30B: So you have a street background?
T: A little. I have both
which makes me who I am. I lived in the ‘burbs,
but at the same time, the rest of my family
is from the street. It well-rounds me as a
young lady and as an artist. A lot of that
comes out of my attitude.
30B: Tell me about your years spent as a
teenager.
T: I’m from St. Louis.
Not East St. Louis. That’s almost like
another city. But then you have the city areas
of St. Louis itself. East St. Louis is the
gutter. I wasn’t allowed to hang out
in East St. Louis, but I would just sneak
with my friends and go to the parties. I was
the bad seed of my family. There’s a
classy side of me. I know how to conduct myself.
Some people are just one way. You gotta be
tough and be strong. I’m not masculine.
I can verbally slaughter someone if they mess
with me. I’m nice up until that point.
30B: Why did you and Dr. Dre part?
T: Dre and I were planning
to work on the sophomore lp but then the legal
aspect went a certain way. My manager and
attorney were aggressive with what they wanted
for my LP and it wasn’t going over to
well with the label. They were incurring costs
with the lawsuits (filed by the original writers
of "So Addictive," Truth's debut
hit single) and weren’t gonna give me
what they gave on the first album. It was
a take it or leave it deal, and it was nothing
to take really. Nothing more then I could
get from an indie label. They weren’t
gonna support really. They wanted me to go
through what I did the first time with less
money. So I took a break and got with Raphael.
30B: What about online file sharing? Ae you
opposed to that?
T: If you make a great album
then you don’t have to worry about downloading.
If you only make a good single then you have
to worry about downloading. If it’s
real, it’s real. If it ain’t,
it ain’t. I’ve never downloaded
but I copied CDs. But I make sure I go buy
them. It didn’t take me long to know
I had to have Jill Scott’s album. I
didn’t buy Ashante because that’s
not my style or my age group.
30B: How old are you?
T: 32. And I have a minute
before I get completed tired of [the music
industry].
30B: What jobs did you hold before your career
in music?
T: I worked at the San Francisco
Airport. I threw bags for United Airlines.
I went in and out of different jobs. I’m
so finicky. At least I know how to work.
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