R&B star Monica interview to promote her new BET show ‘Still Standing’
In the fast-moving world of R&B, three years feels like 20 – kind of like dog years.
Monica, the Atlanta-based singer whose star shined brightest in the late 1990s, has stayed under the radar the past four years raising her two kids. So what better way to get back on the scene than a reality show?
“Monica: Still Standing” debuts tonight on BET at 10 p.m. after the BET Hip Hop Awards.
“I think it gives people an in-depth look how hard it is to stay relevant in the music business and balancing family life,” she said in a phone interview last week. “A lot of people aren’t comfortable baring their souls. I am. I’m a work in progress. I’m going through things every day just like everybody else.”’
Monica has ridden a roller coaster of a life, packed with highs and lows. Highs include breaking it big with a quintuple platinum debut album at the age of 15 and taking home a Grammy three years later.
But life took a left turn in 2000 when she saw her boyfriend commit suicide in front of her. She followed that with a rocky relationship with rapper C-Murder. And she didn’t meet eye to eye with her label over her last album in 2006, her least successful to date.
“I’ve learned to rely on faith,” she said, “how to depend on things within and stop looking at worldly possessions as real success and find out who Monica really is. That’s what the show reflects.”
“Still Standing” is executive produced by James DuBose, who has also done a string of other Atlanta-based BET shows, including “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is,” the spinoff “Frankie & Neffe” and “Tiny & Toya.”
Monica, in fact, is friends with Cole and said her experience with DuBose through Cole’s show convinced her to do her own. Unlike many other reality shows, she said nothing was staged. There is no manufactured drama, as often is the case on Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
“I respect ‘Housewives,’ “ she said. “But my show is the complete opposite. It really is. It’s about love and God.” She said she may have a chance to talk to 100 kids at a group home. A TV show allows her to reach hundreds of thousands.
In some ways, the show is therapy for her, though she said she won’t spend a lot of time dredging up the details of past incidents.
And the song “Still Standing” is symbolic of where she feels her life is. “I didn’t think it was possible to summarize my life in three minutes but that’s exactly what [producer] Bryan Michael Cox did.” (Her cousin Ludacris helped write the song and does guest vocals.)
Happily timed with the show, her newest ballad-heavy album is slated to come out in December.
“I’m kind of wowed by the time I stepped away,” Monica mused. “I gave my entire childhood to music. I started my first album at age 12 and didn’t stop until I was 24 when I gave birth to my oldest son. I wanted to experience motherhood without anything else mixed in.”
She had her second son last year with her long-time boyfriend and rapper Rodney “Rocko” Hill Jr.
“I was overdue,” she added, “for a vacation.”
Her thoughts on “Tiny & Toya”: “People assumed their show would be about the men in their lives but it was really about them. I’m proud of them. Tiny & I have known each other for a long time. I was about 12 or 13 when she and I first communicated. We have never stopped. I’m proud of how hard she works and strives to be her own person.”
Her take on Kandi Burruss dealing with AJ’s death: “She has great family, great friends. She’ll be fine. This is probably one of the hardest things she’s ever faced. I was in her shoes. I’m able to give her advice. I’m living proof you can find love again and live your life you’ve always wanted. I ask her what she needs day to day. She hasn’t asked for anything.”
What were Monica’s feelings when she head about AJ’s passing: “It was very hard for me because it brought me right back to what I felt ten years ago. It’s the type of pain you don’t want anyone else to experience. There is life after death. When you love people and lost them, that’s one thing I consistently tell her.”
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71 comments Add your comment
scott
October 26th, 2009
5:08 pm
another ghetto show about a women that has 2 kids out of wedlock ..when ole when will we see black classy women like. the legendary .Diana ross,Diane carroll,Nancy wilson,Eartha KITT,Lynn whitfield,Dorthy dandrige,Lena horne,these women have class and acted like ladies very sophisticated and glamourous..seem like all black women want to be hood rats..and i,m a white male that loves black women ..but dont like ghetto trash
Shhhhut UP!
October 26th, 2009
5:18 pm
Now to the facts her parents have done the best they could for her. She grew up in a solid family and has people around her who LOVE her unconditionally. Her cousin Dedria use to manager her in the beginning of her career and she never listened to her because she did’nt think “D” had that swagger. It was never about her managers its been about her. She did not drop off the face of the earth because her BF killed himself. Trust she was a mess before that. This is not a message about hating on her cause when I tell you SHE IS THE BOMB vocally…its the truth. I just really want everyone to stop throwing GOD into this. GOD is going to LOVE her and keep her just like the rest of us SINNERS. I agree with the fact that yes she is a part of the problem…making it seem like its okay to be baby Mama. I know Roc n Mo and he not a busta @ all. He has everything he wants. he has 3 children and a successful career…yall think MUSIC is the only thing a man in the ATL can have. That is because your wonderful Media states thats all BLACK FOLKS can do is make us laugh and dance. Monica is caught up in GAME. If I drive a nice car “NOTICE I DID NOT SAY OWN” if I stay in a PHAT CRIB “Notice I did not say own” if I wear nice Clothes “Yeah Ima say it again OWN, they return stuff more than the GUTTA Chick”. Monica could have all this on her own like BEYONCE’ but see she looking for a man to do it for her. Yall stop saying she strong… why is she strong. I know a strong woman her Name is Mattie Bredaux and she is raising 3 grandchildren on a fixed income. Her daughter died from HIV from her Doeboy baby daddy. She get up every morning @ 63 yrs old and take those kids to school. Ms. Mattie help the community working for the ATL womens shelter teaching young ladies so they can get they GED. That woman is the one we should be showing and applauding. The garbage that BET show us, be consistent in supporting “lack of self worth and value” makes my stomach turn.
MONICA is a hot mess and not REAL @ all. I saw her on the GHETTO azzzz MoNique Show talking about how her ex men treated her. Please they handled her the way she needed to be handled…at a distance. Yall think about it why didnt any of these men marry her. Give me a break talking about she did not have time. TI love Tiny and everybody in the ATL know that. Wayne loved Toya and will always have LOVE for her. Keisha got her a new baby daddy and dont fool with Monica @ all cause she know Mo is a Talented and she put her on for the respect…yet Mo never took up for Keisha during the fall. Why dont her and Brandy talk? Why dont her and Mary talk?
Who was @ her B-day party and why was they there? She a Time BOMB waiting to POP! FOCUS ON YOU MONICA AND NOT WHAT THE NEXT CHICK DOING.
Lauren
October 26th, 2009
6:21 pm
and Telemundo is not racist because it doesnt say HET. UGH people get a grip!
GABRIEL SOLOMON
October 26th, 2009
6:25 pm
Jaye u r one stupid ASS person to write this comment..
Lauren
October 26th, 2009
6:55 pm
Enter your comments here
BlackGirl
October 26th, 2009
7:13 pm
@Tyree, the RHOA tarnished the images of the women that chose to be on the show. Just because you’re black doesn’t mean that you represent the entire race. I can represent myself perfectly fine.
Jasmine
October 26th, 2009
9:02 pm
Wow, Shhhhut UP!, you really know a lot about these people. See post @ 5:18 p.m.
Do you even have time to keep up with your own life? Wow!
Jasmine
October 26th, 2009
9:03 pm
I don’t take these shows personally. They are who they are and it is not a reflection on me. I just think all of it is hilarious!
Jaye
October 27th, 2009
1:26 am
Gabriel Solomon,
I guess because you probably have a baby mama that you don’t want to marry that you think my comment is stupid. The only thing that is stupid is the fact that you can’t handle the truth.
niecey
October 27th, 2009
10:11 am
When will people stop being roped in by people coming on blogs just to stir stuff up? Do you think it was an accident that that person was the first comment on this page. People like that seek out places to stir up trouble. Stop falling for it.
68ou1
October 27th, 2009
12:32 pm
Let’s just pretend for a moment that BET is racist. It certainly doesn’t compare to the slavery, beating, and lynching that whites bestowed upon blacks.
68ou1
October 27th, 2009
12:36 pm
Everybody, please stop hating on Monica and each other. You know what opinions are like and everybody’s got one. Some how, have things going in them that are not supposed to.
KPerkins
October 28th, 2009
1:56 am
People that live in glass houses should not throw stones, how many of you are wtihout sin,LET HE WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FRIST STONE,AINT NONE OF YALL PERFECT. HOW MANY OF YALL KNOW THIS WOMAN PERSONALY, NONE OF YOU BUT HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY WOW!!!!!!!!
KPerkins
October 28th, 2009
2:43 am
Enter your comments here
Nada
October 28th, 2009
5:10 am
I’m a Monica fan but I must say it like it is. She is saying “show her the right way”..but then she will turn around and say how she do what is best for her. To those that say Monica isn’t married b/c she wants to make sure Rocko is the right man…isn’t that what you do before you start living with a person and having kids with them? Stop making excuses for her.
Monica say Tiny and Toya show isnt about their men…honey, if it wasn’t for their men their would be no show. Toya who? Nobody knew who she was before the show. She is nothing but Wayne’s ex. Tiny hasn’t been relevant since Xscape.
Ms. Red
October 28th, 2009
2:07 pm
Hi Monica,
Sorry about your lost, and I can relate to loosing a love to suicide. Because, I lost my son last year! In addition, to getting a divorce. However, I’m moving forward and God is a Good God! Good Luck with your show, and may God Bless you has you embark on your new journey!!
Ladybug
October 28th, 2009
3:36 pm
Wow @ Shhut Up Although I don’t know these people personally as it appears you do I can truly understand where you are coming from. You are right the 63yo that you mentioned should be uplifted and we need to uplift a lot of grandmothers that are stepping up to the plate to raise their grandchildren they are not getting the credit that they deserve. I just don’t get what makes her so special is it because she is Monica…she not doing anything that any other single mother that has any business or grind about herself would do. Like others have stated she is just a baby mama until he decides to make her his wife and if her son is at school age which he is then more than likely its not going to happen…its not like she is putting out any cds or doing any concerts so all she has is time until someone finally gives her the go ahead to release her cd….. I’m juding her but you have to get right with yourself, accept the mistakes that you have made, get right with God and try and live the life he wants you to live in order to see the blessings that he has in store for you. That does not mean that she does not love God and he is not a part of her life but shacking is a sin if I am not mistaken so her house may not be in perfect order but in this day and age who’s life is in perfect order?
Monica interview promotes her BET show Still Standing | WZAKCleveland - 93.1 WZAK Cleveland's Home for the R&B Community
November 1st, 2009
4:09 pm
[...] Read the full story. [...]
R&B Star Monica Interview To Promote Her New Bet Show ’still … « Religion
November 1st, 2009
6:36 pm
[...] Her mother is the rock and her step dad is a very loving soul. Both parents are a light of love that shines on their children and community. I know Monica knows this however it is worth mentioning on this blog. Monica,you are in great hands with Jesus Christ, my savior and your parents who shines and protects that love that you cherish. Do your thing, Monica. You are a light in our community and I am proud and so is your community that you are our homegirl. …Page 2 [...]
badgirl1
February 17th, 2010
10:36 am
monica can sing,i watch all her music video and i like move.i wish i was her i sing and dance i make move and write song but she is pretty i want to be her.
badgirl1
February 17th, 2010
10:40 am
i want to see monica for real.