The Professional Homegirl: UNLOCKED: We're A 90's R&B Girl Group

Summary

The Breakfast Club: "The Professional Homegirl: UNLOCKED: We're A 90's R&B Girl Group"

Release Date: January 5, 2025
Host: Ebony, Professional Homegirl Podcast

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Introduction

In this captivating episode of The Breakfast Club, host Ebony delves deep into the world of 90's R&B by unlocking the untold story of a legendary girl group. Joined by members Steph, Monifa, and Brian Cranston, the discussion unravels the group's journey, their impact on the music scene, and the challenges they faced in an ever-evolving industry.

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The Golden Era of 90's R&B

Monifa emphasizes the authenticity of 90's music, stating, "A lot of music in the 90s was very authentic and live... you could really hear the people's voices" (00:04:17). She contrasts this with modern music's heavy use of auto-tune, highlighting the unique vocal identities of artists from that era.

Steph adds, "You had a variety of artists... different genres... it was a good feel, good era" (00:05:02), underscoring the diversity and genuine artistry that defined 90's R&B.

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Formation of the Group

The group's origins trace back to high school and college, where Steph recounts meeting her fellow members on the cheerleading squad: "I asked her if she wanted to dance, and then she just locked in. She was like, yes." (00:15:37). Their shared passion for dance and performance naturally led to the formation of their R&B trio.

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Career Highlights

As talented dancers and performers, the group made significant strides in the industry. Monifa reminisces about performing as backup dancers for renowned artists like Big Daddy Kane and appearing in music videos, including Silk's "Happy Days": "We was in the front row watching us perform..." (00:19:09). Their choreography and stage presence often overshadowed the main artists, earning them recognition and respect.

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Challenges in the Music Industry

Despite their success, the group faced substantial hurdles. Monifa discusses the struggle for artistic authenticity against the pressures of the record label: "Our record label was trying to make us be these R&B divas singing. And that wasn't who we were." (00:29:08). This tension between staying true to their roots and conforming to industry expectations was a recurring battle.

Steph echoes this sentiment, stating, "We came as who we were... people were trying to have us tone that down." (00:30:08), highlighting the constant push to fit a specific image.

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Legal Issues and "He's Mine"

A significant portion of the conversation centers around their hit song "He's Mine." Brian Cranston reveals the legal challenges they faced due to sampling issues: "Our song had those type of samples in it... but in court, they saw it looking like a print sample." (00:48:05). This led to disputes over royalties and creative rights, eventually influencing their decision to step away from the music industry.

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Legacy and Influence

Reflecting on their impact, Wayne Knight asserts, "Our song really is timeless because there's always a man cheating on a woman... that cycle is constant" (00:41:17). Their music continues to resonate, evidenced by viral performances and its resurgence on platforms like TikTok. Brian Cranston adds, "People intersecting our songs at weddings... it's a beautiful feeling." (00:43:33).

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Decision to Step Away

The group's departure from the music scene was influenced by a combination of legal battles and the evolving landscape of the industry. Wayne Knight explains, "It's in the book... we wanted to tell our story because it was unfinished business." (00:57:15). Their forthcoming book, "Unfinished Business," promises to shed more light on their experiences and the lessons learned.

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Advice for New Artists

Drawing from their experiences, the group offers invaluable advice:

• Brian Cranston emphasizes the importance of understanding the business side: "Make sure you have an attorney. Do not take a lot of... have your business in order." (00:62:03).

• Monifa highlights the significance of passion and authenticity over monetary gains: "We were very passionate. That's what kept us going." (00:36:32).

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Conclusion

This episode of The Breakfast Club not only celebrates the rich legacy of a 90's R&B girl group but also serves as a testament to the enduring power of authenticity and perseverance in the music industry. Through their stories, Steph, Monifa, and Brian Cranston inspire a new generation to stay true to their artistry amidst challenges.

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Notable Quotes

• Monifa (00:04:17): "A lot of music in the 90s was very authentic and live... you could really hear the people's voices."

• Steph (00:05:02): "You had a variety of artists... different genres... it was a good feel, good era."

• Monifa (00:15:37): "I asked her if she wanted to dance, and then she just locked in. She was like, yes."

• Monifa (00:29:08): "Our record label was trying to make us be these R&B divas singing. And that wasn't who we were."

• Brian Cranston (00:48:05): "Our song had those type of samples in it... but in court, they saw it looking like a print sample."

• Wayne Knight (00:41:17): "Our song really is timeless because there's always a man cheating on a woman... that cycle is constant."

• Steph (00:30:08): "We came as who we were... people were trying to have us tone that down."

• Brian Cranston (00:62:03): "Make sure you have an attorney. Do not take a lot of... have your business in order."

• Monifa (00:36:32): "We were very passionate. That's what kept us going."

---

For more insights and updates, follow The Breakfast Club on iHeartRadio or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Transcript

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[Ebony]

Welcome one and all to the Professional Homegirl Podcast. Before we begin today's episode, we want to remind you that the views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the host and guests and are intended for educational and entertaining purposes. In this safe space, no question is off limits because you never know how someone's storyline can be your lifeline. The Professional Homegirl Podcast is here to celebrate the diverse voices, stories and experiences of women of color, providing a platform for authentic and empowering conversations. There will be some kikiing, some tears, but most importantly, a reminder that tough times don't last, but professional homegirls do enjoy the show.

[Professional Homegirl]

Hey Professional homegirls. Hey, it's your girl Ebony here and welcome back to the Professional Homegirl Podcast. Now, before we dive into this week's episode, I want to give a huge shout out to all of our new listeners joining us.

[Kim]

Hey girl. Hey, what's up boo?

[Professional Homegirl]

Since you are new here, even though all of my guests are anonymous, if you are interested in learning more about them or you want to support them by purchasing their books, please shoot me an [e-mail] Also, I am gearing up for my very first turkey drive in Memphis. Yes, the city where I was raised and I would love for you all to help and support. If you are able to donate, please click the link in the show notes below. I am super excited to introduce a brand new series called PHG Unlocked. Now in this series I'll be sitting down with some notable figures, celebrities and more, but with a twist. My guest gets to choose whether or not they want to conceal or reveal their identity. And yes child, we will be distorting their voices so there's no cheating. You don't want to miss out on these exclusive conversations where we dive deep into their stories, all while keeping you guessing who's really behind the voice. Get ready to unlock some incredible stories only here on the Professional Homegirl podcast. Now, in this PSG unlocked episode, we dive into the dynamic world of the 90s R&B, Spotlighting a group that made waves with their unique blend of soulful harmonies and unmistakable style. Known for their unforgettable hit exploring love, loyalty, and heartbreak, these ladies redefined the sound of the era, leaving a lasting mark on the music scene. They were fierce, they were real, and their voices resonated with listeners across the world. Together, we revisit the memories, the music, and we dig into the untold story behind their success and why they parted ways. Will our guests conceal or reveal their identity? Get ready for an unforgettable conversation with this legendary R and B trio, because we're a 90s girl group. Starts now.

[Kim]

All right, to my guest. Thank you all so much for being on the show. How y'all doing? How y'all feeling?

[Steph]

Doing great. Thank you for having us.

[Kim]

Yes. Yes, y'all. I am super excited to have my guests on because we are with some legends. So once again, thank you all for being on the show. And let's start from the very beginning. Yeah. So why do you think the 90s hold such a special place in people's hearts, especially when it comes to music?

[Monifa]

I feel this. I feel that it holds a good place because I feel that way, because I think, you know what, a lot of music in the 90s was very authentic and live. Like, when I say live and authentic, I mean, people were recording without, like, a lot of reverb. So you can really hear the people's voices. And a lot of stuff is like, kind of like now it's like more. You can hear reverb. Reverb, mean, like, you can hear, like, auto tune. Auto tune. You can hear a lot of that in the music. So just for people who don't know what I mean by that, it's like auto tune, where you can actually help to sing. I'm not knocking you, but 90s, that's why I hold the place on your heart, because you hear every artist and you could tell who it is because it's their real voices live.

[Steph]

Yes. And also, in addition to that, you had variety of artists. You had groups, you had different girl groups, you had different male groups. Even the rap, you had different sounds of rap. So you have a lot of different genres. Everything didn't sound so much alike, even though it's some good music now. But you had different types of groups with different genres, you know, and so. And I think because of that realness that gave it that that different genre that different artisticity to the. To that era. It was a good feel, good era.

[Kim]

I feel like. I feel like when y'all hear the music now, y'all probably like, what the hell?

[Steph]

Some of it. Not all of it.

[Monifa]

I'm gonna keep. I'm gonna keep it 100. I do with some of it, because some of you sound alike. I'm like, now who's this person? It's like you hear the same sound. It's not a lot of, you know, uniqueness to be real and, you know, and honestly, music, you know, it's a form of copy. You know, you do copycat people. You know, it is not like it's abnormal, but when it's done and you are not using your voice, it's one thing to like an artist, but if you gonna copy him, you still should come in your own authentic voice so we can understand how you. What you bring to the table. Instead you taking over somebody's hard work. Like artists from the 90s, we work really hard. Like 70s artists, they work really hard to be unique, to do what they love. So when you hear their music and 90s music, that's why you feel that whole energy of uniqueness, and you write the new music. I'd be like, there's some people that got it right, though.

[Kim]

Now. I know you'd be like, girl, what is that right?

[Monifa]

And you know what? Also, we had artist development, too. There was artist development, too back then. And that's. That's the thing. I think that hurts a lot with a lot of people. You know, the artist development is. It lacks. People think they can be a YouTube star that quick, and they are making their money from it, or a TikTok star, whatever you want to call it.

[Kim]

Yeah. I feel like back in the day, like, it was like a real boot camp. Like, they wasn't playing or y'all was playing no games.

[Monifa]

Straight boot camp.

[Kim]

Yeah. So what was it like being a part of the 90s R&B scene?

[Monifa]

It was bomb because we didn't have phones back then. And we also, you know, we got to really get intimate with the people, the different artists that we was connected with. If we was doing, like, a tour, any type of thing we was involved in, you got to really connect better. I think in the 90s, you got to really know the artist, and, you know, the scene was hot, it was dope. And you know what? I think people really let loose a lot because we have, like, people recording us. It was like a private, you know, a private little. I want to Say like a private sorority or fraternity, but, like, it was that energy. Like, you would. Nobody can be in your business. It was like everybody was stays. Like, you know how they say with stays in Vegas? Whatever they say, what you do in Vegas, stays in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? That's the kind of vibe was for the 90s scene. Like, you are really in the moment and getting connected with the people that, you know, that you work with, that you got the same love with.

[Steph]

And it was really fun, too. It was like fun times. People didn't have no high anxiety or, you know, like just that energy where, you know, it was a lot of confidence in the air, but it wasn't that energy like, I'm better than you. It was like we both about the top of the stage tonight. You know, we would see people backstage. We're crossing cities, crossing states. We'll see Mary, we'll see. Oh, Jodeci, little Kim. We would be passing each other like.

[Brian Cranston]

Hey, what's up, y'all?

[Monifa]

How y'all doing?

[Steph]

They'll be getting on the bus. We getting on a stage. They leaving the stage. We getting on. There was always. It was very carefree and fun. It wasn't no, like, no tension, you know, like some tension in the air.

[Monifa]

True. And to add to that, I enjoyed the fact that when we used to be performing any artist, you people really stay back and, like, watch the other, you know, the other, you know, artists.

[Kim]

More supportive.

[Monifa]

More supportive. Yeah.

[Kim]

Yeah.

[Monifa]

More supportive now.

[Brian Cranston]

It's hot.

[Monifa]

That's dope. When you got the type of support.

[Kim]

That segues to my next question. How do you think the industry. Industry has changed since then, But I.

[Steph]

Think a lot of people keep to themselves and who, you know, is who, you know, it's like. It's more cliquish. Like, even though it was clicks back in the time, but clicks, new clicks and they was. You interacted. But now more backstage is more like, if you know somebody, you'll see them. But people. So now must be to. With their own click that came with them and stick in their own room. So they kind of just be more private for whatever reason. Some reasons are good. Some reasons are not to stay out of trouble.

[Monifa]

Right.

[Steph]

Or, you know, just they feeling they self either. I don't know, but it seems a little bit more. Where everybody is kind of.

[Monifa]

A little bit more distant.

[Steph]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Monifa]

A little bit more distant. I think. A little bit more distant. And I think even like. Like. Like when I was. When you mentioned about the difference, you know, the whole. What you Call it like auto tune energy, you know, like. Like, I was talking about the auto tune situation too. People were not. Are not as authentic like we were back then. In the 90s, the auto tune, you don't really know who it is. They everybody sound the sound, and it's like, you know, and it's like, who is this person? You don't even know. And like in the 90s, if you go and put a 90s, that feel good music and you also can tell, oh, that's such and such. Oh, that's. You know the difference. You really do. I know I do. I definitely know the difference. When I hear the 90s artists, I can hear the difference.

[Kim]

I can hear the difference.

[Monifa]

I can meaning difference between, like, two different artists. You know that artist. You know that this is this artist. I mean, and I miss that.

[Kim]

Yeah.

[Monifa]

And the thing about the new music is, like, you don't. You don't get that from that. You don't get that. It's like microwavable. People are like, jumping in the game, getting that quick fix, getting them. Everybody, like, I want to get the bag. I'm getting that bag. You know, everybody talking about, they gonna get that bag. But, you know, we all want the bag too, but we love what we do too.

[Brian Cranston]

Right?

[Kim]

And I also feel like back then in the 90s, like, not only did we. We felt the emotion, but it was just. You could just feel it. Like, you knew when somebody was happy, you knew when somebody was sad. You knew when somebody was in love. Like, I feel like the 90s was just a time that you just had to be there.

[Steph]

You know, we didn't have phones and Instagram and all that, so you didn't have no other distractions. You were able to be in the moment with that person. If you had something to say, you either had to wait. Like, say if we came out with a video, you wasn't gonna see any of footage beforehand. You really had to wait till the video to see who was gonna cop the blue lipstick first or, you know, you. So it wasn't a lot of distractions.

[Monifa]

Distraction or copycat. Like a lot of copycats too, you know, because you know people, you know, you are. Because let me tell you something. Once you shoot a video, you got your video going, and you would be able to know who copied off of you, because you didn't have. Once you get dropped, you know that you did it first.

[Steph]

Yep. Because you have to wait for it to come out too.

[Monifa]

You have to wait. Got wait for editing and all of that.

[Kim]

Now, y'all, our guest. They look. They look super good. Mad fly brown skin for the win. So being that the 90s was the golden era, who was trying to talk to y'all?

[Steph]

Oh.

[Monifa]

I think for me, I think on my end, I had, like, comedians trying to holler at me and, like, more on the comedian side. And a couple of rappers, but no R B dudes was. Was talking to me like that. Maybe because I had a little thug in me or something. I might have been too much for the RB cats. But more. But more rapping, I think more rapping. And, yeah, I feel like more rappers and comedians on my end. Oh, and a couple of athletes. I did. I did have a couple of athletes on me. Yeah, I thinking about it.

[Kim]

So wait, so name one comedian and one athlete and one rapper that was trying to talk to you that's current now.

[Monifa]

Well, I wouldn't say their names because they're married now.

[Kim]

Somebody we know?

[Monifa]

Because, yeah, y'all know they married now, so I wouldn't even, like, put them out there like that. But if they were single, I would bet. I would bust them out. But they're married. Got a whole family, got a whole life.

[Kim]

Anybody single that was trying to talk to you that's current now?

[Monifa]

No, everybody, you know, like, now. You know, cats is older now. Everybody is still in. Mary got the whole.

[Steph]

And if they are single, I don't know about it.

[Kim]

Right, right. What about you?

[Steph]

Some rappers? It was a football player that was trying to get at me, but I don't even know his name.

[Monifa]

If I.

[Steph]

If I could say it, I don't even know. I don't even remember him. Poor thing. I think he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

[Kim]

All right. Somebody Googled it, sending me somebody from there.

[Brian Cranston]

Tampa.

[Monifa]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We both had a football player from the Buccaneers. That's true.

[Steph]

I don't remember. I really don't remember his name.

[Monifa]

Yeah, it was a guy from the Buccaneers, and he's very incredible. He's a Hall of Famer, but he's married and got a whole family.

[Kim]

All right, y'all, I'm gonna do my research and I'll get back to y'all, let y'all know who it is. Right. Okay.

[Steph]

I could tell you a singer that tried to get at me because I don't know what they doing in life. And there's no disrespect if he's married or whatever, but I'm not checking for him. I wasn't checking for him then, and I'm not checking for him now. Right. Casey from Jodeci.

[Kim]

Casey trying to get everybody know.

[Monifa]

Yeah.

[Steph]

And he was with Mary at that time, so I was like, boy, please. But even if he wasn't with her.

[Brian Cranston]

Right.

[Steph]

Somebody from New Edition. I'm not gonna put. Because I think he is married. Based off their show.

[Brian Cranston]

No.

[Steph]

But no. Somebody from the audition.

[Kim]

Oh, I know who.

[Steph]

No, not him.

[Kim]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Monifa]

I don't even know who you was gonna say.

[Steph]

But you know. You know how you can tell some people want to get at you. They're not saying nothing, but they're throwing, like, serious.

[Kim]

Yes.

[Steph]

And flirtatious advances and stuff. People with that. I'm not gonna say the name because I think.

[Monifa]

I think I'm the type of person that. I don't really like people that's in the same field that I'm in. Like, meaning, like, since I'm in an RB hip hop, I'm really more. I would choose more like an athlete type of person or a comedian. Somebody's not doing the same thing I'm doing. I'm curious about other people's, you know, careers and journey they got going on. I don't want the same. I never want the same energy to keep it real with you. They'll do the same thing I did. Yeah. If you rap and you. I don't really check it for you like that, but if you're a comedian or you are athlete, I'm more intrigued.

[Kim]

By that right now. How did y'all all meet? Like, were y'all friends before the group started or. Because. Because I wasn't sure if y'all met in high school or if y'all knew about each other in high school or y'all met in college.

[Steph]

And I met in high school as cheerleader. She was already on a cheerleading squad, and I was trying to make the squad, so that's how we connected. And I was doing my dance and doing my thing, and I needed another dancer. I was looking for another dancer. And everybody was like, she was famous in high school. You know, she was popular, so everybody knew she could. Yeah, she was lit. And so when I was looking and asking around, it was like, oh, you know, you need to ask. And I already knew she had flavor and. And poise and style just from being the cheerleader. But we wasn't close. We just met each other. You know, we. We just knew we knew each other, but we didn't really get close until, you know, after we start cheering and everything. But I asked her if she wanted to dance, and then she just Locked in. She was like, yes. And her style matched my style. We was vibing with each other. And then we met in college, right? Yeah, in college.

[Monifa]

A couple of years later through you. Because it was like just me and Winter. Me and me. I keep saying my daughter name. I love my daughter so much. So crazy.

[Steph]

I remind her of her daughter. I'm so. I'm like her daughter too.

[Monifa]

They both. They both. They both muscle bound girls to college. So she was looking. She was looking. There was some guy that she knew that was a rapper, was looking for some dancers. Thought we was like, you know, we gonna have like a whole audition for a dancer. You know what I'm saying? We were serious. Like, we gonna. We gonna go to this park, rent it out. Like, I mean, just imagine we 17 years old, having this energy, talking about, you know, we gonna rent it out, we gonna have people come. And it's so funny that. Only one price and it was. But we were serious. We were serious about that business. We're serious about it.

[Kim]

Yeah. I knew y'all was serious because when I was listening to other interviews and just doing research, I'm like, you know, back then, like, the. The thought that y'all even had the mindset of, like, let's do auditions. Like, let's. Let's scout the next person so we could be official with that. Because I know dance play an intricate role into y'all music journey.

[Monifa]

It did.

[Steph]

Yeah, definitely.

[Monifa]

We was like the type of group that, you know, go to different clubs. And then that's another thing. I don't. I don't really think they really get down. Like, we really dance and sweat and nobody cute. But we ain't trying to look cute all day. We are getting on the cypher floor. Like how rappers, like, people see that on BET or like the little awards show. Now we've been doing cyphers back in the days in the 90s, and the cypher was like dancing in a circle and a circle and everybody crowding around them. And that was the type of energy. So then that's. That led us to be able to do different videos with different hip hop artists. Unfortunately, one of the. One of the queens that passed away just recently, her name is Boss. Got to give her props.

[Steph]

Yeah.

[Monifa]

Rest her soul.

[Steph]

Rest in peace.

[Monifa]

She was a rapper, passed away. And she's incredible.

[Steph]

We was at Mental Mondays. Belle B The Bow. Used to do these shows on Mondays at the Palladium.

[Wayne Knight]

Yeah.

[Monifa]

Like, for teens to 18, 19 and 21, you know, it was that type of energy. So you know, we was dancing, doing our thing, what we love.

[Kim]

And if I'm not mistaken, y'all were also backup dancer for like a lot of well known artists like Big Daddy Kane, amg, Chris Chris and Play. Not kidding.

[Steph]

You don't say the real names, right?

[Kim]

I'm about to say their real names.

[Steph]

Who that? Silk.

[Monifa]

I was like extra, like a background person, but it was actually dancing in silk.

[Kim]

You was in Silk video?

[Steph]

Yeah, Silk video. Happy days, Happy days are here again oh, wow.

[Kim]

So if I'm not mistaken, y'all also have a good relationship with Ratima Robinson, who's a seasoned dancer.

[Monifa]

Yeah.

[Kim]

So how did she play a pivotal role in your career? Because I think it was something y'all was also trying to try out for Michael Jackson. Remember the Times video as well?

[Steph]

Yes. You did your homework.

[Kim]

Come on, listen.

[Monifa]

Yeah, talk about the story about that with Fatima. So in our book that's coming out, it's called Unfinished Business. We talk about that about with Fatima. There was moments of Fatima that was great and there was moments that was not so great. Like, she was definitely about her business at a young age as well. We all used to dance and, you know, so we talk about the story that happened with the Michael Jackson video. How it was like, you know, it was like back then, like, we. There was cliques and we was talking about, like, different cliques. It was click. Like, it was a lot of dancers trying out for this video. And we talk about how she picked certain people. And people was telling us that. I don't know why y'all didn't get picked. Cause y'all really was killing it. But it was crazy because it was like. Was it a thousand people, thousand dances? Try it out. But it was like we got called back out of our little click. And it was only 20 dances and they was narrowing it down. And so we talk about how we felt like, you know, and that's why I love our book that's coming out. Because we all felt a different kind of way. Like me, the keeper 100. I didn't feel. I didn't like how it went down.

[Kim]

Oh, I know you wasn't messing with it.

[Monifa]

Like, I didn't like how. But now that I'm. Now I see how I go. Like, I was in my feelings back then, but, you know, now I'm older, I see it differently.

[Brian Cranston]

It's a game.

[Monifa]

It's, you know, you people gonna pick who they roll with, right? And it's like, it's like a cattle call. You have to have these many People you already know who you're picking. That's how I used to be back in the days when you. When you did, like, auditions back in the days. So Fatima wasn't doing nothing. No different in the next cat was doing.

[Kim]

Right.

[Monifa]

Like, as far as having, like, a gang of people, because you got to do it for Michael Jackson. You got to show that you have people out there trying out, but you already know in your head who you want.

[Steph]

That's something we didn't know until after the fact, or at least me. For me, I didn't know that until after the fact. So my thing was, I mean, I really wanted to be in that video.

[Monifa]

But it didn't happen.

[Steph]

We did other videos. You know what I mean? It was Michael Jackson, but we did other stuff, and Fatima was the one who got us the other stuff, too, you know, but we didn't. We didn't get that one.

[Monifa]

But you know what? She blessed us after that. She might. Maybe her conscience. I don't know if our conscience bothered her or what. So I know I wasn't really feeling her the same. But she did come through after that. Maybe she got a conscience or something because she. She didn't want to put us in Big Daddy Kane video. This group called Good Girl, they was called the Good Girls or something like that. What's that? Good to go.

[Steph]

Good to go.

[Monifa]

Yeah.

[Kim]

Did y'all ever have a conversation with her?

[Steph]

No, I haven't.

[Monifa]

I think my energy gave her a conversation. I think after the fact, I let it go because, I mean, she did come through later on after that.

[Kim]

Right.

[Monifa]

Also, if I'm being honest, I was turned off back then with that situation because we didn't know what was going on at the end. We didn't know that people would be rolling that hard like that and would have you working your butt off dancing and then not to get picked. But, you know, we. As time went on, we realized, you know, as you get older and understand how the game work, you ain't tripping about it no more. But it. But it was. I was with my feelings back then, definitely.

[Jason Alexander]

I'm Jason Alexander.

[Peter Tilden]

And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the really Know really podcast.

[Jason Alexander]

Our mission is to get the truth, true answers to life's baffling questions, like.

[Peter Tilden]

Why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor.

[Jason Alexander]

We got the answer.

[Peter Tilden]

Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you. And the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer. And you never know who's going to try drop by.

[Jason Alexander]

Mr. Brian Cranston is.

[Peter Tilden]

What are you. Hello, my friend Wayne Knight. About Jurassic Park.

[Jason Alexander]

Wayne Knight, welcome to really. No, really, sir.

[Brian Cranston]

Bless you all.

[Peter Tilden]

Hello, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging.

[Brian Cranston]

Really?

[Monifa]

That's the opening?

[Steph]

Really?

[Jason Alexander]

Not really.

[Monifa]

Yeah, really.

[Ebony]

No, really.

[Jason Alexander]

Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win.

[Peter Tilden]

500 a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign. Jason Bobblehead.

[Jason Alexander]

It's called really? No, really. And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kim]

Now, do y'all feel like y'all was destined to be in a group? And the reason why I asked because y'all have so much in common. And I feel like when I was reading more about your story, I feel like everything was, like, lining up for y'all. Do y'all feel like that, too?

[Steph]

Yes, we do. Yeah, we do.

[Monifa]

I think when we had started off, our goal was honestly to just be these great dances and touring all over the world. That was really what we wanted to do. Just be these great dancers and choreograph different groups and tour. That was our initial type of energy. But when we was doing our thing and would be performing a different showcase, like, back then, it was major showcases. And you'll see people like Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx. You see them like, Jamie Foxx wasn't even singing. He was just doing this comedy stuff. Was he? No, he was singing. He wasn't even comedy.

[Peter Tilden]

Huh.

[Monifa]

We'll be at these different, like, I mean, it's so beautiful to see people from back in the days and where they are now. But we used to do these popular because we from Cali. We from Cali. So Cali got all the energy. Everybody being Hollywood, you know, doing their thing. And, you know, we would win every time as dancers behind these rap. So we were in line like that. You know what I mean? We just did what we love. And people noticed that you guys should be more than hard bodies in the back dancing.

[Steph]

Yeah. It's like we were outshining the main artists with our dancing.

[Monifa]

Right.

[Steph]

So we would always get people from behind the stage or just even people from the audience. Like, you guys did so good. Y'all not a group or y'all should become a group. But what's the Name of your group. And that got us thinking, like, you know, we start seeing ourselves different, but yet still we were dancers until someone actually really approached us. Like, you guys need a name. You know, we were just going off of our real names, but we needed a group name. And once we had that group name and we still was dancing, doing our thing, then we would got approached to be a group like you guys should be a group. So we. It was destined for us to come together and do what we did because it happened and it felt good while it was happening. And we do have a lot of similarities and we were aligned to meet each other at the times that we did to do what we were supposed to do, which is a beautiful thing, right? Yes, we do.

[Kim]

And I also feel like because you have a background in dance, it also made you more versatile when it came to performing compared to your other R and B counterparts. Do you feel like that as well?

[Monifa]

Oh, yes, definitely. I felt like I was the Ciara back now. Ciara is so dope. I love her dancing. I. I was that Sierra back then. You know what I'm saying? Like, that energy Sierra brings, period. Yes.

[Kim]

Now, were there any girl groups at the time that inspired y'all when y'all were first starting out?

[Monifa]

For me, I would say Salt and Pepper.

[Steph]

Yes.

[Monifa]

Only one for me.

[Steph]

Yeah. Because it wasn't a lot of girl groups. It was more like individuals. Like, I love Janet Jackson, you know, she was not in the group, but Salt and Pepper, for sure, baby.

[Monifa]

That girl was serious about that.

[Steph]

But in groups like Salt and Pepper, what other groups?

[Monifa]

What.

[Steph]

You know what I mean?

[Kim]

Did y'all come out before a lot of the other groups? Like, was it. I thought it was like y'all then.

[Brian Cranston]

Swv, then TLC came out before us.

[Kim]

Tlc, right? That was right.

[Monifa]

They came out before us. But I think. I think Salt and Pepper online, even though they were a good group, but we were more aligned with more like with the Salt and Pepper BBD energy. Because, see, we. It's two rappers and one singer right in our group. And so a lot of times that's stuff that we had to like when we performed, people saw us live. We kind of had like maybe Fuji's energy.

[Steph]

We were behind the scenes coming out. Like we was working in the studio. They just came out before us.

[Monifa]

We didn't have a deal yet. They were out. We already. Our concept, who we were as people, so they couldn't. Nobody. They didn't inspire us like that because we already was quiet.

[Steph]

Like, we didn't look up to them. It was kind of like we side by side with y'all.

[Brian Cranston]

Right?

[Steph]

So they were great groups, and we liked them, but they wasn't a group like, oh, we want to be like them later on in life. It was kind of. It was just a couple of years ahead of us.

[Kim]

Right, right.

[Steph]

You know, because they got their deal earlier, whatever the case may be. So it would be older groups we would look at.

[Monifa]

We was making noise in our neighborhood before we had even got our deal. We had another, like, an independent deal. So we was making our own noise in our little town in Cali, in Inglewood, in la, you know, but we wasn't signed to an actual record deal like they were. So when you say looking up, I will only say probably salt and pepper.

[Kim]

Right. Did y'all ever feel pressure to fit in a certain image or sound because y'all were women in the industry? Like, did they ever try to make y'all conform to a certain way? Because I feel like when I was looking back at y'all videos and just, y'all sound like y'all were fly. Like, y'all was, like, the around the way girls, like, even now, like, did y'all ever feel like I had to conform in a certain sense?

[Steph]

For me, we came as who we were. We brought who we were to the table. And to be honest, no disrespect to none of the ladies that was going like, little Kim's. The way she was talking and stuff. That was us, right? We did that all the time. We got people trying to have us tone that down. So it was pressure from, like, our record company, you know, people who was involved. Like, oh, you saying that? Or why are you saying this? And even at that time, radio stations wasn't as open as they are now. It's out of control now. But, like, some of our songs didn't get, like, Whose mind did get played.

[Monifa]

On KJLA talk just, like, sexy. But they wasn't playing your music at that time. So our record label was trying to. They was trying to make us be, like, these R and B divas singing. And that wasn't who we were. Yeah, that's not who we were. So we used to constantly have, like, a battle with that. Cause we were rappers, and we did rap and singing. We kept who we were, but we used to battle all the time. That was the difficult part, I tell you.

[Steph]

So it was the pressure of us. They not allowing us to be ourselves, truly authentic. Like, how we came, how we auditioned, we rapped and sing and we wore what we wore. We dressed how we dress, said what we said. You know, they was trying to tone us down and make us be an R and B group.

[Kim]

Right.

[Steph]

You know, and we had to fight for that.

[Monifa]

And so it's not that we was hood and ghetto.

[Wayne Knight]

We.

[Monifa]

We just was like from the inner city. Talking about inner city energy, you know, we still. You ain't never seen us look like hood rats. We wasn't hood rats. That's what they used to call it back then. We wasn't.

[Kim]

No, they still call it that now.

[Monifa]

Hoochies.

[Steph]

Hoochies. Remember, they hoochie girls.

[Kim]

So wait, how do y'all feel about the reception that Sexy Red has been receiving?

[Steph]

H, honey, don't get me on her. I'm sorry. I'm not a fan. I don't really know her music. I'm not a fan. What I see is, you know, it's like. It's like the ratchetness is cool because it's a little bit in every woman, I think, you know, or. But it's a time you got to have some boundaries.

[Monifa]

It's just.

[Steph]

It's just too much. It's too much. Like, it's just too much. I wouldn't want my little girl, like, listening to her music. You know what I mean? You got to be a full fledged grown woman, listen to her music. And, you know, I haven't. I've heard of her through other people. And I'm just now, literally, like, no lie. Like two weeks ago, just saw her in a video because she with some other girl that I do like. You know what I mean? So I'm just now really seeing her for myself, Glorilla. But I'm not. I'm not a big fan, but good luck. Good, good, good for what you're doing.

[Monifa]

I feel like the girls need to put their clothes on. Even. Even a guy. I don't want you. I want a guy with his clothes off. Either. Either or I want you. I want to see your talent. Like, I feel that people can show their talent by putting more clothes on and stop being naked. I don't like that energy, like, too much. Many people want to be so naked and it takes away from your skill. You might be a dope ass artist, but it's taken away from me because you're. Because you're showing all your ass. Excuse me for my language, but that's you showing all the ass. And there's no mystery.

[Steph]

It's like if one person is bringing that. That hood energy, then the next Person want to be. I'm going to go lower than you. I want to be more hood than you. I want to be. So now it starts. It starts falling off and it's like hood, hood, hood, gutter, savage gutter. And it's just getting worse. It's not even cute no more. You know what I mean? It's like you now you making it look bad. You making Ratchet look horrible. You giving it. You making the ladies look horrible. Like, I don't like it. You know, have some type of class demeanor about yourself. It's getting out of control to me and I think she's taken it to the level. Like I'm gonna be the most Ratchet hood is trifling most ever. And I'm sell that. I'mma capitalize off of it as always. I'm somebody that like, you like what you're doing. There's always going to be somebody that don't like what you do. That's what I had to learn too. In the industry, we can't please everybody, right. We had people that really love our songs. We have people that really couldn't stand us for our song, you know, but we know we struck a chord. Whether you loved it or not, you know, like, oh girl struck a core with me. You went too far with it. So that's not my vibe. That's not. I'm not into it all the way like that. You know what I mean?

[Kim]

It's not your cup of tea. It's not your taste.

[Monifa]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Steph]

But I can get with some stuff. But that's just too.

[Monifa]

That's a little too far.

[Brian Cranston]

Right, right.

[Monifa]

Like I don't mind sexiness. Like I don't mind people having fun with their bodies. I think it's beautiful to show your body, but it's just the way the taste, some of it be real tastes like I know I had fun showing my body. I don't want to act like I'm an old chick that don't respect people having fun with their body. Cause I'm not that. I think it's dope to be able to show your figure, your body and look good and do your thing. But when it comes, when you. We know when you like she's over, she's a little over the top. But like, but like some people gonna love you and you gotta do, you gotta do. As long as she. My thing is as long as she being true to any artist, as long as you being really authentic to yourself or cause a lot of the behind the scenes stuff with, well, what you and other people don't know, they have people in their ear telling them, you got to do this, you got to do that.

[Kim]

Right.

[Monifa]

If she's. And she's really being her true to herself, that's all good. But if you're not. Because a lot of. A lot of men be behind these girls telling them to look a certain way, and it's not. It's not respect. It's not a woman telling another woman, you know how to get your thing, you know how to do your thing. It's usually a man behind them telling them to look inappropriate like that.

[Kim]

Because there have been a lot of female artists that came out and said that either a man wrote their lyrics, a man told them how to dress, or a man did this, a man did that. So I definitely agree that if this is her, I hope this is just her doing her.

[Monifa]

Exactly. I'm one of those people I love. I like writers because I'm a songwriter. I like girls that write. Like, I like Nikki. I don't mind her being sex because that girl can write. She's talented.

[Kim]

I'm a barb, too.

[Steph]

Yeah, yeah, she's tight.

[Monifa]

So for me, it's no diss to other people. I'm attracted to songwriters.

[Kim]

Now, one of the things that I loved about y'all story is because not only did y'all have a growing music career, but y'all was also in college. I was working nine to fives. So how was it balancing everything?

[Monifa]

Hard as hell.

[Steph]

That's a good question. We just did it.

[Kim]

Yeah.

[Steph]

And it was a lot, but we just. I don't know, like, looking back, it.

[Brian Cranston]

Was like, man, I did all that.

[Steph]

You don't even realize you was juggling all that, like, at the time, Right. Just making it happen. Just going with the flow. Just doing it.

[Monifa]

Just doing, like. Like you said, just doing. I think for us, it's like, you know what? I think to this day, you can do anything you put your mind to. But I think one of the problems. And I keep. I'm gonna keep saying this probably throughout the whole conversation. When you have Internet, social media. See, we didn't have all those distractions. We was focused. You know, we was very focused. There was no distraction. It was about where our mind was connected to what we wanted to do. Oh, I'm graduating. Oh, I'm be an artist. I'm do this. I like it. It was not. It was a lot, but it's like, you enjoyed it because you want. You had a goal, and you have, like, Distractions.

[Steph]

Yeah, you're right. You're right.

[Kim]

And then y'all also mentioned the importance of having passion in your art. Why do you believe that money shouldn't be the primary motivation? Because I feel like when I listen to a lot of people from the 90s, everybody talk about how they got robbed out of their contracts and stuff.

[Monifa]

Yeah. It goes back to. I was saying about how now things are more microwavable, and it's nice for them to get their coin and their money they bag. It's good that they getting their money. But people in the 90s and 70s, no, we mustn't get in the coin like that. So if you didn't like it like that, because you're not getting paid like that, it had to be from your passion because the money wasn't coming like how they money come down. So that's why you get those real authentic artists from the 90s and that feel good music. We really was, you know, authentic. And it was like. It wasn't about the money, even though we wanted the money and learned later that it was not right what was happening, but we was very passionate. That's what kept us going. The passion.

[Steph]

Yeah. I was gonna say with the passion, you can regain and get more money, you know, because sometimes it could be here today, gone tomorrow, or you. If you had the money and it's gone, then that might mentally mess with you and send you down a spiraling path of negativity or drugs or sex or whatever. That could happen.

[Brian Cranston]

Right.

[Steph]

But if you have the passion for it, you know that if I got it before, I can do it again, you can choose other avenues, other venues with that passion. So I think that's why having passion is so important, because you can recreate or create something else.

[Monifa]

Let me hit y'all with this one, though. Not just passion, but the spiritual. We had a very spiritual connection with, you know. You know, with our own spiritual connection with God. And that has a lot to do with. A lot of people commit suicide. They drink or they get drug. They get messed up with drugs because, you know, you have a spiritual foundation. And ours is pretty tight. We communicated with each other. It's. You gotta.

[Brian Cranston]

It's.

[Monifa]

And then. And I mean, you gotta have. It's a deep foundation. You gotta have with. With God for real, the man above. You got to have a spiritual connection because this. This music business would tear your butt down.

[Kim]

That's so funny you mentioned that, because it was a clip, a viral clip of Jermaine Dupree going around and he was just saying a lot of reason why these R B singers don't sound like any. Don't sound like anything, but you can't really feel anything because they don't have that spiritual connection. Because a lot of the singers from back in the day were rooted in the church.

[Steph]

Yeah, right.

[Ebony]

This is the moment of truth. Will our guests reveal their identity or keep it concealed? The choice is yours to reveal or conceal. What will it be?

[Steph]

Conceal.

[Monifa]

I'm down to reveal. Why should we conceal when you can reveal, baby?

[Kim]

All right, please introduce yourselves.

[Wayne Knight]

What's up, everybody? This is Kim from Mokin, Steph.

[Brian Cranston]

What's up, y'all? This is Steph. Who gonna bring this heat? Like Mokinh and Steph, but you forgot we the ones that got you talking out your neck, talking negative. We really want to be around like a gooby. You want to be down on spread Haters like, wait, I got to get paid every day Gonna regulate what you saw me in the magazine is your man Phoenix I'm serving them coast to coast I was born to be a star Pushing up large Steady off that yak what? This is Steph, baby.

[Kim]

Okay, listen. Round of applause, everyone. Round of applause. Listen, Stephanie, when you miss Stephanie, when you have your next birthday party or whatever, you have the event, I need to be there.

[Wayne Knight]

You missed the last one, because I know it. She missed the last one.

[Brian Cranston]

We got to make sure you on that list.

[Kim]

Yes, I'm definitely coming.

[Brian Cranston]

Because I'mma tell you. I'mma tell. I'mma tell you. I love to laugh, so you gonna definitely have some comedians there. I love to laugh. You gonna be laughing, girl.

[Kim]

Oh, I already know. And then also the third member, Ms. Monifa, couldn't be with us today, but she is here with us in spirit. So thank you, ladies, for joining us. So tell us, how did y'all decide on your name? Because the name is all three of your names combined.

[Wayne Knight]

Well, we were actually dancing with some dancers, another guy group. We were dancing for a show, and they were saying, you know, how do we want to be introduced?

[Steph]

And we was like.

[Wayne Knight]

They were asking us, what's our name? It was like, we don't have a name. And of course, we was thinking of every name with a three. Three the hard way. Three to three to T. I don't know. We was just thinking of different three names, and we happen to be standing in the formation of Monifa, Kenya, and Stephanie. We was just standing there, ready to do our routine, and we didn't come up with anything. Nobody was really feeling anything. So the guy was like, well, what about Mok and Steph? The way we were just the order we were in, and it. Right at that moment, we all just loved it. And then Stephanie was like, well, what about Steph?

[Brian Cranston]

Can mo?

[Wayne Knight]

Why can't go the other way?

[Kim]

And we was like, that's true too.

[Wayne Knight]

But the bell just sounded better that way. And so we just all stuck with it.

[Kim]

How do y'all feel? Y'all music has influenced today's R B or just music in general?

[Wayne Knight]

Oh, it influenced today's R B and music in general because it's so real. Like, our song really is timeless because there's always a man cheating on a woman, and there's always a woman taking her man back, and there's always somebody in a relationship. And now. Now he's your man, you know, so that's. That cycle is constant. It happened before we wrote it, and it's gonna happen after.

[Kim]

Right?

[Wayne Knight]

So, like, TikTok brought us back because.

[Steph]

It still goes on.

[Brian Cranston]

No, I was saying, my daughter's in high school, right? So it's so cool. They brought it all back one time she's a cheerleader, and I was at her game, and they was bumping my song. I said what the high school was, and I was like, wow. And he saw on TikTok, they. They know. They researched it, which is beautiful. It's a blessing. And we appreciate, like Kenya said, it's a classic song that resonates from. From back in the days to today. People, like she said, I think what really get people going, they be everybody try to figure out what we really was talking about. But it was so many different scenarios in that song. And we're talking about, he's mine, he's mine. Right? Yeah, I said it was. It was so. It was so many scenarios where he's mine, where, you know, some people thought that we were saying we was cool with letting the man cheated on us. And that wasn't what we were saying. But, you know, we let people have their narrative. It was more like when we wrote it, we was talking about, everybody have a man before you, and that man might not be with you no more. So now he got somebody else. But, you know, in another scenario was like, and now he's with. He's mine. You made it. Had him once, you would have. You might have been with. So that was one another scenario. Like Ken said, one of the group members boyfriend was, you know, he had cheated on her, and the girl kept playing on her phone back in the Day, like, Mo had a dude, and he.

[Monifa]

And.

[Brian Cranston]

And. And the girl kept playing on the girl phone constantly. So we was having jokes, and we just. It just turned into joke. We was jokesters. It just turned to jokes after jokes after joke with this girl. You know what I'm saying? And she made us have a hit platinum. Thank you for making us go platinum, baby.

[Kim]

I know she was tired.

[Monifa]

Yeah.

[Wayne Knight]

And they playing them at weddings now. I went to a wedding. They played our song, He's Mine. I was like, hey, yeah, it's the. The wedding song of the year. Don't forget to add it to your playlist.

[Kim]

When people see y'all out and about and they say. They say he's Mine is like, one of my favorite songs. Like, how does that make y'all feel when people see y'all, like, you at the wedding or you at the. Your child's school? Like, do people recognize that it's y'all that wrote these songs?

[Brian Cranston]

Yeah, you know, I think, yeah, people tell them, yeah, it's. It's a good feeling because, you know, from that to when you even perform on stage, like, when, like, we, like, you did say a wedding. We had went to a birthday party and they had played it. And at the time, I don't think people knew that it was me and Kenya there at the birthday party.

[Kim]

Right.

[Brian Cranston]

So sometimes. Sometimes your song is bigger than your face. Bigger than you.

[Kim]

Yeah.

[Wayne Knight]

Bigger than your face. Bigger than your name.

[Kim]

Yeah.

[Brian Cranston]

Right. I said it was blowing. They were seen. They had a wonderful time. And then when they found out we was in attendance, they was blown away. And it was. It was a beautiful feeling just to be laid back, you know, in the cut.

[Kim]

Right.

[Brian Cranston]

Low key. And seeing the energy, I think that's the one of the best feelings.

[Monifa]

It is.

[Steph]

It's a beautiful feeling.

[Kim]

I also feel like this. The video of y'all performing live of He's Mine, that's been going viral lately. Have y'all seen it?

[Brian Cranston]

We saw the different ones. Which one? There's a couple of different ones. I've seen a couple of them go viral, too.

[Kim]

Well, yeah, like, the song itself just been going viral again.

[Brian Cranston]

Just lately.

[Kim]

Yeah.

[Brian Cranston]

Dancing. Oh, see, lately I haven't.

[Kim]

Yeah, it's been on. On Instagram, y'all. I have on the blue dresses. And that performance been going viral.

[Brian Cranston]

Oh, yeah. I've seen a couple of them, too. I've definitely seen a couple of different things that we had done performing live. You know, we still perform live. So I saw a couple of things going, you know, Going viral and it. And it feels good to see the energy and of people and how they respond to it. I can't say every artist, but I think since you've been out before, before the social media came to life, we can handle the criticism better. Like, it doesn't bother already. We're strong in our conviction. We know who we are. We know what we did. We wrote it ourselves and we take responsibility for it. We take responsibility. We was very. When we did it, we did it ourselves. Nobody made us write these. Our whole album we wrote as it is, and that whole album we wrote. And it's like. Except one song. It was a remake from Smokey Robinson. Much love to Smokey Robinson. But, you know, we wrote everything pretty much. And I think because we knew who we were, we had no social media, no distractions like that. I always say that. And I think we're very confident who we are because social media people's mental. And I see. I see some artists be clapping back, going, like, why do you care? Right? Like, for me, I be. I want to be a psychologist for these artists and talk to these artists to help them out, because I'm like, who cares about. You don't even know these cats. Why are you explaining?

[Wayne Knight]

They got you all in an uproar.

[Kim]

Right? Right.

[Brian Cranston]

They got you all catches in the bunch, sir.

[Jason Alexander]

I'm Jason Alexander.

[Peter Tilden]

And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the really no really.

[Jason Alexander]

Podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions, like.

[Peter Tilden]

Why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor.

[Jason Alexander]

We got the answer.

[Peter Tilden]

Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer. And you never know who's going to drop by.

[Jason Alexander]

Mr. Brian Cranston is with us.

[Monifa]

How are you?

[Peter Tilden]

Hello, my friend Wayne Knight. About Jurassic Park.

[Jason Alexander]

Wayne Knight, welcome to really. No, really, sir.

[Brian Cranston]

Bless you all.

[Peter Tilden]

Hello, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about. About judging.

[Brian Cranston]

Really?

[Monifa]

That's the opening.

[Steph]

Really?

[Kim]

No.

[Monifa]

Really?

[Ebony]

Yeah, really? No, really.

[Peter Tilden]

Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win 500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign Jason Bobblehead.

[Jason Alexander]

It's called really no really? And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kim]

And y'all also face some legal issues with He's Mine, which I thought that was a lot of important lessons that y'all shared. So can you share what those challenges were and how they affected your experience with the song? Because if I'm not mistaken, Ms. Stephanie, you didn't want nothing to do with the song after y'all went through it, right?

[Brian Cranston]

I sure didn't. I didn't want that to be the single. Because once I started learning the business. That's another thing we talk about in our book called Unfinished Business that will be coming out soon. We talk about how, like, you know, you. I didn't. I was not happy about. Once I found out what they was trying to take. Because, see, in this business, when you. When you. What you say, like, copy another person's song or. I don't want to say copy, but, you know, when you. You might be like, yeah, sample. Yeah. Thank you. The producer that produced it was an amazing producer. His name is Harry A wonderful. He's alive. He's not just a producer, but he's a live musician.

[Wayne Knight]

Amazing.

[Brian Cranston]

Yeah. He's very amazed. So I think what was crazy about our situation, he played these samples live, but in court, it was like. He was like, I didn't copy off. Whatever happened, he didn't copy off a pr. It was like Prince, the wonderful Prince, rest his soul, and Roger and Zap. So our song had those type of, you know, samples in it. But he replayed it. He replayed it and did a whole nother little twist to it a little bit. But for the, you know, as far as the court, they saw it looking like, oh, this is a print sample. So we didn't look. We in that. But we wasn't even a part of that whole suit. We didn't even know until they came back to us. And I said, well, I'm good. Let's just do Sex in the Rain. That's our other single. We wrote it. He live played it. No samples. You know what I'm saying? So I was like, I'm good. So, you know, at that time, I was not feeling to put it out. Cause once I realized how much money they're gonna be taking from that, I was like, oh, wait a minute, hold up.

[Wayne Knight]

Not really getting nothing from it.

[Kim]

Right.

[Brian Cranston]

I got outvoted. I got outvoted. Basically, I was outvoted.

[Kim]

Yeah.

[Brian Cranston]

But it's all good now.

[Kim]

Yeah. And I know y'all have a book coming out, and I'm sure this will be covered more in detail. But can y'all share y'all decision or the reason why y'all stepped away from music?

[Wayne Knight]

It's in the book.

[Brian Cranston]

You got any.

[Wayne Knight]

Any thing you can say without saying so something.

[Brian Cranston]

It's definitely in the book. And you get to find. See what's cool about the book. It's like it's three perspectives. Like, you know, when people write books, you usually don't have everybody writing. It might be one person telling their story by themselves. But in this situation, it's a Mok and Steph book that's three perspectives. And you get to find out, like, who. Who walked away first and like, how it. You know, what's that chapter we got called, Ken?

[Wayne Knight]

Oh, you put me on spot.

[Brian Cranston]

It's in the book. Look.

[Wayne Knight]

So it's a chapter that explains the fallout. What happened. There you go.

[Kim]

Do y'all have any regrets about the decision, looking back now about stepping away and leaving the music industry?

[Wayne Knight]

I don't.

[Brian Cranston]

Not Stephanie. I didn't. I didn't like it at all. And I talk about in the book. So that's why I say the three perspectives. You're going to find out who did what and why that person did it. But I would say for myself, just to let give you like a little bit. I was not feeling that decision.

[Kim]

I was. All right, process of elimination, right? You know?

[Wayne Knight]

Yes.

[Kim]

You know, I feel like y'all just had so much talent. I mean, y'all was dancers, y'all was singers, y'all was rappers, Y'all was fly. I had personality. Do y'all believe y'all had a fair shot, or do y'all feel like the label knew what they was doing with y'all?

[Brian Cranston]

They didn't have. They didn't have. Baby girl, you said the right now. And we talk about in the book. It's so funny we talk about that in the book. But no, they didn't understand us. Yeah, we was very creative. Right. And thank you for that compliment. We were very creative. We had some ideas that Missy Elliott did later in her. Her video, which we love Missy Elliott. They thought we was crazy, girl. I had that idea and told them way before Missy came out with it. And I love Missy Ellie because she was creative. Her. Her people had her back for us. We was crazy talking like that. We was like, oh, we want to do this?

[Kim]

Yeah.

[Wayne Knight]

Almost a lot of ideas that we. A lot of ideas that we came out. We saw it come out in other groups, and we would get so frustrated because it's like we would have been the ones the first to show that vision do that. We did. And it was just. They made it seem like we didn't know what we was talking about or it was so hard to put together or, oh, we can't do that, or whatever the clapback was. They just wasn't feeling it. But we knew what we wanted to do. So our team wasn't all the way for us like we wanted them to be or like they should have been.

[Brian Cranston]

Add to what Kenya is saying when you said about a fair shot. You know what? We are thankful for our blessings that we did receive. But no, did we get a fair shot in certain things. Because you know why? Because we spoke our mind. We was very real, and we wasn't like, yes, kiss ass group. A lot of groups are. They kiss a lot of ass. No, we disrespect. It's a lot of ass. They want to be so, you know, they want. They want to make it so they're gonna do everything that they tell them. We. We would.

[Kim]

That's a fact.

[Brian Cranston]

We would say. No, we would say we ain't showing our asses like that. Opening our. Our crouches to do a video, so we ain't doing all that. We're not wearing Playboy out. We gonna be sexy. We want to be sexy.

[Kim]

Listen, I just know once I get in good with y'all, I can't wait to kick you with Ms. Stephanie.

[Brian Cranston]

Because.

[Kim]

I know she dated from left to right. So y'all have y'all performance. I'm gonna be right there because I gotta get the wrong version, because I know Miss Stephanie was nothing to play with. Baby.

[Brian Cranston]

No, ma'am.

[Kim]

Okay, we almost finished. So if y'all can go back and do anything differently in your music career, what would it be and why?

[Wayne Knight]

Really standing up to the. The labels and really standing firm and not just swaying with.

[Brian Cranston]

I.

[Wayne Knight]

For me, not just swaying with an idea just to, you know, appease the group or appease the group. Just really. Just staying true to who I was. Because who I was was what I see right now.

[Brian Cranston]

Right?

[Steph]

You know, like, starting out as new.

[Wayne Knight]

Artists, it's like, oh, I should have just stayed that way. I shouldn't have changed my lyrics or I shouldn't have not wrote on this song or whatever the. And just always standing your ground. Like, for me, I wish I would always did that, because the artists after us, it. And it just snowballed into what it is now, right?

[Brian Cranston]

I would say maybe taking a certain. I would say, like, we should have took this publishing deal. We were like, we were very.

[Kim]

Like the one with Randy Jackson.

[Brian Cranston]

I think we was. Oh, no, with Randy Jackson. He was all good. That was a good situation. But he ended up getting a job with American Idol. So that's how I know that that would have been a great situation. He was very. He was feeling us. He was at MCA Records at that time, so that was a very good look. So. No, it wasn't. It was a publishing deal. Like in this business you have. See, we're writers, right? So when you're a songwriter, you can say no or yes to a publishing deal. So I think we would have got a lot more money if we would have said yes to it. It was a publishing deal that was being offered to us and we was like, no, we wrote our own song. Thank you whatnot. What's his name?

[Wayne Knight]

Dang.

[Brian Cranston]

What's his name? He's an artist. Dang. I just lost his name. But he was a solo artist and his mother back in the days. Dang. Why can I forget it? But in his name. I'm so mad. But anyway, I'm saying this to say is that his mother made the decision to be like, you know what? I'mma keep. We're not going to sell and do the. And it worked for him, the publishing deal. He's. He. He's very successful, very financially well off. But his mother made and we did the same thing, but for us, because of the sampling and because of the ed. That's why you got. That's how we talk about in our book. You have to be educated when you get with these labels. At the beginning, there were some things that we lack knowledge of. And because we were songwriters and it was a sample that we was not aware of that we're going to be taking majority of the funds, 90 of the money. We could have did a pubg there and made so much money off of that because we were writers and write for other people. But we said, oh no, do a pubs and deal. So I regret that me because would have got more. Would have said yes to that. Pubs and see. Pubs and deal. They'll give you like a million or whatever the case may be. Whatever you negotiate, right. And you don't know what your success gonna be. It's like, it's like a publishing company taking a risk on you.

[Kim]

Right? Right.

[Brian Cranston]

Yeah. Like, oh, I'm gonna give them a million. This song is so hot. I'm gonna give them a million or whatever. We should have said yes to those. To that particular situation.

[Kim]

Right.

[Brian Cranston]

Instead of saying no, we said No. I can see why we said no, because we wrote it. But then once the politics come behind the sampling, that was a lot of money that was taken away from us.

[Kim]

What brought y'all back together? Was it the book?

[Wayne Knight]

Yep, it was the book. Wanting to tell our story. Wanting to tell our story because it was unfinished. That's why it's titled Unfinished Business. Because there was things that needed to be talked about. And this was a segue to get. You know, once we put this book out, we knew shows and people were going to be inquiring about us, which just happened.

[Kim]

Right.

[Wayne Knight]

And, you know, and that would be a chance for us to finish what we want to do and get our story out there at the same time providing information for those coming behind us, because we will all tell our. Our perspective on a certain situation, whether it was good, bad, or ugly. But then there was a lesson behind that as well.

[Kim]

Right.

[Wayne Knight]

So it's a. Like I told you earlier, it's a great read.

[Brian Cranston]

Right.

[Wayne Knight]

It's entertaining. It got tea and information.

[Brian Cranston]

Now, I like the photos because can I get those 35 millimeter camera photos back in the day, stuff that you see with certain people and, like, the stories, what was going, like, you don't look at the picture and you'd be like, I wonder what they was doing in this picture. We talk about what we doing in that picture.

[Kim]

Right? Right.

[Brian Cranston]

Whether it's with Daddy Kane, Mary J. Blige, or whatever, whoever he was in contact with. We talk about those moments. And it. I think, and it makes a very good read because you. I know me, I know sometimes I be looking in the picture and I. I be like, dang, I wonder what was going on.

[Kim]

Right.

[Brian Cranston]

But that's something that's in our. We talking about it from back in the days, and it's art. It's all. And Kenya was our little photographer back then. You know how people have photographers going with. She was the photographer, she was the historian.

[Kim]

I was taking selfies before selfies, but I. In one of your interviews, I was listening to someone mentioned that y'all regret that y'all didn't take y. Y'all didn't jump in on Internet when it started booming. So with social media, do y'all remember that somebody saying that, like, somebody had a regret that I think somebody was telling y'all when y'all was trying to figure things out after your contract, saw y'all trying to figure out what would be the next move. And the guy was like, y'all need to do get into this Internet, like, y'all need to get, get, get started with that. So being that social media is what it is today, do y'all think that y'all journey may have been different if y'all would have embraced it? The.

[Wayne Knight]

Yes, because of the simple fact that something. And just embracing the Internet would have brought something different. But it's like we. Our career went through that transition, and that's one of the reasons why we was always like a beat behind. So we were in the old school way of doing music. Then it started going into MP3s. And then the music industry got scared because they was losing music and money, you know, because people can download it for free. So you were losing it. Then it went to the CDs. And then we kept going through the changes of transitions. So when you had to deal with somebody, like, I forgot his name already, that went to. We were just talking about him. He's had a writing deal for us. Well, when we was in. In talks with him, the company changes.

[Steph]

He moves on.

[Wayne Knight]

So every time we met somebody, there were changes in the industry or changes with their department. So that would change whatever deal we had in motion. So if we would have been able to, you know, jump in and capitalize on that, of course things would have been different.

[Steph]

And we did.

[Wayne Knight]

But again, we was always that beat behind.

[Kim]

Right?

[Wayne Knight]

Yeah. Constantly changing. People didn't know their next move.

[Kim]

Right.

[Wayne Knight]

Or what's the best move.

[Brian Cranston]

And thank God for me and Kenya having degrees because, you know, outside from this, I was a teacher, right. I took a look. I mean, I still rapping, like, doing stuff, like, I did like, some stuff like with different people. 40. Yeah, I was doing stuff like with E40 with, like, different features with the relatives. Snoop Dogg. Like, I have, like, features of me rapping on my own, but, you know, like that. I mean, I did stuff. But I also became a teacher and kind of put that in my, you know, my teaching. I would do like little rides for my. My. My students and stuff like that. But, you know, it was one of those things like that. It was like so, you know, everybody was losing money because you, if you remember the CD burning people was burning them CDs. And so artists was not making money. Instead of me being on drugs, I said, let me use my degree.

[Kim]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Cranston]

And, you know, see if we can get back in this game. And, you know, that's how the. And that's how the fallout, you know, part of the fallout happened. But I still was still actively working doing stuff with other people, but not with Mocha. Steph, Right? Not us as a group. Because I loved it so much. So much so. Yeah.

[Kim]

So what advice would you give to young women who are just now entering the music industry today based on your experiences?

[Brian Cranston]

I would say be very. Anything that you involved in. Know what you're getting into. Know what you're getting into. Make sure you have an attorney. Do not take a lot of. And be so. Don't be so excited to be down. Don't be so excited to be involved. Like, make sure your business sounding. And you know what? Now you don't really need a label. You can do this stuff if you're willing to do the work. You have to do the work, though, right? You could be independent and make your own, and that's. And that's a good thing for them. Now you don't need a label to make you who you are. You got the support from social media, right? And you can get that instant gratification. But you still want to know when all that money come to you. You want to know how you deal with it financially. Management, business management. You got to have your business in order, right? Because you don't know. It happens so quick. It can happen so fast. Next, one day you could be talking, like right now, next to you, a millionaire. Or you can make it, you know, you could be doing. So you have to know what you're getting involved in so you can keep the success going for yourself.

[Kim]

Right. And last but not least, what do you think is the legacy of Mok and Steph?

[Brian Cranston]

I think the legacy would probably be being authentic. We was always authentic. I think our legacy of being authentic. And no one can say that we, you know, we never. We never backed down on who we were.

[Kim]

Right.

[Brian Cranston]

Even though there was some moments that we did, like, kind of had to change some stuff up and we couldn't be ourself with our music. But when it came down to our dignity, we kept. We. We wasn't out there, you know, having sex with different artists. We wasn't doing stuff, wasn't playing ourselves like that. We were very, you know, we was very smart about that. Our dignity meant a lot. Our integrity meant a lot to us. We can go to bed at night. I think we can go to bed at night and be like, we didn't. We didn't sell our soul.

[Kim]

Right? Right.

[Brian Cranston]

Like, I think. I think one. I think one artist say this. I think it's Maya. Maya is kind of like us. She. She didn't sell our soul. It's like we didn't Sell our soul. And I think the authenticity of our music, it lives long because nobody wrote it for us. We wrote it ourselves. It was us as a collective doing what we needed to do, from dancing to singing, so no one could take that away from us. No one.

[Kim]

Right. Right. Well, Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Kenya, I really enjoyed y'all on the show. I'm so happy that we were able to do this. And I. I cannot wait for my audience to hear this, because I feel like I grew up on your music, and I had a memory that I completely forgot. But I remember y'all being on all that.

[Brian Cranston]

Girl. I know. Girl, that was such a fun moment all day. I loved all that. Right? That was. You saw that. That stuff was so much fun.

[Kim]

Yes. That was such a vibe. Like, I missed.

[Brian Cranston]

I see. I miss shows like that. So when you was talking about certain. I miss shows like that, like, all that. Yeah, that was a wonderful. It was very fun. Like, you know, I think Saturday night was like, more like that. But, you know, Saturday life kind of give that in the adult version. That was a fun vibe.

[Kim]

Nah, me too. I mean, the 90s itself was just. That's the era where you just. You can't duplicate it. Like, you just had to be there.

[Brian Cranston]

You just had to be there, and. And, girl, and, you know, you had to be there. And it's so funny that I think that that's what I like about our book, because let me tell you, I was like, damn, I can't believe you got a picture of this. It's certain things that you be tripping off of. Like, wow, we had a picture of this, and it was so long ago, you know, I mean, that's. That's what make it so beautiful, because, you know, now you can see everything so quick. Right, right, right. But just imagine all these pictures of stuff you like, wow, look how I used to look. How we. We even crack jokes. Even in our book, we crack jokes about ourselves. How crazy we looked on a couple of moments. We like, why did we let them do this to us?

[Kim]

Right, Right.

[Brian Cranston]

Like, we. We are very. We're talking about other people, but we talking about. We have jokes for ourselves as well. It's funny, right?

[Wayne Knight]

Yes, it is.

[Brian Cranston]

It's a. It's a picture with the brat. The brat and Jermaine Dupri. We was at, like, a show performing. It was like, in the front row watching us. Like, those are beautiful moments, seeing them, like, so in. In tune, watching us perform back in the. Before they. Before they was even, like, hot. They was Watching us at like a we. They used to do these major, like, show showcases, right? And the label, whatever label was signed to, they would be proud to. To, you know, to promote their acts. So you'll be performing for all kinds of industry people. It wasn't even like outside people. It was more industry driven. So only people that was in the industry got to go to these things. So when I see this picture of the brat and Jermaine Dupree, they always were so tight, and they still tight to this day. And it's just nice to see them right next to each other watching us in the front row performing. Yeah, you know, it's amazing, you know.

[Kim]

So, ladies, tell us, what is this book coming out? And also let everyone know where they can follow you at.

[Wayne Knight]

Please follow us at Thereal Mokinstaff, Instagram at the Real Mocha stuff. Facebook at the Real Mokin Steph website. Everything is the real Mokin Step.

[Brian Cranston]

The book except for the website is mochastep.com.

[Wayne Knight]

Thank you.

[Brian Cranston]

M O K E N s t f mokenstef.com unfinished business we will be definitely selling, you know, real soon. It's coming soon. We're so excited about it. We're done with it. We was just, you know, doing it. It's like, so we have to hurry up and let it go because, you know, stuff be happening. We be like, well, I gotta go back and say this, right? Let it go and let it.

[Wayne Knight]

And we feel like now, but we.

[Steph]

Just have to stop.

[Wayne Knight]

Stop editing.

[Kim]

Definitely give me a post on the book so we can have you back on the show so we can talk more in depth about your journey once the book comes out. But I'm definitely looking forward to supporting and also sharing it with my listeners.

[Brian Cranston]

Oh, yes, that's gonna be awesome. You know what I love about you, girl? You did your homework. Don't play with girl. You are about that. I'm telling you. It feels so. And said, let me tell you something about artists. Artists really appreciate, you know, people when they interview you, that they know. They know who they talking to. Yeah, yeah.

[Kim]

No, it was really. I told Ms. Kenya before you joined, I'm like, it's really an honor to have you all. Have you all on. Because I remember seeing to this day I still sing y'all songs. So I'm pretty sure that hearing y'all show. Yeah, I'm pretty sure once my listeners hear your show, they're going to be even more excited that you were a part of the professional Homegirl podcast. So I really appreciate y'all ladies.

[Brian Cranston]

Yes.

[Wayne Knight]

Come on, girl.

[Brian Cranston]

Yeah, I love it.

[Kim]

Yes. So I have to send y'all some shirts and stuff so y'all can wear it. So I definitely. Yes.

[Wayne Knight]

I would definitely, definitely.

[Brian Cranston]

We're gonna tag you, girl. We gonna tag you queen.

[Kim]

Yes. Yes. Yes. And to the listeners, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please make sure to email me. [e-mail]. this has been a pleasure, ladies, and I am so appreciative of you all. So until next time, everyone, Ladies and gentlemen, Mo. Thank you.

[Brian Cranston]

Love and light, baby. Thank you.

[Wayne Knight]

Thank you, Ebony.

[Kim]

You're welcome.

[Professional Homegirl]

The Professional Homegirl Podcast is a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network.

[Kim]

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you.

[Professional Homegirl]

Listen to your favorite shows. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show and you can connect with me.

[Kim]

On social media at the PhD podcast.

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