WEBVTT - QLS Celebrates Womens History Month Part 1 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.040 Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:13.160 Welcome Back to Quest Love Supremes March and as this tradition, 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:17.079 we are celebrating Women's History Month with some special programming 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:18.400 drawing from the archives. 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:19.600 This is part. 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:30.400 One, you know, kind of my positioning. 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:32.680 While I have a platform, be. 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:37.080 It music, movies, be it podcasting, you know, it was 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:41.960 always important to make sure that we right the wrong 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:47.320 and give some agency to people who otherwise won't ever 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.680 have that platform. And this is the lesson that I 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:55.280 learned from Richard Nichols back when we were developing the 0:00:55.680 --> 0:01:02.600 Black Lily Jam sessions and making show that there's a 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.520 shout out to lay you that there's a balanced voice, 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:08.640 and you know, especially in the early episodes, you can 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:12.639 definitely hear fighting for her space to get her words 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:16.040 at it. You know, as wise, which is necessary, you know, 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:21.680 and as history has shown us, women have been leading 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:23.720 the way and as a. 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:25.200 Result we should celebrate them. 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:29.600 You know, it's unfortunate that we're all relegated one month 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:32.959 a year. It should be this way all year round. 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:37.200 But definitely the history of a lot of our favorite artists, 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:41.440 especially with the women that have come through QLs, is 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:44.360 important to hear. It's important to know the history, and 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.760 we will continue to elevate and escalate the stories. 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:56.440 As we celebrate Women's History Month. 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.200 One of the musicians who's done so much to elevate 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.440 women in the last decade is Without a Doubt Rhapsody 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:07.480 twenty nineteen album Eve was inspired by women black women, specifically, 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:10.440 with each of the sixteen songs named after a figure 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:15.320 of history, and in our QOLS conversation, rhaps City spoke 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:19.120 about that album and even before, how the team at 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:21.720 rock Nation, including a strong female staff. 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:23.400 Motivated her to partner there. 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:26.560 You should definitely check out the Eat Records Timeless album 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:27.880 if you haven't. 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:30.919 Along with her new Grammy winning work or Please Don't Cry. 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:36.000 All right, So, what was. 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:39.560 The process in the decision to roll with Rock Nation 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:40.720 for yourself? 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:46.040 We knew that, you know, as an indie label, we 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:49.400 can only do so much like budget and marketing wise, 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.280 and really getting the exposure that I wanted. So, you know, 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:54.600 when we took the meeting with Rock One, I'm a 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:58.440 big j fan Offgate, but walking into the building and 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.519 at the time, Shaka Pilgrim was president and you walk 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:03.920 in and fifty percent of the staff of women and 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:08.000 it's so so many different cultures and we came in 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:10.920 with Lailor's wisdom probably eighty percent done. And they didn't 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.480 ask us to change a single whow not one single thing. 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:17.200 It was always all right, what do y'all want to do? 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:19.960 What even envision? Like what are you thinking of the music? 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.320 They never every eve they didn't ask to change or 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:26.799 touch anything. And so to me, like the energy and 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.680 just how much they love the culture. It didn't seem 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.000 like I've been to death jam I think in Atlantic before, 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:34.600 but this was this was different. This was all about 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.720 culture and just music and they were really about growing 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:40.360 with me. Like they wasn't pressure to have a radio 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:43.760 single or it was just like, you know, we believe 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:44.680 in you and your talent. 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:46.880 We just want to how can we help? That's what 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:48.480 it was. So that's why. 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.800 And how did you feel the morning that the nominations 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:52.200 came out? 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.440 Yoh, And I don't know. 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:58.720 What feeling for you. It's kind of first phone. 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:01.000 Call, yo, think was the first one that hit me 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:02.880 because I was in LA This was like five in 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:04.120 the morning, so he hit me. 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.720 He was like, yo, you're you nominated and you nominated? 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:12.280 Uh? It wasn't twice, Yeah, twice, So I was like, yo, 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:15.800 what like yo to be nominated, but to even be 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.120 nominated twice like that was crazy for me. It was 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:21.280 just like people were calling me. I couldn't even answer 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:23.600 the phone. I had to just sit back and reflect, like, Yo, 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.640 we're here, Like this is a different bar to be 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:30.159 recognized at the highest level of music when of award 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.240 show and then not have no Billboard hits and no 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.880 platinum records, and to be in a category with Jay 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:36.760 Z and Kendrick Lamar at the same time, It's just 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:40.240 like man as not have to change nothing, not even 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:43.320 have to put it on the tight dress. I cried 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:48.080 a little bit, you know, but yeah, I was thankful 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.120 that I stayed the course of anything. 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:54.200 So I have to say that your your whole process 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:59.960 of crafting the Eve album, it's just some amazing ass ship, 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:04.160 you know, Like where did the idea even come from 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:11.119 for crafting this album as an homage to the spirit 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.360 of the black woman in America in the world and 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:17.200 their effect like where's the Genesis and the seed born? 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.080 Last summer summer twenty eighteen, I was doing an interview 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:25.839 for the Oxford and this guy named Lamar Wilson. He 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:31.520 was writing a piece on the lineage of Carolina musicians, 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:35.480 and so he was connecting me with Nina Simone and ROBERTA. 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:39.800 Flat So like I was just like, yo, I. 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.000 Didn't I never thought of me connecting with them in 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:45.440 that way because we just seemed like to like I 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:47.440 just look, I put them up here, like there's no 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:50.080 way like reconnected. But the way he broke it down, 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.880 like you're both soul for you know, you're both lyrical. 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.719 You know you both reflect the times and talk about 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.320 what's going on in the community, your storytellers. I was like, man, 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:00.400 I never thought about it in that way, like I 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.600 do come from their family tree. And it made me think, like, yo, 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:05.400 when I do interviews and people say, who are you 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:07.720 influenced by? Yeah, I say creen my teeth and MC 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:10.279 like Lauren Hill. But I talk about Sicily Tyson, I 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.920 talk about I talk about. 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.000 Nikki Giavanni, you know, Maya Angelo. 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:17.400 And I'm just like, man, when I think about who 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:19.960 I am and who I'm inspired by. Of course, you 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:22.120 have your village, your mom, but there are so many 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:26.480 black women that I look up to. And two, it 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.159 gave me away creatively to show that there are so 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.920 many different sides of me too. You know, people like 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:33.560 to say or kind of put me in a box 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.000 sometimes based on the music that I make that you 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.080 know I had. We were in a studio one time 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.279 and the dude was like, Yo, we thought, like a 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:42.880 party for y'all is just like burning incense and y'all 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:46.200 listening to my dude and all this, And I'm just like, bro, 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.800 like what are you talking about? Like I grew up 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:51.240 on Luke, I listened to Go Go, growing up, like 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.800 I'm from snow Hill, North Carolina, Like That's the Sticks, 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:58.280 like Boon's Fall, Like we listened to everything. So there 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:00.040 were so many sides of me. So it's like this 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.400 is a way where I could take a different woman 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:06.520 to not only describe like my different personalities, but also 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:08.919 talk about them and continue their legacies and say that 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:11.520 we all are we all come from a family tree. 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:13.600 I think after I did that interview, like I went 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.080 home and I'd always wanted to do a song about 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.920 being a tomboy, especially in this day and age and 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:19.760 what that looks like. 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:20.440 And I did it. 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.040 And because of the way I started the song when 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:25.520 Aaliyah was alive and I was like, i'mnna just call 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.280 it Aaliyah And as soon as I did that, it 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.960 all just clicked came together. Yeah, the conversation, it's like, oh, 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:34.360 I got this song, Alia, I could do this with this, 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:37.040 with this Felicia Rashad taught me about motherly love. 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.080 Nikki Giovanni taught me the power words and blackness. 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:45.280 Like yeah, in the videos, which I also feel are 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:49.480 crucial components to the vision of that, Like what were 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:53.400 the concepts for the well, not the concepts, but you 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.960 know as far as like I personally want you to 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:00.000 make a video almost for every song. 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:01.560 I know too too. 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:03.880 I'm trying to make it happen right now. We just 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:07.240 did a Feenie too long ago. Yeah, we did a Phenie. 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:09.360 I still want to add to it. It ain't all the 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:09.760 way right. 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:11.720 Wait, so so far you got a Phoenie. What videos 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:12.480 do you have for which? 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:17.760 Yeah, oprahaj Phenie will be the third one. The next 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:21.680 one I probably want to do Cleo, whoop be Alia, Serena. 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:23.720 I want to do one for every song like I 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.440 see it, So no problem putting this list together. 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:28.240 So the list putting. 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.040 Because you mentioned that you left earth Kit. Was it 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:34.079 just for spacing on the. 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.760 Album or just say see the first draft we had 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:40.000 twenty three songs. You know, we we knew like it's 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:44.800 too long because people today can't digest music the way 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:48.800 the same way like they they tap out it. At first, 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:50.240 I was going to do a part one and a 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:53.840 part two, so sonically, you know, we have this one 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:55.800 and the part two is gonna be It was gonna 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:59.240 be way more soul for and more boombap heavy. That 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:02.280 was gonna be like for Lisha Rashad DJ Spenderella, she 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:03.280 has a song. 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:06.840 Who we are going to get a sequel? 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:08.400 Harriet? 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.400 I was like, I got different ideas, there's more music coming. 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:13.640 I love you what it's so journal route and you 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:15.440 said I'm not going to do to Harriet, So I 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:17.120 was like maybe there's Yeah. 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.760 I was Harry, which one do I name it? But yeah, 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.560 so but as there's I did like forty women. 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:29.880 As far as where you are right now, like what 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.120 do you feel that your goals are, Like do you 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:35.559 have do you have a five year plan as far 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.480 as like this point from now, like developing other acts 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:41.480 or like just make more music. 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.480 Or definitely make more music. I think it's the foundation 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:48.040 of everything. But I want to expand artistically because you 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:50.160 know the way I write, Like I want to get 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.640 into not only writing songs that I want to write films. 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.319 I want to get behind the camera and produce documentaries. 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:58.960 I was in the in the rock office with TII 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.760 to day. He was like, you need rites or beat 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.839 pop records. It's like, you know, so you know, I 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:07.080 definitely want to try it. Like I'm just like, let's 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:10.080 try and see what happens. Just but just do a 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.960 lot of more things artistically. I thought about starting a label. 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:16.560 I don't know how I feel about that yet, but 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.480 Mesa Hilton's son, Nico Brehm, he's an EMC, so I 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:23.520 want to help. I'm helping it because you can produce 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:26.520 his album. That'll be my first time like taking that role. Okay, 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.640 but yeah, just like really expand on that, but always 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:30.559 putting out music. 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:32.520 Giving back to what was given to you. Okay, I 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:38.439 see that. That was Rhapsody who worked with Ji or Eve. 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:40.160 Next up is Sophia Chained. 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:45.079 Sophia spent years managing the JIGSA and Sophia's a powerful 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:48.960 woman in the industry, known her for years with her 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:51.840 association with Wu Tang Klin and she speaks about that 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:55.640 union and recalls an illustrating story of method man standing 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:59.600 up for a woman towards somebody he seemingly came up with. 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.920 All right, here's Sophia. 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:08.000 I think that I have a unique lens into the 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:13.960 wouniverse because of who I am, but also who they 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:17.360 allowed me to be and how they let me come 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:21.120 into their world, and I think that speaks volumes about them. 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.000 I also managed, so I managed all three three letter 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:27.080 members of Wu tang Od B, r z A and GZA. 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.720 I managed Riza what I call his extracurricular activity. So 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:33.280 I did not manage him as an MC, and I 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:35.120 did not manage him as a producer, but I managed 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:38.319 him as a composer and then his beginnings his transition 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:44.319 into Hollywood. Yes, so his first his first kid composing 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:46.640 was ghost Dog. That was not me, Uh, that was Nemo, 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:49.040 who was very close. I believe he's Jim Jarmis his nephew, 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:53.120 and Nemo brought Riza into UH to Jim, and then 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:54.680 I kind of picked it up from there. So it 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:56.839 was kill Bill and it was Blade and I believe 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.559 it had soul plane. So we did that stuff together, 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:01.960 and he had all already started writing and directing. But 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:03.760 you know, the thing that I say about Rizza is 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:07.840 he is truly living his childhood dream. So when I 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:09.960 was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor. I 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:12.600 wanted to be a fashion designer. I never thought that 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:14.440 I'd be doing this and I love my life. But 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:17.480 Rizza as a child, growing up one of I believe 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:19.520 eleven children of a single mother, growing up in the 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:25.000 projects of Staten Island in Brooklyn, he watched Kung Fu 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:30.280 movies and he imagined and dreamt that he would one 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:35.000 day direct. And now he's directing Kofu movies and he's 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.120 writing them and he is starring in them. And I 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:40.880 actually don't know anybody else who had this vision. And 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.480 he is truly a visionary from when he was a child. 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:47.440 So managing Rizza was a delight. Managing Jigsu was also incredible. 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:49.880 I would say that Jizza was my favorite client because, 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.480 and you know Jizz like I do. He's incredibly low key, 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.640 and he's so gracious, and he is so magnanimous, and 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:58.559 he doesn't want to be recognized, and he doesn't want 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:00.199 to be famous. He doesn't want to be an of 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:07.280 those things. And he is so kind and I really 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.360 love managing him because he allowed me to transition him 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:14.839 into lecturing, and not every client lets you do that, right, 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:16.920 So somebody might say, I've thought about it, so, but 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:18.880 I don't really want to do it because there's this 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:20.560 thing I do and I'm so comfortable and I've been 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.560 doing it for decades and I'm getting paid and I 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.640 know how to do this, whereas lecturing is very very different. 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:28.880 You're basically standing naked. There are no pyrotechnics, you don't 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:30.840 have a hype man, there's no DJ, there's no lights, 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.600 there's no sound. And your audience they're not drunk, they're 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:37.000 not high, right, they're just all sitting there and they're 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:39.040 looking at you, and you're standing at a podium and 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.760 you are speaking. And literally the first place he lectured 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.560 was Harvard. That's the Korean in me. And literally the 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:51.000 first words out of his mouth were I'm so nervous, 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.880 and that's Jesus what. Yeah, he said, yeah, and you 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:59.079 know what, the same and you know what, I did 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.680 the same thing with Joey and say he said the 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:02.400 exact same thing. 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:04.240 What was the I'm just curious what was what was 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:05.400 just his first lecture on. 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:09.360 So he spoke about his love of science. You know 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.439 he he like is deeply intellectually curious. He spoke of 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.480 his love of science. He spoke about his his inspiration 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:18.719 and his creative process. 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.880 Can you can you talk about real quick? In the prologue, 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:23.920 I had a moment I had a Mama where I 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.600 was jealous of you in describing the relationship with Wu 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:29.160 Tang because of a situation that happened with methad Man 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.400 and the god Jamal. And I was jealous because as 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:34.480 a woman who's been in the industry for years, we 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.120 all know what it's like. You know, you're telling beautiful stories, 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.800 but at some points, being that woman in the room 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:44.680 can be adversarial. It can be dismissive, yes and question 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:48.560 in that moment of no protection. Right, So I don't 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:50.960 know if you want to reiterate that story, but sure 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:52.960 also in a way, I also wanted you to tell 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.880 the the opposite of that story when it wasn't that 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:57.440 protection there with methad Man. 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:00.160 Right, I mean so when I when I was are 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:03.280 doing a and R, I was insecure around it. Right, 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:06.520 I'm thinking I'm a Korean Canadian French lip major and 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.160 do I really deserve this job of being a gatekeeper 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.440 and an arbiter of a culture? Again that is not mine? 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:16.160 Right and so, but the way that hip hop embraced 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.479 me was really fortifying and gave me a lot more confidence, 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.520 but nothing more than when Wu Tank claimed me. So 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:24.560 it was very very early on. I might have met 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:27.440 Meth once before. I go to the studio to see them, 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:29.280 and he says, Sophie, you got to see I just 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:32.600 got my video in for method man. And so he 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.440 takes me to the back lounge, whisks me past everybody, 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.160 takes me to the back lounge and he sits me 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:39.200 down and he plugs in the tape and he stands 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.520 on the wall, doesn't sit with me, stands against the 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:43.320 wall to watch me because he wants to see my 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:46.400 response to the video, and sitting next to the television 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:50.000 facing me. So this gentleman is not watching the screen. 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.880 He's looking at me, as Meth is is this guy 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:55.240 jamal So the video play is, and I'm super excited. 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:56.680 I'm like, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:59.400 because I'm already in love with Meth. And so the 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.320 video play and as soon as the video ends, he 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:07.800 looks at me and he says, where are you from? Now, anybody, 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.120 any person of color, will tell you that's a loaded question. 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:12.040 If you ask a white person that they're going to 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.360 be like, oh, I'm from Columbus right, or or you 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:19.160 know my parents are whatever, But this is a loaded question. 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.520 So I am a petite Asian woman in the inner 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:26.480 inner sanctum of Wu Tang, of Wu Tang's world, and 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:29.080 it is clear to him, and I could see the calculations. 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:31.560 It is clear to him. I'm not sleeping with any. 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:32.200 Of those boys. 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:34.440 He also knows that I don't manage any of them 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:36.400 at this point, I don't an r any of them. 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:39.760 So who is this? And how did she get in? 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:44.400 And again to this day, when I'm around Wu Tang, 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.800 I am almost always the only woman in the room, 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.360 and that's a very privileged place where I sit. So 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.880 he keeps and so I feign innocence, and I say, well, 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:56.240 what are you asking me? Where are you from? 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:57.040 Well? 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:00.600 I don't really know what that means. Where are you from? 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:03.360 And then I broke and I said, okay, well, if 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.440 you're asking where I was born, I was born in Vancouver, 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:07.480 my parents are Korean. If you're asking where my parents 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:09.600 are from, there from you know, Korea, if you're asking 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.440 where I live. But before I could even finish answering 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.280 this in this very methodical way, Meth just flew in 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:16.920 between us. I don't know if you've ever met him 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:20.120 in person. He is six four and he is notoriously 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:23.760 the nicest with his hands of the Klan. Wow and yeah, 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:26.960 no no, no, oh boy, no he can they can all 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:29.399 throw the fuck down. Yeah, but Meth and Ghost forget 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:32.840 about it. So he flies in between us and she 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:37.080 just expands like the Hulk. And he was like, that's 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:39.720 Sophie Chang and she's down with wou tag. She's some 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:43.639 shallon motherfucker. Don't you ever who the fuck are you 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:44.760 to ask her where she's from? 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:46.000 Don't you ever. 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:50.000 Disrespect her again? And I was like, oh my god, 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:53.280 my god. Now nobody had ever defended me like this, 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.399 and I was just it was just this extraordinary moment. 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:04.080 But so the demonstration was amazing. But to deconstruct in 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:07.320 what I think I want people to understand is he 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:09.600 knew exactly what the fuck that guy was saying. Do 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:12.160 you know what I'm saying? He totally understood that it 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.560 was there was there was a racial subtext to it, 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:17.080 and there was a gender subtext to it. Right, he 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:20.080 didn't give a shit where I was from, because essentially 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:22.760 he wasn't asking a question. He was saying, what the 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.439 fuck are you? And what are what the fuck are 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:27.560 you doing here? Because you don't belong here? I belong here, 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:33.119 You don't belong here. And you know, again wanting to 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:37.800 tell people about the humanity of Wu Tang. Now, Meth 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:40.880 has known this guy for I'm sure a long ass time. 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.040 This might be the second or third time he's met me. 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.840 And his feeling was like, nah, Bie, we're not fucking 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.359 doing that because she's ours. And what I say about 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.760 Wu Tang is that, Look, I had several friendships in 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.760 hip hop and enduring ones that I have to this 0:18:56.920 --> 0:19:01.480 day before Wu Tang. I was embraced and I was welcomed, 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.240 but Wu Tang claimed me. 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:05.040 That's special. 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:07.280 So it's a thing that you're talking about to mere right, Like, 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:10.640 So what I'm saying is that everybody knew that they 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:12.399 were going to be huge, and there were hordes and 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.679 hordes and hordes of people surrounding them, and for whatever reason. 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:20.920 They just went like this, you're coming with us. 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:23.840 We're keeping her right here. And I feel that way 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:26.479 to this day that I will never ever leave that 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:29.040 breast pocket. 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:30.480 Oh boy. 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:33.400 Okay, the Scieta Garrett episode from twenty seventeen. 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:35.919 That's one of my favorites. So we were wrapping the 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:36.960 interview and. 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:40.080 Layah asked a question about a T shirt that showed 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.080 how an amazing singer songwriter is making a way for 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.240 women to learn computer coding skills. 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.159 Because aren't you involved this T shirt that you're wearing. 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:52.640 Yeah, black girls code? 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:53.760 Can you just talk about that? 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:55.840 Real, dude. 0:19:56.040 --> 0:20:01.359 I was at a graduation for some some people that 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:05.280 are are learning code and learning how to impact uh 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:11.240 technology through art and music and business, and we wanted 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:12.080 to this. 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:14.560 This movement is to teach. 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:18.320 Black girls that they can code their own computer games 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.440 and they can program their own uh they can they 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:24.800