Mary J. Blige

00:00:01
Speaker 1: R and B Money. Thanks take val we are a tardy.

00:00:15
Speaker 2: R and D ladies and gentlemen.

00:00:18
Speaker 3: I'm Jay Valentine and this is the R and B Money Podcast. And today somebody very special has pulled up on me. All right, listen, I gotta ask all I'm gonna tell you all this right now. I gotta ask all the questions that my sisters would want me to ask.

00:00:34
Speaker 2: I'm gonna get smacked.

00:00:36
Speaker 3: They violent so because we got hits on hits, fits on fits.

00:00:42
Speaker 2: And we know she don't take no shit. Today I'm gonna keep it short.

00:00:47
Speaker 3: We got the icon of icons, the Queen of hip hop soul, Mary J.

00:00:55
Speaker 2: Blig. Come on, come on, thank you. How you doing. I'm good, I'm good.

00:01:01
Speaker 3: Oh man, I'm so glad that you pulled up on me. This is this is amazing. This is like a lot of people ask me, if you could have anybody on the show, who would it be? And you are someone that I always think of always. I've always wanted to sit down and talk to you all my years in the business. I've never had a chance to meet you, and it's the first time.

00:01:19
Speaker 2: So welcome, Thank.

00:01:21
Speaker 4: You, thank you so much, and congratulations, Thank you the success of all of this.

00:01:25
Speaker 2: It's been cool. It's been cool. They starting to pay me to talk shit. This is wild.

00:01:30
Speaker 3: The game is the name of the game. To d I like to talk cool shit, though I don't want to talk Yeah. Yeah, let's stay away from the messy ship. Let's stay away from the bullshit. No, let's get into it.

00:01:41
Speaker 1: Though.

00:01:42
Speaker 2: Let's get into it. Can we get back to Mary Yonkers?

00:01:48
Speaker 5: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: M did little Mary ever think that it would be the biggest Mary of the of all at one point?

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Speaker 5: No, she didn't think it. But she knew she wanted to sing.

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Speaker 4: She knew that something bigger than her was getting ready to happen, but she didn't know it was bigger than She didn't know what that big thing was until she got older. Okay, but there was always something that was that felt big.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that was scary, you know, I'll say, what is this? You know?

00:02:14
Speaker 5: But it was all that was coming. So she had no idea.

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Speaker 4: She knew she wanted to sing, but she didn't know she would be this Mary J Blige, not at all?

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, was there anyone that you saw early on close to you that had done anything in the music industry? Anyone that you could reach out to to ask is this a real thing?

00:02:37
Speaker 4: There was really no one. But the person that that was really really close to me was my mother's my mother's boyfriend, well we called him our stepfather at the time. He worked at General Motors with jeff Redd. Oh, jeff Red was signed to Uptown Records, you know, and they had just built this karaoke machine at the Gallery of Mall in White Plains in west Chester, and I went to I'm just gonna tell you the story. I went to the I went to the mall and I recorded Caught Up in the Rapture by Anita Baker, and the karaoke booth took the tape back, gave it to my stepfather. He took it to Jeff Red. They both worked at General Motors, which was in malt Vernon. Gave the tape to jeff Red. Jeff Red gave it to Andre Herrel. Andre Rell came to the projects, he came to Slow Mom, he came to my house. I sang the whole Rapture album and the rest is history. Andre was like, wow, let me let me just let me sign this girl. Within a year, it didn't happen like overnight, but within a year, no, almost three.

00:03:43
Speaker 3: Years before just getting you signed or for your album to come out.

00:03:47
Speaker 4: Just getting me, getting me signed, because before Andre even came to my house, I had no Well, after Andre came to my house, he put me on a song with Father m C.

00:03:57
Speaker 5: And I was still living in Slow Arm. I was still living in the projects.

00:04:01
Speaker 4: And if You Do for Me came out and that was on the radio and we shot a video and that was we had a video. So I was like almost like a superstar living in the hood.

00:04:10
Speaker 2: It's crazy.

00:04:11
Speaker 4: And then You Remind Me from the Strictly Business soundtrack came out and that song was a song that was a surprise too because all the DJs caught it and they put it in their mixed shows and it jumped off. It came it became a big record, my first pretty much my first real single.

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Speaker 5: Yea, And I was still living in the hood.

00:04:31
Speaker 2: Done, But did you actually sign the deal yet? Have you signed? Signed? Though? I signed, but I was still living the deals.

00:04:39
Speaker 5: I ain't have no money.

00:04:40
Speaker 2: The deals were different then the deals were different. Then I have no money. I was.

00:04:43
Speaker 4: I was hood famous, and it was horrible being hood famous because you ain't got no money.

00:04:49
Speaker 2: People, you know, it's they think you're gonna get everybody out.

00:04:52
Speaker 5: It's rough.

00:04:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, and then Real Love came out and it blew up so big. I was like, I need some money to get up us out of here because this is not good.

00:05:02
Speaker 5: They're gonna they're gonna kill us.

00:05:04
Speaker 2: Wow, that's that's that was your mindset at that point.

00:05:07
Speaker 4: That's what it was, because it was the neighborhood was rough. We lived in the project and all the success they hearing the music and we had nothing. We was living on the third floor and Building five in the projects, just like everybody else, and we're walking down the street.

00:05:25
Speaker 2: We gotta fight this person, fight that person, go through.

00:05:27
Speaker 4: All these things because we ain't got nothing but songs on the radio.

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Speaker 2: So you haven't done any shows yet either. No.

00:05:33
Speaker 4: I did one with Jeff Red. I sang background with him. If you go look up his show on the Apollo, I sang background with him.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, go look, if you go, I'm definitely gonna go pull it up.

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Speaker 4: I had I had a red I had these blonde braids.

00:05:45
Speaker 5: It was all twisted up and stuff.

00:05:48
Speaker 2: And he went right back to the projects and went right back home. It was crazy. Do you remember what your advance was?

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Speaker 5: Yes, how don't even want to say what it was.

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Speaker 2: Oh, it was that bad.

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Speaker 5: I'm gonna just say this.

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Speaker 4: When I started getting money, I started getting like five hundred dollars a week, so I was if you look back at it, I was being robbed. I mean that was the name of the game back then. Everybody was robbing. If you didn't have any education, you was getting robbed. Yeah, And I had no education on how you know how to read a contract, you know. I just didn't know anything about the music business. I didn't know how it worked. My mom didn't know. None of us knew how that shit were getting the opportunity. We was given an opportunity. We signed, we signed a contract. We thought that was gonna be it. We thought we was getting out immediately. It didn't happen like that. And the money didn't come immediately either. But when it came started coming in like peace, It's like five hundred dollars a week and for a little while and then nothing, and then the big advance was probably about five hundred thousand dollars when I finally got.

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Speaker 2: In getting fire a week to five hundred.

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Speaker 4: When I finally got in, when I finally got in, well, it felt like one hundred thousand probably was.

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Speaker 3: One hundred thousand house and you had a smash to smash hit records by this time.

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Speaker 4: Yes, And the thing is I didn't know anything. I didn't know nothing about the music business. And I would say that to everybody out there trying to learn so that you can't get robbed and you'll have something, you'll have more like you know, by the grace of God, I'm still here, still working, still doing what I'm doing. But if I didn't, if I knew then what I know now, probably be retired by now as a trillionnaire.

00:07:32
Speaker 2: You know what. You know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 5: If I had to information, sure, the.

00:07:35
Speaker 2: Grind could have been different too.

00:07:37
Speaker 3: Right. If let's just say young Girl and Yonkers in the projects, they give you a hundred k to sign, you might have lost your mind with that.

00:07:48
Speaker 4: True, But we needed to get out of that environment, right right, You see what I'm saying. And I did lose my mind when I got the advanced events. I went crazy.

00:07:58
Speaker 2: I went, you remember anything that you shitting' a bought?

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Speaker 5: Okay, I'm gonna tell you two things I did. It was so stupid.

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Speaker 4: The first thing I did was bought. I bought me a car. I brought up a green Cherokee.

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Speaker 3: Okay, because they got to see you win a green. See, it was about the stunt you gotta up.

00:08:14
Speaker 4: I got my mother house and I bought myself like a little you know, townhouse. And the next dumbest thing I did, I got a credit card and I went to Japan.

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Speaker 3: Am credit card. I gold you went to Japan owned the credit card. No, when I went, I'm like, you got a credit card, went to Japan. Nah.

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Speaker 4: When I went to Japan for the first time, I went crazy. It was so much stuff, so much like things that I've always dreamed. I had thirty thousand pairs of shoes. I just I'm a shoe person and a bag person. So I came home with so many shoes and so many bags. I don't even know if the bags was real Chanel bags or whatever.

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Speaker 5: I don't know what.

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Speaker 2: It's like. I needed that I need.

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Speaker 3: I need it because See here's the other part that people don't realize. When you're traveling like that, you also got to pay to get it back. Yes, not only do you gotta when you buy it, but now you gotta pay to get it back. You don bought more bags to put the other bags in to get back to America.

00:09:11
Speaker 4: You gotta recoup all that stuff and never never recoup ever.

00:09:17
Speaker 3: Never that is they gonna they gonna keep you. They gonna keep you in some kind of shackles. Yeah, as long as they can. But if you've had the success you've had, you're able to renegotiate.

00:09:30
Speaker 2: And it starts to do this.

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Speaker 4: Yes, yes, you start to get with people that really have your best interests at heart. Because now you have your best interest at heart. Now you want to learn. You don't want to be robbed no more. I don't want to be robbed. No I need I need money. So how do I do this? So people start teaching you how to do it, and they start, you know, being honest with you about everything that's going on, and you learn.

00:09:53
Speaker 2: As you go. But it's still so much that you have to hire the right lawyer, right lawyer, right business manager.

00:09:59
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah, because we're not reading you know how big those contracts are.

00:10:04
Speaker 2: I know we're not doing that. We talk about it all the time.

00:10:06
Speaker 3: I say, you know, the one thing I try to tell people is don't just go to the page that says your advance.

00:10:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, try to read it. Go, go, get you a dictionary.

00:10:15
Speaker 3: Just you should read it for yourself to and then have someone else break it down to you on lanman terms. But just learning certain things, like you know, I always tell people the first thing is learn what imperpetuity means, because that shit means forever.

00:10:28
Speaker 4: Ever.

00:10:28
Speaker 2: Yes, it means forever.

00:10:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, And the average person doesn't know that because they haven't been in this type of business.

00:10:34
Speaker 2: Where our music will last forever.

00:10:37
Speaker 4: Yes.

00:10:37
Speaker 5: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: So the people that are trying to, you know, exploit it, they want to be able to exploit it forever.

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:10:45
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:10:45
Speaker 3: So it's just certain terms and certain things that I always always preach, like just learn learn it for sure, learn the basics and then ask as many questions as possible.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely, Like I'm not embarrassed anymore. Like I used to be embarrassed, you know, because I didn't finish high school, and I was embarrassed, you know, I didn't go to college a need that, you know, and.

00:11:06
Speaker 5: That was it was embarrassing.

00:11:07
Speaker 4: But now I don't care about it could be the smallest word. I really repeat that, what does that mean? Because I need to know what I'm speaking about when I'm speaking yes, period. So a good lawyer explained it to me. Whatever it is the smallest thing, the biggest thing. I'm asking questions because I really need, I really want to know. It's not about acting like you know, because then you lose everything.

00:11:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what I mean, so many of us have. So many of us have.

00:11:32
Speaker 3: So when when you drop what's the four to one one, what's the vibe in the streets?

00:11:38
Speaker 5: The vibe in the streets is what I told you I'm talking about.

00:11:40
Speaker 2: As far as like that.

00:11:41
Speaker 4: People were, people were losing them first of all, people was losing their mind as well. For you remind me, that was the first single really to come off with yeah, the on one album.

00:11:51
Speaker 5: But then we released the album.

00:11:53
Speaker 4: I mean it was like overnight success, but not because we didn't have the money and everything to match it.

00:12:00
Speaker 5: But it was a bit it was a big deal.

00:12:01
Speaker 4: Like it was a big deal because there was nothing on the streets like it at all at all. You know, no female had an album like that. Nobody even knew what hip hop was the way I know what hip hop is, and.

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Speaker 3: I mean just just the vibe that that we had and I'm from California, right, I'm from San Francisco. So just what it did to my neighborhood, what it did to my city and to my sisters and my cousins and my mom and my aunts and every.

00:12:30
Speaker 2: Girl I knew. Yeah, they were like, oh, this is it. She's us. Yeah, she's absolutely.

00:12:36
Speaker 3: I mean you would cause you know, you get up as you you young, and your sister got the music blast and she getting ready.

00:12:43
Speaker 2: All I heard was Mary J.

00:12:46
Speaker 4: Blige, Well, God bless your sister's sisters. Thank y'all so much. I love y'all and I appreciate y'all loving and respecting me and my music because y'all helped me. Y'all helped get me to where I'm going and even mentally. And you know, people, when I put that in My Life, what's the form of one album?

00:13:05
Speaker 5: Was one thing.

00:13:06
Speaker 4: But when I put that My Life album out, I was like in a very dark place press and I was letting people know this is who I truly, really, really am. And four million people bought that album. Wow, four million people. Was like, Mary, we're going through it too. And I'm sure your sisters was probably you know, going through it with me. And that made me feel not alone, and a lot of people felt not alone, and they felt like whatever their shame was, Mary has the same shame. They felt like whatever their guilt was, Mary had the same guilt. So I was so relative to so many women and men too, And now I have a whole movement. Absolutely, the movement is speak your truth.

00:13:51
Speaker 3: Nobody, get it out. People don't play about Mary J Blige. People do not play about you. And I'm sure you know that I do.

00:13:58
Speaker 4: And I'm so grateful, Like I said, thank you to your sister, thank you to everybody, because this didn't have to be like this. I needed you know, I needed them, you know, I need my fans because I was getting ready check out.

00:14:11
Speaker 5: But those four million people was like, nah, we just went through it too. We love you, we got you.

00:14:17
Speaker 2: You know.

00:14:18
Speaker 3: That's just it's amazing to hear it from your side, right because everybody hears it through the music, but to hear you personally speak it, it's just a different thing.

00:14:27
Speaker 2: And understanding that you had intention.

00:14:31
Speaker 3: Your intentions were to give your life and to let people know what was going on with you. And I think that's at times that's tough with certain artists because you know, if it's a label executive or a producer or even other artists when they have advice for you, oh you should do this, and we but you were so different from any other artists.

00:14:51
Speaker 4: Yeah. I think what made me stand out is everybody was so polished in the eighties and the nineties. Every female was polished, eating and down.

00:15:03
Speaker 5: You know, they had to be. I wasn't perfect.

00:15:05
Speaker 4: I was a whole thug like it was you know, it was tom Boy whatever, you know, all of that, and but I but I was a girl that was going through things with guys, you know, and I've been through so much that there was no I said, you know, why am I going through all this stuff? And what dawned on me is, well, you're going through it to get somebody else through it, because you're you're in the spotlight. You've gone through everything, you've gone through, so some little some girls just like you can know that that's not therefore either that they're gonna be okay too, that you know, you're you're just like them, you know. So I was just going through it to be an inspiration for so many people.

00:15:50
Speaker 5: You understand what I'm saying.

00:15:52
Speaker 2: That's absolutely so.

00:15:54
Speaker 5: When we go through things.

00:15:55
Speaker 4: It's never for us really, it's it's it's so that people can see how you come out on the other side. And when you come out you're a hero.

00:16:05
Speaker 2: That's hero. Yeah, because it's.

00:16:08
Speaker 4: Hard in the middle. When you're going through in the middle is fucking hard. It's all kind of shit going on that you gotta press through and mentally get through and pray and have faith and think different and really do the work. The work is moving past this old stuff that's like so familiar. It's like, oh, I know what that is. Everything is suspicion and all this stuff. Moving past that so you can have some true happiness.

00:16:35
Speaker 6: But it's a step by step by step by step, and it's small steps, and the more steps you take, the more freedom you have in your mind, where you just like, I'm pursuing peace, I'm pursuing peace of mind.

00:16:56
Speaker 3: So you never even had the thoughts of, you know, the sophomore jings, so that because you were in a you were living in a real space. So was it a thing for you of having a success from what's the four one one which I was a trip that was a triple platinum. Yeah, yeah, So to come off of that and then to go into my life. Was it even a thing for you of like can I do this again? Or was it just like, yeah, I'm about to just tell my story.

00:17:22
Speaker 4: I didn't have those words, not into my mind, but you know, the people around me were saying it, can you do I was like, you know, like, what does that even mean?

00:17:32
Speaker 5: Can I do it again? I'm doing it.

00:17:34
Speaker 4: I'm doing it because I have to get this out. This is therapy for me. When I said I want to be happy, I really wanted to be happy. When I say, if you look in my life and see what I see, I really wish people could see what I was going through. Like I really wanted people to look at me, and I said, I'm the only woman I wanted to be right, you know, begging and crying on that album for somebody to love me the way I should have loved myself. That's itIt of love came, you know, searching for real love all my life, and the real love was me, you know, so I didn't care on No Sophomore jinks like I know puff at the end of the At the beginning of the album, he says, you already said you can't do with a gang Kid and all that, and that's puff being puffed. But I didn't care about any of that because if if it was a flop or if it was successful, I got what I needed off my chest because that was my therapy.

00:18:27
Speaker 3: Is that how you feel like you've always made your albums just up even to this day, yep, whereas just this is your therapy. People are getting what you want to give them of you instead of you chasing records or chasing some hit even though you've had.

00:18:41
Speaker 4: They don't, yeah, talking about you, but you know when you chase, when you chase, you fail because you're not telling you. For me anyway, I don't know who else that, but for me, when I chase something that's everybody else is doing or try something that, it does not never work for me, you know, So I don't do that.

00:19:01
Speaker 5: I just say what I need to say. The breakthrough album.

00:19:04
Speaker 4: So I started like titling my albums like a year before I put them out, So share my World. I told that before I put it out, because that was me coming off of my life album. And at that point, you know, me and Puffet separated, you know, and it was like everybody was like, oh, Mary can't do it without puff, and.

00:19:23
Speaker 5: I was like, shit, you know, this is what I do.

00:19:29
Speaker 4: And I'm not even cocky, you know, I just I know, I know what I do, and I know what my fans love.

00:19:35
Speaker 5: And so Share my World Huge did what it did.

00:19:41
Speaker 4: The Marry album did what it did because I was speaking from where I was living.

00:19:46
Speaker 2: Share my World.

00:19:47
Speaker 4: I wanted people to come into my world. This is my world, this is what I'm doing. Whether it's good, bad, or ugly, come check it out, you know, Mary, I'm still going through it, but I'm trying to be an artist. I want people to recognize me as somebody that it's just you know, this train wreck, you know, but I was a train wreck period. To go through it, yes, and go through I invited some people and invited Elton John to that.

00:20:14
Speaker 7: You know.

00:20:14
Speaker 4: I wanted people to see me in a wider John, you know, a wider what's the word I'm looking for? No far as like an artist. Look at me is more than just.

00:20:28
Speaker 5: The queen of hip hop soul.

00:20:29
Speaker 4: Okay, okay, you know so I started, you know, I started, I started just thinking like that on my own.

00:20:34
Speaker 2: Were you ever thinking I want to be a pop artist?

00:20:36
Speaker 4: I don't think I was wanting to be a pop artist. I just wanted people to see me as more than just the queen of hip hop soul, you know, although that was that's my title, that's who I am. But I know the queen of hip hop soul knows more than just hip hop soul.

00:20:53
Speaker 2: I know.

00:20:54
Speaker 5: I grew up on soft rock.

00:20:56
Speaker 1: You know.

00:20:57
Speaker 4: I grew up on Elton John's Benny and just what I did deep inside too. I grew up, you know, on the Eagles. I grew up on Gladys Knight, you know. So I grew up There's a whole lot of music playing in my house. And when I was little, there was this radio station.

00:21:12
Speaker 2: We didn't have w B, we didn't have FM radio.

00:21:14
Speaker 4: When I was five years old. All we had was the albums that came through the house. The Cardwah soundtrack came through the house. That was where I got going down from. But on the radio we had Ambrosia.

00:21:26
Speaker 2: So you're hearing saying.

00:21:32
Speaker 4: I didn't pigeonhole myself to just R and B when I got in the industry because I knew more than just that, you know.

00:21:41
Speaker 5: And when I discovered hip hop.

00:21:43
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, this is easy this is what I'm supposed to be.

00:21:46
Speaker 4: This is this exactly, This is my walk, this is my destiny.

00:21:50
Speaker 3: So let's let's get into some of the songs if you don't mind, Okay, not gonna cry. Yeah, right, because you know we've gone to because that that was also from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, but also on Share My World. Correct, Yes, Share my Word was. It was kind of split between those two and Secretary.

00:22:09
Speaker 2: Yeah. When when Face.

00:22:13
Speaker 3: Gives you the record or plays you the record and you hear that, it's your first mind like, hold on, nigga, that ain't that ain't no full word.

00:22:22
Speaker 2: I didn't care.

00:22:23
Speaker 5: Let me say, Babyface is the goal.

00:22:26
Speaker 2: You can do no wrong.

00:22:27
Speaker 4: If he says secretary, I'm saying secretary, what'd you saying? Same?

00:22:31
Speaker 5: Because that sounds about right.

00:22:33
Speaker 4: When you singing a song I was your love and your secretary, that means you can't even get it on.

00:22:43
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's good, that's that's that's good.

00:22:47
Speaker 3: It's so crazy because for me my own experience with Face when I first moved to LA he was one of the first people that I've ever wrote records with and I got to see him write a record and he gave me a bit of information really early. He was like, if you're going right here records, make sure there's something in there that's memorable.

00:23:09
Speaker 6: Mm hmm.

00:23:11
Speaker 2: Something has to be memorable about the record.

00:23:13
Speaker 3: Yes, the melody or the hook it, but sometimes it's a word and it's and it was so crazy.

00:23:19
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, secretary, you know.

00:23:21
Speaker 3: What I'm saying. I like Wallow, you like recent's pieces. You know what I'm saying, Like I remember, you know, I mean the Drew Hill record. And then later for me, I've told the story when I'm writing how could you? For Mario, I'm like the Ghetto Kama Sutra. They gonna remember that. They canna remember that line.

00:23:38
Speaker 2: Why do you think family affair is such a Oh yeah, is a dancer? Ree? Well what is? Here's the crazy thing. Here's the crazy thing.

00:23:48
Speaker 7: People love when you ain't saying shit. Dance as dance aree is actually a word. I looked at him, but guess what? But guess was notation? And crunk upon and can you holliration? Can you find it?

00:24:02
Speaker 4: It might be in a dictionary after the songs from now because it's such a big deal.

00:24:08
Speaker 2: But yo, that's a record.

00:24:09
Speaker 5: It's so huge because I was saying nothing.

00:24:13
Speaker 2: And it's global.

00:24:14
Speaker 3: But we talked about earlier as we're looking for the word earlier of that record ultimately got you to the super Bowl. Family Affair got you to the super Bowl.

00:24:22
Speaker 4: Family Affair got me everywhere but me explaining something to you. I was on tour. This is when Family Affair first came out. You know, where you live in a bubble, you don't. Family affairs out is doing what it's doing, but I can't feel what it's doing. I was on tour and I had this big white Texas on bus driver, really nice man. We used to sit in the front and talk to him sometimes and he'll have his station on the country music station. All of a sudden I heard.

00:24:54
Speaker 5: I said, oh, did you just change the station?

00:24:56
Speaker 4: He was like, oh, that's my song. I said, get the fuck out of here. It was on the country station.

00:25:01
Speaker 2: In his dancer.

00:25:07
Speaker 5: And that's when I knew.

00:25:07
Speaker 3: I was like, oh, things have changed, but he obviously knew it was you.

00:25:14
Speaker 2: Right, I'm about to say, I'm like, no, like ship he was driving us. We was on this we was on tour.

00:25:20
Speaker 5: He was like, that's my that's my jam.

00:25:22
Speaker 2: I said, oh ship. They were playing it on the country station.

00:25:25
Speaker 4: Yes, and he it was bluegrass like that.

00:25:28
Speaker 5: He was listening to one station. I was like, this is crazy.

00:25:31
Speaker 3: Wow, Ylton John Bluegrass super Bowl. Like do you ever sit back and just think to yourself, like what the fuck?

00:25:43
Speaker 2: This is crazy?

00:25:45
Speaker 4: You know, sometimes I forget I'm Mary J.

00:25:49
Speaker 5: Bo Is a superstar, and I'll be like, wow, this is a lot.

00:25:53
Speaker 8: It's a lot to.

00:25:54
Speaker 4: It's a lot to. If you're not humble, you could be you can get turned into a real jerk, you know. But thank god, I'm just never at you know, I'm just grateful because things didn't have to beat this way. It could have been the other way around. So the fact that it is, it's like damn, like God, thank you, Like I just can't. I can't stop being grateful, Like I just have so much gratitude for how it turned out, you know, because it was sticky.

00:26:25
Speaker 3: I mean ultimately that's what it eventually leads, you know to being as great as you are, Like you gotta go through something, you have to.

00:26:33
Speaker 2: It's no way it just does this.

00:26:36
Speaker 4: Never and nobody, any huge superstar you see who works their asses off that look like everything is easy. They going through they have gone through absolute hell or is going through absolute hell and just have learned how to navigate. You know, it gets easier once you start being kinder to yourself though, That's when it gets easy because you're not letting just anything in anybody.

00:27:00
Speaker 5: You're learning, you're.

00:27:01
Speaker 4: Growing, and you're not letting anybody hurt you in any kind of way ever.

00:27:05
Speaker 2: Again, you're protecting your space.

00:27:07
Speaker 3: Yes, do you still get nervous for like show for like big shows or just shows period.

00:27:12
Speaker 2: I get nervous for interviews.

00:27:14
Speaker 4: I still get nerved because I don't want to say. I always pray that I have the right words and that I'm honest and transparent and what I want to say and not what people are trying to force me to say. You know, make let my yes, b yes, my nobe, no, say enough. I just want to, you know, not confuse people. I want them to understand my message all the time.

00:27:41
Speaker 2: Very clear.

00:27:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, now I get it. I get it. So a place like.

00:27:46
Speaker 2: The super Bowl, how is that experience? O? Your heart?

00:27:52
Speaker 4: My heart is racing, you know, just thinking about it. It's first of all, it's amazing, you know, the role to the super Bowl is amazing because the rehearsals with all these people that was on this this you know, there's some super Bowl performance with me, doctor Dre, Snoop, Kendrick, Eminem fifty met the rehearsals, everybody was fanning out over each everybody's rehearsal.

00:28:22
Speaker 2: Okay, so it was fun.

00:28:23
Speaker 5: It was a lot of fun, but it was also professional. You know.

00:28:27
Speaker 4: Dre was very, very professional and serious about us getting everybody getting it right. His production was through the roof and the day of we were ready. So it was like, Okay, whatever nerves you have, don't worry about it. Yeah, I was nervous, but it's time to show these people the whole comedy, eight billion, trillion people that's watching who Mary J.

00:28:54
Speaker 5: Blige is. And at that very moment.

00:28:58
Speaker 4: Nerves and all, I was like, this is who I am.

00:29:02
Speaker 2: Listen.

00:29:03
Speaker 3: Once you popped out with the boots, I said, yeap, the world now.

00:29:09
Speaker 4: This is who I am, and I'm not apologetic for it. I am her. That was my deliverance.

00:29:17
Speaker 2: What made you do? No more drama?

00:29:20
Speaker 5: The world, the state of the state of the world.

00:29:23
Speaker 4: Everybody, everybody needed it, and everybody always asking me about the pass out moment. I've been passing out before I even got to the super Bowl, because I feel like that was me being just tired, you know, just tired of everything, tired of being my own word sending me, tired of all this. And for the super Bowl, it was for the state of the world. It was like, this is what this, this fallout is for how everybody feels every single.

00:29:50
Speaker 5: Day all day.

00:29:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was an amazing performance. Amazing like that.

00:29:56
Speaker 3: You know, I think us as black people, when we do great, we all get excited, Yes, when we get a chance to see us be great. And watching that performance and watching you guys all like everybody killed it.

00:30:13
Speaker 2: Everybody killed it, like there was no lag at all.

00:30:16
Speaker 3: It was just like Superstar, Superstar, Superstar, Superstar, hits smashes, Mary J. Blige just passed out on stage. I'm saying, It's like, oh, this is crazy.

00:30:25
Speaker 4: At that time, Be all Right was my favorite song. Like I played that song for one of my birthdays from sun up to sundown, I wake up.

00:30:33
Speaker 2: To that, go to bed. I mean all day long.

00:30:36
Speaker 5: I was playing We'd Gonna Be All and then to see Kendrick before.

00:30:39
Speaker 3: Man, that was insane. Yeah, that was great. Yeah, that was that was that was a great moment. Yeah, and then you end up winning an Emmy off for that too. We all, all of us got em these yeah, yeah, shout out to everybody for that, man, because I don't think that us in the music business, I don't think we set out to win anything other than Grammy's. I think in the beginning, right right, that's like that, that's like the thing for us.

00:31:03
Speaker 2: It's like I gotta get a Grammy.

00:31:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, But and then the path takes you to you winning an Emmy and performing at the super Bowl.

00:31:11
Speaker 4: Nobody's seen I ain't see an Emmy coming, right, Like I thought. It was just a moment, and then it was like y'all, y'all get y'all getting nominated for Emmys. When they said we're getting nominated, I said, we're gonna win it, and all we all so shout out to Dre and his production and how serious he is because that production, the way that ship sounded in that arena, I mean that whatever that was in that stadium when.

00:31:35
Speaker 2: It hit the damn d.

00:31:40
Speaker 5: D DA, those people went crazy and yeah, it just spoke and then the team won.

00:31:45
Speaker 2: Then LA won that night, and it was just that whole night was just everything happened the way it was supposed to.

00:31:50
Speaker 8: Yeah.

00:31:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, So let's let's move into your acting side. Was that something that was just on your bucket list of things that you wanted to do well?

00:32:02
Speaker 4: When I was a kid, I did a play. I was seven years old, and in school the chatter was Mary can act, right, okay? But whatever that was school. So I ended up getting in the music business and then Jamie Fox comes to me with the Jamie Fox Showie.

00:32:20
Speaker 2: I Love Jamie.

00:32:20
Speaker 5: Shout up to Jamie.

00:32:22
Speaker 2: You know, Jamie's our first ever episode of R and B Money podcast.

00:32:25
Speaker 7: Wow.

00:32:26
Speaker 4: No, Jamie's so generous he helps everybody. And that that acting performance I did on the Jamie Fox Show.

00:32:35
Speaker 2: Open the Doors.

00:32:36
Speaker 4: People started calling like, oh, you can really act? I said, really, because that sit was horrible.

00:32:41
Speaker 2: You hadn't done any acting. No.

00:32:44
Speaker 4: I haven't done anything except for that play, okay. And then when I got into music business, the Jamie Fox Show came. And then after Jamie Fox Show came, I did prison songs with Q Tip and Fat Joe and I played the mother.

00:32:59
Speaker 5: The acting was horrible, I did. I wish they would just burn all that shit.

00:33:04
Speaker 9: Nah, they ain't gonna burn it and it's terrible. You watch it.

00:33:08
Speaker 4: It's everywhere now. But then I got some classes. Like I started looking at him, like, you need some classes if you're gonna keep doing this. But everybody kept calling like you're doing great, but I couldn't see me doing great at all. So I got some classes and then Mudbound came. I was like, okay, roll my sleeves up and play Florence. Florence was a woman who wasn't any of this. She was our grandparents. She was you know, pigtails. I was stripped down to no lashes. I couldn't wear.

00:33:41
Speaker 2: No weaves or wigs.

00:33:43
Speaker 5: I couldn't do no nails.

00:33:45
Speaker 2: I was.

00:33:48
Speaker 5: What I was and I had. I was so uncomfortable with that.

00:33:53
Speaker 4: But the crazy thing was on set, people was going, you are so beautiful, and now my mind, I was gonna.

00:33:59
Speaker 2: Get the fuck out of here cause I was looking like a slave because you you were used to.

00:34:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, but it helped me so much in my confidence because I didn't think I was beautiful beautiful period, So playing that part was like but then people was like, gosh, you're so beautiful, and I was like, really, okay, so I'm gonna take that and start building, building myself up with that so that you know, my bund did a lot for me. It gave me two Oscar nominations. It helped me and my self esteem. Shout out to d Reese for just blessing us.

00:34:33
Speaker 3: And that was a great project. Yeah, great, great project. And then of course, you know everybody want to know, oh nature how?

00:34:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh nature?

00:34:41
Speaker 3: How before we get into it, how many people you think she smoked?

00:34:47
Speaker 5: She's smoking? Everything?

00:34:50
Speaker 2: That was very Mona might be a serial killer?

00:34:55
Speaker 3: Nuts, yeah, Like I'm like, okay, okay, she just shot yep, yep, niggas is dropping like flies on here.

00:35:04
Speaker 2: But that experience for you, how was that? How was that? It was all?

00:35:08
Speaker 4: It was amazing. I really needed to play Monet. I really really needed to be that person because that's how I.

00:35:14
Speaker 2: Was feeling at that time. You were in that move.

00:35:17
Speaker 4: Mentally I was going through and I just wanted to do that to a couple of people.

00:35:23
Speaker 2: I wanted money.

00:35:24
Speaker 3: Was really, well, we're glad you did it on TV, but you know I'm not.

00:35:28
Speaker 2: I had to you. You know, I'm smart.

00:35:31
Speaker 4: You know I had to use that anger and that revenge and all that stuff that I felt for what I was just come out of yeah to play that woman.

00:35:43
Speaker 3: Now that that man, and then just the twist and turns in the show minding out Zeke was your son.

00:35:52
Speaker 2: It was smoking his.

00:35:53
Speaker 3: Little girlfriend or she really wanted a little girl, but she's a grown ass woman.

00:35:57
Speaker 2: Messed with that little boy.

00:35:58
Speaker 3: But like all stuff that was going on in that show is just it just it was a cliffhanger.

00:36:03
Speaker 2: It was messy. It was very messy. The fuck wow.

00:36:08
Speaker 3: And then y'all like y'all spoke Spanish every now and then.

00:36:13
Speaker 2: It's like shoot him, like.

00:36:19
Speaker 7: Okay, looking at the husband came home on they hated that husband, Like what go back to she.

00:36:24
Speaker 2: Won't even go back to jail. But then come to find out she had a baby pretty much with the same type of thing that. Yeah, it was wild. Yeah, but that that show, it kept us entertained. Listen.

00:36:36
Speaker 4: Thanks shout out to fifty for employing me. That was my boss and he was just what a blessing man, Thank you so much.

00:36:44
Speaker 3: Now I rock with fifth, I rock with fIF and you were on there as usual.

00:36:48
Speaker 2: He was flying, ship was flying.

00:36:52
Speaker 3: What that's the part though, It's like, okay, this is this is but that's actually this Mary J.

00:36:57
Speaker 4: Blige, the queen, Well she has, she has. She had a lot to do with money as close some of the stuff. It was like, nah, I'm not gonna do that to money. Money needs to be just as fly Yeah you know if not flyer.

00:37:12
Speaker 3: Now you just putting that shit on for sure. How does that go for you when you're filming that? As far as your artist stuff though, how are you able to kind of juggle? Do you should shut down? You're like touring or shows or anything while you're filming.

00:37:27
Speaker 5: Yeah, you shut down.

00:37:28
Speaker 4: You do one or the other, Okay, and when you got some time, if there is something that's really important, like you know, I got inducted into the Rock and roll holler.

00:37:37
Speaker 3: Come on, come on, come on, come on, we're gonna we're gonna clap for that.

00:37:39
Speaker 2: We clapping for that. Broke the mic like it ain't many of us in there. Yeah. Yeah, So you shut down.

00:37:46
Speaker 4: You do the things you can do or have time to do. And I did the Super Bowl while I.

00:37:51
Speaker 2: Was shooting as well. Yeah.

00:37:53
Speaker 3: Wow, So hall of Fame, how do you even get that phone call?

00:38:06
Speaker 2: Like you know what, Mary, You're in the rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

00:38:09
Speaker 4: Well, first, you you get the call, you know, your nominating call, an induction, and so you're like, wow, just the nomination, It's crazy, I'll take that. Then the call comes you in then you're like, oh shit, what am I gonna do? How am I going to sell? How I'm going to make the celebration for myself a big deal? And I said, I'm gonna call on the two people that I that always call on me whenever I need them, Dre and Method Man every time I need meth no matter what it is, y'all, I need you for I need you. I'm coming. I'm on my way, you know. And if he's busy, you're like, damn, I hate that. I can't make it, Dre. If I need anything, you know, Drake.

00:38:50
Speaker 2: Gave me a super Bowl.

00:38:51
Speaker 5: You know, if it wasn't for Dre, I wouldn't have gotten you know.

00:38:54
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:38:55
Speaker 3: You know, speaking of Method Man to me and you people can fight me about it, be mad about it.

00:39:02
Speaker 2: I don't know.

00:39:03
Speaker 3: That is the gradest R and B hip hop record collaboration. In my opinion, it's one of them for me for me, you know, for me, yeah, personally, because I'm a person, I'm a song person, right and I can't find anything wrong with it.

00:39:22
Speaker 2: There's nothing to me. That is a perfect record.

00:39:26
Speaker 3: You guys were a perfect match on the song the video, like that's every time it comes on. You know, when you're riding and if something comes on you hear it a little bit. He's like, oh no, no, no, no, come on, come on. We like the bus Driver.

00:39:38
Speaker 2: We turned it. We turned it out. We turning that one up.

00:39:41
Speaker 3: So can you give me a little backstory to that record? To you all I need?

00:39:45
Speaker 2: All right?

00:39:45
Speaker 4: Saw, I remember the night it was at the Hit Factory. I was already in the studio working on I think it was working on something for my life album. I've been a Method Man fan since the Wu Tang Clan, since he since Emy to Man. Remember the box, Yes, remember the box. You had to order the video video. I ordered that video all night long, like a crazy person.

00:40:11
Speaker 2: That and bring the Pain. Yeah, I came. Well, I even knew.

00:40:17
Speaker 4: So one day Puff was like, yo, your Meth want to do a song with you. I was like, this is too good. It was Method Man's birthday. Meth came to the he came to the studio, The whole Wou Tang clan came to the studio. We did that song that night. You're All I Need and Meth were coming every night and You're killing it.

00:40:35
Speaker 3: You know.

00:40:35
Speaker 2: It was just a family thing.

00:40:37
Speaker 4: And to have the Wu Tang clan in the studio that night and Meth, that was like, that's why that song was. You know, it is what it is because we were everybody was really in the studio together and and and loving on each other, you know, and and supporting each other.

00:40:54
Speaker 3: The ghetto love story is, Yeah.

00:40:58
Speaker 2: If you got hood love, that is what you gotta play. Yeah, you gotta play.

00:41:04
Speaker 4: And Matthew Well whoever his girl was wow, whols to her because the words in that song, it's like, how could you not be a part of something like because that's what I wanted.

00:41:12
Speaker 5: I want to some man to sing about me like that.

00:41:15
Speaker 2: Right, you know? And now that that record was incredible.

00:41:18
Speaker 4: Doctor Dre, Yeah, he's like he's the greatest, Like Dre is amazing. He's one of the most amazing producers, amazing musicians, amazing artists, amazing person. He's just a friend, a true friend.

00:41:37
Speaker 2: You know.

00:41:38
Speaker 4: I will never forget what he did for me when I got that Super Bowl call from him and Jimmy I Van. I wouldn't know that I needed that more than they even though.

00:41:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, now that was a great moment. Another record I want to ask you about, my guys. Did this record with you be without you?

00:41:57
Speaker 4: Another monster? Another huge record that was Jimmy Iveen.

00:42:01
Speaker 7: You know.

00:42:01
Speaker 4: Jimmy Ivien was like, you know, Mary, you need one of those. We belong together. It's like Mariah carries you know, we all love you know, Mariah, and we belong together. And Jimmy was like, you need one of those. Call Ryan, Michael Cox and call those guys. I think within two days we was in the studio recorded that record immediately.

00:42:21
Speaker 5: Going I mean yeah, I mean.

00:42:23
Speaker 2: Brian Cox and johns Austin with Mary J.

00:42:26
Speaker 3: Blige and Royn Fair and if damn strings listen ron Fair and strings.

00:42:32
Speaker 5: But amazing, Yes, like you sound like you could swim in it.

00:42:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, he hears things differently. Yeah, completely, because I was.

00:42:41
Speaker 2: I was.

00:42:41
Speaker 3: I was with him during the time with Keisha Cole Me and Keisha came up together, so.

00:42:47
Speaker 2: Okay, you know he was.

00:42:49
Speaker 3: He was the one making sure Keisha got through everything right. Yeah, put strings, put some damn strings on him.

00:42:57
Speaker 2: He gonna put strings on that too. She like, we gotta let round do what Ryn do? He knew what he was doing. He knows what he's doing.

00:43:04
Speaker 4: That break through album. Yeah on Good Woman down fair Be without You.

00:43:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm trying to get Ron. We need you to pull up on the arm B Money podcast. Man, we fun with you over here. Man, we gotta we got to get him over here too. Yeah.

00:43:21
Speaker 2: Have you do you know how many Grammys?

00:43:23
Speaker 1: You have?

00:43:26
Speaker 2: A nine.

00:43:28
Speaker 4: Nine, got a lot of nominations, got way more nominations than Grammys.

00:43:33
Speaker 2: But yeah, that's fine. What do you put all of them? Where do you put all the Grammys on the shelf? You know what I'm saying?

00:43:41
Speaker 3: Like, are there is there like a special place that you put in you know this house or that house. Is it that you feel like, Okay, we're gonna put these here?

00:43:52
Speaker 4: Well you have to build it, build somewhere to put it.

00:43:56
Speaker 2: Like a shelf or something. You gotta build.

00:43:58
Speaker 3: You know what, when you have so many you have to build somewhere to put them.

00:44:03
Speaker 2: That is incredible. Do you still like have like your plaques? Have you ordered all? Do you do all of that stuff?

00:44:10
Speaker 1: Or?

00:44:10
Speaker 3: Because you know every artist in every producer or writer everybody doesn't do it. Some people are just like I don't really want to see it all the time.

00:44:17
Speaker 2: They just get delivered.

00:44:18
Speaker 3: Okay, you know, like are you are you a person?

00:44:21
Speaker 2: No, that's just like, you know what, I want to see all this shit somewhere.

00:44:25
Speaker 4: I do want to see it. Yes, I think that's being a good steward. When you have all your stuff in front of you, you know why not?

00:44:34
Speaker 5: It's you earned.

00:44:35
Speaker 2: It absolutely absolutely and not asked.

00:44:38
Speaker 3: Though, because everyone, you know, everybody, Sometimes people have different opinions of like, oh, well, you know, I want to feel like I haven't done anything.

00:44:45
Speaker 2: Yet, or I don't want to I'm still hungry. Yeah, and I have so much stuff.

00:44:50
Speaker 4: But I still I just love to see what I can do.

00:44:56
Speaker 5: How's this going to sound? I want to be able to just like I just love music. I just love to see what it's going to be.

00:45:04
Speaker 2: What's next?

00:45:05
Speaker 5: Yeah, what it's going to be, what it's going to sound?

00:45:07
Speaker 2: Like? You know, speaking of what's next, what is next for you? This residency is next?

00:45:12
Speaker 3: Okay, come on, let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. We're going to the MGM.

00:45:16
Speaker 5: Yes, the presidency is a big deal, you know, is.

00:45:21
Speaker 2: This your first one ever?

00:45:22
Speaker 5: Yes, my first one?

00:45:23
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah? How many shows is it or how long is it?

00:45:27
Speaker 7: Well?

00:45:27
Speaker 4: Right now it's twenty. This shit is selling, so I'm sure they're going to extend it.

00:45:32
Speaker 2: Probably.

00:45:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, you need you need like an usher or somebody that can like just get people tickets and ship.

00:45:38
Speaker 2: You know, I'm trying to sneak in. However, I get it in that thing. Get you, I get up in that thing. You know what I mean? I like, hey, you know, oh ship that you give it up? Talkcorn? Yeah, I can't see mary.

00:45:48
Speaker 5: Get you a ticket, man, if you.

00:45:50
Speaker 2: Need a ticket, I'll get you a ticket.

00:45:51
Speaker 9: No, no, no, no, no no no no no. I want to I want to do a job. If I'm gonna do some shit, I want to be to pull. I could buy a ticket. I can buy a ticket. But no, that that's that's great. So one of the dates for that, do you know?

00:46:01
Speaker 2: Hold on?

00:46:03
Speaker 3: If I got I'll get May first through the ninth. I lie close through the eighteenth. He's closer.

00:46:09
Speaker 2: It's close. Shit is close. And are you Are you on a tour as well after that? Or is just right now? You focusing on residency.

00:46:17
Speaker 4: Right now and focused on residency. Okay, yeah, and I'm sure there's gonna be some movie. There's a couple of surprise things coming up.

00:46:24
Speaker 2: Okay.

00:46:25
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:46:25
Speaker 3: Since you going to Vegas, is there like a game of choice? Is it something that you like to do? You shoot dice?

00:46:30
Speaker 2: You?

00:46:31
Speaker 5: I don't like gambling.

00:46:32
Speaker 2: You don't gamble.

00:46:32
Speaker 4: I used to gamble and I lost a lot of money to piss me off, and I I'll never gambled again.

00:46:37
Speaker 2: I do it. I've lost a lot of money too, but I still like it. I'm not.

00:46:40
Speaker 5: I'm just not doing that.

00:46:42
Speaker 2: I'm that guy that shoot walking.

00:46:43
Speaker 3: You walked by the table, oh seventeen with your folk gass, come on with septeenniad.

00:46:49
Speaker 2: That's me.

00:46:50
Speaker 3: That's me every time I trying to trying to hit the all tall small on the on the craft table.

00:46:55
Speaker 2: Not me.

00:46:56
Speaker 4: I lost on the I lost on the slot machines. Are you a slip like three house and dollars?

00:47:00
Speaker 2: Host like? Never again? You lose you know what.

00:47:05
Speaker 4: Slots? I said, never, I don't care.

00:47:09
Speaker 2: I'm good. No gambling.

00:47:11
Speaker 3: Okay, so no gambling during while you're there. So when you guys, just so you know, when y'all go to see Mary in Vegas. I'm going to be there at some point. I'm gonna buy me a ticket. I'm gonna go to the show, and you're gonna probably see me at the Roulette or the craft table. It's gonna happen at some point. Next musically for you though, because you know you got the new record.

00:47:31
Speaker 2: More than eleven.

00:47:33
Speaker 5: I'm working on some more music.

00:47:35
Speaker 4: I have one another one coming with Camp, but I got one shout out another coming with Rodney. Yeah, yeah, So I deal with my family. You know, anybody that wants to work with me, I want to work with them.

00:47:47
Speaker 2: I'm not and he did I can love you? What else? Rodney is dark Shadow me? He is who he is. But for me, when I say I can.

00:48:00
Speaker 3: Love you, you and Little Kim, you'll collaboration is it's top show?

00:48:06
Speaker 2: Thank you? Yea, I was talking that ship. Yeah yeah.

00:48:13
Speaker 3: So so you say you got you got Camper, you got Dark Child and Rodney.

00:48:20
Speaker 4: So those two are coming, Okay, first one is the next one is Camp. First one is Camper, next one is Camper, then the next one is Rotten and then I'm gonna try to get a whole album out there.

00:48:30
Speaker 2: You think that'll be this year?

00:48:32
Speaker 5: I hope, So I'm trying. I'm not gonna rush it though, Okay, whenever it is ready.

00:48:38
Speaker 3: You got a title already, you said you do it a year and ahead. Listen, I've been remembering ship. I know, I know I.

00:48:45
Speaker 5: Don't have this title. I mean, I have it, but I'm not gonna Okay, if I get you, that's why are you supposed to do that?

00:48:52
Speaker 2: I gotta shoot my shot. You're supposed to do that?

00:48:54
Speaker 3: And what's the what's the label now? Because you beautiful? Your new label beautiful life? Okay, yep, And it's just me. I tried with the artists, I see.

00:49:05
Speaker 2: I tried very hard. This is not it, you know.

00:49:08
Speaker 3: And that's why I wanted to ask you that, right, because that is something that gets brought up a lot with artists, very successful artists like yourself.

00:49:16
Speaker 2: But they're just like, well, they should put on and they should And I don't always agree with that.

00:49:22
Speaker 5: What do you mean put on?

00:49:23
Speaker 3: Meaning like you know, as far as yes should artists make the attempt to help. But I think it's a thing where people feel like, since she's married J Blige, she can make me marry J Blige without me doing all the things that I need to do to become that level. I think a lot of people get spoiled. I've seen it up close. A lot of artists get spoiled. And I'm not saying this happen with the artists that you had, but I see a lot of artists get spoiled or come in it with a spoiled mindset when they're dealing with a superstar.

00:49:57
Speaker 5: Honestly, in my these artists weren't spoiled.

00:50:03
Speaker 2: They just was.

00:50:06
Speaker 5: It was there was just it was a bunch of bulls.

00:50:07
Speaker 4: It was a bunch of shit going on that I don't even want to get into.

00:50:11
Speaker 5: Okay, Sometimes.

00:50:14
Speaker 4: You know, as an artist, I've reached I've tried to help a lot of people. I did, but people get in their own way and I'm gonna leave it just like that.

00:50:23
Speaker 2: Right, You gotta know how to get out of your own way.

00:50:26
Speaker 4: And that was the advice Shaka Khane me when I first met her.

00:50:32
Speaker 5: She said, you need to get out of your own way.

00:50:34
Speaker 2: How did you receive it in the beginning.

00:50:37
Speaker 4: In the beginning, I took it just like how I needed it, because that's exactly what I needed to do. I was like, wow, Okay, let me go in process this. What does that mean? It means get out of your own way, stop being your own worst enemy. Right, I figured it out.

00:50:56
Speaker 2: I figured it out. Yeah, I mean I pray that I pray that we all do. Yes, all artists don't.

00:51:01
Speaker 3: And people are just like, oh, this artist is so so talented and this, and it's like like you said, sometimes they're in their own way.

00:51:07
Speaker 4: Talent is not the thing that's going to sustain you. Your personality, who you are, how you treat people, how you treat yourself, how people see you, treat yourself, and how people see you treat how people see you. I was thinking about this this morning. It's when you are at your hottest that you should be at your humblest Yeah, because as high as you go, that's that's how steep that that peak is.

00:51:33
Speaker 5: Going to be.

00:51:34
Speaker 4: And then that peak is what we need everybody. So remember how you treat those people up there, right? No, please, no, thank you, no excuse me. Those things go a long way. Don't think people are not listening. Don't think people don't. Weren't brought up like that. Damn you couldn't say thank you?

00:51:50
Speaker 2: Can you know?

00:51:51
Speaker 4: You know?

00:51:51
Speaker 2: Right?

00:51:52
Speaker 1: Right?

00:51:52
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:51:52
Speaker 3: And It's happened to all of us where we meet somebody and we're just like, damn, it could have been a little cooler to me, like.

00:51:59
Speaker 4: Damn, listen, and I've been disappointed, but I don't, you know, I'm like a grudge hole. I'm just like I don't have to I don't have to deal with it. I have to deal with But damn, I thought you was.

00:52:09
Speaker 5: Better than this, right, But no no judgment, just keep it moving.

00:52:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you've you've led by example, right, like today this is my first time me and you amazingly gracious.

00:52:22
Speaker 2: Thank you.

00:52:22
Speaker 3: You know I can tell y'all that if y'all meet Mary J. Blige, she is a sweetheart. So you know what I mean because you know and and and even and I want to I want to mention this part too, right, Like obviously, as people can see, my co hosts.

00:52:40
Speaker 2: Ain't here today, you know what I mean.

00:52:42
Speaker 3: And this was something that you know, we let your team and you know before you got here, and you could have easily been like.

00:52:49
Speaker 2: Ah, well, thank ain't there, right, you know what I mean?

00:52:52
Speaker 3: And I would have absolutely accepted that you know what I mean because you are who you are. But the fact that you were gracious enough to say, you know what, no, no, no, no, I'll sit down with Jay. Yeah you know what I mean. But to me, everyone isn't like that, and even people who are at artists who aren't even at your level, you know what I mean, that may look at it like, oh yeah, I gotta na you know what this is?

00:53:16
Speaker 2: This the platform is the platform.

00:53:18
Speaker 5: You just never know who's gonna end up being who later.

00:53:22
Speaker 4: Yeah, so you're got your own way, like like who do we all think we are?

00:53:27
Speaker 5: We're all given an opportunity.

00:53:28
Speaker 4: We're all given So let's give somebody else an opportunity. Let's you know, let's let somebody help somebody else come up high, because that person might come up so high they can pull you up one day.

00:53:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's how I move.

00:53:39
Speaker 4: You just never know, like, you know, look at Nico's holding the camera, right, Nico owns his whole ship. Yeah, and then something, Yeah, that'd be the kid that's the billionaire that can help you.

00:53:52
Speaker 5: But that you've been rude to.

00:53:54
Speaker 4: Right, We're never gonna be rude to Nico because Nico's just amazing, beautiful person himself.

00:53:59
Speaker 2: But you see the point I'm trying to make is just never know who's who?

00:54:02
Speaker 7: You know?

00:54:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I just want to say thank you, of course, and I'm very appreciative of that.

00:54:07
Speaker 2: And I don't want to let that just be like, oh yeah no Mary, it was just supposed to pull up. No no, no, no no.

00:54:13
Speaker 3: I am telling you thank you, and I really appreciate that.

00:54:16
Speaker 5: I appreciate and shout out to Tank. Maybe they'll be.

00:54:20
Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely be another one. So he you know, we might as well tell the people he's you know, he's in a Stesspian what's that? He's an actor now he's you know, so he's uh, he booked the he booked the show that I can't say what show he booked.

00:54:36
Speaker 2: But he had to lead the state and he had to go film, so hustle. But why why while we're on Tank Rube, give us give us a little something?

00:54:55
Speaker 7: Man?

00:54:55
Speaker 3: While we got what we got married here man, we're gonna get Tank still sent something in.

00:54:59
Speaker 2: He still said something near who we got what we got.

00:55:05
Speaker 7: Fun?

00:55:08
Speaker 2: Top five Fun, You're tough areasings are and me so.

00:55:25
Speaker 1: We got to know befought you go they're wrong this show everybody wasn't.

00:55:32
Speaker 8: Go yes, And I know he's talented.

00:55:49
Speaker 5: It's terrible. I'm not clapping.

00:56:02
Speaker 2: Come on, give it up a.

00:56:03
Speaker 3: Take God bless man.

00:56:09
Speaker 2: It would be so much louder out of but Marby ruthe can turn it up and editing.

00:56:17
Speaker 3: But yeah, So we got these segments of our show where you tell us your top five R and B singers and R and B songs.

00:56:28
Speaker 5: Well, boy man, this is okay, Mary thing.

00:56:32
Speaker 2: Come on, come on, we got we getting married ja.

00:56:34
Speaker 5: Top five R and B singers could be groups two.

00:56:37
Speaker 2: You can do whatever you want. You're married, J Blige.

00:56:40
Speaker 4: I always gotta start with Stevie Wonder. Come on, yep, because Stevie Wonder is the way for every single with any kind of swag in their voice, in their their vocal arrangements.

00:56:56
Speaker 5: Stevie is the dictionary.

00:56:59
Speaker 2: Yes he is.

00:57:01
Speaker 5: I don't want to say Bible because I'm not doing that. He just is.

00:57:04
Speaker 4: And everybody has that and them Shaka Khan, same thing like like she like these.

00:57:14
Speaker 2: Yeah you know what I'm saying.

00:57:17
Speaker 4: Layla Hathaway, Oh, Layla Hathaway.

00:57:21
Speaker 2: She's so sweet and amazing.

00:57:24
Speaker 4: And just sounds just like her father. Yes, and then some but and of course Donnie Hathaway. I think five people.

00:57:33
Speaker 2: It's just amazing.

00:57:35
Speaker 3: More will come on please, because we've got two halthaways. Stevie and Shaka need one more.

00:57:45
Speaker 4: It's two people, but they're the same thing almost. It's Whitney and Arethah. And if I had to put a cherry on the cake, it would be Marvin.

00:57:59
Speaker 2: Yeah. Stop seven, But we're gonna gonna let you up. You want you want to go round it up at ten? You want to stay saturn? I mean, I'm gonna stay right there all But they are like the.

00:58:14
Speaker 4: If you listen to every R and B singer, pop, black, white, K pop, whatever, no matter, they have all those things in them, because we have all those things in us. Yeah, it's in our d n A. Shaka's in our DNA, Stevie's in our dna. Absolutely, they're running through our blood. Aretha's running through all our parents' blood. So she's running through our blood of course.

00:58:39
Speaker 2: Of course.

00:58:40
Speaker 3: Okay, you know, so top five songs you can listen. If you want to throw one of your amazing songs in there, you can. It's not against the rules.

00:58:49
Speaker 2: First one on my listeners as mm hm. Back to Stevie.

00:58:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, Stevie just.

00:58:55
Speaker 2: Can't lose.

00:58:57
Speaker 4: H ship, Michael Jackson's can't help it. Oh my god, I forgot I forgot Michael Jackson. Michael jack so now we are top eight. I didn't I didn't forget him. I did not forget Mike at all. I would put Stevie Mike and then the rest of them. Okay, I can't help it is I mean, Michael Jackson got nothing but amazing song like the Jackson's have Like that's what you get for being polite blaming on the boogie, you know, when you keep going to the.

00:59:32
Speaker 5: JackAM but can't help it and heaven can wait. That's a beautiful song, a beautiful So.

00:59:45
Speaker 3: These part of your list are are we just at at as and can't help it?

00:59:49
Speaker 2: As? Can't help it?

00:59:51
Speaker 5: I want to, I want to add heaving you wait, this is hard man.

00:59:55
Speaker 2: I can't do this. We didn't make it to be easy.

00:59:57
Speaker 8: I can't do this.

00:59:58
Speaker 2: This is come on, I can't help it. You don't blame it on the boogy. He said that too, but you know it's just too many.

01:00:06
Speaker 4: I'm gonna keep it. That can't help it in the right now, all right. Whitney Houston's damnitar everything she got, she sings this is hard.

01:00:13
Speaker 5: I can't.

01:00:14
Speaker 2: This is really hard.

01:00:15
Speaker 5: Whitney Houston's You Give Good Love.

01:00:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that song.

01:00:20
Speaker 5: That's so West band. Tell me if you still care?

01:00:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, we have four. Oh we getting there. Oh these is jams too.

01:00:29
Speaker 5: The next thing that came to my head was Mary J. Bliges Be Without.

01:00:32
Speaker 3: You and Why Not, one of the greatest songs of all time. Just so y'all know that that was hard.

01:00:45
Speaker 2: In the book, that was hard.

01:00:46
Speaker 5: That was very, very hard.

01:00:47
Speaker 3: Because I have so I could just keep going, of course, but that five is amazing, all right. So our next thing we're gonna do. Tank likes to build a voltront Everybody who comes on our show to build they're perfect R and B artists, And it starts with the vocals, the stage performance, the drip, the clothes that they rock, and the passion. So you got to tell me, who's your vocals for your perfect most amazing R and B singer?

01:01:24
Speaker 5: Who's my vocals?

01:01:25
Speaker 3: Who's the vocal for my perfect if you're building them, if.

01:01:31
Speaker 5: I'm building a guy or a female.

01:01:33
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. Okay, don't even matter. You can mix a match.

01:01:36
Speaker 5: I gotta give it to Jazmine Sullivant like she's just.

01:01:41
Speaker 3: Anybody that's watched the show knows how I feel about Jazzmink.

01:01:44
Speaker 4: Jazmine Sullivant is just I love jazzmin Like. The girl is just.

01:01:50
Speaker 5: Phenomenal.

01:01:51
Speaker 4: She's like like ivo, I pray that I wake up and and everything just comes out like that. While but Jasmine, Yeah, her voice is perfect. Performance style, performance style. I can't do Jasmine and Michael Jesson.

01:02:08
Speaker 2: Why not? You know what we're building it?

01:02:11
Speaker 4: Yes, but if I was to build a female, it would be Jasmine as far as style, closed style.

01:02:21
Speaker 3: Performance performance performance. You said you're gonna build female, you weren'tna gonna add Mike. I mean we can, though I'm always putting Michael performance style.

01:02:30
Speaker 2: I would do Mary j Blige. Come on, come on, come.

01:02:34
Speaker 5: On, Jasmine voice, Mary j Blige swagging.

01:02:39
Speaker 2: You gotta pass out, you got it? Yeah, it's got to pass out at the super.

01:02:44
Speaker 4: Bowl like and with a voice like Jasmine and all that emotions and feeling like Jasmine, You're gonna pass out a couple of times because you're.

01:02:53
Speaker 3: Gonna feel, You're gonna feel what she singing.

01:02:57
Speaker 2: Okay, now, who're gonna put the fly sh it on. We're gon put that, you know what I mean?

01:03:01
Speaker 4: The fly the fly shit on, all right, I'm gonna give it to I'm such a girl's girl, Tianna Taylor. Oh yeah, fly is fun like Tianna Taylor all time, dance like performs like Mary J.

01:03:17
Speaker 5: Blige, sings like Jasmine Sullivan. What's next?

01:03:21
Speaker 3: Passion Donnie Hathaway, that's a different type of passion.

01:03:27
Speaker 2: Let me explain that is a different type of passion.

01:03:30
Speaker 4: We have the superman or the superwoman of the artists right there. Passion like Donnie Hathaway. You're gonna cry, performers like Mary J. Blige, You're gonna celebrate, vocals like Jasmine, You're gonna pass out, You're gonna cry, You're gonna celebrate, You're gonna feel.

01:03:57
Speaker 2: And who else did I say? Taylor? Drip? The drip is Tiana Taylor.

01:04:03
Speaker 5: She going, She's going straight to the bang from the door.

01:04:06
Speaker 3: I think that, I think I think Mary would sign that artists, but that artist does not exist that first of all, all.

01:04:17
Speaker 4: Of that's hard to attain. Like nobody can sing like Jasmine. Tianna Taylor was sent from heaven looking like that. We have to work bus. I asked to look like.

01:04:25
Speaker 5: That, but Tianna God beamed it down here like that.

01:04:30
Speaker 4: Me, that's what I move like I moved period, No rehearsal, No, I just that's just me. I mean I have some Corey of course, maybe Corey choreographing my stuff back to me that they see.

01:04:44
Speaker 2: Me you do. Like, so Mary, remember when you did this bop? Okay, do that bop on there?

01:04:48
Speaker 4: No, they don't even say that. They just be trying to give it to me, like I don't know it's mine. I know it when you got that from you got that from me.

01:04:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's the Vultron.

01:05:00
Speaker 3: That's a killer tron. That is a killer vote tron. See, this wasn't that hard. It wasn't that hard.

01:05:07
Speaker 4: It was a little hard, but I had to use my brain because that right there.

01:05:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know you locked in? Yeah, you locked in. So listen for all, y'all.

01:05:14
Speaker 3: Y'all niggas that be doing the clips, y'all, go ahead and make the super R and B Superstar Voe Tron that Maj Blige just created, and let's see what it looked like. Let's see if AI can do that. Okay, since we are.

01:05:28
Speaker 2: In a ship. Let let's see what this AI shit do.

01:05:31
Speaker 6: Man.

01:05:32
Speaker 3: So we got one more segment okay before I'll let you out of here. It's called I ain't saying no names, right, but you know, we gotta, we gotta. We got another theme song for you know, before we before we get to it. So Reuben, would you please play the theme song of all theme songs.

01:05:52
Speaker 2: I ain't saying no nigga.

01:06:01
Speaker 9: What you did?

01:06:03
Speaker 2: Don't say s I'll be having too much fun. The whole purpose, it is, the whole purpose.

01:06:20
Speaker 3: It is just to have fun names, so very important part of the show. Will you tell us a story funny or fucked up? Are funny and fucked up? The only rule to the game, it's Mary can't say no names.

01:06:37
Speaker 2: It's hard to think.

01:06:38
Speaker 4: It's hard right now to think of anything because people don't really be playing with me to ship.

01:06:47
Speaker 2: They don't.

01:06:48
Speaker 4: I think I've told the stories of the people that I could have said I ain't saying no names.

01:06:52
Speaker 2: About, but I've said.

01:06:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, but far is people pulling funny ship and like, I ain't saying no names with this person.

01:07:06
Speaker 2: It's a lot of mess. But people I don't know. People just they don't play with you. They don't bother me like that.

01:07:16
Speaker 3: Okay, so maybe early on, maybe early on something that you just.

01:07:20
Speaker 5: Oh, I got it, Okay, see that got it?

01:07:23
Speaker 2: We go, there, we go.

01:07:26
Speaker 5: And you may have heard this before, but I ain't saying.

01:07:29
Speaker 4: I just met this person and I was excited, so excited to meet them.

01:07:34
Speaker 5: And this is when you know, back then, when.

01:07:37
Speaker 4: Your roots was dark and your hair was blonde, but people didn't know what it was, but we knew what it was. So this person goes, you really should dye your hair, your roots the same color as your hair, and you need to learn how to sing on key. I ain't saying no names, but I was like, okay, let me go and see if I'm singing flat or whatever that means.

01:08:02
Speaker 2: Right, So but I ain't saying no names.

01:08:05
Speaker 4: I was like, that was fucked up because I was excited to meet this person and I and I mean, like gung.

01:08:10
Speaker 2: Ho, somebody that you really looked up.

01:08:13
Speaker 5: Someone that I absolutely love so much.

01:08:15
Speaker 4: And and that's what they said to me, like it was my first time, and they was like.

01:08:22
Speaker 5: Froze, like froze me like that, and I.

01:08:26
Speaker 4: Thought it was gonna be like hello and yeah.

01:08:30
Speaker 2: You need to.

01:08:31
Speaker 5: It was very petty and you need to sing on key.

01:08:37
Speaker 4: I was like, yeah, I was crushed.

01:08:43
Speaker 3: But that's why you speak about being humble and treating people a certain way.

01:08:48
Speaker 8: Yeah.

01:08:48
Speaker 4: I try to treat people kind, but if you do some funny stupid ship, I might say something.

01:08:54
Speaker 2: You know, it's not gonna feel good. Yeah. People do stupid stuff.

01:08:59
Speaker 4: They say stupid stuff, and I just give them a stupid response, you know, but I ain't saying no names.

01:09:09
Speaker 2: We can't be doing that to each other people, you know, Just Ben, it's life.

01:09:13
Speaker 4: You can't tell these people that they can't. They're gonna this is the world. They're gonna do what they do.

01:09:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right.

01:09:20
Speaker 4: Yeah.

01:09:21
Speaker 3: Well You've been nothing but nice, gracious and amazing to me, and I just want to say thank you again.

01:09:30
Speaker 2: You're welcome.

01:09:31
Speaker 3: I love the fact that you came and said with me, this has been an amazing day. I hope you know, I hope you had a good time.

01:09:36
Speaker 2: I did.

01:09:37
Speaker 4: I had a blast, and your questions were great. A couple of them was stumping me because I always hear the same questions.

01:09:44
Speaker 5: A lot of your questions was like what.

01:09:47
Speaker 2: So you know I try. I try.

01:09:48
Speaker 3: I try to dive in and and ask what the reason why we even started this show and I was telling you this earlier outside is because we wanted to create a space for us, yeah.

01:10:00
Speaker 2: For our people, for artists to feel comfortable.

01:10:04
Speaker 3: And you know, for to ask real questions about you know, some things that I just wanted to know, you know what I mean, Or that my family is gonna be like, boy, why you ain't asked?

01:10:15
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? And when does this happen? You know what I mean?

01:10:17
Speaker 5: Did you ask some questions that you're family?

01:10:20
Speaker 2: I don't want no smoke? Yeah, I hope I answered. Now you did, and you told them you love them?

01:10:25
Speaker 9: So they dan man, when I tell you I'm at another level with them from this point.

01:10:29
Speaker 3: On, China Doll, can your fool Misha, she loved y'all.

01:10:34
Speaker 5: Okay, I hope, I hope I see everybody.

01:10:37
Speaker 2: I hope I see y'all at the Residency. Look.

01:10:39
Speaker 5: I learned this on the Jennifer Hustle show. I love y'all.

01:10:43
Speaker 7: I don't know how to do it, but now they showed me at the Jennifer Hustle show yesterday because I was throwing up Gang.

01:10:48
Speaker 5: Signs and all kind of shit, So I say, hey, I got cutter.

01:10:56
Speaker 2: Man.

01:10:56
Speaker 3: I thank y'all for tuning in. I'm Jay Valentine. This is the Incapable Icon, Mary J.

01:11:03
Speaker 2: Blige. It's the R and B Money Podcast. We'll see y'all next NXT