Ella Mai on Being a Mom & Lover Girl

Scorpio energy in the studio! Grammy-winning singer Ella Mai joins Keke to talk motherhood, identity, and love, with that same “Boo’d Up” energy, just evolved. She shares how becoming a mom reshaped her priorities, confidence, and relationship with her body after breastfeeding. Ella also opens up about her most vulnerable album yet, Do You Still Love Me?, and how songs like “Little Things” reflect her fully stepping into her Lover Girl era. 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?

  Y'all, today's guest is a Grammy-winning R&B star who gave us the ultimate cuffing season anthem with "Booed Up", and has been making us feel the love ever since. I'm talking about the one and only Ella Mai. Since hitting the scene, she's only continued to level up, from new music to motherhood, all without compromising who she is. Her latest album is called "Do You Still Love Me", but let's be real, the answer is yes. So let's get into it with Ella, because baby, this is Keke Palmer.

• 1:02Keke Palmer?

  Ella, Ella, Ella Mai, now is it Mai, my? I know everybody, because you know, I know people be butchering that. We don't know what the "I" does. Us Americans, we're like, what does it do?

• 1:10Speaker 01

  No, I think people, in some cultures, obviously, it is pronounced "my", so I can understand why people say that, but yeah, it's Mai.

• 1:15Keke Palmer?

  What's up, girl?

• 1:16Speaker 01

  How are you?

• 1:17Keke Palmer?

  I'm so glad, every time that you, I know people, you get so annoyed if he was saying this, but it's, I don't hear your accent when you sing, so when I hear you talk, I'm like, my girl is from London.

• 1:25Speaker 01

  Everyone's like, oh, wait, hold on, what's going on here?

• 1:27Keke Palmer?

  Yes, I was asking you about my boy Daniel Kaluuya, who's also from

• 1:32Speaker 01

  South London.

• 1:33Keke Palmer?

  South London, so like, what is south, what's tea? Like, what's the energy there?

• 1:37Speaker 01

  We're definitely, we definitely give like, main character syndrome, like, for sure. We're south side of the river, so there's a lot of talent that comes out of South London.

• 1:46Keke Palmer?

  Okay, give me some of these names. Obviously Ella, Ella Mai.

• 1:50Speaker 01

  Yes, of course.

• 1:50Keke Palmer?

  Y'all got that fine rapper over there, what's his name? Stormzy?

• 1:55Speaker 01

  Oh, Stormzy is from south.

• 1:56Keke Palmer?

  Yeah. Well, you did the pre-show pull-up, and I'm excited. Again, yet again, guys, I've been having some, like, good handwriting.

• 2:02Speaker 01

  No, I was gonna say, please excuse my handwriting on there, because I was doing it really quick, and it's really big, and I don't know why I was writing in capitals.

• 2:08Keke Palmer?

  It looked good.

• 2:09Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 2:10Keke Palmer?

  Okay, Zodiac sign, I already knew this because you Lily, I was listening to the album. You know, I'm so very good by the way. And you do the whole breakdown, the Scorpio piece.

• 2:17Speaker 01

  I had to, I just had to put it in there.

• 2:19Keke Palmer?

  Very Scorpio of you.

• 2:20Speaker 01

  Very Scorpio.

• 2:21Keke Palmer?

  But then you're double Scorpio. So it's your sun and your moon, but then your rising is a cancer.

• 2:26Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 2:26Keke Palmer?

  Really love a girl.

• 2:27Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 2:28Keke Palmer?

  You call yourself a lover girl and this, this, nothing proves it more than this.

• 2:31Speaker 01

  Yep, it's very, it's obviously all, both water signs, so very emotional, but like the Scorpio obviously comes off not emotional at all. But we really are inside, once you break the wall down. Definitely sensitive and cancers are just sensitive anyway. So there's, yeah, it's a lot of emotion, a lot of water in there.

• 2:47Keke Palmer?

  I'm a cancer rising, so trust me, I get it.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  Yes, yes.

• 2:50Keke Palmer?

  Um, what are you most grateful for today? My son and the love I have around me on my journey. Amen. I feel the same way, girl. My son.

• 2:57Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 2:57Keke Palmer?

  We're gonna get into the babies, but like, it's too much with them. Why are they just so the ones?

• 3:02Speaker 01

  It's crazy because I feel like, and I know you said we're gonna get into it, but I just feel like, people always say it before you have kids, like, oh, you know, your kids just become your world. And like, you just don't really understand it until you have your own, yeah.

• 3:13Keke Palmer?

  No, you don't. And how old's your boo, your little boo?

• 3:15Speaker 01

  He's one and a half.

• 3:16Keke Palmer?

  One and a half. Um, okay. A relationship or friendship non-negotiable for you? Communication.

• 3:21Speaker 01

  I, I should have wrote, I should have written good communication, because poor communication is not the communication that I'm looking for. But yeah, good communication. Even like, I just, even when I send my friends memes, like on social media, a lot of my friends will reply, won't reply to the memes I've sent and then send me memes. And I'm like, I'm not watching this until you, until you watch what I've sent you. So yeah, definitely communication.

• 3:44Keke Palmer?

  I love that. She's a communicator. Um, what's a question you wish you were asked more in interviews? My love for soccer in parentheses, football, because she's from London. So you like football?

• 3:55Speaker 01

  Love it. I used to play. I played for like eight or nine years, which is probably something that a lot of people don't really know about me, but yeah.

• 4:01Keke Palmer?

  You know, one of my homeboys, my girl, shout out to Candace, um, Leroy Sani, he played for Manchester. Are you familiar with him as a football player?

• 4:08Speaker 01

  No.

• 4:08Keke Palmer?

  Damn Leroy.

• 4:09Speaker 01

  I'm not, uh, no, but I'm not a Manchester United fan or Man City. It depends what he is. I'm a Arsenal fan. My brother is a Man United fan, so that's like, that's the ops a little bit.

• 4:17Keke Palmer?

  Okay, shout out to Leroy Sani. I don't know much, but I knew him. Um, who is someone you've met that made you feel starstruck? These names are incredible. Beyonce, Stevie Wonder.

• 4:27Speaker 01

  It's always gonna be Beyonce for one, cuz I just like, yeah, but Stevie Wonder, I was just like, it didn't feel real, like it didn't feel like I was actually meeting him. And I got to sing with him, um, at, uh, his annual, he does like an annual show for Christmas, for his foundation. And I got to sing with him and I was just like, this is just not even happening right now.

• 4:44Keke Palmer?

  What did y'all sing?

• 4:45Speaker 01

  Superstition.

• 4:46Keke Palmer?

  Such a good Stevie song, too. And fun. I mean, all his songs are, they have fun, but that one is like very like, hmm.

• 4:52Speaker 01

  It was really fun and he was really sweet and like, it was just, it was a dream come true, honestly.

• 4:56Keke Palmer?

  I love that. I hear really good things. I've, I've met, I think I met maybe Stevie once before, but I hear that he's very encouraging to the next generation, which I think is awesome.

• 5:03Speaker 01

  He's really super open, really nice. Like, I feel like if, I, I, I never actually asked him anything in terms of advice when I was there, but I, it was, he, he was very warm and I know that if I did, he would have, yeah.

• 5:13Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, that's dope. That's dope. Okay, last one. What's a mantra you live by and why? Always show up as yourself. As cliche as it is, no one fills a space the way you do. We are all built different for a reason. I mean, it don't get no better than that.

• 5:27Speaker 01

  It is cliche. I know people are probably like rolling their eyes like, yeah, that's what everybody says, but it really is true.

• 5:32Keke Palmer?

  But I've started to realize that the whole point of something being cliche is because it's true. Like, it got so redundant that everybody was just like, okay. But it's like, guys, hold on to it, though.

• 5:41Speaker 01

  I agree.

• 5:41Keke Palmer?

  Cuz a lot of times we forget.

• 5:42Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 5:43Keke Palmer?

  Okay, thanks for doing the pre-show pull-up. How are you feeling? I'm so happy to have you on the show.

• 5:48Speaker 01

  Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

• 5:50Keke Palmer?

  How is this new era of your life? I mean, we're so excited we have this album from you. You also have a baby. I mean, so much has happened since we first met, Ms. Ella Mae.

• 5:58Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 5:58Keke Palmer?

  So how would you describe your current vibe?

• 6:01Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh. When I think about like how the world met me, I'm, I feel like I'm like a completely different person and you probably feel like that even more so. Um, but like, yeah, it's, it's, it's crazy. I feel like I've stepped into this new era of motherhood and like I'm over 30 now and I always say like, I feel like when women hit their 30s, it's just like, there's just a different vibe. There's a different energy that is like, hard to explain, but anybody, any woman that's over 30 knows exactly what I'm talking about.

• 6:26Keke Palmer?

  Girl, yes.

• 6:26Speaker 01

  Yes, exactly. And just like, just waking up and being present in the moment and trying to appreciate things as they happen. And, and, and just being surrounded by the people that I want to be surrounded by, you know, like, not having to deal with stuff that I don't really want to deal with. That's where, that's where I'm at, yeah.

• 6:41Keke Palmer?

  I do think the baby helped with that.

• 6:42Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 6:42Keke Palmer?

  Like, for whatever reason, we, the patience for things that we didn't even know we were outsourcing is gone.

• 6:47Speaker 01

  It's because you just don't even have the time for it.

• 6:49Keke Palmer?

  No.

• 6:49Speaker 01

  Like, you now, now your schedule is kind of on your baby, especially in the, in the start of it. Like, you just really don't have time for any, anything outside of what is like, the priority at that moment. So I think, yeah, I just, yeah, I'm just, I'm enjoying life.

• 7:04Keke Palmer?

  So what does your day look like? And I, I feel like you do something good that a lot of artists maybe can't do or don't know how to do. Where we don't always know what's going on in Ella life, you know what I mean? But it doesn't seem like you're being weird about it. It's just kind of like Ella living her life. You know, we gonna see her when we see her. She gonna show us what she want to show us. So like, what does it look like for you? Like, are you just, you know, always with the baby? Do y'all go out? Are you traveling?

• 7:24Speaker 01

  It, it really depends. Like, right now, obviously, I'm doing, I released the album. So right now, I haven't been around him as much. This is probably like, the longest it's been that I haven't like, consecutively been with him. But it's been great because I know that he's taken care of and, you know, I don't have to worry about him. So I'm really grateful for my village. But like, typically, on the days where I'm not working and I'm just at home, it would really just be, we wake up. He has a nanny, so she'll give him his breakfast because I, I don't play about my sleep.

• 7:50Keke Palmer?

  Shout out to the nannies.

• 7:51Speaker 01

  Yes, absolutely. But I don't play about my sleep. I have to, I have to make sure I have a good nine, at, at least nine, which people think is excessive. Thank you, I try. But that sleep,

• 8:01Keke Palmer?

  She can sleep.

• 8:02Speaker 01

  That sleep, yeah. The newborn phase for me was really rough because the, waking up every two hours was, yeah. Anywho. Yeah, so he'll be with his nanny for the morning and she'll give him breakfast and do activities, you know, all the things. And then, once I get him, We really just chill. It depends on, depends on the day. Like, well, we can go outside, we'll go for a walk. We might stay inside and play. He's like really obsessed. I'm not an anti-screen time mom, so he's like really obsessed with Sing right now, the movie Sing. Which makes me really excited because I feel like, oh, you might be a musical baby. So I'm like, yeah, let's watch that again and again and again. And he recently, the last time I watched it with him, he actually started singing one of the songs, just like the little, just a tiny little part, but I was like, huh, I see what this is.

• 8:46Speaker 01

  We're gonna run with it. Um, so yeah, really just spending as much time with him as I can do and whatever it is that he wants to do. Like, I got him a kitchen for Christmas, so he's been obsessed with playing in his little kitchen and acting like he's making me food and stuff like that. So he's one and a half, so there's only, you know, there's but so much.

• 9:01Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 9:01Speaker 01

  Um, other than stuff like the children's museum or, you know, taking him out for activity stuff, but um.

• 9:06Keke Palmer?

  Are you a movie person? Are you at home binging shows? Do you cook?

• 9:10Speaker 01

  I'm not a huge movie person. It's like, I, yeah, I'm not a huge movie person. I don't cook. I'm, I'm not selling, I'm not really selling myself right now, damn. Um, I don't cook, no. I like, was not made to be in the kitchen. That's one thing I always say. Like, I'll clean. I absolutely.

• 9:26Keke Palmer?

  I like cleaning too.

• 9:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, but cooking, I just like, three hours of all the prep and cooking and then I'm gonna eat for five minutes. I'm just like, and then you have to clean after that. It's just like a whole thing. I'm like, eh, and I'm like, I think if I put my mind to it, I would be able to cook, but I just like, don't really have the energy for it.

• 9:43Keke Palmer?

  In my mind, I also imagine you maybe like by a window, like, are you writing? Are you journaling?

• 9:48Speaker 01

  I mean, yes, I do love to journal and I love to put pen to paper. I was just speaking about this the other day, like I'm getting lazy and just doing stuff on my phone, but I really, which is probably why my handwriting was the way it was, because I need to pick up a pen. But do you cook?

• 10:00Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, I cook, but I'm like you. Like, I, I want to cook more. I like the, when I, whenever I do it and I have the time, I actually love to get lost in it. It's a great time for album, you know, listen to, oh, what new song, what new thing, or even a podcast, like this one. Um, you know, I love like, just like how I can curate a vibe.

• 10:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:19Keke Palmer?

  While I cook. And it's always good when you can also do it with somebody like, you know what I'm saying? Like my, like my son will be in there or his cousins, you know? So I like that vibe, but girl, you know, we don't, we haven't time.

• 10:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:29Keke Palmer?

  So it's like you need time in order to cook. So I want to create more time for myself to just like live in between the working. Um, that's been big for me this year.

• 10:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, girl. That's, it's hard.

• 10:39Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, it is. So big on your Scorpio identity.

• 10:42Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 10:42Keke Palmer?

  I have to know, like, when I think about a Scorpio, I'm thinking assertive, I'm thinking like spicy, you know, some little stereotypical things, but is there an un Scorpio trait of yours that you think you could identify?

• 10:53Speaker 01

  Oh, I don't know, because I, as I said, as we said, I am sun and moon Scorpio. So it's very much Scorpio.

• 10:59Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 11:00Speaker 01

  Over here, it really is. But, um, that's a great question. I don't think anyone's ever asked me that question since my identity really is Scorpio. Um, I don't know.

• 11:09Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, okay, we can come back to this. She said I'm Scorpio to the bone.

• 11:12Speaker 01

  I really am. I do feel like there are a few misconceptions with Scorpios. But I think it's just also Scorpio men and Scorpio women, very different. I think that's all signs though.

• 11:21Keke Palmer?

  All signs. But wait, let's talk about the misconception real quick, because I like that.

• 11:24Speaker 01

  I feel like people tend to think that Scorpios are like super, super jealous, like we're super jealous.

• 11:29Keke Palmer?

  In relationships.

• 11:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:30Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 11:31Speaker 01

  I don't, I, I would like to, I would like to spin it and say, I think we are more so territorial. And jealous. And those, there's a thin line, but I do think those are two different things. I think it gets misconstrued for jealousy.

• 11:44Keke Palmer?

  I've actually never seen, um, in a friend or in like, I dated one Scorpio when I was a teenager. I've never thought jealous.

• 11:52Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 11:52Keke Palmer?

  I actually thought sometimes that y'all could be a little detached.

• 11:55Speaker 01

  Really?

• 11:56Keke Palmer?

  Not like detached, detached, like in, um, like in like, not a loving way, but very kind of like cool, calm and collected. You guys have always given me cool, calm and collected.

• 12:02Speaker 01

  I will say we are cool, calm and collected.

• 12:04Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, and very kind of like, get it together, because you'll lose it fast. Like, that's what I always feel like I get from a Scorpio. Virgos, I feel like we have misconceptions with Virgos, where people think we're just like know-it-alls or we're like very like, and by the way, actually.

• 12:19Speaker 01

  My brother's a Virgo and he's definitely like that.

• 12:22Keke Palmer?

  People think Virgos are actually ass So I don't know, I feel like I'm not, you know, I feel like I just be wanting people to know the information.

• 12:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think Virgos are just, I think the better word for it is particular. I think, and I think that's a good word. I think you should be particular, especially about things that you're passionate about and, and stuff like that. So yeah, I wouldn't say. Yeah, I wouldn't, I think I have a lot of Virgos in my life and I wouldn't say they think they're know-it-alls. I just think that they're very particular and I'm okay with that because I'm a particular person too, so.

• 12:48Keke Palmer?

  And that's why Virgos and Scorpios go together. Well, let's go back to the beginning. First of all, your mom named you Ella after Ella Fitzgerald. She sounds kind of like you with your son. She, did she always see this singing future? Like, was she a singer?

• 13:02Speaker 01

  Uh, no, no, no. My mom is tone deaf, okay? She, and she won't even be mad at me saying that because she really is. But I will say, I, I always grew up around music. My auntie was a singer. Um, and I grew up in church, my grandma's a minister, so there was always, yeah, there was always music around. But she did say, my mom loved jazz music as, I'm called Ella, my brother is called Miles after Miles Davis. So yeah, she's, she's always been a big jazz music lover and I, she did tell me that she did wish, when she named me, she's like, oh, maybe, maybe she'll be a singer. But she never really like, she just said it, she just put it out into the atmosphere and then just like never really thought anything of it until. I started to grow and she realized, because I, I did perform in arts like from when I was little, so she kind of realized like, oh, maybe, maybe this will be a thing.

• 13:47Speaker 01

  But yeah, she's not, she's, she cannot sing.

• 13:49Keke Palmer?

  What is it like in, I just thought about this, what is it like in a London church? Like, did, like, did you grow up like that? Like, is it like, huh, huh, huh? Like, is it like the American churches?

• 13:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, I will say I feel like your, uh, American churches are a bit more like. I don't know if extravagant is the right word, but like, everything is, everything is bigger, I feel like in America, do you know what I mean? So my grandma, uh, we're Pentecostal. So it was definitely still, it was, but it was still like quite, yeah.

• 14:15Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, jumping.

• 14:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was, it was definitely jumping. Um, but my grandma's also Jamaican, so a lot of the people in the church are of Jamaican heritage too. So that brings a different vibe also. But yeah, American churches I think are a lot more, they're just, everything is bigger in America.

• 14:30Keke Palmer?

  My grandma's church was literally called New Canaanland. Why would your church be called that?

• 14:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's, that's crazy.

• 14:36Keke Palmer?

  And it was like three hours, like we had an intermission.

• 14:38Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 14:38Keke Palmer?

  It was one of them.

• 14:39Speaker 01

  You, you spend the whole day at church.

• 14:40Keke Palmer?

  Spend the whole day at church, but really good singing.

• 14:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 14:44Keke Palmer?

  Really good. Um, okay, what was the first song that you remember writing? Like back in your early days of becoming? You know, a musician, like, what do you remember being like?

• 14:54Speaker 01

  Um, actually, when I think about it now, probably, it was actually not that great.

• 15:05Keke Palmer?

  There is a very specific kind of joy that happens when you get three generations of your family all under one roof. And if you know, you know. I'm talking about mom teaching the grandkids something in the backyard, daddy on the grill doing what he does best, the cousins running around being feral in the best way possible. And let me tell you, that kind of moment, you're not really getting that in a hotel. In a hotel, everybody ends up in their own room, doors closed, doing their own thing. Starts to feel more like a logistics exercise than a family memory. But when I book a stay on Airbnb, like when I went to Big Bear, ugh, it's a whole different vibe. You get a real home in a real neighborhood with enough space so nobody's on top of each other, but still close enough that everybody's part of the same story.

• 15:50Keke Palmer?

  And that's what makes it special. Spring is the perfect time to do it before summer gets hectic and everybody's schedules take over. Find a home on Airbnb and get your whole family under one roof. Trust me, that's where the magic is.

• 16:07Speaker 01

  But I, I didn't pick up songwriting until quite later on in my, so I went to school for music and songwriting was a class that we did. And I always used to think, I had, I don't know why, but I always used to think that you had to be like this crazy poet or this crazy writer in order to be a songwriter.

• 16:23Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 16:23Speaker 01

  Um, and just because I thought it was like an incredible skill, which it is, but I didn't realize, and although I grew up listening to music where it felt like people were, you know, really just explaining their lives, I didn't realize that like I could just explain my life or what I was going through and make it into a song until I did the songwriting class in school. Um, and once I started to explore that, I was like, wow, I, I, I can do this. It's not something that like is super far-fetched, so I was practicing it more. And I got in the studio, this was, I was still living in London. And I wrote um a bunch of songs. I had a friend who was a producer and I just kinda just wrote out whatever I was feeling. It wasn't even really like what was going on in my life.

• 17:01Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 17:01Speaker 01

  Um but there was like a group of songs I wrote. I can't remember which one was first, but it was about a relationship. Um and I was kinda just like making it up almost, honestly. Um but they were like a little bit darker than the lover girl that I am now. And I don't know if that was just, yeah, I don't know if that was just. I felt like it was easier to write about heartbreak at that time. Um but yeah, I I had put it on SoundCloud. Um like early, early, early, early days, but they were like really short and really, if I listen to them now, I'm gonna be embarrassed. But like that was, yeah, I was probably about seventeen.

• 17:33Keke Palmer?

  At teen, as teenagers, I was always like going through something. It's like, but what are you going through? Um but that's really dope. I like what you said about songwriting, cause I think in general, that's how it can feel about the arts. But I feel that way especially about writing and, you know, when people first get started, and even when I first started getting writing. I always felt like there had to be some like type of big ass thing going. You know what I mean? When it's just like, it's just you.

• 17:54Speaker 01

  Just write whatever you feel. And even just in terms of like dependent on the genre, even if we're taking genres out of it, just like. Okay, a chorus, a pre-chorus, an outro, an intro, like how do we do, do we do A, B, A, B? Like, you know, I just always felt like there was this whole thing when it's really just like, just go in there and do what you feel.

• 18:11Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 18:11Speaker 01

  Which I've learned obviously over my journey, but like the start, it was like a terrifying thing for me, yeah.

• 18:16Keke Palmer?

  When I was looking at, when we're getting ready to do this interview, I was like, how did I miss the fact that you was on X Factor?

• 18:21Speaker 01

  I was, yeah. It's cause it was the English X Factor.

• 18:22Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, you was on X Factor with a girl group, Arise, is that? Yeah, so tell me about that experience and where that was in your like. Uh professional career, like, you know, at what point were you when you did that? And then obviously you guys didn't make it.

• 18:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was, this was probably like the year after I started songwriting. So this, I was around eighteen, I think, if I'm remembering correctly. And I went to school for music and um one of the girls I was in class with was my really good friend. Um she told me like, oh, there's this producer that like wants to put together a girl group. Now, I never wanted to be in a girl group. I was just like.

• 18:53Keke Palmer?

  She said make character, did you know what I'm saying?

• 18:55Speaker 01

  Not even, but I was just like, that just sounds like a headache. Like I just, yeah, it wasn't anything that I ever wanted to do. But I was like, you know what? I'm in school for music. I'm not really like, I'm songwriting, but I'm not really doing loads. Like, let me just see how it goes. So we go to the studio with this producer and we meet another girl and that's how we um end up as a three um in the girl group of Rise. So the school that I went to, X Factor holds, um, they almost like scout at music schools.

• 19:21Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 19:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, so they were scouting and we were like, should we try this? Like, what do we have to lose? We don't have anything to lose. So we were like, okay, cool, we're gonna try it. And we um, we went through a couple of auditions. There's like a couple of auditions before you actually get to the TV part. Um, and we got through all of them and everything seemed like it was going so well. I was like, oh my god, we're like about to win this competition. We didn't even get to, we didn't even get to the TV stage yet, but it just felt like it was going so well. I was like, okay, cool, this, we might have something here. We get to the T, the first TV round, um, they loved us. Four yeses, like, oh, you guys are just bringing something new, like blah, blah, blah. Yeah, and we're like, ah, you know, everything was really exciting. This was also my first time experiencing anything that was on TV, so that was definitely a different experience.

• 20:04Speaker 01

  We get to the next round and we got four no's. They completely changed it.

• 20:07Keke Palmer?

  Four of them. Ain't there only four judges?

• 20:09Speaker 01

  All four that said yes, turned around and said no. And I was like, dang, like, we, we must have been really bad this time. Like, I don't know. And I didn't feel like we were, but I was like, oh, okay. And then like, we didn't really take it to heart because this was something that we did just kind of off the whim and like, oh, we don't have anything to lose. It definitely did like show me more into how TV works for sure. So that I'm grateful for. Um, but then after that, not because of X Factor, but just because we kind of just decided, cool, we're gonna all kind of do our own thing and then we dismantled and then, yeah.

• 20:38Keke Palmer?

  Yeah. Have you seen any of those girls?

• 20:40Speaker 01

  I just saw the one that I went to school with. He was like my really good friend. I literally just saw her just after Christmas. Um, we used to practice at her mom's house, like me in her mom's kitchen and her mom would cook for us and we would be practicing our harmonies and stuff. So I went to their house to see the whole family, yeah.

• 20:54Keke Palmer?

  I love that. I love that. I mean, well, I remember when you were discovered. I think most of anybody that was online, what, twenty sixteen, in that era, we remember seeing your videos. Because they were like going viral at the while. Like, it was like you would do something and they were like, oh, who's that girl again? And then DJ Mustard, he reached out to you. He obviously signed you.

• 21:11Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 21:11Keke Palmer?

  Tell me what that was like and if there was any like apprehension or concern, because I don't know if you've been to Amer, had been to America yet or, you know.

• 21:18Speaker 01

  I, I actually lived in New York for high school.

• 21:21Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 21:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, so I had been, I'd been back and forth. I also have family out here. Um, but I will say New York and L A are two completely different things. Um, so I first, when I was doing my covers, like, the very first one that I did, I'd, obviously, again, I was just doing it on a whim. I'm like, I don't have anything to lose. Um, we had just broken up the girl group. So I'm like, cool, what can I do to try and put myself out there? This was when Instagram only allowed you to post fifteen seconds.

• 21:46Keke Palmer?

  That's so O G.

• 21:47Speaker 01

  This was the very start of Instagram video, like no reels, no, nothing like that. So I was like, okay, well, I have fifteen seconds and I kinda need to make the fifteen seconds count. So I was like, cool, I'll do. Had this whole plan of like whatever songs were popping at the moment, like let me do those because that's, you know, what people are, you know, used to hearing, yeah. So I'm doing all of this, not realizing like what it would be or knowing what it would be, but I was just like, let me try. So a couple of videos in, as you said, they started to go viral. Um, and I was just like, I don't know what I'm doing, but I should probably keep doing it. Like, so I just kept doing a whole bunch of different covers. Mustard found me. And I happened to be in New York visiting my friends from high school and he was doing, uh, Made in America Festival.

• 22:27Keke Palmer?

  Okay, okay.

• 22:28Speaker 01

  Which is in Philadelphia. Um, so he was like, you know, he had, when he first hit me up, he was like, what's your situation? Like, you know, I really love what you do. And I had no situation, no management, no nothing. I was literally singing into my phone in my bedroom. In my mom's house with a YouTube backing track. I didn't even have a mic, like, didn't have anything, literally just, yeah, looked anyhow. I was just like, whatever. So I was like, I don't have a situation. Like, I'm just, you know, I'm an aspiring artist, blah, blah, blah, blah. So he was like, okay, cool. I would love to work with you. Um, so I told him, oh, I'm gonna be in New York, X, Y, and Z. Um, and so we made it happen when he was in Philly and I was in New York. We do this first studio session in New York.

• 23:09Speaker 01

  I take my friends with me because again, I didn't have management and I was like, I don't wanna show up by myself. I, you know, I don't know what I'm walking into. Um, but genuinely, I could have walked in there by myself. Like, it was just such a warm environment. Like, he literally just said to me, I just wanna see how you work. I'd never been in a studio this size. This was like a big studio. I'm used to like makeshift studios or little studios and which were fine, both work. But like I was just like, damn, this is like a little bit intimidating. This is obviously this is mustard.

• 23:36Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 23:37Speaker 01

  Had hits or like loads of hits already. So I'm like, okay, well, I'm just gonna give it my best shot.

• 23:41Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 23:41Speaker 01

  And we recorded three songs that night. I remember and like I left the studio not really knowing like he was, he gave me creative control. He was like, I just wanna see what you do. I'll give you whatever you wanna pick from this pack. You do what you do. And let's see. So I did that and and I I thought it was really cool that he wasn't kinda like over my shoulder saying do this, do that. And from there, he was like, oh, I wanna get you out to LA. But I'd also been in situations too where like people would say, oh, I wanna get you here. I wanna get you there and you know, it doesn't work. So I'm like, I didn't know what was happening with those songs. I could have been demo artist, whatever.

• 24:14Keke Palmer?

  Right. True. That happens.

• 24:15Speaker 01

  Right. So I left and I was just like, well, I I gave it my best shot. Uh, we'll see what happens. And then he followed up and he was like, I wanna get you to LA. What's your schedule? Blah, blah, blah. So we got in contact with like his management and um, I still again, didn't have management. But um, we made it work and I came to LA three times within a year, which is when we made all of the songs that are on the first EPs that we put out. And that was twenty, yeah, that was ten years ago now, which is insane.

• 24:40Keke Palmer?

  Insane.

• 24:41Speaker 01

  I'm just like, where does time go?

• 24:43Keke Palmer?

  But I love what you were saying because I think all producers are different like, but mustard does have this vibe where and I I think again, when you think about his tracks and how he can trans or his beats, how he can transform a song is it it does very give. Do your thing and then let me do my thing. And then it becomes this big piece. You get what I mean?

• 24:58Speaker 01

  And the beautiful part about it, people always ask me like, you know, in this, in this ten year uh, relationship that me and mustard have had. Like what has changed? And and honestly, our process is still exactly that same way. And that's something that I've always really appreciated because I've never felt, don't get me wrong. He will always tell me the truth. He'll always be like, I don't know if this works. I don't know if that works, whatever. Um, and I've also like, I'm allowed, I'm signed to him, but I'm allowed to work with any producer that I wanna work with. It's never like, oh, you just only have to work with me. He's always been very, very open. But it's always been like that and I and I think that really, really helped me gain my own confidence because I could also trust myself without feeling like. Okay, whatever Mustard says goes and you know, and even if he disagreed with me with something, if I was like really strong and like, I really like this song and he was like, I don't think it's the best,

• 25:43Speaker 01

  but if this is what you want, then we'll do that. He's always been a very, very amazing mentor and really honest. And, and um, I'm just really grateful for that relationship because I know everybody's situation is not like that. Yeah.

• 25:56Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, no, it's not. And definitely, I was interested, it was interesting hearing you say this because I was thinking when I was listening to the album, it was a different vibe than usual that he would usually give us something, you know, what we know a mustard on the beat.

• 26:07Speaker 01

  And I think that's really, what's really interesting also about our musical relationship is because in the timing that he met me, he said he wanted to, he wanted to venture into R and B, you know, he was definitely just like a hip hop producer.

• 26:20Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 26:20Speaker 01

  Um, and I think it's amazing when you look at my catalog and just the stuff that he's done, um, even like with Rihanna or, you know, he is definitely not what you would expect uh, Mustard to produce. And I think that is uh, is really cool to be a part of that in his story also because he's very much a main part of my story. But to also be a part of that in his story is really cool.

• 26:40Keke Palmer?

  What would you say to other people about your story? Because it is so interesting. I look at people like yourself and even if we think about like OG, like, you know, back in, back in the original YouTube days with Soulja Boy or Justin Bieber. Like, we've had a lot of talent, talent over the course of time come from social media. How much of that, because now it's overloaded.

• 26:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:57Keke Palmer?

  And I think it's really hard to be seen. So like, some of it is like, obviously you're talented as hell, but then some of it is timing.

• 27:02Speaker 01

  Timing.

• 27:03Keke Palmer?

  And just, you know, things happen at the right, like, what would you say to that?

• 27:07Speaker 01

  God.

• 27:07Keke Palmer?

  For artists, yeah, because it's like, yeah.

• 27:09Speaker 01

  I, I literally, in, in my case, um, I would say really timing, um, because it's funny because I think a lot of the time when I was doing my Instagram videos or even like when I first started releasing music, people kind of still knew me as the girl who sings covers on Instagram.

• 27:23Keke Palmer?

  Sure.

• 27:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, I, I didn't really get to like Ella Mai until Boot Up happened. Um, and even, even at the start of Boot Up happening, people were still like, who is this? Like, people didn't know I was English. People, you know, like, as you said, when I sing, you can't hear my accent. So I think like, timing and that time, like you said too, back in the day, YouTube, like, it was like Vine days. It was all of those things. It definitely was very different. And now it is very oversaturated, but um. I think if I was to give anyone advice in this day and age and it's very different now. So I don't know if this would be great advice, honestly. But if I was to try and give someone advice, I would kind of like the mantra that I said to you. Just kind of, you always kind of have to show up as yourself. I think it's easy with social media to have imposter syndrome. Because you see so much of what everybody else is doing.

• 28:09Speaker 01

  So, I mean, like, you can look at it, even take out music and just look at content creation. And whatever goes viral, then like fifty thousand other people do that same trend. And it's just like, it's kind of the luck of the draw because it can work for some people. But it doesn't always work, you know, for everyone. But I think just trying to find things that make you an individual.

• 28:29Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 28:29Speaker 01

  In a world where everything is so much the same.

• 28:31Keke Palmer?

  Because really what I'm hearing you say, if we even just go and compress it further, brand.

• 28:35Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 28:36Keke Palmer?

  You need a brand. People got to figure out how to find their brand.

• 28:39Speaker 01

  And that's tough.

• 28:40Keke Palmer?

  It's very tough. It's literally something that I focus on always trying to teach and help even with myself. Like with my platform, Key TV, that's kind of like one of the main messages of it. It's like, how to build a brand and find a way to make people want to come to you for what only you can do. And that's like, that is not difficult. And most of the time, it takes money, trial and error, a bunch of practice, which is very expensive. But it's like, you know, if you can find a way, like every little moment, to invest in yourself, it's worth it. Because that's how you find your voice. Well, obviously, your voice is amazing. And I agree with you that when Boot Up happened, I mean, that's when everybody knew.

• 29:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:15Keke Palmer?

  You know, that, okay, Ella Mai, she is, she's coming through. You know, she's somebody that you need to pay attention to. It's a Grammy winning record. I mean, twenty eighteen, you won a Grammy. This must have been quite crazy. Because it was like, I was just, you know, over there in London at the church. And now I don't want a Grammy on my first, essentially, project. I mean, I feel like this was from your first project.

• 29:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, these were from my first EPs. It was my first ever Grammy nominations. It was my first Grammys, going, like, going to the Grammy. Everything was just happening so quickly. I was just kind of like, what is going on now?

• 29:48Keke Palmer?

  Did you feel any pressure after that moment? Like, because when everything happens, it's like, woo. And then it comes down and then it's like, so now, what does it mean to do it again? What does it mean to have continued success? Are people going to think I'm a one hit wonder? You know, like, what were, how were you dealing with all those questions?

• 30:02Speaker 01

  Um, to be honest, I think being as young as I was, I mean, I wasn't super young. I was twenty four, I think, if I'm remembering correctly. But I think being like so new in the industry. I was like a little bit naive to what was actually happening. And I honestly, when I look back now, I think that actually helped me deal with the pressure of it. Because now I'm very much aware of how the industry works, how, you know, like I I see the ins and outs. I've been in it for ten years now, so I'm very aware. At that time, I had kind of just got here. Like, you know, I was, it was my first, maybe year or two, maybe my second year. Um, but definitely my first year on like this grand scale. Um, so having Mustard by my side obviously helped because he had been in the industry for a lot longer. So he could like kind of steer me in which direction to go.

• 30:47Speaker 01

  But I think when it came now to making my sophomore album, I I was happy with the six. Obviously, I'm forever indebted to Boot Up. And then we followed up with Trip, which was like a a great follow up. And I think.

• 30:59Keke Palmer?

  It really was.

• 31:00Speaker 01

  Thank you. That kind of relieved me of the of the one hit wonder.

• 31:04Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 31:05Speaker 01

  Thing, because that I was like, okay, cool. I think I think we're good. And even if I never do anything ever, ever again in my life, I don't think you can call me a one hit wonder.

• 31:13Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 31:13Speaker 01

  And that was very important to me because I, but even so, I think that people saying one hit wonder is like looked at as a bad thing. Do you know how hard it is to get that one hit?

• 31:23Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, I agree with you. And what does it mean? Really, when people say one hit wonder, they just mean like something that's not a massive hit. Because half the people that be called, they be calling one hit wonders have whole, full on albums, whole careers.

• 31:33Speaker 01

  Full blown discographies, yes.

• 31:34Keke Palmer?

  Fans, yeah, you know what I mean? All that type of stuff. So I agree with you. It's really fake in in any regard. I mean, unless there's maybe like, maybe like one percent of person.

• 31:41Speaker 01

  Even if somebody is a one hit wonder, let's just say we take out all of that and they really just had one song that hit like. Some people don't get that in their whole career.

• 31:49Keke Palmer?

  It's true.

• 31:49Speaker 01

  So it's just like, I feel like it's looked at so negatively, but it's you, you're lucky if you get that. So I was really, really grateful. Um, one for that, for it to happen so early in my career. Also, um, then my, the success of my debut album was also just huge. I was like, when I went to record my sophomore album, I'm like, oh. So where do we even begin? Cause like, I was really like, I know there's a sophomore curse, that's one thing already. My debut album was so successful, Boot Up, Trip, like, it was so successful, I'm like, do I need to make another Boot Up? Like, do I need to make another Trip? Like, is my sophomore album supposed to sound exactly like my, uh, debut album? You know, I mean, it was ve- I was very confused and, and a little bit conflicted.

• 32:32Speaker 01

  And I think I over, I, I was overthinking it for sure. And Mustard, I remember Mustard sat me down, um, kind of at the start of the process and was just like, look, just do what you do. Like, all of the rest of it, we will figure out once we get to the end of the process of recording. But while you're recording, if you think about all this stuff, you're not gonna produce what you wanna produce. Um, and then Covid hit. So it was even more time to overthink because we were just really just like sitting at home.

• 32:58Keke Palmer?

  Covid was like a lifetime. Like, it really, we all went into a time warp. I don't, I think we're still in the wormhole of that because it was, yeah, it changed everything. Wow. Yeah. So during that time, you were just in a ho- were you writing?

• 33:10Speaker 01

  I was writing, I was recording, um, and I was just kinda just like, trying to figure it out. Halfway through, uh, studios opened back up, but it was like, you only had like a limited amount of people that were allowed to be in there. Everybody was wearing masks unless I was recording. Like, it was just a very different vibe. So that also played on,

• 33:27Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 33:28Speaker 01

  what am I supposed to do? Cause we didn't even know if, if people were ever gonna tour again. So it was just like a very weird time. And I recorded eighty, eight zero, songs in my sophomore album process, which is the most that I've ever in. I mean, I'm only three albums in, but even so, like, it was just excessive because I was just overthinking it and the timing of it was just, yeah, um, so.

• 33:49Keke Palmer?

  In my mind, because I, I'm, I'm obviously, you know, getting your music, you know, I'm hearing it and it, there's a very clear sense of self, there's a very clear through line. I don't know what you, going on in your world when you're making it. But it seems like you know who you are and we know what to expect from you.

• 34:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 34:05Keke Palmer?

  But I don't know, maybe was there a moment where you were compromising or, or thought that you should? Or I gotta flip the sound up or change my conversation?

• 34:12Speaker 01

  No, I think, I think every time I step into the booth or into the studio, I have like, I, I am a confident person. I'm definitely an assertive person, like very much Scorpio, as we said. And as I record, as I was recording and writing, I didn't have the doubt.

• 34:28Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 34:29Speaker 01

  Even though, even if some sessions weren't as great as the others, and I was like, oh, I don't really love this. I'm just like, whatever. Okay, cool. We'll come back tomorrow. Um, it was really the, after I left the studio and thought about the whole process and like, looked at it as a whole piece where I was like, oh, am I doing, you know, am I doing this right? But I will say the people around me throughout my whole journey have always really, really helped keep me grounded and helped keep me up where I wanna be. Um, and I think that's really important.

• 34:57Keke Palmer?

  Who would those people be, you'd say, actually?

• 34:59Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh.

• 35:00Keke Palmer?

  Like your mom, I'm sure.

• 35:00Speaker 01

  My mom, one thousand percent. She's always been like my strongest supporter, like in anything. My brother, um, my grandma, my friends, like I still have, most of my friends are still my friends I had before any of this even happened. Um, so they definitely will keep me grounded. Like, I remember when we were going to Wendy's and we only had five dollars and we were sharing a meal. They absolutely will keep me grounded. But yeah, I think I've just always had a really good support system and I think that's really helped. Cause I can, I being in it now, especially for 10 years, I can see if you don't have that, how it's very easy.

• 35:31Keke Palmer?

  Girl.

• 35:32Speaker 01

  How it's very easy to get lost, yeah.

• 35:33Keke Palmer?

  Very. But we gotta get into the numerology of it all because, girl, you're born on November 3rd.

• 35:37Speaker 01

  Yes, I am.

• 35:38Keke Palmer?

  But then you released a trilogy of EPs as your first project after getting signed. Then you released a three-track EP titled Three on your 30th birthday.

• 35:47Speaker 01

  Yes, I did.

• 35:47Keke Palmer?

  And you have a tattoo of a three.

• 35:49Speaker 01

  I do.

• 35:50Keke Palmer?

  So what is this three?

• 35:51Speaker 01

  I just love that. I love that number. I think three is a great number. Obviously, I'm born on the 3rd. Um, which always, I don't know, it just always held a like really special place to me in my heart. Like, I feel like, I don't know, I feel like one and two are also very special numbers, don't get me wrong. But there's just something about a three, like, and I think I've always, when I think about my friendship groups even, we, I've always kinda traveled in threes. The girl group I was in was a three-piece. Like, I, three has just always been a very-

• 36:16Keke Palmer?

  Three-piece nuggets.

• 36:17Speaker 01

  Yeah. A very prominent number in my life. So, yeah.

• 36:23Keke Palmer?

  Wow, that's so cool. Yeah, because I wanted to know what else it meant to you. I have numbers that feel that way to me, but I'm like, I love how you really lined it up. I'm like, she on that left thigh.

• 36:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, a little bit. And this is now my third album that I just released. And obviously, I'm gonna release more, but like, so far, this is my favorite project.

• 36:40Keke Palmer?

  Bye bye.

• 36:41Speaker 01

  No, yeah, I'm like, oh, I've done three, maybe, no, no, no.

• 36:45Keke Palmer?

  We definitely need more. No, I thought this was also cool. For your Did You Miss Me tour in 2025, you revisited some of your first venues. You're very sentimental.

• 36:53Speaker 01

  Very.

• 36:54Keke Palmer?

  I'm learning this about you. Yeah, so like, what was it like being back in those spaces again?

• 36:58Speaker 01

  It was like a time warp, honestly, because it had been, I did it in 2017 was my very first time I headlined my own shows. So going back to these venues, two of them, I did six shows, two of the venues that I originally did don't exist anymore. So I had, we had to kind of pivot and find a venue that was a similar size in a similar area. So that was fine. So, but even so, just being able to, it'd been a while since I was on stage. So I said to my agent, like, I just kind of want to do something to end the year. We knew, obviously, the album was dropping start of the year. So I was like, what can we do that's like special and makes me feel like I'm giving back to my fans, also for just being always so patient with me because I take long breaks in between my albums.

• 37:40Speaker 01

  But also for me, like, I haven't been on stage in a while. I just kind of want to feel that energy again.

• 37:44Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 37:44Speaker 01

  And I was like, what if we redid what we did in 2017? And she loved it. She was like, I think that's an amazing idea. It's like, you know, really intimate shows. And I can kind of feel like I'm having a conversation with people as opposed to it being, you know, just like, okay, we did this whole production, which is great in itself, too. But I just wanted something to feel like how it used to feel when it, when everything first started. Because I feel like,

• 38:05Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 38:06Speaker 01

  I don't feel like you ever get that feeling back. And I think a lot of the time, we're chasing that feeling almost, even though things progress and you want them to progress and they become great in their own way, in the new way. I just kind of wanted to feel that feeling again, and that's exactly what it did. I I was so grateful to be able to do that and um kind of get my feet wet again before we released this album and and you know, do a whole bunch of other shows. Um but it was great. I was like so close to everyone. People were like, I was doing old songs, like my old setlist that I don't really do anymore. People were screaming out like, oh, can you do this? Can you do that? And it was just, and we were just kind of improvising. It was, it was honestly everything I wanted it to be.

• 38:42Keke Palmer?

  Yeah. What do you contribute to your breaks in between your projects? Because I think that's like, that to me makes me think about like TLC or even like a lot of the OG 90s groups and stuff like that where, or early 2000s, like, especially with R and B where people really did take a lot of time in between. And I know that there's maybe more people that do that in these days, but I do feel it's rare. I feel like most of the time, everybody's like, seven years, seven albums. Boom. And it's like, you know, that's great, but it is, I do think there's something special to what we used to have, where it's like people like, five albums, this is what happened in those five years. Well, so what, does it just happen for you? Is it intentional?

• 39:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's never like extremely intentional. I will say that. It's never like, right, I'm taking off four years and my next album will come out in four years. It's never that. It just kind of has been how it's gone really for me. And I think in the same way you said, like, one thing that's big for you this year is making time to live. I'm very big on the fact that like I have to go and live my life in order to be able to create. Like I need something to speak about. Like if I'm, if I'm, and I'm always writing in between and and having ideas and writing stuff down. But like, I feel like I need to live and really experience things and like feel like, okay, cool, I'm ready to put this on a record before, I mean, instead of just going in the studio to just go in the studio and be like, oh yeah, I'm in the studio today.

• 40:02Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 40:02Speaker 01

  I feel like I need, yeah, I want, I want to have something to speak about. And it's just so happened that each of my albums have been four years apart. And it, yeah, it wasn't super intentional. First one being that obviously, like I said, COVID in between, COVID also happened. Um this one in between, I had a baby. So like it kind of just happened that way. But um I'm also not, I don't like oversaturation. I would, I much prefer quality over quantity. So, which is also why I said I'm really grateful to my fans. They give me the space to be able to do that and not feel like, oh my God, I'm gonna be forgotten if I take too long. Um. But yeah, I just, I really feel like I need to feel proud of what it is that I'm putting out. And if that takes a little bit longer, I would much rather it take longer and put out something that I'm really proud of. As opposed to like, oh, I just need to put this out because everybody's putting something out, yeah.

• 40:47Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, but to that point, you do make songs that live even when you're not making new songs. You know what I mean?

• 40:52Speaker 01

  I try.

• 40:53Keke Palmer?

  It's like four years could go by and we're still listening to what happened. You know, at the beginning of those four years, which I think is great. It's very hard to do.

• 41:00Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 41:00Keke Palmer?

  So let's talk about Do You Still Love Me?

• 41:01Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 41:02Keke Palmer?

  Released February 6th, this third album. I mean, just like, so when did you know you was done with it? And when did you know that this was the album?

• 41:09Speaker 01

  Um, so we went through like different, different versions of this album, I will say. Um, we knew we were done with it, probably like really, really done with it, probably like fall of last year. So, or like end of summer last year.

• 41:22Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 41:23Speaker 01

  So not that long ago, but we just wanted to, you know, we also wanted to do a complete rollout this time and kind of make it. I wanted, I really wanted to like bring people into my world a little bit more. Um, so yeah, we wanted to create a real, I don't know, like a, yeah, a world really. Um, that you feel kind of immersed when you listen to, to the album. And that's again, goes back to the albums I feel like that I grew up listening to. They really created a world that you felt like you were like in, um, when you listen, in. Um, so we, yeah, we knew we were done around summertime-ish. Um, and I don't know, it was weird because we, we don't have any features on the album. But every time we listen to it, we kind of just like, didn't feel like anything was missing. And it wasn't even like, oh, I'm doing an album with no features because I wanted to just be me. It just kind of happened that way.

• 42:07Speaker 01

  Um, but it was kind of, I was like, wow, nobody feels like anything is missing, so this is the album. Um, and it was like, it was fun. It was probably the most fun I've had recording. As I said, with my sophomore album, I was like really in my head. My debut album, I was like present, but so much was happening that I just feel like I was just like going with the flow. This one, I was like, I just want to go in the studio and have fun. Like, I want to remember why I love music, remember why I love making music and just whatever comes out, comes out. And if we love it today, we love it today. Hopefully we love it tomorrow. And if we don't, then we'll, we'll try again, you know? I just didn't want to put any pressure on myself. I was also. Pregnant and postpartum, recording this album. So that was another.

• 42:50Speaker 01

  That and that was another reason why I didn't want to stress at all. I was like, I cannot be in here like my sophomore album. Because that is also, you know, that's dangerous.

• 42:57Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 42:57Speaker 01

  Um, so we kind of just created a space where I was with like the people that I'm most comfortable with. Um, and like, yeah, we just did it like that. It was very few people around, um, and just had fun. I didn't want anything to feel super, super pressured and, um.

• 43:12Keke Palmer?

  I love what you said about that. It felt very like immersed in my world and you and you opened up to us.

• 43:17Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 43:18Keke Palmer?

  Because I did feel like, you know, obviously this is your music. And I feel like, again, this is an extension of that. But you did go really deep. I wasn't sure if these are like just stories that, you know, you're making up.

• 43:28Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 43:28Keke Palmer?

  Or if this is really your life, because it was really, it was, it was vulnerable.

• 43:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was definitely vulnerable.

• 43:33Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, like was you scared at any point? Because I mean, like, again, you're private. So it's like, we don't know. We just know you had a baby. You popped up, it was like, damn, the baby was, gee, was doing something, you know? But then when we hit an album, it's like you really, there was, there's love.

• 43:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:47Keke Palmer?

  And I think that is such a sweet thing to hear because, again, this is no shade to what's going on. Because whether people are in love or not, you know, we do hear a lot on the radio where it's like, get them out of here. We don't want to do, you know, and that's fine. We'd be there for that too.

• 43:59Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 43:59Keke Palmer?

  But you weren't afraid to be like, it's me and you, baby.

• 44:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:02Keke Palmer?

  I was like, okay.

• 44:04Speaker 01

  I think, I honestly, I think that's just me as a person also, like, so I was like, you know, I, as I was recording this album, I don't, I don't think I even actually realized, um, how vulnerable I was being at the time. But also when you're pregnant, I feel like your, your hormones are just going all over the place. So when I look back on it in hindsight, like, I wasn't even thinking about it, like, oh, do I let people in or whatever? It was just, I was just making the music that I felt.

• 44:28Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 44:28Speaker 01

  And it felt good. Um, so before we released, I was like, yeah, this is more, definitely more personal than my previous two albums. But like, I feel like the music that I grew up listening to, people kind of did let you into their world a little bit more as the journey progressed. So. I'm still in control of what I what I'm putting out there. Um, and I was fine with it and I was just like, yeah, I I kind of want to dig a little bit deeper into my world and the way that my brain works and and the type of person I am. While still holding things very close to me and and that being okay, so yeah.

• 44:57Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, what did people very close to you like your mom say, or even your your partner.

• 45:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:01Keke Palmer?

  Hearing you you about to put this out like.

• 45:04Speaker 01

  You know, you know what's so funny, there's one song, uh, there's one song on the album that we recorded on Valentine's Day last year. And I remember playing it for my best friend.

• 45:14Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 45:14Speaker 01

  He was like, this has been my best friend from high school, like known him for fifteen plus years. He was like, there is no way that you're putting that out. And I was like, what do you mean like, and he's like, I just know you like, there's just no way. And so when I showed him the final track list, he was like, I'm proud of you. Like, I never thought that you would, you know, you would open up that much. And he was like, I'm really like, you should be proud of yourself because the person that I've known for fifteen plus years would definitely be like, nope. Um, but I don't know, as I get older and definitely, like you said, becoming a mom, um. I just felt like it was, you know, it was it was one of those things and everybody around me really. Love, I think, love to see that I, you know, that this is the way I feel and um, and I feel comfortable enough to share that I feel safe enough to to share that.

• 45:57Keke Palmer?

  And would you say he was the baby that like, because I feel like this for me, when I have my son, again, we all are like, I'm a hundred percent. But something happens that you realize there was a whole other hundred percent you had not even tapped into. So you would say it's the same for you that that's why you were like, oh, I didn't even know I felt like giving this. And that's kind of how that, yeah.

• 46:16Speaker 01

  I feel like your perspective when you become a mom just changes completely like it's just, it's actually kind of wild. Because even while you're pregnant, you're still like, you know that a baby is coming, but you still don't know exactly what to expect. You can prepare yourself, you can say, right, I'm gonna do this, this and this, and then when the baby comes, it's like, it's whatever the baby wants. So that can go completely out the window. Um, but yeah, I think he's just made me, my son has really made me look at life very differently. I used to be a very black and white person. I used to be like, it's this or it's this and there's no gray area. He's just completely changed my perspective and how I look at things and I know that like, I literally cannot control everything. Some things are just gonna happen and it's not even a big deal to not. Be in control as much as I used to like, you know, sometimes I kind of want to embrace

• 46:57Speaker 01

  the beauty of just spontaneity. So, um, yeah, he definitely, I would say it's because of him. I'm thankful for that.

• 47:03Keke Palmer?

  So walk me through some of the songs, maybe like the top three or, you know, four or five, how many you fell, that mean the most to you on the album and why?

• 47:19Speaker 01

  I think the very first one, There Goes My Heart, um, is really special to me. I think just because it was really just like allowing myself to feel, even if like I have felt other things before, I, I feel like if, you know, you go through heartbreak and you're like, I'm not doing this again and whatever else. Um, but really just kind of opening yourself back up and allowing that to, to happen again was what There Goes My Heart is about. Just really kind of like, because I'm also a very independent person. I, I think you're, you're, you definitely give me, yeah. So I'm just kind of like, I could do it by myself if I want to, do you know what I mean? Um, but then, you know, just being, ha- having a space where you feel safe enough to, to let your guard down and, and just kind of be you, um, in the chaos of all of what's going on in our careers,

• 48:04Speaker 01

  our work life, um, that's really special. So that's really what that song is about.

• 48:08Keke Palmer?

  It's also beautiful because when you are a public figure, like as a woman, maybe it's different for guys, but as a woman, when you're so obviously independent and also private, but still so deeply loving, it can be hard for, for people to understand that, you know, and they want you to prove it. They always want you to come on Front Street and be like, and this is where we did, and this is where, it's too, and it's unfair because you're actually showing that love by keeping it private.

• 48:34Speaker 01

  Right.

• 48:34Keke Palmer?

  You know what I mean? And still keeping something too. So I really get that because a lot of times people would think that, what, the way that I'm saying or how I am, that I'm like being cold, but it's like, actually no, like I'm the most loving ever, but I, I'm protecting my love by not being too much.

• 48:48Speaker 01

  And I don't think that people who are not in it. Could understand it because you you don't you don't do like you know this is not your world so it's and I think that things look very different all the time so they see they see the music industry or they see the entertainment industry and they think okay this is how it goes and it's actually like completely different so I it's easy to obviously judge from the outside and say oh I would do this or I would do that or whatever but it's like it's just a completely different thing once you're in it so yeah I think it's important to keep some stuff to yourself I think it's important to protect you know what it is that you love and and I think we give so much of ourselves anyway just just in terms of us sitting down and having this conversation you showing up to work every day me showing up to work every day me showing up to the studio you know like

• 49:33Speaker 01

  it um you give so much of yourself anyway that you should feel like I have some stuff to myself I think that's very that's an important balance

• 49:40Keke Palmer?

  and I don't want to perform love

• 49:41Speaker 01

  yeah

• 49:42Keke Palmer?

  for you you know what I mean I don't you know I think that I gotta be now we gotta be you know that's not real to me

• 49:46Speaker 01

  and I think it's hard enough um relationships in general whether that be platonic like with your family or whatever or love loving relationships it's just like they're hard enough to navigate outside of the public eye like even just everyday people who are not famous um have hardships and it's just life that's just life so to want somebody to do that like in front of everybody to be under a microscope and have everybody saying a whole bunch of things is just like I would prefer not to yeah so and that's you know and that's that um but yeah there goes my heart was really kind of just like opening myself back up again so that's one that's really special to me Little Things is a very special song to me and I was really when we it obviously originally came out on my three-piece EP called Three

• 50:31Speaker 01

  and we put it on the album because it flowed so well with the story but we didn't when we put that uh EP out it was really it was my 30th birthday so I was just like you know I've been gone for a while let me just give them a little something and it was those songs are from this album process so it was kind of just like we hadn't even picked the tracklist yet but this is what we put together And like to see the response that it got and and how many people loved it. And and again, it's like a true lover girl, like very lovey dovey song. I was like, this is really cool because it means that people are still out there looking for love songs. And and like you said, in a world where a lot of it is like, you know, get out of here type of thing. Um, so that really also gave me the confidence more so with my album too. Because my album is such like a lover girl album, I'm like, oh, there is space for this.

• 51:12Keke Palmer?

  Absolutely.

• 51:12Speaker 01

  There is absolutely space for this. So yeah.

• 51:14Keke Palmer?

  I don't even have nobody and it was good to just be like, and that would be the vibe if I did.

• 51:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, like to imagine, yeah.

• 51:20Keke Palmer?

  Put you in the era, you know, so it's, yeah, I couldn't agree more.

• 51:23Speaker 01

  So yeah, Little Things is a is a special song for me also. And then I would say, number three, I would say, I have a bunch of different favorites on a different day. Like depends on whatever day it is, but Chasing Circles, um, which is towards the end of the album is really special to me. Has my son is laughing at the end of it. Um, and that was the, that was one of the ones that I was like, do I put this on there or do I not? Because I think it was, it was, it was really reflective of postpartum for me, I think. And that's a whole thing in itself. And I will say I was quite lucky. I didn't, I didn't suffer with postpartum depression or the postpartum anxiety. But like, I can, I can absolutely see how easy it is to get really, really like lost in that time period.

• 52:04Speaker 01

  Because there's a lot going on and that's why, again, I come back to like the village that I have around me and all the help. Because if you don't have that, I can't even imagine how difficult that time period is. Even though you have, you know, you have something that is like one of the best things that's ever happened to you. But you're going through so much hormonally, like your whole world has just changed. And that song really is kind of like, it just indicates the part of it where even on the days where I felt just like a tiny bit lost. I know I have my village, but I know in my heart of hearts, I have myself I'm always gonna find. So it's really about self-love, but like knowing how to find myself again.

• 52:39Keke Palmer?

  That again, that knowing that I'm gonna have myself and I'm gonna have myself again. I love those two things because that's really what happens as a mom. You lose that self, the self that you knew, she's not coming back, it's okay.

• 52:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, that's fine.

• 52:51Keke Palmer?

  She's gone, but. I still have a self. And this is now a new self.

• 52:57Speaker 01

  It just looks a little bit different.

• 52:58Keke Palmer?

  And she honestly, like, really a bad bitch because she.

• 53:00Speaker 01

  She absolutely is.

• 53:01Keke Palmer?

  You know what I mean? Like, she actually no more than the last one, you know? But that is, that's the hurdle, I feel like. For me, it was. And I definitely did have, like, anxiety just about. You talk about, there goes my heart, there goes my heart.

• 53:13Speaker 01

  Yes, outside of your body, that, yeah.

• 53:15Keke Palmer?

  You know, that shook me up a bit because I was ready to fight everybody.

• 53:19Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 53:20Keke Palmer?

  I remember when I first came home from hospital, my mom was holding the baby and was like, go lay down. She was just being loving. I went into my room and I'm like.

• 53:27Speaker 01

  What do I do?

• 53:28Keke Palmer?

  Where is my child? And it's like, girl, your mama got the baby. So that is so, I relate so much to that.

• 53:34Speaker 01

  It's definitely like, it's a tough time period also because you don't know what to expect. Like, like I was saying before, like, you can plan, you can put all of your ducks in a row, honestly, and it could be completely different when the baby gets here. So, yeah, it's just interesting because you don't know what type of person you're gonna be after you have a child. You don't even know what type of person your child is gonna be. So there's beauty in it, of course. It's amazing. It's probably the best thing I've ever done in my life, honestly. But, yeah, just kind of finding myself again and knowing that even though I might feel like this today, tomorrow can be way better. And in six months, and you know, once they get, now he's one and a half, I'm like, it's completely different to the newborn stage.

• 54:13Speaker 01

  You know, like, it just feels, he's not even super self-sufficient yet. He can do things, obviously, but like, I can only imagine how it feels once you have, like, a five-year-old. You can, you know, and you have a three-year-old, so.

• 54:22Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, I was gonna say, like, this, the three-year-old, you don't even know what's coming when he gets to that age. They be like, really talking back. My son will be like, no, I'm gonna get you. You the bad mama. And I'm like, what the hell? He turns into like a WWE wrestler. No, get out of my room.

• 54:37Speaker 01

  But it's so funny to watch their personality, like.

• 54:40Keke Palmer?

  Girl, develop. I was gonna ask you, you don't have to answer this, but did you do any of the breastfeeding? Were you into any of that?

• 54:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, I wasn't into it. I will say that. If I'm being truthfully honest, I really wasn't into it. I did do it and I tried. But I had, like, I was overproducing.

• 54:55Keke Palmer?

  Okay, period.

• 54:56Speaker 01

  But I was struggling to get it out.

• 54:59Keke Palmer?

  A little bit of mastocidal type of thing.

• 55:01Speaker 01

  It was getting to that. And I, that, I said to my doctor, listen. Of all the, of all the other things that we have to deal with postpartum, one thing I do not want to deal with is an infection in my breast. Like, that's just not, so I was like, stop this, please.

• 55:14Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 55:15Speaker 01

  Just end it here. He's, he's absolutely fine. He's huge. He looks like a three-year-old. And he's one and a half. So like, I, obviously if your journey is easier and, and that's what you want to do, I'm all here for it. But for me personally.

• 55:27Keke Palmer?

  The baby good regardless.

• 55:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:29Keke Palmer?

  The baby getting fed.

• 55:29Speaker 01

  Yeah. That's, there's a reason, there's a reason that formula is, is there.

• 55:33Keke Palmer?

  Absolutely.

• 55:34Speaker 01

  Um, but yeah, I did do it for, not for long. I did try. And once I tried and I was like, I gave it my best shot. I was like, no. Did you breastfeed?

• 55:44Keke Palmer?

  I did. I did breastfeed for a while and it was cool. But I mean, I agree with you. It's like a full-time job.

• 55:48Speaker 01

  On top of the full-time job that you already did. It's crazy.

• 55:51Keke Palmer?

  And then I was gotten into the pumping and now I got, I'm walking around with a whole like,

• 55:55Speaker 01

  A whole set.

• 55:56Keke Palmer?

  Device. I got like a damn Mary Poppins bag. That shit, and then sometimes people would lose my milk that I, and at that point, you're dead.

• 56:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, because I worked really, really hard on this.

• 56:05Keke Palmer?

  For four ounces, you know how hard for, and I mean, it was, and then you get online and you have these, people with these big jugs talking about, this is what I did just in 15 minutes. And it's this big. And it's like, and you're dead too. Like, you, it's so stressful. I was really stressed, babe. And I was doing everything I could. But I think what really like, honestly, what helped me to also like do it, and this is like a vanity piece, but I'm sure you can, as, you know, after mom, you're trying to get yourself back right. It really did help me get back, like, my body and stuff too.

• 56:31Speaker 01

  Yes, yes. It makes you lose weight.

• 56:32Keke Palmer?

  It made me look, so I was like, I felt like it also was, I was like, just, just hold on.

• 56:36Speaker 01

  I'm almost there, I'm almost there.

• 56:38Keke Palmer?

  This is for me and this is for you, you know? So, um, but yeah, I agree with you though. At the end of the day, the baby got fed regardless. It was like, you know.

• 56:45Speaker 01

  I was like, I did my part. I tried my hardest. And as long as he's not starving, which he absolutely wasn't, I was like, cool, I'm, I'm good.

• 56:51Keke Palmer?

  Literally, were there any, were you into like working out or anything or just like, was that a concern for you?

• 56:58Speaker 01

  I, I, I worked out my whole pregnancy. I stayed, yeah, I stayed working out my whole pregnancy. Cause for some reason in my mind, I felt like I was like not gonna carry well.

• 57:08Keke Palmer?

  Sure, sure.

• 57:08Speaker 01

  So I was just like, let me just try and be proactive. Um, and I actually was all belly when I was pregnant.

• 57:13Keke Palmer?

  You looked so cute. I saw the pics.

• 57:15Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it's funny because, um, I was like, in my head, I was like, I, I guess like when you find out that you're pregnant, you. You have all these ideas of like, especially your first time, I'm sure maybe it's different like once you have multiple kids.

• 57:28Keke Palmer?

  Yep.

• 57:28Speaker 01

  But your first time, you're like, oh, I wonder what I'm gonna look like uh five months, six months when the bump starts to show or like, oh, my bump's not showing yet. Like, it's just, it's a very, it's like a whole bunch of new things and you don't really know what to expect. And as I was going along in my pregnancy, I was like, wow, I thought I was gonna be like, not carry well at all. I thought like, I don't know, I, I just felt, I don't know if it was also because my pregnancy, I tried to, like I said, stay the least stressed as possible. I had so much love around me, like, it was such a great pregnancy. I felt like I, when I look back on my pictures, I'm like, I was glowing, my hair was like luscious and like, I just like, really appreciate that time looking back now because it is one of the most vulnerable times in a woman's life.

• 58:10Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, it is.

• 58:11Speaker 01

  And I think it's reflective also in my son, because he's just like a loving, such a loving little being. Um, but yeah, it was, it was, I did work out during my pregnancy. Now after, postpartum, not as much, but like you said, I was, I really was seeing the breastfeeding uh helping. So I was like, I'm gonna hold on for as long as I can.

• 58:29Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 58:30Speaker 01

  Um, and I've tried to do things here and there.

• 58:32Keke Palmer?

  We, we do some Pilates together, just for fun.

• 58:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm, I'm terrible at Pilates. Are you good?

• 58:37Keke Palmer?

  Girl, I love it. I'm really becoming an instructor. It's like my favorite thing.

• 58:40Speaker 01

  You would probably laugh at me then.

• 58:42Keke Palmer?

  No, we're not.

• 58:42Speaker 01

  It's so hard.

• 58:43Keke Palmer?

  We could, and honestly, sometimes people are always doing on a reformer. It's good on the mat too.

• 58:47Speaker 01

  Right, right.

• 58:48Keke Palmer?

  You know what I mean? Because sometimes a reformer can have you busting your ass. But if you're doing it on the floor, it's like, we still getting the workout.

• 58:52Speaker 01

  Okay, yeah, let's do that. Let's do that. I, because I definitely need to get, I need to find a routine again, for sure.

• 58:58Keke Palmer?

  Oh, that's so fun, yes.

• 58:58Speaker 01

  So yeah, postpartum, it's definitely been a lot more challenging to find the time and just find the energy, honestly, even if I do have the time. Um, but I know I need to get back into it. So yeah, I'm gonna take you up on that. Thank you.

• 59:08Keke Palmer?

  Okay, yes. Um, so obviously, you're into astrology, I'm into astrology, and I love, exactly, I love playing games with my guests. So we're gonna get into the Zodiac of it all.

• 59:18Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 59:19Keke Palmer?

  We're playing best and worst Zodiac edition.

• 59:22Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 59:22Keke Palmer?

  Now, I'll read a scenario and you're gonna tell me which sign fits best, strictly based on vibes and lived experience, no textbooks, you know, no apologies, lots of shade.

• 59:33Keke Palmer?

  Okay, best sign to share an Airbnb with?

• 59:37Speaker 01

  Ooh, I need somebody that's gonna be clean and like, I might say a Virgo cuz you guys are particular. So I already know you have everything.

• 59:46Keke Palmer?

  It's gonna be tidy. We gonna clean up your stuff. That's how.

• 59:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say a Virgo.

• 59:51Keke Palmer?

  Okay, best sign to calm you down during a spiral?

• 1:00:00Speaker 01

  That is a great question.

• 1:00:04Speaker 01

  I will say, which is probably not what most people would say, but in my own experience, I would say a Leo.

• 1:00:10Keke Palmer?

  No, no, I agree with y'all.

• 1:00:11Speaker 01

  Which I think people, mostly people think that Leos are really like in your face and whatever else.

• 1:00:17Keke Palmer?

  They're wrong about them.

• 1:00:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think so too. There's a lot of misconceptions about Leos.

• 1:00:21Keke Palmer?

  Leos are absolutely so loyal, so kind, so fiercely protective of the people in their life.

• 1:00:27Speaker 01

  Very true.

• 1:00:27Keke Palmer?

  You know, the only thing with Leos is they're crazy when it comes to love.

• 1:00:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, they're a little, they're a little crazy.

• 1:00:33Keke Palmer?

  They gonna get rid of somebody.

• 1:00:34Speaker 01

  But a Leo friend is, I think, a friend, a lifetime friend, yeah. So I would say a Leo.

• 1:00:39Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, love Leo. Okay, worst sign to call when you're already overthinking?

• 1:00:43Speaker 01

  Um, an Aries.

• 1:00:47Keke Palmer?

  Because they be going to the summits. What's wrong with them? I love y'all Aries so bad, but honestly, I have a lot of like very close Aries friends and they, and I think really what it is, is because they'll send you over the edge because they just say hardcore ****.

• 1:01:02Speaker 01

  The funniest thing is, I have one of my best friends is an Aries, so she's definitely gonna be like, but it's funny just because if you're spiraling already, they're gonna spiral with you. And they're gonna be like, but, they'll try and reel it in, but she's for sure gonna spiral with me.

• 1:01:18Keke Palmer?

  And they're blunt and plain about it. You be like, and that's why I don't think he doesn't love me. And that's the thing, he probably don't.

• 1:01:22Speaker 01

  It's very, yes, yes.

• 1:01:25Keke Palmer?

  How did we get you supposed to say, "No, we don't." You too busy agreeing with me. Anyway. Um, best sign to give honest advice without hurting your feelings. This is like, I wonder who's gonna get this.

• 1:01:36Speaker 01

  Um, I'm gonna say a Virgo again, and I just say that. I say that specifically because of my brother. My brother will always.

• 1:01:43Keke Palmer?

  I love your brother now, too. Wait, wait, August or September?

• 1:01:45Speaker 01

  He's late August. Basically, right end of August, the 30th.

• 1:01:49Keke Palmer?

  I'm the 26th. We neck and neck.

• 1:01:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's, he's very, very honest with me. Extremely honest with me, but he never, he's, he's my older brother, so he's always been protective and stuff. But he never wants to hurt my feelings, but he'll say it in a way that like, the message translates.

• 1:02:02Keke Palmer?

  That's fire.

• 1:02:03Speaker 01

  But yeah, yeah, a Virgo.

• 1:02:06Keke Palmer?

  Okay, worst sign to ask for brutal honesty?

• 1:02:11Speaker 01

  A Scorpio?

• 1:02:12Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, because y'all also will cut deep.

• 1:02:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:15Keke Palmer?

  Because you guys just give it so plain and so just like.

• 1:02:20Keke Palmer?

  And it's like, guys, really?

• 1:02:22Speaker 01

  I think, I think a lot of my friends have learned, like, if they really want the brutal honest truth to come to me. But like, if you're not in the slightest quite ready for it, go to someone else. Don't come over here, because I'm definitely gonna give you the brutal honest truth.

• 1:02:35Keke Palmer?

  That is too funny. Okay, best sign to trust with making group plans? I know who this could be in my mind.

• 1:02:41Speaker 01

  Hmm, group plans. It's definitely not a Libra, I will say that. One of my best friends is a Libra and he, mm-mm.

• 1:02:48Keke Palmer?

  The shade of it all.

• 1:02:50Speaker 01

  I mean, I would say a Scorpio is really good at having everything together. I would say a Virgo also, because you guys have all of your ducks in a row.

• 1:02:57Keke Palmer?

  Capricorns don't get a lot of love here, but they're pretty good.

• 1:02:59Speaker 01

  Really?

• 1:03:00Keke Palmer?

  You don't think that?

• 1:03:01Speaker 01

  I don't have a lot of Capricorns around me, and the ones that I do, I don't think I would go to them for group plans.

• 1:03:08Keke Palmer?

  Sorry, Capricorns, I tried to get you jokes up in there. Um, worst sign to have is your assistant.

• 1:03:14Speaker 01

  Ooh, a Libra.

• 1:03:17Keke Palmer?

  I had that once.

• 1:03:18Speaker 01

  How'd it go?

• 1:03:22Speaker 01

  They're just too indecisive. They are so indecisive. My best friend will go to the shop and it will be as simple as picking a cereal. And he'll be in there for 15 minutes. I'm like, it's not rocket science, just pick something. It's like, well, what if I don't feel like eating this tomorrow?

• 1:03:37Keke Palmer?

  They too in the vibe.

• 1:03:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's too indecisive.

• 1:03:40Keke Palmer?

  Get out the vibe and get in the real.

• 1:03:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:43Keke Palmer?

  Best sign to read the room?

• 1:03:46Speaker 01

  That's a good question. There's a couple, there's a couple signs, I think.

• 1:03:51Speaker 01

  Who? Best sign to read the room? This is probably gonna be biased again, but I'm gonna say a Scorpio.

• 1:03:59Speaker 01

  I think we read rooms pretty well.

• 1:04:01Keke Palmer?

  I think that Scorpios do read rooms pretty well. If there is somebody else that I would say read the room, I would say an Aquarius.

• 1:04:07Speaker 01

  Really?

• 1:04:07Keke Palmer?

  They always being sneaky somewhere.

• 1:04:10Speaker 01

  Oh, for sure.

• 1:04:10Keke Palmer?

  You know, they always, yeah, we know. Y'all know we now, we know. Y'all, everybody know that's what y'all be on.

• 1:04:16Speaker 01

  They definitely are sneaky, yeah.

• 1:04:17Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, they love doing that. Okay.

• 1:04:21Keke Palmer?

  Worst sign to have in your corner during a fight?

• 1:04:25Speaker 01

  Worst sign?

• 1:04:26Keke Palmer?

  Worst sign. It depends on what kind of fight too, like physical or.

• 1:04:31Speaker 01

  It does depend.

• 1:04:35Speaker 01

  Maybe a Cancer? Just because they are so, they are loyal, don't get me wrong, they are loyal. But I just feel like they're so loving and so like peacemaker-ish.

• 1:04:46Keke Palmer?

  The reason why I would actually say they be good is because they, with that mouthpiece.

• 1:04:50Speaker 01

  You think so?

• 1:04:50Keke Palmer?

  They are lethal. They're like a Lazarus tongue. They will literally cut you to the core.

• 1:04:55Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:04:55Keke Palmer?

  But if it's a fistfight, I might want Aries up in there.

• 1:04:59Speaker 01

  That's what I was thinking more of, yeah.

• 1:05:00Keke Palmer?

  Aries, you know they are.

• 1:05:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:05:02Keke Palmer?

  Why is this the move?

• 1:05:06Keke Palmer?

  Okay, just two more. Okay, so, um, sign most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse?

• 1:05:11Speaker 01

  Ooh, it's definitely not a Scorpio, I'll tell you that. Might not be a Virgo either, cuz you guys are, uh...

• 1:05:20Speaker 01

  Maybe a Sagittarius?

• 1:05:22Keke Palmer?

  Excellent choice.

• 1:05:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think a Sagittarius.

• 1:05:25Keke Palmer?

  Because they're gonna use everything they have to get it done. They're gonna be strong when they need to be, they're gonna be funny when they need to be, they're gonna go internal with it. Like, they have a lot of range.

• 1:05:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, they're very laid, I will say that. Both of my parents are Sagittarius.

• 1:05:37Keke Palmer?

  I'm a Sag Moon.

• 1:05:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:05:40Keke Palmer?

  So, last one. Sign most likely to get killed first. I know exactly who this is.

• 1:05:46Speaker 01

  In the apocalypse?

• 1:05:47Keke Palmer?

  In the apocalypse. I know exactly. It's on the tip of my... I'm away just she goes.

• 1:05:50Speaker 01

  Really? I'm scared now.

• 1:05:51Keke Palmer?

  Girl, I know exactly who this is.

• 1:05:52Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 1:05:53Keke Palmer?

  Because they just walking around somewhere being cute.

• 1:05:55Speaker 01

  What sign is that?

• 1:05:57Keke Palmer?

  Taurus. Because that's all they be doing. Walking around somewhere, looking sexy and cute, without even trying. Y'all are getting out.

• 1:06:07Speaker 01

  That's funny.

• 1:06:07Keke Palmer?

  That's what them Taurus is... Think about every Taurus shooting out. They somewhere being cute.

• 1:06:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:11Keke Palmer?

  And they ain't saying too much. They just like, "Oh, hmm, hmm, hmm."

• 1:06:15Speaker 01

  And they're out of here in an apocalypse. I don't know. I think I know a few Tauruses that might... They might not be the first to go. They definitely won't be the last. They definitely won't be the last one standing. But I don't know. I feel like... I feel like I would go more with a Libra.

• 1:06:27Keke Palmer?

  Mmm. The Libras... Yeah, the Libras, because they over there with the scales somewhere.

• 1:06:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, they can't decide what to do. Next thing you know, done.

• 1:06:35Keke Palmer?

  Wow.

• 1:06:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:36Keke Palmer?

  This was good.

• 1:06:37Speaker 01

  That was a fun... Yeah, that was a fun game.

• 1:06:39Keke Palmer?

  Well, thank you so much, Ella. Seriously, I've had a ball with you. It's just so great to have you on the show.

• 1:06:45Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:06:50Keke Palmer?

  All right, y'all. That conversation with Ella was everything. She is such a good time. Hearing her talk about her music, her family, and the choices she's making right now felt real in the best way. Grounded, honest, and intentional. She's never compromising herself for anyone. And none of us should. So wherever you are in your own life, make decisions that feel true to you and ignore the rest. I know I do. See y'all next time. Baby, this is Keke Palmer.