Durand Bernarr’s Slow Burn to a GRAMMY Win

After a viral run to the GRAMMY stage, Durand Bernarr joins Keke to talk about the years behind his GRAMMY win for Best Progressive R&B Album, BLOOM. He reveals why he’s proud his career has been a “slow burn,” and why staying independent matters in an industry that often pushes artists to change who they are. They also get into dating, masculinity, and monogamy before a game turns into a full-blown vocal MOMENT, belting nursery rhymes with a twist and proving exactly why he’s as talented as he is hilarious. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Keke Palmer?

  Today's guest is a true original. An artist with unreal vocals, undeniable presence, and a level of authenticity you can feel. He started on YouTube, caught the attention of the one and only Erykah Badu. And in case you missed it, he just won his first Grammy. It feels like the rest of the world is finally catching up to what the fans have always known for a long time. Duran Bernarr is it, honey. So let's not waste another minute, because, baby, this is Keke Palmer.

• 0:57Keke Palmer?

  Please welcome Duran Bernarr.

• 1:02Keke Palmer?

  Yes!

• 1:05Speaker 01

  I got all this ass trapped. We all got to back it up. How are you? How are you?

• 1:11Keke Palmer?

  I'm so good. It's so good to see you, boo.

• 1:13Speaker 01

  Listen, I'm trying to get like you when I grow up. You look gorgeous.

• 1:15Keke Palmer?

  You know what's so funny? When I'm like, oh, my gosh, we're gonna get Duran. I'm so happy. We're basically the same person.

• 1:21Speaker 01

  I know. They're like, we haven't seen them in the same room, so we had to just, you know, clear that up.

• 1:26Keke Palmer?

  How are you? Feeling good today? Feeling great?

• 1:28Speaker 01

  I feel awake.

• 1:28Keke Palmer?

  I know, that's right.

• 1:29Speaker 01

  I feel rested. Actually rested.

• 1:31Keke Palmer?

  Well, I'm happy that you did these pre-show pull-up questions because now I get to get into your mind just a little bit before we get into our convo. Obviously, your name's Duran V. Bernarr. Zodiac sign, NDA. Now, what does this mean? You don't tell nobody you're Zodiac?

• 1:45Speaker 01

  I mean, you know, my birthday's September 16th, but, you know, I don't give a damn about that.

• 1:49Keke Palmer?

  Of course, you're Virgo, though.

• 1:49Speaker 01

  I don't give a damn about that. All them toe-ring heifers, you know, they be trying to figure out, well, what's your birth chart? So I can find out why you breathe the way you do. Like, if you don't go out and touch some grass somewhere.

• 1:59Keke Palmer?

  First of all, you are so Virgo. Literally, that makes total sense for everything about how you execute stuff. We are perfectionists. September 16th seems one of my best friend's birthdays, by the way. Taylor Parks.

• 2:10Speaker 01

  Taylor Parks. So I just want to say I'm a recovering perfectionist. I have actually left that alone. Because it's just, at what point is it ever good enough? Is it ever gonna, like, we just keep going at the same thing over and over? And it's, we're trying to...

• 2:24Keke Palmer?

  And it's like, what are the standards?

• 2:25Speaker 01

  That part.

• 2:26Keke Palmer?

  Of it, too, yeah. That, it can drive you crazy.

• 2:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:29Keke Palmer?

  Um, okay, do you know your big three? Initial here, signature here, date there.

• 2:33Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 2:35Keke Palmer?

  I'm loving this resistance to the sign thing because it does sometimes, as a person that loves a zodiac, it can sometimes stop the opportunity to just get to know.

• 2:43Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 2:44Keke Palmer?

  In real time. Like, how did you come up to these conclusions so fast about me? You know?

• 2:49Speaker 01

  That part.

• 2:49Keke Palmer?

  You can do that.

• 2:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:50Keke Palmer?

  Okay, so what are you most grateful for today? I woke up still black and not straight.

• 2:56Speaker 01

  Glory!

• 3:00Keke Palmer?

  Period. Not straight?

• 3:01Speaker 01

  See, see, straight is a construct, just like, you know, whiteness. See, they're sisters. So, um, yeah, no, I just woke up feeling, feeling like myself, you know?

• 3:08Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 3:09Speaker 01

  And then, of course, you know,

• 3:12Speaker 01

  yes, it's just...

• 3:13Keke Palmer?

  You do look good. That's what I got from this. Also, still fine.

• 3:16Speaker 01

  Still fine.

• 3:18Keke Palmer?

  Okay, a relationship or friendship non-negotiable for you? Lying and stealing.

• 3:22Speaker 01

  Come on now.

• 3:23Keke Palmer?

  The stealing is so crazy, because why would you do that?

• 3:25Speaker 01

  Because if you can lie, you can steal, and if you can steal, you can lie.

• 3:27Keke Palmer?

  It's so true, because in order to steal, you had to lie.

• 3:29Speaker 01

  That part.

• 3:30Keke Palmer?

  Okay, what, what's a question you wish you were asking in more interviews? Okay, actually, I've been asked enough questions. However, I love a hmm, that made me think question.

• 3:41Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 3:41Keke Palmer?

  Okay, those are hard to do.

• 3:43Speaker 01

  I know.

• 3:44Keke Palmer?

  The hmm that made me think question. That's when you get like, real esoteric, or real like, what do you believe? Are aliens true?

• 3:49Speaker 01

  Or, just get you some open-ended, uh, question card games. Like, that's, listen, there's a cheat code.

• 3:54Keke Palmer?

  Are you one of those, um, you play, do games with your friends, like have, uh, game parties? And y'all do like, what is the question game there by Cards of Humanity?

• 4:00Speaker 01

  Cards of Humanity.

• 4:01Keke Palmer?

  Are you into that vibe?

• 4:02Speaker 01

  Um, I do, I do Cards of Humanity, not Spades, though. Spades is...

• 4:06Keke Palmer?

  So you don't like to argue?

• 4:07Speaker 01

  I, it's not that I don't like to argue. It's just, I don't know.

• 4:11Keke Palmer?

  You're from Cleveland.

• 4:11Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 4:12Keke Palmer?

  You're supposed to like to play Spades.

• 4:13Speaker 01

  I don't know how to play Spades, because no one taught me, and so now, I'm too far, too far ahead. I feel like I was able to get into anime as an adult, but Spades, I, I'm too far gone.

• 4:22Keke Palmer?

  Do you know Raven-Symone, personally?

• 4:23Speaker 01

  No, no, I don't.

• 4:24Keke Palmer?

  You guys would get along so well. She's really killer at Spades. I'm seeing me and you at the crib. She's teaching you how to play Spades. I'm teaching you how to play Spades, and we're gonna just be spade fathers.

• 4:33Speaker 01

  I mean, I, I guess... I can, if any, if there was gonna be anyone that could teach me to do anything, I would trust black women to, to guide me in the right direction.

• 4:40Keke Palmer?

  We love that. Okay, who was someone that you met that made you feel starstruck? I really relate to this. I mean, the Jennifer Lewis.

• 4:47Speaker 01

  I, I have not reacted to any other person ever.

• 4:52Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 4:53Speaker 01

  I mean, even the very first time that I encountered her, I was at Essence.

• 4:56Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 4:56Speaker 01

  And it's all this loud music and everything, but I saw her and I'm tapping my publicist like, "Oh, my God, there's Jennifer. Do something, do something." So, of course, that was not, that was not the-

• 5:09Keke Palmer?

  Do something gave me life.

• 5:10Speaker 01

  Do something.

• 5:11Keke Palmer?

  That's so true.

• 5:12Speaker 01

  No, we, but we had our actual momma. She surprised me at my, um, at the closing of my tour.

• 5:17Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my God.

• 5:18Speaker 01

  At the L. Ray. And I, when I tell you my inner child popped out.

• 5:22Keke Palmer?

  What is your first thing that you could remember of Jennifer Lewis? Because I was thinking about that the other day, because I'm a huge fan of hers. But then I was like, I don't know what the first thing I saw of her was, because I just always knew her in my world.

• 5:32Speaker 01

  I think my origins for Jennifer Lewis would have to be what's love got to do with it.

• 5:37Keke Palmer?

  That's probably the one for all of us. She's that mean-ass mama.

• 5:39Speaker 01

  Yes. These tur- these purses is getting a little tattered around my neck, girl. It's probably all them chitlins she was eating. That?

• 5:49Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my God. I love a lying game. I love a, what movie is that from? Okay, what's a mantra you live by and why? Of course, you're a slurper, slow burn. You're the sun, not a watch.

• 5:59Speaker 01

  Not a match.

• 5:59Keke Palmer?

  Not a match. Sorry, child. My reading was off. Now, who is Dr. Wilson, boo?

• 6:04Speaker 01

  Dr. Wilson is a friend of mine that I've known since my teen years. We're actually on year 20 or 21 of, of being in each other's lives. So, yeah, he's a, um, a doctor now, also had, well, two degrees. So, a doctor and a, and a PhD. So, and I have a Grammy. So, it was just like, we, we are in our fields, really killing it. But that is someone that I absolutely look up to and just value their opinion.

• 6:30Keke Palmer?

  And they said this to you when?

• 6:33Speaker 01

  This was maybe 2016-ish, when I was, right around before I put out the Soundcheck EP. And I was wondering, what do I need to do to really get my foot in the door?

• 6:46Keke Palmer?

  Sure.

• 6:46Speaker 01

  Do I need to change myself? Do I, it's, it's being a slow burn. He was like, "Well, baby, of course you're a slow burn. You're the sun, not a match." And also-

• 6:55Speaker 01

  When you think about the makeup of our galaxy, all this stuff revolves around the sun.

• 7:02Keke Palmer?

  But try to act like she don't matter.

• 7:04Speaker 01

  That part. That part, because she'll set some up in here, okay?

• 7:07Keke Palmer?

  Okay, I love that. Shout out to Dr. Wilson. And you mentioned 2016, and that makes me have to bring up this picture of us.

• 7:19Keke Palmer?

  I remember this moment that we had. Now, I feel like we both was with our moms. I don't know.

• 7:22Speaker 01

  Yes, I was with my mom.

• 7:23Keke Palmer?

  Yes, yes.

• 7:23Speaker 01

  That was when I first moved out there. We were at Aurora Cafe in Studio City. You were just so sweet. You was like, of course we could take a picture. And I think that might have been either before or after I did, remember that? Remember your television show that you had? And we had the choir come in? I was in the choir.

• 7:37Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, the Just Kiki. Was this Just Kiki?

• 7:38Speaker 01

  This was in 2016.

• 7:40Keke Palmer?

  2016, so it must have been, oh my gosh.

• 7:43Speaker 01

  They gave you a talk show, like you had.

• 7:44Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, it was just, it was what it was, yeah. That's crazy, because that's why I was also, when I was looking at this picture, I was thinking to myself, this was also not the first time we met. We had met briefly before then, and then this is when I started being able to put a face to you and being like, and then I started seeing you everywhere, you know? And I was just like, yeah, I like that dude. And we all do. So, we're here today, and I'm so happy to kick back and talk with you, babe, because congratulations are in order. You are a Grammy winner, and this is so obvious. Like, I mean, I don't think that any of us are surprised, but it's always good to just, you know, be able to sit that up on the mantelpiece. How are you feeling? What is the energy giving?

• 8:24Speaker 01

  The energy is, I keep having these moments of realization that it's a thing.

• 8:31Keke Palmer?

  Sure.

• 8:31Speaker 01

  Because 48 hours after I won, I'm jumping right back into work.

• 8:39Keke Palmer?

  Mm-hmm.

• 8:39Speaker 01

  So, it's very little time for me to actually sit and revel in some things that have taken place, because we're already moving to, we have to work on this, we have to get that together. And the thing about asking, like, what's next? When?

• 8:58Speaker 01

  The, the, the, it hasn't even been engraved yet and I'm, we're already moving on to the next thing. So it kinda feels like, okay, okay, great, you won your little Grammy, what you about to do now? And I, I just want us to be able to revel in our accomplishments when they happen so that it's not this vague memory that we have later on down the line.

• 9:14Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, of course. I mean, so take me to the night, did you think you were gonna, cause you were nominated for In Route in the same category the year prior. And then with Bloom, the album that you won for, um.

• 9:25Speaker 01

  We got three nominations.

• 9:26Keke Palmer?

  Best progressive R&B album, three nominations. I mean, did you expect to win any of them? I mean, I know that's a crazy question, but you, you're confident and you know you're you, so I mean, did you think, hey, I'm about to take it home or were you kind of nervous and apprehensive?

• 9:38Speaker 01

  Sis.

• 9:40Keke Palmer?

  Sis.

• 9:42Speaker 01

  Me counting myself out is the reason why I ran down that aisle because I sat all the way in the back. I'm like, let me just be by the exit so when they do not call my name, I can just skedaddle because last time I was sitting a little further up toward the stage. So I had to do that long walk and I was wearing white, so you couldn't miss me. So I was like, mm, y'all gonna get me like last time, I'm just gone. So when they called my name, I'm thinking, when he said Bloom, I'm thinking he said Blau. So I was like, okay, oh geez, he done, he done did some work behind the scenes, okay, good for you.

• 10:13Keke Palmer?

  Oh geez, it's crazy.

• 10:15Speaker 01

  Man, and so when they said Bloom, Duran Bana, I said,

• 10:21Speaker 01

  oh no, that's me, that's me, that's me. And so I had to run down there, so, and I had, I had a, a, a mule on. There was no support on this hill, so I had to, my toes was, was, was, was hanging on, right gripping, please don't. But yeah.

• 10:36Keke Palmer?

  I mean, so did you think, I mean, when you think about In Route, even just the name of it, and then we have Bloom, I mean, those are, those go perfectly together in the conversation that you were maybe having with yourself. Do you feel like the album, the Bloom, that, that, that it matches that win, that it, it represents this era in your life?

• 10:54Speaker 01

  I think it, if. I think it's a beautiful project to have gotten this kind of acknowledgement. Because it is my open love letter to my friends that have become my family. And, you know, my publicist was, you know, when we were talking about content for new albums, he was like, I think it's time for the love album.

• 11:12Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 11:12Speaker 01

  And so, but what is my approach to love? I know everybody wants to talk about relationships, you know, you did me wrong, and you coming back. Girl, this, that, and the third, but what, but what about the relationship with our friends? They have seen, their shoulders have seen so many different versions of tears.

• 11:28Keke Palmer?

  Okay. My friends are tired.

• 11:31Speaker 01

  Yes, no, seriously, so I needed, I needed to acknowledge that and lift that up. Decenter the romantic love. Talk about our support system, our tribe. And so the fact that that garnered that kind of attention. Thank y'all, I just, the, the support system is, is, is so key.

• 11:47Keke Palmer?

  I love that, I love that, congratulations again. And let's talk about the category, because we hear a lot of different feedback that artists feel with the Grammys and their categories. You have an eclectic sound, this is progressive R&B. How do you feel like that category defines you, if at all?

• 12:03Speaker 01

  Progressive, I would say, is right up there with what I'm doing, because it is progressing. It is constantly progressing. I always want to try new things, I always want to incorporate all of my influences into, into the work.

• 12:17Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 12:17Speaker 01

  So I think being progressive, I feel like that fit, fit perfectly.

• 12:22Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, yeah, that run up to the stage, I mean, it was crazy viral. What were the comments, if you looked at any of them, that were gagging you?

• 12:28Speaker 01

  Okay, okay, so, so the first one was, my publicist was the one that was running after me, by the way, Sean England. So, so I was, I, I had forgotten where I put my written speech. And so I was just going to my phone to get the notes. And he's like, no, no, no, you wrote this, like, here, here, get this. So people were saying two things, that I was trying to take a selfie from the stage to show everybody that I won. That was the first one. The other one was, I was hurrying up trying to change all of my bios to Grammy Award winning.

• 12:59Speaker 01

  So it's just, I, listen, I'm so glad that I'm on this side of social media when it comes to virality, because you, ma'am, are, are queen of memification. So, so for me to be in the number of, oh, you might have broken Cynthia Revo's record for the most uh, uh, memable things in one night. I'm like, oh, I'm up there.

• 13:21Keke Palmer?

  Cynthia, with this [BLEEP] here?

• 13:22Speaker 01

  Baby!

• 13:23Keke Palmer?

  This is my lifeline.

• 13:24Speaker 01

  Or the, or the.

• 13:25Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 13:26Speaker 01

  Whoa, whoa.

• 13:27Keke Palmer?

  That's my lifeline.

• 13:29Speaker 01

  I'm thinking, I'm thinking.

• 13:32Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my God.

• 13:33Speaker 01

  Shout out to Cynthia, we love you.

• 13:34Keke Palmer?

  Shout out to Cynthia, we love you. She could sing the house down. Um, okay, so let's talk about the craziest thing that's happened the last few weeks. I know that you said that people are like, what's next, what's happening with you? But let's talk about the congratulations, what DMs, what experiences have been, have happened, if any, that you feel like have prompted from people seeing you on this stage? Because you've been killing it for a while, but it's always different for whatever reason when these institutions come out and be like, yo, day to one, even though you already knew they would want.

• 14:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's, it's one thing to know that you're amazing. It's another thing when the world realizes that. That's, that can be a little, like, oof. But I think the thing that is the most gratifying out of all of this is the fact that my parents are still here to see this. And my parents are boomers, so they're older parents. My mom was 41 when she had me, so they said it was a geriatric pregnancy. The shade.

• 14:26Keke Palmer?

  The shade of it all.

• 14:27Speaker 01

  Of it all, and I'm, and I'm her one, I'm her one and only. So I was always curious about what accomplishments or what things in my life would they, would I be able to share with them?

• 14:37Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 14:37Speaker 01

  Um, in this realm. And so for them to be present.

• 14:41Keke Palmer?

  I love in this realm.

• 14:42Speaker 01

  In this realm.

• 14:42Keke Palmer?

  I went with you there.

• 14:43Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. For them to be, to physically be there specifically, like my mother. It's just, I...

• 14:54Speaker 01

  I've always said that my peak of life has been my parents. The support, the love that I have with them, how we have nurtured one another. We have really been a team.

• 15:06Keke Palmer?

  Yes!

• 15:06Speaker 01

  The tripod is a real thing. So, I, everything else that's happened in life is a perk. It is the cherry on top, but they are my, they are my foundation.

• 15:16Keke Palmer?

  Babe, when I tell you I could not relate to you harder. The love of parents, of their support, of them seeing you for who you are, never trying to change you, but just championing you for being who you are. I, I hate to say I didn't realize how rare it was to some degree.

• 15:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:34Keke Palmer?

  You know what I mean? Till I got older, I realized, okay, some, you know, everybody didn't have that.

• 15:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:38Keke Palmer?

  That, that, that with their, and, and you, and also we did nothing to necessarily deserve it. Like, it's like, I was just born to this.

• 15:44Speaker 01

  I was just born to this.

• 15:45Keke Palmer?

  You know what I mean? That's just what happened. And so honoring them and always calling that out, I think is so huge. Cause I definitely feel like it's the whole entire reason I am who I am today.

• 15:53Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 15:53Keke Palmer?

  Um, well, let's get into also the fact that your parents are really gifted and talented as well. I mean, your dad was like a sound engineer who worked with Earth, Wind & Fire, uh, Whitney Houston, Jill Scott, Eminem. And then your mom's a vocal coach and a music, a church music director. So what was it like growing up and getting the influences of their world?

• 16:12Speaker 01

  It was a loud house. The house was loud. There was never a quiet mo, the only time it was quiet is when we were not there.

• 16:19Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my God.

• 16:21Speaker 01

  That is the only time that house was quiet.

• 16:22Keke Palmer?

  That's life.

• 16:23Speaker 01

  And I love that because, you know, dad played bass, you know, mom plays piano. We're all, like, there's instrumentation and, and not just us, but there's other people. Like, my cousin Yanni.

• 16:32Keke Palmer?

  What up, Yanni?

• 16:33Speaker 01

  Yes, he, he produced Say I by Trey Songz, yes, that, that Yanni.

• 16:37Keke Palmer?

  Not Say I, I, I, I, I.

• 16:39Speaker 01

  All the, all the, I mean, shoot, Missy Elliott, he's done stuff with Maya, Lil, I mean.

• 16:43Keke Palmer?

  Wait, wait, you're talking about Yanni?

• 16:44Speaker 01

  Yes, that's my blood cousin, my first cousin.

• 16:46Keke Palmer?

  You know that Yanni produced so many songs on my, on my EP.

• 16:49Speaker 01

  What?

• 16:50Keke Palmer?

  Back in like 2013. I mean, we did a bunch of stuff, him and Aja, uh, who was also on, um, you know, Issa Rae's show, rap, uh, rap.

• 16:58Speaker 01

  Yes, right, yes.

• 16:59Keke Palmer?

  I mean, we was all in the studio for a whole summer. I didn't know that Yanni was your cousin, man.

• 17:04Speaker 01

  Blood cousin.

• 17:04Keke Palmer?

  That's crazy, good people.

• 17:06Speaker 01

  Yes, absolutely. Shout out to Yanni.

• 17:07Keke Palmer?

  Mm-hmm. That's fire. Okay, so looking back, um, growing up, when did you feel? That this was also going to be your career. Because also, I mean, just because your parents did it, it didn't mean that you had to follow in their footsteps. Was there a moment where you thought, oh, maybe I'm gonna do something different? Or were you always like, I'm gonna be an entertainer?

• 17:24Speaker 01

  I always say that music took me serious before I did. Um, it was always in the curriculum, because not only was my mother a music teacher, but she was, like, she taught in public schools, so.

• 17:35Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 17:36Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm. Twenty years before I came along, so she had a different level of patience. I, I, I've heard that people who wait until later on in life to have children, they have a different level of patience.

• 17:45Keke Palmer?

  Yes, I feel like it makes total sense.

• 17:47Speaker 01

  So, because they're not trying to discover themselves, you know? Um, music has always been implemented even into the, the, the lessons, you know, of what I'm doing. She was teaching me how to do the days of the week and months of the year and all that into jingles, you know? Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, forty, forty-five, fifty, fifty-five, sixty. I can count by fives.

• 18:09Keke Palmer?

  I need the kids album.

• 18:10Speaker 01

  You need the kids album.

• 18:12Keke Palmer?

  You think I'm playing?

• 18:13Speaker 01

  Oh, no, I've been, there are so many jingles. I need to do it. It could be, it could be an EP.

• 18:17Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my gosh, for the kids, they need this.

• 18:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, those are actually, children and elders are probably some of my favorite audience members, because they have no filter. Like, if they like you, that means they like you.

• 18:30Keke Palmer?

  Seriously.

• 18:31Speaker 01

  So, yes.

• 18:32Keke Palmer?

  So, you know, it was always there for you?

• 18:34Speaker 01

  It was always there. Um, it was probably around twelve when I was, when I had a solo, when I had a solo in church. Uh, I Believe I Can Fly, that's what I was singing, Lord.

• 18:48Speaker 01

  Listen, we all, we came at some point.

• 18:51Keke Palmer?

  It's inspirational song.

• 18:52Speaker 01

  That part. Um, and I had my, you know, I hit my, my note at the end and the folks was going, you know, crazy and they pused. Somebody ran up and down the aisle.

• 19:01Keke Palmer?

  Come on, we love that.

• 19:02Speaker 01

  I was like, this because of this. Got it. Um, and then sixteen is when my dad brought me on the road uh with Earth, Wind & Fire as a production assistant.

• 19:11Keke Palmer?

  That's crazy!

• 19:12Speaker 01

  So I was able to actually see the process of how the show is put together.

• 19:18Keke Palmer?

  What was it like looking at Earth, Wind & Fire them? That's crazy, babe!

• 19:23Speaker 01

  See, what's crazy, see, the part is, I never got a chance to view them from outside.

• 19:28Keke Palmer?

  You knew them as family.

• 19:29Speaker 01

  It's always been them, my uncles, you know, so, but still, they're amazing.

• 19:34Keke Palmer?

  Yes, of course.

• 19:35Speaker 01

  But it's like, I, the strukeness of it.

• 19:38Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 19:38Speaker 01

  You know.

• 19:39Keke Palmer?

  It's they were, they're family to you, but I mean, it shows those influences you having, those, not everybody can say that those are their family members, but it makes sense because your music has the same sense of soul, integrity, and intentionality. Um, but it's just amazing to just imagine a young Duran up on there, running through there like that.

• 19:56Speaker 01

  Listen, from seeing folks warming up before the show, stretching, tuning up their instruments, if the show started at eight o'clock, everybody was in, in place at seven fifty-nine, fifty-nine.

• 20:07Keke Palmer?

  I love the professionalism.

• 20:08Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, now Tony Bullock ran a tight ship.

• 20:09Keke Palmer?

  I love that. What is something that you think people wouldn't, maybe not even realize, but that is so imperative that you learned back then that you still keep with you now?

• 20:18Speaker 01

  Your work ethic will definitely precede you. Your, how you treat people, how you show up, like that, people talk. And so, I always pride myself to make sure that I am, A, conducting a, an environment where everyone feels safe and seen.

• 20:36Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 20:37Speaker 01

  Um, I, I don't ever want to feel like no one, nobody can tell me anything. Uh, so that's why I trust the people that, you know, we put in place to be the eyes that I, you know, in the back of my head.

• 20:49Keke Palmer?

  Mm-hmm.

• 20:56Keke Palmer?

  I think I did it.

• 20:57Speaker 01

  You did it. You did it.

• 20:58Keke Palmer?

  I got you to sue. Yes. I love a hmm that made me think question.

• 21:04Speaker 01

  No, we are worth.

• 21:05Keke Palmer?

  I nailed it.

• 21:06Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 21:07Keke Palmer?

  You've been, you've been working in the industry for 20 plus years.

• 21:10Speaker 01

  20 plus.

• 21:10Keke Palmer?

  20 plus years is a long time, but then recently, February 2026, you were called a rising star in R and B. And whenever I see this with artists such as yourself, I always think about Luther Vandross. And even people said the same thing with me, wow, this is really your time. And it's like, you know, it happens a lot.

• 21:26Speaker 01

  That statement is quite, is quite interesting.

• 21:29Keke Palmer?

  I think about Luther Vandross as, I don't know who he was interviewing with, but they were like, how does it feel? And he was like, well, white America has woken up to me. But I mean, you know, my folks have always known me. So I pose it back to you of like, when you see rising star, do you, do you feel any way about it? Is it kind of, okay, that's just like the institution? That's just like how it is? Or, you know, what's your feedback when you, when you see that?

• 21:49Speaker 01

  Well, again, going back to the quote, we're a slow burn. Like, it's always been burning. It's a matter of how much material has been put into that flame to make it ignite, but it's always been burning. So it's just a matter of, y'all are starting to feel the heat now.

• 22:05Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 22:06Speaker 01

  Y'all are feeling the heat. I've been hot.

• 22:08Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 22:09Speaker 01

  Y'all are just not feeling the heat. So it's fine.

• 22:11Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 22:12Speaker 01

  Whenever you, listen, better late than never.

• 22:14Keke Palmer?

  Okay, because you're about to get cooked.

• 22:16Speaker 01

  That part.

• 22:17Keke Palmer?

  Um, so.

• 22:20Keke Palmer?

  Fried like an egg, though, okay?

• 22:22Speaker 01

  Baked.

• 22:23Keke Palmer?

  Was there ever a moment, though, looking back? And you kind of mentioned it now, too, when we were talking about that 2016 and you had that conversation with Dr. Wilson, where you did think, okay, what is it going to take for me to get there? And, you know, wrestling with what it could look like to, you know, compromise or change, even before you even knew what exactly you were trying to say or be.

• 22:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:42Keke Palmer?

  Um, and even moreover, how did you stop yourself from leaning into what so many do?

• 22:49Speaker 01

  Well.

• 22:57Keke Palmer?

  You know your girl loves to travel. Some of my favorite trips have been with my fam to far-off places like Rome. But this spring, we're eyeing a more local spot like South Carolina, because our non-negotiables are delicious food and a beach, where we can have fun but also get some much-needed R and R. And when I'm planning where we're gonna stay, I'm not only thinking about logistics, like where is everyone going to sleep, but also, how can I really experience the place I'm visiting? That's why I book a stay on Airbnb for family trips. We get to stay in neighborhoods where locals actually live and really connect with the city through authentic experiences. Plus, everyone can spread out with separate bedrooms, like my son's bedtime doesn't have to be my bedtime.

• 23:42Keke Palmer?

  And we've got a real kitchen to cook some meals together if we end up staying in. It's also way more cost-effective than booking multiple hotel rooms. We all get our own space, but still come together to create those genuine memories. For that kind of trip, hotels just don't give us what we need. Find a home for your next family adventure on Airbnb.

• 24:07Speaker 01

  I was having a conversation with a homie who was doing background for Gladys Knight, who I call Bravery, his name is Aver. And I was just venting to him. He came over to my apartment out in L.A. at the time, and I was just venting to him about, "Yeah, I think I just gotta just not be myself, so I can at least get my foot in the door. You know, we gotta feed the beast somehow, some kind of way." And he was like, "Please do not make me take this part of my hand and go across your face, because there is no way that you need to compromise yourself. There is absolutely a way for you to be commercial and still be yourself." And so, I'm playing him some songs that I did, because, mind you, I was always recording by myself.

• 24:49Speaker 01

  I would get sent the tracks, I would work on my own, send it back to the producer. "Oh, this is tight and everything." Yeah, because I'm singing, but...

• 24:58Speaker 01

  The the catchiness, the recipe, I hadn't quite got.

• 25:01Keke Palmer?

  Sure.

• 25:02Speaker 01

  So when so when so when Aver was listening to the stuff, he said, "Okay, the, I mean, your voice sounds beautiful, but these melodies, they're just, I don't know what you're trying to do right now." Like, this is just, no. And so, we started working together on Fly on the Wall, which was on the Soundcheck EP. And I was about to repeat the hook. He said, "No, no, let's go somewhere different. Let's, no, no, no, or do something like that." And so, once I realized, "Oh, that's what the recipe is." Something catchy, something that everybody can sing along to, something that is, you know, that's, that's, that's an earworm. And so, once I got my own formula, then that's when we came up with Duran, with Stuck, and Company, and, you know, so I, I, I got it now.

• 25:42Keke Palmer?

  And I mean, that's, I feel like everybody has to find their own formula on their own way.

• 25:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:47Keke Palmer?

  But what are those touchpoints? Like, for me, it was, I've always been into diversifying. You know, that's always helped me to sustain, you know, we had to have multiple jobs, because we gotta feed the

• 25:56Speaker 01

  Yes, ma'am.

• 25:57Keke Palmer?

  investment, you know, and, and that would always teach me something new about myself. It would help me to find what made me Keke Palmer, the one that people know today. For Duran, what was that process like? Did it look like going to certain clubs, you know, or going and listening to Mike Knight, or, or going and doing this little freestyle? Like, what were those things that helped you to get those creative juices flowing, to be able to concentrate that sound and find that formula?

• 26:21Speaker 01

  Hmm, so, I was definitely going to jam sessions.

• 26:26Keke Palmer?

  Fabulous.

• 26:27Speaker 01

  And also, we can't negate my artist development from church and theater.

• 26:32Keke Palmer?

  Come on!

• 26:33Speaker 01

  So, we have, we have a lot of groundwork that was taking place before we even got to, "Let's figure out what this looks like and what it sounds like."

• 26:41Keke Palmer?

  Mm-hmm.

• 26:42Speaker 01

  So, jam sessions, locally in Cleveland, and then I would go to different places, like, out in DC. Shout out to Bohemian Caverns in Lorna Pickney.

• 26:52Speaker 01

  I would go there for, you know, just to to get your feet wet in these different markets. And also collaborating with other people.

• 26:59Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 26:59Speaker 01

  It's not something that, as I said, if I don't have to do it alone, I don't want to do it alone. Create, creating and and and music is like a really vast playground. And while I can rip and run on the monkey bars and go down the slide by myself, it's so much better when you have someone there or other people there that have just as much as imagination as you do.

• 27:20Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 27:20Speaker 01

  And also, I would like to shout out to you for not gatekeeping. Like when you were talking about like, how do I, someone was asking you in an interview about how did you get certain things in a way? And you were just breaking it down like, well, actually, this is what I did. I put it into my own production. I did this and that. So I want to thank you for being that because I I like to to to spread, you know, whatever wherewithal I can to help someone because you never know what what that could do. And it's not necessarily saying this is, you know, what's going to get you in the door. But this is how I how I did it. This is my template. Take what works, you know?

• 27:53Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 27:54Speaker 01

  So, yeah.

• 27:54Keke Palmer?

  And I think it's important for people like us to do that because we do move pretty much independently. Like even when I collaborate with major companies, I'm sure you feel the same way. It's like, it's still very much, this is me doing that.

• 28:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:06Keke Palmer?

  And I think it's important that people understand that there's a way to sustain and have success that way. You might not always get whatever the attention you think you need. But at the end of the day, the cream rises to the top. What's true is going to always be true. How has your relationship with validation evolved over the years? From what you thought you you would need or what made sense to having so much of it?

• 28:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:28Keke Palmer?

  You know, and how that impacts what you think of it?

• 28:31Speaker 01

  I think the most validating part right now is the fact that I'm where I am because I'm myself. I've genuinely been able to be myself. And there are updated versions of that, but at the core, we, I I am myself. I feel inside of myself, you know?

• 28:53Speaker 01

  And again, I just, yeah, yeah, no, I'm just, I'm just so glad. Like, it doesn't even feel like a nine to five. And I'm pretty sure that you can relate to this, but our careers are also our children.

• 29:05Keke Palmer?

  Yes, baby!

• 29:05Speaker 01

  It is a whole child. Sometimes it's a toddler, sometimes it's a teenager, something like, it varies in age, okay?

• 29:11Keke Palmer?

  Sometimes it's like crazy, sometimes she's cool. It's a lot.

• 29:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:15Keke Palmer?

  But it's my heart, and I really do, I love that you put it as a child, because it's like, yeah, like, it's really what I care about. It's really what drives me and what I love. And just, it brings me so much joy to be able to, I don't know, I guess this is what a typical artist would say and feel, to be able to externalize my inside world in this way. It really is just like, that's freedom. You recently said, "Not only am I still independent, but I'm black, I'm not straight, I'm not unclockable, and I'm still singing the house down on my worst day." I just live for you. You know what I mean? Because I feel that this is also me.

• 29:52Speaker 01

  Yes, absolutely.

• 29:53Keke Palmer?

  I'm also identifying with every single thing said.

• 29:57Speaker 01

  You said, "Agree, agree, this is me, yes, yes."

• 29:59Keke Palmer?

  Agree. I mean, how has being an independent artist been able to solidify that path for you?

• 30:05Speaker 01

  I just want to start out by saying that when I emphasize that I'm independent, that is not me in any way saying I don't need help. I don't need support. I'm just making sure that you know that. I've gotten to this point with what I have. Where, as, as, as my creative director Mel says, "We from the church of make it enough."

• 30:27Keke Palmer?

  Period.

• 30:28Speaker 01

  We be really making it enough. So, so just imagine what, what I could accomplish if I had a little, just a little change, you know what I'm saying? Just a, you know?

• 30:41Keke Palmer?

  Ah, I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, people don't really, I guess we do think about it, but like, capital's a real thing. Like, money is a real thing. A lot of times, it's like, and it's not just like what I'm wearing, it's like the push.

• 30:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:52Keke Palmer?

  It's the PR. It's the

• 30:54Speaker 01

  The marketing.

• 30:54Keke Palmer?

  Marketing. It's the venue, it's, all of money, essentially, it truly is access in a lot of ways. And so, yeah, I feel you, when it comes to Independence, like I still move like a mom and pop as well. I have a lot of collaborators, different people that work with me.

• 31:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:07Keke Palmer?

  But at the core of what my brand is as well is, and, and I think the reason why is because it allows for me to make sure that it remains true.

• 31:13Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 31:14Keke Palmer?

  You know?

• 31:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 31:15Keke Palmer?

  And I do think, like, I'm not trying to shout out to the Zodiac, but as Virgos, that's big for us. We, you know, a lot of people want to get in, y'all want to fuss around with it. I want it to, like, I'm not afraid to collaborate and to expand on it, but I have to make sure that the core is being honored.

• 31:28Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 31:28Keke Palmer?

  You know, that's like so huge.

• 31:30Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 31:30Keke Palmer?

  Um, I also love that you say not straight.

• 31:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:33Keke Palmer?

  I remember I did an interview with Wendy Williams, um, like, I was like, I don't know, twenty.

• 31:37Speaker 01

  Why, girl? Because the gag was, she wasn't there.

• 31:41Keke Palmer?

  That one too. Me and Wendy have had some moments.

• 31:44Speaker 01

  Listen.

• 31:45Keke Palmer?

  Child, she done had, we done had some talks, okay? And she was like, so are you for what? Are you this? So are you that? And I'm like, I'm just me.

• 31:53Speaker 01

  You love who loves you.

• 31:55Keke Palmer?

  I love who, you know.

• 31:56Speaker 01

  I was there, I'm right there, we, listen, we on the same.

• 31:59Keke Palmer?

  We the same. And so like, I'm so interested for you, what does, how do people respond to you with that? Because I don't get great responses, like, uh, not to say that people are like mad, but they're, uh, people just want to know what's going on. And it's like, me too, babe, I'm just.

• 32:15Speaker 01

  Okay, okay, I'm still learning right along with you. And learning does not mean confused.

• 32:21Keke Palmer?

  No.

• 32:22Speaker 01

  There's a quote that says that all, that, um, all that who wander are not lost.

• 32:29Speaker 01

  I'm literally wandering, I'm just taking in the scenery, I'm taking in how I'm reacting to things and what works and what does not. Um, I say not straight because I don't want to say gay, because that would exclusivize me.

• 32:47Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 32:47Speaker 01

  That's a word now.

• 32:48Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 32:48Speaker 01

  Exclusivize, because y'all know what it mean, all these words is made up. That would exclusivize.

• 32:54Keke Palmer?

  That's true.

• 32:55Speaker 01

  Me, uh, to one way of expressing myself, one way of intimately communing. And that's not the case, because if Tiana tried me.

• 33:08Keke Palmer?

  Anybody's going.

• 33:09Speaker 01

  Any, yeah, I'm saying, you know, it's, it's the, it's the energy. I don't know if you're familiar with.

• 33:14Keke Palmer?

  It's the energy.

• 33:14Speaker 01

  I don't know if you're familiar with the term, um, is it like gynosexual and androsexual?

• 33:19Keke Palmer?

  No, please put me on to it.

• 33:21Speaker 01

  So, I hope I'm pronouncing the, uh, the first one right. So, gynosexual is when you are attracted to femininity or feminine presenting people. Androsexual is when you are attracted to masculine energy or masculine presenting people. So, that could be in the form of, of anything. It's about the energy.

• 33:39Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, I definitely feel you on that because I feel like I've always liked that feminine energy. It doesn't matter who, it, you know, it doesn't mean that that person is totally flamboyant or not. But it's, femininity is defined by so much more than just like, hey, girl.

• 33:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, it's a softness.

• 33:53Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 33:54Speaker 01

  It's a earnestness, it's a awareness.

• 33:56Keke Palmer?

  Exactly.

• 33:57Speaker 01

  It's a consideration. It's the flora and fauna, it's the oxygen. That we breathe, that's why it's called mother nature.

• 34:08Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 34:10Speaker 01

  Cause what a man finna do?

• 34:12Keke Palmer?

  Be up there, hold it to, to give you some structure, but we still need some softness.

• 34:17Speaker 01

  Child in the most.

• 34:17Keke Palmer?

  On there, they laughed in the back, they said what structure?

• 34:20Speaker 01

  Unstructured beings trying to lead somebody somewhere. Men are not meant to lead, sorry, I, not even sorry, they are not meant to lead.

• 34:27Keke Palmer?

  I'm howling.

• 34:28Speaker 01

  They are not, and as a man, I'm saying, we are not meant to lead.

• 34:31Keke Palmer?

  On the Terri Show, you said, I am sex positive, ethically non-monogamous. Um, so I still desire to have meaningful experiences with other people from time to time while still leaving room for exclusivity. Also, again, sounds like me.

• 34:48Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 34:49Keke Palmer?

  I live for the freedom and the independence, and that doesn't mean disrespect or disregard from anybody. Think people gotta know that, at the end of the day, every relationship, every, um, combination of love or relationship, it doesn't have to exist a certain set of rules in order to be true and to be loving.

• 35:06Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 35:07Keke Palmer?

  What does a practice look like for you? I don't even know if you're dating currently or if you closed off.

• 35:11Speaker 01

  Um, nah, there's someone there.

• 35:14Keke Palmer?

  Um, oh, there's someone there.

• 35:15Speaker 01

  Someone there.

• 35:16Keke Palmer?

  There's someone there.

• 35:17Speaker 01

  We, you know, we, it's, it's, that's just, that's for me, you know.

• 35:21Keke Palmer?

  Period.

• 35:21Speaker 01

  Cause it, you know, I already give enough of, of myself, you know, so I was just, and this is. Yeah, I, I, I'm, I'm enjoying that, so Durant is, is happy, I'm, I'm, you know, in the, in the, in the loving space, um.

• 35:36Keke Palmer?

  How did you manage the time in your life? Cause I find it hard. You know, I find it really, really hard, even as somebody that's single and dating and open, I find it hard to just be like, oh,

• 35:48Keke Palmer?

  worked all day, now I have a dinner with you.

• 35:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. No, seriously, after a ten hour day, you're not trying to do anything, you know, I don't wanna talk. Why are we talking? We can do body doubling.

• 35:58Keke Palmer?

  You know what I'm saying?

• 35:59Speaker 01

  You read a book, I'mma check, I'mma be over here watching anime, just be in the same room, but we ain't gotta talk.

• 36:04Keke Palmer?

  It's a lot, it's sometimes, in order to be in a relationship, you have to give, you know, I mean, I think that way, I don't think you should be just taking, so yeah. With our careers, I feel like a lot of times, it can be difficult to even save space to have energy to give to that when we are always giving to our baby.

• 36:20Speaker 01

  Okay, so, one thing I will say, um, it's important for whoever is involved in this. To have an awareness and understanding. Not know, why you always on set, why you always at? That's, that's, so, there has to be an automatic understanding. I'm also okay with you not being even in my world as far as like, work. You can do something complete, one eighty of what I'm doing, and so when we come together, I can hear about, you know, your, the medical stuff that you got going on, or the aviation or whatever, you know, so, and I can have my music over here, so it's, it's good to have that, um.

• 37:03Speaker 01

  I think when, also, when you are, especially like, let's say if it's, it's distance, you know.

• 37:09Keke Palmer?

  Done a couple of those.

• 37:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, you have to find time to, you know, the quality time and the, and the, you know, FaceTime, whether that, just, just to communicate, just to know like, hey, I'm here, or, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm moving from this place to next place, you know, so it's, I think when you at least have the communication. Then there's no room for the imagination to kinda start dragging you down the street, cause my imagination is a bright place, but it can also get very dark.

• 37:34Keke Palmer?

  Canted?

• 37:35Speaker 01

  Oh, my goodness, you saw the sale.

• 37:38Keke Palmer?

  You saw the sales crazy.

• 37:42Speaker 01

  So, yeah, it's but it's about and also I feel like I'm in a in a space where I do have room to to offer that cuz I'm also cuz I mean I'm loving my friends, you know, I'm loving my, you know, there's a lot of and also also this too. Folks don't understand how they have to share you.

• 38:02Keke Palmer?

  Yes, yes.

• 38:03Speaker 01

  They have to share you with the world.

• 38:05Keke Palmer?

  And they get mad.

• 38:06Speaker 01

  With the world, with your team, with your with your with your stylist, with your assistant, like they.

• 38:10Keke Palmer?

  With me.

• 38:11Speaker 01

  With.

• 38:12Keke Palmer?

  Now, that's what it is, right? Cuz people be mad.

• 38:15Speaker 01

  Oh, you, oh.

• 38:17Keke Palmer?

  I'm telling you.

• 38:18Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 38:18Keke Palmer?

  Cuz at the end of it all, I wanna be with me too.

• 38:21Speaker 01

  Yes, yes.

• 38:23Keke Palmer?

  Your girl wanna be with your girl too.

• 38:25Speaker 01

  Oh, you just, ooh, that just.

• 38:28Keke Palmer?

  It's crazy, ain't it?

• 38:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, like like you don't even have to like the one thing that's been especially since since the Grammys, mind you. I still have to make a video to let everybody know like how I'm actually feeling and what's been going on because not only do I have interviews, but it's the the the folks in my life that wanna know individually, so I'm like, I gotta make a make a video to let everyone know, but it's it it it does make me a little sad when like the homies wanna hang out. Hey, do you have free time? I actually don't.

• 38:55Speaker 01

  I actually don't have the time and then the time that I do have that is not being pulled. I just wanna have a moment to myself because I'm the demand is there, you know, so we have to be focused. And just to remind them like, hey, I'm I'm I'ma tap in when I when I can, but like talking about some don't, don't, what what it, what does someone say?

• 39:17Keke Palmer?

  To me hacking Hollywood, I hate that.

• 39:18Speaker 01

  I it's like they, you know, Duran done let this Grammy to him. I'm gonna tell you what it got to me. The calendar. The schedule has what's gotten to me.

• 39:27Keke Palmer?

  No, seriously.

• 39:28Speaker 01

  The the the we have to do this, you have to do this, you have to be there. That is what it's got to this.

• 39:33Keke Palmer?

  It's like that meme of that man, I know how to compose.

• 39:35Speaker 01

  I know how to compose. I have that video.

• 39:39Keke Palmer?

  I don't.

• 39:40Speaker 01

  I don't.

• 39:41Keke Palmer?

  I don't, yeah. It's so true. I just live kicking the feet up and getting into that because it is so true. Anybody out there that's, that's just, which we all are, working, trying to make it happen, trying to get the dream, like, there's sometimes not enough. And if you don't have enough to give to yourself, then it's not even necessary to even try to give it to anybody else. So, you know, I'm loving that you're having love, but also still maintaining you. Yeah, I got you. Because that's the [BLEEP] right there.

• 40:11Keke Palmer?

  You know what I love? When people show up with genuine intentions, especially when it comes to dating. My girls and I were just talking about how the best connections happen when someone puts in real effort from the jump. And Bumble is definitely on to something because they're making it easy to find people who really want to get to know and date the real you from the beginning through features like Bumble compliments. Someone can show genuine interest in something on your profile, like your love of cooking or that cute hiking photo. I see you boo. All before you even match. That kind of meaningful connection changes the whole vibe. That's why it's the dating app my girlfriends use and trust.

• 40:55Keke Palmer?

  And let's talk about safety because that matters. Bumble has photo verification and ID verification built right in. You can be at ease knowing the person you're chatting with is actually who they say they are. That piece of mine, it's a non-negotiable. Ready to connect with people who bring the same energy as you? Download Bumble now. Dear diary, I have a problem and the problem is my brain will not let me rest. Like last week, I was supposed to be going to sleep and instead I spent two hours trying to figure out why we cringe at our old photos. Like, what is it with that? Is it psychological? Is it ego? I needed to know. So I've been using Claude, which is an AI that actually

• 41:40Keke Palmer?

  thinks through stuff with you. It's not giving you some little surface level answer and dippin'. It asks questions back. It goes down the rabbit hole with you, which is dangerous for me personally, but I love it. And here's the thing, Anthropic, the company that makes Claude, committed to keeping it ad-free.

• 42:00Keke Palmer?

  So when you're in the middle of your 1 a.m. spiral, your conversation stays yours. No random sponsored ads, just you and your thoughts, which for me is a lot. If your brain never shuts up, Claude gets it. Try Claude for free at claude.ai/Keke Palmer and see why problem solvers choose Claude as their thinking partner.

• 42:25Keke Palmer?

  Waiting to Exhale is the inspo for Bloom, which is iconic. I mean, I feel like, tell me if you feel the same way. The older that I get, the more I realize that Waiting to Exhale was real as hell.

• 42:35Speaker 01

  Oh, no, very much. I'm, what did she say? You want to know one thing that I just realized about all of us? Not one of us have a man. Baby Bernadine over there holding that cigarette like, baby, it's too soon, Savannah, it's too soon.

• 42:52Keke Palmer?

  All the different women, the archetypes, the character, the storylines, the

• 42:59Keke Palmer?

  the realizing of what the exhale represents symbolize. Like, it's so insane. So I'm curious for you, like, when you decided to have that be the inspo, did you have that moment? Were you going through that? Is this, was this the marking of that era for you? Why you wanted to dedicate to that to the album? Or was it a previous thing? Like, how did you come to wanting that to be the inspo for the album?

• 43:21Speaker 01

  So first of all, Waiting to Exhale, right along with Hostela Got a Groove Back, those are my comfort films. Watch them all the, gotta watch them all the time. One thing, the core thing that I, that I would sit with, you know, especially watching it in our, in our 30s.

• 43:39Speaker 01

  No matter what those women went through in their personal lives,

• 43:45Speaker 01

  they could always come together and lean on one another. And I just really, I love that. One of, one of my favorite parts of the movie, and it's so short, is Tyreek coming in and putting the covers over them because they're all asleep in the living rooms, like, happy birthday, mom. And they're just, I'm like, I miss sleepovers. I miss that. But folks don't know how to record people.

• 44:08Speaker 01

  Like, why are you playing? Why are you putting my hand in warm water?

• 44:11Keke Palmer?

  They doing all

• 44:12Speaker 01

  Now my bladder is, we are of age.

• 44:14Keke Palmer?

  Why I got a mustache, girl?

• 44:16Speaker 01

  You know what I'm saying? So, yeah, this, if we could just get some seriousness going on, we could actually probably have some adult sleepovers again. But, you know, also, folks be snoring.

• 44:25Keke Palmer?

  The snoring is bad.

• 44:26Speaker 01

  Baby, and who?

• 44:27Keke Palmer?

  You need to see a doctor.

• 44:28Speaker 01

  And who gonna be sleeping on the floor? You better get me a, pull out this couch.

• 44:32Keke Palmer?

  Okay, people be having sleep apnea. You gotta get it checked out.

• 44:35Speaker 01

  Oh, God.

• 44:36Keke Palmer?

  You gotta get it checked out.

• 44:37Speaker 01

  Trigger.

• 44:38Keke Palmer?

  Um, okay, so, are you, what type of friend are you? Are you a voice note person? Are you an essay texter? Are you a texter or are you a Face Timer? Don't call me.

• 44:48Speaker 01

  Well, first and foremost, when you said, are you a voice note person? I just, I got, I just got sent back to a place because there is, um, there is a voice note that is sitting in my messages right now that is 13 minutes long.

• 45:01Keke Palmer?

  Oh, now they should have called you.

• 45:03Speaker 01

  And I'm like, I'm like, baby, is me trying to respond back to everybody? You are the headliner. Okay, you will absolutely be going last. 13 minutes? Just start your audiobook. Just start the audiobook.

• 45:21Keke Palmer?

  No, because, voice note. Voice note.

• 45:25Speaker 01

  Baby.

• 45:25Keke Palmer?

  Not voice essay.

• 45:27Speaker 01

  Essay. Voice dissertation.

• 45:29Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, like 13 minutes.

• 45:30Speaker 01

  Like, this is a podcast. This is a podcast. And they, and they had the nerve to send me a text after that, because you know who I'm talking to. Talking about some, I'm starting a book club last night. I said, you are book club enough, dear. I have yet to get through the essay you sent me.

• 45:45Keke Palmer?

  That's crazy.

• 45:46Speaker 01

  Um, I'm a Face Timer.

• 45:48Keke Palmer?

  Oh, you are?

• 45:49Speaker 01

  I Face Time, like, just Face Time. But the thing is, I, I'll just say my mom. It's like, she be having, she be FaceTiming me, trying to talk about, look, look who I'm with, like, lady. I'm on the toilet.

• 46:00Keke Palmer?

  Look who I'm with gave me life.

• 46:02Speaker 01

  Right, like, look who I'm with, ma'am. I'm in the bathroom, so let me know who, who's with you before you Face Time me.

• 46:09Keke Palmer?

  I feel like I'm really the annoying friend that only wants to text.

• 46:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:13Keke Palmer?

  I'm so bad. It gets to the point where my friends are like, I, you gave me anxiety. Because I'm, I am sending essays.

• 46:21Speaker 01

  Do you at least space it?

• 46:22Keke Palmer?

  I do. They're gorgeously formatted, but

• 46:26Speaker 01

  Gorgeously.

• 46:27Keke Palmer?

  I even have a subject line, like, I even have a bold.

• 46:29Speaker 01

  Oh, you got the subject line to, oh, babe.

• 46:32Keke Palmer?

  So like, yeah, I'm definitely like, yeah, crazy.

• 46:35Speaker 01

  I'm a FaceTamer, but if I, if I absolutely can't call, then we'll text. If it's something important that you need to talk to me, just call.

• 46:42Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 46:43Speaker 01

  Just call.

• 46:43Keke Palmer?

  You speak about your friends teaching you, like, you know, setting the tone for what it looks like to have romantic platonic for, you know, relationships. Non-romantic, I feel the same way about my friendships, whether it's us learning how to, you know, take each other on dates and we're going to eat, we're going to watch a new movie. How does that look for you? What do, what do you and your friends do together?

• 47:01Speaker 01

  We cook for one another.

• 47:05Keke Palmer?

  What you be cooking, wait?

• 47:06Speaker 01

  I mean, whatever's there, I'm.

• 47:07Keke Palmer?

  Whatever's there is crazy.

• 47:08Speaker 01

  I'm not a, so first and foremost.

• 47:11Keke Palmer?

  Not be in the closet.

• 47:12Speaker 01

  No, a little spam. No, no, I'm not, mind you, I'm not a chef. Okay, just because you throw things on the skillet does not make you a chef. You can prepare a meal, so I can do a nice cute breakfast, okay? Uh, French toast, uh, I'll do some salmon, love a Brussels sprout or some broccoli, you know?

• 47:32Keke Palmer?

  Yes, broccoli.

• 47:34Speaker 01

  Broccoli, no relation to the late Ray Darryl Coley.

• 47:39Speaker 01

  I'll do some, just some grilled chicken, I love a, I love a, you know.

• 47:42Keke Palmer?

  You're healthy.

• 47:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I don't really do beef and steak and stuff like that. My mom, my mom didn't even eat that when I was, uh, when I was a baby.

• 47:49Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I, I would like to cook more. Um, I would like to cook more, but I am, I think with me and my friends, I love to do the hosting thing.

• 47:57Speaker 01

  I do like to host, a little hosty host.

• 48:00Keke Palmer?

  I love to make sure you guys have liquor and something to eat. I love to make sure we got games, we doing tug of war, we doing the limbo.

• 48:07Speaker 01

  Oh, you, oh, you a gamer gamer? You said, we are gathering.

• 48:12Keke Palmer?

  I'm very much cookout. I do love that, like, my son, we getting ready to do his birthday party.

• 48:16Speaker 01

  How old is he turning?

• 48:17Keke Palmer?

  Three.

• 48:18Speaker 01

  Our nephew is about to be three.

• 48:22Speaker 01

  Oldest, wait, no, Leo-dest.

• 48:23Keke Palmer?

  Leo-dest, that's it.

• 48:25Speaker 01

  That baby, that ain't the most elderly name you can give a baby.

• 48:30Keke Palmer?

  And he is so mean. He's changed.

• 48:34Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 48:35Keke Palmer?

  He used to be so sweet and now he's like, you the bad mama and you need to go out of my room.

• 48:43Speaker 01

  Oh, not out of your room.

• 48:44Keke Palmer?

  This is my house.

• 48:46Speaker 01

  I mean, but it's his room.

• 48:50Keke Palmer?

  So I'm loving being a mom, needless to say. He has a great personality. I'm happy for his birthday. We're gonna do a big little, you know, just at the house party and it's just family and friends. That, that, there's nothing that means more to me than that.

• 49:01Speaker 01

  Oh, wait, the other thing that I do, um, I, I take out the trash for my homegirls.

• 49:07Keke Palmer?

  Fabulous.

• 49:07Speaker 01

  If I've ever, you know, taken one of their cars, they actually want me to take their cars because they know I'm gonna fill it up. Yes. That's why, that's why the guys in their lives, they be having to really work. Because I already came in doing, what you think is doing the most is my bare minimum.

• 49:22Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 49:23Speaker 01

  Is my, is the bare minimum.

• 49:24Keke Palmer?

  And what is that about? What is that?

• 49:25Speaker 01

  They want coochie.

• 49:27Keke Palmer?

  Is that changes everything?

• 49:29Speaker 01

  That's all they doing.

• 49:30Keke Palmer?

  Wanting it changes everything. But why wouldn't, why, if they want it, why wouldn't they do more? I don't get that. Like, when I want some tail, I don't do less for the man. I'm like, what do you need? I turn into Loretta Devine.

• 49:42Speaker 01

  Come on now, little candy ass, bro. I'm Brad Johnson, okay?

• 49:45Keke Palmer?

  I don't act like, come on.

• 49:47Speaker 01

  You know, this is another thing.

• 49:49Keke Palmer?

  I don't get it.

• 49:50Speaker 01

  I will say this, because my mother was my first friend, I don't view, I don't have a disdain for women. That is why. A lot of men, their first bullies were their mothers.

• 50:03Keke Palmer?

  Really?

• 50:03Speaker 01

  And so that's why they, that's why they have a disdain for women. Yeah. We gotta, the, the pipeline of where this anger and stuff like that comes from towards y'all, we just have to talk about where it began.

• 50:15Keke Palmer?

  Do you think a lot of it is just the, cause I use, cause I thought a lot about that, right? And I thought about it in terms of like, single motherhood, mothers being stressed. I'm a single mother. You know, so I like, is that where the, the, the, the viewpoint of that dynamic started? But then I also started thinking about like, some of the relationships that I have with guys, the ones that are very close to their fathers have a different vibe. Meaning they have this emotional capacity that I've also started to look at too. Where it's like, yeah, like, cause you talk so positively about your relationship with your dad. And other guys that I know that have the ability to love are like this with their dads. Where it's like, they could cry to their dad.

• 50:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:55Keke Palmer?

  You know, one of my best friends, Matthew Kugler, him and his dad are like. This and he's the sweetest guy ever. And so I also also think about like, just like the emotional capacity reflected and mirrored in another man too. I think sometimes, again, I don't know people's lives and their upbringing. But I do think growing up, like, yes, the relationship with your mom, like, you know, how you view women, that's and then also how you feel you can operate as a man.

• 51:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:20Keke Palmer?

  And if you don't have anybody that's mirroring something that is nuanced, then you become.

• 51:27Speaker 01

  Well, again, men aren't necessarily taught how to be men. They're just taught how not to be like girls.

• 51:33Keke Palmer?

  And that's just so unfair.

• 51:34Speaker 01

  That so you you have a lot of open air vagueness to kind of operate in and it's just, there's no focus. So I I would like to say that I'm a middle ground because there have been

• 51:45Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 51:46Speaker 01

  homies in my life where I call them the non-straight practicing heterosexuals. Because like I said, like whiteness and straightness, they're sisters.

• 51:56Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 51:57Speaker 01

  So it's a construct, but when you just say, no, I'm just attracted to the opposite sex. You're not performing. Straightness is a performance and it's for the edification and the validation of other men. Straightness is actually some of the gay you could ever participate in. Matter of fact, some dudes are so straight, they go to jail.

• 52:15Speaker 01

  Because see,

• 52:18Speaker 01

  you're around all those men.

• 52:21Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 52:21Speaker 01

  And being told what to do every moment of the day.

• 52:29Speaker 01

  That is how straight some of them are.

• 52:32Keke Palmer?

  It does get confusing to all of us around in in regards to like, sometimes it's like you don't even want to be around us. Damn.

• 52:40Speaker 01

  They want to.

• 52:40Keke Palmer?

  You don't want to be around your homeboy.

• 52:41Speaker 01

  They want to fellowship with y'all, but they don't like y'all.

• 52:44Keke Palmer?

  Isn't that crazy? I really want us to as a, I'm happy that we had this brief moment that because this is more, there's more to even say up on that. And I'm excited to see what people are going to be saying in the comments and stuff like that. Because I feel like there needs to be a whole panel where I do some type of discussion on this. Because I really want us all to get together and get along and just vibe out. You know what I mean? I really want more love in our thing. We got to get off the apps. We got to get I R L. We got to have like, like, let's come out.

• 53:08Speaker 01

  Come on, I R.

• 53:09Keke Palmer?

  You know what I mean? We gotta get IRL right. I'm bringing the digital talk into the real world. I got a problem.

• 53:15Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 53:15Keke Palmer?

  But you know, like, I care about that. Like, I want us to... It's too lonely. Everybody is too lonely. Whether you... I don't care, relationships, friendships, lonely all around. Families, some people ain't got no family. They're trying to figure out how to find a family. Like, we just have to get real. We're getting too old for this [BLEEP]. I don't care about looking cringe. I want us to have vibes.

• 53:36Speaker 01

  That is what...

• 53:37Keke Palmer?

  And get up and make some babies.

• 53:38Speaker 01

  Come on.

• 53:39Keke Palmer?

  Or adopt some.

• 53:41Speaker 01

  And that's the issue. People are afraid of looking cringe. They're afraid of... When you see videos of folks dancing back in the 80s, and they be talking about, "Ooh, that was some strong cocaine." First of all, that was not cocaine. [BLEEP].

• 53:51Keke Palmer?

  It was obviously Quaaludes. I'm kidding.

• 53:54Speaker 01

  But it's the awareness of, "I'm being watched." So I don't want to look crazy. I'm out, my... This is gonna be that. If we could just get out... That's why when Tyler was doing the "Don't Tap the Glass" album, he had the release party. It was like everybody's phones.

• 54:07Keke Palmer?

  The creator.

• 54:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:08Keke Palmer?

  Very huge fan of his.

• 54:08Speaker 01

  Everybody... Love him.

• 54:09Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 54:10Speaker 01

  Everybody's phones need to be gone. Like, let's dance. You're focused on the wrong thing. Y'all trying to... Somebody [BLEEP] up in the middle of the dance floor, and you trying to capture? No, get your ass down there on the floor with them.

• 54:20Keke Palmer?

  Yes, seriously. Seriously, I miss that. I really do. I mean, like, on Soul Train, if you look at some way some of the people was dancing, you knew they thought nobody was watching them.

• 54:28Speaker 01

  They would have not been able to take my hips nor shoulders.

• 54:33Keke Palmer?

  Come on, Shakira.

• 54:34Speaker 01

  Or shoulders. Okay, but these hips tell. No fallacies, okay?

• 54:39Keke Palmer?

  I really feel the same way. I really want, you know, I'm gonna be thinking on this.

• 54:42Speaker 01

  Yes, let me know. I'll be down for the pound.

• 54:44Keke Palmer?

  Okay? Because we gotta talk, and we get... Folks gotta talk to us. We gotta talk to each other.

• 54:48Speaker 01

  We gotta talk to our people.

• 54:50Keke Palmer?

  Come on. Let the congregation say, "Amen."

• 54:52Speaker 01

  Amen.

• 54:54Keke Palmer?

  Now, we gotta throw it back to your YouTube days. We weren't gonna have this conversation and not talk about, like, how so many of us first met you. That's Karekray. You are one of the OG YouTube singas, sangas. I mean, your content blended musical covers, comedy and dance, which I love, because I think comedy has more of a place in art than people often get it credit for. And you do a great job at that. So what was the goal when you started? Were you like, "I'm trying to get signed," or, you know, "I'm just trying to, you know, get a fan base going"? Kind of... I mean, this was like so early on. I don't think people even knew the impact of YouTube that much. So what did you go in thinking?

• 55:29Speaker 01

  So I signed up for YouTube July 2006, and then posted my first video December of 2007. Strictly off of, everybody in my circle's been saying that I can sing and I can do X, Y, and Z. Let's see what the internet got to say about this, because they don't care about your feelings. They will let you have it.

• 55:50Keke Palmer?

  Especially on YouTube.

• 55:52Speaker 01

  Especially. So, um, my first video was a song of, uh, original mine called Paranoid, and I mixed in, um, Dollar More by J. Davey at the end, and then it was just Flashing Lights, then it was Slow Dancing in the Burning Room, we had Erykah covers, uh, Amy Winehouse, like all of that. Um, the Flashing Lights cover was my first video that, uh, racked up a thousand views. I remember that. Um, and then I recorded, uh, a couple of studio versions of those songs that I did, the popular covers, and put it out as a mixtape, Alcohol Harmony mixtape, shout out to the OGs. And my play aunt, uh, well, I didn't know her at the time, but she's my play aunt now,

• 56:36Speaker 01

  uh, Frances J., she's a DJ. She got ahold of my Flashing Lights cover, sent it to Ricky Smiley.

• 56:41Keke Palmer?

  I love Ricky. Hey Ricky.

• 56:43Speaker 01

  Shout out to Ricky. And then he starts playing it on his radio show like every morning to the point where I forgot that it, the song wasn't even mine. Um, and then from there, Erykah found me, um, she reached out.

• 56:54Keke Palmer?

  Miss Badu.

• 56:55Speaker 01

  Miss Badu, because can't nobody do Badu like you do. Um, and from there, she, she reached out personally, like, look, I love what you're doing, I, I need you in my band, and it'll be 15 years in April since we've been together. Because I, I had to hit her up, because she called me, said, oh, some, you know, I'm so proud of you, you know, gave me the, you know, the stuff, I'm so proud of you, and you know, I know I've done my job when, when my babies don't need me anymore. I said, I don't know what you're talking about. What are you talking about, ma'am? Because I'm still on tenor. Don't get no bright ideas, okay? I will see you at the next gig. Oh, yes, that was one of the main reasons why I wanted that Grammy, is so that I can continue supporting.

• 57:37Speaker 01

  Because it's not, it's no ego with me. When you genuinely enjoy what it is that you are doing. On top of that, I'm singing songs that I like with artists that I **** with, with people that I genuinely love, and I'm getting compensated for it. What's the issue?

• 57:51Keke Palmer?

  None.

• 57:52Speaker 01

  Whitney Houston was doing background for BB and CC Wine.

• 57:55Keke Palmer?

  Of course.

• 57:55Speaker 01

  When one of her songs was at the top of the charts. This was back during like How Well I Know or Saving All My Love, whichever one. But her label was hot. Because what do you mean, our artist, who is a huge act, doing background? Right in the middle. I'm lost without you.

• 58:14Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 58:14Speaker 01

  Baby, wait, wait, I'm gonna tell you one thing she was doing.

• 58:18Speaker 01

  She won that gum.

• 58:20Keke Palmer?

  I miss Whitney so much.

• 58:21Speaker 01

  That woman ain't got no business being dead.

• 58:23Keke Palmer?

  No business. It pisses me so off.

• 58:26Speaker 01

  Between, like, between her, Nate Dogg, Luther, it's like...

• 58:32Keke Palmer?

  It's really annoying.

• 58:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, it is.

• 58:34Keke Palmer?

  Rest in peace, though. We love y'all.

• 58:36Speaker 01

  We love y'all. And we are continuation of, of that energy, for sure.

• 58:40Keke Palmer?

  What is it like being on tour with Erykah Badu? How is she? She chill, she fun. I mean, I've, I've met her a few times, and she's so awesome. And our daughter, Puma, is so cute.

• 58:48Speaker 01

  Puma. I mean, shoot. I realized early on that I had a very unique relationship with her. Because, first of all, she's very personable. So, like I said, the first time that we ever spoke, she reached out, sent me her number, like, hit me up, like. And so I was learning that how other people were being reached out to, or certain things that were going on in that camp, that wasn't a thing that was handled by management, or things like that. I'm like, oh, well, she reached out, that's personally, you know.

• 59:20Keke Palmer?

  Right.

• 59:21Speaker 01

  It's very much a, a, a family gathering.

• 59:27Speaker 01

  She's been a mentor, and a big sister, I mean, just a therapist. You know, a lot of things all in one, and...

• 59:38Speaker 01

  I've, I've been able to accumulate things and take notes of, um, enjoy yourself. Like, know your shit, but enjoy yourself. Okay, so you fail, or you hit this note, okay, like, you can sing.

• 59:54Keke Palmer?

  Okay, that's big.

• 59:55Speaker 01

  This is all live, as she said, studio is about perfecting a moment, live is when you're creating the moment. So, also being on your toes, because not every show is the same. We could literally be in the middle of the set, and then she'll be like, uh, let's do that one song. You mean that one song that we did in rehearsal five years ago?

• 1:00:14Keke Palmer?

  She seemed like she'd do songs like that.

• 1:00:16Speaker 01

  What's my mouth? So, yeah, no, it's-

• 1:00:18Keke Palmer?

  It's because she knows she got the best people with her, too.

• 1:00:20Speaker 01

  Absolutely, she, she, she trusts us. So, when you can have that kind of synergy, like, there's nothing to worry about, we're literally just going out there, like, law, let's jam.

• 1:00:28Keke Palmer?

  Oh, I live. Also, you bite your lips like me.

• 1:00:31Speaker 01

  Okay, so-

• 1:00:31Keke Palmer?

  I tear mine, so-

• 1:00:32Speaker 01

  So, what's so funny, I be stemming, I guess that's one of my, my stems, but I think I do it because I feel like my lips are dry.

• 1:00:38Keke Palmer?

  Wait a minute, do I, am I stemming?

• 1:00:40Speaker 01

  I think that's what's stemming. There was another thing where I was like, I was singing, I was like, doing this. And they were like, okay, stem. I'm like, wait, what is that? I'm, we're all learning the-

• 1:00:48Keke Palmer?

  A stud in the film?

• 1:00:53Keke Palmer?

  Okay, catch it.

• 1:00:56Keke Palmer?

  So, wait a minute, what does that mean about me, if I've been stemming all my life?

• 1:01:00Speaker 01

  Um, it's just little things that we do when we're kind of like, it's like this, like, if you're-

• 1:01:06Keke Palmer?

  The boy from the blind side?

• 1:01:07Speaker 01

  Right, or like, if I'm speaking to you, and I'm, you know, and I'm talking, and then when she start, when she start talking, I'm like, mhm.

• 1:01:14Speaker 01

  It's like, I don't know, we're, we're trying to fill in the space of the being still or something. And I, I swear, when I did a Tamron Hall, and I told myself, I said, okay, Duran, don't fidget. So, I didn't do this, I did, and then I go back and I look, and I'm doing this. I'm like, [BLEEP].

• 1:01:30Keke Palmer?

  I do it a lot.

• 1:01:34Speaker 01

  Yes. What's your reason behind?

• 1:01:36Keke Palmer?

  You know, it's, I don't know, I think it's a form of like comfort. You know, it's just like, it's something to do.

• 1:01:43Speaker 01

  Yes. Okay, so I don't feel bad. See, this is why, this is why. I feel so seen.

• 1:01:48Keke Palmer?

  So, I feel so seen, that took me out.

• 1:01:51Speaker 01

  And seen.

• 1:01:52Keke Palmer?

  And seen. You're back in the studio working on your next album. Anything you could tell me about it? I ain't trying to press you like everybody else is. But I just wanted to know if there's a mood or a vibe you're taking into it.

• 1:02:05Speaker 01

  It's a continuation of Bloom.

• 1:02:08Speaker 01

  And I wanted to be a bit more upbeat, because like, half of the album is kind of mid-tempo, slow for Bloom. So I wanted to get a bit more upbeat. And also talk about some of the other things that surround

• 1:02:23Speaker 01

  being in close proximity with people, you know, that you have a relationship with, a bond with.

• 1:02:29Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:30Speaker 01

  So just little ins and outs. Trying to do some spicy songs now, because I didn't want to have any songs about heated fellowship on the album where we're trying to talk about platonic friends, amen. So, now that we're branching, we can get, we can get a little spicy.

• 1:02:48Keke Palmer?

  I love spicy.

• 1:02:49Speaker 01

  I was trying to, it was funny, because I was in the studio the other day, and they were talking about some, "You ain't wrote no songs about sex." I'm like, "Okay, well then let's get vulgar." And then I got vulgar, and they're like, "Well, okay, now it's too much."

• 1:02:57Keke Palmer?

  Go on.

• 1:02:58Speaker 01

  And then my team is like, "Well, as a woman." I was like, "Well, this song ain't about you." This is about gay [BLEEP] doing gay [BLEEP].

• 1:03:05Keke Palmer?

  Okay. Period.

• 1:03:08Speaker 01

  But yeah, you can sing along, but it's not about you. But yeah, so, but it was more so because we were repeating one section, trying to get it right, and it was very much this word, this word, this word, but then once we actually got it all together, it was like, "Okay, it's not that bad."

• 1:03:21Keke Palmer?

  Okay, period, because sometimes you have to see it all together.

• 1:03:23Speaker 01

  That part. We cooking, you in the kitchen talking about some, "Well, if you just put..." I'm like, "Well, I don't be over there talking about..." "You need to put some more rouge on somebody's cheeks, ma'am."

• 1:03:33Keke Palmer?

  I'm howling at the rouge. That is such an OG term for blush. Come on, rouge. You are so funny. And I love, this is the thing, again, I always feel this way about comedy. People don't give comedy enough credit for being like difficult in an art form. And a lot of times they think it's just being silly, but you are so seriously talented and so seriously funny. I know some of your inspirations are like Jim Carrey, you know, who's a big inspo of mine as well with all the physical comedy. Um, but you're performing at the Netflix is a Joke Festival in May. And I'm excited about that because you're infusing your love for comedy with your love of music. And I just love what you do with that, even when you did the tiny desk and you was dressed as Uncle Bobby. Like, I just love that you're not afraid to do that.

• 1:04:16Keke Palmer?

  Um, so what are you looking forward to with the festival and just what, you know, it's gonna allow you to do?

• 1:04:21Speaker 01

  So, my net, which by the way, it's sold out now. She is sold out.

• 1:04:27Keke Palmer?

  That's fabulous.

• 1:04:28Speaker 01

  Um, so it's my variety show. So there will be music and there'll also be, I like to call it story time, not necessarily stand up. Cause I've told so many stories about just things that have happened in my life and I just get a kick out of the room. So the moment that the whole room ignites, I'm like, put that in the material, very much Dion Cole.

• 1:04:49Keke Palmer?

  I love Dion Cole.

• 1:04:50Speaker 01

  Yes, no, that's not, my mother loves him.

• 1:04:55Speaker 01

  Shout, took her to go see him, she loves him. Um, yeah, I, I want to just start flexing that and seeing what, so I'm getting with like Kev on stage.

• 1:05:06Keke Palmer?

  Kev is amazing.

• 1:05:07Speaker 01

  I'm getting with Dwayne Perkins, there's a few other folks that I want to reach out, Kit Fury. Uh, who I just, I respect their content and just to get feedback, I have a few filters and, but I'm really excited, I have an hour.

• 1:05:20Keke Palmer?

  Babe, this is gonna be, and again, for me, we're in this time now, especially for me, starting 20 years ago, you know, in more of the traditional landscape. We didn't have none of the social media, none of the digital stuff. I'm really happy that it's no longer like that, where you have to be a certain way to be an artist. You have to be a certain way to be a performer, like you have to be separate. If you could sing, you could dance, you gotta pick one. If you could act, you know what I mean, like it's no longer, you could just be an artist and build a brand. And so I think, you know, you are, you know, one of my favorites and you're able to, yeah, usher in that next stage of what it looks like to be an artist. And it doesn't just mean one thing, this niche little thing. It's like, no, no, no, this is Duran Bernard.

• 1:06:00Speaker 01

  Bernard, yeah, no, it's.

• 1:06:04Speaker 01

  Me getting this honor with the Grammys has opened up so many doors that we don't even realize are here.

• 1:06:16Keke Palmer?

  It's true.

• 1:06:18Speaker 01

  Because we, it's, and I also have to say, the word butch queen has never been said on that stage, on that platform before.

• 1:06:24Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 1:06:24Speaker 01

  So I had to make sure I give a shout out to us because, and also, my father being there specifically. I know my mom was there for the last time.

• 1:06:32Keke Palmer?

  True.

• 1:06:33Speaker 01

  But it was imperative that my father be there because I needed people to see.

• 1:06:38Speaker 01

  This is the result of your parents loving your children, not trying to write their story, but read their story. And how children treat their parents when they become adults is their report card. That's a report card. So when I said that I wouldn't want to be bothered being reincarnated because I would risk not having my parents, and their support and love has lasted me the next 10,000 lifetimes. Folks are like, I want my children to speak about me like that. Or, or, I, I, I wanna, I wanna come out to my family so that we can, you know, it's, it's,

• 1:07:17Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 1:07:18Speaker 01

  It is just, I say it's a global timeline cleanse. It was just a global timeline cleanse. And I'm grateful that that is stamped in time.

• 1:07:26Keke Palmer?

  Me too. And I just love everything you say. God bless your parents. It's such a beautiful thing, and I, I feel the same about mine.

• 1:07:33Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm. Shout out to your momma.

• 1:07:34Keke Palmer?

  Shout out.

• 1:07:35Speaker 01

  Because she didn't play.

• 1:07:35Keke Palmer?

  She didn't.

• 1:07:36Speaker 01

  She did not play.

• 1:07:38Keke Palmer?

  Okay. Okay, well, now we're gonna play a game. I love playing a game with all my guests, and I thought this would really be fun because, you know, you're always going viral, not just with the Grammys, but also one of your early remixes of Do You Know the Muffin Man? Yeah, yeah, we know about that. If you don't know, you need to look up.

• 1:07:54Speaker 01

  Shout out to my girls, okay?

• 1:07:56Keke Palmer?

  So we're taking that energy and turning it into a game. We're gonna take turns where we're giving each other nursery rhymes, plus a style or a vibe, and we just have to remix it on the spot. Just a little improv. No rules, let's go. Okay, so, let's see.

• 1:08:11Keke Palmer?

  Well, have you start? Unless you want me to start? Do you want me to start? I can start.

• 1:08:17Speaker 01

  You can start.

• 1:08:17Keke Palmer?

  Okay, cool. So, it's gonna be Itsy Bitsy Spider, and I'm gonna do it as a pop punk anthem.

• 1:08:23Speaker 01

  Pop punk anthem, okay.

• 1:08:24Keke Palmer?

  The itsy bitsy spider went off the water spout. Down came the rain, and washed the spider out. Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain. The itsy bitsy spider went down and was blind again.

• 1:08:45Speaker 01

  I was creating a mosh pit over here.

• 1:08:47Keke Palmer?

  I loved it. You was like on that meme with that white dude in the back like...

• 1:08:50Speaker 01

  Okay, okay.

• 1:08:50Keke Palmer?

  With the other dude rapping, exactly, exactly. I love that meme.

• 1:08:55Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:08:55Keke Palmer?

  Okay, so...

• 1:08:56Speaker 01

  We gotta be there for Halloween.

• 1:08:57Keke Palmer?

  Oh my... That would give life.

• 1:08:59Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:08:59Keke Palmer?

  Period. Okay, let's do, um, Old MacDonald?

• 1:09:04Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:09:05Keke Palmer?

  90's R&B slow jam.

• 1:09:06Speaker 01

  Ah, yes.

• 1:09:07Keke Palmer?

  You said, "Ah, yes." You knew.

• 1:09:11Speaker 01

  Old MacDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O. And on that farm, he had a cow. E-I-E-I-O. And the cow goes moo moo moo moo moo moo moo. Moo.

• 1:09:31Keke Palmer?

  Yes!

• 1:09:32Speaker 01

  E-I-E-I-O.

• 1:09:36Keke Palmer?

  Oh my god!

• 1:09:39Speaker 01

  Was that too 80's? Was that Luther?

• 1:09:41Keke Palmer?

  That was so good. I don't know how your ass do that. Okay, um, let me see, um, "I'm a Little Teapot," Disney villain ballad?

• 1:09:53Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 1:09:55Keke Palmer?

  "I'm a little teapot, short and spout. Tip me over and pour me out." What (bleep) is the rest of the song?

• 1:10:06Speaker 01

  "Down came the sun."

• 1:10:07Keke Palmer?

  "Down came the sun."

• 1:10:09Speaker 01

  And dried up all the...

• 1:10:10Keke Palmer?

  "And dried up all the rain. And the itsy bitsy spider..." I didn't change. I'm supposed to be doing "I'm a Little Teapot."

• 1:10:19Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:10:26Keke Palmer?

  But y'all got the gist.

• 1:10:29Speaker 01

  Wait, and I ain't say nothing.

• 1:10:30Keke Palmer?

  That was actually a medley that we did.

• 1:10:31Speaker 01

  Right, right.

• 1:10:32Keke Palmer?

  We did a medley.

• 1:10:33Speaker 01

  Listen, I wouldn't have noticed if you didn't say nothing. She said, "I'm a little teapot." Yes, the itsy-bitsy. Baby. The itsy-bitsy teapot.

• 1:10:43Keke Palmer?

  That's how you know I know how to follow directions. Because you started telling me and I started going.

• 1:10:46Speaker 01

  That is funny.

• 1:10:47Keke Palmer?

  Okay, the last one will be, so we have two. I'm gonna give you two. We can do ABC's "Opera Diva", or we could do "You Are My Sunshine" monologue.

• 1:10:58Speaker 01

  Ooh. What was the first one?

• 1:11:01Keke Palmer?

  ABC's "Opera Diva".

• 1:11:03Speaker 01

  A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z. Now I know my ABC's. Next time won't you sing? With me? Thank you.

• 1:11:36Keke Palmer?

  Oh my gosh, that is the Duran Bernarr.

• 1:11:41Speaker 01

  The Grammy Awards winning.

• 1:11:43Keke Palmer?

  Baby.

• 1:11:44Speaker 01

  Duran Bernarr.

• 1:11:45Keke Palmer?

  You are so much joy, so much life, so much...

• 1:11:49Speaker 01

  Speaking of joy, I'll just say this. I spoke to Jennifer Lewis the night that I won the Grammy.

• 1:11:55Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:57Speaker 01

  And she said,

• 1:11:59Speaker 01

  "Do you know that your joy is feeding people? It is feeding people in the Congo. It's feeding people in Sudan." You know, she love Africa.

• 1:12:08Keke Palmer?

  Yes, period.

• 1:12:10Speaker 01

  But it's just,

• 1:12:12Speaker 01

  my joy within myself is being a light in a very dark time. Not that it hasn't been dark in the States, but right now, the darkness is prevalent, it's palpable. So to have that, like I said, a timeline cleanse, and to hear that validation, to say that your joy that you have within yourself is helping others...

• 1:12:41Keke Palmer?

  That's impact, that's real impact. And I, and I agree with Jennifer 100%. We need more of that. Sometimes there's not enough that we can do. And if that's what, knowing that I can at least put a smile on someone's face.

• 1:12:52Speaker 01

  And that's what it is. Because you sometimes feel like, am I doing enough? Am I, is this, is this effective?

• 1:12:58Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 1:12:58Speaker 01

  Is my voice, does it have any weight? Is anyone listening, genuinely? So that...

• 1:13:05Keke Palmer?

  Mother Teresa says, or said, "There can be no great things done, only small things with great love." And whenever I feel down, I always hold on to that because it's like, look, I maybe can't save the world. But in this moment, I'm doing something.

• 1:13:18Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 1:13:18Keke Palmer?

  And so, thank you so much, Sharon. I hope people have laughter and joy and entertainment while watching our conversation because I know I had a fall.

• 1:13:25Speaker 01

  I did, okay.

• 1:13:27Keke Palmer?

  Thank you, boo.

• 1:13:28Speaker 01

  Of course.

• 1:13:35Keke Palmer?

  This conversation was everything at once. Deep, funny, affirming, and real. If you're new to his work, this is your sign to tap in. And if you've been rocking with him since the early days, I hope his authenticity keeps reminding you that being yourself is always a flex. That's all from me. Baby, this is Keke Palmer.