The Questlove Show - Questlove Supreme: Teedra Moses

Episode Date: April 13, 2022

This episode is all about your favorite singer’s favorite singer! Teedra Moses has consistently redefined what it means to be an R&B artist since she the debut of Complex Simplicity. Listen as she opens up about the real-life inspiration to her songs, J Dilla’s influence, and more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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

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Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot in life. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Questlove Supreme is a production of Iheart Radio. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Questlove Supreme. I'm your host, Questlove Cornelius. I'm glad you realized. Tees, you make a voice drop a few officers.

It's really, I know, right? You got my fan, Bob then. Joe, still yet. I'm sorry, I'm just saying, when, you know, the Weird Al Yenkavig's show, I was like, Hey, guys, Weird Al Yankabig here. And when T's here, I'm like, I'm like, Paul Poy. You've reached the quiet jungle in Paul Poy. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Questlove Supreme. I'm your host, Questlove. Wait, it just hit me. Should I even say that we're, you know, how to, is Webby legit enough for us to be like

for that to be the preface to our title like the Webby winning Webby winning yeah image award nominated you know what I'm saying who won that who who beat us was that Jamil yeah yeah okay yeah it's cool family family spread the love spread the love anyway

Mir if you try to say Webby winning enough times it'll be a hit on podcast history yes the Webby winning I don't know I still feel some sort of way that you know We've been Webby winning for the longest and they haven't given us our first award. So, damn, Laia, wait a minute. Yo, guys, this is, this is, this is notable. Normally, Laia, if it's like Lenny Kravitz on the show or someone of knows. Oh, he just looked at me, though.

Is it a date night right now, Laia? No, but I mean, it is teacher. She's like, you know. Oh, okay. So, oh, thank you, too. You got to show up. You know what I'm saying? I've been around.

I've seen what she looked like. I've seen how she come in the room. So I'm like, yeah. Yeah, Laya is matching her, Lenny Kravitz energy right now. Hey, girl. The kids are coming out to play. Anyway, yeah, so, Laya, well, obviously you're fine because, you know,

you got new artwork and fans and everything behind you. Oh, I'm good. I just, can I just say something real quick? Because I usually don't share no news about what I do outside this show, but I'm just very excited. Number one, shout out of some of the podcast, love and grit and j.l. Also, because.

me and my godmother diana williams are producing a book for my dad on all his photography we're going to self-publish and today we got the word that a big publisher is like i won't end so i just want to yes let's go let's go what was this what was this era of photography if you don't want to ask you from the 50s to like the late 80s and i'm talking like from you know he was the photographer at the white house during the first black music month event he's from the march on washing to the 20 year anniversary to make it a holiday just all the stuff all We got to interview Laia one day. Just so we can find out about ourselves. Straight up and down. All right. So, Bill, even though I know that you're not team in Canto, I'm still acting like you are.

I know. Because all your peeps are, you know, about to. I mean, I'd love to be team money bags along with being team in Canto. What? Hamilton Money is not enough for you, dog. You created the thriller of Broadway. Broadway albums, yo. Yeah, so did you.

My Hamilton checks are nice. So I know your Hamilton checks are really nice. They're okay. Tell it. Uh-oh. So my girlfriend and I are getting a new condo. Yes, he said it. Yes, he said it.

There you go. So wait a minute. You're moving out of what we've seen you. I'm staying in this place, but my girlfriend, they're selling, we rented there. They're selling her place. So we're buying a new place. Oh, that's good, man. I'm not getting married.

Everyone stopped with the knowingly, you know, glances and everything. I've already been married. I don't believe you because Fonte got to be married. I was listening. I happened to be listening to a classic episode when Fonte was happily divorced and thought that was how it was like it would be. I mean, the good old days. Yeah. The good old days.

I mean, you know, we should all have bliss and happiness. That includes you too, Steve. Sugar Steve. Happiness, what? Yeah. Happiness is a thing. Happiness is this thing. Fontecolo, how's it going?

I'm chilling, man. I think it's good, man. I'm happy to have teacher here today. There's been a long time coming. I feel like she's really one of the kind of critical unsung heroes of the genre. And I'm just really happy to get her story today. So this has been a, this is a drink come true for me, man. It's still too young for unsung.

Mm-hmm. Yes. Unsung, but you know, yeah. No, I was joking. It was just too. Yeah, I know you. Well, we're singing. her. Well, yeah, as Fonte mentioned about our aforementioned guest, I'm going to actually make it Afro-mentioned

I think. There you go. I knew that Bill would instantly prove that. Webby winning. There you go. Webby winning and Afro mentioned. The two words that we're, you know, make it official. Our guest today is an awesome, awesome singer-songwriter, hailing from the city of Norlands. Los Angeles. Yes. I heard that residents of

Norlings does not like us saying Nalins. No, we don't care what you do. It's just not how it goes. That's all. I already know

where this episode's going, y'all. Having written, having written for the, for the likes of Mary J. Blige, Nevia.

Nivia. Nivia? Nivia. I got it. I got it. I got to, you know, I got to get the, the lotion and, the human. Right. I got to get it correct.

They're the same. I got to get it. Okay. They got to say. She's named after the lotion. She's named it. I don't know which came first. Yeah, I'm not sure.

There's also Macy Gray, Raphael Sadiq. Neo, many others that we could name her now debut classic. The almost 20 years old complex simplicity was released to a critical claim. in 2004, instantly garning her praise from critics and a very loyal fan base. We're very happy that she's doing us the honor of chopping and mixing us for this long overdue conversation. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to Questlove Supreme, the one and only, Tidra Moses. Yes, sir. Hello, all. Yeah, I think I'm going to have to pull me some congoy for this.

I'm already, I'm already drinking, baby. Oh, Lord. She got people, no. Dude, now I really, truly wish this was a big. show because this is the exact backdrop that Denise Williams was in her episode. Right. Classic black and white photo above it and, you know, an empty. And a cocktail.

Yeah. There you go. Damn. How do you need? Anyway, how, were you, were you right now as we speak? I'm in L.A. right now. I live in Miami though, but I'm L.A. Oh, okay.

You live in Miami. I see. Yeah. I see. Well, you know, thank you for coming to the show. I have to say, I think, did you ever come to any of our Grammy Jams? I think we played together once. Yes.

But I don't think we've ever spoken. We played together. We've spoken like, I think it was like a text or something once. Yeah, and past it. Yeah. Yeah, but never really like, hey, what's up? Uh-huh. None of that, yeah.

I feel like this is our, this is our. First time really talking, yeah. There you go. long overdue. Long overdue. All right, well, I'll start like I start with everyone else. Where, okay, so where were you born? I know that you're hailing from New Orleans, but I don't know if you were born there.

I was born in Jefferson Parish, which is right outside of Orleans Parish. And that's pretty much New Orleans. So I was born in Kenna, Louisiana, which is like the suburbs of New Orleans. Okay, gotcha. So New Orleans adjacent. Yes. What your family situation, is it siblings or your parents? Yeah.

What was it? I have two sisters, two brothers. Four of us are from my mom and dad and one. It's just from my dad. Gotcha. Can you tell us what your first musical memory was? Tina Marie. My cousin was moving into a house behind my Titi's house, and we cut a gate in, because

everybody in, you know, in a. We all live around each other, family lives around each other. So we would cut gates or cut like little paths to go to someone's house. And we tore the gate back from my Titi's house to my cousin who was moving to a house behind. And the whole time she was unpacking, she was just playing that square biz out. I was really little, but that shit was hard. I loved it. I was a little kid loving Tina Marie.

That's my first, I guess gospel was my first because church. But the first time I really was excited was Teenery. That makes sense. It must be magic album. That was your... Yes, that one. Yes. It must be that.

Yeah, so good. And she was just unpacking and dancing and, like, all in her zone. It was her first place, you know. And I was just watching it, and I was loving the music. And I was supposed to be helping, but I was little kids. I couldn't really help. But that's my first memory of music, yeah. I see.

Did you, uh, any experience? Like, did you go through? through church as a singer or? No, I watched. And I think church made me feel like I wasn't gonna be, I felt like I wasn't good enough. Right. I had a sweet little soft voice and church, like,

I come from Southern Matthew's Church. And my mother was also a singer in the church, who was really big in our church, singing in like on the Southern Chitlin Circuit of Gospel. So they had such really powerful voices that I think I just, never thought I was good enough. What was your mother's name?

Shirley Moses. Okay. And so she pretty much did the circuit. Didn't Denise Williams say the same thing, Amir? That's so weird that she said she was looking like that. I was like Denise Williams didn't have a, a gospel, Southern gospel belter voice. So she felt like, you know, she had a sweet songbird voice and she just didn't feel like she belonged. So, okay, so you just tried to just blend in with the, the, the rest of the, the, the rest of

choir you didn't do so much no and I left New Orleans kind of before I developed my voice I would walk around my house singing and sing in the shower and sing to the radio but I hadn't developed my voice yet I didn't develop my voice so I got to California like high school so I was I was little in while I was in the gospel by the time we got to California we didn't really go to church as much and it wasn't Southern Baptist it was just more like non-denational not not not denominational type music which is totally different. Okay. Your experience

in New Orleans, is it, could you describe what the environment was you know, oftentimes I think everyone in New Orleans either, you know, has second line experiences or you know, it's almost like

if the movie fame were a city, I would imagine it would be New Orleans where people just bust out. Like, you know, everyone has to sing or do something musical just to just to live or breathe or whatever was that the experience

were you down there like it's just music everywhere all day even if it's not down to like even it's not as extensive as the second line you know you in New Orleans it's music and partying all the time music party and drinking and drinking and eating yeah and eating

yeah this is how every time I go to New Orleans I just know 10 pounds you just got to just give yourself that grace because you know yes exactly there's no such thing as being a pescatarian or vegetarian you can't do any of that stuff that you just eat you know

whole place brown and no no vessels and if they are they're fried so it's like in New Orleans growing up in New Orleans it's music everywhere from you know jazz on the streets if you're in the city you know to gospel gospel's very very big there Zadico you know then they can't

bounce and hip hop was always big for but before bounce we just listened to uh new york hip-hop you know so it was like more based on that and music everywhere i don't ever recall like even the school i went to i went to all black school uh private school by the name of st john a walk and we had choir and our teacher was a lady named shatters who passed not too long ago but she's like the first person that kind of showed me my voice we just had music everywhere sundays on church tuesdays and wednesdays or whatever for choir rehearsal you know all my brother and his his turn to music everywhere. We have block parties.

And then outside of that, then you do have second lines. And it's just music everywhere. It's to the point that you don't even notice it. It's just there. I want to ask you a question since you're from the area about Zidico because that's just a kind of music that we didn't really, in the Carolinas, we didn't really get a lot of it. But like a lot of my homies, like Louisiana, Texas, you know what I'm saying?

like and it has a big black following like I follow a lot of like dance stuff on um on IG like a lot of dancers and there's like some zadico dance like they was doing them motherfuckers was getting it like steppe and fonte it's not it's not stepping it's like uh it's it's a you dance because you dance in close like the man and woman dance close so it's not like a step but um it's crazy i just only i just know the music it was a club them man they was dudes and cowboy hats and shit it was all brothers like brothers like brothers I've never seen Black Zadigo because all my Black, all my Zadigo experiences are like the white guys. Well, there's that because it's a little bit more Cajun-ish than Creole.

Do you understand what I'm saying? It's more Cajun, Gatorish than Crio, which Cajun and, you know, Cajun and Creole is totally different. Kind of like white, black, basically. Pretty much. It's more black. Which part is, what's the black part? Creole is Crio. Creole is black in French, African in French.

And then the Cajun is black. Asian is more from when the Louisiana purchase happened and it went all the way into Canada. And then they migrated down the Canadians, the French Canadians migrated down to Louisiana. And they're kind of like above us. They're not really in the bottom. They're not at the bottom with us, the Creole people. But they mixed eventually came down. But it's more like, here's a simple thing.

Creole, we eat our gumbo with rice. Okay. Cajun eat their gumbo with like, who do they eat with? potato salad. They went out. It's totally different. Yeah, exactly. It's totally different.

Cajuns, white French from Canada, Creole, African French. Okay, so since you open the door, now I've got to ask, are your culinary skills as good as your musical skills? I can cook. I can really cook. But here's the thing, I started trying to be healthy.

So I have to go back to my old ways to really, you know, throw it down for you. Like, I don't use. who's butter and everything anymore, but I use butter and everything, but I'm cooking good. Because that's the base of all the food. Really good butter, you know what I mean? So I can cook. I can definitely, I mean, nobody's going to leave my table, not peas.

Or my baby, but that's the stuff. Hold on your two story. I believe him. Yes, we will be over again. Yeah. All right. This is what I was here for. That's why I dress like this.

Yeah. It's working. It's like, what's you're trained to do in the South. You're trained in those areas. You go, you know, you go hard in those areas. your bed with your kitchen, you get that together. You got everything good. I mean, your workout game must be amazing.

Okay. Yeah, because you got to have energy and you got to have room. Okay. And I'm at Los Angeles right now. I forgot. I forgot who I was interviewing. So I was thinking about your, you're talking about your L.A. days. I didn't know.

Talk about your days with the Good Life Cafe. I understood you came up kind of around that scene. Yeah. I moved to L.A. at 14. And I moved to L.A. I moved to West Covina, which is in the Valley. Oh, wow. And so we would travel into the city to get,

because I moved from New Orleans to West Covina, the valley. It was culture shock. So I found friends that came from, their parents had taken them out of the city because it was games and stuff like that, into the valley. And so I found friends that I could travel into the cityway, and we found Good Life and Lambert Park and all that stuff.

And it was just an unbelievable movement, you know, of musicians and hip hop and I also was with my son's, my children's father, Raskas, and so he kind of would, I was kind of like, we were in a running around with him, and I would just, it was amazing. It was, in retrospect, we didn't know

then what it was, but in retrospect, it was kind of like a big pot of all these creative people, and it just kind of spilled and bled onto you. You know, you learned about things that I knew jazz, but I didn't know the kind of jazz that they were telling me about. I knew about hip hop, but I didn't know like what, you

It was just like a really, really great community of young musicians and young creative and not all musicians. Well, who else was in the good life? Because I think for some folks who never heard of it. Well, I wasn't in it. Okay. You would just affiliate. Yeah, I don't want to witness it. I would witness it.

I would witness it because they would have these functions. The one that I probably would probably was more versed with was unity. Bigger B, I think his name was. He did this thing called unity. Yeah. And he had this thing where he would bring all of these different artists to L.A. He was like the first person to bring all these different artists to L.A. I knew Good Life and I would be around that.

But what I paid attention to more so is when Rads would go to Good Life. I mean, I go like Unity. And we would see like Houtain Clan, all these different people that really weren't coming to L.A. You know, when they were first started. But Good Life was more something that I was around a few times. Unity was to me the thing that I don't think it's talked about enough. in LA. Bigger Bee had a whole movement. I think the first person that kind of had this going on

was pre my time was the Uncle Jam Army got. Uncle Jam's Army, got you. But Bigger B was like that for real hip-hop and true hip-hop lovers, you know? And I was just kind of like a tag along your ass. That's what I was doing. No, no, I was going to say that it just hit me that my first year at Fallon,

this new filmmaker named Aver de Verne came to interview me I believe her first film project was about the Good Life Cafe Oh wow I think it was called This is it was called

This is the Life I think I saw that Yeah but has that Has that officially Have you guys seen it Has it officially come out? I saw it Yeah, it was on Showtime

or something I saw before Okay I think I think I don't want to like But maybe that's not what I saw But I saw a documentary type of thing about good life Yeah, no, no, that was her first joint. Okay.

Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah, for it's, um, I know, well, bus driver, one of my favorite, one of my favorite underground, or I hate saying underground, it's such a, you know, it's like damning someone to only the purple property at the beginning of the monopoly port, but, you know, if you're a fan of like freestyle fellowship, um, the Jurassic Five cat. That's Um

That's like Yeah Ben-Jouin Oh Medusa Like Medusa Yeah I'll say like

You know When we first started Even though they were at The tail end Of Oh Farside also They were at the tail end Of their era

That's when the roots First started Coming out there But we like Met a lot of those guys So almost felt like We were You know

They're distant cousins Often doing shows Out there And You know Also Can I ask a question really quickly? Why don't more people talk about the foreside?

Because I think the far side for the West Coast was kind of like, and maybe this is overstepping comparable to Trap called Quest to a certain extent. I think it's actually bizarre ride. Bizarre ride, I mean, that's it. That's Midnight Marauders, Westcoat. Like, I don't know. But their name doesn't come up, like that. Because the thing is that, unfortunately,

I was trying to figure out another two piece with biscuits. which is like biggie. Like, unfortunately, it's like, you know, for the far side, one, it's been 30 years. And it's really technically two albums, like. But that album, that one album, no one in here? They kind of, no, they took themselves out the running, even though both albums were classic. And here's the thing, Eminem will say all day that literally, Eminem said this a billion times that, his whole presentation

like the cartoony voice the word play all that stuff like bizarre ride to the far side was Eminem's blueprint for the first three records of his like if you listen to a rhyme and all this stuff like the cartoony voice and all that

stuff like he's essentially just you know that's him just overdosing on on the far side yeah you're right definitely for a lot of, I mean, I wasn't those people that like went territorial, like, oh, they're East Coast, they're West Coast, but I definitely remember them changing the perception of what we thought Los Angeles was.

No, for us, it was for us on this side, it was Far Side, of course, absolutely souls of mischief, and the alcoholics. And the alcoholics, they was like, yeah, man, listen, then was my niggily. I love you. Yes, yes. But I'll say that when we heard Bizarre Ride to the Far Side, that was the prime reason why we put Scott Storch in the roots because, you know, they were using, it's so weird that, you know,

even though Tribe had been doing it, the way that Jay Swift was using Finder Rhodes on that album, you know, the whole tremolo sound and all that stuff, like, I was like, we need that stuff. too so enters Scott Storch coming into the roots and you know but yeah we don't actually they reunited with the is it booty brown that's not in the group or I know that it was fat fat lip yeah it's bad so now it's fat lip uh trade or everybody it's never everybody and amani yeah man I just frustrates me so much me too you too like now I just love what they did and I just

would really like it when people are talking about that era they would get a little bit more because they, I really, I saw how much they influenced a lot of the rappers that came after them on the West Coast. All right. My gift to hip-hop is I got to start a life coaching service for rappers. No, it's real.

Like, I'm currently, I don't know if I should say this, I'm trying to get my life coach to talk to both run and D. Wow. about how much valuable time they are wasting because, I mean, run DMC is like our rolling stones, yo. And for them to just... It's communication. And I've talked to both of them, and they're down to like,

yeah, okay, I'll do life coach. Like, hip-hop needs this. And if you can... I see what you're saying. So you gotta get the guys together. You basically saying, they got to be together so that we can champion them, so then they can really win.

And we can champion them, like a lot of these other legends. Yes. So right now the far side is back as the far side, although technically now they spell it with an F and not a pH. So I'm assuming. It's some ladies shit, you know,

you don't know what's happening right now with the, like, I had no idea none of this is that. Not with a F-E-A-S-R-A-S-I-E. Yeah, so they're, they're now, if you go on their Instagram page as the far-side, two words,

F-A-R-S-I-D-E. Like the cartoon? Oh, snap. Right. Like, how's that more to do than whatever? Yeah, but yeah, it's three-fourths of them are back now. So were you in brass, were y'all pursuing music at the same time at that time coming up? Was, or were you just, were you like actually pre-founded singing as well and he was rhyming or how was y'all-

No. I was pursuing him. He was pursuing music. He's like, did he know you could say? I love it. No, he didn't really know. Like, I didn't really, I, um, I did wardrobe for years. Like, I would be around, I mean, Hight did my first video. I would be around HIPE.

He didn't, he didn't know. Like, everybody just didn't know because. Hype Williams? Yeah. I would be around Hipe Williams. I would be around all kind of executives because I did wardrobe. I would be with RAS at different places. I mean, I just didn't talk about that because it was his time.

He was his time. You know, and I'm from the South, you know, so I'm one of those women that's like, okay, you do those, and I trust that when it's my time, well, I'll do mine, you know what I mean? But we're going to focus on you right now, but just focus this stuff. It came back to me, so I think he got to figure it out by myself. But he did introduce me to the guy that did my first album with me, but he didn't even know I really sing like that. I mean, he may have heard me singing a little bit. And, you know, I think I may have done some singing.

He didn't come do this song because he knew I could sing a little, but it wasn't something that I made a big deal about. Did it weird him out when you finally became transparent with your voice and sort of came out the shadows like, okay, I'm singing, I'm pursuing this. Did it? No, I don't think it weirded him out. I just remember we worked together at this point. He introduced me to the guy Paul Pauley.

I did the first time when we started working, Pauli started working. And then he was supposed to be involved. He was supposed to be involved. But I think it was just like, oh, it's my baby mama. She's singing. You know what I mean? So you didn't really get tempted I remember one day

we were driving somewhere and he was like This is really good We're gonna make a lot of money I don't Oh, we're gonna make a lot of pianists Oh wow So I'd accidentally

How long, please? Did you date her? It was like two years. Like, I think I shared this story before where I was late for a sound check, had to circle back to the hotel. And I was doing one of those suites that had a piano in it. Uh-uh, you know, you're telling you. And she was this, I mean, it was like a couple of steps above, like, for release.

I mean, it wasn't like, do, do, do, do, do, do, do it was like, like, do-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d- Like, I walked in a room. And I'm like, what is this? It's like two years. Like, you didn't tell me, you know, I played piano. So, yeah, that, that was, that was weird to me. That's what I meant, like, did you hold it back for so long? No, no, he knew because I was, he knew I could have, like, a little,

he knew I could sing a little bit because he would hear me around the house singing, you know, little things like that. So you said that your first entry into the business wasn't even with singing. It was with fashion first. Yeah, my best friend was a wardrobe. She still is to the state designer, Nadra Kinty. She was a wardrobe stylist at the time. time and I needed money.

I got laid off on my job from sitting there surfing the internet too long. I was bored. What were you? What was your job beforehand? I was an administrator, assistant administrator at a architectural firm that built a high, oh, I was bored of shit, girl. And the internet was new. So I would just be on the internet looking at anything I could look at.

And this is back when it was dial-up. So, oh, man. Oh, wow. You signed up their phone. Wow. Not only am I trying up their phone with a, what you call. I'm shocked that she's not an okay player, yo. Yeah.

Right, right. I'm shocked she's not a vet. Yeah. Talk about, can you talk about being a stylist in like that moment? First of all, when you felt comfortable enough to make the transition and let people know, were you slowly letting people know? Like, would you sing a little bit while you're just, you know, fixing an outfit and somebody was like, No. And maybe that's what you're supposed to do, but I think that's corny and shit.

I think whatever you're there to do, that's what you do. Do that job. Okay. Yes, that's how I feel. So I would be there putting on somebody's shoes or rolling down, you know. And even with like guys trying to talk to you or whatever, I just always kept it as a job. This I'll take care of my sons, you know. So I just kept it as a job. And like I said, I would be around these different people, dancers, singers, artists, all this stuff. And they go, hey, teach him a bo-bye. And if you smoke cannabis, if you're in a on video sets, you're going to be in a circle with all kind of people.

Right. So they know you. We need music, universal. Yeah, we're smoking together. Once you're in a cycle with somebody, that's your best friend, you know. Talk about it. So we would all be around smoking and doing, you know, in between, you know, stuff like that. But I just never mention it because, first of all, I'm shy, which no one knows that.

I can tell you. I can believe. I can. When it comes to her talent, I believe you're shy. I'm shy. I don't like rejection. You know what I mean? So if someone was to tell me I wasn't good,

it was going to either get violent or sad. One of the two. I was going to cry or get you. Fucking T-drault. She's a silent. Serious energy. Yes. And you see him a little openly hot.

Violet or sad? Violent, you went full Kiki wide on us. Okay. No, no, no. I'm better now because, but the thing is, you know, back then I didn't want. Wait a minute. She didn't.

I was young. I was young, you know, but no one knew. No one knew because I was just doing my job. And I just was appreciative of what I was doing at that time. And I remember, Raj and I broke up, and that's when I started pursuing it because it was like, I can't just, I saw my friend doing what she love. And I stopped, I stopped doing the wardrobe styling because I broke my leg. And while I was sitting there on downtime and collecting my $1,800 a month in the, what do you call it, workers comp? I was like, are you got to figure something out?

And did y'all have the twins at that point? Oh, yeah, the twins were full pledge in this thing. They were like three years old. You know, Rez and I went together. I was pretty much taken care of about myself and it was like, you've got to figure this out. Because I couldn't, I couldn't work at the post office. I would be with those people that killed everybody.

You know what I mean? Like, I couldn't do that. But did you know you could write a song? But she's better now. And I'm like, did you know that? No, I'm saying that from the same. I'm saying that from the standpoint, people, you can't stifle things in you. You can't, like, suppress these things.

It may come out wrong. It's going to come out one way or the other. And I got because I did know I could write songs because I would get all the rats would get these packs from DJ Dilla. And that's who I would write over. I would write over unreleased J Dilla beats. And I didn't even know who the fuck J Dillow. When he was getting these tracks, I didn't know. I was just singing Oprah.

And I loved, um, like water for chocolate. I love that album so much. And eventually he told me, oh, that's the same deal that did, you know, and it came together. But I wrote so many songs over Jay. I wrote like maybe to one beat,

three or four songs because that's what I had. Did you tell me? Did you and Jay Dilla ever, did he ever know that? Like, did you ever? No, I didn't, I know. I never met this man. I didn't, I didn't know. I didn't know.

I just loved music. And so what Razz would have, I would go through whatever he had. And I remember he particularly had this, from Jay Dilla and I would play that CD over and over and write songs to those. I would write over Prince Records. I would write over already written songs and I would just hear the music and start to formulate my own song over the music.

That's harder. That's harder than a lot of people realize to write over, oh God, yeah, to take a song that's like a- Yeah, yeah, like to just take something that's already established and just write a new song over that to hear that in a different way. That's a skill. And that's what she did. I did that often.

I just, you know, I don't know if you guys ever were in a place where you couldn't do it or it didn't seem like a realistic thing for you. I just wanted to do it however I could do it because it was in me and it needed to come out to the point that it was making me depressed and sad. I didn't even know why. You know, so I just had to do it. And I would just take Brad's the computer and put in his CD and just start. His CDs are beats and say, right?

Can I ask one question? Because the thing is, is this might be the only chance that we get to ask a former stylist a question. Okay. And I'm also, you know, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a Kenya Barris supporter and completist. So, you know, Zoe's character on Grownish is a stylist now. Yes, she is. Oh, good for you. And me.

Okay. Yeah, I'm, I'm supporting all my Kenya Barris projects, you know, thick and thin. but my question is what is the process of being well first of all who are your clients were these established music quant oh yeah no we we were

Will Smith's style of team for about two two to three years police Nas Arkelly these are good looks these are looks

yeah we would my friend she had two of us from high school we were just high school friends like having fun you know and so she was the key Nonga was the key my other we were all three best friends

And Nandja was the key. I was more administrative. And my friend Maisha Long, she was also like a second in line for like, creative. And we would kind of like the Mod Squad. I don't know if you ever heard of the Lod Squad with June, Ambrose. We were kind of like that. And, you know, we would be on different sets.

She would have three jobs going at a time. I'm on this set. This one on the set. We got assistance under the, you know, we had a whole thing moving. How do you secure like, okay. So for me, My crock obsession is getting a little crazy now. So how do you secure accounts from,

do you go to, like from established companies and also from newer people? Like, how do you? Call them, you just call them. So back then, that's all we had to do was call them, send them a letter, let them know that we're working, fax them back then, a letter, let them know that we're working on something.

And if they were interested in that artist, they would, in its product. And back then, you know, back then it was like lots of money involved. They gave you,

people were giving a lot of things away. So we could go to, plus you had a top clients. You had top clients. I know, but even when we would come in with a new, maybe because we had top clients, when we'd come in with a new artist,

you could get them all stuff. I mean, we would do projects sometimes and pay for nothing because we could get so much stuff for free from these different, um, companies.

You just kind of, we just reached out. But I also know that it's problematic where, an artist will like an article or garment a little bit too much and then you're not going to see it again I've been part of many video shoots where it's like where those Jordans at you know that sort of thing so

yeah but now in the product placement situation they're giving it to now when you're when you're going to a studio service which is you know you probably know this will you go and you have to pull clothes from you know the different department store or Gucci or whoever, they let out the clothes on consignment. This is where the problems came in. That's what I was asking. This is where the rappers came in.

Where the boys are like, you know. And then what do you do? Somebody have to stand next to all day or put it in your bosom or something because they won't literally try to take it. And then, you know, you would be on sets with rappers that have like 50 dudes from the hood and you're in the hood. You're not just, you're in Queensbridge. with 50 people that's here that's supposed to be here,

then hundreds of others does not. And five foot to 110 pounds, I have to protect this whole trailer full of merchandise probably up to about a cool $100,000, you know? You've been in a situation before, Deidre? Where you was like, I'm not really-frey. People don't mention Queensbridge. No, but you heard what she said to me.

She said people never ever, not even test it, not even test it. No, because it's like at the end of the day, I come from a place where I know what's going on. Yeah. You know? So when I see, and I also talk to people with respect and tell people what's really going on. Like, I got kids to feed. Don't mess me up. You take this stuff. And I'm messed. You know, I got to come up my pocket. And you talk to people like they're like, oh, baby girls, it's all good. You know, I got whatever. And if I could get you, you know, because it would be like some free sneakers. Here you go, take this. This is what you get. You can't have this. This is happy to pay for. Just common sense. Just three cents. Converse Chucks, thank you.

Tidre, I appreciate this. Exactly. Can I ask my style one more stylist question? Like on that note, since you talked about being in ciphers and being on sets and whatnot, did your experiences as a stylist kind of make you a little apprehensive about entering the music business? Or was it like, okay, I feel like maybe I know a little extra because I've been around. On the other side of it. You know, it didn't make me apprehensive as much as it just made like, these people are crazy, you know.

As hell. Yeah, they're crazy And it's different You know what I mean? So like, I learned then This is not real world Like you're from a place where When someone says

Hey, teacher You know how you talk They really mean that They mean it When I'm from in New Orleans Your face is What you see on somebody's face is And now I'm in this situation

Where you cannot tell Who's real Who's not what their intentions are You know So then I just got to this place So I just assumed everybody was fake It's better that way. Surprise me. Surprise me. And it helped me moving forward to, and it helped me moving forward

to music to realize that they're way more of the people than I thought. You know, when you start out thinking everybody's little phony and fake, then when you start to meet genuine people and you connect with your tribe, it gets really cool. So it helped me to think that I could endure it knowing what I was getting into. How did you make the transition from styling to songwriting? I broke my leg I broke my leg we were doing a job in like Topanga Canyon

or something like that and I had taken time off and this was my first job back because now I'm hating style you know I got to the point but I was hating style just like I was hating me and I was hating

what was the camel's back I broke my leg I was going to I don't I kind of met the clam but okay I get it it was my fever ball and I just kind of like

with I I was healing up to go back to something that not I loved working with my friends and all this stuff. But as much as I like clothes, I like put them on myself. I'm not a person of service type of person. I'm really an artist. You know, I'm really an artist. So it was just strange for me to kind of want to do this, not open up my mouth and tell anybody I want to do it. But I'm putting clothes on people that are doing it.

And no envy of them. It just became very frustrating. Like, I don't want to do this anymore. And God literally broke my leg and stabbed me down and made me have to figure out what I really wanted to do and come to terms with, because I already knew. Just come to terms with, like, go for it. Razz did something real foul of me.

He just had to help me. He didn't have a choice. He did something so foul that he didn't have a choice to deny me what I was asking. And that's kind of how it started. Our eyes are right now. Yeah. So, okay, without getting into what he did.

So when you used to say he, you know, he did. Was that he put you on in some way, like with a job or some writing? He just introduced me to someone. The first person I went to sit down with before I even went to go make my album was Rod and Jerkins. He was working on, my friend, my friend, you guys have to, pardon me, I smoke a lot of cannabis and my brain sells. Because I get it together. When I love him more.

But my friend, he works with, because at the time, we had worked with Will Smith for years. and my friend he worked with Will Smith, and so he put me, he knew lots of different producers, and he was really good friends with Roddy Jirkins, and he just would hear things, I don't know how he knew I wrote. Maybe I was, maybe I recorded something over a beat or whatever, and I let him here, because he was my friend,

so he and I let him hear or whatever, and he was like, yo, teacher come, he's writing for Destiny's Child, he's working for Destiny's Child's album right now, come to the studio and meet Rodney and blah, blah, blah, blah, and that's like the first person I sat down with, and I think that's when got, a rat started to take it serious

that I might really start doing this, you know? And then when that thing happened and then he's just like, okay, cool, I'll introduce you to Paul Pauley. And Paul Pauley and I just started kind of getting a vibe going. And Paul Pauley, I don't think, thought I was that good. He was like, you got to sing more, you got to push more, you got to bubble fly, and I was thinking I don't really want to do that.

But, okay, I'll try because I just wanted to, I just wanted to make music. And we just kind of started going from there, but I don't know. Was Paul, was he, well, before we get into that, which is your sonwriting stuff, um, dip it low. How did that come about? All of my songwriting came about while I was working with Paul Paulie, working on my album. They were all songs for me. Every song I gave away until I started to actively write songs for other, which I learned

I wasn't really good at writing for other people. I was better at writing songs for myself and then letting them fit into my outfit. You know what I mean? So yeah, that's where all of my. My songs came from that. Is it hard writing for other people because, you know, you would have to know their life experience in order to speak for them? I think Quest is like, goes back to being a stylist.

I really want to do it. And I'm a Sagittarius and it's like, we really want to do what we want to do. We so help it on doing what we want to do. So when I would sit down to write for people, I don't think I cared enough about what their experience was, you know? Like I didn't get it. I didn't care enough to get into it. into them. I had to literally write the people that were just singing my songs. It was so hard

for me to try to figure out with this little young pop girl. I just had to just put myself in that place. I couldn't consider her. Even if it's a situation of a big client that, you know... Yeah, Mary J. Blige. I put myself in Mary J. Blige's place, you know? I couldn't be married. Plus, I probably couldn't be married because, you know, she raised out of us. You know what I mean? So, But the thing is like I had to put my way of learning how to do it was to say, okay, we become this. Now, you become this. Because trying to pull it out of them or have these kinds. Some people, it's just like this style.

Some people don't know what they want to say. You know, some people don't know what they want to do. You've got to give it to them. Yeah, it's very hard to pull personality and all this stuff out of it. Because you have to understand also at this time, we're doing better now. This time when I was writing, it was trash out there. So I'm coming in and I'm singing this song and it sounds so great

and I was like, oh, A&R's like, I love it, I love it, I love it, this is great this is great, this is great, but the bitch can't sing so now that she's trying to sing the song and you hate the song. And you hate it. And now you're looking at me. You're looking at me. I did, my job.

Are you there nine times out of ten for the vocal tracking? Like, do they want you there? Sometimes, sometimes. And then sometimes not. But if I'm there, you know what I'm doing, I'm putting a voice on it. I'm just going to layer myself all over this thing.

We're going to sound good. It's going to be good. Straight up. And that was the trick. That was a trick. Are y'all twins? You were Fonte. You know, it just really hit me.

Amir, are you beeping that like, in career and journey and everything. I'm really, I was thinking about this earlier. I was like, Tidre and Fonte are parallel. Dude, everything she's saying. We're like best friends in our hands. Straight up and down. We didn't talk on Twitter about doing something.

Listen, no, everything you're saying. Nothing. It's coming. It's coming. We just, you know, for the right time, but it's coming. But no, seriously, everything you're saying to you, that was exactly like what I saw kind of, like, working as a songwriter. And it was just one of those things where it's like, okay, I don't wrote the song, I didn't sang it, I didn't track it, produced it. I'm going to keep this shit for me. You know what I'm saying? Like, rather than sending it to whoever else, then I think I got a lot of money.

I wasn't, I've never been signed to a publishing company. So nobody was putting me in the studios. It's before home studios and all that. I'm spending all this money to go in these studio to write these songs now. You know what I mean? I'm spending all my money going to soon. Sometimes I will go in and they will put me in or whatever. But when you're gunning to just get a song to artists,

you're going to go and be proactive and, you know, figure it out yourself. And then you're loving it, you're loving it, you love it, you love it. And then we go in and she can't sing it and you're mad at me. And I just never understood that. Like I said, we're doing better now. We're getting artists that can actually perform, you know, but back then it was rough. Yeah, that was why I think like we saw like, pre-autotoo. So they weren't even all of these girls, you know.

I was like, Lord, have mercy. Yeah, it was, yeah. That was why I think we saw, like, in, like, the early 2000s, like when you saw, like, Neo, Carrie Hilsen, who was, like, Sean Garrett. Like, you started seeing those songwriters kind of become artists. Like, I saw that shit coming. I'm like, all the work that they're doing, yeah,

they might as well put the shit out on the show. And let me add this, Fonte. The producers getting 40,000 in track, and I'm getting... Let's talk about it. Let's talk all the way. about it. Right. Let's hear y'all talk about it. Talk about this process. Man, well, I let teacher, yeah, go in.

You know, you're not getting paid. You're not getting paid to, the producer gets paid for making a track. He gets a front and the back. And I don't know if it's changed now because I don't really write for people like that no more. My piece is with myself. No, it's worse. It's even worse. I don't do it anymore, but it's, yeah, it's trash. So you don't write on spec anymore. That's what

songwriters are, songwriters are supposed to write on spec? Yeah. And I'm not, I'm not. I'm not a work for a higher person. I'm just not there. He said she's never been a publishing company. I found that like, whoa, okay. No, and I own my own stuff. So I'm going to either way because people like me and I can just sell my own stuff and I'll be all right. Take us on what's the beginning or the genesis of what we now know is complex simplicity. Like the moment where you're like, I'm doing this shit on my own.

I'm ready. Listen, this is the part I've been waiting for. Let's go. You heard people on. So rest is the thing, right? Yeah. Family is complete. We're not coming back after this, right? It's done. We're not doing this after that. But I did take them back because, you know, that's how it was.

But I moved to a new place left and we get back together. And then I'm like, okay, I can't do this anymore. He introduces me to this producer. But in this interim of us not being together and the producer me and the producer, my mom died. That's my whole world. I'm, my family is everything to me. I was 24, five, something like that.

I had these two sons. The father is not. he didn't want kids he told me that for something he's what it is and um i'm stuck and it literally was like i don't know how it's to explain it but it was like i wasn't going to breathe unless i got this stuff out of me you know i wasn't going to breathe unless i got all this pain out of me and that's really what it came from me just writing going every day to paulie's house in glendale And I lived in Pasadena, which is very close to each other in LA, and going to his house every day and just, you know, first of all, the night before, sitting, standing in front of the mirror, the entire time, just writing songs to sing it to myself, you know, writing songs. Because I'm trying to make myself happy. I was very sad.

And then going in the next day and laying these songs. And I remember we got down to this song that was called, who's the last song on my album? Do you remember the one to Mama? Complex. Yeah. I think of you. I think of you. I think of you, yeah.

Shout out to Candace. But anyway, so I... Not the rapper, my name. I was trying to... I was trying to perform it in the studio, and I just kept falling. They felt so bad for me. I literally would just keep trying to sing it. And if I would get one note out, I would fall down to the ground and just start crying

because it was just a year after she had passed. And I really, when I look back in retrospect, question was just me just trying to. get all this pain. I didn't care about any of y'all hearing this record. I didn't care about if it was going to be number one. That's why people would see people say, oh, we wish this would I had no, you have

to put intentions behind things. I had no intention but to get it out. What happened to it, I didn't care. And then when one day Pauley was dropping me off at my house and he was leaving, and I was like, we should call it simplistic or something.

I said it backwards. I said something like, simple complexity or something like that. And he was like, Yeah, complex simplicity, yeah. And then I started to think about it, like maybe about a year after it came out. And it was like literally what my life was at that time. It was literally what my life was at that time. Complex simplicity. I was just, life happens, but I didn't understand that.

I was too young to understand. People die. Your man cheat and do horrible things to you. He might not even say, you got kids. You got kids. You know, I wasn't equipped at all for the life I have fallen into. And complex simplicity was the beginning of me starting to understand my path and how I had to go. It was like literally like, I guess it's just that was the diary of me growing up.

Talk about Paul, Pauley, because I never knew, like, I mean, I had never seen him produce. I don't know if he did anything after that, but your record was the first time I really saw him, you know, really featured in that way. What was, what was his story and what was his background? He is Armenian and comes from wealth His family owned like Julie Stur's and stuff like that But he loved music He loved music so much And I think the thing I knew that he did before

Complex simplicity that did really well Was that's the joint That's the jam Time to shut up Oh yeah he did yeah he did He did Joyce's blackout of peace Right Yeah he did that and he worked with Rize

And I wasn't really eager to work with him I wasn't at all But the first The very first song that he The very first beat he gave me was cough on that caution. I want to be none less polite. What song was that? Caught up.

Yes. Call on my first beat. Yeah. That's the very first beat he gave me. And that's the very first song I ever recorded. And that's on the outline. That's the very first song I ever wrote in full. The very first song I ever recorded.

And we just clicked right away. He's a saturdays too. Goodness gracious. Oh, yeah, I know. That was, yeah. Chaos. We used to go crazy. Like, ooh, that right boy didn't want to stand dealing with this black lady.

No. It was so much. Like, he literally just started screaming at me when they're like, ah. And whatever. Know it well. You know, but Polly, Paulie was a great guy. And, like, I had a chance because we did an anniversary thing. You know, had a chance to see him.

And he doesn't do music anymore. Like, you know, he went completely away from music and, you know, has a beautiful family and everything. Actually, he does do music, but he does Christian music. You know, he does his music because this thing will turn you out, make you go completely. Yeah, it'll turn you to Jesus. It'll make you go mace on him, you know what I'm saying? He chose that route.

But really great guy, very, very, still, when I hear stuff he does, you know, it's still got that same time. Yeah, great guy. Can we just stay in complex and simplicity for a second? Because I wanted to ask you a question about songs. Like, I wanted to ask you, you know, you said you were in the studio crying, and I was looking at at the list and I was like, you'll never find, which could technically be like one of those songs,

but it comes so hard. And I was curious about the story behind that song too. Like, now, and I guess it's all right. Yeah, how much of this is autobiographical? I'm guessing all of it is, which is y'all- At the time, I didn't know that at the time. They would be like, this song about rest. I'm like, no, it's not.

Because it was pouring out so naturally, I didn't think it was about anything. I didn't know what I was doing. You know what I mean? I just was pouring out. And you'll never find, um, What's the lady, I can't stand the way. What's I mean?

And people's. And people's, and people, it's an Ampewis, a sample. And she was seeing, you know, on that record, the sample that we sampled, you know, you'll never find a better woman or bigger fool. So we knew, I knew that's what I was going to build off of when he told me the sample, man, you should hear. Me and Paulie had this great thing. Like, I've never had this before my life. The same thing, like with me and Raz had this great thing. And I've never had it again.

It's like these two, those two guys. we had this connection that was something different and with polly in the music side we would sit there and like get so excited you know what i mean so excited about the music so he let me hear the sample and he was let me hear where it came from and he let me hear what he did it was really amazing and i was like and he was just using a i think he used a bit of her singing in it and i was like okay that's what i'm gonna do i'm gonna speak from that because i was going through a bunch of shit in my relationship at the time and i was leaving i hadn't left yet i mean i was like one foot in one foot out, you know, when you're a mother of somebody's children, they kind of got access

to you probably up until five. So I always tell my home girls, like, if he got a baby mom and he's still smashing until she's kids about five. Because that's just kind of how it goes. Just how he goes. I don't know why, but it does. You know, Farte space right now. Farranty space right now.

Hey, I fuck with Tidja Bolus, that's what I'm saying. Twins. Twins. So this is essentially, wait, can I ask, it? How familiar were you with Marvin Gays here, my dear? And how much influence did that have? I mean, at what point did you realize that this wasn't just an album of yours, but this was your diary, your social media, your...

And were there anything that was too TMI that you decided, nope, I can't put this verse on there or... Yeah, this is... Everything not for sale. No. I didn't have that kind of self-of-a-cuff at the time. I just was doing what I came out. I didn't know to filter myself.

But let me tell you this. I had heard here, my dear, great out of and blah, blah, but not really paying attention, you know. I hadn't really paid attention like that. Right. Until afterwards, I was, I got into it. And I connected with it so very much. I heard it before, but I think not until I live,

I lived that and then experienced it after it. And I remember one something, I pulled up the Blake's leave. And I was playing here, my dear, I was playing here, my dear, and rapping was like, don't listen to that. No, don't, you should listen to that. He was like, don't do that to yourself, don't listen to that. That, you should, you want to be happy, don't listen to that. I mean, it was just like, I didn't know.

I didn't, and to say, when did I know it was my diary? Plus, I didn't know the album was that good, I'm hard on myself, right? So I never thought it was that good. I didn't know the album was that good until about three years later. And what gave you the, what was the? Yeah. Well, how did you know?

Yeah. It started coming back to me. Yeah, it started coming back to me, you know. And it became the international. Fuck that motherfucker album. Yeah. And live your life. When people start coming up to you shaking and crying and, you know,

freaking you out, you say, oh, well, maybe you did something kind of cool. Yeah. Maybe you did something. But I never took it that serious. To this day, I don't. You know, I just feel like we do things. It pours out of us. I feel like we're just vessels.

Like, you know, you got the opening and then you got the spout and God pours into you and you pour out. And that's just how it goes. So I don't hold a lot of ownership to the accolades that come with it or the criticism. I don't hold that stuff. So I can't really hold, you know, like, oh, I did this thing. I'm just grateful I was a vessel. Talk about be a girl. That one was, so for us, like on the heavy hip-hop side,

the thing that caught me about that is it was a sample of, a replay of a record Nause that did called One-on-One, which was on the street fighter soundtrack, which, like, that shit was crazy. So random. Like, it wasn't like a big Nause record, but it was, you know, if you knew it, you knew it. And so I was like, oh, damn, she's singing over that.

Then the beat drop, I was like, oh, shit, she's singing, singing. Like, this shit is hard. So how did that one get chosen to be the single and kind of what was that trajectory like to see that record kind of go up? The label chosen is the single. I thought it was slow. First of all, I didn't want to be so mellow. Y'all see I got this hyper. I could have been a rapper.

You know what I have such a hyper personality. So I didn't want to be so mellow. That's where Pauli came in to like smooth me out. You know what I mean? He would be like, well, his number one question would always end it annoyed the shit out of me. He would always be like, would Aaliyah seen this? Would Alia have seen this? What Alia do that?

I'm like, why do you keep? Because I wasn't really, I wasn't like, you know, like soft like that and sensual like that. I mean, maybe I was and I just didn't see it. You know what I mean? Because my friend would always tell me that's always been you, but I didn't see it. So when that, when we first started on that beat,

it had these dirty, way dirtier drums, like kind of writing sign and not so like, they didn't crack like the ones that are actually on the record. And Raz did that. Razz, he was like, put the Mary, Jane Girl's drums on it instead, you know? And that's kind of how that came about. And the street fighter thing,

I'm going to tell you the truth, I didn't know that that was a sample from Nause saying, I don't know. I just would watch Bellin. Every day, multiple times. Multiple times sitting on my couch, smoking a joint, and probably sipping

some pipe of two buck chubs from Trader Joe's. Asked the Shaw. Yes, the Shaw. The Shaw. Yes, girl, this is a day so you just have to find a little coin to get through, you know? And so I would sit there and I would watch it and I just got so infatuated with nods. Like, I made this idea about who this man was that probably really was for him. And then I just got it to like listen to his music and all this stuff. You know, I was so, so, so, so into him that I just started writing his song, you know, with him and mine.

Like, you know, it wasn't. Oh, God, Amir, my least favorite quote. Where was he going? Where was he going? Where was he going? That's far. I put my money in general. I put my money where my mouth is.

I have a closet full of 20 Africans. I knew that I was like, yo, I'm going to make me some Africa as far t-shirts. I'm my only client. I got like 20 Africans far t-shirts in my closet right now. That is my gym shirt. My pajamas. Nah. Yeah, so with TBT, I wanted to ask you particularly, what was their deal as a label? I knew them particularly from just doing our Little John stuff, you know what I'm saying?

But what were your dealings with them? Yeah, yeah, TV tunes, yeah. TV tunes. What was your relationship with them and how did they go with them? So I went through, I don't think I ever told you by it is. So I went through a production company that was Paul Pauley and a guy named Dubs. I don't know Dubs last name. And sorry, Dubs, but I'm going to tell the truth. So I went through them and what happened was they signed me to TVT. I really didn't want to go to TVT because, you know, I had been working with, I've been

working with all these major labels and I really didn't want to go to TVT. But I did pray and ask God to send me the best place, and I definitely think that was the best place because I'm a natural born Indie August. So we went over there to them and also a lot of other places, they like me, but they didn't want me to write my whole album. I know. I know and knew who I was, but I knew I had to sit, it was the whole point was for me to write the album, even more than singing it. I wanted to write it, you know? And so they agreed for me to do that. And Brian, shout to Brian Leach, who is the owner of Polo Grounds with AAC rocking and all of them now. He was the A&R at the time,

and he really, really, you know, fought for me really, really hard and took care of me while I was there, but I signed to them direct, I went through Bridge to Entertainment, this production company, because that's back when that's what he would do. You would go through a production company. And dubs tried to flip my advance in the street.

Wait, can you? To break it down to people at all the same? Can you be slightly more transparent? But not transparent to the point of prison? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, he tried to cop, he didn't go. He ended up going. Yeah. He tried to cop bricks

with my money, honey. And so he, yes. He tried to flip my advance and ended up going to jail. And then I'm just here. And Pauly was the music guy. He was the business guy. So I'm just here. And it's just me and TDT

and shout out to Brian Leach because he took me and my partner, my sister Tamia, and he just took us under his wing, kind of just looked out for us. We didn't know what was going on. We didn't even know we had no clue what was going on. And he kind of just took us in and looked out for us. And Steve Gottlie was like nuts, but I dealt with him really well because I didn't have expectations.

See, when you come in and you've gone through the one-on-one of the music people, you know, and Hollywood people and stuff, you know they're crazy already. So I knew he was crazy, but he did give me what I needed. You know, I think I was the first. I think Lil Jon was kind of pissed because I was like the first one to get like a certain amount of money for a video but but i i wanted hype williams they were so happy to be a small label to get hype williams that they just gave him you know and it was still a discount believe right right right right right right right right right right right right exactly so um tbt i have no qualms people have such

bad things to say about the people that put them on because it didn't go right you wouldn't be here without those people so i have nothing bad to say about tvt shout out to steve godleap and i love brian leachy's one of my really really good friends tv tv is very very good to me and i think it was a great place for me as well to home my skills because like I told you the first song I ever wrote was on my first hour so I hadn't been doing it long so I got time to just like go in the studio and a lot of times I was using their money to write songs for other people that I'm supposed to be working on my own now so they helped me a lot Brian Leach would just put me in the studio any city I'm in I was like I'm in such and such can you put me in and I would just hone my skills and you know

the more you do anything the better you get at it so TVT was a great college and while you're doing all this Where are your boys? How are you handling being a mom? I lived in California with, at that time I lived in, um, we live in an area called Altadena, and we literally live like two streets over from each other. We all, it's like a little, uh, above Pasadena, a little neighborhood nestled into the, into the mountains and we, they would look out for me. My mom was sick. She was probably, she passed by that time.

Mom had passed by that time so she couldn't help out, but my sisters would help and Razz's mom. She would help so much. Like my first tour, she took. them and stuff like that. But for the most part, I was being able to be there, definitely able to be there. I prayed and asked God that my kids would be certain kind of people. And I think that that God was like, okay, well, you're going to have to be there. You're not going to be able to do a lot of things these other people are doing because you have to be present for your kids. And that's kind of how to

handle. Does this explain why there was such a long gap between albums? I got to have something to say, Kless. I would really love to be somebody. that could churn it out like that. Like, I just really have to have some, like, experience, like, after I did complex simplicity, I didn't know what to say. I just knew how to make music really good. Did you understand what I'm saying?

How did you feel when the album was mastered in sequence and done with? Like, was it a purge feeling like, okay, I got everything out that I wanted to get out and what now? Or? I wasn't present. So I don't know. I can't tell you. Like, I was just rolling.

Y'all to understand, okay, family fall apart, mom dies. Now you're out here with the album. Now you're on the road, blah, blah, blah. I don't even have time to think about it. Oh, so you can get time to process it. Yes. And then are you making sure you're making up for what you're doing?

Because I'm thinking about now you go on the road singing the same sad songs that you came up with, you know, that you were trying to get out of your system. That's a- Where I didn't get a shit no more. I didn't get a shit no more. One thing about a satirist once we get it out. This is why people can't stand up.

No, I know. I'm with one, I understand. Oh, you're with one? Oh, you're with one. I'm sorry, girls. But once we get out what we have to say, we don't care anymore. You don't care anymore. You know, like, once we say we have to say, and we can say some foul shit.

And we don't mean to be so hard. But once we get it out, it's done. And now it's like, come on, let me make you something to eat. Let's have a drink. Ah, it's good, you know. So I'm on stage. And then we just left with the shit. We're like, well, wait a minute, I'm going to get my mind right now.

You just drop the bomb and shit. What am I supposed to do with that information? But it's not. It's not like I'm not offering a drink with that information, after that information. So I'm on stage just having a good time. Now I'm out here just having a good time. You know, that's when it just turned into so much fun, traveling all around, realizing I'm not the only crazy one. Because if you're out here singing and stuff with me and you can relate, y'all just as nutty as me.

So I'm not the only one. I'm not the only one. Okay, I'm trying to remember this is a legendary location. The album cover. Did you shoot that cover at the infamous, do you know what these style houses? Yes. Is that style? Okay.

So, I think it's a mid-century modern. Is that mid-century modern? Are you talking about the style of it, the architectural style? No, no, no. Okay, so it's kind of a house that you see in every Hollywood movie. Yeah, what's love got to do with it? Yeah. It's called out.

But now what was the Ricky Lyman. Is that the first place I saw? Yeah, that was a White the Fool's Fall in Love. Waterfield. Yeah, that's the one I saw it. It's literally, it's called, no, style, S-T-A-H-L. And it's, uh...

Oh, that's what it's called? Yeah, well, not the... It's just, that's the location. They titled it the style house. And it's been used in over, you know, at least 300. I mean, probably more than 500 Hollywood movies. But it's very recognizable.

So when I saw that window thing and your background... That's the only part of it. the house this nice looking unless they've upgraded. I was, I was going to ask you, okay, so similar to, similar to the diner that Quentin Tarantino used in Pulp Fiction,

which is another kind of Hollywood staple, like this, this diner is never used to serve food. It's only used for a movie house is to look like it's a diner. But I went in there once and looked horrible. I always wanted to know, like,

if that house was vintage or Was it classic or imputed? When I was there, there was still a lady living. I mean, I don't know if it was this old couple, but the old lady was still in there. And I ended up, I saw her in her bed and like she was kind of sick or whatever. But they had like carpet and it was kind of mill. Like only one, that part, that part of the house where the window is in that area, that's the only part of the house that was nice.

I'm sure now they probably invested more money in it to make it better with. Or maybe not. Really? Or maybe not because it was doing what it was doing either way, you know? It's supposed to look like it's nice. 1960 or 65. That's not the part I'm talking about. I'm talking about the other part of the house where it's okay for it to look nice in 1960s,

but there were technical issues like mildew carpet. You know what I mean? Like these things can be changed out. You could put more carpet and still be 1960. So how did your, what was the most apparent change in your life now that you made the transition from, you know, not being a singer to, being well known, uh, and singing. Like, what was the, what were the pros and cons of your, your, your, your newfound transition?

The pros as a writer, I started making a lot of money. Okay. I was really cool. I was literally without a place to live. I'd say homeless, but I was without a place to live because I could live with family, right? But I didn't have anywhere to live. I had to, um, I got evict. I didn't get evicted, but I had to leave before I got evicted.

And me and the kids were just kind of like stand where we could. And then like a $300,000 check came. And it just started coming every few months more and more and more. And that was all songwriting money, royalties from songwriting. Because you have to understand, nobody was like checking for complex simplicity like that. That was just, you know, artists. I mean, that was probably like a little sprinkled in there somewhere.

But it wasn't like the bulk of it. And that was really, really cool. That was cool to, like, go from having nothing and to see that, like, your intellect, your intellectual property could garnish this. And people started to come at me, you know, to kind of sign publishing. It felt very cool to say, no, I'm okay. So song placement money is good money if you can place it on the right artist? Yes.

And I also think you got to own your publishing. because if somebody gave you a check and now they're taking you know Steve Gottberg used to tell he used to always try to get my publishing he would say you must not believe in yourself who you don't believe in Steve Gottlie

the owner of TVT he would say he would say you don't believe in yourself you don't believe yourself why wouldn't you sell your publishing you must not believe in yourself and I would laugh like that I believe in myself that's why I'm not selling the shit right yeah but that was my that was my biggest change

and then because you have to understand I didn't meet people I wouldn't walk down the street and people noticed it wasn't anything like that. Not until I got to like Europe or something. That's where people would notice me. But I got to make money, which really kind of. Raphael Sadiq is one of the artists that I watched and looked at it and what he did. And it was kind of like, I love how his thing goes.

Okay. He doesn't, Raphael can walk, Ray can walk around, be himself, yourself, you know, and every now and this, my, Raphael. Not an essence. But he doesn't get, but not an essence of course. But I mean, like he gets people that. comes up to him, but it's not like in a bothersome way. He gets to do what he love, live his life, make his money, be a normal person. You know what I mean?

And I saw that from the gate, and I thought that was super, super cool. So I was kind of like not never, I hate to say, but I never really wanted any type of fame. I just wanted to be heard because I'm not the type of person that you can just run up my face of cameras and say something crazy to me or, and then I have to now conduct myself like a celebrity. I'm not going to conduct myself like a celebrity. I'm going to conduct myself like a real person with real feelings, and I'm going to treat you according to how you treat me no matter who you are.

You know what I mean? So that was something I was really grateful for. I didn't really, I didn't want that. Nothing. I was, I was, I was, I was, why it's important to share, like, your story. That's why I mean, it's remarkable in that way because you are that person. And the same thing, I know Fonte talks about that all the time, but a lot of people don't know that, like, you can be a whole working successful musician

and you don't have to be on every commercial, every TV thing, and be happy. Unless that's what you want. Unless that's what you want. Unless that's what you want. And I think it's beautiful when people want that and they get that. But so when people ask me, you know, what if I should have to get to the know what you want? No, that you want. And even more so than that, know who you are.

Like, because I think there are some people that are like, they just have that thing of like, like a Will Smith, right? Just as an example, not a singer, but just will is will. Like he, one minute, he's jumping out of plane and then he's doing a movie and then he's discovering Earth. And then this nigga losing. wait. Like, you know what I mean? Like he just always is doing something and, and there's just some people that are just those big personalities. And then there's just some people that's just like, look, I just want to make what I make, put it out. And then y'all can leave me to fuck alone. And I have to have a second job. And listen, baby, don't ever say I'm not successful.

I get up every day to do what I want to do. You know what I'm talking about? That's what I'm talking about. I might not live. I might not be in a cover of your magazine. I might not be the song you hear every time you're calling the radio. But if I wanted that, please believe me, I would had, I never had intention to that. All I wanted to do was not work some type of job. I hate it and be able to take care of my kids. That was it. Yeah. That's why this is a surprising. Sorry, go ahead. No, I'm just saying, that's why I was not surprising to hear her response in that way, because if you're a real fan of Ties your Moses, then you kind of kind of had a feeling of that. It makes sense. Yes. Yes. Yeah. How did, so speaking of that, how did your situation with MMG,

how did that come about? And what was kind of the, like, how did that go? Well, I lived in Miami. I moved to Miami, I think 2009. Okay. So by 2010, I think Ross had caught wind of me. I think he found out about me in Atlanta because Atlanta is a really huge market for me. And so he found out for me in Atlanta. He said some ratchet girls telling him about me or something like that.

And then he reached out to me on DM because we only lived about 10 minutes, 20 minutes away from each other, something like that. Oh, wow. And then we all hung out and it was cool, you know. And that he had, he just got me. Well, he hadn't signed me about yet. It got me and he got wilda. And he kind of was like kind of building his thing. And I would just go in and sing on stuff.

And it was cool, but it just never pandaned to anything. Okay, gotcha. So the record, when you put out Klineacken Conversation, was that stuff you were recorded while, like during the MMG time? Or was that just a completely different thing? It was during the MMG time, but I was never signed to them. And anything that I was doing for, like, I paid for all that. Like, you know, I was taking care of that.

Like, it was just something I was doing while I was discussing with them, you know, if we were going to do something or not, you know. But I'm like a woman, you know, like I'm a grown woman. So it's, like, kind of different to have this, you know, I don't really just slip in line with everything. You know, I'm teacher. I'm just the woman in the crew, the singer of the football. woman though, not girl, woman with two kids, you know.

Yeah, but it panned out and I was really grateful because I would give him, I think, probably up until like maybe two albums ago, I was singing all over his stuff. I'm very loyal to anybody that extends a hand to me. I'm very, very loyal if you need anything from me, you know, I'm just, I'm, if you have ever done anything to be helpful to me, I'm always here. And so I would sing on this stuff or whatever. So people thought I was still connected because I was singing about stuff. Oh, got you.

Was it, was the process different in this record in that, um, you worked with one producer for the last album. Very. And multiple producers for this record. Yes. Very much so because I did tons of mixtapes before that album came out, right? And so I was kind of like, it was just a really like, it was like a big thing. That was the one for me.

Like that was, yeah. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. But I would do these mixtape and I think because, like I said, the first album, idea you have to understand I had not only did I have Paul Polly I had Neil and I had Paul Paulie and Neil and they were helping me through this process of creating an album then I didn't have that anymore and then so now I'm just making these mixtapes and I'm kind of learning how to

make an album through exercising making mixtapes making all these mistakes so at the time I get to konyak in conversation that's just the mood I'm in but I kind of just gather I make music constantly always making music I'll start it just be like a first and a lot of hook, that'll later for two years, you know. And then I'll come back to it and the verse in the hook that comes to that. And then I listen to the music. And now I make doing more to the music and things like that. And that's kind of how the process was for Cognac in conversation.

I didn't have this pain to pour out. It was more so just like music coming out than these feelings. Do you understand what I'm saying? Was that hard for you? Because that was. Very. That was, yeah, that was something that was tough, like learning how to, when you used to, I guess, creating from a place of pain or trauma or like a bad relationship.

Yeah, I got the whole Mary Blake Jake Vodge thing. The more pain I'm in, the better than you're going to be. It really is. It's really whack, you know, to the point to where I'll thrust myself into some bullshit to feel something. Just one of it. I was going to ask. I was going to ask. I had to learn.

You're not the first person I know that keeps their ex on standby. Well, no, no, I'm not saying you said that. But I know people that actually said, I got to get with my ex. real quick. No, I know people that actually spend the box. Right. Get their excellent standby so they can finish this last verse or something. I need some toxic tales. You know, it's really what it is is like you need to feel because I'm a genuine person so I can't I can't just, you know, act like I feel something. I always

everything I say and do is coming from my heart. You know what I mean? So like I just at that time, Coney and conversations was more about okay, you're at a place where you know, you're not in pain. more, you're chilling, whatever, and you're ready to go out here and do your thing. You're a grown woman, you're sexy, you fly, like, you know, go out here and do your thing. But it was different and rightly because that ain't really deep. Not mad anymore, right? It's not really deep, you know?

On that record, you work with two very good, two good friends of mine from the Bay, my man, Tracademics. And you did the so special record with my man, Brandon, one of a kind, one oak. How did y'all link up? I was very surprised to see you and happily surprised. to see you work with them. How did you come across their work? Oh my God. Wait, I never knew that's what one of who stood for.

Wait, one of a kind. I didn't either. I'm sorry. I thought it was the address in the New York club. I'm okay. No, but I, my mind, I'm like, why would he make himself after that nightclub? Yeah, no, I definitely had to ask him that question and he told me what was going on. I definitely had to ask him because I like Brandon.

I couldn't have just been Brandon. Right. I was called him Brandon. That's a shout to shout to them. The Bay is another place that, you know, a lot of support in the Bay, and I, you know, I have cities in America and outside of America that are cities that I can always get my money from. And so the Bay was one of those cities. And academics hit me long time ago because he was just such a fan of this is all social media. I met them, you know, because he hit me and he was a fan of complex simplicity. And I'm the type of person that I don't just like, I don't do that. I really always go look and see who this is.

I don't care if it's somebody that's huge or, you know, whatever. I'll go check it out and see. And I just loved his sound to this day. Like, we work constantly. We always work together because he has such a great song. And to me, I'm okay with evolving into anything that I'm supposed to evolve into, but there's a base to what my sound is. And I don't like to really kind of like dismiss that base.

You know what I'm saying? Like it can be something different in fresh and new, but it has to have that face. And he completely has that face. We call it Champagne Soul. It's like it's really, really sophisticated. you know, twirl. The girls don't twerk, they twirl. You know, and so it was just very easy. It was very easy for us to connect.

And Brandon kind of came along with that. Yeah, yeah, okay. Yeah, I like that the record, that was on the luxurious underground joint. It's so special and missing you. Those are my two ones from that. I love both of those songs, for real. Thank you very much.

Missing you was like a spillage from the album that was supposed to be The Young Lions. It was just spillage from this album that I dismantled. So, okay, yeah, the young line, what happened? What happened on that record? Well, Pauley wasn't there anymore. I think Brian was dead, said I'll be working with one producer like we did before. But like I said, you know, I hate to be vulgar, people think it's vulgar,

but I always say making music is for me. I can't speak for other people. It's like having sex. And I'm not a very promiscuous woman because I can't connect with everybody like that. And I don't do things just to do them, you know what I mean? So me and Pauli, we have good sex. You know what I have the chemistry, you know? And I just didn't find somebody else to do that with.

So I would go out and work with all these different people, but I don't think that they were trying to recreate that thing. And so before we could figure that out, I was ready to go. And then TDT kind of just went apart. It went bankrupt. In your material, I think the person that I hear that you have a really good chemistry with, and I don't know personally, you know, if it compares to a poly or not. but you and Bink, like, yo, y'all do not fucking miss. Like, I love the records y'all do together. What was it like working?

We really friends, you know? Like, Bink and I are really friends. Like, Bink will call me and vent and I don't listen, you know? Yes, you will. Shout out to Bink. Shout out of Bink. Much love to me. Yeah, you will, oh.

So I think that's the thing. I think that I've been in the studio with the most world-renowned and amazing producers. And like I said, it's like sex. It don't mean it's going to work. You know what I'm saying? And I think me and Link just have a good chemistry. I think because I really genuinely like him and he genuinely like me and we care about each other. So it just comes out like that.

And I wish I could just have sex with anybody, but I can't. And that's kind of how it is with music. I can't. I can come in here and I can have every good intentions to make this great. you know but if it doesn't click i don't know how to go in the mode of like this isn't clicking make it click i don't know how to do that because i feel like i'm in my sweet spot when it when it's like rolling when i force it it gets really whack and i don't like that part of what i do it makes me start to feel like i'm like so i just like yeah make your questions uh

were you and anthony together you and anthie uh when y'all did um that one record we all together in the studio when y'all did that record we were no No, we were. I did that by myself and then I sent it to Anthony. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, that was another one of my face. And that was a track, I don't want to say, because you probably know who, because you probably know them.

You're from Philly. No, I'm in North Carolina. No, you're not Carolina. Okay, well, some friends of mine from Philly. I know, so I'm not going to say. Some friends from Fili, I only had so much money to make the album, and they wanted more money for the album. So I just took my vocals and gave them to BIN.

and being murdered. It turned out way better and I thought it was going to be with the first check, you know? And that's kind of how that happened with the Anthony Hamilton record and then we sent it to Anthony and he got on him. Okay. Nah, that one, that shit was dope.

I love that record. Thank you so much. For real. Was your label situation with Shanicki when you, in 2015, how were they working with them compared to TVT? How was that for you? I learned to appreciate TDT a lot more. Okay.

And I learned that you don't need a middleman. You weren't expected that, Fonte. Hey, it's T's your boss. I know what she's going to be real. I learned that you don't need a middleman. That's what I learned. I learned you don't need a middleman. Fact.

Not for what I do. With your current situation, are you your own manager right now? We have a team. Me and my sister are partners, and that's kind of how we roll. I guess I would be partly my own manager because we just kind of work together on it. But I've never had like big management or anything like that. But is that like being the wedding planner and the bride at the same time? I don't.

No. No. I don't be the bride and the wedding planner. I really just be the bride. And my sister just tells me. Oh, her sister be the wedding planner. Okay. Yeah. She should be sitting here telling you how crazy I am and how, you know,

she takes on a lot of hats and, you know, stuff like that. It's definitely, I would love it for it to be, you know, where I'm completely detached from it. But it's just not possible. What do your boys think about now that they're, they're artist. Coast Contra. Shout out to Coast Contra. What do they think about the way that you have lived your career

and the things that they're going to get taken away from it as far as, you know, to being this great indie artist that you are? Well, they saw the ups and right. Right. Right. So it makes me feel happy that I didn't do so bad in the down times to make them be like, I don't want to do.

You know, so that makes me happy. And they just always have always championed. me like I get nervous to let them hear anything always have since they were, you know, like I just really respect their opinions so much. And I think more than anything, it was kind of, they were kind of like me. They had it in them, burning in them. They didn't even tell me forever. I didn't learn.

One of their friends told me that they rap or whatever, you know. I didn't even know. I think that they just, uh... Oh, this family doesn't share their intimate, humble. The humble sense of it. That's what they call. No, listen. They told me, well, we thought, we thought that you wouldn't want us to rap because, you know,

Dad raps and, you know. You know how you feel about dad. Right. Right. Yeah. Not in my mind, you and him are like friends now. Like, we, it's like 30 years, 20 years later, 20 something years later. Here's the thing.

I have, listen, I love him with all my heart. He's my first love ever, you know, first everything. You know what I mean? And so I love him all my heart. And but we don't have any beef, nothing. We're super cool. We always, like, we could be, we could always be friends because that's always when we were. My only problem with him ever has been not being a father to his children.

That was all it. That was it. You know, so now. So now he don't like when I say stuff like this book. Like I can't rewrite what happened, you know. So it's cool. Like we can sit down and talk. We can be cool each other.

He makes me laugh by making him like, we cool. But that's my only problem. So now that that's done, let's have a shot. You know what I'm saying? It's all good. Abusing opinions of T.J. Wait, wait, because. The one time that you did say something to me,

you were like, the one time that you did say something to me, you were like, is it just a rest test? No, hey, anyway. So next. No, no. Go ahead, Dean. It's okay, it's okay. It's okay.

No, we're friends. It's no bad. You said nothing bad. You said nothing bad. You just asked me a question. And I was like, that was it. I never heard from me again. Check, please.

Check please. Fontaine and Teeter, love Supreme. Man, really. Pretty much. Yeah, I love it. So with them, so with your son's, Coast Contra, do you, I guess, do you play any role in their, career, like how how do you manage that, you know, with them, you know, doing their thing and

you doing your thing? How does that work? Those are my children. I am their mother. All I can do is off as artists to artists, off of them. Because first of all, let's start here. I am going to sit and pretend like I know a lot about this business because I've been in the industry of Teedromosis. I haven't really been in the music industry. A record business, right? Yeah, I'm in the industry of Tidem Moses. I make my money off of. I very rarely opened for people. I was always doing my own shows, my own shit, you know what I mean? So I don't really know much about that. So I'm not going to sit down like I know of this stuff, you know. But what I do tell them is about navigation of human beings in this space, you know, and I tell them about being good. I think one of the

reasons they didn't want to tell me, because they knew if they were whack, I was going to tell them. I was going to say, this is not good. You would have told me that, though? Sound like phantas. Hell yeah, you got to. He did the same thing with his son. Yeah, like, listen, bro, you want to hear it For me, because if you hear it from me, you know it's coming from a place of love. You hear from the internet, them niggas don't give a fuck about nothing. They used to say all the time that they want to be basketball players. Have you ever seen their dad? Have you seen that's all I am?

Right, right. I said, no. It's not happening. I told them all the time when they were a little gurp child. Wait, I told her. She's five to two. Dang. It's five two standing outside the trail in Queensbridge, son.

Listen, and stacks like five, seven, five eight. Everyone says that. I think the complex simplicity album cover. I talk, lady. I talk like a giant. But I think the complex simplicity, because I get this all the time, I think the complex simplicity album where my leg is kind of out of something, I think people think that that's a long leg.

Now, I have a long leg. But that's all. I legit. You were like five-eight long-litty and short-thad. Definitely not. Definitely not. But I don't say this, Fonte, it's so much more. pleasurable to see them doing what they're doing than it was for me because I did it out of

desperateness to take care of my kids until I get to not be, you know what I mean? Like they're doing it because they just love it and they enjoy it and they're happy about every single thing I went to see them. What was that last week or the week before last? They opened it for Card Day and they were on stage and these people don't know who they are and they're chant and everything and standing there. It's like my heart just going to bust wide open because it's just very good to see your children pursuing their purpose and getting reaction from it.

You know, it makes you feel really, really good. And I also know how long they've humbled themselves and just work hard and kept their head down and they, you know, and now it's getting reaction to it. So it makes me feel really good. Yeah, now, they've been on it for a minute. I mean, I've seen them like, they're going up now. Like I've seen like a lot of stuff, like the LA leakers and all that. But I be telling them like, yo, now, them boys been on it for a minute.

Like, they've been at it. So I'm super, super happy for them brothers. That's dope. Wow, man. Epigenetics is a beautiful thing, man. Yeah. Yeah. When you're...

It's the real love and hip-hop. When your family passes the genes down to you, that's awesome. Yeah. That's awesome. I wanted to ask Tidja, one thing I wanted you to break down, I think would be really helpful for all our listeners and some who are, you know, aspiring artists and independent artists. For you as an independent as R&B, because that's, R&B is super, I tell everybody, it is so much

harder doing indie R&B than doing indie hip-hop. Like, it's, they're two completely worse. Cost a whole lot more, way more expensive. So for you, what moves the needle for you do you find? Is it shows? Is it videos? Is it, you know, is it content, you know, just releasing shit on IG or whatever? What are the things that work for you as an indie artist that you actually see

dividends from? Well, I definitely, you know, well, I see dividends from the shows. definitely that was that's what kept me for the most part okay um but i think it's just the owning the publishing has always you know those checks come through you know mailbox money yeah it comes through and um and you know merch does decent but it's not because i'm not trying to push that as much as you know because i love music so yeah i'm not trying to start a clothing line i have i have to think and then like and have people help me with that but um i think more than anything what is the

the most productive, not just money-wise. Right, right. The shows and touching people have made me have like this kind of more occult kind of following. You know what I mean? I've been seeing the same people in these, these, I have like a lockdown like 10 to 11 cities that I'm going to always give my money and I see these people all the time. I know their children.

You know what I mean? I know all these people and I think that, I think the internet is great. I think it can get you to a lot of people, but I think ultimately a real connection. is when you're on stage, you know, and when you get off stage and you talk to people and you do, like, I was always big on before people were doing this like these pop-up shows.

Okay. Because I travel a lot just because I like to travel, you know. And so I would just pop up in cities and just in a small bar and get a guitar player and blah, I love that kind of stuff. Like, I love that kind of stuff. I love real connection with people. I think that's what it is with me.

I like your experience with me to be very intimate. So it feels like I'm your friend. I don't want you to fan out over me because that's weird to be. I just want you to be my friend. You know? Yeah. How do you use in terms of using social media? Because I talk with a lot of artists now, which we're different because we kind of came up in an age before it.

So we know kind of what it was before. But artists now, like social media is just something that you have to have some kind of presence there. And that's not something that we really had to have. So how do you navigate that in terms of using your social media? What works for you? What doesn't? How does that work for you? Well, you know, I started with MySpace and I'm always engaged.

And I'm always engaged people and I've always been transparent. I've always been very transparent on social media to, like I said, to make people feel like I'm not someone up here. I'm your home girl next door. So when I say, you know, whatever I'm seeing, what I've been through and. blah blah or if I'm on a video telling you this at the third you're not listening to me like somebody talking down to you you look listen to me like someone talking across you like a friend but that's kind of how i approach social media it's new now because it's like called content but i just always been doing this i've just always been being myself on social media um i have to step it up

now because it's like and i hate it i fucking hate it but the thing is i used to love it i used to really freaking to you had to do engaging with people and to it became a thing like now. It's like, you know, this and the third. But I actually do like it. So I'm triggering my head back into like it. A lot of the things that are going on now, I used to do them before, not because I thought it was a thing because I just wanted to do it.

Do you understand what I'm saying? So I just continue like a, I always say, you know, continue what you're doing and go harder to anybody. Just continue what you're doing and go harder. And that's how I post social media. Just now I'm fixing my mind being that I'm moving to new music to continue what I'm doing. to be more concise and like strategize about how, you know, strategizing how I want to do it. I love to watch you stand in your power on Instagram.

I was just thinking about that. I was telling the guys that I was like, I love that you stand in the power who you are not just inside, but also outside, you know what I mean? I'm pretty girl. Yeah, I mean, you're gorgeous. That's what I mean, you're gorgeous and you're surprisingly thick. So I was like, I love. Yeah, we shouted you out on, I must shout out the little brother shouting you out on

our game's real. Yes. That changed my sister. situation, baby. Are you serious? Yeah. What? People used to be like, little brother did say, you know, and here's the thing.

I joke a lot. Like, I think I'm cute. I think I'm pretty much. It's far more beautiful women with whatever, blah. But that's just the Sagittarius thing. We big ourselves up. We don't wait for people cheerily for us. We just cheerle for ourselves.

Like, I keep my palm palms ready in case I need to pick me up. And that's just kind of how I am. So people just experience, people just experience in me being myself, you know, and I think that it comes across from me. It doesn't come across from me like a movie. Yeah. Yeah. Her pom-pom-poms in a different place.

But still, no, you got pom-poms up there? Listen, I got pom-poms. They're just locked down right now, girl. I've seen them on the IGG. Yeah, we've seen them on the IG. Yes, man. You've seen them on the IG. So, your new record, so special record.

I mean, that's a real, not so special, I'm not so, I'm sorry, make me. Yes. With, you know, Brody Brown, Uncle Chuck. I love that record. Is that, no, that record is fucking great. I love it. Thank you.

How is that setting up a new record? Like, where are you, what you're working on now? What, where you were at? Yes. I'm working on I'm gonna call the bullshit. It's based on what I went through after my kids are grown up, right? And I didn't, I didn't date. I tried a little bit.

But then I realized, you got a lot of you plate, right? And I, I'm a person that when I love, I get all involved, right? So I didn't have, I couldn't just have a man in my life that might deter me from my responsibility which were taking care of my kids and making music and, you know, all that stuff. So I didn't really date. So by the time the twins left and moved to L.A. to start pursuing what they went to do with music, I just went out in the world and like, okay, I'm going to have a man and, you know, give my life and all this stuff.

And I was trash. It was trash out there. Dayton was trash. Oh, now. In California? No, I was going, but I traveled. So it's not just in California. I'm in New Orleans.

I'm in L.A., I'm in Miami. You know, I'm in New York. I'm in all these places, right? And it wasn't that, I'm not saying that everybody's trash. It just was trash for me because I need genuine connection, you know. So I decided I met this guy who's really really cute. And I was like, okay, company one. I'm a, I pulled him in whatever, you know, because I'm a business woman.

That's how we handle everything else. A single mom and a business woman is the worst because we think we can make anything happen, right? And so I pulled this guy into my life. And I pulled the biggest bullshit into my life that I have ever experienced. I almost went gay dealing with this. You understand me? And the gentleman, teacher, Moses. Okay.

And the interview just started. He wore me out. Yes. He wore me out. You know what I'm saying? So it was just like, was this the dude that was on your IG? Because I would see something that you would post.

Would you post him sometimes? No. No, no, no, no. I would never, he could be my husband. We could, I would never see some man that I'm dealing with. Okay, okay. The smart thing for women in music that are known. But, yeah, it's just, he just, I liked him so much.

And I just felt. I just feel like because I'm into you you should just really be good and it just didn't pan out out. It was just I put myself in that situation and I wanted to blame him

but I couldn't so there's a period of time during that it's like four years that I wrote all these songs and it was like what was coming out of me at that time

genuinely coming out of me not me trying to conjure it up like you know I have a record on there with Kate Chanada and Durambanard he simply called fighting farewell

because I'm just I know I need to go I knew this is done girl what are you doing and I'm fighting I'm fighting so this is what this album is about it's about you know trying to go out here and date and the bullshit I encountered and the emotions I encountered but also the make me album we have a remix with currency and Eric belliger and Eric belliger yeah and we have to talk about the catranata the be your girl like yeah I was like we have to like and the records you did for him the culture joint on his album actually and that was co-written

with my sons oh he was oh nice yeah it was. Yeah. How did you feel about the remix bringing that song back some 12 years after, not even 12? Yeah, it was wild, though. It was like 2012, and I had record with Elise in 2004. Yeah. It was a long time, yeah. But I felt really good, and I love him. And I just thought it was super cool because we got to, we did that. And now we all made him, you know, I can't talk too much about that. No, no, though. Now, I was so happy.

I'll say, however it happened, without putting up, I was so happy to see that be available on, officially on streaming service. However it gets done, I don't care. We got together and we did it. Yeah. So, yeah. But I was really appreciative, and I just feel like,

to be honest with you, quest, that made me feel good as a songwriter. You know, I feel, be your girl makes me feel really good as a songwriter. because even if it's the original or the remix or one of the other 10 trillion remixes that people have done, the fact that I did something that long ago genuinely from my heart and people still like it today, it makes me feel really good. I love maids for that reason. So the fact that I have a song that can come on way later and people still get into it,

it just makes me feel really good as an artist. More than the financial gain of it, I feel really, really good as an artist that is. It's sustained. I love it. Well, you know, I almost feel compelled to do our traditional ending in which we all say what we learned today. I know, right? I will say I learned that if you don't come correct with teacher Moses. Listen.

You're out of here, son. You'll become part of a narrative. Yeah, she's going to write a, she's going to write a jam about your head. All right. What else did we learn today? I learned, I did not know, I swear, I did not know that, uh, us shouting you out on the gangster girls that that, you know, that that changed. I have no idea. Yeah, we was just, I mean, we was just showing you love. Like I was, you know, I was so sweet. Thank you. No, we was just showing you love. I mean, I've been bumping complex simplicity. And so, you know, we've been, booed just talking shit that night in the studio. We're starting to keep it. So, um, now, I've been a fan forever and, you know, just, I see the people you work with, you work with like a lot of, you know, homies I know and people I really respect. And, um, I just. I just, really appreciate the way you've moved in this game. And it's just, you're always someone that I've always looked at,

you know, you, my brother Eric Robeson, you know what I'm saying, just on the R&B level where it's just like, yo, it is people out here that's eating, like, that are eating good and making good knowledge of the truth. And raising families, Kendrick, absolutely. Kendra the family soul. And so I just, you know, thank you and commend you for just, you know, being just that person and that artist and just having that integrity. And, you know, always putting your best foot forward in the music

that you put out. It really means a lot. Thank you. You know what else I learned? You ain't nobody else go yet. I learned so much. All right. Y'all can talk.

Amira, I'll close. Go ahead, Amir. It is your show. No, no, go ahead,

Phil. Oh, I learned two things. One, Fante and teachers should have their own podcast. And two, all them first.

All right. Conversations. Yes. Conversations. Yes. And two, I've never been so proud to be a Sagittarius

in my whole life. Yeah. This is like a Sagittarius, Tereus appreciation hour. I didn't know shit about being a Sagittarius, but I know a whole lot now. I don't learn. All right, Leah, what did you learn? Oh, well, I just do go quick.

I have just learned that what I already knew, that Tidra's my whole tribesman, everything that she does. I kind of do outside of singing and songwriting. And also, I've been learned that Tidra Moses is an amazing softball player. I just want to throw that out on top of everything else that she does. everything else does you do? This bitch can kill on a field. Well, I had to that day.

I'm kind of them. You had to do what I got to do. No, you stole bases and everything. Yeah, we played on a softball. And I could run faster. Wait, you all on a softball team together? Yes. Yes.

Yes. I did not know this? I used to play on the Boys and Girls' Cup on the soft box. Yes, me. I'm here. My name is Yiree. Steve, she knows what the sports are. The sports.

I know what the sports. All right, Steve, what you learn? I learned that she's cool and I like her and she's a great interview. Thank you for doing this for us today. Also, in defense of asshole boyfriends, sorry, but we do we do help you come up with good materials. I agree. I agree. The girl's about to be jamming like a ball for her.

I'm ready. When is it coming? Do you have a date for it yet? Not yet. Not yet. Okay, this is okay. 2020. It's coming this year.

Yeah. You know, our listeners won't be able to see this. But, okay, so she started mentioning it. And I was like, all right, instead of me looking at my psychedelic kaleidoscope imagery, I started putting on my television screen, belly. Oh, don't know a meter. No. I got to tell you, I got to tell you, belly with the volume down is actually.

It's great. It looks amazing. Yeah, this is a beautiful, I'd never really notice the cinematography. It's a two-hour video. Yeah, it's a video. Ain't no script. It is. It's beautiful.

It's beautiful. Oh, the lighting on Terrell Hicks. With the volume down, where is Terrell Hicks? Somewhere probably being very beautiful still. She, yeah. I know her sister's in gospel play. No, no, no, I just remember that her sister was on a reality show and a gospel play. It's a whole other thing with Jenny Wine.

You know, it doesn't matter. But yeah, I know she's in a reality. Anyway, for a real, teacher, this is long overdue. We thank you very much for doing the show. Thank you guys so much. I had a great time. I also want to say to you before I go. Congratulations on your great documentary.

It's really, really amazing. I really appreciate that. I appreciate all that it's getting to because it was so cool. Hopefully, by the time this makes it to air, I will have taken the statue home. Winning. Yes. Manifested. Yes, absolutely.

All right. So on behalf of the great teacher, Moses, and I'm Pay Bill and Chuck Steve, Fontecolo, and Laia. This is another classic Questlove Supreme Extravaganza. We will see you on the next group. Thank you very much. Questlove Supreme is a production of Iheart Radio. For more podcasts from Iheart Radio, visit the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.