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The Breakfast Club
INTERVIEW: Melanie Fiona On Embracing New Beginnings, Saying YES, Motherhood + More
00:36:03
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- [00:02]
Jeremy Scott
Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.
- [00:09]
Gilbert King
Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.
- [00:14]
Jeremy Scott
I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.
- [00:18]
Gilbert King
At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.
- [00:21]
Jeremy Scott
Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2, starting April 9th on the iHeartRadio app.
- [00:26]
Melanie Fiona
App.
- [00:27]
Jeremy Scott
Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:31]
DJ Envy
Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.
- [00:35]
Charlamagne Tha God
Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Jess. Hilarious Charlemagne. The God we are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building.
- [00:42]
DJ Envy
Yes, indeed.
- [00:42]
Melanie Fiona
Melanie.
- [00:43]
Charlamagne Tha God
Fiona.
- [00:43]
Melanie Fiona
Welcome. Hello. How are you feeling?
- [00:45]
Charlamagne Tha God
Long time no see, man.
- [00:47]
Melanie Fiona
I'm so happy back. Why is it so cold?
- [00:49]
DJ Envy
I know, it's always.
- [00:51]
Melanie Fiona
No, not in here. I'm talking about in New York streets. Yes, you know, crazy.
- [00:55]
Charlamagne Tha God
A couple days ago, like 70, 80 degrees a couple days ago.
- [00:57]
Melanie Fiona
How can we keep that same energy?
- [00:59]
DJ Envy
But you're not used to the cold weather no more.
- [01:00]
Melanie Fiona
No, no, no. I'm in California.
- [01:02]
DJ Envy
Okay.
- [01:02]
Melanie Fiona
My Canadian blood is. Has.
- [01:04]
Charlamagne Tha God
It's gone.
- [01:05]
Melanie Fiona
It's not. No, it's never gone. But the Caribbean blood is living. She's thriving now.
- [01:09]
DJ Envy
How has it been for a woman from Toronto living in LA during the Kendrick Lamar area?
- [01:13]
Charlamagne Tha God
Jesus starts right up.
- [01:14]
Jess Hilarious
Next question.
- [01:15]
Charlamagne Tha God
Wow.
- [01:16]
Melanie Fiona
Wow.
- [01:17]
Charlamagne Tha God
Welcome.
- [01:17]
Melanie Fiona
It's active. It's active.
- [01:19]
DJ Envy
Okay.
- [01:20]
Melanie Fiona
You know, I'm very Canadian in la. That's my position.
- [01:23]
Charlamagne Tha God
You're very Canadian.
- [01:23]
Jess Hilarious
Okay.
- [01:23]
Melanie Fiona
Yeah, I like that.
- [01:25]
Charlamagne Tha God
Well, how are you? How are you doing? We haven't seen from you in a long time.
- [01:27]
Melanie Fiona
How is everything? You know what? Life is blessed. I feel very blessed to be here again talking about new music, motherhood. It's a full scope journey for me. Like I said, I'm just blessed to have gas in the tank, still have creativity, to still have opportunity. And I'm just doing everything that I love to do, so I'm happy, I'm grateful.
- [01:49]
Jess Hilarious
Congratulations. You got married recently.
- [01:52]
Melanie Fiona
I did.
- [01:52]
Jess Hilarious
I still think four years ago is recently four or five years ago.
- [01:55]
Melanie Fiona
It is, it is recently. And we've been together for like, know, 13 years now, so it's 12. I don't know, don't quote me. A long time, but, you know, it, it, it's getting married. Except we did it in the pandemic and that was really just a testament to making it happen. However you got to make it happen. We had planned a huge wedding, just decided, you know what we're just gonna walk down, get this done. And it was really one of the best decisions we made. Yeah.
- [02:19]
DJ Envy
You know, it's so interesting. People always talk about during the pandemic, how folks got divorced because they realized that they didn't really like their significant other. We had to spend so much time with them. But then there's the other side, too. Like your story.
- [02:29]
Melanie Fiona
Yeah. We did realize in that year, we were like, I really do like you. I mean, we'd already had a kid at that point, but we were like, I really like you. Like, let's do this. It actually made us closer. And then actually, at the end of 2023, we had a ceremony in our backyard just for our family, because we didn't have any family when we did it. So that was really special too. You know, I had my dad walk me down the aisle. I got to wear the dress I never wore, so it was special. And I think that that's kind of what the last few years of my life has taugh is that you just gotta make the moments like, we don't know if tomorrow's promised, so you gotta.
- [02:59]
Jess Hilarious
Say yes today and that. And is that what the scope of say yes is about?
- [03:04]
Melanie Fiona
Yes, absolutely. So as the journey of life goes, you know, I think a lot of people talk about saying no a lot. You know, we say no. How to set boundaries. I had to do a lot of that in my life, throughout my career. And I think that everything remarkable that I've really learned that I've seen that I can do has come on the other side of saying yes. You know, saying yes to overcoming fear, saying yes to the love and the life that you want to desire. Saying yes to the people who show up for you and say, how can I be down? How can I help? But obviously, with discernment, that takes work. So I just want people to hear say yes as a musical project, but also to have affirmative language in their life. Say yes. Say yes to you. Say yes to whatever it is that you want and go for it.
- [03:43]
DJ Envy
The Shonda Rhimes book influenced us.
- [03:45]
Melanie Fiona
You know, it's so funny. The year of Yes. I was reading it. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
- [03:49]
Charlamagne Tha God
Thirteen years off the grid. What you been doing for 13 years? Last time we seen. I mean, off the grid.
- [03:56]
Melanie Fiona
Off the grid, you know, but you know what?
- [03:57]
Jess Hilarious
I wasn't like you was hiding.
- [03:58]
Melanie Fiona
I really wasn't. I really wasn't. I was outside in different ways. You know, I was making a life as well as a living. I continued to do shows. I am a Part of a podcast now called the Mama's Den. It's a motherhood podcast, a collective. I just started developing motherhood community and initiatives. You know, I decided to expand my wingspan and. And just really step into everything I could possibly do with my voice, all while figuring out how I wanted to continue to do music.
- [04:28]
Jess Hilarious
Yeah.
- [04:28]
Melanie Fiona
You know, the industry is. Is a. Is a. Is one. One siloed experience of this. And, you know, after everything that I had, went through, the peak of success, enjoying that, having difficulties with my voice, like, just all these things, it really made me ask myself, how do I want to live and create for the rest of my life? And so that took some shifting, that took some refocusing, that took some severing conversations and relationships and just going independent. Yeah. You know, and really just figuring out how. How I want to live my life. And so you need experience. You need to love and learn and live and. And make new music and get inspiration for all of that. So I think a lot of people, especially in the music industry, we live in this space or in entertainment, where you feel like there's this clock ticking on you, you know, this clock ticking. The only clock I'm on is God's clock. If I'm alive and I have another opportunity, I will show up when I am called to show up and when I have something to say, when I have something to offer. And I feel like I'm in that space now. And so my mantra for myself and for anyone out there is take your time. It's yours to take. Like, we don't work on anybody else's clock. So, you know, I just feel grateful that in all that time, I've still been able to reach the fans, continue to build community, continue to build fan base, and, like I said, just have more products and creativity to put out. So, you know, 13 years to still have people checking for you.
- [05:54]
Jess Hilarious
Hell, yeah.
- [05:54]
Melanie Fiona
Is a blessing, because some people, nobody's calling for them, you know, And God bless those people because they don't know how they're gonna work or what else they can do. So in that space, I figured out what else I can do and what else I can create.
- [06:05]
Charlamagne Tha God
Now, you mentioned your voice already, Jess. What happened with your voice?
- [06:08]
Melanie Fiona
So right after the MF life came out, I remember it was just off the Grammys. Everything was just at the peak of success for me, and I started having trouble with my voice, and I couldn't sing for, like, more than 30 minutes. You know, I. I have the ballads.
- [06:22]
Jess Hilarious
Yes, you do.
- [06:22]
Melanie Fiona
She has to sing all the Time up here. And so that was a really terrifying place to be at because I had never had any voice issues. So I started to see all these specialists. They were all like, there's nothing wrong with your vocal cords. Nothing wrong with your vocal cords. And it was one doctor that said, what kind of a year have you had? And it was just a floodgate of emotions because nobody had asked me, how are you? I had just come off of a really bad breakup. I had moved states and cities. I had had this extreme, you know, disparity and contrast of, like, high and low that I was experiencing. And it was literally all energetic. I was just blocked in my throat chakra. Literally, I had to go for energetic healing, acupuncture. I just started to seek alternative methods. And that was really the place where I started to have to really recognize if I wanted to live happily in my purpose. I had to be mindful with my purpose. I had to be protective of my purpose. I had to find peace and set boundaries and really start to define how I wanted to move through my life and my art. So I remember I just went for a few sessions, started to be really mindful, and I was back on tour for six weeks with Mary J. Blige and D'Angelo with no voice issues after that. Wow.
- [07:35]
Jess Hilarious
So it was just stress.
- [07:36]
Melanie Fiona
It was just stress and tension. And, you know, there's Louise Hayes. The body keeps the score. Like, we are energy, and we hold everything that we go through. This is trauma. This is our conversations, our pain points. And you don't understand why sometimes we have progressive, inconsistent ailments and things like that. And a lot of it is from the stress and the trauma that we've been through in our lives. So I really encourage people to approach their life from a very holistic standpoint. Don't be so close mind to think that it's just one thing. We can actually be responsible for our own healing as well.
- [08:10]
DJ Envy
Yeah, I completely agree. And I'm wondering, like, over the last 13 years, did you take a break from music because you were kind of, like, rediscovering yourself?
- [08:18]
Melanie Fiona
So, yeah, it's a little bit of all of it. It's, you know, discovering myself in motherhood, in womanhood, in an independent space, you know, stepping away from the big machine of things a little bit, going and choosing to go independent. A lot of that requires time, you know, and more time than we think. Like, we think a lot of these things just happen overnight, you know, especially when you got legal stuff involved. Oh, that could take a long time. And some of it did, you know. But also at the same time, I just really was enjoying the presence of my moments of life, you know, being present for my son in the first three years after having him. Cause I was working on an album that never came out at that time. But that, that, you know, entrance into motherhood really made me say, I think I need to reshift some things in my life. But during that time, I was able to be present with my child. So it was a lot of rediscovery, it was a lot of shifting, it was a lot of living, you know, and, and at a pace for myself and my family, which was really healthy for me.
- [09:20]
DJ Envy
Yeah. Okay.
- [09:22]
Jess Hilarious
You guys sat down and did a interview with BET where you were talking about the sanity of moms and us feeling like we don't have the safe space to be able to say things like, I don't feel like mommy in today and things like that. Cause we'll feel bad for it. Do you feel that you have. That you're in that safe space today?
- [09:38]
Melanie Fiona
Yes. Yeah. And I think it took having a second child. I never thought I was gonna have a second child. But again, God's plan and, you know, a little bit of reckless behavior during the pandemic. But, you know, it really was. It was me allowing myself the permission to understand that it's gonna be okay and that I'm doing a great job and I love my children. And also, the thing that I always wanna encourage women who are mothers in any capacity of their lives is your children need to see you being you. You know, how many of us have seen our moms be like, my mom was so self sacrificing. She's miserable. She got back pain and stress and high blood pressure because she was so self sacrificing for everyone else. There's no reward for that. You know, you have to pour into yourself. And so that whole empty cup analogy and metaphor, like, it's, it's, it's a real thing. We pour as women. We are nurturers. We are nurturing the earth. We are nurturing our offices, we are nurturing our children, our partners. We have to create space and demand that we have space to pour into ourselves. It's the only way we could show up.
- [10:45]
DJ Envy
And that's why it's very important for, you know, kids, even us at our age, get to know your parents, like have conversations with them and learn who they were before they were your parents.
- [10:54]
Melanie Fiona
Yes, absolutely. You know, it's interesting because somebody asked me about this the other day. They're like, how do you feel your perspective has changed. Making music now versus making music before. You know, before children, I was singing heartbreak love songs, and people love me for that. And, you know, my kids now, they listen to these songs. They don't really have the context, but they're going to understand the journey of who their mother was as a woman. And they're going to hear these songs on say yes and know that these songs are a reflection of transformative, affirmative love. And they're going to understand that they're a part of that. And so I do think it's important that your children know who you are. This generation, that we all cloak and dagger and secrets and traumas, like, that's done. We can't do that for our children anymore.
- [11:33]
DJ Envy
We didn't do ourselves no favors keeping secrets.
- [11:35]
Melanie Fiona
No, no, no, no. And our children deserve to know who we are so that they have permission to be who they can be in their lives and understand that it's not a straight line and there's no perfect. You know, you just do your best.
- [11:46]
Charlamagne Tha God
How is it doing? Because you said you're independent now. So you're no longer with UMG or ROC Nation?
- [11:50]
Melanie Fiona
No.
- [11:50]
Charlamagne Tha God
Why did you decide to go independent?
- [11:52]
Melanie Fiona
You know, that's just like the trajectory of life. I had the opportunity to, and I took it. You know, it wasn't a bad situation. You know, shout out to Steve Rifkin and SRC Records. You know, I had the opportunity to make an exit to change the trajectory of my life, and I took it. And again, even that had his issues, going independent, and even that had its learning curves. But, you know, now in this space, this project, I've partnered with a Canadian label, you know, some friends from back home who were like, yo, what do you want to do? And I was like, I want to put out some new music. And they were like, bet we'll help you. You know, and. And even in that space, with a little bit of help, it's still a lot on me. So I'm still driving this ship. I'm still steering how I want it to feel and look like, and having the long existing relationships with people that you have history with and coming back to see them. So I don't feel like I'm starting from scratch. I'm just starting again. And it feels good, like it feels free. And also, I think for me, creatively, I'm not trying to chase who I was. I've already done that. It kills me. Exists 4am exists wrong side of a love song fool for you, they already exist. They've already amounted to success. I want to be and create new art that it has its own light and own life. So, you know, it's, it's good. You know, people, artists, everybody's like, you know, get to. The artists are the bag. Like, you're the bag. So you have value once you know that people come to you and they want to help and they want to collaborate with you.
- [13:20]
Jess Hilarious
Yeah.
- [13:21]
Melanie Fiona
But it definitely takes a team. And so I'm rebuilding my team. It's been, you know, as I expand in the motherhood space in different ways to use my voice, that team will continue to expand.
- [13:32]
Charlamagne Tha God
Yeah, a lot of responsibility.
- [13:34]
Melanie Fiona
And I got two kids now, so it's way more responsibility. But again, it's blessed stress, as I call it. You know, we're all stressed about something. At least be stressed about what you love doing.
- [13:45]
Charlamagne Tha God
There you go.
- [13:45]
Jess Hilarious
Do you have ever feel guilty, have those guilty thoughts that you're not spending enough time with your children? Because now you're. You're delving back into music and you're, you have all your podcasts and everything else that.
- [13:57]
Melanie Fiona
Do you.
- [13:59]
Jess Hilarious
Do you still feel yourself struggling in areas where you, like, can improve or you want to improve? You know what I mean?
- [14:05]
Melanie Fiona
Definitely. You know, I'm getting ready to go on tour. You know, this is the first time I'm going on tour with two kids and since having both.
- [14:13]
Charlamagne Tha God
How old are they?
- [14:13]
Melanie Fiona
Three and nine. And I got two of those in the house. You really do?
- [14:19]
DJ Envy
Nine and three?
- [14:19]
Melanie Fiona
Yep.
- [14:19]
Jess Hilarious
Wow.
- [14:20]
Melanie Fiona
It's a bit. It's a. You like that jump? You like that space in between?
- [14:23]
DJ Envy
Yeah, I actually got, I got 3, 6 and 9 and then a 16 year old.
- [14:27]
Melanie Fiona
Stick it to me one more time.
- [14:30]
Jess Hilarious
Yeah.
- [14:31]
Melanie Fiona
Like, I really am kind of bracing myself for that. What that's gonna be like to be away from my children for three weeks. I mean, they'll probably pop out and say hi on a couple of shows, but you know, they have school now and that's a big part of my mental load. I run that shit even though I'm out here. Going to go do television tomorrow.
- [14:50]
Charlamagne Tha God
Your husband's so effed up, he gonna be calling you every month. Where's the shoes at?
- [14:54]
Melanie Fiona
Where the socks at? No, actually, he's really good. And we have help right now. We have family with us who know how we kind of run our house. So we've kind of had to enlist that help. But I think that that's one way that I kind of give myself permission and I try to Quiet the guilt down. I think guilt is a thing that naturally comes up, but you have to work actively to say that's not really real. Like, my kids are actually taken care of. I am actually out here doing what I need to do. They're cared for, they're loved. And it's temporary. Everything is temporary. Like, my parents are immigrants. I think about my parents leaving my brother in Guyana to come and immigrate to Canada to set the life up, to bring their children and their family up to Canada, and how devastating that must have been to be like, we don't know if it's gonna work. We don't know what's gonna happen. But I have to leave my child in a different country and reestablish my life, you know? So I always use that as a guiding light for me every time I think about guilt and every time I think about what's possible. Cause we made it. We all made it. And we're doing all right.
- [15:59]
Jess Hilarious
Yeah. And I'm seven months postpartum, so it's.
- [16:01]
Melanie Fiona
Like, you're in the thick of first. Yes.
- [16:03]
Jess Hilarious
Right.
- [16:03]
Melanie Fiona
No, this is my second.
- [16:05]
Jess Hilarious
This is my second. My son is 12. Started over, right?
- [16:08]
Melanie Fiona
Yeah, yeah. So.
- [16:10]
Jess Hilarious
And although I do have help, you know, my fiance's mom, she moved from Kuwait to come and be the nanny and help, you know, and that is. Don't play with me.
- [16:21]
Melanie Fiona
Don't play with me.
- [16:22]
Jess Hilarious
No, Melanae, he be.
- [16:24]
Melanie Fiona
You not gonna come for the mamas now. Not you got anybody. You're not gonna come for the mamas. I got you, girl.
- [16:31]
Jess Hilarious
Because she Mexican or whatever.
- [16:33]
DJ Envy
So it's like, I'm like, I was concerned. Like.
- [16:35]
Jess Hilarious
She was. Yeah, she was working over there.
- [16:37]
Melanie Fiona
Okay. Yeah. Okay.
- [16:39]
DJ Envy
I was just concerned. Should you say that at a time like this, Jess? She just got here.
- [16:42]
Melanie Fiona
Like, would you shut up?
- [16:44]
DJ Envy
Go ahead, continue on.
- [16:45]
Melanie Fiona
Shut up.
- [16:46]
Charlamagne Tha God
Go ahead, Jess. Go, girl.
- [16:48]
Melanie Fiona
So. And.
- [16:49]
Jess Hilarious
And I still find myself feeling guilty. You know, I. I was breastfeeding, but out of nowhere, I just stop producing milk. And I'm guilty because I can't give her breast milk anymore now she has to get on formula and everything. And it's just like. And I'm touring because I'm a stand up comedian as well. And so I'm here this weekend, and then I'm there this weekend. I have to get up early and leave her.
- [17:14]
Jeremy Scott
Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.
- [17:21]
Melanie Fiona
I just knew him as a kid.
- [17:23]
Jeremy Scott
Long, silent voices from his past came.
- [17:27]
Melanie Fiona
Forward, and he was just staring at me.
- [17:29]
Jeremy Scott
And they had secrets of their own to share.
- [17:33]
Gilbert King
Gilbert King. I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.
- [17:39]
Jeremy Scott
I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.
- [17:43]
Gilbert King
Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.
- [17:47]
Jeremy Scott
I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.
- [17:52]
Gilbert King
If the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.
- [17:57]
Jeremy Scott
I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.
- [18:04]
Gilbert King
At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.
- [18:07]
Jeremy Scott
Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy.
- [18:11]
DJ Envy
Jeremy, I want to tell you something.
- [18:13]
Jeremy Scott
Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.
- [18:31]
Jess Hilarious
Because I do radio from 6 to 10 or 6 to 11, whatever that is. So I'm still in the thick of it where I'm trying to balance that. That guilt, or even just rebuke the guilt, because I. I know I shouldn't feel that way, but I do. I cannot.
- [18:47]
Melanie Fiona
But you, because you love, Love your child. And when you love something so much, when you love something, think about everything that you love, even professionally, like, you want to show up in love, Right? And this is someone that you made like you carried, you know, the sacrifice, the bond, and. Yeah, like that breastfeeding thing. Girl. Oh, my gosh, let me tell you, when my first one, I was so sad when that milk was like, bye, bye, girl. With my second, I was like, are we done? Whatever. Are we done? Cause I'm not enjoying, like, it was so difficult the second time around by three months. I remember my husband looked at me and he was just like, if you're unhappy, why are you stop. I was pumping nonstop just to be like, she gotta get. My body was like, no, we're done now. And I felt the second time around when I released myself from that. So I know everything that you're saying, and it's a journey, and no one's actually gonna help you get there. It's just you. You're gonna have to arrive. You're gonna have to see. I think once you start to. Maybe once you start to just really, when she sees you happy, she does not know any. Like, you being happy is actually what makes her happy.
- [19:56]
Jess Hilarious
Yeah.
- [19:57]
Melanie Fiona
And I think that that's the thing that we forget. Your children's happiness and they've done studies on this depends on the happiness of the mother more than anyone else in their life. So you being happy and fulfilled in my. My only advice, even though we're not really supposed to give advice, my only, you know, suggestion would be to try to find the happiness. And in your presence, you know, we. We. We talk about balance. Like, it's supposed to be 5050. No. Some days it's 9010. But when you're there at night, if you're there at 90, be there with her. You know, enjoy your time. Show her, enjoy. Like, create those moments. And when you're not there, then she knows that she's loved. And then you're in your full purpose as well. But it's hard. I get it. It really is hard. And it's a real thing. We talk about it on the podcast all the time. Because it's a real thing.
- [20:44]
Charlamagne Tha God
When did you meet your husband? How did y'all meet?
- [20:46]
Jess Hilarious
Ooh, he'd be looking for one husband.
- [20:51]
Charlamagne Tha God
I've been married 24 years.
- [20:52]
Melanie Fiona
Absolutely.
- [20:53]
Charlamagne Tha God
Six kids.
- [20:54]
Melanie Fiona
Put some respect on that. Thank you very much.
- [20:56]
Charlamagne Tha God
I don't know what he talking about. He wants to be based so bad.
- [20:58]
Melanie Fiona
Massive.
- [20:59]
Charlamagne Tha God
Oh, he wants to be based so bad.
- [21:00]
Melanie Fiona
That's massive. Y'all still messy. Oh, my gosh. Still doing this every day.
- [21:08]
DJ Envy
Where you meet your husband?
- [21:09]
Charlamagne Tha God
No, because he talks about love.
- [21:12]
Melanie Fiona
He's asking the thoughtful questions. I love this question. Thank you very much for asking. So there's a fun. A funny story is we actually used to work in the same studio right next to each other and didn't even know for years. And one day. He used to be a songwriter. Now he's a manager and an executive. He's a partner at a media company. He's doing very well. I'm very proud of him. But at that time, he was a songwriter, and I was working on my second project. And the first time we met, this guy from my team was like, hey, these guys next door want to play you a song. Why don't you step next door and go? So I walked inside. That was the first time we met, but we were both in different relationships. And then cut to, like, a few years later, we're both out of relationships and we're in a writing trip. We're, like, on a writing camp, and we ended up on an island together.
- [21:58]
Charlamagne Tha God
Writing camp for what? Artists, if you don't mind.
- [21:59]
Melanie Fiona
It was just like a writing. Like a creative. You write for you Just write and then, like, you place the songs or whatever. And it was my first writing camp, and I didn't even know him. We took the same flight. We got off the flight and we saw each other and it was like, oh, hey, I know you. I know you. But instantly we were just, like, really familiar. And that's how. That's how it started. We just met on this island and I was like, this is like. I don't know, this is really weird. And I had actually gotten out of a relationship like, a year and a half before. I was doing my dating thing, being outside. And I remember right before I went on that trip, I said to my friend at the time, I was like, I think I'm ready to meet someone for real. For real. Like, I think I'm ready to, like, venture into a serious relationship again. And I went on that trip and we met, and then we came back to New York and we kind of started dating. We dated for almost a year, like, kind of figuring it out. And then we broke up.
- [22:51]
Charlamagne Tha God
I thought it could be a good story. From there.
- [22:54]
Melanie Fiona
It got a happy ending.
- [22:56]
Jess Hilarious
Y'all spun the block.
- [22:57]
Melanie Fiona
It's a brilliant story. No, you know what? The thing is, I always say this because I always used to say. I was like, no U turns. Like, at that point in my life, I was like, I've already done the. You know how it's going to work out when you make. When you spin the block. If you have to turn around, it usually don't work. So what I always do. What I said was, is like, I just kept going and he met me where I was at. So, yeah, because I wasn't looking back. I was like, if you are my person, you. We will align. I don't have to pull back and you don't have to, like, you're gonna meet me where I'm at. And I had done a lot of work at that time, so I wasn't willing to compromise the amount of self work I had done. I knew the love that I deserved. I knew the love that I wanted. I felt like we could have it. But again, you gotta say yes to overcoming some of those things.
- [23:41]
Charlamagne Tha God
So why'd y'all break up?
- [23:42]
Melanie Fiona
You know, at that time, we. I don't. I'll say this. We both gotten out of long relationships, and I had done the work to figure out how to move on from that. And I don't think that he had at the time. He had never given himself permission to be single. He'd never enjoyed that part. And so I think when he met me, I think it was a moment where he was kind of like, whoa. I think I just met the person I'm gonna be with for the rest of my life. Like, am I ready for that? Yeah.
- [24:07]
DJ Envy
I need to be the man that she deserved, for sure.
- [24:10]
Melanie Fiona
And I respected him for that. And when we parted ways, it was in love. Like, that was one of the most beautiful breakups I think I'd ever had, because we saw each other for who we were as individuals. And I was just like, whatever work you need to do for yourself has nothing to do with me. And I actually don't even want to be the catalyst for it. So I'm going to remove myself so that you have the space to go and do and be what you want to do and be without my influence or me planting seeds. And so I know that if you show back up, you showed up because you wanna be here. You showed up because this is where you know you're supposed to be. Not because I've been planting the seed of hope. Like, are you gonna. Hey, I'm still here. No, I started dating someone else. Like, we really started.
- [24:51]
DJ Envy
Oh, hell no. He called the lady immediately after that. He got the therapist online, 1A.
- [24:55]
Melanie Fiona
But he did that work. He did that work. And when he showed back up, it was like, I had whatever reservations that I had thought about spinning the block or getting back together with an ex, they were just gone. I was like, I'm choosing to do this with you.
- [25:13]
Jess Hilarious
So what was the moment that it was, okay, he's ready. Like, what was it? Or did you just feel.
- [25:18]
Melanie Fiona
Was it. I just knew. He came back. We didn't talk for six months. I'm like a no contact kind of person. Right?
- [25:26]
Charlamagne Tha God
Lady text you, hey, big head. What you doing, big head?
- [25:30]
Jess Hilarious
Exactly.
- [25:30]
Melanie Fiona
He hit me. I told him, I said, don't call me. I said, don't call me about the weather.
- [25:33]
Jess Hilarious
Damn.
- [25:34]
Melanie Fiona
I said, don't ask me how I'm doing. I'll be fine. But I was like, when you call me, have something to say.
- [25:39]
DJ Envy
Grand rising queen, you know.
- [25:44]
Melanie Fiona
Grandest of risings. Queen. No, you know, he just hit me. And he was like, you know, hey, I was just, you know, calling to see how you were doing. I was like, I told you I'm doing good. You know, damn, I'm doing good.
- [25:54]
Charlamagne Tha God
You a tough cookie?
- [25:55]
Melanie Fiona
Yes.
- [25:56]
Charlamagne Tha God
You know what he called him for? I told you I'm doing good.
- [25:57]
Melanie Fiona
No, but I had to. You did the work. I had to. And then finally he hit me. I was in la. And, you know, he was like. He was like, hey, will you have dinner with me? And I was like, no.
- [26:08]
Jess Hilarious
Jesus.
- [26:09]
Melanie Fiona
Yeah, no, I was really trying to. I was really trying to. And a friend of mine was like. She was like, you love this person. Why don't you just go have dinner with them? Like, he wants to see you. And so I went and we had dinner and, you know, he was like, hey. Like, I was just hoping he was living in out of state. At the time he was living in Florida and I was living in California. And he was like, you know, he's like, I was wondering if, you know, you come out and, like, just, you know, hang out with me. And I was like, no. I was like, I'm not. I'm not coming out. And he was like. He's like, okay, well, then I'm coming back to la. And so then he came out to la. And this is like my favorite part of the story, because I was like, don't do this. Like, don't do this if you're not ready, like, for real. Like, I'm not playing. So then after, he's like, I'm coming to la. And he's like, I will be here for three days. And he's like, if you will see me. He was like, this is where I'll be. And I was like, I'll let you know. And I didn't even. And then I called him 30 minutes before and I was like, I'm pulling up in 30 minutes. He's like, I'm here. So he really posted up, and when I went there, he was in front of your house.
- [27:08]
Charlamagne Tha God
Just wait.
- [27:09]
Melanie Fiona
No, no, no. This was at a hotel. He was at a hotel in la. And I. But I was really. I really was like, let me see if you're really about that action. But, like, I wasn't making it difficult for him. I was just really being firm on my boundaries.
- [27:20]
DJ Envy
Did you get fly when you pulled up?
- [27:22]
Melanie Fiona
You know, I did. You know, because if it's the last time you gonna see somebody, you gotta leave a last impression. But it wasn't. It really wasn't. And you know, the things that he said, it was just the most genuine. I just knew spirit was like, we're aligned here. And I knew that it was. It was the right decision for me. I knew that I was. And that's. You know, even on the ep, I wrote this song called I Choose you because I think that choice is the greatest thing we have. And when we exercise it in empowerment, it can be so beautiful. And so, for me, I was like, all right, I'm going to choose to say yes to this. You're choosing me, and I'm choosing you, and we are going to do this together. We know where we've come from. We know what we've been through. With all of that said, let's choose to do this together. And so we did. And in six months, I was pregnant.
- [28:09]
Jess Hilarious
Oh, so this is about him.
- [28:11]
Charlamagne Tha God
He chose. Chose.
- [28:12]
DJ Envy
Say yes.
- [28:12]
Melanie Fiona
Listen. Oh, listen. Let me tell you something. That moment of us finding out I was pregnant again, like, I didn't think I. That wasn't the plan, but it was God's plan. And when I really happened, like, as soon as we got pregnant and then we had our son, I literally was just like, oh, this is why. Yeah, Like, I. Of course we have a beautiful love and life and connection, and I really do feel like that is my person. But when we had our son, I literally was like, oh, this. Yeah, this little spirit needed us to get our shit together so that he could be here.
- [28:44]
DJ Envy
There's so much that I'm hearing in what you said. Number one, the power of intention.
- [28:48]
Melanie Fiona
Absolutely.
- [28:49]
DJ Envy
Because you told your homegirl, I need to find my person to set boundaries, find peace. Peace feet. The set boundaries, find peace part is very important. And, you know, just people doing the work and what's for you won't escape you.
- [29:02]
Melanie Fiona
It's. Oh, it's. It's there for you time and time again. You just have to trust the process. You really do. You have to be willing to journey and pay attention and learn and allow yourself to be a student of life. Like, truly, like, in all the work that I feel like I've done on myself, I'm still learning. I'm still being tested. These kids come along and test you. They show you parts of yourself that you didn't even know that you still needed to work on in marriage. Even at this time. Right now, we're both in the busiest seasons of our lives together, and that's a challenge. So how do we navigate that? We're not the same people we were. We have more responsibilities, more stress. So, you know, it's just. It's an evolution always. But the intention, the power of intention is everything. You cannot do anything without intention.
- [29:46]
Jess Hilarious
Yeah.
- [29:46]
Melanie Fiona
Yeah.
- [29:47]
DJ Envy
I was gonna say the setting boundaries part, though. Just the fact that you were firm in your nose, I want you to expound on that. Why is that important?
- [29:54]
Melanie Fiona
You know, I think for a lot of my life, I was a people pleaser. And I think for a lot of My life, I felt like I had to be nice and I had to get along and I had to go with the flow and not rock the boat. And I really realized that people. You get more by people knowing that you know who you are and that you can't be swayed on that. And I think that no is. We hear it a complete sentence, you know, and you don't have to be rude about anything like, no, thank you. Yeah, you know what? Not at this moment. I appreciate that, but no, thank you. I'll pass. Like, there's so many ways, you know, that doesn't align with me right now. Um, there's so many ways we can say no that still empower us. And you, if you don't want to feel offensive. But the setting boundaries is everything. Because again, I think because of the boundaries that I've set for myself in my life, I can now freely say yes and feel like I'm doing it from wisdom, from experience, from divine protection. I feel like the universe responds when you operate at a high frequency. And so I know that I've done the work. You cannot get to that free space of saying yes by just being like, I'm gonna just say yes to everybody. That's people pleasing tendencies. The say yes from a place of empowerment comes from setting those boundaries. So they go. They go hand in hand.
- [31:07]
Jess Hilarious
Yeah.
- [31:08]
DJ Envy
Why only six songs all this time?
- [31:12]
Melanie Fiona
It's not enough.
- [31:14]
DJ Envy
It's not a full album. It's an episp.
- [31:17]
Melanie Fiona
Because that's what I got.
- [31:18]
DJ Envy
Got you. Got you.
- [31:19]
Melanie Fiona
Cause that's what I wanted to show you.
- [31:20]
Charlamagne Tha God
All the things.
- [31:20]
Jess Hilarious
It seems like it's the timeline of your love, like, of how you and your husband.
- [31:24]
Melanie Fiona
Yes, it really is. And you know, the thing is, is that we. There's. There's been so much time between these projects, and I understand that, but, you know, six songs is still six songs. It could have been no songs. There's someone. It really could have.
- [31:42]
Jess Hilarious
Or it could have been 12 songs. But people only really love six Basuda. So just give them the six.
- [31:47]
Melanie Fiona
Yeah, people don't really love it. They don't like it. You know, they don't like it. It's not for everybody. And I think that that's the thing with this project. It's been so long. I wanted to give people something that allows them to, I think, connect with the foundation, I think, of who I am. Like. Like Mona Lisa. Smile Project is very much a true Melanie Fiona fan record. Like, they will love that. But then, you know, you got say yes, which is A completely live song. You know, the version on the project. There's a version on the project that's seven minutes long. You know, it's fully artful. It's. It's transcendent, it's ethereal. It's Andre Harris, Chris, Dave Thundercat, Charlie Burrell, and Sir. Like, we crafted this. It's art, you know, so these songs are really special to me. LaRussell is on the project feature. You know, I got James Fauntleroy on this project. We did a song. So these songs, to me, are just. It's the right offering for right now. And I think that people will enjoy it and they'll want to run it back and listen to it over and over again. Because like you said, you give some people 12 songs. People's attention spans are these days TikTok long, Ya know what I mean? And so it's been a while. I wanna reintroduce and reestablish myself. And so I felt like an EP was the best way. And, you know, we can move on and make many albums and many songs and many projects. So I'm just not limiting myself. I'm just. This is what we got. Six songs.
- [33:05]
DJ Envy
What was the inspiration of Mona Lisa's smile? Was it the movie or was it the actual.
- [33:10]
Melanie Fiona
No. So Mona Lisa's smile came from a place of honestly being a black woman in this world. Mona Lisa smile. You know, when we think about the Mona Lisa, nobody ever knows if she's smiling, if she's sad, like, we don't know. Is this very nondescript based on how you focus your hands? Right, exactly.
- [33:27]
Jess Hilarious
But her lip's not really that full.
- [33:29]
Melanie Fiona
Right?
- [33:29]
DJ Envy
Well, she's white.
- [33:30]
Jess Hilarious
Yeah.
- [33:31]
DJ Envy
Yes.
- [33:32]
Melanie Fiona
Well, we have black Mona Lisa now, and she's smiling today. But no, the thing is that Mona Lisa's smile, if you listen to it, it's this, like, beautiful, beautiful song that sounds really pretty. It's got this vintage sound. But what I'm talking about is the. The stress of being in life, in love with somebody, and just being like, I'm not going anywhere. And I'm gonna put my best Mona Lisa smile on, because if I let one tear fall, I might fall apart. But as a black woman in this world, as a woman in this world, I have to show up with my head held high and nobody will know what's going on inside. And that's really what Mona Lisa's smile is. Even in that side. It's just like when you're in a relationship with somebody, it's just like, ooh I'm gonna just hold it together right now. I'm gonna just hold it together right now, you know, So I really love Mona Lisa Smile for that, for that reason. Because I think it really is the untold story of what so many women carry in their relationships and in their roles in their lives. Yeah.
- [34:32]
DJ Envy
Another thing that you've talked about, you know, this conversation that I would love to just expound on because somebody was up here, I forgot who it was. And they were just saying how work, life, balance does not exist. Like there's no such thing. It's a lie that we tell ourselves. You're going to give your energy to your family and that's going to be that. You're going to give your energy to your work and that's going to be that. Like you said earlier, it's not going to be 50, 50, it might be 90, 10. Could you just expound on that a little bit?
- [34:54]
Melanie Fiona
Yeah. You know, they say something that I've heard many people say is you can have it all, you just can't have it all at the same time. And so, you know, I think for the well being of ourselves, we have to give ourselves grace to be able to just be like, I want to show up 100% in everything, but all you got to do is show up 100% in where you're at in that moment. If that's cooking dinner, that's what I'm doing today. I'm cooking dinner, I'm doing that. Multitasking is this thing that they've told us, you know, like we, it's not actually real. We're not supposed to be able to multitask. Like the only thing we really can do is like talk and look at the same time, walk maybe and talk. You know, in order to be present and really great at something, you really do have to give it your full attention. Parenting, marriage, all of these things. So you can only do that in certain times of your day. We, you know, I don't know how many hours Beyonce has because they said, you know, she's got more than 24 hours because she'd be getting it done. But you know, in my 24 hour day, I just do the best I can in the moment. You know, right now I'm not checking on my kids. Yeah, I can't, I'm here. So you just have to give yourself the grace to just say, like I said, sometimes it's 90, sometimes it's 10. Just do the best every day, 100%. And if you're any of your. Any of your 100%. See, we don't know.
- [36:07]
Jess Hilarious
She do have little lips, but she is smiling. Once I zoomed all the way in. Melanie.
- [36:11]
DJ Envy
It does. About how you focus your game. That's why people stare at that picture forever.
- [36:15]
Jess Hilarious
Right. And. And I had no idea that she was really smiling.
- [36:18]
Melanie Fiona
So what is she looking at? What is she. Is she. Is she stoic? Is she happy? Is she sad? We don't know. What do her eyes say?
- [36:24]
Jess Hilarious
Her eyes say that she is sad.
- [36:26]
DJ Envy
We don't even know if that's a woman then.
- [36:27]
Melanie Fiona
That's the thing. There's so much conversation about the Mona Lisa. Yeah. What?
- [36:31]
Jess Hilarious
See.
- [36:34]
Melanie Fiona
No, there are. Think pieces about it. There are like people who are just like. We don't know. Yeah.
- [36:38]
Jess Hilarious
Her name's Mona. Not Malcolm. She's.
- [36:41]
Melanie Fiona
Well, clearly not Malcolm.
- [36:43]
Jess Hilarious
A sad woman.
- [36:44]
Charlamagne Tha God
Can we get into a joint off the ep? What you want to hear?
- [36:47]
DJ Envy
Say yes.
- [36:48]
Melanie Fiona
Say yes.
- [36:48]
Jess Hilarious
You can't. Where's your favorite? What you. Because you got some upbeat stuff on there too.
- [36:53]
Melanie Fiona
I do have some upbeat. Oh, my gosh. This. This is tricky.
- [37:00]
DJ Envy
It's six songs. Eenie, Meenie Miny, Mo.
- [37:05]
Charlamagne Tha God
You want to do the October one?
- [37:07]
Melanie Fiona
Let's do the tempo 1. Run it. What are we gonna do?
- [37:12]
Jess Hilarious
What's the name of it?
- [37:13]
Melanie Fiona
We're gonna do make me Feel featuring LaRussell Summer Bop.
- [37:18]
Charlamagne Tha God
Okay.
- [37:18]
DJ Envy
Salute to my guy, Russell.
- [37:19]
Melanie Fiona
Love the Russell.
- [37:20]
Charlamagne Tha God
Let's get into it right now. And we appreciate you for joining us.
- [37:22]
Melanie Fiona
Thank you.
- [37:23]
Charlamagne Tha God
Don't be a 13 year stranger.
- [37:24]
Melanie Fiona
Never. I won't be.
- [37:25]
Jess Hilarious
Don't.
- [37:26]
Melanie Fiona
I won't be. I really won't be. New York always has a special place in my heart. So I'm just happy to be back here. Thank you.
- [37:30]
Jess Hilarious
And I gotta tune into your podcast, girl. I'm dealing with some mommy stuff.
- [37:34]
Melanie Fiona
Let's have you on it.
- [37:35]
Jess Hilarious
Yeah.
- [37:35]
Melanie Fiona
Next time you're in la, please come through.
- [37:37]
Jess Hilarious
Okay.
- [37:37]
Melanie Fiona
We can talk about all the things.
- [37:39]
Jess Hilarious
Thank you.
- [37:39]
Melanie Fiona
And it is a safe space. Absolutely appreciate you. All right.
- [37:42]
Charlamagne Tha God
It's. The Breakfast Club is Melanie Fionia.
- [37:43]
Melanie Fiona
Thank you.
- [37:44]
DJ Envy
Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.
- [37:52]
Unknown
Taking control of your career is empowering. Just don't tell my boss I said that. Building a career isn't just about a job. It's about creating a path that impacts our community and future generations. Whether you're starting out or making big moves, State Farm is here to support you with resources to help protect what you're working hard to achieve. They've got your back. Every step of the way because, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Find out more@stateforum.com.
- [38:22]
Jeremy Scott
Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.
- [38:30]
Gilbert King
Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.
- [38:34]
Jeremy Scott
I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.
- [38:39]
Gilbert King
At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.
- [38:41]
Jeremy Scott
Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2, starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.