Interviews: Tha Feedback Catches Up With Lil Mo!

We had the chance to sit down with Lil Mo for a phoner as we caught up with her about her latest projects, transitioning through different phases of life, and the latest scandals to hit the ‘Net. It was a HIGHLY enjoyable interview and I’ve decided to post the audio as well as the transcription of the interview.

Enjoy this hilarious, and at times spiritual, interview as Mo and I talked about Cassie’s scandal, why she’s called “The Godmother of Hip-Hop and R&B, her independent ventures, the balancing act that is her life, and most importantly, where she has been all this time! She also doled out some good life advice too!

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Lil Mo Interview with The IPS of Tha Feedback

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Lil Mo – “Dotted I (I’m Not Perfect)” from 2007’s Pain & Paper

Check the audio out above and also listen the song she sings a snippet of at the end of the interview called “Dotted I (I’m Not Perfect)” off of her 2007 album Pain & Paper.

Hit the jump for the transcription!

THA FEEDBACK: Alright cool. Well, thank you so for being willing to do an interview with me. I appreciate it.

LIL MO: Okay.

TFB: And um, I enjoyed our uh, our church chat. [LAUGHS]

LM: Uh, oh yes. I also went in last night. I had to get real churchified cuz I got the um, email about uh, what’s the girl name, that showed her boobies her [INAUDIBLE]

TFB: Cassie. Yeah.

LM: And I immediately went in and then yesterday, it was like, yesterday was just a funny day. I was just acting like my mother all day because I actually did go to church yesterday and um, this guy was prophesying, [LAUGHS] but none of em were accurate. So we was going off up in the studio last night. It was just a lot going on yesterday. So I just felt some type of way in my spirit. Oh my God.

TFB: Yeah. I was gonna ask you a question about the whole Cassie thing. I didn’t know if you stayed up on game like that, but I was like Ima throw one up in there just to kinda see what she says. [LAUGHS]

LM: Oh okay. Yeah, I get, my friend, he’s um, well he’s like my assistant. Everyday cuz he knows I don’t blog. But he’ll be like did you hear about it? He knows I didn’t hear about it. He’ll be like, so he’ll set me up, he’ll be like, wait til you open this. And so he knows I can’t open nothing from my Blackberry cuz I have the [INAUDIBLE] and my husband has the. So I have to either forward it to my husband cuz he knows it takes me forever to get to a computer. So by the time I open it, the whole world done known and I be like who’s… So he was just like, he’ll be like Cassie done shown her tail. And so then I’ll see it. And I was like Oh my God. And then um, me and Thad, that’s like my brother, he’s coming out, I’m having a live recording next week, so he’s coming down. So when I told him, he was like I have these pictures of her, Cassie, it was like something. I was like Oh God. This is crazy. I though that it was a hoax or a publicity stunt. Then, I was like wow. She really had her joints out. And then she released a retraction statement stating that somebody hacked into her computer. I was just like how do people just so happen to hack in your computer. Like how come ain’t mine ain’t never been hacked? You know what I’m saying? I mean, let’s be for real. Her real name ain’t, isn’t her real name like Cassaline, it’s something probably like Cassaline. Like that’s why I be like no she sent them out. She got her album coming out. And I’m just like everybody’s just mad for that genre, her demographic cuz we obviously gonna talk about her game no matter what situation was pending in her, in her life. She’s still the number one chick. So I would [INAUDIBLE] too if I was rising, trying to rise to the top. But I wouldn’t show my tail.

TFB: Right. Right. That’s exactly what…

LM: And it’s crazy cuz me and my friends was like nobody cared. [LAUGHS]

TFB: Right. I mean, we, I, I kinda talked about it on Twitter. I kinda made some jokes about it, but I wasn’t gonna post a pictures to my blog. I was like I don’t get down like that. You can go somewhere else but…

LM: Yeah.

TFB: But I was just like…

LM: Yeah. Cuz I was like the truth be told, that’s pornography anyway. Anytime it’s nudity, it’s nudity and anytime you show you crotch, that’s pornography. If you can’t show it on Nickelodeon, I ain’t lookin’ at it. I was just like oh okay. And it was nothing real big about her is that I ain’t never seen before. My dad has a statement he says in church. If you see something on me you ain’t never seen before, tell the Lord about it. And so, it was no need for me to go in prayer about her cuz I was just like oh okay. My daughter’s the same size and she’s 6.

TFB: Wow. [LAUGHS]

LM: Clearly.

TFB: I was gonna ask you. I was gonna say how, how do you, how do you compete with that? I mean, not that you have to per se, but I mean, it’s just obviously that’s gonna be a huge thing that everybody’s gonna talk about.

LM: Yeah. People always, they always doing things. And to me, it’s just like the trick of the enemy because this is when I get spiritual, but I don’t get deep. Like I’m married so the things that I consider sacred, that’s stuff that I have to have within my marriage. So, for anybody that’s single and that opts to do that to sell records, then that’s you, but I always feel that your body is your temple. The temple is which that, which houses your soul. So that shows how much respect people have for their soul, if they’ll just flaunt their nudity.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with nudity if it’s in a, in a artful way. Cuz there are pictures that I’ve taken that I’ve covered my [blush?] that I’ve um, showing my belly pregnant or stuff like that. I think if you’re doing it to be artsy, then cool. But if you have a camera phone and you taking pictures of your, your taco, and then I see a cord that’s plugged into the phone, then I’m just like okay. You already know what it is. You just trying, trying to just keep up. But I’m just like, if you doing something ain’t nobody did before, then I’m just like aight, bet. Let’s run with it. But who ain’t did it? Miley Cyrus did it. Everybody’s doing it.

So I’m just like okay. If this is the new thing to sell records then I’ll never put out another album. Like I’m not, I’m not going that far because I have a reputation. I have integrity. I have respect for myself. And then, the backlash that you get from it. Like I think that if you pose some Playboy, then cool cuz they can airbrush it, stuff like that.

And I’m not saying that she, she or anybody who doesn’t release pictures had a bad looking body, but I’m just like okay. It’s like I know chicks who’s badder than that and who’s sicker than that. Then, I know some people who, it’s, I don’t think it’s really that serious. So it’s like people would rather show it all and still not sell no records? Come on boo. Like what’s really good? Like I always look record sales are based off of sheer talent. We’ve all had a, a slip up, a wardrobe malfunction, but like why are they allowed to do it, but Janet Jackson got banned for it, like let’s be real. And Janet’s like how did she, she’s 50 and her body’s more banging than any of these little backside backwards shits. Like let’s just be real. Shoot. She got in mad trouble on for it.

[00:05:51]
TFB: We gotta change the subject cuz we gon’ talk about this the whole 15 minutes.

LM: Oh now. We gon’ talk about Miss Mo. Yes she’s here. Hey.

TFB: Yeah. This is about you. So, I mean, I was kinda asking on Twitter. I was like, does anybody have any questions for Little Mo and pretty much everybody’s question was where have you been? Where you been?

LM: Um, where have I been? I just was laying in the cut. I, I think as a artist and for everybody that’s aspiring to be one, there’s a period that I think everybody necessarily should take on downtime because you can’t get overwhelmed, you can’t get anxious, you can’t get to the point where you’re right at the tip of a nervous breakdown because there’s so much going on. There’s so much people in your life. And now, it’s to the 10th power. Now, they have blogs and stuff like that. Before, it was just phoners, interviews, in, in-studio interviews. Now it’s just like, somebody see you slippin’, then they, then next thing you know like, situations like this.

And the fact that, I don’t mind being talked about, mistreated, misunderstood cuz at the end of the day, I’m only human and I’m prone to mistakes. That, that’s the part I’ve come to realize. Then it got to the point that my children and my family were being subjected to it. It was just like people were coming to my dad’s church just to see, oh is Lil’ Mo gon’ be there? Oh, how do her, how do he let her sing R&B? He’s supposed to be a pastor. Then, my kids, like I would post a picture up on pages just to show these are Christmas pictures and people like, oh your children is grown. You should let them be babies. I’m just like, oh my God. Like are they serious? This my life.

So I was like let’s rewind and let me focus on what Little Mo wanted to do. Because then, there’s a big difference between Little Mo and Cynthia Bryant. Little Mo is the artist, the icon, the singer, the superwoman, the girl who don’t care. But then, Cynthia Bryant is the mother. That’s just like oh okay. I have to tell Little Mo sometimes. You need to fall back because sometimes you have to learn how to be and become who you really are.

And plus, once I turned 30, I was just like, it’s time to grow up. Enough of this joining in stuff and, and falling for everything and just getting my company in order and then really figuring out do I just wanna be known as a singer or do I wanna be known as a icon, a legend, a mother, a mentor, far as my relationship status. And it’s just, it was just a lot going on like 4 years ago. So like it was long overdue because child, if yall only knew behind the scenes. If yall only knew. So a break was needed.

TFB: Yeah. Just kinda from following, I know that you’re having some personal drama. And does that really take a toll on you and affect your musical output?

LM: I, I wouldn’t say it affects my musical output far as cuz I’m always gonna put out quality music. But I’m a person that whatever I’m going through, I’m gonna write and sing about. And it just seem like all of my songs had went from “Superwoman” to “Forever” to then start talking about. Then I started taking on this pain spirit, spirit of pain, and spirit and, and letting go of the, really of the humility love. And I was just like yo, what am I doing?

And I understand that music goes in cycles. They say like every 5 years. Then people be, then it goes through the male-bashing stages, oh I need a man. Then, it goes through the single ladies stage. Then, it goes through the independent stage, to back to love again. But I knew that my motto, ever since I started, because my maiden name is Loving. I always wanted to be about love. And then, when I started feeling like I was conforming to what labels had wanted me to be and what they thought I would make and be hot, I was just like hold up. I’ve never been a puppet. And when I felt myself being puppetized or felt like somebody’s hand was up my butt and they was ventriloquisting me, I was like naw. This is the part where I have to fall back.

And because I’m doing a lot of things independent with major distribution, I have more input. And so that’s why I felt like it was lot of things going on. Even with the Pain and Paper album, it was just a lot of things going on that I was like, this is not the way the industry goes, but that’s when I, I realized. I said maybe I need to humble myself a little bit more and still at the same point be a, be a mogul because a lot of people, soon as they see you humbling yourself and opening yourself to opinions, they just think that they’re you. And I had to shut that all down.

So, I have a whole new staff and actually with my new husband cuz I honestly was gonna stop singing. I was just like, I’ll just chill, maybe write a book or just write some songs. And then just ghostwrite and do some guest appearances. But my husband was like, no. this is a call. You have a call and a anointing on your life. You can’t just give that up and do that to God. So this has nothing to do with me wanting chill. We’re allowed to take breaks, but you still have to realize the gifts that you’ve been given. And I honestly had to repent for thinking that I, I shouldn’t still be singing because I didn’t want to do what everybody else was doing. So, that’s basically it.

TFB: Okay. So how do you balance running your own independent label? Um, it’s called HoneyChild, right?

LM: It’s HoneyChild Entertainment, Inc. in conjunction with Global Music Group.

TFB: Okay. How do you balance running that with all your other jobs of being a mother and being a songwriter and just everything that you do?

LM: How do I do it? Um, it’s, it’s like funny, but I make it happen. There is no way to I itinerize my life and say okay, today this. It just, it just happens. And the thing is is that, I have quote. Everything I do is family ori-, is like based around my family because I’m to the point where I consider myself established. And I’m not where I wanna be, but think I’m, thank God I’m not where I used to be.

I consider myself able to be my own boss and make my own rules and then, make my own schedule. Like if I don’t, now I’m to the point where I only do shows on the weekends, like Friday, Saturday, and then I have to be home by Sunday because my husband is the Minister of Music at our church. So we have to be home and then school on Monday and then everything else. Because I still have to run my company and make sure that I stay a household name, I have to know when to fall back and when to get back in the forefront. So it’s just about, can you hear me…oh hold on. Can you hear me?

TFB: Unh huh.

LM: Okay. Sorry about that. It’s just about making, it’s just about making it work for you. A lot of people, they like people to pack their schedule with stuff and then they’re just doing a whole bunch of nothing. I don’t, I don’t feel that I still need to do that. Cuz I used to be going all the time and I used to be like why am I sitting in the hotel room just cuz they want to save money on a flight and I could be at home chillin’. And then, it’s just all about just being organized. That’s, that’s one thing that I can assure everybody, that I’m organized and seldomly ever late. I’m always on time and usually, if I’m gonna be late, it’s not an excuse. It’s something that must’ve come up and I usually give a ample timely notice when uh, it’s a problem.

So it’s just, it’s just the way I live my life. I’m a mila-, ex-military brat. So it’s just like certain things are customary with me. And that’s, that way, I just love being organized.

TFB: Okay. So you, you’ve been in the business for a long time and…

LM: Yeah. This will actually be, yeah. How many years have I been in it? Since 1999. This is my tenth-year anniversary professionally.

TFB: Tenth years. Wow. Wow.

LM: Yup.

TFB: And of course, growing up in the church, you’ve been singing for a long time.

LM: Yeah, since I was 5. So that’s really 26 years.

TFB: Wow.

LM: So…

TFB: So, how do you remain, I don’t, I hate to use the word “relevant” per se, but how do you remember, how do you stay at the forefront of people’s minds? Like when they’re working on their albums, what makes somebody say oh, I should go get Little Mo to write a song for me? Like how do you keep yourself…?

LM: Because it, yeah. Because in the meantime, between time, I’m always doing something. Like on my downtime, I’ll always like, I’ll do radio or I’ll post something or I’ll still stay in the public eye. And um, half the time, I usually take a break. It’s either, I’ve either just had a baby or it’s always something going in my life that I think is new and fresh. Like lemme see.

The first time I took a break, I would say that’s when my daughter Heaven was born. But I, I wasn’t afraid, a lot of people. Everything, everything is such a secret to them. And I’m like why did you sign up for this if you, if everything is a secret. Or well, that’s a part of my life. I wanna keep it under wraps. Then, I’m just like well this is truly the wrong business. Being it’s just like joining the army and saying I might now wanna shoot nobody. Then, don’t join the military cuz if you have to go to war, it is what it is.

Then, everybody wants to be a conscientious objector. Soon as they realize, they’ll be like, there’s things in this industry that you might not wanna do. And I realize how to balance what I wanna do with what I don’t wanna do and make them meet halfway. So the way I stay relevant, and, and I would say, and how I stay current. Because there’s a lot of people who, they’re not relevant and even if they were, they’re not current.

They trying to say what’s up like I’m really not that computer savvy, but I keep younger people around me. Like what’s hot? What’s not? What’s fly? Cuz there’s a lot of people who are the same age as me and you’re like oh my God. Why they look so old? Like when I tell people that I’m 31, they be like oh my God. You still look like you’re in your 20s. I say stay young. I get rest. I drink a lot of water. I stay fresh. I keep my kids around me cuz they keep me young too. So I think, I would say the relevancy is by staying current.

TFB: Right. Okay. Okay. So, I gotta ask you this because the moment I saw it, I kinda scratched my head. How did you get the nickname the Godmother of Hip-Hop and R&B. You gotta explain that one to me.

LM: Well, hip-hop and R&B started around, I would say, we call, me and Fab are like the, we call ourselves like the millennium babies because we boast, I got signed in ’99, but my first album didn’t come out til ’01. So it’s just like me thinking that soon as you finish your album, it comes out. I learned really fast that just cuz you get signed, your album might not come out for years.

TFB: Yeah. Or ever.

LM: So, so it’s all about timing. Yeah. And then, sometimes you have to start all over. So, I’m like the millennium baby. But I would say from like ’99 on to about ’05, that’s when hip-hop and R&B was really merging. First was hip-hop. Then, it was R&B. Like I would say that the years that who’s a good friend of mine, Coko of SWV, that was like hip-hop, that was like hip-hop and R&B was merging.

So, when I came out like really like under that, I would say under that tutelage, I would say like Coko’s the voice, Faith’s the first lady, Mary’s the queen, I would say the Godmother. The reason being is cuz I’ve always been just motherly to a lot of people even if I don’t know them or not. And the Godmother is in my opinion, someone who’s not your mother, but you still value and respect their output and their outcome. Like I love my Godmother as if she was my own mother. So that if their mother wasn’t there, I could step in, so I didn’t wanna be like the surrogate mother of hip-hop and R&B.

But I’ve commemorated and penned and been a part of so many hits, I think I deserve the title. I wasn’t looking for it. But actually, I had did a pride weekend in um, DC I believe. And somebody was like you are the Godmother, you are the… And I was just like that’s it right there. And then, I just took the title and ran with it. So, I was just like hey. I didn’t make it up. Somebody, somebody ordained it to me and I just kept, kept it. [LAUGHS]

TFB: Okay. I’m not mad. Now that you explain it, I get it. But I would look at it and be like, what in the world? [LAUGHS]

LM: Yeah. No. A couple of people say what is that? Some Mafioso stuff? What’s up with everybody always trying to be like Al Capone? But I had did this video called “I’m Gangsta” like in 2002.

TFB: I remember. It was all black and white.

LM: And Chris Robinson was the first person to gimme like that. He was like I want you to have this godmother look cuz it’s like you have like a nurturing like feel about you even when you singing about keeping it gangsta. And back then, we wasn’t allowed to say gangsta on the radio. So that’s why it didn’t get radio play cuz they said oh, that’s when a lot of east coast, west coast stuff was going on. So, they was like oh, we don’t wanna play this.

So I really had to help pave a lot of way for a lot of things people can say on the radio now, I wasn’t allowed to say 8 years ago. So that’s another thing to attribute to why I should have like such a title. I’m not concerned with being no princess cuz princess and queens, they have to give up the crown one day. But I can always be like the Godmother and stuff. So that’s really cool too.

TFB: Right. Right. Okay. So the new album, Tattoos and Roses: Rebellion Against Pain. Talk to me about that.

LM: Um, lemme see. This is um, this album is the reason why honestly I had to take a break. I had to learn and I had to get not such, so many things to talk about, but I needed to find a way to tell people really how to live life. I think that um, so many people are attracted to pain. That’s why they do what they do. But I think that if you go against pain, which isn’t necessarily pleasure, but then you’ll find out how to really love yourself.

Everybody attributes tattoos to, every time people see me in my tattoos, they be like, ooo did that one hurt? And I’m like now. Half the time, when I would get tattoos, I would get them at a time when I was upset or something. So, I would think that would equalize my pain and be like well, if I’m mad, then this tattoo’s not gonna hurt, which was honestly my own reasoning for doing what I did. Which wasn’t a bad reason, but I don’t think you should hurt yourself because you’re looking for attention or because you’re being hurt. So the roses represents that.

Everybody thinks when someone gives you flowers, they’re honoring you. But sometimes, when someone gives you flowers, they may be about to cheat on you, rob you, steal from you. I’ve had some people around me who have done wonderful things for me, but next thing you know, they stole all this equipment outta my house or stole money out of my safe.

So I’m just like, now just because you think of a tattoo don’t always acknowledge pain, just because you think of a rose don’t always acknowledge pleasure. So, it’s almost like making the two into one, like pain is love. So just to sum it all up, it’s just like sometimes you have, everybody has to go through something. If you ever meet anybody in life that say they ain’t never been through nothing, I would run away from them because even Jesus himself was with his homies for years and they turned they back on Him. And He knew which one it was. That’s like, when you really get on a spiritual tip, sometimes the people that’s closest to you is gonna kiss you and, and wish you dead. But, but when you, when you really look at it, it has to happen. It’s not like, like oh you say, that person is a Judas, the people that turned on Him. Judas was born to do just that. When you really get back to the history of it, a lot people are like oh, why did God do that, wrap himself in himself and blah blah blah. Like because other than that, there would be no redemption for our souls. So this is the redemption album that we don’t have to suffer no more.

I’ve been married and divorced, but I’m married again. So, I believe in love. So, I’m rebelling against pain and saying, oh, because you thinking that all men are dogs. There’s no such thing. Dogs attract dogs so if youse a dog, then you’ll attract another dog. If you like being dogged out, you’ll attract people that like dogging people out. So it’s all about switching your energy and attracting things that you really want in life. And you can really have what you want. As long as you pray, put God first, and then put yourself in a position where you deserve to be treated like you really wanna be treated.

Cuz there’s a lot of people who are talking ‘bout, oh, I’m going through this and I can’t find a good man. And I’m like stop looking because you’re actually doing the mathematics wrong. It’s a man who finding a wife findeth a good thing. Now, if you looking for a friend, then cool, but you can’t, you know what I’m saying? So, it’s so many things, so many different ways we could go with it. But to sum it all up, I would just say that sometimes the pain you going through is the greatest love of all.

TFB: Wow. Okay. You preaching today.

LM: It’s like, you know you be trying to break it down and like I’ll try to break it down to the, to the last iota of it. But it’s like me and my husband, when I say we have intellectual conversations and they’re not deep and spooky cuz we’ll be acting all crazy and be like yo. But we, we call ourselves the great debaters because we’re very opinionated, which I think is great.

But then at the end of the day, it’s all love cuz it’s like sometimes people put, are in relationships they know that aren’t healthy that they shouldn’t be in, but they do it cuz they don’t wanna be alone. But what is loneliness? They don’t, sometimes people don’t like dealing with themselves. That’s where loneliness comes from cuz at the end of the day, nobody’s really lonely. There’s somebody for everybody, but people would rather put themselves through heartache and pain and then cry on somebody’s shoulder just for attention. But wait til I get, when I start my radio show, which should be in the next couple of months, that’s when everybody’s really gonna be like they love me.

TFB: Right. So you, so you are gonna do another. Cuz you used to have one, didn’t you?

LM: Yeah. I had a afternoon show, but I’m probably gonna wind up doing mornings because I wanna be, me and my friends, we were saying, you should call it like a, Morning with Mo. Almost like, they was like Mo, you just make me feel like you’re my cup of coffee like people need their coffee in the morning. So I want them to hear what I have to say just like they need that coffee that they think gets them through the day, but it’s really that caffeine that keep your nervous system all crazy. But I live for it still. I ain’t lying.

TFB: Okay. Okay. Okay. So, um, man, you just, you just see, you just got me, you got me all wrapped up. Okay. So, since you preaching, let me ask you. Are you ever gonna do a gospel project?

LM: I am, but I would say I, uh, it probably won’t be for probably like, this album is a double cd. It’s gonna be live and studio. Then, I’m gonna, I think it should be a merge instead of just okay. I’m done with R&B. Now, Ima start doing church music because I think it has to be, it has to be a merge because the, I would say the demo and the genre of music that I’ve been in, the majority of my fans are probably now between the ages of, cuz I have people come up to me that be like 10-years old, oh my God. “Superwoman” is 8 years old, but I remember when I was in the, kindergarten, I was singing it. So, I’m just like wow. There are certain things that are like just timeless.

But I feel that for this time, I would say, my 18 to 34 year olds. Once my 18-year olds are probably like 21 to 25, I would say probably like within the next 5 years, I’ll think I’ll do gospel cuz they’ll be ready for it. Cuz right now, people still, oh my God. Can you still sing “Forever”? Are you gonna do this at your show? Because I have to, I wanna get to a place where I’m, I’m comfortable with doing gospel because gospel is, is more than just singing church songs. Like that’s a, you have to live it. I’m not saying I still won’t booked to do, can you sing at my wedding or whatever?

But I think a lot of times when uh, let me see how I can put it. There’s a lot of gospel artists I know that’ll be like, I wish I could do R&B cuz yall make more money and gospel bookings, they’re fickle and this and that. And it goes to show that there’s a lot of people doing certain styles of music just for the money. So it’s like I want it to be a point where it don’t even be about the, be about money or well how much it costs to book you. Cuz really when you do gospel, you go out to preach. You’re not even supposed to charge a price. So, I want it to get to that point where I’m called upon and I just go do the work of the Lord because so far, only God has been sustaining me anyway. Like man’s money, I spend that up so quick. But really, God’s love has sustained me all these years. That’s why I was like shoot. He betta stop unsustaining or else Ima take another 4 years off. No, I’m just kidding.

TFB: [LAUGHS] So, I read in your bio that when you were growing up, you weren’t allowed to listen to worldly music, which my mother was the exact same way. What was the…?

LM: At all.

TFB: At all. Yeah. At all. And once I’d gotten like older, I remember my first time I went and bought a secular record, I had to sneak and go buy it.

LM: Oh my God. If you only knew how we had to sneak.

TFB: So what…right. What was your first secular album or single cassette that your remember buying?

LM: Um that I ever purchased? That I remember buying? I would say was probably Faith Evan’s first album. And I’m trying to see if I still have, I think it was, cuz see all I have right now is, this is what I have in my cd changer. I have Karen Clark-Sheard, the Clark Sisters, Faith Evans. I’m really not a album connoisseur or album purchaser. I bought Faith Evans because I had, I remember I had just moved, I had graduated from high school. I was 18 or whatever. Well, no, I had moved up to New York when I was 18. And I’m, I’m trying to think like wow dag. Cuz time flies. Yeah, I had just turned 18 and it was like 1994 around then.

And I was staying at my aunt’s house. And I was listening to Hot 97 and I remember when I lived in North Carolina wasn’t allowed to listen to it, which, which, I used to be thinking oh, mama mean. But honestly, I’m glad she didn’t let us listen to everything because when you realize your teenage years are your most [INAUDIBLE] and learning years. Ain’t no telling. I woulda probably been out there dropping it like it was hot, acting all crazy. And I can’t say what I coulda been doing. Cuz I’ve seen a lot of people grow up in church and then go totally left. But I’m glad I didn’t get buck wild. I ain’t do nothing crazy. I’ve always realized like don’t do anything that, that’ll, not saying that you’ll regret, but just that won’t haunt you later on and keep haunting you. So I remember buying Faith Evan’s first cd and that was like my first R&B purchase.

TFB: Okay. Alright. I think my first one was, I think I bought Deborah Cox’s first album.

LM: Aw man.

TFB: So who have you collaborated with on this new project.

LM: Just basically myself. Me and my husband are doing a song together and then whatever we do at the live recording. I think that I’ve collaborated with enough people that, I just think people just wanna hear me. I think a lot of people like hearing me and Fab together, but with us, with our careers, with his, him being more hip-hop and mines taking the more R&B approach, to more focus on gospel, I think it’s good that we’ll do shows together, but not saying that we grew apart, but I think it’s, I think we grew up. So it’s time for me to just do things by myself this time. And maybe some remixes, maybe I’ll do a remix album with everybody on it. But I just wanted to do, and it’s less paperwork. When you have to deal with other people, even if they don’t charge you, it’s so much paperwork you gotta go through and label clearances and stuff like that. I really didn’t wanna go through that this time cuz that takes longer than sometimes actually recording the album.

TFB: Your husband plays instruments and, and things so that you guys are collaborating on writing the songs?

LM: Yeah. He’s actually the executive producer and produced the whole album. Every song. Him and his brother, they have a crew called the B-Boys. My husband is younger than me. So he has like, I call him the new, fresh ear. Remember when Rodney Jerkins first came out like he had that smash sound? He gave Brandy all those smashes. My husband has like that anointing and that ear. Like he is so, he is so talented. And he’s working on an album too, but we’re gonna release his a little bit later before he’s waiting, just waiting for mine to pass over. Get that out the way and then he’ll be executive producer. More people will come to him and he’s gonna do, okay God’Iss, then um, more people will know who he is after that. But he’s the truth.

TFB: Okay. I hear you talking to your kids. I know you gotta go. Gimme something for your fans. Gimme a message for your fans that I can put at thafeedback.com.

LM: Lemme see. This is what I, this is like what I tell everybody everyday. Um, I tell people, when people show you their true colors, believe them. Don’t try to change them. That’s, that’s basically, don’t try to change anything. And the steps of a ordered, a righteous man are ordered by God. So don’t try to change your steps. Just know the direction you’re going. There’s always a left and there’s a right. Always consult with God first and He’ll take you the right way so it doesn’t take you, it may take longer, but it won’t be wronger. So that’s a little Ebonics. So, it may take longer, but it won’t be wronger. Cuz sometimes, people try to take their own way. And you may get there quicker, but then you got so much stuff to deal with, trying to be so fast.

TFB: Good one. Okay. So can you sing anything real quick and I always ask for a little snippet on anybody that I interview. So you gotta throw something out for me. Then, I’ll let you go.

LM: Oh okay. So I’ll sing a little snippet of this cuz this, this is also my favorite song and my favorite part.

TFB: Okay.

LM: [SINGS] That’s on the album.

TFB: What was that?

LM: That’s “Dotted I.”

TFB: Got you. Got you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

LM: No problem.

TFB: And I hope that we can keep in touch and whenever you put your single and stuff out, please stay in touch, I would love to post it.

LM: I will.

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