- 2 days ago
P-Valley star Nicco Annan, who plays Uncle Clifford, talks season finale with Yes, Girl! hosts Cori Murray and Charli Penn
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00:00Charlie Pan.
00:02Cory.
00:03I just watched the finale of T-Valley.
00:06Epic.
00:07Epic.
00:08I did not see that coming.
00:10I knew Autumn was up to something, but I didn't know what exactly.
00:14Now you know I love a good plot twist, my sister.
00:17And that one was incredible.
00:19But we have more questions.
00:21We can't figure this out just the two of us.
00:23Who can we ask?
00:25Can we ask our fave?
00:27I would love to talk to Uncle Clifford right now because, I mean, the wisdom that he,
00:34that he, she brings, that they bring.
00:37I think we should call.
00:38What you think?
00:39Okay.
00:40All right.
00:41I'm going to get it over here.
00:42All right.
00:43Let's make it happen.
00:46Hello?
00:47Hello?
00:48Hello?
00:49Hello?
00:50Cory?
00:51Yes.
00:52Cory?
00:53Yes.
00:54Yes, girl.
00:55Yes, girl.
00:56Oh.
00:57Hello.
00:58Can we please?
01:00Let's talk about this finale.
01:02Oh my.
01:03Can we please?
01:04Wait, wait, wait, wait.
01:05First, first.
01:06I, I, I made the mistake once.
01:07I was talking about you because I love talking about you, but I realized I may have tripped
01:11up your last name.
01:12So can you give us your name, please?
01:15The government.
01:16I am Nico.
01:17The government is Nico Anand.
01:19Nico Anand.
01:20Just like Kofi Anand.
01:21Ooh.
01:22Ooh.
01:23So are you, you're, is your father West African?
01:26Yeah.
01:27From Ghana.
01:28From Ghana.
01:29All day.
01:30Yeah.
01:31I just found out that I'm from Ghana as well.
01:33I did my ancestry.
01:34Hey, it's a sin.
01:35Hello.
01:36Oh my God.
01:37But we have.
01:38Oof.
01:39Oof.
01:40Oof.
01:41Oof.
01:42Oof.
01:43Oof.
01:44Oof.
01:45Where do we begin?
01:46You are a mess.
01:47You are a mess.
01:48You can begin with rule number one.
01:49Let the stage be your stepping stone, not your tombstone.
01:52Oof.
01:53Yes.
01:54That was so appropriate for the finale.
01:57That's what I figured I would get.
02:00You know, Alpha Omega, the beginning and the end.
02:03I feel I give you the first, the first rule for the finale, you know, work it out like
02:09that.
02:10Y'all enjoy it?
02:11Yeah.
02:12You have me thinking about turning doors, windows into doors all the time though.
02:16That's a whole other conversation.
02:17I'm like, let me do my exit.
02:20That's right.
02:21That's right.
02:22That's right.
02:23But speaking of stages, one thing we want to say is, you know, we've read a lot about
02:28you and we know that you originated this role on stage with the play, Pussy Valley,
02:35the play.
02:36Yes.
02:37But we're curious.
02:38And actually, it was our associate producer who brought this up as a great question is,
02:42when you performed it on stage, you know, you got an immediate reaction from the audience
02:47and, you know, they fell in love with your character.
02:49But how has it been since it's now on screen when you, you know, you filmed this, what,
02:54a year ago, you have to wait for it to come and then you got to wait for like Black Twitter
02:58to give their comments.
02:59Like, what is that?
03:01Explain to us about your new audience of P Valley.
03:05I think the process of it feels like divine order.
03:09In terms of literally my career as an actor from the nose or not even having the space to,
03:19for a certain level of representation, you know, I identify as a Black gay man,
03:26but to be able to play non-binary, to be able to play other components on the spectrum is great.
03:35And it feels like, I feel very honored to be able to.
03:38You know, honestly, most of my career I have played straight.
03:42So I was told in training, I was that Black kid that was in the program and it was like,
03:48oh, in order to be successful, you're going to have to strip all that away.
03:52You got to throw that away.
03:53And now I'm like, I'm sitting here in the biggest pot of chitlins and hog malls and grits and biscuits and gravy
04:03and all the things that I love about my people.
04:05You know what I'm saying?
04:06And I'm not talking about the food, literally, but just the heritage that we all come from
04:12and to be able to bring that.
04:13So that's how it feels.
04:15In the pandemic of it all though, Corey, I'm not going to lie.
04:18It's a different experience.
04:20It's a different experience because you don't get that immediate reaction.
04:24But honestly, nothing about this, Charlie, has been immediate other than the yes.
04:31When I read it, yes.
04:33When I was asked, do I want to be a part of it and off of the road?
04:37Yes.
04:38All of those things.
04:39Ain't no different when he said, can I use your boat?
04:42You know what I'm saying?
04:43It ain't no different when he asked Peter, can I use your boat?
04:46Yes, is the answer.
04:47So it's been a wild journey with Twitter and the social media because you get the likes.
04:55You get a lot of likes and things like that.
04:57And I don't really operate in that world.
04:59You know, so it was a very, it is a different process.
05:02You need to get verified.
05:03I am verified.
05:04You ain't know.
05:05You better pray on that.
05:06You better pray on that, Corey.
05:07You better pray on that.
05:08Okay, my bad.
05:09Because listen, there's one verification that matters, but that blue check is cute.
05:12But there's only another that matters.
05:14So even in all of that, like the stories literally of people reaching out that are reaching out beyond the like with more intention.
05:27It feels, when I say divine, it feels blessed because I can digest it on my own time.
05:34People are able to receive it and digest it on their own time.
05:37That's why I think one of the things, beauty about streaming is that people go into the app because they can go to the app and get it when they want it.
05:45But just hearing from mothers that are estranged from their children, whether they were operating more on a masculine spectrum or a feminine spectrum, but they had been estranged for whatever reason, saying that, you know, she sees different things in Uncle Clifford that reminds her of her son.
06:02And on the adverse of that, I've been hearing a lot from a lot of either non-binary or gay or lesbian black community members that were talking about their grandparents and that relationship of love through the generations.
06:16So it goes so far beyond just the hype and the wop-wop and the party party of it all, you know, but it includes that too.
06:25So that makes it even better.
06:26So it's been great.
06:27I have to say, you know, we, that was one of the things Corey and I were talking about before we, you know, jumped on to talk to you is how immediately and warmly Pea Valley was received right by the community.
06:39It was instant, you know, and I love that you have now these, these Sundays where you have different black stories being told and the diversity of stories and the same love.
06:50And, and what does it feel like to see people love it as much as you all did making it?
06:55Cause that was really instant for a new show.
06:57It feels like church.
06:58It feels like church.
06:59It feels like the cookout.
07:01It feels like home.
07:04It feels like home.
07:05I feel like regardless of if you have family that is from the South or you have grew up there, like as, as black and brown people of color, like you, you, we, there's, there's just like that connective thread.
07:17You know, there I'll eat chillings no more.
07:21You know what I'm saying?
07:22But I have in my life, you know, I don't eat weed wings on a, on a regular basis.
07:26You know what I'm saying?
07:27But you know, you know, a good hot wing, you know, strip club culture was a part of a lot of our rearing, you know, and it wasn't always looked at as something that was just sexual.
07:41It was a celebratory thing growing up in Detroit.
07:45I went to strip clubs, you know, for, I've been there for bridal parties.
07:48I've been there for baby showers, you know, everything.
07:52Yeah.
07:53And the strip clubs were known for actually really good food, you know, for like the good steak, you know, or the good wings and then fries.
08:00I don't know if that's cause you come in from the club and you know, you've had a little Alize, a little, exactly, you know, but you just also get to have such liberation, liberation.
08:11And I think that that works also for the dancers, as well as the patrons, because sometimes people forget the, the power that it feels and the agency or the sense of agency that it has to even if you got $50 for them to be all ones, and for you to shower and bless somebody with it like that energy.
08:30People feel like they matter.
08:33They feel like they have some control literally when they, but earlier throughout the day, they were just at the mercy of whatever foreman or whatever the man, the boss, you know what I'm saying?
08:42Yeah.
08:43That they're going through.
08:44Is it showering money an African tradition?
08:47Yes.
08:48Like I've been to a wedding between a Nigerian and a Ghanaian and it, I couldn't believe that they were showering money.
08:54Yes.
08:55It is.
08:56Don't we, there are people who do it in church, who church that they go up and they get their offering and put it down at the pulpit.
09:04Like pastor, you said that, you know, so it's interesting how our traditions can be debased and demonized when it initially starts from a place of love, literally even like just moving your body.
09:19When you go to like the, when I think about our Caribbean cultures, you know, and you see like the little girls, they're babies and they just winding and they just winding this, they're just feeling their body, the body moving how it does.
09:31And it's like, all of a sudden, when you turn 14, don't do that.
09:34Don't do that.
09:35You being bad.
09:36You being fast.
09:37It's like, no, she's just feeling, he's just feeling the same way that they did as children.
09:42Cause if a three year old does it, you're like, oh, that's so cute.
09:45That's so cute.
09:46So it's interesting how we can actually even take on that, that, that concept of something being demonized as well.
09:52And I love the theme of love and family.
09:55I, I felt like a part of the pink family, right?
09:59I felt the sisterhood.
10:01I felt that uncle Clifford was there a father, you know, a mentor, a coach, and also just the camaraderie and the togetherness and the sisterhood of the women.
10:11And I love seeing that story told because I, I, you know, I, I don't think we have, and I think it's important to talk about the power of our, uh, chosen family.
10:21Right.
10:22Come on.
10:23And, you know, and, uh, we don't see it enough.
10:25So let's talk about chosen family because I think that's what Pea Valley is all about.
10:29And it's beautiful to see that in such a major way.
10:32Yeah.
10:33It, it definitely is intentional, but it's almost something that happens by osmosis.
10:38So listen, I'm talking to y'all over here at essence and yes, girl.
10:41So I'm going to say something.
10:42I don't have one.
10:43I don't have one, but I I've been around as a choreographer and a dancer.
10:47I've been around a ton of women and you know, that thing that happens when a group of women get together and y'all start to sink on your cycles.
10:55You know what I'm saying?
10:56You know, so that sinking of the cycle is, is synonymous to me of like that sisterhood that you're talking about.
11:06So we all would have something similar in that because we were all so vulnerable.
11:12We were all so bare, whether you were in your floss or whether uncle Clifford was in something with the see through and the skin, you know what I'm saying?
11:19Even little murder up there, you know, you know, the guys are topless, you know, and bottomless sometimes there's an equality to the way that we all are showing up for one another.
11:32You know, and I think that that is something that's refreshing.
11:35I also think that the same vibe that happens among women oftentimes in the, in the locker room, y'all don't look at each other like sexually.
11:45Y'all can run around, you know, looking for, for, for your bra and you just got your panties on.
11:50And, and the, and the, you know what I'm saying? And nobody's like, Ooh, look at you.
11:53It's just like, girl, help me out. You know, put this on, you know, it becomes more of a, yes, comfort.
11:59And I feel like the same thing kind of happens in the club.
12:02We, we all had that epiphany literally when we were shooting the pilot of it, of the show, that it was just like, yo, we're doing this.
12:11We're doing this.
12:12And there's really only one way that we can, because it was, I'm not going to lie.
12:16It was, it was terrifying yet empowering the first time that, you know, you go out on that stage, whether you were getting up on the pole or not.
12:25Even as uncle Clifford, you know, you know, you may see uncle Clifford on the pole and things like that.
12:31You know, I'm not going to, I'm not going to say, but you got to, you got your heels on, you know, you, you are an elevated six inches off of already an elevated stage.
12:41So you have to literally in that space of flight, like, what do you do?
12:47What do you see?
12:48Where are you going?
12:49So it's a little bit of church.
12:51It's a little bit of a revelation, but that whole.
12:54The whole, the theme of the pole being like rising and like falling that metaphor, you know, everybody is bopping to the song.
13:01And it's always say climbing up the pole just to get out the bottom, you know?
13:06So you have this bottom thing that you're going through.
13:08That's literally the lyrics of the theme song.
13:10People always like down in the valley where the girls.
13:13What does it come on?
13:16I love how y'all start bopping.
13:17I love how both of y'all start bopping.
13:19Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:22Wait, Nico, Nico.
13:23Okay.
13:24So we only have a few more minutes with you and we got questions.
13:26All right.
13:27I'm going to shoot them off.
13:28I'm going to shoot them off.
13:29Okay.
13:30Let's go.
13:31Whose blood is that?
13:32Under the door.
13:33You can't.
13:34I know you're not a thief.
13:35We knew it was going to happen.
13:37Can we get some clues?
13:39You can get some clues.
13:40You can get some clues.
13:42They are not at the funeral.
13:44It is the blood of the person who is not at the funeral.
13:47Mmm.
13:48Mmm.
13:49Okay.
13:50Why didn't Mississippi shoot her trifling ass baby daddy?
13:56Love makes you do strange things after codependency.
14:00I think that also when, if you pay attention, if you take this time, you watch the finale.
14:07If you take the time and you go back, you will see that sometimes being color struck takes
14:12you to other places as well.
14:14Oh, yes.
14:15Do you understand what I'm saying?
14:16It is.
14:17Sometimes I think that, you know, internal racism is deeper than we think.
14:21Ooh.
14:22I'm going to play it out.
14:24It ain't a show just about stripping these ladies.
14:28I mean, you know, we're all for love is love, love is love.
14:32But I think, but when we saw who her child's father was, we were, I was like, oh, that was
14:37unexpected.
14:38Uh huh.
14:39I didn't see that at all.
14:40I didn't see that.
14:41I think that that thread, even like on Twitter, like those kinds of conversations was interesting
14:45because I was like, Oh, would you be happier if this black woman was being beat by a black
14:49man?
14:50Would that make it better?
14:52This is the black man that offered to kill her baby's father.
14:56So is she going to be any safer with the man that's going to kill somebody for her?
15:00When she don't wake up, is his hand around her neck?
15:02You know what?
15:03Like just thinking about that.
15:05But that what I think that that speaks to that reaction that people initially have is
15:09the black woman not feeling protected in America.
15:13I also appreciate the twist with Autumn and Mercedes actually not hating each other.
15:19Cause you know, I was like, here we go.
15:22Like, please don't put this against each other.
15:24Well, it happens, right?
15:25With those light skin names.
15:28Although yours was the best that episode where you said Autumn.
15:33I mean, September, October, come over here.
15:38Wait, Charlie, I know you're asking a question, but one quick thing.
15:41Yeah.
15:42Are your lines ad-libbed or they scripted or a little bit of both?
15:46Scripted.
15:47Wow.
15:48My lines are scripted.
15:50Yeah.
15:51They just go right out.
15:52They just look seamless.
15:53Okay.
15:54Go ahead.
15:55It's really about the music, the music of the culture, the music of the South.
15:58People talk about, oh, we don't sound like that.
16:00And I think that there's respectability politics that are often in play there.
16:04Because I think that even when you say ratchet, like that's a compliment.
16:07Because that's like all that, that's everything.
16:09You get in class and a little sass.
16:12So I think that sometimes, you know, let's not get caught up in all of that.
16:17Because we talk like every, there's so many different things.
16:20The code switching.
16:21Our brains.
16:22We, as black people, are just amazing.
16:24So, yeah.
16:25Go ahead, Charlie.
16:26What were you saying?
16:27I can't, it doesn't matter what I was saying, Corey, just to another direction.
16:31Because now I want to say, because we can't end without talking about this.
16:34You with Loretta Devine.
16:36Mm-hmm.
16:37That scene, that episode, I just felt like we were blessed all around.
16:42It was so special.
16:43So just take us back to filming that.
16:45Also, and it was the backdrop of your date with Little Murder.
16:48Hello.
16:49Which I want to add on top of what Charlie's saying.
16:51The way that y'all's relationship is being played out is so beautiful.
16:55Just the, the sweetness of it.
16:57The fact that he put those lights in the car and.
17:00Oh, I grabbed my heart.
17:01I was like.
17:02You know, when, when you did not want to, you know, have, be physical with him.
17:06He, he then became physical with you.
17:08But, but yes, but Miss Loretta Devine all day.
17:11And then there was an episode directed by Tasha Smith, correct?
17:14Yes.
17:15Tasha Smith directed episode six.
17:16Talk about it.
17:17When Loretta first appeared.
17:18I think that it's really about the backdrop of who we all are and seeing the normalcy of life.
17:25You know, being able to see, oh, this is how Uncle Clifford truly cares for people because she is a caregiver.
17:32Even though Uncle Clifford using she and her as pronouns, you listen and you can hear even in Grandmother's language and in Grandmother Ernestine in her language, she said Clifford came out the coochie switching.
17:47Okay.
17:48Do you understand what I'm saying?
17:49So there was already a level of acceptance.
17:52That level of acceptance spills over into how little murder and Uncle Clifford date.
17:56It is actually, I think the, the, the, the shock value or what's hitting people is that it's really normal.
18:05It's a regular situation, you know, despite the, the, the, the disadvantages and the trials that they have to go through to be together.
18:14And speaking of don't think we missed that you are, you guys were showcasing the plight of generation, trying to achieve generational wealth.
18:21Yes. Yes.
18:22Because inherited debt is real as well.
18:24Do you understand what I'm saying?
18:25You, you could be on the hugest platform and you got this and people think that you have so much.
18:30And it's like the first two years was literally about getting out the hole.
18:34And then you know what I'm saying?
18:36Then the next two was about, let me establish something that will be able to sustain me and the family.
18:42Then we can finally get into something about wealth prior to you trying to piece it all together.
18:48So, you know, watch what we do for our children.
18:51And it's great to see that on screen and to make those struggles real.
18:55Yeah.
18:56And to have the conversation and plant those seeds in all of our, in our audience, you know.
19:00Yeah.
19:01One more thing, going back to Charlie's question about Autumn.
19:03Was she plotting this whole time?
19:05I heard her, her, her ex-man said she was taking classes down at a strip club in Houston.
19:10Okay.
19:11And I'm giving her credit for being a, you know, a novice, but she's been plotting this whole time.
19:17Like a mastermind.
19:18Listen, the scene that really answers that question for me is in scene, in episode seven.
19:23It is the beginning of the episode when you see her giving a pseudo lap dance to Montavious at home prior to the flood, prior to Hurricane Drake.
19:33She is literally in her brown panties after they about to go to bed.
19:36And then the baby cries, he gets up to go and, and takes care of the baby.
19:41I don't think that, I think that a woman being in tuned with her body and her sexuality is normal.
19:47And that doesn't mean that she's a stripper just because she likes to dance, just because she knows how to whine.
19:53She's no different from that Caribbean girl at three that we talked about at the beginning of this conversation.
19:57Yeah.
19:58So everybody own your sexuality and say yes, girl.
20:02Say yes, girl.
20:04I love that breakdown.
20:05Thank you, Nico.
20:07Oh my God.
20:08Oh my God.
20:09We have so many questions.
20:10All right.
20:11We're going to do a part two.
20:12We're going to do a part two.
20:13We've got to come on back.
20:14I will definitely come on back.
20:15I will definitely come on back.
20:16I love what you guys are doing.
20:17Of course.
20:18I love the platform and I love how it's increasing and changing for the generations.
20:22We may not have to turn the pages, but we are downloading now.
20:27We are downloading.
20:28Do you understand what I'm saying?
20:29Yes.
20:30Everything.
20:31Y'all walking at digital and print.
20:32That's right.
20:33Right.
20:34Everywhere she is.
20:35Thank you so much.
20:37And thank you for P Valley.
20:38Thank you for this, you know, getting us through the pandemic.
20:40Right, Corey?
20:41Getting us through.
20:42Happy.
20:43And Nico, we didn't get to talk about it because I know you're a full fledged choreographer.
20:46So I'm going to have to sign up me and my daughter for some classes.
20:48Okay.
20:49Next time you'll be teaching.
20:50But anyway, but thank you.
20:52Congratulations.
20:53We love the paint.
20:54We glad it's safe.
20:55Thank you so much.
20:56Congratulations on season two.
20:58Yes.
20:59All right.
21:00I will see y'all on the in-between.
21:01You know, we got to see each other on the in-between.
21:03We got to at least have that fan reunion once a year.
21:05Right?
21:06So, dude.
21:07Yeah.
21:08And we have the Uncle Clifford fan clubs.
21:09I mean, I told you, Corey and I will be there.
21:11I had a GoFundMe set up.
21:12Because I was on episode one.
21:14I was like, we got to save the paint.
21:16It can't go nowhere.
21:17It can't.
21:18Seriously.
21:19So we'll see you.
21:20Bring us some wings.
21:21I love it.
21:22All right.
21:23Let's bring you some wings.
21:24Bye.
21:25Bye.
21:26Bye.
21:27Bye.
21:28Bye.
21:29Bye.
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