INTERVIEW: SWV & Xscape Talk Joint Tour, Old Vs. New R&B, Reality Show Split + More

Wake that up in the morning. The Breakfast Club Morning everybody, it's the j en V.

Just hilarious.

Chela Meane the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. We got some special guest joining us today. We have s w V and Escape.

What how y'all feeling?

This is a lot to move around?

Expensive.

Why weren't these type of tours possible when y'all was younger?

You think.

Put together like this?

No, No, wasn't super Fest, but it was a festival, right, right?

It was? I mean what did yeah we live?

Yeah, I don't know.

I guess nobody thought about it.

Yeah, it would have been dope though to do it.

It was eight hundred and fifty million girls groups.

Again, right, so many.

That was We're working with everybody?

Now, is it difficult getting everybody on the road together, getting nobody on time? Because at first they said, y'all gonna be a certain time if like, somebody will be just a little late.

But then y'all all came together. How is that.

The latest?

Who's the latest?

I was ready?

I heard it, but I don't know.

I'm going to I do have a problem, but I'm never late when I get there. Sh it ain't ready ain't nobody done.

So Nea the one of y'all got to tell an hour early just to get on time.

Okay, that is that still doesn't work.

Today. You don't like to hurt everybody.

Everybody, Y're not going your door.

No, because my boland was the glamor and everything broom.

Okay.

I thought somebody stole my purse out my room. No, no, she stole my purse. And so I'm talking to security at the hotel the whole night to three am in the morning, and they she had it.

Oh you didn't think you're gonna tell her. I'm gonna wait a little bit.

Came back the next morning, I said, Hey.

It was terrible.

I go through a lot of ship with these people. These people, how did the talk come together?

Mama? The mic.

Get them together? Obviously a lot of people know after we did the reality show together kind of like put things on ice for a while, and then Mona, you know, she just kept coming back with ideas and she got us all on the same and I'm glad she did, because you know, we always friends for a while, so it was crazy that we allowed to show They're like mess things up or whatever, you know what I mean. And and this is I feel like it's a perfect

What about the realities broke all up? Exactly?

We were just you know, just.

Having our own we are.

We had our own inner turmoil, you know what I mean. And then you know, we had bumped heads about stupid stuff, you know what I mean?

And don't it don't help when you get the people involved, you know, the media, media, the opinions and everything.

How was how was it with your families and your life so into the press because anything that you do, family does, kids do, it's in the press all the time.

Does that get annoying?

Yes?

Yeah, of course everybody's accountable, Like we have to be accountable for every little thing that we do because we're not the only ones that feel it. Yeah, so you almost have to live your life the way for other people. You know, it's it's the most uncomfortable feeling ever, but you got to do the best you can and just sign it.

Make it difficult to be a parent, you gotta You got a daughter that's graduating this week, does to make it difficult that because everything that she does is on I remember I took them all out one night right with my daughter, and I was so nervous because I felt like a chaperone.

Right now you're looking but like, oh, they're drinking. I hope nobody sees them drinking.

It's like people that don't know both of our daughters.

Go to n y U.

Yeah, but they all went out for a birthday and I was the chaperon, so I had to get security. I had to make sure and I didn't like it, Like it was like it was too much stress on me because at the end of the I'm like, rabbit. If Candy calls me next morning, was like, and why am I doing to get back at this time? Like it's a lot, but it's always in the public, So how do you deal with that?

I mean, we're used to it at this point.

We was.

I mean I was on Housewife for fourteen seasons, so Riley grew up in it and she's about to do something else, you know, So it's just kind of like I just told her, you know, whatever you do, just know, you just say, hey, I had fun doing it, and if I messed up I messed up. I'm about to get it right the next time.

Yes, oh no.

After the reality show, you know y'all had y'all little issues. What was that first conversation like? Because nowadays it seems like nobody knows good conflict resolution skills?

So what did y'all? What conversations did y'all have that got y'all back on the same page.

I thought it was It was really cool because when Mona got us all back together, we hadn't spoken to each other. But what I thought was really cool was that we put the managers out. We put everybody out, and it was just a six yeah, And it's easier that way.

We worked it out.

We talked, We let each other know how we felt about certain things.

And who's the most difficult, Who's the I call it the virgo of the group that's like me.

I want Coco to answer.

This the most difficult. I could be mean, I'm difficult. I just you know, I stand on what I want and what I believe in, and I'm gonna.

Go for it.

I don't want nobody what to do. He's gonna say no twenty times years and it's just a yes. It ain't even a hard Yes, you gonna you don't know. I'm just going with the flow.

I don't know that.

She tells me the one thing you catch more beads.

I just like, I don't tell assimilate. I'm trying, you know, I'm not there yet.

But in this business, all of y'all got to be stirn because you're black, you're women. You try to get over on you. So you got to have those boundaries. Sure for sure.

Yes, and we which one of us. We think our group is the best. So you're gonna bomps something yeah no, yeah, so you're gonna bump pass. But you know, we come to a resolution and make work right.

We did have a conversation one day on about who closes the show?

We did, remember I remember that.

Was part of the drama when we had during the season, and I was like, how do you figure out?

Because I guess it's certain markets, a certain group of clothes or maybe not, So how did y'all figure that out?

We have thirty shows?

Yeah, we just just decided to split it out in the middle. You know what I'm saying. Thirty shows. You closed fifteen, we closed fifteen.

We just do it like that.

But to be clear, our show is intertwined, so for people, it's not gonna be one of those concerts where you know, one act goes do their whole show and then the next act goes. It's like, we're doing kind of like Versus, but a live fun or a better version where we going back and forth doing our you know, our hits.

Gotcha?

Is this why you took a break from Real Housewives of Atlanta?

Gain No, I wasn't the only reason. I have a whole bunch of different things that I'm doing. I'm producing The Wiz on Broadway. I got another show that I'm about to announce that I'm producing. I'm filming on a TV show. I can't even announce shit. So it's a lot of other things that I really wanted to do that Unfortunately, you know, I don't know if y'all watched

You know.

So why is this so important to do this?

It was very important for my group and you know, us together to do this. I mean, I personally want to keep the legacy of our groups going, you know what I mean. I feel like it's crazy to be able to say that back in the nineties we had hits and now in twenty twenty four, we're still able to headline tours and go across the country like as women, you know what I mean, I think that's very important.

You know what I mean, what about you? Important for you?

I mean because it's something that I really love doing, and I mean it just it's just a different feeling from everything else that we do. And you know, our music is still living and doing his things. So it's just it's just a great thing to be able to be able to go out there and sell arenas and do these shows. So I mean, I feel like shit, what I mean, sorry, I feel like why not you

Like what do we do?

We can't even we can't get along, like we're missing out. So we finally, you know, thankful to Jermaine and Autumn. They were trying to do like a movie, a movie on us that we didn't have nothing to do with. So that's really what brought us back together, was trying to figure that out, like, oh, hey, doing a movie on us and we ain't got nothing to do with it. Yeah, So that's how we got back to where we are.

Why is it important for y'all? That's WV.

This is something that I've been wanting to do since since how long. I think we got back together in twenty two thousand and five, and I just always wanted to put a girl group tour back together. The nineties was just beautiful with so many varieties of girl groups doing their things successfully. I missed that vibe and I wanted to do it again. It's just been so hard trying to get everybody together. But finally this situation came along, and I'm I'm like, all for it.

Yeah.

I thought it was dope because I think we left a lot of things open, you know, since the show. And another thing, I don't think men really give us the support I think we deserve. Yeah, So for us, for the world to see us come together as women that support each other like this, I think is a big deal for me, DoD y'all support each other, y'all don't support us.

But I've also seen the shift in R and B music because I would say maybe about four or five years ago, it started shifting where R and B music it was army music parties, army music concerts, army music things. And I'm sure you guys seen that shift, because at one time it felt like, I don't want to say it was dead, but people didn't respect the nineties groups.

Like they should have regards.

But I've seen that shift where it's like you're seeing concerts, you're seeing shows. I mean, think about it, a vague show lovers and friends. When they had thirty forty thousand people. You would never see that before.

But that was always a good thing. And I got to ask, I got to give you a lot of props. You took dogskin. Shut don't even break that.

Shut up.

When you're going down that role. You know, wait, change a good collection.

Yes, well he said that, he said vaginas getting discoloration. What happened was that you said, I have vintage, but I don't know what you're talking about.

Advantage fail.

It's kind of a good thing. Did you say you think.

This generation even knows what nineties are.

They're gonna learn about.

Do you think do you think this generation even knows what real arm b is?

Oh?

Absolutely, there are a ton of of youngster's millennials gen z's that know about StEB B and escaped because their parents are teaching them about that. We did a show last year with Glolla and a couple of other young rappers. We were like, why are we here, But those kids were out there singing those songs like they were there when we recorded them, and their whole their moms up on FaceTime.

Hey, for music is not the same. R and B doesn't seem like it's the same. Even even my daughter. Now, of course she listens to the Scissor and she listens to someone Walker, But when when these records come on in the house, she knows every word word for word, like these are her artists.

She looks at you, you guys, at her artists like we do, which is different.

Behavior when you when you immerse these kids in this kind of music, they love it that you have TikTok, you have all these YouTube My son used to sit there and uh, look up different artists on YouTube, and he would like, I think it was so cool, and I'm like, that's old school music.

No it isn't it is.

I have to tell my grandbaby, no, they didn't make that song.

The song came from this.

So you know, you got to hate you.

Even though she's my child, she goes she knows all of escape songs, all the songs that we don't sing work me slowly, she sang.

I'm like, girl, you cannot say these songs.

She's singing every She's like, and I know this song and she can.

That's crazy that you said old. I feel like we just seen.

Everything.

She knows what she wants to do.

But you got to realize, like a lot of our songs and other R and B songs, they end up trending and everything on social media and people be making their own video clips, not knowing where they got the song from. They just started singing it and blow it up all over again.

So is there any songs you'all tired of performing? But you got to because it's.

Want tonight for me.

You don't like tonight, honey.

I mean I do, but you know, like sometimes we have to show like we need to cut the songs down. I'll be ready to cut tonight. They never want to cut tonight.

She don't want to have the pressure of hitting And I know at the end, you know that cutting.

What about y'all anything that you're to do.

Forming every last song? Every time we sing those songs, I feel blessed. I'm gonna sing them everything the bottom of my heart.

We don't get right here?

Yeah?

Right? What was the dance movie choreography?

I'm still gotta do the choreography, that's why.

No, it's not the choreography. Its it's smaller radio song. It's not a performance song.

I feel like I feel like that.

It's so good.

It's more like.

Right here, one of them one.

Don't have to do it, but I don't want to do.

Just tied up. Yeah, and you was on Survivor, right, yes, sir?

Did you want to say, uh, you compared Survivor to working with Escape?

No, I said, I compare Survivor to you taking le out.

That's what I said. It was hard.

It was hard, Jesus christ Man, it was crazy.

Look, Survivor is the only reality television show, and that's the only one.

There are no storylines, there's nothing.

You're out there with absolutely nothing, and you have to literally survive.

So will I do it again? Absolutely not. They've been trying to get me to come back, so.

We ordered something like surviving.

We need to do a show. We have to.

Show prepare.

The reality help with her.

It can do either one.

It depends on what you do with it.

Really, I mean I definitely feel like, you know, I've had moments where I hated it, obviously, but I feel like I really built a big fan base through it, you know.

I think That's what everything though, like, even when y'all come to work every day, is you gotta deal with the political bullshit, and you're you're gonna deal with something. No matter what you do, You're gonna deal with something.

It's just how you resolve.

But how you resolve it though, Like I know with you, Candy, I mean, they had a problem with your restaurant at one time, right, And I tell everybody every time I go to Landa and I'm filming, I order the Sam Advice. They good money, but you got a problem with your restaurant, So how do you deal with that?

Then?

I seen then they said something about your marriage, and I'm like, I just seen her retired at my pool, Like, so how do you deal with some of those everything?

You know?

I mean, for me, it's like in anything, I mean, I just feel like, Okay, well we had time, we solid so I don't even be bothered with any of that. But when people try to attack your business or different things like that, just because they may not like you, on social media or whatever, whatever it's like. For me, I take the good with the bad same way as some people that's gonna say some negative stuff. It'd be a whole bunch of people that come through just because

And it is what it is.

And if it's anything that, I don't think my stuff is perfect, so anything, I just take notes and I try to fix it.

Just keep going from there, telling you what about you, tyny, because sometimes your stuff is all over all over the place, to the point where I'll be like, they can't even parent, because if they parent, they get.

Yeah, I stay. I stay in the miss, even if they doing the damn thing. I'm in the miss, you know. But a lot of it can be, you know, stressful, just because most of it is bullshit, you know what I'm saying. So I don't know, you know, I deal with that, but I, you know, this stuff like that, I kind of brush it off because I already know what it is. So the Saint can't. You can't let stuff get to you if you know it's not real.

You know what I'm saying.

That was just so cool, and I think with this new internet social media thing, they feel like they know you, they feel like they own you, and they feel like you ain't gonna say ship. But you have to sometimes let people know, Okay, I ain't the one that we ain't through.

Too sometimes put the phone down, hilarious, I ain't got much better.

I don't got much better.

I don't very It wasn't always like like why I don't really do the social media thing. Well, it's like people just it's like they plan an attack on you. They wake up in the morning just to fuck your day up. And I'm like, I got tired of them to fuck your ship.

Up to business.

But the only thing is they doing.

Nothing.

I think we have to pick and choose our battles, and it's happen. She ain't worth a fight. You gotta earn my attention.

What's the craziest you heard about yourself?

If it was, oh, I heard I used to be damn, somebody's in the background check on that I said. When I saw it, it was like people saying, uh, taj, yeah, she's doing much better now because she used to be on the street.

I'm like, I know that one.

That a little background check thinking, But no, I've never been a prostitute, thank you very much.

Well, y'all know what mine is. I got women locked up in the basement, them up because you know what I'm saying, bringing them down?

How you able to navigate through that though?

Timey?

Like like when you hear those stories about.

Yourself, you know, they pissed me out more so than anything. But you know, just because I be wanting to say so much and I have to you know, everybody always tell me no, I can't say anything my lawyers and tip and not be on my head. So I just had to be quiet. That's the That's the part that really bothers me the most. It's just not being able to nobody believe.

Nobody cares about.

Yeah, so you know, and I have to. My husband tell me all the time, like it don't matter. You know, nobody, you know, either they gonna believe you or the night and most of the people the split, so you can't. You can't. You can't get everybody. So just forget about it.

And I ever been like where it affected your kids in school like anything like that, because I think about it on that level too, Like I got kids, successful kids and like they still have their life, like you know what I mean, they got to yeah.

I felt like maybe so, but they don't really talk about it. They don't really say, oh, I've had a bad day because of this and that. Like Major is one of the main kids just in school right now, and he's so he's so chill, like he don't never just be like, you know, I just had the worst day to day. If he does have a bad day, he probably he don't really have bad days because he don't care about nothing.

You know what I'm saying.

He don't really care about anything.

Do get young King.

He's got tough skin like he and I'm glad he got tough skin because you know, he get he get the most flat out of everybody. But he's got really tough skin, so he didn't He could.

Care less with this.

He'd be like, yeah, tell him keep talking about me.

I don't care.

You know what I'm saying. He don't mind, So I'm okay with that, you know what I'm saying. So all our kids so pretty much they know us, and they pretty much you know, they they not they don't really care what nobody saying. They kind of like, I know who my mom and my dad is, so, you know, it don't really bother them like I would think it would. And she's just too young, so she just kind of she just living life.

She said, I'm a star.

I don't.

Popping right, How does h I don't know if this is true, but they said Latasha fire the lawsuit against the group.

Is that true?

Uh?

Shells against us?

She sent a letter to yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

I think it was more of a scare tactic. But it didn't It didn't work. You know, we kind of knew our writes.

How does that impact a personal relationship?

Though?

Well?

As right now, we don't really have a personal relationship, you know what I'm saying, nobody, We don't really speak.

We don't.

I don't even think we have our number for real, for real, they changed their numbers. So you know, we're just going on moving. You know, it comes to us. It comes to us. But you know, we're just doing that regular daily thing, moving around like you know.

It is.

It is more so you know, her blood. You know, this is what life is bringing us.

To talk about.

It is wonderful.

I have a wonderful family, my children, I'm a grandma, wonderful husband from the New York he's from New York.

Yeah, life is good.

You know.

Sometimes you have to separate in order for certain people to know your worth, and until they know it, you just be separated.

But life goes on and sometimes you got to separate from people closest to you, whether it be family or whatever.

Definitely does it make you feel any guilt though when you're out on the.

Road, no guilt.

When you're when you're not in the wrong, you don't feel guilt.

Right, he's got to go to eleven o five.

I heard no, so you I ain't going nowhere. Just congratulations, you look so big, I know, pregnant.

Thank you.

I'm tired girl.

And then especially that when it ain't even him, it's Charlemagne.

Not getting mad at him.

But you don't want what you posted to day, what.

You thought you was mores for He posted a video I think it was like a I something and he smoothed his skin.

And that's well was playing and all that.

Yeah, I didn't do that, you know, I did.

I did.

I had nothing to do with that.

But he was dead serious, and I was like hold because I was home relaxing, like look like Wings of R and B too, especially guest my total and now this is the hell of a talk.

In July.

I'm not little know I D I think D Yeah.

If artists don't come to want to go to we want y'all to come. We are we want trying to come and support us.

This is an experience.

Hold up, we want to we want before that, we want to give. We want to give a shout out to our queen's birthday. We have Queen Taj and Queen. We got to show them.

Look, you know what I'm saying.

They make it look easy.

Yeah, thank your birthday.

All right, we shout you guys for joining us.

And they're going to be in New York July twenty fourth, Jersey July twenty fifth, Atlantic City July twenty seventh.

Or they got y'all on the road ticket Baster for tickets, yees dot com and ticketmaster dot com.

They got y'all on the road. Roll like to bus Wednesday.

I'm working on my birthday.

You know it's basic.

We're gonna turn up your birthday a long time. It's all right to work on your birthday.

Like making the money on your birthday.

S WD escape its the breakfast club. Good morning, Wake that ass up.

In the morning, the Breakfast Club

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