Although many know Teedra Moses as the songstress behind “Backstroke” and “Be Your Girl,” many think of her as their personal therapist. Like a thorough instruction manual, her albums have a song for every occasion. Needless to say, when I got the opportunity to speak to Ms. Moses… I had a lot of questions. The usual queries before an interview were amplified: Would she be mean? Will she not relate? Is she really in tune with her music?
I soon realized she was the complete opposite of all my predispositions. The New Orleans native who has written for Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq, Trina and Macy Gray not only sings the truth, she speaks it. From her relationship with her children’s father to her audience not reaching mainstream, she kept it 100 percent honest.
Check out what Teedra said when she sat down with us:
Madame Noire: What’s going on with you right now?
Teedra Moses: Right now what I’m doing is the “Lady Hennessey Tour.” The promotion tour is with four ladies: There’s Toccara, Alesha Renee, Hayley [Marie Norman] and myself. I’m the singer/songwriter, Hayley is an actress, Tocarra is a model and Alesha Renee is a TV personality. We travel around the country in different regions; we’re promoting the Hennessey brand. Within that I do different shows in some cities. Started the first phase of this project in March and start the second phase in September where I’ll have official shows in specific cities that give me a lot of love… Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans.
Getting ready to setup for a January album release, hopefully. I’m putting out the single, “Kisses Never Taste So Sweet.”
MN: Which we love. Love.
TM: Thank you! Thank you so much. Girl you don’t know how much I appreciate that. You don’t know how good it feels to know that my music never gets old [Laugh]. And we’re putting out the video for that. We did that earlier last month, but I’m just trying to back to LA to check it out. I’m very hands-on with everything—I like to make sure it looks exactly how I want it to look, so I told them to hold off on the editing until I get there. I’m going back home for maybe about a week to deal with that, getting the video cut. And I’m looking forward to promoting the Young Lioness.
MN: What have you been listening to lately? What’s on your iPod right now?
TM: I’m so wack because I’m not a big iPod person. I don’t put my music in there. I really, really don’t. I got the new Marvin Sapp Live album, I love gospel. I love the new Aloe Blacc song… I liked it ever since I heard it on “How to Make it in America.” But then I saw the video and I just feel in love with it, because there is another song at the end of the video that I love. So you know, I just YouTube that video all day! I just like to listen to what’s fresh.
MN: Old school?
TM: Oh, yea. Always. That stuff is just always around. I’m just really interested in new inspiration. My manager and me were just talking about that an hour ago. Me, as an artist just because I make music doesn’t mean I can’t be inspired by other people.
There were people in my current time that made me want to make music as well as people that I grew up listening to. Mary J. Blige made me want to make music. Jill Scott made me want to make music. When I heard their music… Mary’s “My Life” for me that was the album that made me want to make music. Jill Scott’s first album and Lauryn Hill. These were albums that made me want to contribute something unique as an artist. Sometimes it gets really hard when the state of music gets a little shaky because you don’t have any inspiration, but I’ve learned to seek it. It’s not someone’s job to give me inspiration, I have to seek it. So sometimes I have to look outside of what’s commercial.
MN: A lot of artists over the years—from performing so much—lose their voice. But your voice is still amazing. How do you keep you instrument, your voice, crystal clear? Honey? Coaching?
TM: Girl, I would love to tell you that I speak in a soft tone. And I don’t drink. And I keep a hot towel around my neck. And I’m sipping on hot tea and honey. But girl, no.
I scream at my kids all the time. I’m always screaming. I just… you know… I just feel like honestly, Danielle I feel like this is something God called me to do. You know when people say they’ve been called to preach or minister; I just think that this is exactly what I’m suppose to do with my life. Singing is something I’ve never had to train for. When I was in the church I never did. I started singing when I started singing. Before I started doing this is I harmonized a little bit, I’d sing along with the radio if I heard a song I liked. But that was it. I think that certain things are just for you and I think this is for me. God has just given me this gift and I know this is where it comes from. I don’t try to be super sensitive with my voice, I just do it. Every night I go out and sing. I pray before I go out. I open my mouth and it just comes out.
MN: How did you get into the industry?
TM: Well, my children’s father was an artist. I was that kind of young woman that was like, ‘that was his thing.’ You know. I was just going to go over here and hustle. Fashion to me was something I enjoyed. My best friend did it. It was three of us. She was the key stylist, I was her assistant and another friend was her assistant. We all grew up in high school together. So this was just a cool job. We traveled together around the world, worked with all these people. It was just cool and fun.In my life unfortunately, I’m not one of those people that set out and make all these plans or crazy goals. I just live. And that was just something I was doing and when I didn’t want to do that anymore and my children’s father and I didn’t work anymore his finances went with him and I was left with the children. I had to figure out a way to make some money. I just needed something I could do, because I’m a quitter. I don’t mean that in a negative way, but I will quit s*** that I don’t want to do. Life is too short, despite the fact that bills have to be paid. I wanted to find something I could do that I really enjoyed.
MN: But the music industry is a tough field to just drop into.
TM: I don’t know why I thought music that could be it, because it’s a tough industry. But I was blessed to make enough money to take care of my family and me to this day. This came out of love and this came out of… honestly, I was homeless. Not in the sense of living on the street, but I didn’t have an official home for my children and me. They were staying with their grandmother and I was staying with my friend or my sister. I was at my friend’s house one day. And I feel out on her bed and I was just crying out to God like, ‘please Lord; just give me a way to take care of my kids. Please.’ And this is what he gave me. I mean I would love to tell you that I wanted to do this all my life. I mean I just didn’t. I’m sorry.
MN: Wow. Didn’t know this about you.
TM: Yea, I just wanted to take care of my kids. And then, I fell in love with it. It’s like that guy that you meet and you’re like, ‘ah, OK. You’re cool. I like him. He’ll take me to dinner sometimes.’ And then you find yourself; you look up two, three dates later and are really starting to feel him. And a few months later, you’re totally in love with him. And that how it was for me and music. My children’s father would bring home all these tracks from these great producers, so I would write over them but not with intentions to record. You know, just to have fun. That was his thing, I was just trying to be a supportive wifey. And let him do that and I would just find whatever odd job I could that wasn’t 9 to 5, because I hate 9 to 5’s. And this turned into one of the greatest loves in my life. If it wasn’t for the hard times I went through with the demise of our relationship and me having to step up and be the provider I probably wouldn’t found my love for music.
MN: It’s amazing how that all worked out.
TM: Yea, it’s amazing. God is amazing. I owe everything to him.
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.
Teedra with fans.
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.
