- 23 hours ago
Join us for an intimate conversation with some of the most
iconic and legendary women in the music industry. Hear
about some of the ups and downs of fame, the importance of
health and wellness to maintaining a career in the spotlight,
and the challenge of reinventing yourself after time away
from the spotlight.
iconic and legendary women in the music industry. Hear
about some of the ups and downs of fame, the importance of
health and wellness to maintaining a career in the spotlight,
and the challenge of reinventing yourself after time away
from the spotlight.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00This scene is so deep and a very dangerous mess.
00:07That's the whole point to get comfortable, to have these conversations.
00:12I feel like a man, especially we are here at the Beauty Carnival.
00:15It's so certain with just taking us to the beginning of your career.
00:21Entering this income game, unapologetically.
00:25Do you feel like there was any more pressure on you, on top of the reason there already was as a female rapper,
00:32to go in there and look a certain way and act a certain way because the beauty standards for black women have always been different.
00:39But on top of that, it's an artist.
00:41Actually, first off, it's lovely to be here with you, but wonderful to be back in New Orleans.
00:48Thank you so much for the warm welcome and for those who's visiting.
00:53Who's visiting?
00:54Yeah, we're having a good time.
00:56I'm packing them on.
00:58I'm packing them on.
01:00Anyway, no, to answer your question, I think when I came into the, into the improv, it was so new.
01:08They didn't know what to tell us to do.
01:10So it was sort of like, do what you do best.
01:14And they had to trust us because they didn't know what to do either.
01:19So I got a chance to be free.
01:21I wore the clothes that I wanted to wear.
01:23Anybody from the Caribbean here?
01:25Okay, well, I'm from Brooklyn.
01:27So I'm in Frank and Jamaican.
01:29And again, if you notice, when I came onto the scene, a lot of what I wore was part of the Caribbean teacher.
01:38So my big earrings that I wore.
01:40My asymmetrical haircut.
01:42You know, prior to you all seeing me, I think my hair was red.
01:46And I was like, I went through all of the changes that my Jamaican to the Indian, Asian, Barbadian, Guyanese, Asian.
01:54All of my sisters from my community.
01:57I looked like them.
01:59You know, I had cool tunes.
02:01I don't know how to flash.
02:03But I wanted you to follow your trajectory, not just your music, but the confidence that I was equal to Carter because of the way that you presented yourself and the character yourself.
02:19How does that carry on through your trajectory and your career?
02:23Well, I think because very early on, and you know, I can only liken this to, if any of you saw the movie with the sister Serena in theaters, right, and we all were familiar with that one scene where the newscaster is trying to tell Serena what she may or may not do.
02:45Can you be that confident when you have someone in your life that is speaking goodness and blessings and praying for you and instilling that will to survive and push that level of confidence in you up, up, up.
03:04If any of you have children or nieces, nephews, not children, please speak life into them.
03:10Even if they say something to you that feels so off the mark and out of this world, they just might be able to achieve it if they have people speaking a good word into them.
03:21And that's what it was when my mom told me that I could do or be anything.
03:25She said, um, just to believe in yourself and don't blindly go into something saying you're going to achieve it.
03:34And all the skill set, right, get everything you need, like your toolbox should be full of whatever it is that you need to accomplish that goal and do it well.
03:45The last thing you want someone saying when you leave the room is, she got that job because of so-and-so.
03:51Well, she got that job because of who she knows that she only got that opportunity because of her name.
03:57In this business, you can get an opportunity, but you're damn sure better deliver once you get there.
04:02And so I think if you have the right people around you, anything is possible.
04:07And that's what I've been blessed enough to have throughout my career.
04:11What advice would you lend to those who have been told to water themselves down a little bit, to not be a distraction, to stay in a box?
04:21Is that something you've never, ever done?
04:23Right. Oh, my goodness. I would say to just fight it. You know, keep being yourself for as long as I made the decision.
04:33You know what, I wanted to, or that just happened. I wanted that. I wanted to voice.
04:39So, as a matter of fact, I moved to Los Angeles and got into an acting class with calls of acting and got a call from the president of the record label.
04:51Who said to me, you need to bring your, and he has this back to New York City so that people can see you on the streets of New York.
04:59You are a musician and you need to be here. And I fought him. And I said, no, I'm going to stay here in Los Angeles.
05:07I wanted to learn this skill so that when I'm called upon, I can deliver. And right there, I drew a line in the sand.
05:15And that's what you have to be unafraid of. Drawing the line in the sand as to what it is that you really want for your life.
05:24And it may mean, okay, well, I might miss out on that opportunity or I might miss out on that, but you've got to know that God has for you what it's meant for you.
05:34Wow. A long word.
05:36Yeah, yeah.
05:37I didn't see you taking us to preach this morning.
05:39Can you underscore your importance along those lines of betting on yourself, of pouring into yourself?
05:48I know that has helped you along your way.
05:50Well, you know what, I think pouring into yourself has everything to do with you believing in who you are.
05:56And are you out there trifling, doing crazy stuff? No, you're not going to pour into you because you don't even, you don't even trust yourself.
06:04So you kind of get in a position where, and again, I'm not speaking from a space of not knowing.
06:11Because I was there not believing, oh, I said I was going to do that, but how am I going to make it happen, you know?
06:16So I had to build up the confidence, but more so, I had to have the skill set.
06:21Once again, it goes back to, what do you know when you step in a row?
06:25Yes, I have plenty of people come to me and say, you know what, I love that you do voiceover.
06:30How can I get into that? Well, I went to a voiceover boot camp.
06:34I went to coaching classes.
06:36Like, I didn't just say, oh, I got this voice, let me go get a job.
06:41I wanted to be able to do it and do it well.
06:43And once you have the, once you're empowered by having the know-how, then it's easy for you to pour into yourself because you know what you have is a will of goodness.
06:57So I would just say, feed yourself to good things, you know?
07:02Let yourself hear the positive things.
07:05And when people give you a compliment, don't say, oh, no, thank you.
07:10Thank you very much, I worked on that.
07:12I worked on that to be able to deliver it in this way.
07:15So I can take time, but I think if you educate yourself and leave yourself open to learning new things, it'll prompt you more to be able to feed yourself the good stuff.
07:31I think when you think about the Beauty Carnival and Black Beauty, we're only talking externally about what you just said really feeds to your internal love, your self-love, what you're pouring into your mind, your soul, your well-being.
07:46So that caused a scream of stepping into a new zone, maybe outside of your comfort zone.
07:53How did that help you evolve and grow?
07:55I mean, in the middle of that, this is a challenge for me potentially, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna dig right in.
08:00Well, you know what, when you said that, it just made me think.
08:05There are two sets of people, right?
08:08There are the good and there are the bad, right?
08:11There are some shades of green, but for the most part, we've got good people and then we've got bad people who enjoy being bad and bad people trying to make their way to some goodness.
08:21But in between that time, there are a lot of people who look to train and make people not believe in themselves.
08:31So from the start, from the pain, you are faced with knowing who you really are and what your worth truly is.
08:40And that are, that's people that are not part of our cultural background and that are hidden, that's from people in our backyards who are telling us we're worth nothing so that we shouldn't ever pretend to be more than what we are.
08:54And so I think through life, you're often faced with these stepping stones of, am I going to become more than what I was?
09:03I'm being called to action right now.
09:06Am I going to make the same choices that I've been making all of my life or am I going to make a new choice?
09:14And those new choices of light and kindness and what God we're going through to do, it just loosens up all of the possibilities.
09:24So for me, it's just about being faced with those choices and making and being on the side of righteousness and goodness.
09:33Well, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
09:39What has been the return on that investment in your soul for you?
09:43Oh, man, it's made it go to sleep well and not.
09:46So I feel it's great that I'm good in the morning, ready to recharge, you know, recharge, ready to tackle the day,
09:54and just make kindness and goodness into other people's lives because we need it.
10:00You know, everyone at some point or another has been at their lowest.
10:05And, you know, I just like to be the person that can speak a good word into someone's life,
10:13whether they need it at that moment or they can take it and store it and thank it for another time.
10:18But I also am looking to have that goodness spoken into me as well.
10:24Well, we as people just need to love for one another.
10:27Yeah.
10:28Just reciprocate that love, send it out, and you'll receive it.
10:31For someone who's approached as much as you have already, but still, there's a lot more to do.
10:36I would have met her already.
10:38What is the next chapter look like for you?
10:41The next chapter.
10:43Well, of course, we have the TV show.
10:45I don't know if you all know about the streaming on demand called Old Black,
10:49which Bob Johnson, who owned and started BET and sold and started a streaming company called Old Black.
10:57And we have a series.
10:59They're called Partners in Rod.
11:01We're in our second season.
11:03And so I'm executive producer, producer, director, writer, actor, field director.
11:10And it took years.
11:11You know, I think about all of my counterparts, including Will, Latifah, and LL.
11:18And, you know, they've all had their TV shows very early in life.
11:22And now here I am elevating on a sitcom, and it is so much fun.
11:27I'm having a ball, you know, putting so many people to work.
11:31You know, there are people that depend on and help on me.
11:36And I love the responsibility.
11:38And it happened for me this time in life because I was truly ready for the responsibility.
11:45So I can speak to all of you and say,
11:4720 years later, it doesn't matter how old you are.
11:50You can still reach that goal.
11:52And it will come to you when you are responsible enough to handle it.
11:58And it's not always one hard time.
12:00Like, what do we want?
12:01Right.
12:02Sometimes patients go a long way.
12:04I usually ask the one, do you want your legacy to be?
12:07But what you said earlier about being able to sleep well at night?
12:11Wake up well in the morning.
12:12So when you lay your head on the pillow at night,
12:15what is the feeling that you want before you go into slumber?
12:19After a day, what do you hope you've accomplished?
12:22Before I drift off?
12:23Do you think for real, for real, for real, for real, for real?
12:26Well, you know, it just so happens that I named myself light in 19-whatever.
12:36And I didn't really truly become the light until we gave birth to the Pop Sisters Foundation,
12:44which is a foundation that my sister, Dr. Lake Richardson, and my school board, Dr. Felicia Shaw,
12:51started many months ago.
12:53We've given away over a million dollars of scholarships away.
12:56Our partnering school is Dillard University.
13:00We've put many a man through that education system with hashtag educate our men.
13:06And so I feel like I have just stepped into being the light that I said I was many years ago.
13:14And so when I go to slumber, I want everybody to rejoice that I was able to, you know, touch the people in a fun way,
13:24in a loving way, in a spiritual way, and in an empowering way.
13:29And that's it.
13:30I'm gone.
13:32Well, come on, Tony.
13:33I need it.
13:34We're out here.
13:35It's beautiful.
13:36When you look at the next artists, the artists now that are coming up in the hip-hop air,
13:42how do you feel about the future of hip-hop?
13:45I feel like there's no stops, you know, hip-hop.
13:49Imagine, when I, you know, you all know the song, Michelle.
13:53In six minutes, let me rest your room on.
13:56It's all in the city.
13:57When I heard that song, I thought your time was over.
14:00I was like, what else can they do?
14:01What else can they do?
14:02What else can they do?
14:03What else can they do?
14:04What else can they do?
14:05And so, you know, surprisingly enough, hip-hop has gone on to do some incredible things.
14:12And, um, what I love about hip-hop is we have all these sub-genres.
14:17We have so many people representing, especially women in hip-hop.
14:23You know, it's been a really long time to take back to just Nicki.
14:27And I love Nicki.
14:29But for a minute, it was just Nicki.
14:31And so now we've got Party and we've got, um, we've got the City Girls
14:37and Megan and Tierra Whack and Rapsky and Chica.
14:42And, you know, and of course, from yesterday, we've got Mia X.
14:46We've got Yo-Yo and Rage and some of them.
14:49We've got so many women representing hip-hop, which is extremely important to me.
14:55But I think it's just going to continue to grow.
14:58We've got classical hip-hop.
15:00You know, we've got Reggae.
15:01We've got reggae tone.
15:03We've, I mean, you, we've got Browns here in New Orleans.
15:07We've got, uh, and nobody want to do a song without beat for you.
15:11I know.
15:12You know what I mean?
15:13You want that free from on there now.
15:14It's just, it's so colorful and so full.
15:18And I think it's just going to continue to grow.
15:20It goes back to that.
15:21It's not just one thing of ours.
15:23It's a spectrum and it's forever growing.
15:26Saging so much for your insight, for driving so large, for enriching our souls.
15:31And for bringing some joy, this morning.
15:33You don't have to be like, everybody.
15:36I'm Holly.
15:41Okay.
15:45Okay.
15:46Here you go.
15:48Here you go.
15:51Bye.
15:54Whew.
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