Speaker 1: R and B Money.
Speaker 2: We are.
Speaker 3: Take volatility.
Speaker 4: We are the authority on all R and Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 4: My name is Tank, I'm Valentine. This is the R
Speaker 4: and B Money podcast telling what it is the authority
Speaker 4: on all things.
Speaker 3: R and B authority because we have one of the
Speaker 3: authorities on all things authority.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, we don't take this word in this moment lightly.
Speaker 1: Uh as it is light. It is extremely heavy.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it is not paper thing. It is not paper thin.
Speaker 4: The way it has been paved and what shines upon
Speaker 4: this path and has been trail blazed is a light.
Speaker 5: Oh, ladies and gentlemen, No introduction is needed, but I
Speaker 5: just felt the need to say a few words that
Speaker 5: coincided with light, Ladies and gentlemen, the theeah MC Yeah yeah,
Speaker 5: thank you, jeez.
Speaker 2: I want to.
Speaker 4: Here's what, Here's what this this this, this moment is right,
Speaker 4: this part is this is I don't know how often
Speaker 4: you get to do this. This is to pop your
Speaker 4: ship moment. This is the yes I am who I am.
Speaker 4: That's what this pod is about. Talking about time fifty flowers,
Speaker 4: all time flowers, and you are allowed to smell them
Speaker 4: on this pod. I want to ask question in the beginning,
Speaker 4: and I want you to step outside of yourself and
Speaker 4: answer this. For me, what makes mc light timeless? What
Speaker 4: do you feel the ingredients?
Speaker 6: Okay, well, first of all, I try my damnedest to
Speaker 6: stay inside my body. So you're asking me to step
Speaker 6: outside of my body. Because we're always out right as
Speaker 6: creative people.
Speaker 7: We're always out, So get out. Look in timeless. Fearless.
Speaker 6: Got to be fearless in order to be okay, to
Speaker 6: move where you were to where you.
Speaker 7: Want to be.
Speaker 6: And so for me, being timeless has everything to do
Speaker 6: with changing, with what is happening. Oh, at the same
Speaker 6: time keeping who it is that you are at the core.
Speaker 6: But for me, yeah, it's about realizing that change is
Speaker 6: good and to implement it wherever it feels most natural.
Speaker 4: Was that, Okay, you're you're really good? Like you're you're good.
Speaker 4: I say that, and I asked you that because you know,
Speaker 4: as I'm as I'm walking, I go on my snack
Speaker 4: walk and and I'm listening to to the new records,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, you haven't missed the beat. Doesn't sound
Speaker 4: like we're trying to figure out how to pay homage
Speaker 4: to someone who was we are actually in the midst
Speaker 4: of celebrating someone who is This is now like those records,
Speaker 4: I'm like, oh, I can't wait to be in the
Speaker 4: King video. If you haven't shot shot it already, we did.
Speaker 4: I just want to be somewhere the album album is
Speaker 4: done out.
Speaker 7: Yes, I mean.
Speaker 6: The wonderful thing about this new age of music you
Speaker 6: know on all of the DSPs of streaming, uh, is
Speaker 6: that people find it when they find it, and it's
Speaker 6: it's new for them and it's invigorating for them. It's
Speaker 6: no longer like.
Speaker 7: This mad rush.
Speaker 6: The record is in the stores on the shelves, and
Speaker 6: if you don't go get it now, they're gonna return
Speaker 6: all of them. This is no pressure.
Speaker 4: It can be digested at a study pace, which is
Speaker 4: which is great business for you, sure, but it's just
Speaker 4: like that's not very that's not the easy feat to
Speaker 4: be you and be able to be applied. This is
Speaker 4: twenty twenty four going into twenty twenty five. You've been
Speaker 4: doing this and you sound and feel fresh as day
Speaker 4: one on these records. I gotta give you.
Speaker 6: That thank you, thank you, and that means a lot
Speaker 6: coming from you guys who know everything R and B.
Speaker 6: The authority, the authority authority, you know what. I kind
Speaker 6: of can attribute that to Warren Campbell, who the master
Speaker 6: executive produced the record, and he was just like, be yourself,
Speaker 6: you know it was It wasn't this thing where sometimes
Speaker 6: I can find myself in the studio with other producers
Speaker 6: and they're like, we need you to put a little
Speaker 6: bit on this song.
Speaker 7: O got it.
Speaker 6: They doing this now, so you gotta do that, and
Speaker 6: you got it. Wasn't any comparison. As a matter of fact,
Speaker 6: he doesn't really listen to a lot of music at
Speaker 6: all because he likes to keep himself somewhat in the tunnel.
Speaker 7: Of what he's creating and what feels good to him.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he is music. I about to say he is music.
Speaker 4: He's a child prodigy, doesn't He doesn't have to listen
Speaker 4: to any more music. He knows everything. I saw another
Speaker 4: saw another day up at at the concert Kirk with
Speaker 4: kirk In and Fred and all of them, and he
Speaker 4: just did this musical bed for this song that had
Speaker 4: been creat created many moons agof and he created the
Speaker 4: musical bad for it. That was. That was the twin
Speaker 4: identical twin like clone, if you will, the same everything
Speaker 4: the same. I'm like, what is wrong with you? How
Speaker 4: did you do that? He said, well, Tank, you just
Speaker 4: got to know when you hear that sound, that means
Speaker 4: you got to go to the overhigh and you hear
Speaker 4: that sound, you know that's going to be in this.
Speaker 4: I said, no, nobody knows. He knows that this too.
Speaker 1: I don't know that.
Speaker 6: Well, what what's what's so great about even this record?
Speaker 6: It was, you know, so many samples and at a
Speaker 6: certain point, you know, we're dealing with the sample clearance
Speaker 6: person and things are coming back so expensive to the
Speaker 6: degree that I called up one of the labels and
Speaker 6: I was like, this is just too much. I need
Speaker 6: you to be on my side for a second. You know,
Speaker 6: I have something to contribute to hip hop and I'm
Speaker 6: not going to be able to do it at at
Speaker 6: this cost. And then finally Warren was like, okay, I
Speaker 6: didn't want to have to do it, but I will,
Speaker 6: and he went and replayed.
Speaker 7: Everything is exactly like it.
Speaker 6: Is exactly, and I thought I was, you know, kind
Speaker 6: of chivalry.
Speaker 7: Because I was like, oh my goodness, what is going
Speaker 7: to happen.
Speaker 6: It's like, I'm so used to this sound demo itis
Speaker 6: and I was just used to it.
Speaker 7: And you know, with samples, it's.
Speaker 6: Compacted, and it feels so solid, like real food. And
Speaker 6: I was afraid we were gonna get soup or you know,
Speaker 6: things were going to be separate, but it just it's everything.
Speaker 4: Chef worn, chef worn past, the elder chef. And and
Speaker 4: you sound you sound excited like you sound you know,
Speaker 4: you sound still very much in love with this process
Speaker 4: like you sound. You sound bright. You don't sound like,
Speaker 4: all right, let me get this one more like you
Speaker 4: sound like nah, we.
Speaker 7: We're about to do another one.
Speaker 6: We got about maybe five that didn't go on this record,
Speaker 6: and so we just go do five more, put it out.
Speaker 6: It's like I heard Jazzy Jeff said, don't don't die
Speaker 6: with anything, HM, give it all, give everything you've got.
Speaker 6: So I'm just gonna keep going till I don't have
Speaker 6: anything left.
Speaker 4: And you should. I saw I saw some R and
Speaker 4: B artists names on on the feature featured a couple
Speaker 4: of songs.
Speaker 3: Just he didn't see his name, you know is going?
Speaker 3: Was I know what this is going? But he got
Speaker 3: five more for this next project.
Speaker 7: Yeah, sure enough, look to be looking for his name.
Speaker 1: Look at it.
Speaker 4: I know the context of the music. Okay, you do,
Speaker 4: I can put some like I can put I can
Speaker 4: keep clothes on. Yeah, okay, he's having I'm having a problem.
Speaker 7: No, Well, now that we know, we can call you.
Speaker 6: You know, you're so busy, you chap traveling the world,
Speaker 6: snack walks and stuff. You know.
Speaker 7: I just I just want we're coming after you.
Speaker 4: I am available. It sounds, it sounds, and it is.
Speaker 4: It is so good. It is so good. And I
Speaker 4: was like I was, I don't think I was expecting
Speaker 4: anything less, but it just for me. It it just
Speaker 4: serves into the idea and the image that I have
Speaker 4: of you, of this, of this timeless icon, this this
Speaker 4: this gifted light that continues to shine in in any avenue,
Speaker 4: in any arena, wherever. Whatever you're called upon to do,
Speaker 4: you just you just seem to you you just are
Speaker 4: special in it.
Speaker 7: Thank you so so much.
Speaker 6: I'm just on a to still be able to do it,
Speaker 6: to still have somebody. It's funny because during the record,
Speaker 6: you know, Apion writes he's an MC And so we
Speaker 6: came into the studio a couple of times, and then
Speaker 6: we took a break, I think it was a holiday
Speaker 6: or something, and he hit me up like Okay, what's
Speaker 6: up when we're going back in? Yeah, And you know
Speaker 6: I was like, oh not yet, Okay, well when we're
Speaker 6: going back in. And then finally I had to just
Speaker 6: call him and say, you know what, this record has
Speaker 6: become really personal and I.
Speaker 7: Can't really do it with anybody. I gotta go.
Speaker 6: I gotta go inward and come out with what it
Speaker 6: is that God is telling me. I need to deliver
Speaker 6: on this record and so to have you. And I
Speaker 6: got a call from Busta, a call from Sway. I got,
Speaker 6: you know, like all of these folks are reaching out like,
Speaker 6: oh my God, like like yo.
Speaker 7: You you put some work in. And so it feels good.
Speaker 7: Chrus One, you know I grew up with her. He
Speaker 7: hit me like that king.
Speaker 6: Be called Flex, you know, like he just was like
Speaker 6: on a mission call w B L S right now.
Speaker 7: I told him he's gonna be calling, and he was.
Speaker 6: Like kind of setting things up for a win for me.
Speaker 6: So that felt good.
Speaker 4: I mean, listen, your gift makes room for you and
Speaker 4: the the relationships, the very good relationships and the things
Speaker 4: that you've imparted along the way, along the journey, all
Speaker 4: calming it to make this moment, you know, even more
Speaker 4: special because it's just like you said, calling cats is
Speaker 4: making place for your off the top. Like I was
Speaker 4: immediate like oh yeah, when they shoot that video, men
Speaker 4: that you shot it already, you got to keep it moving.
Speaker 4: But it's just really done.
Speaker 6: People love it to the King King video because what
Speaker 6: I did is mis a gentleman named mister Upfront. I
Speaker 6: don't know if you're aware of him, but he's been
Speaker 6: shooting footage since like the mid eighties, and so he's
Speaker 6: got all of this footage that we were able to
Speaker 6: tap into so much that Vivo didn't believe that he
Speaker 6: owned all the footage and so he wasn't gonna sit
Speaker 6: there and do a licensing agreement for every piece of
Speaker 6: footage that he put in there.
Speaker 7: But we said, you know what, we're gonna put this up.
Speaker 6: And it is that one video that guys are always
Speaker 6: comments like, if you look in the comments, it's like
Speaker 6: thank you, thank you, oh you see us, you love us,
Speaker 6: Thank you to you and Queen Lati for doing this record.
Speaker 6: And I thought it was really necessary because nobody's really
Speaker 6: especially in hip hop, it's like everything that's wrong with
Speaker 6: a man, let me tell you, right, right, Well.
Speaker 4: It's just like we're coming out of it though.
Speaker 3: Okay, personally, as music is starting to shift again. I mean,
Speaker 3: and we've all been in music business for you know,
Speaker 3: our lives practically, and we've seen so many times where
Speaker 3: you know, that shift happens, you know, and I personally,
Speaker 3: I kind of I see it, you know, I see
Speaker 3: a little more emotions coming back, people speaking how they
Speaker 3: really feel, more so only just being a fad of
Speaker 3: like oh yeah, if I'm just as toxic as I
Speaker 3: possibly can be, or if I'm the killer.
Speaker 4: Of all killers this week, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: I feel like that's that's starting to change in my
Speaker 3: opinion as I'm you know, as I'm experiencing it and
Speaker 3: seeing it and especially having kids and a teenage son,
Speaker 3: so I'm listening to what he's listening to and I'm like, oh, okay,
Speaker 3: you're starting to tap into something different.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 3: It's starting to be more like it's starting to be
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, it's.
Speaker 4: You know, more reality, more you know, love songs. And
Speaker 4: then I'm like, Okay, I hear a melody coming from
Speaker 4: the room, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Listen, we went through a moment where we didn't have
Speaker 3: any melody. Even from the R and B side, they
Speaker 3: were taking out some of the melody, and.
Speaker 4: I'm like, this is dark, this is weird.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I feel like we're I feel like we're
Speaker 3: getting back to that space in my opinion.
Speaker 7: No, I love it.
Speaker 4: I love it.
Speaker 6: I remember one time going into a gym and literally
Speaker 6: it felt like war. It was like the darkest hip
Speaker 6: hop that you could ever listen to while working out.
Speaker 7: But I guess if they you.
Speaker 3: Know, I said the guys like that's.
Speaker 7: That was the music. It just was like so dark.
Speaker 7: I could not wait to get out of the gym.
Speaker 7: I was like, this is too much.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but yes, it has taken a turn, and especially
Speaker 6: with R and B, like, I'm really feeling the young
Speaker 6: cats coming up and giving a different perspective on not
Speaker 6: just getting all of the women they can, but actually
Speaker 6: choosing one and say I'm gonna spend some time.
Speaker 7: I'm loving on you.
Speaker 6: I'm liking how this is going, and you know it,
Speaker 6: it feels good to see it brighten.
Speaker 7: Up a little bit.
Speaker 4: You're gonna get these young the junctions back to courting.
Speaker 6: Yeah, putting, well, you got to get the women to agree.
Speaker 4: To but I think they will. Okay, I think they will.
Speaker 3: I mean personally, I believe I believe that that that
Speaker 3: most people follow things they believe are cool at the moment.
Speaker 3: And I think when someone that they deem as cool
Speaker 3: try something different, are goes back to grab what's always
Speaker 3: been that's been cool and said, hey, no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 3: this is this is how it's supposed to.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And if you're a leader of that, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean. Now it's you know, the conversation gets different.
Speaker 3: So I just think that you know, we just need,
Speaker 3: you know, a couple more than you younger cats to
Speaker 3: feel like they can stand in front of it and
Speaker 3: not feel a way about somebody being like, oh you
Speaker 3: only got one girl.
Speaker 7: Well yeah right, it's.
Speaker 4: Like me, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: So, speaking of like going back to things, you being
Speaker 3: a pioneer in this whole rap world, especially from the
Speaker 3: female side of it, Like what made you say because
Speaker 3: we talked off camera and you know, we were talking
Speaker 3: about growing up in the whole thing, But what made
Speaker 3: you say, like, you know what I want to rap?
Speaker 4: This is this is what I'm about to be on
Speaker 4: right right? Uh?
Speaker 7: Well I was.
Speaker 6: I was rapping ever since sequence, you know, you know,
Speaker 6: sequence infinitse, no requests sequence is bing g B Blondie
Speaker 6: and okay, okay, and hearing them and that was a
Speaker 6: lot of melody during that time, and then hearing the
Speaker 6: message and Lottie Dottie and I felt like, ooh, this
Speaker 6: is something to get into.
Speaker 7: So I was doing it for fun.
Speaker 6: But it wasn't until I heard Salt and Pepper and
Speaker 6: I was like, oh, oh, I'm gonna do this. And
Speaker 6: then that's when I really started paying attention and writing
Speaker 6: and yeah and cultivating.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Because okay, so you it's crazy how things. You know,
Speaker 4: the manifest is the big word. But even you seeing
Speaker 4: that moment in saying that's what I'm going to do
Speaker 4: at any moment, are you thinking, well, let me also
Speaker 4: have this plan B, you know, to make sure that
Speaker 4: just a case.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Well, even when I said that's what I was going
Speaker 6: to do, it wasn't at the sacrifice of.
Speaker 7: What I already was going to do, which was going
Speaker 7: to go to school. Yeah.
Speaker 6: So it just happened to be that it all kind
Speaker 6: of fell into line prior to school, and so my
Speaker 6: mom was like, I don't want you to go all
Speaker 6: the way to Norfolk State University. With this record deal,
Speaker 6: I would rather you stay in New York City.
Speaker 4: You had your record deal, Yeah.
Speaker 6: I got my record deal when I was in my
Speaker 6: last year of high school.
Speaker 4: I got a record deal in high school.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and the record was on the radio. So I'm like,
Speaker 6: walking through the hallways.
Speaker 4: Are you cracking? Are you acting out? Yeah? You acting?
Speaker 4: Senior year?
Speaker 7: It was a fun time acting Yeah, it's a fun time.
Speaker 4: Did you get most likely to succeed?
Speaker 7: That's a good question.
Speaker 3: Hey, guys, I do have a record deal. I'm succeeding.
Speaker 3: I'm going somewhere.
Speaker 4: I don't know if you've seen this happened? Did you
Speaker 4: have a video out? And all that? Uh not?
Speaker 7: For I cram to understand you.
Speaker 6: That was the first single that was in the bottom
Speaker 6: half of nineteen eighty seven, And in January I graduated,
Speaker 6: so I left six months early.
Speaker 4: Do you get a record deal in high school?
Speaker 6: I just went and at the time it was an audition,
Speaker 6: but I didn't know to even call it that. I
Speaker 6: was going to meet the people that own the record label.
Speaker 6: And I got there and I sat my rhymes. You
Speaker 6: don't have my little book, And at this point I
Speaker 6: had already been rehearsing with George lucy and who is
Speaker 6: Full Force's father. So he would come to my house
Speaker 6: every Saturday and we would practice. And so about the
Speaker 6: time I got to the audition, I was like, I
Speaker 6: was alive wire. They was like, oh, okay, she ready. Yeah,
Speaker 6: And that's how I was able to get the deal.
Speaker 4: Did they give you like this is what this is
Speaker 4: what we like about you, this is what's dope about you.
Speaker 4: Where you can expound, where you could build on like
Speaker 4: using those outside.
Speaker 7: Of just she's ready to go.
Speaker 6: She's ready to go, and we're gonna let her do
Speaker 6: whatever she wants. And most of that first album existed
Speaker 6: in that book Light as a.
Speaker 3: Rock then, yeah, cause you were writing about yeah before
Speaker 3: you ever even got a deal.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I think the only song from that first album that
Speaker 6: I didn't have written might have been Light as a Rock,
Speaker 6: and then I just wrote it to the music okay, yeah,
Speaker 6: but everything else was kind of written already.
Speaker 4: Did you know did you know at the time.
Speaker 6: I know nothing, but you can say the rest.
Speaker 4: Did you have an idea that your voice was different?
Speaker 7: Oh? I don't think so. I knew that.
Speaker 6: Carol Ford, who did New York radio that our voices
Speaker 6: sounded alike.
Speaker 7: And I was like, Oh, I'm gonna do radio. That's
Speaker 7: what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 6: And so that's why I was headed to Norfolk State
Speaker 6: University to major in communications, because.
Speaker 7: That's what I was gonna do. But not to the
Speaker 7: degree that I know now right.
Speaker 6: I just I remember performing at Latin Quarters and later
Speaker 6: my manager telling me that Red Alert said she's not
Speaker 6: gonna make it. She's too monotone, and I was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 6: mono tone. Well shit, I'm just talking very different from
Speaker 6: what was happening in hip hop prior to nineteen eighty eight. Well,
Speaker 6: even rock Kim always just talked to me, but he
Speaker 6: was the beginning of that. I'm just smooth, just talking,
Speaker 6: telling a story, no extra who aff And so I.
Speaker 7: Was like, okay, well we'll see.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 6: It's great to have people who understand.
Speaker 7: Who you are, what it is.
Speaker 6: That you do, how important you know, respect for what
Speaker 6: it is that you do, along with who it is
Speaker 6: that you are. Now, of course, I've got plenty of
Speaker 6: friends that are not in entertainment.
Speaker 4: As well.
Speaker 6: Who are worthy of friendship and since yeah, but those
Speaker 6: are some of the names and Chuck Chuck d is
Speaker 6: a really good friend of mine. Kris One is a
Speaker 6: good friend of mine.
Speaker 4: Yea, I feel like.
Speaker 3: That generation of music, I know what you're I know
Speaker 3: where you're going, really stuck together, really stuck together. And
Speaker 3: maybe it goes back to those fresh fests, you know,
Speaker 3: tour style tours where it's ten people on the road together,
Speaker 3: like really getting to know each other at a young
Speaker 3: age too, because you weren't the only person that was
Speaker 3: nineteen twenty.
Speaker 4: It was a couple of artists that were Yeah, nineteen twenty,
Speaker 4: twenty two, twenty four.
Speaker 3: You guys are meeting each other at a really young
Speaker 3: age and growing together and becoming family. And I think
Speaker 3: now it's so spread it's a little more spread out.
Speaker 4: But do you think that the messaging in the music
Speaker 4: at that time also helped with that?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, you were a part of self destruction, You're part
Speaker 3: of song something of something, but which was a very
Speaker 3: pivotal and major part of the music business and had
Speaker 3: this powerful messaging behind it, you know what I mean,
Speaker 3: and something that I think that that's something that's something
Speaker 3: to stand on and that's something to connect to that
Speaker 3: we may not have now.
Speaker 4: And something that is that was that is that was
Speaker 4: ultimately connective. It just kept you guys locked in and
Speaker 4: in a common goal on that same course like today
Speaker 4: is so divided. It's so divided because everybody's trying to
Speaker 4: get their bag. It's I see so much value in
Speaker 4: team because I come from that. You know, once I
Speaker 4: found the Boys and Girls Club in Milwaukee, and then
Speaker 4: once I found the football team, and then the basketball team,
Speaker 4: and then and then a group. I never wanted to
Speaker 4: be by myself. I became a solo artist by default,
Speaker 4: but I always wanted to be part of something bigger.
Speaker 4: Of cheering somebody else song when they sing in lead,
Speaker 4: or cheering somebody else song when they do a good beat,
Speaker 4: or cheering somebody like I always wanted to be part
Speaker 4: of that. And I feel like that's that's so needed
Speaker 4: that I have a lot of good friends and good
Speaker 4: people in music and in entertainment, but it's very rare
Speaker 4: that we collectively do something impactful and something It's very rare.
Speaker 7: No, No, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 4: There are.
Speaker 6: There are moments where my whole thing is we cool,
Speaker 6: let's find something to work on together. Because now we're
Speaker 6: that age where we can kind of pick and choose
Speaker 6: what it is that we want to do. And my
Speaker 6: thing is I'm immersed in work.
Speaker 7: I love my work. So either will see one another on.
Speaker 6: These bits, you know, these little bitty moments, or will
Speaker 6: create something together so that you know, let's let's do
Speaker 6: a movie, let's do a song, let's do you know.
Speaker 7: Whatever the case is.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I love that. I want to. I like this
Speaker 4: this little list right here that says accolades. So I
Speaker 4: don't know. Honorary doctorate of music, humanitarians, I too have
Speaker 4: a honorary doctorate and and and the masters as well.
Speaker 4: They're not gonna give me one because I'd be talking.
Speaker 1: I've done the work, Jay, I've done the work.
Speaker 7: That's terrible. Trophies right, those are your agrees.
Speaker 4: Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris,
Speaker 4: Philanthropy Hip Hop Sisters Foundation, over a million in scholarships awarded.
Speaker 4: Mm hmm. That's awesome, thank you, that's awesome. Health advocate
Speaker 4: official spokesperson for the Johnson and Johnson Mayaloma Awareness National Campaign.
Speaker 4: What don't you do? I bet you, I bet I
Speaker 4: can kill you if you break out with young nigga.
Speaker 7: You don't want this, That's what I don't do you.
Speaker 3: So, were these all things that were just kind of
Speaker 3: along your journey or did you plan out some of
Speaker 3: these things, like this is some of the stuff I
Speaker 3: want to be a part of, even before you know,
Speaker 3: because as we're working and things are coming to you,
Speaker 3: obviously you're saying yes or no the certain things. But
Speaker 3: did you have did you set out for any of the.
Speaker 6: Only thing, the only thing on there that I set
Speaker 6: out for was the Hip Hop Sisters Foundation to give
Speaker 6: scholarships away to give people further in their education. Everything else, yeah,
Speaker 6: just came. But I guess you're planning for it with
Speaker 6: the work that you actually do.
Speaker 4: So yeah, and how did the foundation start?
Speaker 6: Oh goodness, Well, I had used my name or allowed
Speaker 6: people to use my name with other foundations for other causes,
Speaker 6: other campaigns, you know, musicians for art, AIDS, awareness, gun
Speaker 6: anti gun violence, you know, all those types of things.
Speaker 6: And then finally I was like, I want to start
Speaker 6: my own foundation. But it's not so easy to find
Speaker 6: an executive director.
Speaker 7: You might know that.
Speaker 6: But so at some point doctor Lynn Richardson saw Hip
Speaker 6: Hop Sisters, which at that point we were on ning
Speaker 6: you know, the Ning platform. We had about two thousand
Speaker 6: women MC's, DJ's, journalists, photographers, everybody who was really into
Speaker 6: hip hop music and they could join us and men
Speaker 6: could join too.
Speaker 7: Just as long as you respected the women in the space.
Speaker 6: And so she saw that and she was like, wow, well,
Speaker 6: before I was a graduate of Northwestern, before I was
Speaker 6: an executive at JP Morgan, if I was hip hop,
Speaker 6: I'm going to reach out to light. And she reached
Speaker 6: out to me and asked me, did I want to
Speaker 6: start a foundation? I was like, you gotta be kidding me. Yes,
Speaker 6: of course I do. And about four months later we
Speaker 6: had five and one C three status and we were
Speaker 6: giving away scholarships.
Speaker 7: That's how it started.
Speaker 4: How long have you guys had the foundation?
Speaker 6: About fourteen years now and our last.
Speaker 7: Her last efforts were with a partnership with Dillard University HBCU,
Speaker 7: New Orleans.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Television projects rhyme.
Speaker 6: Oh that's the little baby that went away.
Speaker 7: We did two seasons. It was great.
Speaker 6: I think it was just too clean because my thing
Speaker 6: is I was trying to create the Yesteryear sitcom where
Speaker 6: everybody could sit down and watch it.
Speaker 4: Family.
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, the family. And so we had we had
Speaker 7: a good spend. Now I'm playing a dirty detective.
Speaker 4: But it's on Angel Angel. Yeah you're dirty detective.
Speaker 6: Well, you know, she's in a rush to somebody got
Speaker 6: to go down for this crime. Now it may not
Speaker 6: be the person that did it, but somebody somebody's going
Speaker 6: to do sea.
Speaker 4: Yeah that dirty.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's dirty.
Speaker 4: That's dirty. Maybe they may be guilty of something. It's
Speaker 4: just calmer coming to bite your children's book.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, that's coming this Christmas with a full push.
Speaker 6: That's with Van Van.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Matter of fact, I think the last time I saw
Speaker 6: you all, Van Van might have been there. I don't
Speaker 6: know if you all got a chance to speak to her.
Speaker 6: But she's a hip hop sensation. She just released her
Speaker 6: first album, her debut album at five years old. During
Speaker 6: the Essence Festival, she performed on the main stage at
Speaker 6: the Convention Center. She let me perform with her. Yeah, five,
Speaker 6: we have a song called too Bold with Rhapsody the
Speaker 6: Bratt and myself with Van Van five.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Well she just turned six earlier this month, but yeah,
Speaker 6: she's five, bro. Yeah. She introduced the Queen Latifa segment
Speaker 6: that I produced for the Kennedy Center Honors last year.
Speaker 7: So she's.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So we have a book coming together and this Christmas. Yeah, Okay,
Speaker 3: what's the name of the book?
Speaker 6: Rhyme Time Adventures with fan Van And that is so awesome.
Speaker 4: Nice. Nice. Her ecosystem is crazy already.
Speaker 6: She's a part of doggie Land. She plays a character
Speaker 6: on doggie Land called Vancy. Yeah, she cooking animated series.
Speaker 4: You are a distinguished member of the Hip Hop Council
Speaker 4: of the Kennedy Center.
Speaker 7: This is true.
Speaker 3: Distinguished And then they got running by you.
Speaker 6: It's a lot of us and there was always a
Speaker 6: vote involved. But what that relationship has allowed me to
Speaker 6: do is some really great, some great content at the
Speaker 6: Kennedy Center. So we did I Am Woman a couple
Speaker 6: of years ago. We brought all the female MC's into
Speaker 6: the Kennedy Center that hadn't performed there before.
Speaker 4: So we had Remy.
Speaker 7: Ma and the Brat and and.
Speaker 6: Then we went back last year and we did Rhapsody
Speaker 6: and Cash Doll.
Speaker 7: And Bahammadia carry it up a little bit.
Speaker 6: And this past year, as a matter of fact, I
Speaker 6: reached out That might have been while I reached out
Speaker 6: to you, because I talked to Tyresee about doing a
Speaker 6: Mother's Day special and he was like, Okay, you gotta
Speaker 6: you gotta get tanged, you gotta get to you.
Speaker 4: Reached out about Mother's Day.
Speaker 3: He was booked. Oh yeah, he was booked for that.
Speaker 3: You were booked for Mother's Day.
Speaker 7: So it was him. I was talking to.
Speaker 3: No about the show. Yes, about the show, about the show,
Speaker 3: look at that about the show?
Speaker 4: Was me? Nobody definitely told you that Tank said what
Speaker 4: you want?
Speaker 6: That might have been. That was another year.
Speaker 4: Ever say Tank said what you want?
Speaker 7: That was another year.
Speaker 4: I know I got to see you in these streets.
Speaker 4: I would never no way. Here's my question to you. Yes,
Speaker 4: as you observe the terrain a female rap at the moment,
Speaker 4: what are your thoughts?
Speaker 7: Mmmm?
Speaker 6: I think there's so many, so many You know that
Speaker 6: it used to be like that and then everything went away,
Speaker 6: and then you.
Speaker 7: Know, Nikki came on the scene. It was crushing it.
Speaker 6: Like she was everybody's songs.
Speaker 4: To people to put in category with her. Yeah she was.
Speaker 4: She's that good.
Speaker 7: Yeah exactly.
Speaker 6: And so you know, now the day that we're in,
Speaker 6: we've got so many that are coming from different, uh
Speaker 6: geographical spaces as well as content. But what it is
Speaker 6: that they're talking about, how it is that they dress.
Speaker 6: So to me, to see this many feels like we've
Speaker 6: turned the corner on them believing in themselves, because that's
Speaker 6: the first order of business. If you don't think that
Speaker 6: you can do it, or you don't really consider yourself
Speaker 6: a business, it's not gonna it's not gonna really go
Speaker 6: down for you.
Speaker 7: Or it'll come up and then go down for you
Speaker 7: very quickly.
Speaker 6: And so I like to see the ladies making their
Speaker 6: moves and looking at themselves as a viable business and
Speaker 6: putting people to work.
Speaker 4: I think the female dominance in R and B and
Speaker 4: hip hop has been has been very apparent for the
Speaker 4: last five six years. I know, we've been getting not
Speaker 4: ass kicked. Women have just been rocking, and I think
Speaker 4: that you know, they've they've they've been able to do
Speaker 4: something that all of us haven't been able to do,
Speaker 4: and they've been able to do it on the mainstream
Speaker 4: is continue to remain vulnerable and remain emotional, where for
Speaker 4: a lot of us, I mean, I musta still do it,
Speaker 4: but for a lot of us it was kind of
Speaker 4: it started being frowned upon as this whole you know,
Speaker 4: pimp and play age kind of emerged. We don't you know,
Speaker 4: we don't really need women and we have called them
Speaker 4: out their names and all that kind of right as
Speaker 4: that kind of took over, it took us out of
Speaker 4: the R and B space.
Speaker 6: You know what's so funny is I remember I was
Speaker 6: somewhere backstage and that song that Neo had stripper something, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 6: because I was. I was really upset about it because
Speaker 6: I had learned to trust him with the sexy love
Speaker 6: and you know, he had so many that was just
Speaker 6: so warm and you know, cuddly feelings, and then he
Speaker 6: had stripped something and I was just like and so
Speaker 6: I saw him backstage.
Speaker 7: I was like, Yo, what's up. Yeah, I was like, what's.
Speaker 4: Up, dude? Okay, my question. Yes, he can't like sexy
Speaker 4: love and strippers because.
Speaker 7: He can't like whatever.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean he could like whatever he likes, right,
Speaker 6: I just you know, it's I put a lot of
Speaker 6: trust into what it is that I listen to, and
Speaker 6: I'm only going there because I know that that's trustworthy.
Speaker 6: And it just shocked me. But when I asked him,
Speaker 6: he was like, you know what, it's kind of what's happening.
Speaker 6: It wasn't even like he was attached to it like
Speaker 6: I did it, what it was like, I understand where
Speaker 6: you're coming from, Like.
Speaker 4: I do you feel like that as an artist?
Speaker 3: That you know because even when you were when you're
Speaker 3: reading off your hits, they're not all the same.
Speaker 7: M hm.
Speaker 4: Really there's a variety, and as you were saying, you
Speaker 4: were evolving at times. So yeah, sometimes you know it may.
Speaker 7: Go a little further, let's expected.
Speaker 4: Do you feel like as artists should we be held
Speaker 4: to what is? You know, what is maybe.
Speaker 7: Of us a step on the ladder.
Speaker 4: Or a willhouse in a sense. Right, what's your thoughts
Speaker 4: on that?
Speaker 7: I'm going to give you my thoughts on that. I
Speaker 7: was asked somewhere else.
Speaker 6: About just my take on music and all of the
Speaker 6: profanity and all of what exists. I know that when
Speaker 6: I put Kars one, I'm not gonna hear him say
Speaker 6: something that's derogatory towards women.
Speaker 7: Same with Heavy D.
Speaker 6: I'm not going to turn on Heavy D and get
Speaker 6: something about some violence. He was the lover man, and
Speaker 6: there are just some areas where I felt like I
Speaker 6: wanted to say something to him.
Speaker 7: Did I have the right?
Speaker 6: He could have told me to go get kick rocks,
Speaker 6: like but I'm a true fan, and I just wanted
Speaker 6: him to know that it's okay to keep doing that thing,
Speaker 6: like don't it's it's a hut to what it is
Speaker 6: that he just you know offered, and that is there
Speaker 6: was this bubble of time where people are you know,
Speaker 6: climbing in to say whatever it is they want to
Speaker 6: say about women, and you know, it just was a
Speaker 6: space where I wanted him to remain what it was
Speaker 6: that he had given to us that felt so good
Speaker 6: because there weren't many people doing it.
Speaker 4: You know, He's been one of the best ever well
Speaker 4: to do that. Yeah, I understand what you're.
Speaker 7: Saying, but yeah, I mean.
Speaker 6: Maybe when I did Roughneck, people wasn't into rough Neck.
Speaker 6: You know, it could have been somebody that was older looking,
Speaker 6: like what is she doing with them? All them crazy
Speaker 6: looking folks in the video, you know, all the rough people.
Speaker 6: But those were the guys that I was growing up
Speaker 6: with around the time.
Speaker 7: You know, those were.
Speaker 6: The roughneck Caribbean from every you know, island in the water,
Speaker 6: from Jamaica to Haiti to Barbados. Those were the guys
Speaker 6: that I was making a tribute.
Speaker 4: To, right, So, yeah, lyricism or entertainment.
Speaker 7: That's such a blanket statement.
Speaker 4: Which one weighs more to you?
Speaker 7: Which one weighs more to me? Lyricism?
Speaker 4: Like, if you're looking for an artist right now? Yeah,
Speaker 4: in twenty twenty four, yeah, twenty twenty five, Yeah, you
Speaker 4: are looking to sign an artist.
Speaker 7: Mm hmm.
Speaker 4: That is heavier on the lyric.
Speaker 6: As opposed to entertainment. Okay, so now you're painting a
Speaker 6: whole picture. Okay, so that's business.
Speaker 7: So entertainment m hmm.
Speaker 6: For my listening ear nothing to do with signing anybody.
Speaker 7: I'm looking for the lyricism. That's what gets me, you know, excited.
Speaker 4: Who's your favorite lyricist right now?
Speaker 2: Zoom?
Speaker 4: You don't have to say me.
Speaker 7: You know who are you know who I enjoy listening to?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 7: Vic Mensa?
Speaker 4: Yeah, super talented, super talented. Yeah, I like him, super talented,
Speaker 4: super talented.
Speaker 6: There's so many others, but like, how often do people
Speaker 6: say Vic Mensa?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 6: It's like I want to give some shine to him already.
Speaker 7: Know, Kendrick is all you.
Speaker 4: Know, because yeah, he's a serious, serious lyricist.
Speaker 7: That's why I said him.
Speaker 4: Who's your favorite lyricist right now? I mean.
Speaker 3: It's Kendrick for me personally, I mean and and yes,
Speaker 3: I know it's the popular statement, but it's been that
Speaker 3: way for me for a long time where I just
Speaker 3: feel like I get I get a different type of
Speaker 3: feeling and storytelling when I.
Speaker 4: Listen to Kendrick, what is the feeling. The feeling is.
Speaker 3: A bit of an uprising, you know what I mean,
Speaker 3: Like it makes me feel like doing something.
Speaker 4: And it's funny because you talked about gym.
Speaker 3: I work out the Kiddrick, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: Like I work out to King Kuntam, You know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying, Like, you know, we can talk about the
Speaker 3: disc records and that whole thing and that and that
Speaker 3: in that moment of time, but that's not a highlighted
Speaker 3: part of my appreciation of his music, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean. Like I'm I'm really tapped into the damn
Speaker 3: album into you know what I mean, mister Morale album,
Speaker 3: Like I really listened to it and I follow his
Speaker 3: life in it of the life that he's giving me
Speaker 3: in music, you know what I mean. I do know
Speaker 3: him personally as a friend and we see each other
Speaker 3: say what's up, but not like the in depth side.
Speaker 3: So I feel like the in depth side is a
Speaker 3: little more in his music of what he's what he's sharing,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 4: What I mean.
Speaker 3: So I love the storytelling in it. I love the
Speaker 3: storytelling in it. Like I'm I'm big on you know.
Speaker 3: As as a writer, I want to be able to
Speaker 3: close my eyes and feel like I've been somewhere, you
Speaker 3: know what I mean in the in that song and
Speaker 3: that story, and I feel like he I feel like
Speaker 3: he's a person who paints pictures and I don't.
Speaker 4: Feel like yeah for like all artists pank pictures. Nope,
Speaker 4: I get it, you know what I mean. Which I
Speaker 4: think we should mm hmm, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: You know, it's it's cool when you you you have
Speaker 3: these situational songs of like you jumped to one part
Speaker 3: of a situation to another.
Speaker 4: No, like I'm looking for like walk me through this
Speaker 4: day and let me have a.
Speaker 1: So your daddy met top one.
Speaker 7: That's crazy to me.
Speaker 4: That is we know, I'm all for that. You really
Speaker 4: have a you really have a gift when you can
Speaker 4: do that. Yeah. And so as a as a lyricist
Speaker 4: for me that.
Speaker 7: I'm all about that storytelling.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think from a hip hop side, it's Kendrick
Speaker 3: and then from an they try to say she's not
Speaker 3: R and B, but I believe she's R and B
Speaker 3: sis Okay, you know what I mean, Like it's an
Speaker 3: alternative and it's it's alternative R and B and that.
Speaker 4: That girl is singing her heart out R and B songs.
Speaker 3: But like listening to songs like kill Bill and it's
Speaker 3: like right, you know, I told Punch when he was here,
Speaker 3: I was like, yo, scared me.
Speaker 4: Make a girl feel like that, because that's you know
Speaker 4: what I mean. But when songs give you those type
Speaker 4: of emotions.
Speaker 3: You having a song like Georgie Porgie, like I literally
Speaker 3: listened to that as a kid, and I'm listening to it,
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh, man, like this is a real movie.
Speaker 6: Those came from, you know, Carol King and Carol Bear Sega,
Speaker 6: James Taylor and real players and you know, just listening
Speaker 6: to those story to those folk songs.
Speaker 7: Really had me. And it's funny because I think they.
Speaker 6: Had KRS one too, because he'll use a couple of
Speaker 6: like a Dion Warwick you know thing.
Speaker 7: And so would.
Speaker 6: I was like, oh, okay, we see and Daylight Soul.
Speaker 6: You know, you see the artists that have an appreciation
Speaker 6: for storytelling.
Speaker 7: Yeah yeah, but Melly Mel with.
Speaker 6: That message, that was it for me because I had
Speaker 6: never been to the Bronx, so it was like.
Speaker 7: Wow, this is what the Bronx looks like.
Speaker 6: And he painted the picture so well that finally when
Speaker 6: I did see video and I did go to the Bronx,
Speaker 6: I was.
Speaker 7: Like, oh got it.
Speaker 4: It was familiar. Yes, indeed, I think I think n
Speaker 4: w A was that for ice Cube particularly? Oh yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, like painting that picture of
Speaker 4: what LA and Compton coast right right? Like what is
Speaker 4: Compton right right? And where can I get a Raiders coach?
Speaker 1: Because they didn't even have the man and none of
Speaker 1: the stories they had me gone.
Speaker 4: I knew all of the words from the clean versions
Speaker 4: because church kids, that's all I can only get on
Speaker 4: the box, I knew all of them. They were painting
Speaker 4: a picture so crazy about this place called Comping that
Speaker 4: I wanted to go to really with my rat.
Speaker 3: I got here, he asked if he was going to
Speaker 3: play this thing?
Speaker 6: Did you know how I wrapped on the remix for
Speaker 6: Maybe I Deserve.
Speaker 1: You?
Speaker 4: Sure did?
Speaker 1: I sure do? That's right, but the remix.
Speaker 4: But I talked about you. Sure did. Yeah, I've been
Speaker 4: to like can we find that verse? Absolutely?
Speaker 7: It's online, is it?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've been rocking with like I gotta she said
Speaker 4: you deserve, I tell you, I got it. I've been
Speaker 4: I've been doing this. Yeah, back then, probably Toxic record Tank.
Speaker 7: Maybe I deserve.
Speaker 6: I think I was telling him what he didn't deserve. No, no, no,
Speaker 6: I think I was saying what you.
Speaker 7: Deserve. I deserve. I can't remember the angle I can.
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, absolutely, I'm pulling that. Yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 7: Had to be. When did that record come? Two thousand,
Speaker 7: thousand and two thousand remix?
Speaker 4: Probably two to two thousand and one. Yeah, yeah records.
Speaker 4: He makes his first hit, Yeah, my first. That's why
Speaker 4: I would never send a message ask her what she
Speaker 4: wants to do. That's been blessing me. You found it,
Speaker 4: he found it. Distinguished board member, see Light. You are
Speaker 4: part of so many iconic moments, the voice yourself, Lovos.
Speaker 4: We know along the way there's been some tunes, wholesome
Speaker 4: tunes that have blessed your soul. We would like to
Speaker 4: know what those tunes are. Here we call that show
Speaker 4: m hm up.
Speaker 7: Your top five, Yeah, your top.
Speaker 4: Five reason.
Speaker 1: Long, We gotting new be.
Speaker 4: No, you know you Long dude.
Speaker 3: We want you to gay.
Speaker 4: Yes, you.
Speaker 7: Let me tell you it pays to be in church
Speaker 7: in church.
Speaker 4: Bank okay, right, Yes, your top five R and B singers?
Speaker 7: This is groups too?
Speaker 4: Is your list?
Speaker 7: Earth Winding Fire?
Speaker 4: Yeah, brothers. I'm just saying I just saw Ron Ansley,
Speaker 4: did you personally? Just sitting at the bar and in
Speaker 4: Mr Childs in New York. Of course he was looking
Speaker 4: like he owned the place, being mister because he is.
Speaker 4: I need you to write me some records, Tank, No
Speaker 4: problem there. When would you like that?
Speaker 7: Wait?
Speaker 4: Say it again, I need you to write me some records. Tank.
Speaker 4: I don't forget about me?
Speaker 7: How could I? So that's three.
Speaker 6: This is just someone that I go back to every time.
Speaker 6: It's Lionel Richie and Lionel Richie and.
Speaker 7: The Commodore mm hmmm.
Speaker 4: Both yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. It's two different voices, Yes.
Speaker 7: Different voices, two different types of songs. Yeah, and both of.
Speaker 4: Them are legendary.
Speaker 7: I think that's it. Fine, got too spots, I'm gonna
Speaker 7: keep it back then.
Speaker 4: No one's ever got got spots? Who could get to Spot?
Speaker 4: You know? Who could get to Spike? Jackson.
Speaker 3: No, Little Michael and Big Michael. No Mike, no, Mike
Speaker 3: Jackson and Jackson five Jackson.
Speaker 4: Not even one of the He's the greatest kid singer. No, no, no,
Speaker 4: who oh no, you can't fool with Mike. They can't. Nope,
Speaker 4: I ain't going now.
Speaker 3: Stevie is another conversation, Stevie, Stevie.
Speaker 4: I respect Tavin, Tevin was Michael Michael. This is what
Speaker 4: I'm coming from. I'm wrote better than Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson,
Speaker 4: he's the voice, his voice.
Speaker 3: There are only two people's songs that kids have to
Speaker 3: sing when they come sing.
Speaker 4: For you, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonders. Those are the two.
Speaker 4: It's it's because they were classic songs, of course, sing
Speaker 4: with classic voices. I'm not going to discredit that. But
Speaker 4: Tevin Campbell's amazing. Tevin Campbell on Quincy Jones, Tomorroro, Welp,
Speaker 4: I respect it, I respect it. I respect it.
Speaker 1: Okay, listen, it's it's no wrong answer.
Speaker 4: I respect your answers.
Speaker 3: Well, Michael Jackson could have got two spots, I think,
Speaker 3: I think, and Steve could.
Speaker 4: Do you think? Do you think Lionel Richie and the commodoors.
Speaker 4: Which one is stronger, the com Line Rich and the
Speaker 4: Commodorees or the Jackson five. I'm still the Jackson five.
Speaker 4: Mm hm. Ushered in an error. I'm not arguing with
Speaker 4: you because I was gonna say, Joe to cy and
Speaker 4: Casey and Jojo could get two spots same voice though,
Speaker 4: same voice, because that was the thing that you you know,
Speaker 4: it was like it's literally two different voices for for
Speaker 4: Lino at those times. Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that was a grunt.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been singing different people. He sang with two
Speaker 1: different people.
Speaker 7: Yeah, one with the seasoning, one without.
Speaker 1: What's that chicken were talking about earlier?
Speaker 4: I don't care your top five R and B songs?
Speaker 7: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6: Well because you all talked about Stevie, he might have
Speaker 6: two spots.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's got so many.
Speaker 7: Yeah, smash as. I'm gonna say, ass, leave that right there.
Speaker 7: They'll never be.
Speaker 4: Steak that the first two spots.
Speaker 7: Caught up in a rapture.
Speaker 4: Why not? Yeah, why not?
Speaker 7: It's something about that pretty wins really.
Speaker 4: Right. That came on the other day.
Speaker 3: I was just on my one of my playlists. I
Speaker 3: just yeah, yeah, mm hmmm.
Speaker 6: I think it's maybe where I was in my life
Speaker 6: when it came out.
Speaker 7: It's just a very feel moment. How many is that before?
Speaker 4: No? Three, No four? To Stevie's No, I didn't do it.
Speaker 7: I didn't do a second Stevie yet, I just did as.
Speaker 6: Okay, they'll never be switching switch yeah, as just keep
Speaker 6: it as they'll never be around.
Speaker 4: And then pretty pretty. So that is.
Speaker 7: I'm gonna say human nature.
Speaker 4: Yeah, great songwriting, Yeah, I just it's like, but why no, no, no, no,
Speaker 4: it's just some of the greatest musicality, some of the
Speaker 4: greatest lyric some of the greatest vocal that we will
Speaker 4: ever hear. Like those times as you speak on Stevie
Speaker 4: and Michael and the Commodores and Anita Baker Luther, it's like.
Speaker 7: I can't get it back. Fuck yeah, how do we.
Speaker 4: Get back to that m Every every piece was important,
Speaker 4: every piece, every person in that room. We just we
Speaker 4: continue to make the music. Quincy said, Quincy go through
Speaker 4: eight bass players.
Speaker 7: Right right until send people home.
Speaker 4: Until it's not someone else. It's not it's not hidden.
Speaker 3: Like really listen to those Isley brother records.
Speaker 4: It's a movie. It's the reason we have to keep
Speaker 4: earth win in fire.
Speaker 6: It's why we have to keep sampling it.
Speaker 4: It's why we have to keep running it back, because
Speaker 4: you can't recreate it. Yeah, what are we missing?
Speaker 7: Mm hmm.
Speaker 4: I'm saying that as a creative, it is an ultimate creative.
Speaker 4: What are we missing? Because that is fucking different?
Speaker 3: It is, But nobody was saying that's good enough. It
Speaker 3: was do it again, m hmm, until it was oh
Speaker 3: that's perfect. I feel like, and you may you may
Speaker 3: see it different, but I feel like the more I
Speaker 3: go to studios when I'm in sessions and sometimes I'm
Speaker 3: a fly on the wall where I'm just there. I
Speaker 3: went to go see somebody, say what's up?
Speaker 4: And I'm sit in the back and I listened to.
Speaker 3: The producer and whoever the vocalist is, and they're like, oh, yeah, we'll.
Speaker 4: Get we'll clean that up. Oh that did not exist.
Speaker 4: We'll clean that up. Did not exist?
Speaker 7: Yeah, not exist.
Speaker 4: There was no cleaning up. No, it's sing it again
Speaker 4: and again. And we've been singing this song for four days,
Speaker 4: is what it is.
Speaker 3: But now you have artists like man I could have
Speaker 3: wrote the whole album, and that album may not stand
Speaker 3: the testa time, because I guarantee you, thriller was not
Speaker 3: made in four days.
Speaker 4: Promise you, thriller wasn't made for all. Promised you wasn't
Speaker 4: made all.
Speaker 7: I'm in agreement.
Speaker 4: And we're still to this day.
Speaker 3: Talking about these songs, these albums, those vocals, those mixes.
Speaker 4: The instrumentation, Like, we're still talking about that. And to me,
Speaker 4: I think that.
Speaker 3: Era now, you know, relying so heavily on technology, the engineer,
Speaker 3: or just.
Speaker 4: A crediting laziness to a vibe.
Speaker 7: Oh ouch, you know that reminds me.
Speaker 6: You know, we've heard several stories from other people on
Speaker 6: how Jay doesn't write lyrics. Jay doesn't have to write lyrics.
Speaker 6: Some of you others need to write lyrics. You need
Speaker 6: to see what it is that you're saying.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he but he has a he has a
Speaker 3: different gift one. Yes, but I guarantee you he's wrapped
Speaker 3: that over and over in his head. Now, I'm you know,
Speaker 3: I don't think that it's oh, I'm just blurting out anything.
Speaker 3: He's not a blurt out anything, extremely calculated. So he's
Speaker 3: walking around reciting.
Speaker 4: Formulating, and then when it's time to get to work, boom.
Speaker 3: I'm rehearsed right, rehearsal getting right when somebody tell you like, okay,
Speaker 3: these are the this, this, this, this is the lines
Speaker 3: are you're going.
Speaker 7: Through them right?
Speaker 6: You know with Milk back in the early days, they
Speaker 6: would you know, I would say the rhyme and then
Speaker 6: you know, I would want to be done.
Speaker 7: I'm done. They'd be like, uh, you know what I
Speaker 7: think you need to come in and do it. I
Speaker 7: was like, okay, what do I need to do?
Speaker 6: And then he'd have to find the words that I
Speaker 6: could actually understand to be able to go in and
Speaker 6: give him what it was that he was asking for.
Speaker 6: And now it's systematic, like when I'm writing, there's a
Speaker 6: better way to say that, there's a better way to
Speaker 6: say this. We're not gonna rhyme that just because it's
Speaker 6: shock value. I'm over shock value. Let's make it have purpose.
Speaker 6: And that takes time. And that's what they were doing
Speaker 6: in that day. It wasn't a rush. They enjoyed the
Speaker 6: process of being in the studio. If it took, you know,
Speaker 6: eight days to get through one song or singers that
Speaker 6: were there with the intention of we're gonna get this,
Speaker 6: so you're gonna say it as many times now, it's like,
Speaker 6: say it three times and I'm gonna catch the best
Speaker 6: parts of it and kind of clink it up together.
Speaker 7: I think you hit something with that.
Speaker 4: They've also made us calculate the expense of taking our time,
Speaker 4: but the sessions are cheaper. I it's a milik because
Speaker 4: everyone has home studios now now. But that's now what
Speaker 4: got us out of it though.
Speaker 3: Right, was the expense of being in a fifteen hundred
Speaker 3: dollars two thousand dollars a day studio.
Speaker 4: Especially if making R and B, because we needed the works.
Speaker 4: I can only imagine what the thriller sessions, cause.
Speaker 7: That's level I mean.
Speaker 4: But it also is the grading selling album.
Speaker 6: And the size if you're going for something of those studios.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like just knowing just hearing the stories of Michael
Speaker 4: and how he moved and recorded in all the rooms
Speaker 4: that he didn't use and would show up and then
Speaker 4: be missing for two months, and are you kidding me? Yeah, okay,
Speaker 4: I'm sorry. Just when you started naming those songs, it
Speaker 4: just it just struck something like that music is. It's
Speaker 4: still shaping my life every time I hear those songs.
Speaker 4: When we hear those hows the do.
Speaker 6: It's like, yeah, if I ever make it back, I'll
Speaker 6: give my favorite new.
Speaker 4: Well you don't have to.
Speaker 7: That's okay, because I gotta think about it, all right.
Speaker 4: H I ain't saying no names. I ain't saying no names.
Speaker 4: I ain't saying no names. Ain't saying no names. Was
Speaker 4: we's weird what you did? Don't say ship saying name? Yeah?
Speaker 7: He looked like, go.
Speaker 4: We here we here we at that were at that
Speaker 4: part of the show. Will you tell us the story? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Funny and fucked up funny? Oh, the only rude to
Speaker 3: the game. You can't say no names.
Speaker 7: I can't say no names. Mmm. I you know. I
Speaker 7: remember going out with this guy and.
Speaker 6: We were in my car and I was driving, but
Speaker 6: I had to go do something.
Speaker 7: I had to interview Salt and Pepper for Word Up magazine, and.
Speaker 6: I was dropping him off so that I could go
Speaker 6: do that, and then I was gonna come back and get.
Speaker 7: Him, and he took my hand and put it in
Speaker 7: his mouth and bit.
Speaker 6: The I had to pull my hand out of his mouth,
Speaker 6: and I was like, what is And then he took
Speaker 6: the key out of my ignition And at that point,
Speaker 6: I'm just I already know I'm not coming back to
Speaker 6: get him.
Speaker 7: Once I hit him out.
Speaker 6: Of my car, he said, so what you're gonna do.
Speaker 7: You're gonna call your daddy. And I was like, oh,
Speaker 7: this Nigga's crazy. No, just stop playing. Let me get
Speaker 7: the key. I'll be back.
Speaker 6: So you're coming back. Yeah, just give me the key,
Speaker 6: all right? And I never saw him again to this day.
Speaker 4: That's what you know. Maybe he was a rough neck.
Speaker 6: Never, No, that was more than a rough nck. That
Speaker 6: was accountable. He tried to eat my hand right.
Speaker 4: Now, just because you had somewhere to go.
Speaker 7: I don't I think it was his way of playing.
Speaker 4: I was about to say, I think he was flirting.
Speaker 6: He was flirting and he was testing the waters. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 6: he comes back.
Speaker 4: Oh I'm really good.
Speaker 7: Whatever for ladies, the red flag I made.
Speaker 1: Girl, he's so crazy.
Speaker 6: Good for me, I knew better. And I've never seen
Speaker 6: him since. I mean I've seen him, but not we
Speaker 6: have never seen one another. And he is an R
Speaker 6: and B singer, all right, Yeah, that's not what we all.
Speaker 4: We don't do that. As as as a distinguished member.
Speaker 1: Nigga, stop biking. Hopefully she can't go where she can't
Speaker 1: don't bite.
Speaker 7: Her and take her can stuck take a car key.
Speaker 4: They're gonna put the kids to bed. I should be
Speaker 4: in a bait my way. Uh wow? And and you were.
Speaker 6: You were like, yes, absolutely, I was on my way
Speaker 6: to interview. Matter of fact there someone sent it to
Speaker 6: me maybe about two weeks ago through a d M
Speaker 6: the cover of the Word Up magazine where I interviewed
Speaker 6: Salt and Pepper.
Speaker 7: It was like celebrities interviewing celebrities.
Speaker 4: You guy have some balls.
Speaker 2: Or not?
Speaker 7: I wonder does he even remember that he did it?
Speaker 7: Though I was a failed attempt, He probably forgot it
Speaker 7: was like or somebody else got bit and they're like, oh,
Speaker 7: I know who that was.
Speaker 4: Already know what the they about to be looking r
Speaker 4: r rm Bier. I'm so sorry you went through that.
Speaker 4: Yeah you made it out. Thank you, We we love you.
Speaker 7: Thank you so much for this.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, thank you.
Speaker 7: I appreciate you.
Speaker 4: And I think I think that a collaboration of you
Speaker 4: and Jay on a hair care product.
Speaker 2: Is.
Speaker 7: That right?
Speaker 4: Look, I'm the whole time, for real, the whole time,
Speaker 4: I'm like, these motherfuckers is wave keep my being I'm
Speaker 4: not making the cut. I did not know that's what
Speaker 4: your hair is always always waving. I'm glad to be
Speaker 4: putting it.
Speaker 7: Listen. It was a rough morning.
Speaker 4: I was like, I can't tell.
Speaker 7: Let me try to get this together.
Speaker 4: Hey, we hold you in high regard and thank you.
Speaker 4: We support you, We appreciate you. Anything you ever need
Speaker 4: from us, We are direct phone calls away album One
Speaker 4: of One.
Speaker 6: The One of One album is out. Now Make a
Speaker 6: Living is the latest single.
Speaker 7: Yeah, check it on out.
Speaker 4: Please, awesome, awesome, thank you. As Killer Mike saying she's
Speaker 4: wrapping her ass off, yeah, he was wrapping her ass off.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. My name is
Speaker 4: Tank and this is the Army Money podcast, the authority
Speaker 4: on all things R and B R and B.
Speaker 1: This has been a heavy episode.
Speaker 3: R and B Money is a production of the Black
Speaker 3: Effect podcast Network. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
Speaker 3: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 3: favorite shows. Don't forget to subscribe to and rate our show,
Speaker 3: and you can connect with us on social media at
Speaker 3: j Valentine and at the Real Tank. For the extended episode,
Speaker 3: subscribe to YouTube dot com or slash R and B
Speaker 3: Money