She’s “Truth”…fully a Fly-Mommy

Singer, writer and producer Shari Watson, best known as Truth Hurts, was born in St. Louis, Missouri.  She won an opera scholarship to the University of Chicago but chose instead to pursue her blossoming music career.

Many know Truth Hurts for her debut single, Addictive.  Her second album, Ready Now, on Raphael Saadiq’s Pookie Entertainment label received high critical acclaim.

Shari has two children, Shamari 14 and Justis 2.

Interview with Flaimahmy, January 12, 2010

FM: Most people know you for your hit song “Addictive,” however, many people don’t know you are a great songwriter.  Of all the songs you have written, what is your favorite?

SW:  Probably something you guys have not heard.  Probably my newest song that I am writing right now which is called Stand For Love.

FM:  Is it your song or is it for someone else?

SW:  It’s for me.

FM:  Awesome.

FM:  We know you have been working with Raphael Saadiq and you just said you have a new song.  What do you have coming up?

SM:  My second album was with Raphael Saadiq.  I think we’ll put that back out and put it on ITunes.  I’m getting a lot of feedback from fans that they can’t pick it up and  people really didn’t get to hear it like they wanted to hear it.  That was my second record a few years back.  Besides being a mother, I have a two year old now, I’ve been working on a new LP that I am trying to do for overseas distribution.  It will come back over to the States, of course.  It will be back on this side also but mainly it will be there first.  I can’t tell you too much about that; I’m only four or five songs in deep.  That is definitely going to be an experience.  I’m telling people when I do interviews now that it is going to be an experience, you’re going to get to feel me on this one for sure.

FM:  We know you are a great artist whose music career was caught in the fallout of a copyright lawsuit.  Your career isn’t the first to be tangled in a lawsuit and probably won’t be the last, however, how do you feel about the music industry personally?

SW:  The music industry is truly tricky.  There are so many things that can be said about it.  As long as the music doesn’t get prosecuted in the interim I think  it is a great thing.  I think it is always a great thing to be able to facilitate great music if you can.  It’s sad that there are things that are happening in the music industry where a lot of great music doesn’t get heard and some “b.s.” does get heard but that’s really a sign of the times.  There is not much we can do about that.  Overall, I like to know that there is a way to facilitate great music because I feel life needs music.  Life is not life without great music.  It is what it is, what we go through with the music business aspect.

FM:  Where is your present musical focus?

SW:  My present musical focus is really what we are talking about, to get great music back out there, to give people an experience like the Sade’s, like the Maxwell’s, people who give you an experience like Lauryn Hill did.  It’s so important to give people a feeling, to give people an emotion with music.  That’s my focus and that’s why it’s taking me so long.  A lot of people are like, “What is taking so long, is it coming, is it not, you only had that one hit…look it is important to me to make sure that I make my mark and that I do this for the feeling and for the emotion more than just throwing something out there.  And, when it is important to you, you may not put as many records out as everybody else does.  It’s more about quality than quantity to me.  That’s my focus.

FM: One of my favorite things I have found since starting this magazine is how many of the wonderful people we’ve interviewed are also parents.  I wasn’t even aware that you are a mom.  You said that you have a two year old.  Is this your only child?

SW:  I have two children.  They are very wide spread apart.  I have a fourteen year old and a two year old.  That has slowed me down a little bit in the music game but I’m still on top of it.

FM:  Son and daughter?

SW:  Yes, son and daughter.  The younger is my son.

FM: What is it like being a mother in the music industry?  How do you balance motherhood with your career?

SW:  It’s tough.  It’s definitely tough.  The music business for the  most part is a hustle and you can’t hustle like you usually hustle when you have children especially when you are the mom because we’re the nurturers.  When you have to nurture your baby 24/7 it’s harder to get that music in.  You find a way to do it and to get done what needs to be done.  That’s what I’m finding out now.  It’s busy!

FM:  You performed in St. Louis night clubs at a very early age.  What kind of experience was that for a young girl?  Would you allow your daughter to do the same nowadays?

SW:  My daughter is really not interested, let’s just put that out there.  She is so academic and very into the books which I’m proud of because I was never that.  I was definitely creative at a very young age and getting out there and getting into something creative which was my voice.  If it was her passion I would say yes go for it.  I would support it 100%.  My mother saw from me at a very early age that music was my passion and that performing was my passion.  That is why it was allowed.

No, it is not normal for a young girl to be in the clubs singing at fourteen and fifteen, trying to get the hustle on early.  No, that’s not normal but you know that world was a different place and my parents were behind me.  They were there with me.  It worked… for me.

FM:  How would you advise a young girl coming to you and wanting to perform as you did?

SW:  I would say keep your eyes on your dreams.  Keep all of this in perspective.  Work on and constantly hone in on your craft.  Make it special because there is so much going on out here that there’s not much to separate people.  I think it is important if you do have a craft and the art of singing and performing that you know who it is that you are and what you add to this game if you want to be in the music industry.  Not only that, that you stay focused on what it is that you want to do and don’t let anybody take it away from you.

Stay with the dreams because dreams are the first things that you should have in your life because they keep you driven and they are purposeful.  As long as you have that, I feel like that is everything because that is what God gives you; that’s a gift.  If you can stay focused on who you are in this business I think that is the perfect thing to remember, because people try to take that away from you also.

FM:  Your high school career focused much on opera, do you feel this enhanced your musical ability?

SW:  Absolutely.  In times where I traveled a lot and I would be losing my voice I think my voice held on a little bit better than the average voice because that was my platform and foundation.  I think opera is the best way to enhance your voice.  It allows you to use certain parts of your cords that will help you rest your voice versus actually singing on your cords so harshly.  For example, people who do theater and do six, seven or eight shows a week are fine.  They just keep going through it.  They master the art of using a certain part of your voice that is not so harsh on your cords.

For me, that platform was a great platform to have because I can keep focusing and going back to that when I need to.  If for some reason I am out on the road and start losing my voice or my voice gets tired, opera is a strengthener, definitely.

FM:  You are a writer, singer and producer.  Do you believe women are becoming more influential in the music industry?

SW:  We are but it’s tough.  It’s tough.  It definitely is still in 2010 a male dominated industry.  It still is and it’s tough for us to break through but those of us who have the hustle and the grind in us to get it done, we get it done.  It’s definitely not easy.

FM:  What is your greatest aspiration?

SM:  My greatest aspiration, hah, hah, haaah, you’re getting me with the trick questions now girl!  (Laughter from both).  To be the greatest woman of God I can be, first and foremost; to be the greatest mother I can be, secondly; to be heard as a musician and songwriter, third.  Those are my greatest aspirations.

FM: We know that you are a fly mommy, but in your own words what makes you a fly mommy?

SM:  My strength.  That gives me the capability to bring it all together at the end of the day.  All the things that make you a fly mommy, being a mother and still being able to multi-task and bring all of these things together and make it happen.  I am a single mommy.  That’s the thing you need to ask for me, being a single mommy is the next level.  That’s what makes me hang in there and be the  fly mommy that I think I am.  It is the strength that I have and the endurance.

Tags: Entertainment, Music, Performance, R & B, Raphael Saadiq, Retro-Soul, Shari Watson, Truth Hurts

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 1:04 am and is filed under Entertainment, Fly-Mommies!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.