SPEAKER_03 0:44

Uh this is a song I learned in camp with Jewish white kids. It is called Scrotum, just a little bag of skin.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

And it goes like this Anna one, Anna Two, I want, two, three, a scrotum, scrotum, just a little bag of skin. Scrotum, scrotum, just to keep the chest easy. Wrinkly, crinkly, covered with hair. What would we do if they weren't there? It's just a scrotum. A scrotum. Just a little bag of skin. We really mean it. Just a little bag of skin. Go tell your daddy. Just a little bag of skin.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Okay, welcome to the Idols podcast. That is the perfect way to do it. Now, as you were saying, you were you were not on Idol, but you were on the voice. And I didn't know that. I I remember when you told me, you was like, yeah, I was on the voice. I was like, what? Because I had known you through postmodern jukebox. That's fair. Yes. So what made you want to do the voice? And were you singing before that?

SPEAKER_03 1:47

Oh, okay. In all fairness, I never wanted to do the voice. No T, no shade to the voice. I never was like, ooh, I want to go do one of these shows. I was in a musical uh that was uh produced by some friends of mine, and they're actually redoing it. It's a group called uh Cinevita, and this musical was based on Tarantino films. So they would basically make a cabaret show using scenes from the Tarantino films, and then they use the scores of the films to make a kind of like a Broadway book, right?

SPEAKER_06 2:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:21

So they're actually doing uh the John Hughes version, so it's like all like a nod to the 80s, like Rat Pack, like Brat Pack, that kind of thing. Breakfast Club, Pretty and Pink. Oh, cool. And they're doing that currently now. So shout out to Shane and all the people at Cinevita. And if you ever want to see anything like that, go to I think it's Cinevita.com. And nice. That's just me being nice because it's on the record or something, yeah. Okay, yeah, that was for the record, and now they call it Cinevita because they have a new space.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Oh, okay. Nice.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

And they're very nice people. But um, so I was doing that musical, and it was at a space called DBA that is now Delilah's.

SPEAKER_06 2:57

Whoa. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

So we opened that space, a DBA, with this Tarantino musical, and uh Michelle McNulty casting came and asked the producers if me and I want to say about seven other people from the cast would come and audition for the voice. So at the time I was backup singing for an artist named Leona Lewis, and she won X Factor, and she's really, really cool. Whoa. Um, and I was backup singing for her. So they uh the producers called me and said, We got a call from McNulty casting and they'd really like you to come audition for The Voice. And I was like, uh. And uh what ended up happening was I they gave me the audition, and I was out with Leona Lewis on the time the day I was supposed to audition, and our flight was severely delayed. So I called them and I was like, I'm so sorry, you know, before my audition, because I was trying to be professional, and I was like, I'm so sorry, I'm not gonna make this time. And they was like, is there any way you can get here by like 7 p.m.? And I was like, okay. So because they were so you know accommodating, I was like, okay, well, let me pony up. Like, that's nice of them, and I don't want to embarrass this production company or you know, right. Because that was a factor, I'll be honest. Um, anyway, long story short, they had me in this audition for a very long time, and I didn't know what any of this meant. And I was told that uh if you are accepted into this next round, then in a couple of months you'll go and audition for I guess an executive production round. But I never did that. So about two days later, I was called and they would told me I had um auditioned for season eight, but they wanted to fast track me to be in season seven, but that meant that I had to be ready to go in five days. So I had everybody else had months to prepare for this, and I had five days. I sold my car, I remember like taking out job because I had to take off work, you know? Right. And you're sequestered for however many times, whatever, and then I was kicked off the very next episode, but I had given away all of my work, so there was a really like hard six months after that because I didn't it it's kind of not the same when you're already a working professional, and I was, um, but then you know, you couldn't say you were on the voice. So there was that period of after when I was kicked off, you know, then being on the voice, then being in a forward shared turn, but you have to act like you're still on the show. So I'm sitting here like so poor, and having to and knowing I've been kicked off already and having to give interviews like, yeah, Pharrell is great, the voice. Like, I don't know anything about Pharrell. He said like maybe two sentences to me. I'm sure he was very nice, but I don't know anything about him. Well my you know, and it was kind of weird to pretend like, yay, this person mentored me. This person said two sentences to me. And you know, I felt like I was kind of put up as like the Goliath to this child, and I was never gonna be the person who was like, I'm the better singer than you. He was 18.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Oh, was that the the battle the battle rounds? Yeah, whatever. Yeah, when you did uh if I ain't got you, okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

And it was just I it also was kind of in a weird way kind of set up for him to go well because he Alicia Keys is his favorite singer. They changed the song midway from what we so I had like spent this time learning all this other song, and luckily I knew if I ain't got you, because I've done cover bands my entire life. But it just was a very odd experience. I can't say it was good or bad. I a lot of good things came from it, a lot of hard things came from it. So to me, it's just a nice chapter in my life, and um I do my best to look at it for the positives, and I think the main positive is that it allowed me to connect with other people beyond me. It allowed me to connect in other entities like postmodern jukebox and scary pockets and other ways that people have been allowed to get to know me. So I'll always be grateful for the experience, even though I'll be honest, it took me a while to learn how to be grateful for it.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Yeah, for sure. And then you got the scary pockets thing. Yeah, it's uh if if you treat it like a platform, it's like, hey, this is the next thing, it's something to put on the resume, it's gonna help you out. And I think that you used that, you took advantage of that.

SPEAKER_03 7:07

I did my best, but one thing when people have asked me years later, what uh should I go on the voice? Should I go on one of these shows? My answer is always yes, and and I'm always gonna say that. First of all, read that contract very, very gangsterly. Just scan it in AI and have them give you the best points of view. That's one. Two, know that if you have songs, right, you can't put them out in a medium for a certain amount of time or the show owns them, and that's a part of the contract, right? But what you can do is have those songs in the wings, and the minute your contract is up, then you can release those songs because you could have recorded them pre-the show. It's only after the release date in production that you can do it. So I think if I had known those things then, I would have had an easier time taking advantage of it. But it's something that I'll tell people now. You also have to be cognizant of the fact that this is a television show, that's their main reason for existing. They don't really care about you, they're not required to care about you. You are a character and a character arc in their show, and they are going to treat you accordingly. So it's your job to treat yourself like an individual because you are that. Nobody can rewrite you or define you. That's your job.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Right, right. That's beautiful. And that's that's the one thing I feel like a lot of people on my season and other seasons of American Idol did not listen to the producers. The producers always said, guys, this isn't a singing competition, this is a TV show, we're casting. And I was like, if as long as you go by those rules and you think about that, you're gonna make it a little bit farther and you're going to have a better time.

SPEAKER_03 8:37

So And that's a thing. I I never one thing I will say is I never got the opportunity to go a little bit farther. But I was a favorite. So if it had gone by the audience and them voting, I would have gone farther. Yeah, well. So some of these decisions and that's another thing you have to be cool with. Some of these things are done for the drama of it. Because again, you are a character arc in the story, and you kind of can't take that personally, and that's hard to say when it feels so personal.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Right, and you're not you're not writing the story, they're writing the story, and you don't know how they've cast you. Right.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

Because the one at at first it seemed like they cast me as like the backup singer that finally got to break through, because that's another thing. I want you to look at those shows and see their typical narratives. There is always the person who was a professional backup singer that now is getting their shine on every single one of them shows. Every single one of those shows. But I want you to notice something. Past Javier, they never let one of those people win. So if you are a backup singer and you're don't expect to win. Try to make the top five, try to make the top ten if they allow it, and realize it's an if they allow thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Wow, okay, dang. That's that's good advice to to give to people and just yeah, try to enjoy it. I think it's great that you had that moment and and uh, you know, like I I had a couple moments, and you had that moment where all four of them turned around. So I hope that that that validated you as a singer, even though you're doing things before that.

SPEAKER_03 10:09

You know, I think the thing is you have to take all of that with a grain of salt. It was validating at at the time, but when you see the makeup of how they do that, I also felt a lot of that was engineered. I was given a very favorable song by a man, so it wouldn't it wouldn't look typical that I would sing that. I also did that very strategically when I did my auditions. I think one of the reasons why I got eliminated so early is because I really saw four four steps ahead. And I tried to tell other singers, for example, there was a section where they give you a list of songs to pick from, right? I told everybody who was around me at my table, I remember we were having lunch that day, and I said, Cool, don't pick an artist that you already sang. So if you know, if there's another like if there was a Sam Smith song, I wouldn't have picked a second Sam Smith song on any of the choices. And they were like, But you get five choices. I said, I don't care. They're gonna give you that second song, and then they're gonna eliminate you and say, I wish you had given us more variety. Everyone who picked a song no didn't listen to me, that exact thing happened to them. Damn. Wow. I knew that the next song I picked had to be by a woman, so I picked all women's songs. And then when it got to the knockout round, I picked all over the place, and when I had a preference, I put Daughters by um John Mayer. Nice and I knew the character arc I was gonna have for that. I already could see how to write my how to make my story work with how they would arc me. Never got that far. But because I think I got eliminated because I could already see, right? I also saw that they were putting people who were pros and who were vets against children. That ha swear, and they would always take the child. And I would tell people this. I was like, yo, if you get up, if you're with somebody who's you're twice their age, they're gonna take the kid. So hope that the person saves you. Oh, gosh.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

And there was a save of that season, too. Okay. But it again, you didn't need that. You had the platform, and you didn't even need to.

SPEAKER_03 12:11

Again, it's just one of those things where if you're gonna try for any of those shows, look at the show, see the strategy, and see what's up, is my basic advice to you. Because then you'll at least know how to fit yourself into that narrative. And remember, there is always a narrative.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Yes, yeah, it's always a story being told. Yes. But you were doing things I want to know. I saw you were like singing with Michael Booblay and Fantasia and all these amazing.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

You don't remember that? Oh, yeah, I totally do. Um, I I sang with Fantasia. I was working uh for Ricky Minor. Ricky Minor gave me a few jobs when I first started out. Was this before The Voice? Oh, way before. Wow, and uh yeah, so one of the first times I ever did the Tonight Show was with Fantasia right after she won American Idol. She couldn't have been nicer. She was so charismatic. And so then later to see her get all of that glory in the color purple, I was just so happy because she was one of those people. I just you automatically root for her, and she's just so joyous, and I love the way she sings. And she just, I mean, I I could I heard why she had like she had had some vocal issues, but I could I can tell why because she doesn't know how to not give 110% every time she sings, and there's just something so joyous about that to me. She couldn't have been more lovely, and I remember when she got nominated for everything with the color purple, I, you know, found like some old clip and I like you know put it out or something, and I was like, congratulations to our queen. It's so glad I'm so glad to see you finally get your glory. And she retweeted it. And so she's a good, you know, not that that makes her a good person, but it's just one of those things where the things that I, especially as I grow older, stick to are those little details, those small, you know? Yeah. My uncle was a costume designer, and he said um the he hated the expression uh the devil is in the details, because he said that's where God is. And I really believe that.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Wow, that's beautiful. And he he did some big He did. He did some big things.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

He who who Well, you know, the new Michael movie is coming out, and my uncle was Michael's costume designer for about 34 years. So I'm very interested to see how the movie interprets my uncle's work. Wow. And it was very personal. The glove um was actually an accident, um, and it wasn't meant to be something that became as iconic as it was. Wow. And so sometimes I think about that because in my own career, some of the biggest moments I had were just kind of little flukes, little things that weren't supposed to stick, but they did. And it's one of those things that your career is a lot of planning, but a lot of it is serendipity.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Yes, yeah, you it's just it's almost like a lottery. Yes, yeah. I I I mean, for for American Idol, they said they they you know, they give you the list of all the things you could do for Hollywood week. I was like, that's too new. I don't know that song. I just and I was like, that's a Ray Charles song. I guess I'll play that one, and then it's George on My Mind. And then for some reason, I keep competing, but for some reason everyone asks me to do George on My Mind, even though I made it farther. They're like, no, go back to when you were on Hollywood week.

SPEAKER_03 15:18

Well, I get it because I just I remember seeing you, and you were such a young little but the thing that I I know what got you by is that you have the ability to be so earnest in your delivery, and that's your selling point. It's what really makes you stand out as a star. I appreciate that. What does earnest mean exactly? It just means you're sincere. Oh, thank you. And your delivery is it's not, and this is the key to me, what makes you a professional. Your sincerity can take on any character. So it's not like you're being casey every time. You really rise to the character of the song, but you're very sincere in your presentation, and it feels genuine. And I think that's what your audience connects with, if I can be so bold.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Be bold, yeah, for sure. No, I appreciate that. I've been watching videos of you. You're you're always killing it. And I saw you live at the Troubadour with uh the family company. Oh, yeah, with the family company. Yeah, and and I don't I don't know exactly what happened, but I I know that Jennifer Hudson made an appearance and you got to sing with her. I wasn't sure if maybe you were supposed to sing those songs.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Well, okay, here's what happened: they had me learn the songs just in case. Oh, okay. But Charles Um Jones, who is so fabulous, and please look him up, is I think it's I am Charles Jones. I think that's his IG. Yeah. But just one of the best singers, keyboard players, writers, arrangers, like he does all the things. He's just phenomenal. And he uh has played with Jennifer Hudson for a long time, and he plays on her TV show, right? So you can catch him on the Jay HUD show. He always looks adorable. Um anyway, so he called in a favor and said, you know, I'm pretty sure. So we didn't know up until like almost two hours before the show that she was gonna make it, and then when she was, he was like, Can you sing that high soprano over? And I was like, Okay, cool. So we just kind of rehearsed, and um, what we did was he played the keys and we left it open, and I just did the soprano over it, and then we sent that to her. Okay. But I don't even know if she listened to it because obviously she knows. I mean, she pretty much is Aretha Franklin Incarnate reincarnate, so it is what it is. Okay, yes. Let's keep it a buck. Um, but she was very, it was very sweet because I don't think that she knew the soprano-y part was gonna come because the other background singers just learn, you know, the pads. So when I came in with the soprano part, she looked behind me and she went, and it was very sweet. She was really cool. She was another one who went out of her way to just be very gracious, very kind, uh, gave an incredible show, and really was I mean, it was a wonderful night. There were so many great artists, but she really made it something to remember and made it something really, really special. So and I could tell the other part that made me really, really happy is okay, in our careers, you know, we've been stars, we've we've also been side men, you know. When you've been a side man, you don't know if the celebrity you worked for is gonna show up, you know, and or be reliable. It's just really honest. So when they come through, and not only are they reliable, but they're gracious, they're kind, they're on time, they are considerate, and they want to give the best show like that. And I knew she did that because she loves Charles, and that made me love it even more. And I just saw the the look on his face. He could tell, I mean, he loves playing with her. They have some, they just have a magical connection, and there's something about that when you find the instrumentalist that just gets you and they get each other, you know. And she's also a badass piano player. I don't know that a lot of people know that. Yeah, I didn't know. She's she can really play. She's really talented. I'm gonna have to look that up. I don't think that she showed, you know, every once in a while, like if you go on her like Instagram or something like that, you'll see her playing. But she's a church girl and she can really play. Damn. Really play. She's so talented. She can that she's that's why she's our egot. I mean, she's really talented. Yeah, she's talking about it. And I think that she by design undersells some of her talents, which I think as black girls, we sometimes have to do. The world don't get to see that we're good at so many things because it's uh it's kind of assumed that we're so good at so many things. Black girls just be surviving out here. So it's it's you know, when you hear look, think about it. Think about all the black girls you know, even in entertainment, they can also do hair, they can do costume, makeup, carpentry. Like, think about it and and they got that way not because they wanted to, they got that way because they were like, Well, ain't nobody else, I'm gonna figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

You know what I mean? Wow, okay. So you have to you have to fight a little bit harder. Yeah. It makes you do it makes you a stronger person.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

But it also just makes you a more capable person. Right. But we also live in a society where you can't lead with your capability. The the reward for competency is more work to do. Oh no, yeah. It is, think about it.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Right. Think about it. Wow, yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_03 20:25

The more competent you appear to be, the more they're like, oh, so we can give her three jobs. No. No, no, please. You figured out chords on piano for this one song, then they're like, Great, can you do these five? And you're like, No.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:38

So I could for these extra monies that she will have to be paying me because it's extra work.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

See, I'll take some extra monies.

SPEAKER_03 20:45

The monies, the monies, the monies. Yes, I absolutely that's my new thing. Like when people are like, Can you do I absolutely can for extra dollars? That will be this amount. Nice, yes. You gotta stand strong with that. Well, it's also knowing your worth. And I think we're in an age where knowing your worth, especially as a performer, is getting harder and harder. So you really need to be in line with who you want to be. Not just how you want to be perceived, but who you actually want to be. There's a I don't know if you're familiar with the comedian Kat Williams. Yeah, I love him. So there's a special where he says, You gotta get in line with your star player. And I never forgot that. And you do, you gotta get in line with your star player. What does that mean exactly? The star you want to be. Oh. The person you the star is you. You gotta get in line with your star player. Right. Not put that person aside, really swear allegiance to that person. Not who somebody else wants to design you to be or how anybody might perceive you to be. Who are you on the inside in your wildest dreams? Who's that person? Right. You have to align yourself with that person.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

That's beautiful. Yeah, exactly. Because you're you're you're gonna be your own your own worst critic, but your own cheerleader. You have to do it.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

Sometimes but you also have to find a way to be your best cheerleader.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

You yes, you have to be your own worst critic. That's the way you're gonna grow, but you'll never grow beyond your criticism if you've never championed yourself. Right, yes. And you have to champion yourself.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

And part of that means knowing I bring this to the table. So if you want me to bring extra, no problem. I got you. That will be this much more.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Beautiful. Beautiful, yeah. Uh have you talked to Macy Gray recently? Have you I have. Yes. And how is she? How was that experience being with her?

SPEAKER_03 22:33

Uh, you know, it was very lovely in certain aspects. So I'm gonna go with that and go with the lovely aspect parts of it. Um, we did a show. Uh, my really wonderful friend, Honey Laura Shell. Oh, yes, uh, did a debut show of her own material at Spogatinis, and she had Macy be the guest. And Macy showed up, she came to rehearsal, she was on time, she was gracious, she was lovely, and that was a really, really lovely experience. And I'm glad that I got to have that experience with her.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Shout out to you, by the way, because I said, Maya, Miss Sykes, will you please come to my house at one? And she's like, I'll be there at 1245. I was expecting 1247. She got here, you texted me at 1238. You're like, I think I'm here, so shout out to you for being professional. I think you're the earliest guest, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

But I do my best, but I also recognize, especially when you're an independent artist, it's funny in my younger years, right? The independent artist thing, I'd always be like 15 minutes late because everybody else was 15 minutes late. And I'd always be like on time for the pro thing that was like gonna pay my rent. And I was like, well, I need to flip that. I need to be professional at anything, everything. And I need to show up even more on time for the independent artists because they have even less resources. Right. Beautiful. And if I'm saying I want to be an independent artist, would I want somebody to come to my thing? So a lot of it is I'm treating people the way I not only want to be treated, but how I expect to be treated.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Yes. So do you think you got that from Yale? You went to Yale. I can't believe that. That's a smart thing. You got a nice brain on you, right? Apparently. Yeah. Yale is is it uh what are the Ivy League? Yes. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

Yale is one of the Ivies. Were you doing music there? I did music, political science, and African American studies. Beautiful. Was it opera music or was it? You have to take um Yale is persnickety. An undergraduate, you can only take music composition.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 24:37

And then you can do a concentration in your discipline. But if you're gonna do music as a major, it's only in composition. Then when you get to the graduate school level, you can major in voice if you want. Okay. Or oboe or whatever. Okay, did you play any other instruments? I play at the piano enough to get myself through, you know what I mean? Yeah. And uh enough to sight read things and make sure I can, you know. Sometimes I'll um have students who will have material that they need me to plunk out for them, you know, because they have some audition or something. So I'll just be like, okay, here's the melody, here are the basic chords, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

That's good. You're good at you're good at knowing the chords and all that stuff. Uh you rem you that reminds me of when you told me a little bit about Prince.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Yes. What happened there? Okay. The Prince story is a trilogy. Okay. If you will. And I will. Okay. So I worked at a club called the Sayers Club, and I think the Sayers Club still exists, but like for special occasions. Okay. But back in its heyday, it was like ye place. And it was in the heart of Hollywood. And it was kind of the place where, because of the way it was set up, it almost was set up like a living room. Because it had big couches around the stage, and it was very comfy and cozy. So it definitely had a home like you were almost in somebody's home. I think that was its appeal. And for that reason, every star would come by. But in its heyday, I was doing uh this they called it the sessions, and the general manager was a guy named Jason Scopa, who now runs the uh Electra Jane in uh Nashville. So cheers to him. Um anyway, anyway, where was I? So we're at Sayers and we would do these this show called The Sessions, and for the Sessions they would do a lot of classic rock things like this. Then on Friday, I was called that Urban Night, because that would be more you know hip hop, RB, whatever. So I would do mostly the Thursdays, and the it wouldn't even start until like 12:30, and you entered through there was a there used to be a hot dog stand called Gray's Papaya, so you'd enter through Gray's Papaya to get into Sayers. It was very speakeasy like this, yes? So you'd play and sometimes you'd turn around. Like I remember one time I was uh doing Sweet Child of Mine, and I was like, wow, the guitar player's killing a turn around and slash, like that kind of thing would happen, you know? Like I remember singing uh like a Florence in the Machine song uh with LP. We were like doing do a doing a duet, and Florence was in the audience, it's like she jumped up and we were like, Okay, can you sing the bridge to Yo song?

SPEAKER_06 27:10

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 27:11

And so like crazy things would happen like this all the time. And so this one time I was there and I saw I was like, I think that's Prince. And he's playing along, you know. And I just see him and I was like, wow, that's cool. So the next week I get told that they're gonna make a special show for Prince. So that meant that we were gonna do sessions, end it at like 1:30, and then turn the club over and do it again at three, right? So I'm like, okay, let me take a nap, right? So it's Christy. There's couches there. Okay. Oh my Lord. No, I took a nap before. I was like sleeping all the way up because I was like, my lord, today. Anyway. So we get we start playing, um, and they Prince, I guess, has a list of maybe 50 people that he wanted to invite to this special, like just for Prince, the sessions. So those people are there, and they tell us to get started. The way the sessions worked was there would usually be about four or five singers, and we'd each sing about two to three songs. And somehow I would always end up singing more. Me and Charles. Me and Charles, like we'd always end up singing like five to seven songs. We were like, How did we get here? Anyway. Um, so the night started. It was Stevie Brock. I remember he started singing, and they had another, I can't remember the other girl. Then they had Stevie Go again, then they had me. And then Prince came in right as I was singing. So then Jason said, Okay, you stay back up there. So I was like, Okay, so then I went to the second song, and then I went to my third song, and I was like, Okay, I only rehearsed like six songs, so what are we doing here? Um, so then Prince gets up and he had a manager named Julia, and he kind of like did this to her, and she gave him $20. And he gave the $20 to the keyboard player and to play his keyboard. And I was like, Oh, Prince is gonna play. And he goes like this to me. And so I get back to my mic and he starts playing. He's playing the intro to Rocksetti. Whoa. Like full on, right? And I'm like, is he I don't know who's singing, right? So then I missed the intro because I didn't know I was supposed to be the Aretha Franklin. So then he looks at me, kind of annoyed, and he does it again. He's like, like, like Rose's eye, whatever. And I'm like, okay. So then I realize, like, I'm supposed to be. So I'm like, that's what I feel now. Then when we get to the uh and he's like, he knows all the harmonies like, put the hands up in the killing it. We get to the bridge and he's like, and I'm like, stand at it, and he's above me, stand at it, like high harmony, everything, going, what it is, keyboard killing it. Does a solo killing it? I'm like, this is incredible, right? Then he snaps at Julia, she gives him another $20, tips the um guitar player to use his guitar, and he comes in front of me. There's another microphone, like a duetti mic, and I moved to go to the backup singer mic because I thought I was on the lead mic. And he goes, right? So he starts playing little red corvette, and again, I still don't know, like this show song, sir. So I didn't know I was supposed to sing lead. So he starts the intro, and then he's like, and he like starts it again. So then I'm like, okay, I guess I shouldn't know. And thank God he played a song I knew, like, because you know that would have been really embarrassing, whatever.

SPEAKER_06 30:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

So we do Little Red Corvette, and he's harmonizing with me, like on the top harmony on his own song. So this is like very weird, and like killing the guitar solo, don't know what's happening. And it's also like 4 45 in the morning, keep in mind. So then he gets to he starts playing the intro to nothing compares to you, right? And I turn to him and I go, Okay, brother, I got to be the Rosie Gaines. And he starts laughing. And he was like, Yes, you're the Rosie Gaines. So we duet on Nothing Compares to You. We start singing to the wee hours of the morning. Wow. We leave, it's like almost daybreak. By the time we leave, then we get a text going, follow these cars. And we ended up going to Paisley Park here, right? Wow. It was in Beverly Hills. So we go there, and you know that Charlie Murphy story where he tells about how Prince like played everybody in basketball and then made pancakes? Okay, he did that. So, and but we're like dead ass tired, but nobody's gonna be like, I'm not playing Prince basketball. So then he's like playing like all these very tired musicians, like in basketball, right? And I'm like, yay, Prince, because like I'm having I have on heels and I don't know how to play basketball, so that's not my testimony. Then he makes us like very delicious pancakes. I get home, by the time I get home, it's like 8:30 in the morning, and I'm like, this day was like bucket list, you are shorter, right? So that's part of list what? A bucket list, you are much shorter. Like if you had a bucket list of things, something you could do.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

You're saying he was short.

SPEAKER_03 31:40

No, I was just like, he is. It's adorable. Um, so I was just like, okay, chalk that up to like one of those nights, right? So cut to three weeks later, as I said, Prince would either come in with an entourage or he'd come in what I would call incognito. So this particular time, he came in incognito with little cape, right? And after the thing was over, after the sessions was over, he tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and I was like, oh, hello. And he didn't say hello, didn't say what up, didn't say anything. He goes, What's your favorite scale? Very prince-like, you know? And I was trying to sound cool. So I said, Lydian flat seven, and he went, huh? And I said, Well, you know, you got your sharp four, but that flat seven's a cool surprise. And he goes, and he walked away. And I was like, Wow, that was strange. Didn't think anything of it. Cut to like a month and a half later, I get a call from Jason Scopa, and he's like, Okay, Prince is doing three secret shows here at the Sayers Club, invite only, and he's requested that you be here on the second night. And I'm like, why? He goes, I don't freaking know, but can you come? So I'm like, all right, bet. So the night comes. I show up, you know, I got on my purple. They got a they got a girl in VIP. She's drinking voob, like looking very lovely. They come and they play this amazing set, super, like super incredible. And then they go off, everybody's, you know, cheering, whatever. They come back on and they're wearing all white, whole band. Like they come back on, they're wearing all white. And they play one song, and then it drops, like they drop off all the lights, and they just like somehow had candlelights that were up there. So they like everybody's in white, they've got all these candlelights, and then they hand print the purple rain guitar, right? And he starts launching in purple rain, like people are losing their minds, right? And he's good, purple rain, everybody's got lighters in the air, whoop whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. Then you part, you know the part was like then it gets to that part where it's like and then it launches into that epic guitar solo, right? So audiences singing along, he starts launching into the right, and it took me a minute to catch it, but he had reharmonized it so it was all Lydian flat seven skills. And when he saw that I got it, he took off his glasses and he winked at me.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

That's magic.

SPEAKER_03 34:01

And that was the purple one.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

That is awesome. Congratulations on that. Wow. That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

Because that was one of a kind. That was just like a one-of-a-kind thing. Like, nobody's gonna do that. Like, no, nobody does that.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

No, that's that's bucket that's a couple bucket list things to scratch off. Yeah, nice costing. Wow. Okay, well, congratulations on the prince thing. And uh, so you teach you teach uh you teach vocal things.

SPEAKER_03 34:29

I do. I teach vocal technique, and I am a heavy believer in vocal technique. So this is what vocal technique is to me. Vocal technique is the natural expansion of your everyone naturally has three octave range uh three octave range. Like that's what you just got. So vocal technique to me is expanding that in either direction, but making sure that you can last as yourself for longer periods of time and infusing technique into the songs that you sing so that you lasted longer as a better you. Right. Not, you know, I I'm not a person who's trying to make you sound like someone else or is gonna give you a specific style. My desire is how do we get you to sound like you for longer periods of time in the healthiest way? And how do we give you good um throat support? Right? A lot of people if you go to a singing teacher, they'll say, Don't sing with your throat. And I am here to tell you that's impossible. Everything that makes the the sounds is in your throat. What they mean is don't strain your throat, and that you can do with guided breath work, you can do that with strengthening uh your pharyngeal layer. Uh every singer should depress their larynx when they're done, and I'll show you the easiest way to do that. Um, everyone has an Adams apple, so if you put your fingers on your Adams apple, women's Adams apples are not as pronounced, but the easiest way to know that you've put your larynx down is slide down using a mmm. So we're gonna try that together.

SPEAKER_07 35:55

Mmm.

SPEAKER_03 35:57

You feel that shift down? Yeah. That's you naturally depressing your larynx. So at the end of every evening, or when you know you've had some vigorous singing going on, make sure that you depress your larynx.

SPEAKER_00 36:07

Mmm. Okay. I would like for you to coach me. I know No problem. I don't have I don't I don't have the monies, but just as a as a Well, I'm just gonna give you the homey favor. Yes, okay.

SPEAKER_05 36:19

I have a song that I want Oh baby, you amp me out in the chain of our destiny.

SPEAKER_03 36:26

Okay, so let's look at this, right? So I know people say use your diaphragm, and that's only one seventeenth of the equation. So what we're gonna call that instead is our abdominal core, okay? So now let's look at the vowels that you use and the consonants that you use. The consonant's job is to get you to the next vowel. Nobody sings tonight, they sing tonight, right? So you're going your springboard is your oh baby. So use that as a lift, and then what we're gonna do is we're gonna suck in our abdominal wall of the you and me. Let's try that. Okay, so breathe. Breathe. Breathe. See how you just did this with your shoulder? Relax them back. No, just relax them back. Now, open your mouth. Now begin. Oh baby you. Oh baby you. There you go. Oh baby you. Now, relax the throat. Let's make a yawn. Now, let's do it again. Oh baby you. See my my U's more open? Try that. Oh baby you. There you go. Okay. See how that's way easier to do? Yeah. Now see how we're pulling in the abdominal wall to get to that top note? That's where our torque comes from. So that's us hitting the gas.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 37:38

Right? So that's gonna allow no stress along the carotid artery. That's what we want here. Okay? Yawn again. Actually, yawn? Yes. See how that naturally opens up your throat? Yeah. Good. Now do it again. Oh baby you. Oh, baby you. Good. Oh baby you. There it is. Nice.

SPEAKER_00 37:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 37:59

Feel the difference?

SPEAKER_00 38:00

I feel it. Yes, I feel the difference.

SPEAKER_03 38:01

And see how with a more open throat and by utilizing this abdominal support, it's not taxing this portion, right? And I can see it different because when you were doing it before, because you're landing on the note in a tight way, it fatigues you. Right? So see what I mean here?

SPEAKER_06 38:20

Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:20

We're infusing technique, right? Into the phrase to get you to sound like your best to you for longer periods of time.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 38:29

Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 38:29

Yes, I get it. Nice. Thank you so much for that. Who is the nicest celebrity you've ever met? Maybe you've already said them.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

Oh you know, I I hmm. I'm gonna say I'm gonna say Michael Jackson. You met Michael Jackson? Well, my uncle was this costume designer for years. And when my uncle passed away, um, I was trying to navigate things the best that I could, but it was very overwhelming. And I was like 27 or 28 at the time, so I was pretty young. And I got a call, and you know how now it'll say like unrecognized number or whatever. This just said call, which I thought was very unusual. And I picked up and this lady said, Hello, I'm an operator, a telephone operator, please hold the line for Mr. Jackson. And I was like, get the hell off my phone. And I hung up. And I was driving, by the way, when this happened. So she called another time. She was like, Hello, we got disconnected. Hello, I'm an operator from some of the sudden, so telestar, sir. I don't remember, it was like some communications company. She was like, Please hold the line for Mr. Michael Jackson. And I was like, Lady, I have a lot to do. Please stop playing on my damn phone. So then she calls another five. She goes, ma'am, please don't hang up with me. I really do have Michael Jackson on the line for you. And I was like, oh crap. So I pulled over and she transfers the line. And Michael Jackson gets on the line. And he says, first of all, the opening sentence I'm gonna say, it still flirs me to this day. He goes, Hi, I'm Michael. I don't know if you remember me. What? Because as a kid, Michael used to play with me in my uncle's draft room. He used to, he was a jokester and like a prankster. So he would have like the, you know, um, that gum that turned your mouth black and whoopee cushions and the rings that would like buzz and stuff. And he would like, you know, we'd play hide and go seek under the draft table, he'd like throw grapes at me. He was so fun, you know? Wow. And that's why when the whole kid thing went down, I took that really personally because everybody who worked around Michael, there were a lot of people who had children, and nobody would have brought their children, you know, things about a person if you worked that intimately with them, and nobody would have brought their children around. And it was, and I always felt like it was a safe environment. I think what Michael might have had was arrested development, if anything, but I I never, you know, felt unsafe, you know. So that made me feel sad for you know when all that happened because I was like, oh, I really feel like he made an effort to make you feel, you know, not just like like you won the lottery, like you, you know, got to go to Disneyland, like you know what I mean? Yeah, and I'm absolutely, you know, and I remember him saying, I'm so sorry I'm not gonna be able to come to your uncle's memorial, but I just wanted to let you know how important he was, and he was a significant portion of my life, and he helped me really identify my own self-identity, you know, through what he did, and I'll never forget him, whatever. And I was like, wow, this is so lovely of you. And then on the day of the funeral, Michael sent this Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie. Lionel Ritchie was his best friend in high school, my uncle's best friend in high school, and introduced him to his first wife. But between the two of them, they sent these like six-foot towers of flowers. I ended up having to just put one on the coffin because look, we didn't have we had to dissect one of them to get it through the door, you know. And I just remember feeling like you didn't have to, you this is one of the biggest pops, biggest stars in the world. And you know, just because he was a human being, he wanted to take time to acknowledge my uncle, you know. And it was, you know, a thing I never forgot. And I remember when he passed, I was getting all these weird calls, like, can you authenticate gloves? Can you do that? I mean, the man hadn't even been in the like they hadn't even buried the man, and people were still like and it just made me so sad. And I just remember uh wishing I could do more for the family, like wishing I could be, you know, give them something. But I said the one thing I can give them is I don't have to pay attention to this buffoonery. So I just shut it all out. Nice and that I'm grateful for. That's beautiful, but I'm really grateful that the movie is coming out, but that the family had so much to do with the movie. I think that's really important. So I'm looking forward to seeing it. I know I'm gonna cry. Seeing my uncle's costume still makes me cry.

SPEAKER_06 42:51

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

We were very close, and I was very fortunate and blessed to have such a loving, close relationship with him. But you know, every e my uncle has a piece in every hard rock cafe in the world. Wow. And he has um a bunch of stuff at the Grammy Museum because he was Neil Diamond's costume designer for 39 years. Oh wow. Neil came to the memorial. He's that's actually if Michael Jackson's the nicest, Neil's the runner up because Neil was, especially as my uncle was dying, Neil Diamond went out of his way to provide for my family, to provide just a soft place to land. He uh sent platters of food to the hospital when he knew like my family was coming to say goodbye. Uh, he helped me financially. He was just an incredible archangel and everybody on that team and Neil Diamond, incredible, incredible people. And yeah, that's one of the nicest individuals I've ever met. And he's just so gracious and humble and has written so many incredible songs that I think are a part of the American fabric, you know, that are a part of if there's an American canon of music, Neil Diamond is. Definitely woven into that tapestry. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

So Yeah, exactly. That's beautiful. What's the nicest compliment that anyone's ever given you? This is your time to be.

SPEAKER_03 44:12

The nicest compliment that anyone ever gave me is um gonna sound weird. It was by a man named Ron Glass, uh, who played um in in the show Barney Miller. Okay. And uh he was the black guy. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

I'll I'll look him up.

SPEAKER_03 44:34

But um and it was a sad occasion. Uh uh some friends of mine, um, Art and Babe Evans, their son Sage died in a car accident, and they are Buddhists, practicing Buddhism. But they had me come and sing a song and uh after I was done, Ron, who I pretty sure was very sick and was in a wheelchair, said, I want you to sing that at my funeral. And oddly enough, that was the nicest compliment somebody gave me because it meant that they wanted me to sing. See you off. Yes.

SPEAKER_06 45:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:07

And there was something about that that really stuck with me, and I I didn't know any when he passed, I didn't know anybody to contact or whatever, but I just sang that same song and I dedicated him to it, I dedicated it to him, like to his spirit. I hope he felt that, but you know, just having somebody say, like, I want you to be the representation of me. But then later, when Art Evans passed, his widow said, I want you to be Art's voice, and had me sing um this specific song, um uh Here's to Life. Oh, that's awesome. And I it was a wonderful full circle moment because I think there's a high honor in canonizing someone's life in that way. And I guess that in its own way is the highest compliment. I it sounds a little macabre, I realize, but you have some good words.

SPEAKER_00 46:00

Uh what does macabre mean? Dark, like morbid. That's no, but that I'm that is I've never thought about that. I've I've sang at a couple funerals, uh, one being my grandmother's and it was Blackbird, and I and I I think about that, and I I don't even I didn't even realize until right now. I'm glad you said something, because that was nice to uh to to play at her funeral, and my dad was there, my mom, you know, so it's like there's something beautiful about that. And she was Jewish, and it's just music can can be completely, it doesn't have to have a religion, doesn't have to have anything, it can j you know, it can just be whatever, and it's just giving that vibration to people.

SPEAKER_03 46:36

And also she must have been so proud of you. One and to have her grandson sing about her life in such a meaningful way, A, you had to rise to that occasion. You know?

SPEAKER_06 46:51

Right.

SPEAKER_03 46:52

I can't I sang at my grandfather's funeral and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Yes. One of the hardest things I've ever done.

SPEAKER_00 46:58

You had to do it, and it was a good good send off.

SPEAKER_03 47:00

And I just but I also closed my eyes and I was like, Jesus, you got this, because that mm. You know, and that's one of those where you know sometimes spirit takes over. But I think that's why that's so important. I had a cousin, I had a cousin named Derek, and he had a beautiful voice and could play church organ like nobody's business. But his main job was singing at very cogic, that's Church of God in Christ, uh funeral. And he did it with the most up the utmost respect and dignity. And one thing that you'll see, it's very ritualistic. All funerals are very ritualistic in their own way. But in a lot of Kojic funerals, they have this thing called the crown presentation, and they sing this song called I Shall Wear a Crown, because this is from a scripture, like you know, when you get up to heaven, you know, you will wear the crown of glory. So the song is But I shall wear a crown. And I'm telling you, they're ushers, they have on gloves, they do a dance, and then the main usher takes the crown and puts it on the deceased.

unknown 48:00

Right?

SPEAKER_03 48:01

Wow, okay. It's like all kinds of pageantry. And uh, Derek took that so seriously. Like, I mean, because this is a very, especially in a lot of Baptists, a lot of Kojik churches, this is just one of those this is the moment, you know? Right. And you know, and in the Jewish religion, there's a specific moment at the end of, you know, right at the end of the funeral that's like the most sacred portion, you know. Every religion has some kind of, you know, every presentation has some kind of significance where this one moment is the right, and we're saying to our God, encompass our our dead, you know, lift them to the next realm. And however you're gonna say that. And there's something really sacred about that thread. So when my cousin passed and they took his so seriously, I mean, down to they got the right color roses he liked, the right colored crown. And I remember thinking he would be so proud to see this, and that is it. Your grandmother would have been so proud to see you. You know?

SPEAKER_00 49:07

Yeah, do the thing exactly.

SPEAKER_03 49:08

And she's here.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

She's here, yeah. Exactly. We're all of our loved ones are they're they're floating around us. That's a bad way of putting it. But they're but they're here.

SPEAKER_03 49:17

They're in uh I don't know, you say in Espiritu in Santo Santo. You speak Spanish? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:23

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 49:24

My grandmother was from uh Mexico in San Blas. My mom's my maternal grandmother. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

All right, nice. Well, your spirit, that's it. I appreciate you. That was really good. Good talking with you. Let's jam.

SPEAKER_02 49:34

Let's jam. All right. Let's jam tonight.

SPEAKER_00 49:38

Before we uh play, we were talking a little bit as you came in about the Marlies. So who's the coolest? You did you have any cool did you have any cool smoke sessions?

SPEAKER_03 49:49

I did. Okay. So um the Marlies are very purist, so they only smoke the true herb. That's what they told me, right? So at one point, like they had flown in and I think they were kind of waiting on their whatever, and I just happened to re-up that day. But I'm usually like a person who doesn't smoke, smoke a lot because I sing, you know. And when I do smoke, I usually I have this device that kind of makes it into a cold vapor that's like kind of nice on your throat. Um, because you know, hot is bad on your throat. It just is. It is what it is. Um, so do edibles, kids is the moral of the story, anyways. Um, so I just happened to have whatever, and so they were in the, we were in the courtyard, they were like, oh, because I they saw me with my vapor and I was like, would you like some? And they go, No, my sister, we only smoke the true herb. And I was like, one second. And I came back and I had my, you know, little, and they go, Oh, you bless us, you bless us, sister. And it was so sweet. And so every time I would see them, like if I performed or if I was just like around, what I would always kind of make sure to have my little like my green offering.

SPEAKER_00 50:51

The weed gods have been nice.

SPEAKER_03 50:55

That's how the weed gods bless you. Yeah, you have to share.

SPEAKER_00 50:57

Yes, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 50:59

But I feel like that's just in general, like God reflects what you put out. So if you are a person who shares, you will. It might not always feel that way, but you will be a person who's surrounded by reciprocity at some time. It might not be in the time you had hoped, but it's gonna come.

SPEAKER_00 51:16

It's gonna come, yeah, eventually. That's beautiful. Uh and um I remember I hung out with with one of the Marlies. Uh I I'm sure they wouldn't care, but I won't say who it, just in case. Uh, but they we I remember we were smoked back when I smoked. Uh they were we they I was like, hey, we want to do some puff puff past. They said we don't do that.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

They do not.

SPEAKER_00 51:36

Yeah. So what they just they just literally, here's a joint for you, here's a joint for you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:40

Yes, they are not a puff, puff past society. Yeah. And I kind of like that. Yeah. But also because some people, a lot of people, especially like from like the Jamaica side, do spliff. So they, you know, cut it with um tobacco. And that's pretty common. So sometimes they'll say, like, this is a pure herb, this is a spliff, you know? Right, okay. Excuse me while I like my spliff. Good Lord, I got to take it.

SPEAKER_00 52:02

Beautiful. All right, I just wanted to know that. That's that's amazing. Okay, cool. All right, let's jam. All right, let's see. Let's see. This is good, that's good.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

No, but I also think that this is part of the shared experience. Like, I'm learning from you, you learn from me. Ta-da.

SPEAKER_07 52:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:20

I haven't sung this song in a long time. You know, this is the song I did on the voice.

SPEAKER_00 52:25

Why do you think I chose it?

SPEAKER_02 52:29

Guess it's true. I'm all good. I don't want to night stand. I'm just a woman. But I don't want you to leave. We hold my staff away with me. Cause you are all the same love. Love collective darling. Could you stay staying? Why am I so emotional? No, it's not a good look, gain some self-control. I'm now just nervous. But don't then you can lie here with me till it doesn't hurt. Why don't you stay with me? Cause you're I'll ever need No, let's say love. That's clear to see No Wanna just stay with me. If you know, okay, say come on.

SPEAKER_00 54:38

Stay here with me Because you're all that you're all that you're there None that is so clean to see So don't just stay here Stay here Stay Watching us Stay with me Cushing Yes Don't Just Clear To see So Donna J stay here With me Stay Here Stay Web Just Stay Stay With Me Okay Can You Say Masterclass Oh Yes Thank You Alright We'll put your So One Mur Maya Sites, Ladies and Gentlemen Yes And give it Uh My Hero and All Great Things The Wonderful Casey on The Base Stay I love You I love You Much Love Yes We Are I We Are I We I