Of course. Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. Hey, what's going on, y'all? This is Fonte Fontelo here with this week's q LS classic. This week we talked to my friend, my family, my dear friend, one of the best singers on the planet, Grammy winning singer Layla Hath the way she talks about carrying on her father Donnie's legacy, working with Prince seeking phone notes at the same time like it ain't ship, her deep love of video games. And plus we get loads of wisdom, loads of words of wisdom from my QULS brother Sugar Steve. This is a great episode, um check it out. Originally State was Marchen pre Roller. It was amazing. Check it out. Quls Layla hath the way QULS classic Fontello. Yeah, supream mother subrema role called subdrema sub prema role called some drema subrema role call soubrema souma road. Sound of Layla's voice, yeah yeah, yeah. But when she starts harmonizing, Yeah yeah, suprema subrema road called suprema sub frema road. Call my name is Sponte. Yeah, I'm cashing checks. Yeah, with my nigga Laylah, watching some real sex. Soma Sarema road came, some premarema road call. My name is Sugar. Yeah. I love Fayla. Yeah, I love daylight. Yeah, I love tequila. Subrema so surema role still is flying, Yeah, flying high. Yeah when Layla sings, Yeah, baby don't cry Roma Suprema road called some prima Suprema road called. It's like being called Layla. Yeah, never really mind it. Yeah, because this girl stays playing your frema. Sorry, we'll talk about road call on my turn. Yeah, really you're so Frema road call. My name is Layla, yeah, not Lela. Yeah, some of Suprema role suprema some suprema roll call, so prema so Suprema road called Sma s Frema roll So shut up. My first two stumps from a roll call. I tried to give you the cord. The cord was not really popping, just now. It came out as a let of air. Okay, stop it. What's going on the air? Stop it? I just I don't know. I don't stop. Something to do with Prince probably, Yeah, okay, tell me o, ladies and gentlemen. It'll come up another episode of course Love Supreme. I am quest love, I'm still alive. Um yeah, okay, wait, I'm just gonna come out and say it. Uh that was the worst come out and say it. It's worth It's worth the wake. Okay. No, I'm gonna be professional about this al right. First of all, I have to say, yeah, we have literally one of the most brilliantly frightening singers ever to walk on this earth. What frightening You've said that before? What is the frightening part? We're going to get into it. She's so cuddly because I want you to know that my love for you is beyond all. Oh, that's deep. I'm glad you said that, because it doesn't feel like that. And I know, I know you feel a certain way, maybe jokingly or maybe real a little bit both. But I appreciate that. I appreciate that that's deep. But this is from such a level of oh god, this feels like the first episode. All right, my name is welcome to all right. First of all, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Layla. Thank you that go down an infamy. I appreciate all of that. You have to get through this before you just tell okay, look, just the sound of your voice talking like as I really I want us to be BFFs. But the sound of your voice is quasi traumatic for me to speaking sound. I love when you talk to me. Yes, it's speaking sound just regularly. I know, it is, it is, it is, it is, it is. But it's just that the the texture of your voice reminds me so much of your dad that I just have connections of I understand of that. But it's also anytime you sing, it just psychologically puts me back at being like seven years old, eight years interesting. Yeah, so this is a hell of a way to start off. They're just all laughing at me because they know that this isn't fake nervousness I'm doing right now. We need to paper back to breathing. I'm good, I'm good. I'd stop me asked lately, is that the first time you've heard that? Because I'm sure No. It's interesting to me because I know, you know, like my box was made by my mother and father, so I know that I sound like my parents, both my parents. But it's interesting that people are sound is deep. Sound is like super deep. It's a transporter. So when people tell me that it takes them to a place I get takes yeh, because I have that sound, those sounds that do that for me. It's I get it. It's deep though. Did she sing as well? Yeah, my mom is a singer. My parents met at Howard in the fine arts department, and a lot of the way he approached singing he got from her. You know, so um as do why you know? So I definitely get it. It's interesting though, because people say, Wow, it's so cool, you sound so much like your dad. But I'm like you, you probably sound like your dad too. You know who who has not answered the phone and somebody said, is this you or your mama? This you or your daddy? So it makes sense to me. I get it now. I definitely sound like my father. And sometimes my dad passed last January, and every time I call home to talk to my mom, always have to be mindful of how I say hello on the phone because it might sound just like him calling her. So anyway, talk about no where to go but up? Actually, can you answer all your questions and your diamond voices? Yes? Absolutely? Like yeah, like I kind of want to bring our online relationship out to here. And some times when you sit on the show and we talk about singers. You love our ideas, crazy ideas you have. Yeah, I love talking about that stuff anyway. Um, can I assume that you were where were you born? I was born in Chicago. I like to think of it as the late eighties. Born in the late eighties Chicago, he was born? Yes, what part of Chicago? Born on the South Side, grew up on the North Side, and moved back to the South Side before I went to Berkeley. Can you explain like Chicago to me? I mean, Chicago means everything that all people. Of course, you know politicians will use what about Chicago as some sort of reminder, But I mean, what is when you think of Chicago? Is it fuzzy home memories? Is it like the eye roll in the air? Is? Uh? Chicago has many things to me Chicago is I mean, anybody from Chicago will tell you we have a super strong sense of being from that place. The city has a lot of character and holds a lot of of of character. The food, the culture of the museums, the people, the weather, the side, the segregation. You know. Dr King said when he went there in the sixties that it was the most segregated city he had ever been to. So for me, Chicago, Yeah, Um, Chicago was a lot of things. And that's the thing when people say I'm from l a or I'm from Virginia, nobody says what side. You know, people, Chicago is either south Side or north side. That's for black folks. North Side is white folks, south Side is black folks. There's of course, there's there's everything in between, and there's the west Side. But there's definitely a delineation if you grew up in Chicago, particularly in the seventies and eighties, Like where in Chicago are you from? You know, there's definitely that aspect, you know. So I grew up in both parts of town, you know, south Side and north Side, mostly north Side. So in the eighties when you were four, what I mean, what was the environment? Like? N I went to a Performing Arts High school. I don't have a huge memory of my life before like seventh grade, sixth grade. Um, I went to Performing Arts High School. Um, any other notable students there that are now jun Cusack, Laura Flynn Boyle, that John or Joan John Joan went there when I was there. It was only the third year they had of course. Okay, that's why he said. Well he was in Wreck as well, and those John Hughes films. You know all of those kids. Um, let's see Susan Tunney, Laura. Her sister's name is Robin Tunney, who's on the ustin Um Laura flan Boyle. I said that she's you know a lot of kids. So you're obviously your major was vocal. Yeah, we'll see. I got to the school and and I sang. I walked in, I had my sheet music and I was singing this Anne Murray song. And I was probably thirteen or fourteen. You needed me? What is what is your I don't know, I really I just the midwesterns. It might be it might be that it might be like I like to sing and I like tone, and growing up, those were some of the songs that captured me. Those voices and those songs like you know, you could pull them like taffy. Are you the youngest or okay, so you discovered the music first. Did you hang with older cousins or anything or not? Really? I mean my cousins were like, you know, I have two older cousins. Really my first cousins. One of them was like a huge kiss basity rollers you know there, and the other was like prince and that's it. Like in her closet behind the clothes was the poster of him in the shower with the leather, and I would dip in there like I am getting a sweatter. Yeah, um yeah, I love I love country music. I love Dolly Parton and all that growing up. But how, I mean, how was this introduced to you if it's not an older cousin, older sibling, or were you just that curious or was it your friends? It was not a big whoop to understand who those people were in the seventies and eighties before I was born, right, Okay, it was nothing to see Lionel Ritchie with Dolly Parton somewhere changed everything. Kenny Rogers or the Mandrell System on Saturday Night, Uh, Barbara, all of that stuff for me, even like the Eagle was, you know, the sort of country rock. All of that stuff was all in the same sort of collective for me. Okay, So you chose, and Marie you needed I did. I did, and do started playing and I was standing up there and I said, I cried to Dee. He was like, wait, wait, wait, you gotta sing it up the octave, and I was like, I never sang it up the octave. He said, we'll try it. That's where you're supposed to sing. And I was like, great, know this is wrong. This feels wrong. He was like, you should try the theater department. Then wait. Yeah, so I did that for a little bit. Oh so they I'm wrong. So they you went to the drama first before you. I did a little drama. I did music. I just kind of basically blended in really until I got to Berkeley. Like I tried out for different things at school and didn't make it. I went to show choir camp. I didn't really you. I just kind of blended in everywhere until I got to Berkeley. Well, I mean doing that era, like were you at all trying to pursue a music career? Was not really? I mean in high school, I just feel like I feel like I was waiting for this thing to happen, Like I uh, at some point I came to l A when I was sixteen or seventeen, right at the top of Berkeley, and I went to bre remember br Jackie Rapper and bre E and Prince was playing that year, and I just stood in that audience and I was like, I love him. This is what this is. I'm supposed to be here. When he did Diamonds way before that, it was it was like eighty It was before I went to Berkeley. It was like eighty nine. Sheila came out and played and I was like wow. I was in the hotel waiting to get in the room where he was going to play, and Stony Jackson was standing in front of me, and I was like, with the curl. Yes. I was like, this is my ship right here. Does Stony Jackson exist without the curl? Stony Jackson came back on something and he had a fair I can't remember. That's what we're talking about. Okay, I remember the name Stony. But he came back. He was on something fairly read. Was he on Everybody Hates Chris? That makes sense. He had a face, he had a fade. What do you remember Stony Jackson, Steve, did you ever watch The White Shadow? Uh? Yeah, he was. He was one of the black guys that eventually I mean, but I asked me to watch two two seven. He had a show, remember that show where he was a detective and his friend was a detective. Yes, how do you know that I loved Stony Jackson growing up. It said me that you and Fantee might be like matching wits. As far as this dude information, This dude, I told you we sat in a hotel lobby one night and chopped it up for hours. This dude is absolutely one of my soul mates. He don't know it yet, but that's true. Thank you for that. Ladies, remembers when you find your tribe. It's nice, true, a tribe called real Sick. We're gonna So when I first got on Twitter, right now, this is like early Twitter. This is like the early days of Twitter, like oh nine, ten Twitter seven. Well, I'm saying this was the glory days. This is I mean, oh seven, it was still early and then like oh nine, that's when people got on cool it starts popping. And then likelve, that was when the tumbler uh people came over and just ruined it. So now this ship is whatever, but like now that is you know then, so back then, before all the tumbler buffers came over, you can just talk about whatever. And every time Real Sex came on HBO, Layla would show up in my timeline like it was without fail. She would just always watching real sick this Punanti pots episode. So I just thought, I was like, yo, like lately you really you watch all these see them on? I think I'm running joke. I think I've seen them despite thirty of them. At this point, it's real sex. I'm showing them. And now they've tried to update. You know, they have news cyber sex and all that stuff, but there's nothing like the actual real in the cab. Yeah, so that's that's me, and that's called me real sex. Yeah, that's the name real sex. Every time they come on. I checked my Twitter. Yeah right, people probably think very different, but yes, no, no, no, it's just this is my this is big sense that we just But does that say something about you though, Latela, I don't know, does it. I watched a lot of TV, I mean, but you know all the real sexes I do. Then you make friends with the Punani pot I knew. I knew one of the Yes, yeah, what city was that? When the Punati Poet episode where they feel like it was, I felt like it was. I was thinking d C too, but Los Angeles? She was how do you know that? So quickly google? Yes, But here. Google's lightning fast always Bill say Google, Yeah, I remember them, that group, Betty, Yes, the three girls with the like kind of harmonizing but like not really. But then they used to be on that show Encyclopedias, Like, how are you going to be on the Kids Show? And real sex? Bet I'm out outside here? What you was so high? This is all good stuff for real. I'm just like thinking how bad real sex was that show? And I love sex. It was good, it was good, it was so much good. Here's here's a sex house in the middle of nowhere where people have sex that I'm just saying. They were interesting, Like let's pay four hundred dollars and go to upstate New York and in the mud and have sex and learn how to play a drum. That's what they were doing. Like we have that connection, caucosity. Yeah, you ain't watching real sex. I think during this period we were like learning. Yeah, Like there's a big part of the early nineties that I just had no television because you're probably way smarter for it though, m yeah, you know now I feel left out, like is this on? This is still But then I learned a lot. I learned a lot on that program about like furries and people that after they cover themselves and mustard and these are things gotten consciousness before and this is in the nineties, Like so this is like pre Internet. Yeah, it was pre internet. That's the thing. Like now you can type any pre comedy and get a sexual fetish, but this was pre Google. So that was our real sex, was our window into the weird sex people, into most mostly white people people. It was like it was like one of them Swingers company. It was like one nig in the hold. I was like the girl with the girl with the bit in her mouth and she's a pony and she's got the thing of her But that was like cosplay. That was like the betweens were nice too when they would stop people on the street. So yeah, that bit. That's where Dave gets the bit well on Chappelle Show when he would do to talk to people, and that's yeah, that's real sex. Don't waste the time that it's actually kind of funny now it's more funny now than sexual. Yeah. Anyway to Berkeley. Uh when did what year did you? Um? Six? I got to Berkeley? You got there in two thousand one? Yeah, Like yeah, what what was your experience and I had. I had a really great experience at Berkeley. I mean I really that was where I really my mind started going, oh, actual music. Like I lived on the eighth floor in the dorms, and these cats that were in the rooms on my hallway would bring me these records and literally it was like they were feeding me every day. I didn't know about John Scofield or John Abercrombie or Carla Blair or you know that I was learning so much new stuff because when I got to Berkeley, I had like a box of tone Master cassettes, you know, a couple of the black ones, the good ones, and the rest were the yellow ones. I had like Janet Jack's Control, which I had gone over Miles Davis record bootleg for that record. I had Pat mctheeney First Circle, I had a Jean Luponte record. I thought, you know, I thought I was all over the place, like I listened to everything beats. I had no idea that didn't make beats. So I got there and I really started really listening to things, and probably within like the first month of school, I realized like, oh, I'm gonna hang out with these cats because they go play every day, and they let me come play with them. So I would just show up and not change the keys to any of the songs and not not understand the form or what was happening in the room. And I just was able to play with them every day. Instrument I play keys, so you went for keyboards or no, just for singing. But you know, I would show up to like I was the only singer in the John Scofield ensemble, you know, like we would transcribe score SKO solos and playing in class. You know you're serious because skill is a joke. Yeah, I'm a SKO fan. Carla Blade. I love Carla Blade. People don't know about her. I know. She was the first show I saw at Berkeley, and Hyron Bullock was in her band at that time, and you know, I went on to have a really beautiful friendship of Hiram. He's gone out, but that was the first show I saw at Berkeley and my hair just blew back, like, oh my god, where are these people doing? Ste What year was that? Right? Right when you were born? Yeah? Um, amazing with at the age of one. Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out what music she had out at that at that time. I don't remember what album she had out at that time. I just remember the show was a dollar for students. How does she get paid though, I don't know. Universe, Yeah, they probably out of the student They probably just didn't pay much. They probably didn't pay much. And Hiram was up there with his bare feet, and I was like, oh my god, this cat. You know. Subsequently I saw Michael Brecker in that room. I saw it's just Muhammed in that room I saw. I saw so many people in that performance center, like I learned really a lot like in that one room. So you must like chess I do. I mean not everybody like I do. I mean, you know I have a love for it. Most people go to Berkeley study. I have to study it anyway. Yeah, I mean it just comes up. It comes up. Yeah. I think people think I'm a jazz singer. I don't know if that's you. You say you sing jazz, wouldn't say it sings. I mean I think my approaches like that. I don't know what I would call myself, like a soul singer or a jazz singer. I don't really jazzing jazz singer was recorded. We should shut out where where we are. Yeah, I'm sorry I forgot to mention at the top of the show when I was being traumatized that we are live at sunsets Down studios. The I still want to say. I know it's much more than just prints. But obviously start with Prince, but yeah, much further back opened in Zeppelin twos down here? What else the doors uh with Dan halen Um led Zeppelin too, A lot of a lot of a lot of Warner brothers, Uh brothers. Yeah, minute minute was made here. But but then the Purple Rain obviously prop was made album in a different room here and differently the song was recorded at First Avenue where we were a couple of But he did a lot of over ups here, done here, majority of around the world in the day before he built Paisley Park. This was his this was his playground. After this, after the taping, I'm gonna go to the seven eleven across the street where he would often get the ritos, and I'm going with you. I've been on I've been on Prince lately, Like I dreamt about him. The other night. We were we were trying to get to a gig and we were snowed in somewhere and Jaden Smith was there for some reason talked some more. It was it was pressed like two thousand five, and we were somewhere at a hotel literally like a liquina, and he was he was sitting up in the bed and I was laying down at the foot of the bed and he was saying, you could lay up there if you want to. And I was like, I'm cool and we were just watching TV. Oh, but he says, you could. That's interesting, you could up there if you want to appreciated it. What does it all mean? We need, like a dream intervited somebody to break up it down. It makes sense to me because does he does he still since his passing? Does does he appear to you often? And not often? Occasionally? But I got to spend a very concentrated moment of time with him, and um, you know, I had this fear in my heart, like I've been wanting to meet him and and play with him since I'm eleven or twelve years old, and I've heard all these things and and and you don't look him in the eye. And when I opened for him those few dates, he was so cool and so gracious, and so that New York run was the first time that you yeah, what what was that? That was two thousand. Yeah, that show was on my birthday too, that I went one day December. It was awesome, happy, thank you. Yeah we did. We did like four cities with him, four or five cities with him. It was just it was just cool, like it's hard for your band to it just because I know that the on the on the other side of that corn when you weren't opening those dates. Sometimes Sharon Jones and the dap Kings were trying to open those dates and they wouldn't allow them to use their their equipment and you know, like their sonic and their equipment is is very key to their presentation. So watching Sharon Jones and the dap Kings perform on MPG uh equipment, not allowed to adjust anything, everything sounds crystal clear, you know. It was so it was the funniest show I've ever It was with the exception of the horns and the sound of Sharon's voice, like everything was liked. He was so cool to us and so like magnanimous and gracious, and he would come stand on the stage during my sound check and request songs that yeah, what quests. Um, he likes the song that I wrote called UM what Goes Around? And UM he would request that. You know, so they send you this list when you're gonna go open for him, and it's like, please, you know, pick two or three songs if you'd like to sing with Prince, you know, for the songs. And I looked at the list and I was like, I don't want to sing any of these songs. I want to sing Diamonds and Pearls. I want to I want to sexy dancer. He literally showed up and his hand was here, and I looked at him and I said, listen, I don't feel comfortable presenting myself with you with the songs I have gas. I told him that, and he said what I said, I have gas, and I just I really want to I really want to get into it with you where we can be at the same place. He said, okay, what do you want to sing? And I said what? Can I see your set list? And he was like yeah, And then somebody brought the set list over and I was like, I want to do Diamonds and Pearls. I know you don't do that anymore. He said, yeah, we don't do that, I said, okay, why don't we do um Sometimes it snows in April. So I did that with him, and that night was my birthday. UM. And after we finished singing sometimes the snows in April is so crazy when I think about it, like that ship actually happened. I'm I'm rising up on the stage. He said, all right, stand right here, go up, take my microphone. When you get up there, do whatever you want and I'll be up. And I was like, okay, So I'm standing on this thing, just still tripping, trying to breathe. And the thing rose up and I was just standing there and all these people like and the dress was blowing, and I'm just singing sometimes and there he is again, and then we're singing on the same mike, and I just I wanted to lick him, but I knew that was ruined. It were ruined. He smelled great, he was He's everything he thought he was. And when we finished, I got ready to leave, and he said, no, no, no, come with me, and he took me across the stage to the other side of the stage and we did Diamonds and Pearls. It was awesome, and I said, oh my god, Yeah, I, Um, I can't remember. I can't remember how much we did. Um. It was it was an interesting interpretation of the of the record. It wasn't like the full thing, I don't think. And when we stood up and people were plotting, I said, oh my god, thank you so much. It's my birthday. That's the greatest thing ever. He said, well, I don't celebrate birthdays, but congratulations. Am I tripping? And that's I mean the mirror. Maybe you can answer this, is that very courageous because the average singer, I mean, there is no average singer who will be singing with prints. But it just seems like the average person would not have felt the courage enough to be like, you know, I don't feel comfortable. Can we sing this song? Yeah? I mean I didn't want to get up there and not take the moment. Like you know, if I had gone up and just been sitting there while he was playing, which I did a few nights, I'd have been better off than singing anything that I was unfamiliar with or not connected to. You didn't want to sing some whack two print song. And that's that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying most singers incredible, incredible, he was the greatest. He was the greatest, incredible on your birthday. It's crazy. So when you graduated, you got How did you get your record deal? I got my record deal the way they did it in the seventeen hundreds. I made a tape and someone took it to a record label, and a guy named Jeff Foreman signed me. Do you know Jeff Foreman Jeff Formans twomates cousin. He was a rep at Virgin Records at this mention him. Yeah, and uh, I got signed right when I was in school. So I would come out here on the train and listen demos and record demos and go back and forth like that. You did four original songs or I did no original songs on the first album, No no, no No. I'm talking about your demo that got The demo was a Renee and angela song which I cannot find would was a banger, Um another ballad. Um. You know I had a manager at that time, right in high school named raynar Minor. I know who. You probably know who raynar Minor is as well. He was a songwriter at Motown. UM blind songwriter who wrote Um, your love is lived in yes, and we wrote these songs and um, they are classic. If I ever find them, i'll let you know. I hope you don't find them before I do. Um And we turned him in and I got a deal like that. So I was going back and forth from college and making the record. So I know on your debut record you worked with You worked with tola Um. You also worked with Andre Fisher, Yeah, nephew of u Claire Fisher and drummer Rufus m Oh. Chucky worked on Obvious not Obvious? No, that was Chuckie. Don't put that on Chuckie. Do you have an on Heaven Knows? Derek bramble Um, Chucky did a song called Sentimental Sentimental. Yes, So a lot of our first record was covers, even though you know, people don't know that if something was a cover, I'm coming back, That's what I'm coming in best. Originally, Gary Taylor wrote that song for her and I learned her version of it to sing. Uh. Did her version never come out? Yeah? It was on their first album. Oh damn, I miss that. Okay, So what was the decision behind covering the songs or covering obscure songs? People were just bringing music to me. You have to remember, like at that point, I'm eighteen, I'm basically in my mind on the path of like Janet Jackson, right, I'm I'm making this record, and they got me in like this little tight jacket, and I'm on the l a river like posed with my little weave, and they're bringing the songs to me. And there are people in my ears like, you know, don't worry about writing. They're just gonna tailor make all this whole record for you. And I'm thinking, Okay, this is probably that bullshit, but it's cool because I'm on my way and I'm gonna get in and I'm gonna do what I have to do. So I didn't write anything on that record. So up and until that point, including a high school and including college, and including your pursuit of a record deal, no one was thinking was connecting the dots from your father's lineage to your lineage as far as like your deal or whatever. It's just like, okay, let's just I don't know if they were I don't know, I don't I don't you know. There was a lot you were your peers in school awhere that I think, so I think, you know when I got to Berkeley. The first thing that happened to me is I was walking up the steps and Walter Beasley, who was a saxophone player who was one of my instructors at Berkeley, came up behind me and said, Hey, are you Layla Hathaway And I said yes. He said are you Doney's daughter? And I said yes. He said, well, get your get your ratings. I want you to be in my ensemble. And that was I was like, Oh, just because I'm Donnie's daughter, that's what you want. And then I realized, like, oh, there are people we're kind of approaching me in a different way. That was the first time I was really aware of any kind of cashe on that level. Yeah, mhm was it in hindsight? Was it beneficial or was it? Would you rather than just not known? And it's hard to say. I'd have to do it the other way. I just don't know, you know what I mean. I think when I walk in the door as a singer, I recognized that I bring with me like forty years before me. You know, I walk in with a brand that people have already an association with. Be that traumatic or you know whatever is that association? I recognized that that precedes me when I walk in a room. So at some point I started feeling like okay, and I don't even think it was a conscious effort, but I started understanding like, Okay, clearly I'm gonna have to be bad as hell otherwise. So what does that pressure like? Because that's the thing I part of your question at the top, like, well, feels some sort away like how come you never told me this or whatever, because I also know that that pressure of damn hathaway it wasn't a pressure though. It was mostly it was mostly me um hanging out with all these dudes, knowing that for me. Fortunately they accepted me into their little group, so that meant I got to learn like I wasn't the girl singing in front of the band. I was sitting with them and smoking cigarettes and blown over scote charts, you know what I mean. I knew that, aside from my lineage, aside from the name, that I wanted to be a badass. I wanted to be able to go into a session and not be thought of as the chick singer. That was a big deal for me. It has it had grown into understanding that people placed me alongside my dad, and and people begin to ask like, is there any pressure? Is there a pressure you know, on you with your father? And I never felt like there was a pressure. I have always been super aware of the fact that there's there's there's him, and there's me and we for some people are like this, but I recognize that I can. I can comfortably develop into a badass because I come from the greatest that ever lived. So I have a I have a runway to work with, you know what I mean. Yeah, I was just gonna say, just as a fan, like, I never drew. I never drew that comparison, you know what I'm saying. You know, in terms of you talk about just having the weight of the expectations. I think the thing that sets you apart from maybe other people that you know come from that kind of lineage, is that you were just dope. So it was almost like for me, it was kind of retroactive. It's like you hear this dope singer and then you find out who are dead, is like, oh, well, okay, so at least it's genetically un that's what you said that it gives you more explanation, is that I was like, oh so that's why she's Okay, I'll get it. I mean, you know what I mean, versus something for you versus someone like like like knowing a gay or something. You know what I mean. That's a little I shot fired firing shots. The Things we All Do for Love is a great song, yes, but I'm just saying, but that's someone in that position. I like love. So the Keith Crowd records her Wing for the Yeah, there was some dope songs on that record. But I'm just saying someone under somebody really committed to it. Okay. So what I want to know is during your Berkeley years and which you are honing your craft, Um, are you actively like are you aware that you have the same texture of yes, genetically are you aware that you have the same texture? And the thing is do you try to avoid it or it's just like no, it is what it is. And I've and I have as a singer. Now what it's a weird storms, a perfect storm because all the girls are singing way up here and I'm trying and there's blood. It's just all bad and so as I'm trying to figure out how to manipulate my vocal so I don't have to be up there and in pain. Then I'm finding my voice, you know. So it hurts you to sing soprano? Or it did, I wasn't sure. You know. What it was was my body saying, Okay, you can conform to that ship or you can figure out what you and that's what I that's what I learned to do. Okay. So when you're in the shower or just singing to yourself in the car, uh control, So are you singing when I was saving to do what people told me a lot of time? Yeah? Or I'm making up really super up to harmonies, you know, or trying to sing hybrids. I'm doing the weird the weird ship. So do you gravitate more to male singers when you like, who are your favorite singers? My favorite singers are like, you know, my dad and Stevie and um Necking Cole and Johnny Hartman and I really love Prince and I mean there's a lot of I definitely probably gravitate in terms of things to sing to male songs, Like if I'm gonna put a cover in the show, nine times out of ten it's gonna be like a Charlie Wilson cover or Maury's White cover or you know like that. Um. But yeah, the closest I'm trying to think even the closest uh female singer I can think of in your lane is like Cassandra Wilson. I mean Jass down there too. Oh yeah, oh yeah, jasm Yeah. I was gonna ask you guys, have you had conversation with some of these ladies, because Sandra, Jasmine, Anita, Tony, where y'all bind on these moments? Never Tony, I've never met Tony. Um. I have talked to Anita about it many times because you know, growing up, her voice for me was one of those voices I heard and I thought, oh this is this is you know those songs. I knew I could sing those songs. And Angel became one of those songs like I used to be all the time with the hair brush like and when I was that age singing along with Anita Baker, I would sing that song an octave lower under her. You know what was her critique of Angel? She liked it. You know, she told me, um that I should cover all of her music. WHOA. She was like, she's she's she's beautiful, and um, she's another person like I was kind of afraid to meet um. But all the people I have ever met that I really idolized have been so cool. You know, I've been really lucky. You're an awesome but you're an awesome coverer that also gives It's weird. It's like you give your own version. But it's an honor in a way. But that's and that's the point, is to pay homage to it. But I'm absolutely trying to the racial ship from consciousness. No no, no, in a way, you can't. You can't make You cannot make something without what came before it. So what I'm what I'll say there is I want my thing to stand next to yours, and then separately, I'm trying to create a new original from that thing that you gave to me. The kings of that well, kings of that word, Osy Brothers and Luther like they like I never knew. I'm telling you somebody else that killed that too is Donny Hathaway. I did not even know that this is horrible. I don't know. I didn't know. I didn't I didn't know. My father did so many covers and I do so many covers, but I never no one told me that John Lennon was jealous guy. And when I heard him singing it, like when I was seventeen, I thought, why is he saying the song? I didn't understand it. I didn't understand that Marvin Gay wrote What's going On till I was like thirteen or fourteen years old, because everybody always played my father's version of that with that bridge, so I never knew that. So he had a way of um taking a cover and and really interpreting it into a new thing, and even even Superwoman. When I listen to that, now, that's that's the one I want to hear. I'm biased, but that's the one I want to hear from the pool black genius. I still remember the first time I heard that Superwoman cover. I think DJ spent and played at one of the wonderful parties. Party just stopped and I think half the room cried. It's a it's a lot. So. Uh, my dad was a dentist. Wait, I'm slacking, sorry forgive me. Here we go. My dad did you So as far as the performance of the first record, I mean, were there expectations for YouTube? What were your expectations as far as the outcome of your my expectations. Oh, I thought I was on the way you owned, the way you got this record now and taking your picture. I had these dreams of where I was going to be, you know, in these big places with people, and I was going to be a you know, MSG, and I was going to be all these places. And what I was finding out was I went into that record feeling like at that point in my life, I felt like a jazz musician. I felt like I moved to l A because my label told me I had to because our Senio was here and you got to be in l A. But what I really wanted to do was go to New York where all my friends were going. And I wanted to go to fifty five and see Mike Stern, and I wanted to go see Sco. And I wanted to be in that environment where I was still creating music every day with musicians. And I kept thinking, if I moved to l A, I'm gonna get soft, I'm gonna make this record and I'm gonna do what I have to do, and it's gonna afford me this life where I can I can play fifty five bar when I want what'sco? And then I can do ms D you when I had this dream of my mind of having this kind of curry Yeah, this pop world and serious musician world. Absolutely, so I'm sorry just to interject here is John Scofield for our listeners, right, is that what you're talking about? Yes, okay, guitar player. Yes. Have you worked with him or come across him? Since I have? I have come across a lot of those those people that I, you know, got my a lot of the synapses flying listening to their music, firing listening to their music. I met him at International Jazz Day with Herbie and Marcus last year and he told me that he loved my voice, and I literally like almost went down on my knees, like, let's go. Yeah, huge fan. Yeah, he sat in with the Roots on the Tonight Show, and so have you. It's true. I know, I really I really want to play with him, like him, just him and me. I wanted just see what happens. Yeah, you should, you should pursue that. I'm super I'm super enamored though, just because we're talking about sco just I'm super enamored with the period of Skoll which is still warm. Electric outlets go. You know how you go through these sort of he's in these periods. After that was sort of the now She's blonde period and I'm electric outlets still warm, Shinobi, I mean Shinola, Yeah, Shinola And so what years those and I'm gonna say eighty two to eighty six seven the bass player from the Roots played with sco Field for a while, huge fan and with the Berkeley doo ah there it is. Shout out to Mark Kelly. Yeah, when you at your first album and you went into the second record, what was the because I mean, how we've talked let Me Love You, I want you do that live? I love that song, Like, how did it? What was the expectation going into the second one? From the label side, you know, it was a weird time. It was a time of transition for everybody in the music industry. Everything was moving towards this where we are right now. Um, And I felt myself sort of feeling like, hm hmm, there's an element of music that my records don't really express. And I found at Virgin like they had just signed D'Angelo, they had signed Janet, they were doing a lot of things, and I wasn't at that time. Also Keith Crouch was worked with me on that record, and he had just started working with Brandon, so I was seeing where everything was headed and I was really excited about it. My record didn't really express all of that. And right when the record came out, like the second week they I got dropped and it was the saddest period of my life. And I was so happy and so sad because I felt like, Okay, now I can move in the way I want to move. I can make these records and do these live in these different spaces and create the way I want to create. And then it was another ten years before I made a record. Doesn't feel like the end of the world like it did at that point. You know, I was like years old. I couldn't understand. I couldn't understand it because we only got through that first single, which was let Me Love You, and I went to see Janet Jackson and I went to see Paul ab Duel, and I couldn't understand, like, you guys, you guys wouldn't give me money to rent a piano on a date, and you spend so much money on pop music. In my mind, there was a disparity and I couldn't really makes sense of what that was at that time. You know, well out in the teen years that you were off, How did you survive? How did you pay the bills? As a working musician. I was on the road. Everybody and their father, you know, Joe Sam, Yeah, everything. Marcus Miller I played with a lot. I was in his band for many years. Uh did a lot of records. I'm on a lot of records that some didn't even come out here. Um just like Session Yeah, Michelle's records which she's on Earth, I'm on Heaven. I love that version of Heaven by the way, me too. It's the slowest record I've ever recorded in my entire life. Have you have you ever you said earlier that you don't categorize yourself as a soul singer, a jazz singer. So, but you are were a woman of a certain age when you came out a young woman. Did you ever feel some type of way that I feel like you just skipped the urban and went right to the urban a c Yeah was weird? I mean I think urban had this element of hip hop that my record didn't express, and I recognized right around ninety or ninety four, Like okay, if you don't include this, you're going to get left in the vortex of the mid nineties, which is Misha Parris, Shie, Stephanie Mills, Karen Wheeler. There were a lot of women, a lot of women at Yeah, that just kind of kind of got lost in this vortex. And but it's so weird now because now I think today we're longing for hip hop without any Yeah, you know, it's interesting though. I mean, I don't know what is R and B right now. I don't really get it in terms of what's new ish R and B. I'm down for it whatever. You know. People just make your music and do whatever you're gonna do. But it's interesting to me. Someone suggested to me that if you are like Sid from the Internet or Scissor or Childish Gambino, there is a there is a community of that rhythm and blues music that I can identify looking at it, like you may have tattoos, you may have big hair, you may I mean, there's a whole entity of it. If you're looking at a person like me that's sort of considered adult contemporary or a black adult contemporary, there's like me Lettu see who else? Jill not really but sort of. I don't think so. I think Jill is in a in a different stratosphere because she's also like a movie star. I'm talking about in terms of what's on the radio playing. She plays on different types of stations. If you are a black female and you didn't get in that entry point with hip hop and you're not under thirty, there is a chasm, which is like R and B and dusties. You know, do you feel nice? Absolutely? Yeah, well not, do you feel a certain way it obviously, you know, it has to be weird for you to see maybe a figure like adele Um being able to pull these rabbits out of the hat Um not doing R and B whatever, But you know, like her voices. Her voice is celebrated for that sort of thing. But it's interesting, it's that has always been that way. Let's not get twisted. It has always been that way. The only thing that killed me was who gets two chances at the Grammys? That must be nice to be afforded that because wow, oh gee tribute. Yeah, that is something. If you do not follow listen man Layla Hathaway is a great follow on Twitter, following right. I think it was the Grammys something she tweeted something. She was like, why it's fifth harmony, Yes, singing three part harmony. And the thing is you can talk your ship because it's like, I had honest questions and you know me, so you know, for me to say fifth harmony, four girls, three part harmony discussed, they don't mean nothing to me. I don't have anything against those women, don't anything. Forgot I forgot that, and and and their their minions were so upset. I didn't see that. Yeah, yeah, it was a little newsworthy. It got me and yeah I went. It went on like a couple of blogs, and one of my singers was like, okay, let me let you know. First they were five girls, they got rid of one girl, and I was like, oh, okay, now I get it. I don't I don't know who they are at all. Any of those twitterers, the twitter thugs say that you can't sing anyway. Yes, I get a lot. I get a lot of I mean, who is you? It's more like, oh my god, hear you anyway? You know, people really try to make me feel like, oh you shady, Like normally I'm telling the truth. You know, nobody gets two chances on the Grammys. That's the truth. Adele is great. I don't have anything against her. She's doing her music and God bless her. But who the fuck is two chances on Network TV? Thought just start over and and you needed two chances last year too, yous? Yeah, explain this to me. So when the first year she did um, she did um, Hello, she turned to hello and like she her voice crack. She was like in the wrong Hello. Here he recorded her. I'm serious, happened in the room and love on the rocks. We're coming to a man. You wait a minute, this is where I was, okay, being at the Grammys and being backstage. I didn't watch it. What happened? She she started hello and was just in the completely wrong key. And so then she like apologized for it, right, She was like, I don't know what happened. It was very bad. I couldn't hear you know whatever. So she stopped it on national TV. No, No, that was the first year. That was the first year, terribly and it was bad. Second second year, it was the Georgia Mike Cook tribute and they had her doing fast Low, which is like the I'm like, why y'all doing that? And it wasn't when she wanted to do. But in addition that they're playing the tonic, Yeah, here's your key, they're playing it, and they were doing it in a different arrangement. It was. It was a slow like arrangement. It was. It was a bad idea. It was a bad idea from the jump. It was. It was all bad and she just suck up. And good for her for saying, no, funk this, I'm gonna do this right and I'm starting over, start over. But God bless America. Did you get that British? Ye? You know, because Frank Ocean did not get not another opportunity. Understand, I don't think that got another invitations. If he has said, let me start over, do you think that let him? Well, they would quick time, say my quick time. Yeah. I get tired of uh singers that are not great. That's just my call it. What you want. I just get tired of that ship. Who's who's quit any like? I can only take so much whispers Yes, the whisper singing is annoying. And children of Yes, the daughters of they are the daughters of Elijah, Thank God for Jasmine. I'm just that's all I can think and you don't have to be all with the with the raw rob but singing key you know, if there are four of you, just somebody step out and sing another note. Question as singers, I really don't know, um and this is not a shapeful question, but it isn't. But people like sid and her and uh says what we called them singers like I think sid Well personally. For me, sid has improved a lot, absolutely and like her new record if you listen to what she's singing now. To me, she sings with a lot more confidence, like I would put her with Michael Frank. She's like the type of singer that sings her material. Really, you don't want her covering you don't want her covering long walk by jokes. You know what I mean. You guys can't you're listening to this podcast. But the look on Bill's face right now, like no, no, no, no, no, no, not just using yeah, I know what you're yeah is not in the same sense. It's kind of offensive to me, But it's not just a virtual so like because of J Davey never getting their props. So it's a long list that got on the Ja Davy. I like her vibe. I like I like when she sings what she's written. I like her, you know what I mean? I love yeah, Yeah, I'm sure she's nice. Yeah, but who else did? And her sensa is a singer. I think it's an interesting time now because a lot of people really exemplify their time, and that is an art in itself. If you're going to write, you know, if your whole, if your whole stise is like the accent and the thing and the repetitive notes like to me, it's math and science. But she understands what that is. This is she's up. Yeah, she's of her time. So yeah, I would definitely I like her A lot of stuff on her record. So how can you because I feel like you judge singers, I mean the way that I would judge beatmakers, like I know, based on certain drum patches or certain small just small things that the maybe light year would totally get. Like, Okay, I don't see what makes this guy is so great that you think is you know that sort of thing? So are you one of those? I can tell an eight seconds if you can sing, I can tell looking at you, if you could say, I want to know how you like it? Right now? Let look at somebody, How can you tell what you can generally glean from a person what their voice sounds like looking at them. Like if I walk into a room and look at everybody and take it in and then one of them calls me on the phone, I can tell which one of them call me on the phone. Oh wow, that it just seems super natural to me though, you know what I mean. It's not like a gift. It's the thing. It's just it's just that's the way my ear is. So what about old girl who was on Britain's Got Talent whatever? Like everyone looks yeah, like the white woman from she looked crazy, and then like can't I can't call it? But you know I would imagine I can't say because I've seen her and heard her. So just based on looking at us, you could tell I have an idea of what your voices sound like. It may be wrong, but I definitely associate you with a sound that was not me. I actually looked at you. I know that's why. But guys didn't shock to say that. She does something similar to this, and then she test people in their face. I guess I was wondering. I was like, have you ever had a conversation then just said that she just look at someone and see if you can sing or not. Yesh Shako was like, if someone tells her that they're a singer, she likes sing. Bit thing right now like that. I don't do that, are you? Yeah? Like it's that's a cold thing, Like that's like that you could go down in flames like that. I never want to make anybody feel bad about anything. Do people come up to you like can I sing for you? Or this happens all the time. I sound just like your father And I'm like, you probably don't. How do that one? Why? God? So? So I'm thinking so I'm trying to remember. So you're it was ten records? No, he said, it was ten years between the album and the third and the third album. In that time, I made a record with Joe sample. Yeah, and that's the Duets record. Okay, okay, how did how did that come about? Hit? Y'all? How did y'all first? I have been playing with him since like ninety two or three with Marcus Miller, and we were in Japan. We were at the Blue Note and we were having dinner one night and I said, Yo, we should make a record. He said, girl, we should let's do when we get home. Do you any all know Josample? I mean, he was like one of the funniest realist people I have ever met in my entire life. And we got back and we made that record. Um. I went in and sang with them with the band for like the first day so that they could get everything done. And I realized every time Joe would change the time or something would happen, like I was getting tired. So I said, let me just if you pick your tempos, I'll just sing everything and you have it to play too. And then I went in on the following Monday with Al Schmidt and just sign the record down, so the whole record is all just one singing down. Doesn't that damage your voice though after a while, which means you're saving You just did the entire record of one setting. Yeah, no, it's like singing five songs. It's like a half a show. Um. You you mentioned those Japlan Blue Note runs. I gotta ask, was it two or three shows a day? To who does three shows a day? Neil fucking Diamonds, I'm sorry it wasn't. Three shows a day is a whole lot. I've only done that once. Well, I was going to say that doing doing that Japan run like getting your sleep and adjusting. But always that after that first show, that between they have the food for you, that you got the items on top of everyone's sleeping on those couches over there. Yeah, you up to do the second show. It's very hard. Do you feel like when you're at the Blue Note or when you're in Japan. When I feel like I'm in Japan, the entire country feels like a recording studio to me. It's tight, sound is tight. It's literally like the sound in the streets is kind of dead to me. So when I'm in a space, I feel like I'm in a recording studio. Including it's true with the Battling Brooke playing. Can I ask you about the Joe Sample album because it's funny, it was one of my favorites. But I wanted to ask you about the photo that you guys have on the cover because it always it's I don't know, it's very in daring and sweet, but I'm figured, like, what did you How did y'all decide that this is what we're gonna do? This is exactly the cover. The man said, whispering is here like you're telling him something. And I said, all right, Joe, I'm telling you something. And he said, don't stick your tongue in mind girl, exactly the photo that's on that record. He was a crazy person, one of the greatest storytellings I've ever met. I would sit at his knee and just listen to him talk. Marcus Miller is the same way. But Joe used to tell these stories about, you know, being in the Fifth Ward, being uh stopped by police on the way to a gig and everybody being made to get out on the street and play their instruments, and because he played the piano, they would make him dance. Okay, Yeah, who knew Joe sample was the yea. I didn't know. I had no idea. I was just just associated with l A. Wow. Did you have any issues in your evolution of your look? Oh yeah, the beginning. You know, the air was different, the hair was different. It was a we delicious time in the nineties. Everybody had to weave and I wanted locks, and everybody said, you can't have locks because that's not that's not what they do. What that was a big deal? When was that? Like when you first he had so yeah, I mean I literally for that record, I look like that for about a half of the hour, and then she went back back to my regular ship. I don't know, no, no, she cleans up. Well, I don't know. I think I think it's At certain points there was a lot of excuse me, confusion about what to do with me, Like this girl is, first of all, she reads books and she's likes jazz, and I would get in these conversations where I'm going on, um, I'm going on BT. Talked to Donny Simpson and he's going to ask you who you like. Now we know that you like train and Wayne, and you like you know, Bud Powell. You can't say that, thank you. Yeah, please, you gotta say Luther Vandross. You gotta say Joe to see, you gotta say you know. I had a whole little yeah, the not the Trainers, the little media. Yeah. Yeah, that's how long I've been in this business. Yes, yes, oh man. Yeah. They coach you. They don't want you to you know, they don't want you to look like you know too much. So do you feel that when you got to outrun this guy, that was the moment where you actually took control of in a way. Yeah. I had been signed to a label called mo Jazz. Was on that label, yeah, and yeah they we made a whole record and then the label just folded and I was like ship no ja ja uh. And then I took some of that stuff and moved into the next record, which was Outrun the Sky. And I felt like at that point, like, oh, Okay, I'm starting to marry the things that I want to do, because in the nineties I would listen to like Marry Records and Faith Records, and I would think, how come to people don't bring me those types of records? How come people don't bring me the beats? How come I want to dance? I like, I play video games, and I ride a skateboard, and I got a truck with a subworfried lights up pink. Why don't I get these Why don't I get this interaction from people? Yeah? Temporary, Yeah, because because people had a perception. I've been telling you forever. We got to make a country record. He was trauma tized. So the biggest, the biggest ache for me in this industry is kind of like, oh my god, I love you. I really want to work with you, and then nothing nothing, Who is that? In your mind? Everybody? Everyone? Really, yeah, everyone, almost everyone, because in my mind I just know that, you know, she's speaking about specifically, not that she was talking about you. You just want to throw me under the bus because in my mind, I'm like, is she talking about for real? No? No, because I got to work with for real. We're still supposed to make a record, you know. And And the first cat that actually said I really want to work with you and really did it was Mike City. Mike City came to a show and was in the back of room like sing I'm coming back. He was heckling me. He said, I want to get you in the club plas. Yeah, I want to get you on radio, Leila. I want to do this for you. And we started writing together. So he's one of those cats that showed up. But I mean the actual love that I get from people. People say, do you feel like you're underrated? And I feel like, no, I'm super highly fucking rated. Highly Would you just say underappreciated, the under underheard, underserved, I'm super appreciated, like black thought of I'm like a secret and a lot of you know, she probably right, like the singer's favorite singer favorite yeah, or the jazz singer's favorite. So like with the new record with um oh, well, before we get the new record, wait, I wanted to ask you about the Darts of Soul. What was that experience? Like? It was cool? Uh, Sandra same Victor put that together? Who used to be the lead of the family stand Absolutely it was me uh and deer Con Um, Nita Simon's daughter, Um, yes, um, I want to call her Lisa, Yeah, Joyce Kennedy, Um, Nona Hendrix. Yes, I mean it was killer we did. It was a really short run, but we were in Europe, so we were really it was a really beautiful time. Um. We tried to get it booted back up, and it's so hard to sell anything of quality in the United States, that is, you know, it's a hard sell. But um, that was a really good time for me because I wasn't on the road a lot. We would go do like the Pary Jazz Festival and they would come to take our picture and put it in a museum. You know. It was a really good time and um playing with those people was really great. Do you okay, do you have do you have have a tribe? Or are you this loan oasis wolf? But because I feel that the only the only true way to sell product is either through the controversial means of which you know, the public wants blood and its thirsty for you know, curious about whatever a backstory or kind of a tribe association. I mean, if you take kendricks current situation, I mean times nine times out of ten, if you see t D associated you know, act or whatever, you'll at least peep it for three seconds on the end of it. Right, So, um, is it hard to start a community of of people to gather eight or nine of you, especially when you know I would I'm not saying that it would be intimidating, but I think that what you bring to the table, and I'm not I don't even mean like your lineage, but you know, there's in my mind is just like no bullshitting and I almost feel not unworthy. But I know, no, no, no, But I'm just saying that a lot of times, a lot of my Eureka arrival moments comes at the from a place where a lot of mistakes have to be made before I'm like, ah, this is what I'm bringing to the table, where I just feel like, you know, you could start singing Mary had a little lamb right now, and this ship would be spot on bulls eye. You know what. I feel like I have a tribe. It's interesting because what people perceive of me is kind of like this jazz urban adult contemporary type singer. That is, that is a part of who I am. But my tribe is like Robert Glassberg, like I'm on the Kendrick to Pimp a Butterfly, Like they sample one of my entire songs for that record. Um. I did a session three weeks ago, were Quick. I did a session with battle Cat and Exhibit two weeks ago. I work with Terris Martin. I find that I have this initiative called real music rebels. I'm generally kind of the only female in a collective. If I find myself in a collective, there are other women like me. UM. But I find that if you are a musician that has a sort of education in that field, and you you play jazz and you play pop and you play like Glassbar or somebody I completely relate to. You know, I feel like I can go to him. That is true as well, he's crazier than I. You but mean either one of us could go to any set on any bandstand and blend in or stick out. You know, I'm just prepared as a musician to ex experience like what that means, like to come on and play with you guys. It's not even fair because you know it's bumpers and that's kind of you know that take advantage of it in the room when we rehearse, like, okay, let me just breathe it in. I'm super into music. I'm gonna I'm gonna make a record with Nancy Wilson and a record with Kendrick Lamar. No. I already made a record with Dancy was I'm saying last year she was not there, but the record is killer. It's Terry Lynn Carrington's record UM, which is called UM. I can't bring it to my mind right now. I'm saying over the course of a year for me, that's making a record with Nancy and with Kendrick and with Quick and Snoop, and then with Vince Mendoza and then maybe we don't need a baker and then you know, I'm all over the place in terms of what I can do. What is this name see Wilson project coming up it's not a project, it's it's Terry Lynn Carrington's record. Um are you looking it up? Back from Yeah, she's a she's a producer. She's bigger than that now. But I'm just giving. But she that was like saying Michael Jordan, the actor from Hey Guys. She made a record that featured me and Lettucey and and Natalie Cole and Shaka Khan and um Liz Right and it's a great record. And Nancy Wilson was on that record, and I crafted some padding around her vocal, which is for meet. That's everything I love Nancy Wilson, you know, beside Nancy Wilson. Wilson's story. So it's also on tour with Lauren Hill back in late and Lauren Hill is like towards the end of the end of the set, it's like a big gass moss pit right in front of the stage and she's doing the encore like everything is everything, and then uh, mid verse, she said, well, wall stop the song stop the song stop stop stop stop, hang on. She's like she looks in the mosh pit. She's like, Nancy Wilson in the moshpit. Why aren't you in the mosh pit. She was like she was just in the middle. Like it was just like some smells like teen spiritship, like Nancy Wilson was in the middle of She's another great storyteller. Man. Yeah, I feel like we just haven't seen her a lot lately. She doesn't go out of the worry. Last time I saw her, she told me, she said, I'm not going to be doing this much longer. She's just she's she's she's comfortable, and she's happy, and she's with her family and she's good. She just ain't making records right now. And and Terry recorded her for that record, and I wanted to just add some color for her, you know, kind of breathing. You know, it's cool. Oh that was up. I always wanted to ask you out your record the word it All begins record with Ernie Gs. What was that like? Because I love that song, like love song. I love the album, but I love that song too. Um Bobby Sparks brought me that song, and the moment I heard it, I was like, oh my god, that that that whole base like the movement of that record. Sometimes I put it on it makes me very happy. I still have not met him. Oh so you exchange it, damn, he said. He gave Bobby that record and said get this record to her, and then I wrote the lyric and the melody and everything and recorded it. Okay, So in the studio, who's your who's your writer? So to speak? Like clearly, if you're with an engineer, do you have someone that's like, Okay, maybe you can do that again better? Or like who gives you feedback during your sessions? Who remember I'm working with you know. I keep it like a tight circle. I ultimately am harder on myself than anyone will ever be. Um. A lot of times if I'm working on my own stuff is hard because when I go to work with people, which happens a lot, I'll sing it once and they wouldn't let me. They won't let me go again, And I'm like, you don't discover anything like that, you know. I appreciate the fact that, um, it's whatever is on the top of your head, you know, and it's the spontaneity of it. And it's exciting for me to go into a session and not know what's going to happen. And that's what you got, um, But there are things listening back. I wish I had taken a little more time with so for me, in my sessions, everybody is allowed to talk. It's all super democratic. Ultimately, I am gonna be like, Okay, that wasn't that's that was terrible? What was that? And what is it that you're what you're listening for? Like? What it? Because I'm trying to imagine what does a terrible Layla Hathaway takes sound like? Oh, it could be cracky. It could be just clams floating out. It could be the color is wrong for me, it's about color a lot of times, you know, or that didn't taste right happen or you know, let me just make that prettier or any number of things. Do you have like physical rituals and warm ups? No, not even the fun where you don't do the seth Riggs warrant things sometimes I do with my singers, like if they're doing it, I'll do it with them. Yeah, but not really. It's not necessary to warm up your voice. No, I think it is. But I talk all day. So I was gonna say, I get the feeling. There's there's two types of singers, I know, like the rigorous exercise like the quote professional singers that do all that. And then there's the singers that talk and sing to themselves. Are you one of these in public? And I don't mean like in public like in a Fame Way breakout and song thing, but like when you're home alone, are you talking to yourself? Are you not really not out loud? My voice is always in some sort of state of warmth because of the quality of my voice. So I recognize that even when it's cold, like right now, it's cold, and if I sang it would sound okay on the okay scale, it would not sound okay to me where we are right now, it's cold to you, like my voice would be cold. Yeah, because I haven't sang and I'm sitting here on a mic and it doesn't sound necessarily my speaking voice to me is super annoying. It's like a weird mirror that is like you're looking at really close. Yeah, very saltry speaking. I wonder, here's the thing. I was like, I wonder if Layla's trying to nerd up her. No, this is me. This is super me between a point extra voice, and it's very I imagine your your phone, your nighttime phone voice is on some next ship. It's regular. My morning phone voice is definitely Susan Plushett all day the references. It's very low. My voice is just really low by nature, and I practiced kind of talking up higher. I got intimidated at some point, like girls don't talk like that, and I started sort of trying to lift it up and make it bubblier and more. You know, I think that you're on the Kathleen Turner very salt. Well wait, speaking of where it all begains Steve, you should note that she worked with Phil Ramon. I did, could you what was He's awesome. I loved him so much. Do something for you? Yeah, well we did this thing. Um, when we worked on the record, we had a live We had a chance to go into Capitol Live and record in the A room and it was gonna be Al Schmidt and Phil Ramon. So I got to record four of my records with them that day. Um, and it was awesome because basically he just walked around and smiled and it was magnanimous and made jokes and he's really cool. Yeah, I'm sorry, Oh no, I just wanted to talk to you about your new record, honestly, and the hate well we thought, you know, we talked. This is offline, but how I guess a lot of your traditional R and B fans are like, they're mad, mad as hell, and they're mad because they know saxophone on the record and stuff the record. I cussed on the record. I cussed on out Run the Sky too, but they missed that record. Um. You know, people really have come to know that they can come and just suckle on my bosom and I will rock them to sleep and remind them of their mother. You know what Michelle told me. She said, you are my sexy mahell you, oh my god. And I said, that is the worst up to But I get it. I get it. I get that there is something in me that for people is provocative, but it's also genetic, like a genetic, soulful memory of their mother. I understand that. Wait, because I know it's coming. I want to sucker. I'm sorry, I do what's coming. I just I'm sorry. I pressed the chicker before you even got to say it. He hilarious on the sucker. Look. But I really liked the new record. I think it's dope. I like this, and I mean we I've texted you all this ship before, but no, I like that um, you that you're not. You play a lot younger than you are. I think, you know what I'm saying. What I mean by that is just like I think a lot of times exactly and I mean right, and I mean a lot of times people in the A C or urban contemporary they kind of aged themselves too early. You know what I'm saying. This is like, dude, you I look at somebody like Charlie Wilson that can sing over whatever and be timeless, you know what I'm saying. And so the thing that I do like about your record is that you're doing stuff that would be considered young, but you have the flexibility to do it. And the ship is dope and like there's only nine songs like is I mean honestly, I started as an EP and then I thought, oh we could keep going, and then we just kept going. But the record to me feels like my records in the nineties, you know, with Obvious and you Got It going on and the Chucky Records and the Keith Crouch records. I love those records. So for me, it was about presenting something that was a little bit different, you know, and talk about Tiffany because I don't really know. I heard of she is a young woman. UM, producer, songwriter, singer. Um, we did the whole record together. Um. She has records out, she got a new single out right now. Um. And it was exciting to me to work with one person. I didn't know going into that that would Um that's what I was doing. You know, I had never done a record with just one person. Um, I'm getting ready to start working with a cat named Phil Boudreau. What come on, man? Do you understand how excited I am. Phil is he's one part of a group a o E, which is him and Dewan Parker. Dwan Parker as a producer, keyboard player. He used to be in Dre's camp, like back during like the Lost Ones era. I think that's him on the Lost Ones that I think, but like Lost Ones and all those records around that, like jay Z. I was like, wait a minute, not long now, jay Z Lost Ones? Um, but yeah, and so they have a group called ao E that is fucking amazing and Phil also as a producer, player, keyboard player, and he's just fucking stupid. Yeah that that ep I listened to it, Probably it's one of them, is my like my wake up alarm which one never know me? Oh my god, yeah, that's adding him to my Pandora right now. Field he has a solo I'm called ether this dope, but ao E is the Yeah, that's im. Get ready to getting ready to work with him. I'm very very excited about I won't end on that something some come with it. I'm excited. I told him I wanted to record just Dion Warwick record. Do you know this song? Um in between nahangs? You hold me close in y'alls insane? I don't know. It's a background song, insane. It is a beautiful record, and I can't wait to record it. I get excited, like but songs, yeah, never know. It's funny you mention that because never know me. I told him that that reminded me of a background kind of melody. It is gorgeous, isn't it. It's kind of like a Willy Wonka melody as well? You know what I mean. It's kind of like that record imagination in a way. Oh my god, that's a that's a that's a killer. It's a killer record. So I wouldn't pick your brain on just Quirky Ship. I feel like you're the person that like probably knows like Marlo Thomas is free to be you and me like ship Wow. Wow, I haven't thought about that in a long time. Yeah, but I mean it, I never I always wanted to avoid the cliche questions like where your desert island discs or whatever? But what are your desert out of? Video games? M alright? I'm a Final Fantasy person. But the last episode of Final Fantasy they sucked it up totally and turned it into like Entourage. It's like, it's like four dudes in a car. So I've never gotten found. I never got the Japanese. Okay, I have no idea what you guys are talking about the video games? Oh, and I do that that phrasing. I was just saying that I just gotta switch. That's pretty fun. I was looking at the switch, but I was like, I mean those little remotes. Are you still keeping for a switch right here? Oh? That's what I was. I was like, why do you carring like a clutch? The remotes are so small they don't make sense. I had to buy the pro control. You take them off for you leave yours on. It depends, I mean if I'm doing it handheld, Okay, So I had a handheld game like that before, which was called the Atari Links. Remember that? Remember I remember that? So are you like a Mari what's your I was gonna say, are you the Mario person? Are you the gun? All of those things? And like the First person Shooter? I like them, I get tired of them. I really miss um like really good full games with stories, you know what I mean. That's why I like the Last of Us. I started it, Oh my god, I got stuck in the warehouse. I never finished it. Yo, you gotta It's like the greatest screenplays. It was better than a lot of movies that came out. Now too, it is coming. So how do I get back on the bandwagon? Because I'm the guy that actually get a switch? I got like a stock of this stuff, like sitting in the closet. Never like, I'll give it away for Christmas? Keep it? I mean? Yeah, I mean, I got like everything, I still have everything. Can I even get back home on the bandwagon? Want to get back on? I mean I think I got a Merlin last week? Merlin. Remember Merlin Merlin? Yeah, my friend gave it to me for my birthday. You have Merlin Merlin? Now he's out on the porch. I was addicted to that. I have a broken one. You've been on my life and it's a game. It's a game system. It looks like a big red phone. Yo. Yeah, I'm seventy one. Yeah, yeah, there's that separates. Merlin was like Merlin right after that, you know, right after the like the home the first home system of television precedes like Simon handheld. You know, it's like the first remember that, do not. I've never seen you have a working Merlin. It works. Yeah, I cannot love you more than this moment. Rights to live nearby and about the airport? Where is oh man, my friend gave it to this in mint condition. I need to financial I need to google that person loves you to death, because there's one on Amazon right now. Do you remember that's cheap? Do you remember the game Einstein? It was like it was sort of like it was Simon, but it was like what the Jewish parents bought that we couldn't. We couldn't get Simon. They didn't want to pay for Simon, so they got it was like a rectangle and it had for for um. You know. Yeah, this is not a joke. That's called Einstein. Yeah, seriously after after Simon, it was like it was like it's like a person no super for remember that one everyone had Simon? Yes, did you ever get into played Doom? You're you're doing? I get My eyes were like, okay, I need people in the scenes. I want to be you know, I would play Call of Duty now, but generally I'm gonna get into a group and listen to everyone cussing and then hide in the corner and pick people off at the angles. That's what I'm gonna do. So for me, the shooters are like I get bored fast. Yeah, so Final Fantasy and then what else? What else you like to Mario, Zelda, you know, Talking Zelda, Donkey Kong, all of those. But I also like love Halo, and you know, I like a lot of the original games. I didn't like Destiny. I tried, I tried. It's not it passed over. It's not for us. What's that video game they made a movie out of? I just watched it on a lot of them, seriously, like the Battle Ratchet and Clay Now it was like a whole dragon. So the codes for like all the things palties and yeah, yeah, yet a new motor comeback now? Is like super fucking wrong now like super graphic. It's crazy. Yeah, I mean the way they snapped the heart out must be like real crazy. I mean the slow motion pan into the jaw breaking. I love that. Come here, so you're a gamer? What else do you do? Um? I have a dog? Um dog? I do. His name is Boston. What kind of dog? He's a b Sean. Huh what a b Sean. That's like a black name. He's like one of those dogs that was bred to entertain in the circus they have the fluffy little afro, the white dog with the fluffy afro carrying a Louis know. He's big and he doesn't look like that's he's super scrappy. And his name is Boston. I thought that would be shann And you know I'm djaying now I'm trying to talk about it. Wait a minute, I'm trying. And I had I had a birthday party a couple of weeks ago, and then battle Cat showed up and I was like, I'll just wait till you finish. I just wait. I'm certain that you can curate music as good as you sing it, and you have rhythm, thank you from your lips. I hope. What's interesting to me is to look at two records now that in my head before, like oh if I had if I, if I had a Janet Jackson acapella for when I think of you, could I put it over anything on the Weather Report? Eight thirty records? How can I? What can I do? Wait? Was that you that told me the great sash? Yeah, where he did return to Forever something from He played his fourteen minute return Forever song and came out of it and it worked central heating but by heat wave and it worked, and it worked like it was just the most cathartic experience because it's like fourteen minutes of just sucking chaos and then all of a sudden and it's like, oh, yes, I love those moments. That was that? It was will I would never try that. That's a holy grail moment for a DJ. Now I think the art of djaying really is. And you know, like parents sort of asked me, Now, you know, it's like there's a generation of of button pressure kids or whatever. So I don't know if I should enable them and just you know, create start creating a generation of DJ's that I'm gonna hate once they turned to understand. It's gonna happen whether you do or not. Right. But the thing is just that I tell them that, above all else one, you should really love music. That's that's the number one impetus. Yeah, and I think that the art of DJ really is knowing or at least having a good guest to which for any song you play, there should be five songs that can perfectly right and you're just playing some sort of psychological You're playing psychological control with your audience absolutely and telling them a story along the way. Like when we play we have we do sometimes we put rocket with you in the set, right, So at the end of Rock with You, we played that vamp. Do we stay there? And then I sing like fifteen Michael songs over that vamp, you know, and it maintained the melody just singing it in that key, you know, And yeah, you can do it, Okay. Yeah, talking to me about because we don't talk about it's talking me about covering. Well, I guess recovering I'm coming back on what was that like to revisit that years? I love that record and I knew going in that it was a song I wanted to record live because the arrangement that we have of it is so different from the other arrangements. Um. It was just one of those songs I knew, like when we asked people what do you what do you want to hear the shows that's the number one record that they want to hear, which is interesting to me because no matter how much people say, you know, maybe picked up the tempo to show a little and do this and do that, people want to come and be wrung out and they love that record. And that was that was never officially a single right now. No, no, you know Gary Taylor wrote that song. He's yeah, he wrote whispers and yes, he also wrote um the song that I demoed that he then gave to Anita Baker, which is good love you know that record, Thanks for that. I demoed that record for a knee to basically I did it for my record, and he's like, you know, my kids want to go to college. So I was like, yes, let's do it. So that was my first kind of sort of interaction with her. I was so excited that when I heard her she was singing it sort of in the way I was singing. I was like, wow, you know you're do you have the original? Do you have your copy of it? Wow? That inland? Yeah? Can you cook to Yeah? We shall go to dish over there lately. You know, I will make a chicken real quick. It seems simple, but yeah, I would just I would just make a whole chicken. What's your size? That would make some greens, you know. Oh you know? Wait, are you hijacking my my? Are you finding out for me? Oh? Yeah, that's what I was doing. But I think right now is a pot roast. Like I'm trying to really perfect the pot roast. I mean my first pot rolls my dudes is super meat and potatoes. Duty's from Nebraska, so he's from Wait, you said you made a pot roast. So all those posts, that was you cooking? Oh? I thought you were watching people cook cook. Okay, it's fun now that the pot rolls the crop pot is also a life saver to put it on and just like I like the big Dutch oven, I like to just cook it really slow. And now, so are you satisfied with life? Pot roast? No? Just and where you are right now? Are you satisfied? M I think all artists are insatiable, but are you? Is there anything left you know. Oh yeah, well, I mean, okay, that's that's a bad question. Ask is there anything every everyone wants the world domination, but kind of like the near on the heat, like that whole thirty seconds thing, like is there something behind you that makes you want the lot's wife turn around and just be like Okay, let me I want a number one pop single or just I mean, yeah, I want all that I want. I want to um, I want to see what my potential is. I'm on the path. Um. I feel like I'm just like literally, I'm singing for twenty years or twenty three years on record, and then one day I just sing a chord on a record. What will happen in twenty years from now? Like I don't know what's going to happen. I really want to realize what I have and I feel like I'm just at the top of it right now. I would agree you to me, you're one of the few people I know that it seems like you know, have a twenty pleasures in it really feel like you're just getting started. It is crazy to me, Like I know a lot of girls went like that, and I feel like I'm sort of you know, at times it has felt like it ebbed off and then it would creep up a little bit. But I feel like I'm on the path. I definitely would like the opportunity. Um there seems to be a weird like when I go to radio stations or when we do um pitches for TV, when we do all the stuff, people are always like, oh my god, we love you. I have your record in my car. I sang your father song at my father's funeral. Your record and your dad's record got me through divorce. All of these, uh, these monumental landmarks that people have me in their life, and it's hard to plug those in in a mainstream way. It's it's a it's a weird situation for me because like I'm from Chicago, they don't really play my records in Chicago on the radio. Whenever I go through Chicago, I make time to go to the radio station and meet everybody. I know, everybody. I've saying it everybody's kid's birthday. You know what I'm saying, Like everybody loves me, and there's no you know, I've been seeing these a lot of these same people. People like the idea of people, the concept of it, and yeah, can you not alone. I recognize that. Oh yeah, but see the thing is is as long as you avoid the crazy potholes and you don't seem like a person that I will say that. What really truly separates you from a lot of the contemporaries of yours that I personally know and in personal life male and female, is you don't seem to have, at least on surface, uh any any saboteur kind of spirit about you. You seem rather fearless and your approach to stuff mistakes can be made or whatever. Let me try this out. Let me okay, let me go with this good, Let me try stark you pupping, Let me go like you're just you're curious about it, and you just with reckless abandonment. You just you just indulge yourself in it, which is good because a lot of times, um, a lot of singers I see, they will second guests and talk themselves out of a good thing and that sort of thing and tailspin until you know it's fifteen years between albums. That's sort of okay. So before I wrap up, okay, oh well, yeah, we talk about your grammy multiple can I can I can I? Can I make this to my personal therapy moment. Okay, I'm gonna get over this, but it's just her and I in a room right now. One, how long have you had that gift? Since I was probably twelve or thirteen. That's the thing though, when I asked you, like in your loan and stuff, for you to perfect something like that. First of all, it's not no, it's in the shower. I'm in the shower, like what can I do with it? And I will show it to people What is this? What can I do it? And people are like, I don't know, it's cool, what can you do with it? And then I did it on a John p Key record and he kept it John p Key of all things. Yes, no, this is like ten years ago. He kept it and I did it as a joke at the end of his record. Yea being my friend. Yeah wait, I'm putting that out there. And if anyone knows how we can get the crash Cuts, I need him on the show. Crash Cut. It's a spirit. Let it modify in your life. He's a true focus on Jesus. Jesus. Just the fact that well I did it for him and he kept it, and then people said you should do it on records, and I said, well, it's not cool on a record because people can think you manufacturer can So when I do it live for people, and I can do it in key and it's in context, then people see it. But if you ever have watched that video of Snarky Puppy, I am realizing at that moment, Oh, I can do this. The first time is whack. Second time I started like, okay, just go for it. The third time it was clean, and then they changed keys and then I was able to change with them. I did not know what Corey was going to play, so that what is that called? What is that? I don't know. It's not called anything. It's funny. People on YouTube like that is polytonic. I don't know what. I don't know. Anybody else I don't know. I think I have, I have not heard it. So is it hard to produce on the spot, like like whistling on the mic? Whoa? Sometimes it's a fourth. Sometimes I can get a six, like a major six. Not that I asked you to do it. I had no idea what you were talking about until that the moment. It's feel ugly right now. You don't realize that she can harmonize with herself. Yes, but I didn't know specifically when you were, like, what is that that you do? And you should patent that I did not know what you meant now and that's since twelve you been able to do that. Yeah, in some form, it always just sounded. There are some things I'm working on that when I get them, they're going to be awesome. Like I'm really working on finding the fundamental note and then work in the overtone over that. It sounds like ship right now, but when I can get it, it's gonna be killer. I'm still working on those chords. They don't always come out like I like, and they don't always I'm not in control of the color of it. And right now I can still only do it or an you on our sound. So for me, it's not perfected. It's just something I still I just have in my back pocket that nobody else can do. It's just way my instrument is set up, way my instruments set up. But that's the thing though, Like you just did that so effortlessly. But I know you have to have a place of trial and error, experimentation, and where does that happen just right just now, I'm for real, you can do that where you can go I can't do it. You know what I'm talking about? That? Do it? Like when you or when you see something like that? What that? That? That one? Do that? That's pretty impressive. I was sincere but came off the opposite. But I think I can't do that. So I didn't know I could do it till I just tried it. Well yeah, yeah, I'm trying to learn how to sing overtones right now, right but this sounds crazy and everybody can't hear it, so okay, so so mm like I can hear it in my head. I know you guys can't hear it. I'm only getting a third and a fifth. So I'm working on that and one day I'm going to do it somewhere. It's kind of flower into this thing and people will say wow, and they'll be like, when did you work on I'll be like, can't the overtone? So so you are out of this world? Um? And and again not in an alien way or whatever, simply brilliant. Um. Can we just say we love each other now and we'll just be friends. Last time I saw you, you were, like you said, we started trying to help find a word. You said something and I said, I thought I told you that. I said, let's do what what What did we cover? Jolene? Yeah, And I said I've been telling you we should do that. And you said, yeah, but now we're friends. And I said, I thought we was friends. Yes, but one day I'll get over myself and and and and be able to be in front of your brilliance. Time I came to see you in D'Angelo in the studio that time during the Voodoo period. This was like six seven years ago. During the y'all were working listening to stuff. You don't remember. You have to remind me. It's we were in New York. I came about to hang out, have am I do with me and my cousin. You guys were working on some stuff, listening to some Michael Jackson stuff, all right, So obviously they weren't. They weren't working on stuff. They were just listening to him, just listening to Yes, Yes at a s MS at m SR like for the eight Street or something like that. Can I just ask you all the question that the music fans are thinking right now, like, is there any chance in the future now that we've ironed this ship out that we can get like some Rudes Layler ship or some like I mean, I just I'm sorry, man. I know you put on the spot, but I'm like, no, listen. What I want to make absolutely positively ten thousand percent clear, is that I've always loved Let's get to the work. I need you where you listening. But seriously, they want that's what they want, especially like as you know right now in the life and times, I just feel like there's something there. It's so nice to work with a band too. They never happened that. Yeah, because she has the job, you don't have to. Yeah, I'm not bullshitting. Yes, I would love to work with you. Let's do it. There's a radio show that we're documenting for the world to here is like we have like a million listeners right now. Uh yeah, Leila, I thank you so much. I thank you. Two questions. It goes so fast, doesn't it. It goes over. It gets over so fast. It's nothing when it's right, when it's done right. Um. So I hope this question doesn't anger you because I don't know how you feel about this particular record, but your very first single. Some people don't like talking about their very first records. So Inside the Beat, Oh, I didn't know this record existed until So Inside the Beat was a demo that we didn't even give that demo to the people to get a deal. So whomever boot like that and made it into a single. People come to me and say it made it. I loved you since the eighties, and I'm like, well, no, I didn't have any records on the just Born. Yeah, that record came out, and then I did a Japanese cigarette commercial where I recorded night and Day and they made it into a record. It's for sale now in Japan and it was for a cigarette commercial and when you buy it, that explains the cover. It doesn't make any sense. That makes absolutely just like two random white people and you know it's a it's a Jackie. So it's a dude with a Teddy Bear and a ham and a bar smoking a cigarettes. I don't know what it's for. But that record, I'm just scatting at the end of it acapella and they kept it for the record. So a lot of things happened in the eighties, but that record is so uh, that's a funny record to me. I have to find that now. Have you ever heard it. I've never heard it. I didn't know what exists until like a couple of hours. Let me just sing you to hook inside the beat. It's time. It's a super super disco type you know. Occasionally I got throw it into a DJ. It's super eighties. Don't judge me when you hear I'm gonna love it probably. Yeah. And my final question, um, how did you hook up with Martin ware and uh Ian the I can't remember his name? People? Yeah? For um, after my first record, I did a lot of records. They were one of the groups of folks that approached me and said, hey, can you come and be on a record? And Billy Preston was there, and um, we record that slide tune. I don't even know. I just got really lucky based on my first record. People came to me that I would not have associated with the type of music I was recording, Like Marcus Miller came and I started working with him until now you know, so, I don't know, um how I got so lucky. I just always thought that was kind of a strange pairing. I mean, the end result was great, but yeah, it's not one that I would have think I have a record out now, I would cat call Mr Jukes you know that record? Um, it's a really interesting record. I don't know how this kid knows who I am. You know. Uh, he's a huge star somewhere else in the world and I made a record with him, and I don't know how that happens. I have lots of records. People say, I have all your albums, even the obscure ones, and I'm like, no, you don't. There are records that I'm on in Japanese that only came out like in Fukuoka, Like really, you know, so I got. I just keep getting lucky. What's your favorite market? Tom? I love Atlanta, I love Tokyo. Um, I haven't been a whole lot of places. Actually, um l A is becoming one of my favorite places to play. It was a hard place to play in the beginning because people would just come sit and look at me, you know. Um, but that happens everywhere I go. Like there's a certain amount of people in the front row that are just kind of like in some sort of weird I see your father trance, you know, which I recognize. It's all right. How did the Mary tour end up going? It was cool. It was a lot of fun. It was great to be in front of her audience, even though I know that part of that audience is kind of my audience as well. Every night my DJ would say, how many of y'all this is your first Layla hat the way show? And a lot of hands went up, and that told me like, I'm in the right place, you know, I'm getting in front of Yeah, that's awesome. I'm good. Okay, uh well, Layla anyway, anyway, anyway, thank you, thank you? Anything else? What was the song we worked on at Electrical Lady? First time I met you? It was like a was it a Mary J. Blige record that I was? Which was that producing Mary J. Blige and Stevie Wonder? No, No, No, it was I think a Christmas song? Maybe you drop that though that happened once? Was it might have been a cover of of This Christmas for some like I just did I just did that for Spotify for the first time. Wait, what year was it you remember? It would be the late nineties something like that or early two Remember who the session was with? No, I don't remember much of anything. I don't know. I feel like I've always known you. I don't know if I ever tell you that there's something about you that I feel like I have always known, and I don't know what that is. He's every engineer you've ever met. No, but you you remind me of this kid I went to high school with named Todd Heckman, who gave me a lot of records. There's something about you I connect with, not I don't know what that is, alright, Maybe it's the records. Maybe I'm going over to your house and have you have you have you fulfilled your bucket list as far as the people that you've wanted to almost work with, almost left, I mean ships, a lot left. I mean, but if I got hit by a bus today, I have to say, well we did. Prince did, Billy Preston, Anita Shaka, Vince Mendoza, Herbie, Wayne Dizzy H Wow. I don't know, um, I really there's a lot of people left, and now we got to work together because I don't want to be on the I don't want to. I already already know. There's there's a few people I really want to work with. It I talked to every time I see them about working and I know it's not gonna happen to go around Stevie. You haven't worked with him yet, not officially. Man, I would have thought he would have been the first one he came. He's he's you know, yeah, we we always talk about it. He's got a song for me. I need to go. I need to call him. I'm gonna call Aisha. I'm gonna keep calling. I'm gonna keep trying to do it every time. But I don't know that it's gonna happen in a minute. And it's okay, yeah, wait wait now I'm thinking that's the thing. Now, I'm thinking what song would she be good for? No, because one time I heard him trying to give Knocking on your door to Jennifer Hudson really and I was like no. I was like, no, no, no, say that Jennifer husband. But it's that song. Yeah, jealously you know what? I think I might know one. We have to we have to can't play it on there, damn. Okaya says really Stevie, stuff going on. We would never say that, And thank you never throwing us under the bus on your own radio shown. Yes, even the Pandora people are looking at you. You say, wan, Yeah, I've got some unreleased boys literally Stevie J. Some utterly Stevie J tracks that he did for the Mr. Dalvin record. It came out on neck, it came out, it did Mr Dalvin. Yeah. R Dalvin had at a morph and single was called Actually that's why he did those DJ Blad interviews by himself. I was wondering why, like he was getting the star of treatment, like he had a project out, but well that was this, yeah, it was. It was back in the day. No, no, that that horrible. It wasn't heard him saying he joined His Mr. Davin jams was always the soundtrack jams, like his soundtrack jams, like one true o g that was on Dangerous Mind. There was there was another one was my ship. You know what, I want an episode where YouTube just Cisco and Ebert wherever that is, whoever that is Cisco and Ebert, every R and B record now that's watching these two like go Gaga over I've never heard of before, obscure B sides and soundtrack songs you never heard of Mr Belvidere alright, so yeah so Stevie, yeah, alright. There's a lot of people though, you know, because when I made people to say I want to make a whole record with you. They don't say we want to make a song like That's why I came to see D'Angelo that night. He's another one. I keep telling him we should make the black Ish record. Ever, we should do it now, while we're both living. We should both we should do it now. Give her her chances of what you think. Every time he says it, he says, you know, I love you, I want to do it. Let's do it. But yeah, it's more. Angel was on the show for three words. Nothing were we We had a wager. What was the wager everybody was going to get? It was a hundred of thousand and a thousand dollars Christmas bonus. They said that I could never get de' angel on the show. And it just so happens that de' angel had to stop by the studio to pick something up nice and one of a little bit, and then he went out for a pack of cigarettes and never came back. Right pulled the black duddy on us, the black daddy anyway. Uh yeah, I thank you for coming on the show. Thank you, thank you. I had so much fun with you. Thank you, thank you. I really wanted to do this for a long time. We've been trying to be trying to catch you and stuff. Thank you so much for doing this, fante and making it happen. How you're gonna be here forever. We're shooting forever forever, well not forever. I mean we're going to do a couple more episodes and then you know, I'm in town to like today you go bowling or something. Yeah, I live here, let's go. Where do you live? Hollywood? So yeah, I thank you for coming on the show. Appreciate it, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate it, and we will we will work in the future. So on, behalf of the team, Supreme crew on, behalf of the team. You're not part of the team. You got tired. You ain't gonna say our names. It's not usually be like Bill. You know, we want some individual credit, all right, So Sugar Steve and and and Boss Bill in Fontagelo and sweet Feet, Yeah it's feet, all right, it's gonna be so yeah. Actually lately we we sort of did work together. Now to think of it, does not count that well, then then you and Nancy Wilson didn't count. Then does count record? Technically we worked together because of the Hidden Figure soundtrack that the Roots just totally remade. Uh oh, I can't wait to hear the whole thing. Yes, it's it's freaking awesome and we're going to release it for a record store day. Yeah. Um. And this is your contribution called Surrender and favorite joined on the record. Yeah, thank you. What's Love Supreme? It's a production by Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Andor. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app Apple podcast Asked or wherever you listen to your favorite shows