Estelle

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Speaker 1: Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Supremo, Suprema, Roll Call, Suprema Supremo, Roll Call Supremo Supremo, Roll Came Suprema Some Supremo.

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Speaker 1: Duke of Earl Yeah, Milton Burl, Yeah, give it a twhirl Yeah, London Girl, Suprema Supremo.

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Speaker 3: My name is Sugar. Yeah, what's up a stell?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: You need a sons Yeah, I got one to sell.

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Speaker 1: Supremo, Roll Supremo, Some Supreme ro.

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Speaker 4: My name is Boss Billy and I'm on my knees.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: We got to prepare for roll call Ye forgive and stell pretty please, sup.

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Speaker 2: Supreme Role, Suprema Supremo.

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Speaker 5: Roll calls like yeah, and my girl is Stelle.

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Speaker 6: We ain't no substitutes no more. Oh she knows me well.

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Speaker 2: Supprima Something Supremo.

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Speaker 6: Roles and stell Yeah, and I am litty. Yeah, I'm out here doing it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 7: In New York City, Cometh Supremo, Roll Supremo, Supremo, Roll Call Supremo Something Some Supremo, Roll Call Supremo, Son Son Supremo Roll.

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Speaker 4: I hate y'all for not taking American Boy, because I wanted to do mine around that, but I was like, too obvious, too.

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Speaker 1: Obvious any London girl, because obvious.

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Speaker 4: Everybody going to do that. I was like, let me, let me go for a little bit deeper, let me go a little deeper. I'll go for pretty please.

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Speaker 1: It was good.

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Speaker 6: That was good. Was you're not my substitute?

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Speaker 1: Normal? You know, we gotta pay for.

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Speaker 6: Load. That was only two seconds heart.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so yeah, I was going to say, I was trying to figure out a way to incorporate, uh, five for seven being the id height.

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Speaker 6: It was a black bladder, makes leave me loud? Everyone everybody against me, against me about it?

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Speaker 1: You you were trying to do.

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Speaker 6: I was just having a mumble and it made sense. And the mumble so I kick the five for seven. So look, we're doing the vibes and John is like doing the melody and he's like and I was like, well five and seven it makes sense, okay.

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Speaker 1: But I just thought maybe the conversion of yeah, I was gonna say, like you might would have been like six due, but you made a lot of low self esteem dudes, feel like you mean low the.

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Speaker 6: Short man busy.

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Speaker 1: Anyway, Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Quest Love Supreme. I am six ft three, thank you. I'm six for three as well. Great, he'll tell you, like okay, okay, well you wear hills all the time.

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Speaker 3: Steve, my feet are size thirteen.

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Speaker 1: All right. So brought to you by the good folk of iHeart Radio, I'm your host, quest Love Jenkins. Uh, Team Supreme is with us today. We got a boss Bill in the house and sugar Steve Steve Jenkins. Yeah, Sugar Steve, this is crazy. Yeah, and yo, he don't be rocking his middle name and his last name enough for me. So Berdie Jenkins means the best name of all time. So I'm sorry, Dice, you are Burt Jenkins light yeah and like up yeah, unpaid. Bill must be getting his bills paid because we haven't seen.

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Speaker 5: Him in the month day he gave me the other day, Like I just got back from sun Dance and I'm headed to LA house, Like okay, he doing movies.

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Speaker 1: I'm doing movies too, but I'm here damn. Of course, Fante promised this way back in November. He's going out for cigarette so we're still waiting for Dad to come back home. Ladies and gentlemen, our guest today, of course, needs no introduction.

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Speaker 3: Wait a minute, I just got that joke actually, after like twenty episodes about him going out for cigarettes and not coming home.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Wow, that's that's how I understand fathers. I get it going out for some smokes.

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Speaker 3: And that's the dentists.

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Speaker 6: He never left, no man.

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Speaker 3: It doesn't smoke and he came home.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and I just imagine you're being like Steve Martin a little shopping horror.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, that's a deep reference. Anyway, Ladien, gentlemen, our guest today needs no introduction. She is a Grammy Award winning singer songwriter, slash mc uh slash voice actress. Uh yeah, you know, I will say. And I got a lot of Stephen Universe questions because I've just recently gotten to crystal rock technology. I used to be one of the people that like laughed at people all right side, Like the jazzy fat nasties used to always just walk around with like a bunch of crystals in their pockets, and I thought that was the kookiest ship ever. And now I can't. Yeah, literally, I keep granted and crystals and amethysts welcome. I feel real still. Yeah she she she hells from my other home the West side of London, West side. Yes, wow, I don't know many black people that are from the west side of one.

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Speaker 6: There's a whole contingency of us.

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Speaker 1: We were there, I see. All right, old ladies and gentlemen, welcome my near aquarian capricorn sisterell to the Shell's not it.

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Speaker 6: Just maye crunchy as hell, cool, cool, granola crunchy.

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Speaker 1: Got it?

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm sorry, Sorry.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I get it. How are you today?

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Speaker 6: I am wonderful. It's beautiful outside, it is it's really characteristically nice.

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Speaker 1: Beautiful in February. It is February. It is February. It is It's February. Yeah, is it?

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Speaker 5: Is it?

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Speaker 6: Bill?

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Speaker 1: It's late February.

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Speaker 6: Month.

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Speaker 1: Everybody almost we're still here. Thank you. That was Steve Staff. Please, gentlemen, Steven snapping, Well, you mentioned in your I know that we were all winging our roll call, but you mentioned New York City. But I would like to think that you are you officially here.

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Speaker 6: I'm in l A. I'm in la officially my close of the now, So okay, that's kind of how I.

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Speaker 1: But correct me if I'm wrong a few times, like, yeah, I used to be here. I don't want to say, like a few times I dropped you off the house.

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Speaker 6: In the same SERI to say that no, no, not like his version, tell him, no, I've request.

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Speaker 1: I considerate person. Anybody that gets in my car, a whole bunch of people, yeah, just want it goes home. I drop people off.

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Speaker 5: So Tripp has a Stelle saying you got me at some point on the stage.

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Speaker 6: Pretty much that.

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Speaker 1: I go back to like eighteenth letter pre ateenth letter Estelle, when Estelle was saying yes and yeah.

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Speaker 6: So I remember, like, so the first time we met, period was in London. I think I opened up you guys used to be there a lot, and I think I'll live yeah, And I opened up for you a few times at different events and venues. When I suggest rap.

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Speaker 1: You can, I need you to explain something to me because as much as like claiming like yeah, London's or second home Londons or second home, there's one thing that no one's ever properly explained to me. Okay, so there's so and hopefully you can, you know, give some clarity to me and our listeners out there. There's so many sub genres of music that comes from urban London underground yeah, I mean there's grime, two step drum and bassed E d M, trip hop, acid, jazz everything. Can you probably give us an education or like no, no, no small task here no, Well on.

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Speaker 6: The different subgenres, well all right, so.

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Speaker 1: Like I don't know the difference, Like, okay, the the is two step under the house umbrella, whereas what's grime.

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Speaker 6: Grime is like a subgenre, a subdivision of what hip hop and what the kids who weren't specifically like rappers and who were into jungle kind of made who went into UK hip hop but who were also into like dance music and jungle made grime and like garage, it kind of came out of the garage umbrella. So like UK hip hop was the founding thing, right, and that came out of dance all and all that stuff. Right, So Rodney P and M guys, it had a really big presence and then but at the same time it was like dance music, which has always been our thing, Like we listened to all different types of music all the time, right, So you've got you got us going to and being at home listening to like reggae, dance or hip hop. Right as we know, like standard genres, and you got to go to school and you listen to like dance and house and trip trippy music, right, and it's like acids and all that stuff. And so we essentially just merged them more together because that's what black people do and you know, and and so we came up with garage, which was like MCing over faster beats which were kind of in the house range, okay, And that garage became that, and then grime became slow it down and wrap a bit more, be a bit more swaggy with it, like you can wear echo and whatnot, and or you can wear like all the all the things that feel like you're wrapping, but you're still keeping it English because that was our thing we made up. And that's where it becomes like a whole, like we made this genre now.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So the lines.

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Speaker 6: Get blurred as far as how.

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Speaker 1: You do it, but for all right, So when we first went there in ninety three, it didn't exist, right, okay, So drumming bass was just starting, all right. To explain to our listeners out there, drum and bass is where you would take whereas like hip hoppers would take a breakbeat and take it as is I mean, someone would chop it up and flip it or whatever. But for the most part, like what you hear on the record is what you would hear sampled drum and bass. They would speed it up almost past forty five to like seventy eight, which okay, So my theory is that kind of the hip hop experience in America mirrors whatever the vice of choice or drug of choice is of a generation. So you know, if we so, my five year theory is, I'll try to make this quick as possible. Like sixty seven seventy two is ore what you would say the heroin period seventy two, the seventy seven I'm sorry, excuse me. Sixty seven, uh to seventy two, I would say, is the joint period. Seventy two to seventy seven was the heroin period seventy seven and eighty two. Cocaine eighty two to eighty seven, the no forty ounce malt liquor eighty seven and ninety two crack and as as and as I'm saying, miss anyone was getting hungry. No, it speeds up. Ninety two to ninety seven was the chronic period the weed everything slowed down. Yeah, ninety seven to two thousand and two was the sexy? Uh what was the ecstasy? The sexy? Did he have?

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Speaker 6: You got this cause you think about that?

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Speaker 1: That was the period to two to seven is the scissor uh period? The codine period? Uh seven to twelve, twenty seven to twelve. Will be saying that's the Molly period.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, well no, that's after No Molly came after two thousand seven.

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Speaker 6: Kind of early.

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Speaker 1: Well, I would say maybe lean, I don't know, tie pods.

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Speaker 6: It's funny, but it's not drum kids that.

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Speaker 1: Shout out to those Super Bowl commercials on time commercials. Twenty twelve to twenty seventeen definitely, uh, percoset period. And now I guess we're currently in between twenty seventeen to twenty twenty two, which what is the drug of the moment right now?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, like wean life, we never go out of stays.

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Speaker 1: I'm getting high on life.

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Speaker 3: Aureo thins are really good.

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Speaker 1: Yeah wow, Okay. So my whole point is that the drug, the drug that somehow permeates in each era, also determines like what the music sound.

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Speaker 6: Sorry pill?

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Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, so oh wait no, no no no. In North and Northeast Philly. Everyone's dying from it.

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Speaker 6: Uh that we the x K K whatever it's you know k Yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 1: It's I don't know why the north East Philly has it the worst.

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Speaker 6: Nothing there, nothing to do well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, sorry by property there. Sorry anyway. My point is that I felt like, but the thing is is that I don't believe the people did you guys, not even London. I don't recall London ever having like a crack epidemic.

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Speaker 6: Or it's a good question. It's like a consistent thing. It's not that it was an epidemic more than it's just like it's so I don't know, it's our culture is so like you could be the highest of the high, keep calm and carry on. Really, yeah, that's the culture. It's never really been like thing for me. The way I looked at it was like it's associated with homelessness and you're not doing too well. But now it's a point where you walk, Oh it's like a D boy the higher rights by it from you know what I mean, from the from the from the guys on roadman, not d Boys roadman.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 6: So it was never like oh, your friend nixt door to you is doing drugs and you can see it. It was never like that, like obvious, everyone smokes, right, right. I didn't smoke until I was thirty. I'm quite proud of myself. It's so fun smoke. It's a good time.

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Speaker 1: But wait, why are you straight snitching like.

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Speaker 6: You said it before. I don't feel the snitching if you said it before in the.

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Speaker 1: Show, Okay, I might have forgot that might be a symptom, might cut back on good.

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Speaker 6: So it was a bit more of a like supplied demand thing, and no one really was in it like that. Now it's kind of across the board, like where you you knew like everybody had like the drug dealer friends, right, but like they were also your friends. So like what we're watching that show now too on Netflix? Yeah?

00:16:09
Speaker 1: Oh God, shout out to Drake.

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Speaker 6: In the best way possible, I said that the best.

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Speaker 1: Way A bunch of money there. I want where like I see a YouTube show, I see a YouTube show and be like, you know what, I'm gonna give you a whole bunch of money to put this on Netflix.

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Speaker 6: I want to see this.

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Speaker 1: That's that's power, Drake. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate sometimes they still need Have you ever watched it?

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Speaker 5: I have, don't. I'm saying that because I'm comfortable with you. I'm saying that because I'm comfortable with you.

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Speaker 1: Dude. Sometimes every show needs subtitles, even with Queen Sugar. Got so mad at me. Wait, we were all watching the last episode, like a cliffhanger episode of Queen Sugar, and I showed my television and I forgot I have the subtitles on. And they even hit me on Twitter like wait, why are your subtitles on? I was like, Yo, have you heard Ralph Angels speak?

00:16:57
Speaker 2: Oh?

00:16:57
Speaker 6: Don't you dad talk about that King?

00:16:59
Speaker 1: That Ralph and that's Ralph Angel angry good morning.

00:17:07
Speaker 6: Told me that's fine, jealous, stop it, King Kobe, because.

00:17:17
Speaker 1: Now you know who's not going to be on the show.

00:17:20
Speaker 6: No Kobe coming, I mean he's coming to the show.

00:17:23
Speaker 1: Is okay?

00:17:25
Speaker 6: Ye love you singles?

00:17:27
Speaker 1: Okay? Brow?

00:17:29
Speaker 6: I can't even brow. I know his mom.

00:17:33
Speaker 1: Oh wait that means something.

00:17:34
Speaker 6: It does different different women, and is twenty years younger than dope. Wait really yeah, he's young and he's a younger man.

00:17:47
Speaker 1: I know you're never going to get to your musical experiences because we just gonna talk about life the next It's twenty minutes and last question, you mean it's little bro Like, God, you guys realize that there's gonna be a line of this cub period in your life.

00:18:04
Speaker 6: Right clear. I'm in that space now, not yet quite literally, her.

00:18:09
Speaker 4: Next album is gonna have a cover of Millie Jackson's young Man, Older Woman.

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Speaker 6: You know what, No, it is not that. Yeah, younger men for us still moved like rabbits.

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Speaker 5: They do like we're not at that age where you want to day younger yet because they just they.

00:18:21
Speaker 6: Still haven't even even like what are you doing? Hold, I'm not teaching you stuff? Oh my god. Yeah, it's a fight every day.

00:18:30
Speaker 1: All you need your own podcast is your own podcast. You don't you don't want me to deal with I heard right exactly. Look, I wanted to get to my whole point in the whole seventeen minutes. My whole entire point was when I was there. Yeah, a lot of cats were just trying to be from New York. Yeah and aka the twenty one savage syndrome. Yeah, like I caught there's a there's an interview where like yeah, and then he said spot to you and we're like, wait a minute, what English? Yes, and that's weird. I didn't.

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Speaker 6: Like, you catch somebody young enough, like they're gonna the whole accent, everything completely changes.

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Speaker 1: Right. But the thing is is that I know that you guys have been waiting for this moment all of your life. I mean, really, you're pioneering. I mean you're pioneering that the fact that not since maybe the Soul the Soul wave or even I mean no, really like with Soul the Soul having international acclaim, have I've seen, you know, like other countries lead the forefront of their movement and be accepted, not like oh what's America doing, Let's do like America. Now, you guys are right in the rules, but it's like it's taken. Like with Mark Morrison, he's a great example. What is what is he truly consider? Is he just he's his R and B?

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Speaker 6: Or is he he's Mark Marrison? It was it's R and B. Then is to us as pop And that's that's the reason why it's such a heavy thing. And I said this the other day. I was talking. I was at my friends with my friends in DC, and I said, thing is, you guys have had such a strong culture for your entire like as far back as the twenties, Like it's been Black American culture, despite what you think of it. You guys have had it and we haven't. It's been maybe since the fifties, and a lot from the British. Yeah, so like we're like looking at it, like, well, that seems to be the strongest thing to do. Let's do that, you know, can I ask what's it's weird?

00:20:42
Speaker 1: Right?

00:20:42
Speaker 5: Because then when you go to black Sonian, right, you find out that, like the Brits were the biggest committers of the whole slavery thing. We are in black history mom, right, So and I asked the British actresses once. I was like, it seems like there's a disconnect between the cultures of your motherland.

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Speaker 6: Well in a way too, we came over from me I knew. I know exactly where are my family's from. My parents came like Senegal, Grenada, Si Leone, like they came in the fifties. They came in the fifties and sixties to the UK. So for a lot of us, that's where we start again in the European side of the world. But we do know and like my family's big on black history. So my dad and my stepdad and my mom. They teach. They taught us that from from like two and one, like here's who you are. Go read these three big anthologies on sex and race. I remember my mom gave me this book set and I had to I read it. I was a bookworm. I'm still am, and I read it as a kid, and I knew about you know, the Black Queens, and I knew about how we existed before coming over again in the fifties. So like my perception of myself across the border is different in general, but like that's where a lot of us came from first, and it's a big thing. Like we are taught at like in our homes, not just because they're not going to teach school. They taught us the same things you guys know, So like our energy person of like where we start is different, but the culture here is so long range and so dominant. You guys really have have it, Like I please, I don't know want to take this person. I used to be like, yo, how do you guys have?

00:22:14
Speaker 1: Like?

00:22:14
Speaker 6: And I got to none about Black Wall Street and YadA YadA, and then like time was like and soldiers.

00:22:23
Speaker 1: QUI don't get offended we're still asking that questions, Like Malcolm X.

00:22:30
Speaker 6: I understand the context of it, but like at the time, I was like, what.

00:22:33
Speaker 5: The like that burning down and why people felt they need to get rid of it so that you could.

00:22:40
Speaker 6: Have in the grand scheme of life, everything is everything, I would judge it, but like it's like you guys have it and I've had it for so long. There's so much wealth in it and it's so much good despite every attempt to burn down black culture over the past two centuries in the US and in the in around the world world.

00:23:07
Speaker 1: How old were you when you discovered your voice or your singing voice. I was like seventeen, So from the age of zero to seventeen first time spoke.

00:23:19
Speaker 6: No no, Like I realized I was good at it. I was seven and I realized that I could actually do it. My mom made me sing my brother in church and everyone clept, and I was like, oh, I don't know, this is fun?

00:23:33
Speaker 1: What okay? So what is the what's the the the black experience in church in the UK compared to it's.

00:23:41
Speaker 6: It's as just as wild again. Everything is patterned, right, so it's just as wild. We holy go well for me, I went to Kojak, which is I went to church, got a prophecy, which is like essentially Kojak. I was Methodist. I was Muslim. We've been my grandma before I was born.

00:23:59
Speaker 1: Everything.

00:24:00
Speaker 6: So here's the thing West Africa culture. My grandma married a Muslim man. She was Christian, so for a while she had to learn Muslim and then she realized that was a very oppressive the version he for a woman. Yeah, and we're very women heavy in our family, so we've had to dabble per se just to respect it. But I remember one time I came from so here we go. So when I was a child, did all the did all the religions, and right before we went to real Christianity, I went to Africa and we went to my granddad's village and I remember my grandma made us walk and we get to the village and it's great, but it's very Muslim and it's like Gambia. My grandma brings this guy back with us who's like the village chief or a village dude guy, medicine guy, spiritual guy, and he's teaching us Arabic and they're trying to like give us these base lessons in my granddad's culture and my mom and I remember because I'm the big man for my family, low key loky snitch. Now I'm the big mouthfly. I'm the one that's like, no, no, no, that's not right. I'm not doing that.

00:25:06
Speaker 1: You challenge people, okay all day?

00:25:08
Speaker 6: Are you the oldest, second oldest, oldest girl? So yeah, pretty much? How many nine in my immediate yea one older brothers, six girls.

00:25:16
Speaker 1: Second oldest. So you're okay, you're Jackie. Okay, everybody, okay, Jackie.

00:25:26
Speaker 6: Look good. That's good Jackie. Oh no, he's the vine buffet like.

00:25:35
Speaker 5: Okay, that's no, no, no, you jack natural hair.

00:25:39
Speaker 6: Okay, you are correct. Mixing was terrible, that's terrible. All right, Okay, that's a whole image. Wait no, my edges a real no, this is all right. So he came back and he was teaching us like Arabic, and then they came to a part where it was like women must be submissive, and I just kept feeling like that was wrong, and I said to him, well, I don't agree. I was like twelve or thirty, you know, some shit like that. Wow, And I was like, I don't agree. Why do women have to not speak? Why do we? And I went down the line and my mom was like, what are you teaching my daughter in this lesson of classes? No, huh no, not them, and she pulled us out the Arabic classes and that caused a rift in the family to a degree. And then we became real Christians. And that's where I kind of was like, you know, like because you were like half and half. We would go to my grandma's my grandma's a matriarch, and that would happen in my auntie at my grandma's house, and then we would go up our house and it would be like Christian Christian, and then we went full Christian with that after that and then and then that was just a wild time. It was like don't wait on makeup, don't do no things, and like, oh, like you you were going to find the husband for you and my mom was like, oh so no, so here's what's gonna happen with me and my.

00:26:56
Speaker 1: Children were oppressive Christian but.

00:27:00
Speaker 6: Also holy it was a lot. There's a lot going down. And then I think it's always been music that kind of shifted my trajectory though, because we were in a church choir and I remember being nineteen, and we used to remix all the words to the song. So like Brandy's best friend became Jesus is my best friend, and like things like that, and like we did the dances and stuff, and I remember one like church, we had a church Christmas concept and we were doing the whole like, yeah, that do with that. He's always been there, right friend, and the church like the pastor got mad like like yo, wait.

00:27:42
Speaker 1: What was he doing to listening to Brandy didn't know that reference.

00:27:44
Speaker 6: Well, we were exactly make it. No, but she was more mad that, like she was more tight that we were dancing and were having a good time and she ain't like my mom for some reason, and so she said she kicked us out the church concert. It's wild.

00:27:59
Speaker 1: I was. So this has been going on three times. I saw a church version that they performed the futures percocet.

00:28:07
Speaker 6: No.

00:28:09
Speaker 1: I don't know how that works, but it was like the Christian version.

00:28:12
Speaker 6: What's the words? I don't know, but holy goes chase the christ.

00:28:20
Speaker 1: Wait a second, I saw it on Freddie Gibbs his Instagram, So go a minute. So this has been going on.

00:28:30
Speaker 6: So they kicked us out and my mom was like to me after that, you don't have to go back if you don't want. I said, good, because I'm not. And essentially, I've never really been a fan of going back in the building and doing people's versions of events. I kind of I'm very spiritual, and you know, I'll read the Bible and I pray a lot, and you know, crystals and I listen and I'm in tune.

00:28:50
Speaker 1: And blah blah blah, spiritual, spiritual.

00:28:55
Speaker 6: Yeah, so one of those.

00:28:58
Speaker 1: So did you, Well, I'm assuming I have the same thing that it was hard bringing secular music inside the house. Really my whole life, Prince punishments.

00:29:13
Speaker 6: All day, Prince, like go in your room and listen to your headphones under under the pillow. I had Joysy and I had like this little like Joahsy was my thing in my teens, and I had this little black boom box and my bedrooms right next to my mom's and my bed was right next to the wall, and I would play it, but I would put it under my pillow to muffle the sound. But that's how I learned how to do harmonies for real, for real, like really meld them stuff listening.

00:29:40
Speaker 1: All right, Look hopefully let them go. If you're conservative parents and you're listening to me, I'm shocked. Just let your kids listen. They're going to listen anyway, Yes, let them, especially if they got their own phones. Now, yeah, it's a rat, so just let them listen. And so so you're saying that by seventeen, it was fine, Well wait, because again when I first met you, I met you as an MC. I didn't know you saying so.

00:30:15
Speaker 6: You're like, what happened?

00:30:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, how did that go? I was kind of like wait read yeah, this is but yeah, like how did hip hop affect you?

00:30:26
Speaker 6: My uncle was the one that brought in our house, and it was like how old was he he was? Uncle was young uncle? He's just turned like fifty okay, and oh thank you just to fit like he's like you know, but like he was a young uncle. He was like definitely like out in the streets doing this thing right like wait, stirs, Wow, it's crazy, Okay, I have family.

00:30:51
Speaker 1: So what kind of was he was?

00:30:53
Speaker 6: He playing Daddy Kane all to that era.

00:30:57
Speaker 1: We would call that classic classic.

00:30:59
Speaker 6: Yeah, so that was his whole thing. The one thing I remember he brought that like was like my switch onto it was break dancing, and we used to we used to really break dance as kids, like because it was the thing to ages, right, and my mom was like, don't break dance, no more to do?

00:31:14
Speaker 1: Was itboro?

00:31:15
Speaker 6: I used to like that from break it? She like, yo, he broke his neck spinning on his head.

00:31:21
Speaker 1: Before.

00:31:22
Speaker 6: I don't want to die. It's like I stopped. I realized he didn't, but like, you know, she liked to me.

00:31:30
Speaker 4: They must have they must have told that to every black parent. Every I heard that one. We didn't have insurance back then, but.

00:31:37
Speaker 6: That was my switch into hip hop and like and then I just like I just liked it. It was like then became cultural as a popular thing. But then it became like as I got older, it was like, yo, I can really I have a way with putting the words together. It's not about poetry for me. It's it's about the rhythm and the rhyming of it, right. And then all my friends were like into it. And then like mid to late nineties, I really was doing it. Like I be the only girl in the room. We'd be writing songs and I would actually end up like finishing off rhymes or writing my own and you know, and in friends of just put the verse down, just put the versset down. I was like, no, I would put the first down? Did I put the verse down? And it became like, well, actually I could really do it, okay, and.

00:32:16
Speaker 1: So I did it. Well when you're I mean, when you're in the thick of it, you know, is there truly anybody to look up to? Well, first of all, as far as how you get it now, I mean, because you're in the mid to late nineties, I'm assuming that there's a lot of Tim Westwood. Yeah, seven nine mess to seven nine man, all those guys. Wait a minute, you got to explain something to me. What was the deal with the So Solid crew? So they were good, the original? All right? So they were the original? Hold on, it's like ninety.

00:32:54
Speaker 6: Of them, Yeah, pretty much.

00:32:56
Speaker 1: They still the only time. I mean, as an American, there's there's a certain amount of arrogance that Americans happened. I guess, like being over there, like in our mind it was like no one could ever threaten you with the accent. That nice.

00:33:12
Speaker 6: But then came the guys, you know.

00:33:17
Speaker 1: Like we just like come on like little accent, that's cute. But they weren't.

00:33:23
Speaker 6: It wasn't something.

00:33:24
Speaker 1: Don't can you settle? Not a rumor? But okay, so we know, at least for that time in the late nineties, there were absolutely no firearms. We were told there were no firearms in the UK.

00:33:43
Speaker 6: They still aren't. I thought the UK is like the most firearms.

00:33:46
Speaker 1: We're so naive.

00:33:49
Speaker 6: Really it happened because we was like gun control, because the police, the police have guns.

00:33:57
Speaker 1: Oh, let's stay there. Wow. I never knew. Okay, so we heard a rumor that our beloved Westwood got shot. Asked by a member of that crew, I.

00:34:17
Speaker 6: Can neither confound nor deny who did.

00:34:19
Speaker 1: No one will ever tell the story of why or if that happened.

00:34:24
Speaker 6: It's like, you have to understand that was.

00:34:25
Speaker 1: The realist hip hop shit ever heard coming out of London. That was real and he was kind of and I almost felt like it was a badge of honor for him. Yep, like I got shot, So I'm still here. You gotta understand why get shot? Tim Westwood is the figure from BBC that really brought a lot of classic hip hop. He was the funk master Flex of the UK. He's the voice that you hear on top of public Enemy's classic It takes the nation of millions to hold us back fresh Start of the Week. What's the name of his his show?

00:34:58
Speaker 6: So he also was a white man, just in case people, yes he's a yes, yeah, but I.

00:35:05
Speaker 1: Mean his fingers. But I mean he was a pioneer source of bringing those shows over. And I guess, like you know, with how pirate radio was in the UK, a lot of offsprings, so like cats, like when I did two seven nine, that was a pirate radio show, but it was like a real operation, like the room we're in right now. It wasn't like at that point it was the government tire shutting them down and they're just like here, keep here, keep going.

00:35:33
Speaker 6: And then it became choice, and then in choice of family moved on to choice.

00:35:36
Speaker 1: It was like the two seven nines legit.

00:35:38
Speaker 6: Now seven nine's been the jit. I feel like he's a kiss or so he was a kiss for he sold everybody did everybody list it's no games, but put in its context to no, I'm trying to put so solid and the vibe of so if you got hip hop, hip hop, hip hop, which was two seven nine and Westwood, then it became this shift when all the music became mixed up right, and then because they couldn't quite get a hold on hip hop, it was like that's not the new thing coming out. You had all these labels investing in new thing, which is garage, right, which is this huge scene that was blowing up. That wasn't hip hop, that wasn't UK hip hop, that wasn't like after after establishment the labels and so so solid was that but So Solid was real, We're real dudes, Like they were like out there, some of them were really out there.

00:36:30
Speaker 1: There's a couple of them, yeah right still still.

00:36:34
Speaker 6: So like you know, like it was a it was a very oh you guys think this is for fun, but like you're invested in real humans and real life scenarios. So also that.

00:36:43
Speaker 1: But I don't want to paint him as them all unreally thust because Greg David also came.

00:36:49
Speaker 6: From they came from that scene, but he wasn't in So Solid, no parts he was before So Solid, but like they were all kind of after the two seven nine and and like Rodney p and like I was even in that more that scene that I was in the garage side and stuff, like I was really like rapid, like I was in the ciphers. I was like doing doing real.

00:37:08
Speaker 1: Uh so all those names at the time that I saw, like uh miss Dynamite or Dizzey Rask the.

00:37:14
Speaker 6: Street they came at the end of like the hit UK hip hop side of stuff, and they really ushered in that whole new garage side. That's what it was. That's what they came all right before so solid and then so solid it was came in like Wu Tang. It was patterned on hip hop, but it was just a different kind of sound.

00:37:32
Speaker 1: So did you ever think in your life that there would be a breakthrough, because again, like with the culture that they had, even I was like when German Vase first came out, I was like, Yo, this is gonna kill. That's why we did it. When you got me, like we're going to beat everybody, and even like Classic we tried, and even with we tried. What well then when Bombs over Back Dad came out and you know that was Andre's version of they went to a club when night heard let's do that. But I never thought.

00:38:06
Speaker 6: I was orange. Just yeah, because I'm here, I hear you got me and everybody knows what that is. People here bumbs and people know it, but they don't like rockets.

00:38:16
Speaker 4: A difference between If You Got Me and Bombs were back then, it's like like two pages ere four hero versus h zero for he versus like something from metal Heads. You know, it's like, Okay, it's completely different. It's the same gund of completely different sides to this.

00:38:31
Speaker 6: Plus you just teased us. Anyway, I've been waiting for the continuation.

00:38:34
Speaker 5: Of what that you just teased us with the end of You Got Me, Like you know, I'm just saying we are still waiting for the red.

00:38:45
Speaker 6: But but when you do things like that though, especially because like it's such a jungle for us, was our thing, Like I'm going to that after school. I'm like I'm playing that throughout school. Might here like Jungles am losing my mind as a kid like that, that's our thing. Wherever we go in the world, that's our thing. So when we heard like, oh shit, it's on the roots, did like we lost our mortal minds, Like it was just because people would come take the music and not give it props. But you guys were there and like you got people that people loved, like I'm opening up for you, like it was like, nah, they embraced us. It's not on some we came in to get the vibes and go back, like you guys spent time with us and our culture, so it was like respect we liked to Today.

00:39:35
Speaker 1: I miss it, so like why do you Well, obviously the answer is that the internet has now uh localized. Okay, Well, I'm saying, do you feel as though the Internet has colonized in a bad way?

00:39:51
Speaker 6: Yes?

00:39:51
Speaker 1: Colonized? Well, and do you feel like the Internet has colonized UK culture? Because I mean the good news of it is now you are all breakout stars and the world can get the information at the same time, whereas like there's no breakout, there's no But I also feel bad for like, like, okay, take miss Dynamite. Remember there was so much hope for her to be like, oh my god, this is gonna be the next Laurene Hill and blah blah blah, and it never happened.

00:40:24
Speaker 6: There were other things behind the scenes that with that though, like it it's real life and it's a culture thing and you have to make a choice. And I don't know her personally in that space to say, well she chose blah blah blah, or she did this. But you know, people give up on what they don't when you don't fit into a mold or you don't fit into what they think, you know. So there was stuff with it, you mean, the audience of the artists, the audience and the labels. You no, like, she wasn't probably going to do a certain amount of things, you know, and she had a kid bang in the middle, and at that point that wasn't the excuse. But I'm saying like, because look, I walk into a room after her, right after it to get signed, and I can up front someone literally said to me, well, we're just working with and she and looked at me like I can't take that risk, and I was just like, really, I didn't even have that boyfriend about to say get Rightnant said us was hurt about that, and I was just like.

00:41:20
Speaker 1: You got the last word.

00:41:21
Speaker 6: Wow, how about it.

00:41:23
Speaker 4: It's safe to say everybody in this room has heard Amy whine House's debut album, Frank Yeah. I was working at Universal when that album was out here in the United States and it was supposed to come out here and they took it off the schedules because they didn't know what to do with it.

00:41:36
Speaker 6: Crazy.

00:41:36
Speaker 4: I'm like, it didn't really feel like it was a hard sell. You just listened to the record sounds like me to hit.

00:41:44
Speaker 6: And roots records, and yeah, it's anything different the record in that time.

00:41:51
Speaker 4: But the thing is, like anybody that, like anybody I played that record for like, they're like, oh, what is who is that?

00:41:55
Speaker 1: What is that did? Most people don't know about Frank Most people have been like it for good contention. People thought that that was like her debut. So when you're making uh, well, okay, what were the steps that led to uh the eighteenth Day.

00:42:13
Speaker 6: My first album? I okay? So I took the example. I've been in underground arts for my whole life. I've been like an independent on underground arts for my whole life. And I was the girl that was like, I'm gonna go make these records. I'm gonna find a distribution deal.

00:42:28
Speaker 1: And I read this book by yourself. Yep, no manager, I know.

00:42:31
Speaker 6: At the time.

00:42:32
Speaker 1: I've had.

00:42:32
Speaker 6: I've had managers, but I would direct them. I'm very much the king of my castle. Yeah, I direct and I listened, and I pay attention, and I work with people who are incredible. But I'm very much an instinct gut person. So I was like, man, look these people out here. Every time we go to a label, they keep talking about we don't know what to do, so let's show them. And I was like, well, let's go get these distribution deals.

00:42:59
Speaker 1: And so I had one.

00:43:00
Speaker 6: I went to it. I went a bunch of labels. They were like, we don't know. I said, cool, I'm gonna sure you what to do. Got my distribution deal. We sold five thousand hands to hand and also like digitally and like not digitally but like on the internet at the time, right we were sending like one or two CDs a week, which was great at the time, and then around Europe and the UK, but also five thousand within a month. After going to the labels and them saying we don't know what to do, had a really dope publicist and she put me on every magazine you could find a couple of covers where they were struggling to get their artists. And I had no deal. It was just me and my like me and my label Stellars. What happened?

00:43:33
Speaker 1: Wait a minute, So that whole time we were doing together, you I was just you were too short.

00:43:38
Speaker 6: Out the trunk, out the truck, and then and then and then the next set, the next set of times. I definitely was like on V two and the same person that was like I don't get it, was like, I guess I should sign you. I was like, just so we we did the deal. And even throughout that whole period, he was looking at me like, so that record free you wrote it. I had to get the producer on the phone. The disrespect was so thick and so real about young black artists. You could have possibly written a record that thorough off your own head and off your own heart because you're a little black girl from the hood. How like you guys don't do that. It was that that kind of I called the producer and I said, so, did you write any of the words or melody? Said? No, I just play guitar, I said, and I put a phone now. And this guy was so angry and mortified and like we'd just go out of his way to stop everything with the second album. And that's when I how did you get even get to the thirt eighteenth day?

00:44:33
Speaker 1: No, but how did you even get James and Omar? And you got John Legend on the first record? Yeah?

00:44:38
Speaker 6: Just I was recording Hi Hello, the Kanye story is real, Like I really did.

00:44:47
Speaker 4: I was in La recording and I love that story because because I mean, now, Kanye being who he is, you know, you would think that was a Kanye move.

00:44:54
Speaker 6: It's a different Yeah, it was a.

00:44:56
Speaker 4: Different Kny of than but you would think, you know, now, knowing who Kanye is, you would go up and ask for you know, kin, you went up and ask John Legend.

00:45:01
Speaker 6: Yeah, because his voice is incredible, and I was I get I get my instinct again, right, I was like, na, this guy's voice. I think my boyfriend at the time was like, if you don't just go find this guy because you just out here smiling. I mean, it's cute and all. But like also like I was like, no, I have to find him. And then it was just fading.

00:45:18
Speaker 5: Did you know about his education at the time, and like, I have a feeling that has a lot to do with his success.

00:45:23
Speaker 6: So that's why I was like, John's a smart guy, but also he's he's the same thing. He's instinct to a degree, you know. And we met travel and I was like, yo, I was finding all this is lovely. We're in record plant in LA and I'm like, yo, I've got like two dollars to my name to get back to the hotel. Can we wrap this up type deal? Like I have to leave in a couple of hours, And he was like he was there and we connected up and I left and he was like, yeah, I just like your drive and the fact that you didn't come in there giving a crap about a yeah or whoever was in the studio. I say, now, I came to find you to do this record that I have pre recorded vocals and lyrics to. Can you sing this pop please? And he was like live me here and was like I gave it to him.

00:46:01
Speaker 1: Blade it.

00:46:01
Speaker 6: I was like, listen to your time, all right. I had a hard drive and everything. I remember it cost so much money. I gave you the hard drive. I was so tight, the whole hard drive terrabike. No, I don't know. And then like I left and he called me, was like, yeah, it's good.

00:46:15
Speaker 1: It's good, dude. I've known you forever. I never knew the the film and Louise ending the card jump that it took. Damn dude, how come I never did that story.

00:46:30
Speaker 6: I don't have to stop time to stop and talk for real. I write a book about all these moments, but like this has been my whole I don't I don't wait for the opening. I'll just push through the door, you know. If I feel the instinct, it's like go go, go, go go, you know.

00:46:46
Speaker 1: So even then, I mean, I'm almost certain it was just just to get to above water level was a goal, not even to like it wasn't even I'm gonna really kill this game and da da da da da. So I mean, by the time you get to the second record, what are you thinking.

00:47:06
Speaker 6: By the time we got to shine, I was grateful for John in a way that like people, you know what, I'm this person, very low, I don't care what. John stuck his neck out for me without thinking, like everybody that is rare Mane and everybody in his team at the time was like what is this? Like it was smoothly, like they dissed me to my face, like, I mean, you don't know Aretha like that. I know Aretha. I'm just not an Aretha singer. Like and it was like a lot of different shots at me because I was supposed to be this kind of black girl and I come and rapping and singing and I have a smoother voice and I'm confident, and you're not gonna tell me nothing. I came here with lubatons and I came here with my with my fashion on my vibes. You feel me.

00:47:55
Speaker 1: Else, we're right hand.

00:48:05
Speaker 6: I was very much like I'm not going to give you all those facts, but like, also, I'm not going to take it to heart. I'm just gonna do what I came here to do. And a lot of people shout him like why you signed her, Like this doesn't make no sense, this is a terrible investment, blah blah blah blah blah, and he was like, I've seen her, I've seen her work, I've seen a girl. Trust me. I'm just here for the ride. He literal would say it to me like, look, if we don't need to work together in ten years, please live your best life. And essentially we did. But you know, but he stuck his neck out for me in a way that is unprecedented, and I'm forever grateful because I went to the label that were like nah, and then like I guess I should sign you. And I said to them after like the first two meetings of like, you don't really do this, it's a lie. Go find your ghost writer. I said to them, so, look, next album I have John Legend, he wants to except produce it. He won about five hundred Grammys. This guy is touring out the world. These albums gold at this point in the UK, Europe and the whole world. And they said to me, who's that? And I wanted to punch the wall. I said let me go. I said let me go, and they were like what I said, no, let me go, Please let me go. And then he was like, I said to him, so the second album I dast used to exact produce. I'm going to leave the label. He was like, I'll sign you. I said you sure. He's like yeah, I said, all right, come on, that's got.

00:49:31
Speaker 1: What never happens like that, never accepting a case.

00:49:36
Speaker 6: Are you the only release from that? I'm like, wait a minute.

00:49:40
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:49:40
Speaker 6: He set the label up to put me out John School record, John Jon's a G for that. People don't know that part, so everyone thinks it's the A but it's John.

00:49:52
Speaker 1: Wow. He did.

00:49:53
Speaker 6: He did a lot as far as having my back and just support me and not really taking the credit. As far as like you know, where people were like, oh, people say, oh he wrote this, and he wrote that for He's like, he's not the one out there shouting that people make up their assumptions. You know, he lets me, he knows, he knows my cap billies and stuff.

00:50:09
Speaker 5: Have y'all reconnected. So now that y'all live in the same town, I seen him. I see him around like cool, I'm good friends with the team. We're still good, like that's family.

00:50:18
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, true, true to how music history works. I believe that I've heard the story before. The legend of American Boy was that was it the last song made and it's just like an afterthought.

00:50:30
Speaker 2: It was.

00:50:31
Speaker 6: Will didn't believe that the record was a hit, like the music was a hit.

00:50:35
Speaker 1: Because it came it came from his joint.

00:50:37
Speaker 6: Yeah right, he said. He's like, I don't think that's I said, trust me, this is what we listened to our own this is this is it, this is it. And I was literally on the beach in Miami and song it was BB Records it.

00:50:50
Speaker 1: It was the Interscope Songs about Girls, the one that nobody b b in the UK.

00:50:55
Speaker 6: Yeah, in the UK, he came out on.

00:50:58
Speaker 4: Interscope here Songs about Girl. Yeah, at least nobody here really did. They had a couple of joints on and you said, I rhyme over that beat or I want to.

00:51:08
Speaker 6: Sing over it. And we wrote it like three minutes. I woke with it the next day an hour and then and then, but that every time we played it to people, that energy would just shoot up, like it was it was like palpable sitting in the room, played the record, Everyone's like, oh vibes.

00:51:28
Speaker 1: Yeah. I was going to say that probably American Boy is probably one of the few songs in this millennium now that we at least have two decades under our belt, not the age of Saw too late. No, especially with the way, especially the way that information happens, and like one song just instantly replaces another song without you know. I mean, you remember how many times you've heard Crazy by Nols Barkley when it first came out, and it's sort of like you might hear it now, but it's almost like I feel like maybe American Boy next to Crazy and Love, like that's one of the songs that won't ever die. I it's still on my DJ set right now.

00:52:15
Speaker 6: Somebody just made a remix on I just I was like, they still make your remixes still, Yeah, it's about be about three in the past two years TAM's joint.

00:52:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was about to say like that.

00:52:25
Speaker 6: They trap it out, they put it on TikTok Live your best life, that's what we want. I'm afraid to go there, imoolishness. It's amazing, but I gotta go.

00:52:35
Speaker 1: There to know what what song to play? Don't know what to play? You know, taken my life back? No more social media for me?

00:52:45
Speaker 6: Jealous?

00:52:47
Speaker 1: So was it ever a point where it's like tiring? Like again, like are you It's somewhere between Nirvana smells like teen Spirit where they refuse to do it now and day I saw where myself and where they just sing we hate the song all over the things like is it that? Or you're just like nope, I know where my bread is buttered.

00:53:07
Speaker 6: And I have had to reset. I had records in the UK that people will never not let me perform like that's ninety eighty for me and to the point.

00:53:17
Speaker 1: Where oh yeah, we were down what you said ninety eight.

00:53:22
Speaker 6: I'm just like, do you know the words? Because I do? To the second person, I've been forget and there's so many words in my head, so many words in my head I'm gonna have a te the fifty five, it's gonna have It's gonna have it. But he did.

00:53:39
Speaker 1: I had to.

00:53:40
Speaker 6: I had to reset my energy with that because I literally pray for records like that. I was like, no, and I got one, and I was like, how dare I be ungrateful and say I don't want to sing it? And it makes me happy. There's so many ways to sing that record, and like sometimes I don't say it tall and then you have to consider.

00:53:58
Speaker 1: That Bobby Brown, I'm genuine.

00:54:01
Speaker 6: That's my new reference.

00:54:04
Speaker 1: Level. He said.

00:54:05
Speaker 6: If you're oh, I said, good lord, this is amazing.

00:54:13
Speaker 1: They just sing everything everywhere. He just why just.

00:54:25
Speaker 6: That I'm the one in the back screaming, look by me. It's me genuine Hi. That was this is terrible.

00:54:36
Speaker 1: I was twelve singing related to about to say that, related to I'm a character on Parks and rec thank you very much. And genuine is me and Redda's first cousin. That's revealed in the last.

00:54:57
Speaker 6: Episode the black person on the show.

00:55:00
Speaker 1: Yes, it's yeah, you don't watch.

00:55:06
Speaker 6: I didn't know. What's still.

00:55:09
Speaker 1: Everywhere. It's the mood tang of comedy.

00:55:12
Speaker 6: I know everybody came from nearest.

00:55:15
Speaker 1: One of the best. Yes, but one of the longest running running jokes was about her long lost brother, which they had me play. That's genuine is her first cousin?

00:55:26
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, she's on that Netflix show.

00:55:28
Speaker 1: That's right, Yes, exactly genuine. Come out.

00:55:32
Speaker 6: I'm going to go watch.

00:55:33
Speaker 2: Thank you.

00:55:33
Speaker 6: It's amazing.

00:55:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's shout out to my first cousin, lgen Lumpkins for for all of me. Which, okay, slight side note, I'll admit it because Bill's like, you fake motherfucker know I forgot about the interlude. I only forgot that. So even in reuh capping your music, I was like, oh, ship, I totally forgot about that. What was your what was your What was the impetus or the at least the process in creating this record.

00:56:16
Speaker 6: I was going through a lot, you got. I was coming off of like the Shining American boy. All of my worlds were completely shifted. And I say that in the nicest way. Friends were wildin I was wilent Boyfriends.

00:56:33
Speaker 1: What is that whirlwind?

00:56:34
Speaker 6: Like you're not on the ground and you're trying to desperately hold onto the ground that you know, because like moving it out from under you anyway, and.

00:56:43
Speaker 1: With nine siblings also, how does that affect you?

00:56:46
Speaker 6: Oh, it was wild, Like my little sister. My family moved out of London because so my little sister, one of them was so hyped. It was just it was unsettling for them. And that's when I realized, I say it.

00:56:58
Speaker 1: To people, to your success, I got not on purpose.

00:57:02
Speaker 6: One of them got a little wild with it, and then we had to move the whole Then the whole family moved because it was like taking my stuff to school and to do the school thing and like all my sisters this, and people liking you for the trainers you wore or you brought that your sister's trainers, and then news people creeping up around my family house. We still sort of lived in the hood a bit and going to the drug dealer's two doors down and talking and I was like my littlest brother, who's an account and a lawyer and an incredible brilliant young man, had to go out there and be a big gangster. And it's just like, nah, that's my actual family I raised, and nah, you know, so I'm dealing with that whilst never being a home and the people that you're trying to call your family were out here just not having your back. It was just a lot going on during the all of mean period. And then I'm dating a dude who was just wildly trash.

00:57:55
Speaker 1: We all are trashed, No, not all of you.

00:57:58
Speaker 6: He was used to start out that, you know, ten years ago he was trashed. So here we are almost ten years ago, and I was going through a lot and trying to just hold onto something that looked like love or looked like home and it was all needed to go.

00:58:12
Speaker 1: Is it hard navigating that? Oh? You know, I know that where most people laither had is their home. But I mean you moved to the States and kind of without any stable family. Well, I don't know. For some people, getting away from the family might be necessary.

00:58:35
Speaker 6: No, it wasn't necessary more than I just knew I had to do that for my career because it was like one it was just tiring every three months getting on the flight and your energy just is up and down. Right, you know that toured extensively for a very long time, and so I imagine doing that and then everyone demands all this stuff of you. So I was like, I'm just going to move there. And my mom was like I knew it was going to happen. Eventually, they helped me. They sent me off and they would try and come and visit, and then then the visits dwindled, and then I was never home so it didn't really matter. And then I would go home to London and I couldn't go home, and so they come and see me at the hotel for two hours right before I go to the to the airport again, and it was just like I lost touch per se, not on purpose, but by force of we just didn't have the time. So it would be like I was so grateful for the hotel suites that had because the whole family could come. I come crash and I just got to sit down. My mom would bring African food and we would sit down. Yeah right, and the whole vibe and they were gone, and I have to go back to being a stellar robot. You know, there's a lot happening.

00:59:40
Speaker 1: Actually, there's a question I do have that I'm probably certain I wouldn't be able to ask had you come on the show a year ago. Now you're dealing with okay, where when we say the fuckery that is this current administration, you're actually dealing with this two times over.

01:00:03
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, and so what is what is the.

01:00:10
Speaker 1: Not not you know, def Con five or whatever, But what's the current concern of yours or level of fear concern when it comes to you traveling overseas or your family coming over here or you Because I see where this is about to go if if old Money gets a second term in office, well, I mean two weeks ago there's there's been nine other countries added, and all them from Africa.

01:00:46
Speaker 6: Because of the year they return, you think, well, wow, you really think that, I believe added to that now, but because they have other deals with different US countries. But I feel like it was just the idea. Here's my thing that I've seen. You give the energy of scare people. You make them feel like you know what I mean, And that is that does more for people's energy than people's perception of what's going on than the actual thing, you know what I mean?

01:01:10
Speaker 1: And I think.

01:01:13
Speaker 6: And it's like the fear of like, oh well now it's gonna like can we really go there? But meanwhile, the energy at the top of you was like we can do this. It's not as crazy as not what?

01:01:22
Speaker 1: So it's travel been hard for you coming in and out of the states.

01:01:25
Speaker 6: Like like longer at the as soon as I saw that going, I actually wouldn't apply for my passport. Okay, I have dual citizenship. Okay, so like because I was like, na, no, no, no, no, all my things are here, so let me make sure I'm good on both sides of the of the of the war. Your family's passport says written, Yeah. But the beautiful thing is we also, like I said, I'm very clear, so to your citizenships there we have salive, we'll selling, we own passports, we have different we could go. You know, they've done We've done smart things, strategically smart. My brothers and sisters, I love them for this. They're very smart about how they handle themselves. And I'm proud of them and that, you know, they really hold their side of family thing. They don't look at me like you got to do. You know, they really are brilliant in their own rights. So I'm proud of them. They hold it down.

01:02:17
Speaker 1: Five passports, never going to jail.

01:02:19
Speaker 6: Okay, how about that that so hot? That's too hot. Yeah, it's not a game because people, he's wild. This guy's crazy.

01:02:29
Speaker 1: So now now that we are where we are, and well the afore mentioned twenty one Savage being one of the one of the biggest UK I'm not.

01:02:41
Speaker 6: I'm still like.

01:02:44
Speaker 1: Like, oh wait, you're just finding out now, No, like like whatever we found out? Oh whatever, right, exactly, So well, I'm just saying that it's ubiquitous, Like how do you feel about the current climate of today's are that are coming from the UK?

01:03:02
Speaker 6: And I love it. I would love to see more of them actually do the effective work here though, Okay, Like, besides the big pop artists that they pull out the UK, I love to see like the R and B and the hip hop artists do more of the groundwork because I know that everyone's always like, yo, you really did it, and I'm just like, you should be here doing the radio runs and doing the doing the like the smaller the black culture things, because it's it's like they're selling you on one thing. But the thing I know I had to do with the All of Me album with Thank You was work backwards. So American Boy came and it blew right. Black people here didn't really know me like that though, So when I did Thank You, I was like, it's fine, we're gonna and they were like no, no, no, you're going to Mississippi. No, no, no, you're going to go see some black people and you're really gonna talk and be out there. And I had to do it. And that's the stuff that I think that people miss when they say, like, oh, you're you're big around the world, You're going America, You're gonna clean But you know, joe In and in Champagne, Illinois don't know you you know, and it's like and you know, and maybe it's over there and Mississippi has no clue just in.

01:04:10
Speaker 1: Your mind hypothetical names as my grandmom and.

01:04:22
Speaker 6: It's true, like but like real folks who just like in the same way that like I was going to say, yeah that it just hit me so in the same kind of way, like look, it might be the poppingist thing and you might look like, but go and do the world, don't my grandma and grandmama, Like.

01:04:39
Speaker 1: You know, like wait, I was going to say, so, that's that was smart of you to yo, you're just hitting me.

01:04:47
Speaker 6: Now nobody else has followed. Nobody's looking.

01:04:49
Speaker 1: I can't name the mountain times that we performed in Mississippi or Alabama or you know, I mean, at least in the last. I mean, we don't do miss the down South states as much as we do our regular.

01:05:04
Speaker 5: Because y'all were built on colleges too, though, don't you think so because of the foundation.

01:05:08
Speaker 6: In a way. Yeah, but then you also have a different way into people's spirits with TV, so it's a different you know. Yeah, but you still got to get the black volte I mean, the black people are populating in that audience on jam in this research and their kids put them.

01:05:23
Speaker 1: All our families are big in this ticket.

01:05:28
Speaker 6: He has nice super Bowl commercial, boss, thank you, you know, but it's a matter of what they got to do that. I still am just like I want to see a Georgia Smith come here and do that run. And I want to see like I want to see h M miss Banks come here and do you know? And and it's that fine line of you you don't have to, but you should, you know. I said to Sims, I was like, you don't have to move here, but you should come here and stay for a while or come and whatever you want to do, Like, but you don't have to, but you should for a while. Come and you can't sell somebody. You'll tell someone that you get their culture. If you're not hearing it, you know, not sayingly, like like you went to the UK and you lived it, you could talk to it.

01:06:09
Speaker 1: Not for nothing. Well, I mean we did it because like we knew they would accept us. But not for nothing. When you're when you're fine and okay, good.

01:06:21
Speaker 6: Yeah, you have a.

01:06:24
Speaker 1: Potential second chapter as a manager, or at least that of like almost Carol lewis like an agent, because I don't think that your average when when when a person comes from uh, from where they are to the United States, I think nine times out of ten they're just thinking of New York, La Vegas, maybe Chicago, like a major city, whereas you know, people aren't thinking of long range.

01:06:56
Speaker 6: I had to physically do it. That's why I know it works.

01:06:59
Speaker 5: You know, like once you them, don't you see Ustaf, Like once you see them and you go to their town, they love you for life.

01:07:03
Speaker 6: They love you for life. Look, I went to Selma and sang Conqueror on the on the not on the next day when TV wanted the special and I met Tremaine Hawkins. Two to me is like the garden I in gospel things like that, And she knew my record and my whole heart exploded, like wow, things like that like lose. I lose my mind about things like that because it's like, this is who I grew up listening to as an eight, nine ten year old in my mom's kitchen and I'm sitting there going what and then she stand in front of my face singing Conqueror and I almost collapsed, Like but you don't. You're not gonna get to those moments where it's those people we sound on their shoulders if you don't go and touch them. There was the people you know what I'm saying, Like, you're not gonna get those And I just feel like we have so much great we write the rules, come here and talk to people about the rules that we write in like come and help them understand the new swearvel of the new energy about it all and from our point of view, like it's it's it's wildly lonely. It's been wildly lonely for a very long time being me and Marsha.

01:08:13
Speaker 1: Right, It's just I tell people all the time, you have to build a tribe, like there has to be nine at least nine like minded people. Yeah.

01:08:27
Speaker 6: Well I started my label like on that because I was like, well, I have all of this to give, and I want I want to be able to leave this legacy, like do the work and you know, come here and put time in and you're not going to sleep for like twenty years. But it's all right, it'd be okay. Yeah, you know, I have fun when you're dead man, that's like the only option you'll have.

01:08:53
Speaker 1: Like, So, also, do you like law?

01:08:56
Speaker 6: I like it? Do you like it as a single lady?

01:09:00
Speaker 1: No?

01:09:00
Speaker 6: Okay, I don't think I wanted to clarify because you part is. But here's the thing, Okay, okay, I have to change my energy about all that things, all that stuff, because I definitely there's a couple of potentials out there. I definitely in l A. Yeah, it's like two three around. Yes, people don't know that that's hard.

01:09:23
Speaker 1: In l A is hard. This is the podcast about navigating the single.

01:09:29
Speaker 6: Life, short version. It is trash. No, no, no, it's not trash.

01:09:33
Speaker 1: It's just.

01:09:35
Speaker 6: My friends would say to me, Look, as hard as you work on your music and your life and your career, you have to work on your love life. Exactly.

01:09:41
Speaker 1: It's hard.

01:09:43
Speaker 6: So I had to change. But wait, and you have to have to come out of town. They have to come from outtown. And and you gave you the speeches she gave me about listen, like you have to open your mind when you come to l A. Angela Nizzle.

01:09:57
Speaker 5: She was like, Angela Nizzle and don watch like listen, you got a day outside your race. I was like, but they don't, they don't.

01:10:04
Speaker 6: I tried, it was it was, it was interesting, right, It's just not the same. It's like, why go for the second if you want it is the accent accent, it's it's no, but I want what I want and the day I mean I want to I want what I want, you know what. But like l A has opened me out though, like I am a lot more like I see two sides of everything. I balanced, it's how is that person feeling when they like I'm not human because I can't be a judge Baptist. Like I've done too much. I've been through too much to like put anybody on anything, put anything on anybody and say well that's that. And you know, I just kind of I'm open, but also like I want what I want, compromise on something. Every day I have to sit and be like, I mean, you know.

01:11:01
Speaker 1: You do sometimes chameleonize yourself into another person. Slight confession. Okay, so when I went to Smart, Black and Funny, it took me eight minutes to realize I was sitting with you and Melanie Fiona, Are you serious? I didn't hear a trace of accent, and I was like, you know, these girls are so nice to me.

01:11:22
Speaker 6: Cool, that's wow. We said that I'm probably had different hair too, and.

01:11:26
Speaker 1: Then Melanie caught me, Yeah, your hair was changed. I was sitting behind you at first, and Melanie said something. I was said, wait, I feel like I know this person and her hair was different, and then your accent came out.

01:11:38
Speaker 6: Oh fuck, because this is this has been my I've been learning American accents too, because every time I go so I'm doing acting, more acting. I want to Cynthia Reeve, but go ahead and get it to it. You know that's a a mirror coming over here. They get me acting jobs.

01:12:03
Speaker 1: You know you're in.

01:12:07
Speaker 6: I've been doing it, let me tell you. But like, the thing is, they keep giving me these rolls a lot of my badge your bike because I'm just like, first of all, what so they keep asking me to be strippers and I keep being like where I don't see it. I don't have enough you walk away?

01:12:25
Speaker 1: You know what more, I don't have enough for this, okay, And like looking like I had to.

01:12:34
Speaker 6: I had beef to one of my agents, like, yo, stop sending in these damn like we know, no, bro, guess the hustlers. Relax. No, I didn't get that one. I should have got that one. Not even fun. I could have learned how to actually strip, but didn't you want to been on the super Bowl. But I'm just joking because I love Wait, that's what I lovestling. By the way, I had I had a time. It was no stripping story. Sorry, I was in the strip club first time I had my song outside in Atlanta. No magic American boy. Yeah no, it was onyx On And we went there to treat the guys because like life, we're on the road, and I was like, let's go to check love. They no right how they gotta good wings?

01:13:28
Speaker 1: Sure this girl, yes, based on their wings. Shout out, shoutouts, all right, listen.

01:13:37
Speaker 5: You can't even get the names out fast. And if I know, it's so many good trip clubs with good food.

01:13:41
Speaker 1: No, no, I found wait, there's a good lot.

01:13:47
Speaker 6: It it's good because I was like, well, here we are. And the other day I was like, here we are. This is interesting.

01:13:54
Speaker 1: What is it.

01:13:54
Speaker 6: It's some some brows or something like that. It's downtown and well I didn't eat the food. I'll but the girls. One night, the ladies were lovely, and so here's the thing. I go in there and I'm just like, again, I'm not judging. I don't care. Live your best life, right, And it was just always weird when they play my record and the dude set it up like we got.

01:14:14
Speaker 1: Some so remember.

01:14:17
Speaker 6: You had, you had Lloyd in the house. You had like Lloyd and this is this is years ago, Lloyd bow Wow and a few other singers right early singers, R and B singers, and they're like that side of the club and I'm just like, oh, Ship, oh this like ah And I'm just in there trying to like okay, but I'm meeto. And then the guy, my girl, my assistant had told the dude that I was there, and she's like, yeah, we got a real singer in the house, and I was like Ship, and then he puts the record. I do too, I'm my fan is and I was just like in brask and he goes me y'a sing the song and then I'm singing American Boy and it's gonna and she's like.

01:14:57
Speaker 1: She's major.

01:14:59
Speaker 6: And I'm just like, oh, that's really good.

01:15:01
Speaker 1: Okay.

01:15:03
Speaker 6: Taking she comes down and then she's like, I just love you, you just so you're so cute, You're so like are you so classy? And I was like yeah, okay, and then she hugs me. It's like, is that weird? Awkward? Yeah, and then it happened again. It's stadium with thank you with stadium and ship was no. They played break my Heart and then they all came come up to me in the line like a greet me and Greek line.

01:15:35
Speaker 1: That was like the church.

01:15:37
Speaker 6: They didn't dance for you, so but they were like coming to be like nice. So it was like, no, you're you like, no, don't, I will put money in the in the dancer's hand. What I just considering it. It's not gonna happend. I'm an all up. I am the killer of vibes. No, I'm like, amazing.

01:16:08
Speaker 1: Story.

01:16:12
Speaker 6: I had a wild and crazy life. No no, no, Mike, Mike knew about this story. Now the guys had set me up. We were on the road and I said to myself, I tweet something like, yo, me me be like when he leaves, I'll be quiet. When I'll be quiet when he leaves, I'll be talking again about when it first come up on the show, and it was first on the show, and I tweeted that and then team were like, I was like, yo, what if he came to the show tonight?

01:16:37
Speaker 2: Ha ha ha ha ha.

01:16:38
Speaker 6: So the team make him come to the after party and I'm there like, oh, my little sister me Stevie J. My little sister comes on the road and she's she's my roadie, my homie. She come on the road and she was like yeah. I was like, Steve, we're having this whole breakdown in our soul, right And Stevie J. Comes in the room and I'm just like, I got ask him if this is real? I said, yoh, comes off. He say, Yo, get to meet you, says and I'm like hi, and he's like, I said, wait, you have to tell me is that real? Like do you really be? Is this real? Like the face and the face date baby, And he does the face and I'm like, okay, it gets worse, it gets worse. So we end up in the strip club with Stebej and my whole team is trying to find a way for me to have an interaction with s DBJ and the stripper and they're just doing this for their pure ships and giggles. They're doing this for They're doing this so they can laugh at me, and so we so like, no, I didn't have but I was like, oh, this is weird. I go to the bathroom. On the way back, he grabs me and he pulls me to the stage and I'm just like, Oh, what's gonna happen. I'm really in my soul. Oh, and he calls me it's like a big lady, and she's like go in and like she's going in that booi's up and no, and she's like this girl is color. I'm just like yeah, And so if I'm standing, if her booty's facing the audience, I'm standing with my right side. I remembered it. And he's facing me and he's like, yo, look at him.

01:18:17
Speaker 5: Man.

01:18:17
Speaker 6: I was like, what he's liked?

01:18:19
Speaker 2: Yo?

01:18:19
Speaker 6: Look at him looking at her and he says the worst things. I'm just like, oh, it's all right, she's doing great, Like look at him. I'm traumatized. Why are you going to the strip club? You don't there, I don't, but it's fun and check it, check it, check it out. I gave her the money and I thank you. It was so great. She was like, thank you, But I feel like they appreciate it. I don't throw at them.

01:18:46
Speaker 1: I feel you if look, we're in Vegas, he said, looking at it, we're gonna go. We're gonna go to Experiment Rhino because they have the best French fries ever.

01:18:56
Speaker 6: Okay that I have been there. We had a wild velvet, and I've been all the ship clubs and the most polite.

01:19:04
Speaker 1: I can give you a structure breakdown on the best foods.

01:19:08
Speaker 6: I actually I'm very interested in that.

01:19:10
Speaker 1: And at Atlanta is actually the best strip club in Atlanta is actually Follies. Like the best dancers yes died, No, not literally they killed. No, they really want to dance at Foleys because they have a good rate there, like the old Gold Club. I got you. Well, yeah, because the owner lets them keep their money, at least more than most do. No, no, no, some will tax the ship. He makes a killing off of the bar and more importantly the water, which I don't want to give a secrets away just charges for water interesting, yes, well, but he has a great deal on bottle water. I don't know, maybe a friend of ours, a friend of his, a friend of ours, but yeah, yeah, fell off the truck but yeah. Follies also has.

01:20:09
Speaker 6: Great food and commercials to do, like a little book. This is this is John Jay said, you're not allowed to do those. I mean that would be fun, like I would. I'd want to know or do a site.

01:20:25
Speaker 1: Know, we're looking for someone to have a green book for entertainment.

01:20:31
Speaker 5: Serious at least they start breakfast after, you know, like four no real life.

01:20:37
Speaker 6: I'm gonna have to talk to you about this.

01:20:38
Speaker 1: This is why has he ever been?

01:20:39
Speaker 3: Steve Like, I'm nominating myself for this job.

01:20:46
Speaker 1: Oh god, all right, so we gotta wrapped this up, y'all. We we done talked about the church in the UK and immigration and pancakes at Follies. So okay, so in love in l A. Yeah, So for you, what what is your what is your hope for this year?

01:21:08
Speaker 6: We're already in February, like you, I'm really like, so my main thing is the label goes up. I have a new artist that I really really really like, will go for like, in the same way John went for me. She's incredible, She's a great singer. She just my thing is, I'm not investing in anybody who I have to pull from the ground up. I'm investing in people who are doing the work and who want to actually learn the business and be sustainable on their own.

01:21:30
Speaker 1: You know.

01:21:31
Speaker 6: So she from she's from Illinois, Chicago, Okay, she's really ills Illinois, so respectful, what about Chicago, Illinois, But family in Chicago, and like it's she's been working, you know, and she's been really trying to do this. So yeah, Jamie Woods, Okay, she's incredible. That's a hard name, Jamie Instagram. But she has a beautiful voice. She just stands things. I believe she's going to be incredible. You're going to see it. But she also knows the business and is learning it quickly, you know. And like, so the label's going up, we're doing TV films, documentaries, we're expanding in like the festival space. We're just you know, I know a lot of things that I see and I understand the position that I'm in, and I just want to make sure that going forward, anybody that comes here and understands that they have this outlet and they have this unique space that they can really run down whether you you know, because we all need we needed that person. I needed that person to It's the word out helped me and I had to figure out a lot of things myself, you know. So yeah, mentoring is essentially the key. So I've you know a lot of artists come through and I.

01:22:43
Speaker 1: Definitely touched folks paying it for it.

01:22:47
Speaker 6: That's happening. Yeah, And essence is she is going and like we going again. We have the Batchman, the dancer or the Soca. I think I feel like I don't know if I spoke too soon about that, but so every year, no, essence is like, yeah, we are dias for Yeah, last year we did it with them and it was the first year we sold out. It was the highest rated like performance. And so this year we're doing it again. And my thing was to make sure that whenever we touch down and you understand the diasporas here, it's not just about it. It's definitely black culture, but also here we are because that's where I come from. Like we I never do an American boys show. I'm going to do a show and this bash Man it's dance. All this all the music is John Bassis house, and I want people to know that that's we can touch all those spaces about feeling like, oh your alternative, Well all you're different. Now, this is what we do as people. That's what it is. So we're doing that essence and that's what we do it.

01:23:47
Speaker 1: Yeah.

01:23:48
Speaker 6: Hell yeah, shut it out.

01:23:57
Speaker 1: Strong and we get it that.

01:23:57
Speaker 6: We're getting it down.

01:23:59
Speaker 1: Yeah all right, well sell We thank you very much. Uh, we're coming and speaking to us. Yes, yes, yes, yes, Love All all of your product is now streamable. Yeah. I was about to see in your local record store a track.

01:24:15
Speaker 6: New records coming this year to beautiful.

01:24:18
Speaker 1: That's great to hear. All right, Well on behalf of a team Supreme. Uh, sim Steve boss Bill. Yes, we're going to strip club right now. Sorry, Fon take Alotle you're still smoking cigarettes and all right. We will see next week on the next go round of Quest Love Supreme. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.