Jill Scott

This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. I'm being money! We are Take Take round the chat We are The authorities On all things I'm being Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tank. I'm Jay Valentine. And this is the R&B Money Podcast. The authority The authority We don't take no short walks around here. On all things R&B And then shout about what we do. Even if we walk in And then shout It's gotta be long. The walk's got long walk. Come on, come on, come on. Because you can't get nut down on those short walk. Naked. You can't get to know nobody. To nobody. On a short walk. Anybody worth get to. See sometimes you're telling it. And you guess. I want to mention them. It's nothing wrong with that. But now we're about to talk about the adventure of gifts. Yeah. Saying it. The other people just getting in the way. I like what you're doing. Yeah. Saying it. Yeah. What? Writing it. All of it. Producing it. Spoken word. Is that a way to say that? If you want to say it. Living the life. Yeah. Face on the stamp. Man. Face on the goddamn stamp. How do you pull that out? I don't know how to put it out. She did it. It's only personal. Never do it. Outside of Harry Tubman. Ladies and gentlemen. This woman does all the things she does. And it's still so amazingly graceful and beautiful. Yes. And the smile lights up a room. Smile lights up the universe. Excuse me. Looks golden to me. Looks golden to me. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado. A word I know. Gillette from Fifth. Miss Jill Scotchell. Yeah. Jill Scotchell. Oh, yeah, we're here now. We've been waiting on Miss Liz. Because you do stuff. You be busy. I do. I'll be bothering Xiaoji. didn't tell me. Did you not tell me? We've been waiting on this. We've been waiting on this. We've been waiting to have the grace and the elegance and the smile. You know, just sitting right there. You know, look at the smile. The internet says something different about that smile. I'm going to start. It's just a wholesome smile to me. How are we going to start at the internet? That's the Lord smile. With the answer at the end of the internet. My mind is well as they say. My mind is well. Let me ask you something. Julie from Philly. Yes. As a, as a, I'm going to say this with as much humility as I can. As a fellow sex symbol. Here we go. Here we go. Let's go. How do you, how do you receive, receive that conversation? How do I receive that conversation? How do you receive like being seen and viewed and do you, do you accept your space in this sexy conversation? I don't think I have a choice. But to accept it, I come from a family of Amazon women. I'm the runt of my family. My mother's six one. My grandmother was five, eleven, then like all my aunts, everybody's like, Bucksome and so. Bucksome and it smells good. I can't help when she walks in. Bucks. I still remember it. I still remember the hood. Come on, Jay. I feel like if I felt that way about those women, then I can understand why people will feel that way about me. It's okay. I'm all right. I'm all right. But it's, it's, it's, it's effortless because it's vicious in the DNA. I'm going to say I'm giving you the translation. So hard. It sent me. It ain't on me. Yeah. That's what she just told you. I don't know if you paying attention. You need to be because it was a pimple. Now just having real quick. This is, you know what? The last Philly artist came all here with Pimpatoo. Music Soulchild came on your pimple. You know what? That Philly Delphi is something different. That was a great interview. I enjoyed that very much. I love music. Yeah. When he first started, I was, I watched your interview with him and he said something about, you know, being so confident and honestly, no, this, yo, I love you, but I don't remember that. I remember him being very nervous about being on stage. And sometimes I would like hold him from the back and guide him to the mic, you know, because that's what the space was for. Yeah. That's what the space was for. We had a black lily and we had the roots jam sessions in Philly. So we all got together and musicians were playing and singers were singing MCs were MC and and we had people that came and paid eight dollars to see a show. And that's where we sharpened our tools. We figured it out. Audiences enjoy this. Audiences like this. They feel good about that. They don't like this. You know, you got to see it from yourself, your own perspective. And then you got a chance to see it from other people as well, you know, watching them perform like, oh, don't do that. Right. Are you the host of this? No, Jazzy fat nassies were the host. And then I think for the roots picnic, I mean, I'm sorry, the roots jam sessions. I don't think there was a host. I think the mics just got passed around Scott's store, which is on the keys. And Valile is laying on the floor, you know, singing his heart out. Absolutely. You know, I was laying on the floor. Valile is absolutely on the floor. He's on the floor. Absolutely. I love him. Healing. Going crazy. Yeah, that's great. That's where I come from. We just kind of sharpened each other. And I look around and I'm like, okay, the roots are doing great. And I'm doing all right. You know, music, soul child, flowetry, like the list from that time, like people did great. Yeah. Really, really great. That comes with sharpening your tools. If we can go back to before you even got to that state, like what gets you to the stage with with the roots and all of these amazing artists, like what gets you there? What what start? What kicks it off to where you know and now believe that you have something different that can take you all around the world. I didn't know about the taking around the world part. Like I didn't know that was real. It just didn't want to work a nine to five y'all. Like I just didn't like nine to five. That thing like bothered my soul. But this thing felt good. So it started with poetry, which is why I'm still like if I don't have anything to say, I can't sing anything. Like the words matter so much to me. And they give me the pathway to be as genuine and sincere as I could possibly be with every word that I say or sing rather. So it started with poetry. I got my feelings hurt. Some boy. And I wrote a poem about it. I shared it with some women that I was hanging out with. And they were like, oh my gosh, that was amazing. Read another one. So I read another one. And then I was like, oh, that went nice. I'll write another one. And I wrote another one because I was just trying to deal with what this felt like first heartbreak, first. So then I started hearing about poetry readings. And I thought, okay, I'll go. It's I'll pay to get in. I'll get on the list. And then I'll read a poem and see how that goes. Oh, that went great. Oh, okay. I'll do it again. It went good for me for the first time. Yeah. It went great. I was like, okay, I'll do this again. This is fun. This is fun. I get to see people hang out, you know, people buy me drinks. I don't get any money yet, you know, but nonetheless, this feels good. So I continued. And then one night I was in a car with a friend. And this guy pulls up, and I was literally across the street from my house. This guy pulls up and he goes, listen, knocking on the glass. Listen, knocking on the glass. My friend said, I ain't Vincent and neither is she. He's like, Vincent, Vincent, come on, man, don't do me like just mad. I don't mean I get. And then he went and pulled out. I saw the butt of a gun. My friend takes off down the street. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I just panicked. So I opened the car door and I grabbed him. I think I'm going to pull him over the dash. I don't know what I was thinking, but I was just, I don't know, I panicked. And he dropped what he had. He was on fire. And like, yeah. So and we took off. He thought he had gotten shot because it was burning, right? The L fell and he thought he thought he was on fire. Like he thought he was shot. The Vincent man, my friend, your friend, okay, who was not Vincent. And I was not Vincent. We just happened to be sitting across the street from my house in the car. And he took off. And the next day I was like, there's really no other words. I was fucked up, like fucked up. Because North Philly had always been this place that was like safe for me. Crack addicts knew me. Drug dealers knew me. They carried my mother's groceries home. Crack heads of creep up on you. I turned around and I'm like, oh, hey, you know what I mean? Like I was good in the hood. Now I wasn't. Now I wasn't. And it messed me up. Took me off, like really off-kiltered, like outside of myself. I was afraid for the first time in the hood. And it sounds wild because I grew up, you know, where people were getting murdered a lot. But somehow I wasn't afraid. But now I was. So I went to a poetry reading the next day in my pajamas because I couldn't bat them on how to put them close. I don't know. As I wore my pajamas and I got up to say a poem and I sang. And I sang, I think I, what did I sing? I sang Porgy and Bess. What's the name of the song? Summertime. Sing Summertime. And when it was done, the room was silent. And then they blew up. Everybody stood up. People started running. You know, oh my God. Wait a minute. This whole time they didn't know, you know, and I never really said anything because it was mine. My little voice was mine. And everybody liked it so much. So I started doing it more because it felt good, you know, I could feel good. So I did it again. And it went well. And I did it again. And then I was like, Hey, you know, I'll add some poetry to this singing and see how this works. And it went well. And I added a DJ and that went well. And it just seemed like this was, this was right. So you're doing all of your own artist development. Yeah. I can hear your own show. Everything. Yes. But auditing it. Yeah, but auditing it. Yeah. Yeah. Before audit in front of live audience. Yeah. In front of a live audience who let me know. Yeah. Let me know whether it was working or not. You know, if it was good, if it was solid, I'd love the moments when I would say or sing or do something. And then the space would go. Oh, that I still live for it. Oh, the moment, the silence. Oh, I'm a Terry. I girl. The silence. And then the breath and how deep the breath is or how shallow the breath is. All of that tells you what to do next. It gives you direction on how to move the crowd. Yeah. Yeah. No, but you're speaking from a real place of a real performer. Thank you. Because I think a lot of the artists don't even get that intricate into understanding who and what they're performing for are, you know, the whole purpose of it. Like you said, and what actually gets you going. Because as a performer, it has to get you going. You have to be excited. You have to be excited. You have to want it. The hardest thing for me is to go to a concert and look at the artist and be like, oh, they're just getting through it. I've seen it. We've all seen it. I've seen it. Yeah. And that's that's really tough. Because tough watch. Yeah. I think for me, I look into it and I'm like, oh, I said, like I get it. Maybe you need to, you know, you got to get your money. But when you, especially this thing that that we do in entertainment, if you can't enjoy it, you probably should do something. Yeah. It has to start with the enjoyment of it. Because you mean, obviously, if you get to the jail Scott level, you get different. But everyone doesn't. Yeah. Yeah. And what's the danger? So something has to keep you going. It is. There's a place for everybody. Yes. You know, whether you're in a lounge, if you like what you do, you like what you do. Right. You know, what you want it to do is pay your bills. Yeah. That's that's a good life when you enjoy something so much. And it takes care of your lifestyle. And you might be able to take a trip. You know, that's nice. Like a month. No, that's a holiday. That's a holiday. But if you could do that, like then you're living a good existence. Not everybody has to be at Madison Square Garden. Yeah. Sometimes you have to be, you're the person that is happy to be at the jazz club. Maybe at the blue. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. That's a wonderful life. Absolutely. And it's doing something that makes you feel good. I think your work should feel good. No matter how late you stay in the studio, no matter how many times you can't get a sample cleared, no matter how many times. You know, this thing or that thing doesn't show up when you need it to for whatever reason, like, you got to, there's got to be something to keep you there. Yeah. I want to, I want to, I want to go back to something you said that would that that was something that I had to learn to navigate. And you said the silence, yeah. Hearing that, that breath, no artist always wants screams. No, no, no, it wasn't. Yeah. He wanted to say, he said, because you got to, you know, I think like my, my true intro into the R&B game was singing backgrounds with genuine. So all I know is screaming. If they're, if they're making some noise and then the church as well, if it ain't Hallelujah and some worship going on that you might not be tapped into the spirit, like you think you are right. Take your time to real. Take your time to, when you take your time, you fucking up. But that's what I knew. And then when I started performing, I would have moments where I would, you know, be playing my piano and singing and people would just be like, like what you say. And I would like, am I fun? Terrifying. Scary. Terrifying. I might do not say nothing. And it took me a minute to even learn what it was. And then how to navigate it. And then it became my favorite thing. It's like, oh, they are listening. They are, they are really locked in with, they are getting something from this that, that they don't want to miss by making too much noise or jumping up and down. Like they are, like you don't do it at dinner. When you, when you at dinner, you sit down at your plate and you eat, you enjoy your food. And they are, you know what I'm saying? They are, they are being fed at that moment. And the tension to it in the way they react is just so different. It took me such a long time to understand that. It's a high. Yeah. It's a high. And when you have a band, like I have a band. Yeah. So I don't, I don't read music. We should do it. I can still go to school. I can still learn how to do it. Okay. But I don't want to mess it up. That's what I'm thinking. Like that's what frightens me that I'm going to mess it up somehow. So, and I want it. Yeah. But I explained to my musicians what I want through storytelling, through taste. I'll say things like, it's not quite yellow enough. Right. And I'm hoping, I'm waiting to see where the right notes I'm talking about. And somebody will go like this. And I'm like, yes, yeah. But I still don't think he knows what yellow is. But he does. Or, or, but he does, but he do. Is it you? Because when you said yellow, I was like, I don't know what that is. But if you said yellow, a certain way, it's your yellow. Because if you said, I needed more yellow, but if you said, I needed more yellow, because he would say, and I probably would. And I probably would. And I probably do. I know it doesn't make sense. So I don't know. It does. Because the way you say a word is not just the word. It's your, it's everything that comes along with the word. They have to be so patient with me. Because I have to, I tell them stories. And I'll, I'll bring in something to taste. This is what it should feel like. And everybody'll get going. They'll start playing and fiddling and, you know, touching and moving. And next thing you know, they come back together. And it's what I wanted. It's what I wanted. But it's just missing a little bit of salt. And they're like the background singers, you know, they'll come in and do this thing. And it's, it adds another flavor. And it's the right flavor. Or it's not what I was thinking. But it's way better than what I was thinking. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is, that's rehearsal with me. This is how I, how I do it. I don't know how we got to this part of the conversation. No, it's not. It leads to so many different things, right? Like, it's a process. Him and I went, we did, we did breakfast club. And they asked us about this whole AI thing, right? Because that's the thing. It's like a new thing. Everybody wants to talk about it. But the truth for the matter is, AI can't do that. AI doesn't feel like that. So when his response was, I'm up for the fight. I think what they do over there. I don't care what they do. And over there, they can do more of it. So what? But some people took that as, oh, you go, the level of the big, you know, I read the comments. Comments don't bother me. They are funny to me. And I look at them as research. So I'm reading the comments. I'm seeing the people that are just like, oh, you had such a high level of this. And y'all didn't sign a back door deal with the AI people. And then I don't know the AI people. Okay. Shit. I don't know. I know. That's the AI. I know. I know Alan Ivans. Right. So, but for us, I think what we were just really saying at the end of the day was that the type of gifts that you're born with, the things that you understand about music and the amazing musicians that you're around, they can't recreate that. They can't recreate the feeling. There is no seasoning in that. It's just not. It does sound good though. It do be sound again. I've heard a couple things. I can pick it up. It's like this. Oh, that's too good. Because there's so much value or there's so much, there's so much gold and imperfection. Come on. And imperfection. Yes. That's the juice. That's the stuff. That's the juice. Like in the middle of a show and the musician will go left for whatever reason and everybody will look like. All right. All right. And then afterwards, you know, we're all slapping them and like, yeah, well, the fuck are you going to do it? But you know, this is exciting. And you need people for that. Yes, you need people for that. You need people for that. But teach your kids prompts. Okay. What a promise. So the prompts are what you're putting into the program that are that's helping create the AI and the narrative. What you're getting back. You know, I mean, like you just got to learn, you know, add your flavor to it. So with like anything else, you just have to feed it well. You got to feed it well. 100% got it. Yeah. Okay. Because this here is nothing. We're going to go back. Yeah. Oh, no. Like anything. Take me to the discovery of Jilska. What word? What spoken word vignu that they find you in? How was everywhere? Yeah. Libraries, coffee shops, theaters, bar mitzvahs. Yeah. You're doing this every day. I didn't, whenever I wasn't working or going to school because I was going to ask you about that because you said you didn't want to do the 95. No. So what job did you have? I worked at Kache. What's that? It was a clothing store for women on Walnut Street in Philadelphia. Okay. Yeah. Was that like the ratchet clothing? No. It was high in clothing. I had a lot of wealthy customers. We would get them sushi and wine or or sake. Oh, shut up. Why they shopped. And this was, you know, I didn't fit in when I first got there, but I was a really good saleswoman. So I learned, you know, to wear the clothes and the thing and the stuff. And we got commission. So yeah, I was working at Kache and I was going to school. And what else? I was working at Kache until I met one customer that I loved. I adored her. I always made the space real special for her. Get her little fresh flowers, you know, because she liked that. And this is in the Philadelphia. Yeah. In the store. That's crazy. So I put her stuff aside. I would take her size out of everything. Put it to the side. Call her up. I got something. And she'd be like, okay, I'm on my way. So she would come and we would talk and she would tell me about her life. And I would listen because she was a rich shop. And I was like, what happens with rich people? I wanted to know. She was so proper. Infinity key from her car because they didn't need it anymore. It was this huge key. And I carried it forever until somebody got me for it. But it always made me think of her like, the possibilities, this infinity that I'm holding in my hands. Yeah. It was a tangible, I dream. Yeah. So I don't want to say her name. So one day I get a call. She wants some stuff I have that I put it aside. I go to her house. I've never been to her house. I am geeked. There's a door man. It's in walking distance. It's fantastic. The shans and leers, all the stuff. I was like, oh, I went upstairs. The elevator had a velvet chair in the elevator house. This was it, this they lived in like a condominium type of three story penthouse business. She was rich. Yeah. Yeah. So I go in there and there are bags everywhere, unopened bags of new stuff everywhere on the stairwell in the kitchen. Their bags were walking around bags as I show her was in the bag. And I think that was it for me. I was like, she's got an addiction. And you're not healthy. You're not helping at all. You got to find something else to do, Shady. So that pushed you out of it. It pushed it turned me off. Wow. Because I realized that I was like hustling her and she had a problem. Yeah. I didn't feel good. I don't know. You know what I'm saying? Like I follow the things that feel good and the things that don't I'm like, ah, that's okay. I could do something else. So I was going to school and I got a call. I was in I was school to be an English teacher, which was very exciting. I got my kids to pay attention to Shakespeare. It was great. I gave them melodies for for Shakespeare and they would do do up to Shakespeare. They were geeked about it. They have none of these teachers. What? I probably would have stayed. Probably when you probably would have graduated. It was great. I loved it. But I wanted to do more because I'm student teaching now. This is like, I'm almost there. And I go to the principal and I was like, listen, the walls of grade floor is a gray, the lockers of gray. Like we need some color in this space because I feel defeated when I walk in. And he said, oh, to be young and idealistic, you'll get over it soon. That didn't feel good. I was like, not, I'm not doing this. And on the walk home from the school, which was around the corner from my house, I was upset because here I have made three years in going to school to be an English teacher. And I realized that I was going to be met with a bunch of resistance. Then one resistance, I feel like it should feel good, right? So I'm pissed. I quit my job, quit school because I quit school. I didn't just say I wasn't, I wasn't going to change majors. I was working two jobs just to go to school, like going to school, paying this money. And then I'm going to owe it to them. And I'm never going to make enough to pay them back. Like this isn't, this doesn't feel good. Oh my god. So I got to my house. I hear the phone ringing, but I can't find a key. I have the phone is ringing. You know, the phones that are connected to the wall, you know, a house phone. The house one. Yeah. So I get the key and I'm not walking fast because I'm like, man, if I miss it, I miss it. I don't know who this is. But I get to the phone and it's a friend. I'm going to say his name, same as Aussie Jones. And Aussie Jones says, what are you doing? I said nothing. He said, by this time I'm reading poetry, I'm singing, he's been saying, I think you're an actress. And he's a director of plays. And I was like, yeah, okay. You know, if you say so, okay. And he, he says there's an apprenticeship at a theater company. It's called the Arden Theatre Company. It pays $250 a week. They'll give you free acting classes. That's where he got me. You'll they'll give you free acting classes, but you'll work free. You'll work 14 hours a day, six days a week, $250 a week, and health insurance. So I'm already at home. My mom's house, you know, okay. So I interviewed for it and I got it. I was 25. 25. They came in. Everybody in there is white. Everybody rooted in the dude. Nice people. Lovely people. All theater experience. I have none. I don't know what down stages. I don't know what stage right is. I don't know anything. But I'm there. And they worked a snot out of me. I, I, oh boy, I carried three by five's up three, four flights of stairs. We were building a theater, which meant they needed to be demolition in this warehouse that they purchased. So I'm using a jackhammer. I'm using a sledgehammer. I am mopping the the the floor in this theater company. It's pretty big, okay. I'm mopping the floor. I'm cleaning the toilets. I'm selling the tickets. I'm sowing the clothes. I'm hanging the lights. I'm building the sets. The stages. I'm 25, right? With no idea what I'm going to do next. Everybody else is a graduate of Berkeley. They're graduates of of NYU. They're, they're these young, talented people. And this is their big opportunity. This theater company. I didn't know it was my big opportunity because, but I learned so much while I was there. We did musical theater. Had no idea. You know, I had no idea. I mean, I knew because I listened to musical theater. My mother took me to plays, but I came in there singing SWV. So they kind of like. It's a great song. Great. They did. They could take me seriously until I started singing sonheim. And then they were like, yeah, I don't know what that is. It's this guy. I'm sorry. No disrespect. He's written a lot of amazing plays, but it's time for more theater, new theater, amazing theater. You know, but I learned everything from from this one theater company. I worked there for two years. It was only for SWV for a year, but I didn't have anything to do. So I just stayed. Yes, I stayed and I learned. And I thank you, Ozzy. Thank you so much for that because that led me to another apprenticeship at another theater company, the oldest in America. And I got a call from a girlfriend, Stephanie Renee. Stephanie said, oh, they got their audition and for rent. You should go. And I was like, but I'm teaching poetry at the camp. She's like, well, it's at, you know, it's like a one o'clock. And I started my class with the camp was early in the morning. So I was like, I'll go after I came looking terrible. I had a basketball in my hand. I was bouncing the ball like I ain't gonna get this shit. You hooping too. I'm like, where's this? This just took another thing. I was coming from camp. And I played this game of it was on a monopier. So you know, when you throw the ball at somebody, somebody says, wow. And then somebody else said, ooh, somebody, you know what I mean? Like, it went around and it was fun. And we started making rhythms. And it was great. It was fun. Love that. So here I am auditioning for rent. And I ended up getting a callback. And then I got another callback. And I got another callback. And I got another callback by the six time I said, if these people, they know by now, they want to hire me or not. They don't want to hire me because I don't have anything that they'll. Now, so I'm like, okay, if they don't hire me, you know, like, they should know by now, right? Didn't hear for anything. I like two months. So I'm just working my little jobs with doing poetry here. I'm working at a camp there. I'm, you know, whatever I can do. And to keep a float. And then I get a call. Can you leave in three days to go do rent in Canada? I've never been out of the country around myself. Like, this is wild. I say, yes, how much you say? How much you say? How much you say? How much you say? It was great. I think I was at the time I was getting like $1,700 a week plus $700 per diem. I had nothing. I had nothing. So this was great, great opportunity. And I went out of the country and I did rent. And it was great. The people were awesome. I love them. We had such a good time, such sweet spirits. And the rent heads were amazing. Those are the people who love the play. And they would sleep outside the theater. And they had pictures of you. And they would, it was like, no rent was a big deal. It was, it was, it was a little bit of time. It was a little bit. It was, it was enough for me. But it was good. And I enjoyed that. And then they asked me if I wanted to do, go the Broadway. And I didn't. I didn't. The, there is a gift, a discipline in theater that I will have in two instances. One, I'll be broke. Or it's amazing. One or the other. You feel what I'm saying? If I'm broke, I might be on Broadway. That sounds wild. Or if it's amazing, like if I need a job, because that hustle, that mindset, that day-to-day, being in the same light with the same people, wearing the same clothes, saying the same thing, almost the same way you didn't experience that God bless. You didn't, I don't think I would have cracked. Yeah. So I had to choose between, I know I jumped, didn't I? I had to choose between a record deal or Broadway. Broadway. Yes. Oh, they were on the table at the same time. Yes. And I chose the record deal. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm, listen, I've only been the Broadway to see take. So I would love to have my experience. I just wanted to be something that's amazing. Yeah. Like real bad. I really wanted. Yeah. So how I got the record deal, I had been calling. So now I'm a poet in the city. People know me. They're paying up to $45 to have me come and perform it. That stuff, you know? So I thought I could probably write a song. So I started writing little songs. You've never written songs before. No. No, right. I'm just a poet. I'm writing poet. I'm a poet. So I was like, I probably could write a song. Yeah. Maybe. So I start calling the producers that I knew because these jam sessions have all the musicians at them. You know, all the muses, James Poiser's playing, Quest Love is playing, the drums, Sky Storges on the Keys, like the Leonard Hubbard's on the bass. What are we talking about? The Adius Trebet, all of these amazing musicians are in Adam Blackstone. They're all there. So I started calling the studios that they told me they were working at. And because I'd never been to a studio before. So I was like, not a real one. Somebody's baseman one time. But I, I called and nobody called me back. And I called every day. Nobody called me back for like six months. And then eventually I was on the street, headed to the theater company because I was doing something with them. And there's Jazzy Jeff. And on the street with Rich Medina of a very popular poet in Philadelphia at the time. So I know Rich. And there is Jazzy Jeff. And I've been calling his studio. So yes. So I don't have a lot for him. Hi. Never met the man in my life. Right. Because I called every day. You know, I'm saying like, come on, man, somebody, the musicians know me. They should, I know they do Andre Harris. Like they know me. Dramby Dow. They're working with him. Like somebody should be like, you should let her come. Nobody did. So I was like, hi. And then I went on about my business. And Jeff, according to Rich said, who's that? He said, that's Jill Scott. He said, that's Jill Scott. He said, yes, that's Jill Scott. Then I got a call. Can I come? And I was mad, but I went. But you went. I was mad, but I went. So I get over there. And there's, there's music in every room in this studio. There's everybody is playing something amazing in each room. And I'm walking around. I don't know what to do. I don't, I mean, what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do? I don't know. So I'm just there and I know people. So I'm like, hey, what's up? But they're in work mode. You know, they're focused. They're touching thingies, you know, and hidden stuffies. And I was like, I don't know. I don't know what I'm here. I'm cracking jokes. And you know, what it seems like my time's up. And nobody's giving me any music to write to. And I'm like, oh, so, who, what are you going to do with the studio? And Jeff was like, yeah, just like that. He was like, what do you mean? I was like, you got a lot of exposed wood here. You should probably stay in and pile your thing that. And he was, I think it would look very nice. And he was like, yeah, I think I would, I think it would look nice. And I was like, I could do that for you. And I did. I stay in and pile your thing the lobby. So I could be there. That's how you got to stay. That's how I got to stay. Oh, this is great. So I could be there. Because I didn't want to, it was so great. But nobody was giving me anything to do. But you have to, I was explaining this to my son. In life, you have to create a need. If someone doesn't need you for something, that means like, you have to like, okay, what's missing around here? Oh, they need a such and such here. Hey, I can do that. Uh-huh. Most people, most humans don't think that way. Oh, I didn't want to go. And you got to end this part too. They don't even know sometimes that they need it until you say something. Right. Cause he didn't know he did. What is he going to probably do? He was fine with the raw wood. He was, he was good. So I, um, I stayed in probably your authentic thingy, the lobby, and I hummed a lot. And I listened whenever the door were open, I almost died. Cause probably your thing is very, very strong. So I had to hold the door open. Have you learned this back when you was building sets? My mother told me how to stand a polyurethane. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Um, your family's amazing. They're Amazon's and they build and they do stuff lay down hardwood for, make your pair of pants, make your smoothie that you won't have to eat at all for the next two days. Like they do these things. Oh my god. Smoothie. Yeah. She could do it. Amazing. He's winning. Yeah. So one day I'm there. I'm listening in the room, listening. And I don't know who it was. It might have been Jeff, but he gave me a tape with a bunch of songs on it. I wrote to everything that I heard because I didn't know not to like something. I was like, the job is you're right as long as everything on here. So on the bus, I was right while I was actually while I was auditioning for rent on the bus from Philadelphia to New York. I would write the songs to the tape he gave me. Yeah. So mind you rent disappears. They're disappeared. They're going for a couple of months. But I'm coming to the studio pretty regularly just to be there. And Jeff decided to give me a ride home, which I thought was huge. Jazzy Jeff is giving me a ride home in North Philly. I was like, you know, I live in North Philly, right? He was like, yeah, I'll take you home. I was like, you isn't North Philly where I live. He was like, I'll take you home. And I was like, okay. So a couple of things happen. We're in the car. This lady jumps out of the car from behind us. And she's screaming at Holler and Jazzy Jeff, Jazzy Jeff, Jazzy Jeff. And he rolls down the window. And she's just talking to him. The her car door is open. And it was a baby in the back seat. I could see it from the rear view. And I was like, this is fame. Like that's nuts. Yeah. Excuse me. I'm like, that's nuts for that to even happen. It scared the hell out of me. It scared me pretty good. But nonetheless, after we left that lady, he put it, I put in the tape and I sang a long walk. And he was like, you sing? I was like, I'm just showing you how it goes. And he was like, you sing. Yeah. To the, hold on. To the actual track. Yeah. Long walk track. Yeah. It was done. It was done. And you sang it right there in his face. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And he liked it. And I liked it too. And I liked it too. And I liked it too. I liked it so much. And then he was like, you sing. And I would just agree. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. If you say so. As singing with something that was mine is personal. So at this point, you don't want to share it. I, I, I, I, Jesse Jeff said I was good. So I figured I might be. I just might be. And then when, you know, when I, after that crazy night with the high guy at Vincent, I feel good too, you know, I think I can, I think I can. Okay. Okay. I think, I think I can. So I started, I, you know, I'm singing all the songs. They're like, you go in the studio. What do I do with it here? I don't know. You were touching thingies. You know, they're like, oh, I didn't get that. And I'm like, okay. I sang things from the top to the bottom, top to the bottom, top to the bottom. Every time I didn't know that you stopped and started to get, I mean, well, I didn't know that you don't, you don't have to. Now you don't, I mean, well, I didn't, you were, you were doing something different. You had a different kind of gift. Each one was a different version version of it, which is why theater and I, you know, somebody's got to work with me here, or I got to work for it either or or both. But, you know, they're just collecting these songs. That's when I was auditioning for Rent. This is happening all at the same time. I'm still doing all of these things. And I got rent. And I was like, all right, y'all, I see you when I get back. And that's when I got the call while I was over, while I was in Vancouver that I got a record deal. So somebody was shopping. Somebody, yes, yes, they were shopping. Well, I think I'm just recording stuff. I think I'm just recording. I didn't think about a record deal. What song is it on your demo? Is it the way along walk, getting in the way? Oh, my. I'm slowly, surely, slowly, surely was fun. I didn't know the microphone was here. And I was like, I should, in my head, I was like, I should sound like I'm walking away. Walking away would be a good thing. So I started backing up out of the studio and I open the door. You could hear the door opening in the recording. And you, I'm backing out. And I'm going, slow. I'm going to slow. Tip to the way, surely. And then I closed the door and it was done. Yeah. I didn't know. I don't know. I'd like, now it's wild to me. How much I didn't know and how wonderful it was to find out stuff. Just learn as I go, try and see. And you never know what'll work or what won't work. Anything. I'm very grateful that I had to touch a jazz because they were very supportive. They were like brothers to me. I was in a safe environment. They took care of me. We shared cheese steaks. You know what I'm saying? Because we had to, because we had to, being in that kind of space was so many. Dip Carvin Hagen's love you forever. That's my cousin. He's my actual biological cousin we found out. Carvin Hagen's is, he produced a lot of music, Soul Child. Right. Okay. Of course you know. Because this is really big. Be up. Now just kind of said it. Maybe go. Yeah. Yeah. That was a great environment. I suggest that to you. So have you already written? You got me before this? Yes. Yes. I was at a poetry reading. I think this might have been all happening at the same time. You just don't know what, you know, what's happening? Like you don't know. No way to know all the pieces that are moving in your favor. You have no idea. Matt Apolter reading, there's Quest Love. He says, hey, you write songs. I say, yes. I hadn't written songs yet. He said, I need you to write a hook. Can you write a hook? I was like, yes. And I went where he told me to go, which happened to be with the guy from Apolter readings. Scott storage. Scott, Scott, what up? He said, you want to, you know, let's let's burn one and let's write something. I said, okay. He played one melody. I sang one thing and then we went out to dinner. And you forgot about it? Yeah. Scott gave it to the roots. The roots loved it. Yeah. Erica sang it. Ended up. Went in a Grammy. Just trying stuff. Try to stuff. Try to stuff. Try to stuff. Try to stuff. Give it a shot. See what happens. This path is amazing. I know. It's amazing. I know. It's amazing. But the one thing that I've noticed is that you were prepared for every opportunity that came your way. And I? But even if you weren't, you were willing to go after it. And to learn. Yeah. Yeah, you were prepared. You were, you were because because because not in terms of you understanding technical structure. Right. And how things are supposed to go. But to me, ultimately, what worked is how things were supposed to go for you. Yep. You stumbled on or you created something that felt good to you during that process. And like the results of that 25, 26 years later. It's still good. Oh, it's so good. Still good. Still feels good. I'm still getting jobs and you know, I'm still meeting amazing people. They're like, you want to write something with me? Yes. Yes, I do. It's still taking up four years for you to come sit out with us. So yeah, it's still good. You still working. You're still working. We was looking for you when we first started. We've been trying to get past the year. We tried to figure it out. What about next month? No, right. I don't believe that. I don't believe that. I think I would have been told. They said we we were already. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, we had to reach a certain level. But we have now. So we had now. Let me ask you a question. And like you're like the space that you live in. And like, yes. You know, okay, yes, I can. Yep. Now I got it. I think you live in this really cool. You know, you know what you are, right? But you're not, you're not boastful. You're not, you're not any of those things to where you would project yourself to be more than or all you know, or or better than you do. You never do that, right? I would. But it's foolish. But at what point do you, because when you drop this album, with all these mobsters on it, on the demo, on the, from the demo, do you, do you get to at some point look at yourself in the mirror and say, I am a superstar. Oh, never. No, I have no, no, I've been waiting for this time my whole life, my whole life. I have been waiting to be this age. I've been, I've been waiting to be this full. You could take that literally figuratively, whatever way you want to. I've been waiting for this. Because I watched my, my, my aunt and my mother, I watched these women bloom into something else in front of my eyes. So I've been waiting to, for this, this, ooh, I've been waiting for this. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know when, I do know that I have an album coming. Yes. Come on. Shout out to new album. Yes. Shout out to new album. Yes. I say what I said, I meant what I meant. Yeah. And I'm, I'm really proud of that. I'm really proud of that. But I've been waiting for this. This is, this is, this is the age I've been waiting for. I don't know what it is about this, but I'm very excited to be here. I'm very happy that I'm still able, able, yeah, yeah, very happy to be here. And, and that's what it is. I'm not ready for that. I'm not ready for that. I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. This is the whole honest. Because to God, truth, truth, life. Skane girls in North Philly had to fight for their lives. I never understood what was happening around me. My grandmother is so brown that her nickname was blue. I could not figure out for the life of me why light skin and long hair equated beautiful. I could not get it. It didn't make sense to me. And then I, I felt like I could be possibly light skin with long hair. Can't do anything about it. My hair, my cousin's a hairdresser. She does my hair. She keeps looking nice. You know, my mother goes to the good thrift stores. You know, she gets me loafers with dimes in it. You know, like, I can't stop this part, this part. But what I will not do is I will not be conceited. I will not. It's not going to happen ever, ever, ever. I made, I won't say I made a deal because that's not my place. But we had a conversation, me and the good Lord. We talked about humility and remaining even killed. And I was 12. That was, I remember very well. And the, what the price for becoming egotistical, I don't anticipate it. So I will remain myself. And I will not, I'm not going to be with what they want me to be all the time. Maybe sometimes. But whatever that like, superior, whatever that is, I know I cannot. I don't want to pay that price. And that's what it is. Period. Well, it aren't be money. We're allowed to let you know. You got to say yourself. We're going to say it. We allow to let you know. Oh boy. Yeah. You're an absolute. You are to be celebrated. You are a yes, you are forced to be reckoned with in these universe of all times. I've seen you live. Yeah. You can't. I've been at this. Come on. Oh boy. I think you've been at that. No, I just yes and no. Yes. But I'll say no because. But I must say yes to be able to command that. Hmm. Because I've seen so many people. Yeah. Isn't that super dome? Hmm. That super dome will swallow your ass up. Period. You think you ready? Yeah. Go back to that. What they call the super loud. Go back to the super loud. Take your ass back to the super loud. Or some off site. Yeah. Take your ass back to the convention center. Come on now. You wore the house of blues. Kind of super dome with this echo. What? And these people that's walking back to go get to what they call the boot and in the back. They're going to eat. They're going. But when Jill Scott gets on that man, please. Everyone is doing this man, please. They run into they say. Oh, bodies moving to go. Yeah. They feeling good. Yeah. Yeah. And it's and that's why I say. For me, seeing you in that type of space, I just respected in a different light because I've seen when artists go from different, you know, different venues and how they already know what you're going to do at the blue note. I know what you're going to do at some roads. You know, I'm saying you that room is going to be incredible. But 60, 70,000 people acting like they're in the summer. There's that part. You turn you turn the super dome person next to them. That is literally from across the country. Yeah. Yeah. That's different. That is good. It's different. I like that. That's great. I thank you. It's great. I seen my own eyes. Then I know you didn't do the microphone stuff. And you know, going on the internet. Yeah. I got a, yeah, viral lots of conversations. Lots of conversations about that one. So can I ask since we're there? Yes. Was that premeditated for you? Like, okay, I'm going to add this to my show. No. No. No. It kind of happened one night. I was talking about conflict resolution. Like conflict resolution. Going through. Sometimes, you know, it's a resolution. Sometimes. And that's what we were talking about. And it was so funny. And it worked so well that I added it to the show. And I must have been doing that skit maybe off and on for about five years before it went viral. So my audience, God bless you. Love you. They kept it amongst us for five years. They kept it together. It was a secret. It was a secret. Funnily. It was a secret. You know, key key between us. And then somebody was there. And they didn't, they didn't know what was happening. And they were like, what? And then they went viral. And I was like, damn, you're not going to understand out of context. But what I do during my show, I grew up watching like Bet Middler and Carol Burnett and Woopy Goldberg. And in the middle of the show, you know, I was just stopping out. Maybe I'll do a monologue or a joke or like, I used to have this thing called ball fresh, you know, for, for for men whose balls think. That's why I thought and yeah. And I would every time I would, I would do a commercial for ball fresh. And every time I would do commercial. Yes, it was a commercial in the middle of the show. And then I had a can. It had a BF on it and all kinds of flowers and stuff. And then I'd be like, if your balls stink terribly, why don't you try being, you know, got to cue my triangle, being ball fresh. And you know, then I would get the musicians. I'd be like, hey, so tell me about your story. And they would go in the character and tell me, you know, my wife had it to smell of my balls. She said, it smelled like garbage truck juice. And now have you tried ball fresh? Yeah. So we had a bunch of things. And that one just happened to go crazy. And here's the thing. I grew up listening to Millie Jackson. Yep. Me and my mom in the basement with some man of shavards listening to the point that sisters in Millie Jackson, what are you talking about? Millie. All the way live. I loved it. I loved it. Like I said, I come from Amazon women. They're not shy about any parts of themselves and are beloved for it. I watch my aunts. I watch my mom. I watch men fall at their feet. Anything you want, Annie. Anything. Yeah. You're okay. What you need? It was wonderful. Yeah. Fascinating. Sometimes they'd be a size eight or a 10. Sometimes they'd be a size 20. They didn't seem to make a difference. They still had the same effect on the men they had that effect on. Yeah. And I watch that. And I have no reason to not be all of myself. They're like, oh, she put it down her throat. No, I just made you think I did. I just made you think I did. The illusion. I'm an actor. That's what I do. You are. I made it look good. Real good. I mean, you're an actor. For sure. Not just an actor, but yeah. Yes. I mean, I've learned I've had a great experience acting from, you know, like I said, building the sets and hanging the lights and so on the costumes and running lines with great actors. Really amazing actors that have gone on to do TV shows and Broadway please and like I see them. What do you consider yourself first? A writer. A writer. So that's the first thing. I don't know. All things someone asked you, just got what are you? A writer. Yep. Because we had that conversation with with Tidal Design about what we the occupation. And what do you write down? What do you write down as your occupation? What do he say? He's crazy. He writes now a boxer. He writes down a boxer. Oh, he's a boxer first. No, he's a fucking ral. Like, because to me, like I was saying on that episode that I just didn't consider what we do to be work. Like this is something I just love. So far. All forms of entertainment is just what I love to do. So I don't really know what to put. I've never known what to put on there. So a writer. What do you put? I think I just put entertainer. I also be trying to hold my shit too, though. So it's like like label owner. That sounds cool. Yeah, that's it. That sounds good. Doctor. I do have a doctor when I grow up. You know, label owner label owner. Oh, snap. When did I meet you, J. Irving? At the five spot. And one of those jam sessions. And when did I meet you, Sean G? What? I'm in high school. Yeah. We go back. We went on a prom together. Well, we had different dates, but we weren't prom. That's yeah, I was in the same limo. Yep. That is great. I think that's great. J Irving and Sean G. It's a little blessed existence. I tell you. Now, yeah, what I would say, and I've said this to a lot of people and you know, I made this agree because you're all from there, but in the business, Philly stick together. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I got. For the most part. I would say yeah. Yeah, I got y'all know who everybody is. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I know each other. Yeah. But I'm saying that it's a lot of you guys and girls who do business together. Uh-huh. You know what I mean? Where it's just like, oh, no, I'm gonna do that deal with J. Irving, do that deal with Sean. All right. Are you meeting somebody from Philly? And they're like, oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's the boy. Sean G gave my. That's the boy. That's the boy. You know, I was actually the way I met Sean Stockman from Voice to Man is I pulled up on Dramby now. Huh? Years ago Uncle Mark. Uncle Mark. Uncle Mark told me come to the studio. I fly to Philly and I end up meeting Sean Stockman. Oh, my God. It's true. I love you. My whole life. This is 20 plus years ago. Sean would not remember me. My girlfriend knew of somebody and we ended up going to Mike's house. Okay. And Mike had a dog. I wasn't as close to say names. Oh, um, we got. We get there. We get there. We get there. Mike had a dog and the dog. I'm sorry. It was horrendous. Okay. Somebody had mixed like a terrier and a hot like a bull. No, it was like a pit bull and a hot dog together. So it was big up top and it had these little tiny legs and it scared me. Oh, the, oh, you know, what is that? What is that? And Mike got so mad that he picked me up and put me out his house. No way. In the cold. Oh, yeah. She got to go. I had to talk to my dog about his dog. I got to go about his dog and had to get put and put me out. My coat was inside everything. They were all there. They wouldn't remember that. But I do. That's such a great story. Years later, I bought Mike's house from. I'm buying this. Nobody kicking me out of it. And I'm buying every kick me out of this. Yeah. Yeah. Years later, I bought the house for me. He sold it. The dogs. No. But you could have bought any house. Yeah, you could have. No, I like that house. I bet you did. I got some shit that I still got to go back and get. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't think about it that way. But I said, go. Yeah. Babyface bought the solar building. Showed it. Like this is how this is what music can do for you. Yeah. I got to be side of you one day and then I can buy the building. Get out. Get out. We should never. Would carry me out. I'm coming back to the bottom. I didn't. I was doing that next time. I was supposed to be like that. But it just worked out like that. It just worked out like that. You said acting. Yes. I had no idea that you were that kind of an actor. Cool kind of an actor. That's being an actor. Yes. Thank you. In actor. Thank you. You know, that nigga just came our brow. I know. I saw him. Because I saw his ass. He is great. Because everybody gives. They give the singers and then the people who come from other spaces. They give us, you know, they doubt us. You doubt our ability too. But I mean, but you started off your start your starting was different because you you started from that Broadway place. So I'm sure you were you may may have been viewed differently. But you had had so much music success. Do you feel like there was still some some the doubt in terms of your ability to to act? I had to audition for everything primarily. Especially in the beginning. I audition for Tyler Perry for what did I get married? I had to. Yeah. I audition for the number one ladies detective agency six times. Yeah. Some about that six. No. Some about this. A nigga in the head with the champagne bottle during the audition. I did that. I wish that I had to come later. No, I had to learn that on the spot. I had to learn that. No, I got a I got a filly. You kind of already knew what you're doing. I'm filling you got that in. But I saw it. I was like, oh, yeah, she was. Yeah, she went up to him. That was fun. But I needed to make sure because like you don't know, but Richard T Jones is literally one of the sweetest, craziest, fun people that I know. Like his his his his pure. Yeah, it's pure. Yeah. So I didn't want to hurt him. I was like, you have to prove to me that I'm not about to hurt him because I didn't want to hold back either. I wanted to hit him hard. Yeah, he deserved it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I want to hit him hard. Yeah. I'm usually rooting for the man in most movies. Yeah. I want to root for him. That's how good he is. Yeah, yeah, I want I want to root for him. That's how good he is. He probably should have hit that. She probably should kick him once he was down. That's how good he is. That scene. And then the bathroom scene. Yeah. When you told her, I thought when I saw you again, I might whoop your ass. But I read the pray for you. I was like, oh, this is I was like, oh, this is real. You know what? God bless everybody. I love you all. I really need you to understand it. I'm not Sheila. I'm not something. I got some she-loaded. Maybe I can relate to Sheila. I'm supposed to relate to her. I'm standing in the way. Got some she-loaded. Like that. You know, you're not playing around. No, Sheila, Sheila definitely let her man walk all over her. Yes. Yes. She did for a long time. I don't do that. I don't believe in it. It doesn't feel good. I got to go. Yeah. It's just it's simple for me. It's got to stay good. Yeah. And I work for it. I work for the good. But after I've after I've worked in his nut, there's no more than I can release it. Because it can't be my life. That can't be it. Nah. I got to actually buy another another in a not an in a loop, but the beginning of a song. You say that you went and got the cologne for the new man at the old man used to wear. Yeah. I didn't like that. Talk sick. I like it. She said talk sick. Talk sick. Talk sick. But I did like I you said this everything fair by because it stuck on that new nigga. Yes. It stuck on it. It did not smell right. Oh, he'll it was a metaphor. No, I wait. Not for me because I was like, you know what? I'm known for my smell. And this is why I don't be telling them the cologne out where right here because she going to try to put this on this new nigga. You can't put my cologne on a new nigga. It's going to stink. It I'm glad it worked. It was a metaphor. It literally was a metaphor. What's the metaphor for that you can try to put the the old thing on the new thing? It's not going to work. It's not going to work. It's got to begin a new thing with the new thing. I think that's why people love your music so much. Because it's so relatable. It's it's extremely relatable. I mean, even you go back to a long walk. To me, that is the greatest date song of ever. All time to me. Thank you. That because it simplifies. So dope. It simplifies life. But then it's but then it's all and it's something that that I paid attention to as I actually got an older and I realized that the verses that you were talking about are from the Bible and from the Quran. And I think that went over a lot of people's heads for many many many years. You know, and I was like, oh, she really wants to sit and learn with you. And that is something different than can you take me to Roof Chris or fly me to the Bahamas to be whatever I'm going to be for this week. They turn nice. It's a debt. Let's go on a long walk. We should be exchanging some real information. Jesus Christ. I know. You spark a friendship. Yeah. I've failed enough in love to know that you really must get your friendship came strong. Yeah. You really got that. You got the other stuff gets in the way when your friendship is there. You don't want to hurt your friend. You hate to hurt your friend. This friend. Yeah. Yeah. My best friend. Yes. I don't want to do that. It changes things. It's important. So a long walk really is a it's a how to to have a date. Yeah. And if someone doesn't appreciate the things that you're doing, it's time to go on another date with somebody else. Everything is not about money. Money is really great. I enjoy it. I try to spend it wisely. I try to use it rather than it use me. You know, but some things are just free. Like putting your feet in some grass. I don't think you're eating grass. What? Isn't it great? I love eating grass. So good. Yeah. That's what it is. It's what it is. It's what it is. It's what it is. It's what it is. Yeah. It's what it is. It's what it is. It's what it is. Can I ask you because you know, I'm from I'm from the DMV. Raves raised. When you went go go. I used to be in the go go band. What? Yeah. It's to play keys on the go go band and sing. Oh, that's so cool. When you went go go. I don't think you understand. Like for me, kid from the DMV. I went from a fan to a stand. Nice. Because that right there, nobody had went there. And that was like, that was the real deal. I tried. Oh, man. I tried. I didn't have any like go go percussionist. I found an African percussionist. And it kind of it made sense. It just made it kind of it worked. It felt like it was an homage, not really like trying to grab it. But DC loved it. The DMV was like, girl, we love you. That's when I got over there. I know. I wish I could have seen before that in DC. I didn't know what supposed to go on for like 10 minutes. No, no, no, you can do that for four, 15. You get if you want to. Yeah. Yeah. That was great. I hot 20. That was great. It's love had been like four different things. And then I was just, but I love the lyrics. Love the lyrics. I love how it felt. But it just didn't land on anything yet. And I was like, well, let's try go go. But had you had you been to a go go once. It's different. It's wonderful. Yeah. You come out with your hair. Sweat it out. I know. You're close stuck to you. Yeah. You you definitely thought I was from out there without different big take a weekend. I'm like, man, I ain't leaving. Man, what a what a go go. What a go go. What a go go. He want to go though. That's a mumbo. You look like a DC. Like I'm. Yeah. I'm a bear. A rapper. You're a rapper. Hell. Now you go to college. It looks like. I'm in the finish. I don't know. Yeah. No joke. We don't enjoy gangs in college. You were in the gang. You're born in the gang. My family is one. Yeah. We feel about the shit. So yeah, we don't we don't go to college to join gangs. Well, look at you. Look at me. I don't well for myself. I'll sleep it up. Amen. Amen. That's right. Amen. I like that appreciate that. Yeah. I mean, I'm trying to live my life like it's golden. That's what it means. Just in case anybody's got questions, living your life like it's golden literally means following your path. Yeah. Like, you know, Dorothy, the Wiz, they followed the yellow brick road. It's the same thing. Like your spirit will tell you this is good. This is the way to go. Go that way. Even if it doesn't work out the way you thought it would. Even if follow the road, follow the path, it'll take you somewhere else and somewhere else. And then maybe a year, maybe nine years later, you'll understand why you went that path. I didn't love working 16 hours or 14 hours a day at that theater company for $250, living in my mother's basement. I didn't love that. I wanted to move out. I wanted to get a car. I wanted to buy clothes. I wanted to do stuff. But in hindsight, I see the value of why I was there and even why I stayed and on so much. I can communicate with people in the theater environment. And on stage, you know, I can say, I need you to change this like to this, this and that, that, this and touch this and, you know, add, add pieces and move all kinds of things around the stage because it feels good and it looks good and it makes my audience interested. And you add it to your toolbox. Yeah. And I'm wrong with a good toolbox. It's so much power for the course. Like when you just look back on it and you can extract it, you can actually pinpoint the things. As you say, tools that you grabbed from each of those moments that at the time felt hard or, or, or sometimes could have felt counterproductive or felt like they were taking you somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, felt like they were taking you somewhere. You didn't want to go when you wanted to go here, but you needed everything that was on this street before you could make that right, then a right, then another right and get back to the street that you wanted to get on. Yep. And that's everything I'm hearing in your journey. That's what it is. Not skipping any steps. Right. I don't think I did. I mean, I don't know. There's so much more to learn. You you you you you you coded wood with polyurethane. Yeah. It's insane. At the studio. You know, to to be there. Just to to be like when it comes to music, I'll do anything. Not anything. I'll sing this. I'm just within reason. I'll sing backgrounds. I'll play the keyboard. If you need me to learn instrument, I can play trumpet, flute. I'll play the drums as I am right now. Let's see. Are you I'm not too big to stand behind somebody's microphone. You I don't have to sing lead. But for this, I don't it's a it's a priceless venture for me. I'm willing to coat. I'm willing to get some polyurethane and stay in the studios. If that means I get to be here every other day and learn this thing and be part of this thing. And that's that's that's really selling out to the gift. That's what you had you gotta be there. I'm still surprised that you didn't know you could sing like that. I'm still shocked. Yeah, that that is very shocking. That is shocking. I don't want to talk about that anymore. You know, I don't I don't I don't really don't feel like people understand where I'm coming from. I get where you're coming from. Okay, you do? I 100% thank you. 100% get it. Thank you. As I just say, thank you. Because when you say when you say it's mine, I understand what you mean by that. And so, you know, I it's it's like this thing is so precious to you. And when you start exposing this thing to the world, lending it to people who aren't going to be careful, who aren't going to respect, who aren't going to love your thing the way you love it and you need it to be loved. I understand exactly what terrifying every time. Yeah, absolutely. Every time. Absolutely. So I respect. But there's this thing. It still feels so good. You gotta, you know, just keep going for it. Gotta get it out. Gotta go. Gotta get on the road. Gotta be amongst my bandmates. Gotta, you know, hang out with my drivers. Gotta kick it with the caterers. Gotta. Because that's another thing. Oh my God. Guys, every single person is important. Talk about it. Important. If lighting doesn't show up, your show's in a dark. Talk about it. If the background, one of your background vocalists doesn't show up, you've got to make room for that note and understand how things change once that note is missing. We all got to work together differently because we're covering spaces. If your drummer doesn't show up for show, what you doing? We're going to clap from the clap all night. Stop. Everybody has a part to play in it. And it's very important. It's funny. How you treat them? Yeah. I was randomly on live the other day and one of our drivers from tour are just our drivers period that always rogues with us. Cory. He jumped in the live. And just he just says I'm and he just I lit up. I lit up. Because I'm like, I love Cory. Yeah. And I literally put my life in his hands when we're on the road. This man is getting us from point eight to point B. And I never want people to overlook that. Just like you said, like everybody is important. Decaydors. Security. Oh man. Big shot. That's you know me like so for us, you know, that is I'm glad you said that. I'm really glad that you said that. I realized where I am. You know, with the R&B, you know, kings of the world here. And I just want to make sure that we talk about this business. Yes. And what it takes. Yes, it takes a lot of diligence and and not giving up on yourself and rehearsal rehearsal rehearsal rehearsal rehearsal so you can forget rehearsal so you could forget. You learn everything and then you forget it and you live it every night. Live a difference. Different city. Different energy. Live it different every night. That's what it takes. I just wanted you know to to know that. And then of course, living within your means it matters that you don't get, you know, a deal of some sort or some kind of contracting and you just go spend all your money. This is entertainment. It's it's it's feast or famine. And when it's famine, Jesus Christ is little embarrassing. You know, you want to talk about that? You want to talk about that? Oh, Jesus. You didn't watch your episodes and you happen to get a vibe there. I've been in some famines. And look at you. Oh, look at me now. I remember being in a stolen rental car, you used the money from Nash trade to put me gas tank coins. So little rental. Living in Rancho Pucamaga. With dirty drain. Well, we're calling dirty drain filly. Andre has. Yeah. We went to all of us went to great adventures and we stopped in McDonald's and we got a small fries because in the back of each bag, we had each one had a hat of a bag. I'll take seven small fries with seven bags, please. There was a coupon on the back of each bag for for great adventures. So that's how we ended up going to great adventures. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Drey had in his car. It was a hole. And I had to sit in front. It was a hole. So I had to keep my feet on both sides of the hole. But I could see the bro's. You body rubble that. Well, I can see the road the whole time. So I could never fall asleep. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Because if I'm saying what more than a towel. Oh, no. More than a towel. Yeah. Did you ever, okay, when you dig it, you're deal. Yeah. You got you a little bit extra coin. I got a little bit of money. Did you buy anything, though? I paid off my student loan. Look at you being responsible. Yeah. I did. Because I know people that's like 80. They're still ain't paid off things today. Like me. I hated how they kept calling my grandma. Where's Jill? Where's Jill? Without my mom's. Stop her. She had your student loans. Yeah. Yeah. You better than me. Yeah. I did. Thank you. Still got too long. No, I ain't. I ain't had no loans. But yeah, I had some stuff that was outstanding. But they weren't getting that money. Oh, I had to get to the strip club. They needed to see me. And I needed some rams. Look at it. You understand what I'm saying? You said, piece that pattern. I'm not giving it within you. Listen. Do you see? I did a couple things. You see Jill, you see how she's smiling? You see that? That's the, that's the, that's the, that's the responsible elegance. You see me? It's not. It's not responsible elegance. Nope. No, I'm all trial and error. That's life. I'm a bunch of fucking it up. Yeah. That's life. That's me. Hey, kids. Follow Jesus. Follow Jesus. Follow that. That's hilarious. Let me see. What's going on? Oh. Sister Jill, Scott. Now use the sister because you're from failure. You know, I got sister Jill, we come to a very special part of the show where people want to know what they want to know, Jam. They want to know some of the people and music that has inspired you to be who you are. How'd you get a stamp with your face on it? They want to know. I'm feeling a Broadway. Don't forget Canada. In Canada. Yeah. The people who did it. You're top five. Your top five. Yeah. You're top five. Your top five. I'm in B-Singers. What I'm doing. We got to know before you get on here on the show before we let alone. We are top five. Yes. I'm. Top five. I'm. d d That is beautiful man. Your choices are crazy. That's only wonderful. They talk shit about you all over the internet. They talk it, they say, they say, you know that damn? That matters. That damn thing. He could sing a song and that is no lie, no lie. My goodness. I received this. Your top five R&B singers. Well, I thought about this a lot. I'm not that's a lot. You wrote like with a pen? This is what do. Okay. It's different. Okay. No order, right? Nope. Frankie Beverly. Come on. Don't know a man. I was supposed to have his baby. He didn't know that, but that was in my mind as a young person. We are one. We should have been one. DeAngelo. Yes. Absolutely. That voice, those choices, that sincerity, that soul. It's just question. As we say, Neo Soul, because it becomes a giant. Is he the king of Neo Soul? I don't think there's a king. Is there? Okay. I don't know. I don't know. They are kings to me. Look at you. Look at you. When I heard DeAngelo, life changing. Absolutely. Life changing. Yep. Okay. I just, you know, you, you, you know, you, you, you rule, you move worlds. So I just want to know how you felt about that. Yeah. Kings, yeah. I don't know. I don't even know if you want to be that. Like I think I've seen interviews when he talked about Neo Soul and was like, that's not really where he wanted to necessarily be. You know, so I mean, maybe to the world. Yeah, maybe, yeah. That makes sense. He's changed things. Yes, he did. He changed things and opened a door for another kind of music that had been shut for a long time. It wasn't mainstream. Nobody was doing soulful music like that. Like, it stopped. It got real hip hop beat. If that's a phrase, yeah. Hip hop beat. I didn't say hop. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I guess so. I guess he would be the king. He should open a door and ushered so many through. It was like as a church kid and musician and singer and songwriter, it was like, that's what I want to be right there. That's what I want to be. We want to be free and musical and creative and and ground it like that. Life changing, still nothing like it to this day. Nothing. Nope. Even from the beginning, when you listen to his first album, like, nobody's done anything like, it's not close. Nope. Yeah, good time, huh? Yes, ma'am. Prince. Hmm. Nobody sings like that to me. The list, as far as R&B, he could do so many kinds of music, obviously, and he could play so many instruments, but nothing compares to you. That level of guts put into it. International lover. What is that? Nice. He was like, I'm going to pour sex into a song and I'm going to stir it gently. And he did. Here you go. Ah, wonderful. I listen to under the cherry moon for four years straight. Mm-hmm. I don't know. It's the only time I listen to one thing for that long, four years straight. I love, love, love, love that album. I know every nuance of it. I think it's a perfect work. Love that album. Al Green, which I listen to all morning. You're a list. I know what you're doing. Yeah. Yeah. You got to say a thing for me. I love a good singer. I really do. And so many different kinds of great vocalists, but I need you. You got to say something to me. I say something. Please say something to me. Oh, and how you put a phrase, how you, ah, please, please, please, it's the writer and me. The writer requires to be titillated. And the last one, SWV. Yep. They're on my wall. They're on my wall. That cassette cassette. Yeah. That cassette, I listen to it faithfully and every day for, I don't know, a couple of years at least. And even now, when I listen to it now, I'm like, damn, that's good. It feels so great. Yeah. That's my favorite. That's my favorite. They're so good. And they're still working. They're still working. They're still working. That counts. I love them, ladies. Yeah. That's, that's my five. You got it. You got my emotional five. R&B artists today. Give me some money else tomorrow. Okay. Yeah. Because there's so much good stuff. Yeah. Very grateful for that. Yeah. R&B, top five R&B songs. Fire and desire. Mm. Teen and Marie Rick James. Rick wanted a cold. Very good. Very, very good. You know how to tap into something that's both past or in Pimp at the same time. Those dangerous. Lovely. James. Heavy. Heavy. As both of those two things are. And Tina and her Pimp. Come on. Very dangerous. Very dangerous. Use your powers for good. Teen and Marie. Oh. Oh. One of the best moments of like top five moments of my life. I was rolling around in a cabriolet in Paris. And it was midnight. Fire and desire came on. And when Tina Marie did her first big note, that first thing she said, the Eiffel Tower lit up. And I was like, doesn't my life. What? I can. I can. I can. I can. Is she saying it? I see it. It was wonderful. Oh, that's. I need that. This is my life. This is my life. Rain, SWV. Why not? So well written. So well executed. All of it is well. Perfect. All of it as well. A door. Yep. It's listed. Jesus Christ. This was incredible. You like it? Well, yeah. Well, listen to it. That's a whole revolution. Love me in a special way. Right. To say that? What more can I say? Oh, yeah. What more can I say? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I say. That's right. Love me now. Love me now. That's how you do a damn thing. Is it the way? Just. Yeah. Yeah. You're damn right. I think it's very well executed. I appreciate how the words worked. You did good. I think so. You did good. I think so. That's so. You can't, like, you can't not, you know, you've probably got double negatives. But you can't not smile. You have to smile. I think it's because it's the woke. Mm. I think the world gets something to do. I'm not sure. I'm kind of breakfast guy. Singing it for a long time. Yeah. Yeah. That's what she did. She got up, she made the breakfast. Yeah. Yeah. Simple. She's a grandmother. Man, what? And Gritz. And the way you sang Gritz. That's why you said that though you said it was. The world made it. That song felt like a live recording. Hmm. Dre and V Dow. It felt like you were. It, it, one of your poetry houses. Hmm. And you were saying. I mean, I got, I got something special I wanted to feel. And you sang that. That's what it feels like. Oh, that's nice. And that's missing. Hmm. Oh. Hmm. It is. I think you should write for other artists too. I would love to. I think you should. Absolutely. Because they. Some more Jill's cast songs on more artists too. Because it wouldn't just come with the song. It would come with. It would come with. A healing. It would come with teaching. It would come with information. It would come with. Oh my gosh. You know, it would come with this level of. You know what I mean? Like they would learn. So like. Yeah. I would want to know what was going on in their lives. I would want to know what they wanted to talk about. I would want to know what affected them deeply. I would. I would probably want to have meals. And. Yeah. You know, I want to know. So that I could write something. Because. Whatever I write, you're going to be singing this for the rest of your life. Five. Yep. For that. Yeah. Like is it the way it's like. You know, 26 years later. Oh my god. And people are still karaoke in that love of you better. You better. They better sing the song. You're my sisters, my. Yeah. They better sing it. And me. And me. I got a couple of notes behind it. Go go. Yeah. I know it's a girl song. I'm singing. It's all right. Yes. I love. I love hearing what people are doing with it. It's good. I just recently, like. I added or took. I don't know which one it is, but I changed it a little. I think that when the words are good, it doesn't matter what you do. With the music that you can change the music because the words are solid. And you create another feeling out of some feeling. Which is fun. I think it's a lot of fun. Some people that are extor soul. You know, like sing it the way I, but I am, but I am. I'm not. You know, I might not, I might not be for everybody, but who I'm for, I'm really, really, really for. How's that? Yes. Good. It's good. All right. Let's make a bold try. Let's make your super R&B artists. Okay. I did that too. I love that you wrote. Like this writing is great. So who you get the vocal from. Performance style. Styling. The passion of the artist. And who's going to write for this artist? Yeah. I'm going to say that one. All right. Here we go. I didn't get the, I don't think I did the style. Yeah. I made that up for you. So I wrote the vocal. No, no, let's start. No, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm going to lead you to that. Okay. Okay. So the vocal, where are you going to get the one vocal from for this artist? This is, this is not what I said. I said feel like a wreath. Okay. How to like shocker. Okay. No, what else you want? I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. I want you. run like Jasmine. Oh, Christ. You said a voltage. Jesus Christ. It's not this, this is not the way Voltron go. You are doing something new and unique, like you always do keep going. Okay. Right, like smoky. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they got to be at a hip thrust at 85 like them too, no, I don't think he moved his hip. I think he was just stuck in his back. No, no, he's not. I just went to go see his show. He was like, I will not let you do this. He's been doing yoga for 50 years. He was like this. Taxi. Hey, he's back. He hate knowing it wasn't his hip. He blew eyes. He was, yeah, I'm upset about that. It was his back. Go ahead. He's still here. He's still doing it. Right, like smoke. He's the right like smoky physical fluidity like Chris Brown. Musicianship of Stevie Wonder. Yes. And presence like James Brown. Yeah, you cook. That's what they say. Let her cook. Let her cook. And then the far as the aesthetic, I don't know. I don't know what all that means. I don't know what all that means. Was that was that supposed to look like I didn't know biggie was going to look like biggie. I didn't know Craig Mack was going to look like Craig Mack. I didn't know that Prince was going to look like Prince. You know, it's just you got to mix all that stuff together and whatever that makes, I would just want it to be authentic to all of those things. That's it. Just sincere. Whatever that looks like sincere. That's what it looks like. Yeah, with all of those skills and abilities. Yeah, so we got a new way to do a vote. Not sure if you can now this is that a fair about it. Tampa with her style. Jill. Jill. Don't try to be chill. Come on. Yeah, you're not like Jill. You're not like Jill. Here we go. You got to do. So we're here. We've gotten here to a very, very important part of the show. Where you tell us a story. Funny or fucked up. Mark funny and fucked up. The only rule to the game. You can't say no. You're right. You're right. One. Whoa. I didn't write it. I didn't write it. I didn't write it. Yeah, that one. Yeah, you can do it. You can do it. Um, what was that one? I'm gonna say that one. Can't say that one. I don't know if I should say that one. I like that. Whatever that one is. Ooh, that's not what I'm saying. It's a lot of them. Yeah. I'll say your name. Ooh, I'm nervous. Don't say any names. Don't say a name. Don't say a name. Okay. It's not funny if I don't say the name. Okay. So maybe characteristics. Oh, that's too much. It's too. It's like obvious. Okay. Who these people are? Don't say names. I am literally stuck on a story to tell. What story should I tell? You got to tell that story that's the one that you that's in your mind right now. That's the one. I'm telling you it's the one. I don't know if it's okay. So I'm on a at a award show. This is a one that pops up. I'm at an award show. I'm on the red carpet. And I see one of my heroes. And I run over to her. Oh, shit. This is the moment. And I say too fast. Oh my god. I love you so much. I listen to you all the time. You you you inspire me so much. You are a beast. And and and those kind of just looked at me. And I was like, oh, okay. I might have I might have did too much. You know, okay. All right. It's not personal. Walk away, Jill. You know, because there's that one that talks. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, it works for me. Yeah. Walk away, Jill. I said, okay. I walked away. But I said what I want to say. And I feel good about saying what I said. So I'm further along. And the person, the younger person, I guess this is maybe her assistant runs over to me with her face all scorched up. I said, what's wrong with you? She said, you really offended her. I said, I did. She was like, yes, you did. I can't believe you would do something like that. And I was like, I don't I'm so sorry. What did I do? She's like, you need to go talk to her right now. So I all of this. So I go and I'm like, you know, waiting because people are surrounding this wonderful, wonderful artist. And I say, hey, what did I say? She said, you called me obese. Oh, what the hell I look like calling somebody obese. Mad, human eyes burning. One to fight. One to fight me. Like, who do you think you are to call me out of my name? Who are you to tell me I'm obese? And I'm like, I said, hey, obese. Hey, you had a YM moment because she didn't understand the YM language. You was kicking taking someone else. I don't even fit with the context of everything you were saying. No, at all. At all. That's what you heard, what you wanted. But I promise, I really, if I don't have some nice angle, say shit, I'm gonna keep my mouth closed. So the job, did you all make up? Would you? Would you? Can I tell you your name? No, I can't tell you name. Damn it. I hate this part. Did we make up? Yeah. I mean, ish. Ish. Ish. She still held on to that obese. She tried to hide it when she came back. Yeah, anything. Cause who calls anybody a beast? That's probably worse. Oh, beast. I would never. Does that sound like me? No, no, no, at all. At all. I'm a go out of my way. Take out you. Yeah. But, well, that's the business sometimes. Gilly from Philly. You are, you are magnificent. You are awesome. You are, you are beautiful. You are a superstar. You are multifaceted, multi talented, multi cool. And we are better because you are here. And we can't wait to experience more of you. There are more things to come. We can't give titles and dates, but things are happening in the works. More acting. Yes. In the works. And I give in titles and dates, what you need to do is stay up and stay close to the woman. Follow her. So you'll know what's going on. We have been honored. Yeah. This was great. Honored to have you. Thank you so much for having me. No, thank you for listening. And thank you for supporting R&B music. Yes, ma'am. Because you know what I did? I played more R&B since I realized, you know, I was coming here. And I went down this long rabbit hole of why you began to sing in the first place. For what was the purpose? All that good writing, all that quality, sincere. I know I used that word a lot, but it matters. It matters. The depth of those vocals, the love that was just poured all over in the musicianship. Thank you for keeping R&B alive so we got something for you too. Cause we heard you know the stories told us you like so. We just go in the bank. I'm keeping the bank. That's how I like it in the bank. you. You giving them back. You giving them back. Slip. Slip. Slip. Oh, you're doing it. That's right. Yeah. Here you go. Nice. No taste. No taste for you. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tank. I'm Jay Valentine. And this is the Army Money Podcast, the authority on all things. All things. Army B. Jelly for a fill. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Scott. Joe Scott. Thank you. Thank you so much. We are. This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.