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Speaker 1: Pushkin. Hey there, it's justin Richmond. We're revisiting an episode

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Speaker 1: we recently put out with Jenell Money to celebrate World

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Speaker 1: Happiness Day. We're part of the Pushkin network. In one

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Speaker 1: of my colleagues, Laurie Santos, who hosts the Happiness Lab podcast,

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Speaker 1: ask me to share an episode that makes me happy,

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Speaker 1: and to be honest, nothing made me happier than this

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Speaker 1: episode with Jenell mone and Nate Wonder. So to celebrate

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Speaker 1: World Happiness Day and the World Happiness Report that the

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Speaker 1: UE puts out every March, and in honor of my

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Speaker 1: colleague Laurie Santos from the Happiness Lab, have fun. Were

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Speaker 1: listening to this conversation I have with Janelle Monee and

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Speaker 1: Nate Wonder. Also, we'll be putting an episode of the

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Speaker 1: Happiness Lab in this broken record feed shortly, so stay

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Speaker 1: tuned for that. This is broken record liner notes for

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Speaker 1: the Digital Age just Mission. Here's my conversation with Nate

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Speaker 1: Wonder and Janelle Monae. Happy birthday, Thank you Rammy nomination. Yes,

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Speaker 1: Album of the Years. Yeah, it's like two in a row.

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Speaker 2: Now, I know that's a big deal.

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Speaker 3: I know it's a big deal.

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Speaker 1: I'm still just so humble, very big, not just progressive

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Speaker 1: R and B album, but like album of the year,

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Speaker 1: Like that's some crazy, that's wild.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I watched a lot of my heroes get it

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Speaker 3: and be on that stage, and like it's it's really

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Speaker 3: a dream to be able to not just shine light

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Speaker 3: on the work that I do, but you know, Nate's

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Speaker 3: here as well. He worked heavily on the music and

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Speaker 3: production and writing with me and everybody else who you

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Speaker 3: know was a part of the album. They get recognized too.

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Speaker 3: So that's the beautiful thing about being in that category.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, no, absolutely, Yeah, I wanted to ask about the

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Speaker 1: collaborative since I have the pleasure of both of you guys,

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Speaker 1: which is it feels special to me, So I was

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Speaker 1: I was curious about how you guys collaborate on it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you guys been working together alone time.

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Speaker 3: First of all, every project, every album since my EPs

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Speaker 3: where I was selling them out of the trunk of

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Speaker 3: my car in Atlanta. We've been able to have, you know,

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Speaker 3: a creative bond and just like evolution together and it's

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Speaker 3: just been really a fun ride. Lots of fun things

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Speaker 3: happen in the studio. It feels like family. It feels intentional.

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Speaker 3: It's magical.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely. Where were you both at when you guys first.

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Speaker 4: Met in Atlanta? We met at Morehouse Janelle was she

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Speaker 4: was living like in the.

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Speaker 3: Area Parsons Street. Yeah, boarding house next to Club Woody

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Speaker 3: in the AUC Club.

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Speaker 2: Woody is the name of the library.

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Speaker 4: Okay, you go there though, because it's in the middle

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Speaker 4: of all three campuses.

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Speaker 2: It's kind of like a club.

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Speaker 1: You never know in Atlanta what that could.

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Speaker 4: Bet It's actually actually the university library. And she would

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Speaker 4: throw shows on the steps. And I was just out

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Speaker 4: of college. I had lost my scholarship in my junior

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Speaker 4: year of college because I was writing music. And so

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Speaker 4: after I graduated, like I could really take the time

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Speaker 4: to focus on my music the way I wanted to.

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Speaker 1: So in college you knew that like music was where

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Speaker 1: you were focused, That's where your attention was.

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Speaker 3: But why did you lose? What happened? You need to

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Speaker 3: tell him exactly a moment that will let you know

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Speaker 3: how serious you were.

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Speaker 4: I mean I had I had two full scholarships to school,

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Speaker 4: and I lost both of them because I how do

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Speaker 4: you get too? NASA gave me a scholarship, and the

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Speaker 4: school gave me a scholarship separately, and I just had

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Speaker 4: both of them.

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Speaker 2: I had one like as a backup, I guess idea.

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Speaker 4: But I was in a math test and I was

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Speaker 4: doing well on the test except for like in the

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Speaker 4: middle of the test, I had this song come to

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Speaker 4: me and I just felt compelled to get up and

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Speaker 4: I went to my dorm room and I wrote the

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Speaker 4: song and I did not finish the test, and it

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Speaker 4: caused my GPA to crater.

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Speaker 2: And that's why I lost my scholarship.

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Speaker 3: Yay, was that and that's how we got to make music.

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Speaker 1: I mean, thank god he lost his NASSA And I

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Speaker 1: mean in any other scenario, that's a tragedy. Yeah, but

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Speaker 1: it seems to have been the right path.

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Speaker 4: It felt tragic at the time too, after I realized

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Speaker 4: that happened. In the moment, it felt like, this is

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Speaker 4: what you're supposed to be doing. You need to just

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Speaker 4: listen to this.

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Speaker 1: Was that common for you to just up and leave

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Speaker 1: whatever you were doing, wherever you were at, whoever you

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Speaker 1: were with, YO, get an idea.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, but not a test. It had not happened like

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Speaker 4: that was something that cost me so much.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: In the movie of Your Life was a pretty high stake,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean, it was.

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Speaker 4: And it felt like a big mistake afterwards. For a

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Speaker 4: little while, it felt like, wow, that was crazy.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: My dad was like, you're crazy. You absolutely lost your mind.

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Speaker 1: Were your parents academically folks, like, I mean, I don't know.

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Speaker 4: How scholarship My dad has a doctorate in music actually,

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Speaker 4: and he wasn't active in music in that kind of way.

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Speaker 2: He's a professor, so he's yes, he's yeah.

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Speaker 1: You grew up with a lot of theory and things,

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Speaker 1: and I grew.

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Speaker 4: Up watching him write music composed and like he was

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Speaker 4: writing operas and all that kind of stuff, and like,

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Speaker 4: so I saw that growing up, and I learned a

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Speaker 4: lot of instruments kind of. I got introduced to a

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Speaker 4: lot of instruments early on, and I got introduced to

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Speaker 4: the idea of composition very early.

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Speaker 2: But he was not. He was like that it is dumb.

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Speaker 2: Just so we can be clear, that's dumb.

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Speaker 1: Did you know him at the time.

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Speaker 3: I didn't know. You didn't know each other. That was

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Speaker 3: you know, I met him after he probably did some

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Speaker 3: healing from the traumatic experience of losing your scholarships.

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Speaker 2: I learned how to focus. That's what I learned from that.

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Speaker 4: I always hold that as like a lesson in focus,

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Speaker 4: like what it takes.

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Speaker 1: Focus on the thing at hand, or focus on the

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Speaker 1: creativity that's taking away.

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Speaker 4: Actually you know, you know it's interesting, like it's just

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Speaker 4: pick something and do that thing. So the idea of

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Speaker 4: the multitasking and all that kind of stuff, I understood

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Speaker 4: how detrimental that could be to whatever the dream that

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Speaker 4: I had was. So if it was music, like I

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Speaker 4: know that. Like the feeling I had when I was

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Speaker 4: in the class was, Hey, you're not pursuing the thing

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Speaker 4: that you're supposed to be pursuing right now, and you

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Speaker 4: are going to feel sick about that at some point

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Speaker 4: in time. Right now, you feel sick, so you need

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Speaker 4: to go write that song. Later on I felt like, okay,

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Speaker 4: I but I made a commitment, and so you know,

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Speaker 4: it's about just commitment focus not being distracted. And when

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Speaker 4: I finished college, I was like, Okay, now I'm going

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Speaker 4: to focus and I wanted to do that.

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Speaker 1: You did finish, yes, and you paid?

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Speaker 2: Yeah I had to pay.

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Speaker 4: Oh yeah, that's what I'm saying. Hey, last year I

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Speaker 4: got a scholarship for part of it. I got a

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Speaker 4: scholtship to go live in Spain. So they paid me

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Speaker 4: to go. I did get another scholarship.

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Speaker 1: Too, smart man, but I.

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Speaker 3: And tell them what you know?

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Speaker 4: What?

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Speaker 3: Tell them what you got that scholarship in Spanish, which

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Speaker 3: I sucked in. I failed Spanish high school year, but

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Speaker 3: Spanish major in Spanish.

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Speaker 1: Look at you? Yeah, did you did you study any

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Speaker 1: music Spanish music while you were in Spain?

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Speaker 2: No?

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Speaker 4: I studied Spanish art and architecture actually, And so when

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Speaker 4: I went to Spain, I was like, let me not

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Speaker 4: pursue music right now.

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Speaker 2: Let me focus.

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Speaker 4: I'm not going to bring any of my instruments, like

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Speaker 4: I would never not have a guitar in my hand.

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Speaker 4: And so I was like, I'm going to go to Spain.

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Speaker 4: I'm not going to have any instruments. I'm going to

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Speaker 4: focus and I'm going to just do what I'm here

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Speaker 4: to do. And I went there, and what's crazy is

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Speaker 4: that the place that I lived was directly next to

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Speaker 4: a music conservatory. So I would wake up in this

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Speaker 4: girl would play the flute every morning.

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Speaker 2: It would wake me up. Every morning.

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Speaker 4: I would hear musicians playing all day. And I was like, man,

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Speaker 4: I got And so I was there I bought a

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Speaker 4: flute and like taught myself to play the flute, but

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Speaker 4: that was it. I was like, let me just that's

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Speaker 4: small enough.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's more of a hobby than a real

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Speaker 1: stick pursuit. Similarly, you early on were kind of like

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Speaker 1: possessed by creativity, right, mm hmmm.

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Speaker 3: I like that possessed. Yes, there was never a time

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Speaker 3: where I wasn't singing. I don't remember like singing, acting, partying,

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Speaker 3: doing exactly what it is that I'm doing. I was

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Speaker 3: talking to a friend and she reminded me. She was like,

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Speaker 3: remember in sixth grade when we used to throw these

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Speaker 3: parties and you would charge a dollar for people to

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Speaker 3: get in, and I got I skipped school to hand

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Speaker 3: out flyers. It was a whole thing. But at that

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Speaker 3: same time, I was on every talent show stage in

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Speaker 3: Kansas City, in every musical theater production. And you know,

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Speaker 3: it's morphed into conserts Now and the Age of Pleasure

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Speaker 3: album and being driven by by just the things that

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Speaker 3: I love. I'm so thankful that I still can can

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Speaker 3: do that. And for me, when I went to school

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Speaker 3: in New York after you know, after high school, went

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Speaker 3: to school in New York, and I thought, oh, I

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Speaker 3: want to do musical theater. As soon as I got

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Speaker 3: out there and started going to see plays and stuff,

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Speaker 3: I was like, man, ugh, I'm not excited about any

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Speaker 3: of the roles that they're offering. You know, people that

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Speaker 3: look like me.

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Speaker 1: What were you? What kind of roles were you getting?

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Speaker 3: Well, we couldn't really audition, but like there was no

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Speaker 3: there was maybe one strong black woman leading something there

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Speaker 3: was not right now, Broadway has changed, like it's it's

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Speaker 3: it's a lot more diverse, a lot more stories, a

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Speaker 3: lot more uniqueness. And the only thing, because I'm from Kansas,

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Speaker 3: the only thing I think people saw me doing was

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Speaker 3: The Wiz, and The Whiz wasn't on Broadway. And I'm

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Speaker 3: just like, I love the Wiz, but where is the

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Speaker 3: new energy, the new stories? And I had so much

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Speaker 3: bubble because I'm a writer as well, and I decided that,

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Speaker 3: you know, I was going to quit, So I quit

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Speaker 3: school in New York. Everybody thought I was crazy too.

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Speaker 3: That was my like you're crazy moment because coming from Kansas,

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Speaker 3: such a small town to get there, They're like, wow,

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Speaker 3: you're in New York. You're living the dream. And little

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Speaker 3: do they know, I was sleeping in the same bed

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Speaker 3: as my cousin because I could not afford housing there,

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Speaker 3: and so I was commuting from like one hundred and

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Speaker 3: forty ath An, Amsterdam to like seventy second and Broadway

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Speaker 3: every single day Monday through Friday. Wow, I mean I

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Speaker 3: learned a lot about surviving. And I was just like,

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Speaker 3: you know, poor, but excited about the arts and excited

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Speaker 3: about finally figuring out what did Janelle Robinson have to say?

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Speaker 3: Because I wasn't even going by Jane one. I had

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Speaker 3: not tapped into the center the core of what I

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Speaker 3: had to say because I was spending so much time

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Speaker 3: singing everybody else's songs.

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Speaker 1: Why the transition of jenem on a them from Janel Robinson?

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Speaker 1: What about that felt more like the authentic place to

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Speaker 1: create farm.

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Speaker 3: Well, I knew about the painter Monet, and I always

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Speaker 3: thought like, that's that's a great artist name, and it

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Speaker 3: just so happens to be my real name. My middle

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Speaker 3: name is done. My aunt actually she was like Janelle Monett,

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Speaker 3: Janelle Monet. She calls me that all the time, like

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Speaker 3: when she sees me, and it just it sucked.

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Speaker 1: Before it wasn't like a kid like your family and

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Speaker 1: where you come from, none of it.

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Speaker 3: I just thought Monet felt like an artist name and

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Speaker 3: it was my name, and it was like, yeah, okay,

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Speaker 3: I get to reinvent, you know, who, what I can be,

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Speaker 3: how I can say it, how I see myself. And

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Speaker 3: it was so great. So that's when I moved to Atlanta,

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Speaker 3: and that's when I met Nate Rocket Wonder, I met

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Speaker 3: Chuck Lightning, I met Michael Moore, who were all still

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Speaker 3: working together. They were at Morehouse. They ran this arts

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Speaker 3: collective called the Dark Tower Project, and they would bring

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Speaker 3: musicians poets to Morehouse and I was one of the

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Speaker 3: people who performed that night. And I just saw like

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Speaker 3: this kind of black cosmopolitan in Atlanta, Like it was

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Speaker 3: just this melting pot of just excellence and creativity and

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Speaker 3: freedom of expression. I had never seen anything like it,

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Speaker 3: and I wanted to be around that, and I wanted

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Speaker 3: to make music for them. I wanted That's who I

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Speaker 3: wanted to make music for. And so when I started

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Speaker 3: to write, I would sit out, like Nate was saying,

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Speaker 3: I would sit on the library steps of Club Woody

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Speaker 3: and I would just play guitar, sing my songs. People

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Speaker 3: would walk by, some would stop and listen. Some would

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Speaker 3: keep moving. I would go to dorm lounge just sit

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Speaker 3: on the couch and get perform. Like to anybody that

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Speaker 3: would listen, I was. I was like, I don't give

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Speaker 3: a damn. I have to know is this for me? Like,

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Speaker 3: do you guys like what I have to say? Like

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Speaker 3: can I make my purpose and passion and also career aligne.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a scary time because you don't you don't

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Speaker 1: really know that, and me have the confidence to not

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Speaker 1: necessarily care, but you don't. At the same time, I

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Speaker 1: don't really know. You don't know.

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Speaker 4: Like one of the reasons why we really connected was because,

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Speaker 4: like I know it sounds it's very basic, but we

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Speaker 4: love art, and I think that we were inspired by

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Speaker 4: meeting other people who loved art. Like really we're just

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Speaker 4: like fall in love with art, you know, just be

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Speaker 4: obsessed over it. Just sit up all day and think

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Speaker 4: about something that they read, or a.

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Speaker 2: Painting that they saw, or just a song. Just sit

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Speaker 2: there and cry to a song.

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Speaker 1: And just like.

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Speaker 4: I know that Janelle and I have a very spiritual

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Speaker 4: connection that music. It really it's like the catalyst for

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Speaker 4: that and it catalyzes it all the time. It's something

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Speaker 4: that I know that we can always tap into, like

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Speaker 4: besides being like good thought partners and like, you know,

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Speaker 4: there are wonderful myriad things about Janelle that make her

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Speaker 4: a great like human being. But on a musical level,

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Speaker 4: she is very past about music, Like if I play

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Speaker 4: certain chords, it can make her cry, and that is

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Speaker 4: something that also happens to me, Like I can hear

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Speaker 4: certain songs certain chords, and it doesn't have to do

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Speaker 4: it necessarily the lyrics. Always Sometimes the lyrics, yes, and

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Speaker 4: poetry is beautiful and that's another you know, but just

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Speaker 4: like music and just being really just emotionally brought to

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Speaker 4: your knees over how good music can be. And we've

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Speaker 4: shared so many of those moments, and that was like

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Speaker 4: the beginning of that time where we got to really

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Speaker 4: just pass music back and forth and be shocked and

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Speaker 4: just sit in awe with each other as we would

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Speaker 4: just listen to what could be done.

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Speaker 3: I think one of the things that I loved early on,

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Speaker 3: and the reason why I think we've worked so well

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Speaker 3: together musically is because Nate is a student of music,

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Speaker 3: and so when it comes to like anything that I

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Speaker 3: want to do, there's nothing we can't do from string

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Speaker 3: arrangements to you know, core progressions, horn arrangements, melodies, like

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Speaker 3: there's no genre. We've been genres with each album. You know,

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Speaker 3: it's all about how do we create our own musical language.

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Speaker 3: And I love that. I always have to feel pushed

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Speaker 3: and stretched, and I think that's what is the exciting thing,

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Speaker 3: because it's like we literally have the the mind and

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Speaker 3: the student heart, like we never stop being.

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Speaker 1: Student, always at the beginning.

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Speaker 3: Always it's always a new whiteboard, you know, the ideas

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Speaker 3: ready to be put down.

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Speaker 1: It sounds to me like you guys are just always

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Speaker 1: creating things, regardless of like there's an album doing or

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Speaker 1: you know, or it's been a minute or you know.

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Speaker 1: It's like it's just that's how you guys are inhabiting life.

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Speaker 1: It's just creating every day or you know, the days

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Speaker 1: that it feels right to do.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean I didn't get into music because of

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Speaker 3: awards or because of you know, recognition or anything like that.

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Speaker 3: Music is truly healing. I need music like I need

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Speaker 3: a song in my darkest hours. I need a song

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Speaker 3: in my most celebratory stage. I need a song when

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Speaker 3: you know, I want to communicate something that my own

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Speaker 3: words can't say, and I need to be able to

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Speaker 3: write when I'm feeling frustrated or when I'm like it's

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Speaker 3: a way. It has helped my mental health so much, Yeah,

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Speaker 3: so much.

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Speaker 1: You know, when I was listening again for like the

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Speaker 1: umpteenth time this morning on my watt to the Age

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Speaker 1: of Pleasure, I was wondering listening to it, it might

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Speaker 1: be the possible question to answer, but whether these songs

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Speaker 1: were for you or for other people? Because I in

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Speaker 1: a way I've realized that as I've been listening to it,

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Speaker 1: I've been taking it as like you giving mantras to

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Speaker 1: me that, but it occurred to me to that I'm like,

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Speaker 1: maybe you needed to write this for you too, And

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Speaker 1: I don't know how you were approaching that, but.

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Speaker 3: It's for all of us. It's for us, and that

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Speaker 3: means a lot to hear you say that, because I

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Speaker 3: think one of the most important things as an artist

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Speaker 3: is your ability to communicate. And as much as I

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Speaker 3: can say like, oh, I just want to do an

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Speaker 3: album and I want this just for myself and I

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Speaker 3: me to listen to it, that's not my truth. I

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Speaker 3: actually want everybody to feel like this is their soundtrack

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Speaker 3: to their life. This is curating their thoughts and their feelings.

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Speaker 3: They are part of my community. We're a part of

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Speaker 3: each other's community, and all of us are growing and

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Speaker 3: healing and moving together and sharing something that they can

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Speaker 3: tap into anytime they want to. And it's funny because

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Speaker 3: you're here. This is exactly what inspired the album this space,

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Speaker 3: having this space filled with black and brown and you

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Speaker 3: just beautiful people across the diaspora here, seeing them smiling,

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Speaker 3: seeing the joy and their spirits and their hearts. During

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Speaker 3: the time where everybody thought the word world was ending,

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Speaker 3: I mean every day the pandemic. We created Wonderland West

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Speaker 3: during the pandemic. It was one of the most scary

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Speaker 3: things ever because I grew up my parents didn't own

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Speaker 3: a home. We were either in like a duplex or

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Speaker 3: you know, we live with my grandmother and they were

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Speaker 3: working class, like making ends meet, but live in check

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Speaker 3: to check. So when it was time for all of

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Speaker 3: us to contribute and figure out where we were going

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Speaker 3: to migrate with Wonderland, it was like, Okay, are we

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Speaker 3: ready to all? Am I ready to invest in our

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Speaker 3: next creative endeavor? Yes, I am, but we're in the

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Speaker 3: middle of a pandemic. What does that mean? And luckily

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Speaker 3: we knew the person who was trying to sell the space,

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Speaker 3: and they were just like, there's nobody else I want

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Speaker 3: to have this space. And it worked out and you, yeah,

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Speaker 3: but did. But it was also scary because a lot

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Speaker 3: of things were being canceled For me. My job is

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Speaker 3: to go out into the world and travel and you know,

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Speaker 3: try to heal people through music. But I couldn't do that.

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Speaker 1: So you come from growing up a certain amount of insecurity. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and it's you know, the successful career you've had. It's

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Speaker 1: hard to imagine that. But you know, as soon as

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Speaker 1: you start to feel that a little bit insecurity again,

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Speaker 1: I know from my own life, like all of a sudden, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, where was your mind that With all of that.

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Speaker 3: I think the pandemic reminded me just how much music

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Speaker 3: means to me as a person, not as a career path,

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Speaker 3: not as you know, the artists that people know and

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Speaker 3: come to the concerts and see, but as a human

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Speaker 3: android having this Earth experience. I need music. I need

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Speaker 3: to create. During that time, not only were we working

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Speaker 3: on music, but I also wrote a book called The

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Speaker 3: Memory Librarian. I was just doing anything creative that would

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Speaker 3: would help me feel better, because to go from moving

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Speaker 3: around so much to just being still it was tough.

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Speaker 3: It was for be How was it for you?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: You know, art has this weird responsibility of trying to

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Speaker 4: document and explain the human experience a little bit more

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Speaker 4: and kind of just like unearth a little bit more

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Speaker 4: about what it means to be human. And I think

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Speaker 4: that so many of us were finding out a lot

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Speaker 4: more about what it meant to be human, like a

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Speaker 4: lot about the mortality of it. Even though we weren't

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Speaker 4: necessarily in or didn't consider ourselves vulnerable in that kind

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Speaker 4: of way. I think a lot of us looked at

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Speaker 4: ourselves as more vulnerable to death. And I think that

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Speaker 4: that was a very real consideration that we all kind

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Speaker 4: of had to deal with it differently. And I think

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Speaker 4: that human experience is a very unique one that kind

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Speaker 4: of felt like, Okay, so what is the response to that,

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Speaker 4: and how do you talk about this in healthy ways?

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Speaker 4: And how do you explore and understand more about it?

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Speaker 4: So I think that like part of what we were

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Speaker 4: trying to do was just face that in an honest way.

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Speaker 4: When you talk about like the affirmations, I mean that

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Speaker 4: was very intentional, because part of just confronting death is

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Speaker 4: kind of like being able to turn your head and

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Speaker 4: be like not today, and then you kind of are

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Speaker 4: like okay, so then what does that mean? And it's

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Speaker 4: kind of like, okay, live and so then how do

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Speaker 4: you live in a way that honors the life experience?

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Speaker 2: And it's like, hey, okay, I'm here. I mean I'm

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Speaker 2: here now, you know.

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Speaker 4: And you hear these stories about the Roaring twenties when

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Speaker 4: people are kind of like getting through that depressions. It's

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Speaker 4: so much going on, and they're like, and they've made

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Speaker 4: it through a pandemic, right, and you have the ss

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Speaker 4: guilt and so much of that goes into just just

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Speaker 4: your human experience, and it's those affirmations were like just

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Speaker 4: the small attempts to just undergird just the everyday thing

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Speaker 4: that's kind of like pushing you down and kind of

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Speaker 4: be like, all right, I'm gonna get back up. You know,

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Speaker 4: when Janelle says like I used to walk into the

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Speaker 4: room head down, you know, it's just that feeling of

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Speaker 4: I used to walk into the room head down and

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Speaker 4: being like that's I'm leaving that and now I'm onto

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Speaker 4: this next stage of myself.

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Speaker 3: I think in the I think it was a privilege

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Speaker 3: to be still because during that time, I mean, as

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Speaker 3: we know, a lot of people were getting laid off

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Speaker 3: from work, a lot of people were losing their families

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Speaker 3: passing away. And as much as it was sad that

436
00:22:46,596 --> 00:22:49,276
Speaker 3: I couldn't go and be the artist that I wanted

437
00:22:49,276 --> 00:22:51,156
Speaker 3: to be out into the world, there were so many

438
00:22:51,156 --> 00:22:54,836
Speaker 3: other people who had it worse than us. In that stillness,

439
00:22:54,916 --> 00:22:57,676
Speaker 3: I said, well, what can I do. I know we

440
00:22:57,676 --> 00:23:00,516
Speaker 3: were in LA and we got the opportunity to feed

441
00:23:00,636 --> 00:23:04,116
Speaker 3: and give out over thirty five thousand meals throughout Won

442
00:23:04,156 --> 00:23:06,956
Speaker 3: to Lunch program, and so we did that for like

443
00:23:07,596 --> 00:23:11,956
Speaker 3: months and months and months. I think that connectivity back

444
00:23:11,996 --> 00:23:16,276
Speaker 3: to humanity really let us know what kind of affirmations

445
00:23:16,276 --> 00:23:19,796
Speaker 3: are people needed and what I needed as well. And

446
00:23:19,836 --> 00:23:22,556
Speaker 3: I think to answer your question, we were very intentional

447
00:23:22,596 --> 00:23:24,756
Speaker 3: about that, and I think Float really kicked it off.

448
00:23:25,156 --> 00:23:26,916
Speaker 3: Like I used to walk into the room head down

449
00:23:26,956 --> 00:23:29,356
Speaker 3: out on walk. Now if Float, I got an opportunity

450
00:23:29,356 --> 00:23:33,796
Speaker 3: in that stillness to deal with, you know, childhood trauma

451
00:23:33,796 --> 00:23:37,596
Speaker 3: that I had not dealt with because I was moving

452
00:23:37,596 --> 00:23:41,996
Speaker 3: around so much, I didn't It was like, Okay, you

453
00:23:42,036 --> 00:23:44,516
Speaker 3: know something's not right, but I don't have time to

454
00:23:44,556 --> 00:23:48,436
Speaker 3: deal with it. And in that discovering and peeling back

455
00:23:48,476 --> 00:23:54,636
Speaker 3: the layers of the rejection and abandonment that I felt

456
00:23:54,836 --> 00:23:58,596
Speaker 3: early on getting to the root of it, my spirit

457
00:23:58,636 --> 00:24:01,716
Speaker 3: started to get lighter because I knew. I was like, oh, okay,

458
00:24:02,236 --> 00:24:06,196
Speaker 3: so I can become better and more evolved as a

459
00:24:06,196 --> 00:24:09,236
Speaker 3: person now. And I feel so empowered now that I

460
00:24:09,036 --> 00:24:12,996
Speaker 3: know what was going on with me. And when you

461
00:24:13,076 --> 00:24:16,036
Speaker 3: heals as a person, all of that seeps into your

462
00:24:16,156 --> 00:24:18,436
Speaker 3: music and your art. My art is a reflection of

463
00:24:18,476 --> 00:24:22,756
Speaker 3: who I am, and I'm so thankful for that because

464
00:24:22,756 --> 00:24:26,436
Speaker 3: all I wanted to do was give more people affirmations,

465
00:24:26,476 --> 00:24:28,476
Speaker 3: because I know I wasn't only want. When I would

466
00:24:28,476 --> 00:24:31,156
Speaker 3: have conversations with people, they would say the same thing, like, man,

467
00:24:31,276 --> 00:24:34,836
Speaker 3: I have to let go of this. I have to

468
00:24:34,876 --> 00:24:37,276
Speaker 3: let go of that, you know, And so float was

469
00:24:37,276 --> 00:24:39,116
Speaker 3: that thing. It was like once you let go of

470
00:24:39,156 --> 00:24:42,596
Speaker 3: the heaviness that you've been carrying on your back that

471
00:24:42,636 --> 00:24:44,396
Speaker 3: you didn't have to carry, and you just find that

472
00:24:44,436 --> 00:24:46,676
Speaker 3: you're finding out like, oh, I have a way to

473
00:24:46,716 --> 00:24:49,436
Speaker 3: get all of this off of me now. It felt

474
00:24:49,436 --> 00:24:52,596
Speaker 3: like I wanted to celebrate as a new person, Like

475
00:24:52,636 --> 00:24:55,836
Speaker 3: I feel like I definitely, you know, shed a lot

476
00:24:55,876 --> 00:24:59,716
Speaker 3: of skin, turn a new leaf. And obviously it's a constant,

477
00:24:59,996 --> 00:25:03,836
Speaker 3: you know, journey. But once I tapped into it, I

478
00:25:03,836 --> 00:25:06,116
Speaker 3: got really inspired to write about it.

479
00:25:07,916 --> 00:25:09,716
Speaker 1: After a quick break, will come act with more of

480
00:25:09,756 --> 00:25:17,636
Speaker 1: my conversation with Jenne Monet and Nate Wonder. We're back

481
00:25:17,676 --> 00:25:21,716
Speaker 1: with Jane mone and Nate Wonder. Once you put the

482
00:25:21,716 --> 00:25:23,996
Speaker 1: album out, how did you guys feel about the response

483
00:25:24,076 --> 00:25:27,836
Speaker 1: to it? You know, obviously we're very vulnerable, and I

484
00:25:27,836 --> 00:25:32,076
Speaker 1: feel like that was like a big point of conversation

485
00:25:32,316 --> 00:25:35,556
Speaker 1: around that. But was it Sometimes you just do things

486
00:25:35,756 --> 00:25:37,316
Speaker 1: feeling like that's the right thing to do, and then

487
00:25:37,316 --> 00:25:38,956
Speaker 1: it's like, oh shit, I got to talk about this,

488
00:25:39,916 --> 00:25:43,436
Speaker 1: Like how was the process of going out and talking

489
00:25:43,476 --> 00:25:47,236
Speaker 1: about the album and getting people's responses to the project?

490
00:25:47,516 --> 00:25:50,476
Speaker 3: You know, I think it's a beautiful thing that when

491
00:25:50,516 --> 00:25:53,276
Speaker 3: people see themselves reflected, that was the most beautiful thing.

492
00:25:53,316 --> 00:25:54,836
Speaker 3: I think a lot of people coming up to me,

493
00:25:55,356 --> 00:25:57,996
Speaker 3: some of them whispering, some of them more vocal about it,

494
00:25:58,076 --> 00:26:02,876
Speaker 3: like thank you so much, you know, for sharing more

495
00:26:02,916 --> 00:26:05,556
Speaker 3: of who you are. There's this quote by Betha and

496
00:26:05,596 --> 00:26:07,836
Speaker 3: hardest and this As you know, people don't change, they

497
00:26:07,916 --> 00:26:10,596
Speaker 3: become more of who they are are. And what I

498
00:26:10,636 --> 00:26:14,076
Speaker 3: got an opportunity to do is become more of who

499
00:26:14,116 --> 00:26:17,036
Speaker 3: I am and write about it and write about it

500
00:26:17,076 --> 00:26:19,076
Speaker 3: with other people who were discovering more about who they

501
00:26:19,076 --> 00:26:22,676
Speaker 3: were and us having a safe space that was really important.

502
00:26:22,676 --> 00:26:25,836
Speaker 3: I think with an album called The Age of Pleasure,

503
00:26:25,876 --> 00:26:29,156
Speaker 3: there is no pleasure without safety. When we don't feel

504
00:26:29,156 --> 00:26:32,196
Speaker 3: safe and taken care of, you cannot be free in

505
00:26:32,236 --> 00:26:34,756
Speaker 3: the way that you move or express yourselves, at least for.

506
00:26:34,836 --> 00:26:37,156
Speaker 1: Me, to your point earlier about unpacking a lot of

507
00:26:37,196 --> 00:26:40,036
Speaker 1: the traumas and stuff, just feeling safe within yourself too exactly.

508
00:26:40,236 --> 00:26:44,676
Speaker 3: You know what I feel a lot more. How do

509
00:26:44,716 --> 00:26:48,956
Speaker 3: I put it? I did put it. I see it float.

510
00:26:49,116 --> 00:26:53,596
Speaker 3: I feel like I've floated, and anything that used to

511
00:26:53,956 --> 00:26:55,876
Speaker 3: bother me it doesn't touch me.

512
00:26:55,916 --> 00:26:56,556
Speaker 1: To say.

513
00:26:56,836 --> 00:26:59,836
Speaker 3: It's kind of scary and also really really awesome.

514
00:27:00,276 --> 00:27:03,396
Speaker 1: Yeah, how was it writing on this record with Janelle?

515
00:27:03,756 --> 00:27:06,556
Speaker 1: With given the just the way the songs were coming.

516
00:27:06,396 --> 00:27:08,396
Speaker 2: Out, it was a real blessing.

517
00:27:09,196 --> 00:27:12,556
Speaker 4: Before we started working on the album, I remember I

518
00:27:12,636 --> 00:27:16,396
Speaker 4: told my management team that I really wanted to focus

519
00:27:16,516 --> 00:27:20,436
Speaker 4: this time, that I have right now on making music

520
00:27:21,036 --> 00:27:27,356
Speaker 4: for black women and black uh non binary folks. I

521
00:27:27,396 --> 00:27:30,116
Speaker 4: want to make music that makes them smile, like I

522
00:27:30,116 --> 00:27:33,036
Speaker 4: want to make music for them specifically, like I really

523
00:27:33,156 --> 00:27:35,316
Speaker 4: just want to be of service.

524
00:27:35,476 --> 00:27:38,636
Speaker 2: To that community. And there's so many reasons why.

525
00:27:38,836 --> 00:27:43,396
Speaker 4: But one reason is because when I go to the

526
00:27:43,436 --> 00:27:45,476
Speaker 4: grocery store as like a little side.

527
00:27:47,196 --> 00:27:50,676
Speaker 1: I do it. I love it.

528
00:27:51,516 --> 00:27:53,436
Speaker 3: This is great. I love this because I do not

529
00:27:53,476 --> 00:27:53,916
Speaker 3: like going.

530
00:27:58,236 --> 00:27:58,396
Speaker 1: Long.

531
00:27:58,556 --> 00:28:00,316
Speaker 3: Used to have me in a grocery store way too long.

532
00:28:00,436 --> 00:28:01,396
Speaker 3: It was like I'm ready to.

533
00:28:01,316 --> 00:28:04,636
Speaker 4: Go home, so anyway, But when I would go and

534
00:28:04,716 --> 00:28:08,636
Speaker 4: I see like black women at the grocery store smiling,

535
00:28:09,596 --> 00:28:12,676
Speaker 4: it just makes me feel a certain way. And sometimes

536
00:28:12,716 --> 00:28:14,436
Speaker 4: it'd be like when a certain song would come on,

537
00:28:15,156 --> 00:28:17,276
Speaker 4: it would be like you see them singing their song

538
00:28:17,476 --> 00:28:21,236
Speaker 4: and it's like, man, so good. And Janelle, of course,

539
00:28:21,356 --> 00:28:26,236
Speaker 4: has done so much work as a leading voice in

540
00:28:26,316 --> 00:28:30,596
Speaker 4: terms of activism, in terms of being on the right

541
00:28:30,636 --> 00:28:34,396
Speaker 4: side of history, in terms of speaking up for marginalized

542
00:28:34,676 --> 00:28:37,036
Speaker 4: people early to.

543
00:28:37,996 --> 00:28:39,716
Speaker 2: Always it's been herself.

544
00:28:40,716 --> 00:28:44,076
Speaker 4: But I also was thinking about how much that can

545
00:28:44,116 --> 00:28:48,156
Speaker 4: weigh on a person, and I told Janelle, I said,

546
00:28:48,236 --> 00:28:51,516
Speaker 4: I really like for your next time I would really

547
00:28:51,556 --> 00:28:55,316
Speaker 4: love I would love to see you smile more like,

548
00:28:55,356 --> 00:28:57,276
Speaker 4: I would love to just see you smile, Like it

549
00:28:57,316 --> 00:29:00,356
Speaker 4: really would mean so much. I think that you smiling

550
00:29:00,836 --> 00:29:03,756
Speaker 4: is a really special thing. I love when I see

551
00:29:03,796 --> 00:29:07,516
Speaker 4: you smile, and I would love to see what that

552
00:29:07,756 --> 00:29:11,196
Speaker 4: energy is to like really put that into a space.

553
00:29:11,396 --> 00:29:13,396
Speaker 3: And I hadn't really considered that. And I looked at

554
00:29:13,436 --> 00:29:16,436
Speaker 3: all my album covers and I was like, I'm really

555
00:29:16,476 --> 00:29:17,436
Speaker 3: not smiling.

556
00:29:17,516 --> 00:29:18,556
Speaker 1: Kind with you for a second.

557
00:29:18,716 --> 00:29:21,156
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was like, what what is going on? Like

558
00:29:21,476 --> 00:29:27,396
Speaker 3: from the Arcandroid to Electric Lady to Dirty Computer And

559
00:29:27,436 --> 00:29:30,236
Speaker 3: if you look at the cover for the Age of Pleasure,

560
00:29:32,036 --> 00:29:37,876
Speaker 3: I am writing this pool swimming topless and smiling.

561
00:29:38,836 --> 00:29:42,756
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it's a layered idea, but I do

562
00:29:42,916 --> 00:29:47,836
Speaker 4: think that giving somebody something that makes them want to

563
00:29:47,876 --> 00:29:54,316
Speaker 4: smile is its own resistance. It's its own protest, it's

564
00:29:54,356 --> 00:29:58,476
Speaker 4: its own like giving people affirmations is its own version.

565
00:29:58,876 --> 00:30:02,076
Speaker 4: It's a certain form of work, it's a certain type

566
00:30:02,076 --> 00:30:02,596
Speaker 4: of healing.

567
00:30:03,476 --> 00:30:06,836
Speaker 1: And so it's pleasure like, yeah, it's like I want

568
00:30:06,876 --> 00:30:08,636
Speaker 1: you to smile. It's like to your point then too,

569
00:30:08,676 --> 00:30:11,356
Speaker 1: it's like only I smile, Like I want top in

570
00:30:11,436 --> 00:30:14,476
Speaker 1: this pool, right, and smiled. Yeah, and it's like both

571
00:30:14,516 --> 00:30:17,796
Speaker 1: of those things are can be subversive.

572
00:30:17,436 --> 00:30:20,236
Speaker 4: Can be absolutely you know what I mean absolutely it

573
00:30:20,276 --> 00:30:22,956
Speaker 4: is to make an album called The Age of Pleasure

574
00:30:22,956 --> 00:30:27,276
Speaker 4: in the middle of a pandemic is a subversive piece

575
00:30:27,316 --> 00:30:30,436
Speaker 4: of art because it is just kind of being like, no,

576
00:30:30,996 --> 00:30:33,196
Speaker 4: it's just like because there's been.

577
00:30:33,156 --> 00:30:35,276
Speaker 2: You know, when you're dealing with so much trauma.

578
00:30:35,356 --> 00:30:39,316
Speaker 4: From elections to it's just so much that happens, and

579
00:30:39,556 --> 00:30:42,956
Speaker 4: it feels like your energy when you wake up is

580
00:30:42,996 --> 00:30:44,116
Speaker 4: going to be stolen from you.

581
00:30:44,396 --> 00:30:44,796
Speaker 3: Yeah.

582
00:30:45,196 --> 00:30:49,396
Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels like, yeah, you're dolen. It's not yours,

583
00:30:49,436 --> 00:30:50,756
Speaker 1: not yours exactly.

584
00:30:50,956 --> 00:30:54,756
Speaker 4: And so it was like a big like, no, you

585
00:30:54,796 --> 00:30:56,836
Speaker 4: cannot have all of my day.

586
00:30:57,316 --> 00:30:59,116
Speaker 2: Yeah, you cannot have all of my time.

587
00:30:59,676 --> 00:31:03,356
Speaker 4: I'm going to take some time to enjoy life as

588
00:31:03,436 --> 00:31:06,116
Speaker 4: best as I can under whatever the circumstances that I

589
00:31:06,156 --> 00:31:09,716
Speaker 4: have are. I'm going to try my best to do

590
00:31:10,076 --> 00:31:14,196
Speaker 4: what I can to appreciate this moment, as simple as

591
00:31:14,196 --> 00:31:16,836
Speaker 4: it may be. And what I think that we were

592
00:31:16,956 --> 00:31:22,556
Speaker 4: finding in the writing process was that just having time

593
00:31:22,636 --> 00:31:26,076
Speaker 4: to hang out with your friends was the thing that

594
00:31:26,116 --> 00:31:31,116
Speaker 4: we needed the most. Just seeking time to appreciate each other,

595
00:31:31,916 --> 00:31:34,356
Speaker 4: to smile at each other, to laugh with each other,

596
00:31:34,956 --> 00:31:37,516
Speaker 4: to do like the simple stuff with each other. Felt like,

597
00:31:38,716 --> 00:31:42,276
Speaker 4: this is worth my time, way more than whatever that

598
00:31:42,316 --> 00:31:45,916
Speaker 4: other thing was that was driving me and decentering my joy.

599
00:31:46,396 --> 00:31:48,836
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's what that stuff does, right,

600
00:31:48,876 --> 00:31:51,316
Speaker 3: Like when you think about racism, when you think about sexism,

601
00:31:51,356 --> 00:31:55,356
Speaker 3: when you think about homophobia, all of it. It literally,

602
00:31:56,196 --> 00:31:59,636
Speaker 3: in addition to just being you know, pure evil work,

603
00:32:00,156 --> 00:32:03,556
Speaker 3: it distracts you from living your life because you spent

604
00:32:03,676 --> 00:32:06,836
Speaker 3: so much time fighting. And I definitely found myself and

605
00:32:06,876 --> 00:32:08,276
Speaker 3: I know I'm not the only one. There were so

606
00:32:08,316 --> 00:32:10,596
Speaker 3: many of my friends and people who were out marching.

607
00:32:10,996 --> 00:32:13,276
Speaker 3: You know, you have to understand George Floyd had been murdered.

608
00:32:13,676 --> 00:32:16,276
Speaker 3: It was so much. Breonna Taylor, it was so much.

609
00:32:16,316 --> 00:32:18,596
Speaker 3: And I was working with say her name and I

610
00:32:18,676 --> 00:32:23,116
Speaker 3: put out you know, protest music. It was so heavy, man,

611
00:32:23,236 --> 00:32:24,916
Speaker 3: And I was like, somebody has to do the work.

612
00:32:24,956 --> 00:32:27,956
Speaker 3: But I think balance is important, and what I was

613
00:32:27,956 --> 00:32:31,316
Speaker 3: realizing is I was not getting the balance that I needed.

614
00:32:31,876 --> 00:32:34,596
Speaker 3: And so once we made a decision to not center

615
00:32:35,236 --> 00:32:38,996
Speaker 3: white supremacy, to not center you know, all all of

616
00:32:39,036 --> 00:32:42,676
Speaker 3: the things that again come to distract and destroy and

617
00:32:42,716 --> 00:32:45,396
Speaker 3: stop us from just living our lives as humans having

618
00:32:45,396 --> 00:32:49,196
Speaker 3: this earth experience and be clear and stand on that.

619
00:32:49,196 --> 00:32:52,956
Speaker 3: That's when I feel like the songwriting got focused. And

620
00:32:53,036 --> 00:32:55,636
Speaker 3: with this project, I said, I want to make music

621
00:32:55,716 --> 00:32:58,756
Speaker 3: for that community, for that community of folks who suffer

622
00:32:58,836 --> 00:33:02,276
Speaker 3: time poverty, Like they don't have time. It's a great phrase,

623
00:33:02,636 --> 00:33:05,436
Speaker 3: it's a real thing in our community. People don't have

624
00:33:05,956 --> 00:33:09,996
Speaker 3: the time or the leisure time to just be you

625
00:33:10,036 --> 00:33:12,276
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying, to just be one with their

626
00:33:12,316 --> 00:33:14,756
Speaker 3: friends or their families, because you're spending so much time working,

627
00:33:14,756 --> 00:33:17,316
Speaker 3: you spending so much time fighting, and it's like when

628
00:33:17,316 --> 00:33:19,116
Speaker 3: do we say, Okay, well we're gonna carve out this

629
00:33:19,116 --> 00:33:22,196
Speaker 3: little space for us. And so I said, I want

630
00:33:22,276 --> 00:33:26,276
Speaker 3: to create music that we can all listen to take

631
00:33:26,316 --> 00:33:29,716
Speaker 3: with us whole with us. That is the balance and

632
00:33:30,036 --> 00:33:34,196
Speaker 3: everything that we're dealing with. And if the people that

633
00:33:34,236 --> 00:33:38,716
Speaker 3: I invite over are not dancing to these songs, if

634
00:33:38,756 --> 00:33:41,316
Speaker 3: they are not moving, if they're not trying to shazam,

635
00:33:41,436 --> 00:33:44,996
Speaker 3: if they're not asking who is that, then it's not working.

636
00:33:45,436 --> 00:33:48,076
Speaker 3: It's not like I want them to really really really

637
00:33:48,076 --> 00:33:50,916
Speaker 3: really love this music. Obviously we have to love it, right,

638
00:33:51,556 --> 00:33:54,036
Speaker 3: but it was so important that the community people we

639
00:33:54,036 --> 00:33:58,116
Speaker 3: were writing it for loved it. And that's how we

640
00:33:58,316 --> 00:34:01,756
Speaker 3: put together the Age of Pleasure. We had Nana Quabna

641
00:34:01,796 --> 00:34:04,476
Speaker 3: who worked on some of the music, who's also a DJ,

642
00:34:05,476 --> 00:34:07,316
Speaker 3: and our friends with everyday people. I don't know if

643
00:34:07,316 --> 00:34:11,436
Speaker 3: you know about everyday people parties not bet but like

644
00:34:11,476 --> 00:34:13,556
Speaker 3: I have to give a shout pleasure.

645
00:34:14,476 --> 00:34:16,156
Speaker 1: I've been working hard.

646
00:34:16,716 --> 00:34:18,756
Speaker 3: I have to give them a shout out because during

647
00:34:18,756 --> 00:34:21,316
Speaker 3: the pandemic, they couldn't find a place, you know, to

648
00:34:21,396 --> 00:34:23,636
Speaker 3: have their parties. And when I say parties, it's not

649
00:34:23,876 --> 00:34:27,916
Speaker 3: just like I mean, everybody's dancing and singing and having

650
00:34:27,916 --> 00:34:30,116
Speaker 3: a good time, but people are feeding each other at

651
00:34:30,156 --> 00:34:33,876
Speaker 3: the parties like their food vendors. It's the diaspora. It's

652
00:34:34,036 --> 00:34:39,196
Speaker 3: Pan Africanism from around the globe, from you know, Nigeria, Ghana,

653
00:34:39,596 --> 00:34:44,116
Speaker 3: the Caribbeans, Jamaica, Atlanta, New York, LA and Cape verd

654
00:34:44,436 --> 00:34:47,996
Speaker 3: like all in one place. It's just nothing like going

655
00:34:48,036 --> 00:34:49,796
Speaker 3: to their parties. And so when they asked they had

656
00:34:49,836 --> 00:34:52,116
Speaker 3: come by Wonderland, they were like, you know, they were

657
00:34:52,116 --> 00:34:54,236
Speaker 3: having a hard time getting the space, and we were like,

658
00:34:54,476 --> 00:34:59,356
Speaker 3: come here, shoot, let's figure it out. Because we're we're

659
00:34:59,356 --> 00:35:01,596
Speaker 3: going through it too, like not being able to see people,

660
00:35:02,276 --> 00:35:04,676
Speaker 3: like how can we do this? And and that was

661
00:35:04,676 --> 00:35:08,996
Speaker 3: a to know who was coming or for sure it

662
00:35:09,036 --> 00:35:11,436
Speaker 3: was very small because I would be a little Yeah

663
00:35:11,476 --> 00:35:11,756
Speaker 3: it was.

664
00:35:11,876 --> 00:35:14,556
Speaker 2: We needed to know it was small and it was safe.

665
00:35:14,436 --> 00:35:17,316
Speaker 3: Yeah, safe and small. And and that's where the music

666
00:35:17,396 --> 00:35:18,076
Speaker 3: was tested.

667
00:35:17,876 --> 00:35:21,996
Speaker 1: First, hearing all of the backstory. I'm just gonna say

668
00:35:22,036 --> 00:35:23,436
Speaker 1: it because I feel like it's even in the music,

669
00:35:23,716 --> 00:35:28,196
Speaker 1: like a more human album. It's funny because as we're

670
00:35:28,196 --> 00:35:30,476
Speaker 1: moving into an age now more the future looks a

671
00:35:30,516 --> 00:35:34,036
Speaker 1: little bleaker in terms of technology. I feel like you

672
00:35:34,116 --> 00:35:37,636
Speaker 1: might have called that a little early. And it feels

673
00:35:37,716 --> 00:35:41,556
Speaker 1: like the project is away from computer and an arch

674
00:35:41,676 --> 00:35:44,636
Speaker 1: android and metropolis and like this tomorrow it feels like

675
00:35:45,956 --> 00:35:49,476
Speaker 1: Janelle the person you know, or it feels like to

676
00:35:49,556 --> 00:35:51,916
Speaker 1: me listening to it, like I even just feel myself

677
00:35:51,916 --> 00:35:53,796
Speaker 1: coming a lot more, just feeling more me, you know

678
00:35:53,796 --> 00:35:56,196
Speaker 1: what I mean. I know a lot of people who've

679
00:35:56,196 --> 00:35:57,956
Speaker 1: listened to the record, a lot of friends, a lot

680
00:35:57,956 --> 00:36:00,836
Speaker 1: of people there saying that like it makes them feel

681
00:36:00,916 --> 00:36:04,156
Speaker 1: a particular way as a living creature, you know.

682
00:36:05,116 --> 00:36:08,836
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, from the beginning, there was this conversation

683
00:36:08,876 --> 00:36:14,036
Speaker 4: around Android, writes, Yeah, and Cindy was always being was

684
00:36:14,076 --> 00:36:18,276
Speaker 4: always fighting to be perceived as a human and to

685
00:36:18,316 --> 00:36:21,156
Speaker 4: be respected as a human. So I guess there's a

686
00:36:21,156 --> 00:36:25,676
Speaker 4: certain truthfulness to being like, hey, you're human and kind

687
00:36:25,676 --> 00:36:26,156
Speaker 4: of being.

688
00:36:26,036 --> 00:36:29,996
Speaker 3: Like yeah, finally, I mean that the definition of an

689
00:36:30,036 --> 00:36:32,236
Speaker 3: android And if you're listening and you don't know any

690
00:36:32,276 --> 00:36:35,796
Speaker 3: of my work, it's rooted around Cindy Mayweather, who represents

691
00:36:35,796 --> 00:36:38,916
Speaker 3: the other, and the other is a parallel, you know,

692
00:36:38,956 --> 00:36:42,716
Speaker 3: the android is a parallel to black folks to marginalize

693
00:36:42,756 --> 00:36:46,676
Speaker 3: folks that I want to amplify, the voices I want

694
00:36:46,676 --> 00:36:49,916
Speaker 3: to amplify, and the music I want to write. The

695
00:36:49,956 --> 00:36:54,356
Speaker 3: definition of an android is a robot developing human characteristic.

696
00:36:55,076 --> 00:36:58,596
Speaker 3: So I really think it tells such a continuation of

697
00:36:58,636 --> 00:37:03,276
Speaker 3: beautiful continuation of the story, and it's not finished. It's

698
00:37:03,396 --> 00:37:06,716
Speaker 3: very trippy to see because when I put out Metropolis,

699
00:37:06,716 --> 00:37:09,116
Speaker 3: we were reading The Singularity is near by ray kerr

700
00:37:09,796 --> 00:37:12,196
Speaker 3: wo and if you haven't read that, please do. But

701
00:37:12,236 --> 00:37:14,316
Speaker 3: it talks about this moment that we're having with AI,

702
00:37:14,476 --> 00:37:16,796
Speaker 3: and it talks about the singularity of like not being

703
00:37:16,836 --> 00:37:22,276
Speaker 3: able to differentiate AI recording a song by Janelle mone

704
00:37:22,356 --> 00:37:26,756
Speaker 3: or Janelle Monet really mapping out that voice. And it's

705
00:37:26,796 --> 00:37:30,636
Speaker 3: so interesting that it's happening now. And when I think

706
00:37:30,676 --> 00:37:34,756
Speaker 3: about the album, how I hate to say, we knew

707
00:37:34,796 --> 00:37:41,036
Speaker 3: that when this moment of integration happens, humans were going

708
00:37:41,116 --> 00:37:43,476
Speaker 3: to be frantic about it, as you can see right now,

709
00:37:43,476 --> 00:37:46,356
Speaker 3: Like it's a lot going on in my business when

710
00:37:46,356 --> 00:37:50,396
Speaker 3: it comes to using the likeness of an actor's face

711
00:37:50,476 --> 00:37:54,916
Speaker 3: without paying them, like AI is in that conversation heavily,

712
00:37:54,996 --> 00:37:57,436
Speaker 3: and people are afraid and they're scared, and I totally

713
00:37:58,276 --> 00:38:00,716
Speaker 3: get that. And I also think that there needs to

714
00:38:00,756 --> 00:38:03,996
Speaker 3: be more conversation and more laws and things rules to

715
00:38:04,116 --> 00:38:06,916
Speaker 3: really be agreed upon, because not all humans are bad

716
00:38:07,076 --> 00:38:09,996
Speaker 3: and not all AI is bad. So I think there

717
00:38:09,996 --> 00:38:14,276
Speaker 3: needs to be a real conversation around who's programming AI.

718
00:38:15,156 --> 00:38:17,596
Speaker 3: But the thing that I realized in knowing that the

719
00:38:17,676 --> 00:38:21,116
Speaker 3: Singularity was going to happen was that it's nothing like

720
00:38:21,156 --> 00:38:24,476
Speaker 3: that human and human connection. It was so important for

721
00:38:24,596 --> 00:38:28,876
Speaker 3: us to gather and have experiences that cannot be created

722
00:38:29,156 --> 00:38:33,636
Speaker 3: by AI. We can only have these the barbecue experiences,

723
00:38:34,116 --> 00:38:39,036
Speaker 3: you know, sharing food together, wrapping our arms around each other,

724
00:38:39,116 --> 00:38:41,476
Speaker 3: being there for each other and these times, These are

725
00:38:41,516 --> 00:38:46,876
Speaker 3: moments that humans have such a deep connection to and

726
00:38:46,956 --> 00:38:50,956
Speaker 3: can talk about in ways that AI can. And that

727
00:38:51,076 --> 00:38:53,476
Speaker 3: was my hope too, is to encourage more community, to

728
00:38:53,596 --> 00:38:58,916
Speaker 3: encourage people to be with each other like our stories

729
00:38:58,916 --> 00:39:01,116
Speaker 3: are all we have. It is our stories that will

730
00:39:01,156 --> 00:39:04,636
Speaker 3: set us apart and continue to make us believe in

731
00:39:04,716 --> 00:39:05,476
Speaker 3: humanity again.

732
00:39:07,596 --> 00:39:10,316
Speaker 1: Have you guys, you know, playing guitar on the steps,

733
00:39:10,636 --> 00:39:12,716
Speaker 1: barely finishing college, having to shot out some money to

734
00:39:12,796 --> 00:39:16,916
Speaker 1: do it, you guys found each other. Over those years,

735
00:39:16,956 --> 00:39:19,476
Speaker 1: you guys have amassed a body of work, all very

736
00:39:19,516 --> 00:39:21,996
Speaker 1: different from each other, genre less. As you said from

737
00:39:21,996 --> 00:39:27,196
Speaker 1: the beginning, money comes success time, new people, new relationships,

738
00:39:27,236 --> 00:39:32,076
Speaker 1: new opportunities. It's incredible to me that you guys have

739
00:39:32,196 --> 00:39:34,436
Speaker 1: managed to stay close.

740
00:39:34,716 --> 00:39:37,116
Speaker 2: There you go, yeah, I don't think that happened.

741
00:39:40,996 --> 00:39:43,956
Speaker 1: Separate the legal entity of the Rolling Stones, you know,

742
00:39:44,356 --> 00:39:48,076
Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, I have no real responsibility to each other.

743
00:39:49,636 --> 00:39:50,596
Speaker 1: We do, but we do.

744
00:39:50,676 --> 00:39:53,876
Speaker 3: Yeah, but that's very I'm happy that you brought that up.

745
00:39:53,916 --> 00:39:56,596
Speaker 3: It's so true. And when I look at some of

746
00:39:56,636 --> 00:39:58,996
Speaker 3: the collectives, and you know, we don't have to dig

747
00:39:59,036 --> 00:40:02,716
Speaker 3: into names, but even even some of the most iconic

748
00:40:02,876 --> 00:40:06,676
Speaker 3: collectives ended up not working with each other anymore, and

749
00:40:06,756 --> 00:40:08,476
Speaker 3: I just remember the time when they were and how

750
00:40:08,516 --> 00:40:12,356
Speaker 3: that felt, and how I felt when it wasn't the

751
00:40:12,436 --> 00:40:15,876
Speaker 3: case anymore, and I just it always was important to

752
00:40:15,956 --> 00:40:19,356
Speaker 3: me to nurture my relationships, like I invest in people,

753
00:40:20,036 --> 00:40:23,996
Speaker 3: you know, not because they're of course, everybody is very talented,

754
00:40:24,996 --> 00:40:28,116
Speaker 3: but I think they're really really great people who happen

755
00:40:28,316 --> 00:40:31,436
Speaker 3: to be very talented. And when you come from a

756
00:40:31,436 --> 00:40:33,716
Speaker 3: big family like me, I have forty nine first cousins,

757
00:40:34,276 --> 00:40:38,116
Speaker 3: so I was brought into a community. You know, that

758
00:40:38,236 --> 00:40:41,796
Speaker 3: runs through my blood, and it's loyalty and it's growth

759
00:40:41,836 --> 00:40:46,436
Speaker 3: and transparency and communication and all those things and respect.

760
00:40:46,876 --> 00:40:50,476
Speaker 3: As somebody who has ideas, obviously, I'll always have the

761
00:40:50,516 --> 00:40:52,796
Speaker 3: final say if we're working on something with what I

762
00:40:52,836 --> 00:40:55,036
Speaker 3: want to do, you know, on my music. But I

763
00:40:55,156 --> 00:40:58,316
Speaker 3: love listening. I love being able to hear how Nate's

764
00:40:58,356 --> 00:41:00,676
Speaker 3: mind is working, to hear how Chuck's mind is working

765
00:41:00,756 --> 00:41:03,316
Speaker 3: with since a Bueno is thinking none of Like, I

766
00:41:03,996 --> 00:41:08,836
Speaker 3: love to see how they interpret certain things and how

767
00:41:08,876 --> 00:41:11,796
Speaker 3: they sharpen my sword, you know, when it is time

768
00:41:11,876 --> 00:41:16,076
Speaker 3: to creatively fight for an idea. So I love that.

769
00:41:16,196 --> 00:41:21,436
Speaker 3: I love what this community has done not just for

770
00:41:21,556 --> 00:41:22,876
Speaker 3: me before the rest of the world.

771
00:41:23,996 --> 00:41:29,116
Speaker 4: Questlove pulled us aside a few years ago and he

772
00:41:29,316 --> 00:41:32,996
Speaker 4: was like, listen, man, you guys have something really really special.

773
00:41:33,956 --> 00:41:35,316
Speaker 2: But just so.

774
00:41:35,396 --> 00:41:38,396
Speaker 4: You know, the most important thing you guys can do,

775
00:41:38,236 --> 00:41:41,876
Speaker 4: like just trust me on this. Just stay together. Just

776
00:41:41,956 --> 00:41:45,796
Speaker 4: stay together. And he went through his stories of like

777
00:41:45,876 --> 00:41:48,836
Speaker 4: what happened, Like all the things that happened to you

778
00:41:48,916 --> 00:41:52,756
Speaker 4: can change you. But just know that you guys have

779
00:41:52,836 --> 00:41:56,956
Speaker 4: something very special and it's worth protecting. Stay together. Don't

780
00:41:56,956 --> 00:42:02,756
Speaker 4: get distracted by whatever else comes. Just stay together. And

781
00:42:02,876 --> 00:42:05,796
Speaker 4: the other thing is that we have this credo, a

782
00:42:05,916 --> 00:42:10,556
Speaker 4: Wonderland credo that was written along time ago, like very

783
00:42:10,676 --> 00:42:16,636
Speaker 4: very early, and in there it discusses our responsibility to

784
00:42:16,756 --> 00:42:21,356
Speaker 4: each other and to our broader community, but specifically to

785
00:42:22,276 --> 00:42:25,276
Speaker 4: each other, how we need to take care of each other,

786
00:42:25,716 --> 00:42:29,076
Speaker 4: how we need to look after each other. Those basic

787
00:42:29,156 --> 00:42:32,636
Speaker 4: things are written into our creedle of how we understand

788
00:42:33,156 --> 00:42:38,716
Speaker 4: Wonderland at its foundation, it must at least be a

789
00:42:38,756 --> 00:42:43,876
Speaker 4: community or artists can be taken care of and of

790
00:42:43,916 --> 00:42:46,156
Speaker 4: course challenge each other around our ideas, but that we

791
00:42:46,196 --> 00:42:49,116
Speaker 4: feel at least safe to have our ideas.

792
00:42:49,356 --> 00:42:52,596
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's how you make your best music again when

793
00:42:52,596 --> 00:42:55,156
Speaker 3: you feel safe with the people that you're with, Like

794
00:42:55,196 --> 00:42:59,596
Speaker 3: when you feel like you can just go there and

795
00:43:00,596 --> 00:43:03,836
Speaker 3: try new shit out, like fall in love with music,

796
00:43:03,876 --> 00:43:05,236
Speaker 3: fall in love with art, and I think that's what

797
00:43:05,276 --> 00:43:06,636
Speaker 3: we love at our core.

798
00:43:07,116 --> 00:43:10,076
Speaker 1: First of all, you guys are living the I mean

799
00:43:10,116 --> 00:43:13,156
Speaker 1: that you guys found each other. It's hard individuals.

800
00:43:13,476 --> 00:43:17,116
Speaker 3: Let me say it is hard work. It is not easy.

801
00:43:18,756 --> 00:43:20,356
Speaker 1: Is hard hard?

802
00:43:20,476 --> 00:43:25,116
Speaker 3: Depending on what process you're in, it can be frustrating

803
00:43:25,276 --> 00:43:28,396
Speaker 3: and just like you can lose your confidence and second

804
00:43:28,396 --> 00:43:30,956
Speaker 3: guess yourself, or you could be having the best time

805
00:43:30,996 --> 00:43:32,556
Speaker 3: of your life. You wake back up and listen to

806
00:43:32,596 --> 00:43:36,116
Speaker 3: that demo or you wrote the night before, you're like, oh,

807
00:43:36,156 --> 00:43:39,076
Speaker 3: this ship is fire, like thank god, and you play

808
00:43:39,116 --> 00:43:41,156
Speaker 3: it for people outside you know, who were not a

809
00:43:41,156 --> 00:43:43,756
Speaker 3: part of the process, and you get that feedback. It

810
00:43:43,796 --> 00:43:47,556
Speaker 3: can be disappointing or it can be like, yes, when do.

811
00:43:47,476 --> 00:43:49,636
Speaker 1: You start playing stuff? Is it usually like earlier in

812
00:43:49,676 --> 00:43:52,116
Speaker 1: the process, or is it like I try to.

813
00:43:52,036 --> 00:43:54,716
Speaker 2: Play as early as possible. People see in the studio

814
00:43:54,756 --> 00:43:55,596
Speaker 2: when I'm working on music.

815
00:43:55,676 --> 00:43:59,076
Speaker 3: I gotta feel yeah, he's different. I don't know, but

816
00:43:59,076 --> 00:44:01,516
Speaker 3: but with age of Pleasure, I was more open, but

817
00:44:01,596 --> 00:44:04,036
Speaker 3: with all my other albums, I would be in there

818
00:44:04,076 --> 00:44:06,836
Speaker 3: engineering myself. I engineered myself a lot on this project too.

819
00:44:07,276 --> 00:44:08,716
Speaker 1: Yeah, just because you wanted to be.

820
00:44:08,716 --> 00:44:13,476
Speaker 4: Because when she goes in yes, like close it and

821
00:44:13,596 --> 00:44:16,756
Speaker 4: Janelle go in there and will engineer, and.

822
00:44:16,716 --> 00:44:18,636
Speaker 3: Then I'll call them back in like once I have

823
00:44:18,756 --> 00:44:22,076
Speaker 3: all my takes that I feel like are highlighted and good,

824
00:44:22,196 --> 00:44:24,276
Speaker 3: or I'll ask them to highlight in green, like which

825
00:44:24,316 --> 00:44:26,996
Speaker 3: ones you think are the best. But I'm always searching

826
00:44:27,036 --> 00:44:29,596
Speaker 3: for that feeling and sometimes I need to be alone

827
00:44:29,596 --> 00:44:30,396
Speaker 3: to get that feeling.

828
00:44:30,836 --> 00:44:34,036
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're gonna pause for another quick break and then

829
00:44:34,116 --> 00:44:37,436
Speaker 1: come back with more from Nate Wonder and Janelle Monee.

830
00:44:41,756 --> 00:44:44,236
Speaker 1: We're back with the rest of my conversation with Nate

831
00:44:44,276 --> 00:44:48,156
Speaker 1: Wonder and Janelle Monae. We were talking about the diaspora

832
00:44:48,156 --> 00:44:53,396
Speaker 1: earlier Beautiful that on the album DASPA was like really

833
00:44:53,436 --> 00:44:58,716
Speaker 1: represented from Sam Coudie Yes to uh to Sister Nancy.

834
00:44:58,596 --> 00:45:01,116
Speaker 2: Nancy Grace Jones, uh.

835
00:45:04,716 --> 00:45:12,756
Speaker 3: K Unlimited, from Atlanta to Ghana to Nigeria to Jamaica

836
00:45:12,836 --> 00:45:13,316
Speaker 3: and so on.

837
00:45:13,396 --> 00:45:16,076
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just we're so friends there.

838
00:45:16,276 --> 00:45:17,996
Speaker 3: Yeah, some of the musicians talking.

839
00:45:18,436 --> 00:45:20,796
Speaker 1: Yeah, what did those come.

840
00:45:20,636 --> 00:45:24,556
Speaker 3: From from US, so French. The French seventy five is

841
00:45:25,516 --> 00:45:29,436
Speaker 3: us in New Orleans during Essence Fest, not this year,

842
00:45:29,476 --> 00:45:32,236
Speaker 3: but last year, and we were we had we had

843
00:45:32,276 --> 00:45:34,636
Speaker 3: woke up and we start talking about the night that

844
00:45:34,716 --> 00:45:37,556
Speaker 3: we had and it was my first It was like

845
00:45:37,636 --> 00:45:40,596
Speaker 3: my first time getting beads. And so if you've been

846
00:45:40,636 --> 00:45:43,396
Speaker 3: to New Orleans, you know what getting your beads means.

847
00:45:43,436 --> 00:45:45,836
Speaker 3: Like it's so fun and I was. It was so

848
00:45:45,956 --> 00:45:52,316
Speaker 3: liberating and just really maybe I know right. It involves

849
00:45:52,756 --> 00:45:56,476
Speaker 3: you going down on in the French quarters and if

850
00:45:56,516 --> 00:45:58,196
Speaker 3: you lift your shirt up, they would throw you some

851
00:45:58,236 --> 00:46:00,636
Speaker 3: beads and it's a part of the New Orleans culture.

852
00:46:01,116 --> 00:46:03,516
Speaker 3: Fun and it was friend because as somebody who's like,

853
00:46:03,716 --> 00:46:06,116
Speaker 3: oh my god, I'm famous, they can't do these things.

854
00:46:06,116 --> 00:46:09,556
Speaker 3: I'll end up. And nobody even really posted it until

855
00:46:09,676 --> 00:46:13,716
Speaker 3: like years later. No, no, no, nobody found it. Actually

856
00:46:13,716 --> 00:46:16,916
Speaker 3: nobody found that video. Maybe one person. No no, no, no,

857
00:46:17,156 --> 00:46:21,076
Speaker 3: not my beads. Oh I've done that on several occasions. No,

858
00:46:21,196 --> 00:46:23,756
Speaker 3: it's really the beads want too.

859
00:46:23,916 --> 00:46:24,116
Speaker 1: Yeah.

860
00:46:24,756 --> 00:46:28,036
Speaker 3: I thought, okay, well that's awesome. It made me smile.

861
00:46:28,076 --> 00:46:31,956
Speaker 3: Remember I said this album, we are smiling this season

862
00:46:32,276 --> 00:46:36,196
Speaker 3: we are smiling. And with that being said, I wanted

863
00:46:36,236 --> 00:46:39,196
Speaker 3: to just have authentic conversations with my friends, and I

864
00:46:39,236 --> 00:46:41,196
Speaker 3: just asked them it was okay if I press record,

865
00:46:41,636 --> 00:46:45,316
Speaker 3: and it's just it was authentic because the people who

866
00:46:45,356 --> 00:46:48,356
Speaker 3: were there, they're really my friends. And so to have

867
00:46:48,436 --> 00:46:51,996
Speaker 3: these conversations with the people who are directly involved in

868
00:46:53,036 --> 00:46:55,516
Speaker 3: inspiring the songs and the songwritings. They were all in

869
00:46:55,556 --> 00:46:57,436
Speaker 3: the studio when we were writing them. They were the

870
00:46:57,436 --> 00:46:59,836
Speaker 3: first people that I think everybody in the interview, they

871
00:46:59,836 --> 00:47:01,396
Speaker 3: were some of the first people that heard the songs.

872
00:47:01,716 --> 00:47:05,116
Speaker 3: So when we did Float to Champagne, Shit, those were

873
00:47:05,156 --> 00:47:08,436
Speaker 3: the elliptic lover Like when we were writing those songs,

874
00:47:08,756 --> 00:47:11,436
Speaker 3: I always looked at how they moved. I always looked

875
00:47:11,436 --> 00:47:14,036
Speaker 3: at the body language. I always looked at like when

876
00:47:14,036 --> 00:47:16,236
Speaker 3: they would go play other artist songs, would they asked

877
00:47:16,236 --> 00:47:19,436
Speaker 3: to play this song again? Because I liked their taste

878
00:47:19,476 --> 00:47:23,956
Speaker 3: and I knew that they were like key in helping

879
00:47:24,036 --> 00:47:26,036
Speaker 3: us nurture the audience that we wanted.

880
00:47:26,276 --> 00:47:28,516
Speaker 1: Like what we would example, something you might have tweaked it,

881
00:47:28,596 --> 00:47:31,676
Speaker 1: or so you're looking at your friends playing on they

882
00:47:31,756 --> 00:47:36,396
Speaker 1: might not quite groove the way you're expecting or so

883
00:47:36,436 --> 00:47:36,876
Speaker 1: what do you do?

884
00:47:36,916 --> 00:47:39,076
Speaker 3: You just go back in and you know what, I

885
00:47:39,116 --> 00:47:40,876
Speaker 3: don't feel like we had a lot of those moments

886
00:47:40,916 --> 00:47:41,116
Speaker 3: with it.

887
00:47:41,436 --> 00:47:43,836
Speaker 4: Only I know one song that that happened with and

888
00:47:43,876 --> 00:47:46,476
Speaker 4: we changed. It didn't come We were in the middle

889
00:47:46,476 --> 00:47:47,676
Speaker 4: of trying to figure the song out.

890
00:47:48,036 --> 00:47:53,636
Speaker 1: It was hot, Okay, changed that one. Yeah a lot. Yeah.

891
00:47:53,676 --> 00:47:57,476
Speaker 3: There's actually a David Bowie vocal that was supposed to

892
00:47:57,476 --> 00:47:57,916
Speaker 3: go on that.

893
00:47:58,396 --> 00:48:00,236
Speaker 4: It was a quote from an interview that he had

894
00:48:00,276 --> 00:48:04,236
Speaker 4: done that right after right after Janelle says, uh, they

895
00:48:04,316 --> 00:48:07,076
Speaker 4: say I look better than David Bowie in the moon

896
00:48:07,156 --> 00:48:09,036
Speaker 4: Age Dream, there's.

897
00:48:08,836 --> 00:48:09,756
Speaker 2: This quote line.

898
00:48:09,796 --> 00:48:14,076
Speaker 4: I love that line because I think Edward had taken

899
00:48:14,156 --> 00:48:18,756
Speaker 4: us to the movies to see Mooney's Daydream because he

900
00:48:18,796 --> 00:48:20,116
Speaker 4: knew Janelle was a huge fan.

901
00:48:20,356 --> 00:48:23,556
Speaker 3: I oh, you took everybody.

902
00:48:23,596 --> 00:48:26,836
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, you took everybody to see the David boy

903
00:48:26,876 --> 00:48:27,996
Speaker 4: film Mooney's day Dream.

904
00:48:28,236 --> 00:48:31,796
Speaker 3: You said, yeah, because we had just so when I

905
00:48:31,996 --> 00:48:34,716
Speaker 3: when we wrote the Age of Pleasure. Right before that,

906
00:48:34,836 --> 00:48:39,636
Speaker 3: I just filmed The Glass Onion and we were in

907
00:48:39,676 --> 00:48:42,796
Speaker 3: Greece and Serbia, and I was having Nate send me

908
00:48:42,876 --> 00:48:46,356
Speaker 3: music there because I was like, when I get back,

909
00:48:46,636 --> 00:48:50,036
Speaker 3: I'm writing this album. Yeah, I'm writing this album. I'm

910
00:48:50,076 --> 00:48:53,756
Speaker 3: so inspired. I know I'm clear on where I am,

911
00:48:53,876 --> 00:48:55,676
Speaker 3: who I am, and what I.

912
00:48:55,636 --> 00:48:56,116
Speaker 1: Need to do.

913
00:48:56,596 --> 00:48:58,356
Speaker 3: And so he sent me all the music of some

914
00:48:58,396 --> 00:49:00,436
Speaker 3: of the musical beds and I picked what I loved

915
00:49:00,436 --> 00:49:02,996
Speaker 3: and liked. As soon as I got back, I was

916
00:49:02,996 --> 00:49:03,516
Speaker 3: in the studio.

917
00:49:03,636 --> 00:49:05,956
Speaker 1: It's poetic that you're working on the glass onion and

918
00:49:05,996 --> 00:49:10,036
Speaker 1: you're clear about.

919
00:49:08,756 --> 00:49:16,436
Speaker 3: Clear to it's like pull back the layer. Yeah, so

920
00:49:16,756 --> 00:49:20,156
Speaker 3: David boy quote it says, I think it's terribly dangerous

921
00:49:20,156 --> 00:49:23,516
Speaker 3: for an artist to fulfill other people's expectations. If you

922
00:49:23,596 --> 00:49:26,596
Speaker 3: feel safe in the area you're working in, you're not

923
00:49:26,756 --> 00:49:30,116
Speaker 3: working in the right area. Always go a little further

924
00:49:30,516 --> 00:49:33,996
Speaker 3: into the water. Then you feel you're capable of being in.

925
00:49:34,556 --> 00:49:38,836
Speaker 3: Go a little bit out of your own depth, and

926
00:49:38,876 --> 00:49:40,876
Speaker 3: when you don't feel that your feet are quite touching

927
00:49:40,916 --> 00:49:44,156
Speaker 3: the bottom, you're just about in the right place to

928
00:49:44,196 --> 00:49:45,436
Speaker 3: do something exciting.

929
00:49:45,996 --> 00:49:46,516
Speaker 1: Yeah.

930
00:49:46,556 --> 00:49:48,796
Speaker 2: So that was the end of that was the quote

931
00:49:48,836 --> 00:49:50,596
Speaker 2: that was on the in the record.

932
00:49:50,596 --> 00:49:51,716
Speaker 3: We should put that back in time.

933
00:49:53,156 --> 00:49:55,876
Speaker 4: But of course, like when you're at a party, you

934
00:49:55,916 --> 00:49:57,796
Speaker 4: may not want to go into the like.

935
00:49:57,916 --> 00:49:58,876
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was just like.

936
00:50:00,796 --> 00:50:02,676
Speaker 1: Appreciate I.

937
00:50:05,636 --> 00:50:08,036
Speaker 3: Don't know if you've seen it, but it's really incredible.

938
00:50:08,396 --> 00:50:11,956
Speaker 3: It was amazing because this is somebody who, like myself,

939
00:50:12,516 --> 00:50:17,596
Speaker 3: you know, is a world builder, and somebody who believed

940
00:50:17,596 --> 00:50:20,676
Speaker 3: like ZIGGI starred Us and the Spiders from Mars gave

941
00:50:20,756 --> 00:50:24,196
Speaker 3: me the courage to do Cindy Mayweather in Metropolis and

942
00:50:24,236 --> 00:50:28,436
Speaker 3: the Arc Android and to create these versions of ourselves,

943
00:50:29,196 --> 00:50:34,396
Speaker 3: you know, these thousand versions of myself and we're all fine.

944
00:50:35,356 --> 00:50:37,556
Speaker 3: That's if you don't know. That's from Phenomenal on the

945
00:50:37,596 --> 00:50:38,236
Speaker 3: Age of Pleasure.

946
00:50:38,316 --> 00:50:38,636
Speaker 2: Sorry.

947
00:50:39,276 --> 00:50:42,156
Speaker 3: So so to be able to watch him say, I

948
00:50:42,236 --> 00:50:44,036
Speaker 3: know that I could be Ziggy Starters for the rest

949
00:50:44,076 --> 00:50:47,516
Speaker 3: of my life or I can become more of who

950
00:50:47,556 --> 00:50:49,996
Speaker 3: I am and give you that and not be afraid,

951
00:50:50,196 --> 00:50:53,756
Speaker 3: you know, to break it down and rebuild and reimagine

952
00:50:53,756 --> 00:50:56,676
Speaker 3: who I can be. So that really also helped inspire

953
00:50:56,756 --> 00:50:57,436
Speaker 3: me as well.

954
00:50:58,156 --> 00:50:59,916
Speaker 1: Did you ever get a chance to meet him?

955
00:51:00,556 --> 00:51:03,516
Speaker 3: I feel like I did. I feel like our spirits

956
00:51:03,556 --> 00:51:06,196
Speaker 3: absolutely met each other. I know that he knew who

957
00:51:06,236 --> 00:51:08,876
Speaker 3: I was because I did a cover of heroes and

958
00:51:08,916 --> 00:51:11,476
Speaker 3: his wife Emon told me and he had to clear

959
00:51:11,516 --> 00:51:13,876
Speaker 3: it and his wife told me that he really he

960
00:51:13,916 --> 00:51:16,436
Speaker 3: really loved me, And I was like Oh, I wish

961
00:51:16,476 --> 00:51:18,516
Speaker 3: I could have told him how much I really loved him,

962
00:51:18,516 --> 00:51:20,716
Speaker 3: but I think he knows it. They aren'tware.

963
00:51:21,156 --> 00:51:25,636
Speaker 1: Yeah, did you putty naturally fall into I mean, twenty nineteen,

964
00:51:25,636 --> 00:51:28,716
Speaker 1: you're feeling like you want to start writing for women,

965
00:51:29,676 --> 00:51:33,996
Speaker 1: people coloring non binary folk. Was it easy to slide

966
00:51:34,036 --> 00:51:35,916
Speaker 1: into that mentality? Was it easy to like?

967
00:51:37,116 --> 00:51:40,876
Speaker 4: I felt compelled and again, and when I feel compelled,

968
00:51:40,956 --> 00:51:42,556
Speaker 4: I'm like, man, I'm doing it.

969
00:51:42,596 --> 00:51:44,956
Speaker 1: Was it a messy start? Did it feel always right

970
00:51:45,076 --> 00:51:45,636
Speaker 1: or natural?

971
00:51:46,156 --> 00:51:47,236
Speaker 3: Fill Myself playlist?

972
00:51:47,316 --> 00:51:47,516
Speaker 1: Yeah?

973
00:51:47,516 --> 00:51:50,756
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that really encouraged. Yeah, definitely mean both of us.

974
00:51:50,636 --> 00:51:53,596
Speaker 3: Had the same thought. So we were listening to Spotify.

975
00:51:53,636 --> 00:51:55,436
Speaker 3: We had an opportunity to listen to a lot of music.

976
00:51:55,476 --> 00:51:58,596
Speaker 3: I start back working out, and there were a lot

977
00:51:58,636 --> 00:52:01,476
Speaker 3: of black women on this playlist that were just like

978
00:52:02,356 --> 00:52:07,716
Speaker 3: sounding extra liberated and super tapped into their will of

979
00:52:09,116 --> 00:52:13,196
Speaker 3: honesty and truth and sensuality and sexuality and grit and

980
00:52:13,276 --> 00:52:18,036
Speaker 3: softness and hardness. Like I loved hearing that all on

981
00:52:18,036 --> 00:52:22,076
Speaker 3: one playlist, and it encouraged me to tap into my

982
00:52:22,156 --> 00:52:24,956
Speaker 3: many different sides. And I think Nate would see me

983
00:52:25,076 --> 00:52:29,356
Speaker 3: listening to Filling Myself playlists around the studio and as

984
00:52:29,396 --> 00:52:32,396
Speaker 3: I was working out, and it was like, I've never remembered.

985
00:52:32,476 --> 00:52:35,276
Speaker 3: And that's the beautiful thing with playlists. You can really

986
00:52:35,636 --> 00:52:38,996
Speaker 3: curate your own world on your own soundtrack. And when

987
00:52:39,036 --> 00:52:40,996
Speaker 3: I felt that vibe, I was like, I want more

988
00:52:41,036 --> 00:52:42,996
Speaker 3: of this, and I want the people that are listening

989
00:52:42,996 --> 00:52:47,396
Speaker 3: to this who are feeling like they have not been

990
00:52:47,436 --> 00:52:51,876
Speaker 3: able to walk in their greatness as black women, as

991
00:52:51,876 --> 00:52:55,316
Speaker 3: non binary folks, as marginalized people. They haven't been able

992
00:52:55,356 --> 00:52:58,676
Speaker 3: to really own all of them. I want to lead

993
00:52:58,716 --> 00:53:01,436
Speaker 3: by example and I want I want to highlight them.

994
00:53:01,476 --> 00:53:04,636
Speaker 3: I want and highlight them by creating music that speaks

995
00:53:04,636 --> 00:53:05,276
Speaker 3: to their hearts.

996
00:53:05,396 --> 00:53:10,116
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I got two daughters and I don't want

997
00:53:10,196 --> 00:53:13,676
Speaker 1: them to feel ashamed of pleasure or whatever, right, like

998
00:53:13,796 --> 00:53:16,276
Speaker 1: as they get older or not. And it's like, yeah,

999
00:53:16,516 --> 00:53:18,196
Speaker 1: but society for so you know what I mean.

1000
00:53:18,276 --> 00:53:21,596
Speaker 4: Yeah, And it's still that it's still a lot of

1001
00:53:21,596 --> 00:53:23,636
Speaker 4: work to be done in that area. But you know,

1002
00:53:23,716 --> 00:53:28,516
Speaker 4: one of the things I noted was that playlist. Like

1003
00:53:29,196 --> 00:53:32,676
Speaker 4: when you go to like a rap Caviar or the

1004
00:53:32,796 --> 00:53:35,716
Speaker 4: other like Big hip Hop, the biggest hip hop playlist.

1005
00:53:35,996 --> 00:53:38,596
Speaker 4: Sometimes they'll even have like a woman on the cover,

1006
00:53:39,156 --> 00:53:43,556
Speaker 4: But then you go through the actual playlist. It literally,

1007
00:53:43,596 --> 00:53:45,596
Speaker 4: out of one hundred songs, it might be like three

1008
00:53:46,556 --> 00:53:49,876
Speaker 4: songs by women, and it really I just took so

1009
00:53:49,996 --> 00:53:50,996
Speaker 4: much issue with it.

1010
00:53:51,236 --> 00:53:54,116
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just like this is wild.

1011
00:53:54,636 --> 00:53:56,916
Speaker 4: Yeah, like literally they'll put Megan thee Stallion on the

1012
00:53:56,956 --> 00:53:59,916
Speaker 4: cover of it and not to go like down thirty

1013
00:53:59,996 --> 00:54:01,236
Speaker 4: songs to get to her song.

1014
00:54:01,356 --> 00:54:03,596
Speaker 2: It's like, this is crazy, this is wold.

1015
00:54:03,756 --> 00:54:05,556
Speaker 3: And that was another reason why we wanted to make

1016
00:54:05,596 --> 00:54:09,476
Speaker 3: sure that, you know, black women were repers ended on

1017
00:54:09,516 --> 00:54:15,116
Speaker 3: this project generationally, from Dochi to you know, the King

1018
00:54:15,836 --> 00:54:17,916
Speaker 3: of Jamaica, Grace Jones.

1019
00:54:18,076 --> 00:54:21,836
Speaker 1: Grace's albums really come on, yes, let me.

1020
00:54:21,756 --> 00:54:24,836
Speaker 3: Tell you she. I spent seventy two hours with Grace Jones.

1021
00:54:24,836 --> 00:54:25,876
Speaker 3: That's how we got her on the album.

1022
00:54:25,996 --> 00:54:30,556
Speaker 1: I was going to get it, don't I'm still.

1023
00:54:30,316 --> 00:54:35,196
Speaker 3: Like just bowing down to her. Seventy two hours with

1024
00:54:35,316 --> 00:54:36,876
Speaker 3: her hour is where I was like, oh.

1025
00:54:36,836 --> 00:54:39,116
Speaker 1: My god, come together. What So I went.

1026
00:54:39,556 --> 00:54:43,836
Speaker 3: I went to her at the Hollywood Bowl and I

1027
00:54:43,916 --> 00:54:46,156
Speaker 3: ended up she was somehow it's like her light, one

1028
00:54:46,196 --> 00:54:48,716
Speaker 3: of her last songs, and they were calling people on stage,

1029
00:54:48,716 --> 00:54:51,436
Speaker 3: and of course I'm gonna jump on stage. And if

1030
00:54:51,476 --> 00:54:54,716
Speaker 3: you look online if you look online, you will see

1031
00:54:54,876 --> 00:54:57,996
Speaker 3: there's a video of me running through Grace Jones' legs,

1032
00:54:58,316 --> 00:55:02,356
Speaker 3: her smacking my ass us, dancing like just being the

1033
00:55:03,476 --> 00:55:06,476
Speaker 3: free spirits that we are. And I had met her

1034
00:55:06,556 --> 00:55:09,716
Speaker 3: years back, but we didn't really get to connect. And

1035
00:55:09,796 --> 00:55:11,916
Speaker 3: she did call me. She called me years back, and

1036
00:55:11,996 --> 00:55:13,636
Speaker 3: I was so shocked. I was like, how does she

1037
00:55:13,636 --> 00:55:15,876
Speaker 3: even get my number? And she just called me and

1038
00:55:15,916 --> 00:55:17,916
Speaker 3: she told me she loved me, and I was just like,

1039
00:55:18,076 --> 00:55:21,356
Speaker 3: I love you. But we never got to connect again

1040
00:55:21,396 --> 00:55:23,876
Speaker 3: after that. I think maybe she changed her number, you know,

1041
00:55:24,076 --> 00:55:26,796
Speaker 3: maybe she just went to another planet for the springtime.

1042
00:55:26,836 --> 00:55:30,796
Speaker 3: Who knows, it's Grace Jones. And so when she came

1043
00:55:30,836 --> 00:55:33,356
Speaker 3: this time though, we went backstage and we really connected

1044
00:55:33,556 --> 00:55:36,596
Speaker 3: and she she was just like hugging me. I was

1045
00:55:36,636 --> 00:55:39,196
Speaker 3: hugging her, and she was just saying, you know, I'm

1046
00:55:39,236 --> 00:55:42,516
Speaker 3: in town for a few days. She invited me to

1047
00:55:42,636 --> 00:55:44,596
Speaker 3: her hotel where they had like a small little gathering

1048
00:55:44,596 --> 00:55:48,316
Speaker 3: to celebrate her incredible performance live. If you ever get

1049
00:55:48,316 --> 00:55:52,236
Speaker 3: a chance, go see her. She nobody, nobody touches her.

1050
00:55:52,316 --> 00:55:54,596
Speaker 1: I regret not going. I was going to go to that.

1051
00:55:55,116 --> 00:55:59,196
Speaker 3: Always, you just always say yes. And so that night

1052
00:55:59,236 --> 00:56:00,956
Speaker 3: When we went back to her hotel, I was like,

1053
00:56:01,116 --> 00:56:02,996
Speaker 3: you know, I you know, I had to leave, and

1054
00:56:03,476 --> 00:56:06,036
Speaker 3: I just said, I'm just gonna invite her to want

1055
00:56:06,116 --> 00:56:08,756
Speaker 3: to land what she can just say no, and if

1056
00:56:08,756 --> 00:56:10,876
Speaker 3: she says no, I'll be like yes. Grace Jones told

1057
00:56:10,876 --> 00:56:15,676
Speaker 3: me no, Yes, so great, and so I said, listen,

1058
00:56:16,436 --> 00:56:18,276
Speaker 3: I have to leave, but I don't know you know

1059
00:56:18,316 --> 00:56:20,036
Speaker 3: what your schedule is tomorrow, but I would love to

1060
00:56:20,076 --> 00:56:23,236
Speaker 3: have you for lunch at Wonderland at our studio. And

1061
00:56:23,276 --> 00:56:25,596
Speaker 3: she was like, is there a pool there? And I

1062
00:56:25,676 --> 00:56:29,116
Speaker 3: was like, indeed, there is a pool. And then she

1063
00:56:29,236 --> 00:56:32,276
Speaker 3: was like, okay, I will call you. I'm gonna come,

1064
00:56:32,676 --> 00:56:34,556
Speaker 3: and I just I was like okay, and I was like,

1065
00:56:34,716 --> 00:56:36,996
Speaker 3: she says this to everybody, I'm sure because she doesn't

1066
00:56:36,996 --> 00:56:41,796
Speaker 3: want to hurt anybody's feelings. And she called. She had

1067
00:56:41,876 --> 00:56:44,996
Speaker 3: she had her assistant text and asked if it was

1068
00:56:45,036 --> 00:56:47,756
Speaker 3: a heated pool if they because she swims every day

1069
00:56:47,836 --> 00:56:51,116
Speaker 3: is her exercise? And I asked them, well, what does

1070
00:56:51,156 --> 00:56:53,316
Speaker 3: she drink? What does she Like like, I'm scrambling, I'm like,

1071
00:56:53,396 --> 00:56:56,836
Speaker 3: how am I going to host Grace Jones? Everybody? We

1072
00:56:56,836 --> 00:56:58,996
Speaker 3: need to have a meeting, right go to the grocery store.

1073
00:56:59,036 --> 00:57:01,756
Speaker 3: What are we doing? And he sends me this list,

1074
00:57:01,876 --> 00:57:05,636
Speaker 3: Like her wine list is immaculate, her champagne list is immaculate.

1075
00:57:05,956 --> 00:57:09,516
Speaker 3: And so she came over and we really had lunch

1076
00:57:09,556 --> 00:57:13,116
Speaker 3: and we really got in this pool. She took her

1077
00:57:13,156 --> 00:57:15,516
Speaker 3: top off just I mean, I know, we're talking a

1078
00:57:15,596 --> 00:57:19,836
Speaker 3: lot about all of the toplessness, which is really great because,

1079
00:57:19,836 --> 00:57:21,476
Speaker 3: as we know, we live in a world where there's

1080
00:57:21,476 --> 00:57:24,836
Speaker 3: a double standard. Yeah, you know where the liberation that

1081
00:57:24,956 --> 00:57:28,676
Speaker 3: Grace has been able to do did not come with

1082
00:57:29,316 --> 00:57:32,316
Speaker 3: open arms, you know, it came with a lot of scrutiny.

1083
00:57:32,356 --> 00:57:35,516
Speaker 3: This is somebody who was raised under a pastor, you know,

1084
00:57:35,596 --> 00:57:38,636
Speaker 3: who was a bishop and in a very conservative community.

1085
00:57:38,636 --> 00:57:40,756
Speaker 3: And for her to say I'm gonna live my motherfucking

1086
00:57:40,836 --> 00:57:45,116
Speaker 3: life and to show us that, like that was all

1087
00:57:45,116 --> 00:57:49,316
Speaker 3: I needed to see and hear, and she really by

1088
00:57:49,396 --> 00:57:51,356
Speaker 3: being her and by hanging out with her and her

1089
00:57:51,436 --> 00:57:53,956
Speaker 3: encouraging me to be me, and sitting in the studio

1090
00:57:53,996 --> 00:57:57,396
Speaker 3: listening to the songs, like her getting up dancing and

1091
00:57:57,436 --> 00:57:59,996
Speaker 3: moving and telling us which one she loved and what,

1092
00:58:00,636 --> 00:58:03,836
Speaker 3: like her hearing the instruments and talking about that like

1093
00:58:03,876 --> 00:58:07,156
Speaker 3: she is a musical genius. It was all the affirmation

1094
00:58:07,276 --> 00:58:07,716
Speaker 3: I needed.

1095
00:58:08,396 --> 00:58:10,636
Speaker 1: First of all, taking off for top in your pool

1096
00:58:10,756 --> 00:58:12,876
Speaker 1: is a real legendary what an honor, you know what

1097
00:58:12,876 --> 00:58:14,396
Speaker 1: I mean, you curated this.

1098
00:58:14,436 --> 00:58:15,796
Speaker 3: It's just a typical Tuesday for her.

1099
00:58:15,876 --> 00:58:18,756
Speaker 1: Yeah. But then so then you pull in the studio

1100
00:58:18,756 --> 00:58:19,356
Speaker 1: when she's listening.

1101
00:58:19,516 --> 00:58:22,316
Speaker 3: You asked her to Yeah. I was like, I told her,

1102
00:58:22,316 --> 00:58:23,756
Speaker 3: I said, I would love to get you, you know,

1103
00:58:23,756 --> 00:58:26,156
Speaker 3: on our project. She was like, okay, well where is it?

1104
00:58:26,676 --> 00:58:28,636
Speaker 3: And I was like, well, since you asked, there's a

1105
00:58:28,676 --> 00:58:31,316
Speaker 3: studio right in here, and so we went in there.

1106
00:58:31,516 --> 00:58:34,956
Speaker 3: And but I will say recording Grace Jones because I

1107
00:58:35,036 --> 00:58:39,276
Speaker 3: had to wrangle her in it is like having the

1108
00:58:39,276 --> 00:58:43,796
Speaker 3: most beautiful panther in the studio that then turns into

1109
00:58:43,796 --> 00:58:48,196
Speaker 3: a tiger that then turns into like a bird with

1110
00:58:48,276 --> 00:58:51,196
Speaker 3: the biggest wings that will flap around and you just

1111
00:58:51,316 --> 00:58:54,836
Speaker 3: you cannot contain that energy. You just have to have

1112
00:58:54,956 --> 00:58:58,076
Speaker 3: everything on record and get what you can. Wow, you

1113
00:58:58,076 --> 00:59:00,196
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying. You can't really tell her what

1114
00:59:00,236 --> 00:59:02,156
Speaker 3: to do. But even in the moments where I was like, Okay,

1115
00:59:02,236 --> 00:59:03,996
Speaker 3: can you do more of this or do more of that,

1116
00:59:04,116 --> 00:59:06,716
Speaker 3: or no, say it like this or talk French, because

1117
00:59:06,756 --> 00:59:09,436
Speaker 3: she speaks French fluently, and that's what we and that

1118
00:59:09,556 --> 00:59:11,596
Speaker 3: was the thing that made it. I said, Oh, that's

1119
00:59:11,636 --> 00:59:14,156
Speaker 3: the sexy ship that I want on this project, because

1120
00:59:14,156 --> 00:59:15,716
Speaker 3: I don't think we've really gotten a chance to hear

1121
00:59:15,756 --> 00:59:18,516
Speaker 3: her in that way. And we've actually recorded more, like

1122
00:59:18,556 --> 00:59:20,516
Speaker 3: I have at least two hours.

1123
00:59:20,276 --> 00:59:22,756
Speaker 2: Of recording with Grace job definitely.

1124
00:59:22,676 --> 00:59:22,756
Speaker 4: And.

1125
00:59:24,756 --> 00:59:27,356
Speaker 3: I really, I really really want to. She's working on

1126
00:59:27,396 --> 00:59:29,356
Speaker 3: her album, which is going to also be incredible. She

1127
00:59:29,396 --> 00:59:32,156
Speaker 3: played us her album like I got to hear Grace

1128
00:59:32,236 --> 00:59:34,676
Speaker 3: Jones's album. We did. It's really beautiful.

1129
00:59:34,716 --> 00:59:39,436
Speaker 1: Wow, that's incredible. Well man, you got I mean, the

1130
00:59:39,476 --> 00:59:43,596
Speaker 1: fact that you went as far as to pull Grace

1131
00:59:43,676 --> 00:59:46,636
Speaker 1: Jones in the studio for your album. Nothing we can

1132
00:59:46,676 --> 00:59:49,516
Speaker 1: say but thank you. There's nothing we could say but

1133
00:59:49,596 --> 00:59:53,956
Speaker 1: thank you and congratulations on not just the Grammy, but

1134
00:59:53,996 --> 00:59:55,916
Speaker 1: congratulations for that, but just what I've seen it do

1135
00:59:55,996 --> 00:59:58,396
Speaker 1: to people's spirits over the last eight months.

1136
00:59:58,476 --> 01:00:02,436
Speaker 3: You know, that's all we want. It's incredible, that's all

1137
01:00:02,436 --> 01:00:03,756
Speaker 3: we want. Thank you so much.

1138
01:00:04,636 --> 01:00:06,236
Speaker 1: Can I ask her not to put you on the

1139
01:00:06,236 --> 01:00:09,396
Speaker 1: spot now? I love We're far enough from heaven.

1140
01:00:09,956 --> 01:00:13,636
Speaker 3: Oh my god, you are a deep Cotton fan.

1141
01:00:13,756 --> 01:00:17,276
Speaker 1: I love Deep Cotton. Oh, I don't know where the

1142
01:00:17,916 --> 01:00:18,796
Speaker 1: love my copy of.

1143
01:00:19,036 --> 01:00:21,396
Speaker 3: I love this you are. I knew I liked you,

1144
01:00:21,436 --> 01:00:23,396
Speaker 3: but now I love you. That's what I love this.

1145
01:00:23,396 --> 01:00:26,356
Speaker 1: This is my ship, this song is I feel like

1146
01:00:26,356 --> 01:00:28,156
Speaker 1: I don't even I don't know how to explain my

1147
01:00:28,236 --> 01:00:28,676
Speaker 1: love of this.

1148
01:00:29,116 --> 01:00:35,956
Speaker 3: So good, it's really good. From heaving. Now we can

1149
01:00:35,996 --> 01:00:41,116
Speaker 3: freak out. So well done it. It's the lorndessakout. You

1150
01:00:41,156 --> 01:00:43,316
Speaker 3: can join it.

1151
01:00:43,596 --> 01:00:44,436
Speaker 4: Bang bang.

1152
01:00:52,476 --> 01:00:53,396
Speaker 1: Wants breaking out.

1153
01:00:53,796 --> 01:00:57,516
Speaker 4: There's a killer and that is marching and all bang

1154
01:00:57,676 --> 01:01:01,516
Speaker 4: bang this does and you can see it.

1155
01:01:04,316 --> 01:01:04,716
Speaker 2: As well.

1156
01:01:04,916 --> 01:01:08,196
Speaker 3: Kissed the most laughing to your dash.

1157
01:01:08,356 --> 01:01:12,436
Speaker 4: Yeah, my god, take up friend, that's man.

1158
01:01:12,436 --> 01:01:13,956
Speaker 2: Didn't tell some stories in here?

1159
01:01:14,156 --> 01:01:15,076
Speaker 1: And bo can cook?

1160
01:01:15,476 --> 01:01:15,956
Speaker 2: Can clean?

1161
01:01:16,076 --> 01:01:17,476
Speaker 1: Who will pay the fence?

1162
01:01:17,796 --> 01:01:19,396
Speaker 2: Who can cook and clean?

1163
01:01:19,556 --> 01:01:21,956
Speaker 1: Who will pay the fence? Who can cook?

1164
01:01:22,036 --> 01:01:24,356
Speaker 3: Who clean the fence?

1165
01:01:28,516 --> 01:01:31,676
Speaker 1: Fire nothing man, But now we can break out. Yeah

1166
01:01:31,676 --> 01:01:33,116
Speaker 1: we fire nothing happening.

1167
01:01:33,236 --> 01:01:34,596
Speaker 3: Now we can break out.

1168
01:01:34,876 --> 01:01:36,636
Speaker 2: Yeah we fire nothing man.

1169
01:01:36,636 --> 01:01:37,956
Speaker 1: Now we're gonna freak out.

1170
01:01:38,276 --> 01:01:40,596
Speaker 2: Yeah we're fire nothing having Now we.

1171
01:01:40,596 --> 01:01:45,836
Speaker 3: Can break out, freak out.

1172
01:01:47,436 --> 01:01:48,236
Speaker 2: That's so crazy.

1173
01:01:48,356 --> 01:01:49,516
Speaker 3: You have excellent tastes.

1174
01:01:49,636 --> 01:01:51,476
Speaker 1: I love that.

1175
01:01:53,396 --> 01:01:56,196
Speaker 3: Like when I heard their song, Actually, when Nate was

1176
01:01:56,236 --> 01:02:00,196
Speaker 3: saying like he met me performing on the library steps

1177
01:02:00,196 --> 01:02:03,076
Speaker 3: with the guitar. I was heavily just like on some

1178
01:02:03,196 --> 01:02:08,676
Speaker 3: acoustic big afro I guess you would say, neo soul vibes.

1179
01:02:09,276 --> 01:02:12,236
Speaker 3: And when I heard their music, it changed my whole life.

1180
01:02:12,276 --> 01:02:14,956
Speaker 3: It changed the way I saw us because I hadn't

1181
01:02:14,956 --> 01:02:17,756
Speaker 3: seen I mean with the exception of like Andre, because NARLS.

1182
01:02:17,756 --> 01:02:20,956
Speaker 3: Barkley wasn't even around at that time, but with the

1183
01:02:20,956 --> 01:02:23,356
Speaker 3: exception of like the Love Below and what Andre was

1184
01:02:23,356 --> 01:02:26,756
Speaker 3: doing and you know, some some some indie artists in Atlanta,

1185
01:02:27,036 --> 01:02:30,716
Speaker 3: nobody was stretching and it's sounding good like it was

1186
01:02:30,756 --> 01:02:34,196
Speaker 3: either too alternative for me to get to, you know,

1187
01:02:34,476 --> 01:02:37,276
Speaker 3: to get into, and there was no melody, there was

1188
01:02:37,316 --> 01:02:40,596
Speaker 3: no soul. But when I heard their stuff, I was

1189
01:02:40,636 --> 01:02:43,076
Speaker 3: like it was up temp. There were there were like

1190
01:02:43,196 --> 01:02:47,756
Speaker 3: up tempo records that sounded like Japanese funk. I don't know,

1191
01:02:47,796 --> 01:02:49,956
Speaker 3: that's the best way to describe it. And all I

1192
01:02:49,996 --> 01:02:51,876
Speaker 3: knew was like, I want to make music like that,

1193
01:02:51,956 --> 01:02:54,236
Speaker 3: and so that I really have to credit deep Cott

1194
01:02:54,436 --> 01:02:57,756
Speaker 3: for why I like up tempo songs and why I

1195
01:02:57,836 --> 01:02:59,476
Speaker 3: make up tempo music and stretch.

1196
01:02:59,716 --> 01:03:02,396
Speaker 1: When it comes to genre textas are incredible. No one really,

1197
01:03:02,636 --> 01:03:05,356
Speaker 1: no one really plays like acoustic like that, like a

1198
01:03:05,476 --> 01:03:09,356
Speaker 1: up loud. It sounds like some Frank Black like the

1199
01:03:09,556 --> 01:03:11,596
Speaker 1: weird bizarre phrase.

1200
01:03:12,836 --> 01:03:16,556
Speaker 3: Is an incredible writer imminator, Like there.

1201
01:03:16,636 --> 01:03:19,716
Speaker 2: Their partnership we actually had. It's crazy.

1202
01:03:19,836 --> 01:03:22,956
Speaker 4: We actually are finishing our album right now. We actually

1203
01:03:23,636 --> 01:03:25,836
Speaker 4: just got the album cover done for it and everything.

1204
01:03:26,956 --> 01:03:31,756
Speaker 3: Yeah coming out what dream is coming true?

1205
01:03:32,756 --> 01:03:33,396
Speaker 1: Yeah?

1206
01:03:33,516 --> 01:03:35,476
Speaker 4: Yeah, I love that song because I love the line

1207
01:03:35,516 --> 01:03:36,556
Speaker 4: who can cook, who can clean?

1208
01:03:36,596 --> 01:03:37,476
Speaker 2: Who will paint the fence?

1209
01:03:38,436 --> 01:03:39,996
Speaker 4: I mean, there's so many other things about the song

1210
01:03:40,036 --> 01:03:41,956
Speaker 4: that are great, but also who can cook, who can clean?

1211
01:03:41,956 --> 01:03:42,716
Speaker 2: Who will paint the fence?

1212
01:03:42,956 --> 01:03:45,396
Speaker 4: Because it takes like this idea of like taking over

1213
01:03:45,476 --> 01:03:47,516
Speaker 4: the mansion and tell some stories and there and all

1214
01:03:47,516 --> 01:03:49,876
Speaker 4: that kind of stuff, which is cool idea, right, but

1215
01:03:49,996 --> 01:03:53,396
Speaker 4: then like it's the responsibilities that you have to each.

1216
01:03:53,196 --> 01:03:55,836
Speaker 2: Other, like who's who can cook, who can clean? Who

1217
01:03:55,836 --> 01:03:56,156
Speaker 2: will paint?

1218
01:03:56,556 --> 01:03:59,596
Speaker 4: Like who's doing the real work that it takes to

1219
01:03:59,676 --> 01:04:02,756
Speaker 4: like stay alive. So we can, you know, take over

1220
01:04:02,796 --> 01:04:04,076
Speaker 4: this match and tell some stories.

1221
01:04:04,156 --> 01:04:07,116
Speaker 1: I love it. Thanks so much, guys, Thank you so much.

1222
01:04:08,356 --> 01:04:11,716
Speaker 3: Creative Thanks likewise, this is beautiful, incredible.

1223
01:04:14,396 --> 01:04:16,796
Speaker 1: Thanks to Jennell Monee and Nate wonder for the invite

1224
01:04:16,796 --> 01:04:19,836
Speaker 1: to Wonderland to chat about her latest album, The Age

1225
01:04:19,876 --> 01:04:22,756
Speaker 1: of Pleasure. You can hear it, along with our other

1226
01:04:22,796 --> 01:04:26,116
Speaker 1: favorite songs of Jennemne's and Nate Wonders on a playlist

1227
01:04:26,116 --> 01:04:30,236
Speaker 1: at broken record podcast dot com. Subscribe to our YouTube

1228
01:04:30,276 --> 01:04:33,436
Speaker 1: channel at YouTube dot com slash Broken Record Podcast, where

1229
01:04:33,476 --> 01:04:36,516
Speaker 1: you can find all of our new episodes. You can

1230
01:04:36,556 --> 01:04:39,876
Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter at broken Record. Broken Record is

1231
01:04:39,916 --> 01:04:42,996
Speaker 1: produced and edited by Leah Rose, with marketing help from

1232
01:04:43,076 --> 01:04:46,676
Speaker 1: Eric Sandler and Jordan McMillan. Our engineer is Ben Tollinay.

1233
01:04:47,276 --> 01:04:50,796
Speaker 1: Broken Record is a production of Pushkin Industries. If you

1234
01:04:50,836 --> 01:04:54,156
Speaker 1: love this show and others from Pushkin, consider subscribing to

1235
01:04:54,276 --> 01:04:58,236
Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus. Pushkin Plus is a podcast subscription that offers

1236
01:04:58,276 --> 01:05:01,356
Speaker 1: bonus content and ad free listening for four ninety nine

1237
01:05:01,436 --> 01:05:05,396
Speaker 1: a month. Look for Pushkin Plus on Apple Podcasts subscriptions.

1238
01:05:06,156 --> 01:05:08,756
Speaker 1: And if you like this show, please remember to share, rate,

1239
01:05:08,796 --> 01:05:11,676
Speaker 1: and review us on your podcast. That are the Musics

1240
01:05:11,676 --> 01:05:18,796
Speaker 1: Back in the Beats? I'm justin Richmond, h