Speaker 1: Women. It's Women's Month. I love powerful women that are
Speaker 1: unafraid to say, Hey, get off my neck, get out
Speaker 1: my space, move over here, you know I want my money.
Speaker 1: I love all those women that aren't afraid to speak
Speaker 1: about something that everyone's scared to step on. You know
Speaker 1: what I mean. I just I wish I had the
Speaker 1: boldness that they have. So I do what I can
Speaker 1: to support them. Retweet. When I see them, I say
Speaker 1: thank you and they say thank you for the music.
Speaker 1: So I'm doing something. It may not be what they're
Speaker 1: doing or.
Speaker 2: That's all doing something.
Speaker 1: We're doing something.
Speaker 2: Sit back, relax and welcome. Let us ee to Naked.
Speaker 3: It's the greatest suspose and entertainment can make you win.
Speaker 4: Cary Champion, the Cary Chappy is going.
Speaker 3: To be a champion. A champion. They care a chapion,
Speaker 3: the champion. They care with Champion and care with chat.
Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, welcome to a new edition of Naked. It
Speaker 2: is Women's History Month, and I just want to do
Speaker 2: a couple of things. I want to shout out a
Speaker 2: couple of women. Hey, you know what I want to
Speaker 2: shout out myself. I want to thank myself. Thank you, Nissie,
Speaker 2: Nash for reminding us that we should just thank ourselves.
Speaker 2: Life is is is one of these things that make
Speaker 2: you laugh, and it also can be, obviously for many people,
Speaker 2: really difficult. And I think oftentimes a conversation that me
Speaker 2: and my girlfriends have often is as a black woman,
Speaker 2: we don't feel seen or heard, and and depending on
Speaker 2: who you're talking to, if you're talking to someone who's
Speaker 2: not a black woman, they may roll their eyes. They're like,
Speaker 2: what does that mean? What does that mean? And it
Speaker 2: means that we could be doing the same job that
Speaker 2: our male counterpart is doing, or we could be doing
Speaker 2: the same exact work that our our white female counterpart
Speaker 2: is doing. But we we often don't feel acknowledged, and
Speaker 2: we often feel like our words fall on ears that
Speaker 2: are not listening right, They're just like death, No one
Speaker 2: wants to hear it. And I see all these wonderful
Speaker 2: women in certain spaces that have these these titles with
Speaker 2: their jobs. But I also know, as we celebrate Women's
Speaker 2: History Month, that these jobs and these big, these big
Speaker 2: titles that some people have like I'm the CEO of
Speaker 2: this or the CEO of that, Rarely do black women
Speaker 2: have those titles with the power. And what I mean
Speaker 2: is you give it to me because it looks good,
Speaker 2: but when I try to assert my power, I am
Speaker 2: not allowed to assert my power. There's an asterisk. Okay,
Speaker 2: you may be the cm O, the chief marketing officer
Speaker 2: for a company, but now you're doing something that is
Speaker 2: really out of your range and we can't trust you.
Speaker 2: So we're gonna let your other counterpart, your your white
Speaker 2: male counterpart, or your white female counterpart, have a little
Speaker 2: more power than you do. And it's unfortunate. So I
Speaker 2: just want to give a shout out to all women
Speaker 2: as we celebrate Women's History Month. But I want to
Speaker 2: give a special love, some special love to my sister's
Speaker 2: in a struggle. I see you, I know you, I
Speaker 2: feel you, even if I don't know you. But what
Speaker 2: I do know, if I'm being honest with you, the
Speaker 2: underlying feeling of I want more, I deserve more, I
Speaker 2: need to be acknowledged is real. And I encourage you
Speaker 2: not to give up. I encourage you to stay focused.
Speaker 2: I encourage you to get through it all, to focus
Speaker 2: on the good in life, if you will to focus
Speaker 2: on what's good. Because if I'm complaining, there's someone looking
Speaker 2: at me. Saying, you're complaining about the stuff you dreamed about.
Speaker 2: This was all a dream at one point, Carrie, So
Speaker 2: how the heck you complaining? And I understand, Like I said,
Speaker 2: it's tiring, but I encourage you all to focus on
Speaker 2: the good this month. The good that you've been able
Speaker 2: to do, the good that you've been able to accomplish,
Speaker 2: the good that is still yet to come. And that
Speaker 2: is real. And with that being said, I'm leading into
Speaker 2: our next guest because she is doing that with her
Speaker 2: latest album. She is focusing on the good. Can you imagine?
Speaker 2: Y'all know lettusy And if you don't, I don't know
Speaker 2: where you've been. And when I tell you to download
Speaker 2: her latest album, to listen to her past albums and
Speaker 2: play it in your house, play it in your car.
Speaker 2: Her music is healing. It makes you feel good about yourself.
Speaker 2: It makes you, even if it is a sad topic,
Speaker 2: you're still like I can get through. It's calming and
Speaker 2: we need calm in this day and age. Trust me,
Speaker 2: we really really do. And because it is Women's History Month,
Speaker 2: we are going to talk about what I believe is
Speaker 2: one of our great singers. She is not only a
Speaker 2: singer she's an actress. She's played the likes of a
Speaker 2: Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Mahelia Jackson in Selma. If you
Speaker 2: saw Selma. It takes someone with a crazy amount of
Speaker 2: fortitude to say I'm going to use my voice to
Speaker 2: recreate those grades glad as Night, Mahelia Jackson, Petty Label.
Speaker 2: Are you kidding me? You're not intimidating. That has to
Speaker 2: be for a singer to say I can do what
Speaker 2: they do well. She does it, and she does it well.
Speaker 2: She's also a professor at the Berkeley School of Music,
Speaker 2: and I'd like to call her an activist. She doesn't
Speaker 2: necessarily live necessarily in the political atmosphere, but she's an
Speaker 2: activist at her core, a musical activist, an activist for
Speaker 2: the culture, and activist for the people. She is a
Speaker 2: renaissance woman in every single way, and she is here
Speaker 2: today on Naked to talk about her journey and her
Speaker 2: latest album, Good Life. Everybody, sit back, relax, turn up
Speaker 2: the valume, and I know I already know what you're
Speaker 2: about to say. There's so many commercials. You can fast
Speaker 2: forward to those commercials so you can get right to
Speaker 2: this juice, this education, this Ted talk She's about to
Speaker 2: give us. Sit back, relax and welcome. Let usy to Naked.
Speaker 4: Champion and care with Chatpion and carried Chat.
Speaker 2: I normally just start with an origin story because what
Speaker 2: I'm really interested in When I meet people that are
Speaker 2: really talented, I'm always curious about how that talent was fostered.
Speaker 2: When did they know they have had that certain talent?
Speaker 2: And I'm reading your story and you come from a
Speaker 2: musical family, and I'm curious because you talked about this
Speaker 2: as a kid. You remember your mother singing and performing,
Speaker 2: And I want to know when you're seven or eight
Speaker 2: years old, because I usually think that's when we know
Speaker 2: we want to do something. Maybe take me back to
Speaker 2: when you were seven or eight years old as a child,
Speaker 2: growing up in a musical household, How did you know
Speaker 2: you had a talent? My mom was.
Speaker 1: Michael Jackson, right. She was the person that I cared about.
Speaker 1: Her opinion mattered to me most because I saw her
Speaker 1: do what I wanted to do. So when she approved it,
Speaker 1: then it felt good. And the other reason is I
Speaker 1: got more friends when I started to sing. I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I can make friends. I can use this to make friends.
Speaker 1: So I knew my voice had a ring to it
Speaker 1: that would just ring out and make people change or
Speaker 1: do something nicer, it calm things. So that's when I
Speaker 1: knew I had something. What it was, I don't know.
Speaker 1: You don't know at seven or eight. You just know
Speaker 1: when you use whatever that bell is to make people
Speaker 1: calmer or nicer, or react or feel. Then I did.
Speaker 1: I knew I want to use this gift.
Speaker 2: So did your mother say to you when you were little,
Speaker 2: seeing what I singing? Hum? When do you just when
Speaker 2: do you start singing? When do you just say, uh oh,
Speaker 2: that sounds good? Because I thought, I, you know, that's
Speaker 2: a gift that everyone wants. Everyone wants to learn how
Speaker 2: to sing. You sing in the shower, I would love,
Speaker 2: And then I learnedquickly I was. There was no singing
Speaker 2: for me ever in my life. So when did you
Speaker 2: go that you, at such a young age had something special.
Speaker 2: Did you just start singing because you heard your mom sing?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't remember the reason. My mom said, I just
Speaker 1: one day in the kitchen, because we sang a lot
Speaker 1: in the kitchen. Well, my mom did, I just in
Speaker 1: New Orleans, I just started singing reasons out the Blue.
Speaker 1: I knew the song. I didn't tell them I could sing.
Speaker 1: My mom is not the stage mom. She didn't force anything.
Speaker 1: She didn't say sing this sing back to me. We
Speaker 1: didn't do any of that. She just let it happen.
Speaker 1: And so naturally, one day I just started singing, and
Speaker 1: everybody looked and they didn't know that I could say what.
Speaker 1: I was like, you just sang Reasons by Earth when
Speaker 1: a Fire like Fillip Bailey and hitting all the notes
Speaker 1: on pitch because she is very particular. She's a quick
Speaker 1: cap record, so she's like, yeah, born on the first
Speaker 1: of January. Uh, she's real particular about every little thing.
Speaker 1: She said. You were on pitch, you real tiny, sitting
Speaker 1: in your seat and just wailing, and I was like, wow,
Speaker 1: those notes are I reason.
Speaker 2: To say the least, And you just started seeing it.
Speaker 2: She didn't even know you knew the song. And everyone
Speaker 2: stops in their tracks and they look at you, like, wow,
Speaker 2: this is special. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I became that family member where the baby get
Speaker 1: up and sing, get up and dance.
Speaker 2: For me, it was read the church program because you
Speaker 2: can read well, get on and do that. Big words
Speaker 2: I could even pronounce, So I understand that I think
Speaker 2: that is really special. I also I also know that
Speaker 2: you just said something. Your voice calms people. So when
Speaker 2: I play your music in my house, like on the speakers,
Speaker 2: my house feels warm, it filmed, it feels welcoming. It
Speaker 2: feels like I could leave it all day. I could clean,
Speaker 2: I could walk, I could talk, I could be on
Speaker 2: the phone, I could be I can do errands. Do
Speaker 2: you believe that's a God given gift?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, there's no no afterthought about that is definitely not
Speaker 1: of my doing.
Speaker 2: Entirely.
Speaker 1: I am doing the work, but it comes from a
Speaker 1: special place because there are days I don't know how
Speaker 1: how I'm doing what I do. I had a friend
Speaker 1: come to my rehearsal, our final tour rehearsal. We've been
Speaker 1: best friends a long time, and he still goes, I
Speaker 1: don't know how you do. He studies music, he knows
Speaker 1: the voice, but he says, you're not You're an alien.
Speaker 1: They can do the things you do. And I say, well,
Speaker 1: I said, I don't feel like it. I'm working hard,
Speaker 1: and he like doing the same amount of work as
Speaker 1: everybody else. But he's like, no, but it looks so
Speaker 1: you look so relaxed when you do it. You look
Speaker 1: so calm. I said, no, there there's a fire alarm
Speaker 1: under my armpits.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It's like like I'm I'm nervous all the time, like interesting.
Speaker 1: I want to be like anybody else. I want to
Speaker 1: do a great job and kick but at what I do,
Speaker 1: it's like a workout. I give a lot. That's why
Speaker 1: at the end, I'm like, I don't know what else
Speaker 1: to give, But I just gave a whole bunch, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. And I don't get the opportunity
Speaker 1: to do it small. Everything I do is with great intention,
Speaker 1: and I feel like I'm connected to another source. I
Speaker 1: call it God that comes and I honor all the
Speaker 1: spaces and people that came before me as well as
Speaker 1: myself and my parents, you know, legacy. So I have
Speaker 1: a point to prove, which is I belong here and
Speaker 1: I'm here to help with with using my craft. That's
Speaker 1: what the greats did. You know. Mahelia, when she spoke,
Speaker 1: she helped Martin. When she's sang, she helped the movement.
Speaker 1: When Marian Anderson, same thing. She was the first to do,
Speaker 1: make a create a moment for a movement. We all
Speaker 1: my kind of singers. That's what we do. We have
Speaker 1: the get. God only gives it to certain people to
Speaker 1: do that. So I know what I have. It took
Speaker 1: me a while to just go ahead and accept it
Speaker 1: because it comes with enormous amount of pressure to be
Speaker 1: a certain way. You know, you don't get off.
Speaker 2: Day When you say it took you a while to
Speaker 2: accept it, that is a radical acceptance of what you have.
Speaker 2: Why did it take you a while to accept it?
Speaker 2: Was there too much pressure associated with it? Or maybe
Speaker 2: you felt like you wanted you felt pressure to do
Speaker 2: something different, to have a different type of music, do
Speaker 2: you know music?
Speaker 1: None of that. It was more so people's perception of
Speaker 1: the box they want to keep you in. It was external.
Speaker 1: It's like when we love something, if only they would
Speaker 1: just stay here and do this because I love what
Speaker 1: they do here. A voice like mine belongs everywhere that
Speaker 1: I could possibly go. It doesn't belong in one space.
Speaker 1: But I do honor where I started. I honored the
Speaker 1: root and all that stuff. But I think I get
Speaker 1: nervous about titles. You know that those things bother me
Speaker 1: with my voice? What are the titles that make Oh
Speaker 1: you're only an RB singer. That's why I did let
Speaker 1: us see sings. Nina, You're not really a jazzing because
Speaker 1: you do R and B. But I do do jazz.
Speaker 1: I can scatch just like every instrument that I love,
Speaker 1: You know love. I started there. That's how I got
Speaker 1: made a living to pay bills, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Nobody wanted to hear me sing R and B and
Speaker 1: I'm a horrible background singer, so that didn't work for me.
Speaker 1: I try. But anyway that I don't know what else
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. I haven't eaten yet, but I'm here.
Speaker 2: That's okay me too. I'm starving, but I work better
Speaker 2: that way. Otherwise I get exactly, I get the itis advice,
Speaker 2: and I'm like girl that I'll be sleep during this.
Speaker 2: I think that what you said was really powerful. They
Speaker 2: want to put you as an R and B singer,
Speaker 2: but a voice that yours belongs in so many places
Speaker 2: because it's necessary, because it does have this healing, this calming,
Speaker 2: this happiness. And oftentimes I say this about comedians. Those
Speaker 2: who make us happy always usually are the ones that
Speaker 2: may suffer because it's torture. Do you do you ever
Speaker 2: deal with that? Like you can? Your music makes people
Speaker 2: so happy, but sometimes you're not happy like you could
Speaker 2: put You could put out album after album. I think
Speaker 2: you've been nominated. I think twelve times. I think twelve
Speaker 2: times for a grand.
Speaker 1: I think it's more, but I can't remember a time.
Speaker 2: I think it's fourteen. Yes, okay, I want to make
Speaker 2: sure I get that right.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter. It's been a lot.
Speaker 2: It's been a lot, and that means you resonate with people.
Speaker 2: Do you find it hard to be the one that
Speaker 2: makes everyone smile in the room or feel good in
Speaker 2: the room.
Speaker 1: I don't feel I feel like I have songs that
Speaker 1: are chaotic. There's some dysfunctional tunes. If you what happens
Speaker 1: is it feels so good? Yeah, you're missing the message.
Speaker 2: On one hundred percent.
Speaker 1: I feel I'm telling all the human experience. I'm not
Speaker 1: avoiding it. I don't have see what's funny is this
Speaker 1: album good life? I gotta talk about it because I
Speaker 1: didn't have I have the least amount of connection to
Speaker 1: it in a personal way. I actually felt like I
Speaker 1: had the fight was trying to be personal in it
Speaker 1: instead of just releasing that and writing as a songwriter,
Speaker 1: write about human experience, create a story like how I
Speaker 1: do when you're acting, get to create a story or
Speaker 1: a character that's going through something. And I had to
Speaker 1: do that in order to be involved in this project.
Speaker 1: Normally I put myself more in it. This time I couldn't.
Speaker 2: It was the only album that you've done that that
Speaker 2: particular approach is it's the only album you've done that
Speaker 2: with with Good.
Speaker 1: Life, majority of the biggest amount the wild Card. I
Speaker 1: did it a little bit. I started understanding what it
Speaker 1: means to be a songwriter interesting. I carried it over
Speaker 1: into this because it was hard to be We don't
Speaker 1: have anything interesting going on here. It's like our life
Speaker 1: is our life, and like regular people, you know, we're
Speaker 1: interesting about us moving.
Speaker 2: Yes, I want to hear about that. It's kind of
Speaker 2: day to day. What you're gonna eat, what you're gonna cook.
Speaker 2: I'm with you. I was like, these are real problems.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you you know in California my
Speaker 2: leaks started leaking, my roof was leaking, Yeah, the rain.
Speaker 2: I was like, can someone give me a song about this?
Speaker 4: This is.
Speaker 2: That people want to hear about. What are we doing?
Speaker 1: You didn't have anything, so I was let me think
Speaker 1: about human experience and dysfunctional chaos. And you know, good
Speaker 1: life is to me about getting through. It's not it's
Speaker 1: the messy parts, it's the beautiful part, but it's how
Speaker 1: you got through it. How did you get through things?
Speaker 1: You know, we don't talk about that at.
Speaker 2: All and we're not transparent. But for me, music is
Speaker 2: has been revolutionary. It is an act of resistance. It
Speaker 2: is my advocacy. It gives me the words that I
Speaker 2: don't have when I I'm like, I feel that I
Speaker 2: feel what you said, but I didn't have the words
Speaker 2: for what you said.
Speaker 1: It's sad.
Speaker 4: It's sad.
Speaker 3: Every champion and carry champion is to be a champion,
Speaker 3: a champion and carry Chappion and carried chap beata champion
Speaker 3: and carried Chappion and carrie Chaps and entertainment can nack
Speaker 3: you weirder Kerry Champion and carry Chappion is to be
Speaker 3: a champion of champion and carry Chappion. Thet a champion
Speaker 3: and carry Chapion and carried Shepy. Entertainment can nacke word.
Speaker 2: I wonder is it difficult to make that transition to acting.
Speaker 2: You've made it seem seamless. Although lake Gladys Knight Mahelia Jackson,
Speaker 2: I understand that, pet Labell. I believe I was that
Speaker 2: difficult for you because it seems to me when you
Speaker 2: sing from your soul and then someone gives you words
Speaker 2: to say that they don't go together. Those two things
Speaker 2: just don't go together. To me, one seems more authentic
Speaker 2: and one seems more formed. But you are a performer,
Speaker 2: are you know? So is it difficult to transition?
Speaker 4: It was?
Speaker 1: And when I was learning it on my own, but
Speaker 1: having an acting coach understands and then working with Billy
Speaker 1: Porter in theater that was an experienced life changing. He said,
Speaker 1: you're a singer and they don't teach you how to
Speaker 1: transfer that over into theater. He taught me some things.
Speaker 1: Chester Gregory and my acting coach taught me a lot
Speaker 1: of things. He said, what would you do do? What
Speaker 1: would let us see do? Would let us say it
Speaker 1: like that? He always says, good, can we have some realness?
Speaker 1: And that I want the let us see to do it?
Speaker 1: Now be the character? You know what I mean? How
Speaker 1: would let usy do it? That we want authenticity as
Speaker 1: natural and like you would do it? And that's how
Speaker 1: I think. I just add the extra components on top
Speaker 1: of it, and Billy was the same way, but they
Speaker 1: weren't taught that. They had to learn it because they're
Speaker 1: and also classes help understanding. It's like a song. The
Speaker 1: same way I sing it is the same way I
Speaker 1: would say it. Yeah, but as like a conversation like
Speaker 1: you and I. Do you like working with other actors? Ie?
Speaker 2: You do? Is there an actor that you work with
Speaker 2: that you're like this person I'm in awe of? Or
Speaker 2: is there an actor that you want to work with? Oh?
Speaker 1: Man, I would love to. It's more of writers for me.
Speaker 1: I want to work with writers actors definitely. I still
Speaker 1: I'm still learning that world. But it's really writing that
Speaker 1: I love the most. The writing I get. I'm becoming
Speaker 1: a fan of even more how things are written. I
Speaker 1: would love to get lessons from Divine. She's incredible because
Speaker 1: I seeing her in different roles and has been amazing
Speaker 1: how she approaches her characters, meaning the little nuances she does,
Speaker 1: It's just beautiful. I love this lady named Kimberly Gregory.
Speaker 1: She's one of my favorites. She's not as popular as everybody,
Speaker 1: but she's she's just incredible.
Speaker 2: She's a writer and an actor.
Speaker 1: She can write, But she's a great actress.
Speaker 2: What is she on?
Speaker 1: Some stuff on the shy oh okay, she also did.
Speaker 1: I can't remember all her stuff right now, but she's incredible.
Speaker 1: She's like divine to me, one of the It takes
Speaker 1: a while for the greats to get seen, and it's
Speaker 1: Divine's time now. But she's been great long before everybody
Speaker 1: caught up.
Speaker 2: Did you read Viola Davis's book? No, not yet, And
Speaker 2: by read, I mean download an audio because I don't
Speaker 2: be reading like that. So I don't want you to.
Speaker 2: Like my really good friend who I think you know,
Speaker 2: Jamel Hill, she loves to tell me she's so easy.
Speaker 2: She's like my grandma. About to download this book and
Speaker 2: we can talk about it later. But Viola talks about
Speaker 2: the craft of acting in such a special way, and
Speaker 2: and and the Biker was arguably one of the best.
Speaker 2: That's why I was a New York Times bestseller. Just
Speaker 2: the poverty she came from and how she uses a
Speaker 2: lot of that trauma in what she does. How would
Speaker 2: you describe your your your your life? Has there been
Speaker 2: pain like personally that really you were able to create
Speaker 2: some great music because everyone got mad when Mary, when
Speaker 2: Mary J. Blige started to heal, we didn't get what
Speaker 2: we needed. We were like, Mary, how you gonna heal
Speaker 2: and not give us the music we need because we
Speaker 2: out here in the streets dealing with these trifling negroes.
Speaker 2: Money and we and we need it. Now you you
Speaker 2: all healed and rich and healthy. I guess we need that.
Speaker 1: You know what I don't. We don't need that. We
Speaker 1: want to you know, edge, You want the edge? I
Speaker 1: get it. My friends used to say back in the day,
Speaker 1: ooh you mad tonight. Oh it's gonna be a good show.
Speaker 2: Oh good, you got something to say. Oh I'm mad
Speaker 2: at him? Wait till I get out there.
Speaker 1: You know, I write it in such songs. My earlier work,
Speaker 1: I was more raw with it, but now I just
Speaker 1: I'm more poetic as I've gotten older, because I hold
Speaker 1: information for myself now and work out my trauma in
Speaker 1: different ways, you know.
Speaker 2: For yourself. You don't give it to us, No, don't
Speaker 2: give it to you, guys. I just do.
Speaker 1: I just try to. I don't think people want to
Speaker 1: hear all that. I mean, maybe they do podcasts now,
Speaker 1: but that's you know, certain things. I just work it
Speaker 1: out on my own.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you and that was a season, as that
Speaker 2: was a season for Mary. Right, it's a season and
Speaker 2: it's okay.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it does make great music. I can't lie
Speaker 1: because all righte trauma, Okay, how I'm I pay these
Speaker 1: dang on bills? What am I gonna do? So it's
Speaker 1: like survival mode, you know what I mean, back in
Speaker 1: the day. So I get it and it does help
Speaker 1: because someone else is going through it, and I think
Speaker 1: that's why people relate to my music. But good Life
Speaker 1: on the song good Light, actual song, I was exhausted
Speaker 1: and you hear it. I say it. I throw out
Speaker 1: my hands, thank you for this life, blessings over me.
Speaker 1: I try to think positive about it. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I cry till there's no more tears. Like I'm saying,
Speaker 1: I'm done. I'm depleted. I don't know what else to
Speaker 1: do but surrender, so help make this work. I'm still grateful.
Speaker 1: I'm exhausted, you know. So I put those little things
Speaker 1: in the music and say the truth. And then on
Speaker 1: another song, I say about like we're not we always
Speaker 1: gaslight each other, and what way like we when we
Speaker 1: talk about relationships, I'm talking about in if you're going
Speaker 1: to be here, be here. If you're not, then move
Speaker 1: out the way. So I don't waste my time, you know,
Speaker 1: because you can't get time back all we have, so
Speaker 1: we want to use our time preciously and choose who
Speaker 1: we want there to enjoy our time with whomever. But
Speaker 1: there are people that come in and make it in
Speaker 1: the way. So be honest about it. And that's why
Speaker 1: I love getting older, because you could just say whatever
Speaker 1: you want to say, that's right, worry about the consequences,
Speaker 1: Like I just need to know so I can.
Speaker 2: Go and waste my time. I don't have it. I
Speaker 2: got life to live.
Speaker 1: So maybe I'm working it out that way.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's what I said. That's another way of it.
Speaker 2: It's the same, but it's just a much more mature,
Speaker 2: curated way of saying what you feel. But it also
Speaker 2: reflects where you're at. I think in your life too,
Speaker 2: Like what you've been through, You're like, I don't have
Speaker 2: to I don't have the time to cry, and who
Speaker 2: want to cry and fight? But you won't do that
Speaker 2: all the time. But it does give you, you know,
Speaker 2: that great music, but it can be it can manifest
Speaker 2: in different ways. Is there an artist that you would
Speaker 2: never work with again. But you wouldn't say their names?
Speaker 2: Have you ever?
Speaker 3: Wait?
Speaker 2: Wait, you see I didn't said it very casually like
Speaker 2: no big deal. There's a story behind this too, because.
Speaker 1: If I was as brave as you, I just cannot.
Speaker 2: You were like, you don't have to say a name,
Speaker 2: but you're like, yeah, no, I was working with I
Speaker 2: was working on this project. I'm like, I ain't fooling
Speaker 2: with him no more or her. I have that about
Speaker 2: people in my field, like as a journalist, I'm like,
Speaker 2: I don't feel like I respect what they do. They're
Speaker 2: the greatest.
Speaker 1: I've never I can say I have had a person's
Speaker 1: number and I've called over and over.
Speaker 2: Oh I hate that able to work with.
Speaker 1: Them and they and they are incredible in their own right,
Speaker 1: and I'll just keep calling to try to, you know,
Speaker 1: make it happen, and then they don't respond. But when
Speaker 1: you see them in person, oh, here's the same number,
Speaker 1: and hey call me here and you do the same cycle.
Speaker 1: That kind of stuff. Yeah, I've totally let go of
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. That's gaslighting.
Speaker 2: But that's also a compliment because to your talent and
Speaker 2: who you are, and they think, oh for sure, oh
Speaker 2: for sure, I don't know whether it is. It's almost
Speaker 2: like we should get together and then, or we should
Speaker 2: do this and we should do that. That's a compliment.
Speaker 2: I take it as a compliment when someone tells me
Speaker 2: you love that, that's a compliment. She's like, or he's like,
Speaker 2: or whomever is like. I don't know the person. They
Speaker 2: know what you are, and maybe perhaps they're shine could
Speaker 2: bring more shine to you, or perhaps you're shine would
Speaker 2: out shine them. But whatever it is, that is, you're
Speaker 2: not thinking that way. You just want to do. You
Speaker 2: want to do art, you want to but for that
Speaker 2: to like you, it's a calculated thing, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. Like you can't keep coming to me saying
Speaker 2: let's work together and then or I keep coming you
Speaker 2: say on this work together, or call you and ignore me.
Speaker 2: Then when every time you see me and stop it
Speaker 2: don't be that way.
Speaker 1: So well, now I just avoid the dialogue.
Speaker 2: And like it's not even time. Okay. I appreciate that.
Speaker 2: I love you for that because there's just no need.
Speaker 2: I ain't fooling with you.
Speaker 1: I don't have time.
Speaker 2: Forday, Yeah, last night you talked about writers last night.
Speaker 2: When this podcast there on Monday, it will be Thursday night.
Speaker 2: Thursday night, Lisa Ray had a party call Where the
Speaker 2: Black People At? This is why you love her because
Speaker 2: the party is called where are the Black People At?
Speaker 2: And it was just a it was a casual thing, right,
Speaker 2: tons of people show up. I see this man that
Speaker 2: I've had a crush on forever. He's a writer. I
Speaker 2: have a crush on him forever. To your point, like
Speaker 2: we all we DM we exchange, we'd be dming be exchanging.
Speaker 2: He'd be hardened, I'd be heartened. See this full in person.
Speaker 2: And he's like what, I what? And I was like,
Speaker 2: see now, I don't like you. He's trying to pretend
Speaker 2: like he doesn't remember any of our exchanges. And I
Speaker 2: was like, I was about to upgrade your life. It
Speaker 2: is over. You are a real Hollywood. I don't respect that.
Speaker 2: I want you to be who you are, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean?
Speaker 1: Yeah, every time, every time.
Speaker 2: Because we're too old for that. You're too old for that.
Speaker 2: What're too old for that? To your point, and I
Speaker 2: just just like I get it, so I know what
Speaker 2: you're feeling in this. In case it was he's just whatever.
Speaker 2: But I don't know why I told you that story.
Speaker 1: No, but I love it.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: You were like, what is going on?
Speaker 2: I was like, it was agreeing that I forgot I downgrade.
Speaker 2: I'll come back to that. Oh, it was the writing
Speaker 2: of it all. But he's still an amazing writer. And
Speaker 2: you say you're interested in working with amazing writers. Is
Speaker 2: there some movie that you've seen this Award season where
Speaker 2: you felt like the writing was phenomenal? I want to
Speaker 2: work with this.
Speaker 1: American Fiction was incredible written. I love that.
Speaker 2: Why did you like American fiction? What did he give you?
Speaker 2: I saw it too. I love it.
Speaker 1: But I like the comedy. I like the comedy. I
Speaker 1: like the honesty of it. I like the ending a lot,
Speaker 1: and I love the actors, the delivery of it. You
Speaker 1: can tell where it's some of it is just more natural.
Speaker 1: You can tell the writer made space for them to play.
Speaker 1: And the Erica is everything. I love seeing Erica in this.
Speaker 1: It was different because she did she had moments that
Speaker 1: weren't funny that I liked. I hadn't seen that part
Speaker 1: of her in a long time, so I had I agree.
Speaker 1: I love that they made her a girlfriend. I love
Speaker 1: that she was sexy and all the things. I was like,
Speaker 1: I want.
Speaker 2: More of that. For us. Do you think that you will?
Speaker 2: And of course you will, but I know that a
Speaker 2: lot of the roles where people I've seen you, you've
Speaker 2: played other actresses. You you've played other singers. Would you
Speaker 2: want to do something that's a crazy departure? What is
Speaker 2: a what would be a crazy departure for you?
Speaker 1: I would love to play someone completely dysfunctional and mean
Speaker 1: and uh and comedy. I would love like someone whose
Speaker 1: loud mouth, that auntie that come in the room and
Speaker 1: cut up. I would love to play that that you're like,
Speaker 1: say that, like that. I would love to be that.
Speaker 1: Anything that has to do with being boisterous love I
Speaker 1: love that and unexpected.
Speaker 2: Are you the opposite of that in your life?
Speaker 1: Am I the opposite? And I'm that way with my band?
Speaker 1: I cut up with my band, Yeah, but not in
Speaker 1: front of a bunch of people.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I'm from nos We classy, yeah.
Speaker 2: I Do you consider yourself an introvert around other people?
Speaker 2: Are you shy when you're in a different room.
Speaker 1: Sometime until you get to know me. But I'm a
Speaker 1: little bit of both. I've had I had to become
Speaker 1: a little bit of both because you can't just sit
Speaker 1: in the corner and watch people. He had to get
Speaker 1: out there and talk to folks. So I do that
Speaker 1: a lot a lot more better. I think the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty taught me how to be more sociable, okay, out
Speaker 1: like wow to my audience, and because you couldn't reach
Speaker 1: them any other way, so I had to be on
Speaker 1: the internet. That The Internet is what scares me the most,
Speaker 1: like this zooming stuff. That's just not my thing. But
Speaker 1: I do it anyway and try to personality in the box,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. But I'm a laugher. I
Speaker 1: love laughing loud. I love hanging out. I'm that that
Speaker 1: part of the Everybody loves seeing that. And I cussed
Speaker 1: a little bit, you know what I mean. People love
Speaker 1: seeing that. I posted this little clip of me cussing
Speaker 1: in the studio. Everybody's like, oh, I'm grown, I cuss,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It's like it happened loud. I still love the Lord.
Speaker 1: Like, okay, I'm I'm still one. But I cut up
Speaker 1: a little bit, and that's my thing. And people are
Speaker 1: shocked when I say yeah, I can sing, They're like really, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not being arrogant, it's just saying that's what I do.
Speaker 2: I'm a who call me to do. I'm singing with
Speaker 2: an a I can sing, you can, you don't sing,
Speaker 2: you can do all of that stuffs.
Speaker 1: And then teaching is fun too. I love when teaching.
Speaker 1: I'm direct with teaching too. I don't mess around.
Speaker 2: With that stuff. What do you mean when you teach
Speaker 2: other people to sing?
Speaker 1: When I teach, I teach at Berkeley College of Music, right,
Speaker 1: I teach it with the the Jazz and Gender Justice,
Speaker 1: which is a program out of Berkeley College of Music
Speaker 1: that Terry Lane Carrington founded. A Grammy Award winning professor.
Speaker 1: She's incredible to musician. She likes to make sure there's
Speaker 1: diversity with women in musicianship and uh in music spaces,
Speaker 1: behind the scenes, in front and whatever. But she's the
Speaker 1: one that helped me become a professor there. And we
Speaker 1: teach Africana studies, We teach masterclasses with singing. We teach
Speaker 1: about legends you know that came before me, and all
Speaker 1: the things. I feel that singers need to learn how
Speaker 1: to perform and own their space in the world and
Speaker 1: not feel timid about it. Just be unapologetic and stand
Speaker 1: in your space and go. You know what I mean?
Speaker 1: This is who I am. Eric comes and because everybody
Speaker 1: thinks per they're imperfections, they're all That's the first thing
Speaker 1: they focus on this era because the because of social media,
Speaker 1: like you can't be you got to be perfect. It's like, no,
Speaker 1: your imperfections make you who you are, so just be that. Well,
Speaker 1: my other teacher said I shouldn't sing here. I said,
Speaker 1: why not this part of your voice? Use it for
Speaker 1: something else, Move it out the way it maybe it
Speaker 1: doesn't work for this style of music, but save it
Speaker 1: for something else. I use every part of my voice
Speaker 1: and they're shocked, you know, but that's those are the
Speaker 1: kind I'm the rebellious one. I'm very rebel like I
Speaker 1: just I don't follow the rules that great. But people
Speaker 1: don't know that about me because you're not hanging out
Speaker 1: with me. You don't see how I teach or move.
Speaker 1: You just see this record, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And I'm not always online to show that part and
Speaker 1: whether it's intentional or not intentional, because I don't think
Speaker 1: you have to put everything on social media. I don't
Speaker 1: think everything that you have is met for social media,
Speaker 1: although society today will tell you that, but I've always
Speaker 1: thought that music was the biggest for our culture, for
Speaker 1: black folks, especially one of the biggest ways in which
Speaker 1: we advocate for ourselves and tell people how to fight
Speaker 1: the justice. And I'm black and I'm proud, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? Do you consider yourself an advocate? Absolutely?
Speaker 2: In what way?
Speaker 1: In wellness? In balance? That chaos is real, messy is real.
Speaker 1: I advocate. You don't know that I advocate. My closest
Speaker 1: friends know, men, musician friends know. They see me behind
Speaker 1: the scenes advocating. I don't show that part of me.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I guess how they said Prince was where
Speaker 1: he does stuff and they just now finding out about it.
Speaker 1: I'm one of those kind of people like I don't
Speaker 1: have to brag about my advocacy. I was shocked. I
Speaker 1: did an interview if someone found out about it, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, and they're like, I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: we're talking about that. I didn't know. You know, I
Speaker 1: have a care for musicians' rights, and I advocate for
Speaker 1: you know, with recording academy for the youth and making
Speaker 1: sure there's balance between the old school and new school,
Speaker 1: making sure everybody is seen and heard, not just being
Speaker 1: relevant all the time. Sometimes it's not about that. It's
Speaker 1: about the quality of the work. Well, for me, it's
Speaker 1: always about that and preserving history. I love history and
Speaker 1: people and I don't know. I just think I'm an
Speaker 1: advocate in my own way, kind of like how Mahela
Speaker 1: was her money where she needed to. She sang the
Speaker 1: songs to unite people. Same thing. Bob Marley did, same thing,
Speaker 1: Marion did, same thing. So many others have done to
Speaker 1: unite people, or to ignite people, or to make people
Speaker 1: think about how they feel about things, or say the
Speaker 1: things they can't say. And I have to remind some
Speaker 1: of the elders, look, they is wild out here. We
Speaker 1: need to talk about those things. Nothing's wrong with it
Speaker 1: is here. So let's let them talk about it. Or
Speaker 1: I'll say it, but I'll say it in a different
Speaker 1: way than the other person will, but it needs to
Speaker 1: be said, you know. And they're like, well that's too this.
Speaker 1: I said. I love it. We need all of us,
Speaker 1: all of the things out there, to find out what
Speaker 1: it is and see, you know, is it hurting us
Speaker 1: or is it not. That's why I love. I just
Speaker 1: love what I do. I add a space of safety.
Speaker 1: I'm not judging you be who you are. Do what
Speaker 1: you do, but don't but remember there's a root to
Speaker 1: you too. What's your history, what's your legacy? What are
Speaker 1: you leaving behind? What will that say about your line
Speaker 1: of family members? I still trust and love that part
Speaker 1: of us, So I'm holding on to it, and so
Speaker 1: and a lot of other people are. But I don't judge.
Speaker 1: That's not my theme.
Speaker 4: Every champion and carry champions. To be a champion, a
Speaker 4: champion and.
Speaker 3: Carry champion and carry chap y'ata champion and carry chapion
Speaker 3: and carry champion entertainment?
Speaker 4: Can naked weird look very champion and carry champions?
Speaker 3: To be a champion, A champion and carry champion niggery
Speaker 3: yt a champion.
Speaker 4: And carry champion and carry chappi entertainment?
Speaker 2: Can I get work as an activist? Do you would
Speaker 2: you if you had a title? People love titles. You
Speaker 2: don't have to have one. But would you call yourself
Speaker 2: a musical activist, a political activist, an activist in general?
Speaker 2: Do you live in all of these spaces? I did
Speaker 2: a quick and this is quick when I tell you,
Speaker 2: it wasn't deep, but it's a quick, little deep dive.
Speaker 2: I and I noticed that you follow so many of
Speaker 2: my really good girlfriends, and they are about fight the
Speaker 2: power to the p O W E R and I,
Speaker 2: And I thought to myself, what this is of interest?
Speaker 2: This is? This is? This is she cares, she sees
Speaker 2: you know, the distance from where we were and where
Speaker 2: we need to go. Women.
Speaker 1: Its Women's Month. I love powerful women that are unafraid
Speaker 1: to say, hey, get off my neck, get out my space,
Speaker 1: move over here, you know I want my money. I
Speaker 1: love I love all those women that aren't afraid to
Speaker 1: speak about out something that everyone's scared to step on.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I just I wish I had the boldness that they have.
Speaker 1: So I do what I can to support them retweet.
Speaker 1: When I see them, I say thank you and they
Speaker 1: say thank you for the music. So I'm doing something.
Speaker 1: It may not be what they're doing.
Speaker 2: Or that's all doing something.
Speaker 1: We're doing something. So when they're there, I support and
Speaker 1: I say it out loud so they see my face
Speaker 1: in my eyes. I love you, thank you. And there
Speaker 1: are days I've needed them. I mean on the other
Speaker 1: side of the screen. Yes, girls say it please, because
Speaker 1: it's like, is anybody else gonna say that this woman
Speaker 1: is hurt? This woman has been wronged. Is anyone to
Speaker 1: stand up for this woman like we do when it's
Speaker 1: the black man? Are we gonna help black? I black women.
Speaker 1: I love black women. I love our are just we
Speaker 1: don't know beings.
Speaker 2: We are the moral conscience of this whole damn country.
Speaker 2: We have their children, we have raised them, we have
Speaker 2: stood by our man, and still no one is speaking
Speaker 2: for us if we don't speak for ourselves. And it
Speaker 2: is so frustrating. So when you say that, and yes,
Speaker 2: it is Women's History Month, but when I talk about
Speaker 2: the special sauce that we bring to everything that we do,
Speaker 2: your music, which is here, you know, I'm just like
Speaker 2: we do it like none other. And with that, I
Speaker 2: just think to myself, Okay, I see what she's saying.
Speaker 2: I feel what you feel, and you are necessary and
Speaker 2: you're important. And I will say this just as a fan.
Speaker 2: If you don't feel that, know that there are so
Speaker 2: many of us who are thinking that, who have said that,
Speaker 2: and who are sending you that energy.
Speaker 1: I've promised you. I feel it all the time, even
Speaker 1: when I just a phone call, but little texts means
Speaker 1: everything to me. There I don't feel the heavy anymore.
Speaker 1: I just remind people the heavy was there, keep going
Speaker 1: like a little post here and there. But my black
Speaker 1: circle of women, the black women around me, they don't play.
Speaker 2: They cut girl.
Speaker 1: They tell you the truth. Hey, true blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: You know, I just got off the phone before we
Speaker 1: talked with Queen Anita Baker. She's so proud of me.
Speaker 1: She had to call. I said, you don't have to call.
Speaker 1: She's like, no, No, I need you to know. Listen,
Speaker 1: I need you to know. I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 1: You're doing your work. You're doing the real work. People
Speaker 1: are healing people. You're healing, and you're saying the things
Speaker 1: that need to be said. You know, somebody needs this today.
Speaker 1: Is everything coming from her because her music.
Speaker 2: Man, you know, I ain't even got this step cleaning
Speaker 2: up the house on a Saturday. Mama, sweep this carpet
Speaker 2: because you can't. You might vacuum a penny, so you
Speaker 2: can't use the vacuum. So I had to say, oh,
Speaker 2: you had to sweep and tell me Anita got me through.
Speaker 2: And then you didn't do it right, you didn't get
Speaker 2: the corners. I I feel it that, I feel it. No,
Speaker 2: And there's just something special about the black woman who
Speaker 2: understands that it's so great your your latest album. Congratulations,
Speaker 2: you deserve, you deserve, you deserve. And that has been
Speaker 2: my mantra for all my favorite for all my black women, period,
Speaker 2: not all.
Speaker 1: My I'm gonna say that to you now, now rap
Speaker 1: out of here.
Speaker 2: Yeah you deserve. What do you want when people go
Speaker 2: out and buy this album or listen to this album?
Speaker 2: What do you want them to to take away? If
Speaker 2: you had, If you had a message.
Speaker 1: It's about getting through it, just through, feel good and
Speaker 1: find the good in every moment of it. Good life
Speaker 1: even when it's chaotic. What what is good about this though?
Speaker 1: What if I learned? What can I do better and
Speaker 1: get through it? The message parts, the beautiful parts and yourself?
Speaker 1: Love yourself, love yourself better than I have a husband.
Speaker 1: I love him, he loves me great. But I gotta
Speaker 1: love me, you know. I gotta like or are you soul?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? I gotta be constantly loving
Speaker 1: on myself and giving myself time so that I want
Speaker 1: for anybody, male, female, whatever, love yourself as you let us.
Speaker 2: See, we love you as you are. We're letting you go.
Speaker 2: Thank you for being so patient and being so kind
Speaker 2: with us today. We will obviously meet again. I feel
Speaker 2: like I manifest this. I'm gonna bump into you somewhere
Speaker 2: and just roll up on you and don't be absolutely surprised.
Speaker 2: I'd be loved.
Speaker 1: How comfortable I am done, did better.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be like that. It's gonna be a reunion.
Speaker 2: I think there's gonna be a family.
Speaker 1: Glad I got to meet you.
Speaker 2: I am too. I appreciate you. You are so fun.
Speaker 2: You are a blessing. Thank you so much for coming
Speaker 2: on naked. You were beautiful and naked, So thank.
Speaker 1: You, Thank you so much much.
Speaker 2: You guys, She's a key key. I may have edited
Speaker 2: some of that stuff out, but she is a key key. Like,
Speaker 2: we had a really good time and I enjoyed her.
Speaker 2: She is a real, real, real woman. What a refreshing
Speaker 2: thought to have, right, Like, have you ever met someone
Speaker 2: and you walk away feeling, Oh, they're authentic, They're genuine.
Speaker 2: And in this world, it's so rare because we often
Speaker 2: feel like we need to perform, and we do right.
Speaker 2: We do need to perform a little in our jobs.
Speaker 2: We do need to perform a little bit in our lifestyles.
Speaker 2: We do need to perform a little bit on social media.
Speaker 2: That is the name of the game. You don't have
Speaker 2: to play it to a certain extent, but there is
Speaker 2: some part of that that comes with the job. Nowadays,
Speaker 2: you can't just sit at home and mind your business.
Speaker 2: Does dagg Internet made it difficult. But it is her
Speaker 2: eleventh album. It is out today and I need as
Speaker 2: in listen to it right now, go buy it today
Speaker 2: as you hear this podcast today and support what she's doing.
Speaker 2: She's an independent artist. She has freedom, but with that
Speaker 2: freedom comes more responsibilities. You heard her talk about being
Speaker 2: an activist for other artists. She's talking about legacy and
Speaker 2: what it means when people talk about legacy. It's important
Speaker 2: to know where you've come from and what you're leaving behind,
Speaker 2: and she does. She does know that she has given
Speaker 2: credit to Nina Simone has a huge influence on her life.
Speaker 2: If you're not familiar with Nina Simone, get your education again.
Speaker 2: Legacy because everything that's happening in our world today with art,
Speaker 2: with music, with people that you might know and love,
Speaker 2: there was someone who influenced them, who was doing it
Speaker 2: exactly the way that they are doing it. Just with
Speaker 2: the new bound Twist of Today. Legacy is important and
Speaker 2: I appreciate. Let us see for being here on Naked
Speaker 2: Today again. Go out and support this system. We're wrapping
Speaker 2: it up. I'll be back next week again. Tell some
Speaker 2: woman you love her. Is Women's History Monk. Give somebody
Speaker 2: a shout out. Cash at somebody, cash at me, celebrate us,
Speaker 2: cash out the Naked crew. I'll defend it. I'll send
Speaker 2: it out to the women that are on is Women's
Speaker 2: History Month, but we do it. Give us a dollar,
Speaker 2: a Starbucks card. You know what I mean. You get
Speaker 2: what I'm saying. Have a great day. Talk to y'all soon.