Questlove SupremeIn honor of Women's History Month, Questlove Supreme has gathered a series of clips reflecting achievements, experiences, and accomplishments by women. In Part 1 of this three-part series, listen back to excerpts from conversations with Rapsody, Sheila E., Faith Newman, and more—with some recent reflections from Questlove.
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.
Welcome Back to Quest Love Supremes March and as this tradition, we are celebrating Women's History Month with some special programming drawing from the archives.
This is part.
One, you know, kind of my positioning.
While I have a platform, be.
It music, movies, be it podcasting, you know, it was always important to make sure that we right the wrong and give some agency to people who otherwise won't ever have that platform. And this is the lesson that I learned from Richard Nichols back when we were developing the Black Lily Jam sessions and making show that there's a shout out to lay you that there's a balanced voice, and you know, especially in the early episodes, you can definitely hear fighting for her space to get her words at it. You know, as wise, which is necessary, you know, and as history has shown us, women have been leading the way and as a.
Result we should celebrate them.
You know, it's unfortunate that we're all relegated one month a year. It should be this way all year round. But definitely the history of a lot of our favorite artists, especially with the women that have come through QLs, is important to hear. It's important to know the history, and we will continue to elevate and escalate the stories.
As we celebrate Women's History Month.
One of the musicians who's done so much to elevate women in the last decade is Without a Doubt Rhapsody twenty nineteen album Eve was inspired by women black women, specifically, with each of the sixteen songs named after a figure of history, and in our QOLS conversation, rhaps City spoke about that album and even before, how the team at rock Nation, including a strong female staff.
Motivated her to partner there.
You should definitely check out the Eat Records Timeless album if you haven't.
Along with her new Grammy winning work or Please Don't Cry. All right, So, what was.
The process in the decision to roll with Rock Nation for yourself?
We knew that, you know, as an indie label, we can only do so much like budget and marketing wise, and really getting the exposure that I wanted. So, you know, when we took the meeting with Rock One, I'm a big j fan Offgate, but walking into the building and at the time, Shaka Pilgrim was president and you walk in and fifty percent of the staff of women and it's so so many different cultures and we came in with Lailor's wisdom probably eighty percent done. And they didn't ask us to change a single whow not one single thing. It was always all right, what do y'all want to do? What even envision? Like what are you thinking of the music? They never every eve they didn't ask to change or touch anything. And so to me, like the energy and just how much they love the culture. It didn't seem like I've been to death jam I think in Atlantic before, but this was this was different. This was all about culture and just music and they were really about growing with me. Like they wasn't pressure to have a radio single or it was just like, you know, we believe in you and your talent.
We just want to how can we help? That's what it was. So that's why.
And how did you feel the morning that the nominations came out?
Yoh, And I don't know.
What feeling for you. It's kind of first phone.
Call, yo, think was the first one that hit me because I was in LA This was like five in the morning, so he hit me.
He was like, yo, you're you nominated and you nominated?
Uh? It wasn't twice, Yeah, twice, So I was like, yo, what like yo to be nominated, but to even be nominated twice like that was crazy for me. It was just like people were calling me. I couldn't even answer the phone. I had to just sit back and reflect, like, Yo, we're here, Like this is a different bar to be recognized at the highest level of music when of award show and then not have no Billboard hits and no platinum records, and to be in a category with Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar at the same time, It's just like man as not have to change nothing, not even have to put it on the tight dress. I cried a little bit, you know, but yeah, I was thankful that I stayed the course of anything.
So I have to say that your your whole process of crafting the Eve album, it's just some amazing ass ship, you know, Like where did the idea even come from for crafting this album as an homage to the spirit of the black woman in America in the world and their effect like where's the Genesis and the seed born?
Last summer summer twenty eighteen, I was doing an interview for the Oxford and this guy named Lamar Wilson. He was writing a piece on the lineage of Carolina musicians, and so he was connecting me with Nina Simone and ROBERTA.
Flat So like I was just like, yo, I.
Didn't I never thought of me connecting with them in that way because we just seemed like to like I just look, I put them up here, like there's no way like reconnected. But the way he broke it down, like you're both soul for you know, you're both lyrical. You know you both reflect the times and talk about what's going on in the community, your storytellers. I was like, man, I never thought about it in that way, like I do come from their family tree. And it made me think, like, yo, when I do interviews and people say, who are you influenced by? Yeah, I say creen my teeth and MC like Lauren Hill. But I talk about Sicily Tyson, I talk about I talk about.
Nikki Giavanni, you know, Maya Angelo.
And I'm just like, man, when I think about who I am and who I'm inspired by. Of course, you have your village, your mom, but there are so many black women that I look up to. And two, it gave me away creatively to show that there are so many different sides of me too. You know, people like to say or kind of put me in a box sometimes based on the music that I make that you know I had. We were in a studio one time and the dude was like, Yo, we thought, like a party for y'all is just like burning incense and y'all listening to my dude and all this, And I'm just like, bro, like what are you talking about? Like I grew up on Luke, I listened to Go Go, growing up, like I'm from snow Hill, North Carolina, Like That's the Sticks, like Boon's Fall, Like we listened to everything. So there were so many sides of me. So it's like this is a way where I could take a different woman to not only describe like my different personalities, but also talk about them and continue their legacies and say that we all are we all come from a family tree. I think after I did that interview, like I went home and I'd always wanted to do a song about being a tomboy, especially in this day and age and what that looks like.
And I did it.
And because of the way I started the song when Aaliyah was alive and I was like, i'mnna just call it Aaliyah And as soon as I did that, it all just clicked came together. Yeah, the conversation, it's like, oh, I got this song, Alia, I could do this with this, with this Felicia Rashad taught me about motherly love.
Nikki Giovanni taught me the power words and blackness.
Like yeah, in the videos, which I also feel are crucial components to the vision of that, Like what were the concepts for the well, not the concepts, but you know as far as like I personally want you to make a video almost for every song.
I know too too.
I'm trying to make it happen right now. We just did a Feenie too long ago. Yeah, we did a Phenie. I still want to add to it. It ain't all the way right.
Wait, so so far you got a Phoenie. What videos do you have for which?
Yeah, oprahaj Phenie will be the third one. The next one I probably want to do Cleo, whoop be Alia, Serena. I want to do one for every song like I see it, So no problem putting this list together.
So the list putting.
Because you mentioned that you left earth Kit. Was it just for spacing on the.
Album or just say see the first draft we had twenty three songs. You know, we we knew like it's too long because people today can't digest music the way the same way like they they tap out it. At first, I was going to do a part one and a part two, so sonically, you know, we have this one and the part two is gonna be It was gonna be way more soul for and more boombap heavy. That was gonna be like for Lisha Rashad DJ Spenderella, she has a song.
Who we are going to get a sequel?
Harriet?
I was like, I got different ideas, there's more music coming.
I love you what it's so journal route and you said I'm not going to do to Harriet, So I was like maybe there's Yeah.
I was Harry, which one do I name it? But yeah, so but as there's I did like forty women.
As far as where you are right now, like what do you feel that your goals are, Like do you have do you have a five year plan as far as like this point from now, like developing other acts or like just make more music.
Or definitely make more music. I think it's the foundation of everything. But I want to expand artistically because you know the way I write, Like I want to get into not only writing songs that I want to write films. I want to get behind the camera and produce documentaries. I was in the in the rock office with TII to day. He was like, you need rites or beat pop records. It's like, you know, so you know, I definitely want to try it. Like I'm just like, let's try and see what happens. Just but just do a lot of more things artistically. I thought about starting a label. I don't know how I feel about that yet, but Mesa Hilton's son, Nico Brehm, he's an EMC, so I want to help. I'm helping it because you can produce his album. That'll be my first time like taking that role. Okay, but yeah, just like really expand on that, but always putting out music.
Giving back to what was given to you. Okay, I see that. That was Rhapsody who worked with Ji or Eve. Next up is Sophia Chained.
Sophia spent years managing the JIGSA and Sophia's a powerful woman in the industry, known her for years with her association with Wu Tang Klin and she speaks about that union and recalls an illustrating story of method man standing up for a woman towards somebody he seemingly came up with.
All right, here's Sophia.
I think that I have a unique lens into the wouniverse because of who I am, but also who they allowed me to be and how they let me come into their world, and I think that speaks volumes about them. I also managed, so I managed all three three letter members of Wu tang Od B, r z A and GZA. I managed Riza what I call his extracurricular activity. So I did not manage him as an MC, and I did not manage him as a producer, but I managed him as a composer and then his beginnings his transition into Hollywood. Yes, so his first his first kid composing was ghost Dog. That was not me, Uh, that was Nemo, who was very close. I believe he's Jim Jarmis his nephew, and Nemo brought Riza into UH to Jim, and then I kind of picked it up from there. So it was kill Bill and it was Blade and I believe it had soul plane. So we did that stuff together, and he had all already started writing and directing. But you know, the thing that I say about Rizza is he is truly living his childhood dream. So when I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be a fashion designer. I never thought that I'd be doing this and I love my life. But Rizza as a child, growing up one of I believe eleven children of a single mother, growing up in the projects of Staten Island in Brooklyn, he watched Kung Fu movies and he imagined and dreamt that he would one day direct. And now he's directing Kofu movies and he's writing them and he is starring in them. And I actually don't know anybody else who had this vision. And he is truly a visionary from when he was a child. So managing Rizza was a delight. Managing Jigsu was also incredible. I would say that Jizza was my favorite client because, and you know Jizz like I do. He's incredibly low key, and he's so gracious, and he is so magnanimous, and he doesn't want to be recognized, and he doesn't want to be famous. He doesn't want to be an of those things. And he is so kind and I really love managing him because he allowed me to transition him into lecturing, and not every client lets you do that, right, So somebody might say, I've thought about it, so, but I don't really want to do it because there's this thing I do and I'm so comfortable and I've been doing it for decades and I'm getting paid and I know how to do this, whereas lecturing is very very different. You're basically standing naked. There are no pyrotechnics, you don't have a hype man, there's no DJ, there's no lights, there's no sound. And your audience they're not drunk, they're not high, right, they're just all sitting there and they're looking at you, and you're standing at a podium and you are speaking. And literally the first place he lectured was Harvard. That's the Korean in me. And literally the first words out of his mouth were I'm so nervous, and that's Jesus what. Yeah, he said, yeah, and you know what, the same and you know what, I did the same thing with Joey and say he said the exact same thing.
What was the I'm just curious what was what was just his first lecture on.
So he spoke about his love of science. You know he he like is deeply intellectually curious. He spoke of his love of science. He spoke about his his inspiration and his creative process.
Can you can you talk about real quick? In the prologue, I had a moment I had a Mama where I was jealous of you in describing the relationship with Wu Tang because of a situation that happened with methad Man and the god Jamal. And I was jealous because as a woman who's been in the industry for years, we all know what it's like. You know, you're telling beautiful stories, but at some points, being that woman in the room can be adversarial. It can be dismissive, yes and question in that moment of no protection. Right, So I don't know if you want to reiterate that story, but sure also in a way, I also wanted you to tell the the opposite of that story when it wasn't that protection there with methad Man.
Right, I mean so when I when I was are doing a and R, I was insecure around it. Right, I'm thinking I'm a Korean Canadian French lip major and do I really deserve this job of being a gatekeeper and an arbiter of a culture? Again that is not mine? Right and so, but the way that hip hop embraced me was really fortifying and gave me a lot more confidence, but nothing more than when Wu Tank claimed me. So it was very very early on. I might have met Meth once before. I go to the studio to see them, and he says, Sophie, you got to see I just got my video in for method man. And so he takes me to the back lounge, whisks me past everybody, takes me to the back lounge and he sits me down and he plugs in the tape and he stands on the wall, doesn't sit with me, stands against the wall to watch me because he wants to see my response to the video, and sitting next to the television facing me. So this gentleman is not watching the screen. He's looking at me, as Meth is is this guy jamal So the video play is, and I'm super excited. I'm like, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, because I'm already in love with Meth. And so the video play and as soon as the video ends, he looks at me and he says, where are you from? Now, anybody, any person of color, will tell you that's a loaded question. If you ask a white person that they're going to be like, oh, I'm from Columbus right, or or you know my parents are whatever, But this is a loaded question. So I am a petite Asian woman in the inner inner sanctum of Wu Tang, of Wu Tang's world, and it is clear to him, and I could see the calculations. It is clear to him. I'm not sleeping with any.
Of those boys.
He also knows that I don't manage any of them at this point, I don't an r any of them. So who is this? And how did she get in? And again to this day, when I'm around Wu Tang, I am almost always the only woman in the room, and that's a very privileged place where I sit. So he keeps and so I feign innocence, and I say, well, what are you asking me? Where are you from?
Well?
I don't really know what that means. Where are you from? And then I broke and I said, okay, well, if you're asking where I was born, I was born in Vancouver, my parents are Korean. If you're asking where my parents are from, there from you know, Korea, if you're asking where I live. But before I could even finish answering this in this very methodical way, Meth just flew in between us. I don't know if you've ever met him in person. He is six four and he is notoriously the nicest with his hands of the Klan. Wow and yeah, no no, no, oh boy, no he can they can all throw the fuck down. Yeah, but Meth and Ghost forget about it. So he flies in between us and she just expands like the Hulk. And he was like, that's Sophie Chang and she's down with wou tag. She's some shallon motherfucker. Don't you ever who the fuck are you to ask her where she's from?
Don't you ever.
Disrespect her again? And I was like, oh my god, my god. Now nobody had ever defended me like this, and I was just it was just this extraordinary moment. But so the demonstration was amazing. But to deconstruct in what I think I want people to understand is he knew exactly what the fuck that guy was saying. Do you know what I'm saying? He totally understood that it was there was there was a racial subtext to it, and there was a gender subtext to it. Right, he didn't give a shit where I was from, because essentially he wasn't asking a question. He was saying, what the fuck are you? And what are what the fuck are you doing here? Because you don't belong here? I belong here, You don't belong here. And you know, again wanting to tell people about the humanity of Wu Tang. Now, Meth has known this guy for I'm sure a long ass time. This might be the second or third time he's met me. And his feeling was like, nah, Bie, we're not fucking doing that because she's ours. And what I say about Wu Tang is that, Look, I had several friendships in hip hop and enduring ones that I have to this day before Wu Tang. I was embraced and I was welcomed, but Wu Tang claimed me.
That's special.
So it's a thing that you're talking about to mere right, Like, So what I'm saying is that everybody knew that they were going to be huge, and there were hordes and hordes and hordes of people surrounding them, and for whatever reason.
They just went like this, you're coming with us.
We're keeping her right here. And I feel that way to this day that I will never ever leave that breast pocket.
Oh boy.
Okay, the Scieta Garrett episode from twenty seventeen.
That's one of my favorites. So we were wrapping the interview and.
Layah asked a question about a T shirt that showed how an amazing singer songwriter is making a way for women to learn computer coding skills.
Because aren't you involved this T shirt that you're wearing.
Yeah, black girls code?
Can you just talk about that?
Real, dude.
I was at a graduation for some some people that are are learning code and learning how to impact uh technology through art and music and business, and we wanted to this.
This movement is to teach.
Black girls that they can code their own computer games and they can program their own uh they can they can compute themselves, and they don't have to be young white boys to learn how to uh to to code and and create your own video games and and computer programs.
You could.
Black girls can do it.
And I think the movie Hidden No Hidden Fences, I'm just kidding. Hidden Figures did a lot to sort of show people that math is good for girls, and you know, black girls can compute some ship. So I'm just here to support that that every black child looks at a video game or looks at something on their program on their computer or an app or something and think I wanted to be able to think, Hey, I can improve that, or I can make a map for this, or I can do that. You I don't think they don't even teach that in school, so nobody really hasn't an idea that they can aspire to do something like that. So I'm here to be the liaison and just to be a vessel to promote that message. Black girls can do it, we can code, we can do some shit up in here.
So yes, a a.
Friend who has two daughters that are like their dream is to be video games.
And black girls code.
Okay, that's crazy.
Yeah, Sheila, what can you say? She's made so much history as a musician, as an activist, as a woman, and in the segment you're about to hear, she was speaking about her musical family and if she ever felt discouraged as a young woman at the drums, and her answer is so powerful, as.
Is the rest of the clip.
When your assert herself as a visionary who refuses to back down.
All right, Sheila, the.
Roots never practice as a band like we just you do three hour shows for three hundred and sixty five days out the year.
Then it's right, So you.
Just jam with your family and now, yeah.
Just jamming and stuff. Yeah, But to sit down and say I'm going to learn a rhythm and a part so i can get better, I'm sorry.
No.
See, my parents made me practice to keep me from going out on the streets.
And they did the right thing.
Right, But I'm saying, like, but you grew up in the household with other musicians, so I'm certain that it was more like a jamming thing.
It was. Well, yes, that.
Weird though, I mean, is it?
I also I I I'm not not that I'm big on jamming, but there's something very vulnerable about a jam session that makes it very hard for me to do in front of people.
I know. Okay, so the first the first day of.
Taking the Tonight Show gig, and it's just the eight of us facing each other, sort of like the circle we're in now, it was the hardest thing in the world to do. Like, I stopped the session after five minutes and call my manager like, I don't know what to do, Like, what do.
You just just start playing a song?
Like cause I think it's it's a it's a vulnerable intimate thing almost. I hate to be creepy with the metaphorical thing, but I mean it's like intimacy, and you know, the thing is that you have to be on I mean, we're on good terms with each other as a band, but it's it's sort of like I think that you also socially have to be in tune with the person that you are playing with in order to get that the desired result. And so it's I think that's it's hard. So I'm it means that you were able to jam or borderline envious that you're able to like play with your family.
Like, yeah, we grew up like that. So I mean, anytime the opportunity, if they were sitting out, let's go play, all right. We started getting into this whole thing and then taking solos and going into different rhythms and like just jamming.
In the house, in the backyard, outside, absolutely in.
The house in the backyard, at the parks down at Berkeley College and on telegraph all the time. We were down on the streets just jamming in the mission in San Francisco. Yeah, yeah, for real?
Your brothers and sister like oldest, youngest, how does.
Yeah, so I'm the oldest, my brother one, my brother Peter Michael, my sister Zina.
Because I was wondering why you got I was like, how does she get picked out of everybody to go jam with dad and do the direction? They played too, they played with it seemed like you guys had a.
Special relationship you or your dad.
Yeah, I was first, So there you go answer my question.
So how unusual in your childhood was it?
For I know that drums are normally associated as a more masculine us uh instrument to play, So how unusual was it? Like did you get any ribbing whatsoever? Tease like you played the drums, or like why don't you play piano or why don't you play guitar?
Like or people?
Well, I'm just saying, was there anyone to discourage you, like, well, that's.
Not a young lady shouldn't be playing? Like do you have a grandmother that said like she.
Shouldn't be playing the drum?
Can't wear a dress and play the drums?
Oh no, my family. No one in the family ever said anything.
So it was a supernatural to supernatural.
No one ever said my parents, my uncles, cousins, they all play. No one ever said you can't play because you're a girl, because everyone would pick up something and just play. My mom plays Guido, she plays a little bit of Conga's, she tap dances, she sings. You know, it's just a entertaining family. And every time we go to a party, even with the family, we'd put on Jackson five, Temptable, whatever, James Brown, and we just start imitating people. So we grew up like let's let's who's going first, and the and the the way to get to the party. Well, in the party, as soon as my mom would starts singing da d everyone start running to the living room. It's like the time for that's the intro.
Time.
Oh yeah, oh yeah. Then my mom would break right into tap dance and then we'll see who's gonna play what record and start dancing. So I was never told. Never ever, until I left uh the house and started performing with other artists did people say things. But even in school, no one really said, oh, you know, you can't play because you're a girl.
I don't.
I mean it was always cool. It's like, you know, everyone was in school was like stope.
Well, I mean on the other side of the coin, like did they make a big deal of it because.
You were dope or you know, it was like yeah, every time you play, like like it's a novelty thing that we're watching or whatever.
Because yes, I think with the exception with the exception of what's her name, I think her name was Cookie, there was there was a Jersey based group in the seventies called Ecstasy, Passion and Pain Odness. Uh, the mom deep sample, the realist.
Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do. I'll play it later, but yeah, there's they were. I mean they had a.
They had a run from like seventy three to seventy six, but they did like three appearances on Soul Train. So oh wow, that's the first time I saw like a woman playing.
Drums but she was actually playing drums. Yeah, oh yeah, I gotta check it out.
So yeah, I was going to say, did you have anyone that you looked up to that was Smith?
Yes, but they call it Cookie. Yeah.
Did you have anyone that you looked up to that was a woman that was playing drums when you were coming up at all.
The only woman that I saw play ever, especially drums, was Karen Carpenter when her and her brother had their variety show. Yeah, and she was killing it, you know. And as soon as I saw around television, I turned to Pops and said, how come I don't have a TV show like nine or something? What do you mean? I said, I played drums. I played just like her. How come can't we just get a TV show? He goes, sure, you can. I mean, it was never like no, you can't play because you're a girl that no one else. That was never said.
But in your formative years, did anyone think like, yo, there's no one that we know of that can fill in the slot, and you'll be the first to like yeah, that time would have been revolutionary. So I'm saying, like, right, was there anyone thinking like dollar.
Signs like, No, we didn't.
Actually, As a matter of fact, when I first started playing and sitting in with other bands and they wanted to pay me, I thought it disrespectful to pay me because I know it's kind of weird. Yeah, I thought it was disrespectful because I loved it so much. It's like, don't pay me for something I really love. I'm just I just want to do it, like this is my passion. I don't And then Pop was like, come here.
He took me in the kitchen.
Yeah, he took me in the kitchen, open the kitchen door, refrigerators, like we need some food. You gotta it's okay to get paid, It's okay. And I'm like, oh, okay, all right, cool?
Were you at that moment?
Fourteen?
So I was gonna ask at what age were you when you were like a total Jedi master, as in, like I could close my eyes and know.
I haven't got you, I haven't gotten there yet.
Good answer, Good answer. Now I gonna ask you again this time just dropped up.
No, I'm so serious. I'm being honest.
I'll ask you at what age were you when other musicians took you? Totally serious as in I want her for at what age were you when you started?
You know, they still sometimes don't take me, say, sister, can't get a call for a gig nowhere me, I'm.
Telling you.
Because you're beyond. They're like, I can't afford.
I was like, oh I could have called you. See that's what happened.
That's not nothing to do with That's that.
That's because we're afraid of you.
You're at a mountain top and now it's about of climbing.
It's like, yeah, no.
I mean, I know you're not owning the superhero thing, and I know that artists hate the fan worship thing, but.
Your existence is kind of a big deal.
So no, thank you. I mean I underst stand it now, But seriously, when when growing up, I mean, I didn't get it, and I don't think we realized it even Pops until later on it's like, okay, well wait a minute.
You know that wasn't ignoring you. That was more like we're not worthy.
There was one time I think I was going to call you for a things and it's only because I saw that you did was it loving you?
Right?
And I saw your credit and then I was like, oh, oh she would, she would come down to earth and mess.
At what point in.
Your life were you thinking like this because you said, you know now you understand now why people weren't calling, But like, at what point?
Because until I started speaking with people, it's like you know, how you doing? Oh you know, like and then I was like, wait a minute, you know, I'll come and do a session, you would, I mean.
And Stevie wanted to play the piano, and you said.
No, Listen, this guy, this dude, this producer called me. I could have lapped in through the phone. He called me and he said, hey, Sheila, I just want to know something, all right, okay, yeah, what you need I'm doing. I'm producing this record on this girl. I want to know how to get the Sheila, und do you know anybody?
But you're on the phone with her right now.
I did. I said, wait a minute, how can you my sound? You want to you want me to refer you to somebody else?
Dude.
Okay, here's another thing, and we're skipping. We're skipping the line here.
But I believe that the the number one weapon of the Purple Cloud period, or just that period with Prince, the number one weapon was mystery and anybody associated any at least in my eyes, like you know, when I was ten, eleven, twelve, seeing you guys, it was like it was some untouchable. We're too I don't mean arrogant, like we're too good for that, but you know a different yeah, even like that, we are the world perception like, oh, we never do that like in our minds, we're just like you guys would only do your music and you're laughing at us mere mortals like.
Brand kind of like that.
But we weren't gonna say no, no, no, no, no, we you know what the it's weird. It's like it's like being in this room, all of us here, we just start playing and jamming and next you know, four days later you might have cut another record. I mean, it was just like we love being in a studio, and after being with everyone, you know all the time, you kind of forget that there's a world happening, there's something's going something is going on. At one point, Prince and I just we felt like we're in a bubble and and until we woke up at the end of Purple Rain, it's like, wait, what just happened? We didn't even we didn't understand it at all.
Okay, so now I know that you're available for TESSI warton what was it? The important thing?
Yes? I am so.
What was your very first gig as a professional percussions.
Pops playing his percussion player got sick. He had a band called that Techas signed to Clive Davis. They were touring out with Temptations, Stevie, Wonder, earth Wind and Fire. Pops's percussion other percussion player got sick and I said, I'm fifteen, Pops, I know all the music.
You know.
Let me play this show.
And I was like coach.
He was like, no, you can't do it. And I was like, Pops, come on. He said, you're only fifteen. You can't you know they're out on tour with all these bands. No, you can't do it. You're only fifteen years old. And I said, moms, Pops won't let me play in the band. Well, thank you. So I got my way, and so I played that show in San Francisco for I think it was then Mayor Moscone I think, and it was for three thousand people and the band was killing. You know, fifteen years old, like I've been playing with these a couple of other bands and they were like knockoff some Santana music. So we knew all that stuff. And my dad was in Santana right before having the band ass Teca, and that band ass Techa was formed with When Santana's band broke up, Carlos broke up his band half the band with with my dad Neil Sean Lenny White on drums. All those people were.
For a journey. Uh huh okay, yep.
So they were playing with my dad in Azteca, and so you got this caliber of musicians in these people playing with an eighteen piece, you know, five six horns, three singers, three percussion players, to keyboard players to guitar player. I mean it was insane and all this music, and it's like I wanted to play in that band. So I got to play in the band. And it just brings you. If you're set in a place, it's going to force you to go somewhere you've never been before. You know. I wanted to make sure that I was there representing, and I mean I went for it.
Well.
You know, my dad turned to me at one point and he said, you know, I want you to take a solo. You know, like he's gesturing to me, you know, play from your heart. I'm like, I'm so scared. I closed my eyes and I started playing a solo and black felt like a blackdown. I just left the planet. And next thing I know, I remember looking up in the sky. I was up in the sky, like floating, looking at myself, playing in the looking at the entire room with my dad looking at me. I'm looking at him, and the crowd is just starting to roar it and I saw it like from above. It was so weird, and I when I finally with my eyes did I realize, like all of a sudden, you know, like in a movie and you hear the music like coming back in out of nowhere. That's how I felt. And then I started shaking because I got scared, like, wait, did I just what happened?
You know?
And I felt like it was an odd of body experience and my hands were shaking, and in the at the end of my soul, I looked at Pops and I was I just started crying while I'm still playing. And then I heard the roar of the crowd and just like and it just got loud and it was a standing ovation and I was like, I don't even know what's I was just looking. I was just crying like crazy, and we ended the song. The show stopped, went backstage, and I was like, Pop's daddy, Daddy, I'm going out on tour with you. This is what I want to do.
That's what I want to do.
I know, and I know what I know.
This is it was that the first thing, the last time you had that feeling like that moment.
No, that was the beginning of my purpose. That was the beginning. And Pops looked at me and then we hugged and we just started crying. He's like, I don't even know. How do you know all this? I was like, I don't know. I think I was watching you. I'm like a sponge. I don't know. We had no idea, like all of a sudden, just on a jamma with a local band for six months, and then I went from that local band to professionalism. I don't know.
So, okay, this is definitely the I.
Gotta get a nass Techa record bro manc.
There's two of them. You have to hear it. It's amazing. Seventy six five something like that. Seventy five four.
Okay, so you as a drummer and as a musician. I was going to say that the one thing that I think that you won't ever able to be, that you'll never be able to avoid is the solo. Now that's the dividing line between you and I, because thank God, I've made a life in a career on the most minimalist kind of of approach to drumming.
That's a huge gift to have it. It's a dangerous gift and a big responsibility.
I know it's a dangerous gift. But the thing is is that.
In my age and as I get older, like okay, so when I was in my twenties and my thirties or whatever, especially uh, the way that my arms are now.
With uh when you do carble.
Tunnel on everything.
Yeah, yeah, it's so painful now to take solo. So it's like I'm taking them less and less on your chos. How are you, especially when most of your solos have to have this you know this this climatic uh uh climatic applause from the audience, how are you able? Like do you not do you have a fear of soloing or no? Just but it's always expected of you, Yes, I see, like the music stops.
Like go and yours has to be extra acrobatic, like it's.
Always, yeah, you have to be. You're not even zero to ten. You have to go from zero to utter bond. You got to zero auto bond in like five minutes. And I'm just saying not even physicality or with with with with age whatever, but maybe there's just some nights you don't feel like turning it on and like. But that's pressure because you have to go from zero to a gazillion.
It's expected of you at least two minutes.
Yeah, it's interesting because I don't I don't think of it as an I've got to be on on and offer I don't feel like it. I've never put myself in that position to feel like that. So I love doing what I do and if people ask me, I would love to do it. But I wouldn't walk into a room to say I'm not gonna walk in there because I don't feel like it. Then I should have showed up. I never want to put myself in that position and say, Okay, I gotta turn it on. No, I'm excited. If someone asked me to play, I would love to. So there's no on and off switch. You asked me, It's always on.
Can I just I'm not fast forwarding? But I just have a quick question on that note, because I just watched you do the view and in my mind I said, she would not do this performance unless you have full hundred percent like comfortable. They would say yes, and you could do everything that you wanted to do. Is that like an example of that moment, because it was kind of amazing and groundbreaking some of the things that you did within it.
Thank you. It was it was a it's interesting. It was a fight. It was a fight to get so we had. It was a fight, and I'm grateful ended up turning out good. But I always tell everyone, you know, no doesn't mean you can't do it. No doesn't mean you shouldn't a lot of time, no means opportunity. And I was like, this has just been insane the things that we had to do and change. And I mean it was, you know, from one thing to another, and I just kept saying, but no, this is the message. We have to send a message. I have to stand for. This is what we're trying to send this message. And we need the flag and it needs to be upside down, you know. And I need to put the the images in the backs so people can see what we're talking about. I need doctor King's speech, I need Kennedy's speech, you know, I need Obama's speech. You know. So it was a definite fight. But you know, again, how things turned around. We were only supposed to just play the music, and then it turned into two questions, and then there's then once they understood what we were trying to do, then they were behind us one hundred percent, and we're glad that they understood what we wanted to do. And then it turned into let's move you to segment five and six, and it's like, oh, now I get to explain what happened. But never give up, you know, never give up, and know me as opportunity men. I wasn't coming through that front door, but I came through that side door, you know, and I wasn't going to give up. But I still got there and it was better than it was going to be initially.
Sorry for those of us who don't watch the view kind.
Of regular, don't have to move your neck like that when you say the word.
Okay, I just I don't watch most of the time, So what can you just tell us what the performance was?
Yeah, and you can go on Sheila YouTube channel to watch it too, or my Facebook Okay, yeah, Sheeli drummer, she.
Let's watch im.
No.
Uh.
The beginning of it is I did the funky national anthem I call it so the national anthem with some things, and I had speeches in in the song as well.
She kneeled while she played with.
The speeches samples of the actual speeches or was somebody else, No.
It was the actual Like I got the okay from Doctor King's estate and family to use his images and his speeches on my record. That was huge because they just don't do that for anybody, for anybody.
It was super political. It's funky national anthem.
I got it, man, you gotta have me a funky.
When I reposted it, I was like, it was nice that they allowed you to show your love and your frustration for this country.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Emma's last segment, we're gonna speak to some of the first ladies of Depth Jam. First, if you will, the legendary Faith Newman, the woman who would later sign NAS to Columbia and has been instrumental in getting.
Day La Soul the rights back to the music. But before all that, she was one.
Of the first five employees at Deaf Jam Records. Emma's brief clip she mentions Lisa Cortez, who will also tell her story of getting down with the label and why it was truly like family. Like Faith, Lisa went on to do great things and music as well as film Part two of her twenty twenty three QLs chronicles her documentary Little Richard I Am everything.
Well, you know, I started working at Deaf Jam in eighty seven and right, so you know when I was still in college, and it was just an amazing, amazing time. Just some of the best years of my life were spent there. I was one of the first five people at the company, first woman.
Right. I was going to say, if you.
Were a woman in that environment, I know that you have to have the toughest skin of all time. Yeah, because you're like what you're around. You were around twenty twenty one in that environment.
Yeah, wow.
Well, you know, there was no such thing as HR department.
There was no HR department, there was no trigger warnings, there was none of that shit.
You know.
You know what's interesting though, was that before def JAM, I interned at Columbia Records eighty six and yeah, and you can imagine what that was like then. You still I don't know if you saw the show No, the one that got canceled on HBO about the record thank You, Thank You, thank you, It was like that.
Like canceled yeah, yeah, yeah, one and done done yeah damn next to or that was damn I was.
Actually I was into it too. Yeah, I liked it as well. But wow, but.
Those guys you know in eighty six that were in the record had been in the record business since, you know, whenever the seventies were still there, and that's where I got I experienced more harassment, you know what I mean. And I feel like with hip hop though, it's like I never could have gotten a job at Columbia unless I wanted to be somebody's assistant, you know.
But so you're you're saying that working at Columbia in eighty six prepared you for the tough skin of the battles that you would have to deal with.
Yeah, you know, it's funny, like I don't know if it's my youth or whatever, how much I loved hip hop. It just I didn't think of myself as a woman first. In hip hop. I just felt like, you know, that's kind of how it was with everybody who worked at Deaf Jams, Like we were all young and we were just totally immersed in the culture. And you know, Russell was known for hiring women. Russell was known for other things a.
Well chosen uh yeah.
Hiring.
Verb there.
Yeah, were there any other women at the time. That maybe because you know, you were the first at Deaf Jam, but were there anything.
There were women at Rush. So what you had was in the in Elizabeth Street, you had Rush Management was on the first floor, and you had Lisa Cortez and Heidi Smith. Yeah Cortez who.
Went on to work with Lee Daniels.
Yeah, he's just doing great things in film.
Women's the moment that you were like, I want to get in the industry.
Uh.
Nine years old. I convinced my mother to let me go to the Children's Theater Workshop, which was a dance school run by Miss Connie, and they put on many musicals. I'm trying to get on your next show, and so we did Gypsy. So you can imagine, you know, from three year old kids to teenagers doing once I was a Schleppa, now a Miss Mazeppa, you know, like, because Gypsy is a musical about a stripper and I had been.
Very it was you want to be in that musical?
I do it all the time.
Wait, I didn't know that.
Yeah, Stephen Sondheim And it's the story of Gypsy Rosalie and how her sister was going to be the star and their mother pushed the sister forward, and then the sister ran off with one of the dancers because it takes place in the vaudeville time, and then Gypsy they end up in a shitty show and the mother's like, you're going to be an exotic dancer, and Gypsy goes on to become one of the famous vaudeville strippers.
I was in this play in like fifth grade and didn't realize how many kids.
In these plays.
I don't understand what we're all doing this play kids performing art.
Well, at my school, it was like from first grade to twelfth grade, so it was the older kids, but they found like roles for like the elementary kids to play in.
So I didn't really did show Boat.
We did name, We did Gypsy Name. Yeah.
I was very Charles's assistant. Well, my sister played via Charles and I had to.
They made a role for Meerry.
I did hair in high school. I was hood Were you naked?
Fu?
Then you didn't do hair?
Yeah, I mean it was a very a very tame down Republican version, but I did it.
You were here, you were bald?
Yeah. I grew my hair out, but they wouldn't let us do all the news, all that we wasn't doing.
That shit plays. So I found my voice. I went my mother said to get your grades up. I got my a's and I auditioned and discovered that I could sing, and then I loved movement and performance and connecting. Fast forward the summer I was fourteen, when everybody rebels, I locked myself in my room and I just listened to Ella's Gershwin songbook, Cole Porter Songbook.
I just not heat waved, not.
Of course, Evelyn Champagne King, you know, I mean my father's playing Celia Cruz. I mean there was a lot, a lot of music. And I also read the back of albums and I was like, who is this mixer? I just I you know, I would bathe myself in music.
You found bath you said rebelling.
So in my mind, I'm like, oh, okay, this is when like she discovers bad brains or sex pistols or the promos. And I'm like, girls when your parents dream, but.
Your peers are like, what the fu?
And then I discovery hip hop.
What was your first hip hop record?
I'd say it's it's rappers Delight?
How were you when rappers Alight? Came out, I'm not. I don't.
I don't talk about age younger than springtime, younger than Spring.
I got it.
Okay, So how do you nuance your way into was Maroon era def jam?
Your deaf jam or black label def jam?
You're general, I'm Maroon, I'm nineteen eighty six.
Tell me everything about it?
Okay, it's it's This is one of my favorite How do you get in the music business when you have no connections? So I went to Yale and when I was there, I had this incredible group of friends. One of them's sister named Lisa Jones uh Mary Baraka's Starter.
Yeah.
We were just these young, feisty kids, and we were working on a magazine that Lisa was putting together. She was part of that great crew at the Village Voice at that time, and she wanted to do a magazine called Diva Dacooning. I was into hip hop, and I was like, I want to write about women in rap. So I talked to her stepsister, Dominique de Prima, you know, in the Bay. I talked to the sister Tequila Mockingbird, who was kind of in the punk scene in Los Angeles, and I really loved this article. And a friend of mine who worked at Spencer Beck worked in Interview magazine, and I told him about this article and I I'm really excited about because nobody knew there was women in rap and so he said, you should go talk to Bill Adler. He is the publicist at def JAM. So I just called and Bill said, come on in. So I'm just chatting with Bill. He's the most amazing, giving, knowledgeable person. And a guy across the room said, who did you talk to in l A. And I said, oh, Tequila Mockingbird. That guy was Lee or Cohen, So what are you doing right right? So Tequila shows up in New York and I bring tequila to the office. I'm a good baker. I made this ginger cake and I brought my resume and we all hang out body BLA and Jimmy Spicer was the receptionist. But Jimmy Speiser never picked up the phone with the different calls because he'd be chatting some woman up, so I didn't get the job.
Wait you stop.
This is the second time that we've heard the story of someone charming the deaf gm staff to nuance a job via pastreets. Because you also remember Kevin Lyles with his girl, you know, his chew money. Every morning at six a m. Would buy everyone orange juice, and lee Or was like impressed, Like this guy's clean up the office and buying us donuts.
And that's how he got.
Like Russell was like, get away from me, kid, but pastries, timeout, Jimmy Spicer's dollar Billy.
What.
So I'm this kid.
Love it when he does voices.
To say that, Oh yes, So I keep trying to, you know, roll up in there and you know, impress them and and you know, it was pretty chaotic, but it was also very small. There was not that many people there. And I've went to a Luther Vandro show. I conned my way into the party backstage because you know, you just got you got to get in or actually you need to make a whole. You don't even fit in. You make a space. And I run into Leor, who was friends with Shep Gordon, who was Luther's manager and ll Cool Jay. And I walk up to lee Or and I go, hey, you remember me. I gave you my resume on the good paper. It was like the heavy weighted paper of his cream color that mattered. And he said, well, you know what, I actually need someone, I need an assistant. Call me. So I keep calling, calling, calling, and then I got him on the phone one day and I said he picked up because Jimmy Spicer was talking to some woman and did not pick up the phone. And I said to Leor, you know, I don't really know if you know, you'll like me or I'll like you, but I'll come and work for you for half a day for free. And then half a day turned into five years a lifetime.
Wow.
So from eighty six to ninety one. Wow, Okay, so Dill was about to start to come out.
Yep. I was there when.
Original concept is definitely yeah, yep.
And I was there when we made to ninety eight Elizabeth Street, right when I came in and met with mister Bill, Bill Stephanie and uh, you know the sign the public enemy.
What is leear like then?
Because the Leo were like, no, now, it's such a big personality.
And he was he was he was big.
Yeah, and look you know what he so he was always that person like the way that people im Flower, yeah, the way people imitate Lauren Michael is that like Lauren and Leo are the two most imitated execs that I know, but they always have a sort of disapproving father and untouchable.
They're untouchable, Like it feels like in ways right they sit like you can touch Lauren, but Leon and Laurna in that way kind of.
I know, softer in Leon now like Lear is like he's right right.
So it's that Bali effect from Russell.
Let me ask you at the time, because I know that it's hard, like I'm such a history buff, but you know, I think people don't appreciate something until like time has passed, like five years later or ten years later, you're like, wow, I was really part of the team that brought one of the biggest hip hop records selling records to the world, like licensed to Ill or.
You know that sort of thing.
But like for you, though, is are you recognizing that history is being made on the spot or was it just like man whatever.
They became my family because the crazy thing is the first week my dad died when I was fifteen, and the first week that I went to work there, my mom died. Wow, oh no, And you know this small group from Russell Lee or Heidi Smith, Bill Adler Simone who was our receptionist, Bill Stephanie. They you know, they took care of me. They loved me. I remember one day I got mugged and Eric b and Rock him. They came to the office and they heard. I was like, Lisa, I got a black guys like God who got got bugged and lived in New York. I lived in the real deal. And they were like, well, if you'd like, we could find somebody who could get for you, a nice little ladylike gun with a with a mother of pearl inlay.
I was like, nice style, that's very.
That's what love looks.
Like in a nice voice, too, pretty gun, a very nerdy voice.
Nothing scares me more than nerdy thugs.
You know that's rare. I just want to tell you, as a woman, especially in hip hop, it's rare to hear this level of feeling protected and loved and all of that. So I'm just get it.
Because I also fought for them. You know, people will tell you we because this is right before everything blows up. I worked very closely with le Or putting together that Adida Steele because I actually wrote a letter to Fela, because Houdini has a song called do the FeelA, and I wrote him a letter and I was like, you guys need to do a deal with Udini because they're speaking to this market. Because I was an American studies major, I like popular culture. I like seeing you know, how we as black people start stuff that is then going to take over the world. But FeelA is like, oh, no, thank you. But so then when the Adidas time came, there was a lot that had to be translated about why this group was so important and how much did they need though they needed some. There was a guy named Angelo Anastasio who saw it and he was the advocate for it, but you know, he was communicating with people in Germany. They did the music had not spread there yet. And what I learned in those days it still helps me now, is about the power of community to cross over this music. You know, we had Dave Funkinklin who later came to work there, who was in Colorado playing this music. I don't know, two o'clock in the morning. We had the car dealer drug dealer in Houston who would play our records and bring our artists there. You know, we had Paul Oakenfeld and Pete Tong were with London Records, which put out run DMC in the UK, Yes, and they were hip hop heads and they would the first stop Oki yes, wow Oki doki damn.
He never most people on the other side of the fence will go over time to like explain their hip hop deedigree. Like we toured with Oakinfeld during the area one tour and talked a lot. He never once gave a like hip hop pedigree and da da da da da da da really yeah, damn.
Haul When they would come over, the first stop is they'd come to ninety eight Elizabeth Street like that. It was great, you know, everybody would come through there. And then when him and Pete Tong become these Dan Selectro people, I was like, wow, interesting. So there was this community, there was the people from Japan there, you know, who ultimately become a part of the ground swell of the music crossing over and the ripple effect culturally. So these you know, I remember we went to London and I, you know, would make myself the European door manager so I could get a little holiday, and you know, we would they we got kicked out of a hotel or people didn't the food they wanted and I would just like be like, no, you cannot treat these guys this way, so I love them then. I love them now because I recognized how ground I didn't maybe knew what I was in, but I knew it was something exciting and groundbreaking and necessary and a part of how our narrative as black people. We were taking it to something new. Now it was going to become. I didn't know that I was young and dumb, but I knew in my heart that they had to be treasured and that it wasn't okay to be like, oh the rappers there, No, these are the artists.
And thank you for tuning in and celebrating Women's History Month with the QLUS.
Come back next week from.
FURTI Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
