Longevity isn’t a word associated with many singers nowadays in the majority of genres; but one Georgia peach that has always caused heads to turn since she stepped into the spotlight back in 1995. Here Monica who brought us The Boy is Mine and currently is promoting her album The Makings of Me, caught up with Femalefirst.co.uk, to get up close and personal about juggling the two loves of her life, her son and music.

Is it good to be back
It is, as it is good to take a break and come back ready as this isn’t easy.

So much has changed when it comes to tastes and trends, have you had difficulty adjusting to the markets nowadays
The market is different but if you have ever read anything about my life, I am kind of accustomed to change, dealing with the things you have to deal with. I wasn’t too shaken up by it but it was more exciting for me to come out this time and bring my son and have my family out. You know it was different energy for me this time for us to be altogether.
Listening to the album, it shows a lot of growth. Do you feel motherhood played a serious role in how this album came to fruition
You know what the main thing about me becoming a mother is that I am able to put things into perspective that have happened in my life and accept that those were things that were and have nothing to do with tomorrow or the next day. I move forward with a lot of faith in the fact that I can determine my own destiny now and I don’t have to live in my past every day. My son, he completes me and it allows me to have something other than myself, music and the other typical things we tend to focus on before children, he just gives me something totally different to focus on.

How hard has it been balancing motherhood and your career
I think some people aren’t really knit to be parents, for me I realized that after having him it was knit, you know I have never fallen into one of those spots where I couldn’t figure it out and that is a blessing and I thank God for that as it could have been different. You know he is a good baby as he allowed me to come back to work as soon as I did.
Your photographs on this album show a different side to you, a more sexual side but not in a brash way. Becoming a mother often encourages you to become a woman, is that how we can see that transformation with you
You become comfortable and that is why those photographs came out that way.

Do you feel that other artists get it wrong by showing too much of themselves to get on and when they first get their deals, that as their career moves they have very little more to offer us
When I came out I was young and I enjoyed my youth and I always say that as a lot of artists say that they didn’t enjoy their youth at all because they were so overwhelmed by the work. But I have always lived a life that isn’t like your typical record industry life. You know I went back to Atlanta and I do things very normal so I enjoyed those years.
Being in the spot light for so long and having certain aspects of your private life out there for the world to talk about, how hard has it been to deal with that considering you came into the game so young
I think it was harder when I was younger than it is now. Now I know exactly who I am and I don’t battle with what other people are doing and what people think I should be or what songs I should do. I do things from the heart and try to reach to the people as much as humanly possible, so I don’t put too much pressure on myself as I did back in the days when I was on The Boy is Mine. I thought more about things then.

You have sold 10 million records throughout your career. How different was your approach with this album as like we talked about earlier, markets change
I try to do what I normally did. The great part about it was doing the recording of the album because I was pregnant so people were really kind and gave me my space and it allowed me this freedom in this room to write, think and say and in that order I was able to create the songs. They weren’t pressuring me, it was a real good atmosphere and had I had to do it to a deadline or on a time line it would have been horrible.
Do you handle pressure well
I pray about it because I know there are some things I am just not in control of.

When you are out on the road, you know doing promo and such like, does your son stay in Atlanta
Any time I leave for more than two nights he comes as well and he travels very well. Every now and again he wants to run the aisles and he has realized that when you are up in the air you cant balance that well and he will come back and have a seat. He just had to learn that that wasn’t the place to run about he was cool. He doesn’t cry, he doesn’t give me any problems.
You starred in ATL, how important was it for you to be in that particular movie considering you have been a staple of the Atlanta music scene for so long
Well you know the real important was for the whole world to see this film, whether I was in it or not, so they got an idea of what Atlanta is really, really like and I think that movie did a great job of allowing people the chance to see what we talk like, the places we hang out, the things we like to do and I think TI did an incredible job. I have been hearing about the movie ATL since I was 11 years old, so that was something that has been in the works for that many years. Even though my son was only a couple of weeks old I still came because I wanted to do something, anything to do with that movie.

Will we see you in any other movies in the future
I would love to be in other movies.

Going back to the movie ATL, I didn’t realize the roller-skating culture was so big down there
Yes it is. It has always been, it was even bigger back in the 80’s and 90’s and yet it is still very relevant today and very much something people do. I met my son’s father in the very place that they filmed the skating scenes in; so it is definitely a relevant culture.

Do you still go skating then
I never could skate, I would always sit out. And I still can’t skate.

Your album All Eyes on Me was bootlegged and it never saw shelf life beyond Japan I believe.
That album was me listening to people telling me, ‘you need a top 40 records, you need a radio hit,’ whereas I had always made music that I loved and not with any particular thing in mind, but it is always good to venture off and try things and then come back to the things that you know have worked from the beginning and that allows me the room now not to stray again because I know I tried it their way per say yet I know my way is the right way, which would be more geared towards the people I have grown up with, the people that have supported me all these years.

Going back to the bootlegging aspect, how disheartening is it for an artist to go through that and how has that affected you later on
Sometimes it is very necessary because you have to find what your real niche is, especially if you start off as young as I did and it is something that you think you will be disappointed when it happens, but you do what works for you and when you realize that and hold strong to it, people gravitate towards it, it is real and sincere.

Was the recording for the album done over a certain period of time or was it chopped up into sections
It was split up into two segments. I recorded the entire time I was pregnant, up until the day before I believe. I stayed off until my son was almost six months. I really wanted him to have my undivided attention and I didn’t want to bring him to the studio and be around germs and such like, but once he was six months I went back into the studio for a couple of more months and finished the album.

What caused you to start work on this album, I spoke with MC Lyte the other day and she said she had things to get off her chest and that was what encouraged her to work on a new album
I am a little different as I go away and deal with me first before I come to the studio. I think if I was a rapper I would do it exactly how she does it as you can spit things a little different, but you have to be a little more compassionate, even though I make records with a hard edge. Sometimes it can be a bit more subtle coming from me and I am conscious of the fact that I do R&B music and it still has to have a certain sense of emotions there. Sometimes when you get something off your chest, those are the records that sound like side line.

Do you have a favorite single off the album
I mean to best describe where I am now; it would have to be the second single, Dozen Roses. That one describes everything I feel right now, whereas Getaway describes the harder moments in my life. So I have the favorites which correlate to the different periods in my life.

How is your process working with producers
I do whatever is more comfortable for them. I came up in a time when all we had was the Mic and the PA system and old ladies playing the piano, so I can do my job under any circumstances. You know I am not one of these artists that was babysat or needs fresh cut flowers when I work. With Missy, we do everything together. I go there first, I don’t hear anything before I get there and the same thing with Jermain where as I may have heard tracks from other people. So I just do what is mainly comfortable for them

Do you find you were more creative when you were pregnant
My voice was better, everything was better, but I was very fortunate as I was never sick one day. It was wonderful.

Your favorite artist right now
Mary J Blige

Did you ever collaborate with Mary
No, but our friendship is incredible, but I have never crossed the boundaries, if it happens it is because we are both in the same place at the same time and we just do it, it wont be something that the record companies hook up as I really respect her to the fullest and the advice she has given me over the years as it has definitely helped me stay focused and never change and give the people nothing but my best.

Do you think the industry lacks role models
I think it just needs to come together more and I think she saw me at my weakest moments and she has been in the same position. People acknowledge peoples pains and the growing process is so hard and if we acknowledge it from one to another it would be better. I was fortunate to have her.

Who is the favorite producer that you have worked with
I would have to say I have two in my top range for me and I think our friendships play a major part in it as they have been there literally there, through the good and the bad and that would have to be Missy and Jermain and because on is male and one is female I get two different types of advice and two different feelings, Jermain is more brotherly instinct and Missy is more ‘Waiting to Exhale-ish,’ you know I look to her for advice, like if something is said about me I ask her if I should comment, I respect her opinions.

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