- 2 days ago
On this week's episode: Mack Wilds sits down to talk The Breaks and new music, Jaheim breaks down what "Struggle Love" means, our favorite celebs give us their best Drake 'Hotling Bling' impressions, we hit the streets to see what New Yorkers know ab
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00:00Today on Essence Live, Mack Wilds drops by to talk the breaks and, of course, some new music.
00:06Jaheim breaks down his struggle love. Hashtag, we're here for you, boo.
00:10More on that a little bit later, plus an all-black holiday gift guide.
00:13But right now, it's the hot list, the biggest stories you're buzzing about today.
00:19A school in Biloxi, Mississippi has apologized for taking away a student's Black Girls Rock t-shirt.
00:24When the child recently wore the shirt to school, her principal made her change clothes,
00:28fearing that the shirt's slogan might incite conflict.
00:31However, the Biloxi school superintendent now says that the principal, while well-intentioned, did indeed overreact.
00:41My girl Serena Williams accepted her Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Award at a ceremony in New York this week.
00:47In her speech, the tennis legend thanked her family and fans, gave encouraging words to young athletes,
00:51and even joked about her most recent competitor.
00:54I've had my shares of ups and downs. I've had many struggles.
00:58I've had blood clots in both my lungs at the same time.
01:02And I lived through tragedies and controversies and horses.
01:08I had to say it.
01:12Basically, you know, I've been through it all.
01:15I'm also a part-time comedian.
01:23Residents in Baltimore protested after a mistrial was declared in the first trial surrounding the death of Freddie Gray.
01:29According to the Baltimore Sun, jurors were unable to reach a verdict on any of the charges against Officer William Porter.
01:35Porter's retrial is now pending, and the other five officers in the case are scheduled to be tried separately starting January 6th.
01:41You used to call me on my cell phone.
01:45You knew it was coming.
01:47It was pretty much inevitable, really.
01:49Shout out to the folks at Barack Dubs for creating the ultimate mashup of President Barack Obama singing Hotline Bling.
01:55But wait!
01:57Stop the presses.
01:58We had some of our favorite Essence Live guests do their best drizzy.
02:01Stick around.
02:02It's hilarious.
02:03Of course, duh.
02:04And it's just seconds away.
02:05It's Thursday, December 17th, and Essence Live starts now.
02:17Welcome to Essence Live.
02:18I'm your host, Dana Blair.
02:19We have a very exciting show lined up.
02:21Duh, because that's what we do.
02:22And, of course, I want to hear from you.
02:24Hit us up on social media using the hashtag Essence Live to join the conversation.
02:28And, of course, if you'd like to call in live or ask some questions to our celebrity guests,
02:32you can just email us at EssenceLive at Essence.com for details.
02:36All right.
02:37You know what, Essence?
02:38Ever since I left the city, you started wearing less and going out more.
02:43And some of y'all just went all the way out, just like our celebrities, who gave us their very best drizzy impersonation of Hotline Bling.
02:50Take a look.
02:51The.
02:53The.
02:54The.
02:57Yeah.
02:57Yeah.
02:58Yeah.
03:00You used to call me on my cellphone.
03:04Late night when you need my love.
03:07Call me on my cell phone.
03:11Late night when you need my love.
03:14And I know when that hotline bleep.
03:18can only mean one thing you used to call me on my cell phone late night when you need my love
03:28call me on my cell phone late night when you need my love i know when that online bling
03:39that can only mean one thing
03:41thank you so much to all of our celebs who participated it was a lot of fun and i'm
03:49laughing because i'm just having a really good time with my next guest here in studio joining
03:52me now is actor and singer mac wild yeah how are you i'm good i'm good wait are you mac or tristan
03:56right now is there a difference it really is no difference it's not like it's like one of them
04:00your alter ego or anything like that nah you know my whole name is uh tristan paul mac wilds tristan
04:05paul okay so you know uh tristan is you know the name i was using while i was acting but um since
04:12i started doing music everything's a lot more personal and uh mac has always been my family name
04:16so it just makes sense it just makes sense all right so that's also a great transition because
04:20you're more than just an actor even though we met you as an actor you're also heavily involved in
04:24music and now you have a new film coming out on vh1 called the breaks yeah and tell us a little bit
04:29about that because it's based on hip-hop in the 90s it is it is so so you know basically what what we
04:34got a chance to do is transport every all of the viewers back to new york city in 1990 you know
04:40everything that was going on it was the end of the crack lane so new york was still a little gritty
04:44and scary place but there was so much uh love and creativity and prosperity that was coming out of
04:50the time uh music wise and otherwise as well that uh you know we got a chance to incorporate all
04:56of that and make an amazing movie and what's your personal highlight from the film if you have a
05:00part for you um probably one of my favorite parts was actually learning from dj premier uh how to
05:07like scratch and oh okay you were getting in there yeah yeah you know i i'm one of those guys who's
05:13also a stickler for like detail and making sure that i i'm as authentic as possible so having him
05:19there definitely helped that and you also have a chance to work with method man again in this piece
05:23um for some of you out there on essence live you may remember that they also work together in the
05:27wire yes does he like is there like a close relationship there does he ever give you any
05:30advice about how to maneuver being a musician as well as an actor because it's kind of difficult
05:35though he's he's always been like a big inspiration like i've known him since i was a kid i grew up in
05:40park hill and in stapleton in staten island so um him always being around it was always just inspiration
05:48just things to make sure that i'm keep that i keep going and follow my dreams so working with him again
05:53was was just that it was a dream and you're not new to the essence family like your family you
05:59already have a key and like a five just to swipe it exactly to get to the studio here yourself and we
06:03all want to know this adele video oh what in the world were you really saying like like what were
06:08you like what were you upset about no you know i think i think the one thing that we wanted to portray
06:14me and xavier and adele we wanted to show uh real life situations that go on so a lot of times it was just
06:22ad-libbing like we were just we would i would tap into like an old argument that i had or um
06:28it was like therapy yeah exactly i was able to um exercise some demons i'll say that it was it was
06:34a good time and what is your present relationship status i'm single okay essence live well you heard
06:39it there so that is how we're going to start a little game oh snap that we like to call naughty or
06:46nice i like the name of this game all right because the ladies love mac wild okay so here's the rules
06:50okay we filled santa's pants santa's pants courtesy of our fabulous production team okay with some
06:57questions that are naughty and some that are nice and you're just gonna pull and you have to uh reach
07:02into the pants reach into all the way in there and and and whatever you pick you have to answer or
07:07some it might be a truth or dare like it might be a challenge as well okay okay so i'm gonna wear
07:12my santa hat would you like to wear yours absolutely i'll let you pick which one one of them's cute with
07:16ears and one's just like a traditional i gotta be santa okay i mean i got the flavor to pull this off
07:20i can pull off the ears all right okie dokie here we go you ready yep all right first question
07:29get up in there gotta go okay demonstrate what you would say or sing to a woman to make her blush
07:37blush to make a woman blush i think i think um you just have to point out like the like the great
07:46features on a woman like i'd be like like yo i can't stop staring at your eyes like i'm sorry like
07:51i almost fell into them just a little while ago they're like pools you have used that so many times
07:56i haven't yet i haven't yet pull another question let me see let me see um
08:02um lick this candy cane like it's your dream girl holy mo i have a candy cane right here how about
08:09to say wow look we're prepared here at essence live uh okay i know you've eaten a candy cane before
08:18yeah we have you just gotta go in there brother yeah like it's my dream girl your dream girl
08:23um we're very family oriented here that's your dream girl i i don't want to get too explicit it
08:34could go down because this is daytime programming exactly but but they want you to get explicit with
08:39it though okay um let me see how how would i see how you approach it this is different like it's it's
08:45not the shape that i would lick and see next question let me see uh okay what's the nicest
08:58christmas gift you've ever given um i when i was 18 when i first started doing 90210 i bought my mom
09:07a house that's a good gift that is a very good my mom had the projects did you let her pick or did you
09:12did you pick it on your own no i definitely let her pick okay definitely let her you know women
09:16we're particular like that absolutely this is your last one i'm trying i'm hoping that you get a
09:20naughty question i mean nice is cool but i'm just saying okay i got two look at you cheating
09:30you're cheating tell us the nicest thing you ever did for a girl you were dating
09:36uh the nicest thing i've ever done i don't know because i don't like when you're dating somebody
09:45or when you're in love with somebody i don't think you realize you don't think about the magnitude of
09:50things you do you know so something you know you could pay for a semester of school and and to you
09:56it's not a big thing but that's the one thing that changed their life it could be the nicest thing in
10:00the world or you could have bought some shoes or some earrings that in your head is like oh my god
10:05that's the nicest thing i've ever done and she's like yo bro that's just your shoes so right i don't
10:08know i don't know um and so what is your dream girl my dream because you keep getting a lot of
10:12relationship questions here crazy um my dream girl just someone i could have a dope conversation with
10:18i'm i'm i'm one of those guys who love having conversations you know uh the the physical is
10:25a great thing don't get it twisted but um no candy cane no candy cane
10:29uh but i'm i'm absolutely um i become more invested when i'm able to have a a dope conversation
10:37with someone awesome well thank you so very much for stopping by and chatting with us happy holidays
10:42to you and of course you can catch mac wilds in the breaks on vh1 monday january thanks so much for
10:47coming and you can catch him of course at 9 p.m eastern set your watches now 2016 new year new approach
10:54new experience coming up we put jaheen's velvety baritone voice to the test more essence live is up
10:59next awesome essence has always supported you and what you stand for now imagine essence could be
11:07even more offering a selection of new beauty products specially curated every month so you can
11:13see what's fresh try samples before you buy so you know what works for you you're getting the essentials
11:19from name brands and up and coming black owned businesses go ahead be bold be confident be you
11:26become a member
11:32welcome back to essence live in studio now is a voice that you definitely know and love and i know
11:37i love it welcome jaheem to essence live thank you thank you so much for joining us this is your first
11:42time here uh i believe you believe so how are you doing i'm doing wonderful good good good you
11:49dropped your new album in 2016 and the title is called struggle love i mean what is struggle love
11:54struggle love is sort of like ghetto love but struggle love but what so what does that mean like
12:01what's the difference uh there isn't there's really no difference there's nothing broken
12:06what i what i tried to do on this album was well what i did on this album was uh give you pieces of
12:14you know the relationship experience the first atlas feel of how we came around and um just that that
12:21that street appeal that we we came with and so the first time we heard you back in 2000 women started
12:26going crazy for your voice they started you know saying had an old school feel to it they started
12:30comparing it to classics and icons like luther teddy pendergrass um what's the craziest
12:36moment of course come on over my place you don't hear a voice like that you don't hear voices
12:43like that anymore and so i know the ladies go crazy over jaheem what's the craziest fan moment
12:48that you've had what was the craziest place that i've ever made love little horse but uh i don't
12:58sound like that when i'm horse the craziest moment i had was uh probably someone coming up to me
13:05crying it was just it was weird i didn't know how to handle that it was crying like hysterical like
13:11pawing at you yeah it was uh it was maybe uh 2004 a married couple uh caucasian couple two of them
13:21yeah okay okay that was really interesting it was like man that's when i really started to see that it
13:28wasn't a game do you get hit on a lot by the older ladies um i think i do but it's kind of like
13:35nice nice hits did you ever go on dates with with anybody okay okay well we're gonna have to bring
13:42jaheem for the steam room for that a little bit later on so i read an article about you and in the
13:48comments section a woman said she loves your voice it's so smooth that she would love it if you just
13:52sang the alphabet to her i mean you know that's what we do here at essence lab we keep it hot so
13:59i thought i'd play a little gi with you where i give you a couple of items and have you read from
14:04the boxes or read from the cards and sing them just to see if jaheem's voice really is that magical
14:10and you can you can take whatever creative liberty that you would like by the way so any beat any
14:16rhythm any pace okay all right so here's our first one it's an article from our lovely essence magazine
14:23um i've turned to a hair feature me i turned to a hair feature and i would like you to read the
14:30highlighted part here in pink well not read sing excuse me sing i just want to sing also keep your mind
14:37mind that you need you know what i mean also keep in mind that you don't need
14:51i feel good about this super long strands to pull your hair into a pony
14:57and still have long limbs left to wrap your hair you can make it blow though baby that was good that
15:11was good you made me want to grow a ponytail yeah i'm just saying all right so the next one the next
15:16one's a an interesting one it's some instructions from a box of risotto and i've highlighted them here
15:23in the back this little pink section i know the font's a little smaller brother you're gonna give me
15:31and casserole dish sauteed chopped onions and olive oil
15:40look at you making me sweat not the olive oil should i keep on reading you don't have to until it's tender
15:58we can go on to the next one add a little rice instead until it's coated with jaja flavor
16:11but not the jaja flavor i gotta snatch the box from you with the jaja flavor the last one because it's
16:16the holidays a holiday card now this is interesting it's in spanish but because i like you i'll let
16:21you know that the english is a hidden on the back hey what's this word bro i don't i don't hispanol
16:36i don't know i'm lost i'm gonna cheat on the back you can cheat on the back
16:42thank you so much for coming by and for being such a good spirit and a good sport um jaheem's latest
16:49single struggle love is out now and you can also see him performing live for the christmas in the
16:53city concert at the prudential center in newark new jersey on friday later our gift guide featuring
16:58nothing but black owned businesses but first how many wise men greeted baby jesus as this live hit
17:03the streets of new york for a little holiday trivia fun check it out so how like well-versed are you on
17:13christmas do you know stuff about christmas no do you know the holidays ish a little bit i think so
17:21so i'm gonna try to stump you a little bit you'll probably be smart you have on glasses i feel like
17:26smart people wear glasses so whose birthday is on december 25th uh jesus jesus jesus all right well
17:34supposedly it was supposed to be jesus but it actually he wasn't born on december 25th but we're
17:39gonna let that go stay woke how do you spell kwanza oh no uh i don't know this one this one's hard
17:47k uh w a n z a k w a n z u um k w a n z a
18:07no one ever gets that extra a yeah i was gonna not but i did how many wise men are there three
18:15three three three three of them what were their gifts uh probably was like bread gold and wine
18:23no gold i don't know the other two frankincense and mer and gold i think i'm gonna say you got
18:32that right because frankincense and mer is right they sell that oil on 125th street in home alone
18:37who stayed home with kevin the robbers
18:45no one it's home alone right what is the main ingredient in eggnog
18:50eggnog you use cinnamon you use nutmeg is it eggs it is last one you're doing so good except not
19:03really now candy canes they are shaped like a particular walking stick what is that shape
19:10a whole person's walking
19:15um i'm not sure a regular a hangar a hook a cave
19:31you
19:40hey what's up i'm lala anthony and you're checking out essence live
20:02welcome back to essence live we're just about a week away from christmas and hopefully you're
20:06basking in that holiday glory because you finished all of your christmas shopping but if you have
20:11no such holiday glory to speak of because you haven't bought a damn thing like me we're going
20:15to hook you up with some great suggestions in our essence live holiday gift guide plus all the gifts
20:20we're featuring are from black owned businesses joining me to talk about these dope gifts is founder
20:25and editor-in-chief of idontdoclubs.com miss janice jamila welcome to the show thank you for having me
20:30thank you so much for coming and of course i always love a good goodie mm-hmm so you have actually um a gift
20:35guide on your site right yes this year we created the black owned holiday gift guide to feature gifts
20:39for christmas and kwanza far readers so you have no excuse from whatever you celebrate to not have
20:45the right gift so our first set of gifts is for the new bay in your life let's start with what the
20:51men should get for their ladies sure as we all know subscription boxes are the new rage harrison blake
20:57so no it's okay i'm gonna do what the fellowship by the ladies first because you know the men need
21:04to get it together first actually our first gift is from domesticated drea they're custom-made coats
21:09for the lady in your life oh nice these are actually extremely beautiful very luxurious textures and furs
21:15and fabrics now say for example this is obviously for like a fashionista or a woman that's a little bit
21:19more bold and into being chic and standing out but what would you recommend say for example if if your
21:25girlfriend or boo is not as maybe fancy if she wants something a little bit more simple
21:32would it maybe like a piece of artwork or do you like like what would you recommend well we have
21:36this great artwork artwork from a lot of laddison it's inexpensive you can get it from etsy.com it
21:41can go on her desk or her home to brighten up the moon always think of you oh that's awesome
21:45and so now this box down here is really interesting is this something that the ladies can get for
21:50the gentleman yes this is for the man in your life hopefully he's stylish if not you can get this
21:54box for him you can upgrade him if he's not for 25 every month and he'll get four he'll get a tie and
21:59four accessory pieces oh and it's 25 every month yes so you just sign him up yeah and when you break
22:04up do you cut him off absolutely okay just i'm just curious i was just curious i wanted to make sure
22:09i knew what was going to happen now next we all have that close girlfriend that bff and sometimes they're
22:15a little bit picky what do you recommend maybe uh is it something for the home i hear you have some
22:20pillows yes we have these great pillows down here they're a little afrocentric you can also get them
22:25from etsy from oops sorry from needle and thread for an expensive price to decorate their home that is
22:30awesome now do you often recommend say for example if you don't know what to get that picky person
22:34something for the home something like kind of like a one-size-fits-all type of situation you get a
22:39picture frame that works for everyone okay awesome thank you and now what's a good idea for that
22:45secret santa at the office because sometimes you may pull someone and you don't really know them
22:50to get them a personal gift if they're your co-worker just someone in your department so what
22:53would you recommend for a co-worker since we all don't do clubs anymore most of us have game nights
23:00black card revoke is a great black owned company that you can add to your game night okay i want to
23:05test this out because i find this game extremely interesting so hopefully my black card don't get revoked
23:10even though some of y'all out there already say that i'm just saying okay shoot i'm ready which
23:15character from cooley high was a regular cast member on a different world a tyrone b
23:23c pooter and d preach i don't know i'm just going to yell preach correct oh boom all right so let me
23:32ask you one you know that's how i made it through college guessing okay and what city did rosa parks
23:38refuse to move to the back of the bus a tuskegee alabama b montgomery alabama c birmingham alabama
23:46or d jackson mississippi feet okay we're still black we're still black all right so we've covered
23:53almost everything from the new bay to co-workers and the bff but what about the kids you know since
23:58we love the kids um what's a good option for say that niece or that goddaughter that you have in your
24:03life okay since those ava dolls sold out so quickly the barbie ones there's another option
24:07the muse doll you can have it customized to make to look like the girl in your life okay
24:12or you can just buy the general doll this doll is from lagos nigeria this is actually so adorable
24:17and you said personalized um can you tell me a little bit more about that you would send in a
24:21picture of your niece to your goddaughter and they will customize the dog to look like her oh that's
24:25awesome and she's wearing this cute little outfit and those of you out there at essence live land
24:29you can't see but on the back of the box is a really beautiful story and just kind of background
24:33that makes it feel more personable and i love her hair super adorable um so there you have it no
24:39excuses essence live family you now have some great gift options so you have to get to shopping a big
24:44thank you to all of our black owned companies who participated in our holiday gift guide and thank
24:48you so much for joining us thank you make sure that you tune in next week for a very special christmas
24:52eve edition of essence live as we highlight some of the best and the craziest moments and you know we got
24:57them of the show we're going to close things out with the special performance of the cd a classic
25:02holiday presented by mbk which is on sale now here's gabby wilson performing have yourself a merry little
25:08christmas i'm your host dana blair see you next time
25:22have yourself a merry little christmas
25:30let your heart be
25:32have yourself a merry little christmas
25:59a merry little christmas
26:02make the yule tide
26:04make the yule tide
26:04make the yule tide
26:05make the yule tide
26:08from now on your troubles will be
26:14my way
26:18here we are
26:26here we are as in olden days
26:30happy golden days
26:32happy golden days
26:34of your
26:36faithful friends who are
26:44here we are
26:50here we are
26:53now
26:54we will be
26:55together
26:58if the fates
27:01All will be together, if the fates allow.
27:12Hang a shining star upon the highest by.
27:23Oh, and have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
27:53Oh, faithful friends who are dear to us.
28:07Gather near to us once more.
28:15For the years we all will be together, if the fates allow.
28:30But till then we'll have to muddle through somehow.
28:45Oh, have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
29:00Oh, have yourself a merry little Christmas.
29:13Now.
29:20Now.
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