Michel'le Interview with Mason & Starr

Beasley Digital

4/22/2025

Transcript

00:00All right, Detroit. We have Michelle Lay with us this morning. Good morning, Michelle Lay.

00:09Good morning.

00:10Yeah, that's that boy. Something in my heart.

00:13Okay, no, you can't.

00:14I know I can't.

00:15Don't even try.

00:16I can't do it like her.

00:17Good morning.

00:18Welcome to the show today.

00:20She was in key, though. You can't say that she was in key.

00:24She was in key?

00:25I love you. I love you. That's my girl.

00:28Hey, let me tell you.

00:29Hold on, hold on.

00:30Okay.

00:32I don't know how she just made my morning.

00:35Oh, boy.

00:36Michelle Lay, you were in Detroit, I want to say maybe three or four months ago,

00:41and I had the privilege of being backstage and hearing your voice.

00:46You just have an amazing, I call you one of the vocal wonders of the world.

00:51I love your voice, and it sounds like the first time I heard you with the Wrecking Crew.

00:56What was it? Turn off the lights.

00:58Tell me about that experience, working with them.

01:01Were you working in a store first?

01:02I saw the movie, the documentary about you.

01:06Can you tell us a little bit about that?

01:08Yeah, we did.

01:10I did the Netflix, Thank You Lifetime.

01:13Big shout-out to Leslie Gry, who convinced me that this was a wonderful idea to tell a story,

01:21because I don't think anybody knew that I was going through that.

01:25But, well, to make a long story short, and I always have to because I'm just so vocal with it,

01:32I went in a studio because Mona Lisa didn't show up that night, and I had met Alonzo.

01:39And it wasn't my gig.

01:42I went to just sing back up for some guy that came into May Company.

01:46I worked in at the time, and he said, she's in the Army.

01:50She can't make it.

01:51Can you just do the vocal?

01:52I mean, just sing on top of the track and do whatever.

01:54I said, well, listen, I can't sing on top of what she'd do,

01:56but I'll just listen to what she did and do what I can do.

02:00And Lonzo called me back and didn't call him back.

02:03And so I got to know Lonzo a little bit.

02:06And when she didn't show up, I got the opportunity to come in,

02:10and they were in the studio, and I saw, I remember seeing Dre and Yellow behind the board.

02:16And I walked in, and as I said something, they were laughing and everything.

02:19I'm in the booth, and I don't know what they're saying because I can't hear them.

02:23All I'm going up is body language.

02:26And then they said they gave me the lyrics because Alonzo evidently wrote that hook.

02:31And they gave it to me, and they didn't give me no melody or nothing.

02:35He just said, here, just sing this.

02:38And I'm looking at him like, well, just sing it.

02:40I don't know the song.

02:41Can I hear it?

02:42So they played the beat.

02:43Dre played it.

02:44And I heard them rapping.

02:45And in my mind, mind you, I'm young, so I'm going, these are some real old dudes, right?

02:50I didn't know how old Dre was.

02:52I didn't know how old nobody was.

02:54They just sound like old dudes rapping.

02:56So I just went like, oh, they sound kind of old and mature,

02:58so maybe I should be old and mature in my mind.

03:01And I said that.

03:02And so, and then it just came out of my mouth, and it just, it worked.

03:07And from there, I heard it on the radio two weeks, three, maybe, not even a month later,

03:12two, maybe three weeks or something later, my daddy told me, like, that's you.

03:16And then my grandmother was like, baby.

03:18And I was like, oh, my God.

03:20That was me.

03:21There you go.

03:22You nailed it, girl.

03:23You nailed it.

03:24No money.

03:25No contract, no money.

03:27No contract, no money.

03:28But, you know, like I tell people, sometimes you have to jump, and you don't know how deep it is.

03:33But go live, because you're going to fall somewhere good.

03:35There you go.

03:36And just woman to woman, after I saw Surviving Compton, you, to me, are such a role model,

03:45and I thank you for sharing your story, because you're going to inspire so many young women that watch it.

03:51So just thank you for being a light and just being, grow your voice.

03:55I'm telling you, you have a gift, and you are going to be in town.

04:00It's called a Master Reset.

04:02It's a wealth, health, self-care conference.

04:05You're going to be on stage singing live.

04:07Do you have anything you want to say to Detroit about that performance, what they can look forward to?

04:12Yeah, I need them to come out.

04:14I need them to help me sing these songs, because, you know, I need that inspiration,

04:18and I definitely need the backup.

04:21So I do it.

04:23I come, listen, people think it's, this is how I always say it.

04:27I come to see you.

04:29You don't come to see me.

04:30I get on six flights to do what I need to do, but I do it because I love seeing it.

04:38And I wouldn't be able to do what I do without them, without you guys.

04:42So I look at it like, when I get there, here's someone who shares in the same collective space,

04:48same energy, same thought process, something that you go through, and if you get in, you'll learn something.

04:54You know, and it's just that.

04:56I mean, songs are written to feel and heal.

04:59I think I did that at a very young age, and I already went through it.

05:02So who better to tell you those stories than me?

05:05Yeah.

05:06Anybody else in your family can sing like you?

05:11Not like me, but no.

05:12My brother, actually, my brother played the drums.

05:16He was in a band.

05:16My dad, swear to God, he can sing country.

05:19One day, I'm going to let y'all, I'm going to post it in so y'all can hear my daddy.

05:23And my brother, he played, my half-brother played the guitar.

05:26So, yeah, I think music is always there because it was always in the households back then.

05:31All of us.

05:32All of us.

05:32What did we do?

05:33Nothing.

05:33Music.

05:34We cleaned up the music, didn't we?

05:36Yep.

05:36What?

05:37We woke up to music, didn't we?

05:39Oh, my God.

05:40We got McCarter music.

05:41I mean, musicals, it was such an essential part of our lives that it's almost crazy that

05:47everybody don't sing.

05:49Well, listen, you get on that plane, you come on here because we're waiting for you.

05:56Well, yeah, I'm okay, I'm coming to see you.

05:58I just told you.

05:59I know.

05:59You better.

06:00It's going to be good.

06:01It's going to be good.

06:02We thank you for the time today, this morning.

06:05Are you on L.A. time?

06:09I'm on L.A. time.

06:10I wake up every morning early, so this was nothing for me.

06:13I'm already up.

06:14I just missed my shower right now, but I'm going to go get it, though.

06:17But I'm always up.

06:20I'm always up because I'm still in mommy mode, although my daughter will be 20 and my son

06:24is 31.

06:25I still can't get out of the routine.

06:28Well, cool.

06:29Michelle A.

06:30Yeah.

06:30Michelle A.

06:31You're such a joy.

06:32Yes, and a musical gift to the planet.

06:35Thank you for working in excellence all the time, and we're looking forward to you coming

06:38and signing for us in the D.

06:42Thank you very much for having me.

06:44You guys have a prosperous day.

06:47Mwah.

06:48Hahaha.

06:49Yay.

Michel'le Interview with Mason & Starr

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