Amena Brown:
Oh, y'all, welcome back to HER with Amena Brown, and I'm saying this in a very particular way because I'm very excited for us to have our guest today. And this is really long awaited. I'm very glad. I'm very glad that this worked out. So I want y'all to welcome jazz and soul music artist, avid watcher of Sister Sister, yo favorite singer's favorite singa. The Chantae Cann in the building.
Chantae Cann:
Wow.
Amena Brown:
In the building. Y'all, Chantae is my friend. In real life she is my friend. I hug her when I see her. Sometimes we send a very random text to one another.
Chantae Cann:
Come on now. You've been my counselor.
Amena Brown:
Listen.
Chantae Cann:
Listen. Don't lead the people astray now.
Amena Brown:
That's right.
Chantae Cann:
Give them the truth now.
Amena Brown:
That's right.
Chantae Cann:
You've been my counselor now.
Amena Brown:
I did. We have had some times. We have had some moments where we had to just-
Chantae Cann:
And we thank the Lord.
Amena Brown:
... hold each other up. We had to do that. And I love me some Chantae Cann music as well. I really will be at the show. Matt and I actually got a chance to see Chantae, not the last time that you did show in Atlanta because I was very cry, tears, sad that I was booked out of town or Matt and I would've been there. Maybe Matt would've had to work. I would've been there with my hand, the concert hand. I would've been there doing that. Your show before that in Atlanta. Matt and I got to come... And this actually brings up other questions I want to ask you. Woo. Not me talking to Chantae for three hours. Okay. This is a thousand things I'm trying to talk to you about.
Chantae Cann:
I got time.
Amena Brown:
But we have seen you as our friend and as an amazing music artist too. And it was very dope after all of the years of the pandemic, for those of us who are stage people, whether that's performing or just loving live music. I just love live music. I just love to go see people doing their thing and to have seen you after all those years. And I was like, "Chantae really went home during the time of the pandemic and just got even more dope somehow. Just even more dope." I love that. For you and me.
Chantae Cann:
Thank you, Amena. I really appreciate that. You already know, it's an honor to be here with you. It's always a good time talking with you whether we're being recorded or not.
Amena Brown:
That's right.
Chantae Cann:
And both times are amazing and hilarious, so thank you for having me. We go back. I don't even want to say how many years because I can't do that kind of math anymore. You know the kids, they do the new math?
Amena Brown:
They are doing new math.
Chantae Cann:
Whereas fast math, like a little shortcut.
Amena Brown:
But if we told you all the years.
Chantae Cann:
It's been a long time.
Amena Brown:
It's been a minute. It's been a minute. But I love that for us. I love that for us, I'm very happy about this.
Chantae Cann:
Many didn't make it. They didn't make it past the mark.
Amena Brown:
And we're still here.
Chantae Cann:
But we are here.
Amena Brown:
That's it.
Chantae Cann:
Still walking in our gifts, still walking in our purpose, still walking in our calling and still connected in the creative community, so that is what I am most excited about talking with you specifically about.
Amena Brown:
Yes, Chantae. And I thought it would be fun y'all if Chantae and I could talk a little bit about musical firsts because I love to talk to people about these things. Obviously depending on the person's age, if you're talking about first album or LP or cassette or CD, you have all sorts of things. But you can learn a lot about a person based on those musical firsts. I wanted to ask you some of these, Chantae, do you recall the first CD that you purchased? You remember buying it with your money, you went in the store, you ordered it online. Do you remember that? What would be in the first five of CDs that you ever were like, "I love this music so much, I need to take my money and pay for it."
Chantae Cann:
Okay, so there's a combination of scenarios that this would've happened. One, I either begged my daddy to get this for me. It was like that in between time, me having my money and me not having my money or me being like, "Ah, ne ne." So I won't have to spend my little $20 or whatever. So I think there was a combination of those things, but okay. And this is no judgment zone, guys.
Amena Brown:
No, that's right. That's right. That's right.
Chantae Cann:
Okay. So, okay. Some of them are non judgey, but the one that I asked my dad to buy in particular was hilarious. Okay. Okay. Let's start with the one that I got for myself, and I remember specifically one of them was Erykah Badu, Baduizm.
Amena Brown:
Yes.
Chantae Cann:
(Singing) man that album bless me so much. [inaudible 00:05:22]. This was news to me, but it just made me feel so amazing. There was so many good songs on there and I was like, "This is such a unique sound. I've never heard anybody sound like this ever." At least in the years that I existed at the time that the album came out. I was like, "What is this?" But it's working. That little right open. I'm saying, and she learned how to make it her own. And it was something that you either loved or were extremely irritated by. And there are times where I feel both. There are times where I feel both not even going to hold you.
However, it set a precedent for me because it... I don't know. The live music just really spoke to me on that record. I'm like all these words and I'm looking on the CD list with the words on it.
Amena Brown:
Come on CD jacket. You had to take that thing out. Open it up.
Chantae Cann:
If we don't have those words, we're going to make up something. And I was like, "Wow." She's saying a lot of things in here. And I wasn't even like a lyrics person back then, but just to read along and sing along to what she was doing and how she expressed that. It really touched me in a way. I said, "Ooh, I can get with it. I can definitely get with this." I remember around that same time... I don't even know if this was for Musicality, but this just what was out when that was happening. (Singing). Anyway, you know that single by 702.
Amena Brown:
Come on 702. Come on.
Chantae Cann:
I think it was off The Good Burger soundtrack. I don't know. But yeah, that was a good time back then. I think Total was out back then.
Amena Brown:
That was a time for R&B. That was a time. I thank you for bringing that. Thank you for bringing that.
Chantae Cann:
The album that I asked my dad to buy, and I'm so surprised that he bought it for me. I was just like, "Oh, okay, you" That's when I knew he was woke for real back then. And I was like, "Oh, okay." So Biggie Smalls-
Amena Brown:
Say what? Chantae, say what?
Chantae Cann:
I think Life After Death. What's the name? The Black and White? I was just like, "Wait a second." I don't don't know if it was After Death, it-
Amena Brown:
It had a baby on it. It's had the baby on it. That had the white background. Let me find that out.
Chantae Cann:
Okay, so maybe it wasn't that one. It was the one... Dang. I don't know. He had a single on there with Bone Thugs and Harmony.
Amena Brown:
I remember this. Okay.
Chantae Cann:
It was a black CD.
Amena Brown:
It was Ready To Die or it was Life After Death.
Chantae Cann:
I think it was Ready To Die, guys. what's the one on there where it's like... Oh, I don't even want to say the words. I'm not going to do it.
Amena Brown:
Please. Okay.
Chantae Cann:
The world is filled. Blank, blank, blank, blank. (Singing).
Amena Brown:
Yes. Life After Death. This the one that had the hearse. Wow.
Chantae Cann:
(Singing) That's on there. I'm going to digress. But my dad bought it for me and I was really shocked. I was like, "Oh, okay. What else can I get him to buy me?" I was trying to figure it out. I was trying to finesse.
Amena Brown:
You really got your daddy to buy you the Notorious BIG Life after Death. Chantae, wow. Wow.
Chantae Cann:
I Don't know.
Amena Brown:
I got to give it up to you there.
Chantae Cann:
Had I had a child in that day, I don't think I would've done the same thing. I said, I think either he care or he's just really woke or he trusts me with it. And I said, okay. Well, but I don't know. It was just something about that hip hop era that even is an influence on me now. And not necessarily all of the negative parts of it or all of the... Because it could go either way. So I wasn't trying to be this hardcore gangster girl, but I did live in the south side of Chicago for many years where there was lots of gang activity surrounding me. So it wasn't farfetched that that is what was happening in the culture, but I was just moved by the rhythm. And I remember Outkast came out around that time and I would try to make up the words. I'm like, "What is he saying to this little beat?" I was influenced by it at a very young age, and so it still plays a part in my artistry today. So honorable mention to those guys.
Amena Brown:
I really love this story. I love so much that this is the album that your dad got for you. I also feel that if you were growing up in the nineties, you have at least one parental slip. There's one moment that you can be like, "Wow, I'm not sure that my parent was supposed to let me see this or let me listen to this." My mom's parental nineties slip was Jason's Lyric. She was like, "We need to go see a movie. Let's go see this movie together."
And there I am in the movie with my mama looking at Alan Payne's Hairy Behind. And we both were surprised. We both were in for a moment. I think she was like, "My child's a teenager. Let me take her here. She's not quite an adult, but she's getting old. Let me take her to have this moment." And then we both got in there and had to watch Alan Payne and Jada Pinkett, now Jada Pinkett Smith in this field of flowers. That was my mom's one that I was like, I'm not sure if that was a, here I have evolved as a parent, or if she really just didn't know. Right. She didn't know. She got in the movie and was like, "What have I done? Why did I bring my child to this?"
Chantae Cann:
Did you guys stay for the end? Were you committed? Okay. She was like, "I paid my money. We going to stay."
Amena Brown:
I think we watched the entire film, and I will say about my mom, we're people who want to really discuss art. We'll go to a film and want to discuss it. So I feel like we went and ate some food after that and discussed everything except his hairy butt. You know what I'm saying? We just, the whole sex scene got left out.
Chantae Cann:
That's off the table.
Amena Brown:
We didn't talk about that. I called my friends later and was like, y'all would believe my mom took me to see Jason's Lyric and they were like, "Jason's Lyric? Yo mama?" Yeah, she-
Chantae Cann:
Yo, that is insane. Wow. That's insane. Yeah, and I appreciate your mom for that because you are who you are because of that experience.
Amena Brown:
Okay, I'm here now. I'm here. I learned too.
Chantae Cann:
You're just a little more well-rounded.
Amena Brown:
A little more learned. A little more learned. Love that for me. Also, my first CD that I purchased myself was either TLC's, Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip or it was SWV SWV because I think their first album was self-titled, it was one of those two. Both are great. Both were great. Both had a lot of neon color involved in the actual CD itself. As well as the CD jacket. Yes. Yes. Nails, lots of denim. It was a lot of loud primary colors involved.
Chantae Cann:
Asymmetricals.
Amena Brown:
Very, very much that Big hats on the TLC album cover, condoms all over the place. It was a time. It was a time.
Chantae Cann:
Yeah.
Amena Brown:
It was a time. Okay. Now let me ask you about your first concert. And I know you and I both share the background of being people who grew up in church. So whenever people ask me this question, I have two answers, Chantae, because my first concert was in church. It was not in a concert hall, it was not at a venue. My first for real concert was inside the church. And so it depends on where I'm at, Chantae. I'm trying to gaze, I'm trying to gauge who is here in the room that will understand me saying my first actual concert was Dawkins and Dawkins, which is a Christian soul-
Chantae Cann:
And I love Dawkins and Dawkins, and I love that too.
Amena Brown:
They were my first live show that was some real good old gospel R&B type music. Really enjoyed that. And then we hate it. We love it. But my first actual, for real, in my mind, for real concert that I could say to most people, but now not, is Kanye West. I saw Kanye West for $5.
Chantae Cann:
Wow.
Amena Brown:
I saw Kanye West for $5 with a singer that we didn't know was John Legend. It was before anybody knew who John Legend was.
Chantae Cann:
Wow.
Amena Brown:
It was Kanye West and John Legend for $5 at Centennial Olympic Park. These were my two-
Chantae Cann:
Are you kidding me right now?
Amena Brown:
Yeah, for real. For real. We were really like, "Man, who's the singer? This is amazing, man. I wonder where he comes from."
Chantae Cann:
That is so cool. Right? Who are these people?
Amena Brown:
It's like two years later we were like... Get Lifted, came out. We were like, "We saw him for $5 with Kanye West?"
Chantae Cann:
Yeah. That is unheard of. We don't do no $5 nothing, no more. Taxes ain't even $5.
Amena Brown:
No, not even a drink in the venue is $5.
Chantae Cann:
I can't. Wow.
Amena Brown:
So do you have dual stories? Was your actual first concert in church or no. And I would love to hear that one if you feel so led to share. And then do you have a concert that was outside of church that was your first concert experience?
Chantae Cann:
Yes. So honestly, I don't even remember my first gospel concert until years, years later. I was probably in Atlanta and I was probably just... Yeah, it wasn't one of those things where I had to go because my parents or whatever. It was just whatever people I was with at the time went to whatever gospel concert. And honestly, I really don't even remember the gospel one back then. I don't. I do know that my mom used to go to the Stellar Awards and she would bring me back these little goodie bags with tapes, and one of those tapes was Dawkins and Dawkins, girl. I was like, "Ooh."
Amena Brown:
That was some good music.
Chantae Cann:
Had Dawkins and Dawkins. I think Jay Moss was on one. Joanne Rosario was on a couple. That was always a treat. So I was very privy to the Dawkins and Dawkins. But yeah, it spoke to me. But before that, when I was in Chicago, because me and my friends, girl, we were obsessed, absolutely obsessed with Immature.
Amena Brown:
Yes, yes.
Chantae Cann:
Yes, and it was a mess. All on the walls, all on the room, all in my notebooks at school. Immature, Immature. We were literally obsessed. And so that was the first real concert that we went to in Chicago. I don't even remember where it was, but it was there. I was like, "Oh."
Amena Brown:
Was it the entire group? Did you have certain members of the group that you were really like... When I loved the boys... I loved the boys, but I really... It was Hakeem for me. So did you have a member of Immature that that was like your person?
Chantae Cann:
So I'm still this way, but I was way more this way back in the day. Okay, because everybody was obsessed with the pretty boy Romeo. Everybody was obsessed with Batman. I chose to love LDB because he was the lesser of the two.
Amena Brown:
The underdog.
Chantae Cann:
I ain't got to worry about everybody being obsessed over him. I could have him to myself. I ain't got to worry about all that energy because people ain't going to be fighting over here, and that's why I chose to love him.
Amena Brown:
You wanted to give the underdog some love, Chantae. I feel that.
Chantae Cann:
Maybe this has traveled with me through the ages, just displays in different ways. But I say, I remember specifically being like, "Oh my God, everybody's on these guys. I'm just going to... And I'm going to be okay with that. I'm going to stay in my lane." So yeah, we had our own little triunity of Immature worship. I was like, "Oh my God." The daydreams. Yeah. So I even had this... This is so silly. I even had this letter that I never sent to... I was supposed to send it to the fan club or somebody, but I never sent it out. I just kept it just for my own obsessive nature. Just to look at it. I laminated with this little clear tape girl. I was cutting out these little hearts, these little hole punchers that punch out hearts. I added that to the mix. I was very crafty back then. I think I got it from my grandma, but I never sent it. But I kept it for my own memories.
Amena Brown:
I love this so much. I first of all, thank you for referencing a fan club because how else could you get in touch with artists that you love back then?
Chantae Cann:
You have to write the president of the fan club.
Amena Brown:
... the fan club, I definitely-
Chantae Cann:
The internet was barely popping.
Amena Brown:
Period. I definitely sent two letters to Janet Jackson's fan club with my school pictures. I wish that I would've done what you did though, and kept that so that I would be like, "What are you writing to her? What are you wanting her to know about your life? Are you telling her about school?" I don't remember what I said. I just remember I was just like, "Dear Janet..." And I remember I cut my little school picture out.
Chantae Cann:
That's so sweet.
Amena Brown:
Slid it in there. But that was the only thing you could do. You had to put it in an envelope and mail it.
Chantae Cann:
A whole envelope with a stamp on there. You got to have to lick the stamp.
Amena Brown:
To the fan club.
Chantae Cann:
With the little adhesive, you had to lick bad boy.
Amena Brown:
You had to lick the stamp and the envelope. That's a lot. That was really a lot that we were put through during that time. That was a lot.
Chantae Cann:
A lot.
Amena Brown:
That was a lot for us. Wow. We survived that though. Wow.
Chantae Cann:
That's another generation.
Amena Brown:
Shout out to you writing to the fan club. I love that. Okay. Let me ask you about, do you have a first music centered movie that you loved and I'm leaving room for if you are a person who loves musicals, it could be that. Or it could be a movie that you remember loving the soundtrack almost as much as you loved the movie. Or it could be a movie also... I think Purple Rain is a good example of that, right? That it's not a musical, it's not a biopic, but it is a movie where music is very central. So can you think of an early movie in your life that you loved because of its music?
Chantae Cann:
This is very tough for me because my brain is maybe 50 different places. I could just be naming all kind of random, Waiting To Exhale.
Amena Brown:
That's a very solid soundtrack there. That's a very solid, that's good stuff.
Chantae Cann:
I don't even think I saw a movie until years later, but I definitely heard the music first. Count on me through thick and thin. (Singing)
Amena Brown:
I mean Whitney and Brandy and CeCe Winans.
Chantae Cann:
Oh yeah. That period. It was like, "Okay, cool. I see you guys. I see you guys out here." Yeah, so that's just a vague memory for me of a soundtrack that I listen to a lot. There was a song by this girl named Billy Lawrence-
Amena Brown:
That was on that soundtrack?
Chantae Cann:
It was like this white girl, but she was kind of hip hoppy.
Amena Brown:
Oh, let me find out. Billy Lawrence.
Chantae Cann:
Like, (Singing) I remember one of my best friends used to be obsessed with her as well. I think it was on the soundtrack or on a special edition. Is Billy somebody. But it was like, yeah.
Amena Brown:
I'm going to find out. I'm going to do the research because now you-
Chantae Cann:
Do the research. That's all I got right now until something hits me minutes later and I'm like, "Ooh, I forgot about this."
Amena Brown:
You got me going down the rabbit hole.
Chantae Cann:
That's what I got for right now.
Amena Brown:
I'm going to think about that. I'm going to think about that some more. I'm trying to figure out what would I say is the earliest... It's interesting what you said though about Waiting To Exhale as a film because I feel like there was an era between the late eighties and mid-nineties where there were soundtracks that were either equally as big to people as the film or what you said is spot on. The soundtrack reached you younger than you were old enough to watch the movie. That the soundtrack was actually that excellent. I actually went back and re watched Waiting To Exhale as an adult woman because I'm pretty sure I was too young to be watching it the first time.
So I went back and watched it and was like, "This soundtrack is almost impeccable." It's just track for track, the whole thing. Man, by the time everyone falls in love sometime, I was like, "Oh, girl."
Chantae Cann:
Oh man. Listen, anything Whitney is going to be a great time. It is like epic every time. Epic, every single time.
Amena Brown:
Really took me to a place. Speaking of albums, as a music artist who has now made multiple albums, you are in the process of working on what is going to be your next album. How do you know when you're getting the beginning of an album idea? Do you typically have a way the album idea comes to you, or is it that the songs tend to come to you and then as they accumulate, you start to think this maybe is becoming an album?
Chantae Cann:
Okay, so both of those things are very true and often happen all the time. Well, myself especially. So I'll get pieces here, pieces there, pieces here, pieces there, and then sometimes this piece that I thought wasn't going to be anything turns into a main thing because maybe I found somebody to collab on it or I found an elevated track. So it's beyond what I was originally thinking. So now I'm like, "Okay, let's leave no stones unturned and nothing wasted." So I have a list of song titles in my notes on my phone, and sometimes I go back to them and say, "I need to write a song called this, because that's how I feel, that's what I feel I'm being called to express in this season."
And then there are times when I just hear dope tracks or somebody will send me something or I'll be vibing with somebody musically and I'm like, "Ooh." And then I just start singing or speaking or flowing or whatever. And I'm just creating that vibe in the moment on the spot with that other individual.
Sometimes I'll have dreams of songs in my head and then I'll wake up and literally record a crazy behind voice memo sounding all kind of groggy and just crazy. I literally hear all the instrumentation in my dream. That's what happened with a couple songs on this new album. So there's a few different ways. And then as far as let's say the name of the album, I really just brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm, and I'm like, "Okay, Lord, what would you like to speak in this season?" And I'm very, very led that way. And then I just write all these words and something may just speak to me just because I'm looking at all the words and how they fit together and how they make me feel and how they relate to my truth. And so yeah, it's an amalgamation of all of those things that literally make up a whole piece of work. So yeah, that's my story.
Amena Brown:
I'm always fascinated in speaking with music artists about the process of albums because the closest I come to that as a poet... I have done albums as a poet too, but I think I did them differently than a lot of my friends who are music artists describe, because I really just had a backlog of poems that I sort of needed. Back in the day when you could really make money selling CDs at your merch table. That was a time.
Chantae Cann:
Oh my God. (Singing)
Amena Brown:
That was a time, y'all. You could really make a CD for less than-
Chantae Cann:
You just got the burning the disc. Two seconds ago putting on a little cover in a little-
Amena Brown:
Slide it.
Chantae Cann:
If you had a sticker and a case.
Amena Brown:
Boy, boy.
Chantae Cann:
You really [inaudible 00:26:54].
Amena Brown:
Listen.
Chantae Cann:
Yeah, this is worth what I'm charging.
Amena Brown:
Cost you less than $2 to make it. You could charge 10, $15. We was making so much money at the merch table, Chantae.
Chantae Cann:
You should bootleg this all day and I wouldn't even know. There was no way to tell if you're bootlegging or not. And if you are, that's probably helping me.
Amena Brown:
Right? Getting the word out. Getting the word out at that time. That's the thing. That's the thing.
That was the time. So I was like, I made those albums, but I didn't actually have the creative process that you described of when you're not going there to just need to package some merch together so you can have merch for this thing, but you're actually thinking as a creative work, you're looking at the album and thinking about what your soul wants to say. What do you feel like the work itself wants to be? So I'm always fascinated to hear about that process. So let me ask at the end of the process, because I also hear from music artists that you could have way more songs than will actually make it on the album in the end.
Chantae Cann:
And you can't be mad. You can't be mad.
Amena Brown:
So how do you know when it's done? When the album is finished? Is there typically a feeling that you have inside or is it process of elimination because you've been in the process of writing songs, you can see the idea germinating and you can see which songs fit and which ones don't. How does that process typically go?
Chantae Cann:
Okay, so in my current today outlook on that, there are a couple of things that I am factoring in now. Because society has changed, technology has changed, the attention spans of the people have changed. So there were a couple of times... So let's just take this last album that I'm working on, that I'm finishing as an example. At first I had maybe in total, there was a possible maybe 13 to 15 tracks that I felt very strongly about, included a couple of interludes, a couple of this, a couple of that.
And so when we were shopping distribution labels and some other people that was going to help fund some things, they were like, "Okay, this is great. All of this is great. This is amazing. However, in today's society, there is a sweet spot of album tracks." And for streaming, they were saying the sweet spot is like 10 tracks.
Amena Brown:
Wow.
Chantae Cann:
Between eight to 10 tracks because people's attention span is very, very short. If it's over 10 tracks, you're really not making any money off of the additional two because whatever the... I don't know how it works out, but yeah, there's a theory that if you make over 10, you're really not making anything from the extra two because they count something, something, something. I don't know.
So I'm taking all that into consideration. And so I did scale back on a couple songs, but it ended up working really, really well. So it just allowed me to really get those 10 songs and honestly, okay, it's 10 songs, but maybe two interludes. So 12 tracks in total. 10 full songs, however you want to slice it, that's up to you and yours. But it just allowed me to really, really fine tune those records, dedicate the proper attention that they require that they deserve. So yeah, even though I was like, oh, okay, I see what you're saying. But yeah, it was like everywhere we went, they had that say. So yeah, that's where I am now. I am doing a volume one and a volume two, so anything that's not being used, boo boo, is going to go on the next record. You know what I'm saying?
Amena Brown:
I was wondering about that. It's very interesting to hear you describe... Especially being an artist who cares about the concept of your album and how the songs collect together, that you want there to be some sense of synergy there and that as an artist in the market now, having to consider certain things that are more... For us as artists, that'll be more on the business side of thought, but that you have to consider them even in how you may decide to make your creative work. But it definitely was coming to my mind thinking, okay, if you're an artist who's in the mindset of, you're used to making albums that had 15 tracks, and it's like that would really help you because if your mind is automatically going to make -15-
Chantae Cann:
I can say those next time.
Amena Brown:
Right. I'm like, "you have all sorts of-"
Chantae Cann:
I say, okay, how many more do you want me to cut?
Amena Brown:
That sounds fantastic. And I will say for artists that I love and have listened to their newest albums that have probably come out in the last two or three years, I have noticed them being shorter. But as a music fan and a person who loves to go to live shows, it puts me in the position of want more. It puts me to be like, "Ooh, that was so good. I have to see that when this person's tour comes to Atlanta. I have to be there for the next part two of this album idea." And so I hope that even though for those of us who are really music heads, it's hard to think that people's attention spans are shorter when music is amazing, that can be hard for me.
Chantae Cann:
Because we can listen forever and ever and ever. Amen.
Amena Brown:
I'm like, "What are we doing with the Songs in the Key of Life? What about that?"
Chantae Cann:
That's a whole day's worth of music.
Amena Brown:
This was amazing. But I hope that it produces in people who love music, a desire to want more from the artists they love to want more of that next record to want more of getting to see how that shows up in a live set too. This is the other thing that came to my mind when you were talking earlier.
Chantae Cann:
Yes.
Amena Brown:
Also, I want to ask you about how you feel you have developed what Chantae Cann as the performer is on stage, and I've seen you perform in various environments and as your music and you have evolved and broadened and all these things. And that last show that I saw, Chantae Cann the sense of... I don't even know if confidence is the right word, I want to say Chantae, it's a sense of mastery is, what I think is the word that's in my mind more, that it takes a certain something when you're there in the writing phase and in the recording part.
But what is the gap between you have finished recording this music, you are now like, "Now I got to get this music ready for stage and I got to get it ready for stage to where I feel comfortable going in and out of it however I like." What's the process of how you get yourself to that? You were so comfortable up there and that makes the audience feel so at ease with you because we know where you're going. So all I got to do is follow you. I don't have to be in the crowd like, "Is everything okay? Is this supposed to be like this? I don't know." So what's the process like of recording and page and writing and how that transforms for you on stage?
Chantae Cann:
That is a amazing question. And it's so funny that you asked that in this current season of my life because, so I just recently, not even at the show that you saw me at, but literally within the past couple of weeks I got connected with a artist developer, and I got connected with somebody who's going to help me get into acting and film and just expand my artistic nature to wherever it can go. Because I really feel like there's something there. There's something that's pulling me to the arts. I just don't have any for real, for real training or I just know what I know and I know what comes natural and I know what I feel, but I just don't know, I haven't gone to school for it. So there's an artist developer that I just recently started working with.
There are these coaches that have been helping me get my live show, the new show together because the old show... Because I've done it forever ish, forever E, I can be comfortable in that. And it wasn't always that way as somebody who's dealt with anxiety pretty much their whole entire life, the stage for me, there were parts of it that were my safety and also my safety lied in jam sessions with the live musicians. My safety lied in, not necessarily, Ooh, I'm performing, but it lied in, Oh me and this musician are having this amazing musical conversation. We're coming up with this on the spot, improv, improv, improv. Because that was my strong suit, and I was just learning my own voice when I was first coming out as an artist.
I remember doing full shows that were all improv, and it was just like, "Okay, and oh, people are still here. Okay, cool." Now I just have to be more intentional about those moments because, it should not be for the whole entire show. But at that moment, that is what soothed me. That is what lessened my anxiety. So I stayed there a lot and I based a lot of my shows off of that. Now, I do remember there being a transition where I wanted to intentionally say, "Hey, let's do a set list. Let's make it amazing. Let's do the covers that I love to do. Let's do it my way and let's do my interpretation of it. Oh, let me be inspired by this musician here, this musician there. So I was around musicians all the time. I was around singers all the time. We were shedding vocals all the time nonstop. That really, really helped me. That was my safe place too.
And so getting all of that ready for stage and for it to be translated well, it just takes doing it over and over and over again and walking in that confidence that you talked about, because I still have to intentionally walk in it. I still have to be intentional about walking in that, but rehearsing, practicing by myself when there's no singers around me, having those moments that has been so helpful to me. It's helped keep my vocals warm, it's helped keep my chops up or whatever. My performance, my stamina, all the things kind of have been preparing me to make the show what it's supposed to be. So that's kind of things that I've been working on subconsciously and now more intentionally with the artist development. And I never had artist development like Mimi was my vocal coach.
Mimi, that's my big sister, she was that for me when I didn't even know what that was at the time. So yeah, there are still areas in which I know can be improved as far as connecting and being intentional about every single moment and looking confident and feeling confident and not just, "Let me hide in this." Or "Let me hide in this." Coming out of that hiding. So yeah, I appreciate you for bringing that up.
Amena Brown:
Yeah, you spoke some words there, because I really admire what you described about your process, especially in this season of times. I think as stage performers, there is a vulnerability to start building the new show. I feel like I'm in that zone a little bit too, where I know as a performer, I know this story right here, it kill every time. So I know I can throw it in. But when you're building the new set, there's a lot you're still trying to figure out how it works. Does it work? Do I want to transition from this to that way? And that can have a certain vulnerability because you're not guaranteed that the audience will respond to it the way you may have imagined. And some of it may take time of you doing it on stage several times before you get it to where you love it. But if you can do that, then you have fresh material, fresh art that an audience can experience with you. So it's worth that process, but it is uncomfortable in some regards-
Chantae Cann:
Yes, with my tab, like, "Oh my God."
Amena Brown:
Right, that part. You also brought up a really excellent point too, of being able to bring in other experts, other people that can help broaden you, can help strengthen some of those muscles in you can help you to see yourself beyond what you may know of what you think you can do on stage or what you think you can do in your profession.
And it's so powerful, and that's a vulnerable thing too, to have to bring in other people and let them look at you from the outside looking in and to take in the... Not criticism, but the feedback that they may give you. And it may not all be how brilliant you are or how dope it is. It may be like, "Hey, you might want to think about this that the third." And you have to humbly process that with the end goal being that you hope to really put on the best that your present you, in this moment, not a past you, but the you, you are right now. That's the goal is to put that out there, put the best you right now. But that does mean you got to take in some things and try to fix some things.
Chantae Cann:
Yeah. Firstly, I definitely cried. I was like, "Oh my God."
Amena Brown:
Why you didn't just tell me I'm amazing. I thought that's what our session was going to be. You didn't do that.
Chantae Cann:
The funny thing is that's exactly what the lady said. She was like, "I know you're used to everybody telling you that you're the bee's knees and you're this and this, and you are that. However, we need to go higher. You need to have people around you that are going to give you healthy, constructive criticism. It's our job to do that. We've been doing this for years. We've been doing this for A, B and C people. That's what we are here for. We are a safe place. We know there's potential in you. We know that it's even greater potential and we don't want you hiding anymore."
And so a lot of places where I lived was inside of my head. And so when I'm performing for the artist development session, I'm in my head because it's like this one-on-one, it's like a small group. Once again I'm like, "Oh, okay, cool." If I was at a show, I would be way more comfortable in my element.
I can hide behind the band. I can hide behind the music. I can hide behind this. I can hide behind that. But their thing was, "We know you can sing. That's not the issue here. This is not a singing class. This is something to where it can be translated. And wherever you go, people are going to look at you and say, she's been working on this. Theater people will look at you and say, oh, well, let's get her for this musical. Well, she has a wonderful voice, but how is she with this and how is she with that?"
So it's helping me hone in on those things and get outside of my head and just be not concentrate on, oh, I got to hit this right now. Oh, I got to hit this right note. I got to hit this right note. And so I was like, "Oh, okay, because you're all in my business right now."
Amena Brown:
That's the thing. You really got to lessen people all in.
Chantae Cann:
You look like you're trying to sing the right note. I said, "Oh, okay. I'm sorry."
Amena Brown:
I didn't want to look like I was trying. I wanted to do it. I didn't want-
Chantae Cann:
I want to hit the right note sometimes. But they were like, "You can't think about that." It was just really, it helped me put some things in perspective.
Amena Brown:
Right.
Chantae Cann:
I'm excited, y'all.
Amena Brown:
Speaking of perspective, the streets are talking that there is a Chantae Cann documentary in the works. Are you able to speak to the things the streets are saying, Chantae?
Chantae Cann:
Absolutely. I love the streets sometimes because they be watching.
Amena Brown:
They do. They be watching and talking.
Chantae Cann:
They be watching. Some streets is cool, some streets-
Amena Brown:
Some not.
Chantae Cann:
I'm cool on. But these streets I can trust right now. So yes, those streets that you are referring to are talking about a documentary that I am working on. It's been a while since I've started. I'm going to go out on the limb and say I started... This was birthed maybe in 2015. So it's been a long journey for it to be from there to where it is now. So this documentary is about Huntington's Disease awareness and how that relates to my story, how that relates to my life, how that relates to my journey as an artist, as an individual. I can't say the name because we've said it already. So it's called Beautiful Brave, which is the name of one of the singles on the new album.
Amena Brown:
Oh, I love that.
Chantae Cann:
Thank you. And basically Beautiful Brave... So I'll just say the lyrics of the song. So beautiful, brave, got to get up, get up and say, I'm scared, but I'm going to do it anyway. Do it afraid. Got to get up, get up, say I'm scared, but I'm going to do it anyway. And so it's just speaking to the craziness of life that ensued when I was finding more out about Huntington's, when I was dealing with people in my family with it, when I went to go get tested, my own self. So I'm bringing people along for that journey as well as spreading awareness for people who have no idea what Huntington's is. But overall, I want it to relate to anybody across the globe, whether you're an artist dealing with a specific thing or somebody that may be dealing with something, a sickness an illness, something that is just outside their control. How do you brave through it? And how does you being brave turn into something beautiful?
And so that's the inspiration behind it. And we're looking to release it sometime next year. We're talking to some distribution now, but going through some first drafts. And so yeah, we're kind of in the final processes of that. So I'm very excited about that.
Amena Brown:
Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing, Chantae, it sounds amazing on a lot of levels. Amazing for you to be sharing a story that's personal to you, that I know is going to mean a lot to a lot of people. To hear the journey that you have been on. It's amazing in that way. And it's amazing to embark on taking your story into your own hands and to say, "This is the story I want to tell. This is the way that I want to tell it."
And for us as artists, and in particularly as Black women, as people of color who are artists, to be able to take our own stories and say, "This is the way we want it to be told." It's so powerful. So y'all make sure y'all be on the lookout. And speaking of the lookout, Chantae, people are listening. They have heard the stories. They want to know where can they hear this music? Where can they buy these tickets for when you might be doing your thing in their city? How can they follow you so they can know what's what? Tell the people how they can access all things Chantae Cann.
Chantae Cann:
Okay? Yes. So for those of you all who are interested in staying along for the journey and would like to be connected to anything that may be happening in the future, whether it's the release of albums, whether it's the documentary, all the things will be available to you at the website, which is chantaecann.com, that's C-H-A-N-T-A-E-C-A-N-N .com. And obviously I'm on Instagram, Facebook, anywhere music is, that's where I am. All of the digital platforms out there, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, all the things, I am there. Look me up. I would love to continue to stay connected. Yeah, that's it.
Amena Brown:
Y'all do that. And if y'all here and y'all are like, "Oh, I'm late to the Chantae Cann party." Don't worry. You can be late in on time. This is your time. You can go ahead, go to there. You can connect right now.
Chantae Cann:
Come on, that's a word.
Amena Brown:
You go ahead and catch up on these albums before the new one come out, so that way you'll have all those songs under your belt already. You already got time. Chantae Cann, thank you for just sharing your time with me. I appreciate this so much. It is so good to talk with you, to talk music with you, to talk about your process. And I am out here awaiting. I'm awaiting this new album, the new show, the documentary. I'm out here. I can't wait. So thank you so much.
Chantae Cann:
Thank you for having me. You know anytime. We are sisters from another mister. You are my mom.
Amena Brown:
That's it. That's it. Because me and Matt be looking like Chantae parents. So whenever we go to the show, she'd be like, "My parents." And people be looking at me and Matt, they'd be looking at me and Matt like, "How they?"
Love it. Yes. Well, thank you so much, Chantae. Y'all go to Chantae, you can.com, do all the things there. See y'all soon.
Her with Amina Brown is produced by Matt Owen for Sul Graffiti Productions. As a part of the Seneca Women Podcast network in partnership with iHeartRadio. Thanks for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast.