WEBVTT - QLS Classic: Michelle Obama 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.240 Couest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. This classic 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:09.160 episode was produced by the team at Pandora. Ladies and gentlemen, 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.119 welcome to another episode of QLs Classic in which we 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:14.840 have cost Love Supreme dig into our archives to bring 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:17.400 you some of the more amazing stories and interviews from 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:18.239 past episodes. 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:19.840 What can I say? 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.560 We kind of joke to First Lady Michelle Obama that 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:26.040 would love her to do our podcast, and she called 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:30.360 her bluff, and what can we say? We were so 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:33.080 happy to get to talk to about her life now 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.440 after the White House and her experience of music, her 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:38.960 being a fan of music. We really hope you enjoyed 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:43.200 this episode of our talk with First Lady Michelle Obama. 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:51.520 Here we go, Ladies and gentlemen, this is your host 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:56.040 Questlove and I'm gonna take a little detour here. It 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.520 gives me great honor to present a special Quest Love 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:02.440 Supreme one on one with the one and know we 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.760 I'm talking about South Side of Chicago's very owned I'm 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:12.759 talking forever First Lady, Yes, Michelle Levon Robinson to Obama. Yes, 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.720 I have to say all board your names. 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:17.000 I love it. 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:21.399 So I just want to say on behalf of my 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:26.080 entire Supreme team. That's Fan Takeelo, It's Liaiah Unpaid in Boston, 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:29.679 Bill and Sugar Steve. We are very, very honored, and 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:32.400 we like to express our deepest gratitude for you for 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:33.160 taking time. 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:37.240 Out to UH to do our our our little podcast. 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:40.920 Well, I am excited, I am honored. I love you 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:43.880 first of all, so you know, give us time to 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:46.960 chat the wonderful break. 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:51.680 Thank you first of all. 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:56.760 I mean, just in general, how has this whole experience 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:02.760 been for you? Did you expect to sell as many 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.720 units and come out the gate like this this book 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:08.079 is changing, Like to go in the chat rooms and 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:12.400 see people's reaction to the book and the staggering sales, Like, 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:14.280 did you expect any of this at all? 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:21.120 Honestly, no, no, I don't expect anything that has happened 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:23.480 in my life. You know. I'm a girl who grew 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:26.000 up on the South side of Chicago. Every day Barack 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.880 and I wake up and go what so we're still 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:34.800 doing that. But my hope was that the book would resonate, 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:39.120 would resonate. I knew that I would be writing a 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:44.040 book because all first ladies, all for presidents, are expected 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:47.000 to write a memoir of some sort, so I had 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:49.360 to I had some time to think about what I 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.320 wanted this to be. And you know, this could have 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:54.960 been just a chronology. I could have just sort of 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:59.919 walked through the days of those eight years blow by blow. 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:03.000 But I knew I wanted to book the book to 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:06.480 be more than that. I wanted it to be a 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:10.760 book that would inspire people to dig deep into themselves 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.959 and understand their stories in the way that I've had 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.000 the luxury of doing over the course of my life. 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:22.440 So I feel like I'm just maybe the muse that 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:28.560 my story is the framework. But my my overall goal 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:34.359 was that people would start having these conversations about, uh, 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:39.400 their memories and the the context of their lives and 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:43.280 how it's shaped them and you know what, what they 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:47.600 want to do going forward. So I'm excited that, uh, 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:50.120 not just for the sales and the units and the 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.840 arena crowds, but more of what you're seeing the comments 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:57.440 and how how it's moving people to think differently about 0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:58.880 their own lives and stories. 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.200 Yeah, and I'll say that even and well, first of all, 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:07.280 thank you for granted me the honor of of of 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.480 of scoring the the playlist that goes with the book, 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:14.920 but even with me, like I have to dig so 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:19.479 deep into memories, and you know, songs for me are 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.600 like polaroids of moments in my life. So songs aren't 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:25.920 just songs for me, they're they're like audio polaroids. 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.000 And you know, even for me. 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:32.960 Knowing your your vast music tastes, which I really want 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:39.040 to get into, I you know, for me, it was 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:44.360 also an experience like trying to figure out what moment 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.400 you were uh or trying to guess what moment you 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:51.240 were feeling when this particular thing happened or that particularly 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:56.160 thing happened. In classic questla form I forgot to mention, yes, 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:58.160 the name of your book is becoming. 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:01.159 Duh. 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:02.960 Yeah. I'm one of those people that will have the 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:04.840 guests on the show and be like, oh, by the way, 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:06.680 we were talking about someone's going to keep wifelies and 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:14.680 gentlemen good night. You so knowing that the how big 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:18.800 of a role that music plays in your life, I 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:22.240 always start this question with all my guests, do you 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.760 what was your first musical memory or. 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:27.040 Do you remember the first album you ever brought or 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:28.120 first single year? Yeah? 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:36.880 Yeah, absolutely absolutely, I talk about that Talking Book. Stevie 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:40.599 Wonders Talking Book was the first album I remember getting 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:44.560 as a gift, and I got it twice, That's how 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:48.240 good an album was. I got it as a gift 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:53.240 for Christmas from my parents and then from my grandfather Southside, 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.640 who I wrote about, who is sort of the musical 0:05:55.920 --> 0:06:01.520 core of our family, my maternal grandfather, who he gave 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:03.640 me the album. You remember there was the album you 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:08.120 could get with the lyrics and brail. Yeah, yeah, And 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:11.680 I remember spending time just not only listening to the 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.200 record over and over again, but trying to feel the 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:19.720 brail and understand the words and to think about and 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:23.040 I would memorize the cover because there's something about that 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:27.120 cover with Stevie without his glasses, sitting like in a 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:32.520 canyon area in that Dashiki Afghan sort of thing with 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:36.800 the braids and all of that was, you know, that 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:41.960 cover to me was as much the experience of the album. 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.280 For me, I was trying to really find I was 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:46.920 really trying to figure out what goes on in his mind, 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.040 what is he thinking, what does it feel like being blind? 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:53.640 How does he feel music? So that was the first 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:56.840 album that I ever owned as a child. But then 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:00.320 There was the music that I bought myself that was 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:06.559 the forty five version of something with the Jackson five ABC. Okay, 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.760 you know Stop the Love You Save. That's when those 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.120 were the forty fives that you played on your little 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:16.320 makeshift record player thing. It wasn't like the big stereo 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:19.000 that your parents allowed you to use, but the thing 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.360 you plugged in and you had to put the little 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:25.400 round thing in the hole, right, you know. That was 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.360 the music that I was allowed to play on my 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.480 own keep the record in my bedroom kind of thing. 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:35.040 But the Jackson five that was what young people. That's 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.720 we grew up imitating the Jackson five and putting the 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.760 record on and cousins would be Tito and I'd be Michael, 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:45.760 my brother would be on the drums. You know. We 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:49.480 spent the whole afternoon like just shaping our performance to 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:52.640 Stop the Love You Save. So those were some of 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:53.520 my first memories. 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:57.920 I always tease, I always tell them that when I 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:01.000 want to see the Jacksons that you know, for a 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.600 lot of us that were young and you know, like 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:08.240 they were the first superheroes that we really had, the 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.480 Jackson's were an occupation almost. 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:17.800 Well, and it was interesting culturally because there were the Osmond's, remember, 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.000 were the big sort of white family group back then, 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:24.080 and there were the big debates about who was better, 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:26.760 the Jackson five or the Osmond's, and that was a 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.240 sort of a political statement. So how did you fell 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:29.800 on the lines? 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:31.560 How did you feel about One Bad Apple when it 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:32.520 came out? Were you fooled? 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:32.640 Like? 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:35.880 You know it? It was cute because back then you 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.599 didn't have like fifty million stations, right, you had the 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:41.240 one station and that played all the pop music. So 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:43.480 you heard stop the Love You Say along with One 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.120 Bad Apple and that. You know, you had your little 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:47.640 grooving dances to that too. 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:49.360 But where was your heart? 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:53.000 You know? Yeah, your heart was with the Jackson five. 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:56.360 Okay, you always call it first, and you were Michael. 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:57.599 That's funny because I was. 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:00.360 I'm one of those friends in the group of friends 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:04.360 that it is always last to call something, So I 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:05.600 was always Tito. 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:13.360 Everybody right, Yeah, I was like, well, I was also 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:17.679 surrounded by my brother and my male cousins, so I 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:20.400 was the only girl in the in the in the 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.920 posse then, so it was just natural that I stood 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:28.280 out as Michael. You know, I felt I would justified 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:30.000 in being Michael. If I had to hang out with 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:31.800 all these boys, I should at least be able to 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:35.640 tell them what to be around my grandniss. 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:38.360 So even then, you knew, you knew you had a 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:40.959 role to play, without even knowing what your future was 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:41.319 going to be. 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.079 Obviously, do you remember your first concert? 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:49.160 You know that's that we were too broke for concerts. 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:52.360 I mean, you know, I'm trying to think, because my 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:54.880 kids go to concerts all the time, and I'm like, 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:58.679 you all are so lucky. We were too poor for concerts. 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:02.880 Quite frankly, I never saw the Jackson five live. I'm 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:08.240 trying to think. Maybe it was in college where and 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.800 it wasn't really a concert. It was like an arena 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:17.640 orchestra sort of Stevie Wonder was playing in an orchestra. 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:20.360 Maybe it was in Philly. It's kind of a blur, 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.920 and a girlfriend had the idea of getting tickets and 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:27.480 going to see it. I do remember that because what period, 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:32.160 Oh gosh, if I had to have been maybe a 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:39.160 sophomore in college, so that was what eighty eighty two, 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:43.599 eighty three, And it wasn't Stevie wasn't like on some 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:47.440 big arena tour. Maybe it was a benefit. I don't 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.280 even remember, but I do remember that we had front 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:55.040 row tickets and we both walked in not knowing where 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:57.520 our tickets were, and then we realized that it's like 0:10:57.640 --> 0:10:59.800 we are in the front row. What happened? We were 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.440 around waiting for somebody to tell us to move, to move, 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:05.439 but it was just him and his band and he 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:12.360 played some numbers and then he called his bodyguard. People 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:15.800 picked some people to come up on stage and stand 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:20.000 around the piano and sing Ebony and Ivory and me 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.079 and my girlfriend were picked. So I was standing on 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:30.240 stage with Stevie by his piano thinking what but that 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.480 was yeah, yeah, I never told him about that because 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:35.120 I figured he didn't see me. Right. 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:41.839 Remember, well, I know that Stevie has been at the 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:50.880 White House at least fifty eleven times, maybe any event 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.360 that I've seen between two thousand and eight and twenty sixteen. 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.679 Like it's almost like Stevie Wonder comes with the package. 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.719 Like, you know Stevie, Stevie is you know that he 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:03.760 and he is always you know, he's always game if 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:06.720 there's a cause and it's something he believes in. Ooh, 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:11.679 the first time he showed up was at one of 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:16.079 the biggest fundraisers that I had during the campaign. It 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:19.720 was at UCLA, and this was a big announcement because 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:25.640 I was highlighting I was the keynote representing my husband 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:31.400 in the campaign. But Oprah introduced us. It was Maria 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:33.640 Shriver and that was a big deal because that was 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:38.559 right when she was going to endorse Barack over what 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.800 her husband, the governor, was doing, and that was a 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.880 big deal. Caroline Kennedy so was a women's empowerment kind 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.560 of thing. The first time I was surrounded by all 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:51.480 these mega giants and I was the keynote speaker. They 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:55.480 were passing off these introductions to me. And right before 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:59.400 I went on stage, one of our staff said, Stevie 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:01.400 Wonders on the phone and he's in the area. He 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.520 heard about the concert and he wants to come by. 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:08.800 And I was like, oh yeah, so he just shows up. 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:12.199 How many like I know? 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:15.480 That happens a lot. I actually wanted to ask, are 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:19.720 there any other non Stevie wonder moments at the White 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:21.160 House that stand out to you? 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:28.720 Oh? Yeah, yeah, Prince, but the first one is Prince performing. 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:31.040 But of course Stevie performed too. I know. 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:35.240 So he's all right, Stevee's the ultimate party crash. I 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:36.600 get it, I get it right right. 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:39.400 And when Stevie's there, everybody's like, Okay, Steve's got play. 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:42.880 But Prince and we went back and forth trying to 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:45.360 get Prince because every time we do our parties and 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:47.880 you've been to one of the parties, I've been Yes, 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:52.800 you've been there, and so oftentimes the personal parties were 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.720 around a birthday or something like that, and of course 0:13:56.360 --> 0:14:00.839 Prince doesn't celebrate birthdays, so he was like, I can't come, 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:03.040 but I want to come. So we had to figure 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.679 out how to create something that wasn't a birthday that 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:08.080 he could come to, and we finally worked it out, 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.920 and that, you know, that was just that's just amazing. 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.719 That's just Prince doing his thing and jamming in a 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:19.080 way where he for the first fifteen minutes, he just 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:22.840 let his band riff, you know, that generosity that he 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:27.080 has to let his you know, backup singer lead the 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.040 song in and his basses. They were just jamming before 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:36.120 he even showed up, and that was amazing. Paul McCartney 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:44.240 singing Michelle to me, Wow, you know Aretha, Aretha has performed, 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:49.160 performed many a time, and you know she would come 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:53.960 with her fur and her Medal of Freedom badge on, 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:56.200 because when she came to the White House, she wore 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:03.160 all her stuff and she's blown the house down. But 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:06.560 everyone from Mick Jagger to oh one of the more 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:12.200 beautiful performances was Esperanza Spaulding before she was really really 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.760 like hot, hot hot the first time I had seen her. Yeah, 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:18.520 that beautiful head of hair and that beautiful face and 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.040 that body with that big base of hers just tearing 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:25.720 up a song. I mean I could go on and 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:30.520 on and on. Gladys Knight, Shaka Khan because one of 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:32.840 the things I wanted to make sure was that we 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:37.880 got all of the like the greats to perform, because 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:39.720 it was like, I don't know if anybody's ever going 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.880 to ask these people to come to the White House. Yeah. Yeah, 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:48.480 Diana Ross came and performed just for the staff. Bruce 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:55.040 Springsteen the show he's doing on Broadway right now, he 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:58.440 tested that out. It was just a fluke he wanted 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:02.000 to do. He offered to do something to say thank 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.200 you to the staff, and we were like, of course, Bruce, 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.680 you can do whatever. And he put together what became 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:10.160 the Broadway Shows. 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:15.360 ANOTHERMB always shows Hamilton the same thing, like, absolutely, that's 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.400 how he got the inspiration to even go through with it. 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:21.320 Yeah, he tested on you first. 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.520 Yeah, and we thought he was a little crazy. We 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:28.000 were like, okay, don't do a wrapout Alexander Hamilton. Okay, 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:29.240 that's nice, that's cute. 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:30.760 It's funny to say that. 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:35.720 I always say that, like, I was part of the 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:39.160 production team that did the cast album, and apparently I 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.320 missed the email of him pitching it to me. 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:44.320 So I told him. 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:46.600 I found the email after I did the record and 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.840 I read the email and I told him, I said, yeah, 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:53.040 there's probably I would have probably said, no, I'm fine, 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:54.320 I'll set this one out, because. 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.720 Just looking at it the whole concept, I was like, 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:01.240 this has the chance being a little corny. 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:05.639 Right, yeah, but somehow, Yeah, he wore me through. You know, absolutely, 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:10.240 I have you. You and your husband are true chicagoans 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:11.720 Uh to the bone. 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:15.280 And probably one of the most touching things that shocked 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:20.240 me during your administration was the the letter of condolencens 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:24.960 that you sent to Chicago househeads Uh when Frankie Knuckles 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:29.440 passed away. And I always wanted to know, like as 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:32.840 a true blue chicagoan. Are you a househead? 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:37.160 Like, have you going to any house parties to see 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.880 any of the gods of house music? DJ? Ever? 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:47.879 Yeah, I was. I was old by the time house 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:53.960 music was like a big thing in Chicago. Uh, you know, 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.359 everybody has the music, the house music, you know it. 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:01.879 But by then I was out of clubbing and going out, 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:05.120 so I never got to experience the you know, going 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:07.240 to the club just being all up in it. But 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:09.879 you know you couldn't. You can't be in and out 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:12.200 of Chicago without knowing the house music. 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:14.520 Right. Well, you know what about stepping? Are you a 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:16.680 good are you in your husband good steppers? 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.920 You know I love to step. Barack is you know 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:23.119 he can, he can do it. But you know who 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:27.480 loves to step with me is Sasha, my youngest Uh she? 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:28.960 Oh yeah, yeah. 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:31.560 She She gets such a huge kick out of me 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:33.920 leading her through the So that's sort of one of 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:35.760 the things that we do when we're at a party 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:38.200 together and we're at a family event, She's like, mom, 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.960 let's step, let's step. But you know, we never had 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:43.560 the time, Barack and I never had the time to 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.280 like do the step classes. Because that's what couples do 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:48.480 in Chicago. You go, you go to Kennedy and King 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:53.440 College where you are taking the step class. H So 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.800 we never we never trained in step, can I say? 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.040 It's just sort of it's kind of just a bop, 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.680 you know, And if you've got like a rhythm and 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:04.040 you've got the right song, you got a little you know, 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.480 a good step in song. It just comes. But I 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:13.720 grew up watching it on TV and parents doing it, 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:16.640 so it's almost like I could imitate it. But I've 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.120 taught Sasha how to step, and that's she's my step 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:19.639 in partner. 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:21.879 Really. I will say that. 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:29.000 The party that you guys grant me permission to to DJ, 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:35.600 I'll say that I was holding back maybe for like 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:38.720 the first hour or so because like, okay, I'm at 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:39.280 the White House. 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.119 I can't be too lit at the White House. And 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:43.760 oh boy, little did I know. 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:49.160 That you all speak the same vocabulary musically, So yeah, 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:53.920 for you know, how important is it to also embrace 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:55.000 because that's the thing I've. 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:56.280 Just never seen. I've never seen like. 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:02.680 Parents wholeheartedly embrace the music culture of their kids. Like 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.879 normally the parents I know roll their eyes up in 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:07.359 the air and kids. 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:08.520 Yeah, you know that sort of thing. 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:15.119 Whereas you guys were out partying your daughters at you know, 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:20.119 the last week at the White House party, and I 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.560 was just jaw dropped, like, so, I mean, how important 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:27.000 is it to you to to bond and also understand 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:29.359 like the music they like and the artists they like, 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:30.640 like you know who chanced. 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:30.840 To rap up? 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:35.639 Oh? Yeah, absolutely? I mean, I you know, when you 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:39.359 love music, you love all music. And if it's a 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:41.600 good song, if it's got a good beat, you know, 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:46.040 I can tee. I'll tease my kids about how good 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:48.920 their favorite artists are compared to the greats. I'll play 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:52.200 that game with them. But I can appreciate a good 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.280 whatever it is, you know. And and I love that 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:59.920 time with my daughters. I love to let them teach 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:04.879 me about what they love. And again, Sasha is my 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:09.040 more musical child. You know. She she's got her room 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:13.240 set candles lit, you know, colored light bulbs with a 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.720 certain sound, and it just depends on what her mood is. 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:18.800 You walk into her room and she could be playing 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:23.040 classical music, or she could be Jama Decissa or you know, 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:28.480 you're just always surprised by her taste, and that reminds 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:31.600 me of the how I grew up. You know, my 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:36.359 grandfather was a jazz lover, but he respected my mother's music. 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:39.760 He respected our music. And I think that's just when 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:43.400 you love music, you're open to just something that feels good. 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:49.000 So there. I love sitting down with Sasha and just 0:21:49.119 --> 0:21:51.360 telling her, tell me what's good, tell me what you're 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:55.520 liking now. Or she'll say I just heard you're gonna 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:57.920 love this, and she knows my taste. This is a 0:21:58.000 --> 0:21:59.479 new artist, You're gonna love them. 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:00.280 Think. 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:02.240 You know, she's like, I think of you when I 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:07.199 think of this artist. So in that way, they keep me, uh, 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:11.840 they keep us both. Uh on point, I don't know 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:15.560 all the artist names now, I confuse the you know. 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:21.480 I just recently realized, uh that what Migos wasn't just 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:26.879 one that I kept saying, you know, let's meet who's 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:29.960 met him? Right, right, let's meet him? And they're like, no, Mom, 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:34.320 that's not just that's group. And then then I found out, okay, 0:22:34.440 --> 0:22:37.359 well then who who are they? Uh? You know, so 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:41.040 I'm not all down with it. But when when I 0:22:41.320 --> 0:22:42.320 like a song, I like a. 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:44.840 Songer halfway there, I mean your daughter shares music with you, 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:47.200 like you know, I share music with my parents, and 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:49.200 that might be grounded for two weeks. 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:49.680 You know. 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:55.399 I try not to be. 0:22:55.760 --> 0:22:58.080 Yeah, she's like, don't do that, like that, but I 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:01.639 try not to be judgmental with the music because it's like, 0:23:02.480 --> 0:23:05.600 that's how I felt about social media throughout the presidency. 0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:09.000 The question is, if we're going to reach kids, we 0:23:09.160 --> 0:23:12.320 have to understand their language. We have to know what 0:23:12.520 --> 0:23:15.000 they're hearing. If we want to get young people to vote, 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:18.000 we can't get them to vote just talk in our language. 0:23:18.119 --> 0:23:20.440 So we had to figure out, well, what is Twitter 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:23.000 and what's Vine? And what are the kids listening to? 0:23:23.160 --> 0:23:26.600 And if you're busy judging it, you can't communicate with them. 0:23:26.760 --> 0:23:28.920 So I don't want my kids to feel shut down 0:23:29.119 --> 0:23:33.240