The Questlove Show - QLS Classic: Marsha Ambrosius

Episode Date: June 15, 2025

Singer/songwriter Marsha Ambrosius stops by to talk about everything from working with Michael Jackson and Dr Dre to how we've been pronouncing her name wrong all of these years! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 2%. That's the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter. And on my podcast, 2%. I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange, modern world. Put yourself through some hardships and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person.

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From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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.

Course Love Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. What's going on, y'all? This week's QLS classic is with none other than my home girl, my friend, single songwriter Marcia Ambrosius. She stopped by. We talked about everything from working with Michael Jackson, writing butterflies, Dr. Dre, Floatree, and most importantly, how we've been pronouncing her name wrong and fucking it up for all these years. This episode was from January 9, 2019, and this is this week's QLS Classic. It was an incredible time, and we hope you enjoy it. Catch y'all next week.

Peace. Here we go. Suprema, Subra, sub, sub, sub, subrama roll call. Suprema, sub, sub, subprima roll call. Suprema, sub, sub, sub, subprima. Why are you scared, Steve? Karma, karma, karma.

Yeah? I'm sorry, Jan. Yeah. Marsha, Marsha. Supremia, sub, sub, sub, sub. They have that in London. Supremea. Subima.

Subrama. Subramma. Surma. Submira. Surma. Surma. Superma. My name is Fonte, and I will listen to Floatry.

Back in the day, yeah, when I was doing my hoitry. Supreme. Supreme. Supreme. Supreme. The name is Sugar. Yeah. I'm no John Mayer.

Yeah. So she cheated on me. Yeah. With John Mayer. Oh, Supreme. Supremia. You thought I was going to say back. Yeah.

We got the reference. So, Supreme. Roll con. Up. I paid bill. Yeah. I hope you're hearing. Yeah.

I wish you could see. Yeah. Laia's earrings. Oh, you. Oh, my God. Supriva. Supreme. I'm seeing it right now.

Rocahn. It's been 10 years since. Yeah. Boss Bill was in England. Yeah. Had a real chill time. Yeah. My idea of fun.

Rocawn. Suprema. Suprema. Suprema. Suprema. Suprema. Suprima. Suprima.

Suprima. Suprima. Suprima. Roll call. It's Laia. Yeah. And Marcia, yes. Yeah.

Ball's like a beast. Yeah. And she sings the best. Roll call. Supremma. Subrema. Subrema, Roll call.

Supremma, Subrema, Role call. My name is Marcia. Yeah. And I'm on this mic. Yeah. I'm with my husband.

Yeah. I'm so hype. Roll call. Supreme. So, Suprema. Surma. Submma. Ro call.

Supreme. Sup, sub, sub, supremo roll, Supremar roll. I'm a twilight. And I sound like Mary Puffins. On Bayfield. What? You might have,

everyone bodied their verse. Fuck y'all, man. I didn't notice. Shout out to my godmother, Deanna Williams, he gave me these earrings. Shout out to the ripped jeans hanging from my ears. I thought you had a scarf board.

They repurposed some pair of sucos. I believe these came from. From the Stable Collective. Shout out Sister Rita Scott. I'm just saying. Y'all don't know style. Serita Scott. Do wafe.

Okay. Those are some fucked up earrings. Edit. We're back. I'm so happy about everything. Well, I'm so happy to be back. Straight up poetry. And it's all right.

My stomach hurts. I know. I don't even want to do the show. Yeah, I'm your host Questlove, and we're with Team Supreme, and there's an unpaid bill. Yeah. You're back. I'm back. Thank you.

I was on my walkabout. Glad to have you back. We missed you. It's been a while. I never missed that plane to L.A. I did. Like, for you three weeks? Working up your bathroom as well, or?

No, I am renovating the basement. There's no mat finish or waterless heater. Waterless. Tankless water heater. Tinkless water heater. But there are some walls. But you probably got some cool job shit. on, Bill, that you try and make jokes, but you probably got some real cool shit going on while

you missed us, right? Yeah. I know. Sesame Street was filming season 50. Wow. 50 years of Sesame Street. 50 years of Sesame Street. It's crazy.

Am I allowed to say anything about that or do it? I just wait until it happens or? I think you should say something. Okay. Well, I'd like to thank you for finally. It's been a lifelong, more than soul trained than to come on Sesame Street. That I can help. So you actually own, you made it on.

I'm battling Grover. The first one? Wow. Yeah. It's quite amazing, man. All right, Mars. And it's weird because, like, when you get in front of the Muppets, you start talking to the Muppets like they're real people.

Also, Amir was, like, legit flustered on the set. It was pretty funny. He usually can't stop talking. He was like, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. It was like, I'm just going to play the drums because I don't know how to talk. Because, like, even when they yell cut, Grover's still talking to me. Wow. So, you do Jimmy Fallon?

Well, you know, I have the schedule. And then, like, you realize 40 seconds later that... You're talking to a band's hand. You're talking to a piece of Felon and having a whole conversation. Yeah, I was thinking, getting all analytical, everything about my creative process. And then I was like, wait a minute. Grover gets to the heart of the matter. Yeah, yeah.

Stigginz Steve, how's it going? Welcome to your show. Yeah. Well, how's your show? I have a whole network, actually. How's your network doing? The network is blossoming. Really?

Yeah. We're thriving. That's great. Thank you for asking. Are you happy as of late? Yeah, I'm good. I haven't been getting, and again, this is not a pun. I haven't been getting any headaches lately.

Word of it. Amen. Amen to that. Fluority's first time. Because we and you listen to music. I figured it was a poetry pun. I just, I smoked weed. We know.

We know. We know, we know, Marge. I'm bringing up old stuff Oh that's You're a mother man She's a mama and a wife's name Oh Montezuel

I'm good man You're good man I'm glad Marcia's here man I've been wanting to do this for a long time Yes Yes We're So ladies gentlemen

Our guest today She made her mark In the music world As one half Of the pioneering Neo-Soul outfit entitled Floatry Her reputation

As a songwriter I'll say grew after the creation of what many, including myself, will probably say, how big of a hyperbolic moment can I make this? You're pretty good at you.

I personally think that Butterflies is maybe one of Michael Jackson's finest vocal performances in the last 10 years of his life. Without a question. Without a diet. He's actually enunciating.

Yeah. And not gritting. I'll ask you, how did you not get into yell at the I did that. So there's a take where he just, Da! You know what? We'll get into it.

Let me actually say your name first. It'll be the end of the show. Yeah, all right. So she collabed with all of our favorites. Nass, Slum Village, Buster Rhymes, The Game, Earth, Wind and Fire, Common. Oh, of course, Dr. Dre, Waleigh, Kanye, Robert Glassman, getting them wrong, everybody.

Everybody. She has three. Thomas to her credits, of course, late nights, early mornings. The very strong friends and lovers, very extremely strong friends and lover. Her husband's in the room right now. He knows all the stories before I met you. Highly respectful. And the latest being Naila, which is not for New York, L.A.

It's not about you being by-coast. It is kind of. It is. Yeah, but I would like to think that it's also named after your... Your daughter, who is also named after the journey. So she is. My husband was born in L.A. Right.

And raised in Buffalo, New York, so NYL. Okay. And that's our tour schedule. I literally, I thought that you wanted to correct a 35-year wrong in which another famous person from the UK once had her version of coast to coast only being L.A. to Chicago. I still laughed about that. Even in school, I was like geography.

This is amazing because it's not coast to coast. But I love it. She's in my faith. And she allowed me to cover Strong on the Pride too. Right. That's crazy. So, yeah. But yeah, Costa L.A. to Chicago.

West your like, man. You haven't said her name yet. Let me see her name. Ladies and gentlemen, straight. Straight out of Liverpool. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. And this is up. What's up?

Yeah, this is going to be like old time. This is not even, you know. So now I'm thinking close to coast, L.A. to Chicago, Western Maine. Is that the living? Yeah, Western Maine, right? Western Lane? Now we're absolutely unclear. All of y'all?

I don't know. L.A. to Chicago to Maine. What route is that? Yeah, that's like a Bermuda triangle within. South Dakota, L. South to Kilargo. Key Largo. Google is saying it's Western male. She just wanted to express the world.

It wasn't about a coast-to-coast thing. It was we're lyrically going to infuse places. Okay. Word up, Shadegh. You do what you want when you're popping. Do you guys realize that there's three versions of that song and rotation? So with Uproator? Really?

When you buy the single version, it's, I inquired this to Stewart. they did like oh Stuart what's his last name Matthewman Matthewman I was about to say Germanical as Stuart Zender

Zender right Yeah they did like five takes of it But the version On the album Of Sarday is like night and day I don't know

Why I didn't notice it earlier Like I thought it was just The regular Smooth operator That we've always known But if you compare The album version To the single version

That's on radio and whatnot. It's night and day. Yeah. Her vocal performance, everything. The things you learn on Questlo's Supreme. Yes, exactly. But is she saying Western Maine? Yeah. Western male? Google, I think, was wrong

on this one. It says Western male, M-A-L-E. Oh, yeah, no, that can't be right. Oh, wait. Context? That's, oh, yeah, it could have been, hmm. Let's just spend the whole episode trying to figure out Shadee Lear. Someone happened on speed, I was going to

I was going to call her and say, you know what? Wait, when he are you talking about? Anyone know Drake? I know. Fonte? I don't, not no more. Oh, that's the old number? Oh, man, that number was like eight numbers ago.

Yeah. Burn it for him. Yeah, he didn't threw his wire phone away. So how you doing, Marys? I'm great. How are you? I'm fine. I'm fine.

Wait, that's the, I did not know that you were born in Liverpool. I thought you were just straight up London. No, born in Liverpool. and we moved when I was about five years old. So I only really went to school in London and went back for every holiday. So I guess how your semester's work, it would be, what, Easter break, summer, Christmas.

When you think of home. It's Liverpool. I think of a place where there's. Really? I was thinking of Cheryl. Oh, everything. I'm missing home. No, no, not really.

I think of Liverpool, but I do reference. London because that was the, you know, trying times. It was parents separating. It was, okay, I'm going to play basketball. I'm going to do music. I'm going to do everything to keep myself occupied. And then go back to Liverpool. How old were you when your parents separated?

Like six. Oh, wow. So that picture on the cover of Nyla, that's... I'm about eight there. Yeah, seven or eight. So it was my dad's bass in the background with his giant amplifier that I used to just switch on and off in the middle of the night. so you can hear that,

like go back to sleep. So that was my, that was my upbringing. Your father was a musician. Yeah, he was in a 70s band called Supercharge, signed to Virgin Records back in the day. And if you Google that,

why do I have not noticed? Well, if you do find the YouTube footage of said things, he's doing the robot in 1976 on live television in Australia. is somewhere. Really? And there's footage of this. It's incredible. I can't wait to find this footage.

My internet's really slow right now. I was sending you the links if you can't, but it's definitely Googlable. And just being brought up in a household where music was everything. My mother has more vinyl than you. She does. Like legit. It's not even like, oh, my mom's good. No, she does.

Like. Which is crazy. We have like a storage unit. My uncle has some and she has some in the house. Mom's still in Liverpool? Yeah. She's in Liverpool. She was just a vinyl lover?

Yeah, like from... Did she have her own pirate radio station over there? No, but that was very popular in the UK and she may as well have done at that point. But I remember at, you know, that pivotal point when you realize what music actually is and for me that turning point was Purple Rain. Purple Rain and off the wall did it for me personally

where I was like, you know, I know what makes me feel really, really happy. And it was I can't help it. And it was take me with you, the drum, intro in the beginning and computer blue that outro. And those records were just as big over there as they were in the States. Absolutely. Even though he didn't tour and

Yeah, it wasn't really about that. Yeah, like I didn't see Prince live until my latter years. Thankfully I did, but. Were you allowed to watch Purple Marine? No, but we did. I realized

that I watched, what was it, the thing, John Carpenter's the thing when I was like five. Who does that? But I loved it when the spider, the head gets detached and it's great. I was a horror movie junkie. The house on the cover

of the Nile album that had to be haunted. We were living in a very haunted crib. Really? Yeah. It had to be. Are you the only, do you have any siblings? Yeah, my brother and my dad remarried, so I have a little sister now that was way late. So it was me and my brother

growing up. Are they musically inclined as well? Yeah, my brother writes, he plays instruments but we were torn in this very, very crazy place between basketball and music, and it wasn't until. My dad was also a ball player

and a coach, so it was every weekend, go to the outdoor court, ball out, we were both Division 1, both played for England. Is your position to get much? Two. I was really two, three over there, and then I realize that I was.

No, she's serious. It's weird because I think that anybody in the UK is just all about football and really Thames their nose up at American. No, it was a lot bigger than, I guess, you would think, basketball over in the UK. When did you start playing ball? As soon as I could touch a ball. Really? Yeah, my dad had me and my brother playing, like, from early.

So once I got incredible, if I must say something. I had a scholarship. Yeah, I was actually going to play for Georgia Tech. And my friend was playing basketball in New Jersey. And it's crazy how life works. He actually had a demo of a performance that I did at Jazz Cafe in the UK and played it for like some promoter in Philly. I'd say that was Yarmine or tone or something. It was Yarmine.

And that's how I got to Philadelphia by ways of the guy that was going to get me to play basketball at their high school and then we were all going to go to Georgia Tech. But I tore ligaments. Ruin your chance. Rangney didn't. I tore ligaments two years prior to that happening. And then this friend that still played ball, had my demo, played it for Yami. And then I was already in Atlanta doing Yin Yang Khafe open mics and stuff.

Yeah. I know. RIPI to the YANG. A bit closed down? I'm sure. I mean, I'm just guessing. Apache Cafe. Yeah.

They don't have a nice. It's like Black Lily. No like, no. Oh. Like funk jazz. Yeah, that's a real RIP. Black lilies. Yeah.

But yeah. Those were the days. Yeah. Just like old times. So you were, what position did you, were you afford a guard? Two and three? Really? Shooting guy for it?

Oh, I'm a musician, so I don't know shit about that. Oh, yeah. That's what I should do. I was like, when you said two and three, I was like, okay. Um, yeah. So, yeah, I was bawling, bowling until I tore ligaments. And then it was like plan B, to be music.

So I watched Michael Jordan's Come Fly with me every day on VHS. And I was like, come fly with me because I couldn't walk. So I wrote if I was a bed. I used to beg my mom to rent that from the video store. She never would. I still have not seen it to the day. What was come fly with me? It was like a Michael Jordan documentary.

I haven't seen it for ages, but I literally watched it every day. It was like the streets is watching of like 80. Yeah, I'm bored, but of Jordan. Yeah. Really? Yeah. So wait, wait, can I skip a little bit? Because technically, were you guys under Hidden Beach at all?

Or were you just straight up epic? No, it was not even epic. So we did a meeting with Hidden Beach. And then it was like, nah. And then we ended up with DreamWorks. Because I don't know people know that Hidden Beach is kind of short of Michael Jordan's label. Right. He's the money, right?

So that was kind of, there was plugs there. because Jill was already there. And we kind of did the whole, you know, she was it Steve? McKeva. Yeah, Steve McKeva. So had the whole house in Malibu, cute touch. And it's very L.A. It's very, oh, my God, the ocean.

No, I'm not signing here. Shut up. I'm also amazed that Steve can miraculously re-release a Jill Scott compilation over and over. Really? I'm not. When it did, this is 2000, so yeah. Jill's got collaborations. Oh, yeah, you did duets.

He sure did. Duet. I mean, we're past that. I mean, like, this is literally like the same thing over and over. It's like the sixth version of the same. If it's not that, it's Mike, the flute player, right? Or it's, yeah, or Unwrapped. Oh, yeah, Mike Phillips.

That's my worst nightmare. Unwrapped, the roots unwrapped, the next movie. Didn't that happen? That's right. Well, it didn't happen. It happened with you done me, didn't it? Yeah, the intro you got me was us making fun about

and rap. We decided just to keep it on there for shit and giggles. But, yeah, James Poyser is notoriously obsessed with taking songs that sound good and putting them in, like, major chords. So they sound like it's Bing Crosby. So we did that a lot. I met James Poyser before I met any of you. guys in the UK before I even came to the States.

Him and our Chey Pope together in like 98, 99. Shea Pope. Yeah. And James Poison. Yeah. Well, yeah. Basically. So it's crazy how life works and then fast forward.

I run into what is Philadelphia at the time and it's Black Lily and you guys are band. So you literally came to and stayed at Yiamen's crib and then like. Well. Different people taking credit too for this era of your life. Y'amine's always taking credit. No, that's, I knew y'all mean. What's y'all mean, tone? I mean, I did sleep in his crib.

And then Jeff, like, what was it? And then Jeff. Oh, this is a long way. Well, wait, time on. They didn't meet yet. How did you, how did you and Nat meet? So, Nat and myself met through basketball in the UK. Okay.

So it would be basketball tournaments in South London. And I'd, I guess, played against her older sister. and I don't know, it just became cool. You go to summer camps and it's, oh, now we go to the same performing art school. Fast forward to that and we're teenagers now. I'm like, oh, yeah, I remember you. Cool. Our parents knew each other.

It was my dad works with your mom in the same building and we were just cool. Okay. And then was it just like, okay, we got a dream. Do you know what? No. Let's go to America. Absolutely by a very, very, well, incredible accident. I was doing music over there, but in the UK, it's like, it's hit or miss, literally, for black music.

So you're only allowed maybe a handful of five people that can be successful at the same time. So I was the up-and-coming writer-producer that at 16, 17, I'd written butterflies, but I have Warner Brothers over there telling me that it's not good enough. It's not a good song. And I'm just disengouraged, like, you know what? This is not for me. I quit music because what I'm hearing in my head is excellent. and if you think it's trash, then I don't think I can do this.

Back up for a second. How old did you say you were when you wrote butterflies? 16, 17. Wow. So I kind of hung up music for a little bit, went back to basketball for a couple of seasons, fast forward to graduating from Performing Art School, and I heard that Natalie was doing poetry.

So I was like, you know what? It would be dope. I have this song called Fantasize, and a poet was on it. Let me see. I'm here. So I hear her up, yo, put some poetry to this song. This is the hook.

I'm a beat, Bucks the beat. And, you know, come in when you come in. So she wrote her verse and we performed it and there was poetry. Now, even though you were not of club age at the time. Yeah. I know you're laughing like, yeah, okay, me you're wink, wink. Well, 18 over there. It was never 21.

Oh, okay. So you were of club age. Were you? Because all the ideas that the real. roots ever had as far as jam sessions were concerned and all that stuff that we brought to the states i mean we literally stole living in london between 93 and 96 so was anything like icini or any of those clubs in london were they on your radar no no even a little bit so none of like jazzy b's and nelly no i worked with jazzy b and his camp for a year or so uh maybe a little less than that

And it was just very much in the studio. You'd do an R&B song and it'll be great in the moment and it would only go so far. Or it will be sign your life away here, kid. And we'll own 90% of this because we gave you the studio time. And it's like, that's not how this works, I'm sure. I went to school for that part. So, nah, I'm good. And I was always on that.

Like, I don't need this for the bread. I want to be creative. So I always kind of created and chucked the deuce is when it just didn't feel like it was done for the right reasons. So nobody that was popping at the time in London was of interest to you. Oh, ever gave me an alley-you, nah. I mean, it was... Mark Morrison was like here, son, what we're being...

Come on. Is he out of jail yet? You know what was big over there? I think he went to jail because he was driving without a license. And my mother instilled that fear into me that if you drive without a license, you go to jail. Yeah, you're going to be this guy, and I never did. I never believe.

that I always felt because he did an interview like after he got out of jail or whatever and I was like I feel like a lot of the story is embellished like yeah yeah Well what was the story over here? Because I remember it being about a license

and I think my mother told me that I don't know my story I remember we definitely knew it was jail but I can't remember why it was probably just ripped the pillow off the tag off the pillow But let the pee off the suspended license I'm pretty sure if you Google it That was what it was but Wait do you remember there was a there was a

a hip-hop crew that was like... Cookie crew? No, no, no. I love them too. I got to keep on. That was my joint. Right.

Wait. Damn. You old school, why? I'm grown. I'm grown. I will admit this. I absolutely love the cookie bar. Now you're going to be quoting

We Papa girls too. We popper girls. Bust and loose. Yeah. We bust and lose. Do you know that? What's her name? Buffalo star, Nina Cherry.

Yeah. She just put out a record. Yeah. I was like, oh, this is good old time. I know. You don't know yaz, though. Oh, yeah, yeah. Upsairs of there, guys.

Okay. This is cute. I don't think you know what show you're all. Yeah, you're right. You're right. We have your DNA. We have your Social Security number. I got you.

This is nerd. No, but there was a up and coming crew that obviously, you know, they took their cue from Wutang. It was them on, like, steroids. And they were. part, I mean, it was like they were part German bass, they were part. Oh, so the whole Gary was probably. Ronnie's eyes and all of that. Yeah, but I mean, it was a crew.

So solid crew. So solid. There you go. That era, I actually got to Philadelphia when that really popped off and took off. Because I was more into the club scene, like going to party to it, not necessarily making it. So I kind of missed the whole wave of let's do a house and garage track. Like when Craig David became the pop.

version of what was going on because so much of that was going on in the UK but then Craig David came and smashed it and took it to a whole other level with that but so solid with the authentic you know they were they were authentic that word

you know I was in I was in there you're having a see you know like I was a thing with the who's the DJ over there uh oh uh the white from master flex Tim Westwood Tim Westwood

didn't want them uh Master Flex, Tim Westwood? No, for real. Tim is definitely the white from Master Flex. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. I actually, pretty much. Well, speaking of being too young to be in the club,

I was too young to be at a Biggie show in the UK, but me and my best friend Kay at the time, we definitely went. Yeah. So I'm glad I got to see Biggie Live. So you were listening to all those guys, like 279 and all those? Jigs, Choice, FM. Yeah. Yeah.

Trevor Nelson. or Nelson's still doing like a BBC. Was Benji B at that time? Was he doing it around that time? He was, he was like a, well, he was really Jiles Peterson's apprentice. So when I first met Benjee B like, 96, 97, he was like, you know, doing answering phones and that sort of thing. Like he really started coming up in 99, 2000, like when we started coming up. Okay.

Yeah. No, I was only asking because I always wanted to. to know if so solid was, I remember that Westwood got shot. Yeah. Which if you get shot in London, like... Tim Westwood got shot? Yeah. I remember that?

I can't remember that. I don't know. Yeah. Wow. I'm not saying on that. Did you... No, no. He got shot?

It's all, yeah, he got shot. I remember. I remember that. I remember that. I mean, I mean, for... Guns to even be in London was like... Yeah, because they don't... It's almost like Canada to me.

Yeah, it's huge. So I... It wasn't happening. I just wanted to know how solid was that crew. They were so solid. So solid, the solid crew. No, it was, uh, UK loves. But he kept the gangster.

He'd never snitched on who shot him. So, you know, anyway. Oh, London. I know. I know. I know. I'm just, okay. It's like Jiles Peterson to me.

No. He, like... I mean, but. I'm just, fresh start of the morning. Flex was always on his show. If anything, I feel like Flex really nuanced his relationship

with Tim Westwood to let the world know, like, hey, I'm worldwide. Like, yeah, every, that's how I know Funkmaster Flex. Like him coming to London, America's own Frum Master. I was living in London. Okay, because you know, that's how you know.

Okay. Yeah. Like, I'm not a New York. I wasn't a New Yorker then. So. I had this crazy manager back then. Danny Gale, his name was. And I was a kid at the time

He was trying to make me do the whole circuit And do all these demos And I opened for boys to men And Beanie Man Think about that bill That show Wait that's the same show Who closed?

Think about that bill Who opened? Well, me Me in like an Adidas track suit I have my short Halliberry Tony Braxton

Hairout Oh, wow. And yeah, it was a hot mess, but I just knew I was about to blow up. It was at the hippodrome, a place called the hippodrome. I remember the hippodrome. Right on the corner. Yeah, by the tube, literally right in the corner. And that's crazy.

So that manager at the time trying to get my parents to fire him because I was underage, really. It was like, bro, you're not taking me to this next level that I see for myself and you've got to go. and claim that I would never be, ish ever in life, it's never going to happen, you're trash, I wish death pun you, like all the way there.

How old he's saying? I'm 17, 16, 17. Jesus Christ. Some heartless shit. It is, but you know what? You can't, like years later, in hindsight,

I have to go, you know what, whatever was going through your head, you had to have seen me as this crazy huge star for you to even feel that. I was taking that away from you. I'm 17.

I don't know what. I'm going to do. I don't know what I'm going to be. But you were really to have the foresight. But you had it in your head that I was really about to be something. So you're so mad. You had the foresight that he wasn't going to take you the place that you needed to. Well, there's one question I didn't ask. Your voice, when

was it fully developed? Still developing. I don't really sing. I get it. But when I started, the Martian nuances was roughly around 16 or 17. Maybe younger that. My mom will probably say younger than that. But like 15, 16. And that was really, no, no, no.

So you say you're 16 when people started taking you serious as a singer? No, when I started taking myself serious as a singer. Oh, okay. 2%. That is the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter. And on my podcast, 2%, I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world. I'll be speaking with writers, research. researchers and other health and fitness experts, and more, to look past the impractical and

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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, 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,

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Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what we're. down and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack,

so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Then you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people who, Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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-ins, 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, news, 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. So I'm saying when I knew I was martial, it was when I started to sing the synth solo that you know, Teddy Riley would do in the middle of a guy record. So it was very much new Jack Swing was like, oh my God, I'm going to do this.

I was like, why am I trying to do the toy? That's what you doing a Stanley Brown solo? Exactly. Why would I do this? But I listen to Weather Report my whole life and I'm like straight weirdo. Best moment of my life. Side note. I was at the blue note.

I don't know who I was drumming for. But Stanley Brown got up on stage. The audience don't know who Stanley Brown is. I'm losing my mind. Boyce is like, I'm here. Stanley Brown. And I was like, I lost my mind. I'm going to give it to my home with Stanley Brown.

Stanley Brown was the church. I'm his ass. I'm going to be the one. I'm going to be the one. He was. Go on YouTube and watch the video for Run DMC's pause. But, I mean, he was also the go-to keyboard guy. He would be the James Boys of the 80s.

Okay. Okay. So during, during. During that R&B period of New York, when Teddy Riley's really starting to get established, like, mid-80s, you know, 86, you know, Stanley Brown is the guy that, like, was, you know, Allison Williams, Orange Juice Jones, any... Stanley Brown was the man. He's doing church stuff now, but, like, I got to get a... For him, that saxophone patch. Oh, like on jam?

Yeah, but it's like it's so artificial sounding, but it's so vintage now. You need the solo. You need an eight bar of. The way that people felt like, you remember when Amy Winehouse came out, like it was so old sounding, but new, like, now that cheesy saxophony sound is, is to me. That's my, like. Might be back. Yeah, I'm trying to get him on like something I play on before. I die.

You might have to have Roy Lee produce a track. Hey man, listen. Look, nah. Well, wait, Mars, you said you don't sing. What did you mean when you said that? You said, you know, it wasn't singing. I was like New Jack Swing moving into what was then, you know,

Joseph. You said, you still haven't. When Amir asked you, you know, how your voice is matured and grown, you were like, you're still not done. You still don't sing to your fullest yet. No. What is it? Hmm?

Because it's more so an instrument. It's like, what solo on my? going to do today. I don't think like a singer. I think like what calls for the moment. I think real singers think as an instrument. Al Jaro definitely thought he was an instrument. Anita Baker says she's an instrument. Yeah. Like real singers are, you know, everyone else is struggling. You're not struggling. Everybody else. Jesus, a lot of people. Amen. Slim Pickens in 2018. Well, I enjoy making sounds.

I do. I enjoy picking parts that make sense to me in all of the heavily new jack swing era to bad boy era. It was, oh my gosh, Faith Evans. Oh, my gosh, 112 and like singing along to that album every day. Jodacy and all the inflections of those harmonies. And having one almost be off key. And if you pan them left and right,

then not doing the same thing. And that was okay. I didn't know that until I went in the studio. I was like, oh, layered, this sounds amazing. And I don't know. I just like to create. I miss off-key singing. Like, I, seriously.

Not bad singing. Everything is too tuned. I think no one is failing to the point where, oh, my gosh, I believe that you want to cry right now. It's very, you know, industry talk for, hey, they got one is, oh, you have a song that sounds the same pitch, same tempo, and has a hook that possibly belongs to something else already. Probably the worst case example that to me is both the new edition and Bobby Brown

biopics. Like all the singing done on there. Oh yeah. Yeah. The reason, it's like, do you realize what Bobby Brown was really doing now? And I feel like I'm glad this happened so you can reference what was really going on at that time where melodine and autotune wasn't

a choice for you. I wasn't going in the studio go and take that. Again, okay, we'll fix it. Ain't no fix it. be. Right. You got a saying that shit. And yeah, and that's it. So it's also an appreciation of, you know, what's actually been done.

Well, you're the first Black Lily graduate or class of whatever, 2000, whatever. That I've had on the show. So I have to ask, well, I mean, it's hard to describe to people how magical the five spot was. when it was in its zone where every week you would get prime jaguar right prime jill scott prime flotetry lead sing fantasy uh jasmine solvin waking up and you know coming up to do her set and doing her homework yeah yeah like sleeping in the car sounding 42 right exactly um how much was was it a thing in your head like, okay, this is a movement or we got a, we got to come with it. Because I know at least with, I know that with Jag and Jill, there was always a, hmm, okay, all right.

Next week I'm going to have something. Right. And they were, you know, you got six days to think of how you're going to top what you saw. Yeah. So I don't mean from competition to sake, but was it just like, okay, what we got to do to Well, I think the initial first show was what defined what we were going to do every week because it was waiting, oh, we've got these two British chicks in town. They call themselves flow a tree.

We felt all international. Yeah, it was like, oh, my gosh, we got to be like these foreigners showed up. Le Nubians also. Right, right, right, right, right. Right on the same time. It didn't have the same effect. They heard what y'all did. Yes.

And it was like, yo, we got to come to the States. And suddenly I was like, we're going to do it in French. It ain't worked for them like Dode. It was different. Well, no. They worked over there. Yeah. That was definitely.

That was definitely. They had to join. No, no, no. But we have to understand is going to Philly and being at the Black Lily and getting into that building and seeing Jill Skirt and seeing music soul child and seeing Bilau, seeing the roots of the house band. Like, that's overwhelming. But it's also, okay, I'm in here.

Now I have to bring it. But that first show, it's what? waiting until two in the morning to do it. And it's who stays. And that sweat box was just, okay, we want to, we don't want to miss anything because Jill might come up and do that one or Kindred. They used to kill anything.

So, right, rhythm of life. And then we'll be all jumping up and down and out of breath and it will be a moment. But then it was, okay, we're going to get on and it was hey, we're flow a tree. And there's fantasized that first time. And everyone's like, oh, okay. Oh, okay. And I was like,

Okay, next week, this is what we're going to do. And straight plan it. So if we do get an earlier slut, there's going to be more people there. The word has gone around town. There's these two girls. They do this thing, fantasize. Sex wash and that. You got to start off on the late shift.

Yeah. See, we were on to her. I had no control of it. No, we were on the late shift. I was Rachel Gonzalez. Sorry. Listen. Right, right.

But we initially did, remember Blue Funk? Yep. John Barber. We did Blue Funk, John Barber's show first. And at that time, it was Jeff Brons. Bradshaw was doing like the band and stuff. I think Terry Tribut might have been on bass. It's always a trip.

It was a lot of, Terry. Yeah, so it's a, I have a question. You're spoiled. Wait, I hate to ask this question. Go for it. Go for it. I think I know where this is going, but go for it. Was it your tour bus? Yep.

No, it wasn't. No, no, no, no, no. Wait, no, no, no, no, no. There's two stories. Are you talking about the stolen one? Or are you talking about Canada? I'm talking about Canada. Canada.

That was y'all? Yeah. All right. You got to back it up. Back it up. Back it up. Yeah. I've been waiting to hear the official story.

Okay. Once upon a time, flow is opening for Alicia Keys. And what happens is when people are going into Canada and you don't have visas nor you have issues to get across that border, you are left in Buffalo, New York. So these tour buses roundabout, let's say load out was midnight, the prior show.

We get to Buffalo however long after that. Drop everybody off that said, you know what, I'm going to have some issues at the border, so I'm a row. I'm not coming through. You guys do the show and come right back. So granted, I'm asleep on this tour bus at the time. Wake up at the border and we are asked to get off and present our passports to make sure everything is good. So we're now sitting curbside and we're waiting for our passports to be brought back to us.

So there's the inspector and a dog continuously going on and off of our tour bus. So I'm looking at each other because at the time I wasn't smoking weed like that, especially on the bus. If we were, it was definitely on some dressing room shit. So I'm like, well, who? I was like, nah. No, no one's smoking on the bus. I was like, we have Paris at the time. law and like I was like we church we're good we good oh man so then the inspector is getting

continuously frustrated with all of us who claim that we have nothing to hide so now I'm getting scared I'm like well what's about to go down because he looks really upset um roughly around 20 minutes after this debacle this inspector and two dogs now with two other people are carrying off our drummer at the time who was on the bus and they found him in, you know, the back cabinets that have mirrors and you can kind of crawl up.

He was smoking a joint up there and that's why he was found. He was smoking at the border. I heard that, okay, You know, when stories getting down. Oh, yeah, yeah, because the Chinese whisper is this what happened.

We heard that... Is he in a big family? Yes. Okay. He's in the big family and sometimes he takes you on an emotional roller coaster. Hey, I know.

Hey. Come on. Well, actually, that could be a... Wait a minute. Wait a minute. No, it wasn't me. You'll get to be. Oops.

Yeah. A couple of times. secrets rolling around. Your account of this story is, well, how it ends is he's now detained. He was hiding in the, that he somehow inserted himself inside of the back of the

couch of the tour bus. Well, if anyone knows a tour hours, it's, yeah. Well, it would have been four hours because we would have left Buffalo and, you know, did a rest up. And, you know, we were asleep. So by the time you get to the border is what it is. So now we're

all detained and questioned, do we know he was there where we're trying to bring drugs into Canada. I'm like, why would we do that? Your weed is way better. Why would we bring our own? This is 2000 and what, two at the time? 2003. So I'm like, you know what?

This is a bad. I didn't even know it was y'all. I thought it was maybe Jill. No, it was ours. Then he goes in the bus business. I love it. Go get you a bus. Yeah, man became a bus driver.

Go get a bus. The first thing was like, hey, can I drive out to her bus? he was like, nah, we cool. So there was a stolen room? Never mind. Never mind. So Michael Jackson, no. Yeah, right.

Fast forwarding, too. Yeah, so. Yeah, we were detained. It was bad and questioned. And it was. Yo, this was a shot in the dark. I swear to God, I didn't even know it was y'all. You said that.

Well, granted, we didn't do the show with the legal keys. And I was like, oh, have you heard that story about? I didn't know it was y'all though. Yeah. Oh, that's crazy. Okay. Tour stories. How easy is it when you're in a partnership?

Now, it's weird because with me and Tariq, like, I'm music, he's lyrics or whatever, but in the flotry situation, how do you guys come, who navigates? Who's 51 to 49? Who? Well, this is the thing. It's like chicken or the egg, and I never claimed it. even though I initiated, look, I have this body of music and song that if you paired up some poetry to this fantasize, it will make, ta-da, flowetry.

So even in the studio, it's, she'd never been in the studio at the time. So it was early touch of jazz. It was early, what's the back room at Larry's Axis? It's doing bunches of demos with James and Victor and whoever else will come along and try and shape what was going through our heads. So me, I'd always been musically inclined. I'd already been writing songs. Like I said, if I was a bird, was written because of can fly with me.

Michael Jordan's like, on repeat. So all of these things that I'm showing up to these studios with like, yo, I got this song called Sunshine. I have this. I have this. And we would go up and down. But a touch of jazz at that time had its own magic. So it was like fusing what we were so fresh in creating with other people's magic.

So fresh off of Jill's first album, fresh off of music's first album. So you have the way, long walk, just friends in one day. And I'm going, okay, ABC rooms bouncing from room to room and doing Floetic the first day. Do a headache after that. Run into Drey and by and going, okay, Vidal play those chords again. Oh, yeah, Scanlay. Yeah, that's all I'm going to say. I'm going to sing this hook and then you come in.

And it will literally be that. So I'd never even control. it was always 50-50 to me. But everyone was like, Marjorie wrote this whole song. She came in and did eight bar poem. I'm like, that part doesn't matter to me. So as far as the magic of flowetry, it was more than just about us

when it came to a controlled studio environment. On stage, it's the same dynamic. I could stand stage left and close my eyes and sing for two hours. I'm like, oh my God, that was amazing. I'm like, I didn't do anything. I know that someone's going to play an alpha role. And I know that one should be diplomatic

and it's a compromise and it's a relationship. It's like a marriage where how much power you have doesn't matter. We're all equal, but some of them are equal than others. So, I mean, everyone will. Because there were other factors to this. So the people that were there, whether that is Dre and Vi, whether that is Carvin, Ivan, or D and Keith, they're just going to.

be like, Marsh, you were in the studio grinding. You were writing and playing this music every day, coming with these ideas every day, coming with the concept. So if Nat chimed in with a title, cool. It will take on a life form of its own. Does that mean I own 70, 30? Maybe. Okay.

All right. No, I just wanted to know how do you... But yeah, that's the dynamic only because I'm the musical, melodic end of it. But what comes with that is... Because I always think it's hard as hell starting... business with someone that you were friends with first. Oh, it's horrific. It's horrific.

Yeah. And there's so much you don't take into account, thus it turning out the way it does for many, hopefully not for most, but for me, it was the growing pains of, oh, I have to live adult life. Dolo now.

I moved away from the UK. I've got to rely on my surroundings And when people morph and change into unrecognizable people, both spiritually and all the above, it's kind of like takes you back a little bit. And was working with Touch of Jazz kind of like interesting in the sense that everybody in a Touch of Jazz is broken off into duos anyway, right?

Right. So then you get to kind of observe their dynamic too. Like you get to observe the dynamic of Dre and Vidal and what each one brings and carving and Ivan and Darren. Right. So. And they were. also a unit. You're supposed to be a touch of jazz

the six of you, but you were twos anyway. So it was two split enough into two. So if one vibe with Just Vidal, it's Just Vidal or Just Ray or, you know, it was whatever, but you can press play on that music of that era, not only with Floatree, but with Jill's album, with Music's album, and hear what everyone was doing collectively.

Like, it was, Philly was on some shit. And I wasn't going to leave. Like I was sold on Philly. So where, what was your reaction when you first got the news that Michael Jackson was interested in one of your songs? Didn't believe it. You want to believe it? Who broke the news to you? The thing was Jeff.

We all went to, Jeff had that other room opposite the C room and that office. And I guess we'd all missed a phone call from MJ. they were referring to this guy as. I'm like, who's MJ, first of all? Not Michael Jackson. I'm not even putting that in my head. So Jeff is like, yo, you have to come listen to this. You have to come listen to this.

So I listened to the answering machine that is Michael Jackson requesting that he work with whoever wrote this song. I'm in love with this song, Butterflies. It's my, like, I really want this for my new project, you know, paraphrasing, of course. How did he get it? How did he hear? John McLean. There.

Yo, man, he's like... He's like... He stalks us. But he's like... I don't know. It's like a Viking. You're about the ninth John McLean story we've had. He's like a shadow but appears and creates magic and then disappears once again.

So John McLean has a hold of this flow-a-tue demo that gets us signed to Dreamworks. And he hears, say yes and butterflies and goes, those two are the two that are going to I pulled this thing into the stratus fit. Mike wants this one though. And Denzel Washington at one point had say yes on repeat and was going to do something to it. Go do you. I don't know what.

Are you going to do with yes? It was going to be bars, if it was going to be poems, if he was fresh off of giving me bleak gilling vibes. I don't know. But he had that, he had say yes before anybody had say yes. That is. Denzel had. And he was going to like saying over the talk or what was it going to do over?

I don't care. I was like, Ted Zell listens to my songs. And say yes, Dre and myself did that. We wasn't even supposed to go to the studio. Jeff is like, I'm shutting the studio down.

No one can go. I'm like, Dre, you get the key? Cool, let's go. And then that happens. Wow. In the B room in two minutes. Like, sorry, I'm like, play them chords again. All right, I'm going to just go cut it.

And then there's that. But if songs are your kids, were you slow to give it up or was it just like Michael? Michael can adopt my kid. Michael absolutely can take this. Because I guess when I wrote butterflies initially, it was just piano based. I didn't add the, you know, the Philly very dragged snare, you know, the behind the beat, which you hate.

I'm never going to stay on this one. I'm going to always be a millisecond behind. Don't care. But when Dre added that flare to it, I'm like, okay, I have this. I don't know. I had the bridge cores. Like I played on it. And then Dre does what he does to it.

So it's now Philadelphia into me. It made me feel like everything that I led up to get into Philadelphia. This is the demo that I wanted. So when Mike wants to do it, you give it to Mike. You do. And I thought this entire time that Jeff is playing as this answering machine, I thought it was Dre playing. I was like he played too much

I was like you're lying this is the best impression of Michael Jackson I've ever heard in my life and you shouldn't play with my family He got on the phone? Yeah Did y'all ever erase that message? I don't know you'd have to ask Jeff

Yeah you'd have to ask Jeff Yeah Y'all didn't even get through fresh prints So yeah Yeah Oh yeah we didn't even get to the first album Yeah so yeah Jeff is yeah

So how long was it from you getting that message what happened nothing it's a whole other conversation yeah okay yeah read the body how

how long was it from the phone call until when you're actually cutting his vocals well he was recording with Rodney and yeah from I guess that demo

was done in September 2000 so we worked March 2001 when he was finishing the album like Teddy Riley's bus is part of outside the hit factory here in when it was here in New York and I get there and I'm telling Michael Jackson what to do bar for bar the only that he ever hit was at the outro the outro ad libs on two outro ad lib tracks and the first thing he did was

whisper butterflies he was so meticulous in wanting it to sound like the demo that he made me like how do you do this what was the harmony for this well how did you make you sound like that. I remember when I heard the, when I heard the demo, I was shocked. I was like, he pretty much did it like ad lib, note for note. I can say I vocally produced Michael Jackson into what Questlove deems is one of his finest works of art. Straight up.

It really is. And that's also my worst nightmare. How long did that take? It was a week. You love vocal production. I fucking hate it. No, no. The whole country is like the most worst.

It's the worst. It's not a good job. I hate it. I do hate it, but that, watching him so excited and doing every layered harmony, having me do my harmonies over again, having Matt Cappy, Jeff Bradshaw do those horns again, it was just fun. It didn't feel like a week. Like, we were with the kids. Paris and Prince were like, yay high at the time.

And we had Jezebel's Soul Food every day. It was great. Bruce Bedean was with you? Yeah. He's like Santa Claus, like, warmed my heart. And he kept calling me a sang and heifer. Mike kept Mike kept saying

Michael Jackson kept saying Hey Mike could say Yo you know you're calling her a cow Stop calling her a cow A half of it's a cow Stop calling her a half of Bruce

I'm like He can call me anything he wants Yeah so that was just magic Bruce and Mike in one studio I know he's a perfectionist But can you even be objectionable When you're Can you say

that was flat or, I don't know, try it again. Well, once I got into the groove of things, and at that time it was the talk back button, and it was one more time, Mike, you're dragging. It's a little flat, a little sharp, get your timer straight. All right, breathe into that one, elongate the note. It was, I was on it. And he never gave you no lip.

He never looked at you like, okay, bitch, hold up. Michael Jackson asked me, he asked me for permission to leave the studio one day or miss a, or miss a day because he was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Didn't tell me that's why he couldn't make it. He was like, Mars, I just wanted to let you know that I just can't come into the studio today. Is that okay? I know we have a lot of work to do.

I was like, you can do whatever you want to do in life. You do not have to ask me permission for anything. And then he said he had this thing. And that was the thing. I'm going to score. Right, right. Excuse me. So I'm staying at, you know, the Hudson Hotel.

So those rooms are like lug cabin, wooden walls. And because of the lead up on VH1, they're showing everything Mike. So they're showing, you know, James Brown impersonating Mike through and through to remember the time through and through to anything. I'm looking at, I'm like, this is the same guy. I go to the studio every day with this guy. And at that time, been in the studio with him every day for five days. And the tears that I, like, there's no tears of joy that I can explain. that I haven't cried like that.

I don't even know what type of cry that was, but I was like, I'm not worthy. This makes me Quincy Jones. This makes me Paul McCarney. There's only a handful of people that can say they've done that. They've done something. But that, though? And I always said I wanted to be Quincy Jones. And

not shade to the R word. Were you allowed to do it alone or were people over your shoulders as well? Oh no. We were dolo. Was me, Dre. and Bruce I got the picture of him I can see them I can't remember the two other engineers

but they were really Bruce Bruce's right hands but no it was straight us nobody there to mansplain or elbow you out of position nothing how long did you talk to him afterwards like how does that relationship dissipate

like oh we didn't we was cool we were in New York for two weeks And then we mixed in LA, spent, you know, a couple of days on that. He listens to everything way too loud. I couldn't handle it. Like, you see speakers vibrating? Imagine your eyeballs doing that. That's how loud it was.

Him and Dr. Dre, the loudest, like, playbacks I've ever experienced in my life. Hey, Masha, you work with Michael Jackson and Dr. Dre. And that's just like two people out of the list. I know. There's a lot going on. It's a lot. So. Wait.

Got to have the moments Because you don't be having a moment Who? But you? Where you just step aside for a second And understand what you're doing And be present in the moment Like

Oh, you know I hate being sentimental I know You think you're going to break me on Right You're just going to break me down On his own show Yeah In those earrings

That was my way of giving them For where I can be sensitive In the moment Because I'm a parent now No seriously It's emotional It is It's highly emotional

And No I was getting into it I think that's an awesome I think for him I mean of course yeah I wish he was still here making music but if that has to be his swan song

of a single I mean that's his last living single then that's that's a way to go out for me not the Justin not the Justin John I'm just that doesn't count

he was a I like that song but he did that In 1989. The love never felt so good. And not to Drake one either because whatever. Okay. No. Yeah, that's posthumous.

Like, Butterflies is his last release single as he's living on his last album. When did the Acon joints come out? But that was one of be starting something. Oh, you mean to hold my hand? That's outtakes. Okay. That's an official. Yeah, that's outtakes.

I'm not trying to like take anything away from you. I'm just trying to get the right information. You know what? Between Mike and Prince, there was the most unrealistic. like deaths as far as celebrities that I just never saw life without that you're gonna be a thing. Me and Fonte were in Atlanta or no you weren't there.

I was there. You called me. I was in Atlanta to do a prince party and it ended up turning to a Michael Jackson party. Yeah. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Because he came? Hmm? Because he came? No. Because Michael was dead. Oh, I was so. Oh, I didn't know. Yeah, yeah, Mike died. He was there. He was there. He was there.

Nice. Yeah, you were wrong than a mother. Now you have to hold deeper and deeper, deeper, deeper. Jesus. That's what you said, babe, the other day. He said, is it. 2%. That is the number of people who take the stairs

when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter, and on my podcast, 2%, I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange, modern world. I'll be speaking with writers, researchers, and other health and fitness experts, and more, to look past the impractical and way too complex pseudoscience that dominates the wellness industry. We really believe that seed oils were inherently inflammatory. We got it wrong. Many of the problems that we are freaked out about

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podcasts. Okay, so what were your, what were the, the moves that, prompted you to finally come with your your solo phase of your career too many things is this something that you can step away from and maybe we'll get back together in three years or

oh no it was split dead done so when we did the show because we did a show together like this was like 2015 yeah was that just a show and then that was it that was crazy but the re-reasing but the reuniting of what was dead, end of 06. So flowetry really only existed from what, 1999, 98, 99, to 2006 officially.

And making our mark clearly in Philadelphia is where it catapulted, but byways of Atlanta, of course, the Yangan Cafe, Black Lily, get signed, work with Mike in 2001, Floetic comes in 2002, we tour four years. But then we did two albums. Well, technically three, because we did the live album, Floicism in 2003. Then Flowology comes 2005, 2006. It was Debbie.

So then what was the Amanda Deer? Why are you going to steal my question? Oh, I know. I'm playing. I'm playing. I'm playing. No, me too. That was why you looking at me.

I'm just glad somebody asked. I'm ready. Are we going to ask? I forgot about that. So that happened by ways of management. So I'm still signed at Geffen. Dreamworks dissolved and that turns into, okay, we'll keep these three artists from that label and turn you over to Geffen Interscope, one of which was Flouetry. So we're now at Interscope.

I have the relationship that I have with Romfair and Jimmy Iveen. And they're very much into, okay, Flowology is this album, Superstar is the single, what's next? So I'm like, we'll go into her and make another album. Cool. Fast forward to management on our end, Jay Irving, who was Floch, who's manager that entire time. Nat doesn't want him to manage her anymore. She's now got this boyfriend at the time managing her who poses.

So it's kind of like. Wait, who is that? Were you snoring? No, that was. It sounds like a little. It's like you know where this goes. So we're talking about being young women that have come up in this industry. You think it's going to be one way.

People have their own agendas. And he was clearly steering her in the wrong way. So once he gave an ultimatum with Geffen that if they don't offer her a solo deal, they're walking. Jimmy I being in the wrong fair say, okay. Peace. Yeah, which is kind of, I mean, it was, no one was, there was, there was no room to call any bluffs here. Like, you didn't have a leg to stand on going in there for that, what that was. We're talking about Gwen Stefani here.

This is nothing that they were checking for. There were ways to go about whatever it is that you wanted and it was just done the absolutely wrong way. So once management was one-sided for flowetry, it was okay, walk. Now we're no longer. Now, we're missing a member. I'm still signed and obligated, well, what I thought at the time was obligated to fulfill this contract in order to get out of it. So I'm stuck with Geffen and they want to do a tour. So the idea was get a standing.

So management says, well, a friend of a management, thanks Ryan, says, I know this chick, Amanda, well, was Amanda Diva at the time, Amanda Seals. and we meet hit it off immediately. I'm like, all right, cool, this is what it's about to be. But the layers to that is you don't have a level of understanding of what you, what effect you have on people until you're presented with that. So when you're on tour and you're standing there with what was people's flowetry and it's like, well, who's this? I can't help what people do to that.

So it was a lot of negativity from fans at first. that turns into Amanda turning or me. It's your fault. I'm like, listen, do you know what happened in order for you to stand there right now? I know your tears are warranted on your end, but you don't have a flowchee tear to drop right now. You don't understand what I've been through to do this. So it's like, I kind of want to, I wanted to pull out here.

I'm ready to fight. It was bad. But it was bad for several reasons. And that was just that one summer tour. So it was a tour, there was no music. Oh, no, no, no, no. Well, because me and Amanda were cool, we recorded a bunch of songs, like, just because. They wanted to hear flowetry songs, so it was like.

Exactly. So the tour was very much flowetry songs embellished a little bit. And then that was that. So that was 2007, flowetry remixed tour. And after that was deaded, I had to get legal to step in to make sure that my paperwork was straight. And I wasn't obligated to geffing nor Interscope anymore on that end. And once that was cool, I was done. And then good old Peter Edge, that was then A&R of J Records.

And a fellow Brit, I felt like the right move. And I was welcomed with open arms and there's late nights and early mornings. Wow. So the very strong hopes you cheat on you with a basketball player. Oh, about that. I used streamed one late night and I freestled that. I was playing the chords

and we were joking about something and I was like, oh, you should record it. So I did, came to New York and connive by ways of Just Blaze did that record together and before I knew it was on the radio I didn't even know that was going to happen. What did you think about all those theories

about what the song was about? Because you know the blogs were talking, there were theories about I hope she chees you on you with a basketball player. What was the theory? Oh, yeah. There was a theory that it was about, well, shoot, now I'm going to put people's. Hmm.

How do you do this? How do the Quest Love remix? You do it well. You do it well. who had cheated with a friend of your, these are two males. And they were friends and they were working with each other. And one slept with the other's woman. Oh, yeah, that's the facts.

Wow. Yeah. So much cold. You know, I remember that? Wait. Are we in talking? I need smoke signals. Right, right.

I need, I'm lost. Hit me? No, because I know you know. No, he forget. I didn't know. He was on stage. He was on stage. And you gave me the look because that was the year you wanted to infuse.

I think I did like a jodice fienden. Right. Mary J. Blige thing or something. Like. I didn't realize that that was inspired from that. What was going on on the sad and stage. It was scary. Who was it?

Who was? It was scary because, you know, your boy from Baltimore. You know what I'm saying? And your other boy, he's not known to fight. So I was like, please don't kill him. Like, because. And he was just a friend. Yes, he was just a friend.

No, no, no, no. No, no. Don't you say a name. Your nigger. I was just, all right. All these niggas. Yes, you're right. Mario and who are, who fault?

Who, who's other name? It's bugable. Why do these stories and everyone's like, oh, Marsh, what happened with such and such? It's just It's not only just me that was there I was like oh that didn't have you're lying No we were all there We all saw it

So you can Google it Just look up Mario fighting But that's exactly what Ho Chi Cheats Really? Wait, it was on YouTube It was on a blog It was news Oh I didn't know that Okay

Yeah it's Google For Fonte just about to read it Let me see Christmas time with Fonte And this is what happens I call people Anytime I'm doing an interview I'm like you know I've run my mouth

Like this is all of it's not about you This is never shade This is just facts So if you want to heal You can't heal what you don't reveal You better tell it true Don't enable light ear please You cannot heal if you don't reveal

So then don't heal just don't reveal Yeah keyloids My mother almost tortured me with Pitches of Keloids Saying that I would never get my ears pissed in fear that that was going to happen to me. I got some from the chicken pox. I see. It's not right.

Is this really where this conversation is going? I don't know. He put blood out. Key Lloyds is what happened when you heal too much. So don't gossip about other people's business like here. I'm sorry. Late night's early mornings. Yeah, late nights.

So that's how late nights and early mornings. Chasing clouds is like. Science from Flint, Michigan produced that record. And I remember hearing science and all of his production. And I was like, I want that. And it was so cinematic. And it makes me cry.

I can't even perform that song. It's just so like never-ending story on top of Falcour. I remember. I wish. Yeah. I remember before the album came out, we were doing a show. It was foreign exchange and we were doing a show in Philly or maybe it was Baltimore. But we were, anyway, we were doing a show and we were all hanging out at the hotel.

And you were playing out at the hotel. you were playing me early stuff from late night, like before I came out. You had all these jams on your laptop, and you had a jam called First Position. Oh, no. This is how Petty Marsha is, and I love it. She has a jam.

Like, she would be playing her, I think you said, like, you were playing your cousin. My brother. And, like, like, Brand Tourism or whatever. Burnout. Burnout. On PlayStation. So, like, it's a racing game.

And so she beat the nigger, and she recorded a jam called First Position. So she beat the nigger And then play her jam And her position I'm not My dad's position It's like

It's like How competitive are you March? It's like if Freddie Mercury With like a Phil Collins drum intro Came and just did like Bohemian Rhapsody

Straight very loud harmony In Flash Gordon Gordon In Flash Gordon Like And he's about to Mary Dale or something. It's just like a short little snippet you'll play when you're like a ding.

It's like a ding. Oh, my. That's my favorite. So putting it out there, I don't know what video game it could be synonymous with, but first position is a bump. It'll make you feel like a rock star game to see if they got to use for it. Please. I love that song. I never forgot that song.

That is incredible. But yeah, petty. Well, wait, also far away was on the, oh, yeah, that was. Yeah. That's late nights early mornings too. Oh, that video. Yeah. Shot in, where was that?

Cross the War. Edgewood, New Jersey? Yeah, I was proud when you did that video. It was dope for the community. Just curious, how did you hook up with Sterling Sims for that record? You know what? I'd known Sterling through Ivan Barrios, who introduces when he was doing. Yeah, I say, Bad.

I never knew how to say it. I never knew. I was saying Barrios. Barrios, yeah. Well, because Ambrosius, but Ayas. I don't know. Sounds right to me. Wait, you're Ambrosius?

Ambrosius. What? Wait, no, wait. I've been getting it wrong all this. I was five seconds old when I just learned with your last name. Ambrosius. So you've been saying Ambrosius? Yeah.

Ambrosius. That's American. Ten years ago, I was calling you Ambrosia. Ambrosia. Well, this lady in the mall called me Amber Rose. She quit. No way. That's, you know, Ambrosia.

Amber Rose. Amber Rose. The end. I'll never forget it. And I was just like, wow. Hey. I've been saying it right for 10 years thinking I've been saying it wrong. No, you've got it.

We're here. We're here with it. Wow. Ambrosia. Ambrosia. Stirling was in, what was Mike MacArthur in them studio? Home cooking. Now home cooking.

Home cooking. Yeah, it was like home cooking upstairs. They had that basketball court in there. And I was like, oh, Philly kid. Go work with him. Then when I went to Atlanta, we were working together. and then we just ended up doing a whole bunch of sessions and we're in L.A. at the time

and I was like, hmm, far away. He does well in L.A. doesn't he? Yeah. So I was like, far away, I have a hook. I have a verse one. I was like, hit this verse two, hit verse two, and then Tada, far away. How did you, you covered,

well, I knew of Lauren's version, eludes myself. How did that come about? So I loved the song, and I remember Peter Reggie myself, I've had a conversation. It was like, I need you to hear this song. And I was like, I know it.

I said, you're talking about Lauren Hill, happy. I said, you listening to this lyrically? He was like, yo, you slow this down, kind of soul it out, and I do an uptemper version of it. I was like. Yeah, I was like, I'd love Lauren to do that. I said, no, you do that. And I was like, okay. And then I went through a bunch of production ideas.

And because Kani and I had, you know, built a rapport at that time doing Hope She Cheats and, you know, other things. It was like, okay, let's do that. I just ended up to lose myself. So how did you develop your relationship with Dr. Dre? So. And I feel like I've heard the story from a comrade of ours. Seanji, shout out to Seanji. He was just like, yo, man, Dr. Dre is like obsessed with Marshall.

That's his favorite singer of all time. Like, so how did, how did, how did, I am. It's crazy because of other people that, I've worked with him and was like, I might be the only artist period that can go in there and do what I want. I'm like, Dre, this is good. He's like, okay. No, I've heard that.

I've heard that from other people. They say, like, he'll make everybody do something like a million times, but Marcia's like, okay, it's good. Like, it's good. He was like, just add more backgrounds in there, a couple of others. All right, cool. So he came to a flowetry show. He came to the Roxy in L.A. on Sunset, small little dingy roxy. And we were doing a double gig.

oh, this was a wild night. So it's Dr. Dre, Swissbeats, a couple of other people came to the first half, and Prince comes to the second show. So it was just a wild night, but we get back on the tour bus, and I get, Jay, Jay Irving says,

you know, you got a phone call, and it's Dre's people saying they want me to come through to the studio. So this is like early 06. So I'm like, you know what? Sure. So I'll go over there. And I cut a record call down.

Mama's house Like one take He played me This beat That him and Mark Batson Yeah Mark Batson And him Did this track

And I was like What is this? Put me in the booth Because I felt like I had something to prove It's Drey I was like I'm not about to fuck this up

Put me in the booth And he was like You got something For already To this beat Oh yeah Bars me So

So Mosh So So So Barash So much So bar

So then after that, after that demo, we were just cool. And then clearly did the stuff with the game, with bus. And then it turns into do a project over there. I'm like, yeah. But from that I built the relationships that I have with, you know, his other team of producers, one of which focus Bernard Edwards, Jr. And that's how we got. Bernard Edwards, Jr.?

Yeah. How many people are in Jay's, Dre's click? Like, is it touching jazz or on steroids? No, not really. He's very contained and it will be like, okay, I'm banging with this sonically and stay there. So it's really two or three people that would stay in rotation at one time. But focus has been and still is and will remain to be the most consistent. Yeah, focus is.

That was how I really, I mean, because I knew you, of course, like from Florida and stuff. But like when you and focus started working together, me and him was doing stuff at the time. And he was playing me stuff. It was the first mixtape y'all did. Right, yours truly. Yours truly. We have a 10-year anniversary coming out. That's 10 years ago.

Yeah. That's crazy. But, yeah. What the fuck? So I'll still bump that mixtape. Still bummed sunshine. Oh, yeah. Damn, we did do sunshine.

I forgot about that record. Yeah, we did it. It was a little brother of Marshall record called Sunshine. This was, God, that was 10 years ago. That was 10 years ago. And it's still bangs. Yeah, so that's how that happened. But who was the concept?

of friends and lovers because me i do all of my albums late nice night morning songs what's that are we allowed to ask about you and not that's my that's my favorite that's my friend that's the one for me um yes pup and oak uh well pup oak flip produced that we did that at sigma sounds in philly well what was sigma sounds that's so sad um and the music just got me i could just see my phone right the building I think it's gone. The building's gone. Twelfth and, what's that, 12th and race? Sigma's gone. Philadelphian.

Yeah. So you and I was, I don't know, the music just sounded sad. It sounded very throwback. I pictured the Jackson 5 singing the hook and then this chick on a train like, I'm going to go tell him I love him, but I know he about to get married, but I'm just have to tell him to get off of my chest, repercussions and repercussions. And I did. So conceptually, that was the story that I wanted to have.

for that. I love that song. Thank you. Is this, is the real story of y'all two getting together as interesting as all these songs that you like?

Oh yeah, our stories we're taught it. All stories. Do tell. Which song is it? I'm like, which song is it? Well, I thought we were just not. We're just not about to talk about shit.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, my bad. I don't want to go through songs. Because you have to know how to get there. Yeah. Sorry, friends of love me. So you and I. So other songs on the album. Go for it.

You go for it. What else is on there? Oh, oh. Who spend all my time? Oh, my God, with Charlie Wilson. Oh, my God. Now, my aunt had passed away from cancer, and I remember my cousin's hitting me like, oh, she's good, she's doing good, she's in remission.

Oh, well, it came back, but it's not that bad. And over a two-month, three-month period, it went from being okay to really not being okay. Like, in the blink of an eye it felt like. And I was like, you know what? You can't get time back. Everyone was like, I don't want to spend all my time with you. So it was never about, there's no money for this. I don't have the budget they would take to heal you from cancer.

You have it and there's nothing we could do. Whether I had a trillion dollars or a buck in the account, there was nothing I could do. So it was like, you know, I just want to spend all my time with you. And Charlie Wilson was your first choice. Yeah, only choice. It was original just me on the track. I was like, if I had someone, it has to be Uncle Charlie. You ever watch him warm up his voice before he's...

I made, listen. Have you ever seen him do this important person, Fonte? He did a little bit. Oh, my, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. Yeah, he did a little bit. He gives a little bit, uh, yeah. But that's, that's maintenance. Like, he plays no games.

Like, he sounds like records, on records on records. Yeah, he said he don't sang in the session unless it's at least 72 degrees or something. We don't sing in an air conditioning, a Charlie Wilson session. Yeah. Yeah, everything is. Yeah, Charlie Wilson, though, too. Don't sing in the Charlie Wilson session. No, that's

Be minute So yeah, spend on my time They're the emotional songs So what are we getting at here? Where's this going? It was Amir's point I was just doing the song I like

I just I'm getting sad Oh, I go back Take care I'm in shoes 69 Nighttime

You want to do a freaky one Yeah We didn't do a freaky one So what is the story What's the story With you and your husband And then we can kind of feel in Yeah

Yeah I think 69 That's self is planned to Yeah Good segue We all know martial like sex Like it's cool No I had a wild dream that I was a stripper Okay

Within that week That I was recording with the interns So two and coast At the time were on this very much Sexual wave And I was like You know what I have something for that I don't think people expect it from me

So it was six T-9 but it was really like I don't know I was like if Vanity 6 or Apollone 6 did a song

in what was that 2014 I think it would have been that 6 did it was just like cute I just thought it was cute it was very light work for me Yeah it was very cute

It was nice Kiss and fuck It was amazing I didn't want it to be an interlude it was an entire song and then they were like oh, it's too acoustic guitarish

because it's an acoustic guitar and vocal this guy why does it have to do anything else other than but I was like you know what I'll make it a hook in a verse

and that's okay but yeah that was cute so talk about the transition because I know that this album was released on is this your own label or?

Yeah so have our own situation human resources Jay Irving our label and we partnered with E1 for Nila. So transitioning from what was Friends and Lovers on a, well, I wanted it to be J Records and then that dissolves and it becomes RCA

and then half the industry assigned to that label and it's, I don't, I can't do hamster wheels anymore. And I remember Prince just being like, yo, just go independent. I'm like, I don't know, I'm scared. Go independent. You're hit the peck. So thank you, Prince. Then once I was cleared, I was like, you know what?

Now I can just create. Now I don't have to. I want to. And that spawned the idea for Naila, because friends and lovers, I was in a, before I met you, babe. Friends and Lovers was tough because I had to admit that nothing was good for me. Nothing, whether that was the relationship I was in, the things that I was holding on to this industry that's full of yes men. and women and full of open bars and anything that's available to you, you can have it. And if you just say yes to everything, like, who are you really?

So I was struggling. Yeah, I was definitely struggling a little bit. And then I had to center myself and go, you know, what do I really want? I just want to be happy. So when I decided on my own happiness is when everything fell into place. more importantly forgiveness and um the whole flow to situation was something that was deaded at such a step in 2006 it weighed heavy on me throughout um that entire time between 06 and 2014 so 2014 rose around and i say you know what i'm gonna forgive so reached out to nat said look what's up

it'll be good for the fans let's just reconnect and that was my way of getting that weight off my back. And once we did 2015, that first tour, this was when we did the show, my husband over here was a part of the tour, and I didn't know. I just kept seeing this very consistent, fine chocolate face. And bawdy.

And I was like, oh, who? Yay, yes, the tongue is out. Let's get it. Anyway, go ahead. No, keep that going. Sorry, I was like, he's fine, fine. like Ralph Angel Queen Sugar Fine

Like who is that But can he talk louder than Ralph Angel Met? Yeah It's very very Right Yo Ralph Angels Why I now watch

Everything with subtitles Bro Do you know what I said What did I say the other day He's like You know when Christian Bell does his Batman voice Yes Yes he's that

He's like the Batman He's gonna stop though But I think it's good for that current John Ralph Angels that character He used to be somewhere else We'll let him live though Anyway Desmond.

Yeah, Back to Des, let's go. He was wearing this red fit in and I was backstage and I was like, who is this? It's like, oh, my road manager Mitch was like, I told you, I'm bringing someone else on the tour. You know, you and that is traveling separately.

Like, he's going to cover that side of things. I'm going to cover you. I was like, oh, so he's on the tour. Oh. So I'm going to see him. Eric Dayton. Okay, cool. So that's what, right about this.

Last week of June. June. 2015. So apparently we met in an elevator in Cleveland, Ohio, and I didn't say hello. Or I kind of gave him the brush up. Wait a minute. Y'all did that whole tour and didn't. Oh, no, no, wait, wait.

I'll give you this. So June 2015. It was game. By the way, it was not reacted to anything. It was game six, okay? I was going to game six curves versus worries. That was on my mind. I thought it was a Jordan reference with two seconds left.

No, no, no. So I am still having issues with the whole flow to situation. I was like, wow, nothing will ever change. But you know what? This is for me. This isn't about nothing else but for me. So I'm going to go through with it. Watch game six.

Cabs lose. Warriors win. Andrea Godalick's MVP. It's very bizarre. Fast forward to that last week. And I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to say what's up. Shoot your shot.

So I approached, yeah. Look at the flick of the wrist Leave it up there Leave it Still there So So um So um

I initiated the conversation And it was very much, you know Yes or no answers And I'm like, okay We get to Norfolk Virginia though July 14th State Yeah Virginia is full of

Yeah Virginia overall It's for practice. Thank you. Norfolk for anything good. Nothing good ever happened in Norville. We've just lost all of our listeners in Norfolk. I love you because at the Norva, the actual venue,

they have a basketball court upstairs and a spa, jacuzzi, and a great upright piano in the dressing room. But more importantly, a basketball court. And I saw him taking a couple of shots. And I was like, oh, where are he playing? I'll play you for your heart. Exactly. Oh, God.

Exactly. I remember That's That's I'm going to get my heart I'm Yeah Yeah

So that night Um Everything in Norfolk was closed Why is everything closed 11th 30 or something crazy So I wanted to grab a bite to eat I text him Said yo you want to meet him

Down in the lobby after the show Did you beat them? What do you mean? The game No, we didn't play I just put up a shirt and just said, no. He was playing. I thought it was going to challenge.

No, no, I walked up there in all of my show outfit and high heels was like, ooh. So he checked the form and stuff and then rolled. And then I texted him and said, yo, you want to go grab something to eat? Everything's closed, mind you. So we walk from what is downtown, I guess that mall right there next to the Nova. I know you're talking about. We ended up at the cookout. Listen, walked to cookout.

The bird is spread in the hood. Good milk shakes. Good milk shake. Good morning. Elk show. Exactly. He finally looked up and shook his head. Cook out.

It was rough. Yeah, y'all gonna be together. It was like a three hour, four hour walk. But it was corny too. We ran through sprinklers. It was very, very rom-com made for TV lifetime. Could have got a Netflix deal. It would have been like a, you know, a limited series on HBO.

We went X-rated. So that night, I remember calling my mother. He walked me back to my room. room, we got the burgers and talked about love, life, God, everything, beliefs, dreams, aspirations. And I was like, mum, I've met the one. He's the one. I'm telling you. She was like, well, what happened? I was like, we kissed. She was like a memoir. I was like, that's it. I was like, who do you think I am waiting for this elaborate dirty story? I was like, this is the date. This is like the first date. So technically. And then by the time we got to Philly

a week later, we were doing it. and doing it well doing it and doing it well I'm putting it all I'm sorry sorry sorry It's the most wonderful time of the end Twos So yeah

We can We get to Philly And we're doing it And I guess at that point The whole tour You know every musician Every band members Wait ladies gentlemen

You have to understand That he's literally sitting like A yard. He's hurting these stories. He lived in. He was there. He lived it. He knows it's the most wonderful time of the year also.

Shit. 2%. That is the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter. And on my podcast, 2%. I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world. I'll be speaking with writers, researchers. and other health and fitness experts, and more,

to look past the impractical and way too complex pseudoscience that dominates the wellness industry. We really believe that seed oils were inherently inflammatory. We got it wrong. Many of the problems that we are freaked out about in the world are the result of stress. Put yourself through some hardships, and you will come out on the other side

a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person. Listen to 2%. That's T.W. on the I-heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. 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 Rock. all 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 Clivert 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

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waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black. people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 type of twice in so much. 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 faced. as 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. I created this platform to talk about microphone cords and different amps. Well, what she's telling us about. She's doing it. And none of those would do it. I just don't want to do that. I don't want to, you know, infrared beam at my forehead.

Well, we finished that tour on my birthday, actually. And August 8th, we were in Maryland, I think. Or might have been Baltimore to do that show. And find out that, you know, we both live in L.A. I said, when we get back to L.A., you know, let's not make this just a tour thing. Like, make this a thing thing. So my dad was in town. I flew my dad out and my sister and my –

my stepmother and they're staying at my place in L.A. And I was like, Dad, I have someone I want you to meet. Because what I did. Already? But it just happened that my dad was staying in L.A. for that couple of days. So I was like, do you know what it's going to happen? I'm going to fall in love.

And what's going to be weird is if I come home for Christmas, you know, from August 8th through to December, I said, I don't want to come home in December with someone. And you guy, what's this guy? I went to meet him now because I just know. So, Daddy. But that's And that weird? No pressure.

He wasn't weirded out. No, because I met his mother Day 1. Because we were picking her up and his other auntie from a concert. I don't remember what concert that was. It's like the OJs or something. I was that.

You said black aunties. I know, Kim. I know Kim. Kim. I'm calling you're me. Girl. Girl. Sorry.

You know, I'm found him. Yeah. We walk around the house just, just period. periodically like blurting out. You have to for anybody's auntie.

So yeah, shout out to Ken. And yeah, we moved in about September, 2015. And went home for Christmas. We went back to the UK for like a month because we did a flow to show out there. And then he met my entire family, like straight Liverpool, strong scouse accents. Like, who's this, Marsha?

Who you brought her? We've never brought a man home ever. You moved to America. 18 years ago and we haven't seen one fella who's this. Really? That was fucking incredible. So, marmite and everything. I'm still a scouser. I'm still, I put on an accent just to make. Oh, you give us the proper version of what you're, oh wow.

This is like a hybrid. I've lived in Philly. I used to live in London. Has he passed a marmite test? I hate Marmite anyway. Wait, you're, who are you? I hate football. Football and, well, I'm frustrated. from Liverpool, LFC.

Come on, you Reds. Can't be Everton. It's not going to happen. But yeah, I'm... You seem to hate everything homeland. Well, no, not really, because I do mince pies at Christmas. I love that. I love a good old custard with a nice sponge cake.

Okay. I love tea and biscuits. Bangers and Mash, you do... Bangers and Mash. I love Shepherds Pie. Great title. Bangers and Mash is a... Shit, the next big tape.

That should be a bit. That should be made. See? Bangers in March. Bangers in March. That is the end of that episode right now. That is good night. We have nothing else.

Do we do? Well, we... Oh, Jesus Christ. And then, well, fast forward to, after that Christmas, we get back. April, we're about to go on the second reuniting a flow of street because popular demand. wants us to go on tour again. Those guarantees came in. I looked at them and said,

we can do this within a year. What about house, babe? Let's go. Went back out on tour because it's our job and our career. And against everything I wanted to. This is you and Natalie. Yeah. So we did flowetry again, 2016,

which would be the last. But one week into that tour, we find out we're pregnant. So if you've played at Yoshi's before in Oakland, so you do two shows a night. We did two shows and I at Yoshis four days back to back to start the tour. So the first date was in Sacramento and we were on a flight on the way there and Des, my husband collapsed on this flight.

Like we had an early, Black Girl's Rock was in New Jersey. We taped that, got on an early flight to get to the first Flotry show, hadn't really eaten. I think that's what it was. We just didn't eat. But he collapsed on this plane. that they were about to land it in the middle of nowhere. And I guess there was a nurse on the flight that assisted,

kind of made sure everything was okay. They took his blood pressure. And when we Googled it, pregnant women come up. So I'm like, whatever. And this is early. So this is like the first couple of days of April. So might be April 2nd. So we do the show in Sacramento.

He's now healthy. Everything is okay. We do Yoshi's four days back to back. Get to L.A. And we're playing the Wilton. night. So what it was, we were flying for the first week and then we were getting on a tour bus. So I decided to do a pregnancy test for fear that I would just be on this tour bus sick out on my mind if I was pregnant. I wasn't taking it like, oh, I'm pregnant. Just checking. Making sure I'm not.

Yeah, we know those. So we did an interview with a popular blog site. I'll say that. And they leave the house and I'm like, okay, I'm just going to take this test. And babe, I'm peeing on it. I'm just going to check, I'm pregnant. I didn't say it like that, but that's how quick it said I was, I peed on it and it said pregnant, so I'm waiting for the not to come up like to the thing. I was like, so I'm looking at the box like, how does this work?

Does it just say? That's how it works. Hey, it works. See, come on after a lot of you. To vote of famous sauce. Prego, it's in there. Damn, that's a throwback. Nice. So that was good.

I can't stand you right now. I have my mom. Like singers. And Nyla was created. And then Nyla was created and we're pregnant and it was so early on. I didn't want to tell anybody on the tour but I didn't want to not do the tour. So by ways of the doctor that like you're fine, you know, it's early. If you're healthy, let's just see how this goes.

So I booked doctor's appointments throughout the tour. My first one was in Phoenix. And if you played at the venue, the celebrity arena. In circles. Yes. Stage. Oh my God.

I was going to die. I was like, I'm so dizzy. I couldn't wear the high heels that I anticipated wearing for that tour. And I'm now wearing these low, what, the SB gold band. No, no sketches. No, but I had my, either chucks on my Nikes, my SBs. And I'm like, I'm dizzy. This is weird.

I don't like it. So we get to the doctor's like, yep, you are pregnant. It's about, you know, five, six weeks. I'm like, oh, I'm on tour for like another month and a half or so. And I'm like, you know, just see how you feel. So, how it goes. So I get to Pensacola, Florida, and I almost throw up on the front row. It was rough. Because it was like 110 degrees and humid. And I could smell everything. It was like the bar and it had like the lemons and like that citrus smell. Anything sweet. I'm a dessert fanatic. And when I was pregnant, I was pregnant, I was.

I couldn't touch sugar without throwing up. No pickles and ice cream. No, it wasn't fair. Like nothing. I was straight. I needed laced potato chips and like bacon, double cheeseburgers. I stopped eating red meat for seven years. And as soon as I was pregnant, I needed steak.

But I guess your body just told you what you need and it was ridiculous. But yeah, so by the time, you know, we get off tour. Everybody, we're pregnant. Peace. Bye. Love you. And then December 19th, Nila's here. Hey.

She's a Capricorn. I love her already. You're Capricorn? Sajie. Oh, she's, oh no, I did Saj. I still love her. My grandma, I'm a Sancho. Kind of Cusby.

Yeah, it's right there. It's right there. Cuspesque, but she's definitely a Sajie. So tell us, so you were saying, I have a couple questions. So you were saying when you did that Flosier Tour, you knew that was going to be like your last one. Oh, yeah. And what was, how did you know? Can't do your own dog, tricks?

No, even about this. that because Nat and myself could do a floater show with our eyes closed. Like we could have had a whole fight and been on stage and giving me the whole show and you would know no different. The creativity part of it, that will never, well, hoping never will, but never die. Personally, cannot tolerate not only past, but if you're someone else's trigger for what just didn't happen for you, you can't help that part. You can forgive everything, but if I'm the one that remains.

in the US and still doing what I'm doing, I'm a constant reminder of what happened in 2006. I'm a constant reminder of reasons why things went left or right. And there's nothing you can do to heal that other person. So I feel once we got to the end of that tour and there's still smoking weed on the bus, you know I'm pregnant though. It's the end.

It's the end. I was like, you don't wish well for my life. And I don't care if it was done out of, well, this is because in 2006 you said, I'm like, I did this for right now. I know what I've done. I know what I've said. I know things that I've possibly done that have killed you in some ways.

And if you, like I said, if you can't heal what you don't reveal, if you can't tell me what it is, I don't know. I don't know. It's like saying, you know, I'm okay now. Well, I'm not. Like, you know, when you're like break up with someone or you're mad at someone and you try and reconcile, I'm not ready to reconcile. And I guess for 2015, 2016, initially with the 2015, we both were. But you've also shown me who you still are and still will be. And I'm cool on that.

And that's okay too. Wish you well on everything that you do. I don't. Fonte's face. I'm sorry. I'm listening. Collectively, we've all been in group situations where it's a lot of... I'm just listening, man.

25 years strong. Right. But it's two separate buses. See, I didn't think of that. I thought of that. Ripping that's slithering. But you know what it is? It's micromanaging

personal lives because the music is that's your first hand. We knew that part. It's everything else you have to deal with that comes with that. So Nail is out in stores. Yeah, it is. Niler is out and available.

Let's talk about it of your personal life. Yeah, yeah. Actually, let's not. I do have a question about the music. Okay, go for it. Are we ever going to get an officially released version of yes indeed the Tina Marie cover

that you did? Drey and I discussed this and hopefully when it calls for the moment it deserves it shall be but that was a tough one to tackle about Tina Marie being one of my You said you approved it too right? Oh yeah yeah and I remember you played it at that show and it's on

YouTube and everything good God I played it like five six times in a row you killed it. That's crazy but yeah one day one day I'll hit Dre also looks at phone Yeah, I was like, we're waiting on him to release her. Where are we in the first position? Are we still?

Detox. What happened? You're able to find first position? First position, would you be able to find? I'm going to. I'm going to sit in the text. Okay. We want to see.

All right, cool. All right. Can't wait. See, I wanted to ask about Cloud 9, but. Oh, yeah. So, what I will say about Cloud 9 is playing it live. I know, playing it live, you're the only drama. I think I've seen that.

On the planet. SOBs we did that. Because I wasn't going to be embarrassed by my first gospel Chopped challenge. Have you heard of Cloud 9? Yes, yeah. Yeah. It's straight.

It's just, it's. I was like, never again. I went to, that's the first night. I spent the night at Fallon. Wow. My first night ever. I was like, no, I'm not going to get embarrassed on stage because I don't know how to the gospel.

Chop. I went on YouTube. Learn how to play the drums? Yes. That's good. Chops. I typed in gospel chops for dummies. Yeah.

It's an 11-year-old, like, Filipino kid with his own pay. Dog. It's YouTube. It's the internet. Why not just call it tribut? This story. He's probably in a... Oh, she's smoking.

Anyway. Um, Fred Street. Is this episode ever going to get on there? Um, yeah, and I, I,

I had to shed for like five hours straight. Wow, wow. That's how hard. It's, it's, it's a tough one,

but it's, it's so good. Another focus. Yes, I was focused. Shout out the focus. That's the homie. Y'all,

I really, y'all have great chemistry again. I was so happy to see y'all work together for like a whole project for a lot. That's my brother, for real. It's definitely a musical soul. me. I mean, he's

music royalty. Like, it's in the DNA. Like, your dad is chic. Yeah. It's crazy. Before we wrap up, the show, what are your future plans, Marcia? My future plans are...

Creatively. Yo, I asked you that question. Four years ago, you said, I just want to get married and have babies. So here we are, four years later. And now... Crested. Killed it. Fucking crushed it. TV and film

Horror being my favorite genre I've written I would love to see you in a horror film I'm about to say you I'm about to get with Jordan Peel right now write them okay yeah okay really oh yeah

so what level are we talking like Ralph zombie level or are we talking well the zombie stuff is just gore for gore's sake for me sometimes it's I love it I'm about the things Oh, never mind Because he's like It's so

Yeah Never mind It's the things that you don't see The scary Yeah Right when they pull the camera away And you A quiet place

Like a quiet place It's fucking scary So you like you like thrillers Psychological Thrillers Yeah I love Okay see With added like horror

Horror and you can say this is my original idea and I gave you it here first and it's going to happen okay okay picture the movie elm street and it's really about the suburban area of elm street and the parents that plucked to kill this man freddie kruger who allegedly sexually abused a kid that's why he dies so it's the horror that you see in normal people that you just go to the supermarket with And they've decided that this missing kid, it's his responsibility, and we're going to kill him. And then Freddie has to, like, then declare his soul to the devil and say, you know what? I'm going to come back and haunt your kids.

And your kids' kids. That entire flick is creeping me out thinking about it. Has to happen, though. Elm Street prequel, yeah. Yeah, it's time for a prequel. It is. I'm telling you. Ritten by Marsha Ambrosia.

And Bruce. That's my artist's name now. The 40th anniversary will be in six years. Marsha. I'll go for them. So you got time to write the script. It's done. There you go.

Marsha. I thank you for coming on our... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sugar, Steve, where did you learn today? Oh, oh. Wow.

You haven't done this in a while. Amen. Wow. Her entire story. essentially. Okay. Even though you've known her, you've known her for,

and that I'm the only one here, ironically, I suppose she's been pronouncing her name correctly. Yes. Unpaid Bill. Man, good people make good music. Okay. You just learned that.

Sucinct. No, I learned that Matt Cappy is on a Michael Jackson song. Yeah, I was low-key jealous. Like, oh, Matt Cappy. And then you learn how to drum. on YouTube. Yeah, I learned that.

That an 11-year-old Filipino boy taught me out of Trump. On the buckets. I didn't know you were into basketball so much, so I thought that's pretty awesome. And as well as the horror flicks. That's pretty awesome. Two unrelated to music things that I think are really awesome about you.

Laya, where'd you learn today? I learned that Dev is seven years younger. You're looking for a younger man now? No, but you know, it works. I still think it works more than a female's favor because of it. You know, I'm all about the physical. Anyway. And I...

What the fuck? The physical. He will be still ready to go ahead and when she hits her peak. Y'all know I'm all about the sexual peace. Don't act like you didn't think about this. Okay, I know you did. Anyway, and I learned that Marcia's going to write the prequel for Nightmare on Elm Street. Yes.

She's got a damn good idea for it. Franticle? Man, I learned that Marcia is like healthy and happy. And like, it's still, like, from the last time we saw each other. like your life has just gotten better because and like I'm just happy to see you I mean because we've had conversations just before about the game and the industry and like just kind of finding your way so when I saw you come back with Naila and you were doing indie and you were doing with focus and like we I was just like yeah this is it and so I'm just happy to see you in the space that you're in because I know

as art as art like I know how that how crazy this shit can be so to see you still here still doing it and be able to do it on your own terms that's really really serious. really smart business moves. Having kids can be positive. Having kids can be positive. I've learned you go. Start risking it all. I've learned

I've learned how to use one's own podcast to deflect any love life advice. So thank you very much. I appreciate your patience. And we'll see all the next next go around of Quest Love Supreme. Quest Love Supreme is a production of I-HeartRadio.

This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 2%. That's the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter. And on my podcast, 2%. I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world.

Put yourself through some hardships, and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthy, your person. Listen to 2%. That's TWO% on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care which 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, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year.

I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Ellen's, correct? I doctored the test once. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern.

Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg Gillespie and Michael Ranchini. 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.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.