The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Kem Talks Career, R&B Then vs. Now, Struggles, Sobriety Journey, ‘Give My Love’ Line Dance +More

Episode Date: August 22, 2025

Today on The Breakfast Club, Kem Talks Career, R&B Then vs. Now, Struggles, Sobriety Journey, ‘Give My Love’ Line Dance. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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on 4th of July week. 2016. No goodbyes, no clues, just gone. Listen to hunting for answers every weekday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do we really need another podcast with a condescending finance brof trying to tell us how to spend our own money? No thank you. Instead, check out Brown Ambition. Each week, I, your host, Mandy Money, gives you real talk, real advice with a heavy dose of I-feel uses. Like on Fridays, when I take your questions for the BAQA. Whether you're trying to invest for your future, navigate a toxic workplace, I got you.

Listen to Brown Ambition on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hold on. Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up. You're all finished or y'all done? Morning, everybody. It's DJ. NV. Just hilarious. Charlemagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. Lorna Rosa is here with us as well.

We got a special guest in the building. Yes, indeed. His new single comes out this Friday, give my love, ladies and gentlemen, Kim. Welcome. What's happening, man? Are you feeling, brother? I'm good, I'm good.

How's everybody? Bless Black and Holly Faber, sir. Man, you are a legend. You know how many people who love you, man? Yeah. You said yes. You said yes. I say that with gratitude, though.

Absolutely, absolutely. It's gratitude, man. It's gratitude, man. to be doing what I do for a living for over two decades, and I don't feel like I'm done yet, that's really a blessing. Why do you think you have the connection with the audience that you do?

Is it because you bear your soul? Is it because you're so vulnerable? Is it because they can maybe see some of their struggles and struggles you've been open about? Yeah, I think it's the vulnerability. I think it's the authenticity. And I'm making music in the tradition of Luther and Marvin and all that great music that we grew up

with the Isley brothers and Patty. You know what I'm saying? I'm holding, I'm trying to keep the light on for what I feel is good R&B, and I think people appreciate that. But you're independent now, so you pay for everything. So how does that feel, that part of the business feeling?

Well, it's incredible. I started as an independent, though, right? My first album, Chemistry, I released on my own label, Chemistry Records we sold. That's when we, you know, I was selling CDs literally out of my trunk, 17,000 units.

on my own um so i'm i'm just returning to uh i've come home you know so it's a full circle moment 23 good years at motown you know motown was good to me and i was definitely good to motown you know kept the lights on yeah we kept you know we kept it pushing but uh in this season of my life you know as a husband a father we got a lot of kids a lot going on and i'm thinking about my legacy and how i want to move forward uh more equity uh more autonomy autonomy autonomy me, you know, so I feel real good. I would think majority of your money was probably made at touring, though, right? Touring.

Yeah. Yeah. Touring is definitely the gift that keeps on giving, as well as publishing, you know, publishing, right? Because I write most of, I write most of my stuff. You know, you've been very open about things like, you know, homelessness and addiction before finding, like, you know, your breakthrough. How did those struggles shape you as an artist?

And a man. Look, coming through the other side of my darkness is. is really the foundation that's got me sitting here with y'all you know what i'm saying my testimony is is everything you know and the music is infused uh with it and um i just i don't just look at what i'm doing as as an entertainer you know i'm in the business you know and i'm in the game but i also look at it as as uh as ministry in a way you know what i'm saying people who are going through um you know hopefully i i say something that that that resonates with them that helps them helps pull them through the other side of their darkness too what made you give it up what was that

that final thing that says i'm going to give this up and i'm a change when you talk about the drugs and and alcohol um you know i i know it sounds uh it sounds trit and people say it all the time it's a cliche you know but it's like you get sick and tired of being sick and tired sick and tired man you know uh i got sober when i was 23 years old and uh in and out of jail hospitalized because of my addiction uh strains from my family you know couldn't go home sleeping outside you know my friends were people that at my contemporaries were you know they were in school they were in college they were starting their careers Saturday night they're out on dates they doing the thing you know

I'm eating out of trash cans you know what I'm saying and I'm you know when people think my story is is is one of rags or riches but it's really the story of the prodigal son you know I'm saying my parents you know two cars and I mean you know want to send me to school and like all of that you know but yeah I got sick and tired of being sick and tired and I gave up on my idea of how to change it myself right there's an adage I love that says when the student is ready the teacher appears you know when I gave up when I surrendered you know God brought some people into my life who showed me how to how to live a better way and I've been doing it ever since if you don't mind me asking

how did the addiction start was it recreational or yeah it started recreationally Right? You know, man, the first time I had a drink, man, it was like, you know, and, you know, I was, I was, you know, I think to some degree, we all have some degree of dysfunction in, in our homes. And I just, I didn't have, I didn't have any coping skills, right? And my parents, you know, God bless them, they did the best they could. We were, you know, we didn't talk about anything in our house. You know, we didn't, there was anxiety. And what I know now is, is childhood depression. and ADHD, we didn't have them labels, you know, everybody. We all depressed, just get up and put your head down and plow through it. So all of those things. So by the time I found alcohol and drugs, dude, it was like a light went on. You know what I'm saying? It was a place of, you know, I thought that it was a place of refuge.

You know, I was, I was free to be me, you know. I was the life of the party, you know, until I wasn't, you know. So my upbringing was, it was, it laid the foundation to seek something outside of myself to, to medicate, you know. As soon as you often just Alarice offered you a mimosa. Shut up. You're not having to say that. I'm so sorry. No, it's all good.

Now, you mentioned your parents, you know, so I'm sure your parents had to kick you out to get to, for you to, to get to where you need to be. Best thing that ever happened to me was my mother throwing me out of the house. Break that down because a lot of parents won't do that because they feel like that's their son. They don't want to. But I feel like sometimes you have. You have to. You have to. Yeah, she had to.

It was the best thing that ever happened to me. You know, and when we do that, and I'm saying that as a father, and I don't know that I'd have the courage to do that, you know what I'm saying? Even having had the experience, but, you know, because there's a risk, and when we show that type of tough love to someone, there's a risk that they won't make it, you know what I'm saying, but there's also a risk that they'll die in their darkness, you know, so I'm glad that my mother made that choice. What's your relationship after?

Today it's all good. Right? It's all love. You know, it was necessary. My mom's, my mom's in recovery, too. You know, the whole dynamic in our house, you know, shifted, you know. And we did a lot of great, a lot of good work to get to a good place. And we lost my father last fall.

But, you know, we're all in a good place, man. And I'm grateful for it. Were you a generational crossbreaker? Um, I would say as far as addiction is concerned, my, as far as addiction is concerned, my mother, my mother got sober first, you know, and I, and I, and I have, I have continued, um, I have continued the, I like that. I'm going to take that with me. I have continued the curse breaking, you know, and, uh, and, and, and hopefully my children will, will, will, uh, will carry it forward. Absolutely. Yeah. Aren't you say that, you know, you all didn't talk about things in your house when you were younger before your father's passing, leading up to that? Did you guys get to have those conversations?

Did you say, you know, because we didn't talk about anything, can we talk about it now? Yeah, yeah, we, you know, we were, you know, we were, you know, we were, you know, we were, you know, we were, you know, we were good, you know, and, you know, and I think that that's, that's not exclusive to our culture, but I'm sure that, you know, our culture, we identify, you know, you talk, you know, grown folks are talking, you go into another room, you know what I'm saying, you're, you're seeing. and you're not, and you're not heard, you know what I'm saying. And, you know, but we did a lot, again, we did a lot of great work to get to the other side of that. Yeah, yeah. What were the conversations like while you were going through the homelessness and trying to figure out the, I know you got kicked out of a rehabilitation center at one point? Yeah.

Were your parents calling and checking in on you? Y'all were talking then, or like, was it just solely just you? You know, when I was, I spent a lot of time in the Salvation Army and the Soup Kitchen's Detroit Rescue Mission. in Detroit and and and during that time I would I would try to I would try to go home you know and and prove to my folks that that I had that I had changed you know that I had turned over a new leaf so to speak but I hadn't really I was I wanted to change but I had the I may have had the outward appearance of change but I didn't even know what change required you know what I'm saying. So there were conversations. They came and visited me in some of the

rehabilitation centers that I was in. And I was really trying to get back into their good graces. But by the time, I was really, really, ready to stop. I wasn't concerned about repairing my relationships, right? I wasn't concerned about getting back into the good graces of anybody. I was just trying to stay alive. I had to do it. I had to do it for me, right not because of my job not because you know you know and I'm talking to addicts who are out there not because I want to I want to you know get my wife back or get my kids back no I need to do this I need to do this for me you know what I'm saying and and then hopefully all the things all of those other things will be will will will be at it you know and yeah yeah but my parents they they

support they wanted the best you know but you know I was you know I was crazy how do you get He got a rehab. Drinking. How are you getting? What happened? They didn't want to kick you out. Using, using, right? Showing up drunk.

You know, you can't out, you can't, you can only help somebody that want to help themselves. You know what I'm saying? So, like, you can't. Like a living, a stay in situation. It was a staying situation. I mean, we got, and you got breathalized every time you, you know, you came back.

I mean, but you, you know, you could, you could, you could sneak. I mean, you know. Got you. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not the first time, though. Not the first time. I completed a program and was still a resident and you know I completed the program and you know and continued and continued to use so I mean you know you only but you're only you're only you know cheating yourself so I wonder if those programs this might be a stupid question I want of those programs actually work are it just something that gets you to realize I got to make a change that's a great point because we live in a

a culture and a society where a certain segment of society where people think, you know, somebody has a, you know, a celebrity has a, has a flare up and get caught and then they go to rehab for like two weeks. Well, he's in rehab, you know what I'm saying? Two weeks, two weeks, I mean, that's, you know, that's a place to start, but you're talking about an overhauling your entire life. You know what I'm saying? You can't, you're not going to get better in two weeks.

You know what I'm saying? You can, you can abstain, you can get some, some clarity. You can get, you know, you can get some tools, but it took a lot. For most of us, it's taken a lifetime to become the people for our dysfunction to reach its peak. It takes time in order to get better. So you leave treatment. You got to continue to be doing something. You know what I'm saying?

And this is, you know, the Internet is littered, you know, with stories of people who've been to treatment and didn't make it, you know. And, you know, so yeah, yeah, yeah. So when you was at your lowest point, like what was that thought or moment that made you believe you could still change your life? Music has always been a light. She makes me more cool. It's okay.

Music has always been, I've always known that that's what it was. So I would be in the Detroit Reds, rescue mission on a piano in the corner writing the court writing the courts for my first album you know what I'm saying right nothing nothing is wasted you know you're talking to you know nothing is wasted your struggle whatever you're going through right now if you get honest and surrender to it nothing is wasted you know because that first album dude that's all Salvation Army right that's all Detroit Rescue Mission that's all, you know, so music was always, was always a light pulling me through. I wanted to be, you know, I'd be, you know, somewhere sleeping on the Detroit, on the Detroit River Bank and right across from the Detroit River, you know, it's Windsor, you know, and at night, dude, I'm, you know, I'm home, I'm trying to nurse a can of

King Colbert till the next day and I'm looking across. And there's all these lights, there's all this life, you know, and I'm not a part of it. You know, it's like, dude, how do, right? I saw this, but how do I get to, how do I, how do I get to that? You know what I'm saying? How do I, how do I get to the, to the next thing, you know, that, that, that, that God has for me. And, you know, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, it's not overnight, you know, I just didn't, I just didn't, I just didn't show up, you know. That's so powerful, man, and when you, when you trapped in darkness, the light is there. Right. You just have to, you know, have the clarity to see it.

And I guess that's why you self-medicate, because when you self-medicate, you don't see it. Right, right. You have to let go, you have to be willing to let go of what's holding you back to get to the other. You've got to be willing to let it go. You got to be willing to let it, whatever it is. You know, we're just talking about, you know, addiction.

But that, those principles apply to everything. Whatever are you trying to get to the other side of, it applies to everything you know what i'm saying so you know everything it applies to everything you know so this is amazing just hearing your journey and the things that you were going through i i grew up listening to you i will wake up saturday mornings it was it was chemistry and anita baker my mom would that would be ringing through the house right and your voice right i we love the music and the whole time you're hurting you're going through this so it's just amazing to be able to hear your store now, right?

And I also, you had said that your music was your therapy, you know, at your time of homelessness, right, when you were away from your community. Have you ever done any other therapy, like real therapy? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, dude, when I signed, when I signed my contract with Motown, I had a panic attack.

First time I ever had one. Wow. and I didn't know what it was right and I'd live with depression like you know you just get up in yeah you know the degree of my depression is not as severe as as other people obviously but I had never and I didn't know you know and I felt like I was underwater um I thought that getting a record deal which I had been you know proverbially chasing like all of my life I thought that that that that was gonna be the cure-all. Why I got the record deal, now I'm cool, right?

There's all this other stuff, all this other baggage that still needed to be unpacked. It didn't, more money, I would say more money, more problems. It didn't resolve a lot of issues. So I ended up, I was talking to someone, a friend of mine, and I was explaining to her how I was feeling, and she happened to be a child psychologist. And she said, have you ever been diagnosed with depression?

And I said, no. I had, you know, no. And she recommended a therapist, so I saw a therapist and, you know, and educated myself. I was on medication, you know, for a while. And, you know, it was, it was, it was life changing, you know. We are, and that's after, I think I got a record deal. I was, I had been sober for maybe 10.

So these layers, there are layers to our lives, layers of the onion that we peel back. and there's more to discover there's more to unpack there's always always more to be done you know i don't know there's a lot of stigma and not as much today probably as as you know i mean that was 23 as as as as as there used to be about you know as you know the black church and we're talking about you know you only need jesus like yeah you need jesus and a therapist right you need a jesus and a therapist and you might need some some medication you know what i'm saying don't let those things keep you from from getting the help that you meet you know what I'm saying how did you get your deal so you said you got your deal you said what you thought your problems

would go away yeah how did they how did you get your deal I I was selling the chemistry album out the trunk of the trunk you know I was I was passing CDs out in the streets you know in Detroit I put people on the plane and fly to Chicago and pass CDs out in the streets you know I was literally you know living in a in Detroit and, you know, my neighbors thought they didn't know what I was doing. I'm out in my pajamas, UPS trucks, you know, loading CDs. I couldn't keep them in, you know, I couldn't keep them in the, you know, the beauty supply store. So we were, I had my own, my own barcode, you know what I'm saying, I was set up as a, you know,

set up as a business, my then manager, Toya Hankins, and we were just, you know, we were just hustling. So every time a CD sold, there was a blip on Billboard, right? It wasn't a lot, but it was a, there was a blip. And then we started to get local airplay in Detroit, D.C., Miami started playing love calls before we ever had a deal, you know. And so, you know, if you get the, and I don't know how you, well, I don't know how you, you know, you obviously not selling CDs today. but if you get the people behind you, industry will follow. How were you able to create a soundtrack of love during that dark time in your life?

Because you didn't love yourself. Right. I don't know if you had somebody to love, but how were you able to write? You were really honest about the things you were going through. December 29th, 1975, LaGuardia Airport. The Holiday Rush. parents hauling luggage, kids gripping their new Christmas toys. Then, at 6.33 p.m., everything changed.

There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal. Apparently, the explosion actually impelled metal glass. The injured were being loaded into ambulances. Just a chaotic, chaotic scene. In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged, and it was here to stay. Terrorism. Law and order criminal justice system is back. In season two, we're turning our focus to a threat that hides in plain sight.

That's harder to predict and even harder to stop. Listen to the new season of Law and Order Criminal Justice System on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, it's AZ Fudd. You may know me as a gold medalist. You may know me as an NCAA national champion and recent most outstanding player. You may even know me as a People's Princess, but now you're also going to know me as your favorite host. Every week on my new podcast, fud around and find out, I'll give you an inside look at everything happening in my crazy life as I try to balance it all. From my travels across the globe to preparing for another run at the Natty with my Yukon Huskies to just try to make it to my midterms on time.

You'll get the inside scoop on everything. I'll be talking to some special guests about pop culture, basketball, and what it's like to be a professional athlete on and off the court. You'll even get to have some fun with the fud family. So if you follow me on social media or watch me on TV, you may think you know me. But this show is the only place where you can really fud around and find out. Listen to Fud Around and Find Out,

a production of IHart Women's Sports and partnership with unanimous media. On the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. So what happened at Chappaquittic? Well, it really depends on who you talk to. There are many versions of what happened in 1969 when a young Ted Kennedy drove a car into a pond. And left a woman behind to drown. There's a famous headline, I think, in the New York Daily News,

it's Teddy escapes, blonde drowns. And in a strange way, right, that sort of tells you. The story really became about Ted's political future, Ted's political hopes. Will Ted become president? Chappaquittic is a story of a tragic death and how the Kennedy machine took control. And he's not the only Kennedy to survive a scandal. The Kennedys have lived through disgrace, affairs, violence, you name it.

So is there a curse? Every week we go behind the headlines and beyond the drama of America's royal family. Listen to United States of Kennedy on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What would you do if one? bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth. Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional

programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months. The first night was so overwhelming, and you don't know who's next to you. And we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything. Listen to shock incarceration on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. all of my all of the early records are um all of the records up until i met my wife are aspirational right

you know skinny dark skin kid shy you know i'm a introvert pretending to be you know an extrovert you know shy you know don't get you know want the want the look from the pretty girl want the you know so i'm i'm that's you know too too afraid to talk you know so that's all of my songs were this all inspirational it's all aspirational and it's all um um you know when i did have a girlfriend and then the loss of the loss of love you know that first you know that first the first album chemistry is it's all of that you know um yeah that's crazy how you say you don't need know how to talk man your music got so many guys cheeks but I can do that right I'm standing it so my brothers I'm standing in the gap for my brothers right you ain't got the words

there's a kid there's a Kim record for it right yeah so did love inspire your music or did music inspire the way you love um both both both right right right And people talk about, you know, and I used to be in bands, and they would be, you know, everybody's, we were coming up in, you know, some Minneapolis sound. It was, you know, Tony, Tony, Tony. It was all the dance tracks and all the, all my bandmates and my musical peers, you know, they were chasing this thing, dude,

and I'm sitting over here in the corner with these little quiet ass. You know what I'm saying? How you always writing the loves? You know, why you always was like, dude, I don't know. You know, that's just, you know, that's just, that's just what it is. And I'm, you know, and I'm grateful for that, you know, because I think that, um, all that ails the world is a lack of love to some degree. No, I think, I, not even to some degree.

I think that's what's missing because love gives you empathy, love gives you caring. If you have those three things, right, you'll show up and be the human that we need you to be. You know what I'm saying? Love, empathy, and care. That's it. You know, yeah. for real yeah yeah looking back now right what are you most proud of now about your journey back

then um i am most proud of being being sober because upon that is you know upon that that's the foundation for everything else if i'm not sober i mean that's that's you know i mean god and sobriety you can go which one comes first because if i can give If I'm drinking, dude, God may still be with me, but I'm not, I'm not, right? I got you. Sobriety is, is probably the first thing. Upon that, everything else is built. And after that is, you know, is my family, my kids, my wife and I, we've got seven kids.

He got you between us. Got me built by one. Right. The oldest is 30. The youngest is one. you know what I'm saying so we start it over look here you know what I'm saying

how did you meet your wife how did you meet your wife I met my wife at a show in Atlanta right and I was never I was never

the artist who is you know sleeping with fans hey yeah you know yeah go give you know bring that one back and go bring that one back

and my wife came to a meeting and greet on a tour that I shouldn't that I well I you know that at the time I didn't feel like I should have been on we had just we had just we had just it was just me but we had just this was 20 2015 so in 2014 you know me Joe and Charlie Wilson you know we was out killing them for months right and then and then I came back and tried to do and do a do another two of so we had been out there so I've really felt you know that I shouldn't have been out on on the road but you know where you where you are we don't all what what what what you're what you think

you're someplace for is not necessarily why you're there we think we're there for one reason but there's something there's something else something else is going on and uh and i met my wife at a at a meeting greet she hates it dude because when we you get into i call it oh yeah meet and greet I got you, meet, Greek. Damn. Right, she's going to see this. We're going to have a, right, right, meat and greet. That's my thinking of meet and greet.

It was a divine meet and greet, though. It was divine. You knew she was the one as soon as she met her. Huh? You knew she was the one as soon as she met her? Oh, boy. There was something that made me want to stay in contact with her. Right, which I never, you know, in my, you know, and I'm lame.

I'm a, I'm a square, right? I'm asking her if she got a, you got a business card? Ain't nobody carrying a business. You only know if she got a business. She's like, you got a business car. Yeah, but I met her, I met her at a show. Yeah, met her at a show, yeah.

And then so after the, like, not that night, but like following the show, you guys keep in contact. You're dating, like, what's the journey? We kept in contact via social media, and then on and our first date was I flew to Atlanta and I was in I was in Detroit Detroit was home and I flew to Atlanta on New Year's Eve of 2015 for our first date and we had we had sushi and then we went to a watch night service at a church to bring in the new year and you know I mean and it's right there you can go

I can go on it I mean it was but it was divine right because it was lined up everything was it was lined up and then you know we tried to remain you know good Christians and then that went out of the kids later and when she said

you know she told me she was pregnant with my first son and I got the news and I was like okay I was like okay all right so I'm like you know I'm going I'm going all I'm going all in

you know and I went and I went all in you know and haven't and haven't looked back I just want you know you let your lips through that whole story yeah you know we got seven kids so you know and the last one girl you know what I'm saying

no you got to do the um girl you got it you know me girl Look here. When you write songs like Give My Love, do you write from a place of healing you've already reached or from, like, pain you might still be processed? Give My Love is, all of the music since I've met my wife, there is a much, and I was concerned about that, about like, how is this going to, you know, we talked earlier about,

you know, my angst and my aspiration for love. So now that I'm in this relationship. with this woman, you know, the most spiritual, you know, I mean, how is that going to affect my writing? So now my writing is richer. It is, you know, I'm talking, I'm thinking, I'm really thinking about communicating, you know, the ebbs and flows of my relationship with my wife and the spiritual component to our, to our relationship. Yeah, so give my love. all the music is still inspired by love,

but now it's really inspired by love in a much deeper way. Yeah, yeah. What about music in general? Like, is it, do you write from a place of healing or from, like, pain you might still be processing? I don't, I, you know, I talk about my pain and my writing only in retrospect.

Not in, you know, I mean, you know, every day of, you know, I mean, you know, it's up and down and in and out, you know, all the time. You know, we only post the good, we only post the good stuff, right? But it's mostly, it's mostly, the pain is in retrospect, or it may be lessons that I'm, that I'm learning. The single that we're dropping next is called Rock With Me, and it's talking about, it's talking about wanting a relationship to, to grow, understanding that in order for a relationship to sustain itself, both y'all gonna have to, you got to, you know, you got to grow and you got to make room for the other person.

And rock with me comes out this Friday. Rock me comes out this Friday. I said, give my love, but I meant rock with me. No, that's all good. Lauren, you can resonate with that. She in a new relationship, she doesn't really know where it's going. So she, she could have to. I know.

I don't have two. I don't have to. I don't stop saying that don't disturb our peace. I know exactly where we go on. When we get there, y'all will all be invited. I would love to have you seen, because I know exactly where we're going to show him. I have two videos. Sing for what?

Nothing. My wedding, okay? Whoa. Yeah, we all look like, yeah, it's all gets crickets when she saw something like that. Yeah. Don't, why? What are you doing? I don't want to show what Kim, what you look like.

What rocking what you look like? Give my love. I saw that there's a blind dance to the... Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't look at... Remember the days, Kim? Oh, I, um...

No, you know. You don't do that. You don't do? Is that you? That's her. She had a different wig on. She's a different person. That's the nightling.

This is the daytime wig. That's the night wig. That's the night wig. That's her. She on a 30-day alcohol fast. Yeah. I think it should be forever, but you know. Yeah.

When you do find the one, when the dust settles and you find the one, just holler at your boy. I got you. You'll sing. I'll be happy to. You know, I'll call you. You know I'll call you. Jesus Christ.

And you not invited, Charlie. So you were about to say is a line dance? Yeah, I was trying to distract, but yes. I saw that there's a line dance. You don't even got a real question. Yeah, there's a line dance to the song. There's a line dance to give my love.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you're performing at these venues, because I'm seeing the people do the line dance on stage with you and people are out and people are drinking, how does that ever, like, bother you because you've been sober for so long? Or how does that work? No, it doesn't, no, no.

No, no, this is just, uh, me being sober is just a, choice for me you know and you you know and you you know I mean people innocuously offer they offer and I'll just say and I'll just say no thank you like she didn't have to you know I appreciate that but she didn't have to right it's just no thank you and you just move on it's no yeah and you know he was so aggressive she's like no you want a mimosa no and you're like do you show up is it be all I did not say oh you know I did not aggressive she didn't want to he was trying to push it all over her on Me, I have a mimosa.

This would be the most dangerous morning. This would be the most dangerous morning. You all have to be escorted out the building. I was more about the line dance. Did you feel pressure to do it, or did that just happen? Did you make up the line dance? Like, what? No, Kenny Jay, who's a line dance,

a choreographer, extraordinaire. You know, we called him to put a line dance to it. And then he taught it to me. Got you. you know um and um you know and and and we did you know we dig it i still can't get to me at once i got a long way to get to know right i'm like i'm stuck to be confused going left right i can't get none of these lines yeah just don't i'll be trying i have a question about um about one of your songs about i can't stop loving you yeah so i know you said a lot of those songs were aspirational

but i was reading the article on ebony and they talked about that song being about infidelity that particular song is about infidelity was that aspirational no no no no no no no no no no no no He's saying that it was aspirations. The love songs are aspirational. Give my love. And there are those songs that are autobiographical. Autobiographical. And I Can't Stop Loving You is one of those.

And yes, it is about infidelity. It was about me being, I was in a relationship with someone and I stepped outside. And people, and the strange thing about I can't stop loving you, it's like probably next to love, well, it's a big record. And people always want me to sing that they wet. And I'm like, dude, have you listened to the lyrics to this song? You wasn't that goddamn shy, though. You stepped out. Right.

You wasn't that introverted it. I heard your wife replied to an aspirational cheating song. Like, if you wrote, I just can't stop thinking about cheating on you. Yeah, it would, it would, it would. No, I only asked that because you said all those songs were aspirational, but then I read that article so I was confused right no no no that's that's it had to track in my mind because I also didn't know it was a song about infidelity yeah there I thought it was a love song yeah stop looking at me but I can see why people want you to sing in at

their wedding I ain't gonna lie that song puts you in a mood where you just want to love up on your guy or your girl whatever you know what I mean they not even listening to it because I'm I'm gonna be honest until she just said that I mean I'm be honest so she just said that I had no idea that it was about infidelity and it is aspirational in the sense that I want to be a better man. I'm going to come on the radio and tell the whole world that I cheated on you. Damn.

And I can't stop loving you. There's some narcissistic ass shit. Damn. I cheated on you. I'm going to tell the world. I'm going to tell you. You know, right. I guess it gave you something you had to like,

like you couldn't go backward. You only could go forward from there because you didn't you said it to the world so now you have to be better yeah i am better i love that i know they always say uh faith without works is dead right so do you think your faith saved you or did discipline saved um both it's both it's both right yeah faith without yeah yeah you can you know when you um ask god to move a mountain you bring a shovel with you right there's work that needs to be done you know and you know yeah there are things that you can do and there are things that you can't do you know one of my favorite

prayers is the prayers is the prayers is the serenity prayer i grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change and the courage to change i can so what is my wisdom to know what is my what is god's to do and what is mine to do right if i can't do anything about it i can this is you know this is then this isn't God's hands, you know. But what is mine to do, I'm expected to get busy. So do you see your career as a calling or a platform? I see it as a calling mostly. Right?

And there is a deception in the world that we're living in right now. Everybody wants to have a platform. everybody got you thinking about your gym shoot line on my new cologne hold on me you reach it now right but everybody don't have this jewelry that I this jury that I designed you need to be you know and I'm a you know and I'm I am an author I'm an author and I'm a you know I was on the phone with somebody who said well you're not just an artist anymore you the host of Kim TV you know and so it's just trying to find the balance in that in order to stay in order to

for one thing to feed the other right in order to be you know you got to be on social media in order to i mean you got to do to an extent but really not getting away from that this is you know trying to be mission driven you know calling driven you know what's really really important right and not chasing not chasing the trends not you know everybody's skipping you need to skip you know well that one right it's like yeah you yeah this this is a platform but it's it's it's more than that first yeah you know um so I'm still you know I'm still working all that out you know my man Amparis he always says that uh people you have to do things for intention not attention exactly we're in an era where everybody does things for

attention but what's your intention exactly you know right everybody we want to be influences like dude just you know can I can I can I I I'll do good to influence my household right yeah my community right or the people that I meet and every that I'm just that I see every day deal with how you dealing with them people you know what I'm saying as opposed to being at the at the at the at the at the at the whims and the Evan flow of strangers and people that you don't even know you know and then taking hits right you all off you know off center because of You know what I'm saying?

No, it's like really, really having to be, you know, really be, you know, intentional. I really want to know this about you. Who is your mount, who is on your Mount Rushmore of R&B and solar? Oh, yeah, that's a lot of people. Okay. So it's not just four. No, how could that? And I'm a songwriter first.

So I dig songs, right? So I'm, you know, the songs have affected me. So it can be, you know, well, there'll be, you know, well, there'll be, you know, know, Prince and Michael would be, I mean, you know, but I mean, but there's, you know, but there's Luther, there's Ron Isley. I'm working on something right now. I'm like, dude, I may have to call, you know, Ron Isley to me is like if they did a time capsule of somebody to represent R&B and soul, like his voice is that to me. You know, everybody, or Earth went and Fire, you know. And then the songs, and then the, you know, the new artist.

that are, you know, October London. And I was just listening to the star, Kendrick Lamar and Siza, you know. And, you know, Summer Walker. Do you like Giving? You know who Giving is? I got to put you on with giving. Put me on.

Put me on. Put me on. Yeah, and everybody's talking about R&B is, you know. Like, dude, you can get, you can push a button and listen to all the R&B that you want to listen to. You know what I'm saying? You know. You did an interview back in November where you said that you wanted to collaborate with Charday.

Yeah, absolutely. Did you hear anything from our team? No, no, no, I'm still. Because that would be amazing. Yeah, that would be my jam right there. Yeah. Right. Yeah.

So how do you measure success now? Is it about the awards and the charge or it's about how many lives your music coaches? You know, that's tied into the, for me, that's tied into the platform question. You know, I, I, you know, some of the things that I haven't hit, you know, I haven't won a Grammy. I've been nominated, you know, but I want a Grammy, you know, I want to make some more money. I want number, I want more number one records. I want all of those things. There are a lot, all of these marks that I haven't hit yet.

And, you know, the good thing is, is that I don't feel like, I don't feel like I'm done. But if I was done, I've been doing this for 23. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Right? You know, it's like, no, I, you know, I've had, I've been, I've had great success doing what I, I do and, you know, keeping my head above water and, and, and, you know, and just being cool. It's been good, you know. Do I want more? Yes. More is on the table. You know what I'm saying? But I'm not, you know, I have to be, I'm, I'm grateful for what has been. Do you ever have days where you, like, lose the passion or, like, you're, like, drained? Because you're, you put so much into your music.

Yeah. What are those days, like, where you were, like, writers block or? Writers' Block is, you know, really the biggest job for me is writing is the hardest thing. It's the hardest thing and it's the most rewarding thing because nothing, you know, for, you know, for what we do, you know, as an artist, as a song, you know, everything starts with a song. you know um so the hardest thing is to and we're calling my team and i we're calling this the season a return to love and just returning to the love of it you know it's just sitting down at the because when i started dude i could sit at a piano or keyboard like all day and not move and not have to find anything you know what i'm saying and now it's like i'm looking for something when i

sit down you know what I'm saying so now I'm just you know just flush out every every idea that's the most challenging thing just to sit and just everything don't have to be you know my albums all the albums are not they're all not number one they're not all they're not all radio songs they're not all you know and just let and just just you know and just and just let it flow yeah let's so brother thank you for your testimony man yeah absolutely and thank you for you know turning your testimony in the art that that that heals man Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's really, really been a blessing to be here today.

Well, thank you. Let's get into the single. You want to introduce it? This is rock with me, and you're hearing it right here. IHeart Radio. This is the Breakfast Club. Yes, sir. Come on now. We love you, Kim. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning. Every day I wake up. Wake your ass up. The Breakfast Club. You're all finished or y'all done? December 29th, 1975. the holiday rush parents hauling luggage kids gripping their new Christmas toys then everything changed

there's been a bombing at the TWA terminal just a chaotic chaotic scene in its wake a new kind of enemy emerged terrorism listen to the new season of law and order criminal justice system on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts Hey guys, it's AZ Fudd. You may know me as a gold medalist. You may know me as an NCAA national champion. You may even know me as a people's princess. Every week on my new podcast, Fud Around and Find Out,

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