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Ben Higgins
You can scroll the headlines all day and still feel empty. I'm Ben Higgins, and if youf Can Hear Me is where culture meets the soul. Honest conversations about identity, loss, purpose, peace, faith, and everything in between. Celebrities, thinkers, everyday people. Some have answers. Most are still figuring it out. And if you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to if youf Can Hear me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Monie Love
And you can pull up the tape from Arsenio. You can pull up the tape from.
Fat Joe
You was pregnant on Hell, yeah.
Monie Love
I was on Showtime at the Apollo talking about Moni in the middle. Really in the middle. Moni in the middle. Really in the middle.
Fat Joe
Yeah. Yeah. What up, y'? All? This is Joe Crack the Dawn.
Jada Kiss
Know who it is. Your boy Jada. This is the Joe and Jada Show. Every show legendary. Every show iconic.
Fat Joe
That's right.
Jada Kiss
Today is very special. Not only do we have an iconic, legendary icon of the culture, we have one of my friends. You have somebody that contacted me to get on the show, and she's here because she's a legend. She was gonna be here regardless of the fact of that. But my. My business partner over here owes her an apology. Cause he was. You know, he might have had the fur. It might have been expensive fur rubbing against something or, you know, it might have just had a little brain freeze at the moment. It happens to the best of us, but, you know, we're going to get into that before we get into a deep conversation. But, ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for our guest today, Mooney Love.
Fat Joe
Yo.
Monie Love
Legendary introduction.
Jada Kiss
You like that, right?
Fat Joe
Moni deserve that money, yo. And where's she at?
Monie Love
No. And y' all did that deliberately, too.
Fat Joe
Yeah, I did it. I pulled it off.
Monie Love
You guys did that deliberately.
Fat Joe
You're the first artist to be in the middle. I said, y', all, come on, we need. Honey.
Monie Love
I was getting ready to sit over there.
Fat Joe
Joe was like, right here.
Jada Kiss
I like it. You don't like being there. You made the middle famous.
Monie Love
Can I please tell you, I had no intention of it becoming a thing within itself. When I wrote that song, it felt good. The music was talking to me. It told me to write that. What I wrote came up with the hook. It felt good, but I really didn't think that it was gonna grow legs of its own. I mean, surpassing.
Fat Joe
You go to your kid's school, the teacher be like, we're gonna put her in the middle. Like you like you tie.
Jada Kiss
Yeah. You should have patented. She's supposed to get some money off the middle of everything.
Fat Joe
Like, honestly, the middle of the mall.
Monie Love
The middle of anything besides the song doing well. And it was the first song that I was up for a Grammy for besides any of that. I didn't know that years later, people would see me and they wouldn't necessarily say, that's Moni Love. They will say, that's Moni in the middle.
Jada Kiss
Yeah.
Monie Love
Like it grew its own leg.
Jada Kiss
Yo, she's like the female Slick Rick mixed with Dana Dane. How could you still got such a strong accent after being Hereford? You seen everything in there.
Monie Love
It's not that strong. It's not that strong.
Fat Joe
When I say one of my questions I was gonna ask, you know, when I go to Puerto Rico, there's some Puerto Ricans that look at me like a fake Puerto Rican. They'd be like, yo, you ain't Puerto Rican. Because I didn't grow up there. I wasn't born there. Like, are you more considered American in London or they like, she's from here.
Monie Love
Okay, so that's a really interesting question at this point. I'm 55 now, right. So. So at this point in my life, I've actually spent more time in the United States than I have in the country of my birth, because I left England when I was 17 years old. I was born there. I did all my schooling there. I grew up there pretty much. You know what I mean? I came here after I got a record deal. I got a record deal at 16, and then I came here when I was like, 17. Yeah.
Fat Joe
Wow. Yeah. Did you and Slick Rick. Because Slick Rick grew up in the Bronx. I think he might have came even younger than you.
Monie Love
He came when he was a toddler. He must have came when he was like four or five or something like that, because we didn't even in England. We developed our own scene based on what was happening in the United States at the time. We watched Wild Style, you know, movies. We watched Breakdance. We watched Beach Street. We were enthralled and totally absorbed into the culture to the point where we created our own pseudo hip hop scene in England and all the surrounding areas, and then all the way in all the countries in Europe. That's how much in love with the culture that came from the United States that we were. So we didn't even know that we could embrace Slick Rick as our own. When we were listening to Slick Rick on the radio, we didn't realize. And then we started to realize, oh, wow, he's originally from here as in the uk. And then we realized he, you know, oh, he's one of us. But he must have moved to the United States when he was 5 or something like that, because it's not like he grew up. And we came to know of Slick Rick in England before coming to America.
Fat Joe
Growing up in London, right, Because we. We have guests all the time, legends and all that. Everybody's story is similar but unique, right? So how the hell did somebody discover Moni Love in England and give her a record deal at 16? And you come over here and it pops off.
Monie Love
So the first record deal that I signed was in England. Like I said, we fell in love with the culture from watching movies and also getting like 10th generation cassette tapes of radio shows recorded. You know what I'm saying? Like, we would listen to Red Alert and stuff like that, but it would sound like eggs and bacon cooking when we're listening to it, because it's like, been dubbed a good 15 times out.
Jada Kiss
Of air in it.
Monie Love
You know what I mean? And so we fell in love with the culture. We created our own scene. And. And then we started putting on our own little shows in England as young, young teenagers, you know. And then at the same time, it was blowing up in the United States. So record companies in England started to see what was happening in England, and they wanted to sign their own artists also. So a lot of us were getting record deals in England, you know. So I got my first record deal with Chrysalis Records, which was later swallowed by EMI Records. Yeah, but Chrysalis Records is where I had my original deal, and that was at 16 years old. My parents had to sign my recording contract. And, you know my dad. Yeah, okay, you met my dad at the Palladium, right, in New York. But that's just a whole nother story, I'll tell you. Right?
Jada Kiss
Yeah. Great, dad.
Monie Love
So my Jamaican Rastafarian father looked at this contract and was like, I wear this. And was. I mean, I signed this. This. What kind of contract is this? Like, my dad was not impressed. It took some going back and forth with another attorney to straighten out some stuff that my dad was looking at before my father.
Fat Joe
In them days, nothing was strict, even.
Monie Love
If it was terrible.
Fat Joe
Ten attorneys on this.
Monie Love
It was terrible.
Fat Joe
Nah, they robbed everybody at the. Everybody.
Monie Love
It was terrible.
Fat Joe
And then it looked like everybody. Nobody did not get robbed. Every. I could break down Missy Ellie. I could break down Jelly. Riley got robbed, and he went and robbed them over there. And this, that everybody got robbed and robbed and Robbed and robbed.
Jada Kiss
Rob Base got robbed.
Monie Love
Who? Rob Bass. Did he? Did he?
Fat Joe
I don't know. I never said. Rob Base?
Jada Kiss
Yeah. Nah, I just asked.
Fat Joe
Well, you know, I used to be on 132nd, and he from the projects right there. What's that? Washington projects on 132nd at Park Avenue. Rob Banks is from there.
Monie Love
Okay?
Fat Joe
No, Rob Bass is from Harlem, man. Drew Tom Fallon, 132nd, bro. I used to see Rob basement. He was like, the biggest in the world.
Jada Kiss
Harlem, man.
Fat Joe
Harlem, bro. Nothing.
Jada Kiss
Rob Basie from Harlem.
Fat Joe
Don't do that.
Monie Love
Yeah.
Fat Joe
Yo, Kiss, man. We in fucking London. You sidetrack us to Harlem with Rob.
Monie Love
How we get to Harlem from Little.
Jada Kiss
I sidetracked too much.
Fat Joe
How do you come over here and you connect with the legendary Native Tongues? And did that happen? How did you get into that crew right there?
Monie Love
So Dave Klein, that used to work for Def Jam, God rest his soul, was like an ambassador and used to bring artists from the United States to England and the surrounding European countries to do mini tours. And he brought over Queen Latifah and the Jungle Brothers. On one particular tour, it was Queen Latifah, the Jungle Brothers, Chir, Robji, and True Mathematics. They all came over to do. They went to Germany first, and then on a tour bus, on a ferry, came over to London and then was doing shows in London. I was at one of those shows, and I had built, like, a reputation for myself in. In. In London, you know, there's this girl coming up, she's from South London, she's dope, blah, blah, blah. And I was at this show. So the guy that run the club introduced me to Dave Klein. And then Dave Klein, who was with, you know, Latifah and Jungle Brothers and stuff. And Dave Klein introduced me to Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, the other groups that were there, and that' and Latifah first met. And that's when me and the Jungle Brothers first met. And the Jungle Brothers, Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul are the three head groups of the Native Tongues. So whatever they say is gonna happen as far as Native Tongues and who's gonna be a part of it. That's what goes. And from me in Africa and rhyming to Latifah, rhyming to Africa, them getting the gist of who I am and that I was indeed dope. And so then they were like, yeah, she's gonna be down. We're gonna put her down. And it was during that trip that Latifah was like, we're Gonna do a song together at some point. And then it was eight months later that me and Latifah recorded Ladies first at Powerplay Studios in Queens.
Fat Joe
What does Ladies first mean to you?
Monie Love
For me, when we did Ladies first, it was, I'm here, I'm rhyming on this. This is dope, and I'm gonna spit, and it's gonna be dope. That's what it was for me. Latifah had a bigger plan when she invited me to do Ladies first, she had a bigger plan. And now in hindsight, when we do shows together. Cause we still do shows together. Latifah is like a mad scientist where she'll call me, yo, yo, light and rage, like, out the blue. And it'll be like, we form Voltron. Like, she'll be like, what are you doing? Such and such a day. All right, let me call yo, yo, what are you doing? What are you doing? Like, what are you doing? Rage. And we'd be like, bet we're with it. And we'll just all go out to wherever Latifah is and we'll form Voltron and get on stage and do this, like, two hour ensemble show.
Fat Joe
Crazy.
Monie Love
Which is. Which is crazy, right? But Latifa always seems to have this, like, science, this mad scientist mindset where she knows what she's doing. So back then, we were 18 years old recording Ladies First. We were actually in our late 17th year, so we didn't turn 18 yet. Right? Recording Ladies First.
Jada Kiss
Very mature track.
Monie Love
Very mature track. And she knew what she was doing. I'm just the rowdy one, the Ramaholic that's just happy to be here. But she knew she wanted to do something that made sense, that spoke to women as far as big ups to women, strengthening women, fist in the air for women type vibes. She knew that's what she wanted to do. So once she gave me the gist of. All right, this is where we going with it. I was like, cool. So we're in our respective corners, right? In the studio. So I write a verse. This is how excited I was. I would write a verse, right? And then be like, la La. Listen to this. Listen to this. Go over to her corner and be like. And then say the rhyme, right? She'd be like, yo, that's dope. I'll be like. And then she'll kick me hers. I'd be like, yo, that's dope. We run back to our respective corners. We write another eight bars. Yo, yo, yo. Listen to this. Come back to each Other. I spit the next eight bars. She spit the next eight bars, excited as ever. We did the whole session like that. The whole session was just electric.
Fat Joe
Yeah, they losing that now. Now they send your shit to Colorado. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not. It's not in your face no more. It's not that energy. I forgot who came up here and was like, yo, we was in the. I think it was daylight. So somebody was up there that was like. They was together and they was just jumping in and. And rapping with, like. You know, when I did Flo Jo, I didn't even know what. What Punching in was reals.
Jada Kiss
Yeah.
Fat Joe
So I did the whole flow, Joe, without punching in. And they was there, and they. When the hook came, you gotta. Flo Joe, everybody.
Jada Kiss
We need you to come in there helping.
Monie Love
I'm glad you said that.
Jada Kiss
Right.
Monie Love
I'm glad you said that.
Jada Kiss
Make it stronger.
Monie Love
I'm glad you brought up Flo Jo. I bet that you have absolutely no idea how we, especially us Native Tongues, looked at you and loved you and was so excited for you when you first came out, because there's a. There's a huge bloodline between you and Native Tongues. I bet you didn't even know that.
Fat Joe
No, I want to hear it. How do we know? Giving me goosebumps.
Monie Love
You're Chris's artist.
Fat Joe
That's right. Do you know.
Monie Love
Chris was our road manager before he made any business moves, as far as having an office, as far as having violated records, as far as having. I mean, I'm getting choked up just thinking about this right now. Chris was our road manager. Chris was one of the Violators. As far as Red Alert's posse. That's who the Violators are. You know what I'm saying? I remember us walking all of Native Tongues, all the groups. Dela, Jungle Tribe, me Latifah walking into a venue one night, and this is how the Violators and the Bronx and me coming from England, I'm looking at all of this like, yo, are we being road managed by the Mafia? Like, what's going on right now? Definitely the Mafia, because the Violators walk up in the venue with these long leather puff trenches and with the belt. Sit us in a room. All the groups like I just named, Sit us in a room. Wait here. Nobody touches a mic, nobody shows their face to the public. Nobody does nothing until we get this bread. Stay in this room. Violators walk off. Chris walks off. Couple of them stay with the rest of us. Chris comes back. Everybody out. Huh? We not performing. Nope. Everybody out. Right. And basically what that is, is if we get in the building and the venue, money ain't right. Chris is like, nobody's touching a mic. Nobody's touching nothing. The promoters are looking at, it's the Jungle Brothers, it's De La Soul, it's Tribe Called Quiet. Everybody's here. This show's gonna be crazy.
Fat Joe
You can't.
Monie Love
They gonna tear my club up. Chris is like, that's not my problem. You ain't got my money, right? Everybody out. Chris has always been thorough, so it was no surprise to me that he then made his business moves and create a Violator Records. And then when he put you out, we're all looking at you like, that's our little brother. That's our little brother. And we are super proud of him. Look at this.
Jada Kiss
Wow.
Fat Joe
You know, the man put me on, man, changed my life, you know, he came, I was in the streets, signed me. And what was crazy now that you saying that, right? Because I know Chris from the streets. Every time I did an album, because he was involved with my first three albums, even though I wasn't signed to him for Don Cartagena, we still had this ritual. We sit in the car and I play him the album. If it wasn't gangster, Chris ain't want to hear. He'd be like, yo, Fat Joe the gangster. Fuck that. I need some shit. Yo. Yo, he used to sit there. I don't think he ever wanted me to be commercial. He'd be like, yo, Fat Joe the gangster. I need the hard shit sitting there. Yeah, yeah, this, that shit. He was just so proud of us, you know? You know, like everybody. You know, like, DJ Khaled was Terror Squad. Then he went and made we the best. So if you. If you about the culture and you really love your brothers, you get happy for them to, you know D Block.
Monie Love
Yes.
Fat Joe
From Rough Riders. So even though I went and did my own thing, Chris Lighty would come to the album release for Big Pun. Now, he felt like you saying, yo, that's our little brother. He don't know it. He would show up when they saying, fat Joe's the Terror Squad, the Big. The Don. He would always show up and he'd be like, yo, I'm proud of you. And then walk out the joint. You know what I'm saying? Russell Simmons was like that, too. Russell Simmons. Every time we did some Terror Squad album release or something, he come show his cheekbone for two minutes. It's a flag on that.
Jada Kiss
Yeah, you good on that.
Fat Joe
You know, they got these things Here that you could throw whenever you get upset or whatever. Moni's chilling, man. She ain't down with that shit. You know what I mean?
Monie Love
Do I have that?
Fat Joe
Yeah, you have it. Everybody has it.
Monie Love
I do. Okay. Okay.
Fat Joe
The way they usually do it is any guest that comes, they tell you ahead of time, before we record, Joe says some dumb shit, throw it at him.
Monie Love
Nobody.
Fat Joe
They don't say jadakiss. They say, fat Joe's gonna say some dumb shit, throw it out.
Jada Kiss
That was originally made for you.
Fat Joe
Flag on the play.
Jada Kiss
But I wanted to say. I want to ask this because you see how hip hop and the game evolved with female MC now became almost like. It became, like, civil. They have a chokehold on the game for a nice amount of time.
Monie Love
Yeah.
Jada Kiss
But when you seem like native tongues, Tom, it was very protective of you and lie and whoever. Even the females. That wasn't native tongue. It seemed like. I don't know, is it the money? Is it the success of now or that change? Even though some is still. We gonna make sure the females is always good. If we somewhere Ram is there or anybody there.
Monie Love
Yeah.
Jada Kiss
That's just because we from a different cloth. But I'm talking about as the game. Hip hop as a whole now is when the females is rocking. It's just like the female is not. You see what I'm saying? They segregated the game.
Monie Love
I think I know what you're saying. Are you saying that, like, you've noticed that a lot of the successful women seem to be kind of just like, rolling and not necessarily with their. Their male brothers and counterparts. Like, it used to kind of be like families rolling, like, you know what I'm saying? Like that. Is that. Is that more or less what you're saying?
Fat Joe
That's what I'm saying.
Monie Love
I don't know. I definitely think that women do have a really strong chokehold on. On the forefront of the game right now. Like, I really do see that. I can't be mad at it. I think that there's just a lot more independent artists. Not independent artists, like putting independent records out. I mean, just independent entities. It's less, kind of like family rolling. You know what I'm saying? Less. Less. We're your crew. You got Remy, and it's all of y'. All. You know what I'm saying? And you're rolling like that. It's native and it's me a lot, and we're rolling like that. I think it's more.
Jada Kiss
Yeah, you're right. It is more.
Monie Love
I think it's More individualism, entities like. Like that.
Fat Joe
You know what I was thinking about? We're in Miami for the big college game. Uam Indiana. Incredible experience.
Jada Kiss
Incredible. Understated.
Fat Joe
I'm standing on the sideline and I see all the legends, right? And they amping up these kids. These kids are what, 18, 19, and something that came to me. Do you think they watch footage of these legends? Like a young kid, 18, 19. Does he go back and says, why is this OG keep screaming at me, telling me what to do?
Jada Kiss
Nah, they know.
Fat Joe
Do they go to the video tape?
Jada Kiss
They know. I think the coaches, you know, like Coach Rich and them, will show them tapes. And then the ones that want to make it, they. They really want to see who their forefathers was at that position last time they won the chip, who was the best at this particular position. You know what I mean?
Fat Joe
It starts here, right? The females, do they go back and be like. When they listen to us, we be like, yo, Modi's a legend. Latifahs a legend. Do they go back and say, let me check out what they were doing at that time?
Monie Love
Okay, so do y' all think that the younger, the newer guys do that?
Jada Kiss
I think certain ones, like, now, they.
Fat Joe
Called me the interview guy at the.
Jada Kiss
Desk station, but that's why I actually know everything. Every one of your projects. Everything from lie. Everything from somebody like that.
Monie Love
Who.
Fat Joe
Who.
Monie Love
Say her name again. And that's why she's an anomaly.
Jada Kiss
A fact. Well, you asked me to give you one.
Monie Love
No, but that's what I'm the reason. Why am I gonna get a flag right now? I get a flag. I got a flag. But that's. But that's. But that's why I asked you that specifically, because you said. Key thing that you said is some. That's the key. Some. You know what I'm saying? Because I think that the viral explosion and just the bigness of the Internet and social media and everything has allowed a lot of folks to feel like a lot of folks that's been here a lot less time to feel like they know everything.
Fat Joe
Ashley, Blaine Featherson.
Monie Love
And so that's why. And so that's why it's. Some people do their research, and I say that not to be snotty or snidey or anything like that. I say it because in any field, not just music, in any field, in any business, in any occupation, it behooves a person to know what came before them because it helps them to do what they do even better. You know what I'm Saying you don't have to learn everything from your own accord. You can learn some stuff from some other people. That's why it's called research.
Fat Joe
Life story, my life, you know what I'm saying? You know, in Fat Joe's wicked way of thinking, you know, a guy like Floyd Mayweather, his uncle, his father were champs, and Floyd Mayweather became dead. Nice. Floyd watched a lot of tape, okay? I watched one fight where he was doing the Floyd, and he was. He was losing, like, six rounds in a row. I think some Mexican guy was on him, and he switched up the whole style, like, in the seventh round, and just. He started doing some other shit. He beat the guy senseless for the rest of the fight. When they interviewed him, he was like, yo, I mean, he was ready for me. And I switched up to Jack Dempsey, you know, Like, I thought about the fight, Jack Dempsey or something. I don't know if it was Jack Dempsey, but he said, one of them old guys. And he was like, yo, from watching the film, I had to figure out who I had to fight, like, to beat this guy. Cause if I'm just straight up, Floyd Mayweather, he got my number. So about the sixth round, he just switched the whole style up on him and was like, killed him. Like, killed him. But he was like. And I remember, I was looking, I said, damn. He really watches the footage.
Monie Love
Case in point, that's it right there. And you talking, and that was a beautiful analogy, because you talking about boxing, which is another fine art within itself. You know what I'm saying? It makes sense. You know what I'm saying? And to bring it back to hip hop, how you think when the DJ battles were going down right back in the days, and how you think they got nice enough to be able to get to the World Final Championships and go up against each other? It's because they're all sitting, watching tapes. I said it in another interview. One time, they're sitting. Clark Kent would sit in his basement and have some of us sit there in his basement and watch videotapes of other DJs and their routines. And see, look, you see when Jazzy Jeff did this right here, Moni, you see? And I'm sitting there like I'm an emcee. Why am I here? You know what I'm saying? Y' all are DJs. Why am I here? No, but I'm trying to show you something. Cause Clark Kent did make me learn how to dj.
Fat Joe
He taught you how to dj?
Monie Love
Yes. Yes.
Fat Joe
I want to shout out Rock Raider. Rest in peace.
Monie Love
And that's what I'm saying. That's another one. That's another one. Yeah, give it up. That's another one. That's another one right there.
Fat Joe
He did the scratches on Flo Joe. See, Raider was like downward digging in the crates.
Monie Love
Absolutely.
Fat Joe
I don't know exactly how, but he was down with us. And whenever we needed scratches, I'd be like, yo, Rock, he was the coolest guy in the world.
Monie Love
And Rock Raider's nasty. Rock Raider was nasty. Like, I know this. I remember this.
Fat Joe
Why he doing some shit and he be smiling while he doing the moves and them routines. Like, Rock Raider was exactly super smooth.
Monie Love
And so it was the Same thing with MCing. Same thing. Like, for me, I used to listen to Set it off by Big Daddy Kane, like how singers have people that they do the scales with. Singers and trainers that be, you know, let's do the scales and stuff like that to get their voices right. I used to listen to Big Daddy Kane, set it off to get myself right, because it was a choppy. Let it roll, get bold. I just can't hold back, you know what I'm saying? And I would be doing that like the discotheque and screw this. What's next, you know, get your mouth right, you know what I'm saying? And that's how I developed a style to be on some. Excuse me, but I think I'm about to. I get into precisely what I am about to do. I'm conversating to the folks who have no whatsoever clue. So listen very carefully as I break it down for you. Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary. You know what I'm saying?
Jada Kiss
No doubt.
Monie Love
To bring it back to what you're saying. Absolutely. The study of what comes before you is what helps to make you great at what you do in any field.
Jada Kiss
Clark forced you to learn how to dj, did you? What did you take with that?
Monie Love
It gave me a deeper respect for hip hop in itself because I started in London when we first embraced the culture. I wasn't rhyming at first. I was breaking. I was a B girl, no doubt. Yeah, right. So it allowed me to embrace another element of the culture. When Clark was like, no, you gonna learn. You gonna learn how to bring a record back? You gonna learn how to recognize it? Here, I put the tape markings on it. That's the one. Bring it Back to the 1. Flip the fader. Bring it back to the 1. Flip the fadER. Put the earphones on one side. Have the other ear kind of open so you can hear what's going on? Bring it back. Flip the favor. Bring it back. Flip the favor. You know what I'm saying? Cut it back T me around.
Fat Joe
Tell you something old graffiti. I just hit a train.
Monie Love
I know you do.
Fat Joe
I hit a train the other day. A New York City train the other day. Yeah, we snuck in the yard, huh? With spray paint. Man, you don't know I'm a graffiti.
Jada Kiss
I watch you doing your.
Fat Joe
I'mma show you the pictures. I hit a train day. Me and bio. But listen, so graffiti, some of the.
Monie Love
Best came out the Bronx.
Fat Joe
One thing I try to do is dj and that sucked. I've never ever successfully nowhere. Yo, I used to go to Serge house every day and I just sucked like there's nothing. I can't dj.
Monie Love
But you can't write, huh? But you can't graph. You write tag.
Fat Joe
I write.
Monie Love
Right. Okay, well, then you got two. I got two.
Fat Joe
You three.
Monie Love
You as a breakdown. Yeah, I still got you as a B boy.
Jada Kiss
I still get on the floor.
Fat Joe
You got fluidity.
Jada Kiss
I mean, I still got fluidity. Yeah. I got women.
Fat Joe
Listen.
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Jada Kiss
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Ben Higgins
This month, iHeartRadio is celebrating the stars of the 2026 Winter Games. A legend from Sun Valley, Idaho, Hillary Knight is the ultimate captain of Team usa. Entering her record breaking fifth Olympic Games, the veteran forward continues to be a scoring machine and physical force on the ice. With a resume already packed with gold and silver, she leads a hungry squad into Milano. Cortina Knight laces up her skates with one goal in bringing the gold medal back home. For more Winter Games gold search olympics on the iHeartRadio app. What do you do when the headlines don't explain what's happening inside of you? I'm Ben Higgins, and if you can hear me is where culture meets the soul. A place for real conversation. Each episode, I sit down with people from all walks of life, celebrities, thinkers, and everyday folks. And we go deeper than the polished story. We talk about what drives us, what shapes us, and what gives us hope. We get honest about the big stuff. Identity when you don't recognize yourself anymore. Loss that changes you. Purpose when success isn't enough. Peace when your mind won't slow down. Faith when it's complicated. Some guests have answers. Most are still figuring it out. If you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to if you can hear me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Fat Joe
Let's tap back to, like, social media. If you think now is the birth of only love and there's social media, do you think your career would have been super amplified more now that there's social media?
Monie Love
Honestly, I think any of us, any of us from my era or y', all, because I'm the big sister, y' all my little brothers, you know what I mean? So go back to me. Go back to your big sister and all of my set. If we had the platform of all, all of these platforms now, absolutely everything would have just been magnified for sure. You know what I mean?
Jada Kiss
That's a fact.
Monie Love
Yeah.
Fat Joe
And who do you think that's a female artist that does social media. Well, uses it now and you be like, man, she know how to play that game.
Monie Love
Oh, we all know that's Cardi.
Fat Joe
Cardi does. Yeah.
Monie Love
I mean, that's a, that's, that's a, that's a no brainer.
Jada Kiss
Wrap it up with Cardi.
Fat Joe
Utilize.
Monie Love
That's, that's a absolutely, that's A. That's a no brainer. She could wake up first thing in the morning and don't even be any of her outfits yet. And it's a top post because there's always a level of relatability in there. You know what I mean? She just, without even trying, you know.
Fat Joe
I always said people loved her first and then she made great music. And then. Is that again.
Monie Love
I think that's really poignant.
Jada Kiss
Yeah.
Fat Joe
And then, and then she just hit it out the block with that.
Monie Love
Bodak did like her first.
Fat Joe
Yeah, we liked her.
Monie Love
Thank you for saying that. I did like her first before anything. Yeah, I did. And, and, and what's really cool for me about Cardi is regardless of the fact that she's like, she's not my age group, right? So like, some people would be like, well, how do you, how do you relate to Cardi B. At all? For me, it's her mothering. When she wakes up and she has her, her whatever gripes she's having that morning about being a mom or the kids doing this or acting up or whatever. And oh, I got to get this. And kids making their little remarks in the background. I get it. Because when I look at it, I'm like, oh my God. And then I'll say to my daughter, who's in here, right? I'll be like, shaulaina, look at this. You remember when I used to. You guys used to say things and embarrass me and then I used to do this or I used to say that to you guys. It's just I find all of these relatable moments in her parent world for me. And I had four kids, you know what I'm saying? At her age, I didn't. No, no, Cardi. Cardi beat me a little bit. I wasn't helping her. I spread mine out a little bit more.
Fat Joe
She moved.
Monie Love
But I do have the same amount of kids as well.
Fat Joe
Cardi. Next week I'm pregnant again, guys. I think she's the first female that ever intentionally got pregnant in her prime and still worked and went on tour. Pregnant, still popping.
Monie Love
So intentionally. Maybe. But first, no, that was me. And you can pull up the tape from Arsenio. You can pull up the tape from.
Fat Joe
You was pregnant on.
Monie Love
Hell yeah. I was on the. I was on Showtime at the Apollo talking about Moni in the middle. Really in the middle. Moni in the middle. Really in the middle.
Fat Joe
That's a fun fact.
Monie Love
Pull the tape up. I'm glad you said that. Cause that's another reason one of My early reasons why I related to Cardi, because when she was pregnant that first time and came out and was like, on stage and publicly and everything, I was like. Because I understood it, because I was there. I was in that exact position on stage front, doing everything on Abstineo hall.
Fat Joe
The thing they used to do in hip hop. And they probably still do it. That's why I hate these people. The business always got, like, a stereotype. Like a female artist can't have a voice.
Monie Love
Oh, no. They shamed us. They shamed us. Especially in my time. They shamed us. Like the record label. I was signed to Chrysalis in England, but I was signed to Warner Brothers for the United States and Canada. And I was pretty much without them actually saying it. Like, I was three months pregnant with my daughter that's in here, my oldest one now, right? She's 34. I was three months pregnant with her. And the label reps were like, well, what are you gonna do? And I was like. I said, I'm three months pregnant. What you mean, what I'm gonna do? Well, you know, what are you gonna. And I'm like, it means I'm having a baby. Like, what you think it means?
Jada Kiss
Yeah, fuck.
Fat Joe
Like, they telling you to take an abortion, huh?
Monie Love
You know what I'm saying? Without saying it. Trying to say it without saying it, without saying it. You know what I'm saying? The record rep at the time. And I was just like, I was 19.
Fat Joe
Very sexist business.
Monie Love
I was. Because it was that summer around my birthday that I found out, right? And so she was born right before I turned 21, right? Because I was 20 when I found out I was pregnant. So by the time I turned 21, she was here. I thought back to the time, and I'm like, I'm so glad I made that. Like, there's nothing I would. It would have never went any other way. You know what I'm saying? And my kid. My daughter has asked me that before. She's like, mom, do you think that you would have did it any differently? And maybe you would have not had kids so early? And I was like, no, if it happened all over again, I would have did it the same way all over again. Like, it wasn't a question for me. And that, again, bringing it back to Cardi is another reason why she spoke to me. And that's why I took a liking.
Fat Joe
Power into her own hands. Because I'm sure they would tell her that you're a sick. And, boo, you're an idiot. You're that? And she was like, no, I'm pregnant and I'm outside.
Monie Love
Like, yeah.
Fat Joe
No, because Billy, outside women were having babies, but they were hiding it.
Monie Love
Yeah, right.
Jada Kiss
It was Megan, the lady.
Monie Love
I was on tour. I was on tour till I was seven months pregnant. I was on the Triple Threat Tour, Bel Biv Devoe, Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill. And I opened up for them till I was seven months pregnant. You know, the workflow. It continues. The workflow continues.
Jada Kiss
Did you ever think you would lead into getting into radio?
Monie Love
No, that was.
Jada Kiss
How did that happen?
Monie Love
That was an accident. Do y' all remember Steve Smith?
Fat Joe
Yes.
Monie Love
God rest his soul, because he passed away.
Fat Joe
He passed away.
Monie Love
Steve Smith actually is the person that created Hot 97 as what it was the flagship in the first place, Right. He called my manager one day and by that time he had had certain people in place already at the station. It was newly flipped. Angie was there already. Angie was at the station before it flipped to hip hop format there with the house music. Exactly. She was already there. So. And I think she worked her way up. She's like foundational at that station. Right. Flex was there already and I think they had Ed and Dre on in the morning. And Steve Smith called my manager one day and was like, oh, do you think you could come in and take a meeting with me and, you know, to discuss maybe Moni love being on the radio. So my manager. My manager came from England with me. My manager's name is Steve. He's from Liverpool, right, Which is outside of London. So we went. He didn't tell me what we were going there for. And the SAT spoke to Steve Smith. He was like, what do you think about being on a radio? And I was like, I am on the radio. My music's played on the radio, right? And he was like, no, being an actual radio personality, I was like, like a disc jockey. Like, why would I want to do that? And he was like, I think you have a really good personality. I was like, yeah, but I'm on the other side getting interviewed by the disc jockey. I don't see myself as a disc jockey, right? So he's like, let me teach you. Let me help you get your FCC license. What's an FCC license nowadays, huh? Nobody needs an FCC license to be on the radio now, but back then you had to have an FCC license. So I trained on air in the unsociable hours so nobody could hear me because there was a lot of mess ups. And as a matter of fact, myself and Ms. Jones, we were training at the same time, together on the radio at like 2 o' clock in the morning, talking about our love lives and how we can't stand these men not realizing the microphone was on. This is the type of mistakes we were making on Air at 2 o' clock in the morning as we trained to get our FCC licenses, you know what I'm saying? So bottom line, we got our FCC license, I got mine, and then I was on weekends on Hot 97. Tracy Cloherty that was working underneath. You remember Tracee?
Jada Kiss
Yeah, I know. I remember.
Monie Love
She used to put me on all the time. Whenever Angie went on vacation or whenever Wendy went on vacation, I was the go to. Like, we need you to work two weeks. Wendy's going on vacation for her birthday or whatever it is. We need you to work. Or Angie's taken off a vacation, we need you to work. Angie doesn't want anybody else interviewing her guests but you. You can do it. Angie said she trusts you, blah blah, blah. So that's how I got my chops in radio, you know. And then I was at Hot 97 for 10 years. I was there for 10 years. And the year that I left and went over to power 151 was when Steve Smith been left hot 97, went away for a little while, came back and then created Power 151. Yeah, and, and yeah, and then I got hired over there. And the year that I. My first year of working there was the year when there was a lot of mess happening between Hot 97 and Power 151. That involved Jay Z, that involved Nas, that involved some noose hanging thing that was supposed to happen.
Fat Joe
Turning power to switch. The first thing they was doing at Power is they was making the artist do these promos that said I made the switch.
Monie Love
That was like, that was crazy.
Fat Joe
You gotta understand how they seven in the whole country was known like the first full hip hop station. And they had so much power and leverage in this market. Think about New York city didn't have two stages. It was just Hot 97. And when power opened up, the first thing it was like, yo, Locks, come here. Say you made this switch as an artist. You were scared. Cause Hot 97 was saying you could go over there. But if you say you made the switch, don't come back here, come back. I mean it was a real, you know, yo, you know, New York City.
Monie Love
So serious. I wasn't, I was, I wasn't. I was a power out of 5 1. Still going to summer jam. Like I was chilling the. The kid this. My daughter is in here, right Teen at that time. We're going. We're. I. I'm going to Summer Jam. She wants to go. I got her tickets. We go. We're sitting in the stands watching the show. Okay? Stiles is on stage doing. I get ha ha ha, right? Every day my daughter's next to me, I get ha ha. I was like, what?
Fat Joe
Every day? Every day.
Monie Love
Right, right. And then while we're there doing that, Patty Duke comes up the stairs to where the section I'm sitting, and he's like, you know what's going on at your station right now with the mean twist face. And I'm like, what? And he was like, nas is on air right now talking smack. I was like, what that got to do with me? I'm at the concert, my daughter's singing, I get high. I'm like. But it was serious, like, the beefing.
Fat Joe
You know what also happened? You know what also happened was because I'm a prime example of that, right? Like, prime example. I had, like, if I had beef for 50 cent and somebody I thought I was cool with or I gave an opportunity or I put in the game, rocked with them in any way. I was tight. I was like, yo, we not rocking no more. We not. You know, it's over like this. You gotta pick a side. And I just think all of that, Biggie, Tupac, all that, he was the first time that type of stuff was happening and we didn't really know how to react. Now when I look at a hip hop beef, I've seen it 40 times already, so I already know how this thing's going to play out, whether in a good way or in a bad way. You know, back in the day, somebody dissed you. You had to jump out. You didn't have to, but that's how it was. You jump out. Now you got eight guys dissing 50 Cent. Guess what? He put gas in the car. He said, yo, I ain't even talking back. I don't care. And it went away, you know, but that's after years of watching rap beefs unfold. And what happens and this and this and that, that's after experience. But when that first came out, it was like, Hot 97 was the only show in town, and power came out and Nas is up there and what are we gonna do? The world is.
Monie Love
But you know what I wanted to.
Jada Kiss
Ask you, I knew it was real. When the label, the label drop a single or drop a project, they send you the i97. They do whatever they do boom, boom, boom. Then they pat you on the back. Well, you got your own relationship with power. And then go, you. You take the. What the fuck is that?
Monie Love
That's what I would. That's what I wanted to ask you to.
Jada Kiss
You're literally telling me you only supporting me over at this, and I gotta go handle. That's the fuck.
Monie Love
That's what I wanted to ask you to. Because at that time, it was different for me because I had transitioned into being on radio. By that time, I was being on air 11, 12 years. So I had transitioned. You guys were still actively putting music out. So how was that for you?
Fat Joe
I've always been a boss, so, like, I've always worked my own records. I've always worked, like, you know, it was different for me. Even towards halfway during my career, I had, like, distribution deals. I didn't. Halfway. I got a. I'm signed to the laby. So the thing I knew. I knew the real politics. Like, I still know the real politics. So the real politics is, yeah, Hot 97 is the grandfather of this shit. And they run it. And we gotta be a little bit loyal to them because they did put us in the game. They played Flo Jo first, so we gotta be like that. But they were also telling me Power 105 is owned by a company that owns 40 other radio stations. So if you try to front on power 105, they will not play your shit in America. So now what do you want? You want to keep it real with Hot 97. Meanwhile, you got. Let's call it what it is. You got dictators like ebro on fucking Hot 97. Like, you don't come here. We run this show. He People like that.
Monie Love
I need my water now. Hold on, hold on. I need my water. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I need my water now. People, this is you just. Now I'm getting a hot flash. You just bought some other shit on fire. It's all. Cause you there now.
Jada Kiss
Continue.
Fat Joe
No, I'm just trying to say that people like that were, like, trying to control the game, you know, almost like in a muscle way, but without flexing the muscle. But just like, you know, we won't play your shit. We got the number one station. We did this, this and that. And he was quick to be like, yo, matter of fact, we don't. You seen that interview when the man told Kodak Black who's the hottest guy in the world, Y' all get outta.
Jada Kiss
Here if you want. Leave.
Fat Joe
Like, he was bigger than Kodak Black. Like, they was. I'M not singling out Ebro, because it was a lot of that shit there where they felt like, yo, we birthed y'.
Jada Kiss
All.
Fat Joe
This we got to know, and then y' all going over there. But what they was up against, what they didn't realize, is that that station came with 40 other stations. So it was like, do you want to be the hottest on high 97, which we all know and loved, or you want to get played in 40 other stations? Now, if you go over here, you say, fuck power. You're done in the country. Yo, so it was that type of shit going on, right? And so you had to find a way to finagle both situations. It was hard.
Monie Love
That's what I thought.
Fat Joe
It was just really, really, really hard.
Jada Kiss
A lot of.
Monie Love
And it's not fair because y' all.
Jada Kiss
Favors, but you had to do.
Fat Joe
We just want to make.
Monie Love
That's what I'm saying, y'. All, as an artist, you shouldn't have to worry about that. You shouldn't have to worry about that. Should just be creating, you know, the art and then let that rock and then bring it to the cities and perform it. Shouldn't have to worry about the politics of the radio stations, which none of us own shares in. You know what I'm saying? So that's why. And that is my mindset.
Fat Joe
What you say? He says, say it slow, huh? Talk slow to them. Talk slow to them. Yeah, that's like motherfuckers dying over the hood talking about this. My block. They don't own shit, not even the.
Jada Kiss
Shit they live in, you know, But.
Monie Love
But that is why, bringing it back to me, being at the concert when that was happening and that whole thing was happening on air on Power with Nas and all of that, you know.
Fat Joe
That'S why I was thinking, yo, I just got a better job, but we still family. I worked with y' all for 10 years.
Monie Love
Exactly. And. And my daughter wanted to come to Summer Jam.
Jada Kiss
Like, I knew that shit was a crock of shit. When I went to one of them, and the other one had a little radio over there playing the. The other one had a little ready.
Fat Joe
Oh, they was listening to what every.
Jada Kiss
Yeah, they did, you know. Yeah, they did go to power. They got a little ready on tuned in Hot 97. You go over there and vice versa.
Fat Joe
So, Moni, tell me a couple of female artists that you respect their contribution to the game, you know, from day one till now.
Monie Love
Oh, I love this question. Okay. Pebbley pooh. I love me some pebbly poo. Because When I first came here and people in this country first started hearing me rhyme, a lot of the elders at that time when I was a baby in the game told me that I remind them of Pebbly Poo. And so I started listening to her, and she instantly was like one of my favorites. Roxanne Shantae put the battery in my back.
Jada Kiss
Please believe it.
Monie Love
Because she was. She was fearless. She'd take on anyone, anywhere, anytime. Doesn't matter. So watching her and listening to her, that gave me the. The. The courage that I needed to leave. To leave the bathroom and not stop being a toothbrush in the mirror wrapper. She put the battery in my back. I would say that Salt and Pepper, to me, all of the girls that are. That embrace their bodies in their image today, to me, took a page out of Salt and Pepper's book.
Fat Joe
Oh, man. Salt and Pepper.
Monie Love
Because they were really. Yeah, they were the.
Fat Joe
We need Salt and Pepper on this show.
Monie Love
Oh, that's for sure. Shout out to Salt and Pepper musical. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Fat Joe
We need some. They beyond legendary.
Monie Love
Yeah, yeah. And then, of course, my immediate sisters, like Light, I went to school with, like. I went to George Wingate High School.
Fat Joe
In Brooklyn with MC Life. Yes, she was a superstar. Very young.
Monie Love
She was a superstar then when I was going to high school with her. Yes, she was a superstar. She was rocking.
Fat Joe
Going to high school.
Monie Love
Yes, yes. And on Friday nights, get special ability to be that young and be able to walk up in Latin quarters and all of that.
Fat Joe
Jealous.
Monie Love
I was so jealous. I would hear this very soon.
Fat Joe
It's her world. Like, she had that.
Monie Love
She was a kid phenom. Mc. Wow. Yeah. MC Emcee Lights.
Fat Joe
Yeah. Yeah. But is that around the time Special Lab was killing. Yo, Special Lab was special. Remember we used to think he had like a fake hand, Right.
Monie Love
Who used to think Special Lab had a fake hand?
Jada Kiss
That was a room when they had that in the starter.
Monie Love
Are you kidding?
Fat Joe
Yeah, but he always had his hand inside. You was down with him.
Monie Love
So you had his hand inside in the video for I Got It Made because they filmed it in winter at Grand Army Plaza.
Jada Kiss
That's when they first. That was the beginning of rumors. That was the beginning of the cast.
Fat Joe
Still on all three. Yo.
Monie Love
I didn't know that.
Fat Joe
That's crazy, man. Light is just incredible. I like where she's at in life.
Monie Love
Yeah.
Fat Joe
Where her voice. She's doing voiceovers now for movies, award shows, everything. And she's producing and directing movies.
Monie Love
A lot of stuff. Yeah, she was that. She was that kid Back then, that was just like you still in high school and you tearing up a club on a Friday night, like, what, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Light was. And I didn't tell her that I could rhyme. I was at George Wingate High School for like six months. My mother moved here. I was living at my grandparents house on East 28th street between Clarendon and Cotillia in Brooklyn. And I went to the high school and I met Light and we were cool and. But I did not tell her that I could rhyme because I'm like. She comes to school on a Monday with stories about being up in the same club as Big Daddy Kane, getting on stage after him. What do I have to say? I have nothing. I'm not telling her that I even utter a word, much less. It wasn't until I went to England and then she came over there doing shows and obviously knew me because we went to high school. And then I told her I also do this.
Fat Joe
Wow.
Monie Love
Yeah, you know, it was. It was then. And then, you know, we, We. We got tight as far as on the artistic level also, so that was pretty cool. But yeah, she was that kid.
Jada Kiss
Yeah.
Monie Love
Yeah, those are the ones that I would honestly say influenced me, put the battery in my back, gave me the gusto, allowed me to feel brave to enter this world. You know, that would. Those would definitely.
Ben Higgins
What do you do when the headlines don't explain what's happening inside of you? I'm Ben Higgins, and if you can hear me is where culture meets the soul. A place for real conversation. Each episode, I sit down with people from all walks of life, celebrities, thinkers, and everyday folks. And we go deeper than the polished story. We talk about what drives us, what shapes us, and what gives us hope. We get honest about the big stuff. Identity. When you don't recognize yourself anymore. Loss that changes you purpose. When success isn't enough.
Monie Love
Peace.
Ben Higgins
When your mind won't slow down. Faith. When it's complicated. Some guests have answers. Most are still figuring it out. If you've ever felt like there has to be more to the story, this show is for you. Listen to if you can hear me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jada Kiss
Oh, wait.
Fat Joe
Oh, your first big show.
Monie Love
Yo, my first big show was at the New Music Seminar when I performed Ladies first with Latifah for the the first time. It was at some high school in Manhattan somewhere. Because the New Music Seminar happened every year at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. Exactly. All the labels had all their top artists or New artists that they wanted to showcase and show off.
Fat Joe
DJ battles.
Monie Love
Every DJ battles world supremacy. That makes sense to me.
Fat Joe
I was going to see Clark. Ken had a battle, and we was online, and he had my vinyl from my album. I'm like, yo, my man, how you. My album wasn't even out for, like, four months after. I'm like, how you get the bino? He was like, yo, I'm a dj. We became tight from there.
Jada Kiss
That's ill.
Monie Love
So way before that. Cause, you know, you gotta remember I'm old compared to you. Youngins, right? I did perform at the New Music Seminar, and that's when Latifah performed, because Tommy Boye was putting her as one of their new artists at the time to perform in a showcase, a Tommy Boy showcase. So I was there, I performed, and I never will forget that. Guru ran up to me at the end of the performance. It was the first time I ever performed Ladies first. I hadn't heard Ladies first for six months after it was recorded until the day I had to perform it on stage with Latifah. At that show, Shaqim shoved me in the bathroom with a record. Walkman. Walkman. With a Walkman. With a Walkman and said, just listen to it over and over and over. We go on in 10 minutes. What? And that's what I did. And I was scared, and I didn't want to come out the bathroom. Special Ed was there knocking.
Fat Joe
Yo, Moni, you gotta come out.
Monie Love
You gotta come out. And I'm like, I'm going to crap myself. I'm so scared. Got up, went into autopilot, performed it, Tore it down. Latifah tore it down when she did Ladies first and bought me out. Tore it down, right?
Fat Joe
And Guru ran up, ran up to me and said, what?
Monie Love
Yo, I didn't know you could rhyme like that. And that was, like, so special to me that Guru did that. That's actually why on my EP that's out now, I redid Skills, but Emil did the hook. Mm. Yeah.
Fat Joe
You got out of retirement.
Monie Love
Emil did the hook on that.
Fat Joe
What's the name of the latest project?
Monie Love
It's called Love Notes. Yeah, love notes.
Fat Joe
Everybody out there, love notes.
Monie Love
But that's a tribute to Guru Fire. And that's the only reason why Emil did it is for hip hop. Because it was a tribute to Guru. That's the only reason why she did it, because she flat out was, I'm not messing with this no more, Mo. I'm so far removed from any of this. I'm Not. And so she was like, the only reason why I'm doing this, Mo, is for you and for guru and for hip hop. And that's the only reason why she got on that hook.
Jada Kiss
I respect that.
Fat Joe
Shout out.
Monie Love
Yep.
Jada Kiss
My brother.
Fat Joe
I love him.
Monie Love
Yeah, man. That was a tribute to him, you.
Fat Joe
Know, Shout out to Elove, LL Cool J to camp. They lost a brother.
Monie Love
Yeah, I gotta do it.
Jada Kiss
That was special.
Monie Love
In every video, like, we knew this is E. You know what I'm saying? So rest in peace.
Fat Joe
To E. You know, that's crazy, because the way you just did that, that's how I always looked at Eric Beach.
Jada Kiss
I thought he was the originator of that.
Fat Joe
I thought he was the originator.
Jada Kiss
He might be the originator of Ice Grill, though.
Fat Joe
He was the originator Ice Grill. He was one of the originators of Fly. They had all the jury on. He was the first one with, like. I don't know. I'm just saying because sometimes when I say, like, historical facts, Melly Mel will come in the dm, somebody come and be like, somebody come for you. Cause, like, you said, Joe's our little brother. Everybody feels like that. So if I say something and the timeline ain't or something like that, they'll hit me.
Monie Love
Which reminds me, since you say this, I'm fried.
Fat Joe
Mona. Don't debate me on it.
Jada Kiss
You go right to the fire with.
Fat Joe
I get it wrong all the time.
Monie Love
No, but listen, let me just give everybody the quick synopsis, right? So I love this show, right? So I watched the show, and I saw Joe say something one day when he was like, you know, when Dayla was on here, and I was like. And Joe was like, you know, I wish she would have came out with something on her own. And I was like. I was at a radio station event for the station because I'm on kiss 104.1 in Atlanta from 3 to 7 on weekdays now every day, right? So I was actually at an event for the station when I saw the clip. So I hit pass. But wait, pass looks so confused in the clip, right? Cause it's like he's thinking about it, but it's like. So then I was like. I filmed myself saying, joe, come on, Joe. I was like, come on, Joe.
Fat Joe
Let me explain something to you. The part you're missing is that I called you phenomenal. Super with the.
Monie Love
No, I didn't miss none of that.
Fat Joe
Oh, no, you still.
Monie Love
No, I didn't miss none of that. I didn't miss none of that. I was just like, I'mma get him in his ribs. I was like, I'm gonna get Joey in his ribs.
Fat Joe
I got that message from you. I was confused. No, because I'm going to get the thermals and 145th blue jeans, and I'm like. I said, I worship Moni Love.
Monie Love
No, I get it. Let me make it make sense for your viewers, right?
Fat Joe
Why don't you tell them when you first moved to Miami.
Monie Love
I am going to. Let me make it make see that stand. That is how far Joe goes back with me, right? Let me make it make sense to your viewers. So I. I filmed myself after I saw that clip, and I was like, come on, Joe, we gonna help you out. I had two albums out, Joe, I'm gonna help you out. We gonna help you out. Right like that. Now, to the average person that doesn't know our history, that doesn't know our connection, and it's fair. I don't expect everybody to know, right? That's fair. But the one thing that I do not like about the viral explosion and social media platforms is that it has given way to a false sense of entitlement. So people get on and their thumbs become gangsterized. Preach, right? And they start to type all this craziness right? Now, granted, you don't know how far this man and I go back. You don't know. This man is like a little brother to me. You don't know that my ex road manager that passed away and created so much avenues for several artists in hip hop culture, period, right? Was my road manager, put this young man on the map. So he's special to me. You don't know all of that, right? See your little gangster thumbs, get on Instagram and start to say all kinds of wild stuff.
Fat Joe
Get the thumbs right.
Monie Love
Say all kinds of wild stuff to me, right? About how I'm speaking to Joey. You don't get to tell me how I speak to Joey, because that's my little brother. And if you have a little brother in your household that may have skipped something, missed something, in your opinion, and you want to get him in his ribs, you can do that. Joey and his family looked out for me and my family. When we first moved to Miami, I had no radio job. I left Philly. I was doing radio in Philly. I left Philly, I went to Miami with my kids. I left a bad relationship in Philly, picked up my kids, went to Miami with nothing but my kids and whatever we could have, right? No radio job, no shows, no nothing happening, right? Joey and Lorena picked me and My kids up. Took us out to his house. You were in plantation at the time. Took us out to his mansion, fed us, took care of us. Was like, what do you need? They put together a care package for us because we're newly in Miami, right? With nothing. Okay. There were ups, there were downs in this business. It was a down. It was a down, right?
Fat Joe
Yeah.
Monie Love
Gave us a care package. Pots, pans, towels, necessities, everything that you need in a brand new apartment. When you start? Now, Right? And that's when I first got to Miami. This is within the first week, Right. Looked out for us, you know what I'm saying? But again, I don't expect anybody to notice off the back. But the point to what I'm saying is relax on, On. On. On social media, okay? No, seriously. Yeah, relax, because the people notice.
Fat Joe
You say, I'm gonna stop attacking the guys that do that. He said last time he told me, yo, I need you to stop, Joe. Stop attacking these guys. I'm like. He's like, yo, Joe, I need you to stop. So I'm stopping. I'm letting Moni Doe stop. Ah, yes, yes. Listen.
Monie Love
And then I wound up taking the post down because people were saying wild stuff towards me and people were saying wild stuff towards you. And I was like, that wasn't my intent with my post.
Fat Joe
And what I, Boney immediately was like, boney, we fucking love you. We worship you. You know I love you. Don't take this no wrong way. Sometimes I say some shit that gets misconstrued and I'm crazy and people know that shit. It's the truth. I found sometimes he argued with me. He was like, yo, Modi, I'm like, yo, look, I can't even with this guy right here. But what I'm saying is the way, you know, your career was laid out, right? It's that energy, right? It's the energy. And now it's actually the same thing. Like, so. So say French Montana, right? French Montana. I got his demo. Wade on. Nobody, they had beef with the Powers that beat. And nobody was playing they shit and they was bubbling in the street. I took his shit and was like, yo, he from the Bronx. You know, you playing this. I don't want to say it like that, but you know, I had to do that. Soon as they played it. Six months later, he was a superstar and had popped that. But the energy was. He was already bubbling in the streets. Give him his song. That's that. What's that joint shorty got potential, see? And then six months later, he had a song with Drake and Rick Ross, and he's a superstar, but it's an energy. So Fat Joe got Flo Jo, and then LL Cool J puts me on. I shot you. So you hear it coming. This happens with every artist. It's an energy. And I've always felt like your energy for being on Buddy and Ladies first and all that. Maybe if now you'd have been even bigger than you were. That's what I was trying to allude to. You know, that's what I was trying to get out. Like, saying, like, you know, Moni love to me. Of course we know you legendary. Of course we know you got classic albums. Of course we know. But, you know, he clarified.
Jada Kiss
You see, all you gotta do is give him some time. He clap.
Monie Love
How long did it. How long was that?
Jada Kiss
Six months.
Monie Love
I know it wasn't four months. Yeah.
Fat Joe
You know, first thing he did, he walked in.
Jada Kiss
Yeah.
Fat Joe
You know, you gotta apologize. I'm like, apologize.
Jada Kiss
For the viewers. This is all stuff we know. They don't.
Monie Love
They don't know. Yeah.
Jada Kiss
And the things off comments like she.
Fat Joe
Just said, you know what? You know, there's a resurgence in originators. Like, this year, we had daylight. We had gone nas and drop a joint.
Monie Love
Yeah. You're absolutely right.
Fat Joe
You have a problem, Kwame. And for Law. Kwame.
Jada Kiss
Yeah.
Monie Love
Different kids. He got a joint now.
Fat Joe
Yeah. I used to love Kwame Men. And somebody. I wanted to say earlier, but I didn't want to cut you off because, you know, that's my new rules around here. They don't let me cut. Yeah, that's a new one.
Monie Love
Okay. Right.
Fat Joe
Even though I try to tell them the DNA is all right. It's working. Shout out to Chubb Rock. He's somebody I studied. He's somebody I studied. Like you said, you used to play We Are with.
Jada Kiss
Evergreen Episode.
Fat Joe
Evergreen Episode.
Jada Kiss
Chubb was the first person that was gonna sign the lots.
Monie Love
That's crazy.
Jada Kiss
Yeah. Chubb Rock. Yeah. We was supposed to. We was gonna sign with Chubb. Chubb was our first. He's Chubb's first.
Fat Joe
I remember making my first album.
Monie Love
Wait a. Wait a minute. You can't just say that and then be like, no, you got to tell us.
Jada Kiss
I gotta bring Lucha up here.
Monie Love
That's insane.
Jada Kiss
I don't really remember everything and. Yeah, but Chubb. You gotta bring Chubb up here, then.
Monie Love
Yeah. Okay. Okay. Dave, make that happen. You know, he represents all of us.
Fat Joe
Yeah.
Monie Love
Yes.
Fat Joe
You know, they gave me the key to the city, and it was a big day for Me like, right.
Jada Kiss
They gave me the key to the city. This wasn't my city.
Monie Love
What?
Jada Kiss
They gave me mad keys. None of them is in my city. Gave me Jersey City, East Orange, Mad. They gave dmx. Yeah. They gave it that hey.
Fat Joe
Or some fight.
Jada Kiss
We got days. All of that they didn't give. I think they might have gave it P. M. I got a key my day, yo Never gave me.
Fat Joe
That's crazy.
Jada Kiss
How they gave me Jersey City, new building.
Monie Love
Oh, my God.
Fat Joe
Stated the art. Crazy out of this world.
Jada Kiss
Can't fit your sneakers in.
Fat Joe
You checked it out, you sneak. Is.
Jada Kiss
The outside looks good.
Fat Joe
The inside, it's like that building you lived in in Jersey that the apartment was this little. But it was the flies building. Oh, my gosh. Never let me say my story.
Monie Love
I'm sorry.
Fat Joe
So while I got the key to the city, the whole Bronx is out there crazy in Orchard Beach. I turn around and Chubb Rock is. Just happens to be standing on stage. I stopped the whole. And I told them how much he influenced me in front of everybody. You know, the Bronx was out there. So I was like, yo, Char. Because a lot of time, as men, right, in this type of business, we don't really sit people down and tell them how much they influenced us or how much. You know, we'll say, what's up? We'll be cordial, but we don't grab them and be like, yo, look, when I did that represent album, my first album, I was listening to Chubb Rock, Chubb Rock's tape. I kept playing that every day before I wrote the next song. I just. His flows is now D90. Joe Brock Johnson, Waterloo and a Bucketball of Marine. So say his is RoboCop. Well, the biggest line on that was, remember Yusuf Hawkins?
Monie Love
Yeah. We were just talking about him today, too.
Fat Joe
I seen Sean Bell's wife. She has a movie.
Monie Love
There's a movie out. Absolutely. Shout out to Manny. Yep.
Jada Kiss
Who?
Monie Love
Shout out to Manny.
Fat Joe
So I just seen him at Chestnut. According to Cole Bell. Yeah. Experience, if y' all don't know Sean. Kid got killed a day before his wedding in New York City back in the day. So his wife put out a movie. But you know what's crazy is the action. Cause, you know, now I'm mature. Whatever, whatever. But back in the days, I was the most harassed person from the police in the universe. And I'd caught ass whippings. Like, I don't understand. Killing yourself or being. I got bullied more than anybody in the world. Like, I got beat up by the cops more than you could ever think in your life. So they invite me one day to a. What was it, a Black Lives Matter police summit. And I come up in there and, you know, in great tradition, if you think in New Music Seminar, what would Chuck D say? What? You know, I was in the crowd watching all this. So when they put me on the panel and it was like, yeah, you know, this, this, that. And they think I'm Fat Joe the rapper. And I said, remember Yusuf Hawkins, when you walking?
Monie Love
Oh, wow.
Fat Joe
That was the first line I said. And they knew. Oh, he came on bullshit. Like, they knew. The police knew. Oh, he came on bullshit. I'm telling the man Louimba Sean Bell, he's the wrong guy to bring up Baez. They were like, oh, no, he know too much. Like, let's get him off the stage. But, you know, a line like that. The consciousness in music. KRS did that for me, too. I remember hopping the train, we talking about the Walkman, and I'm thinking, it's just gonna be a gangster album. I'll put in Criminal Minder. He's like airplanes flying overseas, people dying, politicians lying. I'm trying. And I'm sitting there like, yo, what the fuck does he talk? But it opened us up to consciousness.
Monie Love
Yo, krs1 used to shut his show down and start straight up talking like Malcolm X to somebody. Seriously. Does anybody remember Car Wash? No, the club Car Wash?
Fat Joe
Oh, God, no, I don't know that part.
Monie Love
Okay, again, I'm showing my age, which I have no problem doing, right? Chris used to shut the showdown halfway through and start talking and dropping all that knowledge.
Fat Joe
Not inside people captive.
Monie Love
Oh, nobody left. Nobody left.
Fat Joe
Nobody left. And then he got. Oh, you know who else did that? Nas. Nas. With that. Egypt had the kings and they cut off their nose. I know I can. Yo, he was dropping jewels on that. Yeah, yeah, you know, and that's. We missing that. You missing that in hip hop today. People dropping them type of jewels where the next generation could feel proud and know where they came from, because we don't know where we came from. I was in the car with Rich the barber, and I was like, yo, you know, they chopped off the noses in the statues in Egypt because they had black noses.
Jada Kiss
Nigga noses, go tell us.
Fat Joe
But they chopped their nose off. European or something. So. But this was deep, you know what I'm saying? This. This was deep.
Jada Kiss
And I have a finding nose.
Fat Joe
Iron. She wants something for the nose, you know, that's.
Jada Kiss
Somebody found their nose.
Fat Joe
It's the first story that the people said, I didn't cap. I never knew Iron. She got arrested.
Monie Love
Did somebody just say, nobody knows, Nobody know?
Fat Joe
No, I told the story last time. Iron Chic. We bumped into Iron Sheik the wrestler, and he was from Iran. So he comes by, I'm with some Mexican dudes. They drinking liquor. He asked for some liquor, perhaps some liquor. They gave him liquor. They show him smoking weed. 30 minutes later he come by, perhaps some weed. He came back 30 minutes later. He said, perhaps something for the nose. I'm like, yeah. I'm like, yo, don't give the Irish something for the nose. That thing was so viral. I watched all the comments, was like, first of all, I didn't know he had a nickname. His nickname is Shiki Baby. So in the comments, everybody who knew him off wrestling was saying, yo, that's cheeky, baby. He used to get. He'd get arrested every week for cocaine, yo. He used to this and that. Like, they were like, joe did not cap.
Monie Love
Yo, on this. That's crazy.
Fat Joe
Joe and Jada, baby. Let's go. Legendary. This ain't that.
Jada Kiss
That ain't this.
Fat Joe
It's cracking.
Jada Kiss
Kiss, make some noise for Moni Love.
Monie Love
Get that new album, love notes ep.
Jada Kiss
Love notes ep.
Episode: Monie Love on Queen Latifah's Genius, Cardi B's Star Power & Fat Joe's Native Tongues Connection
Release Date: February 10, 2026
This episode dives deep into the legendary career and influential legacy of Monie Love—pioneering UK-born rapper, member of the Native Tongues collective, and trailblazer for women in hip-hop. Hosts Fat Joe and Jadakiss engage Monie in candid conversation, celebrating hip-hop’s golden era, reflecting on industry barriers (especially for women), the evolution of the female MC, the impact of social media, Monie's connection to Queen Latifah and the Native Tongues, and the powerful resonance of old school camaraderie in today’s music landscape.
On Queen Latifah's Vision:
"Latifah is like a mad scientist...she knew she wanted to do something that made sense, that spoke to women...fist in the air for women type vibes." – Monie Love (11:17–11:53)
On the Origins of 'Ladies First':
"I'm just the rowdy one...the Ramaholic that's just happy to be here. But she knew she wanted to do something that made sense..." – Monie Love (11:53)
On Social Media and Cardi B:
"She could wake up first thing in the morning and don’t even be in her outfits yet, and it’s a top post because there’s always a level of relatability." – Monie Love (33:03)
"That's another reason...I related to Cardi, because when she was pregnant that first time...I understood it." – Monie Love (35:21)
On Record Labels and Motherhood:
"The label reps were like, well, what are you gonna do? And I was like, I’m three months pregnant. What you mean, what I’m gonna do?..It means I’m having a baby. Like, what you think it means?" – Monie Love (36:20)
On Hip-Hop’s Community:
"Chris was our road manager...Chris has always been thorough, so it was no surprise to me that he then made his business moves and created Violator Records...when he put you out, we're all looking at you like, that's our little brother." – Monie Love (14:04–16:03)
On Radio Rivalry:
"You want to keep it real with Hot 97...But they were also telling me, Power 105 is owned by a company that owns 40 other radio stations. So if you try to front on Power 105 they will not play your shit in America." – Fat Joe (45:49–48:24)
On Studying the Past:
"It behooves a person to know what came before them...That’s why it’s called research." – Monie Love (22:31)
The episode maintains a familial, nostalgic, and authentic tone, laced with good-natured teasing, humility, and mutual respect. The conversations move naturally between storytelling, social commentary, and technical discussions about hip-hop’s roots, while celebrating the enduring impact of its originators.
The hosts close by promoting Monie Love's latest project, Love Notes EP, and together, the trio underscores the importance of honoring hip-hop’s architects and the culture's evolution, while celebrating Monie's unique role in the game.
"Get that new album, Love Notes EP!" – Monie Love (76:01)
For listeners, this episode is a goldmine of hip-hop history, industry insight, fond reminiscences, and personal stories, all colored by the warmth and reverence of true legends.