Field Ledger · 2026-10-02 — Text

Rapping in my 40s is a different act than it was in 2001. What remains is my feistiness – it still comes out when it needs to. But this time I am present. I don’t have anybody breathing on my neck, saying: “We’ve got to sell these records.” I also have a total sense of wonder about my life, that it’s taken me this far. I wake up and think, “Damn. How did a girl from Philly get here?”

All of which led to the success of Scorpion. I was a huge fan of all genres of music, from Biggie Smalls to No Doubt, and when I wrote Let Me Blow Ya Mind I knew we should get Gwen Stefani to feature on it. I was the only girl in the boardroom in those major label meetings and that Philly girl often had to come out. They were initially resistant because I was a rapper and she was a rock star, but I said: “Guys, this will work. Trust me.”

Even though I won that particular fight, the response to a lot of my suggestions was often: “Oh, that’s cute. We’re not doing that.” I felt I couldn’t be my full, excited self because there were so many miserable motherfuckers around me in those boardrooms. The atmosphere made me feel like I had to suppress myself and stay small. Decades later, my old A&R actually called up and apologised. He said: “I really wish we listened to you a little bit more – you had some good ideas.” That was validating.