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Subscribe now to Sway’s Universe for exclusive interviews and iconic moments! 🎤 Join the conversation as Kiki Shepard reflects on her legendary Showtime at the Apollo legacy, from her groundbreaking career as a host and dancer to the cultural impact of the show that defined generations. Watch as Luenell pays heartfelt tribute and shares her emotional journey performing at the Apollo, celebrating sisterhood, comedy, and their shared love for Harlem. From hip-hop's golden era to gospel icons like Yolanda Adams, this episode is packed with unforgettable memories, laughter, and inspiration. Don’t miss this vibrant discussion about empowerment, artistry, and the importance of honoring those who paved the way. Hit subscribe and stay tuned for more from Sway In The Morning! #KikiShepard #Luenell #SwayInTheMorning #ApolloTheater #Comedy #HipHop #ShowtimeAtTheApollo #SwaysUniverse
#luenelltribute #sicklecellawareness #urbanleague #sicklecellanemia #standupcomedy
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
01:00 - Kiki Shepard
03:20 - Kiki Shepard’s Impact on Showtime at the Apollo
06:10 - Luenell’s Apollo Performance
10:15 - Kiki Shepard’s Influence on Apollo
17:30 - Morning Show Listener Call-Ins
18:43 - Coach J from California
20:04 - C Brown from Dallas
21:09 - Tracy from VA
23:15 - Last Poets
24:10 - Keany from Oakland
28:14 - Kiki Shepard in the Industry
29:23 - Aging in the Entertainment Industry
34:57 - How to Follow Kiki Shepard
36:05 - Kiki Shepard Joins the Show
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0:01
hey the realest voice on stage right here citizens As far as I'm concerned ain't nobody realer than her This the
0:08
original bad girl of comedy right here I know it I was watching it in the 80s Come on I was there at the bird cage We
0:15
always got We [ __ ] bird The bird cage You
0:21
might have saw the star is born or spring breakdown come coming to America
0:26
Uh all about Steve Think like a man think like a man too Wherever you may have seen her Dolomite is my name
0:32
America Come on The last OG I got them too man Chocolate news Fat Tuesdays the docu series Last time I saw her she was
0:40
on the stage headlining the Apollo Come on We was there Yes indeed We was there
0:45
One of the most breathtaking comedians that ever hit the stage citizens She embodied the Apollo Come on She left us
0:52
in stitches Yes I was there The one and only Lunell is back Give it up for
0:57
Lunell And I said it earlier man She's a voice
1:04
She's a figure of generations She's transcended generations from the early 80s From the 80s when we first started
1:10
watching her on Apollo throughout her whole career on Apollo Grey's Anatomy uh
1:15
uh uh uh Baywatch I mean she's done it all Citizens She's taught us how to host
1:21
And one of the things she did and still does to this day is she's always been elegant Yes She's always has been
1:28
graceful She's always been professional Never ratchet Never ratchet She's always held herself on the highest Black queen
1:34
status Yes indeed Ladies and gentlemen give it up for royalty The one and only
1:39
Kiki Shepherd
1:46
Wow Wonderful Thank you Thank you Thank you I I just you know Kiki man I knew he
1:52
was going to lose his [ __ ] Okay we already let me just sit back Back up for a second
2:01
Yo Kiki I I I end up growing up and being a host too like in um um radio you
2:07
know and in the bag came Lunell know you know about my a lot about my history
2:12
Then I went to MTV um uh for 20 years and and at the time I was there in the
2:18
year 2000 It was a big deal to be black on MTV and and I wasn't singing or
2:23
dancing Nothing wrong with that Or I wasn't cracking jokes I was delivering the news and I took cues I was speaking
2:29
I was articulating myself And I took cues from a couple of people back then And one of them was Don Cornelius
2:37
Another one was you Because the way you graced the stage when you start learning
2:42
about stage management and positioning and how to get from one spot to the next Amen And you used to do that I swear I
2:49
did that twirl Yo I don't know if your feet ever hit the ground the way you used to move You was You were
2:55
elevated right she did that She did that when we did the Apollo last year too The people went
3:02
up They went They went nuts Yo you're you're so amazing No no Like Kiki Shepard we got
3:08
to give you your props Kiki Shepherd Kiki you're Kiki Shepherd Do you love Give her a standing ovation Kiki
3:14
Shepherd up here Give her a standing ovation man Everybody stand Kiki Shepherd is up in here
3:20
Oh my god Kiki [ __ ] Kiki Shepherd
3:27
That's what we going with Where was your Where did your big break come where did your first break when did that happen
3:32
well you know my first my original forte was dancing Yes I was I'm a trained dancer ballet jazz modern all that kind
3:38
all that kind of stuff So I was on Broadway and stuff So I think my national really where everybody got to
3:44
know me had to have been Showtime at the Apollo Yeah Had to been because it just went into everybody's house around the
3:49
country then eventually around the world So I have to give it to Showtime at Theology Showtime And when you first
3:54
took that gig was it just a job it was a dancer We had we had six dancers originally for the first three episodes
4:00
We had six dancers and I was a assistant choreographer Otis Ali was choreographer and I was his assistant Did you
4:06
choreograph those girls with the feather i ended up choreographing the fan
4:14
You know you know what what it was just the grace of God said "Here here little girl This is for you Just go learn your
4:20
craft." So you ain't be ready so you ain't got to get ready I was ready Learn your craft No And things just fell to me
4:26
God said "Here." And the whole walk I got my mom tipped like that My sister's a model but she was stride but I tip I
4:32
can't strive I just tipped you know and it just was my natural walk Things just happened because it was ordained was set
4:40
All right Wow And I just was there the recipient of all of these major blessings And what I always say is that
4:45
before there was a Naomi Campbell before there was a a Beverly Johnson before there was uh Tara Banks we had Kiki
4:53
Every week it was like what is she wearing what is she got on what is she going to have her hair like every week Every week Now that's what it really was
4:59
sort of build as What will Kiki wear one of the main things What is Kiki going to wear this this you know this episode and
5:05
stuff Wow And I was a size four Most models are size four What in the world is a size four
5:12
i don't have a ring finger that's a size four And I wore a six and a half shoe Most models wear eight you know So they
5:18
had to make the clothes and stuff fit me which led into another blessing which was was I would come into New York two
5:24
weeks before we shot the show cuz you know back in the day we shot like uh 20 something shows in three days four days
5:31
We would just be there and be there It got better as long But anyway there were just a whole lot of things that came with wearing the clothes What will Kiki
5:37
wear that became a major thing for sure Yeah Who who was the where did you come from you said you came you used to fly
5:43
to New York Where you from i was I was living in New York when we uh when we first did it Then I I moved to Los
5:48
Angeles to move to television and film Okay So they had to bring me back you know and I had to give it to props to uh
5:54
Mr Steve Harvey because he made that be really really good and possible in all ways that were that were Steve got you
6:01
paid Steve got me paid in a way that people don't really know about but yes Steve got me paid And Lynell's getting
6:06
her paid too And let me just tell you this So Lelle let's say that again now
6:11
Don't throw it off Lelle's getting paid too Okay In advance In advance In
6:17
advance Wait before she say anything before she say anything let me let y'all know this woman is first class top-notch
6:24
all the way Absolutely Lunell call me I pick up the phone Ain't no question because she knows how to treat anybody
6:31
cuz that's the way she treats herself Yes I do And let me just say this So when I first met Kiki and I think we
6:37
actually met the Regency West or something like that I think you might be right Which is the old comedy act theater that Robin Harris used
6:43
to in LA it So you know for a for a [ __ ] like me who've been sitting at
6:49
home watching Showtime I couldn't believe I like Kiki Shepard is right in front of my [ __ ] face I can't
6:55
believe it So I would just be like hi and we'd be hi and hi and all that kind of stuff We only had a hi how you doing
7:02
in passing relationship I knew you through other people We'd be in the same places But when I knew that I was I had
7:10
booked to headline the Apollo Theater myself not with one of the guys not in some group headline myself I said there
7:17
I said I know Kiki I know her I can access her There's no way that I'm going
7:23
to come back here and not get you know because I don't want I I I could come out and just do a show and leave Yeah
7:28
But I want to make an experience I want to do a show I'm a a theatrical person
7:34
myself So I said there's no way I'm not going to ask Kiki to come back So when Kiki came back and we have I have the
7:40
footage and we have it online from last year We walked the building and she was like this used to be my old dressing
7:46
room This should be So Kiki when I contacted you last year and said that I wanted you to come back
7:53
to the Apollo It had been many years since you'd been at the Apollo right so tell them how it was when you walked
7:59
back in there and how you felt the reception that you got when It was magnificent It was straight up
8:04
magnificent I'm talking about from staff from everybody hanging out from everything It was just straight up magnificent And then to walk out onto
8:11
that stage and get the reception I can't even find the words to express
8:17
how deeply emotionally uh uh moved I was to have
8:23
people receive me like that you know because you don't know when you in the midst of doing the show you know you get yourself And when you get grown and you
8:29
get older these [ __ ] are so throw they throw you away They want to throw you away and and want to remember
8:36
only certain aspects of and I want to let Kiki know you are you a [ __ ] icon to us There's no
8:41
[ __ ] way Come on [ __ ] no [ __ ] way I'm doing the show without Heather and I were there when
8:47
you walked out Yeah Um Torch's mom was there So many people came out to see y'all and just represent But they didn't
8:54
know Kiki was going to be there They didn't know And the place erupted You got to stand to know You got And they
8:59
were playing the Showtime at the Apollo music Yep Yep Yeah That was that was amazing Do y'all understand Lunell did
9:05
that That's called love You can't buy it Sisterhood y'all Sisterhood We call it
9:10
town business too But what more what more what more and
9:18
some of the rappers do do it but what more people need to do is reach the hand back and link link us together You're
9:26
not doing any of this [ __ ] on your own You're standing on the shoulders of the people that were there before And that's
9:31
why when I came out I was emotional too like my god James Brown laid and stayed here after he performed performed there
9:38
like maybe 35 40 [ __ ] times you know the the tops and the temps and everybody's been here now here I am I
9:44
had only been on stage to walk the theater cuz Joe Gray had um uh I mean uh
9:50
Bill Gray had walked me through the building I had had a tour of the place before but I never knew I was going to
9:56
be there to perform and when I was there I was like oh my god I was very choked up and it was sold out and it was Sold
10:03
out Did I mention it was sold out it was sold out I was right there Sold out Yo you talk about James Brown the
10:09
Temptations the Tops some of the legendary Mottown Review you know all
10:14
those type of groups Kiki you started working at the Apollo around 87 right what were you 89 89 You were close 89
10:22
Good I'm pretty good You know what I do very good I'm in the Hall of Fame All right Why you bullshitting
10:32
it's true All right Um what was it like because that's that's prime hip hop
10:40
surges Yes it was darling Yes it was Heavy
10:45
All about all of that Eric B Rock Douggee Fresh Slick Rick Yes All of them
10:52
MC Light MC Lighta Naughty by Nature Coco Brown just you just call them out
10:58
that that's from musicians hip-hop musicians uh uh R&B Uh then you had all the comedians that came through It just
11:04
was it was amazing Is there is there a standout show that a a a hip-hop group
11:10
came and did that just I know a lot of them shut it down Is there one you remember that made you go damn damn
11:18
Let's see now Give me a minute to think about that Can I Can we talk Can we talk about I'll be sure for a minute I'll be
11:24
sure We talk about my baby Alb and how many times when Jody came on Jodicy
11:30
[ __ ] it up Joticy [ __ ] it up too They did Okay Yeah But you know who well
11:35
okay This was not a hip-hop artist but I immediately remember when um um the gospel artist tall beautiful Yolanda
11:42
Adams came on She doing a Christmas show there I think it was funny because I had just lost a great friend of mine a
11:48
dancer of mine had just passed away and I was not able to be in California for her memorial Um um and so Angela um
11:55
Yolanda Yolanda Adams came on and she was standing there singing and I'm telling you y'all this thing that came
12:01
over me and I just looked up into the ceiling backstage at the Apollo Theater and I saw the angel I saw my friend Yeah
12:07
Wow That's Yolanda Adam Those kind of uh what's his name kirk Franklin Kirk Franklin Uh there were certain people
12:13
that came on then the hip-hop artists that came on and stuff that came and they knew me but I would did not I did
12:18
not have that intimacy into the hip-hop world that they you know but they all knew me and stuff but the respect that I
12:24
got from everybody was just amazing They shut the they shut the the show down one time because it was so much craziness
12:30
going on in the audience We love which we love Which we love Just crazy They that they couldn't they were throwing things and stuff on the stage and stuff
12:37
and then when I came out somebody threw something and they shut Steve Harvey came out and shut the whole thing down I
12:42
said "Okay no this is Kiki Shepard This is the Queen of the Apollo." And let's face it there many black women even on
12:49
TV Period All those kind of experience But the but the hip-hop artists were all very respectful of me You know they no
12:56
matter what they did they did not turn anything negative on to me Man you you you we will protect you Are you kidding
13:02
me i'm telling you But I but you got to understand all this was so new for me too I was a dancer Like I said I was a
13:08
dancer became the choreographer And then because I was the tallest girl and could put my hand over anybody that came
13:13
because I had on heels like this That's that's what I said God just so I was in those positions without really
13:19
understanding and knowing the impact that was being made on our country until I went out into the world after that
13:26
with suh advocate for sickle cell disease and that's when I found out when show time at the Apollo we found out
13:31
about your your visibility right how many people knew you I didn't mean to talk over Alb Shore I remember that
13:37
episode too and he shut it down not one multiple episodes
13:43
okay not one sway not Okay Uh rappers mention you You're a
13:49
metaphor Yes I am Aren't I yes I guess I wish I get some metaphor metaphor money
13:55
Yes That'd be some metaphor That'd be really good to get some metaphor money Metaphor money Is that like crypto money
14:01
okay Okay Whatever Whatever works It's just really But that once again is goes to the influence that was made from that
14:08
show And you can see her tonight if you're listening There you go Let's get to it
14:14
Legendary Apollo tonight will be Lenel is at the Apollo
14:20
uh tonight Make sure that's in the neighborhood Kiki Shepard's going to be there What time does the show start 7:30
14:26
7:30 Make sure y'all go If you in the tri-state area come support So let me say this This is as they call a union
14:33
house So when they say the show starts at 7:30 show starts at 7 It don't start at 7:45 7:30 And you will miss it
14:40
because we have surprises this time We have a special guest this time and I I wouldn't I don't
14:48
don't don't [ __ ] around and miss the show Okay because let me tell you I have a love for the Apollo I have a love for
14:55
Harlem and me being a West Coast comic based in the West Coast to sell out at
15:02
East Coast venue like the Apollo Me not with the boys me it means a lot to me
15:07
And I just want to do this as as a love letter to Harlem because they really
15:13
want me at the Beacon at the Beacon Theater They really want me at the on the west side Yeah but I I prefer to do
15:19
the Apollo I might do the Beacon next year but you know I had to put my cherry
15:24
up in that uh I'm sorry I beg your part
15:32
I've never seen your daughter cringe up like that She was like "Oh just watch." She crunches all the time cuz I'm a mama
15:40
Also let me just say this In celebration of Malcolm X's 100th birthday which is
15:47
Saturday the next day I'm staying in New York one extra day cuz of course I have
15:53
to be back in Vegas on Sunday for my Jimmy Kimmel residency Jimmy Kimmel
15:58
residency Okay let's get some In case y don't know every Sunday you can see Lan Sunday and
16:03
Monday and Monday go out there now we west coast week with west coast we on the west coast Yes See I told you I'm
16:10
moving closer to I know I know I I we we're not through with that conversation Okay But um I'm staying in Harlem on
16:17
Saturday and I'm trying to be in these streets to uh see what Malcolm X
16:24
activities going on I heard that I don't know what version this is but I heard the last poets which you remember were
16:31
gonna be in the park somewhere I got it in my phone I'm trying to roll up on them Which park you know uh Dell it's in
16:38
my phone looking in my my pictures Oh my god Yeah Yeah Torch is Harlem He's Mr
16:44
Harlem He's what you know Torch [ __ ] are scared of reolution Most likely it might be Marcus Garvey Park Marcus
16:50
Garvey Park Maybe that might be it What street is that one on 125th and like uh
16:57
124th 124th 124th and like fifth a half between Marcus Garvey Park probably Okay
17:04
I used to live right there Mr Harlem too Yeah I'm Mr Harlem too I'm from Oakland but I'm also Mr Harlem
17:11
Now you're going to be Mr Elli Are you from New York i'm from Tyler Texas You're from Texas And I was born in
17:16
Arkansas Born in Arkansas Really we we were so we were born next to each other
17:22
statewise Statewise Lunell trying to figure out where the party going to be You trying
17:28
to find it on the phone Hey we got people on the phone lines Let me go to Tiffany in Houston real quick
17:34
Uh Tiffany how you doing what's up Tiffany good morning Good morning Hi Kiki Hi Lunell Hi Good morning to
17:42
everyone Good morning to you I just want to shout out Kiki I am from Tyler Texas as well
17:49
That's crazy God sweet baby Yellow rose You a yellow rose You know that Yes
17:54
ma'am I'm a yellow rose And I just want to thank you for being an inspiration to all of the East Texas girls from a small
18:00
town to let us show us we can do anything that we want to do We love you Kiki We love you Lunell
18:08
Thank you Thank you so much Tiffany Thank you for your call that she's all the way in Houston Let's go to Cali
18:13
Coach Jay where you at in Cali coach Jay Yo Yo I'm in Moreno Valley my guy Mareno
18:19
Valley Okay that's what's up man Say hello to Lenel and Kiki Shepherd is up in here I can't believe I get to say her
18:24
name Ain't that something wow man I would love to say hello to Kiki I
18:31
appreciate everything you do for the culture And Lenel you are one of my favorites One of my mom's favorite We
18:38
appreciate everything you do and we want to continue to give you your flowers Thank you Thank you so much This is my
18:44
first time on Sway I want to be a citizen Sway I do a lot for the community down in Southern California
18:50
with the kids I I work with the inner city kids I give them a platform to
18:55
build up their skills and I just wanted to shout that out What's your platform what's the name of your platform Coach
19:01
Jay it's called Moal Monstars M O V A L M O N S T A R Z Move Monstars Mollars
19:11
And where y'all located we in Mareno Valley California And what ages do you work with i work with all
19:18
ages from six all the way up to high school Um I take kids on college trips
19:24
uh just to give them that vision Some of the kids who never even thought about going to college I change a lot of lives
19:29
around here man And I just you know I want to keep paying it forward man So definitely if support us if you can show
19:35
these kids love It's not about me It's about these kids Amen Mov That's how they can reach you on
19:41
Instagram or people if you're in that area hit up Coach Jay That's how Yes mobile monsters Hey man I appreciate
19:48
mobile That's dope I appreciate your work man Let's give him his citizenship He a first time calling torch Come on
19:53
Come on Hey Coach J You a citizen That's way in
20:00
the morning There you go Welcome man Coach J Thank you man We got uh C Brown
20:05
from Dallas Who's that what up D uh C Brown what up good morning family Good
20:11
morning Good to talk to y'all again Blessings all for all y'all man Hey Miss Kiki and Miss Lenel thank y'all for
20:18
everything I just wanted to call in and give y'all y'all flowers Miss Kiki I sure enough remember you watching
20:23
watching you every Saturday when I was in Little Rock There you go And Miss Len
20:29
Miss Len uh thank you for representing Arkansas the right way with me being a native from Little Rock I can't do
20:35
nothing but give you your flowers And uh I sure enough remember seeing you back in 98 when I was in high
20:42
school in Sacramento Uh you did a show with AJ Johnson May God may God uh you
20:49
know rest in peace to that brother and uh I remember seeing you a couple of years ago in uh the improv when you came
20:56
down here So so much love to you sister L Keep doing your thing I'mma support
21:02
anything you do Okay Thank you so much Thank you so much Brown we got to love it man You're a citizen C Brown in the
21:09
morning Let's go to Virginia Tracy's on the line from all over What up VA hey VA
21:14
Come on Kiki They hear you on the air Come on I'm on the
21:23
phone You know what you a citizen
21:29
I just wanted to give a shout out man Lunell I had the chance to see you last Saturday at the Funny Bone I told that
21:35
[ __ ] up Even made the smoke alarm go off You know you did that [ __ ] That happened Oh yeah Yeah I did do that
21:42
Yeah I had a blast My fiance was in the building We had a blast I did do that
21:49
I only hit the drug one time in the bathroom There's a defective smoke alarm
21:55
and it went off for no reason Smoke alarm go the whole show It went off in the whole building Hey look Hey hey Sway
22:02
Hey Sway That's what she The dude the dude that was on before her who opened for her He say she couldn't wait for me
22:08
to leave the dressing room so she could fire it up That was still skills
22:14
He killed it too Lunell he killed it too Little small dude He was funny as hell man Y'all tore it up Me and my fiance
22:21
had a ball I just want to tell you about the experience man I loved it I want to see you again soon Thank you so much
22:28
Thank you so much Yeah Tracy Uh thanks for calling in man He got the right energy All right super citizen Away in
22:34
the morning Lunell you going to be in VA again anytime soon uh no cuz I just left Yeah Okay So I won't be back but I will
22:41
be in Vegas every week Okay But and she'll be at the Apollo Theater tonight No Citizens Go to If you want to make
22:47
friends with Lenel go to www.hunel.com
22:53
Hey Lunell And you spell it ll.com That's also where you can get
22:59
your tickets So wait you got to spell hey too cuz these [ __ ] Okay h e y h e
23:05
y l ue e n e l l.com That's tonight man Come on out
23:12
Come on out Come on out Yes Okay I got to say two things Okay first of all back to uh Malcolm Okay So my information
23:20
says that uh the Shabbaz Center will have a formal event on Monday but I
23:27
won't be there I want to go to where where he said the last pose will be performing Marcus Garvey at Marcus
23:34
Garvey Park from 2 to 4 Okay In the Richard Rogers Amphitheater
23:40
Okay And there's a Malcolm Shabbaz Harlem African Market And I'm going to
23:45
be up in there Yeah that's the one on 116th Yes Okay That's what it say right here Okay Yeah Yeah They got
23:52
11516th between Fifth Avenue and Linux And Linux Yeah Malcolm X And then the
23:57
theater That's the outside theater Torch Yeah And Marcus Garvey Park You know
24:02
where they have all They have the amphitheater in the Marcus Garvey Park It's a little bit like down south I believe Okay All right Okay Torch is
24:10
cute Yo Torch You think Torch is cool look at Torch George's blushing over
24:16
there They all blush They all [ __ ] blush They all [ __ ] blush and [ __ ] Like a
24:23
young dude though What do you think you know how young okay You and you in my demographic
24:34
You don't know about my mentorship program that I have for young gentlemen I'll be talking about that tonight I'm
24:39
having open enrollment actually until I leave on Sunday There you go Enrolling
24:45
open Wide open Keani's Tell her how old you are Does he qualify i'm 22 Oh yes
24:51
You can you can make it No actually no I'm lying Actually I had
24:57
to change that cuz Diddy [ __ ] up all the age demographics So 29 to 40 That's my That's my uh You
25:06
got something to look forward to yeah Maybe when you get a little older baby cuz I can't You know Daddy [ __ ] it up for me No I can't What you think he's
25:14
eating today dinner What time is it oh my goodness Eating today Bring that over here please
25:20
If you don't mind bring the first to have the fair Just stand right there
25:25
They were the first to have the fair before the fair
25:30
And be glad you came Shame Shame Every time you say something
25:35
Lenil I ain't even going to comment I'm just holding up Don't pop it But listen
25:40
my other thing I wanted to tell you is now this is the day of show Yeah I was
25:45
mad that I had to do press today because I wanted to luxuriate I wanted to get my mind together and all this kind of stuff
25:51
We got a million things to do Yeah But for you I said there's no [ __ ] way
25:57
I'm not coming to see my [ __ ] sway and I'm bringing Kiki It's going to knock his dick in the dirt And it did Knock
26:04
his dick in the dirt And it did And it did Oh my god I got to use soil on the
26:09
ridiculous soil on the tip right now Shake it off And I want to send a shout
26:16
out to [ __ ] Shade 45 to uh Sway and her whole team Heather B I do listen
26:23
I be listening and I I need a I need a I want a private number I can call into
26:28
this business I want to be a citizen and I want to call in anonymously whenever the [ __ ] I want
26:34
to That's no problem I want to be a citizen You are you are ready Lunell had
26:40
her schedule messed up because remember she left me a message and Sway said she's not coming Thursday she's coming
26:45
Friday I said she has a show Friday Why is she doing press on the morning of a show exactly And I figured you said
26:51
Lunell probably didn't you know didn't know Don't say that What don't say what you said Lell's people No no The people
27:00
put me here today and I was mad at the people But I but if I had to be
27:06
somewhere I would I would come here our relationship run to
27:11
see each other We're both we're so Oakland Did you you weren't at the uh Freaky Tales though the I couldn't come
27:18
down when they had at the Grand Lake theater show the uh the movie Yeah I
27:23
just And then you know Cougler did a uh a sinner premiere at the at the Grand
27:28
Lake Ryan Cougler Oakland in the building town business Nobody Anybody no
27:34
Okay Wow In the movie My daughter's in the movie In which movie sinners No Oh she
27:43
one of the vampires No Okay See that's why I'm not going to watch that movie Which which one who are you vampire
27:49
scared me She danced on the bus Tell them Dell Two shorts Freaky tail movie That's what it's called Freaky tail No
27:55
but she your part She was just one of the last future featuring dancers in the scene when the credits roll So you you
28:02
popping now You different I'm doing a little bit of something Okay All right Okay She got that same card That's all I
28:09
care about That can lead you to great things baby doll Don't not only is Kiki
28:15
a citizen a sway in the morning but Kiki also has a foundation And we just want everybody to follow Kiki at Kiki Shepard
28:21
Ki Ki Shepard That's S H E P A R D L K I K I Not K E right k I K L said we got to
28:29
spell this [ __ ] out go to the website too the kisfoundation.org Make sure you do that
28:34
because she's raising awareness uh for cickle cell and that's important We have a lot of citizens who call up and um who
28:40
want more information on that She's been doing it for almost 30 years Follow Kiki Shepard on the Before
28:47
we wrap I want Kiki is here I want nuts I knew I knew it I knew it I
28:54
knew that he was going to go nuts if we seen you cuz we didn't tell Nobody knew you were coming I know Yo Kiki I'm
28:59
tripping right now What did Lenel say my what you say my Knock your dick in the dirt Yeah
29:05
I got I got I got soil on the tip right now Eye of the I just fell out my chair
29:13
I I just fell on the bird That visual is making me nauseous
29:19
Oh my god Where's that fan at symbolically Symbolically Pop that fan
29:24
Pop that fan I I want I want I want these two to be able to ask Kiki Shepard
29:29
something Yeah Cuz while she's here we don't you know Got to Okay I want you to
29:35
have the opportunity to say you're younger Are you hip to show time at the Apollo absolutely Do you remember Kiki
29:42
yes CG remember Well and I So here's the thing Kiki I also wanted to ask you
29:48
about because you're a Howard University alum Yes Yes I'm a member of Delta Sigma Theta Yes Okay Okay
29:55
and I wanted to see how much going to a H.B.CU contributed to your work on the
30:00
Apollo how that prepared you But before that because I know that our our time is short when you had mentioned how um you
30:08
know often times in the industry it's like folks just want to have a memory of you at a certain period in your life you
30:13
know and as woman it's like aging is seen as a criminal act They celebrate you when you have less years in your
30:19
life but you need more years to have a legacy I show too Can y'all just both of
30:24
you guys Kiki and Lunell can you speak about if you were able to always accept
30:29
the fact that aging was inevitable and just the kind of like the inner dialogue
30:35
that you guys had to celebrate having years in this industry oh girl that's
30:40
some serious talk you talking right there That's because no matter what you do it's going to you're going to age or
30:46
you're going to die or you're going to die So and if you if if you love
30:51
sway the fan get the fan If you love what you're doing you know if you love what you're doing you keep on doing it
30:57
because that's who you are You love it And sure things happen where you have to change how you do it but you keep on
31:03
doing it I I cannot see myself doing anything except for what I do I host I
31:08
raise awareness and advocacy for cle cell disease That's just Kiki And if I try to stop being Kiki then I guess I
31:15
will die But I think that your legacy is gonna always over it's not overshadow
31:21
but I think that'd be the reason you know that's why doors open the the legacy that you have built that has been
31:27
built around you Yes Cuz you just doing Kiki but the legacy got built around you
31:33
and I think that's a the thing that's going to follow you all through the rest Same thing with her Amen No with me And
31:39
I was just telling my friend last night My friend Who's your friend friend
31:45
over there But I just told my friend last You a friend homie No no no no Okay
31:50
Okay Okay All right All right Anyway I like to know who's in the room Listen trust me you don't know who's in the
31:56
room Friend over there I was telling my friend last night that in this day and
32:02
age where everything is so aimed at the youth that for me as a black woman as a
32:10
older black woman to be in this game and anybody you know a million comics came
32:15
through your life and and then faded away and this most pathetic thing is to try to see a comic get back on that was
32:22
on that's not on anymore You know when the house party and everything came out we didn't have publicists We didn't have
32:29
agents necessarily at that time And so the the the fact that I can still keep
32:34
going with the with the vernacular that I use with the attitude that I serve and
32:40
you know getting older getting rounder getting all that stuff is is is really a miracle I don't know I mean I think that
32:48
I have a perspective that a lot of people have but they just don't have a voice to say it and and and or nobody's
32:55
really listening to them So that's why my friend was saying that when people come if they are in a position where
33:01
they can't say that and I say it then they're out there like "Yeah yeah yeah." So I'm just more like a people's champ
33:06
type person I'm not beholding to the industry you know i'm on shows but I've
33:12
never been a part of a show I've never been a family like Living Single I've never been a family like like uh
33:19
anything like that you know uh uh none none of that cosmic show or or any any
33:24
of that But I've never been that And I don't know if you know I I know I've lost jobs before because my I'm sorry
33:32
cuz my personality and stuff sort of overshadows who the star is supposed to be So maybe I'm meant to just be on my
33:39
own If that's the case then God bless me with the fact that I'm able to do that And you know hopefully the people will
33:45
come to the Apollo tonight and see what the [ __ ] you There you go That's it
33:51
right there Period Mike just say hi to him We got to you know just say hi man Say something Hey Mike Hey Mike Mike
33:59
bless him too It's a new thing Yes Yes But you know it's just what Lunell said
34:04
You do what you do Amen And you appreciate it by the public and you just keep on doing it I It's a blessing Like
34:10
I said I'm one of God's children I've been blessed all this time I ain't going to never stop Amen This is the blessing right here for me right now Tonight at
34:17
the Apollo Theater I feel like Kiki knows a whole bunch of people a whole
34:22
bunch of people in the industry but I don't think they [ __ ] with her the way that she should be [ __ ] with And I do Y'all hear Lunell y'all hear her i said
34:29
it all out there I can name name but I ain't going to be messing with you You You can You can always come up here You
34:35
know what you ain't got to worry about that I will put it away Sh Why what is the shade thing a lot of
34:43
No I was looking at Shay I got tongue tied That's why Okay we got
34:49
it Lonnie we going to rearrange You said "Put it away." Uh but Kiki you can always come here Okay Give it up for
34:56
Kiki Thank you so much I like the way you said that I'll put that here You put
35:02
that 23rd ab on her Period
35:08
I will be here Thank y'all so much for this Let me do a drop before they leave
35:13
Tell them how to follow you Kiki too And then me too Oh yeah Follow me at the Kiki Shepard at once again T H E K I K I
35:19
S H E P A R D Yes Let's do the drop live Yes Listen before we go I want everybody
35:25
to know I'm on a new show on the Impact Network Impact TV network called Highly Favored I play the wife to Michael Ka
35:32
the lady of the first church It's called Highly Favored Y'all go online Congratulations Plus She came through
35:38
She spoke about it last year And we're still doing Mind Your Business also with u at on B TV with Rolanda Yes That's
35:45
what's uh Rolanda She's on mind your business and she'll be at the show tonight Rolanda will be at the show Will
35:51
be at the show tonight Can you bring her up here to now i'm not going to like her either I'm not
35:57
precurring [ __ ] for you Bring her on Bring her up Bring her up
36:05
Kiki it's a absolute honor to have you here today Thank you so much I'm honored to be here Thank you Lenell Thank you I
36:12
love you And you knew you knew this was going to I knew it I'm choked up because I knew this would get you Oh my gosh
36:18
this is amazing Thank you What a great way to uh wrap up the week Yes we'll be at the Paulo tonight Make sure you be
36:24
there Go to www.halunell.com Get your tickets
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