When I get involved, I give it my heart, I mean my mind, my soul, my body: I mean every part. But if it doesn't work out, yo, it just doesn't. It wasn't meant to be, you know, it just wasn't.
Most of all, what I've learned is I need to share what it is that I know. And it's the whole reason I've done what I've done for as long as I've done it. It's that I'm able to use what I know in order to help someone else grow. And that's exactly what happened on Sisterhood of Hip Hop.
If you love someone, you should say it often, You never know when they'll be layin' in a coffin. Wake up, it's important that you know that No one on Earth is promised tomorrow.
For me, I guess, just learning that just because there's not a whole lot of female MCs on the front lines being supported by major record labels doesn't mean they don't exist. It doesn't mean they don't have the drive and the competitive nature and the will and the way.
What is happening right now? That in itself, is an exercise. Because you can get caught up in yesterday and tomorrow and missing their moment that they're actually in.
I'm in school every day. It depends on what it is that you do with all that free time when I'm not on the microphone. I'm reading, I'm studying. I love documentaries. I love learning what I don't know. And of course, I wouldn't suggest that particular lane for others.
When you say you love me, it doesn't matter. It goes into my head as just chit-chatter. You may think it's egotistical or just worry-free, But what you say, I take none of it seriously.
I'd say if you can, seize the opportunity, to go to a college or university and strengthen what it is that you have.
It's hard to make it one piece of advice. For me, what's most important is you kind of choose your point of view.
Hip Hop Sisters is going strong. Our signature initiative is #EducateOurMen, whereby we have the pleasure, the enjoyment, as well as having received the blessings from above to send young men to further their education.
However, I'm older, wiser, more mature, and can deliver the rhymes in a different way. Because I guess I have a more holistic viewpoint and approach.
I just like to be in the now. And kind of reporting on what it is that I see, feel and that's really reflective of the times that I'm in, we're in and I think with the latest works, it's still evident that we're going through a lot of the same things.
[I like to read] spiritual books, non-fiction, fiction, I have my moods.
I was enrolled to attend Norfolk State University and then my career kind of kicked off.
I just got a chance to see strong tenacity and a desire to be on top from some young women who have never seen six, seven women signed at a time to major record labels. But they believe that they can put their footprint in hip hop in a major way.
I grew up listening and looking up at these people and laughing at Carol Burnett and singing James Taylor songs. And same with Smokey Robinson. So they were such a huge influence as a child that to actually sit alongside them and perform on the same bill was an amazing experience for me.
It just felt like all the excitement in the world was in the building [at the Democratic convention].
We wound up taking my enterprise inside marketing, branding, management, finances. We went in there [Sisterhood of Hip Hop show] and taught them a little bit about everything in hopes of them being able to have some takeaways that they'd be able to use in the future for their own careers. And I think we were pretty successful.
I had a really good time on the show [Sisterhood of Hip Hop]. Most of all, what I've learned is I need to share what it is that I know.
I'm quite sure that they've got everything in the world going on, but when you're in their presence, you feel like you're the only person on the planet. They [ Barack and Michelle Obama] definitely know how to be present.
I'm usually slow to move in these sorts of things [like primary election process ] because I need to know as much data as I possibly can. And then also, I think you know watching the DNC, several people said it's really not about one person and it's certainly not about once cause or one issue that needs to be tackled. It's the culmination of many thoughts, many ideas, but also power that needs to be combined and the efforts need to be combined.
I've met them [Barack and Michelle Obama] before at fundraisers and things. But to actually meet them in the space where they dwell and make the most important decisions is a totally different experience.
[Democratic National Convention] was high, it was exciting. The hotel that I stayed at, they had music in the lobby and [Hillary] Clinton life size cutouts.
I was invited back to the White House. I'm excited about that visit as well.
