Joe and Jada - Angie Martinez IRL - Mona Scott-Young: The Woman Behind Your Favorite Reality TV Show
Episode Date: August 6, 2026Recording Artist Manager and Executive Producer, Mona Scott-Young sits down with Angie Martinez to talk about managing artists such as Tyrese, Busta Rhymes, and Missy Elliot, being the CEO of her own ...production company, and producing the hit reality TV franchise ‘Love & Hip Hop.’ Visit your nearest Boost Mobile store or https://promo.boostmobile.com/webuilt...All lines provided by Hard Rock BetSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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But I remember talking to him and he was like, you're not going to make it out there on your own.
Yep.
Wow.
I think he doubted that I could go out there and have the same level of success.
And so I was like, a word.
I was going to say that had to fuel you.
watch, you know, like.
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For managing many, many artists,
Missy Elliott, Bust the Rhymes,
running the ship at Violator,
to creating, of course,
the iconic love and hip-hop franchise.
Welcome to Scott Young to the Iron Podcast.
Thank you.
Oh, Mona.
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited about this for many reasons.
Oh, wow.
Well, one, because we go so far back.
So far back.
And it's interesting.
to think of how, you know, when you have many iterations of your career, people see you,
oh, that's Mona from love and hip hop. And I'm like, yes, but that's also Mona from...
You know, I go around all the time saying, I did not hatch from a love and hip hop egg.
Because, you know, especially when you're talking about the kids, as they say, they have no idea.
And it's always like this big surprise to them that I did anything before love and hip hop.
I hope the kids get to know you a little bit differently today.
I hope so, too. As we go into the files. First of all, she's fresh off a,
Red Eye.
Not to mention Tyrese was wearing me out.
You got into manager mode?
Exactly.
I had to get into manager mode.
Are you managing him now?
I am.
You are.
I'm managing him.
And then we're partnering on a lot of things.
Okay, got it.
Because at this stage of my life management was like,
do I really want to go down that rabbit hole?
I mean, it's what I do naturally, right, all day, every day.
And that's what I always say when I'm producing or interacting,
you know, you get the benefit of.
But it's not what I wanted to kind of jump back into it.
head first, I don't even know how to happen with Tyrese.
It was one of those things.
You know, when you're dating, you know, and you're like, well, why did I fall in love
with this person and not all these other people?
What was it, right?
And you just don't know.
It was that kind of thing.
Like I've sat with so many people that were like, would you be interested in managing?
I'd love for you to manage.
And I'm just like, no, no.
Like, I'll help you because I feel like anything I can do to help someone on their journey.
I'm always happy to do that.
but I don't want it to be official.
I don't want you having a license to call me.
Because it's like a full relationship.
What?
It is a full relationship.
And it's funny because as a matter of fact,
I really had to get my husband's sign in on this one.
Wow.
Because we're at the point the kids are gone,
we're empty nesters.
This is supposed to be the, you know,
the golden years.
And here I was taking on not just anyone, but Tyrese.
Tyreeze.
Because you said in the first two minutes,
minutes, you know, oh, this is a lot.
You know, like, in a good way, but he's a lot, you know.
He's so energetic. Everything is big. Everything is, you know.
You know, it's so funny you even saying that, we were all over the place, but it'll come full circle.
But even you saying that is reminding me of, I don't know, this quote that Chris Lighty said, I was in a room one time and I heard Chris Lighty said, this is someone, and I always, it was always a reference point for me for managers.
He said being a manager is the most thankless job because you could do something incredible for an artist, set them up.
They have this big shot. Everybody says how great it is and everybody says how great the artist is.
It's something that you put together.
Put together, right.
But God forbid one thing and that goes wrong.
Oh, it's all yours.
It's the manager's fault.
You get all the credit at that point.
You get all the credit at that point.
So you don't get the glory.
But you do get the problems.
Yes, yes, yes.
And anything that goes wrong falls on your last.
And I don't know, I heard him say that and I never, I had never thought of it that way.
He's absolutely right.
I say it all the time.
And that was part of why I think I've been so reluctant because I love managing mainly
because I feel again, I say it all the time.
It's in my DNA, right?
I see talent.
I see the potential and automatically my brain starts to put the pieces together.
Even if it's some shit, I have nothing to do with it's not even my client.
And I'm sitting there.
I go to a concert and I'm like, oh yeah, they could have done that.
Oh, I wonder if they've ever thought about that,
because that's just the way my brain works.
And I think the gratification of, for me,
is in whatever part I played in that end result, right?
When they talk about it being a thankless job,
honestly, Tyrese will tell you,
I am so uncomfortable with the effusive gestures of gratitude.
Because you spent decades of not getting it.
Listen, I'd be like, what?
What you say?
Thank you.
What?
You know, and he's very much like,
I'm coming to pick you up at the airport, sir.
I've got, you know, but he does that stuff.
And for him, it's a small way of showing gratitude,
which doesn't make me uncomfortable.
It's more like, what?
Like, what are you doing?
Too much.
You're making me uncomfortable.
Right, exactly.
But for me, it's really about knowing that there was this idea
in the back of their brain,
there was this dream that they had this thing
that they wanted to accomplish.
and understanding that, ooh, I know how to make this happen.
And then seeing that thing happen and understanding what it does for them and their sense of,
you know, accomplishment.
It sounds pointy, but I promise you that for me is the gratitude.
That for me is the gift.
That for me is the payoff, right?
Even if they never say thank you.
I know.
You know what I'm saying?
I know how much this means to you.
I know how badly you wanted this.
I know how incredible it is for you to experience this dream that you've had.
And that, you know, is what fuels me.
That's beautiful.
I think I want to go back.
I want to fast forward and then go back because I think I do want to land at some point
and how you make that transition from somebody who was, because management is really a, it's
a service business, right?
I mean, it's a grand service business, but it's still.
No, but it is.
I used to say we're highly paid babysitters and assistance.
And yeah.
Yeah, but at some point you transitioned to become, I always tell the Britney about this
for herself too.
It's like, Brittany manages my day to day and the pod and everything.
And I'm always like, make sure you have like some main character energy going on.
And at some point, I feel like that transition happened for you where you started to kind of become main character.
And I do want to get to that.
But before we do that, I do want to reintroduce to people where you come from.
come from and the roots of that.
Right, right.
Okay, you managed Missy.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Well, you know, when we had Violator, which, you know, that story is always, whenever I tell it,
I'm like, wow, it's been a life, you know.
But we at the time when we had Violator managed everyone that was anyone.
In the heyday, who we have.
In the heyday.
In the Hayday.
Buster Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Maudie, Tribe called Quest, over the years, Fantasia.
Maria?
Mariah Carey.
Yes, I thought I'd said it, but yes, Mariah, Maxwell, oh, gee.
And then, you know, we have Violator Records where there was Warren G and Foxy Brown and Ella,
did I say, El-Cool-Jay.
It felt like Seelow.
Jesus, there were so many artists that, you know, came in and out of the violator doors,
but our mainstay, right, was Buster and Missy and Ella.
LL, 50, they were kind of our core tribe, right?
They were the core artists that we had.
Yeah, and then 2005, I had the ability to,
because the artist started growing, they wanted to do other things,
and what was happening is, you know, other managers would come in
and want to manage their acting careers or, you know,
hold up.
What?
But wait, don't take me there yet.
Don't take me there.
Oh, okay.
Go back to Baby Mona.
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How are you even in a position to have Violator?
Oh, you want to go all the way back.
Yeah, like I want to understand.
Jesus. Okay.
So the early, early, early, early.
earliest moment was me walking into Broadway Dance Center, right?
The Broadway Dance Center is the studio on 50-something Street.
It was a dance center because I wanted to take an aerobics class, right?
I'm going to tell you the long story.
So I went in there, I took the aerobics class, I was leaving the class,
I heard this music coming out of a room, I peeked my head in.
They had these three beautiful women.
They were in the class conducting the class.
One of them in particular was in the lead and there was a microphone and there was a class of
people behind and they were like taking them through what looked like a routine, right?
And it turned out that there was this one by the name of Robin Dunn.
She and her sisters had a company called Dun-Torri.
And what they did was a class called Stage Moves.
And it taught artists how to project, hold the microphone, you know, deliver a performance.
So I was like, oh, that looks like fun.
I think I could do that.
And I went and took the class and-
You're how old?
Dancing.
Huh?
You're how old?
Oh, Jesus.
Baby.
20s.
I must have been, let me think, if I do the math real quick, I had to have been around 25.
We're not going to fact check it.
No, no, no, I'm being factual.
It had to have been about 25, right?
What were you doing then?
What was your job?
Oh, shoot.
I was working for a placement firm that placed graphic designers,
Ross Goldfarb and Associates.
Shout out to Ross and the ladies there.
But I'll tell you about the impact that that had.
It was an all-female-run company, right?
And this woman, Rosal-Farv, she was a powerhouse,
but she had all of these graphic designers
and desktop publishers that she represented.
And I was the office manager.
And that's not bad, at 25, yeah.
Yeah, I was doing that at 25.
Because you were smart, right?
You must have been smart.
You know what?
I have been working since I was, Jesus, 14, 15.
Right?
I became an emancipated minor at 15.
So I was kind of on my own.
I was living in St. Paul, in the Virgin Islands at the time.
And I was like, yeah, I've done everything there
is to do on this island.
I'm ready to go.
I was 15.
By yourself?
By myself.
And my sister, my older sisters, lived in New York still,
because I grew up in New York.
A lot of people think I came from a small village in Haiti.
That was the story that my agent came up with for the press release.
She thought it would make more sense now.
But I used to live in New York.
I grew up in New York, was born.
In Manhattan, grew up there.
We moved around a lot.
I lived in Canada, Puerto Rico, St. Croix.
We landed in St. Croix.
And when I turned 15, I was like, I'm good.
You know.
Why were you moving around?
My mother, she just like looking for a better life,
trying to find different situations.
She was married to this Puerto Rican man,
who is my younger brother's father.
And so we lived there with his grandmother.
That's where I learned how to speak Spanish,
watching the telenovelas, you know, in the cartoons.
That's why you love Romeo Santos.
Shout out to Romeo Santos.
An adventura.
But, you know, we didn't have an antenna,
so all we could watch was Spanish TV.
So I learned how to speak very dramatic Spanish, right,
because of the soap operas.
But you're watching soap operas.
I'm nine years old watching soap operas.
That's funny.
So then, where was I?
At 15.
We went to St. Croix.
I decided I'd had it.
I remember so vivid.
being at the airport and my mother calling the police on me because they were just like,
you know, she's 15, she's trying to go to New York to be with her sisters. And I was like,
I declare myself an emancipated minor. No, you did not. I did. How did you even know you could
do that? I looked it up. I was smart. Oh, but you know. So you Googled how do I get out of here?
Well, they didn't have Google back then. Oh, right. My God. Right, exactly. So what are you in an
encyclopedia? Yes, literally. Shut up. Finding information, calling, you know, how, how,
How do you set yourself free?
You know, because my mother was very, and listen, thinking about it now, ridiculous, right?
At 15 is crazy.
I am lucky that I did not get sex trafficked, right?
But she was at the airport when I got on the plane.
But I always worked little odd ends here and there, so I'd save my little money, bought my ticket,
and I was coming to live with my sister.
So, but got a little day job here and there, odds and ends, was still going to school.
I went to Parkwest High School and 50th Street, just reporting for duty every day at school and then going to work and realizing at a very early age that I am not cut out to take, you know, direction.
And I loved coming in and exploring the possibilities, right?
Starting out as, oh, you're a cashier today.
Oh, today I'm a key card holder.
Tomorrow I'm an assistant manager and just moving up the ranks and then going, okay, been there, done that.
It's been two weeks.
ready to move on. So moved around a little bit. And then when I turned 18, I graduated high school,
17, going on 18, and then had to make that leap. Like, you know, am I going to try college or
am I really ready to kind of go out there on my own, get my own place? That means I'm going to have
to work full time. So I don't have your parents. Because you don't have your parents.
Well, you know, and the relationship at that point was still a little bit strained with my mom. I mean,
we have this intense like adoration and love and she is everything,
you know, she's responsible for everything that I am today.
But at that age, you know, I'm feeling my sense of independence and I want to be able to live
out of my own. So we were kind of touching dull at that point.
Yeah. But yeah, so I moved out of my sisters, got my own little apartment in Jersey
City and started working full time. I went to college for one semester. I went to city college
one semester and was like, oh, this is hard. I can't do them both, right?
And I've always been like an autodidact, just self-taught.
You know, I'm very curious.
I read a lot.
I'm very, you know, I voraciously take in information.
So yeah, I felt like I was grown.
I had what I needed to make it in the world.
Unbelievable.
Now when I look at my daughter and my son at that age,
I'm like, oh, please.
Jesus Christ, what the hell was I thinking?
But I also think we were much more mature back then.
Yeah, because we had no choice to be.
And we didn't have everything handed to us the way they do now.
Not in terms of life.
I'm talking information, right?
Everything.
Yeah, you had to go to Encyclopedia.
We had to go and figure out.
To all of the department of whatever.
We were a lot more resourceful with less access.
Isn't that crazy?
Yeah.
You would think now with all the access,
they'd be more resourceful.
No, it comes too easy.
Exactly.
Yeah, I get that.
So then how does managing artists happen?
Oh shit.
I went left on that story.
No, that's okay.
I'm like, wait a minute.
All right, so where were we?
Fast forward.
I'm back at the day.
So I started doing that, found my natural aptitude in life,
because I love to dance, and then started teaching the class.
That brought me in proximity with the artists
that they would have taken the class,
because then they would also do privates with clients and stuff.
And through that work, I started working with a group called The A-Team.
And the A-Team were signed to Select Records.
Remember Select Records?
I do.
They were under Chub Rock.
And I started working with those guys,
and they were produced and signed to the Trackmasters.
And then the track masters just watching me work with those guys,
you know, on a daily basis.
And again, doing whatever needed to be done
to make my life easier, they were like,
have you ever thought about managing?
I'm like, I don't even, honestly, until I come into this class,
every day, I don't even listen to the radio.
You know, so we started kind of doing that dance
of me figuring out what that looks like,
and then they asked me to manage them, right?
And these were early days
four guys out of Brooklyn, super talented,
but hadn't really made their mark yet, right?
They were still kind of grinding.
I met Chris Lighty through them
because one of the artists that I worked with
was Chi Ali and Blacksheet.
Oh, wow, yeah.
Which were all part of, you know,
that extended crew that they had going on.
And then I started managing the trackmasters,
whatever the hell that meant back then,
reading again, Donald Passman's,
everything you need to know about the music industry.
you know, asking questions.
But then fast forward, after, you know, a couple of years of grinding with the guys,
we worked on everybody from like Mary's album, So for Real, Jesus, Heavy D, everybody, Usher.
When he was a baby, you know, this was before Steve Stout came in and started managing,
because after a couple of years of doing that and the song started to hit and the popularity started to hit.
And unfortunately, the guys decided to go there separate ways.
I was actually getting ready to go to Atlanta, right?
And then Chris was like, you know what?
I've been doing Rush.
We're about to go over to do Violator and Def Jam.
You should just come and help me through the transition.
And then I was like, okay, well, what's going to happen with all these artists, Busta and all the...
And he was just like, hmm, I was like, well, shit, you know, I'm a manager now, even though I still didn't know what the hell I was doing.
And that's how we started Violator Management.
Because at the time, there was only violated records.
Well, I didn't know that.
So Chris wasn't even, management was not on his radar.
No, because he had violated records.
Foxy was hitting.
He was also the president of Def Jam.
He had his hands full.
Yeah.
So he was just like run with it, you know.
And yeah, I took over this little closet in the building.
Leor didn't even know I was there.
Every day I was just operating.
Like the phone, I had my own phone line.
I'd be like, Violator management.
And Leo knows it because we talked about it.
And one day he called and got
put through that to that line and I was like violate a management he was like who the fuck is this
oh shit and he came around that corner busted open that door he was like who are you like literally
had started a whole little company under their noses that's his yeah unbelievable yep
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Hey, this is Hayes Davenport.
And Sean Clements.
We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook.
Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers.
The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes and understand what's going on.
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The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere, too, right?
What do you think it is now?
It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology.
Danny McBride.
He loves mouth.
Oh, that's fantastic.
And you make it on, you make your own.
That's great.
I call him Terro Reed.
It's a good name.
They're all named after cast members of American Pie.
Yeah.
I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobiesky.
Yeah.
I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that.
Haven't looked it up.
She was prominent around the same time.
Then Mary Steenbergin.
Why are you guys talking to me?
I'm worried.
I'm worried.
Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play game?
I just really.
I get it.
I'm trying to set you up for success here.
Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Every week, the news gets worse.
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If you come over here to play games,
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Okay?
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So were you and Christopher then partners in management?
Because I just started the management company.
So we came into it as partners.
Yeah.
I never, you know this all these time?
I didn't know that.
That is so funny.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I thought he was already operating and then sought you out and then somehow you, the two of you
became partners.
Because remember there was rush.
So if you look at Busta was at Leavisda.
leaders of the new school.
So this was musta going solo when we took him under violators.
When there was Tribe Called Quest, Mobb Deep, they were all at Rush.
So Rush disbanded, I don't know what year was that, 95, 96.
So like me, Mona, you were probably often the only woman in the room.
Very often, the only one.
How did you manage that?
So different now to how we kind of maneuver.
I, me, I never thought, people would ask me that question.
What about all those times you were the only ones?
Who are the, I didn't even.
I never thought twice about it because of my own headspace.
You know what I'm saying?
Like I was so in grind mode.
It didn't even occur to me.
First of all, I always say, I go through life not putting limitations on myself, right?
So if you start to think about, I'm a woman, I'm the only woman.
You start to create your own box that you start to box yourself in.
So I try my best not even to think.
those terms, right? And so I would just be in it constantly. Now, what is interesting looking
back, right? And I don't know if you ever had this experience, I did realize that there was
kind of the girls and then there was the women who was just doing it. That was like one of the dudes.
Yes. Right? But then there were the girls that you, they were in the business, but somehow
it was a different vibe.
They were around them.
Yes.
Right?
And so I was like, why didn't I get, why was it I in that, you know?
And I guess it was because my own mentality, I just, it was all about the work.
I remember Chris said to me one day, you're wasted as a woman.
You would have made a much better dude.
And I was like, I feel like there's a compliment in there somewhere, you know.
What was the occasion?
Why did he say that?
I think we had closed something.
I'd done something, right, pulled a rabbit out of my ass.
I don't know.
He was like, man, you would have made such a dope dude.
You're so wasted as a woman.
I was like, seriously?
You know?
Oh, my God, Chris.
But I, those are some of the defining things that when I think back,
because in that moment, what I realized was that, oh, the things that are unique
to my being a woman are my tools, right?
my secret weapons. So what is it? Oh, the fact that I was able to get this done. Well, that's because
we're more detail-oriented. The fact that, you know, so I started thinking of my womanly wiles,
my womanly gifts as that exactly, gifts. Yeah. Not, you know, things to be used against me.
Yeah. That's funny. I had one of those. It was, I was interviewing Birdman, so random.
Because I like you, I used to never think that. You know, any guys had to sit across the room
or in the room with them or whatever.
And we were doing an interview and it was an intense,
this is years later, I'd already been on there for years.
It was an intense moment conversation we were having.
And he just stopped and he just looked at me and he was like,
it was almost like he was saying too much and he was mad about it.
And then he just was like, you know, you,
I'm able to talk to you like this because you're a woman.
I would never have this conversation with somebody else.
And I'd never heard, nobody had ever said that to me.
Right.
But I realized, oh, all these years,
that was probably in my secret toolbox
without me even knowing it was my secret toolbox,
is the ability to have, to be vulnerable,
to create a vulnerable space for people to share in a different way.
Yeah, but with the same energy of the do's.
Like, I love the music just much.
I knew the lyrics just as much.
I knew that, you know, I can do the same thing.
But you were able to kind of tap into the thing
that only you have as a woman doing this.
Yes.
I remember also going to this seminar once
and listening to this woman see,
oh, and she said it plainly, and it just reinforced what I knew,
but she articulated it.
She was just like, you know, don't allow them to villainize
the things that, you know, make you unique as a woman
because they're threatened by that, right?
So they use it against you.
And so the emotion you'll hear, you know,
oh, women are emotional.
They don't belong in the business.
I use my emotion when necessary.
I, you know, I connect with you on a different level
because I'm not afraid to display that emotion, right?
And so that has served me in situations.
When I'm able to call someone
and very clearly express like that was wrong
because I know for a fact that you would not have done this
had I not been a woman, right?
So that may be deemed emotional,
but it's me being able to tap into my honesty,
being not afraid to express my emotion
in a way that I think only women can.
And you can say, oh, you know, a man would never say that or a man,
but guess what? A man would never be in that position
because you would have never done that shit to him.
So what are we talking about?
You know what I'm saying?
No.
It's leaning in.
Yeah, and I lean in all the time.
Yeah, that's so good.
But I don't know, I think back then too, we just didn't think about it.
We were just trying to get a job done.
It was hustle culture.
Hustle, hustle, hustle.
which to this day I still hustle.
Do you?
Like what?
Because I just feel like you,
the only thing that separates us is, you know,
the grace of God and our ability to get up every day and go hard.
So I'm never going to take that for granted.
You know, people are like, why do you still do it at the level that you do it?
Now, mind you, I'm enjoying it in a much different way, right?
Because that's what led, oh, that was me, I'm sorry.
That's what led to me in 2008 saying to Chris, I'm good.
You know, I just don't want to do this anymore, right?
Because I spent so many years, like being in service to, like you said, the clients,
which, again, I still loved it.
It's still what I did?
But then I realized, like, what else do I want to do?
Right?
What else is out there for me?
And I'd done that TV show with Missy.
And I was like, oh, I really enjoyed this process.
I'd like to do more of this.
but I won't have the bandwidth
because I don't know how to do this
without giving of myself fully.
Right?
So I had to make a choice.
And I was miserable at that point
because I wasn't living up to my own expectations,
my own potential.
I was just doing what I did
because I do it really well,
but I'm doing it for everyone else.
And I know there's more shit that I want to do,
but I don't know what it is yet.
But if I don't give myself that opportunity,
I'll never know.
So it was that cycle of,
I know they need me and I want to do this,
but I'm not happy because I want to do more.
And finally, I was just like, I'm leaving.
You know, I want to strike that.
He didn't believe me at first.
He was just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, right, yeah, right.
Where you going?
You ain't going nowhere.
And I don't say this as a negative thing, you know,
because I feel like it really helped fuel the next phase of my life.
But I remember talking to him and he was like,
you're not going to make it out there on your own.
Yeah. Wow. But not in a negative way. He didn't say it like he doubted. I could he said it more like, we are so connected. You are such an intricate part of the ecosystem that exists here that how will you ever be able to do anything else? How will you ever duplicate the success that we had here? Right. So I didn't take it as he didn't think that I had the ability to be successful. I think he doubted.
that I could go out there and have the same level of success.
And so I was like, a word.
I was going to say that had to feel you.
Watch.
You know, like that might have been trying to keep you.
And listen, that's what I'd like to believe.
He was like, all right, if she's going to do it,
let me put a battery in her back,
because I know how to push her buttons.
Because I'm so competitive.
Or it could have been him trying to be manipulative
in not wanting you to go.
And wanting me to stay, yes.
me to stay.
And wanting you to stay.
Yeah, I think it was a little bit of all of it.
I think it was a little bit of all of it.
So you had a battery in your back?
Oh boy, did I.
Yeah.
Because, you know, I didn't even know what I was going to do.
There was no clear like, okay, I'm going into television.
I'm going to start my own management company.
I had kind of all of these thoughts and ideas in my head.
But I wasn't sure.
And then we were still splitting the baby with Buster, right?
Because he was kind of straddling both Chris and I.
And then Missy came with me.
And so I knew I had that, my core, and then it was like, okay, what else can I do?
And I met this incredible woman by the name of Gail Federici, who was, you know, those pivotal people that you meet in your life that come at the right juncture.
She had built the John Frida company from scratch, right?
And her daughters were the two young girls that were in the commercial back in the day, the two blonde young girls.
Okay.
And she and I connected and she was the most motivational, encouraging.
You are incredible.
She poured into me like in a way that I feel shaped the next iteration of who I became.
Wow.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
It was like things that I didn't think I was capable of.
She was just like, no, I meet special people every day.
I know, you know.
And she was so sure.
that I was like, well, goddamn, I guess I am, you know, Destin.
I guess I am the shit.
And so it was one of those crucial moments in my development
and my, you know, next phase of evolution, my evolution.
Isn't that funny how you could have had so much success already,
but still the impact of just like one person, a woman,
yeah, of course, to come along and see another level.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Because had you ever had mentorship before?
No.
Was that a mentor or was it somebody that just kind of...
She was a mentor, a partner, a friend.
You know, we had a blast while we were doing all the many things that we did together.
But, yeah, I mean, when I think about the traditional sense of having somebody to look at, right?
As much, like I said, my mother and I were this in the early days, but I think a big part of it was because we're both so strong-willed, right?
And I watched this woman doing all the things that she did.
So yeah, in a very classic sense, I had a powerhouse woman
that I watched navigate life against all odds.
And she just happened to be my mother.
So that was my very first impression
of what a woman is capable of despite obstacles.
And then moving through life, I had the women on the wall
that I tore out of the Essence magazine.
They were mentors in my head.
because I was following their journeys
and seeing what they had been able to accomplish.
Yeah.
And then meeting Gail in the flesh
and realizing that, you know what she did for me, Gail?
She demystified the notion that anything and everything is possible.
Because she operates in this space,
and I'll tell you why I say it in present tense,
she operates in this space that they
There is absolutely nothing that you cannot do
as long as you get up in the morning
and you take a fucking breath.
You are alive, right?
That was your biggest accomplishment.
You woke up, right?
So anything else that you set your mind to,
now that's on you.
What did you do today to take you closer to that?
How did you, you know, take a step towards that goal?
Oh, you didn't?
Oh, then the reason you're not there is because of you.
Because everything else is just noise.
And if you get stopped by the noise, held back
That's on you, right?
Because when she tells the story of meeting John Frieden and Hairs salon,
and then building this, she tells the story of,
you know how we came up.
You know, you know the John Frieda products.
I really, I know the product, I don't know the story.
You know how we ended up with the name being this big.
I used to go into CVS every single day and I'd watch people passing, you know, our product
on the shelf and going to the next product.
So I'd just go back up to them and act like a customer and be like, hey, why didn't
you pick this up?
Did you not realize?
What are you looking for?
Oh, I'm looking for something for frizzy hair.
Oh, this is frizzies.
Did you know that?
Oh, I didn't see the word frizzies.
So she's like, so then I'd go back and I'd make the word frizzies bigger.
And it was like, we look at a product on the shelf and we think, oh, my God, there must have been marketing geniuses sitting around.
She's like, no, I went into CVS and I just asked the person who didn't pick my bottle of why they didn't pick it up.
And that thinking and approach started to shape the way I thought and approach the things that I wanted to accomplish.
And I'm like, that's good.
You have this idea that it's larger than life.
No, these are just normal people.
Even Bill Gates was a normal person with an idea.
No, I'm just kidding.
Yeah, probably.
We won't talk about the Bill Gates of today.
We'll talk about the journey of how he got here.
Okay.
I'm just saying like, you know, there's nothing that separates those folks from us except,
you know, willpower, opportunity, and even opportunity, right?
People will say, well, they were born with a silver spoon, or they can't.
Tell you something.
Janine Ritteray, who is my mother, cannot read a right, came from really a small village in Haiti.
How the hell she found herself in New York City to have me there, right?
Well, that is sheer willpower.
That is sheer wherewithal, right?
That is sheer figuring it out as you go along and not allowing anything to tell you that you can't.
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Hey, this is Hayes Davenport.
And Sean Clements.
We host the podcast, Hollywood Handbook.
Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers.
The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes.
and understand what's going on.
We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller.
The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere, too, right?
What do you think it is now?
It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology.
Danny McBride.
He loves Mouthing.
Oh, that's fantastic.
And you make it on, you make your own.
That's great.
I call him Terro Reed.
It's a good name.
They're all named after cast members of American Pie.
Yeah.
Oh, gotcha.
I call, I don't.
I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobieski.
I don't think she was an American pie, but I still like that.
Haven't looked it up. She was prominent around the same time.
Then Mary Steenbergin.
Why are you guys talking to me?
I'm worried.
Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play game?
I just really, I get it.
I'm trying to set you up for success here.
Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Nick Tuturo.
You probably know me from NYPD Blue, the longest yard, or Spike Leaves Black Klansman.
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Are you delivering pizza now?
Then we sit down for a real conversation.
I've shared a slice with everyone from Seth Rollins.
What are you doing, my belt?
To Alex Rodriguez.
Just to let you people know, we're talking to one of the goats here.
To Bill Burr.
I don't think I've ever met.
somebody so exactly out of their mind as I am.
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It's called Happiness. Delivering Happiness.
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Thank you.
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Every week, the news gets worse.
The world gets crazier.
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If you come over here to play games, I'm a check you.
Okay?
If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm going to play you.
Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast.
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How does she...
How are you now?
Oh, my mother, she lives with me.
Oh my God.
No, no.
Oh, my God.
And again, I want to be careful
because I'm talking about the normal 14, 15,
that age when you're finding your voice. Most kids just stay at home and argue with their
mother until they get past that phase, right? Which is usually 18.
Wait, so she must be so proud of you.
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I understand. And I understood the assignment
when she handed over the reins, because my mother is the matriarch, of course, with my sisters
and the extended family and, you know, she was the person that figured it out.
Right. And so I, you know, carry the torch now.
Uh-huh. Is it officially, like, officially?
Well, I'm a major, you know, like everybody comes to, I'm the youngest daughter, but I am the one that
keeps everyone together, right? The holidays are at my house. I'm cooking for Thanksgiving,
that kind of thing. Yes. Wow. She's okay with this transition. My mother? Yeah. Yeah, she's out in
Unfortunately, you know, early onset, you know, Alzheimer's.
So she comes and goes.
She has the days where she's completely lucid.
But she's 94.
Wow, God bless.
Yes.
How lucky are you though that you had all that time with her and?
And still looks great, has her, you know, a bit of mobile now.
She's in, you know, it's hard for her to move around.
But still here, honey.
Still here.
That's, once you get to like, there's like an age group where everybody is dealing with,
I can't tell you how many friends I have who.
are in the caretaker mode of their parents,
or their parents are dealing with early onset or full onset.
Or, you know, literally, I can show you three friends
who are in the same same thing.
It's not as-
It's not an easy thing to navigate.
It's not an easy thing in life to navigate.
How are you navigating that?
It's hard because of, when I talk about the impact
that she had on me, it's because I watched the
person, like I said, who had so little access and available do all these things, right? And what I
know about her is that there was always so much more she wanted to do. So as I watch her cognizance
slipping and, you know, I'm often sad about did she get to do everything? Did she, you know what I'm
saying? Really have the opportunity. And now that I'm at a place where I'm like, she always wanted
to go to, let's go to Africa. You know, she's bound, you know, in the church.
and she can't really move around.
So it's hard for me and I think there is a side of me
that I struggle with that does not want to fully accept that, right?
You know what I'm saying?
Which is in direct contradiction to how I try to live,
which is every day in the moment, sees it because shit, tomorrow's not promised.
Yeah.
So that's...
You look away a little bit.
Yes.
Yes.
And I struggle with that because I know it's the wrong thing to do.
And I struggle with that because I know it's the wrong thing to do.
And I struggle with that because I'm not.
I know I'm probably going to regret it.
Yeah.
Right?
When I think about shit, she was right there and I should have captured the stories and I should have, you know.
You should.
You should.
Yeah.
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When we first started this pod, we were getting ready to start the pod.
Somebody in my team was telling because my grandmother was like 85 and I was telling all these stories.
She was, my grandmother was the shit.
like funny she was just just whatever she was the shit i would tell stories about her and somebody had
the idea that i should do a legacy interview like put her in the chair yes and get the story of my
family because she came from her father came from cuba in his 20s she married you know a
portarican man and just everything just the family and do this legacy and so in my mind i was like
oh yeah i'm gonna do it's gonna be great i'm gonna have all the time in the world but you know i'm
I'm running around doing blah, blah, blah, blah, and she passed suddenly from cardiac arrest,
and I was never able to do it.
And now I say the same thing about my mom.
My mom's young, healthy, thank God, in her 70s.
But I say, you know, I don't want to make that mistake.
I'm going to get my mom in the chair and have that.
It's the thing you give to your grandkids.
You know, I mean, just have a thing.
But I say, sorry, I kicked you.
But I say that to say like, you're not alone in that.
We all do that.
But it's not too late.
She's still there.
She's in your house.
Now the stories now a little different.
The stories now go down to rabbit hole.
They, you know, because she's in and out.
So it's like she'll start out very lucid and then I'm like.
But it's not to be that.
She's like, yeah, but just like really understanding the history and getting all those nuggets.
We had Bowes, you know, Bose?
Of course.
Bowes was here right before you today.
She was in here and she was telling about her husband, who she lost.
But she was saying that he had cancer and she like took care of him in the last couple of weeks.
couple of weeks it was like quick like he had two weeks left when they said the treatment wasn't
working and she took a picture of him every single day from the day they said it's not working and
it's terminal and she took these photos of him every day because she wanted to be in it and have the
memory of all these days and now she has so i don't even know it's important to sharing that story
except that all of us are trying to figure out how to navigate these moments with people that we
love with also real life going on at the same time yep and not to beat yourself up right because that's the
the thing that I try not to do because of course, you know, like I'm always like, did I even
go into her room today? Because the day starts, the phone start ringing, you go crazy, and I'll be
right there in the house. And some days I don't even get over to, you know, so I have to be more
intentional about that. Maybe that's what we were supposed to talk about today so that you can go
to do that. Way more intentional about that. And it's so crazy you talk about Bose with her husband
because I had a little scared with my husband. Recently? Yeah. Yeah, last year, as a matter of fact,
I believe, Jesus, when it was my birthday, so February, mid-February, last year, we were going to Vegas to celebrate my birthday.
We were going to see Janet.
Missy was there and everything.
And yeah, he had a doctor's appointment, went to the appointment, and they found a mass on his kidney.
And they were like, it is so big.
So, you know, that's the long weekend, the whole, what is it, President's Day weekend or whatever.
They were like, it needs to come out on Tuesday.
So I had just gotten to Vegas on Thursday.
He went to the appointment on Friday.
He was like, oh, I'm just going to come because what the hell?
Nothing's going to happen between now and Tuesday.
And God forbid, at least we had Vegas.
Oh, my God.
So he comes and we're like going out and we're at the Janet concert and I'm like days because in the back of my brain, I'm like, what the fuck just happened to our lives?
And we came back and he had the surgery and it was very aggressive.
And so in the struggle to get the tumor off of his kids.
They ended up having to take out the whole kidney,
but they punctured his colon.
Didn't know.
So we're sitting in the hospital
and what was supposed to be, oh, this easy surgery,
he's healthy, he's got two kidneys, he'll be fine with the one.
The whole day goes by, he's not feeling better,
but then they go to release him the next day.
And as we're leaving, he just starts throwing up.
And I turned right back around, and yeah, they found that he was septic.
And so then what was supposed to be this quick turnaround ended up
ended up an ileostomy bag for like three months.
Wow.
And so when she talks about nursing her husband, I was just like, it was a blur to me right
now when I think about it, right?
But it was like three times a day I had to administer IVs and getting up in the middle
of the night.
And it was like automatic pilot.
And during the day, I'd be on the phone, you know, working.
And it was, wow, that's tough.
But he's, you know, they got it out when they took out the kidney.
He's, thank God, 100%, you know.
Thank God.
Yes, yes, yes.
Back to his old fighting weights.
How long have you been married, though?
We've been together, our son is 28, so we've been together 29 years, and we've been married
2005, so what's the way?
Wow.
How does that work?
How does the dynamic of you being so, I don't know, successful, busy, having so much on your plate?
I mean, the way it works is because none of this could have happened.
without the dynamic that exists between us.
If I had gotten pregnant with anyone else,
my trajectory might have been very different.
This man took that baby bottle.
He was like, I got this. Go.
No, we're not getting nannies.
I mean, his mom eventually ended up, you know, coming to be with us and stuff.
But even then, he was like, she can't drive.
She can't get around.
These kids were on some old dance class, gymnastics, this, that, you know.
So he was a stay-at-home dad.
We just reversed the roles, and he was in it, in it.
And everything that I had to go out there and do,
I did it with no stress without thinking about,
or the kids are good without thinking about,
what the hell is happening at home while I'm out here, you know.
That's not, what you're explaining is not a small thing.
Exactly.
And not something that every couple could manage the dynamic of that.
No, because you are not talking about even a guy who he was in the business, because by the way, we met he did security for Buster.
So that's how we connected.
So he understood the business.
But because he understood the business, right, he should have had a bigger problem with me running these streets.
But also, this is a dude, Brevard, Brooklyn, used to do security.
So you can imagine the mindset, the attitude where he comes from the environment.
but wanted something different for our kids,
wanted something different for our lives,
and had no qualms about it.
I mean, of course, there were moments where he felt like, you know,
whatever, and we talked through them and got through them,
but it wasn't like he was insecure,
or he felt like it made him less of a man, right?
And I've talked about that often,
because the question I always get is,
how do you balance it all?
How do you have it all?
Listen, there's no secret formula.
I can't even tell you I figured that shit the fuck out.
We just worked on it.
It was work, you know, making sure that our relationship was safe with me on the road and
him staying at home, making sure that I never made him feel in any way, shape, or form,
right?
Less than.
Not that it even occurred to me, but-
How do you do that?
So there's a woman now who's dealing with that now, and the husband is open to it,
but they're still navigating the early complications of what that could feel like.
What do you say to that?
You have to be conscious about it because let me tell you,
it is very easy and not intentionally or maliciously
to be selfish with what we do, right?
Because it becomes all about our schedule,
or what we're doing, are, you know.
And they were times like I'd come into the house
from a day that was like, ah, right?
And I'd come in with that same energy.
And he'd be like, eh, do you want to leave and come back in?
Because you're home now, right?
And so I had to consciously be like,
okay, I've got to have a different energy when I come in the house so that I'm not bringing all of my ship from the day.
And when he became the person that I was talking to about it or the person that, you know, was helping me figure shit out, it gave us a different dynamic.
Now he was in every sense, my partner in this. He wasn't out there, you know, on the road with me. He wasn't in the meetings with me.
but all of the decision-making, all of the thinking,
all of the strategizing, all of the,
this was my sounding board.
This is the person that, you know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Well, this is what happened to the thing.
How lucky are you to have found that?
Listen.
Because for a lot of successful women,
that is very challenging to find that type of partner.
Absolutely.
And I know it.
I take it for granted sometimes, yes,
because I'll be looking like, you know,
what is that little thing where they're like,
he's my, you know, look at him.
That's yours, you know.
But it was the most incredible blessing because I would have never been able to move the way that I moved without thinking at all about what's happening with the kids, what's happening with the home, what's happening with our back end of our lives, right?
It was almost like I was out there hustling, throwing it back, he was catching it, making sure the trust is in place, the investments are in place.
You know, so I never say ever.
that I did this on my own.
Right?
That's why I'm so crazy about, like, when people like Mona Scott,
no, the woman you're talking to today is Mona Scott Young.
Yeah.
And it's not just because I like the last name,
it's because this is how I got here.
This is who I am.
It's a good last name, though.
It's a great last name.
Forever, you know.
I got songs, I got hashtags.
It's so good.
It's so good.
Good for you, Mauna.
You figured out.
I feel like that's a big thing for successful women
is trying to figure that part of life.
felt. And that's a whole other conversation. I'd be like, well, what are you looking for?
Literally, when I was at the Michael party, I sat down, this young lady sat down next to me.
I know she had no idea who I was, but she was like, so what do you think about love?
And I was like, huh? And then I, oh, you've had a couple of cocktails. Okay. And I was like,
what do you mean? Have you been able to find love? Like, I swear to you, this is random as hell.
I don't even, her name was Ashley. I happened to remember her name. I shout out to Ashley.
And she was just like, are you in a relationship?
Have you been married?
I said, yes, for a very long time.
How did that happen for you?
How did, and this was random, young girl sat down next to me,
and that was the first thing on her mind.
On her mind.
Yeah.
And so a lot of times I'm like, well, what are you all looking for?
Because honestly, I didn't even know what I was looking for.
I knew it when I found it, but I didn't even know I was looking for it.
And what it was for me was somebody who got me to stop.
Because I was a runaway.
a runaway train with my energy and my aggression,
that hustle, what I needed to do to be competitive
and to not be overlooked in the room
when I'm in a room with a bunch of alpha males.
So it was every day the person who was able to get me to say,
eh, you're home now.
Now many motherfuckers could do that.
Yeah.
You know, like, what would you say?
You needed a security person.
And more importantly, made me laugh.
Oh, that's great.
Do you know what I'm saying?
like cracking up laughing even to this day, you know,
that's beautiful.
Makes me laugh.
That's beautiful.
So it's like, what are you looking for in your dude?
And I probably would have never thought twice about the dude that does security for Busta.
What?
Yeah.
You know, that's no fly zone.
Especially for us, navigating.
You can't be, what is that saying, eating where you shit, whatever.
Yeah, yeah, work, I should say.
Yeah.
But yeah, no, it's all about what you're looking for, man.
Does Busta take any responsibility for this?
Of course he does.
At first, he hated it.
And then he was, you know, he'll talk about he was at the best man at the wedding,
made his speech, I brought them together.
What I have put together, let no man put asunder.
Did he say that?
He does, yes.
He totally takes credit for the relationship.
Totally.
Nothing there surprises me.
Nothing at all about it.
So, okay, so now, so you start loving hip hop, which you're already at this point, you're ready to like do something for you, right?
Like this is a- I left, there was a little-
You're out of your comfort zone.
I'm out of my comfort zone.
I know I like television.
I'd made the rounds of Hollywood, met a bunch of different executives.
And then Yandy, who was also my protege, you know, she came in to violate a straight out of Howard, trying not to go back to school.
I was like, girl, this is not for the faint of heart.
But she, you know, was in.
in it and then eventually she moved on to her own and she started managing Jim Jones.
And you know, I've told the story.
I was figuring it out trying to, I was doing a little bit of product stuff with Gail, right?
We launched the makeup collection and boots in London and then I was still kind of, okay,
managing Missy and stuff, do I want to take on more clients?
And then Yandy came with this opportunity with the show that she had.
And so that was really about like, shit, we know this world is crazy.
Lord knows, you know, can nobody tell me none of the crazy shenanigans that they watch.
No one who's been in this can tell me that this shit ain't true.
I know the regular person is like, she makes it up.
It's scripted.
Shit.
You know.
Some of the stuff that I witnessed coming up, it was like just pulling the curtain back on the world.
And that was lightning in a bottle.
Yeah.
And then your life changes?
Does your life change?
Not right away.
Shit.
No.
Because there was, you know, the period and the
first, I don't know, two seasons.
It was a sleeper hit.
Right?
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Hey, this is Hayes Davenport.
And Sean Clements.
We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook.
Every episode we're trying to help our guests
improve their careers by mainly focusing on
how they can help us improve our careers.
The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes
and understand what's going on.
We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller.
The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere, too, right?
What do you think it is now?
It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology.
Danny McBride.
He loves Nova.
Oh, that's fantastic.
And you make it on, you make your own.
That's great.
I call him tarot read.
It's a good name.
They're all named after cast members of American Pie.
Yeah.
Oh, gotcha.
I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobieski.
Yeah, I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that.
Haven't looked it up.
She was prominent around the same time.
Yeah.
Then Mary Steenbergin.
Why are you guys talking to me?
I'm worried.
Did you understand the movie?
Why are you talking so down to me that you think I don't understand your little play, play game?
I just really.
I get it.
I'm trying to set you up.
for success here.
Listen to Hollywood Handbook
on the I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is Chelsea Handler
from Dear Chelsea.
Every week, the news gets worse.
The world gets crazier,
and Yamanika is here
to tell whoever's responsible,
you're the problem.
If you come over here
to play games,
I'ma check you.
Okay?
If you do some in the news
that don't sound good,
I'ma play you.
Join Yomeneika Saunders
as she breaks down
the week's most problematic stories
on our new podcast, you're The Problem with Yamanika.
Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was?
New episodes weekly every Wednesday
as part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network.
If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men.
Do better or do less, so I don't have to do so much.
So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question.
Who's the problem?
I'm Yamanika, and I'm out.
Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the I-Heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
I'm Nick Totoro.
You probably know me from NYPD Blue, the longest yard, or Spike Lee's Black Klansman.
But I'm also from Queens, which means I know pizza.
And on my new podcast, delivering happiness with Nick Totoro, I deliver pizza
from Prince Street pizza to a new guest.
Are you delivering pizza now?
Then we sit down for a real conversation.
I've shared a slice with everyone from Seth Rollins.
What are you doing my belt?
To Alex Rodriguez.
Just to let you people know.
We're talking to one of the goats here.
To Bill Burr.
I don't think I've ever met somebody so exactly out of their mind as I am.
And now we even have more great guests coming up, including the great John Tuturo.
It's called Happiness.
Delivering Happiness.
Mariano Rivera.
Oh, my God.
And many, many more.
Open your free High Heart Radio app.
Search Delivering Happiness with Nick Totoro.
And listen now.
Everybody in the industry was like, oh my God, what is this thing?
Buzzing about it.
Everybody was talking about it online.
The ratings were still kind of on and off because I don't think people.
Really? Yeah, it wasn't an explosion.
My memory, I feel like it was explosion out the gate.
The first season, no.
And it was the second season and then with Atlanta coming on.
That's where it kind of went.
Exploded.
But what happened in the first season was a post-show conversation that I don't think the networks have ever seen.
Usually a show goes off the air that said, people are waiting for next week.
This, the conversation, and it was right at the tip of social media.
Yeah.
Right?
So I hosted the first screening at my crib and I just invited all the bloggers they were calling
them at the time, right?
And so they all came and they started this kind of social media community around the show.
And so I remember the network would constantly be like, it's so crazy, right?
It's Wednesday and people are still talking about the Monday show.
We've never seen that kind of engagement and it would run right into the following week.
Wow.
So that is really what kind of cemented it into the cultural zeitgeist where people, but
the ratings were still fledgling.
And then when it all kind of came together with Atlanta, it just exploded.
But what's happening with you at the time?
Are you like, first of all, you had your battery in your back?
I had my battery on my back.
Did you call Chris Ever and say, huh?
It is so funny.
I remember we were shooting a scene and that was when I still kind of went to set every day.
And we happened to be shooting.
I was looking down.
I looked up.
I was like, oh, shit, this is our old block.
It was like on 21st Street when we had that office on 21st.
And I was like, oh, I wonder if Chris is there.
Imagine if I saw Chris.
And literally I did this.
Why was he walking across the street?
Wow.
So then I stuck my head out.
I was like, yo, Chris.
And he was like, yo, give me some of that loving hip hop money.
And so that was, you know, we never really kind of got to talking about the show and the success.
But I mean, people like, Chak Kim and Sunday would be like,
Oh, have you talked to Chris?
He's so proud of you.
He's bragging on you.
But he never said it to me.
You know, that was, that was-
Because he still wanted you to come back.
He was probably like, yeah, that was a flu.
You lucked out on that.
That's funny.
But I feel like you also became, you were now a public figure.
Right?
Well, that didn't come to later because, well, first of all, right,
the show was like in the early years,
it was my roller decks, the people that I knew,
all of that stuff.
So there was a lot of boots,
on the ground and then when they're talking about the show and press, nobody else could,
you know, talk about it as fluently because literally not only had I lived it, but I pieced
it together, you know, based on the people, the world, the phone calls. It wasn't, I think it was
the reunion show when I hosted the reunion. That's really what did it. And then I also used to voice
the intro. Yeah. You know, love and hip hop, the city that never, you know, it was that kind of thing.
And so people became more familiar with my voice in the beginning.
And what was so crazy is like, I'd be out and about and people would see me, have no clue.
And then I'd be like, hi, excuse me, do you have, oh my God, you're the loving hip-hop lady.
Right?
And then one year we were shooting, I feel like it might have been the first, no, maybe we had somebody else do the first reunion.
I don't remember.
But Jim Ackerman, the executive was like, you should be doing this.
You know the stories.
You know more about the world.
You should be doing it.
I was like, oh, whatever.
It didn't even think twice about it.
Whatever, whatever.
We're producing it.
We're putting it all together.
We get to the day of the shoot.
You know, I'm multitasking because I'm still producing,
but then they're kind of prepping me to get in the chair.
And I remember sitting in the chair and I had two earwigs in because I had the producer one in
and then the one for the producer giving me my cues.
And I remember sitting in that chair.
I was like, I'm Jim.
Can you hear me?
He was like, yeah.
I was like, you know, I've never done this, right?
He was like, oh, you'll be fine.
And the rest is history.
And the rest of this history.
Where do you hold that now?
Because, you know, it was obviously hugely successful.
It's been analyzed.
Brittany was saying in her school, they did a whole debate.
In college, they did a loving hip-hop debate around the impact and the, you know, the negative.
The negative.
Right.
Right.
You know, but there's been those conversations over the years, which I'm sure you.
you've had and engaged.
So many and have navigate, asked and answered, dissected and-
Where in the overall in your real life?
Like, what kind of place does it hold?
Is it like, like, I mean, listen, it was instrumental in providing not only a platform
for all the talent that was on the show, jobs for all the people, a platform for me, right?
This allowed me to have real cachet in the TV space because,
as much as there were thoughts around it,
it was an undeniable success.
And there were so many attempts at recreating
and trying to reinvent that wheel,
and do you have another love and hip hop?
You know, but for me, it was always like,
I keep kicking, I'm sorry.
No, it's because we're the proximity.
I was like, no, but I could do X, Y, Z, right?
So it provided an entry point.
And I won't say it did not have its downside.
I often call it a blessing and a curse, right?
I said the other day to Suzanne, the Albatross.
She was like, I want you to stop saying that
because this was a hugely successful show.
Do you know how many people are navigating production
and television who have never had the success that you had?
So I have, you know, tried not to focus on that
because it also, again, the criticisms, the critiques,
the being shut out of certain rooms,
the being looked at in a certain light,
and being limited, right, in terms of what people thought I could do,
because this was so massively successful,
they erased everything that I had ever done before, love and hip-hop.
Like, motherfuckers be acting dazed and confused
about the fact that I successfully managed some of the top artists
in, you know, in music, in the world, right?
And was responsible for some of the earliest examples
of brand integration,
deals. When you think about tribe with Sprite, right? Back then, I did Missy Adidas and Reebok
within months of each other. And if you understand how challenging that is, because those things
usually have exclusivity. Of course. You know, periods where you can't even do another sneaker,
let alone their biggest competitor, but was able to navigate that. Right. Buster's Mountain
Duad started as a radio spot, a 30-second radio. Lides, it started as a print campaign.
that then became a radio spot, that then became, you know, a global campaign.
So nobody remembers any of that shit.
It was like, love and hip hop.
The love and hip hop lady.
Yeah.
Right.
That's who I became.
So that's what I, that's exactly what I wonder.
What did that feel like for you?
Somebody had done all this work.
And yes, this one thing.
And now you're the loving hip hop lady.
But the success of it overshadowed.
Listen, I'm human, right?
I remember distinctly, and I can't.
I can't even pinpoint what it was exactly that happened,
but social media was going crazy.
And that's before we understood like, okay, let me go and see.
Oh, you have one follower.
You started this account today just to troll me.
That's before we really understood that, right?
It just looked like the world was fucking coming for me
and hated my guts.
And I was front and center all the time.
So nobody cared that there's a fucking entire building
full of executives.
that are really making the final, final decisions.
Nobody understood that there's a notes process
where I say, no, we shouldn't do this.
Look, she said this thing, she did this thing,
but she regrets it today,
and we should really give her an opportunity
to come back and course correct.
And can we just cut around?
No, no.
Because, again, I did not own this thing, right?
I'm tied to this thing.
I created this thing.
I built this thing.
You know, but I don't have the final
say so on this thing. Really? That's just the function of, you know, you sell a show, a concept to a buyer.
You no longer, that's why more and more people now are deficit, you know, financing, paying for
themselves, controlling the product, and then licensing it, right? But that was not the thing back
then. And who knew, right? If I'd known then what I know now, it would have been a very different
proposition. So again, people didn't understand any of that and just thought I was sitting around
like, ha, ha, let me figure out how to fuck up lives today. And, you know, it was insane. And then
the other thing was, again, this was a world that had become normalized to me because you've been in
it. You've seen the crazy stuff that happens, right, at the party and the after party. And like,
Everyone is shocked at the stuff that they're hearing about that happens in this industry.
But I also knew and got to know a lot of the girlfriends and wives and realized that, oh, wow, okay,
nobody's ever going to know how smart, how funny you are because you are walking in the shadow
and you're happy to do it because it's affording the lifestyle that you live.
But there's so much more to you.
You might want to explore that, right?
So it became a pathway that I didn't.
And that made it less about the backlash to me and more about, okay, you know, they're about
to vilify us.
What are you doing with this moment?
How are you about to leverage this shit?
You know, they'd be like, oh my God, I'm so grateful.
How can I thank you?
Go forth and prosper.
Literally, that was my saying.
Go forth and prosper.
Do not let this should be in vain.
We out here catching bullets, right?
Literally at times.
But like, do not allow this to be the moment.
This is not the moment.
a means to an end. Do not unpack your bags. This is a pit stop, not a final destination.
Who are you most proud of that took that advice?
Every single one of them did in some way shape or form. They're not every single. There are
a few that went left, right? Or that got caught in the moment and stopped to with the shiny
lights and then the train passed. But if you think about it, right, everyone from Kaye Michelle,
who was in a deal she was unhappy with,
thought that the world would never hear her voice literally, right?
And being able to pursue country music to Cardi,
who I do not take credit for,
because she came onto the show the first season
and actually came back because she understood the opportunity, right?
But it did play a role.
And I know she has mixed feelings about that,
but I don't think you can discount even the reason why she came back,
because she understood it.
But that's to her credit for understanding it,
because some people don't even get the opportunity.
They don't get it.
And it doesn't compute for them how to leverage this, right?
Yandy, of course, who started out as a gap-toothed intern.
And now- Not a gap-toothed intern.
Listen, that gap-tooth was deep.
She'll tell you the story.
My son, when my son was losing his teeth.
You ain't have to bring that.
No, no, no, because he would say it because look at her now.
She's accomplished.
She's beautiful.
She's polished.
She is an entrepreneur, a business.
businesswoman, a celebrity on so many levels.
So she has branched out to develop herself in every arena, right?
Every last one of them, every last one of them, Jocelyn,
I can't even leave her out of the equation.
I watched her go from someone who said she never thought she'd see her name on a check
to somebody who is producing her own shows, owning her own shows, right?
So for me, every single one who has taken the
that opportunity and done something with this.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
I'm sure even in those moments, there were good days and bad days, right?
For you, like, navigating the waters of that.
Of course.
Opinions, negative stuff, whatever, all the things that come with the bad days were bad.
I thought I started saying that because I was saying, I'm human, right?
So then you try to have the shield on and you're like, oh, none of this shit, they don't know.
They're just a person. Look at that. They have an egg for a profile page.
Still, it felt like the world when it's all coming down.
Yeah.
And yeah, there were times where I was just like, oh my God, I can't take it.
Why am I doing this?
It's not worth it.
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Hey, this is Hayes Davenport.
And Sean Clements.
We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook.
Every episode we're trying to help our guests improve their careers
by mainly focusing on how they can help us improve our careers.
The show is famously super accessible so you can easily jump into any of our 650 episodes
and understand what's going on.
We recommend some of our recent episodes with Ben Stiller.
The definition of what is a movie has kind of changed anywhere too, right?
What do you think it is now?
It's images and words being spoken, captured by some sort of technology.
Danny McBride.
He loves boba.
Oh, that's fantastic.
And you make it on, you make your own.
That's great.
I call him Terro Reed.
It's a good name.
They're all named after cast members of American Pie.
Yeah.
Oh, gotcha.
I call, I don't, I never looked up if she was in this, but I call him Leachie Sobiesky.
Yeah.
I don't think she was an American Pie, but I still like that.
Haven't looked it up.
She was prominent around the same time.
Yeah.
Then Mary Steenbergin.
Why are you guys talking to me?
I'm worried.
Why are you talking so down?
to me that you think I don't
understand your little play
game. I just really
I'm trying to set you up for success
here. Listen to Hollywood Handbook
on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Nick Totoro. You probably know me
from NYPD Blue, the longest yard,
or Spike Lease Black Klansman.
But I'm also from Queens, which
means I know pizza. And on my
new podcast, delivering happiness with Nick
Totoro, I deliver pizza from
Prince Street Pizza to a new guest.
Are you delivering pizza now?
Then we sit down for a real conversation.
I've shared a slice with everyone from Seth Rollins.
What are you doing, my belt?
To Alex Rodriguez.
Just to let you people know, we're talking to one of the goats here.
To Bill Burr.
I don't think I've ever met somebody so exactly out of their mind as I am.
And now, we even have more great guests coming up, including the great John Tutu.
It's called Happiness.
Delivering Happiness.
Mariano Rivera.
Oh, my God.
And many, many more.
Open your free high heart radio.
app search delivering happiness with Nick Duturo.
And listen now.
This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea.
Every week, the news gets worse.
The world gets crazier.
And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem.
If you come over here to play games, I'm going to check you.
Okay?
If you do some in the news that don't sound good, I'm going to play you.
Join Yomeneika Saunders as she breaks down the week's most problematic stories on her new podcast.
You're the problem with Yomaniq.
Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was?
New episodes weekly every Wednesday
is part of my new network, the Dear Chelsea Network.
If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men.
Do better or do less, so I don't have to do so much.
So join Yamanika each episode as she answers one question.
Who's the problem?
I'm Yamanika, and I'm out.
Listen to you're the problem with Yamanika on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,
or wherever you get your podcast.
Did you ever think, though, that, I don't know, did you ever think not to?
Did you ever think, like, let me, I can pull, can you, could you even pull the plug even
if you wanted to?
No.
I think I could have in the sense that it would have been very uncomfortable for me to say,
I'm done with this.
I'm moving on.
It would have been uncomfortable for the network to continue, you know, because I was, again,
that anchor for the franchise, right?
They were days because what I did understand, honestly, was that if I did that, it would be for selfish reasons because it would be because I couldn't stand the heat.
Because I felt like I was, you know, I didn't want to be front and center.
So what I realized is you got to take the good with the bad, right?
And if I think that there's all of these good things that are coming out of it, then mewithstanding this storm is part of the job.
Right?
I can't be like, oh, look at how great this is for everyone.
even for me and my family and what it's afforded
and allowed me to do, but I don't want another backlash.
I don't want to be front and center.
I don't want anybody calling my name
and associating me with the negative stuff.
Yeah.
But was it hard yet?
Yeah, there were days where I was just like, oh, fuck me.
Did you ever, were the days ever that you felt
like some of the backlash was warranted?
No, no, never.
Never because nobody got bamboozled.
Nobody was, there were no hidden camera.
It's like, you know, when people are just like,
I didn't know I did that, I'm like, how?
You did it, right?
On camera.
And I would always say, I can only edit what you give.
So don't give it.
And then you won't be.
And there were so many times where I'd be sitting with someone,
because we would have what we call insight sessions, right,
where they would have their producers who they tell stuff to.
And then the producers would run it up the chain
and we'd get a written report, okay, this is what I'm
Angie told me is happening in her life.
She said, you know, she never cheated.
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
But then I know that Britt just called me and told me that.
Britt, how dare you?
She saw Angie with this person.
So I'd be like, go back to Angie and ask her, is she sure about this piece of information?
Oh, my, y'all.
That's not at the club on Saturday night.
You know, nope, Angie said she was not there.
Okay, here we go.
Right?
So cameras at the club on Saturday night.
But it's like, you know you were there?
Why are you saying otherwise?
You know what I'm saying?
So it's like, and then of course it would be like,
she set me up.
I would never have known that you were at the club,
had you not been at the club, right?
I would never have had this person telling me
you're lying about this thing if you didn't tell me otherwise.
And I would say, own your shit,
because that's the best way to navigate this.
Yeah.
control your own narrative.
Don't let somebody else come in here with some information
that you're lying about or that you are saying,
you know, is who you are if it ain't really.
Because there's somebody out there
ready to pull the rug out from under you, right?
You know you have to have like a,
I say this with love more than.
You have to have like a little hint of ruthlessness
to be able to do that.
Because my, because I'm so, like, you wouldn't know,
but like, I'm, I overdo it.
do it. I'm the opposite of you, which probably stops me from doing some things sometimes,
which I probably could have done. In terms of emotional. Yes, I'm too like, I would feel bad.
So I wouldn't say that because you know what, the part of it that people didn't see, the midnight
phone calls, the talking them off the ledge, the crying with them when something, do you know what I'm saying?
Because this is the thing. At the top of this, they would get the talk. They would get the talk. Literally, it was
The means to an end.
I would liken this to a bed of colds,
because that was another formative thing in my life.
I remember seeing people who walk over colds
and were able to do that by sheer willpower
and the desire to get to the other side of what it was
and that's what allowed them to just barefoot go over those colds.
So I would say, think of this as walking over a bed of colds.
It's going to get hot.
It's going to hurt sometimes.
You might even get burnt a little crispy,
but do not stop here.
Do not stop because then you will, you know what I'm saying?
Disintegrate.
So keep it moving.
So in your managerial way.
Yes.
I was motivating them.
No, I understand a little bit more like how you maneuver the ship.
And I would say, make sure you line up what you want out of this.
Do not do this for shits and giggles.
You should never be doing this because I want to be a reality star.
That should not be the goal.
This is a pathway, a means to an end.
It should not be a, I can't tell you how many times I've said that.
And there's no one who can say they never got that speech, because that was the entry speech.
The entry speech.
Right?
Make sure what do you want to accomplish out of this?
What do you want to get?
What are your hopes and dreams and goals?
Okay, let's make sure you tee that up.
I will, to the best of my ability, weave that into the story wherever we can.
Make sure that it's organic because you can't be in there.
Message selling your wares like this is one big commercial.
Yeah.
Right.
You're still trying to make good TV.
If we can find the stakes in you wanting this thing so badly that it's live or die for you,
that you are ready to really put your heart and soul into this thing and let's find how it's
impacting you.
Let's find how the things, what are the obstacles in that path?
Let's build the story there and tell this thing as a backdrop, right?
You're gonna, you want to confront Britt for, you know, telling on you that you was at the
Poor Brick.
It's going to thrown into, then...
Look at you just got thrown into an episode of Love and Hip Hop.
Then we're gonna do it at the launch of your event.
Oh my God.
Sometimes not the best idea.
But it wasn't an attempt to kind of merge the world.
But listen, again, when I look at everything in life, there's good, there's bad, there's the, you know, does it outweigh?
Complicated.
It's all complicated.
Life is complicated.
What I ever say?
that I don't think it should have happened.
I don't think that there were many, many who benefited from this.
I would never say that.
I would never say that.
And you know, I bore the brunt.
I went through the fire and-
You walked over the coals.
I walked over the calls.
Trust me, I was not about to sit in them colds
because then at a certain juncture, the wheels,
the training wheels came off.
And it was functioning on its own.
And so then it was like, okay, for me,
it's time for the pivot.
Where do I want to go next?
Well, people keep telling me I make this shit up.
Let's venture into scripted.
Let's start to develop in that arena and then doing other shows, right?
Unscripted shows with other networks and branching out and stuff.
So that was the point you did that.
So what are you stepped away from the show as?
No, no, no. I mean, I'm still.
You're still.
Because I was what they call Lock for Life.
So for the life of the show, I will forever be the creator EP of the show.
Nice.
Yes, exactly.
But you're not in the new one.
Mailbox money.
Huh?
So the mailbox money comes, no matter of right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So then it allowed me to turn my attention.
You stepped away from just being...
From the day to day running of the show.
Of the show, got it.
Yes.
So people would be like, yeah, so I don't even know who this person is, ma'am.
Because I don't, I'm not in it like that.
Yeah.
You just said, I don't even know...
I have no idea who this person is.
So what now?
What's the pivot now?
Oh, my God.
Well, you know, I started producing, like I said, features.
And so I did too.
I just did the May J. Blige Presents.
Be happy. That was a Mona-Bin Blue Butterfly production.
That was so good. We had so much fun making that.
Developing, you know, in the scripted space across like series and features,
both for theatrical and streaming platforms.
I started producing tours. I did Missy, you know, the Out of This World tour along with the Queens of R&B.
And that was like a little bit of taking everything that I've done and just supersizing it.
I was like, yeah, I should be able to do this shit, right?
They've all been on tours.
Why can't I produce a tour?
Right?
So Missy for me was like that tour was the Holy Grail
because it was such an incredibly executed.
And I have to say it.
It's not me tooting my own horn.
I don't know if you saw it.
Did you see it?
I'm so mad I missed it.
This is over.
How did this happen?
No, did you see it?
How did this happen?
How did that happen?
I don't know.
Maybe I was going through something.
Let me tell you.
The feeling that I had when I jumped on that plane to go see Michael is what should have
happened when I should have jumped out of this world came into your head.
You're right. I should have jumped on a plane.
Because it was a culmination of artistry meets excellence in execution.
You know, everything that came.
Shame on me.
In to her head, we were like, it will be so.
And it will be executed to perfection.
Right. So every night, we got this massive set on the stage.
And it was, we moved with 160 people.
on that tour.
Wow.
So yeah, so anyway, more tours, more tours and more tours.
And then a ton of stuff, Tyrese is a visionary in the truest sense.
He just-
Mona, if you do nothing else as a manager.
Yes.
You have to get the Teddy story for him, help him get this Teddy story across the finish line.
And that's the beauty of one of the things that Suzanne and I are doing together.
Because think about her legacy and music and her having, you know, that history there.
So that is definitely, I want to knock on word,
because there's a lot we've had to navigate.
He went into, he jumped into Teddy's spirit for a second
while he was here.
Yeah.
And sang for us and also sat in the chair as if he were Teddy.
Oh, wow.
And did an interview.
And did a little bit of Teddy for me.
And he was, when I talk about like,
Bruce was.
Oh my God.
So with Tyrese, it's the Teddy Pentegrastor.
You know what I said there?
is that thing that they want to accomplish that I know,
that I know how to do and how to bring to fruition.
It is that there's so many dreams he has.
Every day, it's like, I'd love to do this and I'd like to do that.
And how do you like this outfit I'm wearing?
I'm starting a clothing line, right?
And he has the ability what he needed and what I hope to bring
is the execution.
Yeah, and the structure and the-
But the teddy is that thing.
It's his opus.
It's his thing.
It has to happen.
And that's the thing that is going to happen.
It has to. Good. I hate it's going to happen.
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All right, we're getting into IRL bowl.
And do we have a voice note for Mona?
Yeah.
Hi, Mona.
I just wanted to start off busing.
I am a huge,
fan of your career. As someone who is a music lover and reality TV lover, I've enjoyed watching
you navigate between both industries. I have a question. With all the current changes happening
in the TV space, a lot of shows that have been on air for over 10 years coming to a close,
do you think this is a smart time for someone like me to pursue a career as a reality TV
producer. And do you have any current reality shows that you're watching or any favorite moments
from any of your shows? Multi-part. That you would like to share. That was many questions, Mauna.
That was many questions, but let's tackle the first one. Un scripted is always going to be a genre
that works because it is much less expensive to produce than scripted. Of course, in success, it climbs
up there with the fees. But there's always going to be the opportunity.
to pursue unscripted.
But the thing is unscripted is not limited to docu-follows, right?
That's the mistake that producers coming into the game thing.
Yeah.
Unscripted.
This is unscripted.
This is unscripted.
Formats are unscripted.
Game shows are inscripted.
Yeah.
Crime shows are inscripted, you know, depending on the format that you do.
So one, yes, if you want, if you aspire to a career as a producer,
the unscripted genre will always be viable.
viable. Now, it is all about what is the offering, right? What is the content? And that is a,
you know, that is factored by a combination of elements. Whatever is happening in the zeitgeist,
what are people tuning into? What is happening in the world right now? Finding things, worlds,
people, occupations, spaces that we have yet to see exposed, right? That's always a way to find
your lane, find your footing, looking at what's going on, whether it be on social media, on the
internet, and figuring out how to give a version of that offering right on linear. So it's like whether
it's, oh, a TikTok trend or whatever, how does this translate? Is it a game show idea that I could
develop? So, you know, to answer the question about whether with all of the changes, because
they have collapsed. So they are very, very, there are much fewer outlets than there used to be,
but there will always be opportunity. You just have to really be nimble and you have to be
aware of what's happening and you have to be creative about approach, right, to make sure that
you could find your lane in the business. And then what are the things that I'm watching? I mean,
listen, it runs the gamut. It's a variety. I am a huge crime show. You are? Oh my God.
Everything from procedurals on the scripted side to there is no way anyone will ever get one up on me, okay?
I know every which way that I can be kidnapped or killed and you will not get one over on me.
I love, you know, watching these shows where I see people do the craziest shit for a small insurance payment.
It's crazy to me.
I'm like, really?
That was a $10,000 payout and you took out your entire family.
Wasn't worth it, you know?
But yeah, I'm developing some stuff in the crime space right now.
Clearly, you know, something with 50, right?
Well, no, 50 and I had hip hop homicide.
Oh, hip-hop homicide.
There was not something else I thought anyway.
No, we talked about doing other things.
Shout out to 50, Curtis.
We talked about doing some other things,
but hip-hop homicides was a result of, you know, 50 and I were both at Lionsgate at the time.
And we were in a room and he was like,
Mono, we should do a show about dead rappers.
And I was like, what?
A show about dead rappers.
And it evolved. That was the idea in his head.
But even to the point where we had sold a show and it was getting,
he still wanted to call it dead rappers.
I was like, we are not calling this damn show,
Dead Rappers 50.
So we came out with hip hop on the side.
But yeah, so in the crime space, there's a podcast
that I work with the two young ladies who have this podcast
called Sisters Who Kill.
Are you familiar with it?
It sounds familiar.
Yeah.
So the two young ladies who host the podcast,
they have a very unique,
point of view and tape.
Right? So it's everything from, if I had did it,
to, you know, who does this?
Like the same conversation and you feel like
you're just sitting around watching a crime show with your girlfriends.
Wow.
And so we've taken the concept of the way they approach
their storytelling and flipped it into a crime series.
That'll be fun.
Yes.
Those were all her questions, right?
Because there's many questions she had.
I feel like there was one more, but it's okay.
It was long.
It was very, very long.
Okay.
Quick and Real Lives.
and then a bowl and then we're done.
Okay.
In real life, where's my in real life?
Look, I did all these cards for you
and I didn't use any of them.
I'm my lips dry.
I feel like.
You can do it.
You can do it quick.
I should take some allergy meds, man, because I was so good
before I, in LA, those 24 hours, I had no allergies.
What do my lips look like?
Am I good or can I use a little boss?
You want to touch you up?
You can, quick.
No, no, no.
I'm fine.
Okay, that's fine.
Well, we did hit some of these unknowingly.
All right, good.
Now let's go to my IRLs.
Couple of IRLs in the bowl and you're done.
See how easy at fire.
This was fun.
Was it?
You're so good.
Thank you.
You killed it.
Yeah?
You enjoyed.
Thank you.
Sometimes you don't know, right?
Sometimes I'd be talking.
I'm like, and I'm into it, but like I can't always in real time assess outside.
But if I'm into it, I assume.
Everyone must be into it.
If I'm into it, I mean, everyone must be.
Okay.
Okay.
In real life, what are you most proud of?
My kids. I almost said my daughter, but I want to say my kids, but my daughter only because she is the better, faster, smarter, funnier version of me. But both of my kids, my son is amazing. Justin, shout out to Justin Scott Young, I love you. Yes. So you're kids. Yes. What about in your career? What are you most proud of?
My ability to make dreams come true. That is a special.
talent I'm a unicorn and I cross so many different genres I do so many different
things and I don't think many people operate that way yeah make dreams come true
I make dreams come true in a very unique way you're a Capricorn no what makes
you say that I don't know I just thought that I don't know I just got that
you don't recognize this energy okay let me think hmm boss energy highly
either Leo or Torres neither
Neither. This is special. What is it? What is the most special sign? Capricorn, like I said.
Oh, gosh. Excuse me, ma'am. Aquarius in the building. Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't hear the applause. Aquarius in the building.
Thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. You can't come in here and produce my crew into clapping for you.
But you see, I did that. Only an Aquarius can command a room in that way, yes. Thank you, everyone.
I don't take them for granted.
Thank you.
In real life, how important is money to you?
Only to live not to make me happy.
You know, only for the necessities.
In real life.
And the shoes.
In real life, what should people care less about?
Oh, is this multiple choice or do you want me to,
what other people think?
Because none of that shit is going to pay your bills
or change your life in any real way.
as long as you could look at yourself in the mirror and you know the truth that's all that
should matter at the end of the day what do you hope people learn from you in your story i am not a
monster no i'm just kidding that that no that every and anything is possible every single day man
do you think that people see you as a monster i don't know people have their opinions but
then i just say i shouldn't care about that no that everything and anything is possible i promise you
I think the reason I have so much fun, people are like,
oh, how do you do all these things?
Only because I refuse to believe that I am not capable of anything
that I set my mind to.
So anything that you throw at me and like my team never knows
what they're doing from one day to the next.
Guess what guys?
Today we're going to be putting together a tour.
Tomorrow it's a movie.
You know, because once we take that last birth, that's it's a wrap.
No second chances, no redo, no do-overs.
So every single day I'm just like, whatever.
What fuels that?
What do you credit fueling that?
Your desire to do that?
Not wanting to be in the place where I believe in my heart, my mother is, where she did
not do it all in the time, you know?
And I don't want to have that regret.
I want to know that when it's time for me to take that last breath, that there's nothing
that I thought about, wanted to do, aspired to, that I didn't at least make the attempt
at.
That's so good.
And our bowl for the clothes.
What is the bowl?
A wild shot?
It's a wild shot.
Okay.
Pick it.
The universe says that usually I have one that I like the best and I'm going to...
That you put at the top?
Yeah, it's right here.
Okay.
I'm going to ask it to you after, but you pick yours first and then I'll do mine.
This is my question I ask everybody whether you pick it or not.
Okay.
Got it.
All right.
This one right here.
It might be very, you know, good.
Ah.
What is it?
If today were your last day on Earth.
what would you be doing?
Exactly what I'm doing right now
because that was the goal for today
and I accomplished it.
What was the goal?
To be here on the Angie Martinez show.
I jumped on a fucking plane.
What are you talking about?
I got into glam at 8 a.m.
I got dressed.
I put on a coordinated outfit.
No, but like doing whatever it is
that I set out to do for that day.
And if that ends up being it,
I don't want to think about shit
I was supposed to do this today and I didn't.
Well, I would be honored that this would be what you were doing on this day.
I would hope today is not my last day, Angie.
No, it is not.
But I would love, I love that you honor this day as it is.
That's amazing.
Okay.
And my question from the bowl that I love is if God were to text you right now, Mona Scott.
Young.
You got Mona Scott Young.
Yes.
If God were to text you right now, Mona Scott Young, mm-hmm.
What would it say?
You woke up this.
morning you're welcome because he knows he knows that every single day that he
gives me I'm gonna go with thousand percent I'm gonna give it all so he's gonna be
like I gave you another one go forth and prosper Mona Scott Young in real life
this is Mona Scott Young in real life hey guys thanks for watching make sure
you subscribe like comments and check out all of the other episodes we have
on H. Martinez IRO podcast.
I'm Nick Titoro.
You probably know me from NYPD Blue,
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And on my new podcast,
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Every week, the news gets worse.
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And Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible,
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Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was?
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Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen here.
The Dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form.
We're launching Podlandia, A.O. Rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together, breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made.
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You fully improvised, not just words, but a song.
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Listen to Podlandia.
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Hey, what's up, y'all?
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