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Exclusive: Melanie Fiona Talks Love, Life & Legacy ❤️ | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Apr 18, 2025
Subscribe for more exclusive interviews with the biggest names in music, culture, and entertainment! 🎤 Grammy-winning artist Melanie Fiona joins Sway In The Morning for an exclusive interview to talk about love, life, and her legacy. From her reflections on motherhood and personal growth to breaking barriers in the music industry, Melanie gets real about the highs and challenges of balancing her career and family. She also shares the inspiration behind her latest EP "Say Yes" and gives fans a sneak peek into her upcoming Say Yes tour. Don’t miss Melanie’s heartfelt insights on creating a life of purpose, her journey to self-discovery, and her empowering message for women in the industry. Plus, hear her talk about her connection to fans, the power of vulnerability in music, and her unforgettable live performances. Catch the energy, feel the passion, and get inspired by Melanie Fiona’s incredible story. Watch now and be sure to follow Sway’s Universe for more exclusive interviews with your favorite artists! 🎶 #MelanieFiona #SwayInTheMorning #SayYes #ExclusiveInterview #SwaysUniverse #melaniefionainterview #grammypredictions #blackentertainmenttelevision #interview #4am CHAPTERS: 02:11 - Melanie Fiona Music 05:34 - Professionalism vs Parenthood 09:44 - Say Yes Song Discussion 10:34 - Healing and Ambition 13:15 - It Kills Me Analysis 19:00 - Touring Experience 22:34 - Celebrating Love in Relationships 24:33 - Partner as a Mirror 26:40 - Love as the Answer
View Video Transcript
0:00
grammy Awards best traditional R&B performance best R&B song NAACP image
0:07
award nomination for outstanding new artist Run that Run that Run that Keep those applause going Keep that ovation
0:14
going Juno Award nomination for R&B soul recording of the year Run those AIS She
0:21
released her new EP It's called Say Yes Run it She's on a tour for the Say Yes
0:27
tour right now You can go to melaniefiona.com Get your tickets I advise you to do it now
0:35
I got to know her early in the game Heather be We done shown up at parties on beaches in Malibu together Run it We
0:41
done partied in Malibu on beaches together I party with her on the boat You was there too Sway in New York City
0:47
with Team Epiphany Team Epiphany run back in the day Wow man and she was the
0:56
person that made me want to say yes to my passion to one day become a singer
1:04
This is where it goes downhill [Music]
1:19
Wow My part She don't deserve this way She
1:24
don't deserve it And it kills me
1:30
I know I really love you so much so much I want
1:37
to Oh I hit it I hit it You hit it twice Yeah Not once but twice
1:45
You hit it twice Melanie Melanie Fiona is in the building
1:51
Oh my gosh You really sang in front of her Your dream came true Came true I
1:56
mean every every time I see her I'm like "And it kills me." It's true It's true I'm here for it How much Yo you stop
2:03
cringing You don't even cringe no more when I do this Why would I do that yo I appreciate you Welcome back to the show
2:09
Thank you guys Welcome back to the show So much has changed Wow So much has
2:15
evolved for you So many more blessings So much so many more blessings Absolutely So so many more wonderful
2:22
things Yeah You you're radiating You got energy popping off your pores right now She does Thank you mom There you go I
2:29
love it man And you're a mom I am a mom Wow Give her a Yeah
2:35
Of two What was that first birth like and it killed
2:42
Shoot It almost did Um no You know it's it's interesting The first the transition I think to motherhood for me
2:49
it started immediately like from pregnancy you know I think and I've shared this openly you know being a
2:55
woman in in the entertainment industry there especially going into motherhood for the first time there is a a fear of
3:02
how does this affect my life how does this affect my career what happens my body my body immediately changed So
3:09
motherhood my entry to motherhood was definitely a lesson in surrender It was definitely a moment to just say you are
3:16
not in control You are going to go with the flow of life and you are going to allow yourself the space to evolve
3:24
quickly And it was it was jarring But once I had my son it was it was the most
3:31
beautiful experience but also another lifealtering experience And that's really what opened me up to sharing more
3:37
spaces in motherhood and creating community in that because I just felt like there was not enough conversation
3:42
around the realities of motherhood And so you know in the in the I won't in the
3:48
absence of new music that really became how I used my voice And it allowed people to understand me and be connected
3:54
to me in a different way And honestly for me to be connected to myself in a different way and in a human way It was
4:00
really a beautiful time I I would have I can only I'm I'm I'm a father so I I I
4:07
was adjacent to the pregnancy even though I was there but I can only imagine what it must feel like to have
4:13
that a a baby cooking up inside of you and and just a whole new body inside of
4:19
your body It's literally two you have two heartbeats That's a crazy thought You know we think about the heart We
4:25
have one heart that thing joint that joint stops We're done Yeah You have two heartbeats like carrying life inside is
4:31
is an is an incredible an incredible magic of life Yeah Um one that I
4:37
actually always knew I wanted to experience Oh wow Um you know and now I've experienced it twice and I I feel
4:42
so blessed I didn't think I was going to experience it twice I was like I'm team one and done We got this baby We're good
4:48
You know and uh and then the second one just came along three years ago and she just came to she came to to to to to
4:55
town She came to town about to give it to you man came with that business But you know what in the most beautiful ways
5:01
cuz I again I never I felt like I was a boy mom you know so now I have a daughter So now I'm looking at myself
5:07
and it really allows me to even look at little Melanie again you know like my little self And so giving her the things
5:15
parenting her the ways that I needed seeing who she is and honoring that She's a teacher She's a teacher for me
5:22
She's a teacher Melanie Fiona mom is here We're going to add that to your accolades Uh uh next next time I next
5:28
time I give out your litany of awards Okay Okay Run those AIS Yeah Um
5:35
I listen to your music and and and I feel like I know a lot that you've gone through through your music from breakups
5:43
um to saying yes saying yes to love you know and and finding love Yes during
5:50
this time because the music business also will make you feel like you can't become a parent Oh yeah And you can't
5:56
become a partner Only for women though Most I should say mostly for women Um
6:01
I've been very open too Melanie Um talking about how I chose
6:07
professionalism over parenthood Um and I and I did that from being in an industry
6:12
surrounded initially by all men And it seemed like the person who was most available always got to go Yeah And and
6:19
it seems like the women who had kids unfortunately always had to stay behind
6:26
couldn't get a baby unmarketable unmarketable couldn't travel as much couldn't do this couldn't do that have
6:32
to pick my son from school can't be in the studio at 11:00 at night And so it's sad to say I can admit it now as a grown
6:39
woman it scared me Like that was my birth control I was like "Oh hell no I want to make it." And the way one of the
6:45
ways I won't make it is by having kids And it was they talked about women bad She fat now She big She this She that Oh
6:53
what we going to do hide your belly All of the things And it just it did a number on a lot of women in a certain
6:59
era of music And I think only in recent years it's celebrated if you will like
7:05
the the the children are c the pregnancies are celebrated You hear even more men talk about their kids now It
7:11
wasn't like that Yeah You know there unfortunately for a long time in entertainment there was not an
7:18
intersection an acceptable inter intersection of of people being human
7:23
and being a product You know I feel like we we had to fight for for that We're
7:29
still fighting for that and women we're fighting all the time in general But you know what I I I say like every woman's
7:35
journey is different It's not necessarily about motherhood I think more so than it is about people being allowed to be who they want to be and
7:42
who they really are So many people have to hide their sexuality So many people have to hide their personal lives you
7:48
know not even just from protection just from fear of shame and judgment And I love that we're now in a space where
7:54
we're fighting against that to say like we don't we don't have to do that but we do that by sharing our stories We do
8:00
that by actually calling it as it is We do that by saying I don't want to subscribe to that And I think what's
8:05
happening is especially with the internet you know you got social media you got people people want to know who
8:11
you are Yeah You know like this they they because you know we got investigators online They want to know
8:16
all the tea They want to get in your business And if you put your business out and just be like this is me you can use nothing against me you know And so
8:22
for me I just knew once I embarked upon this this I always said I never wanted to get so busy making a living that I
8:29
forgot to make a life that was always at the forefront of my mind you know and
8:34
maybe to some that might say "Oh that was a detriment because you could have gone harder in your career." I was like "Look y'all I How much harder i got to
8:42
go We did number ones We got Grammys You listen to the acting Come on man HP
8:47
awards Come on Juno Award nominations What more can you do?" So for me it's like I I felt self-accomplishment I felt
8:56
professional achievement being happy and healthy and peaceful and in my right mind is a mark is a marker of success
9:02
for me So pursuing you know and allowing me myself to say you know what like I'm
9:07
not going to hide my relationship And even when I first got pregnant I definitely was like how am I going to hide it and my son was kicking the door
9:14
wave into four four at three at three months I looked like a sixmon pregnant woman Like he was like you are not going
9:21
to hide me You're not going to do that And so I I feel blessed that it's become a part of my brand my story my truth And
9:29
I I don't want to be anyone else for the rest of my life I want to be myself Amen You know so so I feel liberated in a
9:35
space to say yes Yes Exactly And that and that's
9:40
really not just the music you know The mantra of what I want people to understand about say yes played the clip
9:45
when I came in here is that I want people to give themselves permission to overcome the fear to allow themselves to
9:53
get to the life that's waiting for them that they desire that they deserve you know amen and so whatever that looks
9:59
like professionalism you know personal whatever it is but you got to overcome
10:04
whatever seeds that were planted in you that wasn't even yours wasn't yours stuff the industry sway and I and Tracy
10:11
we talk about all the time stuff the industry decided and made up you Oh she's pregnant She's done Oh this person
10:17
is 30 Their career is over All All of these things man It's just It's so not
10:23
true And it did a number on a lot of people Absolutely I'm I'm happy you're here with this testimony because a lot
10:30
of folks are going to be able make it easier for them to say yes Yep Absolutely To hear you say yes Tracy
10:36
would you like to jump in yes Oh my I'm saying yes I'm absolutely saying yes
10:42
Yes I'm wondering Melanie have you ever Can you relate to this feeling that I've
10:48
heard people express to me where their healing made them less ambitious and the
10:54
way that I kind of decode that is they no longer look they're no longer wanting
11:02
to grind for outside validation or they're no longer grinding from a place
11:08
of lack they're no longer proving their worthiness through hyper productivity Is
11:14
that something that you ever experienced or maybe the healing not necessarily dimming your hustle but redirecting your
11:22
hustle i think that's exactly it It it redirects where and how you use your
11:27
energy You know healing takes a lot of energy and healing is is a process for
11:33
the rest of your life You know if you're healed it's over What are we what else we're always healing from things from
11:39
our daily stress from our childhood traumas from our relationships from our jobs Like there's so much I think
11:45
especially here in North America in this rat race of a world that we live in and in an industry where it it requires the
11:53
space to have healing And so if you prioritize that some people might be like "Oh well you ain't you ain't in the
11:59
club no more." No because I'm protecting my body you know because now I know that like I can't be out drinking till 4:00
12:06
in the morning because at 4:00 a.m Um because you know because because I'm in
12:12
the business of of protecting my body you know so and my health And so it it
12:17
all depends on you have to pivot what success and ambition looks like for you Ambition for me looks like living a long
12:24
healthy happy life Amen you know and if that means changing my expectations to
12:29
say that I got to appeal to the validation or the demand of 10 million people and I say you know what I'm good
12:36
with a million then I'm I'm okay with that you know and especially in in in in
12:43
entertainment we we we don't put enough value on the quality of fans versus the
12:48
quantity Yes I think that you know I think that you I would always rather have like a thousand true fans that will
12:55
be like I'm invested in you from now till the end of whatever you create And
13:01
that for some artists is a sustainable business and a sustainable life But you have to invest on creating that
13:07
community So letting people know who you are what you've been through giving people something to feel emotionally
13:12
connected to you by is the key And I learned that with songs like It Kills Me It kills me
13:19
I thought that was my queue Go ahead Sway Go ahead Sway How much I really love you
13:26
so much I'm Man you are killing that You are killing
13:31
that He stood up Go ahead You are killing
13:36
that That wasn't bad Melody Was that bad it was not Melody worked that bad I've
13:43
heard worse Wow Wow That was a I'm not sure how to take that What the hell does
13:48
that mean he's a cancer Melanie He's sensitive I know He's sensitive You know
13:54
what i will I will remind myself I'm speaking to my own Yeah you speaking to your own That's why you see I'm looking
13:59
at you with for eye validation right here Right I got you And then we got our Oakland thing You know we got we got our
14:06
Oakland connection How what so when I first left when I first left Toronto um
14:12
my manager at the time was from the Bay Oh okay And so I went and I stayed over there and I was like living there for a
14:18
few months at a time Each time I go back home and I come back but I was doing complete artist development there Wow So
14:24
yeah I was in shout out to Corey Action and New Style Motherload That was a dance studio that I would go to every
14:30
day and take dance classes and work on body movement and just learning the art of performing And you know I met some
14:36
incredible people from the Bay And just people from the Bay to me just they feel like not to take anything away from the
14:42
West Coast identity but as an East Coaster it made me it was the only other place I went outside of New York that
14:49
made me feel like oh these are people that I I rock with These people feel like East Coasters to me So you know
14:55
it's just they're just real real people out out in the Bay So yeah I'm going to go ahead and correct you The East
15:01
Coasters feel like bay people to you It's really what it is say all of that after after you did all them years in
15:07
New York You going to say all of that 25 He lived in New York longer than Exactly
15:12
I'm like you just going to put some disrespect on the East Coast Yo it was no disrespect I just I've been to both
15:18
I've been to both I'm just you know telling you what it is Melanie you be flip-flopping on me I
15:24
It's giving Gemini energy Giving me Gemini I'm not sure I'm just some cancer June Cancer July July the 4th Oh my gosh
15:33
Kaboom I'm the third No way Yes way Yes way It kills me Oh gosh Here we go again
15:42
But you know um it makes sense to me because uh I want to say the song is make make me feel Shout out to the bay
15:50
Shout out to the bay Russell Russo Yeah Oh yeah And uh Lar Russell you teams up
15:57
with you on this song Did sir help write this one too no this was myself This is produced by Dile and I worked with this
16:02
on tier with Tiierra Thomas with Tiarara Thomas Right And and Lar Russell does a a very great
16:09
verse on this song and he mentions one of the lyrics about even though you gain
16:15
weight insecure about your weight gain I still like it That line to me is so so
16:24
important Okay So important in the space of change evolution motherhood I have I
16:30
have this body is very different than she was on Okay It's very very different She got a little bit more thickness
16:36
little hips Um but that line I didn't even have to give him any direction Well
16:42
I was going to ask you did y'all have a conversation and he said you know he just learned from what you told him or he No I literally told him nothing about
16:48
the record I said I have a song So what happened was that Lar Russell and I started to get familiar online just
16:54
because I started watching his movement I started seeing him following him just bigging him up just being like you are
17:00
you're doing it and you're doing it in the brightest of lightest ways Like this is so refreshing to feel and see And he
17:08
really is that person in real life So he came to LA and he was like "Yo I got a song You want to jump on it?" And I went
17:13
to the studio did the song with him and I was like "I got a song I would love for you to jump on it." And he's like "Cool Just send it to me whenever you're
17:20
ready." I sent it to him with no context None I hit him up I was like "Hey did you listen?" He's like "Yep I'm going to
17:26
the studio tonight." He sent it back It was literally perfect No notes What you hear is what he did first take No going
17:34
back He just nailed it And now mind you my verse was done but the way that he
17:39
approached it from a male perspective you know and in my verse I'm talking about the reality of being in you know
17:45
like it can challenges could be seasonal but I just want to get back to feeling good Yeah I want to feel good like a
17:51
Sunday morning with the palm trees blowing like I want to feel like that Paint the picture of how I want to feel
17:57
Make me feel like that my love And so he just flowed on it so perfectly about the
18:02
about the journey of you know of what it takes to make it and and to believe that
18:08
you can make it And just that line right there as women insecure about your weight gain I still like it Like you
18:15
just you want the [Â __Â ] to last and you got to build like it know it might not last forever but at least it feel like
18:20
it just so thoughtful but he is a thoughtful person So you know I I I'm
18:25
I'm forever in awe of him I appreciate him so much for his energy that he
18:30
brought to and people love it And it's it's we need that We need feel good music right now And women I want women
18:36
to call who can relate to that line I love that And and then and people when you hear this song it's feel good music
18:43
If it makes you feel good I want you to call up and talk to us It's from the new EP It's called Say Yes And it's the Say
18:49
Yes touris You can get tickets at melaniefiona.com Here's the song right
18:55
now featuring the Russell and it's called Make Me Feel Shave45 Melanie Fiona you like that
19:00
heather B I love it And I'm curious now that you're going on tour How are you preparing for it because now you do have
19:07
to factor in motherhood You have to actually to me listening to you talk Melanie factor in the people who's going
19:13
to be around you for this stretch of time and in and out and shows and picking up that different energy and
19:20
balance is key right now for you it sounds like So how are you preparing for tour with a lot of help and not being
19:28
afraid to ask for it because it's that's what is required Um you know I have help
19:34
with my children help from my husband help from my team help from beautiful
19:40
Ila here with me today Um you know way back people who show up you know people
19:45
who show up with a willingness to say how can I support how can I help and me
19:50
not being in oh no no no it's fine I got it No I don't got it That's it may be a cancer thing Wait what you say that a
19:57
lot but I'm fine I got it Yeah Don't like to ask You actually just shared that this morning You don't like to ask
20:02
i don't ask at all No But you know what it's it's it's it's amazing what can
20:08
happen when you do You really realize that you have more capacity to to be the
20:14
best version of yourself So you know for me even in tour prep it's like so many
20:19
conversations so many things so many giving my so much giving myself grace that balance some days is going to look
20:25
9010 not 50/50 you know if I want to show up and be the best mom I can be then I want to be as much of a
20:31
percentage there as I can be When I'm in my music and I'm in my art and I'm on tour that's where I have to be you know
20:37
Um so it it's it's it's really just changing the expectations of myself and having a lot of grace I think that we we
20:44
again hustle mentality of trying to like I got to do it all I got to do it all You can't do it all at the same time You
20:52
can't have it all at the same time You're going to have to decide every day is a choice where you put your energy
20:58
and what's required of you And so again my my my goal is to just maintain being
21:04
healthy and you know maintaining doing the best that I can Like my children
21:10
know that I love them I'm I I haven't been away from my kids for as long as I'm going to be away from them for this tour Now they'll probably pop out and
21:16
come to a few shows and stuff like that but I also too like I would love to say "Let's get on the
21:22
tour bus and I'll go on the road for three weeks but also that doesn't serve me being the best at anything I'm going
21:28
to be tired off a stage or I'll be tired being a mom and then I got to go do the other." So having the space is just a
21:35
blessing to be able to to perform and and focus on how I need to show up as an
21:41
artist un you know uninterrupted really Yeah Do you still get nervous hitting
21:46
the stage though like um it depends Like I I don't I think maybe like the nerves
21:52
for me at this point are just the excitement and the re-engagement with the audience Yeah You know and then performing new songs like the old songs
21:59
I've been performing those Those are like it's like a first language to me at this point So you know this is new energy This is new energy So with new
22:06
energy comes new feelings and then how you want to deliver it So now I'm exploring that And I think that that's
22:12
kind of an element that I don't think people have yet to see for me is truly the live performance aspect Um and I
22:18
really I really feel like that's my strongest piece of what I do And I love that when people walk away they feel
22:25
like "Oh my gosh I I'm so surprised I had no idea." and I really care about the stage So I'm really looking forward
22:32
to seeing everybody on tour Melanie Fiona is here man You know the other thing I appreciate about this album
22:39
I like the I'm going to talk about the Mona Lisa Smile song right because that that that deals heavily with pride and
22:47
usually pride We hear about pride and relationships with men but I like hearing about pride from a woman's
22:52
perspective But one of the things you're doing that I think the social media and the internet has failed us is you
23:00
celebrate in love with your man you know and with finding out about your relationship and your state of being
23:06
right now By the way you're much more evolved cancer than I am
23:12
I want to say that therapy right now Yeah Yeah man She's I'm like damn How did she get to this point as a cancer
23:18
potential yo I'm looking like I got a long way to go But you're also a cancer man It's different Cuz you guys are very
23:26
very protective with your feelings because they run so deep So you have to be you have to be Well you don't have to
23:32
be but I understand we protect our feelers and then they always screwing it up You know it's always folks around you
23:39
that you know that you you know there's no reciprocity So I don't know I don't know People listen at a certain point we
23:46
all are contributing to how people treat us Yeah What we allow Absolutely Okay
23:51
What we allow What we allow I get that Right And I'm not allowing that [Â __Â ] no more I I I feel that Okay I deserve that
23:58
Once cancer gets hurt that crab shell gets real hard Nobody like what I was telling you All right Once a cancer gets
24:05
hurt I'mma come back to Mona Lisa smile Right But you celebrate love And I love to
24:13
hear a man celebrated by by the woman that or the partner that that person is
24:18
with I don't hear enough of that And so I want to thank you for that And I hear
24:24
that in this project a whole lot What can you tell us about your man my man my
24:31
man My man I love that man Um you
24:36
know the sound effects Um you know that man is a mirror to me and he's my best
24:43
friend And I really do believe that God and the universe brought us together to
24:49
be an example of great love And that takes great work And we are both in the
24:55
industry He's you know on the executive side He's very successful within his own right Um we see each other for who we
25:02
are as individuals And he he's a Gemini now Okay Now the Gemini got two signs in
25:08
the Gemini you know But the Gemini and the Cancer is a very interesting p match
25:14
up in the stars A power kid it but he is he truly he honors um who I am in this
25:21
life and I too see that for him And so so we it's a partnership It really is Um
25:28
I respect him greatly um because what he does is he shows me where I need to be
25:35
mindful of in partnership my cancerian self she gonna want to cry burn the
25:41
house down fight till the death And it's like that is not going to be um
25:46
constructive in our marriage in our dynamic So it we we have to the
25:51
partnership that we've learned from one another is how to be the right person for the other person Yeah you know not
25:57
just like who we want to be and how we want to act like it's about it's about a long life together you know and so we
26:05
understand each other you know he calls me as a little crazy girl because I am I got all the emotions and I always tell
26:10
him I was like "Do you have any emotions?" So it's funny but that's like our that's our like running joke for each other but we balance each other out
26:16
in the best way But you know the thing that really connects us on a soul level is we see the world very similarly Mhm
26:24
Um like one of the things that we always did from the moment that we met was we
26:30
could finish each other's sentences If we walked into a room and there was a million things to look at we were always going to pick the same thing in the room
26:37
And and it's one of those things it's just like an unspoken connection where I
26:42
just it's like no we're connected deeply in a different way And um and after we
26:48
had our son you know cuz I've and I've shared this story a million times but like we were together we dated for a
26:54
year and then we broke up and then we got back together six months later and then five months later I was pregnant with our son And when we had our son I
27:02
literally was like "Oh." And we saw who our son was as as his own person I was like "This is actually why you and I
27:08
have to be together It's not just about this love and this story It's about we
27:14
brought this life earth side this special Our son is just he's a ball of light and the ways that he actually
27:21
keeps light in our life and our marriage and our daughter now So you know it everything to me love is love to me is
27:28
the is the answer to everything and it's the reason why we do things or the lack thereof why we don't And so love is what
27:35
we need more in this world And so again that to me is is is something that I I
27:42
protect and I cherish greatly that I've been able to experience it you know and um and be an example of that for myself
27:48
and my children and anybody else who feels inspired by it Thank you I feel inspired by it Thank you for that Thank
27:54
you for that And so when you And Mona Lisa smile I like where you going I like I like how
28:00
you set me up for this That was smooth When when you say the lyric I I'll never
28:06
let you see me breaking down You'll never have to pick me up off the ground
28:12
I rather stand pretty than beg and plead for your pity And I'll go a million
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miles wearing this Mona Mona Lisa smile Yep That prideful energy I don't care
28:25
what you you ain't gonna see it I might be feeling it but this is what the smile was Was was that about a Was that about
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was that reference to the breakup time no that was in reference to this marriage To the marriage absolutely
28:39
Abs Because we not all going to have sunny days every day Yeah And that's the reality of it Like this relationship
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I've been in now for 13 years You know this is this is a long
28:52
journey for us and hopefully forever And so yes I love my partner Yes I love my
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husband Yes I am committed to my marriage but does that not mean that certain days I'm like I am having a really hard time Like
29:07
maybe we didn't get to the resolution before I had to step out and be a mom today Maybe we didn't get to the resolution and I feel at peace right now
29:14
before I had to go show up in this world So I'm going to have to put my shoulders back and hold my pride because and you
29:20
know the next part of the song is if they start coming down as in the tears I'm afraid I might drown because I'm
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carrying so much And I think that you know in relationships that that's the reality as black women in this world
29:34
That's our reality whether you in a relationship or not And so that's that's something I think that I wanted to to
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have this song represent Yeah Is the internal things that people are carrying sway that they don't talk about out loud
29:47
Sway You know we all wearing a little bit of a Mona Lisa smile in some regard And that pride you know that we know we
29:53
have to carry Um because life is not always set up for us to just go into it
29:58
and deal with it right now I got to I got to truck on through But but that also is like a double-edged sword right
30:04
because I do think that we deserve to have space to feel soft and exhale I feel like women especially you know and
30:11
in even in the visuals there's a three-part series to it The third one I'm actually going to be putting out this week You know the first part of the
30:17
visual for Mona Lisa Smile is me in the art gallery you know because we go to art galleries and we look and we see
30:22
everything that looks so pretty and we don't necessarily know what the story is behind even the Mona Lisa herself you
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know Then the second one I did was black women in a hair salon because that is a space where women black women can be
30:34
vulnerable and share their truth and put their bags down and say "Girl do you know what I went through dot dot dot?"
30:40
You know it's creating those spaces The third one is the motherhood aspect um you know and and how women carry so much
30:47
as mothers and how we do we carry a lot We're internally inside We still got to show up and take care of these kids We
30:52
got to be wives We got to be partners We got to be entrepreneurs professionals And we're really carrying a lot but
30:58
we're still going to do it with grace and pride Um and and we'll know when the time is to be able to to let you know
31:04
let our true colors show So that's really the the story behind Mona Lisa Yeah Y'all I'mma play this song guys And
31:12
uh just I want you to enjoy this Mona Lisa smile Mona Mona Lisa smile
31:19
Melanie Fiona Man this is amazing And I don't know if J1 if you tune in come in
31:25
the studio Melanie Fiona says she'll do a garage series for us Do a live performance That would be
31:31
great Under one condition What's that you want me to sing a duet with her no I'm hoping that you don't feel froggish
31:38
and leap on that stage when she does froggish It kills me Like you got to
31:43
fall back You suck
31:50
[Music]
32:01
Are you going to stand up to try to sing it and he grabs the tea
32:07
and it kills me I do it in different keys
32:14
[Music]
32:20
It's the passion It's the passion for me Like come on It's the passion for me I want to love
32:26
Thank God It's following your love I want to
32:31
love like that Heather It's the passion for me You know you don't want that kind of love Well I want to feel that Okay
32:36
You do And you did I did that And you did How much I kill it He did I want to
32:42
know I could feel like that again You can You're a cancer Thank you He can always feel on that note though Sway
32:51
He was believing it He believed it cuz Melanie is giving me life in your
32:56
eyes You battling me through this experience She's holding back the
33:02
cringe I've been doing this for years Living your truth Living your truth song
33:07
Living your truth player I support that I appreciate that I appreciate you Player to player Player to play Player to play I appreciate that Third to the
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fourth Fourth to the third Go ahead I'm good Third 334 34 right here Seven There you go I
33:23
do want to know Bellanie Um what does your voice know now that it didn't know
33:29
when you first started and I mean that both technically as a vocalist but then
33:36
also um as a writer
33:42
Um it's the power of the voice in the literal and figurative ways
33:51
Um I think what I've learned is I'm a
33:56
singer I'm a powerhouse singer I will never shy away from that I don't ever want to not be that because I know that
34:02
I can do that And um not everybody can do that And so you know I've shared
34:09
stories where people have been like "Nobody want to hear singing like that." It Kills Me is one of those songs What
34:15
oh yeah That's insane I went to labels and they were like "Ah it's just you're
34:21
just singing so well on this song We just don't know what." Okay What clearly
34:26
this is not the label for me Yeah Um you know and shout out to Steve Riiffken because I walked I walked into SRC
34:33
Records Come on Wuang Clan Mob Deep Big Pun and You Listen I walked into I
34:39
walked into SRC Records and and Steve Ripken knew what to do with this voice He said "I don't want to change it." He
34:45
played It Kills Me 13 times in a row in the meeting and didn't let me leave to go back to Toronto and put a contract in
34:51
front of me that he's like "You need to stay I have a showcase You need to be in it." Wow Like immediately And that was
34:56
the passion that it was So from a technical standpoint I just appreciate the fact that I don't ever want to be
35:03
able to hold back from being able to sing Figuratively the power of my voice I've
35:09
learned is that it is powerful when I sing It is powerful when I speak It is
35:14
powerful when I write And so the intention about how I use my voice has become something that is something I'm
35:21
very mindful of now You know what do I want to sing what do I want to say how do I want to use my voice to inspire and
35:29
change the world for a better for a to be better to make people feel better um
35:35
you know and even in like songs like when I think about it kills me or 4 a.m and you know people like dang that's that toxic love Sure is But absolutely
35:43
gave people a space to feel vulnerable It gave me a space to be be vulnerable Whitney Houston never held back on her
35:50
vocal abilities singing Vulnerable Love That's who I was inspired by growing up you know Lauren Hill Brandy these are
35:56
people who who molded me vocally and lyrically So I just don't ever feel like
36:02
I want to shy away from that So you know from from a from a space of when I get on a microphone whether it's to speak
36:08
whether it's to have community events whether it's to speak on motherhood wellness music I recognize the power of
36:13
my voice now and how I how I need to be using that in a positive way So so
36:19
that's what I've learned about my voice now Melanie Fiona Man I thank you I would would I be doing too much Heather
36:26
Oh boy The answer is yes If you have to start with that but go ahead I I would just like to hear hear something Maybe
36:33
ac capella I don't know Oh please Yes AC cappella Do you have a request oh jeez
36:38
Oh you know what i would request it
36:45
You sure we haven't sung it enough today no 13 times You trying to be Steve Ripken let me try to be smooth
36:52
I got you I got you I got to be on my mind to think it's going to work this
37:01
time A part of me wants to leave But the other side still
37:08
[Music] believes
37:15
Yes So much [Music]
37:27
And it kills me Oh god And it kills us I would look my
37:35
headphones fell off I was really I was really trying to have a duet moment with you Sway Here we go Here we go We You
37:43
got it Okay Put that Turn that up a little Let me see what key we You don't even need music I got you Wait wait wait
37:48
Start over Sway Are you ready this is just the time that you have been dreamed of Sway Callaway doing his duet with the
37:56
incomparable Melanie Fion Say in the morning at the end Got you Got you Got you Okay Okay Ready to go
38:08
[Music]
38:14
To who to you Oh
38:21
this is Sway in the morning You got it right here Melody Fiona Oh the duet of duets
38:29
You broke her headphones I know people sing really high Melanie And the glasses break But I
38:37
never seen headphones break when somebody sing That's a whole I told you
38:42
don't do it I said it I choked up when she did I was so excited to see her do it live It's okay That sound better than
38:48
it does on the record We spoke this week about when you choke at the moment of truth When things happen to you in
38:54
sports and choke is you got to stay ready So you got to get ready Oh my god That's all it is And it kills me The
39:01
headphones Damn Housew Kanye jumped on her headphones
39:09
and said houseway Kanye came out of one of them empty mansions and how swag is
39:17
and got mad as hell and swag I can't believe I took right there Yo
39:23
it's okay It's okay It's okay It's okay No it's not Tell that [Â __Â ] the truth You [Â __Â ] up in front of Yo this ain't
39:29
never going to happen again And Melody blew it to me and I was in front of her face I was like Melody weak right now
39:37
She can't take it [Â __Â ] just happened man He smacked the mic Yo yo I've been doing
39:42
this for years You know how long we've been singing this song yo you said every time people come up here to the show and
39:48
the lights come on they choke And the host choked Swag Y'all have to go easy My god
39:57
No cuz I told you don't ask her You did tell me that I be I'm here for him
40:02
Melanie He doesn't understand See I'm a Scorpio I was going to say what's your sign scorpio I have zero Yeah I I I let
40:09
him know You got to listen to your water system sometimes You know she was trying to have your back I had you It's okay I
40:15
had your back too We We did a doo We did a doover with When you pointed at me that's what happened
40:23
Cuz I was I was caught up man I'm posting that caught up Yo I was filming I'm posting it
40:31
I'm posting it What are you one of these kids yes Oh man posted it Yo you your
40:39
voice you got to see this [Â __Â ] I've never heard a voice sound better than the record Outstanding That [Â __Â ] you was
40:46
like I got it And it came I was like oh my god Yeah Like is this thing on and
40:52
belted it out flatfooted Just stood there I ain't going to lie that felt a little higher than it normally does for
40:57
me I was sitting here I'm like it's what time is it in the morning sway in the morning Yeah Wow Sway in the morning You
41:02
are an incredible human being go see this tour We just caught a little bit
41:08
live y'all It's official It's real Oh my gosh And you know what's interesting we had Lady London up here and I said "Yeah
41:15
yesterday." And we were talking about hiphop and I was like "Listen I've been in this thing four decades right?" And I
41:21
don't know if it's I don't know what it is to people today I know what it is to me what it was when we when I start
41:28
learning about it and growing up listening to certain artists and certain music and she said "You know what's
41:34
interesting about hiphop it's the only game where the best players don't aren't
41:40
allowed to play." Oh that's a bar Ain't that a bar that's
41:45
a bar And heavy bar And I'm sitting here listening to your voice and you one of
41:51
the elite players You're a franchise player and not getting the time you deserve you know But all of that's
41:59
changing now Yes sir We here today and she's independent and that vision is
42:05
flourishing and it's blossoming and I see it clear as day and the right ones
42:10
like you said the quality of your fans will see the see it clear as day and I want to thank you Melanie Fiona for for
42:18
allow and then for allowing me to realize my dream Damn I we going we going to work on it
42:25
We going to work on it Thank you We going to work on it Thank you You know what I'm saying surprise Oh my gosh Say yes It's the EP Sir is on it The Russell
42:34
Thundercat Yep Many more It's a It's a powerful It's a fun It's an in It's one
42:39
of those things you'll keep on play Play it over and over She's on tour The Say
42:45
Yes tour And when does it start again starts April 27th in Philly Um we're hitting all the markets DC Atlanta New
42:51
York LA the Bay every everywhere Tickets at melaniefiona.com Um I'm really excited
42:58
April 27th we kick it off So go get your tickets right now Dope There it is Thank you for coming by You always come by
43:04
I'll always come by And I respect you for that Okay You You will always be welcome Damn it Thank you He going to be
43:12
talking about this all day Hey HB Was it that bad and you know I'mma just poke
43:17
Yeah it was terrible You shouldn't have did it That's going to be me all day I think the second time was better The
43:22
second time was better but I was Is that when the headphones broke no the second
43:29
John had to come in here and fix the headphones Hey listen Let me remind you Remember I told you that I broke up with my man and then we got back together and
43:35
the second time was better Better Yep That's what I'm talking about Bring it full circle Okay Bring it full circle Bring it circle So you say you'll come
43:41
back and we'll do it again All right Hey DB will you take that and make it into a sweeper work on my vocals
43:48
Oh my god You got me some studio magic for you Split No I'm dead ass All right
43:55
She sounded so good I knew I was out of my way out of my league and I was like I felt like you might have set me up a
44:01
little too Melanie I don't know But anyway I mean you you you you to be fair You had a few runthroughs before You've
44:08
been saying it three times during this I did did the whole interview right you did Okay I should have been warmed up All right man We're going to conclude
44:14
the show today All right Make sure y'all support her Mel with love Melanie Fiona Uh if you want to reach her online too
44:20
on social Melanie Fiona on all socials Come holl at me And the podcast the
44:25
Mama's Den And the Mama's Den Thank you Yes For all the moms for all the sisters
44:30
the aunties the uncles the brothers the friends of the mamas anybody who is in the community of loving women listen to
44:37
the Mama's Den The Mama's Den
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