Did you ask your label why you couldn’t sing lead as well?
After awhile you have to stop asking those questions and accept it for what it is. Life is more about acceptance than it is about trying to pick something apart when you’re wearing yourself out.
True. So you never received an answer?
No and we weren’t going to get an answer. That’s most important for people to understand. If Melody had an opportunity to sing, then she would’ve sang. Bottom line. But that wasn’t available to me and that’s fine. It’s okay! It’s important for people to see the advocate for the underdog actually prevail because that’s inspiring.
Indeed. And you’re not with Interscope, right?
Yeah, I’m not at Interscope. I haven’t taken what’s been offered because I feel I deserve better. I believe in putting your best foot forward and swinging for the fence, and I’m going to have the kind of enthusiastic CEO behind me who’s like, ‘Yeah! That’s what it is!’ And I’m not afraid to wait for that. I am funding and recording on my own. And I love Interscope, by the way. They’re one of the best. [Jimmy Iovine] knows what he’s doing. If he loves you, you got it. It’s like why would I marry someone just because they have money? I also need to be loved. I need to be cherished.
Did you not feel loved?
No, actually I did. I just don’t know that they felt… there’s a lot of politics involved. The most important thing is to not take it personally. I respect Jimmy on another level and I’m very grateful to him for the opportunity that I had.
A Woman We Love: Melody Thornton [Photos]
Were you surprised at all that Nicole didn’t pop as a solo artist?
You just never know. There’s no way to know whether people are going to be receptive.
Perhaps her timing was off.
Yeah, I think the timing may have been a bit off. The only thing that you can do is know what your message is because if you love it, everybody else is gonna love it. All you can do is know that your music needs to be out there. And that’s actually something that Kanye was saying. I had the opportunity to see the first 15 minutes of his film that he’s putting together, and he was like, ‘Music needs me. I know that. I know that music needs me.’ That right there—that’s empowerment. Speaking that into existence is what makes people believe you.
A lot of people believe you and Nicole have a rift.
Right. Well, remember when Whitney and Mariah did that song together? It’s like, clearly they did a song together, so it’s not all that damn bad. As long as we respect each other, it’s okay. She does what she does, and I do what I do, and that’s that. You’re either a forgiving person and you can move on or you can hold on to those things. I’m not one of those people. I’m not gonna be a victim to what happened. It’s over. Bye. Keep it pushing.
Do you consider her a friend?
I would be very hurt if something happened to her. Of course, hello! We spent five years of our lives together.
But that doesn’t necessarily make that person a friend…
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