Slow Jams, Intimacy and Lyrics That Touch the Soul (Guest: Latrice Sampson Richards)

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

*DISCLAIMER: Transcripts are created using AI, and may not accurately represent the content exactly as presented. Transcripts are provided as a courtesy to our listeners who require them.

[00:00:00] Disclaimer
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Jay Ray: Hey, Hey, y'all this episode of Queue Points may contain explicit language. Listener discretion is advised. 

[00:00:06] How to Support Queue Points
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Jay Ray: Hey, what's up good people. It's Jay Ray, the co host of QPoints. And I wanted to come to you because there are two really important ways that you can support our show. One is by subscribing to it, wherever you listen to, or watch your podcast. QPoints is pretty much everywhere. The other thing that you can do is you can visit us on Apple podcasts.

On Spotify and on pod chaser, and you can leave us a star rating, please rate us five stars because you know, you love Q points and on Apple podcasts and on pod chaser, you can actually leave us a written review. It's not required, but it really does help to spread the word about the show and it helps people to discover it as they're looking for new podcasts to listen to.

We're always appreciative of you supporting QPoints. We thank you so much for all that you've done for us so far and enjoy the show.

[00:00:57] Opening Theme (Music by Danya Vodovoz)
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[00:01:27] Welcome to Queue Points Podcast
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DJ Sir Daniel: Greetings and welcome back to another episode of Queue Points podcast. I am DJ Sir Daniel.

Jay Ray: And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my government as Johnny Ray Cornegay, the third what's happening. Good people.

DJ Sir Daniel: As you know, Queue Points podcast is the podcast dropping the needle on black music history. And this episode is going to be like no other. And you are pre you are in for a treat because we have a special guest this evening. But before we do that, Jay Ray, please, please let the people know. Well, no, before we do we.

Do that. 

[00:02:02] Slow Jams Can Heal Us Hoodie
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DJ Sir Daniel: Let the people know how they can get ahold of that really dope sweatshirt that you have more because you saw what I had last week. I was rocking mine last week. I was rocking a t shirt, but you got the hoodie and the hoodie is flip fly and you can still get away with hoodies now, even though we're in spring.

Jay Ray: Yes. So weirdly. Okay. Before I get into that. So up here, up North, it suddenly went back to winter. I don't know what happened in the last couple of days, but it's certainly like third in the thirties again. So this hoodie is real, real important, but yo, check it out. For those. Those of you that are watching, y'all see the freshness, right?

This is our Slow Jams Can Heal Us hoodie. And the conversation that we're going to have tonight, right, is part of this line of conversations that we'll be having all year about the importance of slow jams and black music. And you can get yourself a hoodie, the t shirt like Sir Daniel had on during the last show, mugs, bags, check out the bag.

The bags is so fresh. You see this?

DJ Sir Daniel: The bags, posters, buttons.

Jay Ray: There's posters back here in the cut. You could get all of that. If you go to store. cuepoints. com. And here's the other plus of doing that. Like we talked about at the top of the show, where you can subscribe and you can leave us a review and you can do all of that stuff.

Amazing. That is all completely free and we would love it. If you did all of those things, if you want to keep these, these lights on, you see these red lights back here in front behind the Sade and behind the Sir Daniel there, you can go to our store and shop. It helps us to be able to do all the things that we do with Queue Points.

DJ Sir Daniel: Amazing. Again, thank you listener for joining us again for another um, episode of Queue Points podcast. 

[00:03:49] Remembering Sandra Crouch: A Gospel Music Icon
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DJ Sir Daniel: Um, unfortunately we do have to say goodbye to another legend. We want to pay homage to the, to an iconic force in the music of gospel. Sandra Crouch passed away not too long ago. Sandra Crouch is of course the twin sister to gospel giant.

Andre Crouch, twin sister. And she recently passed away. Um, you know, sending much love to our friend Kipper Jones. Cause that was, um, his aunt and uncle. And now, you know, I spoke to him and he was like, you know, now my aunt and uncle are back together again. So sending much love to uncle Kipper and all the members of the Crouch family.

But J Ray, Sandra and Andre really changed the face of gospel music. Sandra Crouch. Was an enormous singer of in her own right musician. People don't know that she played tambourine on the Jackson five records on some Jackson five records. And she sang, she brought all of, she brought a lot of her brother's songs to life, but.

They have such a legacy and part of that legacy is this, is it within the songwriting and lyrics? 

[00:05:05] Exploring Lyrics and Intimacy in Music
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DJ Sir Daniel: And that's what we're going to talk about on this episode of Queue Points. We are discussing lyrics and specifically Lyrics and intimacy, um, because as Jay Ray mentioned, we are on, we are on a Slow Jams can heal us kick.

And part of that, that campaign is to rediscover what we're not saying to each other or why we're not able to say to each other through the music anymore. The music was a way for people to, to put. Words to how they were feeling when they couldn't do it. So there might've been a song that you could use to express your feelings to someone.

And it's not necessarily as nice anymore. So we're going to, it's not. 

[00:05:51] Special Guest Latrice Sampson Richards Shares Insights
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DJ Sir Daniel: So we're exploring that and helping us tonight is a very special guest, Jerry. Okay, guys, we've been really, really, really excited about having this guest on because she is so accomplished.

Jay Ray: Mm hmm.

DJ Sir Daniel: And Jerry is actually going to run down like her resume and run down the pedigree because we are super honored by who we're being joined tonight.

Jerry, take it away.

Jay Ray: Absolutely. Um, as Sir Daniel said, we, uh, Met this person actually a couple of years ago now and have been really excited to have her on the show. But I want to read the bio of Latrice Sampson Richards. Latrice is an award winning podcast producer, host, and speaker with a 14 year background as a dual licensed mental health counselor.

With an in depth understanding of the human experience, Latrice creates content that blends thoughtfulness, healing, and entertainment, resonating deeply with audience. Latrice has elevated the podcasting landscape by creating opportunities for podcasters and brands to connect with their audiences via immersive live events and shows through her production company, PodMelanin.

Her work is marked by a collaboration with renowned brands, such as Afros and Audio, Black Podcasters Association, Black Podcasting Awards, Women in Color Podcasters, Black Women's Stitch, ShePodcasts, Lipsyn, Acast, and more. And the cube, she has curated live podcasting events and shows nationwide serving as a catalyst for authentic connection and community building.

So listen, if we was in person, we would say get on your feet, stand up. Welcome to Queue Points Latrice. Samson Richards,

DJ Sir Daniel: Put your hands together. Come on now. Y'all can do better than that. You can

Latrice Sampson Richards: Yeah.

DJ Sir Daniel: than that. Come on now. What's happening in the

Latrice Sampson Richards: Y'all sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself. I was listening to that resume and I was like, damn, who that girl is? And I wrote the damn thing. Listen.

Jay Ray: it's you

Latrice Sampson Richards: Okay. I'm so excited to be here with y'all tonight. This has been a long time coming. Uh, and so I'm, I'm just super duper excited to be here with y'all. Um, 

DJ Sir Daniel: The feeling is mutual. 

We're so happy to have you here Latrice to discuss this, um, to discuss this topic about lyrics and how they affect us. And, Why are people apparently so afraid of intimacy anymore?

Latrice Sampson Richards: I think Most people, there's a lot of different reasons, right? Everybody has a different reason as to why they may struggle with intimacy. But I think that if we really took a step back and looked at the total sum of those reasons, it really comes down to the fact that intimacy has not been a positive experience in their lives.

Right. So the intimacy that they have experienced has been difficult for them. It has hurt physically, spiritually, emotionally. Um, they, the, the people that they thought they could trust, the people that they thought were supposed to take care of them did not. Um, the people that they loved, that they trusted.

Whether they chose to love or they were just, you know, supposed to love just cause that's what it, that's what it is, um, ended up failing them in some way, shape, form or fashion. Um, and so people struggle with intimacy because their experience of intimacy has been negative in some way, shape, form or fashion.

Right. And so in order for us to, to get on the other side of that, we, we have to one speak it, we have to acknowledge it. We have to say, you know, that person that, that I was, I thought that I could trust. I put my trust in that person. I stepped out on a limb and I took a chance on on loving that person or, you know, This, my family, this, my blood, the people who were divinely charged with the responsibility of taking care of me, they failed me.

And that's fucked up

Jay Ray: Mm-Hmm?

Latrice Sampson Richards: is fucked up that I had to go through that, right? Like just call it out and acknowledge that this is why I am struggling with intimacy because you cannot address the thing until you. Or can first acknowledge that it is a thing that needs to be addressed.

Jay Ray: Wow. 

[00:10:42] The Power of Music on Memory and Emotions
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Jay Ray: Latrice, yes to all of that and what's, what I love about your response is it also explains why having songs that feed us these lessons are really important because here's the thing. I can, I know for a fact that I learned lessons in love and life. Because of the music I was listening to it wasn't I was too young to know what it all meant in some cases, right?

But when I got there, I was able to put like, Oh, that's what that feeling is Yeah that's what that song was talking about. And. Even those moments in songs where you just like, no, I played this song because I need to. It takes me back to a point in time where this song is the thing that comforts me when I go through a situation like X, right?

This is the thing, though.

That is

biological 

Latrice Sampson Richards: biological. That is biologic. That is how human beings function, right? So, I, I'm not going to nerd out completely on y'all. I mean,

DJ Sir Daniel: No, please, please, please give it to us. Come on. Why we got you here?

Latrice Sampson Richards: Okay. I'll be

DJ Sir Daniel: Why are you? Why we got you here? You got to do it. Come on.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Listen, but the, the long and short of it is that in the, in the study of memory, right, because there's an entire study of human memory and how do we form memories? How do we decide what memories need to be kept and what memory? Because think about.

You experience millions of stimuli a day

Jay Ray: Mm.

Latrice Sampson Richards: from touch, feel, smell, sight, taste,

Jay Ray: Mm hmm.

Latrice Sampson Richards: at all times, you are taking in information, at all times, okay? That's a lot of shit to process. You can't remember all of it. You know what I'm saying? It is just not, it's, it's, it's not logical. It's not feasible. The brain is not built.

Like that, right? And so what our brains do for us is they essentially Categorize the things that we're taking in, and they categorize in order of importance, and that order is based on first and foremost survival,

Jay Ray: Mhm.

Latrice Sampson Richards: right? What are the memories that I need to pull up immediately in a life or death situation, right?

So that's what we call instincts. Yes.

DJ Sir Daniel: Yes.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Then, you know, love and belonging, relationships, connection. And then we look at, you know, self actualization and, you know, the higher, it's Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Look it up. Okay. It's foundational. Okay. Um, and it, it really, people need to know it, people, we need to understand it so we can give ourselves a break.

I mean, let's just be real. So the memory research shows that. Memory can be altered with the addition of sound, right? So memory can be altered. So what can, you can be conditioned to react a certain way, to respond a certain way, to recall a certain message by hearing a certain sound. That can be a song, that can be a bell, that can be, you know, yelling,

Jay Ray: Mhm.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Because over time we start to generalize. these things, right? So that's the, you know, that's the nuts and bolts of it. That is like the ridiculously simplified version of that. Right. But I share that to say that

DJ Sir Daniel: I'm sorry,

Latrice Sampson Richards: come on, because black folks is having a hard time letting go of the aura,

Jay Ray: are ha Baby, it is a sh The kids is out here struggling. They like, I wanna step in the name

of 

Latrice Sampson Richards: a 

Jay Ray: I'm like, Don't play

Latrice Sampson Richards: a part of our lives. He done been at our weddings. He done been at our funerals. You know, he done been at our, we graduated to the aura. You know, all of, all of the major moments of our lives. He was

Jay Ray: Right! Mmm.

Latrice Sampson Richards: to get rid of him is is it almost feels like getting rid of all of our happy memories, all of the things that bring us joy, all of the things that bring us peace.

You get what I'm saying? Because in our minds, those, the lyrics, the songs, the vibrations, the tunes, the tones, it is intertwined. Like there is no separation in that memory. Does that make sense?

Jay Ray: It really does and that gets to the complexity of even the conversation that we're having here because The lyrics are one thing and then you have all the stuff that surrounds it, right? I know for a fact that the songs that mean the most to me the first note Is going to be like nope, that's it and You kind of know even when you hear something new that you've never heard before That when it's going to do that to you, right?

Because there is something in that vibration In that tone that you like, I don't know what they about to do but that that first bar just Sent me in so

I'm a wait and see what's next. And sir, Daniel, that actually brings up an interesting point for you as a DJ. I'm sure that's part of it, right? Cause you know, pretty quickly, how quickly do you know if a song is about to, to, to hit for you as a DJ or not?

How quickly do you

DJ Sir Daniel: Like within the first four counts, like you just, there's just certain things you can, well, I'll speak for me. Like I can pick, I pick up on a vibration of a song and I can already tell, okay, this is going to make me happy, or this is going to make me want to take a beer bottle and smash it over somebody's head.

And there are. Much more songs now that lead to the latter of what I said, you know, that make you want to, uh, crack bottles over people's heads more than to kiss and hug on somebody. And, you know, I think, I don't know. It's that vibration, uh, within the intentions of what people, how people create their music now.

And Latrice, you actually, you backed that up just now by, by speaking about, um, how. How sounds can, can bring up memories and whatnot. And I think what's happening is a lot of, maybe a lot of musicians are trying to process, trying to process through their music and they're making music that we, and maybe we just have a whole generation that is trying to process the traumas that they've experienced through their music.

And we're, and they're just hitting us like with all the trauma and none of the joy.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Yeah. 

[00:18:45] Reflecting on the Evolution of Music and Its Impact
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Latrice Sampson Richards: Well, and we, but we've seen that throughout history. You know, we have seen that throughout history. Look how well documented the civil rights movement is. The civil rights movement is very well documented. It's in the music. It's in the movies. It's in the television shows. It's in the pictures, the fashion, right?

It's, it's in. Every single aspect of creativity, there is some aspect of the civil rights movement and I would even say the 70s as a whole. The 70s is one of my favorite generations. I feel like, yeah, like I just, I just, it speaks to me. You know what I'm saying? Um, but the, what was being created at the time is a direct reflection of the sentiment of the people who were creating it.

That's what the people was going through at the time, right? This goal was about trying to find joy. Because everything was so fucked up and it was so much tension and it was so much. So the disco people was like, fuck all that. I'm just going to live. I'm just going to be in joy and peace. And I'm just going to be like, yeah, let's do this.

Right. But then you also have. You know, you got that, you know, power to the people kind of music as well. You know what I'm saying? Like you got the, the tracks like Nina Simone, who, you know, is like Mississippi. God damn. I don't even know if that was the sixties or the seventies, but you get what I'm saying?

Like the, it is chronicled in the music, what the people were. Expressing at the time. And so it kind of becomes like a time capsule in its, in its own way. And I think that's what we're seeing right now. You know, The world is on fire. People are struggling. People are struggling emotionally.

People are tired. People are burnt out. out that everybody's on edge. Everybody's scared. We rubbing pennies together. Rob and Peter trying to pay pal, you know, it's, it's a hard time right now. And we're seeing that I think come out in the music, but we're also seeing let's heal. Let's love less, you know, we the shit, you know, like a, like, don't let's let us not forget who we are.

Keep your head up. You know, like we getting both sides of that. And. I think it's, it's also a time capsule of what's going on right now.

[00:21:24] Deep Dive into Lyrics That Touch the Soul
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Jay Ray: I feel like this is a good time to talk about, what do you think to talk about some lyrics. To talk about songs?

DJ Sir Daniel: Like, I am very curious. I'm very curious to hear from both of you about a lyric that just shot an arrow through your heart and just never, never left you. Like, it doesn't, it doesn't necessarily have to be a ballad or slow jam, but it's something when you, when you, when you. When you faded out the music and you filtered out the music, there was something about that lyric that just stuck with you and whoever wants to go first, go first, matter of fact, ladies first, Latrice.

Latrice Sampson Richards: I have two. So what are we going to do? Like a little round table. Y'all want me to give y'all mine right now?

Jay Ray: You can give me If I do one and you do one? How's that How's that feel? Okay.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Well, okay. First of all, it's not fair.

Jay Ray: I know we're asking you to To do the impossible.

Latrice Sampson Richards: It's not fair because I was just like, what are they even talking about one song? Like, what are you serious right now? Like, are you serious for real? But it did send me down the rabbit hole because I'm like, okay, if I have to, if I can only choose one song, then it, you know, obviously it needs to be the song that.

I think has had the biggest impact on my life and I am very clear on what song that is. So I'm going to share my one song. How long is a lyric?

Jay Ray: You can You want to give us the first The first The first verse?

Latrice Sampson Richards: No, not the first verse. I want to give the last verse and the chorus.

Jay Ray: do Do your thing. That's 

Latrice Sampson Richards: Okay. All right. So the, my song choice. is I Choose by Thee, India Iree.

Jay Ray: Mhm.

Latrice Sampson Richards: hits on my top list, okay? But this is actually my, like, favorite song of all time. Um, and, you know, I'll, I'll do the lyric first and then I'll talk about a little bit of briefly about why.

So this is, I want to say this is the last verse. Yes, this is the last verse of the song and then it closes out with the chorus. So she says, From this day forward, I'm going to be exactly who I am. I don't need to change the way that I live just to get a man. No. I even had a talk with my mama and I, and I told her today, I'm grown from this day forward.

Every decision that I make will be my own. And hey, I choose to be the best that I can be. This is the chorus now. I choose to be courageous in everything I do. My past don't dictate who I am. I choose because you never know where life is going to take you and you can't change where you've been. But today I have the opportunity to choose.

I used to have guilt about the way things, about why things happen the way they did, because life is going to do what it do. And every day I have the opportunity to choose.

DJ Sir Daniel: Mic drop, mic drop right there. And you know, India has always been prolific, but talk about why I think, I think it's pretty self explanatory why that means a lot to you, but please break it down for us, for the

[00:25:19] Embracing Choice and Emotional Authenticity
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Latrice Sampson Richards: It means a lot to me because

DJ Sir Daniel: Okay.

Latrice Sampson Richards: a life lesson that you get to choose to, you get to choose no matter what it is. If it's relationship, you don't have to wait for somebody to choose you. You get to choose to, if it's a career decision, you don't have to wait for them to choose you.

You get to. Two, you get to choose to say, I am not engaging in this and you get to choose to say, I am going to engage in this. It is a choice. And I think a lot of times myself, you know, I'm a very emotional person. I mean, I don't already dropped a tear tonight. Y'all crying. Okay. I'll be crying. It is what it is.

Okay. it took me a long time. To be okay with that, the fact that that's who I am and to not feel shame or guilt around that and feeling like I had to be who other people needed me to be in order to be in relationship, in order to be loved, in order to be accepted, in order to be understood, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, in order to just not be alone.

You know? And And this song came to me in a time in my life where I was for the first time in my life on an intentional healing journey, you know, like intentionally trying to take the reins of my life and heal myself. And so hearing that message that I get to choose. It was just, you know, it was, it was profound.

And so it is, uh, you know, it's kind of like my motto is how I live my life. And it's, um, I tell it to people all the time, like you get to choose to,

Jay Ray: Yeah.

Latrice Sampson Richards: you don't, you don't have to just let life do whatever they want to do to you. You get to choose how you feel about it. You get to choose how you respond to it.

You get to choose whether or not it, it gets to exist in your life.

Jay Ray: Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Thank you. Latrice for sharing that, um,

listen. 

[00:28:01] Radio BSOTS Mid-Roll Ad
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Radio BSOTS Ad: There are two types of people in the world, those who complain about the state of today's music and those who dig. I'm Jason Randall Smith, and I invite you to check out Radio BSOTS, Both Sides of the Surface, a music podcast championing the work of independent artists from around the way. The primary focus on Creative Commons licensed music, think of this show as a never ending virtual crate dig through a parallel universe of online labels, seeking out the hip hop, soul, jazz, funk, and electronic music gems that are often hiding in plain sight, and hopefully demystifying the world of Creative Commons along the way.

One song at a time. You can find Radio BSOTS wherever you listen to podcasts. For more information, visit the website at BSOTS. com. That's B S O T S dot com.

[00:29:01] Deep Dive into Song Lyrics: Unrequited Love and Heartbreak
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Jay Ray: So the song I picked, uh, two songs and I could have picked more, but I'm like, I'm going to pick these two. And the way I selected my songs was I went to my last FM profile. So for at least for probably almost the last decade, I've been on occasion tracking what I listened to.

So I've had like 20, 000 tracks of songs. Um, Over time. And so what it, what it did, what it does is it tells you like, okay, here's who you have listened to, like the most, or here's what you play. So anyway, uh, my most listened to artist, I think I may have mentioned this on the show when we talked about this artist, but it's the foreign exchange.

So I was like, I do listen to a lot of foreign exchange. So I went back into the catalog and the first song I selected. It's such a beautiful piece. It's called the city ain't the same without you. It was written by Fante. Um, the lyrics are by Fante and it was produced by Nicolay. So the duo, the song was actually sung by Yaza Ra.

Shout out to Yaza Ra for her brilliance. Um, but I'm going to read this beautiful first verse that Fante wrote.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Mm-Hmm.

Jay Ray: It was cold outside so I thought I'd get away To the one place where I'd be warm Spent my last few dollars on a ticket to fly Oh, I'ma take a jet plane to carry me straight to your arms And when the wheels touched down, I called for you Said, baby, I'm here all for you And you let me know that you were with her And it made me wonder, baby, are we still in love?

And then I thought to myself, maybe we never were. This song like that, that, that, that's the opening of the song.

There's, and the music bed is just kind of, Yazzara's voice and the keyboards. There's no rhythm section yet. So she's singing these words. Almost like she's talking them and then it goes into and I've got my and I've only got myself to And I've only got myself to blame for painting these skies with your name and it's a cry and shame The city ain't the same without you and This song I love a good Um love song This is about heartbreak, but it's also this person having this realization about the, the, the experience they were having. And they're reminiscing about this love lost. this love gone. And, um, and that's okay. Like there's no positive resolution to this. This person's in a city to see someone that is not seeing them. And, um, I am always moved. Every time I hear it, um, it gave me some more language, you know, these songs we go through things in life and you're like, Oh my God, I know.

I don't know this feeling, but I know what this would feel like, you know what I'm saying? 

[00:32:47] Exploring Emotion and Universality Through Music
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Latrice Sampson Richards: emotion is universal and that is another basic human truth. Emotion is universal. A smile is a smile. In America, it's a smile. In Japan, it's a smile In Afghanistan, it's a smile.

Anywhere, Antarctica, wherever, wherever you go in the world, okay, anywhere on this planet, a smile means the same thing, right? So emotion is universal. We may not have the same experiences, but we understand the emotion of it all.

Jay Ray: Mm-Hmm.

Latrice Sampson Richards: And I think that's why music allows us to come together, because it communicates.

Emotion, and we all understand emotion.

Jay Ray: Mm-Hmm. ? 

Yes. Y'all got it. Ooh. Y'all doing it. Let me tell you something. Everybody we're ministering on this episode of Queue Points. You see how quiet it got? Everybody's just processing everything. And no, but, and that's what a good lyric will do to you. It will resonate with something within you.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Mm

DJ Sir Daniel: so, um, I'm going to go to the seventies. Um for my lyric and It's from the voices of east harlem

Jay Ray: Mm-Hmm.

DJ Sir Daniel: and it's a song called right on be free And i'm just going to read to you the the first. Um the first bar Um, I want to go where the north wind blows. I want to know what the falcon knows I want to go where the wild goose goes High flying bird, high flying bird, fly on.

I want the clouds over my head. I don't want no store bought bed. I'm going to live until I'm dead. Mother, mother, mother, mother, save your child. Ride on, be free. Ride on, be free. I don't want no store bed right on I want the clouds over my head, be free. And it's, it's really simple what that song is about.

Of course, it was, um, recorded in the early seventies. And of course, you know, we were coming, you know, Like in truth, you talked about the, um, the, the black power movements of that time. And of course, but the, the world specifically our country was struggling, was being strangled by the Vietnam war was strangled by poverty, um, unemployment, all the things that you can think of that we're still dealing with here.

We're not dealing with that now, but there's something about that lyric that speaks to my. Desire for escapism or, and my desire for change and transformation. And so that spoke to me and it spoke to my, um, just my capacity to dream

Latrice Sampson Richards: Mm

DJ Sir Daniel: to, to, to, to, to, to want more. And that's why that, that speaks to me.

And it, you know, things like those, and those are the types of song lyrics that really speak to me. And if somebody is really like singing it. And really doing it like the vocalist was doing it. If you look, there's a live performance by the voices of East Harlem. They went to a prison

to, to perform this song.

These are kids. And when I tell you, they were singing their faces off and they were singing light, they were singing, like the rent was past due and like they hadn't eaten in two weeks. I mean, they were singing. And so

Latrice Sampson Richards: They was sangin

DJ Sir Daniel: it and the, and there's, there's something about that that's just undeniable to me and will always resonate with me.

And so that's just, that's a lyric that I wanted to share with you and the listeners, just to get a little insight into Sir Daniel a little bit, because, and, and I love that about how all of all three of us came with something completely different. You know, we got unrequited love. We've got, um, self love.

And then we have imagination, imagination, and wanted to be free. And all of them coincide with each other. Right. If I take control, I choose, I can choose to take those steps to help me be free.

Jay Ray: Yeah. Mm-Hmm.

DJ Sir Daniel: And you know, unrequited love. Let's not even talk about it. I don't even want to go down that route because that's the thing.

That is definitely a thing. But Jerry, we're. Let, let's get Latrice to do one more because she is our guest and we go and we go close it out after Latrice hits us with her next favorite lyric

[00:37:35] The Multifaceted Nature of Music and Self-Expression
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.

Latrice Sampson Richards: OK, so, since I can only do one more,

Jay Ray: But here's the thing, Latrice, so we can include your other ones in our newsletter, so then our folks who are part of our newsletter can get it.

Latrice Sampson Richards: you know what I was thinking, too? I was thinking that maybe we could do a Spotify playlist.

Jay Ray: Of course. Absolutely.

Latrice Sampson Richards: We can do a Spotify

DJ Sir Daniel: in our language.

Jay Ray: Yes.

Latrice Sampson Richards: and y'all can go and add that playlist to your list and you can see what lyrics Treece has gained lessons from.

Jay Ray: Absolutely. Yes. Mm-Hmm.

Latrice Sampson Richards: this one I'm throwing in here, right, is not, not necessarily like in my top 10 list, but I, I genuinely believe, I genuinely believe that we Can and should stretch ourselves musically because I think it helps us to understand and or discover new parts and pieces of ourselves, of who we are.

Nobody is all one thing. Nobody is all, you know, a certain kind of way. The reality is that we are multifaceted individuals. That is who we are as humans. And so we have to have some diversity in our musical selection that feeds the different parts of us. 

Jay Ray: Oh, I want to know what this is

Latrice Sampson Richards: all in agreement with that.

DJ Sir Daniel: I'm ready for it

Latrice Sampson Richards: That being said,

Jay Ray: I want to know what Latrice about to

Latrice Sampson Richards: my second song choice is Love Me by Lil Wayne.

DJ Sir Daniel: didn't see that one coming hit us with it.

Latrice Sampson Richards: I think this is the chorus. This is the first chorus, or it's just the chorus. Whatever. Lil Wayne says, Yeah, long as my bitches love me. I could give a fuck about no hater, long as my bitches love me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Eardrummers. Yeah, I could give a fuck about no nigga, long as my bitches love me. Love me. Listen, that's a word. Okay? That's a word. Because, and I'm being for real, we laughing, but I'm being for real. I get a physical reaction every time I hear Lil Wayne say that line. Long as my bitches love me. Because at the end of the day, it don't matter who else fuck with you. If the people you fuck with, fuck with you. Don't matter what nobody else got to say, long as my bitches love me,

Jay Ray: Mhm.

Latrice Sampson Richards: I give a fuck about what you gotta say, I give a fuck about how you feel because the people who know me, the people who appreciate me, the people who love me, as long as they fuck with me, then I'm going to be all right.

DJ Sir Daniel: Silence. 

Latrice Sampson Richards: And I think it's important for us. To be reminded of that, because we spend a lot of time trying to get people to choose us. We spend a lot of time trying to convince people, and I'm talking to myself as much as I'm talking to anybody else. We, I spend a lot of time, right? Well, I can't say a lot because I be learning the lesson, but I used to spend a lot of time trying to get people to just accept me for who I am and to be okay with the reality of who I am.

And this song reminds me that it don't matter if they do or they don't, because the ones who fuck with me, they fuck with me for real. And as long as I got them, I don't need none of that other stuff. I'm going to be okay. I have my community. It's small, but it is mighty.

DJ Sir Daniel: Um,

Latrice Sampson Richards: And that's all that I need to live.

This life, you know, so Lil Wayne is a prophet

Jay Ray: Yes.

Latrice Sampson Richards: out here in these streets

long as my

DJ Sir Daniel: you took me, you took me back to, there was a spot I used to DJ and, and there were dancers and they used to like, they liked to dance to that song.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Yes,

DJ Sir Daniel: I hadn't thought about that song since

Latrice Sampson Richards: other thing though, right? Cause on top of all of that, like Jill Scott did the interview. We was talking about Jill Scott interview earlier. Jill Scott did the interview with Jemele Hill. I haven't watched the full interview, but on Jamel Hill's unbothered podcast, she just did an interview with Jill Scott and Jill Scott is saying, talking about intimacy and stuff.

And she's saying like, yes, I am the woo woo girl. You know, like I am definitely the woo woo and the crystals and you know, I'm the, you know, natural girl, mother, mother to the

DJ Sir Daniel: God is all

Latrice Sampson Richards: shit. But also sometimes I just want to fuck.

Jay Ray: Yeah, right.

DJ Sir Daniel: And I felt

Latrice Sampson Richards: Sometimes I just want to be a nasty bitch, okay? Sometimes I just want, my, my line sister sent me a meme one time that said I just want to do hood shit with my friends. And I mean, it's a thing. It's a thing.

DJ Sir Daniel: we, we are multifaceted people. We're not one dimensional. We are not

Latrice Sampson Richards: You know?

Jay Ray: and we need to be allowed, given the room to be able to be those things.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Yes.

Jay Ray: And to your, to your point, when you have folks in your life, that's like, I see all, I see all of Latrice. I see all of Sir Daniel. I see all of Jay Ray and I'm in, and, and I fuck with them

Latrice Sampson Richards: Yes.

DJ Sir Daniel: the long

Jay Ray: the long way.

Latrice Sampson Richards: The long way.

Jay Ray: can I bring in, I want to bring in a lyric from that came in from the chat and I want to make sure that we do that before we, before we leave out tonight.

Mark McPherson shout out to Mark. I saw Mark. On Monday in person, Hey Mark, um, Mark, uh, picked one of the most beautiful songs, just my imagination by the temptations and the lyric, isn't that a beautiful song? And just these lyrics each day through my window, I watch her as she passes by. I say to myself, self.

Even though that's not in the lyric here, but that's what happens. So you're such a lucky guy to have a girl like her. Okay, I'm not gonna sing. It's truly a dream come true out of all the fellows in the world. She belongs to me, but it was just my imagination running away with me. It was just my imagination running away with me.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Mm hmm.

DJ Sir Daniel: taste of J racing and then everything to come

Jay Ray: I love that song.

DJ Sir Daniel: on y'all.

Latrice Sampson Richards: he a good man. Savannah.

Jay Ray: Thank you. Latrice

Latrice Sampson Richards: a good man. Savannah.

DJ Sir Daniel: Let's trees. 

[00:45:35] Concluding Thoughts and Future Collaborations
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DJ Sir Daniel: We have thoroughly enjoyed you on this episode of Queue Points podcast. Before we get up out of here, please, please, please let the people know how they can get more of you, how they can contact you and find out about your practice. And of course, listen to your podcast.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Absolutely. Thank you all so much for having me. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. Um, my cheeks are literally hurting cause I've been smiling the entire time, um, which is always like a plus and a positive. I do a lot of interviews, you know, um, and they don't always. But I have thoroughly enjoyed myself today.

Um, I love y'all so very, very much. And, um, I'm just, you know, so now like next step is we got to work. together for real, for real. We got to do something for real, for real. Um, so y'all, you know, we're gonna see what comes out of that. But thank you so much for having me. Um, I can be found. I spent most of my time on instagram.

I'm not gonna lie. Although, um, that's not really saying much because I do not post that much. I'm gonna be honest. Um, but if you want to keep up with me and what I got going on, Instagram is the best place to do that. Um, and you can follow me on Instagram at Latrice Sampson Richards. Um, I have also a tick tock, uh, that I, you know, been kind of dipping into the tick tock streets.

Uh, you know, they look like they trying to ban it or whatever, but we're gonna see what happens, uh, with that. But you can find me on tick tock at rich by marriage. Um, Which I think I'm going to change that soon. I think I'm gonna change it over to Pied Melanin, um, which is the name of the company. I am working on the Pied Melanin website, but in the meantime you can find my old website, which is not fully updated.

So keep that in mind when you go to the website, it's not fully updated. It's in the process. of being updated and changed over. And that's Latrice Samson Richards. com. Um, and, uh, I do live event consultations, planning execution. I literally, one of my clients texts me today and she was like, Hey, are you available for June?

Um, you know, it's like wanting to get on the calendar and things like that. I got some really amazing events that. I'm planning and working on, like I was telling y'all before last year, um, it was just, it was the most difficult year of my life, hands down. Um, when my dad passed and, uh, I had all these plans of things that I wanted to do, and it just shut that down.

You know, it just. it just really shut that down. So I'm on the other side of that now. And, um, I'm really excited to finally be like pressing gas on all of the things that I've been telling y'all was coming for the last two, two years, two or three years, um, that kind of got derailed. So just, you know, be on the lookout for all of the things.

And, uh, yeah, that's, that's it. I do respond to DMS. Um, so if you want to work with me, you can always just jump into DMS on Instagram.

Jay Ray: Listen Latrice, we will absolutely be right there supporting Latrice Samson Richards. Um, you, you, the work that you do is incredibly important and just you as a, a human being are just, I remember sitting in that room in Philadelphia. And we hadn't met yet, but I remember it was somebody giving a testimony and you just spoke life into that person from your seat in the audience.

And I'm like, we got to work with her. I

DJ Sir Daniel: yep. It's true.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Yes. Yeah. I mean, because I just feel like it don't cost you nothing to be a decent human being. And my goal. In life is to make sure that anybody who experiences me, no matter how long, if it's for this hour and a half, that, that we've been talking tonight, if this is the only contact you ever get with me for the rest of your life, I want for you to come away from that experience, feeling like your life has been made better in some way, even if it's just for that moment.

You know what I'm saying? Like that, that is the goal. And so, you know, I, I just, I appreciate y'all and I love y'all. I love the people and the people love me back. So it's a, it's a mutually, it's a reciprocal relationship, you know, it's a reciprocal relationship. And, um, yeah, I love y'all. Thank

Jay Ray: love you too Latrice.

DJ Sir Daniel: is real. J Ray, share some love with our listeners and let them know. Um, just remind them how they can keep up with us. And so that they can get more, uh, they can find this show with Latrice and others like it. So

Jay Ray: So y'all are doing the most important thing. If you can hear our voices, if you could see our faces, that is amazing. Go ahead and hit the subscribe button so that you can subscribe and know when the new stuff from Queue Points is coming up. And if they have a notification bell or anything like that, go ahead and hit that.

If you, um, want to do us a solid, please share the show with your friends, your family, your colleagues. If you like Queue Points and you really enjoy what we do over here, chances are the people that are close to you will really like it too. So we would love it if you could share it. Those things are absolutely free.

The other free thing that you can do is join our mailing list and our newsletter. If you visit magazine. Queue Points. com, you can join for absolutely free. And if you want to go a step further and get really cool merch, like the Slow Jams Can Heal Us line. We have our Stop Tweeting, Start Wrapping shirts. We got all types of stuff out there that you can buy at the Queue Points store.

And that can be reachthatstore. Queue Points. com. Bye. Y'all have been, y'all have been falling through the store. We've been watching the orders come through and come in and go out. We appreciate that so much. We even got, yo, we got our bags over there. I'm gonna show you the bag again. Cause this bag so fly.

This is our record shopping bag. You can fit 26 albums in here, y'all.

Latrice Sampson Richards: Oh, that is a very specific number.

Jay Ray: it is very, I count it. You can fit 26 albums in here and we got three of them. So we got this the slow jabs can heal us in a couple others. So

Latrice Sampson Richards: Well, I need to get me a shirt. I'm gonna have to, let me get my life together. Let me get

DJ Sir Daniel: we got 

Jay Ray: We got you

Latrice Sampson Richards: Yes. And y'all sign up for that newsletter. So y'all can get that Spotify

list. Yeah. 

Jay Ray: Yes,

DJ Sir Daniel: what the lady said. That was the lovely Latrice Samson Richards. I am DJ Sir Daniel,

Jay Ray: And my name is jray.

DJ Sir Daniel: and this is Queue Points podcast, dropping the needle on black music history. What do I wait? I almost forgot my, my lines to the people, Jerry.

Jay Ray: you didn't even say it. Yes. We have to 

DJ Sir Daniel: So I got to hit him. With the lyrics that you heard tonight, this means even more in this life, you have a choice.

You can either pick up the needle or you can let the record play again. I'm DJ sir. Daniel. That was Jay Ray. Our lovely guest Latrice Samson Richards. This is Queue Points podcast, dropping the needle on black music history. We will see you on the next go round. Peace.

Jay Ray: Peace 

[00:53:25] Closing Theme
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