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Discover the untold story behind Monie Love & Queen Latifah’s iconic hip-hop connection in this exclusive Sway In The Morning interview! 🎤 Monie Love shares incredible memories, breaking down her role in Ladies First, her journey with the Native Tongues collective, and her rise in the 90s hip-hop scene. From DJ battles at the New Music Seminar to inspiring new generations of artists, she opens up about her cultural impact, industry struggles, and creative process behind her new EP, "Love Notes." Hear how Queen Latifah recognized her talent, their creative collaboration, and the enduring bond that shaped hip-hop history. Tune in to celebrate the voices that revolutionized the culture—featuring shoutouts to A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, The Jungle Brothers, and more! Don’t miss this raw, insightful interview packed with legendary moments and authentic hip-hop stories. Subscribe for more exclusive interviews and join the conversation with Sway’s Universe! 🔥 #MonieLove #QueenLatifah #HipHop #NativeTongues #SwayInTheMorning #LoveNotes #SwaysUniverse #LadiesFirst
#hiphopfuture #musicbusiness #hip-hoptrends #musictrends #musictrends
#femalerappers #djculture #ladiesfirst #monielove #nativetongues
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Monie Love
00:50 - 90s Hip Hop Culture
04:56 - Monie Love's Writing Process
07:17 - Slick Rick Collaboration
10:12 - Monie Love and Queen Latifah
10:58 - Meeting Queen Latifah
16:31 - Critique of the Music Industry
19:25 - Monie Love at Hot 97
21:00 - Ex to the Reservoir
23:20 - Monie Love
27:52 - Industry Criticism
29:41 - Most Skillz - Monie Love Is Here
36:15 - Shoutouts
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
to take her back to 1994. Woo. You remember where you did that at?
0:06
Mooney love first show. There you go. Back in 1994. Your best friend to know we go that far back. Back
0:13
to 1994, we had Mooney Love on the world famous wakeup show with Playing Tech.
0:19
Mike Muse, can you believe that? Tracy G, can you believe how far back I go with Mooney Love?
0:25
Wow. See how far back I go with Mooney Love? Yep.
0:31
1994, y'all. Crazy. That's friendship. That's crazy. Yes. I've been supporting her.
0:38
He keeps everything. He keeps everything. He keeps everything.
0:43
Cancer. Come on, man. 1994 and it was so much
0:48
down to earth um had came out. You put out two projects um back then and you
0:54
had the verses on Ladies First. You had all of these amazing things happening
1:00
for you. And the thing about King Tech and I at that time, it didn't matter who
1:06
you were, where you were from, what gender you had. We was so entrenched in
1:11
bars and talent. And at that time with the culture was, you had to show and prove.
1:17
It didn't matter like we understood the difference between an artist who had a major label backing them with a
1:22
marketing plan and promotions and we understood that that needed to happen, right? that was a part of the game.
1:28
But we also understood that when there was also that other need to happen in the culture was if you were a DJ, you
1:36
needed to be the illst DJ. If you was a B boy, a B girl, you had to be the illst B boy, a B girl. If you were a graph
1:43
writer, you needed to be nice with your signature. And if you was a MC,
1:48
you had to have bars. Bars, son. and Mooney love. That was one
1:54
of the things because there was a high fear. Talk about it. There was a high fear of us policing us.
2:01
Yes. You know what I'm saying? You say something on a joint, you need to be
2:07
100% confident in what it is that you're saying for fear. Yes. Fear
2:12
of somebody coming out with something two weeks later dissing what you
2:18
whatever you had put out. That's a fact. Yeah. So, so, so that healthy fear was
2:25
what charged individuals, all of us, okay, Heather, me,
2:31
whoever, everybody, when you sat down at the creation table
2:36
or couch or wherever you did your uh uh brainstorming to create whatever you
2:42
were going to say or spin or your routines, cuz it ain't just with MCN. I remember
2:50
our brother, right? Clark Kent, TJ Clark,
2:56
right? I remember I used to sit in his basement with with a bunch of the other Supermen,
3:02
right? The Tell Tell everybody who the Superman was. Oh, the Superman. The DJ collective of
3:07
some of the illst um DJs that ever hit the planet Earth. Okay. All right. And we used to sit in his basement and watch tapes of other
3:15
DJs. And I'm an MC. But they made me learn how to DJ. Okay. Did they?
3:20
What? Why? I don't know. To make me more rounded. Okay.
3:28
You know what I mean? True ANR work. You know what I mean? Clark can made me watch I'm watching Joe
3:34
[ __ ] routines and and and Aladdin and all these. Oh my gosh. You're naming West Coast DJs
3:40
that was killing it. You know what I'm saying? I'm watching all of these tapes and we all would be in his basement watching tapes because
3:46
again I came with a whole DJ crew from England. DJ Pogo, Cutmaster Swift, um DJ
3:52
Business. These are all people that were all in the DM DMC um disco mix club
3:58
championships for DJing. And it would eventually all amalgamate all the different regions, all the different
4:04
countries. and it would eventually all come to New York City for the new music seminar at the Marriott Marquee Hotel
4:10
and the World Championships in DJing and MCing would take place there. So, I say
4:16
all of that to say bringing it back to, you know, the fear of as an MC of somebody else coming out
4:22
with something dissing what whatever I put out. DJs had the same fear. Graph writers had
4:27
the same fear. Um, breaking crews had the same fear. You couldn't steal
4:34
nobody's moves. No. No. And it was recognizable. Routines, DJ routines, recognizable.
4:41
Okay. B boys routines, dance moves, whatever. Recognizable. MC's routines, flow,
4:48
whatever. Recognizable. And if you came with not your own, you're going to get your ass handed to
4:54
you like ne like tomorrow. How did you write back then though? because you had not only that
5:01
uh barrier of proof to overcome, but you were, you know, you were from a different place. You had a different
5:06
accent. Uh, how did you write back then? Did did you write with these things in mind or did you write for the song?
5:13
No, I wrote for the song. Okay. And to this day, that's what still that's still my process. Like the music
5:19
the music dictates whatever I'm going to say. It really does. Okay. And I don't know. Um, I'm guessing that
5:26
that kind of comes from my upbringing of like my whole family is Jamaican. Everybody in my family is Jamaican,
5:32
right? My father's Rasta. Um, but I've been listening to real core
5:38
rhythm and blues and reggae music and all of these things since I was a child. I remember singing um learning all the
5:44
words to uh Midnight Train to Georgia when I was seven. Leaving. Yeah.
5:49
On that Midnight Train. Yeah. because I used to I used when I was big enough to do it with maybe five
5:57
uh four or five, I would put the the 45s on my parents thing with the arm that
6:02
comes around and puts the 45 in place and I used to put the little thing in the middle
6:07
to keep it in place and I would play these records and I remember that I learned that song because the the
6:13
sticker on the 45 fascinated me and it was like a a Buddha. Uhhuh. was like a fat Buddha
6:20
or something and it just always fascinated me which is why I would always resonate to that particular 45
6:26
and play it. So I became my parents party piece. Watch this. They put the record on and then I'd go.
6:32
Can you explain what a 45 is? Oh wow. Wow. Wow.
6:38
Half of a 90. We here now. Wow. It's it's um it's vinyl but it was a
6:45
smaller vinyl. There's there's 45s and then there's 12 inch. The 12-in vinyl was was big was huge.
6:53
And then there's they had 33s. 33s which was the album. 33s was the album. 12 in were usually
7:00
like two songs like a single and another song and maybe another mix to a to the
7:06
same single. That would be the 12 in. And the 45 would be the whole song. Uh but just in a in a in a smaller format.
7:15
Yes. It's crazy because 45s have made a comeback in the past few years. A lot of DJs do 45 parties. Misbehavior. A lot of
7:23
people doing the 45 parties now. Lord Se does a lot of Right. Um Mooney Love is
7:29
here. Your history is so interesting. Big round of applause. Thank you. Yeah, man. I I love it. Down to earth
7:36
when that first came out. Um, you're just so phenomenal, you know, and I and
7:42
I felt like nobody other than Slick Rick uh really resonated from, you know, with
7:47
an accent. I didn't even I didn't even know that when Rick left like I didn't know that
7:53
he was cuz I think he left England maybe when he was like a toddler. Yeah. Oh, okay.
7:58
Or something. Whereas I didn't leave England until I was like 16, 17. Uhhuh. Like around I think I was 17. Did Did
8:05
was he seen as an English rapper? No, that's what I'm trying to tell you. No, we had we only heard That's why I'm
8:11
saying he must have left when he was a toddler. Okay. So, before he actually even developed into himself as we know him now and and
8:20
taken charge cuz we heard of Slick Rick coming across as a as a an import a 12in
8:26
import into England. Uhhuh. We would, you know, that's how we received Slick Rick. And then we we
8:32
realized that oh he's originally from here. Uhhuh. You know, so we did not know that.
8:37
You did not know that. Were you So did did you feel like because since then
8:43
we've seen gigs. We've seen a lot of obviously MC's from England. Yes. Break in the States. But was that a
8:50
thing to break in the states? Um for you at that time? No, for us at that
8:56
time in England when we all developed our own scene, which was like a pseudo
9:01
scene of what was happening in the United States and we're late obviously, right? Because we didn't really start
9:08
developing our own scene in England until like 84, 83, 84, you know, it was
9:16
bubbling a little bit before then, but for the most part, you know, coming out the box. Yeah. artists actually getting
9:21
signed kind of mid to late 80s, right? Um, and we we we just fell in love with
9:29
the culture. We we were watching movies. We were watching Wildstar. We were watching Oh, man. You know,
9:35
Star Wars, Beat Street. Yeah, absolutely. We were watching movies and we fell in love with the
9:40
culture and we developed our own sect, if you will. Yeah. You know, and we were serious. Mhm.
9:47
I mean, there was North London crews beefing with South London crew as as far as who's the nicest on the
9:54
floor as far as you know what I mean? And I was in a crew and I was the crew secret weapon like in the movie Breaking
10:01
when they let the girl come out. The girl come out, she start doing all of that on that was me. That was that was me. I was
10:07
my crew's secret weapon. But I think that's crazy interesting because like when you think about obviously for us we
10:14
were introduced to you through Latifah, you know what I mean? Through Ladies First and People who were here
10:21
doing music couldn't even get a song with Latifah. You know what I mean? Like it was female
10:27
rappers that was out that couldn't get a song with Latifah. Like one from Jersey. Yeah. One from Jersey. Like no real
10:34
talk. I wasn't out yet. But I remember watching Latifa. Yeah. No, that's you
10:40
see what he was doing. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't out yet. Caught it last time. I wasn't out yet. But I I know
10:46
what you're doing, Sway. But not but to watch that and to see all of these rappers that were out and and for her
10:53
first song with a female for it to be you and it was a female rapper to as Sway saying from overseas. I know you've
11:00
shared this story before, but for people new to the Swain and Morning Show, how did that even happen? Because
11:06
Okay, that's Wow. I'm gonna say a name and he is the he is the cause for he's the cause behind all
11:12
of it, right? This name I'm going to say is Dave Klene, uh, affectionately known as
11:18
Funkin Klein. Funkin Klein. Wow. Okay. You got to break down who Dave Klene um from what I
11:27
know uh on his US side worked closely with uh with Russell Simmons and Def Jam
11:33
and and the the big burgeoning sound of hip hop blowing up and and artist
11:38
relations and things like that. But what Funkin Klein decided to do, and I don't know whose idea this was exactly, but he
11:45
decided to put like little mini tours together for overseas. Okay. Oh, okay. So Funk and Klein used to
11:53
bring artists, put little four, three or four or five groups or artists tours
12:00
together and bring them over. The budgets would be obviously compared to now much lower, you know, um and it
12:07
would be lots of little hole-in-the-wall clubs, spots. Yeah. But they would be strung together.
12:13
So the the artist would earn a little bit of bread. Obviously not to today's
12:18
standards, but but but also it would serve as a purpose to get these artists known
12:24
overseas, right? He put together one of these tours. It consisted of Queen Latifah, the Jungle Brothers, True
12:31
Mathematics, and Cher Rob G. Oh my gosh. Jersey.
12:36
Okay. Since you want to do that. Okay. All right. So, this tour was put together and um it came to one of the
12:44
spots in Camden called Dingwalls and Dingwalls looked exactly like what it
12:50
probably sounds like. Right. Right. Right. Okay. However, it was very endeared to us in the UK as a
12:57
spot that we could go to and hear the hip-hop that we love. Okay. So we would
13:02
go there and and listen to to the music that we love and then occasionally there would be tours like this one that came
13:08
through. Now at the time I was a bubbling MC under from from South London. All right.
13:14
I'm from South London. I'm from Chelsea. Don't ask me what uh soccer team or as
13:19
we say football team I support. I just said Chelsea. Put it together. All right. Hello. Um
13:26
so together. So, um, I was a bubblein MC at the time
13:33
and, uh, you know, some the club promoter knew me or what have you. So, when Funkin Klein came in there, Funkin
13:38
Klein, uh, he he was like, "Oh, you should meet some of our local talent." And just introduced me to him. And Funkin Klein was like, "I heard your
13:44
name before." And so, um, you know, they did the show, Latifah did the show. It was a great show. And then at the end, Funkin Klein said to me, you know, and
13:51
this is me like 16, 17 at the time, right before I came here because all of
13:56
these things are a sequence of events leading to here. Yes. Okay. And so, um, he's
14:01
like, you know, are you are you busy for the like the next week? We we we started this tour in Germany. We came over on
14:06
the ferry on a tour bus from Germany. This German bus driver doesn't know these English streets, roads or
14:12
whatever. Would you mind sitting in the front seat of the bus just for this British leg to help us get to the
14:18
different shows that we have um in London and just outside of London and stuff like that? And I was like, sure.
14:24
So they were going to places like Manchester, Milton Kees, Birmingham, things like that. And so I was like,
14:29
"Yeah." So I kind of became their road manager for this tour at like 16 and a
14:34
half, 17 years old. Right. The running joke was that Latifah, the
14:40
only female on the tour, was the last person to get on the bus every day. I changed that
14:46
when I was riding with them, right? Uhhuh. I made sure that Lati I would go
14:51
to Latifah's room in the morning, right? She sleep. I'd go into her bathroom,
14:56
draw her a bath. Okay, for anybody that's I'm sorry, it's a very British um
15:02
term, draw a bath with a pen. It's not me drawing. Oh, okay. My bad.
15:07
Setting a bath. Okay. So, I would draw her a bath, right? And then, um I'd go
15:13
in the room, I'd be like, "Your bath is ready. Go go go, you know, get go get washed up and everything." And while she's doing that and put I'd put her
15:18
clothes out and while she's doing that, I'd pack up the rest of her bag and I would take her bag and put it on the bus. And for when I was road managing
15:25
them, she was the first person on the bus every day. Wow. So, no more running joke.
15:30
No more running joke. All right. So, Latifah and I got tight nonetheless, you know. Latifah and I got
15:36
super tight. When did she first hear you rap? On a barge. They did a show in Bristol
15:42
and it was on a barge. Uhhuh. Right. So, it's a big moving venue.
15:48
And um while we were in the green room, she was like, "I heard you're you, you know, you rhyme. You're an MC or whatever. Let me hear something." So, I
15:54
did. I spat something right there. And she looked at me at that moment and said, "We're going to do a song
16:00
together." I don't know what it is. I don't know what the concept. I don't know the name of it. I I just know that
16:06
we're going to do a song together. And that was the first time that was eventually and essentially ladies first.
16:13
Wow. I did not. I've never heard that much of the story. Dab it. Mooney love is here. What did you spit to her? Do
16:19
you remember? I don't I really do not I have no idea what it was, but whatever it was, it was
16:25
enough for her to be like, "Okay, we're going to do a song together." What kind of conversations outside of
16:31
music were you able to or or even about music? Because the I think one of the biggest questions you're always going to
16:37
be asked is what took so long, right? You put out these two albums and then it felt like
16:42
Oh, you know. Yeah. Yeah. What? What happened? Life. Life. Life and the industry. I detest the
16:49
music industry. Detested. Yeah. Not detested. I detest it
16:55
currently. Yes. To this day, I detest uh the music industry. It's just different levels of
17:01
different tiers and different levels of disgust. But you loved the ideal of it initially,
17:06
right? No. Hear me. I said I detest the music industry.
17:11
Okay. Okay. I've always loved hip hop culture. Please recognize the difference.
17:18
I tell horse all the time it's two industries. I never consider myself a part of like
17:25
you get that right. I don't like certain stuff I don't do. They'll tell you cuz I'm not a part of
17:31
that industry. Exactly. See, there's plenty there's there's many an artist that all three of
17:36
us know, right? that um at any time in any convers casual conversation could say to you, "Oh yeah, I did this song
17:43
and uh Mooney jumped on it and spit a verse for me just because I've never put a whole project out." Ask Raz Rasc.
17:49
Y'all did the Barmageddon project. What was that song called? Y'all did uh Sometimes.
17:55
Yep. With Ras, who by the way we are honoring this Sunday,
18:00
December 14th at the Regent Theater downtown LA. You can get your tickets at regentdtla.com
18:07
along with supernatural king crooked large professor super
18:12
put up busha I call supernet busha busha busha because busher is is a a real old
18:19
old man Jamaican term. Okay. And and and and supernet is very much like a old Jamaican man in as far as the
18:26
food he likes, the conversations he likes to have like so I call him Busha.
18:32
So when and he knows this. So whenever he hits me up in the DMs to say how I'm doing, how are the kids or whatever, it'll be like Busha checking in.
18:41
But yeah, you could ask any of you could ask Raz, you could ask him today and he'll he'll tell you like I've I didn't
18:47
put projects out for myself, but anytime any of my MC brothers or sisters call me
18:53
on some, you know, do something, can you spit something on this real quick or what have you, I'm there. That's how you
18:59
stayed aligned with the culture even though you had to work industry jobs. Yes.
19:04
Yes. Absolutely. Because I've been I've been in broadcast radio since uh 93 when
19:10
I started at Hot 97. I was there for 10 years. Gosh, give that a round of applause. My
19:15
gosh. Did y'all hear that? Yeah. You young kids today.
19:21
And and it was a it was a fluke. That was a fluke. I didn't say, "Yeah, I want to get into broadcast radio." Like, no.
19:27
What did you learn from that though? Did that help? Did did that help create even a more divide between how you feel about
19:33
the industry in terms of the because high 97 is at the nucleus of industry.
19:39
True. But I have a very good way about myself of ignoring of of of staying so
19:44
focused on cultural relevance and cultural importance. Yeah. I have such a
19:50
good inner way about me to just focus on that that the outside noise does not it
19:56
doesn't infiltrate me. Yeah. So I could work at Hot 97 at the pinnacle of um shiny suit times. Yeah.
20:04
You know what I'm saying? And still innerly in my inner self not be diverted
20:10
away from the actual culture. I don't care what every what anybody outside is doing. I know what the culture is. I
20:16
know where it started. It started way before me. You know what I'm saying? I respect it. I don't assume that my time
20:24
when I first came onto the scene is the be all and end all of hip hop. I respect the fact that it came from somewhere. It
20:30
came from struggle. It came from divide. It came from economic struggle and and
20:36
and and social the social climate of the time. It it came from rubble.
20:41
Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And I respect all of that and I respect where it graduated to.
20:47
You know what I'm saying? And so it doesn't matter. I respect where it graduated to when it got to me. So if I respect all of that, I'm
20:54
definitely respecting culturally where it goes from there on despite the distractions.
21:00
And the distractions being lack of respect for the culture when the money came in and and and [ __ ] like that. You
21:06
know what I'm saying? I'm able to not fall into a depression and be like, man, f all of this. I'm not touching none of this. No, I'll still touch it. I'll
21:14
still sit down. I'll still write. I'll still hop on my brothers or sisters joints. Anybody? Um
21:20
um I'm I'm going to get her name wrong. And I And she's going to kill me. She spells her name 7XV.
21:27
Gen the genius, right? But I think it's love the genius. Okay, I'll I'll double check right
21:33
there. 7XV. Colani should know that. He's 23.
21:38
Yeah. and she just put a and she just put an album out. Okay, let's get to that.
21:44
So, and I I I bring her name up because she's of the younger set. You know what I'm saying? But both her
21:50
she had she she just put another project out with Shane Noir also. They have a duet album together and she's another one. Shane
21:56
Noa, right? Another one that I really love. And the reason why I'm bringing their names up is because they're of the youngest set. You know what I'm saying?
22:02
And if they reach out to me, which they did on some Oh my god.
22:08
Go say hi, man. Yo, if they reach out to me, I hopped on something if they asked me to do it. Also, let me get that out there right
22:14
there. So, those are my two sisters. I love this brother right here. Exhibit is about to walk in, man. My brother Exhibit about to walk in.
22:22
Listen, let's do this. You're only allowed to come in here if you don't tell no stories.
22:28
[Laughter] A lot of stories.
22:34
There's a lot of stories. X to the Z. I love this man. Yo, that's my
22:39
I love this man. Everybody, that's love. We in a new video together. Listen,
22:46
he doesn't understand. He has my most favorite ever ever ever filmed hip-hop
22:53
video is his. Wow. Paparazzi. No. Which one? What you see? What you seen?
22:58
You know what I That's everybody's Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, man. That's everybody. Big Horse walked in too where he's red just
23:05
like a hip hop festival right there. It is a hip-hop festival in here. Yo, your ex I feel like I've known forever first of
23:12
all. And when I walked in here, I started reciting the end of set it off.
23:17
As soon as I saw him cuz that's how I know him. Of course, man.
23:22
Yo, I was uh I'm coming in this morning. I'm listening to your show and I and and
23:28
you said Mooney Love is gonna be on here and I have to give it up because she is such
23:33
an inspiration. She is such a a a a landmark in in the women of hip hop and
23:39
what she has represented and what she has brought to the I mean come on man. Yo yo I remember having pictures of
23:46
Mooney love on the wall. You know what I'm saying? You was crushing on her. You was crushing on her. Come on. Who wasn't?
23:51
Who wasn't? And you know something, I don't get that. Well, you better get it.
23:57
They was trying to get it. I never I never were on my all my life.
24:03
I never understood that. Yeah. You look like guys like you. What? Nah, man. I never understood that
24:09
because because And Heather, you feel me on this, right? With the women in hip hop, there's
24:14
always there's the fly girls, right? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? There's the fly girls. There's the tomboy. There's
24:21
the bee girls. And And I was not a fly girl. Yeah, you were. You were fly. Yeah, you were.
24:26
Yeah, you were. You think so? Yeah. Contrary to to popular belief.
24:31
Look, you didn't act like a fly girl, but you look like a fly girl. Absolutely. I'm sorry.
24:37
Like Mooney in the middle. When you said Mooney in the middle, they ran with that line.
24:43
Where they at? Where they at? In the middle. Wow. Yeah, that's once you said that.
24:49
Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't no double entandras involved. I don't know. You were very crappy.
24:55
But you but you may not have saw yourself like that, but the the world and and and the hip-hop, you know, guys
25:01
that were that were around definitely saw you that way. Did y'all ever cra cross paths in the
25:06
studio on the road or anything? We cross paths, but not not creatively. Not creatively. But when it But you you
25:13
can attest to this. when it was the excitement in my face when I when when I
25:19
see my hip-hop brothers like it's like you know and I remember the
25:24
first time I actually face to face met exhibit right he looked at me and he
25:30
kind of was like taking a back like yo she's she's really excited to see it
25:37
but I think it kind of goes to Mo I think in that time frame there were a
25:42
lot of brothers doing hip pop that were very supportive of the women and it was always refreshing to to to
25:50
get that love to get that hug even if it was passing through in the hotel lobby even if you was coming off the stage and
25:55
they were coming in even if it was backstage somewhere there was always this but I think there's another element to
26:01
it exactly for exhibit though because it was a it was a level of you know I'm
26:07
I'm a brick but I'm placed in New York and during troubled times I was still on
26:13
some yo Oh crap. Yo,
26:19
yeah. And so all of these guys are looking at me like, "Yo, she's hella excited to see that." Right. Right. Right. Right. Right.
26:26
You know what I mean? Tonyy's a hip-hop head. Absolutely. Straight up. Come on. And that's neutral. And yo, and that's
26:32
really what it is. And that's what it's always been for me. Like my brothers, it's funny because it's like when people
26:38
marry and then they have brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws. For me, hip-hop is the marriage. And you are my sister in
26:45
rhyme. And this is my brother in rhyme. And this is my brother in in in DJ and
26:50
hip-hop. I do it all. It all Yeah. You can tell who's here for the
26:56
culture and who's here for the currency. There you go. There you go. Love has always been for the culture.
27:01
That's why we could do this right here. Yeah. If it wasn't genuine back then
27:07
with me now, you wouldn't be allowed in this room today. Oh, look. There go. So, there go walk.
27:16
There go. Turn your back. Here come turn your back. Right.
27:22
But you pick up the phone to to Mo when people call. You answer those DMs. You exchange numbers. Yo, if you need me,
27:28
I'm here. If yo, that was quick as [ __ ] I hit her. I was I was like, "Yo, I'm going to be." She's like, "Ah, cool."
27:35
So, how you book the show, right? Well, that's real though. That's It goes back to we grown. Like,
27:40
we don't have to deal. We We already been through the the [ __ ] of all of this already. You don't say things that
27:46
you don't mean. You don't say you going to do something and not pull up. You don't do we pass all of that.
27:51
But, circling back to everything that you've all just said and circling back to sway asking me, but you detest the
27:57
business. You detest the industry. Again, I full throttle. Yes. I detest
28:04
it. Okay. This right here, what we what's happening now is what separates
28:09
me from the business. Yes. And this is what I maintain. This is
28:14
what I live for. And this essentially is why I put more music out. You know what
28:20
I'm saying? Love. Somebody said to me, "Why you still rhyming?" I said, "Cuz I can." [ __ ] like
28:29
yo and that's the realest [ __ ] X put out a new album recently too. Incredible
28:34
album he put out this love notes EP.
28:39
Hey, can you do a ac capella of your verse um from skills from the um do you
28:47
remember it? Oh my goodness. Yes, with a male. We got to talk about that. Let's talk about do the ac capella
28:52
first. So, it's not so right. Oh my god. I'm still You got to play it. I'm 55.
28:59
Let me play Let me play the song. It's different. This is Mo Skills featuring a meal and
29:05
it's money love song. And when you hear it, X. Yeah, you going to love this.
29:10
Come on, man. By the way, exhibit is filling in for Lord S right after us. That's right, babe. Everybody
29:17
Oh, we got we got some [ __ ] for you, boy. Okay, we going to turn up. We going to turn up. All right. giving
29:22
his most skills. Mooney love is here. 8887423345 exhibits hanging out. He's a Shay45
29:29
employee today. That's right. Let's go. All week. All week. Oh man. Shave 45.
29:36
Mo Skills featured on the Love No CP courtesy of Mooney Love. It's available now. Every song has
29:43
purpose to it and I want to talk to you about that. Exhibit is joining us. He's filling in for Lord Seir in a few
29:48
minutes coming up next. This song features Emil and um we haven't heard
29:54
her in quite some time. You hear DJ Premiere. Yes. On the tail end, which means you had to
30:00
do it proper to remix this gangstar song. Yes. And get Premiier's blessing on it,
30:06
right? Yes. Walk us through this song. All right. So, let me start from the beginning. Y'all going to love this. Right. Remember we were just speaking
30:12
about New Music Seminar and about how all roads for the MC battle and for the DJ battles eventually led to the
30:20
Marriott Marquee in New York City for the New Music Seminar. Right. Right. Festival, all the labels put, you know,
30:26
parade all their new artists out and so on and so forth. All right. So, at the New Music Seminar was the first time
30:31
that I ever performed Ladies First with Latifah. Okay. Right. And this was the se this was in
30:37
89. Uhhuh. Right. I remember the earrings you wore, huh? I remember the earrings you wore.
30:43
Look at that. See, I'm telling you, man, man. Come on, man. Tony was known for them knockers.
30:49
Come on, man. So, lot I was People had been hearing about me in the States a little bit in New York,
30:56
a little bit, but I that was the first time that I actually got on stage and performed with Latifah. And Shakim was
31:02
so thorough that even in the first few segments of the song, nobody saw me.
31:08
That's how Shakim used to do it. Like lock me in the bathroom. Shout out until Latifah says until it's
31:16
actually the part. Let me take it from here, queen. Then I'm on. Right. Right. And get that reaction. Exactly. And that's how they did it all
31:22
the time. Right. So Guru ran up to me at the end of that show and was like, "Yo,
31:28
rest in peace. I didn't know you could rhyme like that. That's ill. That quick trip stuff you
31:34
do, that's ill." And when he said that to me, I was like, "Cool. I got some
31:40
shit." I was like, "Oh, I'm I'm good." Like, it
31:47
was it was another person that was dope and also bubbling at the time about, but
31:54
but he had obviously gotten more shine and bubble than me at that moment. So to
31:59
get that kind of uh you know approval it allowed me to understand that I
32:04
definitely had something to give to bring forth into the culture. Right. So remembering
32:10
that and I was so scared at the beginning of that show before I came out on that show. I was in the premiere when
32:16
he does his documentary. He pulled me to the side recently and was like, "I filmed that night and I filmed backstage
32:22
that night and I filmed when you were locked in the bathroom with a Walkman listening to your verse over and over
32:28
again because I had not heard it since I recorded it." Right. And I was scared and I didn't
32:34
want to come out. Special letters at the bathroom door like you got to come out now, Mo.
32:40
And Premiere said he has all of that. So whenever Yeah. So, whenever Primo gets
32:45
to doing uh the the dock, which he is in the works of doing a dock about Gangstar
32:52
uh in the beginnings, right, he said he's going to use that in there because he has it, right? So,
32:57
legendary. Yeah. So, when when Keith when Guru ran up to me and said that, it meant something. So, here we are all these
33:03
years later and I was um picking up my my youngest kid from school on a
33:08
Wednesday. She's in a music program in high school, by the way. Okay. Say her first name. What's her first name? Okay. So, her name is Lacy.
33:14
Lacy, we see you out here shining, picking up the legacy. Lacy. I know. Legacy Lacy. Lacy. Legacy. That's your
33:22
nickname. But what's what's crazy is she's taking the engineering side of things. It's insane to me because yes, she Yes, she
33:30
raps and she writes all of her own stuff and and has the new sound of the new set. However, she's making her own beat.
33:37
She's running her own board. Wow. She's like the whole engineering thing. So, that's the type of programs that
33:43
she's in currently in high school and she's going to go off to uh college and continue that. But, I say all of that to
33:50
say on a Wednesday, they get out early. So, I was picking her up and then um I
33:55
was playing um different a different shuffle on my playlist and um that song
34:00
came up still and I just was like, yo. And then I got
34:06
this weird sonic thing with me where I can hear things before they're done.
34:12
And I heard a mill because I was like, and if y'all think about it, y'all going to be like, "Yo, you you right tonewise,
34:20
that mono, there's some monotone thing that Keith, that Guru had going on."
34:25
Emil has that. It's the sickest thing. And it hit me in
34:31
the It hit me. See, and it hit me in the car that day. And so Baby Paul um
34:37
formerly of the Beat Miners production crew and worked with me on this EP is was still very tight with the mill. She
34:44
knows I love her. I always have. Um and he put us back in touch with each other and and I asked her,
34:50
she was like, "Mo, she was like, I'll do it for you and
34:55
I'll do it for guru and I'll do it for hip hop, but I'm not [ __ ] with this business."
35:01
Yeah. Wow. She detested, too. She detest. You think I do? cuz Emil had a album. She had big names
35:08
on that album, you know, and she had a lot of light on her. Yeah. And and and I'll tell you now, and
35:15
she'll probably um you know, slap me for telling you she's mean as hell right now.
35:21
Right now, as far as Yeah. She mean as far as the industry goes. As as far as
35:27
as far as lyrically and Oh, lyrically. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Her pen game. She's mean. Okay. She's mean. You know
35:35
what I'm saying? I heard some things, but she's not. But I respect I respect where she is. I I respect where she is
35:42
and I respect that she despite the fact of where she is, she made the decision to Yes, I will do
35:48
this hook and yes, I will be involved in in in this song and getting it done for
35:53
you, for hiphop, and for guru. You know what I'm saying? And she said, "In turn, I just ask you respect the place that
36:00
I'm at right now." Now she's like, "I'm not trying to I'm not trying to get on a promo tour. I'm not trying to get in the
36:07
video. I'm not trying to do none of that. I'm just doing this for you guru
36:12
and for hip hop." And I was like, "I'll take it." Good for her. Hey, Chuck Curtis, you got a question?
36:17
I just wanted to give her her props, give her her flowers, and uh I just took my first trip overseas. I'm 51. I took
36:24
it for my birthday. So, I was in London last month in October, and it was cool. I went to Paris. I went
36:30
to London. If ain't nobody traveled overseas, go do it. Do it. Do it. That's all I can say.
36:35
Well, thank you for that, Curtis. I appreciate. Yeah. I hope you had a good time, too. London.
36:40
I did. I appreciate you. Oh, my Hey, Keith. Say say what's up.
36:46
What's up, everybody? Hey, we at work. We at work. Where y'all work at?
36:52
Hey, we working at this factory in Indiana. Getting it in, getting our little money, doing what we got to do,
36:57
you know. That's I lived in Indie for a little while for like six months. I was on radio in Indiana.
37:08
Hey, man. Tell Hey, tell Hey, tell tell everybody in the warehouse they citizens. Curtis.
37:14
Hey, the y I got a question. I got a question.
37:21
and and and it's not so much of a question, but it's it's it's it's I want to know the beginnings and the and the
37:27
formulation of native tongues because that was that was a really big like we was big on clicks like the Far Side had
37:34
a click. Absolutely. You know, Alcoholics had a click out here. Native tongue was like that [ __ ] You know what
37:39
I'm saying? It's like tribe called Quest, Queen Latifah, you guys de la Soul, like how did that Jungle Brothers,
37:46
how did that all come together? Who started it? That's the three the the three head groups.
37:52
Okay. So that's De La Soul, that's Triorquest, and that's the Jungle Brothers. Yeah.
37:58
All right. And so what whatever they say goes and they listen to each other very
38:04
and took each other very seriously. So if one came to the rest of the group and was like, "Yo, I think
38:10
I think leaders of the new school is is, you know, should be part of, you know what I'm saying?" It's done. You know
38:17
what I'm saying? and and and and younger brothers Africa specifically came to the because he was on that tour with uh True
38:25
Mathematics, Queen Latifah and Cher Rob that Dave Funkin Klein put together
38:31
bought to the UK. So I met them the same time as I met Latifah.
38:36
So you know Latifah is like, "Yo, this girl can rhyme." You know what I'm
38:41
saying? Cuz I I was I rhymed to her at that barge show in Bristol. And so she
38:47
tells the Jungle Brothers, then they're like, "Let us hear something." Then I do. Then Africa's like, "Okay,
38:54
this this this this one needs to be down, right?" Wow. And when he tells the rest, it's like
39:00
they didn't even they didn't even listen to me yet. They just went with it. And this was now
39:05
there was a certain confidence some might have mistook for arrogance that was happening right on
39:11
the East Coast, too, when it came to hip-hop. Like Absolutely. Right. you. They didn't just
39:16
they didn't just let anybody. They gatekeeped that No, it was definitely All right. So,
39:22
it was definitely gatekeeping for So, for them to just say, "She's down immediately. She's on."
39:28
That was a big deal. Yeah, it was. That was validation. That was immediate validation. Validation
39:34
from the most credible crew, one of the most credible crews in hip hop at that
39:39
But it could have been immediate devalidation at the same time because then at that
39:45
point the pressure's on and I'm thrusted into these highly creative environments where I
39:52
have to show and prove. I I didn't plan on getting on no buddy. I didn't wake up and say
39:58
I didn't I didn't wake up that morning on some Yeah, I'm going to rhyme on Buddy like day school. Like, no. What it
40:06
was was it was Kia Studios in New York, and it was like a commune. Everybody would just go hang out there. Everybody
40:12
from from the Jungle Brothers crew, uh, Dea Crew, it didn't matter who was recording. If Jungle Brothers was
40:18
recording, you'd still find, uh, Dea and Soul in the studio. You You know what
40:24
I'm saying? All three of them brothers, they was all there. And same for us. Anybody could show up.
40:29
You know what I'm saying? Bring lunch. The studio always smelt like egg foo young. That was the era
40:36
era. You know what I'm saying? Super big fan of native tongues. When when I when I one day when I was there, you know, Pastor was at the at
40:42
the console and uh he was like turned around was like Mooney, go do uh go do
40:49
eight right now. I was like, what? Eight bars. I was like, what? Now? Yeah.
40:56
Let's go. You know what I'm saying? So, what do I do? He lets it run back a few times.
41:02
took me about an hour um to get it together. Let me hear what everybody else is doing. And at that moment in my
41:08
head, I'm saying to myself, I can either go in there and choke in that booth or I can go in there and write one of the
41:15
most memorable verses ever and I have to opt for option number two.
41:20
Yes. Because none of these people in here is slacking.
41:26
None of these folks on this song already is slacking. I have to stand out. I have to write
41:32
something that is so memorable and I have to write something that's difficult for somebody else to say.
41:37
Yeah. That was always my mentality. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So I went in there and I I did the damn thing and I
41:44
left the studio like, "Yeah, I did. I did that." Yep. Salute to you, Mooney. Love, man. I love
41:49
it, man. And just just finally, Mooney, cuz unless you want to go over into exhibit
41:56
show. Hey, man. You know, you know, I'm silly, man. So,
42:02
this is going to be an absolute going to be an absolute joy ride. But I I was like, "Y'all sure y'all want me to go
42:08
out there? Have fun, man. Have you heard my music?" Yeah. Nah. Nah. You You man, you got a
42:15
wealth of knowledge, decades as a major artist, independent artist, businessman,
42:22
in and out of cruise. You got it all, brother. You got it all. And spit them bars. Both of y'all. First
42:28
of all, Love Notes is a extremely highly skilled uh performance by you as an MC
42:35
and I went through every single song and I love that you stay, you know, when I
42:40
listen to songs like Atonement and you talk about lows of love and you don't want to settle or I hear songs like Cape
42:47
Vinnie when you talk about being with a partner who's down, who's locked up and what it takes. Did you go through that?
42:53
Were you did you ever or you dated somebody that was Yeah. in prison? Yeah. For how long was that person in prison?
43:00
Um ooh about four years. And you stayed faithful to this man?
43:06
Not for four years. Okay. She said dated, bro. Not committed.
43:14
Dated and committed. She put money on his books. No. No. I Yes. And accepted those calls.
43:21
The the relationship didn't last for four years is what is what is what I'm saying. Okay. But during that time, it's if you
43:27
if you're dating somebody that's behind bars, you're behind bars, too. Yeah. You know. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
43:34
Yeah. And so, what's the origin story of Pay Penny? Like, what made you write that? So, every song is something you
43:39
walk away with. Yeah. Right. Well, I I wrote it because I I I would, you know, I pay attention to a
43:46
lot of the things the relationships between hiphop and um bringing awareness
43:52
to the amount of young men, young young men of color that get locked up, that get in remand and they're in remand
43:57
before they even see a judge. And before you know it, all these years have passed and they they they haven't even seen a
44:03
judge to discuss any type of bail. and and and a lot of young men cannot a lot
44:08
of brothers, people of color, men of color do not even get to the point where they can establish any bail.
44:15
You know what I'm saying? And a lot of time is spent behind and I pay attention to that, you know, with the whole um thing that Meek Mill was doing with Rock
44:22
Nation. Exactly. You know what I mean? So that's kind of one of the reasons why I decided since I did have this
44:28
experience to write a song along these lines to remember these folks, remember
44:34
these brothers, remember these families that are interrupted. Yeah. You know what I mean? And and bring attention to it a little bit. It's funny
44:40
though because I remember one time I was having a conversation with Jedakus um maybe a couple years ago and I said some
44:47
I was speaking about um you know the the the guy that was locked up and it's Kate Vincent.
44:52
Kate Vincent. Okay. Yeah. And it's upstate upstate New York. And um I said something and I was like,
44:59
you know, um I was like, you know, cuz JPEG and Jada just looked at me and was like,
45:04
what you know about some JPEG,
45:09
you know, because because JPEG is how they get, you know, it's the modern way of how they get their money on their
45:15
books and you know, phone calls and things like that could go through video. Exactly. You know, so I'll never forget
45:21
that. Jada looked at me like what you doing? What you know about some J.
45:27
But that's what made you decide to write that. That was funny. And really quickly, atonement may seem it's seem like it's
45:33
like a relationship or something like that, but atonement was really atonement was written at the height of um social
45:41
injustice and the climate with all the protesting and um um
45:46
at the top of all of that when a lot of major companies uh decided to embrace
45:53
DEI, give uh black holidays like and and
45:59
flipped over and inclusion and all these other things. A lot of major corporations decided to do that. It
46:06
hadn't done it before and decided to do it at that time at the height of that time.
46:11
Right. The social climate was that, right? And of course, we see now later on.
46:17
Yeah. Okay. But it's funny because at the time when it was happening and I wrote
46:23
atonement, I said, "I don't even know what is an atonement if you keep um
46:29
contributing to the moment." And it's and it's because I was like, I see all these companies flipping over
46:36
and and giving us, you know, um what is Junth holiday now and and so on and so
46:42
forth, but you're still doing things that contradict that to me. And in my guesstimation at that time, I said, I I
46:49
really feel like this stuff is going to be flipped back three years later, four years later, and here we are.
46:56
You know what I'm saying? So, I actually wrote that song then. Uhhuh. Even though it's being released, it's
47:01
it's out now. You have a great project, Mooney Love. Yes. Keep keep creating.
47:07
Definitely. You know, there's people out here in the industry that say you shouldn't, not you specifically, but
47:12
people a certain age shouldn't make music no more. Then listen, then we wouldn't have got his amazing album.
47:19
[ __ ] that. I keep telling [ __ ] "Don't tell me to sit down. Sit me down." You know what I'm saying? Like,
47:24
yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Don't tell me to sit down. Who's listening to that? And if I don't let if I don't let the way the structure
47:32
of the business out is now with streaming and how how you get paid from
47:37
from that, you know what I'm saying? 0.001 cent and all of that. And you know, if I
47:43
don't let those things deter me from continuing to create, then who is anybody to tell me to to to not create?
47:51
You know what I'm saying? If it's not your cup of tea, I respect that it's not your cup of tea. But you not going to
47:56
tell me not to make my tea, right? I'm going to make it. I'm a Brit.
48:02
That's right. Like three times. Three times a day at least, man. That's what we do.
48:08
They make tea. All right. Listen, Mooney, I want to thank you for coming. Give it up for
48:13
Mooney Love, man. It's the new album. It's called The new EP is called Love Notes, man. It's a great listen like
48:20
from beginning to end. Greatly produced, well well performed. Proud of you. Proud
48:27
of you. Mooney love, man. You got to sit next to exhibit. Yo. Yo, this was crazy.
48:32
Still ladies first on this [ __ ] Always. Ladies first. Always. Always.
48:37
Exhibit about to take over the airways for Lord Seir. Man, welcome to the family. You're already the family, man. Come on now.
48:44
Come on, man. [ __ ] This is nothing new. Yo, Paul Rosenberg, you see all of this
48:49
happening, man? Time to raise the Annie, homie. That's right. Shady Shady Shady in the building.
48:55
Oh my god. Yes. Yes. Paul, you know what time it is. Tracy, everybody,
49:01
listen. And that was crazy when Eminem got did his inductance induction speech and ran my name. I had no idea.
49:08
Yeah, man. That was sick to me. What did that feel like? What did you hear? Where were you? I was I was at
49:14
home minding my own business I was at home my I think I was I had my grandson that day
49:20
and somebody all these people just started hitting me up on Instagram and sending me the clip
49:26
and I was my jaw dropped and I was like I had no idea but I understood it
49:32
because he's a he's a technician. Uh-huh. He's a a word technician. And that's
49:39
always been the area that I've leaned towards in my upbringing in hiphop has always
49:46
been the the technique of words. Yeah. And word playing, playing with them.
49:51
This man too. Yes. You know what I'm saying? Which is why we kind of gravitate towards each other.
49:57
You know what I mean? Have the be. Y'all used to be Y'all used to be criminals in the streets.
50:02
Listen. No way. No, wait. Yo, X. They were criminals living.
50:09
Listen, they ran together. X X9 X. That's the book you want. X.
50:17
Why are you doing this? And he said, "Okay, it's too late. Heather Mooney calls." I'm like, "That's my people."
50:22
It's too late. It's too late. Heather B, you can try to clean it up now. It's too late, Heather. She was talking about all
50:30
You didn't just get that at the library. You was around some [ __ ] with some blocks drinking. Heather B, it's too late.
50:36
It's too late, Mooney. Okay, Heather B, it's too late. All right, here we go. I just said, why?
50:42
Yeah. Here we go. What happened? Try snitching. Yep. I'm It's I'm gone. I'm gone now.
50:48
I'm gone already. Mike's Mike's on. Here we go. Okay. Heather B and I right got
50:54
tight. I don't remember how when the skate, but we got tight on a level where
51:01
nothing was stupid for us to do together. Like nothing all sound like a good idea.
51:07
Nothing was stupid. It was all like bat. Everything was bat. Everything was bat,
51:13
right? Even hanging out was bat. Right. We go into the tunnel. Tunnel is kicking is
51:20
large at this time. Right. the whole you got to stand online, take your shoes off, you know. Chris Lighty, God bless
51:28
his soul, right? Running things, you know. So, me and Heather going I pick Heather up,
51:36
right? I'm in the I'm in the hoopy. I just learned how to drive.
51:42
Okay. I got Okay. I got I got the I got the removable face. Uh the removable
51:48
face. Yeah. Yeah. On the on the on the stereo. I got one tape in there.
51:53
Uh-huh. Is Keith Murray the most beautifulst thing, right? And it's And it's a
51:58
cassle. Let me explain what a cassle what a cassle is. When it finishes
52:04
playing on one side, it flips over and plays the same damn thing on the other side. That's a cassingle, right? So, it
52:11
was a cassle. I pick her up. She ain't smoke yet.
52:17
It got to happen. I got to have it. It got It kind of came mad early. Like
52:25
back in the day, somebody say they going to be there at 9:30. You don't think 9:30. 10:00.
52:30
9:30 back in the day was like 10:30. You know what I'm saying? Mooney was like I
52:35
like, "Oh shit." That's because I lived in Port Jefferson, Long Island.
52:43
And she said, "And it's an hour and a half." So I'm driving from there. It's an hour and a half to Manhattan. I'm going through the tunnel to go get her.
52:49
Then come back through the tunnel. Why we didn't meet in the city to this day? I still don't know. Get that.
52:55
Listen, I didn't want my girl I didn't want my girl to take no cab or train. I
53:01
didn't want my girl to do that. Put her in a hoopy single. Listen, the in the independence was real
53:08
back in the days. If it was I just learned how to drive. I had a I had a freshy fresh car. My husband at the time
53:14
had my Jeep Grand Cherokee at the time when they just came out. I didn't want to drive that because I was scared I was
53:20
gonna scratch it. Yeah. You know, crash, whatever. So, I had the hoop tea and I was whipping that baby.
53:27
That was a a a Honda a Honda an 87 Honda Accord hatchback with a bullet hole in
53:32
the driver's side. Oh my. The most beautifulst thing in the world was blunt was rolled.
53:38
Blunt was rolled with a chocolate tie. That was the thing.
53:45
I was not trying to rush my sister. So I drove around the tunnel block a
53:52
good 15 20 times so she could take her time and smoke and all the time playing the most beautifulst thing in this
53:58
world. Just like that. I get in the way he just the first drop. It was
54:06
just like the [ __ ] was sounding better and better. Yeah. But don't be trying this [ __ ] at home.
54:15
We got the folks. I love it, man. Give Mooney love in heaven be in exhibit around him.
54:21
Family Mooney. Uh, let's stay in contact. Absolutely. Tell Lacy I feel something special about
54:28
Lacy. Lacy. Legacy. Lacy. Legacy. Lacy love. Lacy love.
54:34
Stay on the board. Stay on them boards. All right. She crazy with it. Mooney, come back anytime. Also, you can find Mooney on
54:41
the radio, right? Yes, I am on 3 to seven weekdays on Kiss 104.1 in Atlanta.
54:47
Okay, yell, man. Thank you, Mooney. Love you. Absolutely.
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