The Questlove Show - Lady Wray

Episode Date: December 10, 2025

Pivots define Lady Wray's career. As Nicole Wray, the Virginia native struck gold with the hit "Make It Hot" in the late 1990s alongside Missy Elliott and Timbaland. In the 2000s, she patiently waited her turn with the Roc-A-Fella family, only to witness the death of a dynasty. However, in the last decade, Lady Wray has found a new runway and is making the best music of her career alongside Leon Michels and the Big Crown family. In a conversation with Questlove, Lady Wray revisits her journey. She speaks about her pivots and transformation into an introspective songwriter, how the Black Keys helped her channel a new groove, and her joyful performance on Cover Girl.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clivert Show on the I-Hard Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else.

If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to.

to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg Gillespie and Michael Mancini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences.

Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, They take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves.

We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wood. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best.

advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right. It wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Questlove show is a production of I Heart Radio. Ladies and gentlemen, I will say that James Todd Smith famously yelled in 1990, don't call it a comeback.

Our guest today has probably been hearing that term for at least the last 10 years, which means it really isn't a comeback. She's had quite the journey in her music career. She rose to fame in the late 90s under her birth name, Nicole Ray, Of course, we all remember Make It Hot, her top five hit with Missy Elliott's goldmine imprint. She experienced the challenges of navigating the music industry, including shifts in label support and evolving musical landscapes. We are definitely going to get into that. And after a period of personal reflection and growth, she basically returned to her roots,

embracing her authentic soulful self and redefining her sound, starting with 2016's mind-blowing Queen Alone album. There's also piece of me in 2022, and now her new album entitled Cover Girl, which is on Big Crown Records. I can personally attest that her discography might be the unofficial roots background, dressing room soundtrack.

I've been a long-time fan, and I would like to welcome Lady Ray to QLS. How are you today? I'm great. Thanks, Quest, for having me. I'm a longtime fan of you guys and of you as well. This is just a pleasure today. Yeah, I was going to say there's a difference

between the two dressing rooms of the roots. And usually before a show, I want it real quiet and zen. And in the opposite room where the rest of the guys are, You know, they got a, it's almost like a football atmosphere, but they got to get each other hype. And I remember sometime like, maybe two or three years ago, I popped my head in, but there was something different about, this was soulful, but it was almost like, this one sounded young. I was like, yo, who the hell is that? And they were like, Lady Ray.

I was like, I never heard of her. He's like, oh, you remember Nicole Ray from da-da-da-da-da. And I was like, no, there's no way that. Like, I was flabbergast. shock that I wasn't up on your pivot, your transformation, or like, what I feel is like really your true arrival. And so, yeah, I will say that Tariq pretty much keeps you in rotation for like the last two years, like just constantly playing. So I love Tariq, love Tareke. Yeah, so it's an honor to talk to you. Okay, so my first question to you, in the first 20 minutes

of your day, what is your routine? Wow. First 20 minutes of my day routine. Or specifically this morning. Well, this morning does not include my daughter because she's at home with family and I'm here in L.A. Getting ready, gearing up for my tour. So this morning, I kind of slept in late because I was out a little late last night in a writing session, which I had a great time. I worked with Grammy nominee, Josh Grant. And I think I slept a little late this morning.

I skipped breakfast. And when I did wake up, I immediately reached out to my husband. and told them, you know, I'm getting ready to get myself together, you know, and did my makeup and my hair because I knew I was going to see you today. So I was like, I can't go on there looking busted. I got to get myself together. And it always takes me a minute to get the eyebrows. I'm not like a professional makeup artist, but I mean, you know, doing makeup for myself on tour for the last two years, I kind of like perfected the eyelashes and the eyebrows. So that takes me a good little minute to get that perfected because without that my day is not, it's going to be off, especially if I have to do it like,

interviews and to actually be seen. Got myself together, listened back to the song that I created last night, which is a monster, a beast, kind of got hyped for the day and got some lunch and got my room cleaned and kind of got ready to get over. I was like 20 minutes. I was like, you did all that in 20 minutes? Okay. I get it now. That was your day. Yeah, that was my day. If I were to ask you, pre 10, like, what is a typical memory of your childhood? I remember that you were born in California, but later moved to Virginia. But give me a picture.

When I ask you, like, just give me a random memory of your childhood. It doesn't have to be something like monumental, like the time that, you know, they took us to see the victory tour or something like that. Right. No. Give me a happy moment of your childhood. Happy, happy moments are church, church, church, church, birds, a lot of dogs. I had a lot of dogs growing up, my two siblings, my oldest brother and my young. youngest sister, us just hanging out outside all day into my mom will yell our names to come in.

We would ride our bikes. We would go to church. We had like an apple tree. We had a great tree. My brother would flip, he was learning how to do back flips in the yard. And we just, we had each other. So those were my best memories as a kid growing up would be church, Baptist church with my grandmother. What's your denomination? Well, it was Pentecostal and Baptist. My grandmother, She was devoted to the Baptist Church, and then my mother and father, you know, kind of grew out of that. And we went, we started to pin the cross to church. Yeah. Yeah. So it felt like every day we were in church. Then we did vacation Bible school, like the summer, being in the choir. Just growing up in the church, background roots for me has always been something that I can look back and smile. And I could be anywhere.

And I will hear these lyrics from so many years ago that I didn't even think that I was listening to as a child. like these old gospel lyrics were just come in my head. I could be like cleaning up. I'm like, oh, my, I did a lot of church, so it's there. Got it. The song that first brought you to my attention, it was your twist on. Sunshine, Clark sisters. Yeah.

Everyone always asked you about this, right? Yeah. Yeah. So I was explaining to my friends when I was playing it for them, you know, the story behind that was even an artist that loved the Stevie Wonder wasn't allowed in the Clark household because it was secular. Devil's music. So thus they would have to disguise their fandom for, you know,

regular songs and put a twist on it. But I wanted to know for you, was outside music allowed in your everyday week life? Or was it also a strict Christian music only household? It was not a only strict Christian music household. My father welcomed Jackson 5, Whitney Houston, Aretha 4th. Franklin, Marvin Gay, Sam Cook. The list goes on. But my pastor in the Pentecostal church would not have agreed. I remember being 14 years old after my mom and dad got a divorce, we still would go to the family church. And I remember my mom asked for prayer. You know, the lady with the big flower hat, you put your name in the thing and she gets up there and say, sister.

Every report card Monday, I'd ask for prayer and get born again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But my pastor was not having it. He was not. having it. My pastor, he had these like gazelles and he got up. All he heard was Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and he stood up. He says, disregard the prayer. They're serving the devil. And I was like 14, about to be 15 and I was shattered. I think right there was a pivotal moment for me in my career. That's probably why I never went gospel. I didn't feel welcome as a teen and I really wanted to be a gospel singer and my pastor was not having it and it just pushed me into secular music. So yeah, But yeah, it was it was not a thing to not listen to secular music in my house.

The elders once asked me, once we got a record deal in a kind of backwards way, they were like, so are you uplifting the Lord in your music or are you? Yeah, yeah. I never went back after that, after like 20 years. Right. What three songs would you say is the soundtrack to your first 10 years of life? Tony Braxton, for sure. Maybe breathe again.

Mary J. Blodge was the 4-1-1. Okay. And Woutain Clan, for sure. That's in a whole, like, mixture of, you got some hip-pop. You got some, and probably a little bit of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. But I know you asked me for three, but. That's everyone. Okay.

Who did you say your North Star was as far as your craft is concerned? I'm going to tear up. My idol has and always will be Mary J. Blodge. She was the soundtrack to my, my tender youth, me being inspired, me learning things for the first time, me having boyfriends for the first time getting yelled at by my mom, running into my room with my radio, that she would sometimes pawn for it to pay a light bill and I would come home like, where's my radio? She'd say, don't worry about it. We're going to get it back.

And I was like, I had my Mary J. Blodge cassette in there. But we did get my radio player back. But it was always Mary J. Blage and my life and my world as a young girl. growing up in Portsman, Virginia. It was always Mary. And I had an opportunity to meet her, and nobody believed me. Because when I met Missy Elliott, you know, she was hanging out with Mary. And I met Mary at a young age, I was still a young team when I met Mary.

So I was like sitting there like shaking inside. Like I couldn't believe it. And she said, oh my God, I love you. She told me she loved me. She had heard my music. She knew who I was. And I almost like fainted. Like I was like, oh my God.

So it's always going to be Mary J Blas. for me. Okay. So my life was like kind of your, your, that was my soundtrack, yes. And you were open, like 100% open and, and 100% open. I think the drink back then was gin and juice because I think Snoop Dog and we were young and we were like trying to, you know, sneak around and, you know, but it was always my life listening to those songs. I was young and I just, some of those lyrics, when I was young and I didn't understand, but I think it hit different for me because my mom was a single mom and my brother was holding down the household and just those lyrics just resonated in my soul as a young girl. I specifically remember the day that that album came out. You know, it's like 94

and we're in D.C. And we were like doing promotion around the Howard area and our label rep had it and started playing it. And it's so weird, we sat there frozen in the car. Now, had he said, yo, like, I got the new Nause album or here's the new brand new being album or here's the, you know. Brand new being, yeah. Right. I mean, it would have just been like, oh, we're open for business. But I remember by the time we got to the title track, when we got to my life, I noticed that we were all looking at each other the way that our parents looked at us, listen to hip hop because we said she's a singer. Like, she's not allowed to sing over samples.

It was hard. It was so hard. I will say that I was maybe for like four months. Like, I didn't realize that this new movement, this bad boy movement was coming in. Kind of a lot of the traditional unspoken rules of what we thought like singers should never sing over a sample. Like, you can sing anything. Make up your own melody. Like, rappers got to have.

So for me at least, like I was arms crossed only because I was like, well, if singer is going to make music like rappers do, then who's going to make the music that we're going to sample in the year 2000 or 2005 or two. Yeah. But, you know, also as a DJ, I'm seeing the effect that this new style of music's coming. And so I gave in. I mean, of course, now it's classic. We just. Well, you welcomed it. We played with her a week ago.

And we're her band, like one show a year where she'll join us and we're her band for that show. And it's like, oh, my God, I love that. You guys and Mary? Oh, my, I got to get a ticket. I got to get there to see that. So wait, where in California were you born? I was born in Salinas, California on an army base. My dad was an army.

So they traveled a lot. And I was born here and then raised in Fort Smith. How were you when you came to Virginia? I was a baby. Yeah, I was still a baby. Yeah, I was a baby. You're probably from Virginia. Okay.

Yeah, I'm from Virginia, yeah. Now, where does Portsmouth fall into the proximity of, you know, I know DeAngelo, like, his Richmond and Virginia Beach? Well, it is definitely part of the DMV. It's like right near, like Norfolk. It's like right under the water. It's under the, like, as a tunnel that I've always for years is like, how did they build this? It's like underwater, it's water under there. It's, it's so wild.

But it's like, it's right, like next door to Norfolk, Newport News, bad news, where Allen Arverson is from. So we're kind of like right next door. And Portsmouth is, has always been known for its, a lot of talent that gets unseen. Got it. Like they say something's in the water. That's everywhere in, like, kind of like Norfolk, Hampton, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, and Newport. news. Okay, I know for like a New Yorker, anything south of Philadelphia in their eyes

is down south. Like I know people that actually think that D.C. and Maryland are that's down south, even though. Southern, no. Are you more northeast or north of North Carolina? Yeah, I feel like growing up, when I say Wu-Tang, we will always like connect ourselves to New York. Like we would go to New York when the Timberlands would come out and the music. would come out, we would always go, I mean, I have family members that would just go and drive to New York and say, I'm in Brooklyn, I'm going to get some jewelry. I'm going to get the front somewhere in Brooklyn at this big mall. And we will always like just go back and forth to New York. So I feel like we're more close to. You know, a lot of people say that I'm, I sound like I'm New York. I sound kind of a country. My accent is just all over the place. I will tell you that. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports. and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't

always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either.

We always say that, trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends... Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands.

I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest, the director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko joins the SportsSliced podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar.

This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth.

You doctored this particular test twice in so much, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for. Sunlight's the greatest disinfected. They would uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg, a lesbian, Michael Marantini.

My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Americopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know.

the groundlings, I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be.

Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So when you first came out, of course, you being on Missy's label, I was like, oh, she must be from VA. Mm-hmm. I know the irony of this story is that the second album didn't come out, but I will say that the street promoters when you signed to Rockefeller were like heavy on me as far as like spinning you. So then I thought, well, well, damn, maybe she's from Philadelphia.

Like I'd. Right, right. No. Because I was like, wait a minute. I thought she was down with them. So first of all, I want to know for you, what were the first steps in you wanting to pursue music as a career? Like, was there another option?

Did you have another passion? or desire when you were younger? My story for wanting to embark in this crazy music business has always pointed at my dad. My dad was a singer in the church. He had inspirations to be an R&B singer. Like my dad's voice was similar to Marvin Gay and Sam Cook. He had a strong voice. And then his life kind of took a turn and he kind of, he was homeless for about 20 years.

And he had a drug addiction. And I think as a young child, when my. my mom and dad got a divorce. I think for me, it was like this hunger to find my dad. And when I did find my dad, I wanted him to hear me sing. And so I was always singing loud until he came home. And he didn't come home to maybe like over 20 years. He didn't come home and get himself cleaned and off drugs and homeless.

It felt like two lifetimes. And I think that was the goal for me is to sing as loud as I could. And so my dad would hear me and come back into my. my life. And it didn't work right away because he was out there in the streets. And I was trying to focus on my career when I met Missy Elliott. I kind of started young in the music business. I got my deal when I was, I think, just turning like 17 years old. And my dad was out there. And I was trying to focus on my career, help my dad get his life back together. And I think for me initially, in the beginning, it was me calling out to my dad. And for him to, you know, come back into my life and to know

that I'm pursuing the same dreams that he had. So that was my ultimate goal. What would you say your first creative project was, in this way before the record deal, but when did you discover that you were at creative? Like, what was the first real creative project that you put together? I had quite a few.

My mom was, like, my manager many years ago. She was the momager. And I had, like, a few, like, producers that are no longer living that I worked with when I was young, anywhere from 12 to 14. And I would go in the studio and make records and sing, but I wasn't writing. I think the beginning creative thing for me was when I was eight and I had to learn lyrics to a song. I was eight years old, one year older than my daughter is now.

And I could imagine her, you know, the age that I was in a room listening to a gospel song and writing these. I wrote them down and nobody helped me. And that Sunday I got up there and I sung that song by myself because, I had been practicing those lyrics. How old were you when you gave your first performance? Eight. Walk me through that. What was it like? I remember getting to choir rehearsal early Saturday.

Maybe like we got there, maybe like around 11. I think rehearsal started about 12. And I remember it was a group of all of us, little kids. We were all little. And my brother was in the choir with us as well. And I remember the choir director was like, anybody want to lead a song, raise their hand? And I was standing there like, I knew I could sing,

but I didn't have the nerves to, and my friend just raised my hand up. She was like, Nicole wants to sing. And she's like, Nicole? And she says, come over here. And I remember the name of the song was title, I might as well think big. And I remember like, I have to sing this song in front of the whole congregation. But the lyrics to that song, it hits crazy today because I've been thinking big ever since I was like eight years old.

And that was the moment that I knew I was going to be a singer, that this was going to be the love of my life and I would be doing this for for a while. So kind of without knowing it, you subconsciously manifested where you are right now. Correct. There was no trepidation or nervousness about it at all. I still get nervous today. Like when I was eight years old, my dad used to tell me, I still get nervous and everybody like, why are you?

They come to see you do what you do. And I just feel like I am a ball of nerves. Like I can be backstage and I'm like, I'll ask the band. And I'm like, how's it looking out there? And they're out there, they're ready for you. And then my stomach will just get. It feels like I'm eight years old. Like my dad would say, when I was younger, he would say, look up at the clock.

Just don't look at the crowd. But I can't do that now. I'm going to have grown up. And you know, you got to engage with the crowd. But sometimes I get so nervous. I just kind of look above the crowd until I get in my zone. And the energy is there and the vibe is there. And then I'm in it.

And I feel great. But initially going out there, I'm nervous as I'm so nervous. how did you get the attention of Missy Elliott? Well, this is like a story from out of one of those movies like Ray Charles. Like I've always been the artist that like looking at those enjoy looking at the bios of the artists, how they, you know, got started and their journey. I think for me, this was in the late 90s. I don't even know if they do this anymore because artists kind of get famous off TikTok, YouTube.

This is like organic, the most organic of organics. Missy Elliott live right down the street for me. had no idea who she was in Port Smith. She lived in the house and I lived in apartments, right? And she lived across from my middle school. My brother went to a talent show that Missy, she graduated from Churchland High School and she was a judge at the school. And my brother was in a singing group, a boys group. They sung, they won. They met Missy. And she says, I like you guys. You guys sound amazing, but I need a girl artist. And my brother goes, he's like, I got a sister. She can sing. And she goes, okay.

And so he gave her our house number, our landline. And she calls our house and talks to my mom. And I think I had a little. Was she Missy Elliott by then? She was not Missy Elliott by then. She was working with Jodicey, Timberland, and all of those guys. And so my mom page me and says, is a girl over here? She wants to meet you.

I walked over, came to the house. So walked in, Missy's there. She had her finger waves. And she has a magazine. And she's like, she's telling me all about who she is, what she does. Her group sister. she knows Jodice she told me I work with TLC

and that was like my favorite group back in the day and she's like sing something for me and I sung Week by SWV I get so and she said you remind me of Mary I mean everybody was always comparing me to Mary J. Blodge as a young girl and when she saw it she's like I'm taking it with me and my mom was like just make sure she's okay my mom would let her drive the car

we would drive to Philly in the snow wait I got a question So I kind of wound up going backwards. I'm also friends with skills. Okay, KK, yeah. And so the thing was, I wasn't aware of the mixtapes that they were making in the basements. Yeah. Devante.

Yeah. Mr. Dalvin. Yeah. So I was fully aboard by the time one of the million came out. Like once Alia's record came out, I was like, yo, who is this? And then I could go backwards. It's like, oh, it's a guy named Timela and Missy. But when I got wind of those mixtapes that they were making,

were you ever eyewitness or worked in that basement? I didn't work in that basement. I think Missy was on her way out. She had told me so many horrible stories, and she was kind of like becoming stronger as a writer, as an individual, as an artist. And I think she took all of that. Did she learn from that and put it into herself,

into her career and all the other artists like myself, that she began to work with. But I remember her telling me the wild stories about those days in the basement. And I'm kind of glad I did not kind of come up in it because I will probably not be here talking to you today from some of the things that I've heard that she told me that was going on back the end, which is horrible. But look where she is now. You know, she is on top of her game, a trendsetter icon.

Ironic. Yeah. So I think when I met her, she just wanted to get out of that and pull her. her talents into, you know, something else and something fresh. And I was, I was like her little sister. I went everywhere with Missy, everywhere. Like I said, we would drive to Philadelphia. And it would be cold, like on a weekend.

My mom would let her take the car. We would drive. And we would go in a studio and just sit there all night and just, I mean, I was the like studio rat, like lab, like muse. Like she would write songs. I would sing them. Pumping them out, singing them, pumping them out, singing them. How are songs crafted?

Back then? Yeah. Back then, it is so, not quite as similar as it is now. Like, more, like, now writing is more of a jam. Like, back then you would get the- So people just stand in the room and just add to the pot? Yeah, like, this was not what Missy was, like, or creative on her own. She would get in there and make, like, beats with the producer

and sit in there and write songs, like, all day, like her. She would get the track and sit in there and, like, listen to the actual, track and write lyrics. Like now it's more kind of jamming and organic and you coming up with the track altogether and not like kind of like sitting there and listening to the production and coming up with lyrics. That takes a lot today

to sit. I mean, some artists do it. I kind of got out of that writing style because it seemed like it took so long for me to kind of, I think I wanted the music to speak to me as it's happening in real time. And that's how I write now. But for me, I learned the importance of melody and harmonies working with Missy.

She could come up with harmonies. I mean, like stacking vocals and I learn all of that from her. Like today, I can be, I mean, I can work with artists now and they're like, wow, like you helped me, but that's what Missy was doing and preparing me as a, you know, a songwriter today. And I look back on those experiences as well. And it was really weird to say, but I realized in the pandemic, I didn't know how to write a song.

Oh. You know, Tariq and I started, well, one, we started in high school. So our high school experience was basically just limited to beating on the desks. Right. Do an occasional talent show in which you do someone else's song and he rhymes over it. And then when we really got serious as the roots, we were like busking on the street corners. And you kind of have to think off the top of your head, whatever it's, happening. And so it wasn't until when I started DJing in the pandemic in which I'm spinning

records that I'm not spinning in nightclubs. It's not like I'm spending records to make you dance. I mean, you know, we're locked in our houses. So right. The thing I'm like a radio station. So I'm like doing an hour of Marvin Gay, an hour of Bill Withers. And suddenly, in subjecting myself to five hours a day DJing online, I was like, oh, now and reading the, and reading the, the comments that are coming up. That was a backwards way for me to learn how a song works. Actually in the pandemic where, you know, I mean, there was a point where I play a radio hit song, people were like, oh, like crying and.

Yeah. I'm seeing like what emotions, like, what touches them emotionally and our sharday. And somehow I realized maybe like by July of 2020, Oh snap I know grooves And I know like the backdrop of Rhythm Right

But never once did I think Can you whistle this song And there's a melody to it And I was like oh my God Like for 17 albums I don't waste it Like how do we get here? How do we get here?

Now I know the importance of it So that's basically what you learned Like when you're crafting Make It Hot the record, how much agency are you given as far as like what your vision is for this record? Or was it just like, all right, I'm open and I'll listen to whatever you say and I'll do what's necessary? I think back then you had to do what was necessary, you know, being a new artist and coming up under Missy Elliott and Timberland. And I like, I had no voice.

I was young. I was new. I was fresh. I had no story. I wasn't a writer. I hadn't been through. I had been through stuff. but I think at the time, I think they were trying to mold me as what they saw me to be, right?

So Make It Hot was a song that was written by me and had vocals that was already in there. And I remember when I first heard it, I didn't like the song. I was just like, I don't know if I liked this song. That wasn't the last song that I made. That was, uh, that was a hit single was always the last song, the last three songs, but, okay. It was not. Everybody was excited. I remember Sylvia Rohn being in the studio.

I remember Timbalin being there and Missy and I come in a studio. I flew to New York from Virginia and I get to the studio. Everybody's excited about this record because Missy would get so excited. And I get in there, I'm like, I'm ready to hear some, you know, and I'm like, the tone was like very like outtoe and I kept trying to get it. And I remember Missy said, you take this to your hotel room and you listen to this song over and over. And when you come back tomorrow, you're going to have it. And I remember getting back, I was like, I remember telling my mom, I was like, I don't know if this is the one. But it's probably always that second guessing yourself is always that hit record, you know?

Like I wasn't bonded to it, but after it was recorded and I heard everything they had done to it and Timberland added some more stuff to it. And I was just like, oh, when it was all set and done, I just fell in love with it. But initially, I did not like it. I was going to ask you, you know, Neptunes also do this as well. There are songs that sound like the Neptunes, like off the bat. That's the Neptunes. Timberlin had a rep, like, whoa, that's instantly Timberlin. It's almost like they were crafting a new sound also.

Right. And I actually went through this with the Neptunes because, you know, we finally went down there to the studio. So in your mind, you're like, you're thinking of like your top 10 Neptune songs and this is what this has to match. Right. And then he gives you some of the total opposite of that. And you're like, wait a minute, that's not Norries nothing.

Like, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. In your mind, what were your expectations or hopes for to receive? Like, what was your top three, Missy and Timberlin? I wanted something like SWV. I wanted some more, like, more singing, less breathy songs. Because I always had a voice.

They didn't let me flex ever. And that's probably what you hear today when you said I didn't know I had that in me. It was always there, but I was being molded and created the way what they saw for me. But inside it was a girl that just wanted to just belt out and just sing some like Mary and just sing like Keisha Cole when she first. Like they wouldn't kind of let me go off like that. It was always kind of like just relax, breathy. And then every time I would try to, they like, uh-uh, that's not the vibe. That's not the vibe for this song.

So it's always been living inside of me to just bring out those strong roots and kind of write my own story and sing the songs that I've always wanted to sing. not no shade to them because I wouldn't be here today without that make it hot song and being able to even sing that tone and have that breathy almost Tony Braxton tone because that's what I was listening to a lot of Tony Braxton and Mariah has that like low key tone as well. So I've always could do it. But Missy kind of pulled it off and I was really wanting to go in there and sing some like SWV stuff, you know. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me,

Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard,

but celebrate. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your

podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford. and a TikTok podcast network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends.

I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same thing. prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands.

I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East-West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make, to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else.

If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. In 2023, former bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth. You doctored this particular test twice in someone, correct?

I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for. Sunlight's the greatest disinfected. They would uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg Alespian and Michael Marantini. My mind was blown.

I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Americopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona. Listen to Love Trapped Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through,

and I know it's a place that come look for up-and-coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be.

Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. When you get this deal, what was your definition of making it? Like, right when you get your record deal. Not like once you're in it, but before, like, for me, it was like having eight pairs of Apuma sneakers in every color. It was never money for me because that money was not there. For some, it was, it was not there.

For me, I think it was being around the other artists. I would meet, go on to meet Janet Jackson. I would go on to meet Buster Rhymes and Mary J. Blige and some members of TLC and just to be in the room with these artists. that that was the definition of me making it because I never thought a little girl from Virginia concrete jungle that would be sitting in a room next to Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson's sister and having a conversation and she's looking. That's how I knew I made it because Missy had took me in that room with these artists that had already been made it and they've already like, they were already millionaires. And to me, I felt like I'm here. I must have made

it because I'm not sitting at home anymore. I'm in this room with Janet Jackson or I'm sitting right next to Mary J. Blige. Or Beyonce, Destiny's Child, I'm here. So it wasn't money and it wasn't clothes. It wasn't fame. It wasn't like fortune. It was just, it was fame.

It was like I'm surrounded by my peers. And that's what let me know I may have made it. How does your life change in terms of like having made it? How jarring was it? to your personal circle, your high school friends, your cousins, family. I had a long talk with an old friend that had she passed away about, I want to say, seven years ago. And she and I, before my career, were really tight.

Growing up in a concrete jungle of Portsmouth, she was really like a friend to me. I was the girl that everybody, like, they liked me, but they couldn't understand, like, How is she like, she's pretty, but she's like hard and she, she's like us, but she says something about her. She was that gap in between, like, don't mess with her. She is special. And I think when I talked to her after my career, she kept asking me, why didn't I come back? When I got out of school and I moved and just went on tour, right?

And I wasn't home for a while, so I missed a lot of engagements that was happening around my way. and I was just suddenly pulled out of this zone to like this famous thing that I had no idea about. And I'm still trying to be, I'm hard. I'm from Portsmouth. You know, I'm this girl. And she would always say, I wish, you know, you would have came back or came back to visit. So it broke my heart that my peers were looking for me to come back. And I didn't make it back in time.

And then by the time I made it back, she wasn't around long enough for us to kick in a hang out. and for me to tell her my experience and my journey coming from Portsmouth and being in the industry to share that with her. And that kind of broke my heart just to hear that they were rooting for me. They were rooting for me and they didn't understand why I didn't make it as far as they thought that I should make it. How hard is it to explain or convey to them what it is that you're in? Because again, like when people see it from afar, they're like, well, damn, she's down with them and them. where's your Mayback at? Where's your beach house?

And how did you deal with the stress of trying to maintain it once you got your foot in the door? I asked myself that a lot. And I think for me, I started writing. I started cooking. I know it sounds really strange, but that's what was happening. I met this lady and she was like a mother to me. and we would talk and I would see her, we would be talking and she's cutting up onions

and she's getting the seasonings and she's, we're talking and she became like a mother to me. And I saw how effortless it was for her to just cook and talk to me. And it started to calm me. I just started doing what I saw her doing. And that really eased my, and everybody like, how can you cook so good and you're so young? And where did you learn this from?

And it's so crazy, I didn't even know that was my like, therapy, cooking and bringing people together. That's what it was for me because it was very stressful. It was. If you are creative nine times out of ten just to stay

creative, you sometimes have to do creativity in other areas. Like there was one point where I started taking up photography. There was one point when I started doing artwork. Yeah. So for you, it was the culinary arts. It was

culinary arts. I was even thinking about going to culinary art school. And at the time, my boyfriend, which is now my husband, he was taking me where I needed to go to get the credentials and everything that I was going to do to join to be into culinary school. But then they were like, let's get you here and work on this music again. See, I keep getting pulled out of something that I really want to do for this music. And it's just like, wow, I was really about to go to culinary art school in Atlanta, Georgia. And I got pulled out to work on Alone album. Oh, man.

What is your go-to dish? What is your... I love a roasted chicken and I have so many ways that I do it and I'm working on a cookbook as well and I'm also into interior design.

So those are things that calm me down and my mind goes somewhere else with color and fabrics and just putting things together and just seeing something from nothing and turn into like so whimsical and colorful. That makes my heart smile.

outside of doing music. What is your go-to comfort food at two in the morning? Artists are always eating at odd hours, so. For me, it'll probably be shrimp and grits because it's so fast. And I've always got some oats somewhere for the grits. I always have grits somewhere, and I always make a nice rue very fast, and I have shrimp. So I do a shrimp and grit, like really quickly or maybe a taco. I wanted to know why you titled your album Electric Blue.

My brother and I are huge outcast fans, right? Got it. And it's this song and Andre 3000 is yelling something, something in the sky is electric blue and he's yelling it, yelling it, yelling it, yelling it. And we were just like, this would be so cool as an album title. And my brother was like what you're going through right now because he always felt like I was kind of like this voice and this like melon infinite sadness that was a young girl trying to get everybody to understand who I was. And then because I had hip hop living inside of me.

I had church living inside of me. And he would be like, you know, this will be so dope if you name your album, Electric Blue. And we just named it Electric Blue. And for all my Electric Blue fans, one day I'm going to, I'm going to release this album. How many songs were done? Oh, at least I have about 14 songs on there. Oh, go ahead already. Yeah, it's about 14 songs, and I don't know.

I have it, and they really want me to release it. So I got to figure out what I need to do to release this album. Some songs already have been released on YouTube. I don't know who released them, but I need to do it professionally and get it out there for my fans. After the Rockefeller situation didn't work out. That broke my heart. Yeah, I was going to say, can you walk us through what you felt? felt your world was going to be.

Like, is this a thing where you, like, I got to be a civilian again. I got to, like, what's the journey of dealing with it? And then what was the journey and picking up the pieces and starting all over again from scratch? Oh, my gosh. I think when I first had the idea that I wanted to be part of Rockefeller, I thought it was good. I thought that light bulb went off in my head one night. I had was, I was back at home. I wasn't doing too good.

And I was staying over at my sisters for a while. And I remember, I think BT was on late night and they were showing like some hip hop videos. And I was like, I want to be signed to Rockefeller Records. It was that light bulb that went off like, I don't think they have any like girls singers that, you know, that's kind of got a little hip hop, you know, kind of thing going on. And I just manifested that. And then it happened.

I was working with Kenny Burns. He introduced me to Damon Dash. And they love me over there. They were like, we got you. Don't worry about it. And then I started working on music and the music was great. I made all these great relationships. And I get home, I'll go back to Virginia and I read on the internet that Rockefeller is

splitting up. And I'm like, I felt shatter. I was like, here we go again. I'm just like, what is happening with my luck? You know, and I just wasn't feeling what they wanted to continue to do. Like, I was cool with Damon Dash. And we were like, you know, he was like, I got something else I want to do with you. And I just felt like down.

I was just like, I'm back at home again. And I don't know where to pick up the pieces from. But I do know I kept my relationships with Damon Dash. And he would call me maybe a few years later and say, I got another situation for you. And this was the Black Key situation, which opened up a whole other door for me. How did that even come to be?

The Damon Dash called me. And like I said, I'm glad I was doing that project. Yeah, he was doing that, yeah. part of the black rock. I was the girl singer that was doing all the sink. That's me. Yeah. And I had no clue. Okay. And then the Black Keys asked me to come to Musher Shoals, Alabama to work on the brothers album. And then that's where the thought of this soul thing that was always

living in me, it just woke up. It just woke right on up. And I was like, this is what I want to do. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what what you're saying. Yep. That's me. me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes

of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any map. should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends, oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck.

I thought, how could this happen to me? didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players

flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Former Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story.

This began a years-long court battle to prove the truth. You doctored this particular test twice in silence, correct? I doctored the test once. It took an army of internet detectives to crack the case. I wanted people to be able to see what their tax dollars were being used for. Sunlight's the greatest disinfected. They would uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing.

Gregal, Westby and Michael Marantini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at Americopa County as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice has served in Arizona.

Listen to Love Trapped Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot.

I don't know what that means. but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up-and-coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved.

And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar

of, you know, the cat just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What was it like to be in the studio, the same studio that I believe Aretha Franklin created her landmark, I never loved a man the way I loved you, respect and all those classic songs. like Muscle Shoals is probably

Haunted. Legendary, legendary. It is legendary. It is. It had its moments. It felt a little creepy, but you can feel the vibe of it. I mean,

everything is still the way it is. They have the old pictures they have, Edda James, they have Aretha. They have Sunny and Cher, even recorded there. And it was, it's given this ghost there, for sure.

It's giving, yeah. Here's a fun fact that not many people know. George Michael wrote Careless Whisper in 1982. And right before Wham becomes an idea, I believe that Jerry Wexler, you know, Ritha Franklin's producer, decided to fly George over to America to record some demos. And the original Careless Whisper was recorded

in Muscle's Shoals Studio as a, you know, a totally different song, like different than the small saxophone thing that we know. Right. But yeah, not many people know that that's like one of the, that's where, kind of where Carolus Whisper was born. But for you, how did you, in terms of joining the, well, what I call the Dap King Cult of Brooklyn, how familiar were you with those guys? as far as their vintage sound was concerned.

I had no idea about Deptones, Depp King, Sharon Jones, Lee Fields, Charles Bradley. When I heard Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones for the first time, I thought that they were artists of yesteryear. I was like, who is this? And this song is hitting me. It's bringing out all these emotions. It was like, no, he's alive and he just recorded this late. I was like, get out of here.

Who put you on to it? One of the girls that was hanging out with Damon Dash. She put me on because I think Dan from Black Keys had put her on because they were huge fans of Lee Fields. And it's so crazy because it's parallel because I met Leon Michaels who produced Lee Fields. And I didn't know Leon when I was working with the Black Keys. So it's kind of parallel. And I'm just like, I think it was all meant to be. It was all manifested in itself.

And they are still working together today. and we all like know each other. We all work together. And it's just like, I don't know. It's just so crazy that when I first heard, Lee Fields, and then I met him. And then Leon asked me if I would come and write on his album, Faithful Man. I was just like, nobody has ever asked me to write.

Everybody always, you know, when I was coming up, like, you need writers. You need help. And he let me do my thing. And I take my head off to him because I think initially, Michael Blue Williams, who managed outcast once told me the best advice that I ever could have gotten in my career was like, Nicole, what you need to do is get a pen and get some paper and start writing. And I was like, what does that mean? What does that look like for me? When I think about it now, I just look around and observe everything, my feelings, my emotions, my family, my friends, out of my window,

whatever I see, I put it on paper. And it was my heart and my emotions. And I think that's what kind of saved my career is becoming a songwriter. What was it like at least the beginning of presenting this live presentation, like the soulful live thing? I think presenting the soulful live show was something new for me because I had been singing for many years and I didn't really perform as much as I felt like I should as an artist. I kind of was always like put in the background somehow. I'm like, why am I all the way back here?

I would always ask myself, I would see other artists doing a lot of things and performing and all over the place. And I was always this girl that was eager to just get and do the music and not always be in the studio. I would write a lot of music, but a lot of that music would never see the light of day. I have a lot of music that it's somewhere in a laptop, somewhere on a dat, somewhere that's somewhere, or it's just lyrics in a notebook. So when it was time for me to do a live show, like I said, I get really nervous because it starts first with the writing. You got to write these songs that are, you know, transparent. And I felt like I've been doing that for the last five years.

It's just writing stuff that people want to hear because I'm actually a living proof and that's living these things, right? And so when you get the ticket sales and you get there, you get the outfit, you get the rehearsal, and then you get out there on that stage. And it's like, and I'm overwhelmed because I, like I said, I have never really experienced it until now. the love that people have for me as an artist and they're singing these not they're not saying it they don't make it hot but they're singing songs after make it hot was made you know what I mean I feel I'm blessed of a blessed artist to not be still singing the same tune as some I see some artists that I came up with they're still singing the same songs and I don't know if me being such a creative person I don't know I got to do something new always I got to have something fresh and to see these

even when I go overseas and it's like hitting me that I'm in another country. I'm not singing, make it. I'm singing maybe guilty. And these people are yelling these lyrics back at me. And I'm overwhelmed because I wasn't the artist that was getting the love and the platform that I should have been getting many years ago to perform at places and to do shows. I was always kind of like in the background. So it makes me feel great.

That said, in your live presentation, do you now present your second act? Mm-hmm. Like the making a hot album, like, do any of those songs ever find their way back in the set list sort of refiltered in... Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

We do like a mashup. We do like a sort of a mashup of the 90s. I let people know, I'm about to take you on a journey from the 90s. And they get so excited because they know what that mean, because you have some people that are there that has no idea that I'm Nicole Ray. Nicole Ray.

And they're like, they're trying to like, connect the dots, like, is that her or I don't know? And then when I'm starting, I see people kind of like confused and they're like, oh, my, that is her, you know. It always makes me smile and laugh that I have my older fans and I have new fans that are, they know I'm Lady Ray, but then when they find out I'm Nicole Ray, it's a whole other, like, thing happening. What would you say that Cover Girl represents in terms of where you are now today?

I think Cover Girl is that little girl that was so eager and bright-eyed, ready for the business, ready for the music business without getting my heart broken and just brave, right? I felt like I was so brave before any of all of this, and I wanted to bring that spirit back into the music and my church roots and how I preach about self-care and taking care of yourself. and I think that's how Cover Girl was born. Like, I'm like, I need to get back to where I was because piece of me was so serious. I was pregnant with my daughter. I was about seven months pregnant with her when I was working on that album. And I didn't know what I was going to do, but she gave me everything that I needed to give for that album.

And I felt like I'm raising a young child. I'm a new mom. And I think now with Cover Girl, she's here. My daughter, she's seven. She's my inspiration. She is the light of my life. She's giving me all the character. and everything that I need and that little girl that live inside of me is her.

And so I wanted to kind of just pay homage back to that and get back to that free vibe, being brave, not caring about anything and just looking right at myself and saying, this is who I am. Is she putting two and two together of what you do and what you do for a living? Yeah, she took one of my albums the other day and put it in her book bag. And she's like, mom, can you sign this? This is for my teacher. And I signed it first.

And I was like, she got home. She said, my teacher said she's going to listen to this on the weekend. And I was like, oh, so she knows she sees my merch. She sees the merch. She sees me, like, rehearsing my songs. She's even been on tour, on the tour bus and got on stage and sang with me. So she's putting two and two together. She has a voice.

She is, oh, I can't believe it. Well, obviously, if she has a voice, then, you know, she'll follow the lineage. what was the best advice that you were given and what was the worst advice you were given? The best advice that I was given was to become a songwriter. And the worst advice I was given was to, it's kind of crazy because it kind of isn't, isn't the same vein as being a songwriter. Like take your artist out of being a songwriter and be a songwriter. And I'm like, I'm still in a songwriter.

artist. Got it. You know? So it was the first advice, the best advice was to be a songwriter. And that's what you need to do. And then as I, you know, start writing and I was writing so good, everybody's like, you know, you're a good songwriter, but you need to take your artist, just take your artist out of being a songwriter. And I'm like, I can write songs all the time. I want to give the artist the best song that I can give them, not because I'm trying, I want to not be an artist. So it's strange, you know. For your daughter, do you have dreams or wishes for her to also follow your footsteps if that's what she wants to do? I want her to be free at whatever it is that she does. And I would not be a momager.

If she was to get an industry, I would find her the best team that she could ever have. But I think for me, I want her to be happy and whatever it is, she wants to be a neuroscientist. She wants to be a veterinarian. And if that's what she, she wants to get on stage with her old mom when I'm going to. about 60, 70 and come and sing with me, she can. And that would make my heart smile. But I want her to be happy and to do what makes her happy in life. I would not stop her, but I would encourage her to do whatever makes her happy.

Beautiful. What I like about your projects is that you're able to somehow musically astro travel to different eras, you know, sounds like the 60s, late 60s, 70s, hearing traces. of disco and whatnot. What is your like dream conquering kind of mountain to climb as far as your creativity is concerned? I think for me, my first love would be hip hop, right? So I think next I'm definitely going on this hip hop. I am. I am a very secret emcee and a lot of people, they like, I want to see what you do. And I'm like, my brother, you know, he's, He was the man in the house for a long time as a kid,

and he was the one who put me on to, like, leaders of the new school and Wu Tang and, like, Heavy D and the boys and all of these artists. I think Pete Rock and Seale Smooth, like, I'm a rap head, you know? So I think next for me is, like, going back to my hip-hop roots, for sure. That's what I really would love to do. All right, we might have to clap then. Oh, yeah, that would be beautiful. When you come in time and mine.

Because, you know, Rieke is a big fan of yours. I really want to thank you for taking the time out and speaking to us here at The Questlove Show. And I'm such a fan of yours. And I love a good pivot. To me, that's one of the main subjects that I try to convey with every episode that I do to the audience, which is basically oftentimes we might hit a dead-in wall or dead street

and just be like, well, that's it. It's over. and I'm really glad you didn't give up and I love your patience and I love the pivot that you've done with your creativity and forever a fan of yours and I think you. Thank you. I'm a forever fan of you guys and you, thanks for having me. This has made my week.

I'm excited. I was so excited about this and I would love to work and do some music with you. I would love to. It would just be an honor. Yeah. Lady Ray, ladies and gentlemen, See, I'm gonna sit in the cold rain. Lady Ray, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thanks, Quest.

The show is hosted by me, Amir Questlove Thompson. The executive producers are Sean G., Brian Calhoun, and me. Produced by Brittany Benjamin and Jake Payne. Produced for I-Heart by Noel Brown. Edited by Alex Conroy. I-Heart video support by Mark Canton. Logos graphics and animation by Nick Paloi Additional support by Lance Coleman

Special thanks to Kathy Brom Special thanks to Sugar Steve Mandel Please subscribe, rate, review, and share The Questlove show wherever you stream your podcast Make sure you follow us on socials That's at QLS. Check out hundreds and hundreds of QLS episodes including the Questlove Supreme

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He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that.

There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.