R&B Singer Teedra Moses Chooses Art Over Fame

MN: Looking back, did you ever think you would be where you are?

TM: I didn’t think. I just did it. To this day… I mean I think, think, think about a lot of things. I set these goals and I keep it in, but I don’t see the in between from my Point A to Point B. I just see Point B and I’ve got my eyes focused on Point B. And I just kind of go in swinging. Hopefully I knock something out of the park.

MN: It’s hard to plan things, because you never know what can happen.

TM: You can try, but life is so unpredictable. You have to open yourself up to U-turns and detours because it’s not always going to go the way you want it to go. And you have to be a person that can adjust. I think that has a lot to do with living a happy and healthy life– being able to adjust, because s*** it going to happen. That’s guaranteed. Like you breathe. Like you got to pay your taxes. Like you’re going to die. S*** is going to happen [Laugh].

MN: How involved are you in the production of your music?

TM: I want to learn how to play an instrument. I just haven’t gotten there yet. I haven’t put my focus on that yet and musically; I’m not there. Vocally I can produce my vocals, I don’t need anybody in there with me. I know when I’m flat. I know when I’m off. I can tune myself. I can work my instrument, but I can’t take credit for producing records. I’m just not at that point.

MN: How long does it take you to write songs?

TM: It varies. I don’t like to write in the studio. I like to write in my car, listening to tracks and riding. I ride around and listen to beat cd’s and write to ones I like. I drive, girl I will drive forever and ever. And I like to drive in really nice neighborhoods. Something about writing a song, while driving through San Marino [in California] this really beautiful area. I like to drive around and look at beautiful homes… I’m so weird [Laugh].

MN: Where did the hook from “Love Devine” come from?

TM: That’s just Biggie. I got that from Biggie. I like that song too! It’s so sad that didn’t get play. That’s a song that I put out on mix tape that didn’t get its shine. People just didn’t see it as something they could promote. I don’t know.

MN: Why do you think you’ve had less mainstream exposure?

TM: You have to have a drive for that kind of thing. You gotta want that. I can’t say I want fame as much as I just want to be appreciated as a talented artist. And I think I did that. My s*** is so random. I could be somewhere and somebody says, ‘are you Teedra Moses.’ It just makes my day. I don’t know if I’d want it to be to a point where I don’t appreciate that. I can’t tell you why, but part of it is a desire for it. And I have more of a desire to be really good at what I do, more than just being famous.

This is going to come off real arrogant, but I mean it in the most humble way: I feel like I was born to be a rock star.

And I feel like I am somebody special rather you know it or the next person knows it, it’s just how I feel. It has nothing to do with the next person being less than me or greater than me. I just feel like I’m special. God dropped something in me. I guess because I don’t have that desire and need for fame I don’t compete with anybody but me. It’s really hard to please myself, hence taking forever to put out an album. I just live in my own little world. Maybe if I lived outside of myself more thought about what people thought… and wanted to be on the cover of every magazine I would be. And I truly believe that, I just never had the desire for that. The initial thing was I just wanted to make an album and I just wanted somebody that I love to hear it and like it. Now I can say I wrote a song for Mary. J. Blige. You can’t tell me I ain’t made it! [Laugh]That’s making it to me.

MN: Being from New Orleans, what changes have you noticed about the city post-Hurricane Katrina?

TM: OK, so I went two years after and it was definitely not the same. I went a year after that, it was still crazy. I grew up in Kenner, Jefferson Parish which is outside of New Orleans. But I went to school in New Orleans Parish and that’s really where I grew up. That’s where all my friends were and it’s totally, totally different. But I just went back for my cousins wedding and I saw a glimpse of it coming back. It’s starting to come alive again. There’s still a lot of pain there, but it’s starting to come alive again. I really think it was done intentionally to move people out of a great city. But what makes that city a city is not the French Quarter or the river or the food—it’s the people. So the people are on their way back. People are coming back all the time now. From what I can see, the city is getting back to. Now this is the perception from someone who doesn’t live there. It may be different from someone who lives there. I was just talking to a young lady from New Orleans about how it took something so tragic to bring attention to the city. It’s a great city. It’s a port and anywhere where different cultures come through there’s going to be a gumbo of something really great and that’s what New Orleans is.

MN: When you’re long gone and passed away, what do you want people to remember you by?

TM: It’s great for them to remember she was talented, she wrote great songs, she did all these different things. She was a good mom. From the perception of a person that’s a fan of the music, if they ever got around me or got in front of me, I’d want them to remember that I was just so real to who I am. I didn’t try t set myself above anybody. I was very touchable. I’m not some super star in the sky. I was always appreciative and grateful for my talent. And grateful to the people that supported it.