WEBVTT - Melyssa Ford

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<v Speaker 1>R &amp; B Money! We are Tank, Jake.

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<v Speaker 2>Valentine.

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<v Speaker 1>We are the authorities. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tank.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Jake Valentine. This is the R &amp; B Money podcast. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>it is. The authority on all things R &amp; B.

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<v Speaker 3>All.

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<v Speaker 1>All. All of it. Every aspect. Aspect. Oh! See, because

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<v Speaker 1>the most important person in the R &amp; B world

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<v Speaker 1>is the lady. Yeah, yeah. You understand what I'm saying?

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<v Speaker 1>I see where you're going. You're looking for the love

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<v Speaker 1>of the lady. Come on, lady. The admiration of the lady. See,

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<v Speaker 1>it starts off. Where it starts? In this visual world

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<v Speaker 1>of vixens. And then it transforms. It makes you want

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<v Speaker 1>to be something. Into not just a body, but a mind.

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<v Speaker 1>Come on, come on with it. And now the intellectuality

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<v Speaker 1>of a thing is born. Come on. And now when

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<v Speaker 1>you combine the vixen with the intellectual, you get hot

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<v Speaker 1>and bomb. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm the pop. Come on,

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<v Speaker 1>knock yourself out, nigga. Knock yourself out. Our good friend,

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<v Speaker 1>Melissa Farley. Knock yourself out.

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<v Speaker 2>I think that might be the best intro I've ever

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<v Speaker 2>had on a podcast ever in life.

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<v Speaker 1>Take it with you.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't think I can.

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<v Speaker 1>If a motherfucker don't play that before you come on stage,

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<v Speaker 1>they doing the wrong thing. They don't walk out.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Amen.

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<v Speaker 2>That's motherfucking right.

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<v Speaker 1>Melissa Ford.

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<v Speaker 3>Hi.

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<v Speaker 1>Hello. Hi, hi, guys. Welcome. Toronto Zone.

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<v Speaker 2>Come on.

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<v Speaker 1>You're going to go there all the way. Right now. Listen, listen.

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<v Speaker 1>We didn't even know. I didn't know it was a

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<v Speaker 1>place until I heard of Melissa Ford. I didn't know

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<v Speaker 1>it was a place until her. I ain't going to

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<v Speaker 1>hold you. No, man. Just you.

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<v Speaker 2>Isn't it a magical place, though?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I didn't know that things existed. Yeah. Things.

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<v Speaker 3>Things.

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<v Speaker 1>Things existed. In such a way. Yes, yes, yes. Until

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<v Speaker 1>a visual of, what the fuck is that?

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<v Speaker 2>It's Toronto.

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<v Speaker 1>This is literally what a nigga told me. Nigga, it's Toronto. Uh-huh. Yeah?

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<v Speaker 2>Toronto. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 4>You said one time, you were like, I mean, it's

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<v Speaker 4>all hallelujah.

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<v Speaker 2>And you said this 10 years ago. I've never forgotten.

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<v Speaker 2>And I was like, oh.

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<v Speaker 1>Because the Lord was working in Toronto, little did we know. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>He started a long, you know, started a while ago. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Some guys that were up there that brought it to

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<v Speaker 1>our world. We're going to get into that. We're going

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<v Speaker 1>to get into it. We're going to start at the beginning.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay.

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<v Speaker 1>Because people need to understand the origins of young male. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>How does this start? How is this born? Take me

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<v Speaker 1>back to little Melissa Ford. and what you were doing.

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<v Speaker 1>what aspirations you had as a little girl, what you

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<v Speaker 1>were pretending to be, all of these things.

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<v Speaker 4>Holy shit, that's loaded as hell.

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<v Speaker 2>That is loaded as hell because there's so many lanes

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<v Speaker 2>that that kind of occupies because at some point there

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<v Speaker 2>is part of the conversation will revolve around the soundtrack

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<v Speaker 2>of my life during those formative years, core memories. And

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<v Speaker 2>right now I'm writing my book And the beginning of

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<v Speaker 2>my book, in order to make people kind of understand

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<v Speaker 2>me on a fundamental and foundational level, I have to

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<v Speaker 2>start with my parents. And the easiest way for me

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<v Speaker 2>to describe what it was like to grow up in

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<v Speaker 2>Toronto with my father who was Black and my mother

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<v Speaker 2>who was white, and I was first-generation Canadian. They were

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<v Speaker 2>both immigrants. I have to talk about the soundtracks that

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<v Speaker 2>played in both cars.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, and so I'll get to that in a second.

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<v Speaker 2>But Toronto is like there's so many biracial people in Toronto.

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<v Speaker 4>It's like its own population.

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<v Speaker 2>It's like its own almost race. You know what I'm saying?

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<v Speaker 2>To the point where I didn't really understand the concept

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<v Speaker 2>of racism until I moved to the U.S. because we

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<v Speaker 2>never really addressed race in Canada. And there's a reason

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<v Speaker 2>I'm saying that. Your ethnicity tells more of a story

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<v Speaker 2>than your race does. You know, I don't want to

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<v Speaker 2>serious this out, but it really is a thing that

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<v Speaker 2>I'm kind of like, you know, discovering my way of

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<v Speaker 2>articulating this kind of thing. I just came from traveling

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<v Speaker 2>through seven countries. I was in three European countries, colonizers.

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<v Speaker 2>And and then I went to Africa, the colonized countries.

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<v Speaker 2>And boy, was it an education I was not prepared

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<v Speaker 2>for and I'm still processing. And so race obviously comes

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<v Speaker 2>up a lot in that. So anyways, little Melissa, half black,

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<v Speaker 2>half white, living in Toronto, just thinking, just be a nerd.

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<v Speaker 2>I was a nerd.

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<v Speaker 4>I was a nerd. I was a nerd. I was

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<v Speaker 4>a real nerd.

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<v Speaker 2>I started reading when I was like two. And I

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<v Speaker 2>started reading novels when I was like six or seven.

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<v Speaker 2>I was like voracious. I devoured the written word. And

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<v Speaker 2>I would literally stay home from playing with friends because

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<v Speaker 2>I wanted to read and read and read. So at

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<v Speaker 2>some point I felt like I was going to become

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<v Speaker 2>like a lawyer. And then I thought that I was

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<v Speaker 2>going to work for the FBI in Quantico, Virginia, studying

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<v Speaker 2>serial killers.

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<v Speaker 1>You ain't read more books than Cat Williams.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't think anybody on the face of this earth has.

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<v Speaker 1>You good.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't think anybody on the face of this earth

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<v Speaker 2>has read more books than Kelly.

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<v Speaker 1>If you start reading at two, he definitely started at

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<v Speaker 1>18 months. Yeah, he's going to trump that.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Proceed.

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<v Speaker 2>I was like, that is impressive. What is it, 2,000

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<v Speaker 2>books a year or something like that?

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<v Speaker 1>Come on, come on.

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<v Speaker 4>I don't... Not me.

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<v Speaker 2>But yeah, so that was what it was like growing

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<v Speaker 2>up in Toronto. I didn't really... I was kind of

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<v Speaker 2>like oblivious until I'd moved to the U.S. about, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>race and race relations and stuff like that. So I

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<v Speaker 2>had black father, white mother. So in the car with

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<v Speaker 2>my dad and his big body blue, baby blue Pontiac

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<v Speaker 2>with the eight track player. Pinky rings on both babies.

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<v Speaker 2>And the Mr. T chains with the medallions and the

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<v Speaker 2>little taco meat. That was my father. Is he originally Caribbean?

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<v Speaker 4>Yes, he's from Barbados.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay. Everything you just painted was Buju Banta.

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<v Speaker 2>You know what I mean? Yeah, he was Bajan. And

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<v Speaker 2>in the car with my dad, it was everything from

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<v Speaker 2>Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Parliament, James Ingram, Al Jarreau, Barry White,

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<v Speaker 2>Lou Rawls. You'll never find. He was super. That was

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<v Speaker 2>the car rides with my dad. God, I could just

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<v Speaker 2>smell the upholstery, man. It was like a little bit

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<v Speaker 2>of mold and- I don't know, like peanuts. And then

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<v Speaker 2>car rides with my mom. Kind of like the, there

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<v Speaker 2>was always like a fifth of something in the back,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, not like he was driving and drinking. It

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<v Speaker 2>was going home with him. But anyway, so then in

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<v Speaker 2>the car with my mom was everything from Pat Benatar, Hart,

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<v Speaker 2>Fleetwood Mac, Eurythmics, Corey Hart, Michael McDonald, Doobie Brothers.

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<v Speaker 4>That was the car ride.

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<v Speaker 1>You had the black car and the white car.

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<v Speaker 2>Bob Seger. But is it really, though? Bob Seger, the police.

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<v Speaker 2>So it was this crazy infusion of.

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<v Speaker 1>just you're just getting it all and not really conscious

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<v Speaker 1>of it, but you were now.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Every piece. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 4>It was, it was awesome.

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<v Speaker 2>Like it really was like the early soundtrack of like

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<v Speaker 2>my entire life. And it's, it's core memory. I, and

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<v Speaker 2>every time I listened to, you know, whatever, Christopher Cross sailing,

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<v Speaker 2>anything yacht music.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay. Yacht rock. I call it, you know, white niggas. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>It's pretty much what it is. Yeah. Let's be real. Yeah. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>It's, it's extremely nostalgic. I can, I literally can feel

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<v Speaker 2>like the wind from like the, you know, the open

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<v Speaker 2>window riding shotgun with my mom, just driving through the

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<v Speaker 2>country and stuff like that. Like really incredible childhood memories of,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, of, of peace.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>It was awesome.

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<v Speaker 1>That was awesome. And, and, and it's just books. It's

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<v Speaker 1>just smart.

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<v Speaker 2>That's all it is.

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<v Speaker 1>It is.

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<v Speaker 4>That's all it is.

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<v Speaker 2>It's like devouring the, the written word.

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<v Speaker 1>And at no point are you thinking I'm going to

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<v Speaker 1>make a dent in the entertainment industry.

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<v Speaker 2>Not even a little bit.

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<v Speaker 1>So no modeling as a kid either.

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<v Speaker 2>I wasn't that cute. I mean, I mean, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, when you say, oh my God, my kid's

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<v Speaker 2>the cutest kid. Okay. Yeah, sure. I definitely went through

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<v Speaker 2>an ugly phase, you know, kind of chunky, with an afro,

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<v Speaker 2>got mistaken for a boy.

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<v Speaker 1>I would love to see these photos.

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<v Speaker 2>I burned all of them. I fucking burned all of them.

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<v Speaker 2>All the evidence is gone, motherfuckers. It's gone, okay? You

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<v Speaker 2>only have, you gotta take my word for it. Even

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<v Speaker 2>though I'm sure that like my nieces and nephews, they're like, oh,

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<v Speaker 2>I'll dig that shit up for you. So if I, listen,

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<v Speaker 2>if I find a picture, I'll send it to you

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<v Speaker 2>so you can insert here That would be great.

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<v Speaker 1>I never I never would have thought that.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, you know, with this bone structure, like it

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<v Speaker 2>started off a little doughy. All the scaffolding you see

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<v Speaker 2>up here.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>No, it didn't start off that way. I was a

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<v Speaker 2>little doughy, little motherfucker. And yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>And when do you grow into this?

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<v Speaker 2>I would say the ugly dunkling phase was really short

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<v Speaker 2>because by the time I was like 11, 12 ish,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, I've been running around in the streets with

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<v Speaker 2>my friends doing hood rat shit and stuff like that.

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<v Speaker 2>And then suddenly all the just like just it looked

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<v Speaker 2>like somebody just started to carve me out. And that

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<v Speaker 2>happened before my brain caught up with it. So I

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<v Speaker 2>went from boys throwing spitballs at me to like following

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<v Speaker 2>me through the hallways of like, you know, my junior

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<v Speaker 2>high school. And that was wildly confusing and really, really scary.

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<v Speaker 2>So it took me a while for my brain to

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<v Speaker 2>catch up with what my body was. obviously saying to people,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, so that was interesting. And yeah. And then,

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<v Speaker 2>and then there was junior high and high school and

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<v Speaker 2>I became ridiculously boy crazy. Like everybody does. And that

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<v Speaker 2>be good. That begins another soundtrack of life. And that

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<v Speaker 2>right there is guy.

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<v Speaker 4>Um, Jodeci.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>I have such a funny Jodeci story. Um, Intro, After 7,

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<v Speaker 2>like I got the list over here, but like Mint Condition.

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<v Speaker 2>And where are.

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<v Speaker 1>You guys getting the music from in Toronto at that time?

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<v Speaker 2>So what's crazy is we didn't get BET until like

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<v Speaker 2>1996 or 97. Yeah, we didn't get BET. We definitely

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<v Speaker 2>didn't have Ralph McDaniels or, you know, Music Box.

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<v Speaker 4>We didn't have any of that.

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<v Speaker 2>We didn't get MTV, nothing. So we had much music,

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<v Speaker 2>but there really was like a filter as to what

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<v Speaker 2>music we received.

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<v Speaker 4>So I just.

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't really grow up on like hip hop and

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<v Speaker 2>rap music, which is the irony of who I actually

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<v Speaker 2>end up becoming, you know? So, I mean, like what

0:12:10.230 --> 0:12:14.510
<v Speaker 2>we had like Rob bass and DJ easy. It takes two,

0:12:15.170 --> 0:12:16.709
<v Speaker 2>you know, this is what I remember like in being

0:12:16.809 --> 0:12:18.910
<v Speaker 2>in junior high, but it wasn't.

0:12:18.710 --> 0:12:21.530
<v Speaker 1>The radio planet though. Or how were you guys getting

0:12:21.550 --> 0:12:23.390
<v Speaker 1>it though? It was just, was it kind of word

0:12:23.460 --> 0:12:24.420
<v Speaker 1>of mouth up there?

0:12:24.460 --> 0:12:26.239
<v Speaker 2>It was, yeah, it was more word of mouth and

0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.819
<v Speaker 2>just really honestly like who your click was, like who

0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:29.880
<v Speaker 2>did you hang out with?

0:12:29.980 --> 0:12:32.559
<v Speaker 1>Right. And somebody discovered it and then brought it to.

0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:33.260
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:12:33.500 --> 0:12:33.660
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:12:33.700 --> 0:12:36.160
<v Speaker 2>And so I lived in Toronto proper, too. So like

0:12:36.220 --> 0:12:39.310
<v Speaker 2>this actual city of Toronto, I'm not from Scarborough. I'm

0:12:39.350 --> 0:12:43.430
<v Speaker 2>not from Brampton or Mississauga or Rexdale or Jane and Finch.

0:12:43.470 --> 0:12:48.240
<v Speaker 2>Like I'm from Toronto proper. So, you know, like the

0:12:48.270 --> 0:12:53.010
<v Speaker 2>cute guys there. were in the outskirts. They were in Scarborough.

0:12:53.050 --> 0:12:57.050
<v Speaker 2>They were in Brampton and Mississauga. And what's really funny

0:12:57.330 --> 0:13:00.650
<v Speaker 2>is Director X, who was called Little X in the beginning,

0:13:01.450 --> 0:13:05.430
<v Speaker 2>my first real boyfriend, his whole, like he had like

0:13:05.510 --> 0:13:09.559
<v Speaker 2>four brothers and their whole crew, they were like besties

0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.340
<v Speaker 2>with Little X. But we don't meet for another five years.

0:13:12.380 --> 0:13:14.360
<v Speaker 2>We don't meet until like I'm like 20 years old

0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:15.240
<v Speaker 2>or something like that.

0:13:15.260 --> 0:13:15.340
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:13:15.780 --> 0:13:19.380
<v Speaker 2>So hanging out with that group, my ex-boyfriend, his name

0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:22.569
<v Speaker 2>was Sean, and his brothers, that was what introduced me

0:13:22.990 --> 0:13:26.290
<v Speaker 2>to like, they reminisce over you. Like, I remember where

0:13:26.340 --> 0:13:28.640
<v Speaker 2>I was and the first time I heard it, like

0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:29.360
<v Speaker 2>the horns, I was.

0:13:29.300 --> 0:13:30.740
<v Speaker 1>Like, what is this sorcery?

0:13:31.500 --> 0:13:34.800
<v Speaker 2>You know and then i became like super hooked on

0:13:34.860 --> 0:13:37.770
<v Speaker 2>like boot camp click like smith and wesson sound boy

0:13:37.870 --> 0:13:41.390
<v Speaker 2>is like one of my all-time favorite hip-hop songs will

0:13:41.429 --> 0:13:42.890
<v Speaker 2>be for the rest of my life i'll be in

0:13:42.929 --> 0:13:46.950
<v Speaker 2>the nursing home like blasting that shit um le fleur

0:13:47.030 --> 0:13:51.370
<v Speaker 2>le fla ishkoshka like that's my shit too i really

0:13:51.429 --> 0:13:54.209
<v Speaker 2>i was yeah that was that was it um yeah

0:13:54.250 --> 0:13:56.929
<v Speaker 2>that that was that was my but i mean still

0:13:57.110 --> 0:14:00.400
<v Speaker 2>like R &amp; B was more my thing. Like R &amp;

0:14:00.140 --> 0:14:03.420
<v Speaker 2>B was really more my thing. Like I remember the

0:14:03.470 --> 0:14:06.510
<v Speaker 2>first time that I heard Stay by Jodeci.

0:14:06.530 --> 0:14:07.150
<v Speaker 1>Me too.

0:14:07.330 --> 0:14:08.050
<v Speaker 2>Oh my gosh.

0:14:08.490 --> 0:14:09.469
<v Speaker 4>I want to hear your story.

0:14:09.490 --> 0:14:12.020
<v Speaker 1>I was in church.

0:14:12.990 --> 0:14:14.530
<v Speaker 4>I was definitely not in church. I was in the

0:14:14.630 --> 0:14:15.690
<v Speaker 4>backseat of a car.

0:14:16.190 --> 0:14:19.840
<v Speaker 1>Well, I'd rather hear your story.

0:14:19.860 --> 0:14:24.240
<v Speaker 2>I was in the backseat of the car preparing to

0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:25.240
<v Speaker 2>lose my virginity.

0:14:25.260 --> 0:14:32.250
<v Speaker 1>To stay. Yeah. Not knowing he probably was not going

0:14:32.270 --> 0:14:32.590
<v Speaker 1>to stay.

0:14:32.790 --> 0:14:37.270
<v Speaker 2>I mean, here's the thing is, I don't know if

0:14:37.370 --> 0:14:39.150
<v Speaker 2>I really was thinking that far ahead.

0:14:39.190 --> 0:14:41.330
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, no, it was just the moment. It was just

0:14:41.350 --> 0:14:42.970
<v Speaker 1>the soundtrack. It was the soundtrack. It was the moment.

0:14:43.050 --> 0:14:45.590
<v Speaker 2>I mean, picture this. Sicily, 1912. Okay, no, it's Buffalo.

0:14:47.290 --> 0:14:49.550
<v Speaker 2>in the middle of fucking winter, okay? And if you

0:14:49.580 --> 0:14:51.540
<v Speaker 2>know anything about Buffalo in the winter, they get a

0:14:51.580 --> 0:14:53.100
<v Speaker 2>shit ton of snow.

0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:53.840
<v Speaker 1>Terrible.

0:14:53.860 --> 0:14:57.880
<v Speaker 2>It just blows over Toronto and just dumps into Buffalo, okay?

0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:01.540
<v Speaker 2>So there's snow drifts as high as, like, your fucking, like, chest,

0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:05.040
<v Speaker 2>right up to here. So it's brick outside. He is

0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.480
<v Speaker 2>snow drift. So we are fogging up the windows, okay?

0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:10.540
<v Speaker 2>And this guy is gorgeous.

0:15:10.580 --> 0:15:12.950
<v Speaker 4>His name is Dana. My sister hooked me up with him.

0:15:13.420 --> 0:15:13.900
<v Speaker 3>And, um.

0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:22.120
<v Speaker 2>I don't... And he starts playing Jodeci, Stay. And I'm like, oh.

0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:23.320
<v Speaker 1>So here we are.

0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:26.780
<v Speaker 2>It was the most magical shit I'd ever heard in

0:15:27.380 --> 0:15:31.480
<v Speaker 2>my life. Like the intro to Stay. I mean, you

0:15:31.500 --> 0:15:33.740
<v Speaker 2>guys got to do an episode on like songs with

0:15:33.780 --> 0:15:37.620
<v Speaker 2>the greatest fucking intros. And there's something about that intro

0:15:37.700 --> 0:15:38.400
<v Speaker 2>to Stay.

0:15:38.420 --> 0:15:41.990
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And a hundred percent. Yeah. Okay.

0:15:42.030 --> 0:15:44.030
<v Speaker 2>So, but I'll just ruin it for you. I did

0:15:44.090 --> 0:15:45.710
<v Speaker 2>not lose my virginity that night.

0:15:46.630 --> 0:15:46.890
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:15:47.190 --> 0:15:48.770
<v Speaker 4>No, I saw what he was working with. I was like,

0:15:48.830 --> 0:15:50.170
<v Speaker 4>I'm not trying to die. Fuck that.

0:15:50.310 --> 0:15:50.470
<v Speaker 1>Nope.

0:15:50.790 --> 0:15:51.870
<v Speaker 4>That is not a starter dick.

0:15:52.950 --> 0:15:53.110
<v Speaker 1>Nope.

0:15:53.410 --> 0:15:53.820
<v Speaker 4>It's not.

0:15:54.550 --> 0:15:54.840
<v Speaker 1>No.

0:15:55.410 --> 0:15:56.120
<v Speaker 4>So it took him.

0:15:56.340 --> 0:15:58.740
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I held onto it for a little bit longer.

0:16:03.570 --> 0:16:07.410
<v Speaker 2>Y'all girls, if you know, you know. Amen. If you know,

0:16:07.450 --> 0:16:10.390
<v Speaker 2>you know. Yeah, size queens, they didn't start off that way.

0:16:10.410 --> 0:16:11.730
<v Speaker 1>That is great.

0:16:11.790 --> 0:16:12.210
<v Speaker 4>They should not.

0:16:12.230 --> 0:16:13.070
<v Speaker 2>You'd work up to that.

0:16:13.090 --> 0:16:15.210
<v Speaker 1>I gotta work up to that.

0:16:15.310 --> 0:16:18.260
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but I went back to high school and I

0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:20.580
<v Speaker 2>was like, y'all, I gotta tell you about this new

0:16:20.620 --> 0:16:21.660
<v Speaker 2>group called Joe Decky.

0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:26.160
<v Speaker 1>Oh, my God.

0:16:26.540 --> 0:16:29.000
<v Speaker 2>I called Joe Decky for at least.

0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:31.120
<v Speaker 1>He was trying to hit you with Joe Decky.

0:16:31.260 --> 0:16:32.970
<v Speaker 3>We're actually so funny.

0:16:35.830 --> 0:16:38.310
<v Speaker 2>Somebody else had heard it, and they were like, you

0:16:38.350 --> 0:16:40.770
<v Speaker 2>mean Jodeci? I said, that's what I said. That's what

0:16:40.910 --> 0:16:45.720
<v Speaker 2>I said. I said Jodeci, okay? Yeah, fucking Joe Decky.

0:16:45.780 --> 0:16:49.000
<v Speaker 1>Joe the guy. Joe the guy. Yeah.

0:16:51.620 --> 0:16:53.220
<v Speaker 2>Good times, though. Good times.

0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:58.720
<v Speaker 4>But boy, and that is like, oh, just impact.

0:16:58.980 --> 0:17:00.280
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Impact.

0:17:00.300 --> 0:17:02.859
<v Speaker 2>Like hit you in the face with a sledgehammer kind

0:17:02.900 --> 0:17:05.369
<v Speaker 2>of impact. You know what I'm saying? And by the way,

0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:07.760
<v Speaker 2>does anybody sit down and say, fuck y'all for making

0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:10.830
<v Speaker 2>me make this choice of top five? R &amp; B songs,

0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:11.429
<v Speaker 2>top five R.

0:17:11.369 --> 0:17:13.870
<v Speaker 1>&amp; B artists. When we get there, you can say it. Okay.

0:17:13.930 --> 0:17:14.250
<v Speaker 2>All right.

0:17:15.190 --> 0:17:18.790
<v Speaker 1>Okay. You're early. I'm early. I'm early. She came with

0:17:18.810 --> 0:17:36.810
<v Speaker 1>the heat. Okay. Get me to the discovery of Melissa Ford.

0:17:38.530 --> 0:17:41.250
<v Speaker 2>All right. Well, Hmm.

0:17:42.710 --> 0:17:42.930
<v Speaker 1>So.

0:17:44.630 --> 0:17:46.630
<v Speaker 2>I guess I would say that, like, my beauty was

0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.540
<v Speaker 2>really kind of like a second thought, you know, like

0:17:49.580 --> 0:17:52.480
<v Speaker 2>I was known for being like the brain of where

0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:54.960
<v Speaker 2>of all my of my crew, you know, like wherever

0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:59.120
<v Speaker 2>I was. If you don't understand something, fucking go ask Melissa. Like,

0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.590
<v Speaker 2>I remember when it was Google. I was Google at

0:18:01.609 --> 0:18:01.880
<v Speaker 2>the time.

0:18:01.940 --> 0:18:02.120
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:04.409
<v Speaker 2>I remember my friends watched Six Degrees of Separation. They

0:18:04.430 --> 0:18:06.410
<v Speaker 2>were like, what the fuck did we just watch? Call Melissa.

0:18:06.590 --> 0:18:08.610
<v Speaker 2>She'll be able to dissect this because I'm also like

0:18:08.869 --> 0:18:11.810
<v Speaker 2>this little bit of a cinephile. A what?

0:18:11.850 --> 0:18:12.369
<v Speaker 1>You're a what?

0:18:12.450 --> 0:18:12.970
<v Speaker 2>Cinephile.

0:18:12.990 --> 0:18:13.630
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

0:18:13.690 --> 0:18:17.210
<v Speaker 2>I basically like watching movies and like dissecting that stuff.

0:18:17.630 --> 0:18:20.970
<v Speaker 2>So I was in university and I was working three

0:18:21.010 --> 0:18:24.889
<v Speaker 2>jobs to pay my way through university and I And

0:18:24.930 --> 0:18:28.290
<v Speaker 2>then Lil X came to town and he wanted to

0:18:29.290 --> 0:18:32.520
<v Speaker 2>find the perfect girl for this video.

0:18:34.380 --> 0:18:36.840
<v Speaker 4>And the video was the Canadian rap all-stars.

0:18:37.140 --> 0:18:45.510
<v Speaker 2>And it was the Rascals, Shocklair, Socrates, Cardinal Official. And

0:18:45.590 --> 0:18:47.370
<v Speaker 2>he wanted to find the girl. He had a, I guess,

0:18:47.410 --> 0:18:50.030
<v Speaker 2>basic instinct to just kind of come out maybe like

0:18:50.050 --> 0:18:52.270
<v Speaker 2>within the last year or two. And he was just

0:18:52.430 --> 0:18:56.510
<v Speaker 2>obsessed with Sharon Stone's character, you know, the whole that.

0:18:56.630 --> 0:18:58.659
<v Speaker 2>He had it in his mind that the girl was

0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:01.840
<v Speaker 2>going to do that move. And and so he just,

0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:03.500
<v Speaker 2>you know, his friends were showing him the cream of

0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:04.220
<v Speaker 2>the crop, I guess.

0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:06.200
<v Speaker 4>And he was like, no, no, no.

0:19:06.380 --> 0:19:09.000
<v Speaker 2>And they were like, what the fuck are you looking for?

0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:10.679
<v Speaker 2>And he was like, I'll know her when I see her.

0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:14.460
<v Speaker 2>Such a Scorpio thing to say. And they were like,

0:19:14.540 --> 0:19:16.439
<v Speaker 2>two of them were like, well, what about Melissa? And

0:19:16.460 --> 0:19:19.060
<v Speaker 2>I was like, yeah, Melissa. And he was like, who

0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:21.300
<v Speaker 2>is this Melissa? And they showed him a picture and

0:19:21.340 --> 0:19:22.580
<v Speaker 2>he was like, call her right now.

0:19:23.330 --> 0:19:26.270
<v Speaker 4>And they that was it. They said, little X wants

0:19:26.310 --> 0:19:28.129
<v Speaker 4>to meet you. I said, the video director.

0:19:28.150 --> 0:19:29.490
<v Speaker 2>And they were like, yeah. And I was like, for what?

0:19:30.030 --> 0:19:31.909
<v Speaker 2>They were like, he wants to put you in a video.

0:19:31.930 --> 0:19:34.889
<v Speaker 2>And I was like, for what? Like, I didn't get it.

0:19:34.910 --> 0:19:37.430
<v Speaker 1>Not realizing he had met you years ago.

0:19:37.530 --> 0:19:40.710
<v Speaker 2>No, we hadn't. We had the same connection points.

0:19:40.890 --> 0:19:41.330
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:19:41.350 --> 0:19:43.750
<v Speaker 2>Through this same crew, but we had never met. So

0:19:43.770 --> 0:19:45.930
<v Speaker 2>this was the first time we're meeting like five years

0:19:46.030 --> 0:19:46.590
<v Speaker 2>after the fact.

0:19:46.630 --> 0:19:46.830
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

0:19:47.190 --> 0:19:48.859
<v Speaker 4>And so we met and.

0:19:49.619 --> 0:19:55.179
<v Speaker 2>um we it we're both scorpios and really cerebral and

0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:57.399
<v Speaker 2>i guess we just spoke each other's languages and he

0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:59.780
<v Speaker 2>was just like she's the girl he wasn't just looking

0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:02.740
<v Speaker 2>for i guess beauty he was looking for somebody that

0:20:02.780 --> 0:20:08.430
<v Speaker 2>just whose aura translate like translated through the camera lens,

0:20:08.490 --> 0:20:11.650
<v Speaker 2>you know, and who just didn't, who just knew like

0:20:11.690 --> 0:20:16.050
<v Speaker 2>how to look. And I guess I knew how to look.

0:20:16.130 --> 0:20:17.070
<v Speaker 1>That's absolutely a thing.

0:20:17.210 --> 0:20:17.710
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Yeah.

0:20:17.750 --> 0:20:20.300
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely. I think cause you see so many, so many

0:20:20.470 --> 0:20:23.120
<v Speaker 1>beautiful women in the world, but you see a lot

0:20:23.140 --> 0:20:27.000
<v Speaker 1>of pretty beautiful women that have been in videos and

0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:30.650
<v Speaker 1>sometimes you'll see it and be like, okay, she's cute. Yeah.

0:20:30.770 --> 0:20:32.750
<v Speaker 1>And then it just, the moment passes. Yeah.

0:20:32.910 --> 0:20:37.000
<v Speaker 2>And sometimes it's not even about like, you know, classic beauty.

0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:41.880
<v Speaker 2>You know, like somebody who really is just like, her

0:20:42.020 --> 0:20:46.660
<v Speaker 2>aura is just so sensual. You just want to bite her.

0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:49.060
<v Speaker 2>Like Teresa Randall. Remember?

0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:50.140
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely. Yeah.

0:20:50.260 --> 0:20:54.030
<v Speaker 2>Teresa Randall had that... She just had that je ne

0:20:54.050 --> 0:20:56.210
<v Speaker 2>sais quoi. You know what I mean? Like she was

0:20:56.250 --> 0:21:00.570
<v Speaker 2>a beautiful woman, but she wasn't like. It was beyond that. Yeah,

0:21:00.670 --> 0:21:01.310
<v Speaker 2>it was beyond that.

0:21:01.350 --> 0:21:02.910
<v Speaker 1>It is beyond that. It is.

0:21:03.030 --> 0:21:06.620
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, exactly. So she's like a perfect example. So

0:21:06.660 --> 0:21:09.820
<v Speaker 2>it's just like that, that aura, that transcendence kind of thing.

0:21:10.540 --> 0:21:13.400
<v Speaker 1>Did you know you had that at that time?

0:21:13.990 --> 0:21:16.110
<v Speaker 4>I think it's just a Scorpio thing.

0:21:16.390 --> 0:21:19.210
<v Speaker 1>Your ass ain't no.

0:21:19.310 --> 0:21:21.389
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. I didn't. I'll be honest with you.

0:21:21.580 --> 0:21:23.700
<v Speaker 2>I don't think that I knew. I think that X

0:21:24.060 --> 0:21:29.480
<v Speaker 2>saw it in me. And that just is like X's artistry.

0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:33.720
<v Speaker 2>That's his gift is he knows how to mold things

0:21:33.820 --> 0:21:37.340
<v Speaker 2>and people, you know, before he was director X and

0:21:37.550 --> 0:21:41.230
<v Speaker 2>little X. he was doing storyboarding for big dog films,

0:21:41.270 --> 0:21:45.190
<v Speaker 2>which was hype Williams company. So all of like, you'd see,

0:21:45.369 --> 0:21:47.090
<v Speaker 2>you know, if hype came up with a, you know,

0:21:47.130 --> 0:21:49.709
<v Speaker 2>a treatment, you'd see X doing the storyboarding, just like

0:21:49.890 --> 0:21:54.270
<v Speaker 2>all of this, like incredible drawing. And he's just, he's fascinating.

0:21:54.369 --> 0:21:55.210
<v Speaker 4>Like he's fascinated.

0:21:55.230 --> 0:21:58.220
<v Speaker 2>The way his mind works is just, he's in a

0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:00.919
<v Speaker 2>class all by himself. So that was, that was how

0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:03.740
<v Speaker 2>it happened. I became like his muse. He loved working

0:22:03.780 --> 0:22:04.840
<v Speaker 2>with me. He was like, I'm going to be a

0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:06.260
<v Speaker 2>big deal. And I'm going to bring you to the

0:22:06.300 --> 0:22:08.530
<v Speaker 2>States when I, you know, kind of really make it.

0:22:08.920 --> 0:22:10.620
<v Speaker 4>And I said, all right, buddy.

0:22:11.100 --> 0:22:11.439
<v Speaker 3>Sure.

0:22:11.900 --> 0:22:14.260
<v Speaker 2>No fucking problem. This is not going to rest, you know,

0:22:14.460 --> 0:22:15.940
<v Speaker 2>hang my hat on that shit. I got to go

0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:16.510
<v Speaker 2>back to school.

0:22:16.660 --> 0:22:17.140
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:20.330
<v Speaker 2>Exactly. And then he was right. Like a year later,

0:22:20.430 --> 0:22:22.210
<v Speaker 2>he called me. He was like, it's time. And I

0:22:22.230 --> 0:22:25.010
<v Speaker 2>was like, oh, okay. So I flew to New York

0:22:25.090 --> 0:22:28.869
<v Speaker 2>and I did, uh, it was called, uh, Tommy's theme

0:22:29.230 --> 0:22:33.010
<v Speaker 2>on the belly soundtrack locks and made men. And, um,

0:22:33.350 --> 0:22:35.489
<v Speaker 2>I didn't know who the fuck anybody was. Like, I

0:22:35.770 --> 0:22:39.110
<v Speaker 2>had no clue who these people were whatsoever. Like, none.

0:22:39.670 --> 0:22:40.010
<v Speaker 1>Zero.

0:22:40.450 --> 0:22:42.550
<v Speaker 2>I'm just showing up because sex wants me to be here.

0:22:43.930 --> 0:22:46.869
<v Speaker 2>And then from that, I went home. And three days later,

0:22:46.890 --> 0:22:50.650
<v Speaker 2>I get a call from Hype Williams' casting director, Amber Jarrett.

0:22:51.290 --> 0:22:51.810
<v Speaker 4>Rest in peace.

0:22:52.230 --> 0:22:55.450
<v Speaker 2>She was like, hi, Melissa. My name's Amber Jarrett. Hype

0:22:55.470 --> 0:22:58.430
<v Speaker 2>Williams wants to book you for 112 Anywhere.

0:22:58.970 --> 0:23:00.590
<v Speaker 4>And we'd like to fly you to Miami.

0:23:00.630 --> 0:23:02.330
<v Speaker 2>And I was like, oh, my God.

0:23:02.350 --> 0:23:02.419
<v Speaker 1>Hi.

0:23:05.670 --> 0:23:08.669
<v Speaker 2>Never been to Miami. Like, this is so exciting. And

0:23:08.690 --> 0:23:12.070
<v Speaker 2>so then I think that that's really just how it started.

0:23:12.230 --> 0:23:13.389
<v Speaker 2>That's kind of how it started.

0:23:13.430 --> 0:23:16.869
<v Speaker 1>So with that side of the business, which a lot

0:23:16.890 --> 0:23:20.619
<v Speaker 1>of people haven't talked about, and it's an absolutely different

0:23:20.650 --> 0:23:25.780
<v Speaker 1>business now, obviously, but was there money in it early on?

0:23:26.340 --> 0:23:31.020
<v Speaker 2>Back then? Yeah, I think that there's this pocket in time.

0:23:31.040 --> 0:23:37.470
<v Speaker 2>I want to say that it started... The first video

0:23:37.530 --> 0:23:39.350
<v Speaker 2>I can think of that I know had a really

0:23:39.390 --> 0:23:43.350
<v Speaker 2>big budget was Hypnotize. And that was, what, 1997, right?

0:23:43.650 --> 0:23:46.540
<v Speaker 2>I feel like it came out after he... Yeah, I

0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:49.820
<v Speaker 2>feel like it came out after Biggie passed away. I think,

0:23:49.880 --> 0:23:52.840
<v Speaker 2>if I'm not mistaken. So that's one of the first

0:23:52.880 --> 0:23:56.600
<v Speaker 2>videos that I can think, just knowing what production looked like,

0:23:56.820 --> 0:23:58.520
<v Speaker 2>you know, a high-level production looked like, I was like.

0:23:58.980 --> 0:24:00.380
<v Speaker 4>that video was not cheap to make.

0:24:00.540 --> 0:24:00.920
<v Speaker 1>At all.

0:24:01.070 --> 0:24:05.070
<v Speaker 2>So, but then I can't really think of, and so then,

0:24:05.170 --> 0:24:07.909
<v Speaker 2>you know, just like Diddy videos with Mace and that

0:24:07.950 --> 0:24:11.630
<v Speaker 2>sort of thing, like those cost a pretty penny, but

0:24:11.730 --> 0:24:15.950
<v Speaker 2>then shit got the fuck out of hand. Like as

0:24:16.060 --> 0:24:19.780
<v Speaker 2>like in like late 99, 2000. I mean, these- No,

0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:20.600
<v Speaker 2>Hype and.

0:24:20.540 --> 0:24:22.879
<v Speaker 1>Lil X kind of ushered that in. For real. Like

0:24:23.020 --> 0:24:26.119
<v Speaker 1>the real big, big budget video. Yeah. That I remember.

0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:31.419
<v Speaker 1>I'll take that back. F. Gary Gray. with the California

0:24:31.460 --> 0:24:32.000
<v Speaker 1>Love video.

0:24:32.100 --> 0:24:32.939
<v Speaker 2>Oh, yeah, yeah.

0:24:32.980 --> 0:24:35.480
<v Speaker 1>That was the first one that I personally saw, just

0:24:35.619 --> 0:24:40.409
<v Speaker 1>my memory, of, like, the behind-the-scenes documentary on MTV, and

0:24:40.450 --> 0:24:43.290
<v Speaker 1>they were showing all this shit happening, and all the

0:24:43.310 --> 0:24:45.290
<v Speaker 1>costume designs and all that type of stuff, where you

0:24:45.310 --> 0:24:47.210
<v Speaker 1>were like, okay, now this is what they call a

0:24:47.330 --> 0:24:48.110
<v Speaker 1>big budget.

0:24:48.150 --> 0:24:50.949
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and let's be clear, like, this is, we're not

0:24:50.990 --> 0:24:53.449
<v Speaker 2>talking about Michael Jackson and Thriller and that sort of thing.

0:24:53.490 --> 0:24:54.730
<v Speaker 4>We're talking about hip-hop videos.

0:24:54.800 --> 0:24:55.500
<v Speaker 1>Hip-hop and R &amp; B.

0:24:55.580 --> 0:24:57.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, hip-hop and R &amp; B videos, so this is where,

0:24:58.000 --> 0:25:01.320
<v Speaker 2>this is new territory for, Where the labels are printing

0:25:01.380 --> 0:25:03.620
<v Speaker 2>fucking money. You know what I'm saying? Like they would

0:25:04.040 --> 0:25:07.820
<v Speaker 2>literally thong song. They did thong song remix. They'd already

0:25:07.880 --> 0:25:09.680
<v Speaker 2>did thong song. They were like, yeah, we don't like

0:25:09.700 --> 0:25:11.860
<v Speaker 2>it that much. Let's do it again. And then like,

0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:13.260
<v Speaker 2>let's do a bigger budget.

0:25:13.300 --> 0:25:13.780
<v Speaker 1>Another million.

0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:14.080
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:25:14.100 --> 0:25:15.240
<v Speaker 4>We'll spend another million.

0:25:15.260 --> 0:25:16.100
<v Speaker 1>So what were you getting?

0:25:16.900 --> 0:25:20.770
<v Speaker 4>So in the beginning, you know, I was getting it

0:25:20.810 --> 0:25:21.710
<v Speaker 4>was like a few million.

0:25:22.390 --> 0:25:25.359
<v Speaker 2>They can make like $ 1, 000 or something like that.

0:25:25.740 --> 0:25:27.000
<v Speaker 4>Not that big of a deal.

0:25:27.480 --> 0:25:32.000
<v Speaker 2>But then when I kept saying no to videos.

0:25:32.020 --> 0:25:33.260
<v Speaker 1>The power of no.

0:25:33.859 --> 0:25:37.899
<v Speaker 2>The power of no. But not intentionally. Not intentionally. Really, honestly,

0:25:37.940 --> 0:25:41.919
<v Speaker 2>my priorities were just straight. I was in school. I

0:25:41.960 --> 0:25:46.030
<v Speaker 2>had three jobs. And so my bread and butter was

0:25:46.150 --> 0:25:49.390
<v Speaker 2>school and work. And I'm not just going to, you know,

0:25:49.730 --> 0:25:51.430
<v Speaker 2>fuck it off just to go do a video.

0:25:51.520 --> 0:25:52.880
<v Speaker 4>I like, you know, I'm sorry.

0:25:52.900 --> 0:25:55.440
<v Speaker 2>So like Thug Life is Mine, Mobb Deep and Nas

0:25:55.780 --> 0:25:58.360
<v Speaker 2>was shot in like Tahiti. And I was like, yeah, no,

0:25:58.380 --> 0:26:00.250
<v Speaker 2>can't do it. It got to the point where Amber

0:26:00.270 --> 0:26:05.790
<v Speaker 2>Jarrett was like, Hi, Melissa. I know you're going to

0:26:05.810 --> 0:26:10.090
<v Speaker 2>say no, but hype's making me call you anyways. He's

0:26:10.109 --> 0:26:15.860
<v Speaker 2>shooting a video by Jay-Z. It's called Big Pimpin'..

0:26:14.440 --> 0:26:16.240
<v Speaker 4>Shooting and blah, blah, blah.

0:26:16.260 --> 0:26:17.260
<v Speaker 2>So let me know.

0:26:17.280 --> 0:26:17.350
<v Speaker 1>Bye.

0:26:19.600 --> 0:26:23.570
<v Speaker 2>Called her up and said, bitch, I can do that one.

0:26:23.630 --> 0:26:24.770
<v Speaker 1>That happens to.

0:26:24.710 --> 0:26:29.149
<v Speaker 2>Me during spring break. I can do that one. That

0:26:29.170 --> 0:26:32.840
<v Speaker 2>was shot in Trinidad. Well, two parts of it. So

0:26:32.859 --> 0:26:37.300
<v Speaker 2>there's the part where me and my crew are mostly

0:26:37.359 --> 0:26:40.459
<v Speaker 2>Canadian girls. And we're in Trinidad. And then the second

0:26:40.520 --> 0:26:43.160
<v Speaker 2>part with like Pimp C and whatnot, that's in Miami.

0:26:43.580 --> 0:26:44.720
<v Speaker 4>So I wasn't there for that part.

0:26:44.990 --> 0:26:45.510
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Yeah.

0:26:45.630 --> 0:26:47.350
<v Speaker 2>We were in, we were in Trinidad in the middle

0:26:47.369 --> 0:26:50.510
<v Speaker 2>of carnival. That was fucking magical.

0:26:50.530 --> 0:26:52.250
<v Speaker 1>I remember watching that like, that shit is incredible.

0:26:52.530 --> 0:26:53.110
<v Speaker 2>It really was.

0:26:53.150 --> 0:26:55.010
<v Speaker 1>I want to rap, man. Yeah.

0:26:55.730 --> 0:26:56.490
<v Speaker 2>It really, it really.

0:26:56.510 --> 0:27:00.470
<v Speaker 1>I want to rap? Yeah. Let's try it. I'm about

0:27:00.490 --> 0:27:02.750
<v Speaker 1>to fucking try it. Let's try it.

0:27:04.970 --> 0:27:06.710
<v Speaker 4>It was, it was, it was a lot of fun.

0:27:06.730 --> 0:27:08.609
<v Speaker 4>It was a lot of fun. It was a lot

0:27:08.630 --> 0:27:08.910
<v Speaker 4>of fun.

0:27:08.930 --> 0:27:12.450
<v Speaker 1>But that's what the, that, those moments, in my opinion,

0:27:12.859 --> 0:27:17.709
<v Speaker 1>it was, it bred aspirations. Like, you know, just from the,

0:27:17.790 --> 0:27:18.590
<v Speaker 1>especially from the hood.

0:27:18.670 --> 0:27:18.930
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:27:18.950 --> 0:27:21.560
<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean? It's like, you're seeing certain

0:27:21.640 --> 0:27:25.740
<v Speaker 1>things that just like, yeah? Mm-hmm. We can go there

0:27:25.760 --> 0:27:30.200
<v Speaker 1>with this? Mm-hmm. That, oh man, because you got to

0:27:30.220 --> 0:27:38.530
<v Speaker 1>think from an American standpoint, right? That was not seen

0:27:38.670 --> 0:27:39.530
<v Speaker 1>every day for us.

0:27:39.790 --> 0:27:40.070
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:27:40.410 --> 0:27:42.850
<v Speaker 1>And back then, let's be real, it was probably a

0:27:42.910 --> 0:27:44.810
<v Speaker 1>handful of niggas who was island hopping.

0:27:45.270 --> 0:27:46.730
<v Speaker 2>Yeah yeah that was what.

0:27:46.630 --> 0:27:48.650
<v Speaker 1>I was like everybody act like it's a you know

0:27:49.150 --> 0:27:52.550
<v Speaker 1>oh yeah i've been that wasn't the conversation back no

0:27:52.790 --> 0:27:55.909
<v Speaker 1>it just wasn't so being able to see that visually

0:27:56.030 --> 0:27:59.250
<v Speaker 1>and seeing that in hip-hop videos and seeing artists that

0:27:59.710 --> 0:28:03.050
<v Speaker 1>were from our neighborhoods i felt like our neighborhoods it

0:28:03.090 --> 0:28:05.369
<v Speaker 1>was like oh this is this is something to aspire

0:28:05.390 --> 0:28:06.990
<v Speaker 1>to like yeah we got it we gotta get that

0:28:07.030 --> 0:28:10.010
<v Speaker 1>i got that one that the one right there yeah

0:28:10.310 --> 0:28:13.479
<v Speaker 1>with with the little kind of chain kind of outfit,

0:28:13.760 --> 0:28:16.900
<v Speaker 1>bikini thing. Need her. So I need to do this

0:28:17.359 --> 0:28:19.020
<v Speaker 1>to get to that. To get over there. Yeah.

0:28:19.100 --> 0:28:21.570
<v Speaker 2>And MTV used to do this thing like, you know,

0:28:21.609 --> 0:28:25.810
<v Speaker 2>the big premiere, world premiere, you know. And what was

0:28:25.910 --> 0:28:28.709
<v Speaker 2>so interesting is I was shooting Cher Shayla Ghost.

0:28:29.530 --> 0:28:30.630
<v Speaker 1>Ah, another classic.

0:28:31.290 --> 0:28:32.490
<v Speaker 4>All I did was classics.

0:28:32.609 --> 0:28:33.130
<v Speaker 1>Oh, here we go.

0:28:33.650 --> 0:28:35.090
<v Speaker 4>For real.

0:28:35.150 --> 0:28:39.410
<v Speaker 1>Turn yourself up. Turn yourself up. She came in at

0:28:39.430 --> 0:28:41.850
<v Speaker 1>a high level. She don't have to be turnt up.

0:28:41.930 --> 0:28:44.860
<v Speaker 1>It's going to bust the speakers in a minute.

0:28:44.970 --> 0:28:48.300
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you know, I mean, I've done so much

0:28:48.340 --> 0:28:49.920
<v Speaker 2>humility for so many years.

0:28:49.960 --> 0:28:51.100
<v Speaker 1>Hilarious.

0:28:51.140 --> 0:28:53.020
<v Speaker 2>I'm about to hit 50. That shit's over.

0:28:53.080 --> 0:28:54.220
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah.

0:28:54.480 --> 0:28:55.820
<v Speaker 2>Happy belated.

0:28:55.840 --> 0:28:56.170
<v Speaker 1>Thank you.

0:28:56.240 --> 0:28:57.380
<v Speaker 2>Happy belated.

0:28:57.520 --> 0:28:58.000
<v Speaker 1>Oh, my God.

0:28:58.020 --> 0:29:00.160
<v Speaker 2>That shit was lit. it was so good by the

0:29:00.200 --> 0:29:03.860
<v Speaker 2>way sidebar it was so good seeing the reverse of

0:29:04.400 --> 0:29:08.070
<v Speaker 2>it being your 50th and jamie being there being like

0:29:08.330 --> 0:29:11.670
<v Speaker 2>you know like kind of yeah kind of corralling everybody

0:29:11.710 --> 0:29:13.330
<v Speaker 2>and whatnot it just was good to see it was

0:29:13.370 --> 0:29:18.170
<v Speaker 2>funny because we were at jamie's 50th that shit was lit.

0:29:17.950 --> 0:29:21.730
<v Speaker 1>Live move oh my live in la god live in

0:29:21.770 --> 0:29:24.150
<v Speaker 1>la it was in la it was so i was

0:29:24.170 --> 0:29:25.270
<v Speaker 1>like when i was making my part i was like

0:29:25.800 --> 0:29:30.130
<v Speaker 1>So we're not going to do that. Jamie has a

0:29:30.140 --> 0:29:32.290
<v Speaker 1>lot of money, so we're not going to do that. Right.

0:29:32.370 --> 0:29:34.770
<v Speaker 2>When he's on stage, like, rapping with Ice Cube, I

0:29:34.770 --> 0:29:35.910
<v Speaker 2>was like. That's crazy.

0:29:35.930 --> 0:29:38.570
<v Speaker 1>I was standing like this. I know. Are you kidding me?

0:29:38.590 --> 0:29:39.390
<v Speaker 2>It was Ice Cube.

0:29:40.600 --> 0:29:42.940
<v Speaker 1>Jamie Foxx, and a mariachi band. So I was thinking,

0:29:43.000 --> 0:29:45.220
<v Speaker 1>I was like, it was wild. Yeah, there was a.

0:29:45.020 --> 0:29:48.620
<v Speaker 2>Lot going on. Oh, my God. I laughed so hard

0:29:48.660 --> 0:29:50.900
<v Speaker 2>that night. That was just such a good night, and

0:29:50.960 --> 0:29:53.160
<v Speaker 2>I don't like to go outside. But anyways, I digress.

0:29:53.180 --> 0:29:53.870
<v Speaker 4>Where the fuck were we?

0:29:53.880 --> 0:29:54.200
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry.

0:29:54.220 --> 0:29:54.400
<v Speaker 3>We were.

0:29:55.460 --> 0:29:57.340
<v Speaker 1>The video where you get paid.

0:29:57.440 --> 0:29:58.000
<v Speaker 2>Oh, yeah, yeah.

0:29:58.080 --> 0:30:00.540
<v Speaker 1>You had shot a classic video. Oh, yeah.

0:30:00.720 --> 0:30:01.300
<v Speaker 4>Cher Shella Ghost.

0:30:01.320 --> 0:30:01.640
<v Speaker 2>Thank you.

0:30:01.740 --> 0:30:02.700
<v Speaker 4>Cher Shella Ghost.

0:30:03.110 --> 0:30:06.010
<v Speaker 2>So I'm doing Cher Shella Ghost and there's a lot

0:30:06.030 --> 0:30:08.210
<v Speaker 2>of the same girls because a lot of Canadian girls

0:30:08.230 --> 0:30:11.670
<v Speaker 2>because these are all X and Hype videos. So Hype was,

0:30:11.930 --> 0:30:15.650
<v Speaker 2>you know, director of Big Pimpin', but X was like

0:30:15.880 --> 0:30:20.050
<v Speaker 2>first like, you know, first AD or first director, second director,

0:30:20.070 --> 0:30:21.470
<v Speaker 2>whatever the title was, but he was right there.

0:30:21.750 --> 0:30:25.410
<v Speaker 1>He was the underground railroad to get all y'all to America.

0:30:25.450 --> 0:30:27.510
<v Speaker 1>For real.

0:30:27.630 --> 0:30:30.810
<v Speaker 2>For real. Yes, that was all X. All the Canadian

0:30:30.850 --> 0:30:33.570
<v Speaker 2>beauties that y'all fell in love with, that is X.

0:30:34.090 --> 0:30:36.810
<v Speaker 2>And so a lot of us were used in the

0:30:36.850 --> 0:30:38.830
<v Speaker 2>same videos all the time. So every time I would

0:30:38.870 --> 0:30:40.630
<v Speaker 2>come to a set, I'd be like, let me get

0:30:40.650 --> 0:30:42.520
<v Speaker 2>the call sheet. And I'd look at the call sheet.

0:30:42.540 --> 0:30:45.140
<v Speaker 2>I'm like, fuck yeah, my crew is here. You know,

0:30:45.180 --> 0:30:47.930
<v Speaker 2>and I knew it was going to be One, two things.

0:30:48.070 --> 0:30:49.410
<v Speaker 2>I knew it was going to be a really fucking

0:30:49.430 --> 0:30:51.450
<v Speaker 2>good time, and I also knew I was safe.

0:30:51.610 --> 0:30:53.150
<v Speaker 1>Come on, shout out some of them. Come on, shout

0:30:53.190 --> 0:30:54.930
<v Speaker 1>out some of them, because you're here. Some names.

0:30:55.190 --> 0:30:55.930
<v Speaker 2>Sarah Rossetti.

0:30:55.990 --> 0:30:57.150
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:30:57.210 --> 0:31:04.210
<v Speaker 2>Do you know Sarah Rossetti? Oh, that's my girl.

0:31:04.840 --> 0:31:05.520
<v Speaker 1>Sasha.

0:31:05.600 --> 0:31:06.170
<v Speaker 2>Naomi.

0:31:06.470 --> 0:31:07.340
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:31:07.700 --> 0:31:13.440
<v Speaker 2>Cindy. Sharice. Hazel. Not the one you're thinking of. She

0:31:13.460 --> 0:31:14.540
<v Speaker 2>looks like a panther.

0:31:14.560 --> 0:31:17.860
<v Speaker 1>How does she know what I'm thinking? I'm sad. OK.

0:31:19.760 --> 0:31:23.140
<v Speaker 1>Point to that nigga. I got a point to me.

0:31:23.360 --> 0:31:24.640
<v Speaker 1>I don't even know.

0:31:26.700 --> 0:31:32.230
<v Speaker 2>Tanisha Scott, Drea. These were these were the girls that

0:31:32.310 --> 0:31:34.510
<v Speaker 2>like when I saw them on the call sheet, not

0:31:34.550 --> 0:31:35.870
<v Speaker 2>only did I know we were going to have a

0:31:35.970 --> 0:31:38.970
<v Speaker 2>really good time, but we all felt safe with each other.

0:31:39.190 --> 0:31:41.990
<v Speaker 2>We knew that we would create a safe environment together.

0:31:42.130 --> 0:31:44.440
<v Speaker 2>And X would make sure that we felt safe with

0:31:44.480 --> 0:31:46.510
<v Speaker 2>each other because, I mean, let's keep it all the

0:31:46.570 --> 0:31:49.490
<v Speaker 2>way fucking funky. Sometimes these shit's Could get... Go sideways.

0:31:49.510 --> 0:31:50.430
<v Speaker 1>It could be tricky out there.

0:31:50.470 --> 0:31:52.470
<v Speaker 4>It could be tricky out there. There was circumfested waters,

0:31:52.870 --> 0:31:53.270
<v Speaker 4>for real.

0:31:53.430 --> 0:31:56.700
<v Speaker 2>There was... Yeah, there was... Let's just say the vocabulary

0:31:56.740 --> 0:31:59.600
<v Speaker 2>that we have now, we did not have that vocabulary

0:31:59.640 --> 0:31:59.980
<v Speaker 2>back then.

0:32:00.020 --> 0:32:02.880
<v Speaker 4>We didn't have an understanding about a lot of.

0:32:02.900 --> 0:32:04.560
<v Speaker 1>There was no Me Too back then.

0:32:04.740 --> 0:32:05.920
<v Speaker 4>No hashtag Me Too.

0:32:06.370 --> 0:32:07.390
<v Speaker 2>Consent. There was no.

0:32:07.430 --> 0:32:12.530
<v Speaker 1>There was no consent. Shit. Consent? You hear? I was consenting. Yeah.

0:32:12.970 --> 0:32:14.950
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that was what it was looked at. It's like,

0:32:15.070 --> 0:32:16.830
<v Speaker 2>if you're here, you're fair game.

0:32:16.870 --> 0:32:17.470
<v Speaker 1>You're down.

0:32:17.580 --> 0:32:20.780
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that was almost like we're doing an honest day's

0:32:20.820 --> 0:32:22.960
<v Speaker 2>work for an honest day's pay here, motherfucker. Like, I

0:32:22.960 --> 0:32:23.480
<v Speaker 2>don't know what the.

0:32:23.420 --> 0:32:25.080
<v Speaker 4>Fuck you thought, but it just was.

0:32:25.980 --> 0:32:29.710
<v Speaker 2>Oh, boy, I was Dolly Parton and Danny Coleman around

0:32:29.730 --> 0:32:31.670
<v Speaker 2>the desk and shit like that. That was that was

0:32:31.730 --> 0:32:31.990
<v Speaker 2>that was.

0:32:32.740 --> 0:32:33.460
<v Speaker 1>It's common. It's a real thing.

0:32:33.640 --> 0:32:35.820
<v Speaker 2>That's a very, very real thing. So anyways, here we are,

0:32:36.220 --> 0:32:38.400
<v Speaker 2>Cherchilla Ghost. We're in the Parker Meridian Hotel in New

0:32:38.440 --> 0:32:40.440
<v Speaker 2>York City. We've got two floors of this shit and

0:32:40.520 --> 0:32:43.840
<v Speaker 2>it's just, just havoc. Just nuts.

0:32:43.880 --> 0:32:45.500
<v Speaker 4>Just women everywhere.

0:32:45.680 --> 0:32:46.360
<v Speaker 2>Cameras.

0:32:46.440 --> 0:32:47.660
<v Speaker 1>Just like the video.

0:32:47.740 --> 0:32:48.440
<v Speaker 2>Just like the video.

0:32:48.480 --> 0:32:50.860
<v Speaker 4>It was supposed to be like Tom Hanks and what

0:32:50.880 --> 0:32:51.440
<v Speaker 4>was that movie?

0:32:51.500 --> 0:32:54.580
<v Speaker 2>Bachelor. Bachelor Pad or something like that. It's a Tom

0:32:54.620 --> 0:32:55.800
<v Speaker 2>Hanks movie from like the 80s.

0:32:55.940 --> 0:32:57.970
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Anywho. Bachelor Party.

0:32:58.150 --> 0:32:58.730
<v Speaker 4>Bachelor Party.

0:32:58.870 --> 0:32:59.130
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:32:59.330 --> 0:33:00.090
<v Speaker 2>That was the.

0:33:00.110 --> 0:33:03.240
<v Speaker 4>I love that movie. That was the whole premise of it.

0:33:03.910 --> 0:33:07.490
<v Speaker 2>And so in between, you know, just like kind of

0:33:07.530 --> 0:33:09.750
<v Speaker 2>like resting in between scenes and stuff like that when

0:33:09.770 --> 0:33:12.790
<v Speaker 2>you weren't being used. Gloria was also on that set.

0:33:12.870 --> 0:33:15.790
<v Speaker 2>She was also in Big Pimpin', but she was in Miami.

0:33:15.970 --> 0:33:18.510
<v Speaker 2>I was in Trinidad. So we actually met for the

0:33:18.550 --> 0:33:21.390
<v Speaker 2>first time there. And we're sitting on the floor of

0:33:21.490 --> 0:33:23.470
<v Speaker 2>one of the hotel rooms, like just a bunch of

0:33:23.490 --> 0:33:25.470
<v Speaker 2>people in the same room because we're all getting ready

0:33:25.520 --> 0:33:29.220
<v Speaker 2>to watch the world premiere of Big Pimpin'. Not knowing

0:33:29.260 --> 0:33:31.120
<v Speaker 2>that we were all in the same video. We had

0:33:31.200 --> 0:33:31.620
<v Speaker 2>no clue.

0:33:31.640 --> 0:33:33.680
<v Speaker 4>So it was like, holy shit, bitch.

0:33:33.800 --> 0:33:36.120
<v Speaker 1>Oh my God, that's you.

0:33:36.280 --> 0:33:38.830
<v Speaker 2>It was just like, it was so much fun. It

0:33:38.870 --> 0:33:39.610
<v Speaker 2>was its own thing.

0:33:40.240 --> 0:33:41.220
<v Speaker 4>Kind of education.

0:33:41.660 --> 0:33:44.550
<v Speaker 2>You know what I mean? And then, you know, saying

0:33:44.590 --> 0:33:46.670
<v Speaker 2>yes to a project and then saying no to the

0:33:46.730 --> 0:33:49.490
<v Speaker 2>next five. Well, that just dramatically increases.

0:33:49.510 --> 0:33:51.970
<v Speaker 1>So what was the fee now?

0:33:52.010 --> 0:33:54.150
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you know, so by the time I got

0:33:54.270 --> 0:34:00.780
<v Speaker 2>up to doing, knock yourself out. Yeah. Yeah.

0:34:00.820 --> 0:34:01.580
<v Speaker 4>Knock yourself out.

0:34:01.620 --> 0:34:05.660
<v Speaker 2>That was when, that was really when the paycheck drastically changed.

0:34:05.680 --> 0:34:05.840
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:34:09.810 --> 0:34:11.710
<v Speaker 2>I didn't have a point telling that one. I didn't

0:34:11.750 --> 0:34:13.890
<v Speaker 2>have a point telling that one. But yeah, that was

0:34:13.930 --> 0:34:17.569
<v Speaker 2>when it drastically changed just because X decided to do

0:34:17.630 --> 0:34:21.910
<v Speaker 2>something very different. Everybody was just packing videos full of girls,

0:34:21.950 --> 0:34:25.380
<v Speaker 2>full of girls. And he was just like, let's quiet

0:34:25.410 --> 0:34:28.799
<v Speaker 2>everything down for a second. Let's focus on just one

0:34:29.280 --> 0:34:32.600
<v Speaker 2>girl and a day in the life of her and

0:34:32.640 --> 0:34:35.680
<v Speaker 2>her man who just happens to be jadakiss and this

0:34:35.760 --> 0:34:38.980
<v Speaker 2>song and the whole nine you know and um x

0:34:39.020 --> 0:34:41.970
<v Speaker 2>recently did kind of like a tiktok where he kind

0:34:42.010 --> 0:34:45.370
<v Speaker 2>of does explains the inner workings of the video and

0:34:45.410 --> 0:34:47.509
<v Speaker 2>stuff like that it was it was amazing it was

0:34:47.810 --> 0:34:50.770
<v Speaker 2>it was so much fun it was very nostalgic.

0:34:50.130 --> 0:34:59.100
<v Speaker 1>Knock yourself out was groundbreaking yeah the legendary dive groundbreaking

0:34:59.239 --> 0:35:00.440
<v Speaker 1>like it was like.

0:35:00.520 --> 0:35:04.240
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah all right yeah.

0:35:04.020 --> 0:35:06.180
<v Speaker 1>It was when you boss up that's what you need

0:35:06.239 --> 0:35:09.319
<v Speaker 1>at the house from the song i'm talking about from

0:35:09.340 --> 0:35:13.060
<v Speaker 1>the rap right right to the track yeah yeah to

0:35:13.080 --> 0:35:18.060
<v Speaker 1>the visual to you yeah it was it was a

0:35:18.120 --> 0:35:20.640
<v Speaker 1>it was everything lined up it was a match made

0:35:20.680 --> 0:35:21.380
<v Speaker 1>in heaven.

0:35:21.100 --> 0:35:23.759
<v Speaker 2>When i heard yeah what the fuck when i first

0:35:23.800 --> 0:35:26.509
<v Speaker 2>heard the song i did not like it i know

0:35:28.380 --> 0:35:30.880
<v Speaker 2>I wasn't a fan of the song when I first

0:35:30.960 --> 0:35:33.319
<v Speaker 2>heard it. Now, obviously, I love it and I get it.

0:35:33.540 --> 0:35:36.549
<v Speaker 2>I totally understand. But We Gonna Make It was the

0:35:36.570 --> 0:35:37.790
<v Speaker 2>song that was out already.

0:35:38.070 --> 0:35:39.370
<v Speaker 1>That it goes into.

0:35:39.410 --> 0:35:42.670
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yes. I assumed that that was going to be

0:35:42.710 --> 0:35:44.730
<v Speaker 2>the video that they did. Everybody assumed that that was

0:35:44.750 --> 0:35:47.110
<v Speaker 2>going to be the video that they did. But X

0:35:47.130 --> 0:35:47.950
<v Speaker 2>was like, nah.

0:35:48.090 --> 0:35:48.560
<v Speaker 3>And it was.

0:35:49.120 --> 0:35:52.839
<v Speaker 2>I believe that it was also... Steve Stout was, you know...

0:35:53.960 --> 0:35:56.359
<v Speaker 2>like they were choosing like the singles. And I think

0:35:56.410 --> 0:35:58.330
<v Speaker 2>it was Steve that said, this is going to be

0:35:58.350 --> 0:36:01.450
<v Speaker 2>the next single. And X was like, got it. And

0:36:01.510 --> 0:36:03.590
<v Speaker 2>this is the treatment. And this is the girl. And

0:36:03.640 --> 0:36:05.960
<v Speaker 2>they were like, yep, that's it. That's what's going to happen.

0:36:06.520 --> 0:36:08.320
<v Speaker 2>And it did. And so I heard the song and

0:36:08.340 --> 0:36:11.910
<v Speaker 2>I was like, okay, I guess. I thought it was

0:36:11.930 --> 0:36:13.490
<v Speaker 2>going to be, we going to make it, but whatever.

0:36:13.969 --> 0:36:16.129
<v Speaker 2>And then the song like really like grew on me,

0:36:16.710 --> 0:36:21.029
<v Speaker 2>unbeknownst to me, that it was going to be a massive,

0:36:21.070 --> 0:36:26.739
<v Speaker 2>like a behemoth hit that still will, you know, like

0:36:26.760 --> 0:36:29.420
<v Speaker 2>the minute it's played in a party, in a club,

0:36:29.460 --> 0:36:31.720
<v Speaker 2>people lose their fucking minds. And they think about the video.

0:36:31.739 --> 0:36:32.819
<v Speaker 1>Yep. And they think about the video.

0:36:32.920 --> 0:36:33.819
<v Speaker 4>And then they think about the video.

0:36:33.840 --> 0:36:35.140
<v Speaker 1>That you still ain't told us what you got paid for.

0:36:36.140 --> 0:36:36.900
<v Speaker 1>What did you get paid for that video?

0:36:37.500 --> 0:36:38.799
<v Speaker 4>I got paid 10 grand a day.

0:36:39.989 --> 0:36:40.750
<v Speaker 1>In a day.

0:36:40.770 --> 0:36:42.870
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Yeah.

0:36:43.610 --> 0:36:45.969
<v Speaker 1>It's not, it's, listen, it's movie sets that they not

0:36:45.989 --> 0:36:48.520
<v Speaker 1>get $ 10, 000 a day on. Like, just keeping it all

0:36:48.540 --> 0:36:50.600
<v Speaker 1>the way smoking. Yeah. Like, work.

0:36:50.700 --> 0:36:51.060
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:36:51.660 --> 0:36:53.950
<v Speaker 1>That was, that was worth. Yeah.

0:36:54.420 --> 0:36:59.520
<v Speaker 2>And here's the thing. I was so insecure. You don't

0:36:59.560 --> 0:37:01.540
<v Speaker 2>understand what X had to do to get me into

0:37:01.580 --> 0:37:03.960
<v Speaker 2>that bikini and to do the dive in the pool.

0:37:04.060 --> 0:37:04.400
<v Speaker 1>What?

0:37:04.739 --> 0:37:09.310
<v Speaker 2>I was so insecure. It was crazy. I look at that.

0:37:09.670 --> 0:37:13.910
<v Speaker 2>I look at my... 21, 22 year old self with

0:37:14.030 --> 0:37:16.469
<v Speaker 2>that body. And I want to slap the shit out

0:37:16.530 --> 0:37:19.049
<v Speaker 2>of me because I'm like, do you know that you

0:37:19.090 --> 0:37:23.850
<v Speaker 2>are literally life? Like the embodiment of life and sex.

0:37:24.170 --> 0:37:28.020
<v Speaker 2>What is your, but I just, you know, overthinking it.

0:37:28.510 --> 0:37:28.730
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:37:29.130 --> 0:37:29.790
<v Speaker 4>I was overthinking.

0:37:30.250 --> 0:37:31.730
<v Speaker 2>I was overthinking. I was like, Oh my God, my

0:37:31.790 --> 0:37:34.989
<v Speaker 2>thighs are so thick. My butt is so big and

0:37:35.590 --> 0:37:38.279
<v Speaker 2>whatever else standards of beauty. You listen, even though what's

0:37:38.560 --> 0:37:43.270
<v Speaker 2>ironic about, being one of the women responsible for altering

0:37:43.430 --> 0:37:47.710
<v Speaker 2>the standard of beauty as it was prior to that time,

0:37:47.730 --> 0:37:52.360
<v Speaker 2>it was, it's, the irony is how insecure I was

0:37:52.940 --> 0:37:57.060
<v Speaker 2>and how much I hated my body and wanted to

0:37:57.120 --> 0:38:01.620
<v Speaker 2>be thinner. I wanted skinny knees. I wanted like slim

0:38:01.760 --> 0:38:04.239
<v Speaker 2>shapely thighs. I, you know, I wanted to get some

0:38:04.280 --> 0:38:06.640
<v Speaker 2>of this weight off the hips and this fucking ass,

0:38:06.700 --> 0:38:11.420
<v Speaker 2>Jesus Christ. It's so, it's huge. And I mean, Yeah.

0:38:11.739 --> 0:38:13.900
<v Speaker 4>I mean, like I said, I'd like to slap the

0:38:13.920 --> 0:38:15.160
<v Speaker 4>shit out of her, but.

0:38:15.980 --> 0:38:20.580
<v Speaker 1>And while all of this is happening, are you. How

0:38:20.620 --> 0:38:23.239
<v Speaker 1>are you handling things from a business standpoint? Are you

0:38:23.600 --> 0:38:26.200
<v Speaker 1>thinking differently or like in terms of like, are you

0:38:26.219 --> 0:38:29.460
<v Speaker 1>thinking to yourself, oh, this is this in itself is

0:38:29.520 --> 0:38:30.080
<v Speaker 1>a business?

0:38:30.760 --> 0:38:33.070
<v Speaker 4>No, not yet. OK, not yet.

0:38:33.239 --> 0:38:36.870
<v Speaker 2>I'm not thinking that this is a business yet, even

0:38:36.969 --> 0:38:41.370
<v Speaker 2>though I have now moved to the US. I'm just

0:38:41.410 --> 0:38:43.310
<v Speaker 2>kind of flying by the seat of my pants. Honestly,

0:38:43.590 --> 0:38:45.609
<v Speaker 2>I'm flying by the seat of my pants. If this

0:38:45.670 --> 0:38:47.830
<v Speaker 2>is a mistake, I'm young enough to make it. Let

0:38:47.850 --> 0:38:50.000
<v Speaker 2>me just have a good fucking time while I'm doing it.

0:38:50.550 --> 0:38:55.340
<v Speaker 2>And honestly, my intention was not to, you know, be

0:38:55.380 --> 0:38:59.280
<v Speaker 2>the highest paid video model or to be the, the blueprint.

0:38:59.700 --> 0:39:01.560
<v Speaker 4>That was not my intention.

0:39:02.040 --> 0:39:05.640
<v Speaker 2>That kind of, Carves itself out in, you know, in

0:39:06.120 --> 0:39:10.140
<v Speaker 2>within like myth is created by way of history.

0:39:10.239 --> 0:39:11.360
<v Speaker 4>You know what I'm saying?

0:39:11.420 --> 0:39:13.160
<v Speaker 2>So when you're in the middle of it, you don't

0:39:13.200 --> 0:39:13.880
<v Speaker 2>have no idea.

0:39:14.100 --> 0:39:14.740
<v Speaker 4>You have no idea.

0:39:15.320 --> 0:39:18.180
<v Speaker 2>And also you got to also understand is I'm raised

0:39:18.390 --> 0:39:21.990
<v Speaker 2>in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I was not raised in the U.S.

0:39:22.190 --> 0:39:26.680
<v Speaker 2>where it's like hypercapitalism and the almighty dollar and stuff

0:39:26.700 --> 0:39:31.080
<v Speaker 2>like that. I didn't think, I just didn't think that way.

0:39:31.120 --> 0:39:33.960
<v Speaker 2>I wasn't driven by- It wasn't your mindset. I wasn't

0:39:34.000 --> 0:39:36.859
<v Speaker 2>driven by money and success. I just wasn't. It was

0:39:36.940 --> 0:39:41.130
<v Speaker 2>just like, I'm young, I'm attractive. People want to work

0:39:41.170 --> 0:39:43.330
<v Speaker 2>with me. And let me see, let me try and

0:39:43.390 --> 0:39:45.810
<v Speaker 2>ride this until the wheels fall off. I did not

0:39:45.870 --> 0:39:49.029
<v Speaker 2>know where this was going to go. No clue whatsoever.

0:39:58.430 --> 0:40:01.450
<v Speaker 1>When do the magazines start to come in? Because obviously,

0:40:01.850 --> 0:40:04.870
<v Speaker 1>right there, most people just think of the work from

0:40:05.010 --> 0:40:07.469
<v Speaker 1>the videos. Yeah. And the modeling on that side. But

0:40:07.489 --> 0:40:11.010
<v Speaker 1>I'm talking about like, because at that stage, these magazines

0:40:11.030 --> 0:40:13.520
<v Speaker 1>started to go crazy, like the King magazine, you know

0:40:13.540 --> 0:40:15.140
<v Speaker 1>what I mean? And all those type of things. And

0:40:15.160 --> 0:40:17.140
<v Speaker 1>obviously you had all the hip hop magazine, The Source

0:40:17.200 --> 0:40:20.560
<v Speaker 1>and Vibe and all those things. But like King magazine

0:40:20.800 --> 0:40:25.680
<v Speaker 1>was really a showcase for black beauty. You know what

0:40:25.700 --> 0:40:26.000
<v Speaker 1>I mean?

0:40:26.280 --> 0:40:26.460
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:40:26.500 --> 0:40:32.880
<v Speaker 1>Like, To me, it's my first memory of seeing Black Beauty,

0:40:34.500 --> 0:40:37.900
<v Speaker 1>not in a Playboy way. You know what I mean? Obviously,

0:40:37.940 --> 0:40:39.940
<v Speaker 1>y'all were in bathing suits and stuff, but it was

0:40:40.060 --> 0:40:45.430
<v Speaker 1>really pushed toward the magazine side and the calendar. The

0:40:45.510 --> 0:40:49.790
<v Speaker 1>calendar is worth a thing. The calendar is in King Magazine.

0:40:50.140 --> 0:40:54.480
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so before King Magazine was Black Men's Magazine. That

0:40:54.500 --> 0:41:01.259
<v Speaker 2>was around much longer. And they had started to hire

0:41:02.000 --> 0:41:09.410
<v Speaker 2>different people that increased the aesthetic.

0:41:07.950 --> 0:41:10.609
<v Speaker 4>And the production value of the magazine itself.

0:41:10.630 --> 0:41:12.250
<v Speaker 1>Help sell it. Oh, yeah.

0:41:12.750 --> 0:41:16.009
<v Speaker 2>And they caught on earlier that.

0:41:17.860 --> 0:41:21.080
<v Speaker 2>Men were very interested in knowing who was that girl

0:41:21.140 --> 0:41:23.700
<v Speaker 2>in that video. And so they start, so they were

0:41:23.719 --> 0:41:26.650
<v Speaker 2>the ones that first came knocking, you know, as a

0:41:26.650 --> 0:41:30.089
<v Speaker 2>matter of fact, my first photo shoot was with for

0:41:30.350 --> 0:41:35.710
<v Speaker 2>black men's magazine was with mystical and, and he missed

0:41:35.730 --> 0:41:38.870
<v Speaker 2>his flight and the photographer, his name was chunk.

0:41:39.030 --> 0:41:40.210
<v Speaker 4>I I'll never forget him.

0:41:40.270 --> 0:41:43.270
<v Speaker 2>God, he was like an Asian, um, you know, uh,

0:41:43.650 --> 0:41:48.190
<v Speaker 2>what was Mike Myers when he's, austin powers austin power

0:41:48.210 --> 0:41:50.029
<v Speaker 2>yeah yeah he was like he was like an asian

0:41:50.140 --> 0:41:53.160
<v Speaker 2>austin powers like click click click oh yes darling all

0:41:53.200 --> 0:41:56.380
<v Speaker 2>that shit and i'm spent um like that was what

0:41:56.400 --> 0:42:00.759
<v Speaker 2>he was fucking like and so i honestly i knew

0:42:00.920 --> 0:42:03.980
<v Speaker 2>my way around a moving camera but i didn't know

0:42:04.020 --> 0:42:09.040
<v Speaker 2>my way around still photography and so i'm like doing

0:42:09.080 --> 0:42:13.160
<v Speaker 2>all these poses like And he was just like, can

0:42:13.180 --> 0:42:15.029
<v Speaker 2>I make a suggestion? He was like, come here. And

0:42:15.070 --> 0:42:18.049
<v Speaker 2>he would just feel it and just stretch and just

0:42:18.130 --> 0:42:22.270
<v Speaker 2>elongate your body. And then I felt ridiculous doing what

0:42:22.290 --> 0:42:23.609
<v Speaker 2>he was telling me to do. And then he showed

0:42:23.650 --> 0:42:25.629
<v Speaker 2>me the pictures. I said, oh, shit.

0:42:25.890 --> 0:42:28.670
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to do two more.

0:42:28.850 --> 0:42:32.800
<v Speaker 2>And so just spending time with this Gay little Asian dude.

0:42:33.440 --> 0:42:37.140
<v Speaker 2>He taught me about the craft, you know, the craft

0:42:37.440 --> 0:42:40.839
<v Speaker 2>of modeling. And I developed an enormous amount of respect

0:42:40.950 --> 0:42:46.070
<v Speaker 2>for it. And so when the editor saw these photos

0:42:46.150 --> 0:42:48.509
<v Speaker 2>that we decided to take because, well, you know, since

0:42:48.630 --> 0:42:50.290
<v Speaker 2>Mystical wasn't coming, we're like, fuck it, let's take some

0:42:50.310 --> 0:42:50.830
<v Speaker 2>pictures of Melissa.

0:42:50.850 --> 0:42:53.410
<v Speaker 4>She's already dressed. He was just like, tell her she's

0:42:53.430 --> 0:42:54.290
<v Speaker 4>got the next cover.

0:42:55.090 --> 0:42:59.690
<v Speaker 2>And yeah, and that was how the first cover happened. Happens.

0:43:00.250 --> 0:43:03.890
<v Speaker 2>And the first cover of me on Black Men's Magazine,

0:43:04.370 --> 0:43:08.500
<v Speaker 2>I have, like, the little Kim pose from Hardcore.

0:43:08.900 --> 0:43:10.319
<v Speaker 1>Oh, yeah, the squat thing.

0:43:10.360 --> 0:43:13.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah. First time I saw that, I was getting

0:43:13.960 --> 0:43:15.739
<v Speaker 2>off of a train. And remember in New York City,

0:43:15.780 --> 0:43:18.569
<v Speaker 2>you know, you've got, like, the subway that used to have, like,

0:43:18.590 --> 0:43:22.910
<v Speaker 2>these little newsstands inside of the subway. So you get off,

0:43:22.950 --> 0:43:24.390
<v Speaker 2>there it is, and I see it, and I almost

0:43:24.430 --> 0:43:27.450
<v Speaker 2>fell back on the train. I said, oh, my God,

0:43:27.650 --> 0:43:29.410
<v Speaker 2>what the fuck? Fuck were they thinking?

0:43:29.430 --> 0:43:31.049
<v Speaker 1>So they didn't send you the proof. You didn't get

0:43:31.070 --> 0:43:31.759
<v Speaker 1>to see nothing.

0:43:31.880 --> 0:43:35.040
<v Speaker 2>Are you crazy? No, no, no. But that taught me

0:43:35.100 --> 0:43:37.880
<v Speaker 2>something about asking to see the fucking finals.

0:43:38.040 --> 0:43:38.320
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:43:38.440 --> 0:43:40.759
<v Speaker 4>But I was I just was I was mortified.

0:43:40.780 --> 0:43:49.319
<v Speaker 2>I was mortified. But y'all loved it. And there began.

0:43:50.690 --> 0:43:53.129
<v Speaker 2>And I guess there began the making of the myth.

0:43:53.700 --> 0:43:56.370
<v Speaker 2>You know, because I want to say that this is

0:43:56.710 --> 0:44:00.970
<v Speaker 2>even before Knock Yourself Out. So it comes, the magazine

0:44:00.989 --> 0:44:04.590
<v Speaker 2>itself comes out around the same time that the video drops.

0:44:04.950 --> 0:44:08.740
<v Speaker 2>So it's just like cover of a magazine, this groundbreaking

0:44:08.800 --> 0:44:11.310
<v Speaker 2>fucking video, and I'm the only girl really in it.

0:44:11.320 --> 0:44:13.540
<v Speaker 4>It's just like, who the fuck is this bitch?

0:44:13.560 --> 0:44:14.380
<v Speaker 1>The moment is happening.

0:44:14.500 --> 0:44:16.740
<v Speaker 2>The moment's happening. And so from that moment, it was

0:44:16.820 --> 0:44:21.410
<v Speaker 2>just like, it just, it was a tidal wave. of

0:44:21.450 --> 0:44:22.730
<v Speaker 2>like requests to be here.

0:44:22.750 --> 0:44:25.089
<v Speaker 1>So are you doing all of that yourself though? Like

0:44:25.110 --> 0:44:27.510
<v Speaker 1>you said, are you, are you taking in those requests yourself?

0:44:27.610 --> 0:44:32.450
<v Speaker 1>Or now have you started the Melissa Ford Inc company of, of,

0:44:32.550 --> 0:44:34.509
<v Speaker 1>you know, you got management or you got agents or

0:44:34.530 --> 0:44:35.740
<v Speaker 1>you have anybody working with you?

0:44:35.750 --> 0:44:37.549
<v Speaker 4>Nobody had any fucking clue what to do with me.

0:44:37.570 --> 0:44:39.549
<v Speaker 1>So you know all this shit on your own. You

0:44:39.570 --> 0:44:40.390
<v Speaker 1>answer the phone call.

0:44:40.590 --> 0:44:43.680
<v Speaker 2>Nobody, yeah. Nobody had any clue what to do with

0:44:44.420 --> 0:44:45.359
<v Speaker 2>girls like me.

0:44:45.540 --> 0:44:49.460
<v Speaker 1>Like, It wasn't really a market yet.

0:44:49.500 --> 0:44:53.070
<v Speaker 2>There was no... All of these management companies that manage

0:44:53.090 --> 0:44:57.169
<v Speaker 2>these IG models and OS girls. Y'all got it so

0:44:57.330 --> 0:45:00.890
<v Speaker 2>easy in comparison to back then. Nobody... Everyone thought that

0:45:00.930 --> 0:45:03.770
<v Speaker 2>this was just, like, a flash in the pan.

0:45:04.090 --> 0:45:06.170
<v Speaker 4>Like, it was going to go away, and that was it.

0:45:06.469 --> 0:45:09.529
<v Speaker 2>You know what I'm saying? Like, nobody had any, you know...

0:45:10.530 --> 0:45:13.770
<v Speaker 2>this inkling that this, somebody could actually make a career

0:45:13.910 --> 0:45:14.330
<v Speaker 2>out of this.

0:45:14.710 --> 0:45:15.770
<v Speaker 4>I sure as fuck didn't.

0:45:16.290 --> 0:45:18.989
<v Speaker 2>So again, I'm just still here riding shit till the

0:45:19.030 --> 0:45:23.759
<v Speaker 2>fucking wheels come off, you know? And, you know, covers and,

0:45:24.200 --> 0:45:29.140
<v Speaker 2>you know, covers became calendars. And then a company came

0:45:29.219 --> 0:45:33.120
<v Speaker 2>in and they were like, we would like to do

0:45:33.440 --> 0:45:36.259
<v Speaker 2>help you make merchandise. This comes, this, this happens a

0:45:36.360 --> 0:45:39.680
<v Speaker 2>little bit later. This happens a little bit later, but yeah.

0:45:39.700 --> 0:45:44.470
<v Speaker 2>So Blackman's magazine happens. King is actually about to, you know,

0:45:44.510 --> 0:45:47.150
<v Speaker 2>have their 25th anniversary, November 27th, 2001 is when King

0:45:47.230 --> 0:45:47.890
<v Speaker 2>magazine premiered.

0:45:48.110 --> 0:45:48.350
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah.

0:45:48.530 --> 0:45:50.649
<v Speaker 2>So November 27th, this year will be 25 years for King.

0:45:56.420 --> 0:45:59.540
<v Speaker 2>So King was kind of like... They should do an

0:45:59.600 --> 0:46:02.779
<v Speaker 2>award show. I mean, there's a lot of stuff that

0:46:02.820 --> 0:46:06.339
<v Speaker 2>they could and should do. But King magazine was basically

0:46:06.390 --> 0:46:09.469
<v Speaker 2>kind of like a Maxim, you know, where they had

0:46:09.550 --> 0:46:14.049
<v Speaker 2>the celebrity model on the cover and, you know, just.

0:46:14.520 --> 0:46:16.379
<v Speaker 4>Pictures of, you know, gorgeous women.

0:46:16.840 --> 0:46:20.279
<v Speaker 2>They had like an investigative piece. So there was real

0:46:20.390 --> 0:46:24.910
<v Speaker 2>journalists actually writing in this magazine. And then just all

0:46:24.950 --> 0:46:28.810
<v Speaker 2>of the mail from guys who were like overseas, like fighting,

0:46:29.150 --> 0:46:31.469
<v Speaker 2>you know, these bullshit wars and stuff like that.

0:46:31.530 --> 0:46:34.469
<v Speaker 4>Niggas in jail. Exactly. And all the niggas in jail.

0:46:34.570 --> 0:46:36.120
<v Speaker 1>Don't leave it out.

0:46:36.500 --> 0:46:37.020
<v Speaker 3>No, no, no.

0:46:37.080 --> 0:46:38.219
<v Speaker 2>I was never going to leave out.

0:46:38.360 --> 0:46:40.739
<v Speaker 1>You got a lot of niggas who they big.

0:46:41.000 --> 0:46:42.060
<v Speaker 2>No, I know that.

0:46:42.200 --> 0:46:45.940
<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean? A lot of Melissa in

0:46:46.020 --> 0:46:47.259
<v Speaker 1>cell block section.

0:46:47.580 --> 0:46:49.569
<v Speaker 2>Do you know how many times I'd be watching, what

0:46:49.630 --> 0:46:50.690
<v Speaker 2>is it, Lock Up?

0:46:50.850 --> 0:46:52.410
<v Speaker 4>And I would see pictures of me on the wall.

0:46:52.610 --> 0:46:54.620
<v Speaker 2>It happened all the time. The shit was lit.

0:46:54.670 --> 0:46:55.350
<v Speaker 1>To this day.

0:46:55.730 --> 0:46:57.570
<v Speaker 4>Well, I mean, I don't watch Lock Up. lock up anymore,

0:46:57.650 --> 0:46:58.830
<v Speaker 4>but I mean, I don't know.

0:46:58.850 --> 0:46:59.830
<v Speaker 1>I don't know.

0:46:59.890 --> 0:47:02.400
<v Speaker 2>It's very digital now. You know, they got cell phones

0:47:02.440 --> 0:47:03.960
<v Speaker 2>in there and iPads and whatnot. So I have no

0:47:04.000 --> 0:47:04.219
<v Speaker 2>idea how.

0:47:04.239 --> 0:47:05.339
<v Speaker 1>They're taking it to another level.

0:47:05.360 --> 0:47:07.460
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I don't know if it's still the same thing.

0:47:07.560 --> 0:47:09.799
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, no, never forget the guys in the pen.

0:47:10.020 --> 0:47:10.589
<v Speaker 1>Ever, ever.

0:47:10.739 --> 0:47:14.250
<v Speaker 2>I'm very clear on how many men I got that

0:47:14.290 --> 0:47:15.049
<v Speaker 2>helped get through a bid.

0:47:15.290 --> 0:47:15.489
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:47:15.630 --> 0:47:18.650
<v Speaker 2>Me and my cohorts. But yeah, so I still I

0:47:18.710 --> 0:47:22.030
<v Speaker 2>still wasn't processed. So anyways, I was saying about King magazine,

0:47:22.760 --> 0:47:25.900
<v Speaker 2>they got so much mail from men saying, yeah, these

0:47:25.920 --> 0:47:29.279
<v Speaker 2>celebrity chicks are cool. The girl in that video, the

0:47:29.320 --> 0:47:32.000
<v Speaker 2>girl in that video, the girl in that's who we

0:47:32.060 --> 0:47:36.100
<v Speaker 2>want to see. And so that's why you start to

0:47:36.160 --> 0:47:39.800
<v Speaker 2>see them move away from celebrity women.

0:47:40.020 --> 0:47:42.920
<v Speaker 4>And then they start to feature celebrities. video models.

0:47:42.940 --> 0:47:45.899
<v Speaker 2>And I don't know if we were the first, but

0:47:45.960 --> 0:47:48.520
<v Speaker 2>I think that me and Gloria might have been the first.

0:47:48.860 --> 0:47:49.799
<v Speaker 4>It was a double cover.

0:47:49.820 --> 0:47:50.160
<v Speaker 1>Double cover.

0:47:50.360 --> 0:47:50.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:47:50.660 --> 0:47:51.400
<v Speaker 1>I remember that.

0:47:51.500 --> 0:47:52.340
<v Speaker 4>It was a double cover.

0:47:52.380 --> 0:47:53.620
<v Speaker 1>Look at you being a collective.

0:47:56.780 --> 0:47:58.469
<v Speaker 4>And let me tell you something.

0:47:58.489 --> 0:47:59.270
<v Speaker 1>Did it do this?

0:48:00.890 --> 0:48:13.570
<v Speaker 2>Did you unfold it with your tongue? Oh, this nigga's wild! Oh, man.

0:48:13.719 --> 0:48:16.320
<v Speaker 4>I used to turn my photo shoots into fucking parties.

0:48:16.460 --> 0:48:17.540
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I did.

0:48:17.800 --> 0:48:22.450
<v Speaker 1>So when does the when does the the name Jessica Rabbit?

0:48:23.830 --> 0:48:26.730
<v Speaker 2>So Jessica Rabbit, I actually was named Jessica Rabbit by

0:48:26.770 --> 0:48:27.230
<v Speaker 2>a girl.

0:48:27.250 --> 0:48:28.030
<v Speaker 1>Hmm.

0:48:28.210 --> 0:48:33.430
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I was working in Justin's, which was Puffy's restaurant.

0:48:33.710 --> 0:48:35.950
<v Speaker 1>Where's Justin's? Huh?

0:48:36.090 --> 0:48:37.090
<v Speaker 2>In New York? In New York.

0:48:37.489 --> 0:48:37.770
<v Speaker 1>Yes.

0:48:38.030 --> 0:48:42.170
<v Speaker 2>And when I first got to the States, I was illegal.

0:48:42.510 --> 0:48:44.750
<v Speaker 2>So I had to find work under the table, which

0:48:44.810 --> 0:48:48.530
<v Speaker 2>is cocktail waitressing, bartending, that sort of thing. And so

0:48:48.710 --> 0:48:52.880
<v Speaker 2>I ended up meeting John Vasquez and, um, And he

0:48:53.420 --> 0:48:56.279
<v Speaker 2>hired me to be a cocktail waitress. And one of

0:48:56.320 --> 0:48:59.880
<v Speaker 2>the first cocktail waitress parties I did at Justin's was

0:49:00.060 --> 0:49:05.180
<v Speaker 2>Whitney Houston's father's birthday party. And I remember I was

0:49:05.200 --> 0:49:08.969
<v Speaker 2>wearing this long dress with a slit all the way

0:49:09.030 --> 0:49:14.170
<v Speaker 2>up to my hip. And this girl was like, you

0:49:14.190 --> 0:49:16.590
<v Speaker 2>know who you remind me of? You remind me of

0:49:16.650 --> 0:49:19.330
<v Speaker 2>Jessica Rabbit. I was like, oh, thanks. That's cute. And

0:49:19.390 --> 0:49:23.580
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. how. But from that moment on, the

0:49:23.640 --> 0:49:26.120
<v Speaker 2>nickname stuck. I don't know if a bunch of people

0:49:26.219 --> 0:49:28.370
<v Speaker 2>heard it or they just thought the same thing. And

0:49:28.410 --> 0:49:32.390
<v Speaker 2>then the second that I did an editorial with Black

0:49:32.410 --> 0:49:36.630
<v Speaker 2>Men's Magazine and they wrote Jessica Rabbit. I was forever

0:49:36.690 --> 0:49:39.400
<v Speaker 2>known as Jessica Rep. Some people just called me Jessica.

0:49:39.460 --> 0:49:42.480
<v Speaker 2>And I was like, my name is Melissa. Okay, whatever.

0:49:42.880 --> 0:49:43.700
<v Speaker 2>You know, no big deal.

0:49:43.739 --> 0:49:45.140
<v Speaker 1>I'm pretty sure I thought your name was Jessica.

0:49:45.239 --> 0:49:46.200
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:49:46.300 --> 0:49:46.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:49:46.920 --> 0:49:47.640
<v Speaker 2>Hi, Jessica.

0:49:47.660 --> 0:49:49.360
<v Speaker 4>And I'm like, it's Melissa, but it's okay.

0:49:49.540 --> 0:49:51.660
<v Speaker 2>It fits.

0:49:52.140 --> 0:49:56.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. It fits. Yeah, it fits. We also have these,

0:49:57.040 --> 0:50:00.520
<v Speaker 1>you and I. Yeah. We got these things right here.

0:50:00.540 --> 0:50:03.760
<v Speaker 1>We have these things. These two toofers.

0:50:03.989 --> 0:50:05.170
<v Speaker 2>Uh-huh, uh-huh.

0:50:05.330 --> 0:50:08.650
<v Speaker 1>I was like, when they said Jessica, I said, Jessica Rabbit.

0:50:09.230 --> 0:50:09.969
<v Speaker 3>Wow.

0:50:10.070 --> 0:50:10.590
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:50:11.230 --> 0:50:11.589
<v Speaker 1>No, it fit.

0:50:11.790 --> 0:50:15.989
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, no, it fit. And I was all for, you know,

0:50:16.930 --> 0:50:20.770
<v Speaker 2>being a caricature, you know? It made sense for me

0:50:20.850 --> 0:50:26.780
<v Speaker 2>because it helped me inside my mind. separate me, Melissa,

0:50:27.300 --> 0:50:30.500
<v Speaker 2>from the character that.

0:50:29.739 --> 0:50:32.719
<v Speaker 4>I was playing, the persona that I was portraying.

0:50:32.739 --> 0:50:36.560
<v Speaker 2>I was very clear, even from doing music videos, I

0:50:36.600 --> 0:50:40.160
<v Speaker 2>was very clear. It was a clear boundary that I

0:50:40.219 --> 0:50:42.500
<v Speaker 2>had too. Like when I'm in front of the camera,

0:50:42.719 --> 0:50:45.069
<v Speaker 2>I'm her. I'm who you want me to be. I'm

0:50:45.120 --> 0:50:46.189
<v Speaker 2>every man's fantasy.

0:50:46.270 --> 0:50:46.649
<v Speaker 1>I'm her.

0:50:47.150 --> 0:50:49.589
<v Speaker 2>The minute that shit stops rolling, I put on my

0:50:49.630 --> 0:50:52.610
<v Speaker 2>fucking jogging pants. I take my fucking makeup off. I

0:50:52.650 --> 0:50:55.370
<v Speaker 2>look like a janitor and I'm happy. You know what

0:50:55.390 --> 0:50:59.450
<v Speaker 2>I'm saying? I'm very, a little more on the conservative side.

0:50:59.860 --> 0:51:02.360
<v Speaker 2>You know, that's just me personally. I just know how

0:51:02.400 --> 0:51:05.580
<v Speaker 2>to play the role. It's a character that I was playing.

0:51:06.060 --> 0:51:09.600
<v Speaker 2>And unfortunately, most people just didn't get that memo.

0:51:10.420 --> 0:51:14.060
<v Speaker 1>That's entertainment. Most people don't get the memo, period. I mean,

0:51:14.080 --> 0:51:17.989
<v Speaker 1>if it's from... Recording artists, if it's from actors, actresses,

0:51:18.830 --> 0:51:21.490
<v Speaker 1>whatever they fall in love with is who they believe

0:51:21.530 --> 0:51:23.209
<v Speaker 1>you are. Yeah. No matter what.

0:51:23.330 --> 0:51:23.610
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:51:23.650 --> 0:51:25.390
<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean? And it's just a part

0:51:25.410 --> 0:51:26.490
<v Speaker 1>of it and how it goes.

0:51:26.550 --> 0:51:26.850
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:51:27.070 --> 0:51:30.270
<v Speaker 1>On all aspects of the entertainment side of it. They

0:51:30.330 --> 0:51:35.400
<v Speaker 1>think you remember certain things. Yeah. Or parts or all

0:51:35.460 --> 0:51:37.060
<v Speaker 1>kinds of shit. Even just, even from the, you know,

0:51:37.120 --> 0:51:40.160
<v Speaker 1>us having a podcast, like people bring up certain episodes

0:51:40.180 --> 0:51:41.380
<v Speaker 1>to me and I'm like, I have no idea what

0:51:41.400 --> 0:51:43.600
<v Speaker 1>you're talking about. Hey, what you mean? You don't remember

0:51:43.620 --> 0:51:46.480
<v Speaker 1>when you said this? I just said something else. Nope. Yeah.

0:51:46.840 --> 0:51:49.760
<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean? Because. It's been 150 hours. Yeah.

0:51:49.860 --> 0:51:54.510
<v Speaker 1>We're closing on 200. So it's like all of that stuff.

0:51:54.530 --> 0:51:58.029
<v Speaker 1>But you start to realize, too, that people also have

0:51:58.070 --> 0:52:01.670
<v Speaker 1>attached their lives. Yeah. To this form of entertainment. Yeah.

0:52:02.150 --> 0:52:02.410
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:52:02.469 --> 0:52:05.109
<v Speaker 1>And, you know, I have respect for that. Absolutely. But

0:52:05.190 --> 0:52:07.850
<v Speaker 1>it is, you know, obviously the podcast space is a

0:52:07.870 --> 0:52:08.649
<v Speaker 1>little different, but.

0:52:08.670 --> 0:52:11.149
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes it would get scary. Yeah.

0:52:11.590 --> 0:52:11.969
<v Speaker 1>Oh, sure.

0:52:12.070 --> 0:52:15.770
<v Speaker 2>Like, as a woman, it could get very, very, very, very,

0:52:15.950 --> 0:52:19.370
<v Speaker 2>very scary. Like, lots of stalking incidences.

0:52:19.450 --> 0:52:20.030
<v Speaker 1>Oh, for sure.

0:52:20.050 --> 0:52:22.830
<v Speaker 2>A lot of stalking. I can only imagine. Yeah, a

0:52:23.010 --> 0:52:28.990
<v Speaker 2>lot of really, really weird fan mail. And, like, the

0:52:29.590 --> 0:52:32.300
<v Speaker 2>shit that sucked is when they found out your home

0:52:32.380 --> 0:52:34.840
<v Speaker 2>address so you'd get fan mail at your house. And

0:52:34.860 --> 0:52:40.160
<v Speaker 2>it would be, like, dildos and condoms and all kinds

0:52:40.219 --> 0:52:45.130
<v Speaker 2>of shit. I'm just like, I don't know what you

0:52:45.150 --> 0:52:46.009
<v Speaker 2>want me to do with this.

0:52:46.230 --> 0:52:46.510
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:52:46.570 --> 0:52:47.930
<v Speaker 2>You know?

0:52:48.190 --> 0:52:49.230
<v Speaker 1>That's the dark side of it.

0:52:49.300 --> 0:52:50.930
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Yeah.

0:52:51.030 --> 0:52:53.040
<v Speaker 4>It could get gnarly sometimes.

0:52:53.080 --> 0:52:54.819
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I remember when I first met you.

0:52:55.780 --> 0:52:56.340
<v Speaker 4>BB Kings.

0:52:56.900 --> 0:53:00.420
<v Speaker 1>At BB Kings. This would be a great segue. And,

0:53:00.440 --> 0:53:03.279
<v Speaker 1>of course, I had seen the video and seen the

0:53:03.500 --> 0:53:05.960
<v Speaker 1>magazines and I was very fond of you.

0:53:06.040 --> 0:53:07.239
<v Speaker 2>And when I met you and we talked.

0:53:14.200 --> 0:53:23.129
<v Speaker 1>I was like, she's different. Because I didn't expect that

0:53:23.270 --> 0:53:28.439
<v Speaker 1>conversation from you. From Jessica Rabbit. From Jessica Rabbit. Right.

0:53:28.900 --> 0:53:30.100
<v Speaker 1>I didn't expect that.

0:53:30.480 --> 0:53:30.600
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:53:31.580 --> 0:53:35.450
<v Speaker 1>And I was like, am I tripping or is she

0:53:35.510 --> 0:53:40.009
<v Speaker 1>really fucking smart? Yeah. Yeah. And that's what I was

0:53:40.090 --> 0:53:42.709
<v Speaker 1>left with. When seeing you in person, I was like, oh,

0:53:42.770 --> 0:53:50.580
<v Speaker 1>she's beautiful. She's mad. But that completely derailed any other thought.

0:53:50.739 --> 0:53:53.220
<v Speaker 1>I was like, she's smart as fuck.

0:53:53.880 --> 0:53:58.359
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I had difficulty with the assumption that I was

0:53:58.900 --> 0:54:02.860
<v Speaker 2>not bright. I didn't understand why. And I just I

0:54:02.900 --> 0:54:06.200
<v Speaker 2>just didn't understand why. Because, I mean, like beautiful and

0:54:06.260 --> 0:54:09.760
<v Speaker 2>intelligent is honestly kind of dime a dozen in Toronto.

0:54:09.780 --> 0:54:13.219
<v Speaker 2>Like it was what I was accustomed to. And so

0:54:13.260 --> 0:54:15.260
<v Speaker 2>I just didn't understand why there was like this assumption

0:54:15.300 --> 0:54:18.469
<v Speaker 2>that I wasn't bright. And so I was fucking pissed off.

0:54:18.570 --> 0:54:23.010
<v Speaker 2>I was like, fucking excuse me. And so when Smooth

0:54:23.030 --> 0:54:25.830
<v Speaker 2>Magazine came along, like 2001-ish, 2002, something like that. And

0:54:26.250 --> 0:54:32.970
<v Speaker 2>they wanted to do this feature a sexual relationship column

0:54:33.090 --> 0:54:34.520
<v Speaker 2>and they were like yeah we want you to be

0:54:34.540 --> 0:54:36.680
<v Speaker 2>like the model for that you know like Maxim had

0:54:36.719 --> 0:54:39.620
<v Speaker 2>this ask Dr. Maxim and it was this hot chick

0:54:39.700 --> 0:54:42.900
<v Speaker 2>in a you know doctor's coat in a bikini and

0:54:42.940 --> 0:54:44.750
<v Speaker 2>they were they wanted me to be that and I

0:54:44.810 --> 0:54:47.870
<v Speaker 2>said great I said can I write it too and

0:54:47.890 --> 0:54:50.489
<v Speaker 2>they were like and I was like I can write

0:54:51.270 --> 0:54:55.509
<v Speaker 2>like very well actually And they were like, you can read.

0:54:55.570 --> 0:54:55.970
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:54:56.390 --> 0:54:57.799
<v Speaker 2>And so I don't think that they knew I could

0:54:57.820 --> 0:54:59.760
<v Speaker 2>do that. You know, wait, hold on.

0:55:00.940 --> 0:55:05.980
<v Speaker 3>Oh, she reads.

0:55:06.080 --> 0:55:08.490
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, so they were like, you want to write it?

0:55:08.540 --> 0:55:10.120
<v Speaker 2>I said, yes, I want to write it. I want

0:55:10.200 --> 0:55:11.819
<v Speaker 2>I had something to prove, you.

0:55:11.760 --> 0:55:13.040
<v Speaker 1>Know, and something to say.

0:55:13.120 --> 0:55:16.160
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And so then I wrote this article, you know,

0:55:16.300 --> 0:55:19.120
<v Speaker 2>for it. And I think it was about like multiple

0:55:19.200 --> 0:55:23.890
<v Speaker 2>orgasms or something like that. And when they read it,

0:55:24.430 --> 0:55:27.270
<v Speaker 2>they were like, Melissa, we have to edit this because

0:55:27.510 --> 0:55:29.370
<v Speaker 2>we're going to have to dumb this down a little bit.

0:55:29.450 --> 0:55:30.170
<v Speaker 4>I said, why?

0:55:30.190 --> 0:55:34.410
<v Speaker 2>He was like, because the average reader is not really

0:55:34.469 --> 0:55:40.160
<v Speaker 2>going to understand ubiquitous melancholy, you know, like this. And

0:55:40.239 --> 0:55:43.200
<v Speaker 2>I said, well, maybe it's their responsibility to rise to

0:55:43.239 --> 0:55:43.820
<v Speaker 2>the occasion.

0:55:43.860 --> 0:55:44.400
<v Speaker 4>God damn it.

0:55:44.660 --> 0:55:48.180
<v Speaker 1>They weren't trying to rise that way. They were not. Yeah.

0:55:49.180 --> 0:55:52.759
<v Speaker 2>They weren't yeah and so I would write these pieces

0:55:52.860 --> 0:55:54.900
<v Speaker 2>and then they'd go through an editing process and I

0:55:54.920 --> 0:55:56.799
<v Speaker 2>would just have to like you know just just just

0:55:57.150 --> 0:55:59.360
<v Speaker 2>just just push the bile down.

0:55:59.380 --> 0:56:01.759
<v Speaker 1>That's not how I said it. Exactly.

0:56:01.780 --> 0:56:06.640
<v Speaker 2>That just takes away the fucking attention. You're fucking with

0:56:06.660 --> 0:56:09.700
<v Speaker 2>my art. And so, but nobody paid attention to that.

0:56:09.719 --> 0:56:12.140
<v Speaker 2>They didn't believe I was the writer. So it backfired

0:56:12.180 --> 0:56:15.270
<v Speaker 2>on my fucking ass. But I was published.

0:56:15.690 --> 0:56:19.190
<v Speaker 1>But then later we did, you know, just skipping forward,

0:56:19.230 --> 0:56:24.030
<v Speaker 1>we did have those conversations where you were intentional about

0:56:24.800 --> 0:56:29.650
<v Speaker 1>Making sure people understood the mind, the mind of Melissa Ford. Yeah.

0:56:29.750 --> 0:56:32.830
<v Speaker 1>And then you start making moves. Yeah.

0:56:33.170 --> 0:56:38.600
<v Speaker 2>And that was it. So two things happening. One, I

0:56:39.239 --> 0:56:43.040
<v Speaker 2>knew that I had to come out from, you know,

0:56:44.580 --> 0:56:48.969
<v Speaker 2>being the silent movie star. And also, you gotta know

0:56:49.010 --> 0:56:52.590
<v Speaker 2>when to take the exit ramp. before you get retired.

0:56:52.610 --> 0:56:55.290
<v Speaker 2>You know what I'm saying? You have to know when

0:56:55.330 --> 0:56:58.549
<v Speaker 2>it's time to take the exit ramp and move on

0:56:58.590 --> 0:57:03.310
<v Speaker 2>to something else. And so around 2003 is when I

0:57:03.350 --> 0:57:07.700
<v Speaker 2>started to really solicit BET for opportunities to be a

0:57:07.719 --> 0:57:13.900
<v Speaker 2>television host. And Tigger was really instrumental in helping that happen,

0:57:13.940 --> 0:57:16.940
<v Speaker 2>you know, introducing me to Stephen Hill at the time

0:57:17.000 --> 0:57:19.900
<v Speaker 2>and Just kind of like getting me, you know, getting

0:57:19.980 --> 0:57:23.570
<v Speaker 2>people like acclimated to me and whatnot. And it worked.

0:57:23.730 --> 0:57:25.890
<v Speaker 2>You know, they they saw that I was a really

0:57:26.310 --> 0:57:29.450
<v Speaker 2>hard worker. They gave me opportunities, but they were like,

0:57:29.530 --> 0:57:33.820
<v Speaker 2>get yourself there. Like Daytona for spring.

0:57:33.910 --> 0:57:34.380
<v Speaker 1>You know it.

0:57:34.610 --> 0:57:36.980
<v Speaker 2>And I paid my way there. I brought my own

0:57:37.020 --> 0:57:39.560
<v Speaker 2>makeup artist. I got my own hotel. I showed up

0:57:39.820 --> 0:57:42.720
<v Speaker 2>ready to work like from morning till night. Like I

0:57:42.760 --> 0:57:45.440
<v Speaker 2>didn't complain whatsoever. They were like, oh, OK. All right.

0:57:45.520 --> 0:57:46.740
<v Speaker 4>She's she's serious.

0:57:47.190 --> 0:57:50.690
<v Speaker 2>And so 2004, I became one of the faces of BET.

0:57:50.710 --> 0:57:54.130
<v Speaker 2>It was me, Free, AJ, and Tig. Like there was

0:57:54.230 --> 0:57:55.770
<v Speaker 2>billboards of us and stuff like that.

0:57:55.790 --> 0:57:56.590
<v Speaker 4>That shit was lit.

0:57:56.670 --> 0:57:59.590
<v Speaker 2>So this was my way of like coming out from,

0:57:59.610 --> 0:58:03.150
<v Speaker 2>you know, being that silent movie star, showing people that,

0:58:03.170 --> 0:58:04.650
<v Speaker 2>you know, I could walk and talk and chew gum

0:58:04.670 --> 0:58:08.550
<v Speaker 2>at the same time. And then also me kind of understanding.

0:58:08.610 --> 0:58:12.410
<v Speaker 2>I'm like, so I really actually can use videos as

0:58:12.450 --> 0:58:14.910
<v Speaker 2>a stepping stone because that became like such a common phrase.

0:58:15.130 --> 0:58:16.890
<v Speaker 2>I'm just using this as a stepping stone.

0:58:17.390 --> 0:58:19.030
<v Speaker 1>And I... You actually did.

0:58:19.190 --> 0:58:21.170
<v Speaker 4>I actually did. I actually did it.

0:58:21.240 --> 0:58:24.660
<v Speaker 2>So so this is also kind of adding layer to,

0:58:25.240 --> 0:58:27.939
<v Speaker 2>you know, the the myth behind, you know, the myth

0:58:27.960 --> 0:58:30.460
<v Speaker 2>and like the the legend, if you will. You know,

0:58:30.520 --> 0:58:32.320
<v Speaker 2>this is this is how it was done. This is

0:58:32.380 --> 0:58:33.640
<v Speaker 2>the blueprint of it all.

0:58:42.250 --> 0:58:43.390
<v Speaker 1>You know, radio as well.

0:58:44.060 --> 0:58:49.060
<v Speaker 2>I did radio. When did that happen? Like 2007, I

0:58:49.120 --> 0:58:50.000
<v Speaker 2>ended up on Sirius.

0:58:50.580 --> 0:58:50.860
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:58:51.200 --> 0:58:52.960
<v Speaker 2>And that was because I wanted to take the visual

0:58:53.020 --> 0:58:55.990
<v Speaker 2>away from everybody. I wanted people to get used to

0:58:56.030 --> 0:58:59.110
<v Speaker 2>my voice, just my voice. I didn't want them to

0:58:59.150 --> 0:59:02.010
<v Speaker 2>be able to be distracted by the visual. I wanted

0:59:02.050 --> 0:59:06.170
<v Speaker 2>to be able to run interviews and show people that

0:59:06.230 --> 0:59:11.030
<v Speaker 2>I had that ability to not be the star. focus

0:59:11.110 --> 0:59:15.030
<v Speaker 2>on somebody else, you know, and run interviews and ask and,

0:59:15.160 --> 0:59:19.860
<v Speaker 2>you know, ask compelling questions and storytell, if you will.

0:59:20.180 --> 0:59:22.040
<v Speaker 4>And just, you know, just develop a new muscle.

0:59:22.060 --> 0:59:26.060
<v Speaker 2>I was just trying to create, develop like an arsenal

0:59:26.080 --> 0:59:30.340
<v Speaker 2>of of, you know, things that I could employ with

0:59:30.880 --> 0:59:39.510
<v Speaker 2>absolutely no, like, training. Like, no classical training in anything,

0:59:40.030 --> 0:59:41.890
<v Speaker 2>you know? I ain't going to broadcasting school.

0:59:41.910 --> 0:59:44.050
<v Speaker 1>Was there a North Star for you? Like, somebody that

0:59:44.070 --> 0:59:47.360
<v Speaker 1>you were looking to, to kind of... emulate that space.

0:59:47.420 --> 0:59:49.930
<v Speaker 2>I definitely had idols, like people that I thought were like,

0:59:49.970 --> 0:59:52.450
<v Speaker 2>you know, cream of the crop. I've always had this,

0:59:53.030 --> 0:59:55.430
<v Speaker 2>I've always had this, you know, if you're going to

0:59:55.470 --> 0:59:58.290
<v Speaker 2>get involved in a craft, study who the best is.

0:59:58.690 --> 1:00:01.870
<v Speaker 2>You better, you better study that craft, study who the

1:00:01.910 --> 1:00:05.450
<v Speaker 2>best is, but also study all the, the, the mechanisms

1:00:05.690 --> 1:00:08.780
<v Speaker 2>behind it as well, you know? And so when it

1:00:08.820 --> 1:00:12.940
<v Speaker 2>came to, you know, television broadcasting and then also radio, um,

1:00:13.320 --> 1:00:15.840
<v Speaker 2>There's just there's great, you know, in New York City,

1:00:16.000 --> 1:00:19.740
<v Speaker 2>Angie Martinez, like she is the voice of of New York.

1:00:20.220 --> 1:00:23.520
<v Speaker 2>She like Angie is like on my Mount Rushmore. She

1:00:23.580 --> 1:00:27.000
<v Speaker 2>just she she's so fire in so many different ways.

1:00:27.420 --> 1:00:30.840
<v Speaker 2>And one of those ways is just her kindness. You know,

1:00:31.120 --> 1:00:33.200
<v Speaker 2>she just she she doesn't want to be responsible for

1:00:33.240 --> 1:00:36.360
<v Speaker 2>crushing anybody's dreams. And she is a master. She is

1:00:36.540 --> 1:00:39.730
<v Speaker 2>masterful when it comes to interviewing people. and making them

1:00:39.770 --> 1:00:42.510
<v Speaker 2>feel really uncomfortable being vulnerable.

1:00:42.770 --> 1:00:44.070
<v Speaker 4>And that's, that is a gift.

1:00:44.710 --> 1:00:47.590
<v Speaker 2>And so obviously at the time, Oprah was the queen

1:00:47.610 --> 1:00:52.790
<v Speaker 2>of talk shows. So Oprah was like a, just, just

1:00:52.910 --> 1:00:57.300
<v Speaker 2>literally like watching masterclass every single day and just kind

1:00:57.320 --> 1:01:00.440
<v Speaker 2>of learning just her interview style and, you know, how

1:01:00.560 --> 1:01:03.440
<v Speaker 2>she would, you know, how she would interview certain guests,

1:01:03.540 --> 1:01:06.050
<v Speaker 2>press on the gas and, you know, ease up on it.

1:01:06.520 --> 1:01:10.460
<v Speaker 2>Howard Stern, even though I didn't like his content, he

1:01:10.640 --> 1:01:13.990
<v Speaker 2>was like top of the food chain. He was really

1:01:14.110 --> 1:01:17.870
<v Speaker 2>good at clickbait before we understood what clickbait was.

1:01:17.890 --> 1:01:19.050
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:01:19.210 --> 1:01:21.490
<v Speaker 2>So, you know, so these are some of the, these

1:01:21.530 --> 1:01:23.730
<v Speaker 2>are some of the people that like, I just kind

1:01:23.790 --> 1:01:28.550
<v Speaker 2>of studied, you know, and also, Anderson Cooper, Bill Curtis,

1:01:29.780 --> 1:01:35.880
<v Speaker 2>Christian Amanpour. These were like, yeah, like, you know, the

1:01:37.400 --> 1:01:40.730
<v Speaker 2>geek side of me. These were like my these were

1:01:40.770 --> 1:01:42.710
<v Speaker 2>my idols. These are the people that I looked up

1:01:42.770 --> 1:01:45.410
<v Speaker 2>to that I thought were like the just the greatest,

1:01:45.770 --> 1:01:46.050
<v Speaker 2>you know?

1:01:46.070 --> 1:01:51.210
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And. Going back to like, okay, your beauty got

1:01:51.230 --> 1:01:53.290
<v Speaker 1>you somewhere and then you end up here. Was that

1:01:53.410 --> 1:01:55.700
<v Speaker 1>always the goal in the beginning with you going to

1:01:55.740 --> 1:01:57.960
<v Speaker 1>school and paying your way through? Was it always in

1:01:58.000 --> 1:02:01.160
<v Speaker 1>this communication space? Yeah, what did you major in?

1:02:02.510 --> 1:02:03.130
<v Speaker 2>I'm not kidding.

1:02:03.190 --> 1:02:06.160
<v Speaker 4>I wanted to study serial killers.

1:02:06.660 --> 1:02:09.760
<v Speaker 2>My idol was John Douglas, the man who started the

1:02:09.800 --> 1:02:14.120
<v Speaker 2>behavioral science unit in Quantico, Virginia. OK, that was who

1:02:14.220 --> 1:02:18.020
<v Speaker 2>that's my idol. Like I, John Douglas, if there's a

1:02:18.060 --> 1:02:20.580
<v Speaker 2>chance that you're watching this, somebody send the fucking clip.

1:02:20.900 --> 1:02:23.100
<v Speaker 2>I love you and I really like to interview you,

1:02:23.360 --> 1:02:24.400
<v Speaker 2>but I also want to be your friend.

1:02:24.720 --> 1:02:24.840
<v Speaker 1>So.

1:02:26.150 --> 1:02:28.610
<v Speaker 2>I could talk about serial killers and like the depraved

1:02:28.670 --> 1:02:29.990
<v Speaker 2>mind all fucking day.

1:02:30.070 --> 1:02:30.930
<v Speaker 1>We're best friends now.

1:02:31.030 --> 1:02:34.220
<v Speaker 2>It's like my, it's my Superbowl. Okay. So I took

1:02:34.280 --> 1:02:38.580
<v Speaker 2>a massive left turn into entertainment or did I, you know,

1:02:38.620 --> 1:02:40.840
<v Speaker 2>cause there's quite, you know, a lot of people with

1:02:40.860 --> 1:02:45.060
<v Speaker 2>depraved minds and this, there's that.

1:02:45.080 --> 1:02:45.160
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:02:45.220 --> 1:02:48.950
<v Speaker 2>So, so yeah, no, what E didn't equal MC square

1:02:48.990 --> 1:02:54.470
<v Speaker 2>in this whole situation. This is just happenstance happenstance. But

1:02:54.510 --> 1:02:58.160
<v Speaker 2>I think that there was always an aspect. The fact

1:02:58.200 --> 1:03:01.780
<v Speaker 2>that I started reading really early and I really devoured

1:03:01.800 --> 1:03:06.360
<v Speaker 2>a lot of fictional work, I started to understand without

1:03:06.470 --> 1:03:10.610
<v Speaker 2>understanding the art of storytelling, you know? And one of

1:03:10.670 --> 1:03:12.330
<v Speaker 2>my favorite authors is Mitch Albom.

1:03:12.630 --> 1:03:15.030
<v Speaker 4>Who is just... He is the goat when it comes

1:03:15.250 --> 1:03:15.510
<v Speaker 4>to just.

1:03:19.320 --> 1:03:22.630
<v Speaker 2>Taking the human condition and the human experience and writing

1:03:22.690 --> 1:03:25.810
<v Speaker 2>a story that I don't care where you come from,

1:03:25.850 --> 1:03:28.910
<v Speaker 2>what race you are, what ethnicity, what nationality, or what

1:03:28.930 --> 1:03:33.430
<v Speaker 2>your belief system is, you will find yourself identifying with

1:03:33.450 --> 1:03:37.770
<v Speaker 2>the characters in his book. And so he's just, he's

1:03:37.850 --> 1:03:40.890
<v Speaker 2>one of my all-time favorite authors. Tuesdays with Maury for

1:03:40.910 --> 1:03:42.650
<v Speaker 2>Just One More Day, The Five People That You Meet

1:03:42.670 --> 1:03:45.640
<v Speaker 2>in Heaven. Like I've read these books several times. So

1:03:45.680 --> 1:03:48.400
<v Speaker 2>I go between reading John Douglas serial killer shit to

1:03:48.500 --> 1:03:50.580
<v Speaker 2>Mitch album, like it soothes the soul kind of thing,

1:03:50.600 --> 1:03:53.520
<v Speaker 2>you know? And so I guess while all this is happening,

1:03:53.540 --> 1:03:57.320
<v Speaker 2>I'm absorbing it all. And then just it's, I'm, I'm,

1:03:57.500 --> 1:04:00.180
<v Speaker 2>it's translating within me. And then it, and then it

1:04:00.220 --> 1:04:03.740
<v Speaker 2>comes out through my own specific way of storytelling. So

1:04:03.800 --> 1:04:07.790
<v Speaker 2>I think that I was always going to end up podcasting.

1:04:08.590 --> 1:04:09.830
<v Speaker 1>I was really early.

1:04:10.210 --> 1:04:11.210
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:04:11.270 --> 1:04:11.710
<v Speaker 1>Fairly.

1:04:11.730 --> 1:04:12.090
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:04:12.230 --> 1:04:15.270
<v Speaker 1>I mean, because, Obviously, over the last probably five years,

1:04:15.330 --> 1:04:17.230
<v Speaker 1>it's really turned.

1:04:16.610 --> 1:04:20.200
<v Speaker 2>Into a pandemic. It's a real occupation for people.

1:04:20.240 --> 1:04:22.600
<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean? But you were doing it

1:04:22.640 --> 1:04:23.620
<v Speaker 1>before it was that.

1:04:24.560 --> 1:04:25.340
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, 2016.

1:04:25.340 --> 1:04:25.920
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:04:25.920 --> 1:04:31.210
<v Speaker 2>2016 is when I started podcasting. Jason Lee and I,

1:04:31.660 --> 1:04:36.130
<v Speaker 2>he wanted to do a podcast, another vertical of Hollywood Unlocked.

1:04:36.210 --> 1:04:38.919
<v Speaker 2>He wanted to do a Hollywood Unlocked Uncensored podcast. And

1:04:39.260 --> 1:04:42.070
<v Speaker 2>I was over living in New York. I have done

1:04:42.110 --> 1:04:45.300
<v Speaker 2>the move between New York and L.A. four times. OK,

1:04:45.360 --> 1:04:47.040
<v Speaker 2>over the last 26 years. Yes.

1:04:47.060 --> 1:04:48.910
<v Speaker 4>Back and forth, back and forth. So I've spent about.

1:04:49.300 --> 1:04:52.410
<v Speaker 2>Collectively maybe about 13 years in LA and the rest

1:04:52.450 --> 1:04:55.150
<v Speaker 2>of those years I've spent in New York and so

1:04:55.170 --> 1:04:58.350
<v Speaker 2>I was just like all right I'm moving LA let's

1:04:58.390 --> 1:05:01.130
<v Speaker 2>do this and we we just kind of hit the

1:05:01.150 --> 1:05:03.150
<v Speaker 2>ground running you know we had.

1:05:03.190 --> 1:05:05.570
<v Speaker 4>It just it was a it was a really really

1:05:05.730 --> 1:05:06.810
<v Speaker 4>really really.

1:05:06.710 --> 1:05:13.070
<v Speaker 2>Good show great chemistry great guests great guests with great

1:05:13.190 --> 1:05:17.030
<v Speaker 2>stories I mean to this day you are you are

1:05:17.090 --> 1:05:22.850
<v Speaker 2>like top I want to say top two. Top two episodes.

1:05:23.750 --> 1:05:24.740
<v Speaker 2>You and Jennifer Lewis.

1:05:26.500 --> 1:05:28.060
<v Speaker 1>That's good company. That's great company.

1:05:28.180 --> 1:05:28.480
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:05:28.800 --> 1:05:29.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah.

1:05:29.700 --> 1:05:31.500
<v Speaker 4>You and Jennifer Lewis were my all time.

1:05:31.840 --> 1:05:32.220
<v Speaker 1>And I did.

1:05:32.300 --> 1:05:34.620
<v Speaker 4>I was there for four years. You two were my favorites.

1:05:35.420 --> 1:05:35.860
<v Speaker 2>Oh, wow.

1:05:36.260 --> 1:05:37.620
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah. I was.

1:05:38.100 --> 1:05:39.160
<v Speaker 4>Yo, your fucking story.

1:05:39.700 --> 1:05:40.970
<v Speaker 2>We're going to get in trouble. We're going to talk

1:05:40.990 --> 1:05:42.680
<v Speaker 2>about that shit. We're not going to talk about it.

1:05:42.710 --> 1:05:45.850
<v Speaker 2>But that shit was. I was crying because I'd never

1:05:45.910 --> 1:05:47.230
<v Speaker 2>heard it before. But anyways.

1:05:48.390 --> 1:05:48.570
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:05:48.590 --> 1:05:54.240
<v Speaker 2>So podcasting since. 2016 and just kind of like just

1:05:54.360 --> 1:05:58.630
<v Speaker 2>seeing the machinations, you know, like how it's how it's

1:05:58.710 --> 1:06:01.990
<v Speaker 2>done and how it grows and and that sort of thing.

1:06:02.190 --> 1:06:05.150
<v Speaker 2>And then feeling like I got to do my own

1:06:05.230 --> 1:06:08.840
<v Speaker 2>because there's just stuff I want to talk about. You know,

1:06:08.930 --> 1:06:11.680
<v Speaker 2>Barbara Walters is also kind of on my, you know,

1:06:11.920 --> 1:06:15.300
<v Speaker 2>my Mount Rushmore list. And she did this thing every

1:06:15.340 --> 1:06:18.600
<v Speaker 2>single year called the 10 most fascinating people.

1:06:18.320 --> 1:06:19.120
<v Speaker 4>Or something like that.

1:06:19.240 --> 1:06:19.459
<v Speaker 1>Right.

1:06:19.900 --> 1:06:21.620
<v Speaker 4>And they didn't always, they weren't always celebrities.

1:06:21.760 --> 1:06:24.390
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes they were just like philanthropists or just regular people

1:06:24.430 --> 1:06:28.550
<v Speaker 2>that did extraordinary things. And, and I wanted to do

1:06:28.590 --> 1:06:32.390
<v Speaker 2>that with my podcast. I wanted to interview people who

1:06:32.670 --> 1:06:36.350
<v Speaker 2>either existed on the fringe of society or did really,

1:06:36.430 --> 1:06:40.570
<v Speaker 2>really weird things professionally that you'd never heard of. And

1:06:40.670 --> 1:06:43.030
<v Speaker 2>now that you know, you can't unknow it kind of thing.

1:06:43.070 --> 1:06:45.530
<v Speaker 2>So it's like, I went from interviewing like a sex

1:06:45.570 --> 1:06:49.470
<v Speaker 2>trafficking recovery expert to a former porn star, Mr. Marcus,

1:06:49.750 --> 1:06:52.720
<v Speaker 2>to a death doula before anybody even knew.

1:06:52.540 --> 1:06:53.920
<v Speaker 4>What death doulas were.

1:06:55.200 --> 1:06:56.260
<v Speaker 2>You know what a birth doula is?

1:06:56.320 --> 1:06:56.580
<v Speaker 1>Yes.

1:06:56.800 --> 1:06:58.650
<v Speaker 2>Okay. It's the opposite. She helps you go out.

1:06:59.410 --> 1:06:59.810
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Yeah.

1:07:00.160 --> 1:07:01.400
<v Speaker 4>She sets the stage.

1:07:01.840 --> 1:07:06.460
<v Speaker 2>If you are lucky enough to die by way of

1:07:07.100 --> 1:07:10.540
<v Speaker 2>old age or, you know, you know when it's happening,

1:07:10.560 --> 1:07:14.160
<v Speaker 2>you're terminal. And so you can plan what your death

1:07:14.260 --> 1:07:17.000
<v Speaker 2>scene is going to look like. If you're fortunate enough

1:07:17.020 --> 1:07:19.750
<v Speaker 2>to have that, she helps you plan the death scene.

1:07:20.010 --> 1:07:22.190
<v Speaker 2>And so maybe you want to be at a lakefront

1:07:22.690 --> 1:07:26.030
<v Speaker 2>cottage and you want these family members and friends. She

1:07:26.070 --> 1:07:29.900
<v Speaker 2>helps facilitate the energy there. And makes everybody understand, like,

1:07:30.160 --> 1:07:32.940
<v Speaker 2>you can have time with them, but you have to

1:07:32.960 --> 1:07:36.820
<v Speaker 2>honor that everybody else needs time because... you know, you

1:07:36.860 --> 1:07:39.130
<v Speaker 2>may miss this person, but they're losing everybody.

1:07:39.150 --> 1:07:41.580
<v Speaker 1>So do you hit them with, gotta go?

1:07:41.630 --> 1:07:49.910
<v Speaker 2>All right, wrap it up, motherfucker. Wrap it up. But yeah,

1:07:49.930 --> 1:07:52.850
<v Speaker 2>so her name was Elua Arthur and she came along

1:07:52.970 --> 1:07:55.870
<v Speaker 2>at the perfect time for me because I was going

1:07:55.890 --> 1:07:57.930
<v Speaker 2>through my own set of like, you know, sense of

1:07:58.070 --> 1:08:01.020
<v Speaker 2>mental anguish because my mom was terminal. She hadn't passed

1:08:01.040 --> 1:08:03.540
<v Speaker 2>away just yet. But, you know, there was a part

1:08:03.580 --> 1:08:05.840
<v Speaker 2>of me that was not accepting it. And then there

1:08:05.880 --> 1:08:07.980
<v Speaker 2>was a part of me that was like just already

1:08:08.040 --> 1:08:12.070
<v Speaker 2>grieving and I was a fucking mess. And she, she

1:08:12.130 --> 1:08:14.810
<v Speaker 2>really was like a form of therapy for me. And

1:08:14.890 --> 1:08:18.610
<v Speaker 2>so I like to have episodes with and feature people

1:08:18.670 --> 1:08:24.210
<v Speaker 2>like that where other, where people who watched it, maybe answers,

1:08:24.330 --> 1:08:26.950
<v Speaker 2>you know, they, they got answers from questions that they

1:08:27.010 --> 1:08:29.630
<v Speaker 2>didn't even know that they needed posed. You know, it

1:08:29.650 --> 1:08:32.150
<v Speaker 2>was my, it was my least watched episode because I mean,

1:08:32.170 --> 1:08:34.309
<v Speaker 2>when you're doing an episode on death, people are like,

1:08:34.370 --> 1:08:35.639
<v Speaker 2>oh yeah, fuck that.

1:08:35.800 --> 1:08:36.690
<v Speaker 4>They don't want to feel that.

1:08:37.260 --> 1:08:41.740
<v Speaker 2>But the people who watched it wrote dissertations as the

1:08:41.760 --> 1:08:45.000
<v Speaker 2>comments because it had touched them so much because they

1:08:45.060 --> 1:08:48.479
<v Speaker 2>saw themselves in this episode and because it just it

1:08:48.620 --> 1:08:51.730
<v Speaker 2>answered questions for them, you know, and so I was

1:08:51.930 --> 1:08:55.390
<v Speaker 2>really proud of this podcast. I called it I'm here

1:08:55.430 --> 1:08:57.530
<v Speaker 2>for the food. The title is loosely based on my

1:08:57.570 --> 1:09:03.580
<v Speaker 2>dating life. But you're just going to skate over that one.

1:09:03.600 --> 1:09:11.100
<v Speaker 1>No, I mean, listen. We're not. Because I think on

1:09:11.180 --> 1:09:14.040
<v Speaker 1>both sides of that, the man and the woman side

1:09:14.060 --> 1:09:17.540
<v Speaker 1>of that, sometimes you have to realize that, hey, we

1:09:17.580 --> 1:09:23.150
<v Speaker 1>just came to eat. I mean, sometimes, yeah. Enjoy that.

1:09:24.340 --> 1:09:26.280
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes you don't enjoy who you're eating with.

1:09:26.360 --> 1:09:26.700
<v Speaker 2>That's a fact.

1:09:26.780 --> 1:09:29.420
<v Speaker 1>Right? So sometimes you just came for the food. Hopefully

1:09:29.439 --> 1:09:30.200
<v Speaker 1>the food is good.

1:09:30.560 --> 1:09:33.900
<v Speaker 2>You ain't good, but this food is good.

1:09:34.140 --> 1:09:35.380
<v Speaker 1>You know what I'm saying?

1:09:35.460 --> 1:09:36.380
<v Speaker 2>That is a fact.

1:09:36.400 --> 1:09:39.990
<v Speaker 1>That is something that is real in a dating world.

1:09:40.050 --> 1:09:40.750
<v Speaker 2>It is great.

1:09:40.970 --> 1:09:43.090
<v Speaker 1>You don't have a chance, but this food is getting in.

1:09:43.210 --> 1:09:45.470
<v Speaker 2>That's right. Oh, and I'm getting a to-go bag.

1:09:45.510 --> 1:09:47.010
<v Speaker 1>I'm getting a to-go bag. Oh, yeah.

1:09:47.450 --> 1:09:49.530
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to get lunch out of this tomorrow.

1:09:49.550 --> 1:09:55.270
<v Speaker 1>From the podcast standpoint, right? Mm hmm. Do you enjoy

1:09:55.330 --> 1:09:56.850
<v Speaker 1>more because you've done both?

1:09:57.030 --> 1:09:57.340
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:09:57.410 --> 1:09:59.780
<v Speaker 1>And all things like do you like to do it,

1:10:00.080 --> 1:10:02.640
<v Speaker 1>you know, singular by yourself or do you like the

1:10:02.740 --> 1:10:06.200
<v Speaker 1>ensemble cast thing? Like, yeah, there's a different.

1:10:06.400 --> 1:10:09.280
<v Speaker 2>That's an excellent question. That is a fucking excellent question.

1:10:09.390 --> 1:10:11.530
<v Speaker 2>Let me tell you something. Podcasting on your own is

1:10:11.650 --> 1:10:17.269
<v Speaker 2>fucking hard. It's hard. It is so difficult because, first

1:10:17.300 --> 1:10:21.160
<v Speaker 2>of all, you are very reliant on guests. Not all

1:10:21.180 --> 1:10:24.300
<v Speaker 2>of us are like, you know, Candace Owens, who can

1:10:24.520 --> 1:10:27.760
<v Speaker 2>just talk and talk and talk. Granted, she got a teleprompter,

1:10:28.120 --> 1:10:29.820
<v Speaker 2>and this is no way, shape, or form was props.

1:10:30.200 --> 1:10:35.050
<v Speaker 2>But it takes a certain kind of personality to be like, yeah,

1:10:35.229 --> 1:10:37.849
<v Speaker 2>I'm it. I'm just going to do this on my own.

1:10:38.990 --> 1:10:43.849
<v Speaker 2>Because you are heavily reliant on guests. or your ability

1:10:43.950 --> 1:10:48.630
<v Speaker 2>to be just loquacious all the fucking time. With co-hosts

1:10:48.850 --> 1:10:53.880
<v Speaker 2>and ensemble casts, yeah, the pressure is a lot lighter,

1:10:54.100 --> 1:10:55.900
<v Speaker 2>you know, because sometimes you could just have an episode

1:10:55.939 --> 1:10:58.559
<v Speaker 2>just with your co-host and you just banter back and forth.

1:10:58.900 --> 1:11:00.960
<v Speaker 2>And sometimes the audience likes that even more than.

1:11:00.880 --> 1:11:01.680
<v Speaker 4>When you have a guest.

1:11:02.880 --> 1:11:06.080
<v Speaker 2>But the problem is, if shit gets wonky between the

1:11:06.120 --> 1:11:07.360
<v Speaker 2>co-hosts and stuff like.

1:11:07.260 --> 1:11:09.960
<v Speaker 4>That, then you Yeah.

1:11:10.140 --> 1:11:15.540
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. That's that's when that's when it gets real fucking complicated,

1:11:15.620 --> 1:11:19.010
<v Speaker 2>you know, for whatever reason. Things get things get wonky

1:11:19.650 --> 1:11:23.270
<v Speaker 2>and then, you know, shit gets leveraged. And then the

1:11:23.990 --> 1:11:26.410
<v Speaker 2>the the show that people have come to rely on

1:11:26.770 --> 1:11:30.760
<v Speaker 2>and the chemistry they've come to rely on. Now it's fractured.

1:11:31.120 --> 1:11:32.920
<v Speaker 2>And now what are you going to do? You know,

1:11:33.300 --> 1:11:35.540
<v Speaker 2>it gets really complicated. As a matter of fact, like.

1:11:35.979 --> 1:11:38.470
<v Speaker 2>on Hollywood Unlocked Uncensored, we went through that. You know,

1:11:38.490 --> 1:11:42.010
<v Speaker 2>the first co-host that we had kind of flamed out

1:11:42.250 --> 1:11:44.679
<v Speaker 2>in the first, you know, within like the first six

1:11:44.720 --> 1:11:48.900
<v Speaker 2>to eight episodes, maybe even less. And so I, my

1:11:48.939 --> 1:11:52.930
<v Speaker 2>suggestion was let's do a rotating chair. You know, we

1:11:52.950 --> 1:11:55.570
<v Speaker 2>want to get this person who comes into this third

1:11:55.630 --> 1:11:59.370
<v Speaker 2>chair to earn it. And also, let's get the audience

1:11:59.510 --> 1:12:00.990
<v Speaker 2>to participate in the decision.

1:12:01.070 --> 1:12:02.530
<v Speaker 4>Like, who do they like for us?

1:12:02.729 --> 1:12:05.380
<v Speaker 2>Who do they like, you know, how we interact with

1:12:05.500 --> 1:12:11.020
<v Speaker 2>one another? And that ended up being extremely successful. You know,

1:12:11.120 --> 1:12:14.460
<v Speaker 2>so I would say that I like it both ways.

1:12:14.840 --> 1:12:19.380
<v Speaker 2>When it's just me, I know I'm relying on myself.

1:12:20.020 --> 1:12:25.160
<v Speaker 2>And I'm going to show up for myself. But, man,

1:12:25.280 --> 1:12:28.250
<v Speaker 2>when you have the right co-host, it's magic.

1:12:28.330 --> 1:12:28.490
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:12:28.770 --> 1:12:29.309
<v Speaker 2>It really is.

1:12:29.470 --> 1:12:30.810
<v Speaker 4>It really is magic.

1:12:30.850 --> 1:12:31.330
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:12:31.570 --> 1:12:33.929
<v Speaker 4>It's magic and it's fun and work doesn't feel like work.

1:12:34.300 --> 1:12:37.720
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely. Yeah. He's pretty good. He's really good.

1:12:38.180 --> 1:12:39.059
<v Speaker 2>You guys got a.

1:12:39.040 --> 1:12:40.340
<v Speaker 4>Really cute thing going here.

1:12:40.380 --> 1:12:46.350
<v Speaker 2>He's pretty dumb, what he does.

1:12:46.490 --> 1:12:50.300
<v Speaker 1>I like him. That's got a really cute thing. I know.

1:12:50.340 --> 1:12:53.000
<v Speaker 1>Thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:12:53.120 --> 1:12:55.559
<v Speaker 2>So, but with I'm Here for the Food, it hit

1:12:55.580 --> 1:12:59.400
<v Speaker 2>the ground running and then... My mom was diagnosed with

1:12:59.420 --> 1:13:02.140
<v Speaker 2>cancer and then pandemic hit and the fucking world just

1:13:02.180 --> 1:13:05.180
<v Speaker 2>went fucking crazy. And then my mom passed away and

1:13:05.340 --> 1:13:07.820
<v Speaker 2>I was like, yep, can't do this. I need I

1:13:07.860 --> 1:13:10.020
<v Speaker 2>need a break to lose my mind for a while.

1:13:10.600 --> 1:13:15.120
<v Speaker 2>And so I put it on hold indefinitely, whatever that meant.

1:13:15.180 --> 1:13:16.820
<v Speaker 2>I just I didn't know if I was I felt

1:13:16.860 --> 1:13:18.280
<v Speaker 2>like there's going to be a point in time at

1:13:18.360 --> 1:13:20.200
<v Speaker 2>which I pick it back up. I just don't know

1:13:20.240 --> 1:13:22.340
<v Speaker 2>when and I just don't know what the circumstances were.

1:13:22.640 --> 1:13:24.700
<v Speaker 2>So I had to go through hell for a little while.

1:13:25.120 --> 1:13:28.420
<v Speaker 2>And hell looked like the intersection of grief and perimenopause.

1:13:29.460 --> 1:13:30.400
<v Speaker 3>Fuck.

1:13:30.620 --> 1:13:31.650
<v Speaker 1>It was hot. Yeah.

1:13:32.189 --> 1:13:37.170
<v Speaker 2>Hence the name Hot Modern. That was hot.

1:13:40.300 --> 1:13:41.540
<v Speaker 1>I don't know. I was.

1:13:41.600 --> 1:13:43.660
<v Speaker 2>I was practically drowning in sweat when I go to

1:13:43.700 --> 1:13:47.139
<v Speaker 2>sleep every night. It was fucked up. Okay. It was horrible.

1:13:47.260 --> 1:13:50.540
<v Speaker 2>So bad. Yeah, I know. So when I finally bring

1:13:50.560 --> 1:13:53.750
<v Speaker 2>it back in November of 2024, it's a new iteration

1:13:53.810 --> 1:13:56.710
<v Speaker 2>of I'm here for the food. I've grown a lot,

1:13:56.950 --> 1:14:01.769
<v Speaker 2>like quantum leaps in terms of you know, just everything

1:14:01.810 --> 1:14:04.370
<v Speaker 2>that I've learned, like your mom dies, it cracks your

1:14:04.390 --> 1:14:07.110
<v Speaker 2>whole soul open and just alters the course of your life.

1:14:07.750 --> 1:14:11.929
<v Speaker 2>And so just, I, first of all, the main tent

1:14:11.970 --> 1:14:14.410
<v Speaker 2>pole is women's sexual health and wellness. I was just like,

1:14:14.450 --> 1:14:17.150
<v Speaker 2>I'm Gen X. I'm going through perimenopause. I'm fucking angry.

1:14:17.210 --> 1:14:20.460
<v Speaker 2>I'm enraged by everything. So I'm going to talk about it.

1:14:20.930 --> 1:14:22.770
<v Speaker 2>And women are going to feel this. And so there's

1:14:22.810 --> 1:14:27.479
<v Speaker 2>that mental health, obviously, because I've really gone through living

1:14:27.689 --> 1:14:30.790
<v Speaker 2>hell with my grief. And I know that that's something

1:14:30.830 --> 1:14:33.650
<v Speaker 2>that just affects all of us, no matter male, female,

1:14:33.710 --> 1:14:36.850
<v Speaker 2>no matter who you are. Mental health is something that

1:14:36.870 --> 1:14:39.979
<v Speaker 2>affects all of us. And then also, I found myself

1:14:40.520 --> 1:14:48.280
<v Speaker 2>really confused by the fact that I was enjoying aging more.

1:14:48.950 --> 1:14:49.630
<v Speaker 2>I was like, wait a minute.

1:14:49.950 --> 1:14:50.850
<v Speaker 1>That was confusing to you?

1:14:51.070 --> 1:14:53.490
<v Speaker 2>No, society tells women we're not supposed to.

1:14:53.510 --> 1:14:56.260
<v Speaker 1>I think society tells everyone.

1:14:56.320 --> 1:14:58.979
<v Speaker 2>No, no, no, no, no. Y'all get salt and pepper.

1:14:59.000 --> 1:15:01.920
<v Speaker 2>We get gray. Y'all get character lines. We get fucking wrinkles.

1:15:01.960 --> 1:15:03.510
<v Speaker 2>Y'all get distinguished. We get old.

1:15:03.670 --> 1:15:03.930
<v Speaker 1>No, no.

1:15:04.510 --> 1:15:06.969
<v Speaker 2>Society does not tell us the same fucking thing.

1:15:07.250 --> 1:15:09.470
<v Speaker 1>I'm telling you. I don't think these old niggas is

1:15:09.510 --> 1:15:11.910
<v Speaker 1>distinguished at all. Oh, no, I'm here.

1:15:11.790 --> 1:15:14.380
<v Speaker 2>To tell you there is very few distinguished niggas.

1:15:14.400 --> 1:15:15.939
<v Speaker 1>These niggas ain't distinguished.

1:15:16.000 --> 1:15:17.840
<v Speaker 2>Very few. They think they are.

1:15:17.880 --> 1:15:20.840
<v Speaker 1>Take that cardigan off.

1:15:21.939 --> 1:15:22.840
<v Speaker 2>Very few, but.

1:15:22.860 --> 1:15:25.410
<v Speaker 1>Niggas think they dead fresh.

1:15:26.050 --> 1:15:30.740
<v Speaker 2>But, seriously, you're not George Clooney. Fuck you. But, I

1:15:30.760 --> 1:15:34.580
<v Speaker 2>just found myself like, I really don't hate what's happening.

1:15:35.100 --> 1:15:38.479
<v Speaker 2>And I was so confused by it because you're told

1:15:38.780 --> 1:15:40.479
<v Speaker 2>you're supposed to hate it. You're supposed to fight it

1:15:40.520 --> 1:15:43.770
<v Speaker 2>with every ounce of your being and every last breath

1:15:43.810 --> 1:15:46.120
<v Speaker 2>in your body. And I was like, now I'm sinking

1:15:46.200 --> 1:15:50.270
<v Speaker 2>deeper into the fucking bath of unapologeticness. Nah, fuck that.

1:15:50.410 --> 1:15:52.950
<v Speaker 2>I love it here. I love it here. Oh, I

1:15:52.970 --> 1:15:55.269
<v Speaker 2>got a little roll underneath my fucking boobs. Oh, well,

1:15:55.310 --> 1:15:55.730
<v Speaker 2>it's a shelf.

1:15:56.360 --> 1:15:57.840
<v Speaker 1>I don't give a fuck.

1:15:58.220 --> 1:16:00.100
<v Speaker 2>You put snacks on it.

1:16:00.150 --> 1:16:00.939
<v Speaker 1>Yes, I do.

1:16:01.350 --> 1:16:02.479
<v Speaker 3>I do. I do.

1:16:02.510 --> 1:16:05.189
<v Speaker 2>I'm like, let me just rest this little Tootsie Roll

1:16:05.229 --> 1:16:06.130
<v Speaker 2>right here.

1:16:06.210 --> 1:16:08.470
<v Speaker 1>Why was I about to say Tootsie Roll? I figured

1:16:08.490 --> 1:16:09.110
<v Speaker 1>that was there.

1:16:09.130 --> 1:16:10.410
<v Speaker 2>I'm just going to lift this up. I'm going to

1:16:10.430 --> 1:16:12.210
<v Speaker 2>put that right there. And I'm going to get it later.

1:16:12.229 --> 1:16:14.110
<v Speaker 1>Is it a flavored Tootsie Roll? I'm going to get

1:16:14.150 --> 1:16:16.710
<v Speaker 1>it later. It's wild. Because you got to let it

1:16:16.729 --> 1:16:19.090
<v Speaker 1>get warm and soft. Right. That's like being at church.

1:16:19.110 --> 1:16:22.460
<v Speaker 1>Because she all asked for the candy. What you got?

1:16:22.680 --> 1:16:24.260
<v Speaker 1>It's soggy. Got a little.

1:16:24.000 --> 1:16:26.750
<v Speaker 2>Swedish fish and that shit is that. That's gummy now.

1:16:26.760 --> 1:16:28.460
<v Speaker 1>A lot of it is still on the wrapper. And

1:16:28.600 --> 1:16:31.680
<v Speaker 1>it's always warm. You got to bite the wrapper a

1:16:31.700 --> 1:16:34.650
<v Speaker 1>little bit. Man, shit.

1:16:34.689 --> 1:16:35.229
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

1:16:35.430 --> 1:16:38.009
<v Speaker 2>No, but it's just like I found myself just really

1:16:38.070 --> 1:16:40.370
<v Speaker 2>like enjoying this process. I was like, I got to

1:16:40.430 --> 1:16:43.890
<v Speaker 2>call this something. And I said, I'm a pro-aging advocate.

1:16:44.420 --> 1:16:48.439
<v Speaker 1>Hmm. Aging advocate. Pro-aging advocate.

1:16:48.470 --> 1:16:50.510
<v Speaker 2>A pro-aging, because I found that there were so many

1:16:50.550 --> 1:16:54.599
<v Speaker 2>women like me, but it wasn't being broadcast just yet.

1:16:54.630 --> 1:16:57.510
<v Speaker 2>It wasn't being taught. It was being talked amongst our group.

1:16:57.930 --> 1:16:58.810
<v Speaker 2>But to me.

1:16:58.830 --> 1:16:59.870
<v Speaker 1>It wasn't being advocated.

1:17:00.189 --> 1:17:02.210
<v Speaker 2>Here's the thing. To me, it was an act of rebellion.

1:17:04.580 --> 1:17:11.200
<v Speaker 2>It was an act of rebellion. It was defiant. And yeah,

1:17:11.520 --> 1:17:11.969
<v Speaker 2>I like it.

1:17:12.580 --> 1:17:15.810
<v Speaker 1>But it's freedom for those who are now able to

1:17:18.000 --> 1:17:21.330
<v Speaker 1>have the conversation or enjoy the conversation because you're standing

1:17:21.370 --> 1:17:21.880
<v Speaker 1>in front of it.

1:17:22.030 --> 1:17:22.389
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:17:22.650 --> 1:17:22.929
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:17:23.030 --> 1:17:25.370
<v Speaker 2>And you know, when you are, when you are the

1:17:25.490 --> 1:17:27.830
<v Speaker 2>pioneer of something and I know something about being a

1:17:27.850 --> 1:17:31.010
<v Speaker 2>pioneer of a lot of shit, boy, you're, you're the

1:17:31.050 --> 1:17:33.799
<v Speaker 2>frontline soldier. So you get a lot of fucking shit

1:17:34.189 --> 1:17:37.059
<v Speaker 2>thrown at you and whatnot. And you know, people are like,

1:17:37.100 --> 1:17:39.380
<v Speaker 2>why are you always talking about being single and having

1:17:39.439 --> 1:17:41.540
<v Speaker 2>no kids and never being married? I'm like, because it's

1:17:41.600 --> 1:17:44.780
<v Speaker 2>revolutionary to talk about this as a woman, you were,

1:17:45.020 --> 1:17:49.600
<v Speaker 2>you were relegated to, uh, you know, a shack in

1:17:49.620 --> 1:17:51.809
<v Speaker 2>the woods with a bunch of fucking cats and shut

1:17:51.850 --> 1:17:53.600
<v Speaker 2>the fuck up. You know what I mean? Like, you know,

1:17:53.620 --> 1:17:56.250
<v Speaker 2>just be silent and go off into the quietly off

1:17:56.270 --> 1:17:58.330
<v Speaker 2>into the nights kind of thing. But when you see

1:17:58.410 --> 1:18:04.010
<v Speaker 2>women like Regina Hall and Tracy Ellis Ross and Dolly Parton,

1:18:04.189 --> 1:18:06.450
<v Speaker 2>she got married, but she never had children. Like there's

1:18:06.590 --> 1:18:10.330
<v Speaker 2>just so many women who nurture the world in a,

1:18:10.490 --> 1:18:14.150
<v Speaker 2>in a much different way with a greater love, a great,

1:18:14.410 --> 1:18:18.300
<v Speaker 2>a more expansive, uh, sense of freedom to do that

1:18:18.800 --> 1:18:23.599
<v Speaker 2>because of those life choices. You know, it is refreshing

1:18:23.680 --> 1:18:26.080
<v Speaker 2>to hear. And, you know, for those of you whose

1:18:26.240 --> 1:18:28.800
<v Speaker 2>ears are delicate and you find it offensive, then just

1:18:28.960 --> 1:18:31.660
<v Speaker 2>turn the dial down. I'm not, we're not talking to you,

1:18:32.000 --> 1:18:34.700
<v Speaker 2>but there are people that we are talking to, you know,

1:18:34.740 --> 1:18:39.280
<v Speaker 2>and they need to hear this because shit. I mean,

1:18:39.300 --> 1:18:43.439
<v Speaker 2>if I got married at the age where you're supposed

1:18:43.479 --> 1:18:47.280
<v Speaker 2>to get married, my picker was fucking terrible. My picker

1:18:47.340 --> 1:18:48.420
<v Speaker 2>was terrible.

1:18:48.439 --> 1:18:52.300
<v Speaker 1>You didn't? You didn't? No. You couldn't see him?

1:18:52.360 --> 1:19:04.309
<v Speaker 2>Hormones blinded me, okay? That's what makes us procreate with y'all. Y'all, y'all,

1:19:05.540 --> 1:19:08.880
<v Speaker 2>we are representing groups here. No, I mean, my picker

1:19:08.900 --> 1:19:11.320
<v Speaker 2>in my 20s and 30s was terrible, but I think

1:19:11.460 --> 1:19:12.180
<v Speaker 2>everybody's is.

1:19:12.200 --> 1:19:14.200
<v Speaker 4>What the fuck do we know about ourselves?

1:19:14.340 --> 1:19:17.519
<v Speaker 2>We don't know shit about ourselves. We don't know shit

1:19:17.560 --> 1:19:20.380
<v Speaker 2>about ourselves. The things I know about myself now, if

1:19:20.500 --> 1:19:23.130
<v Speaker 2>I could apply that to my 20-year-old self or 30-year-old self,

1:19:23.370 --> 1:19:26.269
<v Speaker 2>then yeah, I probably would make better decisions.

1:19:26.729 --> 1:19:28.530
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but it doesn't, it just doesn't get you here.

1:19:29.210 --> 1:19:30.130
<v Speaker 4>It doesn't get you there.

1:19:30.170 --> 1:19:32.330
<v Speaker 1>It doesn't get you. And every path is different. Yeah.

1:19:32.350 --> 1:19:34.190
<v Speaker 1>Because on the other side of that, there are certain

1:19:34.210 --> 1:19:36.350
<v Speaker 1>people who they got there earlier.

1:19:36.590 --> 1:19:36.850
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:19:37.410 --> 1:19:38.270
<v Speaker 1>Or they feel they did. Yeah.

1:19:38.290 --> 1:19:38.850
<v Speaker 2>You know what I mean?

1:19:38.870 --> 1:19:41.350
<v Speaker 1>So they made those decisions differently. You know what I mean?

1:19:41.439 --> 1:19:43.880
<v Speaker 1>So I'm one of those people that looks at things

1:19:44.260 --> 1:19:47.860
<v Speaker 1>as there's more than one way. Yeah. You know, there's

1:19:47.900 --> 1:19:50.860
<v Speaker 1>more than one way and it doesn't bother me at

1:19:50.979 --> 1:19:53.900
<v Speaker 1>all when I speak to an advocate for either side

1:19:53.979 --> 1:19:55.439
<v Speaker 1>of it. You know what I mean? I'm just like, oh,

1:19:55.560 --> 1:19:56.519
<v Speaker 1>I understand. I hear you.

1:19:56.620 --> 1:19:57.160
<v Speaker 3>You know what I mean?

1:19:57.240 --> 1:20:01.900
<v Speaker 1>So, and I'm, I commend you for standing on what

1:20:01.939 --> 1:20:03.939
<v Speaker 1>you stand on. You know what I mean? And I'm

1:20:04.000 --> 1:20:07.420
<v Speaker 1>very respectful of that because I just think that we're

1:20:07.439 --> 1:20:09.660
<v Speaker 1>not going to all do this life the same. Yeah.

1:20:09.720 --> 1:20:11.000
<v Speaker 1>We're just not. You know what I mean?

1:20:19.770 --> 1:20:26.219
<v Speaker 2>When I see marriages where... where the couple are clearly friends.

1:20:26.760 --> 1:20:30.400
<v Speaker 2>Clearly friends. Like, they like each other. They are buddies.

1:20:31.040 --> 1:20:33.360
<v Speaker 2>They don't just love each other. They haven't decided just

1:20:33.400 --> 1:20:35.570
<v Speaker 2>to do this thing called life with each other and

1:20:35.710 --> 1:20:39.110
<v Speaker 2>create progeny and whatever else. They really like each other.

1:20:39.130 --> 1:20:39.689
<v Speaker 1>No, like is different.

1:20:39.990 --> 1:20:42.070
<v Speaker 2>Like is what they put you together.

1:20:42.270 --> 1:20:46.059
<v Speaker 1>It's more powerful. Not even more powerful. More important.

1:20:46.070 --> 1:20:47.839
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's what I mean. More important.

1:20:47.920 --> 1:20:48.840
<v Speaker 1>To me, I'm like.

1:20:49.760 --> 1:20:51.040
<v Speaker 4>Because love can quickly turn to hate.

1:20:51.890 --> 1:20:55.670
<v Speaker 1>And love can, so love is I'll show up to

1:20:55.710 --> 1:20:59.170
<v Speaker 1>your funeral, but I might not show up to your birthday.

1:21:00.800 --> 1:21:02.979
<v Speaker 1>Like is I'm going to show up to both. Cause

1:21:03.000 --> 1:21:04.900
<v Speaker 1>I like the person you are. Yeah. I want to

1:21:04.920 --> 1:21:07.880
<v Speaker 1>be around you. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Everybody

1:21:07.920 --> 1:21:09.540
<v Speaker 1>might say, oh yeah, you know, I got to go

1:21:09.580 --> 1:21:10.060
<v Speaker 1>to the funeral.

1:21:10.200 --> 1:21:10.460
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:21:10.580 --> 1:21:12.280
<v Speaker 1>You don't got to go to the birthday party. Yeah.

1:21:12.580 --> 1:21:15.190
<v Speaker 1>You don't got to celebrate people in that way when

1:21:15.229 --> 1:21:16.950
<v Speaker 1>they can still have a conversation with you. You got

1:21:16.970 --> 1:21:18.670
<v Speaker 1>to like people to be in that. So to be

1:21:18.689 --> 1:21:22.120
<v Speaker 1>in relationships, I always believe that like is actually more

1:21:22.160 --> 1:21:23.140
<v Speaker 1>important than love to me.

1:21:23.360 --> 1:21:26.190
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And it, and I didn't get that memo really

1:21:26.270 --> 1:21:28.849
<v Speaker 2>early on. I didn't, you know, I mean like, you know,

1:21:28.910 --> 1:21:31.110
<v Speaker 2>I mean, first of all, look at the, look at

1:21:31.250 --> 1:21:34.990
<v Speaker 2>the fucking, the floodgates were open just in terms of

1:21:35.229 --> 1:21:38.810
<v Speaker 2>who was trying to get at me analysis paralysis much.

1:21:38.850 --> 1:21:40.710
<v Speaker 2>You know what I'm saying? Like what the fuck, how

1:21:40.750 --> 1:21:45.729
<v Speaker 2>was I supposed to make a decision? It was my God. Um,

1:21:45.990 --> 1:21:48.760
<v Speaker 2>and it was like every walk of life, you know, it's, it's,

1:21:50.330 --> 1:21:53.519
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I went based off of, I mean, he

1:21:53.660 --> 1:21:57.219
<v Speaker 2>fine as fuck and like that kind of thing. I'm pretty,

1:21:57.280 --> 1:22:00.150
<v Speaker 2>he's fine. We look good together. And like, you know, like.

1:22:00.090 --> 1:22:00.769
<v Speaker 1>It should work.

1:22:01.010 --> 1:22:05.510
<v Speaker 2>It should work. You know, the chemistry, the chemistry was

1:22:05.650 --> 1:22:09.520
<v Speaker 2>off the charts and stuff like that. But, That's not relationships.

1:22:09.560 --> 1:22:13.200
<v Speaker 2>Relationships are, like, it's the banal moments that if you

1:22:13.240 --> 1:22:16.660
<v Speaker 2>survive those with each other and survive it with, like,

1:22:16.960 --> 1:22:20.780
<v Speaker 2>you know, levity, you're going the fucking distance, you know?

1:22:20.800 --> 1:22:23.240
<v Speaker 1>And it's hard to prep. It's hard to prep for

1:22:23.260 --> 1:22:23.780
<v Speaker 1>what's coming.

1:22:24.000 --> 1:22:26.850
<v Speaker 2>Are we ever, are we even prepped? How many of

1:22:26.950 --> 1:22:31.130
<v Speaker 2>us are coached on what a great relationship looks like,

1:22:31.229 --> 1:22:32.370
<v Speaker 2>feels like, sounds like?

1:22:32.870 --> 1:22:33.530
<v Speaker 4>How many of us?

1:22:33.530 --> 1:22:35.350
<v Speaker 1>But not even about a great relationship.

1:22:35.410 --> 1:22:37.439
<v Speaker 2>A healthy relationship. I should say a healthy relationship.

1:22:37.460 --> 1:22:40.260
<v Speaker 1>But how you even deal with people and how you

1:22:40.300 --> 1:22:42.500
<v Speaker 1>let people deal with you. Yeah. Right? I think I'm

1:22:42.540 --> 1:22:45.400
<v Speaker 1>going through it with, I have a boy and a girl. Mm-hmm.

1:22:46.340 --> 1:22:49.350
<v Speaker 1>And I have conversations with them, very open and honest

1:22:49.390 --> 1:22:53.210
<v Speaker 1>conversations from a parent standpoint of like, listen, I'm going

1:22:53.229 --> 1:22:55.330
<v Speaker 1>to tell you how it is. Mm-hmm. what you take

1:22:55.350 --> 1:22:57.030
<v Speaker 1>from it is how you take from it. And hopefully

1:22:57.250 --> 1:23:00.130
<v Speaker 1>I can be part of your conscience because I think

1:23:00.250 --> 1:23:04.139
<v Speaker 1>sometimes when we're moving in these spaces, the highs are

1:23:04.180 --> 1:23:07.000
<v Speaker 1>so high that you, if you don't have a conscience

1:23:07.780 --> 1:23:09.760
<v Speaker 1>and it's, it's not something in your mind to me,

1:23:09.780 --> 1:23:12.000
<v Speaker 1>it's just my opinion. There's not something in your mind

1:23:12.040 --> 1:23:13.820
<v Speaker 1>telling you that's not good for you.

1:23:13.939 --> 1:23:14.179
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:23:14.460 --> 1:23:16.920
<v Speaker 1>Or this person has shown you a sign or a

1:23:17.000 --> 1:23:21.720
<v Speaker 1>flag and you're not prepped to understand that, yo, if

1:23:21.800 --> 1:23:24.550
<v Speaker 1>it's these things, it's certain, it's certain little things that,

1:23:24.930 --> 1:23:27.850
<v Speaker 1>For me as a parent, I'm going to always say, hey,

1:23:28.030 --> 1:23:31.820
<v Speaker 1>so this is what I believe is a sign. If

1:23:31.860 --> 1:23:35.420
<v Speaker 1>you see that, maybe you go another way. Now, if

1:23:35.439 --> 1:23:37.400
<v Speaker 1>you follow that or not, it's up to you. But

1:23:37.620 --> 1:23:41.120
<v Speaker 1>I do want to prep my children. My son is

1:23:41.140 --> 1:23:43.680
<v Speaker 1>a young man now, but my daughter is still a child.

1:23:43.880 --> 1:23:47.549
<v Speaker 1>But having those conversations with them, it's like, yo, if

1:23:47.590 --> 1:23:50.139
<v Speaker 1>you see this, you might want to.

1:23:51.320 --> 1:23:55.020
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, like, the first thing, you know, the

1:23:55.060 --> 1:24:00.050
<v Speaker 2>first experience, you know, or example of marriage that I

1:24:00.110 --> 1:24:05.090
<v Speaker 2>really had was domestic violence. And I'm five. And I'm

1:24:05.130 --> 1:24:06.390
<v Speaker 2>trying to process this.

1:24:06.410 --> 1:24:06.610
<v Speaker 1>Nope.

1:24:07.290 --> 1:24:10.480
<v Speaker 2>Fuck process I'm trying to split them up you know

1:24:10.600 --> 1:24:13.780
<v Speaker 2>and I'm a little girl and my parents were big

1:24:13.840 --> 1:24:17.519
<v Speaker 2>motherfuckers my dad Caribbean thick neck looking like a fucking

1:24:17.560 --> 1:24:20.140
<v Speaker 2>fullback my thought my mother give her a hat with

1:24:20.200 --> 1:24:22.160
<v Speaker 2>horns and a fucking shield and send her out to

1:24:22.200 --> 1:24:24.580
<v Speaker 2>battle she was a viking the it was clash of

1:24:24.600 --> 1:24:27.300
<v Speaker 2>the titans when these two would kick off and I'm

1:24:27.500 --> 1:24:31.269
<v Speaker 2>five this tiny little thing trying to split them up

1:24:31.600 --> 1:24:36.050
<v Speaker 2>And so things happened. My personality developed in a way or,

1:24:36.370 --> 1:24:38.550
<v Speaker 2>you know, things about my my personality developed in a

1:24:38.570 --> 1:24:41.720
<v Speaker 2>way like people pleasing developed because I was trying to

1:24:42.120 --> 1:24:44.500
<v Speaker 2>keep the peace in the house. I felt like it

1:24:44.540 --> 1:24:48.720
<v Speaker 2>was my responsibility. That is a horrible, horrible thing to

1:24:49.200 --> 1:24:52.310
<v Speaker 2>like for a child to feel like is their responsibility.

1:24:52.740 --> 1:24:56.580
<v Speaker 2>They just, you know, it's like another form of prison,

1:24:57.080 --> 1:24:59.450
<v Speaker 2>you know, and then I have to weather the storm

1:24:59.870 --> 1:25:04.890
<v Speaker 2>of their tumultuous marriage and the humiliation rituals I witnessed.

1:25:05.250 --> 1:25:07.630
<v Speaker 2>So if this is the first thing that I have

1:25:07.729 --> 1:25:10.350
<v Speaker 2>seen as an example of marriage.

1:25:10.370 --> 1:25:10.750
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:25:11.280 --> 1:25:13.910
<v Speaker 2>And sure, my godmother and her husband, they had a

1:25:14.050 --> 1:25:17.710
<v Speaker 2>wonderful relationship, but I didn't get to see that every day.

1:25:18.010 --> 1:25:20.910
<v Speaker 2>And it almost looked like I didn't even know how

1:25:20.950 --> 1:25:23.520
<v Speaker 2>to process that because that was not my reality.

1:25:23.880 --> 1:25:25.680
<v Speaker 4>And then my girlfriends in high school.

1:25:26.689 --> 1:25:30.030
<v Speaker 2>The majority of them were, you know, from single parent households.

1:25:30.310 --> 1:25:33.530
<v Speaker 2>You know, their fathers weren't really there. And my other

1:25:33.650 --> 1:25:36.130
<v Speaker 2>one of my best friends, her household was cold as

1:25:36.210 --> 1:25:39.820
<v Speaker 2>fuck where my parents would beef and fight. Her parents

1:25:39.880 --> 1:25:43.060
<v Speaker 2>like were act like two ships passing in the fucking night.

1:25:43.280 --> 1:25:45.680
<v Speaker 2>And you could just feel how frigid it was. This

1:25:45.780 --> 1:25:49.720
<v Speaker 2>was this was all I saw. You know, I I

1:25:49.840 --> 1:25:51.420
<v Speaker 2>couldn't like the Cosby show.

1:25:51.439 --> 1:25:54.780
<v Speaker 4>I was like. I'd never seen anything like that before.

1:25:54.800 --> 1:25:55.729
<v Speaker 1>Where are these humans?

1:25:55.850 --> 1:25:59.429
<v Speaker 2>Like, exactly. Who are these fucking people? Like, is this real?

1:25:59.710 --> 1:26:03.549
<v Speaker 1>And then you get to America. That was bullshit on TV. Queens.

1:26:03.590 --> 1:26:06.010
<v Speaker 1>Queens is where we were from.

1:26:06.790 --> 1:26:07.130
<v Speaker 3>Right.

1:26:07.189 --> 1:26:09.290
<v Speaker 2>So it's just like, it's still like, I was just like, oh,

1:26:09.290 --> 1:26:12.000
<v Speaker 2>this is TV. This is fictional. This can't be real.

1:26:12.100 --> 1:26:12.240
<v Speaker 1>But.

1:26:13.220 --> 1:26:16.740
<v Speaker 2>I damn sure wanted to know a Claire Huxtable. I

1:26:16.780 --> 1:26:19.729
<v Speaker 2>wish I'd had a version of Claire Huxtable in my

1:26:19.790 --> 1:26:23.570
<v Speaker 2>life as a child or even a young teenager or

1:26:23.710 --> 1:26:24.830
<v Speaker 2>even as a young adult.

1:26:24.850 --> 1:26:25.940
<v Speaker 4>So I get to the States.

1:26:26.120 --> 1:26:32.340
<v Speaker 2>Who's my mentor? Who's looking after me? Two suitcases, one-way

1:26:32.380 --> 1:26:34.980
<v Speaker 2>ticket at $ 25.

1:26:34.080 --> 1:26:35.299
<v Speaker 4>That was how I got to the States.

1:26:35.620 --> 1:26:38.540
<v Speaker 2>By myself. Who was looking after me? Who was showing

1:26:38.580 --> 1:26:40.800
<v Speaker 2>me the way? Who was saying what to do, what

1:26:40.840 --> 1:26:43.120
<v Speaker 2>not to do? Don't date that motherfucker. Date that motherfucker.

1:26:43.160 --> 1:26:43.540
<v Speaker 1>Nobody.

1:26:43.600 --> 1:26:44.219
<v Speaker 4>I had to figure.

1:26:44.240 --> 1:26:45.990
<v Speaker 2>I was figuring everything out.

1:26:46.000 --> 1:26:49.220
<v Speaker 1>Because you walk straight into everybody wanting something from you.

1:26:49.500 --> 1:26:52.960
<v Speaker 1>yeah and figuring out how to leverage that whether it be.

1:26:52.800 --> 1:26:55.510
<v Speaker 2>Money not even not even that was not the first

1:26:55.550 --> 1:26:58.630
<v Speaker 2>thing leveraging was not the first idea it was just

1:26:58.670 --> 1:27:03.270
<v Speaker 2>survival you know shit and shit got like fucking gnarly

1:27:03.310 --> 1:27:06.550
<v Speaker 2>like i almost kidnapped me one time like just you

1:27:06.570 --> 1:27:10.700
<v Speaker 2>know i don't and they were throwing gifts at me

1:27:10.720 --> 1:27:15.330
<v Speaker 2>that was so weird just wanting to give me phones

1:27:15.390 --> 1:27:18.710
<v Speaker 2>and money and condos one guy literally said I will

1:27:18.790 --> 1:27:21.330
<v Speaker 2>rent you a condo I just want to come by

1:27:21.390 --> 1:27:22.870
<v Speaker 2>and watch you masturbate.

1:27:22.370 --> 1:27:32.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah he liked you a lot you Hold on.

1:27:32.310 --> 1:27:32.950
<v Speaker 2>I didn't do it.

1:27:32.950 --> 1:27:35.140
<v Speaker 1>He was trying to turn you into an OnlyFans model.

1:27:35.360 --> 1:27:36.460
<v Speaker 2>Early.

1:27:36.880 --> 1:27:37.720
<v Speaker 1>Early.

1:27:37.860 --> 1:27:38.980
<v Speaker 2>A cam girl.

1:27:39.939 --> 1:27:40.860
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah.

1:27:41.060 --> 1:27:44.960
<v Speaker 2>Early. I was just like, you're disgusting and absolutely fucking not.

1:27:45.420 --> 1:27:46.680
<v Speaker 1>No, no, no.

1:27:46.939 --> 1:27:49.769
<v Speaker 2>So yeah. I mean, it's just like, so how was I,

1:27:50.150 --> 1:27:52.930
<v Speaker 2>where was, where was I going to develop my picker? How,

1:27:53.010 --> 1:27:55.030
<v Speaker 2>how was I developing my picker? Where was I developing

1:27:55.070 --> 1:27:55.370
<v Speaker 2>my picker?

1:27:55.390 --> 1:27:56.189
<v Speaker 1>It was all trial and error.

1:27:56.850 --> 1:27:58.970
<v Speaker 2>It was all trial and error. It was all trial

1:27:58.990 --> 1:28:01.769
<v Speaker 2>and error, you know, and, Yeah.

1:28:01.810 --> 1:28:06.220
<v Speaker 1>But I mean, again, from that, you get here. And

1:28:06.280 --> 1:28:08.900
<v Speaker 1>now to me, it feels like, you know, as you

1:28:08.960 --> 1:28:13.660
<v Speaker 1>speak about your platform and the things that you want

1:28:13.700 --> 1:28:16.139
<v Speaker 1>to cover, you know what I mean? The things that

1:28:16.180 --> 1:28:18.880
<v Speaker 1>you want to give to the world. It's all a

1:28:18.920 --> 1:28:23.009
<v Speaker 1>result of all of these things that in the moment

1:28:23.050 --> 1:28:24.050
<v Speaker 1>don't feel beautiful.

1:28:24.410 --> 1:28:26.729
<v Speaker 2>It's all the things that I wanted. I wanted somebody

1:28:26.770 --> 1:28:29.000
<v Speaker 2>to help me with. It's all the things that I

1:28:29.040 --> 1:28:31.760
<v Speaker 2>wanted somebody to help me with. So now that I'm

1:28:31.800 --> 1:28:35.090
<v Speaker 2>in a position where I have a platform, where I

1:28:35.210 --> 1:28:40.320
<v Speaker 2>have made these quantum leaps in you know, personal development

1:28:40.820 --> 1:28:46.120
<v Speaker 2>and the self-awareness and just, just internal growth, all I

1:28:46.160 --> 1:28:49.519
<v Speaker 2>want to do is just like pass on this wisdom,

1:28:49.900 --> 1:28:53.140
<v Speaker 2>you know, and just, and, and be of service, just

1:28:53.260 --> 1:28:54.660
<v Speaker 2>give it away, you know?

1:28:55.000 --> 1:28:57.589
<v Speaker 4>And cause it's, I, it's very rewarding.

1:28:58.060 --> 1:29:02.549
<v Speaker 2>It's very rewarding when people you know, young, younger women

1:29:02.650 --> 1:29:06.490
<v Speaker 2>stop me and they tell me the effect that seeing

1:29:06.530 --> 1:29:09.850
<v Speaker 2>me in music videos and then watching my transition through

1:29:10.189 --> 1:29:14.640
<v Speaker 2>all different, the genres of, of, of, of entertainment and

1:29:14.700 --> 1:29:18.000
<v Speaker 2>also kind of like have a sense of integrity through

1:29:18.020 --> 1:29:21.260
<v Speaker 2>the entire thing. Not always just like be at the

1:29:21.360 --> 1:29:23.519
<v Speaker 2>opening of a fucking envelope and shit like that. Not

1:29:23.560 --> 1:29:25.510
<v Speaker 2>always being on the scene and always being on this

1:29:25.560 --> 1:29:27.810
<v Speaker 2>guy's arm and that guy's arm and being like, you know,

1:29:27.880 --> 1:29:30.320
<v Speaker 2>and wrapped up in scandal and shit like that. Like

1:29:30.840 --> 1:29:33.900
<v Speaker 2>when people come up to me, they tell me they

1:29:33.939 --> 1:29:36.840
<v Speaker 2>really appreciate it. And they, you know, take a tiny

1:29:36.880 --> 1:29:39.280
<v Speaker 2>page out of that book. They think about that. And

1:29:39.340 --> 1:29:40.700
<v Speaker 2>I think that that's wonderful.

1:29:40.860 --> 1:29:41.660
<v Speaker 4>That's okay.

1:29:41.820 --> 1:29:42.870
<v Speaker 1>I did it. I did it.

1:29:43.220 --> 1:29:43.780
<v Speaker 2>I did it.

1:29:43.800 --> 1:29:44.519
<v Speaker 4>It feels really good.

1:29:45.240 --> 1:29:50.110
<v Speaker 1>Good job, Mel. We're the livid, Mel. The pivot has

1:29:50.150 --> 1:29:51.670
<v Speaker 1>been amazing to watch. Yes.

1:29:51.790 --> 1:29:54.710
<v Speaker 2>Pivot with a capital P. Let me tell you something.

1:29:54.770 --> 1:29:57.120
<v Speaker 2>Black women, if there's something that we know how to do,

1:29:57.420 --> 1:30:01.600
<v Speaker 2>it is to pivot with a capital P. And we

1:30:01.660 --> 1:30:04.320
<v Speaker 2>do it just effortlessly.

1:30:04.580 --> 1:30:04.820
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:30:05.479 --> 1:30:06.540
<v Speaker 4>Looking that way, at least.

1:30:07.510 --> 1:30:09.050
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Well, we got to make you put a little

1:30:09.070 --> 1:30:12.580
<v Speaker 1>bit more effort into it. It's about to get tough

1:30:12.600 --> 1:30:14.780
<v Speaker 1>for you. It's about to get tough for you. I

1:30:14.900 --> 1:30:16.889
<v Speaker 1>hope you're prepared with a capital P.

1:30:17.090 --> 1:30:18.090
<v Speaker 2>Okay, I'm in menopause.

1:30:18.270 --> 1:30:19.430
<v Speaker 4>My brain's not working properly.

1:30:20.270 --> 1:30:20.850
<v Speaker 1>What did she say?

1:30:20.910 --> 1:30:21.950
<v Speaker 2>I said I'm in menopause.

1:30:21.970 --> 1:30:22.969
<v Speaker 4>My brain's not working properly.

1:30:23.010 --> 1:30:23.870
<v Speaker 2>Go ahead. Let's try this.

1:30:24.210 --> 1:30:25.430
<v Speaker 1>Because it's hot.

1:30:25.470 --> 1:30:26.890
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to do my best.

1:30:26.910 --> 1:30:35.240
<v Speaker 1>Try to leave the door open. Melissa Ford. Through your

1:30:35.280 --> 1:30:43.340
<v Speaker 1>various car rides in the black and white cars. You've

1:30:43.380 --> 1:30:48.740
<v Speaker 1>heard some tunes. What tunes? Some R &amp; B tunes. Tunes.

1:30:49.540 --> 1:30:51.180
<v Speaker 1>And the people want to know. What do they want

1:30:51.200 --> 1:30:57.479
<v Speaker 1>to know, Chief? They want to know your. Sorry about that.

1:31:03.189 --> 1:31:06.950
<v Speaker 3>Top five.

1:31:07.570 --> 1:31:18.250
<v Speaker 1>You're top five. Top five. You're top five. R &amp;

1:31:17.470 --> 1:31:25.580
<v Speaker 1>B singers. Oh, bring it home. Bring it home.

1:31:46.220 --> 1:31:57.760
<v Speaker 3>Your top fire.

1:31:58.160 --> 1:31:59.689
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:32:07.130 --> 1:32:09.330
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:32:09.770 --> 1:32:11.850
<v Speaker 1>Talented with a capital G. Come on now.

1:32:12.150 --> 1:32:13.570
<v Speaker 2>Have you ever done stand-up?

1:32:13.910 --> 1:32:14.099
<v Speaker 1>Yes.

1:32:14.350 --> 1:32:14.840
<v Speaker 2>You have?

1:32:15.300 --> 1:32:15.800
<v Speaker 1>Okay, good.

1:32:15.840 --> 1:32:18.800
<v Speaker 4>I was going to say, like, and I have never

1:32:18.840 --> 1:32:19.840
<v Speaker 4>been to a show, obviously.

1:32:19.900 --> 1:32:20.059
<v Speaker 1>Oh, yeah.

1:32:20.080 --> 1:32:22.220
<v Speaker 2>So now I need to. I'll kick back up, yeah, yeah.

1:32:22.240 --> 1:32:23.320
<v Speaker 1>Okay. I'm listening for it.

1:32:23.500 --> 1:32:25.190
<v Speaker 4>You are so fucking funny.

1:32:25.229 --> 1:32:27.310
<v Speaker 1>You're too. God damn.

1:32:27.350 --> 1:32:28.610
<v Speaker 4>I have a couple of stories I want to tell

1:32:28.630 --> 1:32:29.790
<v Speaker 4>you guys about this motherfucker here.

1:32:29.850 --> 1:32:31.590
<v Speaker 1>You're, we're not, you're a top five.

1:32:31.610 --> 1:32:32.590
<v Speaker 2>No, no, no, you're going to love them.

1:32:32.630 --> 1:32:33.099
<v Speaker 1>Okay, good one.

1:32:33.110 --> 1:32:33.730
<v Speaker 2>You're going to love them.

1:32:33.750 --> 1:32:36.540
<v Speaker 1>You're a top five R &amp; B singers.

1:32:36.970 --> 1:32:39.309
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so first of all, fuck y'all for making me

1:32:39.370 --> 1:32:42.570
<v Speaker 2>answer this fucking question. I know everybody, they really get

1:32:42.610 --> 1:32:44.400
<v Speaker 2>mad at you guys for making you do this, right?

1:32:44.420 --> 1:32:47.420
<v Speaker 4>Because this is impossible.

1:32:47.560 --> 1:32:48.639
<v Speaker 1>Tell us your damn five.

1:32:49.220 --> 1:32:49.520
<v Speaker 2>Huh?

1:32:49.900 --> 1:32:51.180
<v Speaker 1>Don't cuss us out. Tell us the five.

1:32:51.680 --> 1:32:54.120
<v Speaker 2>All right, hold on one second.

1:32:54.160 --> 1:32:55.520
<v Speaker 1>You can go to your phone.

1:32:55.740 --> 1:32:56.120
<v Speaker 3>I am.

1:32:56.180 --> 1:32:57.960
<v Speaker 2>Hold on, I got to put the fucking readers on.

1:32:58.020 --> 1:33:06.430
<v Speaker 1>Oh, the readers. Oh, yeah. Advocate for the readers. Come on. Shit. Shit. Okay.

1:33:06.840 --> 1:33:07.519
<v Speaker 2>Here we go.

1:33:07.540 --> 1:33:08.259
<v Speaker 1>Team readers.

1:33:09.160 --> 1:33:10.040
<v Speaker 2>Here we go.

1:33:10.060 --> 1:33:13.040
<v Speaker 1>Rube got the team readers.

1:33:14.560 --> 1:33:15.400
<v Speaker 2>This was painful.

1:33:15.420 --> 1:33:16.560
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:33:16.600 --> 1:33:17.390
<v Speaker 2>This was painful.

1:33:17.510 --> 1:33:19.550
<v Speaker 1>Is the text big too?

1:33:19.910 --> 1:33:20.670
<v Speaker 2>No, I refuse.

1:33:20.890 --> 1:33:21.290
<v Speaker 1>I refuse.

1:33:21.350 --> 1:33:23.570
<v Speaker 2>I'm still kind of small.

1:33:23.710 --> 1:33:24.370
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Yeah.

1:33:24.689 --> 1:33:37.050
<v Speaker 2>Okay. I feel like this is interchangeable. I just had

1:33:37.070 --> 1:33:40.030
<v Speaker 2>to come up with something. I'm just, this is going,

1:33:40.050 --> 1:33:42.880
<v Speaker 2>this is solely on impact.

1:33:43.270 --> 1:33:43.570
<v Speaker 1>Impact.

1:33:43.800 --> 1:33:44.729
<v Speaker 2>It's impact.

1:33:44.760 --> 1:33:47.020
<v Speaker 1>That's it. Like. Your impact on you.

1:33:47.240 --> 1:33:52.380
<v Speaker 2>The impact on me, the length of time, the timelessness

1:33:52.400 --> 1:33:59.160
<v Speaker 2>of the music, the decades that they have occupied being great. Yeah.

1:33:59.180 --> 1:34:00.820
<v Speaker 4>So I guess that, I guess, I guess that's it.

1:34:00.920 --> 1:34:01.820
<v Speaker 4>So shot.

1:34:01.920 --> 1:34:04.320
<v Speaker 1>Oh, oh, oh, oh.

1:34:05.140 --> 1:34:10.240
<v Speaker 2>I'm prefacing this by saying I refuse to acknowledge Michael

1:34:10.280 --> 1:34:12.290
<v Speaker 2>Jackson and Prince are not even in this conversation.

1:34:12.310 --> 1:34:12.730
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:34:12.930 --> 1:34:17.550
<v Speaker 2>They're not. They are in a pantheon in and of themselves.

1:34:18.189 --> 1:34:18.630
<v Speaker 1>All alone.

1:34:19.650 --> 1:34:20.590
<v Speaker 2>They cannot.

1:34:20.870 --> 1:34:21.110
<v Speaker 1>Yes.

1:34:21.170 --> 1:34:22.809
<v Speaker 4>Because then it's just them.

1:34:22.830 --> 1:34:23.630
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Fair.

1:34:24.370 --> 1:34:26.230
<v Speaker 4>So no Michael Jackson and Prince.

1:34:26.570 --> 1:34:29.450
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Sade. Yes.

1:34:30.030 --> 1:34:30.950
<v Speaker 4>I mean, come on now.

1:34:30.970 --> 1:34:31.450
<v Speaker 1>There's nothing.

1:34:32.530 --> 1:34:32.710
<v Speaker 4>Yep.

1:34:32.910 --> 1:34:33.410
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Sade.

1:34:33.650 --> 1:34:34.210
<v Speaker 2>D'Angelo.

1:34:34.370 --> 1:34:36.830
<v Speaker 1>Hmm. Yes. I'm sorry.

1:34:36.850 --> 1:34:38.189
<v Speaker 4>My list is going to be quite boring.

1:34:38.220 --> 1:34:40.900
<v Speaker 1>No, no, no. Don't you do this. Don't you do this. Okay. Okay.

1:34:40.920 --> 1:34:42.300
<v Speaker 1>You know where you at? Okay. All right.

1:34:42.360 --> 1:34:42.639
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

1:34:42.700 --> 1:34:43.120
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Okay.

1:34:43.180 --> 1:34:43.460
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

1:34:43.479 --> 1:34:47.420
<v Speaker 1>That's exciting already. Luther. Hmm. Luther.

1:34:48.120 --> 1:34:48.540
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

1:34:49.860 --> 1:34:50.179
<v Speaker 1>Luther.

1:34:51.729 --> 1:34:52.230
<v Speaker 4>Joe Decky.

1:34:52.250 --> 1:34:52.930
<v Speaker 3>Hmm.

1:34:54.300 --> 1:34:55.140
<v Speaker 1>Impact. Impact.

1:34:55.200 --> 1:34:56.189
<v Speaker 4>I almost lost my virginity.

1:34:56.400 --> 1:34:58.360
<v Speaker 1>Listen, we know. We heard. Buffalo.

1:34:58.439 --> 1:34:59.729
<v Speaker 2>We heard.

1:35:00.110 --> 1:35:01.349
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:35:01.530 --> 1:35:03.930
<v Speaker 2>I just had a little romantic interlude not too long

1:35:03.950 --> 1:35:05.269
<v Speaker 2>ago where I ran that shit back.

1:35:05.710 --> 1:35:08.849
<v Speaker 1>Yay, run back. Well, Beyonce said it was a little

1:35:08.870 --> 1:35:09.310
<v Speaker 1>too wide.

1:35:09.330 --> 1:35:13.230
<v Speaker 3>You didn't think it was going to fit.

1:35:13.370 --> 1:35:15.769
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we're not having those problems no more.

1:35:16.170 --> 1:35:24.580
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Truck fit. Okay.

1:35:24.720 --> 1:35:25.140
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

1:35:27.580 --> 1:35:29.740
<v Speaker 1>Maxwell. Yeah. Yeah.

1:35:30.060 --> 1:35:30.900
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:35:31.020 --> 1:35:32.460
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely. That's a great top five.

1:35:32.979 --> 1:35:33.459
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:35:34.260 --> 1:35:36.979
<v Speaker 1>For right now. Impact. It's a great impact five.

1:35:37.130 --> 1:35:39.510
<v Speaker 2>It's a great impact five. And, you know, and I

1:35:39.550 --> 1:35:43.910
<v Speaker 2>could give all the reasons. Maxwell makes this list because.

1:35:45.720 --> 1:35:49.120
<v Speaker 2>He comes out with his first album that has Ascension

1:35:49.200 --> 1:35:52.960
<v Speaker 2>and Urban Hangsweet, right? Urban Hangsweet, yeah. And he sucks

1:35:53.060 --> 1:35:54.620
<v Speaker 2>us all in. You know what I mean?

1:35:54.820 --> 1:35:56.860
<v Speaker 4>We're just like, oh shit.

1:35:57.910 --> 1:36:02.610
<v Speaker 2>And then his next fucking album, he completely switches everything

1:36:02.670 --> 1:36:07.889
<v Speaker 2>the fuck up on us with Embria. That to me says,

1:36:08.970 --> 1:36:12.880
<v Speaker 2>first of all, I'm him. And y'all are just going to... Like,

1:36:13.260 --> 1:36:15.820
<v Speaker 2>a new artist coming out like that and just changing

1:36:15.960 --> 1:36:20.630
<v Speaker 2>up his sound with the next album after we've all decided,

1:36:21.090 --> 1:36:23.370
<v Speaker 2>you know, or feel like you've introduced us in this

1:36:23.430 --> 1:36:27.950
<v Speaker 2>certain way. And Embria, first of all, people, a lot

1:36:27.970 --> 1:36:30.670
<v Speaker 2>of people hated it at first. It's one of those

1:36:30.770 --> 1:36:33.740
<v Speaker 2>albums you listen to now or, like, as time has

1:36:33.780 --> 1:36:35.179
<v Speaker 2>gone on, you're just like, this.

1:36:35.100 --> 1:36:38.320
<v Speaker 4>Nigga was a fucking genius. This nigga was a genius.

1:36:38.660 --> 1:36:39.980
<v Speaker 2>I love.

1:36:41.420 --> 1:36:45.340
<v Speaker 2>Like, and then he came out with, was it Now?

1:36:46.360 --> 1:36:46.840
<v Speaker 4>His third album?

1:36:46.860 --> 1:36:47.380
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it was.

1:36:47.439 --> 1:36:51.330
<v Speaker 1>Okay, you tell me. Yeah, I think so. Okay. Yeah.

1:36:52.010 --> 1:36:54.370
<v Speaker 2>And then he went right back to it, but it just, wow.

1:36:54.550 --> 1:36:56.050
<v Speaker 4>Just, just, yeah.

1:36:56.510 --> 1:36:57.250
<v Speaker 2>Just impact.

1:36:57.270 --> 1:36:58.450
<v Speaker 1>I know where all this music is going.

1:36:58.830 --> 1:36:59.760
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, just impact.

1:36:59.939 --> 1:37:04.639
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Your top five R &amp; B songs.

1:37:04.920 --> 1:37:07.160
<v Speaker 4>Okay, so I also have to say this too, okay?

1:37:07.460 --> 1:37:12.660
<v Speaker 2>All right. There's categories. Last night I was sweating, okay?

1:37:12.890 --> 1:37:14.230
<v Speaker 2>I was making this list.

1:37:14.270 --> 1:37:15.430
<v Speaker 1>And you're sure it was just about the list?

1:37:15.530 --> 1:37:16.330
<v Speaker 4>It was both things.

1:37:16.390 --> 1:37:21.030
<v Speaker 2>It was a hot flash and it was a fury

1:37:21.550 --> 1:37:23.750
<v Speaker 2>at what you guys were forcing me to do. Because

1:37:23.790 --> 1:37:26.320
<v Speaker 2>I was like, all right, so there's the Blue-Eyed Soul crew.

1:37:26.420 --> 1:37:29.480
<v Speaker 2>There's Hall &amp; Oates, Michael McDonald, George Michael, Bobby Caldwell,

1:37:29.500 --> 1:37:32.780
<v Speaker 2>Tina Marie, Mary Gibbs, Simply Red, Bill Collins, John B. Like,

1:37:33.020 --> 1:37:34.700
<v Speaker 2>are you fucking serious?

1:37:34.900 --> 1:37:35.460
<v Speaker 3>Top 99.

1:37:35.439 --> 1:37:37.560
<v Speaker 2>You want me to pick out five fucking songs?

1:37:37.590 --> 1:37:39.390
<v Speaker 1>We... We know you have white, dog.

1:37:39.530 --> 1:37:43.010
<v Speaker 2>I know you don't represent for your people.

1:37:43.090 --> 1:37:45.110
<v Speaker 1>I get it. I get it. You just went on

1:37:45.130 --> 1:37:46.030
<v Speaker 1>a white rant.

1:37:46.210 --> 1:37:49.429
<v Speaker 2>No, because they are, when they ate.

1:37:49.530 --> 1:37:52.010
<v Speaker 1>The white niggas is cold, for sure.

1:37:52.030 --> 1:37:54.090
<v Speaker 2>When they sang, you didn't know they were white until

1:37:54.110 --> 1:37:56.450
<v Speaker 2>you saw their picture. You're like, get out of here.

1:37:56.470 --> 1:37:58.770
<v Speaker 1>Get out of here. It's true.

1:37:58.950 --> 1:38:01.950
<v Speaker 2>You know, then we got my teenage mint condition, Jodeci

1:38:01.990 --> 1:38:04.050
<v Speaker 2>after seven, intro guy, SOS man.

1:38:04.370 --> 1:38:06.309
<v Speaker 4>Wait, and hold on.

1:38:06.490 --> 1:38:08.700
<v Speaker 2>And I will die on this hill. Some people will

1:38:08.900 --> 1:38:10.840
<v Speaker 2>probably want to shoot me in the street for saying this,

1:38:11.120 --> 1:38:15.740
<v Speaker 2>but intro, ribbons in the sky, better cover than the original.

1:38:16.740 --> 1:38:22.290
<v Speaker 1>Oh, shit. I'm sorry. No, listen, music is subjective. Music

1:38:22.330 --> 1:38:23.910
<v Speaker 1>is subjective.

1:38:23.950 --> 1:38:26.550
<v Speaker 2>And that's what you believe. I also think that Otis

1:38:26.590 --> 1:38:28.980
<v Speaker 2>Redding's cover of Change Gonna Come is better than Sam Cooke.

1:38:30.490 --> 1:38:31.250
<v Speaker 1>You're going to keep going.

1:38:33.680 --> 1:38:35.620
<v Speaker 4>Those are the only, those are the controversial.

1:38:35.640 --> 1:38:37.060
<v Speaker 1>I'm trying to get you to put down the shovel.

1:38:37.500 --> 1:38:41.640
<v Speaker 1>You don't see my eyes.

1:38:42.560 --> 1:38:42.860
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

1:38:42.960 --> 1:38:43.200
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:38:43.280 --> 1:38:43.580
<v Speaker 2>All right.

1:38:43.620 --> 1:38:45.059
<v Speaker 1>Top five songs. Top five songs.

1:38:45.360 --> 1:38:46.179
<v Speaker 4>Oh God, this was hard.

1:38:47.200 --> 1:38:52.620
<v Speaker 2>Okay. Top five songs. Subject to change. Subject to change, okay?

1:38:52.660 --> 1:38:57.780
<v Speaker 2>This could be different tomorrow. But this is impact. Impact, impact, impact.

1:38:58.770 --> 1:39:02.110
<v Speaker 2>It's like the first time I heard the song Sledgehammer

1:39:02.130 --> 1:39:02.610
<v Speaker 2>to the face.

1:39:04.030 --> 1:39:05.269
<v Speaker 4>Frank Ocean's Bad Religion.

1:39:05.290 --> 1:39:11.150
<v Speaker 1>I just heard that the other day. Yeah, yeah. Great record. Love.

1:39:11.229 --> 1:39:11.610
<v Speaker 1>Great record.

1:39:11.890 --> 1:39:15.269
<v Speaker 4>First time I heard it, I was bawling. I was crying.

1:39:15.670 --> 1:39:17.490
<v Speaker 2>First of all, I feel like that's how it came out.

1:39:18.370 --> 1:39:22.300
<v Speaker 2>And secondly, It just, you know, what's what's the how

1:39:22.320 --> 1:39:26.140
<v Speaker 2>does it go? Unrequited love. It's something about like it's

1:39:26.260 --> 1:39:29.590
<v Speaker 2>it's like cyanide in my styrofoam cup. It's like being

1:39:29.650 --> 1:39:31.809
<v Speaker 2>a cult of one or something like that. It's just

1:39:32.870 --> 1:39:37.290
<v Speaker 2>it's just the song is just sheer fucking brilliance. And

1:39:37.330 --> 1:39:42.130
<v Speaker 2>that was hard because Pyramids is literally one of like

1:39:42.170 --> 1:39:43.670
<v Speaker 2>if I was to do a list of the hundred

1:39:43.710 --> 1:39:47.050
<v Speaker 2>greatest songs ever, Pyramids is going to be on that

1:39:47.090 --> 1:39:47.750
<v Speaker 2>list for me.

1:39:47.770 --> 1:39:48.110
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:39:49.260 --> 1:39:52.599
<v Speaker 2>Cause that song is just, it's, it's like Bohemian Rhapsody. Like,

1:39:52.620 --> 1:39:55.240
<v Speaker 2>you know what I'm saying? Like just how, just the, the,

1:39:55.380 --> 1:39:59.780
<v Speaker 2>the galaxies it takes you through kind of thing. Raheem Devon, you,

1:40:00.939 --> 1:40:06.420
<v Speaker 2>I remember where I was. I'm January 30th, 2006.

1:40:07.240 --> 1:40:08.300
<v Speaker 4>I was in Detroit.

1:40:08.860 --> 1:40:12.580
<v Speaker 2>It was super bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the

1:40:12.640 --> 1:40:17.740
<v Speaker 2>Seattle Seahawks. Yeah. Pittsburgh took it 21, 10 that year.

1:40:19.760 --> 1:40:20.450
<v Speaker 2>I will never.

1:40:20.479 --> 1:40:22.460
<v Speaker 1>That's how music's supposed to make you feel. Yes.

1:40:22.760 --> 1:40:26.960
<v Speaker 2>And he had just dropped The Love Experience. And that

1:40:27.060 --> 1:40:30.180
<v Speaker 2>album was playing. And I said, what the fuck is

1:40:30.220 --> 1:40:35.760
<v Speaker 2>this sorcery? And then I heard You. And that song, what, like,

1:40:36.300 --> 1:40:37.939
<v Speaker 2>is it like 20 years now?

1:40:38.180 --> 1:40:38.820
<v Speaker 4>Something like that?

1:40:39.200 --> 1:40:39.439
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:40:40.580 --> 1:40:43.060
<v Speaker 4>Still to this day, when I hear You.

1:40:43.080 --> 1:40:46.179
<v Speaker 1>I'm with you on that.

1:40:46.600 --> 1:40:48.479
<v Speaker 2>In a parallel universe, that was a song I walked

1:40:48.520 --> 1:40:49.120
<v Speaker 2>down the aisle to.

1:40:49.439 --> 1:40:49.689
<v Speaker 1>Yes.

1:40:51.030 --> 1:40:52.910
<v Speaker 2>All right. Temptations.

1:40:52.950 --> 1:40:53.950
<v Speaker 4>Papa was a rolling stone.

1:40:53.970 --> 1:40:55.030
<v Speaker 1>Mm-hmm.

1:40:55.630 --> 1:41:00.150
<v Speaker 2>There is no... The car rides. I can't think of

1:41:00.189 --> 1:41:07.280
<v Speaker 2>a song intro that is more powerful. I mean, that

1:41:07.360 --> 1:41:12.560
<v Speaker 2>shit seeped into my bones, you know? And then when

1:41:12.640 --> 1:41:16.360
<v Speaker 2>he starts singing that gravelly voice.

1:41:18.450 --> 1:41:20.430
<v Speaker 2>Oh, my little I didn't even know what to do

1:41:20.450 --> 1:41:22.570
<v Speaker 2>with myself. I was like five or six first time

1:41:22.590 --> 1:41:23.330
<v Speaker 2>I'm hearing this song.

1:41:25.050 --> 1:41:26.450
<v Speaker 4>Tony, Tony, Tony, whatever you want.

1:41:28.020 --> 1:41:32.720
<v Speaker 2>OK, now. All right. Raphael Sadiq just did a one

1:41:32.740 --> 1:41:36.120
<v Speaker 2>man show and I did not know what the hell

1:41:36.160 --> 1:41:38.309
<v Speaker 2>to expect. I thought I was going to a concert.

1:41:38.970 --> 1:41:41.550
<v Speaker 2>And he's on the stage and there's these big screens

1:41:41.610 --> 1:41:42.150
<v Speaker 2>behind him.

1:41:42.229 --> 1:41:43.070
<v Speaker 4>I'm an NJ pack.

1:41:43.310 --> 1:41:45.050
<v Speaker 2>And then he starts talking about, yeah, I was supposed

1:41:45.070 --> 1:41:47.910
<v Speaker 2>to be an abortion. I said, well, what's happening here?

1:41:47.930 --> 1:41:49.729
<v Speaker 4>The fuck is happening here?

1:41:49.990 --> 1:41:50.809
<v Speaker 1>The real. Yeah.

1:41:50.950 --> 1:41:53.870
<v Speaker 2>And so then I realized that this was going to

1:41:53.930 --> 1:41:56.219
<v Speaker 2>be a one man show about the story of his

1:41:56.300 --> 1:41:59.140
<v Speaker 2>life through songs, not just his own songs, but the

1:41:59.180 --> 1:42:02.320
<v Speaker 2>songs that were the soundtrack of his early life. And

1:42:02.460 --> 1:42:07.160
<v Speaker 2>whatever you want. That song, first of all, the fact

1:42:07.200 --> 1:42:09.800
<v Speaker 2>that y'all have sampled it is blasphemy, but I'll just

1:42:10.240 --> 1:42:11.099
<v Speaker 2>skate on by that.

1:42:11.120 --> 1:42:12.960
<v Speaker 1>That's part of it.

1:42:12.979 --> 1:42:14.969
<v Speaker 2>The songs that you just don't touch.

1:42:16.550 --> 1:42:21.269
<v Speaker 1>Rest in peace to the OG man, Dwayne Williams.

1:42:21.290 --> 1:42:25.390
<v Speaker 2>So when he starts talking about that song, he has

1:42:25.450 --> 1:42:30.269
<v Speaker 2>Dwayne's guitar on a stand just in the middle of

1:42:30.310 --> 1:42:32.589
<v Speaker 2>the stage, and then he goes over to the piano.

1:42:33.510 --> 1:42:35.910
<v Speaker 2>And he was like, Dwayne used to like to put

1:42:36.030 --> 1:42:39.750
<v Speaker 2>this stick of incense in his guitar when he played.

1:42:40.310 --> 1:42:42.650
<v Speaker 2>And he was like, I fucking hated that smell.

1:42:43.340 --> 1:42:43.720
<v Speaker 1>You know?

1:42:44.410 --> 1:42:48.080
<v Speaker 2>And Rafael's so charismatic and so charming and so funny.

1:42:48.600 --> 1:42:50.400
<v Speaker 2>We all knew that we were about to start fucking balling.

1:42:50.420 --> 1:42:54.100
<v Speaker 2>So you just laugh it up, you know? And what

1:42:54.120 --> 1:42:57.380
<v Speaker 2>they did was instantly like, he was like, but now

1:42:57.920 --> 1:43:02.020
<v Speaker 2>that's the smell. I love that smell. And he goes

1:43:02.080 --> 1:43:05.900
<v Speaker 2>over to the piano and a spotlight drops. And it's just,

1:43:06.180 --> 1:43:08.839
<v Speaker 2>all you see is like the smoke of the incense

1:43:08.979 --> 1:43:11.980
<v Speaker 2>wafting up to the ceiling. And then the big screens

1:43:12.040 --> 1:43:15.400
<v Speaker 2>behind just start showing pictures of Dwayne over the course

1:43:15.420 --> 1:43:16.519
<v Speaker 2>of his life while he's performing.

1:43:16.540 --> 1:43:19.339
<v Speaker 4>And then he's on the piano singing whatever you want.

1:43:19.780 --> 1:43:22.120
<v Speaker 2>And then when he gets to the chorus, you know, about,

1:43:22.220 --> 1:43:25.590
<v Speaker 2>you know, the number and Dwayne, you know, how's that?

1:43:25.610 --> 1:43:27.590
<v Speaker 1>My name is Dwayne. We told him too. And my

1:43:27.610 --> 1:43:28.570
<v Speaker 1>name is Dwayne. Yeah, exactly.

1:43:28.670 --> 1:43:29.050
<v Speaker 2>Exactly.

1:43:30.120 --> 1:43:31.800
<v Speaker 4>He repeats it over and over.

1:43:31.820 --> 1:43:32.650
<v Speaker 2>And we're all singing it.

1:43:33.280 --> 1:43:35.740
<v Speaker 4>And he repeats it over and over and over.

1:43:35.860 --> 1:43:40.439
<v Speaker 2>And as he's repeating it, it's the heaviness of that

1:43:40.560 --> 1:43:44.000
<v Speaker 2>loss just fills the room.

1:43:44.020 --> 1:43:44.090
<v Speaker 1>And.

1:43:46.210 --> 1:43:50.450
<v Speaker 2>You just start hearing people sniffling and just sobbing. And

1:43:50.490 --> 1:43:55.720
<v Speaker 2>it was breathtaking and beautiful and tragic all at the

1:43:55.760 --> 1:43:58.179
<v Speaker 2>same time. And I fell in love with that song

1:43:58.600 --> 1:44:01.320
<v Speaker 2>all over. I never stopped loving it, but now I

1:44:01.360 --> 1:44:06.969
<v Speaker 2>had even more context. It was just so beautiful. And

1:44:07.010 --> 1:44:09.970
<v Speaker 2>I just, I tipped my hat to Raphael for that

1:44:10.150 --> 1:44:14.330
<v Speaker 2>performance because it's one of those things that, Or I

1:44:14.350 --> 1:44:16.229
<v Speaker 2>walked out of there thinking like, I'm so glad that

1:44:16.270 --> 1:44:18.559
<v Speaker 2>I'm alive and I got to see that, you know?

1:44:18.720 --> 1:44:18.910
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:44:19.340 --> 1:44:22.200
<v Speaker 2>Will you guys let me have like a couple more

1:44:22.240 --> 1:44:26.059
<v Speaker 2>than fine? Okay. How am I?

1:44:26.160 --> 1:44:26.479
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:44:26.520 --> 1:44:28.460
<v Speaker 2>Frank Ocean. Okay.

1:44:29.100 --> 1:44:29.400
<v Speaker 3>Okay.

1:44:29.880 --> 1:44:33.600
<v Speaker 4>So here's the thing. Michelle and Degicello.

1:44:33.979 --> 1:44:37.930
<v Speaker 2>Love song number three. Has anybody ever said Michelle and

1:44:37.950 --> 1:44:38.750
<v Speaker 2>Degicello up here?

1:44:38.770 --> 1:44:40.450
<v Speaker 1>I think so.

1:44:41.189 --> 1:44:42.470
<v Speaker 2>I feel like they have.

1:44:43.270 --> 1:44:43.550
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Okay.

1:44:44.080 --> 1:44:46.979
<v Speaker 2>If y'all have not heard Love Song number three, please

1:44:47.020 --> 1:44:52.910
<v Speaker 2>play that. Please play that. I was like, that guitar solo?

1:44:52.930 --> 1:44:54.889
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, she's extremely special.

1:44:55.550 --> 1:44:55.830
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:44:56.390 --> 1:44:56.650
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:44:56.770 --> 1:44:58.269
<v Speaker 4>So I added that late.

1:44:58.300 --> 1:44:58.410
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:44:58.800 --> 1:45:03.740
<v Speaker 2>But originally I'd had Sade Bulletproof Soul. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

1:45:04.180 --> 1:45:04.860
<v Speaker 1>Mm-hmm.

1:45:05.300 --> 1:45:07.580
<v Speaker 2>And then I was like, No Ordinary Love, Bulletproof Soul.

1:45:09.570 --> 1:45:13.410
<v Speaker 1>Fuck y'all. Yeah. Yeah. Jesus.

1:45:13.630 --> 1:45:15.390
<v Speaker 4>I just, I was so furious.

1:45:15.810 --> 1:45:18.610
<v Speaker 2>And so then I couldn't like add like Zoom by

1:45:18.630 --> 1:45:22.099
<v Speaker 2>the Commodores, which is, I mean, you know, that song

1:45:22.140 --> 1:45:23.320
<v Speaker 2>is like a pillow and a blanket.

1:45:24.380 --> 1:45:25.219
<v Speaker 1>I just love that song.

1:45:25.580 --> 1:45:26.420
<v Speaker 2>So warm and cozy.

1:45:26.439 --> 1:45:28.519
<v Speaker 1>We don't have so many songs we love. Okay.

1:45:28.580 --> 1:45:29.299
<v Speaker 2>All right. I'm sorry.

1:45:29.400 --> 1:45:29.719
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:45:29.820 --> 1:45:30.120
<v Speaker 2>All right.

1:45:30.600 --> 1:45:34.090
<v Speaker 1>Let's do it. All right. We're done. No, so look.

1:45:43.400 --> 1:45:44.580
<v Speaker 1>Let's make a Voltron.

1:45:44.720 --> 1:45:45.400
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

1:45:45.640 --> 1:45:47.880
<v Speaker 1>Okay. You're a super R &amp; B artist. Where are

1:45:47.900 --> 1:45:50.940
<v Speaker 1>you going to get the vocal from, performance style, styling,

1:45:51.420 --> 1:45:54.059
<v Speaker 1>and passion of that artist?

1:45:54.500 --> 1:45:55.000
<v Speaker 4>Okay.

1:45:55.160 --> 1:45:55.479
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:45:55.500 --> 1:45:59.299
<v Speaker 2>So wait, I had Voltron as voice producer, style, and passion.

1:46:01.180 --> 1:46:07.090
<v Speaker 1>Well, fuck it then. Voice. Yeah. Okay.

1:46:07.110 --> 1:46:08.110
<v Speaker 2>So boy, what was your way?

1:46:09.330 --> 1:46:13.929
<v Speaker 1>We're going to run them off because I'm not a producer. Voice.

1:46:14.250 --> 1:46:15.210
<v Speaker 1>What voice? One voice.

1:46:15.950 --> 1:46:22.180
<v Speaker 2>Voice? I had... Let me see here.

1:46:22.200 --> 1:46:23.100
<v Speaker 4>Again, I had Maxwell.

1:46:24.479 --> 1:46:26.380
<v Speaker 2>I had.

1:46:27.260 --> 1:46:28.700
<v Speaker 4>I had Maxwell.

1:46:28.920 --> 1:46:29.360
<v Speaker 1>I just.

1:46:29.680 --> 1:46:32.400
<v Speaker 2>There's something about the way that he.

1:46:34.180 --> 1:46:38.080
<v Speaker 2>His voice control... There's the way that he goes from

1:46:38.240 --> 1:46:43.160
<v Speaker 2>his falsetto, which never sounds strained. It just sounds feathery

1:46:43.200 --> 1:46:47.640
<v Speaker 2>and light. And then he can go into a lower

1:46:47.680 --> 1:46:51.599
<v Speaker 2>register and it get like that grainy sounds like that

1:46:51.640 --> 1:46:55.860
<v Speaker 2>just sounds like sex. And so it just, it was,

1:46:56.650 --> 1:47:00.050
<v Speaker 2>it was, it was, it was, yeah, I chose, I

1:47:00.070 --> 1:47:01.370
<v Speaker 2>chose that.

1:47:01.410 --> 1:47:03.790
<v Speaker 1>Performance style on stage.

1:47:04.950 --> 1:47:05.890
<v Speaker 4>Performance style.

1:47:06.870 --> 1:47:07.250
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:47:08.090 --> 1:47:15.630
<v Speaker 4>Performance style. Put that one at the end. We're going

1:47:15.650 --> 1:47:16.430
<v Speaker 4>to put that one at the end.

1:47:16.510 --> 1:47:17.010
<v Speaker 1>Styling.

1:47:18.350 --> 1:47:19.729
<v Speaker 4>D'Angelo when he was with the Vanguard.

1:47:19.750 --> 1:47:20.689
<v Speaker 2>Hmm.

1:47:22.810 --> 1:47:28.439
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Yeah, man. Cool shit. Okay. Passion of the artist.

1:47:29.040 --> 1:47:29.600
<v Speaker 1>Who means it?

1:47:30.160 --> 1:47:30.719
<v Speaker 4>Jill Scott.

1:47:31.340 --> 1:47:32.200
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely means it.

1:47:32.520 --> 1:47:32.780
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:47:32.939 --> 1:47:33.760
<v Speaker 1>She's out to Jilly.

1:47:34.250 --> 1:47:34.850
<v Speaker 2>Jill Scott.

1:47:34.870 --> 1:47:35.849
<v Speaker 1>She mean every word.

1:47:35.910 --> 1:47:36.770
<v Speaker 2>Jill Scott.

1:47:36.850 --> 1:47:37.790
<v Speaker 1>My dog. Yeah.

1:47:37.850 --> 1:47:41.630
<v Speaker 2>When she was the headliner at Roots Picnic a couple

1:47:41.650 --> 1:47:47.680
<v Speaker 2>of years ago, every man was singing every song word

1:47:47.700 --> 1:47:48.099
<v Speaker 2>for word.

1:47:48.180 --> 1:47:48.460
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely.

1:47:48.479 --> 1:47:51.120
<v Speaker 2>I was like, oh, so you guys do have a little,

1:47:51.180 --> 1:47:52.379
<v Speaker 2>you're in touch with your emotions.

1:47:52.880 --> 1:47:56.200
<v Speaker 1>Okay. All right. It just depends on who's saying it.

1:47:56.260 --> 1:47:57.379
<v Speaker 2>You fucking assholes.

1:47:57.640 --> 1:47:59.280
<v Speaker 1>Okay. And now we're going to circle back.

1:47:59.860 --> 1:48:00.810
<v Speaker 4>Wait, I had producer.

1:48:01.350 --> 1:48:06.240
<v Speaker 1>Producer. No ID. No ID. I like no idea a lot. Yes,

1:48:06.320 --> 1:48:08.460
<v Speaker 1>I do. A scientist. Yes. I like him a lot.

1:48:08.720 --> 1:48:08.960
<v Speaker 2>Yes.

1:48:09.400 --> 1:48:10.769
<v Speaker 4>And you want to know why I chose him?

1:48:10.979 --> 1:48:11.229
<v Speaker 1>Why?

1:48:11.370 --> 1:48:14.550
<v Speaker 2>Because of the magic that motherfucker makes with James Fauntleroy,

1:48:14.590 --> 1:48:16.010
<v Speaker 2>that crazy motherfucker.

1:48:16.050 --> 1:48:16.350
<v Speaker 1>Hmm.

1:48:17.110 --> 1:48:18.540
<v Speaker 2>James, why do you do that to us?

1:48:18.530 --> 1:48:18.759
<v Speaker 1>Too crazy.

1:48:18.770 --> 1:48:19.229
<v Speaker 3>Okay, ladies.

1:48:19.490 --> 1:48:21.840
<v Speaker 1>Two crazy motherfuckers. Okay. Yeah.

1:48:22.040 --> 1:48:23.469
<v Speaker 2>Why does he do that to us?

1:48:23.479 --> 1:48:24.440
<v Speaker 1>With the homies. Yeah.

1:48:24.720 --> 1:48:25.240
<v Speaker 2>Okay?

1:48:25.260 --> 1:48:26.600
<v Speaker 1>Spent an hour and a half on the phone with

1:48:26.620 --> 1:48:29.979
<v Speaker 1>James two days ago. It's my dog. Just.

1:48:31.130 --> 1:48:33.180
<v Speaker 4>Tell him I need the catalog, okay?

1:48:33.200 --> 1:48:36.350
<v Speaker 2>Because I need the catalog. I need the cocaine 80s.

1:48:36.400 --> 1:48:38.420
<v Speaker 1>I will absolutely. Please, tell him I love him.

1:48:41.570 --> 1:48:46.280
<v Speaker 2>I respect with genius breeds eccentricity. I totally fucking respect it.

1:48:46.350 --> 1:48:49.009
<v Speaker 1>Okay. Make my brother smile. I know.

1:48:49.150 --> 1:48:53.849
<v Speaker 2>And so the magic that he has specifically with James

1:48:53.890 --> 1:48:56.800
<v Speaker 2>Fauntleroy is what made me think this would be a

1:48:56.939 --> 1:49:00.800
<v Speaker 2>really interesting Voltron with no ID and Maxwell. Cause I

1:49:00.820 --> 1:49:02.840
<v Speaker 2>don't know if they've ever, you know, been in the

1:49:02.880 --> 1:49:04.939
<v Speaker 2>same room with each other, like thought to work with

1:49:05.040 --> 1:49:05.340
<v Speaker 2>each other.

1:49:05.360 --> 1:49:07.560
<v Speaker 1>So now think of the performance style for that artist.

1:49:08.620 --> 1:49:18.500
<v Speaker 2>Performance style. You know what's crazy? Shit. I was just

1:49:18.560 --> 1:49:19.799
<v Speaker 2>at a Jamiroquai concert.

1:49:21.260 --> 1:49:23.580
<v Speaker 1>Fuck with Jamiroquai. Heavy. I was in.

1:49:23.540 --> 1:49:30.469
<v Speaker 2>Luxembourg, okay? I just went through seven countries. I went from... Paris, France, Brussels, Belgium,

1:49:30.750 --> 1:49:36.099
<v Speaker 2>to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, and then I went to Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania,

1:49:36.350 --> 1:49:38.979
<v Speaker 2>and then South Africa. And so I went to go

1:49:39.040 --> 1:49:43.560
<v Speaker 2>see Jamiroquai in Luxembourg, and J.K., that motherfucker was, like,

1:49:44.260 --> 1:49:47.760
<v Speaker 2>just bouncing all over the stage, you know? He still

1:49:47.780 --> 1:49:50.260
<v Speaker 2>got it. He still got it. He talked a little

1:49:50.300 --> 1:49:52.160
<v Speaker 2>bit about, like, the age is kind of, like, you know,

1:49:52.200 --> 1:49:54.860
<v Speaker 2>kind of weathered the joints a little bit. But, I mean, J.K.,

1:49:59.729 --> 1:50:03.380
<v Speaker 2>The intensity of his performances, the fun, the whimsy of

1:50:03.439 --> 1:50:07.940
<v Speaker 2>his performances. The only other person I can think of

1:50:08.000 --> 1:50:11.650
<v Speaker 2>that performs like he did is the lead singer of

1:50:11.700 --> 1:50:15.310
<v Speaker 2>Little Dragon. You know, whenever you see them perform... Okay,

1:50:15.370 --> 1:50:17.189
<v Speaker 2>if you know, you know, kind of thing. But just like,

1:50:17.229 --> 1:50:20.809
<v Speaker 2>just occupying the entire, like each side of the stage,

1:50:20.890 --> 1:50:25.780
<v Speaker 2>you know, just doing fucking jazzercise and flipping all, whatever else.

1:50:25.900 --> 1:50:28.519
<v Speaker 2>But that's not to say that when D'Angelo would do

1:50:28.580 --> 1:50:31.000
<v Speaker 2>his live shows as well with the Vanguard, that shit

1:50:31.020 --> 1:50:32.700
<v Speaker 2>was like a- So which one are you choosing?

1:50:32.720 --> 1:50:34.120
<v Speaker 4>Okay, Chimerica.

1:50:34.340 --> 1:50:35.479
<v Speaker 1>Okay, goddammit.

1:50:35.660 --> 1:50:37.040
<v Speaker 2>Sorry, I'm sorry.

1:50:37.060 --> 1:50:37.980
<v Speaker 1>I cheat a little bit, okay?

1:50:38.000 --> 1:50:42.400
<v Speaker 2>I cheat a little bit. By, you know, by throwing

1:50:42.479 --> 1:50:43.130
<v Speaker 2>in all these extras.

1:50:43.150 --> 1:50:47.190
<v Speaker 1>Okay, you mixed them then. Okay. They had a baby.

1:50:47.229 --> 1:50:50.370
<v Speaker 1>They had a baby. Right. Right, right, right. We got

1:50:50.450 --> 1:50:54.970
<v Speaker 1>one more. What else you got, champ? Just one more.

1:50:55.010 --> 1:50:58.350
<v Speaker 1>She cried. I ain't saying no names. Hey! I ain't

1:50:58.370 --> 1:51:01.429
<v Speaker 1>saying no names. I ain't saying no names. I ain't

1:51:01.450 --> 1:51:02.250
<v Speaker 1>saying no names.

1:51:02.310 --> 1:51:05.090
<v Speaker 3>Who you was. Who you was with.

1:51:05.130 --> 1:51:20.630
<v Speaker 1>What you did. Don't say shit. I ain't saying no name. Yeah,

1:51:20.790 --> 1:51:23.769
<v Speaker 1>so we here at this very important part of the show.

1:51:24.710 --> 1:51:27.390
<v Speaker 1>Where you tell us a story. Funny or fucked up.

1:51:28.050 --> 1:51:31.720
<v Speaker 1>Or funny and fucked up. But the only rule to

1:51:31.760 --> 1:51:36.500
<v Speaker 1>this game is Melissa Ford cannot say no name. For

1:51:36.520 --> 1:51:41.730
<v Speaker 1>the love of God. Not one. Come on. Come on

1:51:41.750 --> 1:51:42.019
<v Speaker 1>with it.

1:51:42.750 --> 1:51:49.349
<v Speaker 2>Okay. Well, this one time at band camp, I ended

1:51:49.479 --> 1:51:54.680
<v Speaker 2>up at like a rousing house party held by a

1:51:55.060 --> 1:51:57.200
<v Speaker 2>really big producer. Okay.

1:51:57.900 --> 1:52:00.040
<v Speaker 1>Really big. Okay. Really big producer.

1:52:01.080 --> 1:52:05.939
<v Speaker 2>It was a very well attended party. And there was

1:52:06.000 --> 1:52:10.240
<v Speaker 2>this platinum selling artist who had taken a liking to me.

1:52:11.439 --> 1:52:13.719
<v Speaker 2>And this was literally the first time we were meeting.

1:52:13.740 --> 1:52:15.600
<v Speaker 2>And he was like, oh, let me take you on

1:52:16.360 --> 1:52:19.099
<v Speaker 2>a tour to, I don't know, go find some candy

1:52:19.180 --> 1:52:20.059
<v Speaker 2>or a phone charger.

1:52:21.780 --> 1:52:23.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:52:24.100 --> 1:52:24.540
<v Speaker 3>Something.

1:52:25.060 --> 1:52:29.270
<v Speaker 2>And then somehow, some way, make it a left turn

1:52:29.310 --> 1:52:34.509
<v Speaker 2>and then a right. I ended up in that famous

1:52:34.630 --> 1:52:38.250
<v Speaker 2>producer's very large walk-in closet.

1:52:39.410 --> 1:52:45.590
<v Speaker 4>With With Joe Jinkie. With the platinum-selling artist.

1:52:46.090 --> 1:52:51.030
<v Speaker 2>And there was this extraordinarily famous model also in the closet.

1:52:52.030 --> 1:52:54.930
<v Speaker 2>And by now, I don't know how it's happened, but

1:52:55.030 --> 1:52:59.880
<v Speaker 2>both platinum-selling artists and big producer are both in their draws.

1:53:00.310 --> 1:53:00.450
<v Speaker 1>Oh.

1:53:00.900 --> 1:53:01.650
<v Speaker 2>And there's also.

1:53:01.680 --> 1:53:02.860
<v Speaker 1>It's called Tearaway Pants.

1:53:04.120 --> 1:53:08.300
<v Speaker 2>There's also, like, an R &amp; B songstress in the

1:53:08.340 --> 1:53:09.140
<v Speaker 2>room as well.

1:53:09.160 --> 1:53:09.400
<v Speaker 1>Mm-hmm.

1:53:10.100 --> 1:53:15.300
<v Speaker 2>And I just thought to myself, I think I got

1:53:15.320 --> 1:53:17.040
<v Speaker 2>to go. I think I got to go. I think

1:53:17.080 --> 1:53:20.580
<v Speaker 2>that this is above my, it's above my.

1:53:20.600 --> 1:53:21.180
<v Speaker 1>It's above me now.

1:53:21.200 --> 1:53:23.280
<v Speaker 2>It's above me. It's above me.

1:53:23.300 --> 1:53:24.240
<v Speaker 1>My pay grade.

1:53:24.260 --> 1:53:27.660
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, my pay grade, my level of understanding as to

1:53:27.740 --> 1:53:31.800
<v Speaker 2>what is normal and what is not. I'm just going

1:53:31.820 --> 1:53:35.300
<v Speaker 2>to like waddle out of this.

1:53:35.360 --> 1:53:35.839
<v Speaker 1>Goodbye.

1:53:36.160 --> 1:53:39.140
<v Speaker 2>And that's all I have to say on that. You know,

1:53:41.160 --> 1:53:42.580
<v Speaker 2>that's all I have to say on that.

1:53:43.740 --> 1:53:45.009
<v Speaker 1>Like a nice invitation to.

1:53:45.740 --> 1:53:46.750
<v Speaker 2>I wanted no parts.

1:53:47.270 --> 1:53:49.730
<v Speaker 1>To a new group. Yeah. You got to get out

1:53:49.790 --> 1:53:50.090
<v Speaker 1>of there.

1:53:50.210 --> 1:53:51.410
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah.

1:53:52.070 --> 1:53:53.469
<v Speaker 1>You got to tell them no.

1:53:54.090 --> 1:53:57.520
<v Speaker 2>You got to tell them no. But there's been quite

1:53:57.540 --> 1:53:59.780
<v Speaker 2>a few times where, you know, I walked in and

1:53:59.800 --> 1:54:03.720
<v Speaker 2>the candy dish was, you know, various things. Things like

1:54:03.880 --> 1:54:07.480
<v Speaker 2>MDMA and ecstasy and whatnot. And I look around and,

1:54:07.740 --> 1:54:10.360
<v Speaker 2>you know, think people's faces are starting to change and.

1:54:10.520 --> 1:54:12.720
<v Speaker 4>Maybe look a little demonic. And I was like, oh,

1:54:12.840 --> 1:54:13.280
<v Speaker 4>I know.

1:54:13.360 --> 1:54:15.600
<v Speaker 2>I got to go. I got to go.

1:54:15.680 --> 1:54:16.240
<v Speaker 1>I got to go.

1:54:16.760 --> 1:54:17.640
<v Speaker 2>Like, I know who I am.

1:54:17.660 --> 1:54:20.400
<v Speaker 1>And this isn't me. Good for you. Yeah.

1:54:20.840 --> 1:54:23.640
<v Speaker 2>I don't need those experiences. I'm OK with being victimized.

1:54:24.680 --> 1:54:25.220
<v Speaker 4>Pretty vanilla.

1:54:25.420 --> 1:54:25.640
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:54:25.800 --> 1:54:26.000
<v Speaker 3>I am.

1:54:26.140 --> 1:54:28.820
<v Speaker 2>I've made a lot of peace with being vanilla.

1:54:29.040 --> 1:54:29.680
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely. Yeah.

1:54:29.780 --> 1:54:32.700
<v Speaker 2>Like vanilla is cool. Like I'm Madagascar vanilla bean.

1:54:32.960 --> 1:54:33.380
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

1:54:33.780 --> 1:54:35.660
<v Speaker 4>But I'm still fucking vanilla.

1:54:36.080 --> 1:54:38.460
<v Speaker 2>There's certain things I just, I'll, I'll go through this

1:54:38.520 --> 1:54:42.510
<v Speaker 2>lifetime not knowing anything about, you know, so I, stage book.

1:54:42.530 --> 1:54:43.250
<v Speaker 1>That's a great story.

1:54:43.310 --> 1:54:43.610
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:54:43.990 --> 1:54:45.170
<v Speaker 1>Well, Miss Melissa Ford.

1:54:45.190 --> 1:54:46.330
<v Speaker 4>No, no, I got a couple of stories I want

1:54:46.350 --> 1:54:47.010
<v Speaker 4>to tell about you though.

1:54:47.030 --> 1:54:47.590
<v Speaker 1>Oh shit.

1:54:48.150 --> 1:54:49.910
<v Speaker 2>Don't you do this. No, it's amazing.

1:54:50.030 --> 1:54:51.350
<v Speaker 1>Okay, go, go. Okay.

1:54:51.730 --> 1:54:57.920
<v Speaker 2>So do you remember when, We were in Vegas at

1:54:57.960 --> 1:55:04.440
<v Speaker 2>that casino launch. It was, like, 2007. It was such

1:55:04.460 --> 1:55:05.620
<v Speaker 2>a mishmash of people.

1:55:05.700 --> 1:55:06.860
<v Speaker 1>I think so. Yes, I do.

1:55:06.880 --> 1:55:10.820
<v Speaker 2>Like, it was me, you, Tyrese, Juliana Rancic, Vida Guerra.

1:55:10.840 --> 1:55:13.620
<v Speaker 2>I was like, how did they pick these personalities? Like,

1:55:14.360 --> 1:55:15.660
<v Speaker 2>it doesn't even really make any sense.

1:55:15.720 --> 1:55:16.160
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:55:16.240 --> 1:55:19.060
<v Speaker 2>But, okay, whatever. They were paying us a fuck ton

1:55:19.100 --> 1:55:23.280
<v Speaker 2>of money, okay? Because it was, like, these... Native Americans

1:55:23.540 --> 1:55:25.620
<v Speaker 2>were like opening this massive casino.

1:55:25.640 --> 1:55:28.580
<v Speaker 1>That wasn't Red Rock, was it?

1:55:29.020 --> 1:55:29.200
<v Speaker 3>No.

1:55:29.220 --> 1:55:32.090
<v Speaker 2>No, I don't think it was Red Rock. I know

1:55:32.100 --> 1:55:34.490
<v Speaker 2>we were staying at the Bellagio. That's what I do know.

1:55:35.190 --> 1:55:37.610
<v Speaker 2>Because I had one of the best massages of my life.

1:55:37.710 --> 1:55:41.540
<v Speaker 2>I still remember it. What is that? Like 2007, so 16, 17,

1:55:41.540 --> 1:55:44.790
<v Speaker 2>18 years later, I still remember this fucking massage. It

1:55:44.810 --> 1:55:50.790
<v Speaker 2>was awesome. So I had just gotten off the plane.

1:55:51.380 --> 1:55:54.200
<v Speaker 2>And I see a message from my aunt and it says,

1:55:54.570 --> 1:55:55.710
<v Speaker 2>call your mother immediately.

1:55:55.750 --> 1:55:56.950
<v Speaker 4>I was like, oh, for fuck's sake.

1:55:57.870 --> 1:56:00.530
<v Speaker 2>And I call my mom and I'm walking from the

1:56:00.650 --> 1:56:03.530
<v Speaker 2>airplane to, you know, you're deplaning.

1:56:03.550 --> 1:56:05.300
<v Speaker 4>So you're walking towards baggage claim, whatever else.

1:56:05.840 --> 1:56:09.040
<v Speaker 2>And my mom was like, I don't want to worry you,

1:56:09.640 --> 1:56:12.020
<v Speaker 2>but I have cancer. And I swear to God, it

1:56:12.060 --> 1:56:14.890
<v Speaker 2>felt like the floor was. just almost like went out

1:56:14.950 --> 1:56:17.630
<v Speaker 2>from underneath me. And this is probably my mom died

1:56:17.650 --> 1:56:18.230
<v Speaker 2>in 2020.

1:56:18.230 --> 1:56:18.970
<v Speaker 4>So this is different.

1:56:19.470 --> 1:56:22.540
<v Speaker 2>And so I went into the bathroom, put my stuff down.

1:56:22.580 --> 1:56:24.680
<v Speaker 2>I was like, tell me everything. And so she told

1:56:24.700 --> 1:56:26.460
<v Speaker 2>me what she could, you know, it was a cancerous

1:56:26.580 --> 1:56:29.460
<v Speaker 2>tumor in her, in her uterus and she was going

1:56:29.480 --> 1:56:32.280
<v Speaker 2>to have surgery and whatever. And that sort of thing.

1:56:32.300 --> 1:56:34.160
<v Speaker 2>My mom was so pragmatic and stoic. She was like,

1:56:34.230 --> 1:56:37.290
<v Speaker 2>just don't worry about it. The fuck lady. It's impossible

1:56:37.330 --> 1:56:39.370
<v Speaker 2>to not worry about it. I don't have my passport.

1:56:39.610 --> 1:56:40.950
<v Speaker 2>I have to go home to New York in order

1:56:41.090 --> 1:56:43.270
<v Speaker 2>to be able to go home to Toronto and whatnot.

1:56:44.120 --> 1:56:46.300
<v Speaker 4>And so I I.

1:56:45.920 --> 1:56:48.520
<v Speaker 2>Everything is a blur. Going to baggage claim is a blur.

1:56:48.540 --> 1:56:50.140
<v Speaker 2>Going to the hotel is a blur. Checking in is

1:56:50.160 --> 1:56:55.910
<v Speaker 2>a blur. And the the organizers of the event, they

1:56:55.970 --> 1:57:00.690
<v Speaker 2>hit you and they told you, Melissa is not OK.

1:57:01.830 --> 1:57:06.270
<v Speaker 2>We kind of need her, though, to be OK for this. Like,

1:57:06.310 --> 1:57:08.910
<v Speaker 2>you know, that's this business is, you know, you're conditioned

1:57:08.990 --> 1:57:12.930
<v Speaker 2>to perform no matter what happens. Like your whole world

1:57:12.970 --> 1:57:14.590
<v Speaker 2>can be ending and you still got to get on

1:57:14.630 --> 1:57:16.570
<v Speaker 2>that stage with a fucking smile because.

1:57:16.410 --> 1:57:17.460
<v Speaker 4>You got paid to be there.

1:57:17.480 --> 1:57:20.840
<v Speaker 2>And and you came to my room and I was

1:57:20.880 --> 1:57:25.200
<v Speaker 2>like literally like in the fetal position. And you just

1:57:25.240 --> 1:57:29.280
<v Speaker 2>were just instantly just started to like, you know, like, OK,

1:57:30.290 --> 1:57:32.370
<v Speaker 2>just you got we're going to do this.

1:57:32.890 --> 1:57:34.190
<v Speaker 4>I'm going to be right there with you.

1:57:34.210 --> 1:57:35.570
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to hold you up.

1:57:36.280 --> 1:57:37.200
<v Speaker 4>And when we get.

1:57:37.080 --> 1:57:39.160
<v Speaker 2>Finished with this shit, we're going to come back here

1:57:39.180 --> 1:57:41.550
<v Speaker 2>and we're going to eat the fuck out of the

1:57:41.620 --> 1:57:45.390
<v Speaker 2>mini bar and order everything off the room service menu.

1:57:46.130 --> 1:57:50.740
<v Speaker 2>And I was just like, okay, okay. And that's exactly

1:57:50.760 --> 1:57:51.320
<v Speaker 2>what happened.

1:57:51.400 --> 1:57:52.400
<v Speaker 4>He held me up.

1:57:52.680 --> 1:57:55.200
<v Speaker 2>He just I was able to put on the good

1:57:55.260 --> 1:57:57.740
<v Speaker 2>face for the, you know, for the event. We came

1:57:57.780 --> 1:58:00.940
<v Speaker 2>back to the hotel room and we ordered it because

1:58:00.970 --> 1:58:03.910
<v Speaker 2>it was on their bill. We ordered everything, like literally

1:58:04.070 --> 1:58:07.970
<v Speaker 2>chicken wings, grease dripping off of our fucking faces. And

1:58:08.010 --> 1:58:10.600
<v Speaker 2>all he did was just make me laugh. and laugh

1:58:10.640 --> 1:58:13.440
<v Speaker 2>for the rest of the night. And and that's like

1:58:13.480 --> 1:58:17.290
<v Speaker 2>my memories with you. Like when me and you and

1:58:18.110 --> 1:58:22.460
<v Speaker 2>Luke James went to fucking Six Flags. Oh my God.

1:58:22.480 --> 1:58:23.360
<v Speaker 1>That was so much fun.

1:58:23.380 --> 1:58:28.120
<v Speaker 2>Yo, we rode roller coasters until we had headaches. These

1:58:28.200 --> 1:58:31.380
<v Speaker 2>two motherfuckers bought lightsabers and they were just fighting each other.

1:58:32.900 --> 1:58:36.140
<v Speaker 2>It was hilarious. But I mean, that has, you've been

1:58:36.340 --> 1:58:39.720
<v Speaker 2>that in my life. You've been that person that could

1:58:39.820 --> 1:58:43.870
<v Speaker 2>just literally pick me up off the floor and just

1:58:43.910 --> 1:58:46.110
<v Speaker 2>let me know it's, it's, it's going to be okay.

1:58:46.490 --> 1:58:48.250
<v Speaker 2>And you make me laugh and you make me forget

1:58:48.290 --> 1:58:50.430
<v Speaker 2>the problem for a second. You know, so.

1:58:50.450 --> 1:58:50.610
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

1:58:50.950 --> 1:58:53.010
<v Speaker 2>I just, I had to give you your flowers as

1:58:53.050 --> 1:58:54.730
<v Speaker 2>to the role you've played in my life for so

1:58:54.750 --> 1:58:55.250
<v Speaker 2>many years.

1:58:55.270 --> 1:59:01.280
<v Speaker 1>Wow. I'm sorry.

1:59:01.320 --> 1:59:02.000
<v Speaker 2>I stole your thunder.

1:59:02.060 --> 1:59:04.960
<v Speaker 1>No, no, no, not at all, man. We just, we

1:59:05.000 --> 1:59:07.840
<v Speaker 1>appreciate you. You know what I mean? And we appreciate

1:59:07.880 --> 1:59:11.580
<v Speaker 1>the stories. We appreciate the journey. Yeah. And, you know,

1:59:11.680 --> 1:59:15.190
<v Speaker 1>thankful that, you know, that conversation that so many young

1:59:15.230 --> 1:59:18.920
<v Speaker 1>girls and women get to hear. firsthand.

1:59:19.120 --> 1:59:19.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:59:19.460 --> 1:59:20.680
<v Speaker 1>With real life experience.

1:59:20.920 --> 1:59:21.240
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:59:21.440 --> 1:59:23.470
<v Speaker 1>And now they have a place to go. Yeah. I

1:59:23.490 --> 1:59:26.710
<v Speaker 1>didn't bother to hear. Yeah. And see, you know what

1:59:26.730 --> 1:59:27.170
<v Speaker 1>I mean?

1:59:27.290 --> 1:59:29.610
<v Speaker 2>But I also want, I'm going to expand the brand.

1:59:29.630 --> 1:59:30.490
<v Speaker 1>You're doing the book too.

1:59:30.570 --> 1:59:34.230
<v Speaker 2>So I am writing a book and it basically is

1:59:34.310 --> 1:59:37.800
<v Speaker 2>going to be about, you know, the days that I

1:59:37.840 --> 1:59:40.640
<v Speaker 2>spent with my mom on her deathbed and all of

1:59:40.700 --> 1:59:43.640
<v Speaker 2>the things that I learned. And obviously there's going to

1:59:43.660 --> 1:59:47.100
<v Speaker 2>be like, storytelling that leads up to it. I've got

1:59:47.120 --> 1:59:50.490
<v Speaker 2>to add context to the relationship and everything else, but

1:59:50.610 --> 1:59:52.690
<v Speaker 2>that's the meat and potatoes of it. But in terms

1:59:52.730 --> 1:59:55.750
<v Speaker 2>of the brand, I'm expanding into doing retreats, but I

1:59:55.790 --> 1:59:58.950
<v Speaker 2>also want to do men's retreats.

1:59:59.190 --> 2:00:01.910
<v Speaker 4>I feel like, yes, it's easy.

2:00:01.750 --> 2:00:03.890
<v Speaker 2>For me to speak to women because I am one,

2:00:04.290 --> 2:00:09.830
<v Speaker 2>and I understand our very specific journey through life.

2:00:09.850 --> 2:00:11.510
<v Speaker 4>But with men, I just.

2:00:14.120 --> 2:00:17.060
<v Speaker 2>I feel like I want to I feel like there's

2:00:17.100 --> 2:00:21.220
<v Speaker 2>something that I can I can do to participate in

2:00:21.240 --> 2:00:26.060
<v Speaker 2>in helping in helping men grow, you know, in the

2:00:26.100 --> 2:00:28.420
<v Speaker 2>ways that I had to learn how to, you know,

2:00:28.460 --> 2:00:30.260
<v Speaker 2>and obviously I'm not going to do it on my own. Like,

2:00:30.300 --> 2:00:32.580
<v Speaker 2>I'm still trying to figure out how to do that

2:00:32.660 --> 2:00:35.080
<v Speaker 2>in a way that doesn't feel like I'm overstepping or

2:00:35.120 --> 2:00:35.760
<v Speaker 2>anything like that.

2:00:35.780 --> 2:00:36.220
<v Speaker 1>Just just.

2:00:36.860 --> 2:00:39.660
<v Speaker 2>It's just helping and being of service, but I want

2:00:39.720 --> 2:00:43.260
<v Speaker 2>to expand the idea of doing retreats, not just for

2:00:43.320 --> 2:00:47.460
<v Speaker 2>women because women love a retreat, but men, they not necessarily,

2:00:47.780 --> 2:00:50.240
<v Speaker 2>it's either like a bear crawling on the floor and

2:00:50.340 --> 2:00:51.480
<v Speaker 2>shooting shit and stuff like that.

2:00:51.510 --> 2:00:53.590
<v Speaker 4>And I'm like, there's more to being a man than just,

2:00:53.740 --> 2:00:54.990
<v Speaker 4>you know, shooting.

2:00:54.750 --> 2:00:57.970
<v Speaker 2>Shit, killing shit and fucking getting fit and rich and

2:00:58.030 --> 2:01:00.230
<v Speaker 2>stuff like that. I think that's, I think that's where

2:01:00.270 --> 2:01:02.670
<v Speaker 2>things kind of go wrong. You know, like, I think

2:01:02.690 --> 2:01:05.490
<v Speaker 2>that there's so much more to you guys is, human

2:01:05.530 --> 2:01:09.250
<v Speaker 2>beings it's beautiful and wonderful you know so yeah that's

2:01:09.430 --> 2:01:11.370
<v Speaker 2>uh that's what's gonna happen with the brand.

2:01:11.130 --> 2:01:14.730
<v Speaker 1>Ruben there's more to you we'll let you know that

2:01:18.380 --> 2:01:21.200
<v Speaker 1>thank you you know time is of the essence you

2:01:21.220 --> 2:01:22.400
<v Speaker 1>know what i mean and for you to take your

2:01:22.440 --> 2:01:24.560
<v Speaker 1>time for you to get all the way out here

2:01:24.580 --> 2:01:27.480
<v Speaker 1>yeah and and and want to be part of us

2:01:27.500 --> 2:01:30.180
<v Speaker 1>and and and share and what we do as you

2:01:30.280 --> 2:01:31.950
<v Speaker 1>know i'm a We're going to come and see you

2:01:31.990 --> 2:01:33.410
<v Speaker 1>and share what you're doing as well.

2:01:33.750 --> 2:01:35.030
<v Speaker 2>Oh, I can't wait.

2:01:35.170 --> 2:01:39.010
<v Speaker 1>And support 100%. I love that. We just appreciate you.

2:01:39.030 --> 2:01:39.360
<v Speaker 2>Thank you.

2:01:39.410 --> 2:01:40.050
<v Speaker 1>We appreciate the journey.

2:01:40.110 --> 2:01:41.850
<v Speaker 2>Thank you guys for having me. And thank you guys

2:01:41.890 --> 2:01:43.690
<v Speaker 2>for watching. I really appreciate you guys.

2:01:44.050 --> 2:01:47.850
<v Speaker 1>Ladies and ladies and ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tank.

2:01:48.150 --> 2:01:50.430
<v Speaker 1>I'm Jay Valentine. And this is the R &amp; B

2:01:50.470 --> 2:01:53.920
<v Speaker 1>Money Podcast, the authority on all things.

2:01:53.990 --> 2:01:54.180
<v Speaker 2>R &amp; B.

2:01:54.190 --> 2:02:04.150
<v Speaker 1>I mean, from... Vixen to intellectual to business owner to

2:02:05.170 --> 2:02:08.560
<v Speaker 1>everything brand building. Melissa Ford.

2:02:09.300 --> 2:02:11.060
<v Speaker 2>Renaissance woman.

2:02:11.140 --> 2:02:12.160
<v Speaker 1>Renaissance woman.