Speaker 1: Hey, b La Talk fifteen eighty. That's the Poetus on
Speaker 1: the mic. I know, you know, but not only on
Speaker 1: the mic. She's in the studio. She started on radio
Speaker 1: at age five on KDAAM that was the sole station
Speaker 1: back in the Bay and her dad was a DJ there,
Speaker 1: popular DJ Johnny Morris. He's a well known engineer. She
Speaker 1: followed in his footsteps, went to La got on the
Speaker 1: air at Bailey broadcasting hip Hop Countdown Report, but also
Speaker 1: obviously one of the early early West Coast MC's. I mean,
Speaker 1: the bio is long, so we're gonna do it live
Speaker 1: on the mic. Poet is good Morning.
Speaker 2: She's also the more Studios and also an old co
Speaker 2: worker of Dominiques. Yes, indeed the old radio station we
Speaker 2: were at together and a lot of people thought we
Speaker 2: were the same person.
Speaker 1: Yeah they did. They used to mix us up. It
Speaker 1: still happens, actually happened to me.
Speaker 2: I always get the Tupot credit and always oh man,
Speaker 2: you were on Tupot. Nah, that was my girl Dominie.
Speaker 1: Interesting. Yeah, well, I don't know what they credit me for.
Speaker 1: They always just they think I'm you. I had a
Speaker 1: guy introduce me as you on the mic about six
Speaker 1: months ago had a poetry slam. It's wild, right, and
Speaker 1: it's like and with us tonight, ladies and gentlemen, the
Speaker 1: poet is And I'm like, I love the poet.
Speaker 2: Is, but I'm not the poet.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm not even a poetist.
Speaker 2: But you are.
Speaker 1: And you started you started doing poetry when you were
Speaker 1: a little kid. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I wrote poetry at a very well, I guess about
Speaker 2: eight or nine I started.
Speaker 1: And then you kept it going onto and you know,
Speaker 1: an actual record deal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I turned it into turned my poetry into lyrics,
Speaker 2: got with Def Jeff, and the rest is kind of
Speaker 2: history as far as my rap career. But I soon
Speaker 2: got into radio again after that.
Speaker 1: So yeah, but I mean you made I think the
Speaker 1: first time we met was me interviewing you for my
Speaker 1: television in the Bay Area. Yes, as you know, when
Speaker 1: you were on your wrap front. Yeah, how do you
Speaker 1: feel when you hear that song? Now?
Speaker 2: I still think it's beautiful. It's my tribute to black men,
Speaker 2: and I just love that song. It's like one of
Speaker 2: my favorite songs on the album. The album is out there.
Speaker 2: I did release it digitally a couple of years ago,
Speaker 2: and you guys were speaking about Ai earlier. I said, hmm,
Speaker 2: I can take the music out now and redo put
Speaker 2: some new music up under their old album. But no,
Speaker 2: I think the original album is great. A lot of
Speaker 2: good producers that were starting out then that are doing
Speaker 2: bigger things now.
Speaker 1: So yeah, you know, I when I listened back to myself,
Speaker 1: you know, but way way back, I used to wrap,
Speaker 1: I think, oh man, that sounds corny. But Alonzo Williams
Speaker 1: was telling.
Speaker 2: Me that's the baby theory.
Speaker 1: You have to embrace it in the context of the
Speaker 1: times that that was it. I can't expect it to
Speaker 1: sound like you.
Speaker 2: Know, and there weren't a lot of I don't think
Speaker 2: Bay Area female rappers at that time, so you were
Speaker 2: kind of like at the forefront of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I never had a deal I did. I
Speaker 1: shouldn't even say this. There is an EP out there
Speaker 1: somewhar with me on it, but you actually signed to
Speaker 1: a label and you know, toured and did the whole,
Speaker 1: the whole thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was one of the first female rappers on Innerscope.
Speaker 2: I was on a boutique label under Interscope just before
Speaker 2: Death Row got there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that was people. It's you know again, it's
Speaker 1: hard to put it in a context because it was
Speaker 1: so different back then than it is now. First of all,
Speaker 1: we didn't have so many artists at all period like
Speaker 1: now you have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of artists.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And the difference I think back then too, is
Speaker 2: you had a variety to choose from. You had your
Speaker 2: fun rap, you had your political rap, you had your
Speaker 2: dirty rap. But now it all seems like kind of
Speaker 2: the same.
Speaker 1: Do you think You don't think we still have all
Speaker 1: those kinds of raps. They're just not getting played on
Speaker 1: the radio.
Speaker 2: That could be.
Speaker 1: But I I mean, you know better than I do. You,
Speaker 1: I mean, much better job of keeping out of what's
Speaker 1: going on.
Speaker 2: I really don't, to be honest with you, with the
Speaker 2: new music. I'm still stuck in the in the nineties
Speaker 2: and eighties at early two thousands.
Speaker 1: Say that, But you got Anderson Puck and yeah, those
Speaker 1: guys are great, Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2: But I mean in terms of the variety, I don't
Speaker 2: see a lot of it now.
Speaker 1: Well, I you know, I always hope there is variety.
Speaker 1: I see it. I don't track as much as I
Speaker 1: used to at all, either, but I see it when
Speaker 1: I go out, you know, to clubs or whatever, or
Speaker 1: when I see when i'm when people send me stuff
Speaker 1: sometimes online, when it comes to the radio or what's
Speaker 1: you know, making the big playlists on Spotify. Yeah, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of uniformity, and it's clear that the labels
Speaker 1: are in control. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, I kind of feel like the artists now they
Speaker 2: have more I think leverage when it comes to their
Speaker 2: music now. Really, all the label is doing now is
Speaker 2: just kind of giving you that extra push in terms
Speaker 2: of marketing and uh and promotion.
Speaker 1: Maybe I should have said streamers, yeah, because they're really
Speaker 1: the gatekeepers now right.
Speaker 2: Really, you can get your music out. It's the thing
Speaker 2: now is marketing. You know, before you need it, the
Speaker 2: producer you needed, the A and R person, you needed
Speaker 2: this and that. But now it seems like those things
Speaker 2: are obsolete and that it's it's all about the marketing now.
Speaker 2: And a lot of times the labels, I feel, are
Speaker 2: looking for people who already pretty much have a following.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean we just see that in the in
Speaker 1: the entertainment business. You know, agents signing actors based on
Speaker 1: their followers rather than their skills.
Speaker 2: That's the same thing with the same thing with hip hop, I.
Speaker 1: Believe that to be true. But I mean with the
Speaker 1: fact that the streamers can manipulate who has sales and
Speaker 1: who doesn't. That's the reason I say that I think
Speaker 1: they are playing a gate care.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 1: I mean you I think what you're saying is you
Speaker 1: can still break through if you've got that you know,
Speaker 1: if your little nas X and you got that following
Speaker 1: and you know how to get attention in this digital world.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1: So I want to you know, lately, even more than usual.
Speaker 1: And this is really because when Bone Thugs and Harmony
Speaker 1: got their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it
Speaker 1: really made me start to think. And I was having
Speaker 1: some conversations with some women that I know that were
Speaker 1: around back then about the way that women's roles are
Speaker 1: minimized in hip hop. I mean, I you know, Bone
Speaker 1: Thucks and Harmony is a great group. They would have
Speaker 1: been a great group no matter what. But you know
Speaker 1: because you were there that you know, me and Mari
Speaker 1: Alma were the ones that brought Eric too into the
Speaker 1: beat because management wasn't trying to talk to him.
Speaker 2: And then from I remember when he first played bone
Speaker 2: for me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, same, and I.
Speaker 2: Remember when he first brought them to the radio station.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, right, and that happened because me and Mari
Speaker 1: Alma put him in touch with management. Then he got
Speaker 1: the Ruthless radio show. Then he started playing whatever he wanted.
Speaker 1: The point is that at that particular function, the people
Speaker 1: that were there weren't even on the radio back then,
Speaker 1: and those of us sitting at this table.
Speaker 2: It's always been kind of that way just through not
Speaker 2: just in radio, but it's just pretty.
Speaker 1: Much no, not just radio. I'm not right about radio. Yeah,
Speaker 1: talking about the entertainment industry, hip hop specifically. You should
Speaker 1: have been there. I should have been there. The person
Speaker 1: that was on the mic is a great radio host,
Speaker 1: but he was working as a security guard at the
Speaker 1: time that came out. The other person that they're giving
Speaker 1: credit to wasn't even on the radio. The other station
Speaker 1: wasn't even on the air. So you know, I'm not
Speaker 1: a bitter person, but I feel like that is an
Speaker 1: example of the way that women, particularly Black women, are erased,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to sit here and let that happen.
Speaker 1: While I have a microphone. I want to amplify the
Speaker 1: roles that we played.
Speaker 2: Yes, I again, I think I also supported a lot
Speaker 2: of artists. The good thing about me when I was
Speaker 2: working at the Beat, the programming department really gave me
Speaker 2: freedom to play what I wanted to play, and that
Speaker 2: was rare. None of the other DJ's really had that luxury.
Speaker 2: So I was able to break some records and play
Speaker 2: what I thought the LA audience would like.
Speaker 1: So I feel, I mean ericat Easy had that luxury.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, no, the mix shows and the DJs the.
Speaker 1: Had that luxury, and a lot of times they still do, right.
Speaker 2: Not as much now everybody's got to play by a
Speaker 2: playlist and it's corporate now, and then the mixed shows,
Speaker 2: even the mix shows are controlled. Interesting.
Speaker 1: But anyway, to your point, you did have a lot
Speaker 1: of freedom, and not just freedom, you had knowledge right
Speaker 1: of knowing who to give a shot to, of knowing
Speaker 1: who to call. And that's why I call you a
Speaker 1: hip hop historian. I don't know if you call yourself that,
Speaker 1: but I know you keep the receipts, you keep the interviews,
Speaker 1: you keep all of the video. I don't a lot
Speaker 1: of that stuff. I don't have it anymore.
Speaker 2: So I know I have an archive of interviews that
Speaker 2: I've done over the last on to say, almost forty
Speaker 2: years now since I started. I was just saying, how
Speaker 2: wherever you saw me, you saw me with my recorder,
Speaker 2: my camera or something. So I was able to document
Speaker 2: a lot of the especially the West Coast hip hop
Speaker 2: in general, but primarily the West Coast history. So I
Speaker 2: had the opportunity to interview a lot of the legends
Speaker 2: before they pass, like Mixed Master Spade and Roger Clayton
Speaker 2: of Uncle Jam's Army. So and I will say, I
Speaker 2: am so blessed to have been around during that time.
Speaker 2: There's no way I would have wanted to be born
Speaker 2: in the two thousand. The poet is is here.
Speaker 1: We got a lot to talk about. I got questions
Speaker 1: she's got to answer. We're talking with the poet is
Speaker 1: aka Felicia Moore. She's also the owner of Morris Media Studios.
Speaker 1: She helps people learn how to do podcasts and she
Speaker 1: produces podcasts.
Speaker 2: Actually, I think I should.
Speaker 1: Be mad at you because everybody's got a dog on podcasts,
Speaker 1: and who knew that everybody wanted our job? I mean
Speaker 1: even Barack Obama got a dog on podcast. Can y'all
Speaker 1: go get another job and let us radio people have
Speaker 1: the mic?
Speaker 2: Please? Right? Right?
Speaker 1: But you know.
Speaker 2: I think it's awesome also a good thing because people
Speaker 2: can express themselves. A lot of people have stories to tell.
Speaker 2: I really enjoy being in the podcast producer space.
Speaker 1: Do you ever get anybody that's just like, no, no, dude,
Speaker 1: you do not have it Because some people really don't
Speaker 1: need to have a podcast. I'm sorry, call me a broadcast.
Speaker 2: No. Yeah, I think those people don't get it. They
Speaker 2: don't get it. It's like, you really have to know
Speaker 2: who you're speaking to. You really have to have a
Speaker 2: reason and a purpose for doing a podcast. Some people
Speaker 2: do it because it's the end thing to do now,
Speaker 2: and some people just like to hear themselves talk. But
Speaker 2: it's really a good tool if you is.
Speaker 1: It right, Morrismedia Studios dot com.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so yeah, if.
Speaker 1: You're not boring, or you are boring and you're really
Speaker 1: rich and you want to have a podcast, Morris Media Studio.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll get you in the right lane. We'll get
Speaker 2: you not boring, right, We'll get you to where your
Speaker 2: passion is and what you want to share with people,
Speaker 2: because at the end of the day, when someone is
Speaker 2: listening to your podcast, they're gonna want to know what's
Speaker 2: in it for me. Am I being entertained? Am I
Speaker 2: being inspired? Am I being educated about something? So it's
Speaker 2: really a production just like your show, Just like any
Speaker 2: radio show. It's a production that you have to spend
Speaker 2: time and you know, commit to.
Speaker 1: Funny forensic accounting two five nine says, as much as
Speaker 1: I love him, Kevin Hunter worked the hell out of
Speaker 1: the industry on Wendy Williams career, Dominique, who's your Kevin?
Speaker 1: You belong to the Radio Hall of Fame just as
Speaker 1: much as she, Yes, you do, thank you. But I've
Speaker 1: never had a manager, I've never had an advocate, and
Speaker 1: you know, Easy helped me when we first got here
Speaker 1: a little bit, just as a friend. But you know,
Speaker 1: I've been in these radio entertainment streets out here by myself,
Speaker 1: and I'm very very grateful that I've been able to
Speaker 1: work continuously and do what I love to do every
Speaker 1: day on the mic. You know, would I like to
Speaker 1: have more money, Yes, Would I like to have a
Speaker 1: national platform, absolutely.
Speaker 2: And all those things are still possible, Dominique. What you
Speaker 2: had that others don't as longevity you have you have?
Speaker 2: You know, your name is known everywhere nowadays. People last
Speaker 2: five minutes. You don't know even And that goes for
Speaker 2: the music too. I was listening to Shout Out to
Speaker 2: DJ Battlecat. He was spending the other night somewhere and
Speaker 2: just the music he was playing was just so bomb.
Speaker 2: And I say, you know what, there's no really no
Speaker 2: music today. I'm not going to say all music, but
Speaker 2: some after they may last a week or two, would
Speaker 2: never beyond a year. You know, well, but there is
Speaker 2: there is hope for R and B music.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to co sign that because I feel
Speaker 1: like there are talented m c's. But I understand what
Speaker 1: you're saying, not not, I mean.
Speaker 2: We're not making classics. I would say less classics. Name
Speaker 2: a new artist that you can still remember their song
Speaker 2: from last year, a year before last. I mean J Cole, Well,
Speaker 2: he's an except I love by the way, yes, and
Speaker 2: I'm already I'm like on his older album.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, there's somebody I'm not arguing. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna argue rap with the poems because she knows way more.
Speaker 1: No you do to you, I do, I do.
Speaker 2: It's an opinion.
Speaker 1: So but you know, I was asking you how you
Speaker 1: feel hearing your music. Now I'm glad you still love it.
Speaker 1: You were definitely one of the first on the West
Speaker 1: Coast to record and tour and be signed, right.
Speaker 2: Can you do you think that? Is this just me?
Speaker 1: Do you think that women get the credit for the
Speaker 1: roles that we played in the industry back then, whether
Speaker 1: it's as artists as you know, in front of the
Speaker 1: mic or behind the mic, because you've worked in both capacities.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think women get as much credit because
Speaker 2: we are behind the scenes. Well, a lot of us
Speaker 2: that are making power moves are behind the scenes. And
Speaker 2: it just it's just it's just when I was first
Speaker 2: starting out young and didn't know nothing, I was like,
Speaker 2: what is sexism? I ain't experience sexism while I'm doing
Speaker 2: what I do, and I was doing what I do.
Speaker 2: But as it got older and more knowledgeable, I go, oh, okay,
Speaker 2: had I been mail, this would have been this way
Speaker 2: or that way things would have been. Even now, dealing
Speaker 2: with clients and people that I associate with, it's just
Speaker 2: the whole different thing when they're dealing with a woman
Speaker 2: versus a man. And I'm a tough cookie, I don't play.
Speaker 2: I do things for the most part my way. But
Speaker 2: I don't think women get the credit that they deserve
Speaker 2: for all the things. Just imagine pulling women out of
Speaker 2: let's say just the entertainment business or music business. Would
Speaker 2: there be a Jackson five? You know, you got to
Speaker 2: think of Susan d Pasz. You got to think about
Speaker 2: women that were behind the scenes, that were making stuff happen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, you know. And it's not just credit. Some
Speaker 1: of it is opportunity. I mean, you're you're braver than
Speaker 1: I am because you to hang out more, you know,
Speaker 1: and you know, create more friendships with other with artists
Speaker 1: and stuff in the industry. And I I always felt,
Speaker 1: you know, alike at a disadvantage because if you did that,
Speaker 1: you got to be a tough cookie like you. And
Speaker 1: I'm you know, I don't know if I am a
Speaker 1: tough cookie.
Speaker 2: You are.
Speaker 1: I can be, Yeah, don't mistake my kindness for weakness,
Speaker 1: for sure are. But as far as you know you
Speaker 1: hang out, it's like, well, why are you here? Are
Speaker 1: you an artist? Are you somebody's girlfriend? Are you a groupie?
Speaker 1: And whereas if you're a man hanging out there, you're
Speaker 1: just one of the fellas, And a lot of industry
Speaker 1: opportunities come out that way, right, You're hanging out there,
Speaker 1: kicking it, they're smoking a blunt, they're doing this, they're
Speaker 1: doing that, and they're building and somebody gets a job
Speaker 1: and somebody gets an opportunity, and a lot of times
Speaker 1: we're not in those spaces because I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: be labeled as a groupie or a hoe or somebody's
Speaker 1: girlfriend or you know, and I'm not an artist, so
Speaker 1: I don't have that is really down to let me
Speaker 1: I'm a writer.
Speaker 2: It's really how you carry yourself to like if you
Speaker 2: walk in a room and you have like this, you
Speaker 2: you know, command respect about yourself, that you're carrying yourself
Speaker 2: and that you're not like chasing these guys or whatever.
Speaker 2: It's really how you carry yourself. Because I've been in
Speaker 2: spaces where I was warned before I got there. Like
Speaker 2: when I worked temporarily for MTV, they sent me out
Speaker 2: to interview Lil Wayne, but they gave me this warning like, oh,
Speaker 2: he's this, he's that, be careful whatever, whatever, and so
Speaker 2: but when I got there, he was like one of
Speaker 2: the most respectful artists that I've ever interviewed. So it's
Speaker 2: really how you carry yourself. You know, when you walk
Speaker 2: into a room.
Speaker 1: Okay, we can do a whole show on that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's how I feel like. And then you command
Speaker 2: your respect. It's like they can think what they want
Speaker 2: to think. But if you're there to do a job,
Speaker 2: you're there to do a job.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if you're there to do a job, you're there
Speaker 1: to do a job. But if you're there hanging out,
Speaker 1: you might get a job and you were just hanging out,
Speaker 1: that's my point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, if you're just hanging out, that doesn't got
Speaker 2: your limits.
Speaker 1: But what I'm saying is that's part of the glass ceiling,
Speaker 1: because you're less likely to be hanging out. You know,
Speaker 1: you might get invited for other reasons, or you might
Speaker 1: not get invited. I'm not I guess I am complaining,
Speaker 1: but I'm not bitter. I just see that as a
Speaker 1: reality of the industry. And as someone who has been
Speaker 1: as you well know, you know, a survivor of a
Speaker 1: sexual assault in the context of the industry, perhaps that
Speaker 1: made me give me a little shell shock about putting
Speaker 1: you know, whether I command it or not, putting myself in.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm sorry that happened to you, Domini. I really
Speaker 2: am sorry.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's it, and I don't like to make
Speaker 1: it seem like the reason I bring it up is
Speaker 1: not because oh woe is me. But if you're getting
Speaker 1: into this business and you think it happens, it's not
Speaker 1: all good. It's not all good.
Speaker 2: I love my job. I love the business.
Speaker 1: But yeah, understand that that you know.
Speaker 2: Happens, and you gotta be careful and you got to
Speaker 2: be aware of what people's motives are. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 1: Potus is here. I want to talk about some of
Speaker 1: the titans, some of the movers and shakers in the
Speaker 1: hip hop industry, especially women, but all of us on
Speaker 1: the West Coast k BLA Talk fifteen eighty. The Poetus
Speaker 1: is here. We are talking hip hop, and we're talking
Speaker 1: about your career and women in hip hop. These are
Speaker 1: all things that I just I feel like while I'm
Speaker 1: on the mic, I gotta keep saying this stuff because
Speaker 1: no one else will, at least not anybody that was
Speaker 1: there to witness it like you were and I was.
Speaker 1: So do you think are you on team hip hop
Speaker 1: has a birthday? Like? Do you celebrate August elect Because
Speaker 1: I don't. I think hip hop. I think every day
Speaker 1: is hip hop's birthday.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I also feel it that's New York's birthday with
Speaker 2: my last birthday, you know, because really a lot of
Speaker 2: people don't know when New York was giving these basement
Speaker 2: and backyard and park parties. So was the West Coast
Speaker 2: thank you, you know.
Speaker 1: Thank you because I was at those, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean with the linoleum and the card yes, and
Speaker 1: the you know, little drinks and bags.
Speaker 2: Yes. I just think that I don't know if we
Speaker 2: can actually pinpoint a day where someone named it.
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to hate on cool Herk. I just
Speaker 1: feel like hip hop was like mushroom spontaneously popping out
Speaker 1: of the ground all over US. I do believe it's
Speaker 1: the US black phenomenon. I know that there were Latinos
Speaker 1: and Asians there from day one contributing. I'm not hating
Speaker 1: on that. I saw it with my own eyes. But
Speaker 1: I just I don't know this idea that on this
Speaker 1: day and this one project, well, they.
Speaker 2: Probably have to do that really for marketing, for you know,
Speaker 2: capitalism whatever.
Speaker 1: Miles likes it because it's his birthday, you know, August eleventh,
Speaker 1: So I.
Speaker 2: Get that, but I'm mad at that.
Speaker 1: But like, to me, what is your hip hop origin?
Speaker 1: Story is the better question.
Speaker 2: My hip hop origin story began when I moved to
Speaker 2: LA in nineteen eighty five. I met this female rapper
Speaker 2: named Lisa Love. She was the backup singer for the
Speaker 2: LA Dream Team, but they didn't allow her to like
Speaker 2: really do her skills. I mean, she was Puerto Rican
Speaker 2: sister from New York, but she rapped like no other.
Speaker 2: I was just like blown away when I heard her rap.
Speaker 2: And so I was writing poetry at that time, and
Speaker 2: so her and I we're gonna get together and write together.
Speaker 2: And unfortunately she passed away before we had the opportunity
Speaker 2: to do that, and so I just kept on, you know,
Speaker 2: writing and you know, rapping. Of course I was horrible
Speaker 2: back then, but Jeff helped me home my s no ugly.
Speaker 1: Babies, No ugly babies. I love that. I got that
Speaker 1: from Alonza Williams. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because it was
Speaker 1: what it was.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So my origins began in mid eighties sort of,
Speaker 2: you know, where I really started getting interested in the scene.
Speaker 2: And then by that time, when I moved out here
Speaker 2: from the Bay Area, you had people like Egyptian Lover,
Speaker 2: LA dream Team and Uncle Jam's Army and world class
Speaker 2: record crew, they Toddy T mixed Master Space. They were
Speaker 2: all doing their thing when I got out here, And
Speaker 2: when I came here from the Bay Area, I really
Speaker 2: literally just jumped in the mix because my dad was
Speaker 2: already on the air out here on KGFJ and I
Speaker 2: got into the mix earlier. And I just feel like
Speaker 2: I'm glad I got into hip hop at the time
Speaker 2: that I got into hip hop. And so my origins
Speaker 2: begins when I met a sister named Lisa Love, and
Speaker 2: she inspired me to want to become a rapper. Yes,
Speaker 2: and she was so dynamic. And then I teamed up
Speaker 2: with Deaf Jeff and he kind of was my mentor
Speaker 2: and helping me. Yep, I still talk to Joff. Shout
Speaker 2: out Deaf Jeff. Shout out to Deaf Jeff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, So we were talking. We've been talking about
Speaker 1: the industry and a little bit how women get I
Speaker 1: would say, erased in ways that we should not. And
Speaker 1: you mentioned, you know, Lisa Love and how she helped
Speaker 1: you and you helped her. But we were also talking
Speaker 1: off the mic about how sometimes it can be tough
Speaker 1: the way women are pitted against each other or the
Speaker 1: way they pit themselves against each other.
Speaker 2: Or they'll say we already have a female rapper in
Speaker 2: our group, or that was kind of like how the
Speaker 2: labels were too back then. They'll sign one female rapper
Speaker 2: and right, that's it.
Speaker 1: We have our black women, thank you very much, and
Speaker 1: we only need one.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, So and then we kind of were talking
Speaker 2: about how, you know, sexism also exists between each other,
Speaker 2: like there's times where females don't support each other like
Speaker 2: they should.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's not just in hip hop, but it's true,
Speaker 1: that's an entertainment business and business.
Speaker 2: But there are some supporters. I mean, I have some
Speaker 2: great female mental so I don't want to say, you know,
Speaker 2: there's not that either. Right.
Speaker 1: My take on it is that the sisterhood is real.
Speaker 1: You know, you and I have supported each other over
Speaker 1: the years, and there's many other women that have open
Speaker 1: doors for each other. But I think we're groomed to
Speaker 1: not do that. Right. It's the reality TV of it all.
Speaker 1: It's the Real Housewives of hip hop. It's the you
Speaker 1: know the spectacle of women fighting and cat fighting, and
Speaker 1: so I like to talk about it from that perspective
Speaker 1: of we don't have to buy into that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, we don't. We do not. I've maybe had
Speaker 2: a few female haters that I can think of off top,
Speaker 2: but for the most part, I've had a great sisterhood.
Speaker 2: I've had some great female mentor shout out to Legie
Speaker 2: a lot who gave me my first intern gig at
Speaker 2: RCA Jive Records, and also to Kathy Hughes. A lot
Speaker 2: of people, you know, have things to say about her,
Speaker 2: but I have nothing but respect and a good friendship
Speaker 2: with her. Oh I'm so glad to hear that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, next topic, Okay, you know I did work with
Speaker 1: for miss Hughes when I was on Steve Harvey Moore.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing, is like that she is a
Speaker 1: radio pioneer.
Speaker 2: Yes, And I'll say this, she probably had to do
Speaker 2: and I'm gonna I'm not just saying her she had
Speaker 2: to fight and do what she had to do to
Speaker 2: get where she is now. And I'm sure she fought
Speaker 2: because she started I think maybe in the early eighties
Speaker 2: she started a company.
Speaker 1: If I'm not mistaken, it might have been before that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but yeah, No, she was in radio because she was
Speaker 1: at Howard and all.
Speaker 2: I just think she she had to go through to
Speaker 2: get where she is now. In a male dominated situation.
Speaker 1: I agreed, And you know what, I admire her for that.
Speaker 1: I think that the important thing for me is that
Speaker 1: we yeah nineteen eighty you're right, Radio one started Urban
Speaker 1: one now October third, nineteen eighty boom. Yeah. She was
Speaker 1: an historian. Yeah, and I get that. I just refuse
Speaker 1: to you know what, I'm not going to say that.
Speaker 1: I'm going to I'm going to keep it classy. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: you keep it classy.
Speaker 2: The other thing, too, is like you can't let being
Speaker 2: a woman being an excuse for not succeeding. Like we
Speaker 2: can say easily that we were hated on or discriminated,
Speaker 2: but we have to find a way to get passed.
Speaker 1: No, I don't think it should be an excuse either.
Speaker 1: But what I'm trying to do is shine light on
Speaker 1: those who did the work, who are doing the work,
Speaker 1: because to me, that's the remedy. You know, whether you
Speaker 1: made it or you didn't make it, that's subjective. The
Speaker 1: question is if you did the work, are you getting
Speaker 1: the credit right?
Speaker 2: And so that's so that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about being embittered or going oh I
Speaker 1: would have been you know, Charlemagne the Goddess. If it
Speaker 1: wasn't for these sexists, well, if that's not what God
Speaker 1: had that, if that wasn't my assignment, I do believe
Speaker 1: my blessings have my name on them. But I do
Speaker 1: like to shine the light we were talking about. Jacqueline
Speaker 1: Anderson says, miss my bro general Jeff when it comes
Speaker 1: to hips.
Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, and he raised me not only just a
Speaker 2: hip hop pioneer, he was actually a very outspoken homeless advocate.
Speaker 2: So I love me some General Jeff. Yeah, rest in
Speaker 2: peace too soon.
Speaker 1: So on that note, we were talking.
Speaker 2: In general Jeff. By the way, for y'all they don't know,
Speaker 2: was part of rotteno in Joe Cooley.
Speaker 1: Right right right right right before he turned before he
Speaker 1: turned into a dedicated homeless activist and sort of stepped
Speaker 1: away from the hip hop world. Poetus is here when
Speaker 1: we come forward, I want to shine a light on
Speaker 1: some women that we think deserve more respect. I mean
Speaker 1: Kathy Hughes's legendary. People do know her. She has created
Speaker 1: a radio empire in as you say, a man's world,
Speaker 1: so we give her respect for that. But I think
Speaker 1: most people know about miss Hughes a radio one, But
Speaker 1: there are some folks, and we won't get to all
Speaker 1: of them, but I want to shine the spotlight on
Speaker 1: at least a few that should get more love. We're
Speaker 1: doing that all morning because Poetus is here.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, you're.
Speaker 1: Listening to Klap fifteen to eighty. Felicia the poetis Morris
Speaker 1: is here. You can find her at Morrismedia Studios, Morris.
Speaker 2: Media, morrismediastudios dot com. You can find me at og
Speaker 2: poetis on Instagram and on Morris Media Studios, also on Instagram.
Speaker 2: If you are looking to even if you're just thinking
Speaker 2: about a podcast, hit me up on an email. I
Speaker 2: do do free discovery calls where we can just hash
Speaker 2: out your idea. Email me at contact at morrismediastudios dot com.
Speaker 2: Even if you've just been thinking about it and trying
Speaker 2: to decide if it's the thing you want to do,
Speaker 2: let's talk about it.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, all right, stop looking at me.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: Before we do some shout outs here to women that
Speaker 1: deserve it, I have to ask you the question that
Speaker 1: I've been pondering, which comes first, the hip hop or
Speaker 1: the politics? Does the politics influence the rappers? In other words,
Speaker 1: the activists on the streets and or those lawmakers, or
Speaker 1: is it the artists and the hip hop movement and
Speaker 1: the music that's influencing the politics.
Speaker 2: I definitely think it's the politics influencing the rappers, because
Speaker 2: I remember, like back in the late eighties early nineties,
Speaker 2: we had a lot of political rap. I even considered
Speaker 2: n WA to be a political group, even though some
Speaker 2: people think otherwise. But we pretty much reported what was
Speaker 2: going on in politics, especially like with Public Enemy, they
Speaker 2: always talked about Bush and things of war and things
Speaker 2: of that nature. So I think hip hop was sort
Speaker 2: of a reflection of what was going on politically at
Speaker 2: that time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, in many ways still is whether you
Speaker 1: like what's going on or not as much.
Speaker 2: Though I don't hear very many artists talking about Trump to.
Speaker 1: The good to the bad. I mean, I'm talking about
Speaker 1: like Nicki Minaj going all up in under his coat
Speaker 1: tails and people seeking pardons and such. So we might
Speaker 1: not think of it, you know, necessarily always on the
Speaker 1: positive side, but it's still embedded in the in the
Speaker 1: political world.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I just was mentioning to you because we
Speaker 2: were talking about women women's roles, and I want to
Speaker 2: shout out to all the black women fighting in Washington
Speaker 2: every day that are just you know, standing tall and
Speaker 2: strong and just forced to be reckoned. With a shout
Speaker 2: out to all the black women officials and politicians.
Speaker 1: Summer Lease, the Maxine Waters is, the Ayanna Presley's Yes
Speaker 1: we see.
Speaker 2: You, Jasmine Crockett, AOC, all of them that are just
Speaker 2: standing up to the man, not the man, the man
Speaker 2: poet is.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's let's do some you know, we don't really
Speaker 1: do shout outs, but let's do some shout out. I mean,
Speaker 1: one one such I would say is Sheena Lester, who
Speaker 1: happens to be one of your best friends. Yes, but
Speaker 1: she's one who's been in hip hop for many years
Speaker 1: and I think probably doesn't get the shine she should get.
Speaker 2: No. Sheena was the editor in chief of Rap Pages
Speaker 2: back in the early mid nineties, and she really was
Speaker 2: one of the most ethical people that I met and know,
Speaker 2: because I know at that time people were paying for
Speaker 2: magazine covers and that kind of sort of thing with
Speaker 2: other hip hop magics.
Speaker 1: Right back when, back when the record labels used to
Speaker 1: have a lot of money, they used to throw it
Speaker 1: around right people.
Speaker 2: They used to be having pies. They would send me
Speaker 2: out to interview people out in different states. I loved it,
Speaker 2: but Sheena didn't play that. She You had to earn
Speaker 2: the cover, you had to earn the story. I remember
Speaker 2: she did a review and she didn't personally. She hired
Speaker 2: writers to do a review, and someone gave an unfavorable
Speaker 2: review to Tupac and he called our house. We were
Speaker 2: roommates by that time, and he called and left a
Speaker 2: threatening message on our voicemail. I think we still might
Speaker 2: have that that little mini cassette somewhere with that message
Speaker 2: on it. But yeah, he called and threatened Sheena because
Speaker 2: he got an unfavorable review.
Speaker 1: And of course she's still writing and doing her thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's editing. She's still one of the top editors
Speaker 2: in the business. She's worked went on from Rap Pages
Speaker 2: to work with Hip Hop three sixty when Russell's Women's
Speaker 2: put that out. She also worked a Vibe and and
Speaker 2: The Grio and a bunch of other publications. So I
Speaker 2: would say editing is her passion. But she's also passionate
Speaker 2: about black brewers, so she's kind of moving into that
Speaker 2: that lane of supporting black brewers. What a name.
Speaker 1: A couple other women that you think are underrated and
Speaker 1: or don't get the shine. They shouldn't dominy. Yay, Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you girlfriend.
Speaker 2: Think about that one.
Speaker 1: I think about a Cassandra Ware that was her name
Speaker 1: from Ruthless Records. She did a lot of work there
Speaker 1: building a label, worked with Easy Yes, but she don't.
Speaker 1: I didn't see her at the Hollywood Walker firm Harborer.
Speaker 2: I just haven't seen her in a while.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not sure what she's up to, but she
Speaker 1: she was a vice president at Ruthless.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I will say this, live your passion, do
Speaker 2: your passion, and don't worry about getting the credit. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's what is credit at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: Is that gonna? I mean, I'm not saying everybody wants
Speaker 2: their credit and they're just due, but a lot of
Speaker 2: us get caught up on I can get my props,
Speaker 2: you don't.
Speaker 1: No one wants to be a bitter old pioneer. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that, right, but we have the mic, so
Speaker 1: let's show.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I I'm trying to think, like, really, I
Speaker 2: know that Sheena was one that was instrumental in writers.
Speaker 1: You know, Danielle Smith. I guess she gets a lot
Speaker 1: of love.
Speaker 2: She could get more.
Speaker 1: You know, she's from the baby no getting no comment.
Speaker 2: She hated on my girl, so yeah, t T.
Speaker 1: But she's an other writer, y so someone who was
Speaker 1: there in the early days and that she was indeed.
Speaker 2: Her just do props to so but yeah, m hmm.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well we only have a minute and a half here,
Speaker 1: but I since we're not gonna do a shout out
Speaker 1: list what.
Speaker 2: I wasn't prepared and sometimes I'm not that great off
Speaker 2: the top of the head, but I do want to
Speaker 2: shout out all the women that have encouraged me. Shout
Speaker 2: out to my mom and and the women that gave
Speaker 2: me opportunity. And maybe I'm out of like a block
Speaker 2: now because we were and always have kind of been
Speaker 2: in a male dominated field. So any like major moves
Speaker 2: or promotions for me were done by men. Unfortunate.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm not mad at that, but but you
Speaker 1: still unprevailed. Okay, So I we only have thirty seconds,
Speaker 1: so I can't I was going to ask you how
Speaker 1: you were feeling about this Tupac trial happening now, but
Speaker 1: we don't really have enough time. You can give me
Speaker 1: just one sentence for reaction. If I just think it's
Speaker 1: it's a circus at this point. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: all of this information was known back when he first
Speaker 1: passed away, So why are we dragging this out?
Speaker 2: What is it thirty years? Forty years now?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so the question is what are we doing? It's
Speaker 1: thirty I think. Okay, yeah, so what are we doing?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, okay, good, Remember to hit me up at
Speaker 2: og poet Is and Morris Media Studios if you're thinking
Speaker 2: about doing a podcast. That's what we do all day,
Speaker 2: every day.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I mean, actually we did pretty good. We
Speaker 1: still got another minute if you want to say something else. No,
Speaker 1: but that was kind of my reaction. And Miles Stt
Speaker 1: was talking about why now, you know, just in turn
Speaker 1: time for you know, the thirtieth anniversary and all this
Speaker 1: marketing type stuff, and my thing was I felt kind
Speaker 1: of so I'm hoping that I'm just not jaded, but
Speaker 1: I think hearing you say that, maybe that's it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: if you have been doing for the past.
Speaker 2: Three decades, well known knowledge over the decades, it's like
Speaker 2: this is not new, you know. And so and again
Speaker 2: I feel bad because I didn't run down my list,
Speaker 2: but well, there's a lot of women have to come back,
Speaker 2: a lot of women out there. You got work, you
Speaker 2: got instruments. So thank you for your work and all
Speaker 2: the crap you had to put up with. All right, but.
Speaker 1: Here we are still standing, still thriving, still working in
Speaker 1: the business. God bless yes, God bless America.
Speaker 2: And thank you always being support of Love you, sis I,
Speaker 2: love you more.
Speaker 1: All right, News, traffic and sports, and then we're going
Speaker 1: to talk about a mystery that was not thirty years
Speaker 1: in the making, the strange and curious case of Black Maga.
Speaker 1: That's next on KBLA Talk fifteen eighty