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.
