The Questlove Show - Questlove Supreme: Rapsody

Episode Date: February 5, 2020

Grammy nominated emcee Rapsody talks about growing up in North Carolina, as well as her plans for the future! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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

If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends.

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe, on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Questlove Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio. Fante, come back. Supriva. Suprema Roll car. Suprema, sub, Suprema role car. Suprema.

Suprema. Roe Call, Suprema, Suprema, Supraima, Roll Call. I don't want to alarm, yeah, or cause hysteria. Yeah. But all the great talents? Yeah. We're born Aquarius. Rolecah, yeah.

Supremma, Sut, Surma, Sur. I forgot about you right here. Same thing as yours. Supraima, Roll Call. My name is Sugar. Yeah. I love McCoy Tyner. Yeah.

And any rapper. Yeah. From North Carolina. Roll call. Supriva. That's fine there too. Suprema roll car. Suprema,

Subrema, Role Car. It's Laeam. Yeah. And blacker than me? Yeah. Ain't nobody. Yeah.

Well, it may be Rhapsody. Roll car. Suprema, Subrema, Subrima, Role Car. Supremma, Subrama, Role Call.

They call me rap. Yeah. I'm on this show. Yeah. Freestyle off the top. Yeah. That's all I know. Supremea

Roll car Suprema Subrama Roll car Supraima Supraima Suprema Roca Car That is fire

You did it All right You did it Got a little sexy on the end Yeah, that's cute Ladies and gentlemen Welcome to another episode of the nerdiest rabbit hole in

informative program ever created for music. This is Questlove Supreme. I am Questlove and I B. 6.3. Shout out to my team Supreme crew, Sugar Steve, who I think is, what, 510? 5.11.

Exactly. Well, it depends what part of me you're talking about. You'd be 5-0. Oh, wow. H.R. Anyway, and shout out to Laya. What is it? Five what? You about 5-8.

That's right. All right. That's good, Questline. Oh, I was going to say you more like six feet when you rock the stilettos when Leonard cravitz is in proximity of you. Are you going to go my way? Depending any way.

Ladies and gentlemen, our guest today should pretty much have music fans and real hip-hop heads. Mad excited. Hailing from North Kakalak. She made her professional debut on 9th Wonder's Dream Merchant Project. Way back

in late 2007. That's like A mad time. Ever. As a member of the Cooley High Collective and also releasing I can't forget Buzzworthy mixtapes.

She's pretty much been bubbling under. Releasing the idea beautiful in 2012 getting notable cosines from like Mac Miller BJ's Chicago Kid Charles Gambino.

Of course, 2017's Laya's wisdom. Layla's wisdom. Layla's wisdom. Layla's a derivative. I saw the name and just started saying

your name, Lai is wisdom. Layla's wisdom with spots from K. Dot and Anderson Pat and someone else named Black Thought, whoever that is. The new Rock Nation signee got her first round of Grammy nominations

and of course, we cannot forget 2019's Eve with an astounding metacritic score of 90. Let me just let you know. What the fuck is that? It was a metacritic. Metacritic is kind of like it's an aggregate.

like rotten tomatoes. Yeah. So a combination of everyone who's reviewed your product, you get basically a score. So to get 90 is, that's some acclaimed-ass shit. Like, you know, I pray just to get 80s, like 75 to 80s. She's getting straight days. She's getting straight days over here, you know.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to Questlove Supreme, the one and only Rhapsody. What's up? I'm happy to be here. You can laugh for yourself too because I want to hear. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My bangles. Rhapsody and the bangles.

I beat five, three. Right. I see. They running six deep. You shining, you're jingling. A.kha, the gold coast. Straight up from the fingers to the neck. You know what it is?

You were telling us where your shine came from. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's some. I actually, you know what? I like the return. I feel like it's going to be a righteous return to gold. Yeah. That's something that I was not able to experience as a kid.

I was in the plastic phase of like Medallion, you had African medallion. No, the stopwatch. Oh, oh. Oh, yeah. I wasn't allowed to have anything, but I had the stopwatch because I grew up in the era of where they would snatch your snatch your sneakers.

I couldn't wear Jordans. Nothing hip-hoppy. No can't go, no nothing. That's real. But I could get a stopwatch. Yeah. Nobody didn't want that. So where did you?

I've always like gold. I mean, I went through the wood medallion. stage. I went through that, you know, Zulu Nation, African Pended. But I've always been a fan of gold. I just actually left Rock Nation. And one of the security guards was like the history behind gold and Egypt was that the kings who loved their wives would adoring them in all this gold. So you always see the women wearing mad gold. They're dropping wisdom at Rock Nation? Yes, straight like that. They need it over there. That kind of wisdom. My first time in Rock Nation, they're just having dice games. It's a new dawn, a new day.

Okay. I like your goal combo because it's like you got the bank on the chest but then you were telling me you got the thrift on the arms but it's all shining at the same level of shinacity.

No one of these chest joints is thrifty. That, what? So she got big of y'all and she got Neffatiti. Don't give it away. No, you need, I mean. As far as, no, not you. Oh.

She's saying frifty. I'm like, no, as far as me. Hey, I put it in the rap. I could be a million. I'm always rock fake gold. Straight like that. I'm going to keep it funky with you. There you go.

You know, this, this, this, This Nefertiti might be real. This is the Mary J. Blige and Simone collection. There's a Mary J. Blige's has a line. Wait, say what not? Yeah, she did a collaboration with L.O's crew, J. Our wife, Simone. So this is the Sister Love MJB collection.

It's right here. I know they were making that kind of shit, don't. Yeah, they got this and they got the double Nefertiti earrings. I got those. They got that fire. Google it. Wait, she's literally Googling right. Wait, can we finish the episode first flight?

What's it called? Sister Love MJB. That's dope. He's just bringing out the credit card right now. No, no. I want to get a sister some love. Support black business. Yeah.

We got that. We got that. All right. So where I start with every episode of Questlove Supreme, of which I'm really interested in how your creativity is evolved, throughout the years, I always start with the first question is, where were you born? I was born in Wiltson, North Carolina. It's a small city in the eastern part of North Carolina. But I grew up 30 minutes from there in Snow Hill, North Carolina, and that's an even smallest city population 2000.

Like, that's where I was born around a lot of woods and fields and, you know, going to the grocery store with no shoes on, like playing with your cousins all day in the dirt, you know. Are y'all shooters out there? Fishing. You were a shooter? I shot a BB gun. That's about it.

You know, I ain't do nothing more than that. But, yeah, that's how I grew up. I didn't go to my first hip-hop concert until maybe I was 30. 13. Montel Jordan. I don't know. Does that count? That don't count, does it? Who else is on the bill?

I think that's a talk show. He was the only rapper, bro. No, that's Montel Williams. Yeah, come on. Now, you try to play my face. This is how we do it. It's funny. It's funny you mention that.

So I have a friend who is celebrating like a milestone birthday. So he's trying to have like a 90s theme rap party and have like his rap favorites. And he's really into the 90s R&B. and he wants to get the most bang for his buck. Right. The thing is, is that Montel, even though he's had other hits,

you know, this is how we do is kind of the black national anthem. It is. It's transformed, too. It's like everybody's now. But that's the thing. But the problem is, is I'm trying to push him to get, he can even get Montel Jordan or he could get Drew Hill. Ooh.

And I told him for Drew Hill, you'll least get. four hits plus the thong song. At least, bro. You might have to pay extra for that, but yeah. Yeah, you got to. Well, they're the same price. Yo, take the Drew Hill. What are we talking about?

That's not even a question. But a lot? I'm sorry, that's next. That's next. Tell me somebody sleeping in my bed. And there's two. Reese's pieces. Smile, like Reese's pieces.

Come, girl. I don't forget what that's called. Right. But at least... She's looking at me like, what the fuck? With Drew Hill, You least get four hits and the thongs. Yes, straight up.

And with Montel, you just get that one, bro. This is how we do it. Even though there's been other hits, you know, he's had other top ten hits. I'm not trying to. And the talk show. Yes, no, that's Montel Williams. And so, I like, I like True Hill. Let's not totally rabbit hole off the, you know, the conversation.

What I want to know is, okay, for us, us snotty northerners. Right. That only, come on now. Let's keep it 100. You feel that now? We know, Raleigh Durham. We know,

we know like four cities. No, my family's from Greensboro. Yeah. Y'all know Charlotte, Green'sboro or Raleigh, probably three. Now, all my family's from Greensboro,

but that's all I know. And I know, like, in Greensboro, I'm not to talk to any woman because I've heard that at least one out of every four black women in that city is my cousin. Oh, I don't know.

Where you were going? Oh, yeah. We don't want to get into the instance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, not at all. So, like, what major city are you, was snow, it was snow, you said snow hill? Snow Hill. You're not going to know the closest.

Riley, Riley is an hour away. Really? That's the, that's the one. Maybe Fayetteville. Maybe, yeah, that's like an hour and a half where Jake Cole's from. So you're saying that it's more. So you're saying that the environment was more backwoodsy or? Yeah, definitely.

So is it closer to like daughters of the dust or like, like, you know. It's like little house on the prairie. I just want to know a rap scene, you know the reference, because I'm, that's dope. That's dope. That was dope reference. Well, I was just saying that. In terms of, okay, there's, when slavery. Gichi and the Gullah, is that where you going?

Yeah, when slavery was ended, there's some freed Africans that decided to continue the tradition of their life as they knew it in Africa by living off in the far woods. Like, really, my peeps come from Mobile, Alabama, so they start Africa town. and practice Yorba religion and all that stuff, but they did that also, the Gichis and North Carolina and whatnot. So I was trying to... You know what I'm talking about it? Do you know.

Yes. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. I do know the reference. I felt like you were. No, we ain't that deep, bro. Okay. Come on, Cush. Come on, Cush.

Don't do me like that, because. No. Come on, look at me. Look how I'm dressed, baby. I ain't that far here. Well, you said going to the corner of the shoes on. I did. I mean, you know.

Maybe. But they had a corner store. Got a corner shack. Okay. I see. I see. You got to ask her about this second hip-hop show. Well, no, no, I'm going to get to it.

She got to redeem herself. How big was your household? Are you the only child or did you have siblings? I'm one of five. Three older sisters. One younger brother. Me and my brother are a year apart. I'm the knee baby, which is next to last.

That's some country shit. Yeah, knee baby. So I'm next to last. So, yeah. two-parent home for sure. Are you the overachiever of the family? I think we all overachievers. I'm probably second in line, though.

The middle child, my sister, Amanda, she was valedictorian, you know, she just did everything right. But I am the overachiever now. Because I always feel like the middle child or the indistinguishable The Tito? She's the last girl.

Yeah, I'm the last girl. Yeah, I'm the last girl. But all of us did good. Like, I could save my mom. My parents did well. Yes, they did. Was your first musical memory that concert? No.

What was your first musical memory? My first musical memory was Michael Jackson. That's the... Oh, for like... Oh, you mean just music period? No, just... Yeah, I'm getting a childhood. Yeah, music period.

Is Michael Jackson, so that's what had me hooked from the jump. Like, man in the mirror, the girl is mine, all of that. Like, me and my dad would sit up on, like, Saturday mornings and watch video so. Tape them on VHS. And, you know, we watch them again during the week. Yes, I do that. I watch your MTV rap. Like, those are my biggest memories.

But it all started with, like, R&B and soul music. So Saturday mornings, cleaning up, you know how that does. My mom's playing Tina Turner, Patty the Bell. My dad is a huge Luther Vandross fan. So I've heard every Luther Vandross song that there is known to man. But those are my first musical memories. Do you remember the first album that you purchased? That I purchased.

Not just had in the house, but the album that you wanted. What was the first album you purchased? The first one I purchased was Alia's first album, AJ, number, the number. The first album that I owned was Warren G's Regulate, but my aunt had to get it for me because of that sticker. My parents were not going for that. So I begged her, she got it for me. That was the first album that I had, but the one I bought was Alia. That's called Rap Contraband.

When I was young, I couldn't have it. first U-TFO album. There wasn't even... That's crazy, right? I'm sorry. Here's the funny thing. The funny thing was there was no cursing on it, but on one of those,

on Roxanne's version of Roxanne, Roxanne was just like buried on Side B. She said like one time, like, all you received was a kick in the ass, and then my dad just took the tape out and destroyed the tape. You know, I got one of those. The tape got destroyed. Which one?

It wasn't even like a bigger artist. It was like a local group that I got from fourth grade. And the hook was like, a tisket, a tasket, a condiment a basket. My mama came through that door so fast. Fourth grade. Yeah, it was a white tape with black letters. Look, I ain't think I was, boy, I survived that day. So was it a religious household?

I grew up at Jehovah's Witness. So my mom was Jehovah's Witness. My dad was non-denominational. Still? Am I still? No, no, no. I'm inactive, is what you call. I'm more spiritual than religious.

Okay. That's my line. So, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. So, man. No, no, no, but that's always, I find it that those who are in the entertainment business that have to sort of pass through the portals of, especially with Jehovah's Witnesses. It's a few of them, though, right?

Like, have you found, like, your brothers and sisters? Because Jill Scott used to be a... Jill Scott? Yeah, Jill Scott? Yeah, Joe Scott. Oh, I know. Jill Scott, Jaru, Soundway with TDE. Wow.

Yeah. Well, I know Michael Jackson started as Joe's Witness. That's true. And Prince died as a Joe was with him. Wow. That's ill. We got some nice, you know, folk in my circle, son. We need to come over to this side.

Wait, when was the last time he went to Kingdom home? Go on, bro. No, no, I'm only asking me. Because, start past knees, everything, fool. I've never spoken to someone about what goes on. So I know that most, like the black, of course, with black church experiences and Baptist churches, like, holly Jesus. Yeah, we didn't do. But was it more conservative in Kingdom Hall?

Like, where black kingdom halls? It was, honestly, it was like Bible school. Like, you know, you have, you know of the watchtower in the wakes when we come to your door or whatever. So a lot of times they'll give you Bible reading. you go home, you go through the Bible, find the verses, they give you the watchtower. They'll have paragraphs that pertain to a certain topic, whether it's life after death or what do you do about blood transfusions. And you read through the paragraphs at the end, they have questions. You go find the Bible verses.

They answer them. And the next day, you know, they'll have a main person that gives a talk, but they're like the preacher. But we call it giving a talk. And then the second hour, you answer the questions as a group. That's it? And then you sing hymns. Yeah. Oh, but no clapping.

Sing a song full of the hope and a ladder. Lift every voice in song. See? Y'all's all that. Wow. I don't know. It goes to stuff like that. You know, you just reminded me of when we did the Prince episode,

his assistant has a really hilarious story of Prince Dragger to Kingdom Hall. And she was shocked that she thought it was going to be like a black, again, a black Southern gospel, hooting and hollering music thing. and, you know, the music was very proper and, you know, and Prince was singing it, and she just couldn't, she was like, who are you? Like, what were you doing? So you said that Montel was your first, how old were you when you went to this Montel Jordan concert? I was in seventh grade. It was Montel Jordan and boys to me.

That was the first concert I went to. The first real hip-hop concert I went to, I was in college. I don't remember. It might have been common. Common was, yeah. something like that. Where did you go to college? North Carolina State University

and Bali. Yeah, that's kind of the... Yeah. I'll say that on the East Coast, at least, down south of least, like North Carolina was definitely a common... No pun intended. Central and stuff.

Yeah, there's at least five or six college stops that you can make down... Oh, wait, I'm about to tell you the story. There's one time when I met Ninth Wonder and this band. I forget their name. Oh, little brother. Yeah, I forgot.

Do you know that story? I have heard that story, yes. Yep, thank God for that rainstorm. I want to, well, I mean, this show was outdoors, so it was like an electric storm, so we only did, like, one song. And I felt bad for everyone that, like, stood out there to watch it. So, like. Yo, who was Carolina hip-hop before little brother?

Before little brother? Yeah. Like, who was North Carolina? Pied Pablo. But even then, that's the same. Like, were there? To your knowledge, was there anyone... Is weird that...

Okay, is weird that you're asking that? Yeah. Because I know that in 97, 98, 9798, there was a major migration of New York rappers. Right, the old school rappers. That moved down there.

I know that special ed was early. Big Daddy Kane was early. And they were telling us, you know, back then, like, yo, y'all better hurry down and get some property before it's gentrification, like, you could buy, like, a 12-room mansion with, like, marble floors. Like, you could get some Scarface property. Maybe, like, $600,000.

Yeah, for, like, cheap to them, you know. Mad land. Is it that way now, or has gentrification caught up in? I mean, it's still pretty affordable. We're growing, like, rapidly, so downtown it might get a little pricey, but compared to up here. is still cheap. Now, what city do you live in now? I live in Raleigh now.

Okay. So are you... And you consider that home, that's where you would like to... Stay? No, no. I wanted to say, is that where you want to die? Oh, shit. Well, no, I mean, like...

But that's where you want to... Retire. Settle down. Yeah. Settle down is a better word. Settle down. I would like to settle down North Carolina, but I definitely want to move. I've been there my whole life.

Like, I want to live in New York. I want to experience L.A. like maybe go to Africa for a little bit. Who knows, you know? You haven't done it, yeah? I've been to South Africa. If I could take all my family there, I moved there. You seem like the type that would circle back and reinvest in whatever Carolina has going on.

Oh, definitely. Definitely. That's home always, so you got to reinvest in home. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices

that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space. For honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by.

Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And Rule 2, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends... Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck.

I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no, I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe.

On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. from hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under

the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok

podcast network on TikTok. What was your come to Jesus moment as far as knowing that you have had something as far as love for hip hop culture, like, this is what I want to do. Oh, I feel like that was early, like I was around 10 or 11. Like, I fell in love with it when I saw MC Life's Port Georgia video. So that's the first time, like, I saw a female doing it.

It's just like, yo. That video was cool. Yeah, that song is all chilling and rocking. She looks cool. Their version of Millie Rocking. So that was the first time I was like, wow, what is this? And then you know, you get more into it, you know, listening to Warren G, like I said, Alia's hip-hop flavor her style, Queen Latifah.

Then, you know, I listen to Jay's Reasonable Doubt, but it was Lauren Hill that really locked me in. I saw the foodie's the score. I knew what I wanted to do then. I saw that you said, it's funny, I always want to ask people because you said that the score was your shit. Nobody ever says anything about Bluntet. I was like, did you know that? That was a miss. The vocab, the remix, I rocked with it.

Okay. Here's... A little... Fun fact. I've heard Blenor and reality in its entirety. Of course. I couldn't get through it. Or not so much.

I ain't mad at you, though. No, no, no, no. How many mics? Which one was that? Let's love. All right, I'm going to tell you a little story. You know, they were nemesis and in the ways. We weren't, we weren't, all right.

In the beginning, I don't know, a little nemesis. We weren't. All right, here's the deal. Yes, there was... Now that I'm older and wiser, I know not to react off of ninth hand information. Yes. Okay. This is a lesson, kids.

Listen up. And this is me closer to my 50s, then, you know, like that Dave Chappelle sketch where, like, you know, 23-year-old Mir is talking versus me now. It was just that, yes, I felt some sort of. sort of way. It's okay. Like, we were on tour together, and it was a doggy dog territory, and they got out the gate first. I remember.

The score came out in, like, February of 96. Right. And Ilydove Half-Life came out in September 96. So they got out the gate first, had three, you know, they sold $11 million by the time we came out. But I was a little salty. He really, yeah. I was salty that there.

show slowly started to morph into our show, which, you know, when they first came out, it was about the ritual with the, you know, they were doing like voodoo rituals and all those things, you know, representing Haiti. Yeah, they were lighting candles and there's something not really, but he's saying, but it's okay. What are you talking about? You really, you're serious? I don't remember. I remember them rapping in Japanese. I don't. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, dude. Yeah, Wyclef used to, he, that was the thing. I used to intern. So, My last day intern at Ruff House Records, which coincidentally was Santi Cole's first day,

Zanti was my replacement at Ruff House as the intern. And upon leaving, Chris Schwartz pulled me aside and said, hey, I know you guys are having a signing party for you guys signing the Geffen Records. How many acts you have been? We're like, well, we got J. Woo the Damager. Gangstar is going to come and perform some local filiacs. We're really full. but then I thought he did give me that money for our first video

why what's up and he says yo we got a group that's sort of like in the lane of you guys and can they go and do like you know like two or three songs whatever and I was like uh okay okay I did it why do you want to add to this I just sorry I'm sorry so here's the thing they get they get to sound check and the first thing I said was now let me let me just preface by saying that I was the family DVR.

So it was my job, my uncles and my aunts and my mom and everyone really didn't know much about programming of VCR. And someone had to program all their stories. So every Friday I had to come and reprogram this stuff so they go watch their stories during their week on VCR. So I was very familiar with all the CBS soap operas. So when she walked in. Oh, yeah. After World Turn. I was like, yo.

Oh, yeah. And whoever heard character part. Yeah, yeah. I said, oh, shit. You're at her in from As a World Turns. And she looked at me like, if you see, you know what I'm going. You bet not. Like, I was calling her out.

Like, I think she was expecting the sister act too. But I was like, yo, from As a World Turns. Yeah, that was a big deal. And she was like, shh. And looked at me like, don't you shit. She was an awesome. Like, I was like, I didn't realize that like, oh, I'm about to blow your cover that you're a professional soap opera actress.

And so, no, and we became cool. And we toured together. But the thing was, when they first started, they were like lighting the stage with sages and, you know. By the time they finished, White Cleves were playing the guitar. I think what we showed them was that, oh, you can sort of do like the karaoke hip-hop tribute thing, which, you know, once we, they're like,

Oh, hip-hop 101, the thing y'all used to me? Well, I mean, the thing was like, okay, third verse, we're going to rhyme over this Keros 1 break. And the second verse, we're going to do a break over this Black Moon break. And that, and when we, you know, and as they started touring, then it was like, then they caught, oh, why am I wasting? All right, no, anyway. That's a little hip-hop history for you rap. I needed to know why he didn't finish the whole score. Now, that's a rabbit hole.

Anyway, so my point is that I'll say that in 19. In 1996, it was very tense. So it was hard for me as a listener to listen to that particular album. Do you find it interesting he still hasn't listened to what I do? Because it's 2019. Well, here's the thing. It's so classic, you can't avoid it. It's almost like Bruce Springsteen's born in the USA.

All but three songs are single, so like I know it all. That's a whole album. I just know that song. No, but you've heard Dancing in the Dark. You cover me and I'm on fire. Yes. And glory days. And like, it's damn near a thriller.

Like, you know all the songs. Anyway, this is not about me. Welcome to Quest Love Supreme Rhapsody. Anyway, so. I'm shocked. This is Quest Love. It is. No, at least I'm man enough to admit it.

It is. That's a nice fact. That's a good Quest Love fact. No, but I know all the songs. I would DJ like the Zealots and Cowboys. I dare you to throw vocab in. Next party, can we just get it? I love vocab.

I know, I'm just saying. Nobody does blunt it. That was back to my original point. Oh, yeah. No, no. But I was saying off that first record, I loved vocab. That was my join. That was my join.

Anyway, so, back to you, actually. So you like Lauren Hill, huh? Oh, I love Lauren. I'm just trying to get back there, yeah. She was a big influence. So what was the community? like and the one question that I'm glad that you kind of what I call

Matrix Dodge, especially with people that are not that familiar with you. They're asking you all the time like, well, what's it like being a female in rap and, you know, in underground, da-da-da-da-da. But what was the environment? Because I'll be honest with you, by the time that like the turn of the the millennia by the end of the 90s

into the early aughts like I personally was rather shocked that there was a boom bap element or appreciation in North Carolina which really shocked me

by when I listened to you know Little Brothers demo the first time I was like wait where they from yeah exactly same thing with Rhapsody though same thing

I don't even hear right so for me like how did you avoid what we up north sort of associate most hip hop from down south which I guess you could say in the 90s we thought that South was

booty music or that's you know or the early earliest stages of trap like how did you find a hip hop community that was you know about the aesthetics of what, quote, real hip hoppers in New York strive to be.

For one, I think people have a slight misconception. Like, if you look at North Carolina, we're more Middle East than Deep South. So we're seven. Lower D.C. Yeah. And we're probably one of the states that have the most HBCU.

So at the time, you got to understand, 95 runs straight through North Carolina. So you have a lot of artists or New Yorkers that are coming to come to school in North Carolina and they're bringing the music with them. You have drug dealers coming through. They're bringing the music with them. So for us, it's like a melting pot too.

You got people from Atlanta coming. So, you know, not only, that's how we got the music. Like, you know, there was so much northern influence where we live just from the colleges and people that came through, you know, that's a lot of what we listen to. So we listen to Boomback. We listen to a lot of New York music. But we all listen to Atlanta. We also listen.

So when I think about North Carolina, it's just a melting pot. Like, you know, we didn't have like a true southern identity like a Texas, you know. But it's still car culture. So you've got to ride to our music at the same time. So I think that's what it was where, you know, everybody I know, like we wore Thames. You know what I'm saying? Like they had, they were the headbands. They had some, you know, people from the South sometimes get the New York accent.

Like that was heavy where I was from. Like my cousin used to call itself Nas because, you know, the music and everybody from the colleges that were in there. were just heavily influenced on us. Speaking of, I'm jumping way ahead, but you mentioned car culture and riding. Indeed. I'm just going to ask in the video for Iv Tahasch. Yeah.

Where did that car come from? Oh, man, we made a call. Somebody brought that through. Like, that's a rental for the day. Damn it. Wait, for the video. Yeah, the green joint with the MCM in size. Yes.

Yeah, Mesa Hill. I'm about to say, would the Mesa have some? She's definitely, she dripped the inside out of MCM, but somebody, they own the car that people use the videos and they let us drip it out. Okay, I thought that was your personal ride. No, we ain't there yet. You know. You will be there. Let's start with the affirmations.

Yes. Yeah, we're going to speak that. Not even goals. But when you get there, you probably won't want the car with MCM all up in and down. I don't know. That's kind of fire. Yes. Yeah, the MCMCs?

Come on. This is our lesson. I can't give them too much. Listen, this is the lesson. that I want anyone listening to learn for 2020. Come on. That most of the times we come modest and humble. And we need to be more about I am as opposed to I am.

Meaning, own it. Own it. Instead of, you know, one of these days we'll get there. You know, this is funny because the three of us have that whole 24 hours between our birthdays. So I'm really taking this to heart because I know that's who you really are. and you're fighting that anyway, you know? And Rapsey, you know, you're born to do. Wait, why am I fighting the day I was born?

No, fighting that, what you just said is a big deal for us. Like, we usually, Aquarians sometimes can be like, I am. When we are dope as fuck, instead of being like, I am. Like, that's an aquarium thing. That's right. That's something I'm working on this year. This is what I'm feeling. I'm finding out of vibrations and really owning and manifesting.

I am stoned right now. Not I am stoned. I am stoned. I am stoned right now. I am stoned. So what was your major at NC State? Accounting. Yes!

Really? All right. You got your math together. You know why? Why? Because I was a mass comm major and I always told, like, the younger kids, I said when you go back, when you go to school, like, intern with your passion, but do some have some kind of business major and learn all the information you need to know numbers wise and formula-wise.

So you can, you are a business. You need to know how to, you know, run it. So that's why I said that. Yeah. When I get my taxes done, I know the lingo or whatever, but I wish I had done marketing. If I was going to do one, I wish I had done marketing. But I did it because I was good at numbers. My sister went to school for accounting.

You know, growing up in the South, it's like get a job, get married, and get a job like an accountant, a doctor. So I was like, I'm good with numbers. I'm going to do that. But I'm way more creative than I am with numbers. But I didn't figure out that that's not what I wanted to do until my junior year. And I was trying to transfer to NYU until I saw that out-of-state tuition. That was about time.

So I chilled. You too. Oh, I relaxed. I sat real still on that. I tried to be a New York college student and it wasn't I wasn't too successful. When you noticed the difference between the HBCUs tuition and then the big school, you know, oh, well, I'm going to just be over here at Morgan State then. Right.

I don't know, some of the HPC. Spelman? I'm about to say Spelman's pricey. Well, Spelman's in the leader of the, yes. Power. I went to Clark, so I did the middle. So they have no more of that. They have no more of that.

Yeah, indeed. I was going to ask, Spelman does it have any more of that C-word $100 million? donation. Oh, I don't know what they did with that money. I don't even know if her, his wife's name is on the building anymore. You know what we're talking about. The C word. We're talking about Dr. Hux.

Yeah, we still love Dr. Hux. Oh, okay. Okay, okay. That was a good one? I made enough Cosby jokes over the years to start. Now you can't even say it. It's the C word. It's like, Dr. Huxable.

Wow. I know what y'all was talking about. I know you didn't. What prompted the, the, the, the, desire to go to New York. Like what did you, so you're saying by your junior year you wanted to get more serious about your music career. Definitely. I didn't know at the time. Was Coley-Eye at that point? We were just, it was more H-2O. It was an organization before it was a hip-hop group. So explain what H-2 was.O. was a hip-hop organization that we started on campus where we would throw like

rap battles and free shows and you know, we do fundraisers. We did one for J. Dillis Lupis. So it was just something for us to infuse hip-hop on campus. campus and you get to use all the campus, you know, speakers and all of that for free. So, you know, that's what it was. So, you know, anybody on campus, and we extended to the community could be a part of the organization. But, you know, there were five of us that just hung out more, did music together more, and we ended up becoming Kulia. Okay.

So that's what that, that's how that kind of. So Kulia is a collective as opposed to a group per se? Yep. Okay, a collective. A collective. Yeah. So how did you grab the attention of Ninth Wonder? I had, at this time, it's a summer, and H2O, the organization, we're doing a mixtape.

So, you know, we got people from the campus, people from the community, everybody does something. On this particular mixtape, I wrote and recorded my first two songs. My best friend knew that, you know, I loved hip-hop and wanted to rap, so he was just like, yo, just do it for fun. Nobody going to judge you. So I do this, these two songs put on the mixtape. And another guy in the organization at the time is shadowing knife. Like he's learning how to do his fruity loops and all this. So he's like, well, knife, you know, I got this organization, all these kids.

Do you mind coming and talk to us? Knife is like, yeah. So we go to, you know, this guy's, his name is Fullery, who's in Cooley High. We went to his house. It was probably like 15 to 20 of us. Knife comes. At the time, he plays us snippets of the minstrel show because it's not out yet. Oh, wow.

I get to hear a genius. he's telling us about, you know, how he got with Jay and recorded thread. Like, you know, we just, all these kids, like, campfire, and, you know, because he's at the time for us, like, the biggest thing from North Carolina outside of Petey Poplar. And after that, he listens to the mixtape, top the bottom. And when it gets to my song, it just caught his ear automatic. He listened to it probably 10 times in a row. What's the song?

I listen to him, like, bro, I don't know what you heard. but it's called the life. Yeah, the life. And he was like, he looked at everybody. And this time, like, we got people that are in groups that have been doing music for years, that have, you know, got shows that are traveling. And he goes, that's your star right there. Oh.

I remember him speaking on you early. I mean, way before social media, like, I don't know, OK player and like other platforms, just texting whatever that he was like, yo, I found the one. I got. I'm going to. Like, he was super early, you know, with planting the seeds with getting your name out there. But, I mean, at the time, who were your idols, or at least your emcees that you kind of looked up to as far as, like, getting your style from? At that time, like, I went through different phases.

I don't want to ask, like, who are your top five rappers? But I mean, like, just. At that, like I went through different phases of discovery just because of where I was from, like being in Snow Hill, it wasn't like, you know, like I said, you go to a lot of hip hop shows or we had like a record store in the corner I could just go get CDs.

So a lot of like hip hop artists I might have got laid on, like black on both sides. I didn't hear until I got in college. You know, so at this time my phase, Jay is still my favorite rapper, but now I'm getting really deep in the most deaf and I'm listening to Common Resurrection. So to Lib Quali, like I'm really diving into

their catalogs and they're my biggest influences at this time. You know, though growing up, you know, and still Lauren, I listened to Lauren, Queen Latifah, Naz, Biggie, Jay, but at this time I'm really getting to the rocket sound. So at that point, that's my biggest influence. Okay. Yeah. With what ninth third, like, how long was it until you two collaborated on his...

On Dream Merchant? Yeah, yeah, his project. So this, at the time he said that, This was maybe like... It was re-merged in Volume 2, right? Volume 2, yeah, 2007. I remember that. So I met him and he heard those two songs.

It was like September, October, 2005. We did our first song together, maybe like five or six months after that. Tab 1 in Cooley High hit 9th during Christmas one time. He's like, ninth, jokingly throw us some beats. And he just, I ammed him three beats, like Merry Christmas. Mm-hmm. So those were the first song.

songs that I got to rap over piece of his then the next song where he was like come to the studio like he always kind of took us on his wing

it would just be random like I would be at work at foot action and I get a text like yo ninth told us pull up at the studio just out of the blue so I'm just

I'm like boss I gotta go like I'm straight up I was like I gotta go and they were like so cool and supportive of that they heard you before

they knew what I was a good worker I was so good they couldn't even front Wait, not to interrupt you. You remember Gerard Carmichael's story about Foot Action was completely the opposite. And from North Carolina, his people were not to accommodate. I guess he wasn't. Right.

I was expecting your story to go a whole other way. Yeah, so your was return to B-Girl your first solo? First solo project. Okay. December January 2010. Okay. Yeah. So how long did that take to?

formulate and put together and execute? Let me see. I signed with Ninth in 2008, 2009, and I worked and worked. I just was recording songs. I don't think it was like I'm doing a project. I was just recording songs and I probably recorded songs for two years. So we worked on it for two years. Just trying to get my cadence. I still had so much to learn. Like I go back like tone of my voice, inflections, keeping a consistent cadence or knowing when they're switching in the right spot.

How is he as a coach? Great. Like, night, people got to understand before night, he wanted to be a producing one to be a teacher. So he's automatically just super. Super patient. So he was super patient with me. I would get more

frustrated with myself than he would. So he was a great teacher. Like, the way he explained things and broke things down and, you know, allowed you, you know, to figure it out too. Like, I didn't have to be perfect, but he saw enough growth. It's like, okay, we could put out your first mixtape and just keep building on it. Like, great teacher. Phenomenal. Did you get to be in the studio and make some of these songs with folks in the

studio? Was everybody like sending? Oh, no, you got to like, you got to understand, like, when knife creates, he likes people and energy around him. So, and at the time, the studio is on North Carolina Central's campus, so it's open doors. So you might walk in some days. It might be 20, 30 people in there. And so, like, it was so much pressure for me because I'm the opposite. When I create, you know, now I'm more comfortable. I can't write around anybody. But at that time, like, trying to figure it out and not being confident.

You step in the booth, and there's 20 people looking at you, like, what you're about to do. And then, you know, you're doing it, and it ain't all the way right. So he keeps stopping you and trying to coach you. And it's just like, I'm going about to go crazy. And you got folks like Rod Diggick. Like, Matt Digger, like Matt Miller. Rod Digger, Gene Gray, came and working. I think they were trying to work on Phoenix at the time.

I was there when Wale and Knife were working on Back to the Feature. Big Sean came through. He and Knife were working on some joints. What was it like working with Mack Miller? Oh, that was dope. That was easy. I was fun. Not Mac pulled up.

I don't even remember what year was. It might have been like 2011. He was coming to see Knife or whatever. And just, you've met Mac, of course. Like, you know how open. of Philadelphia. Yeah. Chill, his spirit is.

So, you know, he heard, like, some songs. He was like, yo, you're dope. He was like, let's do some joints. Like, it's just that easy. Like, you know, so. When you collaborate with artists, is it more just like, send me a 16 or, like, or do you work in real time with them sometimes?

It's different. Earlier on, it was just like, you know, just send me some 16s. At the time, I'm just trying to prove I could rap. Now, now it's different. Like, for me, to even reach out, I got to hear you on the song. It don't even matter what your celebrity is.

If I don't hear you, like, it could be a new artist. If I hear their voice, oh, they'd be dope on this, and I'm calling you. So it's got a fit right. A lot of times, you know, I tell them what the concept is. But, you know, I don't like the box people in because I want people to be as creative as they want to be. So in the same way, Kendrick called me and told me, like, yo, the song is about complexion.

You know, you know how it goes, bit, boom. Then I'm not trying to pigeonhole you. So that's what it is for me. I like people to be able to create how they create. And if it needs tweaking and we'll work on it. Or we're just flipping and turn into something else. Put a different beat on it and make it a new song. But that's how I create.

P.S. It's hard as to say, that's my favorite Rhapsody verse. But damn, that verse. That complexion? Thank you. Awesome. Can I just ask one more question? Because you were talking about. It's your show, too.

Oh, thank you. I don't want to fast forward to either. or anything, but I just want to fast forward for a minute on the subject, because on that subject, how do you propose to Queen Latifah who doesn't do features like that? Time out. How did you get that verse out? Yeah. What's what I mean?

That's just what I just, wait. I don't even want to sell Dana. No, no, I ain't trying to sell Dana short. Okay. I'm not. How did you get that verse out? We just pulled up to a career. We worked on a person.

That was a stellar. She killed that, didn't she? Yes. I wasn't expecting that. I thought, all right, when I first heard it, I thought, okay, she's just going to sing the hook or something. A lot of people thought. And then when she started spinning, I was like, oh, wait, is rap she changing up her flow? You know, because I'm similar, like, we had a situation where Reek demoed Big Daddy Cain and Coolgie Rap verses.

And instead, wound up doing it himself. So at first, I thought that's what you were headed to do. And I was like, oh, shit. Like, Dana still has it. I mean, when the last time we've heard a Queen Latifah feature, I'm just, I do, anyone? But that join was super fire. It was.

I didn't realize how long, what was the process or at least Please, please tell the story. The process of, because no, this is what I'm asking. And I'm not, no, I'm not even being snarky. All right, here's the reason for my asking. It's, it's a lot of times when you. ask for a favor or a verse, especially from someone of stature, depending on how they feel about you.

There's some people that, like, if Tarika asked them, you know, I'll say that 85% of the time someone's going to bring their A game. But then there's sometimes when people just like maybe phone it in. And we've had a few situations where the verse was phoned in. and It's like To re- Have to impersonate the person

Well no no no It was just like Which one of us is going to say Nah Can you do it again Like I feel bad when it's that situation How do you have to To a legend

And So rap's in Dio Yeah Like All right This is all I'm going to ask This is yes or no question I feel like we should stop

No no no This is yes Was that her verse coming in the door and that was it and no more? No, we, we, uh. Or was it worked on and, it was, this is how it happened. Yes. She invited me to a house. Right.

To work on the verse. I went to her, into her home in the studio. We talked. We worked on the verse. And we got the song. That's all. Leave it. That's it.

That's fine. No, no, no. That's all I wanted to know. Yeah, yeah. I wanted to know more or less like how many takes and how many redrafts and rewrites and that sort of thing. Oh, it was one, one draft. Stop. One draft.

Okay, can we ask about another hard-to-get person? One draft. Can we ask about DeAngel? Can we ask about DeAngel? How did y'all pull that? Wait, I'm going to tell you all something. This motherfucker. Finish something?

He started and finished something. Wait, I'm going to tell you something. Go on with it. Me and Dee. I love him. I just, all right, one day I decided to. count the paces from my house to his house. Currently now, me and D have been neighbors.

I'm being noticed to me. I didn't know that we were neighbors for five years. Get out. We've been neighbors for 10 years. And one day I was like, wait, let me count. I have a doctor's appointment that's somewhere towards his crib. So I'm literally going to count the paces. 76 steps.

Damn. Yo, that's wild. And the album, and the song, title? I don't know. What? 76 steps. Seventy-six steps to DeAngelo. We've lived 76 steps from each other for the last 10 years, and we ain't been to each other's crib yet.

That's crazy. For the record. That's like six months in DeAngelo a time. So like, don't take offense. I know. I know. Get this guy. Yeah.

He's talking because he knows. He engineered. Steve was like. One of the many engineers on Voodoo. And a black, let's say, black ex- Black Messiah? Black Messiah.

I know you do Black Messiah. Yeah. So how. I didn't do it. I worked on it. How did you get DeAngelo on the record? Yo. And he's doing a lot on the record. He's doing the arrangements on the record.

So it wasn't even like. Oh, okay. Because I was listening like, okay. I'm going to send just this hook in. No, he went in. Like he's weaving, bobbing in and out, whatever. Yes. How did that happen?

Bro, about a great thing. of God, the universe. You don't even know it. On the real. It was all chain reaction. If we hadn't to pick that sample, if Jizzah didn't want to get on it, we don't get DeAngelo.

Like out the gate, I knew I wanted to do a Wutang flip because of Nicole Bus record that I Yeah, I love that record. So, Knife was going through all the Wutane sample banks and he ends up picking the liquid sword joints. So he's like, this the one.

He sent it to me. He's like, what you think? I was like, let's run with it. So he's like, well, if we do it, we got to ask for Jiz's blessing. and asked him to get on it because it's his biggest record. Bet, we do that. Jizzer says yes.

So that's a feat in itself for Jizzar to even want let us do it. And be like, yeah, I'll get on it too. So we're in the studio mixing with young guru, like, light mixing. And at the time, like, the Wu documentary of Mikes and Menace is out. So they're touring. So we're trying to schedule, like, how we can get Jizz in the studio to get this verse while he's touring, while I'm trying to meet deadlines. so he's talking to, you know, his man to handle that.

But, you know, old boy on the other phone says, well, I'm also working with DeAngelo, and he happens to be big fans of both 9th One Day and Rhapsody. And I think it'd be dope if y'all work together. So it's just like, well, I mean, what you want? I'm ready to do, like, a whole new joint. Like, I'm like, what do you? I say, I can send him the whole album.

Like, we could do some new stuff. I guess he's some beats. Like, whatever he wants. He got some. He can send it. I could finish it, you know, and he was like, no, I think I think the joint that you sent Jizzah would be dope. So he sent it to him.

I'm flying all over the play shooting videos, doing press, trying to get ready for the album. So he calls 9th at the studio, and he and 9th have a conversation, but, you know, he talks about he's a fan that, you know, how much Wu-Tang and the Liquid Swartz song meant to him. Like, everybody has a memory attached to that song and how much. He loves Jizza because, you know, that was the first person from Wu that he worked with. So it's just all these factors. So, you know, he was like, I love the record. I love to do it.

So, you know, we got him in the studio. You know, he likes to record on tape. Mm-hmm. We probably waited maybe like two weeks for it. Yo, that is record time. I know. Wait, you sing two weeks? That's like.

Two, maybe three at most. Like, but yeah, like. he probably went in the studio every day for like seven days. Even when I... Well, it was intricate. We paid for the studio, but when like we paid for a certain time, even when that was out, he was like, I'm not finished. I'll pay for the rest to finish it.

I'm just like, yo, this is crazy. I was wondering because, yeah, I was wondering if he did his thing on tape because all of his vocals are very speeded. That's just impressive. But yeah, he killed it. He ain't featuring nowhere else either. do background vocals and you said he arranged? Well, I mean, it

arranged the background. But he doesn't do mere background vocals. It just... The way he played with his voice, like... Yeah. It was crazy. Yeah. And I... It was ill for me. I did like a mock hook before I knew he was going to be on it, like the place

hold it. To hear him sing it like, yeah, I was like, I thought he was going to write something new. Like, that in itself was ill to me. But... You know how to... I mean, people... We look up to our DeAngelo's

and think that they, you know, that they're on another level, but they're still big-time music fans, you know, and they fall in love with something when they hear it, and they don't need to change it. They just recreate it, you know? That's amazing. A win is a win.

A win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

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

And Rule 2, never mess with her friends either. We always say that, trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends... Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care, so they take matters into their own hands.

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and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. So I'm sort of skipping to your second album. and so what was the process and the decision to roll with Rock Nation for your second album? We knew that, you know, as an indie label, we can only do so much, like, budget and marketing-wise and really getting the exposure that I wanted. So, you know, when we took the meeting with Rock, one, I'm a big J-fan off gate, but walking into the building, and at the time, Shaka Pilgrin was the president, and you walk in and 50% of the staff of women, and it's so many different cultures.

And we came in with Layla's wisdom, probably 80% done, and they didn't ask us to change a single thing. Not one single thing. It was always, all right, what do y'all want to do? What are you envision? Like, what are you thinking? The music, they never, every Eve, they didn't ask to change or touch anything. And so to me, like, the energy and just how much they love the culture,

it didn't seem like I've been to death jam, I think in Atlantic before, but this was, this was different. This was all about culture and just music, and they were really about growing with me. Like, it wasn't pressure to have a radio single or it was just like, you know, we believe in you and your talent. We just want to, how can we help? That's what it was. So that's why.

How did you feel the morning that the nominations came out? Yo. And I don't know. What was that feeling for you? It's kind of hard. Yo, Ninth was the first one. hit me because I was in LA. This was like five in the morning. So he hit me. He was like, yo, you nominated and you nominated

twice. Twice. Yeah. Twice. So I was like, yo, what? Like, yo, to be nominated, but to even be nominated twice. Like, that was crazy. So for me, it was just like, people were calling me. I couldn't even answer the phone. I had to just sit back and reflect like, yo, we're here. Like, this is a different bar. To be recognized at the highest level of music when an award show and to not have no billboard hits and no platinum records

and to be in a category with Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar at the same time. It's just like, man, that's crazy. Not to change nothing, not even have to put on a tight dress. No. I cried a little bit, you know. But, yeah, I was thankful that I stayed the course of anything. So I have to say that your whole process of crafting the Eve album

is just some amazing ass shit. You know, like where did the idea even come from for crafting this, this album as a homage to the spirit of the black woman in America and the world and their effect? Like, where was the genesis and the seed born? Last summer, summer 2018, I was doing an interview for the Oxford. and this guy named Lamar Wilson, he was writing a piece on the lineage of Carolina musicians. And so he was connecting me with Nina Simone and Roberta Flatt. So, like, I was just like, yo, I never thought of me connecting with them in that way because we just seem like to, like, I just look, I put them up here. Like, there's no way, like, we connected.

But the way he broke it down, like, you're both soulful, you know, you're both lyrical. you know, you both reflect the times and talk about what's going on in the community, your storytellers. I was like, man, I never thought about it in that way. Like, I do come from their family tree. And it made me think like, yo, when I do interviews and people say, who are you influenced by? Yeah, I say Queen Latifah, MC Light, Lauren Hill,

but I talk about Cicely Tyson. I talk about Nikki Giovanni, you know, Maya Angelou, and I'm just like, man, when I think about who I am and who I'm inspired by, of course you have your village, your mom, but there are so many black women that I look up to. And, and, too, it gave me a way creatively to show that there are so many different sides of me, too. You know, people like to say or kind of put me in a box sometimes based on the music that I make that. You know, we were in a studio one time, and the dude was like, yo, we thought, like, a party for y'all is just like burning incense and y'all listening to Badu and all this.

And I'm just like, bro, like, what are you talking about? Like I grew up on Luke I listened to Go-Go growing up Like I'm from Snow Hill North Carolina Like that's the sticks Like booms fall Like we listen to everything So there were so many sides of me

So it's like this is a way where I could take A different woman to not only describe Like my different personalities But also talk about them And continue their legacies and say that we all We all come from a family tree I think after I did that interview Like I went home and I'd always want to do a song

About being a time boy especially in this day and age and what that looks like and I did it because of the way I started the song when Aaliyah was alive and I was like

I'm just calling Alia and as soon as I did that it all just clicked came together yeah the conversation it's like oh I got this song Alia I could do this with this

Felicia Rashah taught me about motherly love Nikki Giovanni taught me the power words and blackness like yeah and the videos which I also feel

are crucial components to the vision of that. Like what were the concepts for the... Well, not the concepts, but, you know, as far as... Like, I personally want you to make a video almost for every song. I do, too. I do, too. I'm trying to make it happen right now.

We just did a feney. Not too long ago. Yeah, we did a feney. I still want to add to it. It ain't all the way, right. Wait, so far you got a fiendie. What videos do you have for which? Oprah.

Yeah, Oprah, Iepterhage. Afei will be the thing. third one. The next one I probably want to do Cleo, Whoopi, Alia Serena. I want to do one for every song. I see it. So no problem putting this list together? Oh, the list putting the list for I'm curious about Earth the Kit because I heard you mentioned

an interview that you left Earth a kid. Was it just for spacing on the album? Yeah, spacing. The first draft we had 23 songs. You know, we knew like it's too long because people today can't digest music. The same way. The same way.

like they tap out at first i was going to do a part one and a part two um so sonically you know we had this one and the part two was going to be it was going to be way more soulful and more boom bap heavy that was going to be like felicia rachia shandrella she has a song um who um we are going to get a sequel harriet because i'm like you got i got different ideas that's all there's more music coming um i love you with the sojourner route and you said i'm not going to do to Harriet. So I was like, maybe there's a...

Yeah, I was, I was like, Harry's the Journal. Which one do I name it? But yeah. But, but there's, I did like 40 women.

As far as where you are right now, like, what do you feel that your goals are? Like, do you have a five-year plan as far as like this point from now,

like developing other acts or like, just make more music or... Definitely make more music. I think this foundation. of everything, but I want to expand artistically because, you know, the way I write, like, I want to get into not only writing songs, but I want to write films. I want to get behind the camera and produce documentaries. I was in the rock office with Tata today. He was like, rap, you need to write some R.B. Pop records. Like, you know, so, you know, I definitely want

to try it. Like, I'm just like, let's try it and see what happens. Just, but just do a lot of more things artistically. I thought about starting a label. I don't. I don't know how I feel about that yet, but Misa Hilton's son, Nico Brim, he's an MC, so I want to help, I'm helping it because you can produce his album. That'll be my first time, like, taking that role. Okay, okay. Yeah, just like really expand on that, but always putting out music.

Giving back to what it was given to you. Okay, I see that. Well, you know, again, from the bottom of arts, we really thank you for your talent and your wisdom and- all that blackness, all that queenness. That's what I'm thinking. You can't really say that. I'm just speaking for the...

Yes, she can. For the sisters. Thank you. I can thank you for those things. Steve can think of for that. You can. You can. And the queenness.

We can say that too, Lai. You can. You didn't, so I was just feeling the Jewishness. Thank you. See, can we say that? Have you been to Egypt? Not yet. Not yet.

Me neither. I'm trying to get there. We should go together. Yeah, wow. Take a pill. Yeah. There you go. There you go.

The sugar Steve. The cultures together. I look. Yes. I would pay to do that. Well, that is... You'll actually pay for us to go? Aye.

That's another episode of course of Supreme, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you one more time, Rhapsody. Give it up. Thank you very much. All right. On behalf of Lai and Steve

and Boss Bill, and yes, even unpaid bill and Fondigula, who incidentally is still out getting cigarettes and he said he'll be back, be back home any moment.

This is... We need those cigarettes, so hurry up. Oh, man. He said he was going to get some smokes. He might as well stop and get some weed. Two years ago, he's fixing his bathroom. Now it's getting some cigarettes. All right, this is Questlove,

and we'll see you on the next go-round. Of course, Love is Supreme. Thank you. For more podcasts from I-Heart Radio, visit the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep. That's me, Clivert 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 Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest.

The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits, teams look for,

to the biggest mistakes franchises make, to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast,

on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed, I will be his last target.

He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girls. Girlfriends, trust me, babe, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.