we have the first part of my interview with Shelby J comin at ya right now
everybody welcome back to Prince's Friend I'm your host Prince's Friend and
if you've been around for a while you all know how big a fan of Shelby J I am
if you don't know who she is let me tell you a little bit about her
Shelby J is a singer-songwriter social activist from Greensboro North Carolina
and she's on a mission to spread positive messages through music books
art fitness training live performances these core messages being to inspire
love and light shelby's performed with some of the greatest talent in recorded
music history having toured and recorded with her own band black gypsy groove
theory mary j blige anthony hamilton DeAngelo Santana Larry Graham in
obviously Prince you've heard her on many a Prince track as well from her
co-lead on Chelsea Rodgers to her voice being lent to many other tracks like lay
it down future soul song colonized mine mr. goodnight and most famously on stage
with Prince at the 2007 Super Bowl Shelby Jay recently founded her own
company black gypsy music and has released her debut album 10 on her own
label on her own terms and today she's here to talk to me Prince's friend about
her career for years with Prince her upcoming show at the Capri in April and
where the future leads let's get into that interview hey everybody welcome
back to Prince's friend I am your host Prince's friend and I have a very cool
and special interview for you guys today I am honored to bring onto the show
Shelby Jay thank you so much shelby Jay thank you for having me now is it okay
if that I call you Shelby or should I call you mrs. J what should I how should
I refer to you you can call me okay awesome
I'm so like Shelby James Shelby J it just seems weird like well but
definitely thank you for the show I know that you are in California I'm in
Florida you're across the entire nation and I know that you're getting ready for
the Grammys that are tomorrow oh I'm so excited and attending with my
sister Lynn who's also my drummer and we're so excited it's yes tomorrow so I
can't wait okay I saw you talking on Facebook live that this is actually your
first time going to the Grammys is that is that right yeah we would do you know
after shows and stuff in LA at the house you know principal I got a lot of people
coming back after the Grammys we long jail okay and so we would jam we do that
especially times we were out there during you know like the forum shows and
stuff like that when we were there but I never went to the ceremony and I was
watching on TV and everything but they'll be here soon just let out so
they'll be you know but yeah I'm excited about going and I love my dress and I
told somebody I said it kind of feel like Cinderella going to the ball and
I'm not afraid to let people know that because I think that humility is really
important and I try to be transparent with folks and when something means
something to you I mean I watch the Grammys like everybody else from the
time I was you know four or five six seven and I would watch those shows and
have the dreams about you know being on stage and performing which I will be
being nominated accepting but just being around that that energy of all the
creativeness you know from all of our genres from everything being in that
room I was like what must that energy feel like so I'm excited to be going to
soak that up you know and with be with my sister you know it's like that's the
one way definitely and and and who are you wearing is are you wearing a famous
designer well she's gonna be famous she's a Nigerian sister and her name is
me clay it's felt like Nike but it's pronounced Nikkei and all of her pieces
are handmade they're hand beaded and they're one-of-a-kind and this piece
speaks to everything that I've learned everything that I am and everything that
I want to be and I think that it's various when I put it on I was like yep
this is this is Shelby J all day and I know parents would approve
as he taught me a lot and he taught me how to you know stand in your in my
truth you know as far as not I don't need to look like anybody else I don't
need to see what's hot what are they telling me I should wear it's like noon
baby girl you have to be true to you and you you know you said to Trina don't
follow you know but but but really speak to your truth and I went and I saw some
fabrics and then I saw some of her designs and one particular dress I put
it on I was like this is it was just boom pow I was like she'll be all day so
I'm excited I'm excited so you did speak about some of your time with Prince and
some of the lessons that he's taught you but can you can we backtrack a little
bit tell me a little bit about your time
like before you got some friends like how did you how did you come into being
because you know I doubt that Prince just plucked you off the street you had
like you had to already kind of be in your own a little bit when he's ready
right definitely I've been working and I've been earning
my stripes and he told me he was like you know where have you been he said and
I was like I told him I've been working with everybody um most notably mary j
blige --is Anthony Hamilton Martin Luther D'Angelo chorus voodoo tour and
that's where anything in Anthony and I toured and did that iconic tour with
voodoo with the Angelo and right after that I was singing with Anthony when he
did his solo project and I had a break from singing with Anthony and Sundra
Manon called me to come and fill in with Larry Graham for like one night and it
was in Vegas at 3121 and Prince was out there and he got to hear me sing and you
know he liked what he heard and obviously you know and he called me too
he came on stage that night with us and we were singing together and then they
called me back to come out to Vegas and I was like okay I'm going back out there
I'll know where this is going but it was so cool and it was like a journey it was
just every step of it even as I reflect back on it it's just those things
in a dream like okay this happens and this happens and and he's like you know
what you enjoy him a ban and I'm like I gotta call Anthony because I was on
break I was still in his band and he was like I leave my band the same with
Prince I was like okay so yeah so that's how that happened and we start a version
with the Super Bowl shortly after that you know this is right at the end of
2006 so it was just you know right place right time God and all those things and
it was an energy we connected our energies just really you know connected
most definitely and and you can even tell like I've seen you perform with him
before like you you just jived like really really well
which was one of the the best things about you know the years that you were
featured prominently in his music whether live or in the studio like I
always enjoy listening to those albums probably more than some of the others
but I'm just saying what was like one of your favorite
projects that you worked with him like a particular song a particular album no
doubt Chelsea Rodgers because I was I had just outwardly
and he was finishing up planet Earth and there were certain songs that I mean I'm
brand new so we would only play I got to tell you a little bit of the story so
it's so beautiful I was just talking to you I'm out in LA my girlfriend grace is
out here she was around during this time and she came out to Vegas and we were
gonna take a trip to the Grand Canyon and do like a film and Louise thing but
not the ending and going out there and then I get a call we only worked on the
weekends I 3121 so during the week some people Prince will go back to
Minneapolis people go to LA I was still at the Rio that's basically where I
moved into from North Carolina to the RIA and we were playing Scrabble by the
pool I don't forget this my reason is Raul who is part of Chris's team at the
time and he says principal she'd come out to LA and do background vocals on
the song and and I was like okay so I think it was Tuesday and I said well has
like Thursday or something cuz you know I've got my friend here she just
don't know maybe like in three or four hours I want you know we're gonna just
gonna fly you I was like oh okay great and that was that was kind of my
introduction to to how when he had an idea he wanted to get things done and it
wasn't you know it was there was a sense of urgency for that and I was like wow
and I said grace okay I'm gonna go pack and I went in there were no lyrics and
the engineer was there Prince wasn't there and he said let me play the song
for you he played that song he's like Prince is
on the phone but I'm talking to him and he goes I want you to you know kind of
seeing what you hear and there were no lyrics so I had to let her a lot of
lyrics in Chelsea Rodgers I mean that is all it's a lot of words in that song so
I sat for maybe about an hour and did lyrics why my mind why my life my life
you know and he said sing the whole thing sing it like you would sing it and
I'm thinking the whole time I'm going to do you know backgrounds of who I yeah
yeah something like that you see every word and I did and then
when I heard him play it back it was the it was the record and it was the duet
and he said you know you're gonna love this
and it's us and I was like what like it was pitching you as backing vocals but
I'm like I you pretty much ruled that song like that speaks a lot to his
generosity because he didn't have to do that you know he didn't have to as I
always say like put me on Front Street like that he did not have to do that but
it was just so beautiful you know he's like you know you work for this and he
would just say little things like that to make me aware that he that he was
aware that I didn't just show up today won't the same you know he could see he
could feel he could see it and when he had the opportunity to feature me or to
help me shine he always did and you know he helped me to step into that you know
there's even being a background vocalists with different people like
Prince was the one that happened he had me Shelby Shelby Shelby Shelby shut you
know just the way he would say my name so many times in a show I'm like menaces
it's beautiful you know he didn't he brought the same way that we were off
stage on stage so people could see that and that that I'm like that's cool
everybody doesn't do that you know so Chelsey I just for me is a very special
song and that's that memory of that and just how he let me shine on that with
him and then I got into really listening to those lyrics and I'm like man brother
so deep he's something I mean most definitely and let me add as well if if
you were to ask me which was my favorite that you've been on I would have also
said Chelsea Rodgers but how was even without me knowing all of that now I
love it even more baby mama which was another one and he let me a rainy
trusted me he let me basically arrange in my background vocals like he would
like who does that like I have people that never produce nothing that want to
tell me he'd be like not just sing what you hear in your head sing what you hear
and you know what you hear sing what you hear and he gave me that freedom to
Lennear those vocals in the lair all those parts and then he would mix it in
with his and I had friends that didn't even know at the time I was singing with
Prince and they heard future baby mama and they could tell by the way that I
had like layered my vocals like on my earlier stuff they were like is that
shelving like just think people pick up on that like from the black gypsy stuff
and everything so it was kind of like a signature that I would have with how I
would do vocals and he let me do that on his record I'm in this press come on man
you don't have to do this stuff and so he just let me be free to create and to
take part in his art which was beautiful so I will add that there are a lot of
singers and artists out there that can sing but like it really takes
having a specifically kind of unique voice to really kind of stand out and
like you're one of those and might like if I hear it I'm a weight that Shelby
wait a minute smelling I think I respect that with people that I love
like when I yeah when as soon as Anthony Hamilton comes on you know it's him
you know what that taser comes on it's her you know a prince comes on if you if
a song comes on and I don't know who it is singing is something wrong with that
but you should have your sound you know a Picasso from a Rembrandt you know you
know artists should have their their lane of not that you can't you know grow
in mesh but I should know is you don't you should need all sound you know like
this is this this is the the sound of a month so we got all sound like this is
like know whatever I sing it's gonna sound like Shelby whether it's the
star-spangled banner just sound like me you should know it's me that's actually
one of the the cool things about you that I've that I've noticed listening to
not only the music that you've released and we're gonna get to that in just a
second because I wrote a top ten with you but one of the things that I've
noticed is that you're able to kind of not be fit in a box so easily like you
do like funk and soul and gospel and R&B like you do all these different things
like like is that just natural to you or is it like you know what I feel like
doing some funk today let's do some fun or right just real is real organic and I
say that I've always told people especially my friends I can't stand
categories I think one of the worst things that ever happened is when you
try to categorize things that you limit who who thinks they should be listening
to something or you let them you're telling them what art they should base
it like as opposed to what speaks to them and their soul and their spirit so
you got you know a sister growing up in the hood that thinks that she's not
supposed to want to listen to Shania Twain not Shania Twain song could speak
to her heart and her soul in those melodies but because somebody's discolor
and some this color and it has this particular
instrument in it then you're not supposed to listen to that you're only
supposed to listen to this music over here made by people of your same color
of your same thing and I can't stand the genre think so with me I listened to
everything growing up I absorbed everything growing up grew up in the
Baptist Church so there's that my mom minister of music my sister was on drums
other sister Kim was singing grew up listening you know to mahalia and to
Mavis that's all in here could hear country music all around me you know
that's all in here my sister was playing Parliament and Funkadelic she's 10 years
my senior I'm hearing all of this as like a 7 year old and an 8 year old the
bar-kays like just absorbing that you know my dad playing Otis Redding and I
read the Franklin and just the Doobie Brothers and just getting getting it all
into me and it spoke to me so I would listen to what I wanted to listen to and
I didn't kind of let anybody uh direct me and direct that that part of me so
then when I started to create my own music I'm like I'm gonna paint with all
the colors in the crayon box I'm not gonna let nobody tell me I only have to
use the orange and the blue and green it's like nope I'm gonna use all of the
colors and then I might want to just take one color and do one color because
with with I just you know did a gospel song as you're aware of people like oh
you are you switching to gospel now it's like wow I'm never gonna limit myself
and I understand society makes you you know they tell you no you have to go and
they're good to go but man I'm an artist and I'm free and I Know Who I am
more so now than ever because I'm older and I've been through some things and
I've learned some things I took taken some bumps so the stuff I'm writing
about now and and speaking to now it's my truth so it's gonna speak to somebody
might not speak to everybody everybody might not like this song with that song
but it's always gonna be my truth I'm always gonna do that
so it might have some heavy font it might have some slide guitar I might do
a whole thing that's orchestrated with strings where it sounds like Disney but
it's coming from what I feel you know and I'm not gonna let anybody outside of
me tell me how to create if I feel it cuz prince would do that he would create
and put out even what he wanted to you know and not ask you know is this is
this cool you know like before he released something like if you don't
like it he's not putting it out it's like no cuz everybody ain't know like
everything that's just the world but you have to be true to yourself you know and
really stand in that yes I and I had a very similar yeah I had a similar
upbringing like it's good to have upbringings like that I think definitely
I love my mama mama J and my father he's you know passed on but he's with me
every day Prince loved my parents as well and he was a he knew how much I
love family and a lot of people like did your mom ever meet Prince I'm like did
she maybe they ran up on Prince at 31 21 and hug him so tight it was like this
kind of world we are so she wasn't going to be with him any difference wasn't
gonna walk up and kneel or well that's just not who we are and so once he met
my mother he said I understand you now even more which is cool because they you
know he you come from your mom so you know he met her and he's like yep I get
you so now he mentioned my truth which is actually one of the tracks on your
album 10 yeah so I guess that's a great segue for us to shift over into talking
a little bit about 10 which I actually I reviewed 10 I think it was over a year
ago I thought oh you did owner no words for you two I got on a sermon
yes I do thank you for that I like honesty you know I like people to tell
the truth you know you're not just like oh I love everything you know that's not
real but you you know you speak to tell people how they can do things better and
things that an artist might not think of or you know something like that so I
watched it so you have the lyrics I got Jeff I had nowhere to put them online so
it'll be prominent everybody will be able to find them send them over I got
you now I listened to so I listened to it a bunch and of course I had to go
back and watch my review to be like what did I say but definitely I enjoyed the
album and I can tell that like those experiences were like from your soul
like you your your singing is so authentic on that album is there like
possibly and you don't have you know I know all songs are your children but is
there maybe one of those songs that you know even now just a little bit we're a
little bit separated from the album's you know official release which was a
you know in 2017 like our is there one of those songs that speaks to you even
now today like even more Wow I think who you are okay most definitely
um and also day in the Sun lyrically um as well with with Dan the son who you
are because you know Prince taught me a lot about trusting that you know really
trusting that and knowing that your strength comes from that you know that's
that's you there's only one you you know you're unique and so go go with that and
trust it and everybody might not get it enough so kay but that's what he always
did and he didn't care about if society was gonna get it at the time he was you
know wait ahead anyway but he helped me to realize to really trust that in
myself um after earlier you know things in my
career where you know people can can teach you to kind of doubt
like no you need to do it more like this or Shelby if you do it like this even
though that's not what you're feeling or not where you're going they're like no
no try this just trust in that and it's so easy to be who you are it's like
that's you can be who you are every day and and and really knowing that there's
power in that and and embracing that so that's how it speaks to me I listen to
it I'm like yes you know be yourself everybody else is taken you know I
really truly mean that and then the Sun speaks to me now even more because of
what I'm saying in the song you know um you have to go through some things in
life you know you have to have those valleys to really even appreciate the
peaks and day and the Sun speaks to that with me because I you know this last
year I went through a few valleys and day and the Sun truly speaks to me about
holding on staying strong in your faith and knowing that you know ain't no
progress without struggle that's a true lyric it's like ain't no progress
without struggling just telling myself that over and over again and knowing
that your day and the Sun will come and now what I'm doing musically and as I'm
continuing to grow it's like okay you get through this valley here we go you
know here's the Sun so I I was listening to that last night and it just really
touched me and it's me you know and I'm like no it really did I'm like oh yes
yeah you know yeah I told her I said you know I'm listening to my own music to
remind myself of the things that I know are true but sometimes we can forget
those things you know when life you know kiss you in the head you know what a
flying pan and just knocks you sideways you can forget that you know and when I
listen to those songs it helps me remember what I will say about the album
and just to throw compliments at you for a second here I would say that super
power is probably my favorite track on the album Thank You shout out to
Lassiter definitely day and the Sun would
actually be my second favorite so it's funny that you mentioned that one as
well me so in the beginning of that let me just
add that that's my niece Kayla who wrote that piece yes she wrote that poem and I
was like this has got to be part of this song and she was 16 at the time and I
said you have to do this I had you know so it was very cool and probably it was
a question that I had when I was listening to the album just recently I
was like who was that my favorite thing about day and the Sun specifically is I
think just the the way that you sang it it felt really deep and it also felt
like you hit you like you weren't afraid to kind of go up and down and kind of go
everywhere with your with your tones and stuff like I really really dug the way
that you delivered that song you know like the when you do like a my day in
the Sun like you weren't afraid I go up and down and I did it I butchered it
it's okay but you know I could probably do better but like I would be I would I
would be to stage Friday for me to sing and go - LBJ like oh my gosh and and
also it speaks to the the overwhelming kind of positive message of the album as
a whole you know it's like there there's some sadder tracks on there but you know
there's a lot of tracks that are like yes some stuff is bad but it's gonna get
better and like this is your time to make that happen and like I appreciate
that from a listener standpoint because there's a lot of negative music out
there I guess my question is like did you sit down to write kind of a
motivational album or was just just what you were feeling at the time and you
needed to like get it out oh wow I definitely needed to get it out my life
had gone through a major transition that a lot of people they had no idea that I
was going through a divorce at the time right before that had no clue I didn't
share it with people life happens and you know Prince was very helpful he said
you know write your truth you know write write what you're feeling right I mean
your lyrics from that album that have two stains on the sheets well that's you
know real talk from coin really deep and writing that and and even though I
couldn't record it at the time I had everything got kind of stopped you know
there was that moment like she put this out albums coming what happened and
people didn't know that was going on with that but he said you might not feel
like singing but at least writing someone I don't like ant I just can't I
can't I can't sing this stuff you know right now but he's but I had it ready so
that when I could go and sing those songs like run and I could see those
that I would know the right time that I could record them and there were other
songs that I wrote coming out of that storm so it's kind of like their songs
that reflect being right in the start of the storm and coming through the storm
and then those then the songs kind of shift as you're getting your strength
your coming out of it your understanding that you know life is about chapters and
their many chapters in your book and I'm trying you know you're you're coming out
of it you're going through it getting through it and coming into another place
and then those lyrics are different from works of when you're in it you dig that
you hear those you know that it's my times and everything got it lifting up
to boom moved on to the you know ah so it's cathartic I think in the way that
it takes you through that the valleys of things that people had no idea like I
said that I was going through into coming out of it like you know you can
you can get through this and I hope because I'm not the only woman or a man
or person that will go through any kind of hard heart aching heart I'm also you
know I just lost my dad you know right before and I was still you know you
that's a major loss and so there were there were things that were in me but
you have to face those things and and grow through those things so I'm hoping
that when people listen to that music and they see
you know Shelby went through this you know man she took some serious hits some
lumps and this is how she got through it and I can get through it too and I want
them to feel inspired and and uplifted to know like I can do this she did it
you know I can do it too life can be hard and just completely
surprise you and knock you silly but you know when you hold on to your faith and
you you look for your strength you can make it through you can you have to find
those things that help you make it through a music is definitely one of
those one of those tools oh yeah yeah oh man what I mean even with Prince's music
people talk about it got me through this I remember going through these trials in
my life and this music was the only thing that brought me through and that's
that's real music it's so powerful like that oh oh man and that's just part one
there's a whole bunch more that me and Shelby got to talk about I hope that you
come back for part two which will be launching tomorrow until then don't
forget to check us out on Twitter and Instagram they're both at Prince's
friend whitey you can become a patron and support the channel directly at
patreon.com slash princes friend and until next time may you live to see the
dawn
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