me wait, so I want to know your sixteen year

441
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:02,840
Speaker 1: old self, it's Friday night, where are you going? Because

442
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:04,680
Speaker 1: I asked this question because I was in New York.

443
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,000
Speaker 1: That's the year. It's right when I came to New York. Well,

444
00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:09,960
Speaker 1: me and my friends were either trying to sneak into

445
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:14,119
Speaker 1: the tunnel. There was a club called the Tunnel always

446
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:16,720
Speaker 1: played at so we were always trying sneaking a tunnel

447
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 1: and try to see if we could like dress up

448
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,480
Speaker 1: enough and people wouldn't know that we're sixteen trying to

449
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,760
Speaker 1: sneak in. I said a lot of times, Um, we

450
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:28,880
Speaker 1: did that. We went a lot to the skate Key.

451
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 1: There was a there was like a skating ring and

452
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,159
Speaker 1: the Bronx called the skate Key. And even me and

453
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,320
Speaker 1: my friends never skated because we were always like, if

454
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,560
Speaker 1: we need to run about of here, I don't want

455
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:40,720
Speaker 1: to be on pair of skates. So we never skated

456
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:42,320
Speaker 1: just in case we need to get out of there.

457
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,359
Speaker 1: And we never took off our jacket. And I never

458
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:46,800
Speaker 1: took off my jacket in places for years. For years,

459
00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:48,480
Speaker 1: I never people would ask me, can I take a

460
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:50,919
Speaker 1: jacke olt keep my jacket with me? When you need

461
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,440
Speaker 1: to get out, you need to have your jacket. So

462
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,359
Speaker 1: that was like always just instinctual for sure. Um. And

463
00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,120
Speaker 1: then we go to free go to each other's house.

464
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,159
Speaker 1: We would we would hang out like, um, you know,

465
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 1: we would hang out in Harlem a lot, which is

466
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 1: basically just a lot of walking around. You basically were

467
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:10,400
Speaker 1: you went nowhere, you just walked and walked. Different guys

468
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,720
Speaker 1: to try to talk to you, and you would just

469
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,359
Speaker 1: do the game and keep walking and walking into a

470
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 1: lot of random walking. Yeah, that's a little bit of

471
00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,440
Speaker 1: what we did. And what are you? What are you

472
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,160
Speaker 1: at that age? You're listening to what? So it's because

473
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,480
Speaker 1: the music scene taking the hip hop scene New York

474
00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,880
Speaker 1: is exploding right. Oh, it's the best. It was so good.

475
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 1: I mean it was Mary J. Blige. We were listening

476
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,840
Speaker 1: to the Woutane Clan. We were listening Nas, we were

477
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 1: listening and listening to Biggie Smalls. We were listening to Tupac.

478
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:47,960
Speaker 1: We were listening to Um black Moon. Black Moon was

479
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,480
Speaker 1: popping at the time, were amazing. We were listening to

480
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,800
Speaker 1: Smith and Wesson. They were crazy. They were part of

481
00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:58,040
Speaker 1: that whole BAI league. Um. We were listening to you know,

482
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,920
Speaker 1: like Swuv was was in the consciousness at the time,

483
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,840
Speaker 1: like Jade and Blackstone, or consciousness like big girl groups

484
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,680
Speaker 1: for big voices, a lot of in vogue. Um. We

485
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:16,479
Speaker 1: were listening to. Man, there was so much great music,

486
00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:19,440
Speaker 1: you know, there was so much good stuff that was

487
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,960
Speaker 1: just so so many different sides. We were listening to

488
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,400
Speaker 1: like Shop of Ranks and you know, different different mad

489
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 1: Cobra I remember, and there was all type of different

490
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 1: reggae artists Bouchal Bantan and Um. There was just a

491
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:38,480
Speaker 1: bunch of different styles of music that was happening and

492
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:41,600
Speaker 1: we were listening to all of it. Yeah, and you're

493
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:43,760
Speaker 1: when do you start? You see you're in a girl band.

494
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:50,560
Speaker 1: I did not know that and the ambition. How long

495
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,800
Speaker 1: were you in the band? A while? I mean we

496
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:55,920
Speaker 1: really believed in that. We really wanted to take it

497
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:58,400
Speaker 1: all the way. We had our rehearsals all the time

498
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,119
Speaker 1: at the p PL on like one hundred and twenty

499
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:06,119
Speaker 1: fourth Street. Um, we were. I mean it was a

500
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:08,840
Speaker 1: couple of years. I think that we were just meeting

501
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,000
Speaker 1: up and trying to make it work and practicing and

502
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,800
Speaker 1: after school and working on us What kind of music

503
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,680
Speaker 1: was I when I couldn't get a sense of was

504
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,639
Speaker 1: that at that age? Are you making something similar to

505
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:22,760
Speaker 1: the kind of music you make today? Or was it? Yeah?

506
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,080
Speaker 1: It was mostly like we would sing our favorite songs.

507
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 1: We were working on arrangements to the songs that we loved,

508
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,120
Speaker 1: so that if we ever had the opportunity to sing

509
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 1: for anybody, we would be ready to kind of perform. Yeah,

510
00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:39,479
Speaker 1: but didn't you write it? You? I made a note

511
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,920
Speaker 1: of it didn't you write what a song called I'm

512
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:44,880
Speaker 1: All Done? Was that you mentioned that in your book

513
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,880
Speaker 1: I'm All Alone as the first song alone, And that

514
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 1: actually was triggered by the death of my grandfather and

515
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:56,120
Speaker 1: that happened that about twelve. I think I was about

516
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:59,160
Speaker 1: twelve at that time. And that was that wasn't really

517
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,000
Speaker 1: in the group at that time. I mean there was

518
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:03,360
Speaker 1: other like little groups that I was dibbled dabbling and

519
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:06,120
Speaker 1: at that time. But um, but when I wrote that song,

520
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:08,480
Speaker 1: the significance of that was just it was the first

521
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:12,680
Speaker 1: time an experience was painful enough to really, you know,

522
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,800
Speaker 1: provoke me to take all this information that I had

523
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,280
Speaker 1: with piano and with music and you know, sit down

524
00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:21,440
Speaker 1: and create a thing. And it was the very first

525
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,880
Speaker 1: time and did that. And did you continue to write

526
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,520
Speaker 1: all the way from that point forward? Were you continuing

527
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,160
Speaker 1: to write music all the time or is it something

528
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:32,600
Speaker 1: that you left for a while and came back to,

529
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: Like is this once I started, I really I recognized

530
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:39,520
Speaker 1: that it was something I could do. And I also

531
00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 1: recognized that it felt really good to just sit down

532
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,160
Speaker 1: and say what you feel. And I remember one of

533
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 1: the one of the one of my dearest sisters who

534
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,400
Speaker 1: was also in the group with me. She and I.

535
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:53,640
Speaker 1: She started to play the bass and I played piano,

536
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,280
Speaker 1: and she and I would get together a lot and

537
00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,040
Speaker 1: just kind of jam and write. And if my mother

538
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,120
Speaker 1: wasn't home when she was, I work late mostly all

539
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,880
Speaker 1: the time, and so she would my friend would come

540
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,000
Speaker 1: to my house and have her bass and I'd be

541
00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,120
Speaker 1: on piano. And we were listening to a ton of

542
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:14,840
Speaker 1: Marvin Gaye What's Going On album, and the song that

543
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,560
Speaker 1: we listened so much to is Flying hind a Friendly Sky,

544
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:22,000
Speaker 1: which to me is one of the most unbelievable compositions

545
00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: ever because you hear this bass and it constantly walks

546
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 1: up and it's like this relentless jazz zy of you know,

547
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:37,840
Speaker 1: stupor that he's describing how he's feeling being high, and

548
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:43,400
Speaker 1: it's it's so painful and beautiful at the same time.

549
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,280
Speaker 1: And and that was something that we were really fascinated with.

550
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:49,600
Speaker 1: And because she was starting to learn the bass, we

551
00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:53,280
Speaker 1: would play like these type of energies and songs, and

552
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 1: I think that's really good for both of us to

553
00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:59,760
Speaker 1: just be hold up inside, you know, playing music, which

554
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:03,800
Speaker 1: is you know, music saves so many people's lives. What's

555
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,320
Speaker 1: the first song you wrote that you think it's your

556
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:11,000
Speaker 1: first truly great mature song like I saw your you

557
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 1: would happily play to day at a concert. The very

558
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,720
Speaker 1: first song, the song I consider my first good song

559
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,280
Speaker 1: is a song called Butterflies, and that when I wrote

560
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:23,360
Speaker 1: when I was fourteen, and I would play it today,

561
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:27,560
Speaker 1: i'd play it right now. It's really sweet but beautiful

562
00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:33,400
Speaker 1: and surprisingly surprisingly mature for fourteen in a way that

563
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,720
Speaker 1: it kind of seems timeless. It doesn't feel like, oh yeah,

564
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:38,440
Speaker 1: you can tell I was super young when I wrote that.

565
00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:40,920
Speaker 1: You can if you can see how my songs developed

566
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 1: over time and became more intricate. But but you don't

567
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 1: pay attention to that. It just feels like a sweet song.

568
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:49,719
Speaker 1: You know. You know what I'm gonna ask you right now,

569
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,560
Speaker 1: don't you? Oh gosh, well, because I don't have a piano,

570
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 1: No you can't. You just can't. You just like sing

571
00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,560
Speaker 1: like two lines of it? See lines of it a cappella? Sure,

572
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,160
Speaker 1: I can. You know might be described your version, but

573
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:06,280
Speaker 1: that's all right. Um, let's see so versus lady. When

574
00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:13,920
Speaker 1: I look into you, ah, sorry, the lies, You're the

575
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: only one I need in my life. Baby, I just

576
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:27,320
Speaker 1: don't know how to describe Holloly may By feel inside.

577
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:34,880
Speaker 1: You give me butterfly, You got me fly. You're so

578
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:41,760
Speaker 1: high in the sky. I can't control the butterfly. You

579
00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:50,560
Speaker 1: give me butterfly. You got me flying so high enough Skyhi,

580
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:58,080
Speaker 1: I can't control the butterfly. You wrote that when you

581
00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:02,600
Speaker 1: were fourteen. Yeah, uh, I was sick. I was also

582
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 1: listening to a lot of Anita Baker. I remember that too.

583
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:08,760
Speaker 1: My mother was listening to the tons of Anita Baker,

584
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,400
Speaker 1: and so back to that Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Anita Baker.

585
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 1: There was this kind of jazzy undertone that I really

586
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,240
Speaker 1: related to a lot from those artists that she played

587
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:23,000
Speaker 1: when I was growing up. Yeah, when you stand up

588
00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,480
Speaker 1: right now, did I take you back to fourteen? I

589
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,880
Speaker 1: was kind of remembering myself on my little piano that

590
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:34,640
Speaker 1: I told yell about Brent one ear doors sitting there

591
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,440
Speaker 1: and me just kind of I remember also listening to

592
00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:39,400
Speaker 1: a lot of Brian McKnight at the time, because he

593
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,040
Speaker 1: was a he was a you know, such a beautiful

594
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:45,320
Speaker 1: piano player and songwriter, and I was just fascinated with

595
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,920
Speaker 1: listening and how that was and he would do these

596
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,600
Speaker 1: really pretty piano songs, and so I think I was

597
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:54,840
Speaker 1: taking some of that energy and just sitting at the

598
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:58,800
Speaker 1: piano and finding these chords and feeling the floe, and

599
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,640
Speaker 1: I was just a little own and I wrote that. Yeah,

600
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 1: and you're see your mom comes home from work and

601
00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:08,520
Speaker 1: you turned to her and you say, I've written the

602
00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:11,680
Speaker 1: song and you play for you played for in the piano.

603
00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:15,279
Speaker 1: What is your It must have blood is your mind? Blood? Like,

604
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:19,200
Speaker 1: what's your mom's reaction to this prodigy inside this towny apartment.

605
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:25,000
Speaker 1: I don't know. You would definitely need to ask her.

606
00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:27,920
Speaker 1: I should just a bit of you her. I know,

607
00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,239
Speaker 1: I'm just like, what does she think you for her?

608
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:35,960
Speaker 1: And talk to me later. But the the you know,

609
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:42,200
Speaker 1: I don't remember her. I'm sure that she was excited.

610
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:45,319
Speaker 1: And you know when I hear Egypt, eachyple will jump

611
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,880
Speaker 1: on the piano. He plays piano and and he'll come

612
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:51,759
Speaker 1: up with these songs and and I can hear inside

613
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,800
Speaker 1: of the song what's what's going on in his mind

614
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:58,040
Speaker 1: and what he's stumbling on and it's good. And I

615
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:01,520
Speaker 1: can say, man, he doesn't know it yet, and he

616
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,360
Speaker 1: doesn't it's not thinking about at all extra hard like that.

617
00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,279
Speaker 1: But I say, you know, that kid has an ear

618
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,560
Speaker 1: like he has something that he understands stuff, And I'm

619
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,880
Speaker 1: always like, wow, I'm interested. I'm not pushing it or

620
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:18,400
Speaker 1: extra trying to feel uncomfortable, but I'm always interested. I

621
00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:22,560
Speaker 1: don't know if she had the time to even get

622
00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 1: into it like that, or did I play it for

623
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:28,239
Speaker 1: her right away or was I working on it for

624
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:30,920
Speaker 1: some days. Did she just overhear me and just let

625
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,440
Speaker 1: me have my space. I don't recall her being like,

626
00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:35,880
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, wow, that's like I don't remember her

627
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,120
Speaker 1: being all like that. She's always been enthusiastic and everything,

628
00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:42,280
Speaker 1: so I'm not saying she didn't, but I don't recall

629
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,200
Speaker 1: it being kind of a thing. So I'm not sure

630
00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:48,680
Speaker 1: what she was thinking or feeling at that time because

631
00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:51,560
Speaker 1: I was like fourteen. When a little later, maybe at sixteen,

632
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 1: when I started doing showcases and I started to maybe

633
00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:58,959
Speaker 1: you know, it seemed more like a something that maybe

634
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,080
Speaker 1: she hadn't even be nervous for me about or whatever.

635
00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:06,320
Speaker 1: But um, I'm interested in myself. Let's both call her. Shoot,

636
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:10,400
Speaker 1: we should have just add heard it. That's rights this happened.

637
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:12,719
Speaker 1: I reasonally asked that question is that one of the

638
00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:17,080
Speaker 1: fascinating things about book is when you talk about at

639
00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:20,840
Speaker 1: a very young age you meet these very very powerful

640
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:25,280
Speaker 1: people who hear you and instantly see that there's something

641
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:29,279
Speaker 1: special there. You know, I'm thinking about Clid Davis, you

642
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,799
Speaker 1: tell the pod and then and then Prince and Opera.

643
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:34,359
Speaker 1: But well, I want to talk about those three. I mean,

644
00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,279
Speaker 1: first of all, it's by mind is still blown at

645
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,560
Speaker 1: the age of how were you nineteen when the music

646
00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 1: came out or when we were first still working on it,

647
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,920
Speaker 1: because that was probably that oh yeah, how old you

648
00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:49,760
Speaker 1: know the agent which three of the most important cultural

649
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:53,560
Speaker 1: figures in the world of music and beyond music recognize

650
00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:58,000
Speaker 1: something in you, right, that's let's see. Well, first, you know,

651
00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,280
Speaker 1: I would say that it first started with my first manager,

652
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:04,360
Speaker 1: Jeff Robinson, who was the first one that even before me,

653
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:06,719
Speaker 1: you know, saw that there was something in me that

654
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,400
Speaker 1: was special and unique. And that was about that, you know,

655
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:14,239
Speaker 1: fourteen fifteen eight, where I was still with that first group,

656
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:17,360
Speaker 1: and he was the one that you know, said you

657
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:19,440
Speaker 1: really suppose you really should be a solo artist, of

658
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:21,839
Speaker 1: which I was like, no way, I don't Everyone who

659
00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:24,360
Speaker 1: wants to be a solo artist. Sounds so boring and lonely,

660
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,239
Speaker 1: but um, you know he was right, you know he

661
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:29,960
Speaker 1: was he was right. He saw that I played already,

662
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:32,000
Speaker 1: saw that I wrote, He saw that I could do

663
00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:34,759
Speaker 1: them both together and and it just created something that

664
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:37,480
Speaker 1: was that was special that he saw. And so he

665
00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:39,560
Speaker 1: was the one that you know, took me around to

666
00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:42,640
Speaker 1: the different labels and created the opportunity for me to

667
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:44,920
Speaker 1: meet these different people. That I met Peter Edge, who

668
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,560
Speaker 1: also became a really big part of my life and

669
00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:51,520
Speaker 1: to this day as you know, the president. Uh and

670
00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:55,239
Speaker 1: so he so he definitely introduced me to Peter and

671
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:59,400
Speaker 1: then um Peter. Then then Jeff also brought me to

672
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:01,319
Speaker 1: Columbia and that was the first time that I had

673
00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:05,239
Speaker 1: my first situation, which didn't work out that well. And

674
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,840
Speaker 1: then and then between himself and Peter got me my

675
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:12,680
Speaker 1: first meeting with Clive Davis and that was about I'm

676
00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,279
Speaker 1: gonna say that was about sixteen or seventeen, because I

677
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,279
Speaker 1: spent a couple of years with Columbia creating most of

678
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:21,759
Speaker 1: what became songs in a minor but they they just

679
00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:24,759
Speaker 1: didn't understand the vision. They didn't get it, and and

680
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,120
Speaker 1: there's a lot of internal changes and stuff like that

681
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,160
Speaker 1: which happened all the time in business and so so

682
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:35,279
Speaker 1: um so that. So I met Clive at seventeen ish,

683
00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:40,600
Speaker 1: and then I worked another couple of years, you know,

684
00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 1: finishing up the music. Do you remember what you played

685
00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:45,279
Speaker 1: for him? So you go with Just for those who

686
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,920
Speaker 1: don't know, Clive Davis is like the most legendary figure,

687
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,560
Speaker 1: the greatest talent spot. I mean, he's the He's a

688
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,400
Speaker 1: god in the music world. You walk into his office

689
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:59,759
Speaker 1: at Arista at and you're seventeen were you were? You

690
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:03,920
Speaker 1: in intimidating? I was late and I was so annoyed

691
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,200
Speaker 1: that I was late, and Jeff was so mad at

692
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,160
Speaker 1: me that I was late. He's like, this is this

693
00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:12,600
Speaker 1: is like the biggest meeting of your entire life, and

694
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,680
Speaker 1: you're late, and I felt bad. I didn't want to

695
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:18,360
Speaker 1: be late, like no one wants to be late. So

696
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:23,040
Speaker 1: so that was shitty. And unfortunately, you know, it was

697
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:25,000
Speaker 1: all my side that I think he had his meeting

698
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,600
Speaker 1: ran over, So something happened that I didn't seem late

699
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,480
Speaker 1: even though I was late. And and then of course

700
00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:36,040
Speaker 1: I'm nervous because I'm like, you know this this is I.

701
00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:39,040
Speaker 1: At the time, I was trying to get out of

702
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:42,480
Speaker 1: my previous label deal, which wasn't going well, and he

703
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:44,800
Speaker 1: was interested, and he heard already a group of songs

704
00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:47,600
Speaker 1: because I created so much of what became songs in

705
00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:50,160
Speaker 1: a minor, and I was playing stuff like I had

706
00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:52,360
Speaker 1: a song called why do I Feel So Sad? I

707
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:55,319
Speaker 1: know that I played that. I had a song called

708
00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:58,680
Speaker 1: Loving You, which was greatly inspired by Aretha Franklin, like

709
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:01,719
Speaker 1: that style of a song. I had my Butterfly song

710
00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:03,800
Speaker 1: that I was playing the Shore, And then I was

711
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,000
Speaker 1: also playing some Brian McKnight covers and some Marvin Gay

712
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:09,000
Speaker 1: covers and stuff like that. I think that's probably that

713
00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:11,080
Speaker 1: was my repertoire at the time. How long had you

714
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:14,200
Speaker 1: play for? I mean, you know, like a little probably

715
00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:16,520
Speaker 1: like a twenty minute or fifteen twenty you know, a

716
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:18,960
Speaker 1: couple of songs, a couple of talking, a little you know,

717
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:23,640
Speaker 1: you are you looking at him while you're playing? I don't.

718
00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:28,160
Speaker 1: I mean, I was definitely nervous. I hadn't, you know,

719
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:30,759
Speaker 1: I hadn't. I had done a lot of showcases because

720
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:32,800
Speaker 1: in order to get that first deal, we did a

721
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:35,120
Speaker 1: lot of showcases and and I had been performing a

722
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,279
Speaker 1: lot since that first group, and I had a sense

723
00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:40,560
Speaker 1: of like how to put my thing on. But I

724
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:42,959
Speaker 1: was always I was always quite nervous. Was I looking

725
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,279
Speaker 1: at him? Probably a little, but not a lot, like

726
00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:50,960
Speaker 1: not extra overcomefident, just like enough to do my thing.

727
00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 1: And he didn't he didn't have any doubt in his

728
00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,279
Speaker 1: mind when he when he said I want he said,

729
00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:00,640
Speaker 1: I want to work with you. It was anitation. I

730
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:03,759
Speaker 1: don't know if that happened exactly on that spot or

731
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:07,440
Speaker 1: if it was a call that maybe transpired later or

732
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 1: a second meeting even but I'm but as I recall it,

733
00:41:11,120 --> 00:41:13,960
Speaker 1: he definitely, I mean, he said he complimented me in

734
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:16,960
Speaker 1: ways that I had never been complimented. And to your

735
00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,520
Speaker 1: point about the people that he's worked with, you know,

736
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:24,200
Speaker 1: you know, like the you know, like the Santanas and

737
00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:29,000
Speaker 1: the Earth winning fires and and and just some of

738
00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:32,600
Speaker 1: the absolute Joni Mitchell's and like some of the absolute

739
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:38,719
Speaker 1: all time greatest artists ever he's been a part of,

740
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,160
Speaker 1: you know, their creative trajectory. And so he would tell

741
00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:43,640
Speaker 1: me that he thought I was a lot like a

742
00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:46,239
Speaker 1: Joni Mitchell. And you know, he never stepped foot in

743
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:48,200
Speaker 1: the studio with her that she could create all her

744
00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:50,359
Speaker 1: things and write all her songs. And she just came

745
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:52,120
Speaker 1: back to him and said, Okay, my music is done.

746
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:54,520
Speaker 1: And she was like, I see that, I see you

747
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:56,840
Speaker 1: like that, and I couldn't believe it. You know, imagine

748
00:41:56,920 --> 00:41:59,680
Speaker 1: my seventeen year old self being told that he saw

749
00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:04,839
Speaker 1: me like someone like a Joni Mitchell. I was like, what. So, yeah,

750
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,840
Speaker 1: he was very excited. He knew what he saw, he

751
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:09,680
Speaker 1: knew what he has had his eyes on, and he

752
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:12,000
Speaker 1: also knew that there was like one in a billion

753
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:15,200
Speaker 1: chance that Columbia would ever let me go. He was

754
00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:18,239
Speaker 1: very clear about that too, and they did do. There

755
00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:25,120
Speaker 1: ever lasting dismay. I'm sure to my ever lasting great fortune,

756
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:29,640
Speaker 1: let me come back. Alicia talks about the beginning of

757
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:37,080
Speaker 1: her friendship with Prince. We're back with Alicia Keys, who

758
00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:39,560
Speaker 1: had to run to another interview, but Malcolm requested she

759
00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:42,400
Speaker 1: tell her Prince story first. Wait, you gotta tell your

760
00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:45,560
Speaker 1: Prince story, which was another one of my favorite parts

761
00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:48,560
Speaker 1: of the book. That story is so bananas. So you

762
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:50,759
Speaker 1: want to do you want to cover a Prince song

763
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:56,440
Speaker 1: on on a minor and so, and it's up to

764
00:42:56,520 --> 00:43:00,279
Speaker 1: you to call prince to ask that's the I mean,

765
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:03,919
Speaker 1: other people could call, but it would likely not go well.

766
00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:09,840
Speaker 1: And I think that they understood that if I called maybe,

767
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,920
Speaker 1: it made it a little harder for him to say no, maybe.

768
00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:16,760
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. I was he was definitely

769
00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:21,600
Speaker 1: observing what I was doing, and he um, and he

770
00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,680
Speaker 1: was you know, he was so voraciously a music lover

771
00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:28,120
Speaker 1: and I'm really excited about new music all the time.

772
00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:30,920
Speaker 1: I never met anybody like that who just knew the

773
00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:35,080
Speaker 1: pulse of new music so so well. Um and so

774
00:43:35,239 --> 00:43:38,360
Speaker 1: that that was him. So he was definitely observing what

775
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:42,360
Speaker 1: I was doing. And pause on this. This is really interesting.

776
00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:44,759
Speaker 1: So at this point, you haven't put out any any

777
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:49,160
Speaker 1: records ever the press already I put out Fallen by

778
00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:52,360
Speaker 1: that right right, And so he was he would have

779
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:55,680
Speaker 1: heard Fallen, Yeah, And then it was up to me

780
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:58,640
Speaker 1: to say, oh, as a part of the whole album,

781
00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:03,320
Speaker 1: I also recorded how come you don't call me? And

782
00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:06,600
Speaker 1: would it be okay for you to clear that to

783
00:44:06,719 --> 00:44:09,200
Speaker 1: go on my album? Because he was he's the songwriter

784
00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:12,359
Speaker 1: and you do have to clear covers with the song.

785
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:15,960
Speaker 1: So that was that was me asking him that question,

786
00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:18,759
Speaker 1: and it was so crazy because like, first of all,

787
00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:23,560
Speaker 1: I hadn't spoken to people that I adored like him

788
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:26,800
Speaker 1: ever before that phone call, Like I didn't just call it.

789
00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:29,640
Speaker 1: That was not a normal occurrence. If you can imagine

790
00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:32,560
Speaker 1: even today, you know, I missed him so much, and

791
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:35,279
Speaker 1: even today, if he was still alive and I was

792
00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:37,440
Speaker 1: calling him, I would still feel nervous about call him.

793
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:40,480
Speaker 1: So just understand like that that part probably would just

794
00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:43,239
Speaker 1: stay put. But if you can imagine that it's the

795
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:46,360
Speaker 1: very first time I'm ever calling somebody who I admire

796
00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:50,719
Speaker 1: on a level that's like un explainable and calling to

797
00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:54,640
Speaker 1: see if maybe he'd be cool with me performing his

798
00:44:54,719 --> 00:44:56,719
Speaker 1: song after I've heard time and time again that he

799
00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:59,400
Speaker 1: turns everything down. So that was what I was up against.

800
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:03,680
Speaker 1: It was about eighteen I think at the time, maybe nineteen,

801
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:07,239
Speaker 1: and I'm in some hotel room because we were doing

802
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:11,520
Speaker 1: some little tour through these different hotels and for like

803
00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:13,759
Speaker 1: a press and stuff. And I'm in my hotel and

804
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:16,520
Speaker 1: I'm calling on the phone and the person says, hello,

805
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:18,960
Speaker 1: are you looking for Prince? And I'm like it's this

806
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:21,920
Speaker 1: prince and they're like no, hold on, they transfer me,

807
00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:24,279
Speaker 1: and I'm like okay. So then the next person picks

808
00:45:24,360 --> 00:45:27,160
Speaker 1: up Hello, I'm a Hello, and it's not him. Ei there. Hey,

809
00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:29,040
Speaker 1: are you're looking for Prince? And I'm like, yes, so

810
00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:32,120
Speaker 1: I'm looking for Okay, hold on the trans for me again.

811
00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:33,960
Speaker 1: I'm like, how many times did they get? They trans

812
00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:36,959
Speaker 1: for me at least four times, and so every time

813
00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:40,919
Speaker 1: the call was transferred, my nerves got more and more

814
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:45,040
Speaker 1: terrified and scary. He finally got on the phone. I

815
00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:48,600
Speaker 1: hear his voice, like it's him, it's his voice. I

816
00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:50,440
Speaker 1: don't even know what to barely say anymore. I had

817
00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:53,399
Speaker 1: some script written down, but you know, I start talking

818
00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:56,320
Speaker 1: to him and he was super friendly and really encouraging

819
00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:58,520
Speaker 1: and saying he heard what I've been working on and

820
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:00,680
Speaker 1: he knows that I'm writing and producing my stuff and

821
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:04,000
Speaker 1: he really loves that and keep that up. And that's

822
00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:06,960
Speaker 1: when he invited me to Paisley Park. So I told him.

823
00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:08,720
Speaker 1: I asked him if I could put it on the album,

824
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:10,560
Speaker 1: and he said, why don't you come to Paisley Park

825
00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:13,719
Speaker 1: and play it for me. I was like, okay, it's

826
00:46:13,719 --> 00:46:18,520
Speaker 1: like an audition. It's fantastic. So that was that was nuts.

827
00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:21,080
Speaker 1: I mean, one of the craziest phone calls in my life,

828
00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:23,560
Speaker 1: and you go, how long afterwards? How long did it

829
00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:25,080
Speaker 1: take you to go to Paisley Park to play it for?

830
00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:28,160
Speaker 1: Wasn't that long after because we were still trying to

831
00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:29,680
Speaker 1: get it cleared, and he kind of made it seem

832
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:32,040
Speaker 1: like if I came and played, maybe he'd be more inclined.

833
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:35,200
Speaker 1: So I'm pretty sure we went quite quickly. And he

834
00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:38,279
Speaker 1: has a whole audience of like hardcore prince lovers in

835
00:46:39,160 --> 00:46:44,439
Speaker 1: an auditory. Yes, first of all, it was freezing. I mean, wow,

836
00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:47,279
Speaker 1: it's so cold out there as winter. Um, I have

837
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:49,840
Speaker 1: my this little tiny leather jacket that I was wearing everywhere.

838
00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:51,000
Speaker 1: I don't know what was the matter with me? Why

839
00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:54,320
Speaker 1: did I not have another jacket? And um? And it

840
00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:57,839
Speaker 1: was super freezing over there. But it was incredible. It's

841
00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:01,040
Speaker 1: a world all its own. It was all his memorabilia

842
00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:05,120
Speaker 1: and incredible moments that he's been a part of and

843
00:47:05,239 --> 00:47:09,279
Speaker 1: contributed to culture, to musical culture, which is embodied all

844
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,440
Speaker 1: right there. And the doves and the purple and the

845
00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:15,759
Speaker 1: pianos with writing on it, and the outfits from Purple Rain,

846
00:47:15,920 --> 00:47:19,680
Speaker 1: and I mean it was literally stunning. It was the

847
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:22,360
Speaker 1: most beautiful place I ever saw. And then you know,

848
00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:24,399
Speaker 1: for him to have this kind of performance space where

849
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:27,399
Speaker 1: the diehards could come and just like be a part

850
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:30,960
Speaker 1: of his girl. It was nuts. And he becomes a

851
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:36,640
Speaker 1: friend afterwards, definitely. He definitely became a mentor and a

852
00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:39,640
Speaker 1: friends who checked in on me and would often come

853
00:47:39,719 --> 00:47:42,120
Speaker 1: to my shows. He would often talk to me about

854
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:45,320
Speaker 1: the hard things, you know, as a performer, as a

855
00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:48,879
Speaker 1: as an artist whose whose music is starting to reach

856
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:52,239
Speaker 1: new places and new people, and what that was, and

857
00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:56,480
Speaker 1: the on the business side and ownership and being in

858
00:47:56,600 --> 00:48:00,560
Speaker 1: control of what we create, and also just you know,

859
00:48:00,719 --> 00:48:03,800
Speaker 1: even like sonically how it sounded at the shows. And

860
00:48:03,960 --> 00:48:07,040
Speaker 1: he was very very specific. He didn't just come to

861
00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:09,960
Speaker 1: like chill. He never came to just chill. He always

862
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:12,759
Speaker 1: came with an intention and a purpose and something to

863
00:48:12,840 --> 00:48:15,359
Speaker 1: teach me. And so even though every time I spoke

864
00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:17,719
Speaker 1: to him, I was just terrified and I was trying

865
00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:20,719
Speaker 1: not to cry because he told me my sound, you know,

866
00:48:20,840 --> 00:48:23,480
Speaker 1: just didn't translate well in that show, and I'd be like, oh, no,

867
00:48:23,719 --> 00:48:26,440
Speaker 1: does that mean to sounded bad. He wasn't trying to

868
00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:29,160
Speaker 1: tell me sounded bad. He wanted me to be aware

869
00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:33,160
Speaker 1: that that part needed to improve, you know, And and

870
00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:35,040
Speaker 1: so that in that way, he was like a big

871
00:48:35,120 --> 00:48:38,000
Speaker 1: brother who would really tell you, you know, what's happening

872
00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:41,600
Speaker 1: in a true way. One last thing I wanted to

873
00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:44,239
Speaker 1: talk about was, you know, you just performed a Kobe's

874
00:48:45,120 --> 00:48:52,120
Speaker 1: memorial service and the Grammys and Obama's inauguration. I thinking,

875
00:48:52,200 --> 00:48:56,240
Speaker 1: you're in this really interesting position that very few artists

876
00:48:56,320 --> 00:48:59,919
Speaker 1: are in, where you're You're like, you're the kind of prison.

877
00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:03,319
Speaker 1: And we turned to m and I was thinking, who

878
00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:06,719
Speaker 1: else has been that played that role in American music?

879
00:49:07,080 --> 00:49:08,839
Speaker 1: And I would say, you know, maybe twenty years ago

880
00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:12,400
Speaker 1: would be Paul Simon, remember after nine to eleven, he

881
00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:15,359
Speaker 1: played the Boxer and he played that was a person

882
00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:19,319
Speaker 1: whose music we turned to when we needed some kind

883
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:24,120
Speaker 1: of and Jordan civil rights, it would have been Harry Balafonte. Probably, Wow,

884
00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:27,480
Speaker 1: that's that's the kind of I was thinking, you're in

885
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:31,200
Speaker 1: that tradition now you're like the I just wonder what

886
00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:33,160
Speaker 1: that feels like. Are you aware? I mean there's a

887
00:49:33,239 --> 00:49:35,640
Speaker 1: kind of responsibility that comes with that, and I kind

888
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:38,040
Speaker 1: of are you are you aware of that? And what

889
00:49:38,120 --> 00:49:43,640
Speaker 1: does it? How does it make you feel? I definitely, um,

890
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:51,439
Speaker 1: I definitely know that as I've grown and as I've

891
00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:56,879
Speaker 1: become more comfortable than my skin and more truly who

892
00:49:56,960 --> 00:50:00,920
Speaker 1: I am, that I know that there is a deep

893
00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:04,719
Speaker 1: connection that we share and that we have, and I

894
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,239
Speaker 1: know we've always had it, but I don't think I

895
00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:13,080
Speaker 1: was ready before to truly be comfortable with it, to

896
00:50:13,239 --> 00:50:21,960
Speaker 1: be to be completely just so much more open and

897
00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:25,480
Speaker 1: so much more able to share my truth and what

898
00:50:25,640 --> 00:50:28,960
Speaker 1: I'm learning, what I'm experiencing, and even my vulnerabilities and

899
00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:35,800
Speaker 1: my pains and my fears, my sadnesses, the humanness that

900
00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:38,640
Speaker 1: lives in all of us that I for so long

901
00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:43,240
Speaker 1: felt like I had to put into a steel box

902
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:46,239
Speaker 1: so that I could get on with each day and

903
00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:49,640
Speaker 1: just get through all the demands and things like that.

904
00:50:50,320 --> 00:50:52,880
Speaker 1: And so now that I'm so much more clear about

905
00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:56,400
Speaker 1: the fact that part of the beauty of us is

906
00:50:56,719 --> 00:50:59,400
Speaker 1: all those sides that we spoke about at the beginning

907
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:03,840
Speaker 1: this conversation station, the scary, the vulnerable, the fear, the anger,

908
00:51:04,360 --> 00:51:06,160
Speaker 1: all the parts that we kind of box up and

909
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:08,919
Speaker 1: put away because they're too out of control, or they're

910
00:51:09,120 --> 00:51:14,040
Speaker 1: they're too personal, or they feel too raw. I've become

911
00:51:14,120 --> 00:51:18,279
Speaker 1: so much more comfortable with expressing and since i've since

912
00:51:18,360 --> 00:51:21,920
Speaker 1: I have and since I have started to know myself

913
00:51:22,200 --> 00:51:25,360
Speaker 1: more and be comfortable with all those parts of myself,

914
00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:28,759
Speaker 1: I find that the connection has deepened in a way

915
00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:32,600
Speaker 1: that I never expected and I definitely wasn't ready for

916
00:51:32,840 --> 00:51:35,440
Speaker 1: before because I wasn't even ready to do that with

917
00:51:35,600 --> 00:51:40,080
Speaker 1: my own self. So now that that is happening, I

918
00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:47,239
Speaker 1: do see how the connection is. To your point of

919
00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:50,160
Speaker 1: what you're saying, there is something there that's creating, that's

920
00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:54,440
Speaker 1: creating a level of deeper understanding, a level of solace,

921
00:51:54,560 --> 00:52:00,520
Speaker 1: a level of connection that creates something which just has

922
00:52:00,600 --> 00:52:04,520
Speaker 1: been circumstantial because we're in a really tumultuous time and

923
00:52:05,160 --> 00:52:09,000
Speaker 1: we need each other just more than ever. And so

924
00:52:10,200 --> 00:52:14,920
Speaker 1: I always wanted to be purposeful. I always wanted to

925
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:18,040
Speaker 1: do things that had meaning to them and not just

926
00:52:18,280 --> 00:52:23,160
Speaker 1: empty reasons. And I've been getting these beautiful opportunities that

927
00:52:23,320 --> 00:52:28,560
Speaker 1: even I have not known were meant to become what

928
00:52:28,760 --> 00:52:33,239
Speaker 1: they did. I just was okay showing up and comfortable

929
00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:35,920
Speaker 1: enough to show up and even through to all the

930
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:39,080
Speaker 1: scary things that I personally feel, you know, all the time,

931
00:52:39,239 --> 00:52:41,880
Speaker 1: when I'm going to perform or when I'm going to,

932
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:44,640
Speaker 1: you know, put something on my back and walk out

933
00:52:44,719 --> 00:52:47,880
Speaker 1: with it and hope that it all goes well. You know. So,

934
00:52:48,040 --> 00:52:53,640
Speaker 1: I think the openness that I am experiencing is creating

935
00:52:54,239 --> 00:52:57,560
Speaker 1: that kind of connection between us and I'm I don't

936
00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:04,200
Speaker 1: know when it exactly starts, but I'm really loving it

937
00:53:04,600 --> 00:53:07,800
Speaker 1: and I'm looking forward to more. If there's something beautiful

938
00:53:07,840 --> 00:53:10,759
Speaker 1: about the fact that, like a by racial girl from

939
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:13,480
Speaker 1: Manhattan Plaza speaks for all of us. Yeah, like that's

940
00:53:13,560 --> 00:53:19,480
Speaker 1: kind of that's kind of amazing. Wow, I'm loving it morning. Yeah,

941
00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:23,040
Speaker 1: thank you so much. This has been so much fun

942
00:53:23,480 --> 00:53:27,640
Speaker 1: and best to block. Yeah, Okay, have a good one

943
00:53:27,680 --> 00:53:29,920
Speaker 1: and be safe and be careful and be good and

944
00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:37,000
Speaker 1: hopefully we'll sit down and have a meal and talk. Yeah,

945
00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:45,560
Speaker 1: thank you. Malisha Key's book More Myself a Journey is

946
00:53:45,600 --> 00:53:48,880
Speaker 1: out now and a new album, Alicia, comes out in

947
00:53:48,960 --> 00:53:52,400
Speaker 1: May fifteen. I can stream some of the artists and

948
00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:55,160
Speaker 1: songs she mentioned in her conversation with Malcolm at Broken

949
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:58,560
Speaker 1: Record podcast dot com. Broken Record is produced with help

950
00:53:58,600 --> 00:54:02,400
Speaker 1: from Jason Gambrell, Mela bell Lea Rose, Matt Leboza, and

951
00:54:02,560 --> 00:54:07,000
Speaker 1: Martin Gonzalez for Pushkin Industries. Our theme musics by Kenny Beats.

952
00:54:07,239 --> 00:54:09,080
Speaker 1: I'm justin Richmond, thanks for listening,