00:00Countdown to the 20th anniversary of the Essence Festival, July 4th weekend in New Orleans.
00:06Number 10.
00:07My favorite Essence Festival moment involves Mays, and I have two great experiences.
00:12One is with my mom, who growing up, we were a Mays household, but you know, over the course of the year,
00:18she became a born-again Christian, so she really started to love gospel music, which is fine.
00:22But I decided to take her to the festival, and on the night of May, my mother's sitting there,
00:26and she's tapping her toe, and she's like, okay, I remember this, I'm all right.
00:31But then, before I let go came on, my mother got up, pushed me out of the way so she could do the electric slide
00:38with the thousands of people who were there, dressed in white, doing the electric slide.
00:43And I was like, that's the mama I remember.
00:45So before I let go, by Mays, got my mama out of the seat, and she was boogying with everybody.
00:51And my second one, I was pregnant, and I'm sitting there, you know, I have very good seats,
00:56and I'm sitting next to a publicist, you know, who I work with a lot.
00:59Like, she represents a lot of reputable people, and I just kind of forgot I was in work mode,
01:04or I was at a work event, and I started singing with all my heart the lyrics to Happy Feelings.
01:10I got my mind and my heart.
01:13I was just going there.
01:14I totally was in my own zone.
01:16Like, Frankie Beverly was singing right to me, and I was singing back to him,
01:19to the point this publicist said, wow, you're really a Mays fan.
01:23And I was like, oh, it was like, I was like, oh, yeah, and how are you enjoying the show?
01:27And are you content with how your artists are feeling today?
01:32Like, I had to really reel it back.
01:33But I am a huge Mays fan, and I love the Essence Festival for those moments with Mays,
01:39because they are true to my heart.
01:40Buy your tickets, then come back tomorrow as we continue to countdown to the 2014 Essence Festival Live
01:47in New Orleans, July 4th weekend.
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