Christina Millian

This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. T-Sto the planet. I go by the name of Shala main, the God. And guess what? I can't wait to see y'all at the third annual Black Effect podcast festival. That's right. We're coming back to Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday, April 26th at Pullman Yards. And it's hosted by none other than Decisions Decisions, Mandy B and Weezy. Okay. We got the R&B Money podcast with Tank and Jay Valentine. We got the Woman of All podcast with Sarah Jake Roberts. We got Good Mom's Bad Choices. Carrie Champion will be there with her Neck and Sports podcast and the Trap Nourage podcast with more to be announced. And of course, it's bigger than podcasts. We're bringing the Black Effect marketplace with Black Own Businesses plus the food truck court to keep you fed while you visit us. All right. Listen, you don't want to miss this. Tap in and grab your tickets now at blackeffect.com slash podcast festival. Jay Valentine. We are the authorities on all things R&B. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tank. I'm Jay Valentine. And this is the R&B Money podcast. The authority on all things R&B. Yeah. You know, hit records, hit movies. Yeah. Oh. Dessert. Ah. Entrepreneur. You can't spell that. Yes, I can. It's written right here on my phone. Class beauty and talent. Oh my gosh. It's all packaged in a really cool package. And it has a really, really awesome name to define it. I'm going to enjoy saying this name. Come on. Announcing this person. You just signed it. Exciting to be his family. Excuse my French. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. Christina. Million. Million. Million. Million. What the hell? I didn't know you were stuck. Okay. We were, hi. Million. That was a great intro, man. I liked the way that she did it. I know I can't beat that. That was exciting. That was exciting. I mean, I wish I, you know what? We have it on tape. If I ever go out and perform ever again, I'm going to play that right at the beginning. You know you have the intro? That's the intro. Hi, what's up guys? Good to be with y'all. Give me million. Where's million from? My mom. So Carmen, million is my mom. Shout out to Carmen. Mom and my daughter. Shout out to Carmen. My daughter. And I'm Cuban, so I come from Cuban descent, but Cuba is like a melting pot. Just several, just different, different cultures, different places and faces. And so from what I'm told, I mean, we have just a long lineage back, but it's Spaniard. It also feels very Italian, if you ask me. It feels very Italian. But I don't know. I honestly really, I need to do one of those like 23 and me and just kind of go back. I know, because then you find out you're connected to a whole bunch of presidents you don't want to be in contact with, right? No, not even just that. But then they start, you know, they probably will be looking for people. They got certain. That's true. Once you're in the system, they might build a robot off of me. I found a little bit of inkling up. What is the earwax or what is it? They go up the nose? Yeah, I didn't do it yet. I'm sure he got it. I'm just interested. No. You know what I'm saying? Because every time I'm around me, they start talking to me, you know, hablando en español. So I'm like, I must be part of the community. Baby, you know, they talk to me, they see me, they say, yo, what a horse. Hey. Well, your name is Dorel. That's my mama's fault. But my middle name is Artez. Artez. With the role. Artez. Just artists. It's artists. OK, you know what? It has an art. Like the Tarje. Over my ear, there's the thing that's only found in the Spanish. Like right over top. There are there's. OK, it counts. Rufi know what I'm talking about. It's us three today. You're out. I feel like I'm still watching all of us. Solamente nosotros. Oh, I know some Spanish. Huh? I was Spanish is my first language. Really? Yeah. Wait, so in school or you mean in general? That was your first language. My grandmother believed that Spanish was going to be the first language of the US one day. Oh, wow. My grandmother in Milwaukee, Wisconsin said, I'm going to put you in a Spanish immersion school. Wow. kindergarten through fifth grade. Blessing. I only learned Spanish. Really? And I you would lose recess if you talk English. No, you didn't. Right. The word. Grandma's Spanish too. Did you teach her? Nobody's coming home like, oh, yeah, grandma. Me. I thought I was slick too. I'm like, she's like, where's your homework? I'm like, it's right here. And she's like, so what all you got to do? I said, well, this says right here. No, necessary. That's it. So then and then this part says, so let me do one. No, I know. And then I'm done. And she said, OK, you can talk that Spanish stuff if you want to. I'm going to see when the report card come out. And my dumb self like, whatever, you know what I'm saying? And that report card came out with all the. Maybe a CD, EF, maybe a G. You got beat. I'm sure you got beat. Dang, man. I see she lied to me. She told me I was good in Spanish. You thought you had a secret language and everything. I thought I had a secret language. No. Grandma speaks report cards. Kids always think that they're smarter than the adults. I don't know why. They do. My daughter, I had a talk with her this morning talking about stuff that wasn't turned in and how she found out three other people had turned it in and she had turned it in too. And the teacher wrote to me that they hadn't gotten it, but they sent the same message to everybody else. And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, everybody should this the same story all the time. I never I don't think I try to pull this stuff on my parents. They were too smart. My dad was super smart. He was really strict about. No, no, no, no, no. I remember the day I had a C on my prerecord. You know, like the middle of the semester report card. I was a A B student. And so I had a C. Do you know, I was crying on my walk home, like, oh, my gosh, my dad, my parents are going to kill me. I got a C on my on my report card. Progress report on the progress report. Oh, my God, I was so scared about what would happen when I got home because it just meant that I wasn't doing my homework. It was meant that wasn't, you know, focus, etc. etc. My dad was big on like focusing and about, you know, being great. And so when I had a C, oh, my gosh. But you know what? He was surprisingly, they were cool. I didn't get my butt whipped. I just want to. I got weapons. Yes. What a point out that we're talking about C's here. That means that was average. First of all, when I got a C, average, who's going to basketball? Robbins. Yes. You got the pizza. Well, listen, they knew you were going to master the middle C. This is cool. Hey, this is cool. Look at that matters, bro. Look what happens when you say here with writers. Listen, here, Eloquin, he is. He didn't graduate. You know what I'm saying? He didn't even need to go out of there. He didn't even need to school. He's busy being a superstar. This shit is for losers. She said I was getting A's and B's and C's. No. It tormented me. It was terrible. I thought death was was upon me. Christina. When was the identifying moment that that you have a gift or something different to offer outside of your intellectual and scholastic abilities? Wow. OK. Well, outside of being extremely intelligent. You know, I knew early on my mom says she saw it early, of course, the parent, they recognize things. And now as a parent, I recognize things in my children. So I get it. But she I was always singing and I still to this day, there's not a moment in my day, even if I'm having an argument or having a conversation, I don't even notice I'm humming or I'm singing. So I'm always like musically. It's always going through my head. I could be having my mom screaming at me and she's like, stop it. Stop doing that. I'm like, I'm not doing it. And then she started talking to me and I'm like, don't you can't know better. Like, I don't know. It's something neurological. It's something. But I think it's a great thing. I say that musical people or people that sing like that. I'm like, you don't see it like an unhappy person. I think that's just what keeps me in my little happy bubbles music. So it was really it was the greats that I was watching as I grew up. It was Michael Jackson. I was listening to Diana Ross. I was listening to a lot of oldies, a lot of Motown. My parents only had a radio in their car for some reason. It was like broken. So a radio. I was just listening to old school stuff and I also just listen to everything, all genres. So I was looking at these people and they like, I mean, especially Michael Jackson, like I can get chills still thinking about him to this day and seeing him being on stage and people passing out and screaming and sweating and just the energy. And I had dreams about it. So I would dream about like performing and I dream about that same exact thing. And of course at the in the back, like the helm of that is having parents telling me, I can do anything I want to do, be great at it, work hard at it. You know, just always enforcing this, this energy in me to just want to go big. And back then those people had such a mystique about them. I just wanted to know so much. So I just I dreamt about it and I begged my parents, I really did, to do what I do today. So they started me early. Like they helped me out early. I don't want to say they started me because it was really a thing that I really like, if you watch old camcorder videos of me, like you couldn't get me off the camera. I was singing the Oscar Mayeruina song, whatever I can sing in front of the camera. They're like, yeah, away from the screen. I got I got screened out a lot for. For wanting to show off. Just a show off, you know, people telling me, singing for everybody, for the family. So I'd always have to sing some Italian aria, some opera thing or whatever. But it started really early and I started like auditioning and stuff when I was a kid, mostly for acting, because we didn't really know how to get in the music industry. We were where you living at this time. I was living in Maryland because my dad was in the military. Yeah. Yeah. And my parents, they were my dad and my mom. They started young. Like they had me at 17 and 18 years old. And so these are like two two Cuban refugees. You know, they'd come from Cuba at five with their family, big family. And they met eventually in high school, fell in love. Well, I guess they fell in love. They had me. So they had to fall in love back then. They were like, y'all got to get married. I got to do this. And they got their lives together. And so my dad was in the military and that's what took us to Maryland. And in Maryland, it was just, you know, there's not much out there at that time. But I grew up in the age of MTV. That was also the information. 81 is the year MTV was really born. So it was just so exciting. So I just wanted to embody all of that. So I was just, you know, auditioning. I didn't really get anything for a long time. So my parents took me out because they were like, this costing us too much money. And maybe you need to focus on school. And it was like a year later, I just, I just, I couldn't bear just doing that only. I really asked my parents, like, I really want to do this again. They're like, Christina, we're going to give you one more try. So they got an agent or whatever. And I went my first audition, I booked it. And it was a national geographic campaign. It was like not a campaign, but back then you used to watch those scholastic videos, a national geographic video when you were in elementary school about whatever. And so I was acting in one and like, I did like three of them. And so that was my first thing I ever did. And then from there was just like a little short, small, like baby steps and musical theater kind of was my first foray into music and acting. And I started out in DC at the Ford's theater doing a play. And I was an understudy. So I was an understudy. So I had to learn everybody's lines, everything. And not always nice to the understudy. So I learned that as a kid that, you know, to be patient, my time would come. But I watched people every night, had the whole thing memorized from top to bottom. Everybody's lines, everybody's voice, every this, that. And it was exciting. I got a chance to actually perform because I got chicken pox and then somebody else got chicken pox. Just kidding. Not saying that you not saying that you took your chicken pox. Maybe my chicken pox and in before they're. I'm not going back a little too early. Let me give you a hug. Pox on me. No, that's like our ongoing joke. But I guess technically it was maybe a month of in fact, a little too soon. And so I got my opportunity to perform and I just felt the energy of being on that stage, performing for a crowd, the voice that you have to belt out. It was invigorating. I actually swore for my life, like the most of my, the beginnings of my career was musical theater and I thought that's all I want to do. I, musical theater is my life because it was just such a good feeling to be live. So you weren't even thinking about making records or anything like that? No, I mean, it was a dream, but I just, we were like, maybe one day I'll get discovered. Like we'll be walking in the mall and somebody discovered. Or maybe I'll go on. What is the one? Not start, start, start search. You know what I mean? But never bother to like seek those things. It was just like, maybe we'll get discovered. And tell me this, you, and you two can speak to this as child stars and performers. I was terrified as a kid to get in front of that church and sing a solo. Like terrified. But do you find it's me because you knew the people? I think if I'd sing in front of my family, I was like, I don't want to sing in front of my family, but in front of strangers, I was about it. I was like, this is great. I, I, no, I mean, I would sneak into it. Like I would sneak and play my grandmother's piano when nobody was looking. I would sneak and play my cousin Fonzo's drums when he wasn't looking. But I wasn't like, I wasn't ready to get in front of 500, a thousand people. Yeah. And it wasn't Emmy. Do you feel like that was something? Cause would you have, would you have them pops and you having your parents that they kind of, they kind of bred in you in terms of getting you ready for that? Or do you feel like that you were born ready for the world? I was, I was just like, I told you, I was such an extrovert because I was just, I was born ready for the world because I knew like the, with the idea that I could get discovered because you hear these stories. No matter who it was that asked me to sing, I would just start singing anywhere. I'd be like in the mall, blah, blah, blah, this place, that place. I would just start singing because I was like, this might be my opportunity to make it. And like I said, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Janet Jackson, all these people to see that. I was like, I'm ready. That. Yeah. I felt like I was raised. Like yours being born, I think I was raised and early on, I think for me it was, where's the money? My gosh. You think it's got a couple dollars on y'all? This is what, because, I mean, because early on too, like we were street performing, like my family, street performers, me and my brothers. So, you know, how that goes, you know, you put a crowd gets around and they see these little kids and they throwing money. So I'm like, oh, this is cool. Yeah. So if you didn't have no money, I wasn't doing no singing. Yeah. That's just kind of how it was for me. That's kind of how it is to this business. It's like, well, so is the juice work to squeeze? Yeah. If not, I'm going to go here and talk a little bit on this podcast. We'll manage and do some executive shit, but I'm right. I'm not about to just be out here singing for free. Yeah. So I think for me, I was, I was more so raised into it and brought into it in that sense more so than like one day I just, oh, I'm a singer now. I wasn't that me personally. I was, I wanted to, I felt like I was destined for success and something. And my dad was like, you don't have to wait for any man to do it for you. You don't have to do this, do that. It's all in you. So I was just like, OK. That's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah. When is discovery? When is like the real like, I'm not going to say National Geographic wasn't real because that's a good, I know you got some money for that. But in putting the account. Yeah. When do you feel like that, that defining moment where it's like, oh, shit. They've all of these things that I've been kind of. It's like manifesting. Yeah. I've been, I've been knowing I'm going to do this. Now we're here looking at eye to eye. OK. So when I was 13, we moved to Los Angeles because I did a play at the Pantages Theater. Pantages. Yeah. And all these agents started calling and asking me to stay. They said they had seen the show and they were like, she should stay in Los Angeles. We were still living in Maryland. My mom was on the road with me. And so we're like, wow, Hollywood agents are asking me to stay. And they want me to come and do this. So we considered it, but we went back home because my mom's, my grandma was sick. So we went to go take care of her for like a good year, year or two. And eventually cancer took over and she passed away. And by that time it was like, OK, now it's time to take a chance and go. We're going to do this. And I was ready. I was so ready to get out of Maryland. I was like, peace, y'all. I'll see you later. I'm going to Hollywood. What school did you go to? In Maryland? Yeah. Westlake High School. You know, Westlake? Westlake High School is in Waldorf. I was in Waldorf. I was in Waldorf. Yeah. No. Yeah, St. Charles County. That's where I grew up. OK, so I'm in, I'm in PG County. I forgot we were both from, we even had that show one time in D.C. a long time ago. A long time ago. It was like a college campus show. I just remember to this day. Yeah, I remember. And so, yeah, PG County, I grew up over there. I grew up in Maryland, like right in the root of it. And at the beginning. You would go to go to up against the wall. Up against the wall. I know. We started off with, you know, the children's plays, and then you grow up and you go up against the wall. Yeah, yeah. So, yes, it was cool, but I was ready to be out. So we just tried it out, LA for a second. We said, OK, six months, let's see what happens. Nothing happened. Six months later, my sisters, and we were supposed to come back and my sisters and I booked all these commercials. And so the commercials is what kept us out here. Got you. So we stayed and eventually, like I started to get discovered. So I stayed at the OKA departments. We know the OKA departments. Come on now. OKA departments. The furnished Oakwoods. Oakwoods start a lot of a lot of people's, you know, their their journey. And you had like people like Tupac and ODB, all these people there. I was always always around and I would be selling cookies with my sisters. They were in the Girl Scouts and stuff. You know, people. Selling cookies. Yes, I got a lot of money. Thank you. So, they just gave us cookies to ODB and Tupac. Oh, did they just give us money? They needed cookies. They needed cookies. They needed cookies. And we got tips. They were hungry. Yeah, yeah. And it's when I met Ronnie Jerkins. Oh, yeah. Yes. So right before Ronnie Jerkins, I met another guy that was in my building. They were called Spanky and Charles and Spanky and Charles were the first people that they had like a little studio in their apartment. And they were like, you do sing? I was like, yes, I do. And they were like, sing for us. So I sang. But all I sang back then was like classical arias and Broadway songs. So I'm like, tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you. Fresh off the play. Play life and real musical, like real musical theater. And so they brought me into the studio first. This is before I met Ronnie. And this is all at the Oakwoods also. And that's where I learned to like my first time behind a microphone and hearing my voice and on a song. It was I was hooked. I was hooked. Like how are you at this point? I was just 13. I was 13. And so we made like two songs. We were followed Spanky and Charles around. They were in like a band with like, I don't remember. It wasn't Earth, Wind and Fire, but it was somebody at the Temptations or something. I remember. But they were older gentlemen. And I was making like some R&B like, you know, records of that style in the night and of the nineties, but it was it was the nineties. Yeah. And so I made a couple of demos and then eventually I just started meeting people. It was like a trickle effect. Just started meeting people and Ronnie Jerkins came around. And I met Ronnie when I was about 14 or 15, 15, maybe 15, 40, 15. And he was in his early stage. He was only like 18. He was like 18 years old. And he invited us to the studio. And I remember seeing these massive speakers. I've never seen such huge speakers in my life. And we played the music. Your eardrums. Yeah. That's what he's going to do. We'll fall out. Yeah. That's what he did. Yes. Mm hmm. That was the first time I experienced music that way. Mm hmm. No, I mean, I used to play it up loud in our little tourist, you know, our four tourists. And that tourist. Yeah. We had the four tourist station wagon. I was the DJ in the car. But when we got to that studio and I heard that music and heard him play and watched him play. And he connected with me and my mom. So my mom is my ride or die. Like they said, Carmen is my mom. She's my manager. And for years, like she's just with everywhere I went, we just did this together. And so we're like, maybe this is our opportunity to really like to get a record deal. And we're meeting people constantly. We're meeting people through Rodney. I'm meeting people at different avenues, just walking walking the street again. Like I met a lot of a lot of different people. Like, you know, people from babyfaces camp, you know, people would just, they were trying to find girls like to sing or to be in girl groups. And so I didn't know these people, but eventually, like, you know, they were all legit and they're still here to this day. You know, a lot of these producers, A&Rs and stuff. But Rodney, I made some great people through Rodney. And Rodney, originally, he asked me to make some demos. He was like, you want to make some demos? You can practice there. And he wanted to sign me. So I was making demos for him. And I got him, I got to watch and make the boys mine. I got to watch and make all that brandy album. That was a really good album. Amazing. I got to see him work with Whitney Houston. And he would just invite us to the studio. And that's the first time I experienced like, don't go to sleep. You know, you don't sleep like working late at night, people talking, gathering, watching them work, listening to the music. The music is so powerful. It's just like you dream big as this is happening. So that was really my first foray into the record business world, R&B world. And Rodney, they used to make fun of me because I was, they would say, I sing white. So like they, so I would go and make demos, but they're like, can you do this run? Can you do this? And I'm like, and Sean, you know, everybody, they're making fun of me and stuff. But I was learning and trying and, you know, trying to do runs. I just didn't do that, you know, when you do musical theater, it was just so like plug in, you know, it was straight ahead. You learn what you learn and you stick to that. So I learned to find myself, find myself emotionally. I wasn't writing back then, but I was singing other people's demos. But it was there that I learned that I wanted to write because it was the real, like I just sometimes couldn't relate to the lyrics. So I wanted to write songs that related to me and to other kids and stuff. And so that happened later on. But yeah, Rodney was, I didn't end up signing with him. And I don't even think we got to the paper, but I started to to the papers part of it. But I started to meet other people. And I think like at 16, I took a music as a business class at Valley College over here. And I met a gentleman who worked with David Foster. And they also ended up wanting to offer me a deal. I got a little deal. The deal was offer was like $25,000. But it was David Foster. Yeah. And I learned about the music business and I got an attorney and then the attorney was like, you should probably meet some other people before you sign this deal. So we're like, OK. And so they set up some meetings and I ended up going to New York and meeting with Island F. Jam. I met with Sony. I met Tommy Mottola. I met Leora Cohen and I just sang for them. I made a demo. I ended up writing a song for myself. It was called What You Gonna Do? I have like songs that I wrote as a kid. I was because I'm the big sister. So I used to like write songs and do plays in the house with my sister. I used to make all my clothes. I had to sing while I wrote. Yeah, I had to act out what I did. Puppet show. I'm the director. You said the puppet show. The radio station, the recorded play and record on the little plane. I'm the little boy. Yeah, that was me. You're supposed to see this. They are the puppet, by the way, too. So you take all these meetings. You do the whole thing where you go sit practically. You're naming all the labels at this time. You go see everybody. Yeah, that was crazy to me. Because I finally had a little CD collection. Oh, no, no, it might have been cassette. I wasn't on CDs yet. I was like, uh-uh, not on CDs. But when I finally did get into CDs, I was 16, 17 years old. And I had like my little record book, my little CD book. And most of the artists in there were rappers. I loved Jay-Z, Jarl Rule, all these people. But most of them were deaf jam artists. So in my head, I was like, you got either bad boy. I was like, that would be cool to be on bad boy. Or I could be something like deaf jam and deaf jam. So those were like two big record labels. You're really making plans. Like you really... I had plans. I had dreams. It was really like dreams. But you were very con... It's almost like you were studying. Like this is gonna... This is where it's gonna work best for me. Yes. And you're shooting for the stars. I was like, there's no other person that competes. They would appreciate me. I would be the girl of the team, you know what I mean? I would be that person. But at the same time, I was like, I want to be an urban pop artist. Like I'm not just R&B, but I'm urban pop. I want to go really mainstream. And back then they only had like... You were only listening to pop radio, hip hop radio. Remember it was all so separated. If you wanted to be... If you made a pop song, you want to be on R&B radio or hip hop radio, you had to get a feature from it. Hip hop artists. Now it's all... So I had to find this like happy middle, but I just knew that I was both, you know, I was all of it. I was like, I'm not gonna be just, you know, one tone. And I was like, I want to dance, but I didn't know how to dance, by the way. I didn't take dance lessons or anything. I want to dance, but I... Yeah, I was like, I want to be Michael Jackson. I want to be Jenna Jackson, but I don't take dance classes because we can't afford it, but I'm gonna do it. I did musical theater. I faked it the whole way too. I said I was the tap dancer. I said I could ride horses since I can skate more. So they have those... The skills, you know? The skills? You put a horse back riding? They'll never have a horse. I was like, I'm gonna learn it. You can rollerblade. You pop into the meeting. I really don't know the numbers. You rollerblade. You pop into the meeting and they say, so you ride horses. Bring the horses. Bring the horses. What? I got my demo. You want to hear the demo first? My skills were deep, but you had no idea. That's how, that's what my list was. So I was like, whatever the case is, I'm gonna learn it. You know? And so, yeah, I met Tommy Vittola. I went to them. I came back again, did a whole meeting. I met Jeff Fenster at Island Def Jam. And he was the one that discovered and signed Backstreet Boys. He was the ANR for Britney Spears and Sink. And so they brought him over to Island Def Jam. And I was like, what a perfect union for what I want. You are doing so much. It was a great game. Amazing. Calculating and processing at an early age. Like, I wasn't doing none of that. I had a lot of information. You just like, give me a deed. I was like, I didn't even know what that was. Like, you're still talking about 16, 17, 18. I'm still at church, not even considering R&B. But I mean, we had a deal with Verity Records, doing gospel and stuff like that. But I didn't even know what that meant. You know what I mean? I just wanted to get on my two keyboards and sing my songs. I write my songs. I didn't know there was life after that. That there was a whole thing happening that was being stolen from me. I didn't know that. Right? And so when I finally get to this R&B space, I don't know, they just say, yeah, we're going to get a deal with such a, I was like, cool. Cool. Cool. Put the music out. Oh, we lost that deal. We're going to get a deal. We got another one coming up. We're going to get a deal with such a, Yeah, that happened a lot. Yeah. Next week, before it didn't go through. Barry Hankinson says, you with black ground records now, I said, cool. Cool. I'll take it. I'll take it. But you're like doing, so was that a result of, of course, not just you understanding, wanting to understanding terrain, but also having your mom involved. Yes, absolutely. To have that back and forth and have those. Yeah. My mom, I mean, she, like I said, we were really close. We still were very close. And like, because she was a young mom, we're talking about her being in her 30s. And I'm like, you know, early 30s. And it was when my parents, like, out of nowhere, they were going to have a divorce. My dad asked for a divorce from my mom. And that was my ground 15. And it came as kind of a real big surprise, even though, and I look at their history, I'm like, it shouldn't have been a surprise cause things were all over the place. But it was normal back then. But it really like, all of a sudden, our life kind of changed like, from zero to 100 real fast. We went from living this, like it was a more middle class family life and really surviving off of what we, you know, my money, our family money, it's nothing. Like my dad working his butt off. My mom had to quit her job, help with all this stuff. And next thing you know, we were on our feet on our own. Like my dad kind of shifted. It was a shift. And we've come to terms with the reasons why and everything. And, you know, what was happening in our life. But all of a sudden it was my mom and I having to raise my two sisters. And we decided to stay here in California instead of going back to Maryland. And so because we made that choice, it was like a separation of everything from financial to everything. So we were surviving on our own. So in that time, it was a rough, rough patch for my mom. She had, you know, months of crying and listening to Unbreak My Heart and Tony Braxton and the bathtub. Gotta do it. And I had to get her back on her feet and say, mom, like we're here, we're still living life. And she had to get her life together again cause she was just so distraught over it. And I remember we went to the grocery store and we went to go buy groceries and we found out like the credit cards, everything was cut off. So we're going to have to survive. And survival mode really was like, we had just moved into our apartment, everything. We were going to have to pay the, you know, the rent on our own without my dad. And I'm only 15, you know? So she started taking temp jobs. I started babysitting, hosting at restaurants. We started cleaning houses together. And we really went through this survival mode of like work, work, work, but we were just working to survive. But also life was actually kind of great at that time. When you're at your like hardest time and you really have faith in, but you're in a situation where it's like, we had no furniture. We had just moved into our apartment thinking like life was going to be fine. We had moved in, we didn't have furniture. We didn't have anything. And all of a sudden we had nothing. You really appreciate what that nothingness is. You appreciate like having toilet paper from the dollar store instead of getting it from, you know, McDonald's at the street and getting ketchup or whatever. You like the can of beets. That's the only food that you have in the house. And you mix it up with some olive oil and say, oh my gosh, it tastes like a damn steak. Ramen noodles taste like a steak and lobster. You're like, I don't know what these rich people are talking about, but I can live like this. This apartment is fine. We as a family were such a union and our friends were so dope. We had so many friends from all of rich, my friends, I had a lot of kind of like young black wealthy friends. And they used to love to come to my house and like thug it out with us. It was like everybody's sitting on the floor watching TV and my mom's just like the cheapest thing to make was like spaghetti or lasagna, you know, it doesn't cost anything for noodles and sauce. But she cooked it up and she would make a mass amount and people just every day just loved being with us and didn't really feel like we were technically, that we were broke. Though we were like on the verge of eviction every other day, but we also just didn't feel like we were broke. Like something still felt like we were surviving, even though there were some times that was like tough. But the one moment when we realized it was the toughest and it was the turnaround that we were like, let's focus on this music part. You really want to do this, then let's focus is when my mom and I went to a, we went to a food line in North Hollywood, there's a church. I know you probably see it all the time. It's on like more park and like Colfax. And they still do this. They give away food to those that need it. And we went there because we had no food. And by the way, blessings would happen sporadically out of nowhere all the time. So that's like, we find like $100 on the floor or something, just random things would happen. So we really were surviving off of that. But it was in that line that I saw like the rest of the people that were there with us. And some people even more of a hopeless situation with no shoes, nothing. And we got, like I was standing there with my mom and I just remember like, I didn't want to show them, but I was crying. And I was like, it had gotten to this, you know? And we had gotten the food and they gave us, you know, all the necessary needs that we needed. And when we went home and I started opening the box and as we were walking and I'm looking like there's ants in the boxes and stuff. And I'm crying and my mom, she said to me, Christine, and we made this promise to each other on that walk back home that we were going to focus, that we were going to sacrifice. We're going to sacrifice the fun and all the other stuff to focus on my career. She started reading books. She had just started reading books about music as a business. And this is what made me go to school for music as a business. She read about just contracts and focusing on that. Cause we seemed so close to everything, but it just never got there. We were like, there's something there. And I really wanted it. And so we made this promise to each other that I would always take care of her. I promised that to my mom to this day. I said, I just need you to focus on managing me. I need you to focus on me. We'll focus on this together. We got to get out of this rut. And so we went home, we put on all white, lit some candles, and said a prayer with my sisters. And we had this joke when my mom said a prayer on her knees, like answers came immediately. And so he said, I can't tell you about the job she was doing at the time. But I just to say she had to use her voice. Yes, okay. And let me tell you the next day, her voice was gone. She needed her voice for this job. And just like our neighbors knocked on the door, said, hey, we're moving out. Do you want the milk? Do you want the stuff in our cabinet? And like we just appreciated all the little things. So little answers were coming to us. I would find like 10 cents under the couch so I can get a little gas, just so I can go to the Valley College and take these lessons. And that's where I met the gentleman from David Foster. So it was like, we're just getting these little answers, but we were going through this crazy time in life. And when we went to New York, I was like, we're in New York and I have to make this happen. And so yes, it was a strategy and it was a, there was a lot of homework. We really, my mom is the mostly, especially the spiritual part holds us down. And that's where I became connected, the spiritual part. Cause I understood religion as a kid, but I still didn't understand it. But it was then that I became spiritual and I had conversations with God. And that's when I was like, everything was just starting to unfold itself. And the day I, so I got the deal with Island Def Jam. Hey. Hello, Ireland. Jeff Sincere came to me and offered the deal. I went in, sang acapella, got my deal singing acapella and what you gonna do about it demo. And the day I finally signed my deal, we literally drove our little tourist station wagon to the attorney's office and that thing, it was broken down. We were laughing my mom and I cause there was smoke coming out the car. We had to push our car there. We had to push our car there. We finally made it there. It was right off of like Highland and Hollywood Boulevard signed my deal and on the way home, we forgot it to start again. And then it stopped like right on the hill. Like, you know, when you're like the Hollywood Bowl and stopped right there. And we were there and my mom and I are laughing and crying, laughing like we just signed a deal for $125,000. I didn't think I'd ever see money like that. Like, we went from zero. I had actually been, we were getting evicted and my attorney had to afford us money in the meantime because I wasn't going to be able to pay it. And so we're laughing and crying and like, look at us. Look at what's happening right now. It was so humble. It's so humble. Our humble beginnings like stick with me. That's probably why I'm very frugal and all this other stuff. Cause I'm like always like, you know, I save and I let stuff last thing I want to do. I can laugh at it. Right, right. Absolutely. But it's those humble beginnings that I always draw back to and my connection with God and my spiritual side that's really like that opened up when I was 16, 15, 16 years old in those times. And yeah, you know. That is really cool. That's incredible. That's an incredible story and it just shows you gotta stick to what you really want. Yeah. You know what I mean? Cause so many people, you just never know how close you are. Yes. Right? And for you and your mom to have that moment together to say, listen, all right, no more this, no more that, no more this. Cause we're focused on getting you to a certain place and actually getting there. That moment of relief and that moment, like you said, your car had broken down, but you broke down with a 125. Check. You got the car. A bun and 25. It's like waiting at somebody like, if you just pick me up. That's what somebody pushed us. They pushed our car. I'm good for it. I'm good for it. It's crazy. They pushed our car. So there was somebody saw us and they pushed our car from their car and they pushed us up the hill. But yeah, it's crazy. That walk that I had with my mom was like, it was an eye, because the option was stay and thug it out and let's make this happen or go back to Maryland. And I was like, I just don't see it. I don't see me going back to Maryland. All my friends that I had from back in Maryland at that time, they started doing drugs out of boredom. There's stuff that kids do in towns like that, that it's just out of boredom. And if they don't have, they weren't dreaming already. I was just on feel. I was in a different position. I still just felt like I could see it. I wasn't going back to Maryland. There was no giving up. I was like, I'm not giving up. And that's that Maryland was a bad place. Not at all. It just felt like. The opportunities were a little bit. We're in LA. I'm in Hollywood. The land of opportunity. If I go home, if I just pack it up and go home, I've given up. Yes, that's exactly it. I was not giving up. So let me just move out to Rancho Cucamonga. You know, just a little ways away. Where I can afford it. Well, you know where they can't really see me doing bad. Or Corona. Yeah. You know what I mean? I'm still here. Yeah. I still can drive my stick shift for that sport. So you had a Ford S-course. She had a Ford Taurus. Yeah, we were in the Ford. Ford family. Thank you for it. You know what I'm saying? Thank you for the sound to the Mary. Hey, these windows. To the wheels fell off. Oh, definitely. I had these windows. Ha ha ha. So now you guys should do. Yeah. People don't realize now it's a whole nother process. Yeah. Oh yeah. Because now you gotta find songs. Now you gotta get with the right people. You might get shelved. How long does it take you to get to the record with you and Jaru? Between me and you. Okay. I think you took, I signed my deal September, I think by the next summer that that song came out. So I signed my deal. I was making music for a while. Are you still acting in between two though? I was acting. I had gotten into a job on Disney Channel. So I was like Tina from the movie surfers. Okay. So that was actually, that was one of those checks that would come that would get sporadically. That was like one of the things that helped us survive too. And I was getting a name for being Tina from the movie surfers. And also this probably helped me move my deal because Disney kids were popping and popping out. They were trying to find Disney kids. That probably really helped. Cause when I look at it, I'm like, I don't think that great. And I wasn't dancing. You know what I mean? But I had enough of a chance and a glow that walked in and they were like, they saw it. And so yeah, I had quit Disney because by then I was like 17, 18, 18. And I was like, I can't do this high pitch voice anymore. And I was just in the studio and surviving off this money. So I was doing fine. I didn't have to do the acting at the moment. And I was tired of doing like girl number four, number three, you know what I mean? I wasn't getting my main roles. So I was making music. And unfortunately for a period of time there, was you know, I did it, something that could have held me back. I ended up in an abusive relationship for a little while, but my deaf gym people really like stuck with me. And then my mom was on me and I stuck it out. And I eventually got out of that. And I made this trip. My, my A&R Jeff said, come to New York and start working on music here. So I went to New York and in that trip, I was able to break off of that relationship or cut off my phone number, this, that, that, that. Though I feared, you know, for the worst, I was like, I'm going to take this chance. And I really want this. I can't let this stop me. And so I went to New York and I started working on music there. And I met my, her name is Shanita Floyd. She was like my creative director, I guess you would say. And she got a call from Irv Gotti. And Irv was looking for somebody to sing between me and you. And he wanted somebody that kind of sing like Mariah vibe. He wanted like, I forgot the song. There was a song that Mariah did, maybe with Buster Rimes or something like that. And he wanted that kind of sweet spot voice. And the song was written. And she's like, go to the studio. And I was like, they're like, would you want to do this? I was like, yeah. I was like, I'll go to the studio and hear the song. So I went and I met Irv. And I hit Irv in his, God bless him. And may he rest in peace. He had this loud New York energy and everything with bananas. It was electric. Everything was bananas. Bananas, bananas. That was the first time I was in the studio. I saw like, there was a gun on the table. I was like, oh my gosh, I got out of here. You know, the guys had to protect themselves. But Ja Rule was one of my first, you know, Def Jam albums CDs that I bought. So I was a fan of Ja Rule. Like, oh yeah, I want to work with them. And so he played me the song and the song was dope. It was there. So I went in the booth, sang it, didn't know anything of it, left the, left my mom and I left. And within a month, we're shooting a music video. David Myers up in Porter Ranch, Shatsworth and this giant house. And I'm shooting a video. And it was like overnight, it was those chances that I would take of sacrificing, like even when you're in an abusive relationship, it is a sacrifice to leave something because you're scared. And you're also so in love and brainwashing that person. You're like, you know, I could, you know, it's a sacrifice I had to make because my heart was so in it, but I knew it was the wrong thing. So it was when I would take those chances and follow my heart and connect with God that I would have these amazing turnovers. Like these turns in my life that was like, it was God was always telling me, see, like, I'm your friend, I got you, I got you. And I did the video song came out and I didn't really know that it was like blowing up like that. It was crazy. I was like, yeah. You had a legitimate record. You had a jank. Yeah. And I was like at Ralph's on Ventura Boulevard and one day all of a sudden on power 106, I'm hearing the song and I'm sitting in the parking lot with my mom and I'm like, I'm calling people. I'm hearing myself on the radio. Like, like it was, it's, that's when you, you cry and you're counting your blessings connecting back to the moment of walking. And you know, you know, the whole, I lived, I still live in the area where all of this stuff happened. You know, so I passed by these places and remind myself of the stuff all the time. So yeah, the Jalro song came out. Did that give you- That's when the label was like, okay, studio, let's go. I go to Sweden. Oh yeah. Like, yeah, I go to Sweden. It took like four months. It was like maybe, maybe two, maybe two and a half months I made an album. And- You said to Sweden to make your album? I went to Sweden. I went to Norway. That was my first time out the country. I still have these videos. I was just watching the other day and I was such a novice. Like, wow, look, there's a Burger King. Wow, there's that. And yeah, I went and worked with a couple people, Sturgeon and Rogers. These guys named Bloodshed and Avant. Even, what's his name? Ma, ma, ma, ma, Mark. We made all the Britney Spears records. I should know this. Well, what is your real name? Yeah. Max Martin. Excuse me, Max Martin. Yeah. Historic. So these are people I'm like watching, you know? And I'm in the studio making records and I started writing. I really started the diet until my writing. That's when you really started. Yeah, it was with Bloodshed. I started writing. Because people were giving me songs at 18, talking about there were either two overly sexualized or always like, I've got pictures of him on my wall. I look at him. It's always admiration and like over the top of guys. And I'm like, but what about my real experiences? Like, I didn't fit in and in school. Girls didn't like me. The records about just like real high school stuff. And so I started writing those songs with really great melodies and pop sounds. And when I was working with them, I ended up writing a song called Play also. And that was supposed to be, like I wrote that right before song. The next day I wrote a song called Am The P.M. So Play was something I did in like 20 minutes. I didn't think anything of it. I was like, oh, it's cool. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Dr. Seuss, I was like, is this too simple? My mom's like, it's great. You know, simple is good. And by the way, I studied to write because I didn't think I could write. So my mom told me, if you could read, you could write. So I did study a lot of the greats to learn how to write songs in the format, all that stuff. That was happening also in those really broke times. So that's what we do. We go to second spin on Ventura and we would listen to music for free because you get the CDs, you listen to music. And so anyways, so that's how I learned how to write, learned how to format. I wrote my first song called You Make Me Laugh. Anyways, so Play happens. And I was like, oh, it's a good song, right? Am The P.M. like, that's a great song. This is me. And then like a week later, Tommy Vittola comes to Sweden to come get some songs for J-Lo. And he hears the song play and he fell in love with it. And he's like, we need this song for Jennifer Lopez. And they were like, are you cool to give it away? I was like, hell yeah. Yes, please. Yes, I don't like the song like that. I was like, I got Am The P.M. I was like, Am The P.M. was my party song. I was like, there's no way they're gonna put two party songs on this album. I'm gonna keep Am The P.M. Yes, yes to J-Lo. And so yeah, I got a song on J-Lo by accident. It was so cool. I went to New York, she recorded the song, like it blew my mind. And then I started writing for other people too. And it was crazy. And yeah, eventually Am The P.M. came out. Of course, unfortunately it came out around the 9-11 era. So a lot of that changed. A lot of the trajectory of music. I ended up getting Johnny Wright as a manager. So he started co-managing with my mom. And Johnny Wright was handling Britney Spears and Sing. When I toured within Sink, which was cool opening for them. Yes, I opened for them. And the way my album was, it was crazy. Oh man. I admit my idol. The day I went to MTV, I met Janet Jackson. The one day you go up there, Janet Jackson just happens to be. I was just having a meeting. Janet Jackson was gonna surprise TRL and come out. And they decided, they said, you wanna meet her? Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. They brought me down to her. I walked in that room, guys. I couldn't get a word out of my mouth. I was like, like, I said, hi. I was like so timid. I had my mom with me. All I said was nice to meet you. She was glowing. That's the thing. I walked in there, she was glowing. She had a heart. She was glowing and she was petite. And she was telling me that she saw my music video. And she was telling me stuff. I was like, it blew my mind. Then you never know who's watching. Yeah. No. It blew my mind. And I was on MTV. I'm like, this is my dream that come true. Like she left the room or I left the room. I can't even remember. And I cried for two hours in laughter and tears and crying like, like I was crazy. Yeah. But I was crying and I was so happy. Like everything just unfolded so beautifully. And so it was so cool. And it was such a time. This is why people ask me about doing music now. And I just don't know. It's cool. It's cool. Is it? I have to ask you. My husband does it. But he doesn't in France. It's cool. I did it on a really international level. And I had MTV and I had all the time stuff. Them nineties. Nineties, 2000. Early 2000s. Man, please. There was nothing like it. Nothing like it. Yeah. 106 Imparts, TRL. There was so many music mediums. Like especially visually. You know what I mean with that MTV and those. Like music videos were a thing. It was a thing. You spent your money on that video. Man, what? And people watched it. People came home after, kids came home after school. It was a tradition. I think they made it more normal now. Music feels too, in my opinion, it feels too normal. Well, because back then doing a video right was special. Yeah. Because you had to actually have a budget. It wasn't called just content. You had to have a, you couldn't use this. Yeah. To shoot a video. Yeah. I mean the first time a director said that to me, it was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I shouted on my iPhone. I said, oh, we're fucked. Dang. I said, we're fucked. No, that was my first thought. In my head, I was like, when someone said that, I was like, damn, I thought what I had that then, do you know how many songs I wanted to put out? Or how many videos I wanted to do? Some people telling me no, because you technically did what the label told you in a way or what they were down for or what they would commit to. But like, I had video ideas. I wanted to shoot so many things. And eventually people did do that. And I was like, damn, I should have done that. Well, it just wasn't economical back then. No, it wasn't. Yeah. And that's where videos also made stars. Videos made stars. They made stars. These pieces of content don't really make stars. Like they introduce you to artists. And that's cool. They get engagement and interaction. And it's engagement, but. Don't make stars. I want to say they don't make superstars. They don't make superstars. Yeah, that's right. All the superstars have videos. Still with labels and still. Still. Don't you got videos? Still. Since I got video. Chris Brown got videos. Beyonce got videos. Kendrick got videos. Kendrick got videos. They're some new people who got videos. They don't got videos. Doja Cat got videos. Doja Cat got videos. Yeah. But those are super, those are the superstars now though. And they still have that. Mm-hmm. The rest of the artists don't have that. Let me shoot this in my hood real quick. Yeah. You're going to get a buzz off of it. And that's cool. Yeah. It's not going to make you, to me, because it's just something about the screen. Yeah. Something about that screen. Right? It's just like being in the movie. It was. Now I don't even get to watch music videos like that. Because they aren't any. Nah. Did I make it up? Not music videos. Makes me feel like they're videos, man. You know, I'm surprised sometimes. There are videos, but we just don't get to seek them all the way. Like I'll find out when I go on a treadmill. And I'm like, okay, I just want to listen to some music. So I'll go on, put a playlist on. And I'm like, oh, they made a video for that. Like, but you're right. Still some people are just making like lyric videos and stuff because it's like, why spend the money? But it was just a different time. We had the platforms is what we had. We had MTV overseas. We had all these different networks of shows that you will perform on Pepsi Smash, this, that, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it was just so exciting. And I just don't like, if it doesn't give me that vibe and I got a hustle and I probably not make any money, not that much money and they've sacrificed my family for that. It doesn't feel really worth it for me right now to do that. And I just feel like I lived in such a good time. And actually back then you can kind of know what the numbers were. I don't know how y'all count the numbers, the streams, this, that, that, and figure out how you make money off of this as an artist just for music. Now it's just touring and maybe marching stuff. You just count the show money. How do you figure out the numbers? How do you do that? You count the show money. You just count the show money. You know what I mean? I mean, that's the only real thing. The numbers that they've created now as far as like the streaming, it's all bullshit. I'll say it clearly. It's all bullshit. You know what I mean? Somebody telling you that you got to stream 1500 times for it to be considered one download. Like who made that dumb ass shit up? A crook. Yeah. A crook. A crook. A crook. That's crazy. A crook made that up, right? Because, and then it's like, okay, are the numbers even real? Because you can trick the algorithm. Somebody may have phones just running over and over. Just running over and over and over. Yeah, you're about that. You know what I mean? So it's a lot of things. The only thing that's, in my opinion, that's really tangible is going out there and performing for your audience and for your fans. When you show up to that room, 500 or 1,000 or 1,500, that's gonna tell you what the truth is. Outside of all that makeup and streaming, YouTube and all, I get it. What do the people say though? Yes. That's how you define it. I'm gonna jump around a little bit. Let's do it. Sorry, my story's just sold out. No, no, no. Is it okay? No, no, I'm learning. I've learned so much about you. That is really, really cool that I had no idea. Okay, good. Like, really, your journey is really, really awesome. Let's go here, because I wanna go and sequence your order. Love Don't Cost a Thing, 2003, right? Great movie. Yep. How'd you land that? Give me quick. I was surprised. I was blown away with that one. My first album came out only overseas because like I said, 9-11 kind of changed the trajectory of that. But I had a name that was out there. AM to PM did come out between me and you, came out, but I got a call from Troy Byer. She's an actress, also a director. She's great, she ended up writing the script to have a general meeting. And that was one of my first general meetings that I had. It was like an in-between album thing. I was coming back to LA because I was on the road everywhere. I traveled to over like 35 countries off just the first album, because I went overseas. And so I came back and they asked me to have, I ended up getting an agent because I was like, I'm interested in acting again. And I got an agent and she got the call about this meeting. So I went and had a meeting and didn't have a script or anything. They had introduced me, given me a script and they were just talking to me. And I'm like, okay, cool. We're here having this meeting in Santa Monica talking and it was like the producers and stuff. Didn't really know anything of what was happening, but she was just smiling. She was just so happy to see me. The director was. The director, Troy. And she kind of looked like, she could be like my big sister. So I think she saw her in me. And by the end of the meeting, she's like, tell me we want you to do this movie. And I was like, really? Like I had been auditioning my whole life for everything for small roles because they didn't have as many black roles, black Latina roles, anything like that back then. So I was always auditioned for really small roles or the best friend of or something. And they said they want me to do this movie. And back then it wasn't even with Warner Brothers yet. They got the green light off of me, off of my name. And so I read the script, loved it. It reminded me of Can't Buy Me Love, which it is a remake of Can't Buy Me Love. So I knew the vibe. Didn't know actually until later on that it was actually a reimagining of. And so they said, if you want to do it, then we'll bring it to Warner Brothers. So Warner Brothers said yes. They green lit the movie off of me saying yes. And then we had to find the guy. And so they thought of a couple guys, but I thought of, you know who I thought of? So I thought of two guys. It was the guy who played Jett Jackson on Nickelodeon. And I thought of Nick Cannon. And they're saying, that's funny. We were thinking about Nick Cannon too, et cetera, et cetera. So had a general meeting with them. And I connected with Nick. And now the reason I thought about Nick because Nick used to hit on me all the time when I was younger. And I just felt like, you know, the whole, and I always felt like he was nerdy. He was young, right? He was young. You were both young. But I always felt like he was a little bit nerdy. He just wasn't my type, you know? So I was like, how perfect fit. He's popular at Nickelodeon. And he's actually a really nice guy. And so when he came in and we all had this meeting, they were like, they still were on the fence. They were thought maybe Jett Jackson. And I was like, no, it's Nick. I think it's Nick. And so they went off of my say. And so we'll do Nick. And so Nick ended up being Alvin. And within, what didn't take much? Like, I don't even know how they green-lit it. And it happened so fast. But whatever period of time it was, the production company was ready. We shot the movie. And I mean, it was the best experience ever. I just, I was nervous because I finally had a lead role. So it was gonna fall on me. And I was, had to actually memorize all these lines and everything, but it was easy. It was so easy. Troy was an amazing director. She was great. Such a great guide. My connection with Nick was that we had great chemistry. And it grew over time in the role. I almost felt like I was my character sometimes when people would, you know, when the odds were against me. You know what I mean? Sometimes I was like, nobody's my friend here. And Nick and I connected and had this chemistry on screen. And of course, in person, that happened eventually, where you got to see that. And now, you know, after that role, I immediately got another role. I don't know if we're gonna know. Okay, what happened? Because you're having a time right now. I am. You're starting into the, like 2003. 2003. You start having a time, then you drop. It's about time. And hit that hot 100 with dip at low. Yes. Yeah. You cooking right now. Yes. So I'm back in the studio. Back in the studio. Because love don't cost a thing. The record company said, yeah, yeah, yeah. We got some money. You got it. Come on. Keep going, keep going. I'm in the studio. I'm trying to find a hit, by the way. I'm making songs. I consistently was in the studio, by the way, all this time, because music was still like, I was like, there's no reason I can't do both. So I'm still in the studio doing, and I'm filming Love Don't Cost a Thing, but I'm not making songs. Movies over. I'm still continuing to make songs, but I still didn't have that hit. I didn't have that song. So I was searching. It took months finding it. And my friend Billy, Billy's in the building. Big Billy Clark. Billy, big doll. He was at Def Jam. I made best friends with him. And Billy is, he's one of the A&Rs here on the West Coast. And he's just one of my best friends that just believed in me. And he's another lover of Like the Jackson's, man, Michael Janet, and he just gets it too. And Billy knew some producers. I called him one day. I said, Billy, I said, I want to meet as many producers as possible. I need to find a hit. And so just put me, like every hour, I want to go to a studio, meet somebody, listen to some music, tell them I want to come in and, you know, because. Not every hour, like maybe every two hours because you got traffic in LA. So I had one meeting. And then he told me about this guy named Paulie Paul. And this guy named Demetrius. Demetrius was managing Paulie Paul. And also, by the time it was Schaefer, as we know, was Nio. No, he was Schaefer back then. Was working with him too. And like helping him with vocal production and stuff like that. So I went and had a meeting with, oh, not Schaefer, with Paulie Paul and Demetrius. First time I met them. And he plays me songs. And the first song they play is Dippit Lull. First song? First song. And T.J. Moses is the one that wrote it. She's singing the song. And my mom and I, I have chills thinking about this. We looked at each other and we were like, guess it. That's it. That's the one. But you know, you don't say that out loud. Because then they start playing games. They start playing, oh, someone so wants it. I got a lot of that. You find a song that, oh, but so and so wants it. Oh, but that wants it. Songs that never even came out to this day. So I heard, we heard that song and we just knew. It was immediate. It was immediate. We didn't say it in front of him, but we knew. Then he played some other songs. We're like, yeah, those are good. Those are good. Great. Like that Dippit Lull song, that would be a good one. That would be a good one. Kind of cool vibe that first one you played. That's a good vibe. That's great. I think I might sound OK on it. Yeah. I should explore. Let me tell you, we got in the car. My mom and I called Billy. Like Billy. Sorry, that was a problem. We got it. Yeah. We got it. We got it. Call the label. Do this, do that. We got to set this up. We got to record this song. It's the one. It's the one. I'm telling you, it's the one. Billy was so excited, you know, because it's like, as a friend and as an A&R, when you know that your friend is happy and those meetings were set up right. And everything was good. Everybody was good. But that song, we knew we had the single. Single is everything. First single. That's what we're talking about. First single. And now we know it's Dippit Lo. Like Dippit Lo is my biggest song today. So I went in and Shaefer, which is Neo, he was my vocal producer. And I sang that song. And thank you, Teager Moses, Moses for writing it. Also being a great demo guide, because most of what I did on top of what I did on my own was her flair. You know what I mean? She was a great inspiration for that. And I felt sexy. I already, in that time, I was 21, it was 2021. There was a big change also. You had all the Maxums and all this other stuff. So it was like, I feel this. I am this. I'm ready to make this leap into my womanhood. Yeah, she just jumped over King Magazine. You went right to Maxum. She said, he's on. I was King. I dealt with the Queen of King on the way. Most King magazines ever sold. Most King magazines ever sold. That was a time. I went platinum. That's just it. The album I went platinum. Time. That was a time. We know. We know. Did a couple of those, by the way. So yeah, I fell into my womanhood. I felt confident. This was me. And it felt like, even though I didn't write it, it was rare that I would find songs that I didn't write that I connected with. So this one, I just felt it and it was right. And so I recorded it and the label was super happy with it. And wham bam, music video, the ideas were just coming out, coming out and we found the right director. And we had this whole idea based off of the 70s and just doing body paint. And they used to do shows with the body paint and everything. Then I started getting movies. I got, be cool. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Don't do that. That's it. Shit. Don't do that. Don't do that. No, no, no. This nigga loves be cool. Well, the video for Dip it Low helped me also. I showed them after I got Be Cool. But keep going. Let's back it up. Go on. Go ahead, Tynk. Go ahead. Take it back. You're having the time. That's your movie. I'm having the time. You saw it? It's 2004. I'm doing movies, recording. I have Dip It Low in my pocket. Now we are 2005. OK. Would be cool. Yes. I don't even think you understand how many times me and Zena have watched this movie. It comes on today. I stop and watch the movie. It's just one of my movies. That's so cool. I love that movie. That's so cool. Like in this period of time, like this, this, this is, I just want to, I just want you to speak to, this is like, you're having a life changing. Something that never happens in a lifetime for most entertainers. Like you have hit records and hit movies at the same time. It doesn't happen like that. And just speaking to the walk home with mom to now you're having this moment. Yeah. That had to be like, I mean. That was happening. But we're still like, it's crazy because we're still living like this, like a really cool regular life because we're still saving. I'm sure you don't have to. Yeah. My little sisters are going to school in North Hollywood High School. I'm showing up at the little, you know, the little, you know, prom thing being the ambassador. Little things showing up for my sisters because they also had to sacrifice a lot to from like me being away. I felt like I was like their parent too. So yes, all this stuff. I was like, I'm doing it for me, for my family or my sisters. They're my daughters, you know. And yeah, it was a time. I'm doing photo shoots every day. Magazines were selling back then too. So we're doing photo shoots every day magazine covers traveling the world shows Japan this that tours and sing. I'm touring with Britney Spears and doing this that John Truffold. Dip it low. So I get the audition for be cool. Yeah. And they had John Travolta and Uma Thurman involved and I knew it was the sequel to get shorty. Cedric Tieng. Yeah. Andre. Yeah. Are you kidding me? Yeah. Tell me about it. I was blown away that I got it. Did you have to audition? I auditioned four times. And that fourth time I was exhausted. I was shooting the movie Man of the House Tommy Lee Jones in Texas. Tommy Lee. Love Don't Cost a Thing came out that same month. And I came back to do these auditions for F. Gary Gray. And I sang, what should I feel this girl? I sang, I can't sing right now, but I was singing it. I sang it. And that was the song I was using to sing it. And I did my audition and they loved it. And there were a couple of really, really great contenders I was up against. It was like a handful of women that were up for this role. So I was really surprised actually that I got it because they're real, they sangers and they're really popular. And when it came down to my last audition, I was exhausted. I was tired because I was filming. I was doing a lot and I flew in from Texas to do this last audition and I remember sitting inside the driveway for the audition because they were negotiating my deal. You have to negotiate for the, it's kind of like a screen test. So you kind of have to negotiate if you, if they're going to agree to what's happening. If not, you don't do the audition. You don't even do it. You're not even doing the movie. So this last screen test, my attorney was like for an hour and a half, I was sitting inside the driveway and I had practiced singing so much that my voice was actually kind of tired. So I was like, I got to go and sing again. So I remember crying to my mom like, I'm just exhausted. She's like, Tina, you can do this. You can pull through with this. You know, don't, you know, don't discourage yourself. This is the last one. And I went in there and I sang and I did crack a little because I was tired. It was like how my voice is right now. It's a little scratchy, but it was just a small crack, but I had enough charisma, I guess, and enough of the auditions, enough that Epic Gary Gray saw something in the innocence, I think still in me that matched the character. And gosh, when I got that call. Talk, talk about bringing to your knees, crying and prayers and being where I was at. And back then I was still with Nick too. And I had just, I shot the video for Dippin' Low too and I had the video in my hands and we were at the edits and stuff. And I got that call. It's just. I made it. Yeah. I made it. It's a page of this. That's, that's my shit. You feel me. No, don't have to say words. I just want to say it, you know. And then I was on the set with these people and I'm like, what am I doing here? I was pinched me. It was pinched me all the whole time. Just like, and you're shocked that I'm working with these legends, these amazing of eight plus actors and I couldn't believe I was there with them and I was singing and I'm the focus. My character is the focus of this movie. Yeah. Linda Moon. Linda Moon. John Travolta's my manager. These people are fighting over me in this movie. Alicia Keys wrote one of the songs. It's Von is. Berge and Fort was one of the songs and will I am Vince Bond? Like the scene actually with me and Vince Bond in the beginning where he's like, Linda, get over here. Blah, blah, blah. And he grabs him by the arm. Like I really fell. Grab me and I slipped in my little wedges and I love that they kept that stuff in there. But he stays in character by the way, even when he's not filming, he was, he was his character all the time when we're not shooting. So, so it was, it was mind blowing. At this point, what's your favorite? Do you have a favorite between being an artist or being an actress? Not at all. Are you just like, I'm doing everything. I'm doing everything. I loved doing everything. People try to break me away from doing one or the other. Like the label would be like, she has to do music. Right. Acting. They didn't really tell me I had to do that, but they're kind of were like, she has to a little bit. There was a, there was a, like, she's going to get more movies. She focuses on it. But I was like, no, I can do it all. And even at the label, they were fighting over me. I went, if you look at my albums, I was like, Island plus murder, plus the ink. They changed the ink cause I don't want to have murder on there. The ink, then they changed me to deaf soul. So they were fighting over me even as a pop artist and an R&B artist. I was always in between these things where people were trying to make me make choices. And I never believed that that was the option. Like, I just like, I can do it all and like, don't give me these labels. Actor or singer, pop or R&B. Or this or that. I'm like, I can do all of these things. And so I just kept doing it. Sometimes I had to make these adjustments and do things their way, especially music label wise. And then it would prove itself like if it didn't work, it just didn't fit. But yeah, it was a, it was a beautiful time. I ended up going on tour after that with Usher and Kanye West. Your tour lineup is pretty great. It is pretty cool. Confessions tour at that. That was a tour. Kanye West, the graduation. Like your tour lineup is crazy. College dropout. I want to say what college dropout album and we have me a ordinary people. He's on the stage too. You was cooking. What a time. You was cooking. I don't, I don't want to, I don't want to gloss over. Bring it on. Oh, that was, yeah. That's still girls to the day still stopping. Because it's still a thing. Bringing on is a thing. It's still a thing. It is a thing that they came to me. Universal came to me. That was a straight up offer. Um, I no longer had a record deal. I had gotten dropped from Island Def Jam after my third album. It was a crazy like drop, but it happened and I was in this low and I still wanted to do music and, uh, um, but I didn't know, you know, the labels, you know how labels it could be. Like people don't want you to be somewhere else. They'll talk about you and, you know, so I was like in this crazy place. And next thing I know, I got a call out of nowhere for bring it on and it was great money, great franchise. Um, I needed the, I did when I say money is because again, you go through dips as an entertainer. Everything is not certain. People have to understand like it might be famous, but it's nothing is certain. You have to be, you have to let your pride go to the side sometimes, but this is not a pride thing. I was a fan of the bring it on thing, uh, you know, franchise and they brought me a really great deal and I was like, yeah, I love the script and I did it. And now to this day, I have little girls and their mama coming to me and overseas. They're like, it's called American girl. They're like, I love American girl. I have girls recognized me even now. It's different title. Yeah. Oh wow. Called American girl. Okay. Yeah. And I had so much fun doing it. It was great. It was awesome opportunity. One thing that's awesome about what you were able to do with your career is you were able to really establish an overseas presence. Yes. Which, which, which pays dividends. It is. It does. As you, as you moved in through, moved through those highs and lows, because something about overseas. Yeah. They just, they stick with you. They stick with you. Yeah. They rocking with you. They still, then they still rock with me whether I'm doing music or not. When you see those numbers on those Netflix films and when you see numbers on, you know, especially movies, um, they do numbers these days. A lot of things data driven. That's what strings are for, for data. And, um, and when you see that you're like a movie, you do is number one in over 75 countries. Right. Right. Speaking of Netflix. It's because of that relationship I've carried with them. You know, my sister did that movie with you. Which one? Meet me at Christmas. Which ones? Oh my gosh. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Let's tell you. You know, I'm gonna see her tomorrow. That's my girl. There's more people, more people don't, most people don't put two and two together. Because our last name is new, but my middle name is Valentine. So most people don't put it together. And we don't always say it. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, she has her career. She's doing a thing. You know, she does her thing. She surprised me when she talked about it. Like, I forgot. I didn't put the, I didn't even put the two together. I love her. She loves you. She did a fantastic job. You guys did an amazing movie. And we watched it over Christmas. Thank you. My daughter loves it. Yeah, that's a whole family. She's like, yeah, and make sure y'all do what's the, what's the extra one is like, excellent movie. Make sure all y'all click on. I was like, we got you. We got you. We got you. Oh man. Yes. That's amazing. She's great. She's an awesome producer. Now I've gotten just to step into the producer lane, you know, which is cool and producing movies now. And so that was one of my first, uh, I produced an independent before that and then I just as an executive producer with Netflix after I've done two very successful movies with them. They trusted and entrusted in me and my gut feeling about how to do this. And I'm pretty good at rom-coms. You know, don't cost the thing. Yeah. And, um, and Latanya and I and also Christina Rogers, she introduced me to Latanya. Um, she's interested in the both of us to really help put this project together in a way that would make it work and become what that movie was. Yeah. And we had some really great partners. I mean, Mark, Mark, uh, Roberts is the one that, you know, initially started the movie. So all the proofs is all of us together was a really great team. We had so much fun. So much fun. It shows on screen and she's very, I love, she's on it. She stayed with us the whole way. Oh, yeah. She could have left. She stayed like that. No, she stayed like that. For sure. Herkys and Emileon. Um, we got TV film. We got records. We got producers. Yeah. Yeah. Now we got my nickname is snacks. Now we got these motherfucking Ben Yanks. Ben Yanks. Ben. I took my daughter two days ago. Man. You did? Yeah. Listen. She loves it. No disrespect to anybody. Am I your powder sugar? Ben Yanks anywhere. I got that dough. You got my favorite. Ben Yanks. Yeah. No, no disrespect to anyone to the originators of the idea. Oh yeah. No, no disrespect. Just go ahead and say what you got to say, man. No disrespect. I on disrespect. Your Ben Yanks are my favorite. Thank you. Light extra powder sugar for me. Late. Almost died. It was so much powder sugar and I breathed. I inhale. Oh, you just coughed. I did it yesterday. When you're eating powder sugar for the love of God. Oh my gosh. No, the first bite never inhale when you eat that Ben Yanks. Because the powder sugar is just going to go straight to the bottom. What made, really quickly, what made you say I'm going to start? Ben Yanks. Ben Yanks box. I'm going to do Ben Yanks. Okay. So in the between, after all the music has happened and after bringing on, I started living real life after I had a divorce. So my daughter Violet came along. I met dream got married, had a crazy whirlwind life of one year and a half. And then I had to figure out my life after that. I'm getting a divorce, got a divorce, the whole deal. And I'm like, what am I going to do? I'm figuring out my career, start getting little roles here and there. But then I started to figure out friendships. I was always working. So I didn't really get to hang out with people. Like I have my dancers were my friends, people like Billy were my friends, but it was music related. But my family was like my friend. I was like, I was kind of raised like your family is your friend and everybody else is not. I did, but I'm such an extrovert like everybody is actually my friend. But I didn't really go out. I didn't go out in Hollywood, none of that. But I had to figure out how to stay famous in Hollywood after getting dropped from the label and like, but the thing was it was going out, going out, being popular, going to Robertson, doing a paparazzi, snapping you. And so I figured that out. So I started to go out and I had a friend named Liz that I met. We know she's not my Benny, a box partner, but Liz was in the scene. She knew people and I met Liz through found through an organization like we were going to work on an organization mentoring kids and that were in a foster care system and through our connection there on one side, we're like doing all the, you know, foundation hands on work and we're also girls going out clubs and partying and stuff like that. And we just grew this bond. We grew this tight, tight friendship and through that tight friendship, we meet lots of girls, girls become our friends, girls in the bathroom, girls. This, you know, to me, you're going out and we just grew this click of girls that just was growing, you know. And so after my divorce, I started to go back out again. It was that revenge body, revenge life. I got to get my life together, but I know that also being on the scene helps me get my roles, helps me do this. And we eventually decide, let's get a place together. She had this place called the sugar shack. So the sugar shack is where all the girls got together, hung out sugar shack and we're there and everybody's doing their business, doing their life. And I started to become an entrepreneur. I had this thing called platinum platinum me hookah that I started at the time and it was getting popping by the way, by the way, that would have been a big business. It was these little, little, no nicotine hookah sticks. It was really popular and I was killing it. Let me tell you, I was killing it. And, um, but I also felt it, but it didn't match my, my, my life and the FDA and all this other stuff was too complicated. But she saw my ethic, my work ethic and that was my first entrepreneurial thing that I did. And I was a goal getter. I didn't sleep. I was working on that thing day and night and Liz had her thing. She has events, you know, knocked out. She's got marketing knocked out this that. So we always used to say, we, so we ended up moving in. I moved in with her cause I'm single. I'm with the girls all the time. I needed to get out of my mom's house cause that's where I was after my divorce. And I was like, I can't keep doing this. I had violet. So I was like, my girls, I'm with them all the time. We're raising violet violet together. We're a village plus I have my sisters and my mom, but we said to each other, Liz and I were like, we just saw what we had on our hustle and we're like, someday we need to do a business together. We need to figure it out. We need to do something local in studio city. That's our community. These are our people. We got that vibe. We're going to do something. And so we set our mind that someday we were going to do something and we thought about it. We would go on walks and running candy and say, you know, maybe a candy store and maybe this, maybe a bakery, but we're not chefs. But we never said Benye's, but she had this organization where we would rebuild houses in New Orleans. It was called the Hope Foundation. And so I would go back to New Orleans and she had this gala and we would actually physically like meet the families and rebuild their houses, we raise money and we would try the food. Yeah. We had po-boys. We had turtle soup. We had this, that and one day all the girls we gathered, we went to Cafe du Monde. Cafe du Monde. Yeah. Cafe du Monde. And we got the coffee and we got the Benye's and Lord, let me tell you, we were like, like girls, you know, drinking wine and having Benye's like, you know, we're bringing it back, but it just wasn't the same when we were bringing back like there. It was great. Right. We bring them back to the house and it was like, kind of like do-ee and cold and it was just not the same thing, but the sugar, the sugar was doing a thing. It would help. So we're like, before we go back to LA, we need to get some Benye's again. We have to do it again. We're like, Liz, you have to bring us back. And it was there that we were like, there's no Benye's in LA. Why not Benye's in LA? And Liz was like, we were like, all of us like, yeah, we should do it. And Liz was, Liz started to do the numbers and see what the business of it would be and it just made sense. And so, yeah, like it sounded like it just made sense. We loved it. We knew there was nothing like it. There was a food culture in LA and just the world, food is everything. And we decided that was going to be the Benye. So it took us some time. She started working on, we really first started working on the look of the branding. That's what Liz does. And through that time, we started to figure out what's the Benye. What's going to be the best tasting, most flavorful? What's going to make sense in LA? Why do we choose LA? Our friends were there. It was going to be the community, the people. And, but, you know, LA, we're also like health conscious. We're also like fitness conscious. We're like, we got to do something a little bit light, but given the same flair and we figured out the Benye. We went off to Turkey then. We don't care about none of that. It's okay. You just go like, oh, I didn't say it's a diet. Just take the family trip to Turkey and eat all the Benye. You can eat a lot more Benye's because they're super light. They're very fluffy. They're layered and that's why we thought it would be the perfect Benye. The mini Benye. No, it's great. The Benye Bugs. Me. Yeah. You guys were one of our first customers too. We started with a truck. We are still. No, no, no. Honestly, that's how I found out about it. Yeah. Coming to the house. I see the truck. Yeah. And out of nowhere, I see Kristie in the window. I'm like, really? Yeah. It's my new thing. I'm inside serving people, cooking Benye. It's making sure everyone's getting it. Okay. You got the surge now. Fine. Give me, give me two boxes of them. Really awesome. Yeah. That was cool. It's a crazy start. We were like, we'd do a shop and then we couldn't figure out the shops. Too many permits and too much stuff. And then Liz, Liz is a go-getter. That's the one thing. Like that's the partner I chose was right for me and she chose I was right for her because we're connect, we're connectors. We're one with God and manifesting and we work hard. But Liz, she is, she is, she's diligent. She's like on it. She's persistent. She's consistent. She's on it as a partner and as an artist. I still want to be an artist. I don't want to have to do all the work that she is really, she's really good at. She doesn't want to have to do it all the time. And I had, I had been there when I can, especially in the beginnings, but she's one of those people. She's a boss and she learns things and she grows things and she's not afraid to get her hands in the dirt and learn some lessons and to get us where we are even in the hardest times. Cause you know, we've gone through pandemic, we've gone through actor strike. We've gone through a lot of changes. But the food truck was the best start for us because we got around town and we made our way to the people and we got the word out. Yeah. How many restaurants do you guys have now? Right now we have two trucks and we have one location. The reason we did that, we just wanted to focus on, we want to franchise. And so our biggest thing was learning the different ways this company could work. So we've had a brick and mortar. We've had a really big brick and mortar. The location was quite large. The rent was high. You have to employ more people. Is that the one that was in the studio city? Yeah. So you have to employ more people. The rent is high. The insurance, everything is much higher in those situations. It looks great, but you know, the, you know, the, there's a lot of setbacks in that way. And we've learned like kiosks work, you know, really well for us to go. The trucks work extremely well. So we've learned the different patterns that work well for us so that if anybody wants to franchise, they can understand what they're working with and what's the best direction for them. So it's been some really great learning lessons. And we've employed a lot of people, our friends, kids, you know, and here, here around studio city and north Hollywood, everywhere. We've had a lot of people come for us as far as like to come to eat the bignet, but also family, like, you know, your daughter needs a job, her first job. And we've had some great, like they bring on the other kids to come, you know, it's a family, you know, bignet box is about family. The bignet bites is about sharing. It's about community. And eventually we want to bring this back to where it all started with foundations, organizations. And just last night we worked with a foundation called hands for hope. It's in north Hollywood. And we've done a lot of great things personally with them and also now through the organization with, with, with bignet box. So it all leads one thing right back to the next. Since you're here now, can you tell the people where the trucks are located or the round the way or even, you know, we're going to promote all this. Yeah. Well, you can find us at bignet box online on social media, just at bignet box. And then we're updating our website right now. Right now we're so focused on marketing and on making every short, making sure all the things that we have, we've never done email marketing. We've never done any of that stuff. Really? We've been like just so small business, grassroots, friends, family. Then now we're like, okay, time to take those next steps because we really are a small team running it. We're just us women. We've had people come in and out that just didn't work out, but we've got to figure it out. And so, um, yeah, you could find us right now at the Topanga mall at the Westfield Topanga That's Topanga social. Yes. Which is great. Brings lots of people over there. And then the truck is usually in and around all around town, Studio City, Calabasas, Santa Clarita, Long Beach. If you just check out the page, you know, it'll show where it's at. And then eventually right now we're figuring out the email marketing. We have a loyalty program, all that stuff. We'll start letting people know, you know, where we're at, but you could really just go to. I mean, I'm going to get some discount then. I just was there. I got to take my number. Take on this. Yeah. Put you on the loyalty reward. After nine been. Yeah. Physics. You get a cafe au lait. I'm with you. We got some good deals. Really good. Congratulations. Thank you. I mean, just just watching how you pivoted in your career has been really cool. You know what I mean? Like, no, absolutely. Right? Because we never know. Nobody ever know people. We meet each other young age. We're all kids. And then some of us become what we become. Some of us go into other spaces. But the main thing that I've seen just off of the survivors in this thing is like literally surviving in music and having a real career is you got to be able to pivot. Yeah. You have to. Yeah. You know, we talk about that all the time. You can't shop that same demo. Yeah, no. Yeah. You know what I mean? In any term, you know what I mean? You just can't continue to shop that same thing. It's like, okay, well, what else can I do in these spaces? Yeah. Because all of this is in your wheelhouse though. Everything that you just said, all connected. It all connected and it's really cool to see and just like I said, congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. I've known you a really long time. I know. We have. All of us here, we're not going to talk about age. We look good. That's all I got to say. You know the aunts, we don't really know. But it's beautiful. And we aunts. Big aunt, right? Yeah. He's been going live. You see him? He's talking about aunts forever though. He was 63 at his birthday. He wanted to be 64. I said, yeah, I'm going to be 65. It's still my birthday. I'm going to be 65. I'm going to be 65. We're doing good. We're doing good. We came at the right time. It was the right time, a good time. We need a couple of things from you before you go. Yes. We need your top. Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord. Five. Oh. R&B artists. Brandy. Oh, shit. Okay. Let's go. Marjorie Blige. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You feel it. Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, gosh. I mean, Beyonce. She's a little everything. Yeah. But she's great. I can consider her. She's. She's a little. And my last one, dang. I got to go back though. You got it. I want to go with, oh, Aretha Franklin. Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I said the wrong name. It starts with the A. Anita Baker. Anita Baker. What a voice. That's the only guy in there, right? I mean, I can keep going. No, no, no, no, no, no. I like my females and I relate very much to them. And, but there are a lot of our females. I mean, especially groups. I love groups. Oh my gosh. True hell, Jody. The other all the group. I mean, everybody, you make great albums. Like I can keep going. Like I said five. Five. Five. It'll be a top 50. I know how you're going to do. I know how you're going to do it. Top five R&B songs. Oh, nah. Here we go. I got to do this. R&B. Gosh. Can we just go through all the confessions album? Yes, you bet. Whatever you want to do. It is all incredible. Um, gosh, guys, you don't really do this. You should have told me in advance. This is the thing we told Billy. We told Billy. Yeah. We told Billy. We told Billy. We told Billy. We told Billy. We told Billy. Yeah. He didn't tell me. Can I, I'm going to go through my phone. I'm going to tell you what I have that I. Sorry, Billy. Billy, you did not. Billy's my guy. I love Billy. He did not say this. Hold on. We're going to go to R&B and we're going to make this. Okay. Uh, okay. I mean, SWV, I get so weak. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. Mary J. Blige. Um, wait, wait, but there's a specific song because that was my jammed. I was like, Mary, oh my gosh, y'all killing me with this one. Take your time. You good. I love that you have the pink phone with the hearts hanging out. It's very, a love don't cost a thing. It is. I haven't grown out of it. Not gonna cry. Well, that's a great song too. Oh yeah. I love real love. Ooh. She's got so many songs, but there's just one. But let's, let's get it crunk. I'm sorry. It's an R&B song. I guess that's, that's, that's my jam. So we're going to put that on there. And it's dancer Reed. Come on dancer Reed. Come on dancer Reed. How about heartbreak hotel? That's another one. It's a Mary James Walsh song. I have to say because it's necessary. My life, Mary Jane. Oh, you know, I'm going to give Maya, Maya, Maya's, um, gosh, case of the X. Case of the X was popped though. But her first song too. And it's a, damn, what was Maya? I love Maya rock the boat. Aliyah rock the boat. Great song. Amazing. And we, we got one more. Is that what it is? Yeah. Brandy, Brandy girl. Brandy, cause it's going to be hard to pick this one. Yeah. But that I'm going to go with this album. Never say never. That was my, my jam. And it's going to be hard to pick this one. Cause never say never was my album. Me and my girlfriend would be in the car crying over our little boy friends, singing the songs. Oh my gosh. Oh, Angel in the skies. That song is great. Angel in the skies. That song is great. And I got it. The Roddy Jerkins. What he did in music. Super bag. Rodney. Super bag. He was a super producer. He is a super. Yes. Yes. He is. Super bag. So I'd say that whole album actually, but we'll go with Angel in the skies. Honestly, it's every song. You got a top 100. Was that okay? Bye. She got this one. She, you could. Yes. You had it? It's your world. It's your world. Super R&B artists, right? If you're making an artist, you're making a superhero R&B artists. And you want to get the vocals from somewhere, the performance style from somebody, the styling of the artists, the heart of the artists. And since you're a songwriter, who's going to write for this artist? You need one vocal to make your super R&B artists. What vocal is that going to be? Well, I just love Brandi's voice. So I'm going to put Brandi's voice on anything. Easy work. Brandi's voice. Performance style. We're making a super R&B. Super. Yes. With the R&B performance style of, you know what? I love Maya. We're going to put, she has a, we're talking about her style. Yeah, Maya V. Jamming. She's got, we're using something. I love a girl that can own it and who's, she's kind of timid. She's not like an outward person that's like, yeah, but her music is like, she's vibrant and confident. I like her shenanigans. Her shenanigans, like her curtain. Yeah. It's like her attraction in a sense. You know what I mean? Yes, exactly. Like my love is like, whoa. Yeah. Sierra is another one. That's another person I should be thinking of too. But I'm going to go with Maya because Maya, I love, I think I love the, I love what comes out of her, you know what I mean? As an artist, a performance and stuff like that. Yeah. Styling. Styling, clothing wise. Yeah. The drip. Oh gosh. There's a couple of them. Style wise, I would say, dang, I can't put it up the top of my, the top of my, give me some girls. Damn, styling wise. I mean, you guys, you got Riri, you got the, oh Rihanna. Yeah, Rihanna, the style too, please. Rihanna. Got easy. Easy. Love that. Love that. She put that shit on too. Yeah. The passion of the artist, the heart of the artist. Who means it? I'm going to give it to Beyonce because that girl's got a heart of, the heart of a lion. She just doesn't give up. She's just, she's, she's that what would Beyonce do? Like she's that voice in your head when you're feeling lazy that day and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm overwhelmed. And you're like, that woman. Beyonce would get to work. She would get to work. She would get to work. Heels on the treadmill. She would get to work. Heels on the treadmill and singing. And singing. Yeah. Karen and baby on the side. Who's writing for this artist? Oh, dang. Okay. Ah, the dream. Yeah. Yeah. Tricky story. That nigga right here. Shit. Yeah. I'm not mad at you. Not biased at all. Not for a particular, any particular reason, but I, I have witnessed the man's talent in these very times. Respect. Yeah. Respect. What? What's going on? Before we get into, we got, we got one more segment and we have to give a disclaimer. Okay. Our brother's doing eight shows a week now. He's doing eight shows a week on Broadway right now. Right. He's a thespian. Can we talk about the title? Give me the title. We need the name. Anybody who doesn't know what show he's doing. What's the show? I am doing Hell's Kitchen. Hell's Kitchen. Alicia Keys Broadway musical. And I play her father Davis and it's real. It's real. It's real. You got it. When you go back to New York, you got to go check it out. I will. Like it's like, you know, it's Tony Award winners and nominees all over the place. I was ready to throw tomatoes at him. He did his thing though. I started, you know what I mean? I had to celebrate it. You couldn't help it. You were like, yeah, you good. I'm okay bro. Killers on stage. Yeah. No, especially. I'm not talking about Broadway's killing it right now. You got amongst all these A plus everything. Everything. Just a few feet away Denzel's right there. It ain't cool in all that, but we talking about Dorel. We talking about Denzel, we talking about Dorel. Dorel is around the corner. Denzel Junior Juniors, who we talking about. You know? Denzel Senior, I get it. I get it. But you want to see the new Denzel get to work? I'm on 44. Oh, that low my ass. I'm on 44. You understand? Cats. Kits. Hullet. You want. We had a very important segment of the show. What we close out is called I Ain't Saying No Names. Will you give us a story, funny or fucked up, or funny and fucked up? The only rule to the game is you can't say no name. No. Funny or F'd up. Both. Or both. It could be a mixture. Dang. Billy. Billy. You my right to die. You got to tell me because I know we got stories and I'm trying to think. It could be movie set. It could be screen. I got one. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh. Las Vegas. Ooh, I like that all day. New Years. Ooh. Five of Palets in Hotel, Opening New Years Night. Top of the Top. Yeah. Okay. I can't say the name because I just love her. You can't say the name. But I won't say the name. You can't say the name. You can't say the name. The song is called I Ain't Saying No Names. I know the name just based off of my own interpretations of this situation. Okay. Because this is one of those nights. Actually, you don't say the name. That's how good this is. Yes. Beautiful. Because this is almost a couple, this is 20 years later. Or 20, no, 10 years later. Okay. So we go night. Oh my gosh, we're having so much fun. Me and my friends, me and my sister and my, my sisters, Billy's there. We go New Years Night. We see the fireworks, crazy night. Billy, let's help me with this story. How did we end up there? Somehow we end up going with a very popular army pop star to a strip club. Is that where we started? How we ended there? Yeah. Go Billy, say it. Just say the beginning of it. It didn't have all the names. Okay. Jay-Z and Coldplay were playing. They are not in the part of the story, but they were there at the, yeah. So we see this, all this, everybody, everybody, like all the hottest stars are at this big Cosmopolitan, you know, New Years Night thing. And somehow we end up around this other star. She's a female. She's pretty dope. And we all decide somehow we're all going to the strip club and she's like, come on, let's go. So she's got, you know, the biggest, you know, the big SUV trucks. We all clamor and we're stuffed in there like sausages. And she's like, she's a boss, by the way. And she gets us all inside of the car. We get to the strip club. We're at the strip club having a really good time. By then we've had multiple shots, you know, there's people smoking a little, everything. She decides she's done with the strip club. We're going to bring the strip club back to her hotel room. Yeah. So everybody gets back in the car. She's really cool, by the way. And when you get in the car, we go to her penthouse suite that she has at the hotel. And we're just in awe of all we're watching. And she's such a boss. She's walking around the room. She's got stacks of singles in her pocket. And she's, but she doesn't really, she hasn't shared it. She brought the strippers back. So these female strippers come back, you know, and so they're shaking their butt everywhere and everything's shaking ass. They're naked. And, but nobody's paying attention to them. They're just like music playing out loud. People are smoking a little weed, you know what I mean? And we're all talking just to, you know, having a good time. But the strippers are doing stuff, but they're not getting paid anything. She has the money, but she hasn't, you know, it's in the cut. So eventually the strippers are like, you know, oh my God, they're starting to get bored because no one's paying attention to them. And they go up to this girl and they're like, so and so we're going to leave because, you know, everybody says, you know, everybody, Billy, you have to tell it. Come on. Say it. You have to say what she says. Okay. You're going to say it. So we're going to leave because nobody's paying attention to us and they're holding their clothes in their hand and she says. Shut the fuck up and dance. They were putting clothes back on the floor and got to dancing. And then she said, just threw her, she just threw the stacks of cash at him. And the night continued on and we were just in all of this women because she's just so dope and so cool. And she's and I think, you know, I think that told the story. So that's the night we still talk about to this day. She's still talking about to this day, just kind of like watching this, this strong as female. That's just so cool. The as dope as you imagine that she is. Yep. I love it. Bitch, you shut the fuck up and dance. I want to hear it. That's all she had to say. That was it. Dance. Yeah. Dance. I don't want to hear nothing else. That's great. That's a really good story. That's great. So that's a funny story. Yeah. Yeah. Christina Milian. Yeah. You have, you have navigated this thing in such a way. Yeah, that was amazing. What's that? Two hours. It's close. We were trying to try to meet your home. We were trying to meet your home. Hey, how was your home? Hey, just keep going. Hey, you and your wares rocking. Hey, just keep going. She's still going. Well, you've navigated this thing with so much grace and so much class. And to see you now. To see you still evolving. To see you still growing. Man, still surprising us and showing us new things. It's just like really dope. You know what I mean? We didn't get to tap too heavy into the, you know, the wife and the children in this aspect of it. But that's a whole nother space to where, you know, with everything else that you do, like you're in this superwoman, superhero space that is just, it should be studied. I got some work to do. It's not easy. No. And you never said it was easy. None of it is. None of it is. Yeah, we're all in the same space. But we get to, you know, we get to see you show up, you get to pull up on us and it all looks good on you. Oh, thank you. Cool. I'm just trying to stay young, drink a lot of water, hopefully stay in shape. Come on now. Trying to do what these kids needed their life. You're starting to show up for whoever needs me to show up for, you know, that's important. But no matter what, God has just guided me. I always turned it out and that's what keeps me and all of those things going and I'm just thankful for my longevity and to meet good people and through my lifetime and be good to people and people to be good back and it always comes back around. So great lesson I've learned and I'm really happy about it. Look at us. Look at us. Look at it. Look at you. Look at us. Shut up and dance. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tank. I'm Cheyvon. And this is the R and B podcast, the authority on all things R and B. Yeah. A superwoman, family. You are absolutely awesome. I got the outro too. Thank you. This has been Christina Mayer. Thank you guys. This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.