Melanie Fiona’s POWERFUL Return with 'Say Yes' 🎶

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We're so happy to have her here today, right, Heather B
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Absolutely. She has a song that kills me from her past when she was signed to a record label
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Now she's independent. She got a new project called Say Yes. She's just magnificent, incredible
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and I need some of you folks that sit in it. Y'all ever watch Purple Rain
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Who's seen Purple Rain? You seen the scene in the audience where Prince is performing
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and the audience is looking like this? That's how you look, okay
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So give us some energy. Please make some noise. She's our headliner
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I need everybody to stand up. Give us standing ovation right now
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for the one and only Canada's finest worldwide, Melanie Fiona! Shout out to the first two artists who performed tonight
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Jalen and Nali. I was listening backstage amazing. Jalen, I love her voice so much
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I'm so happy to be here with all of you guys. this has absolutely been a journey for me
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As Sway said, thank you guys for the support. We recently did, we did a duet. I hope you have your vocals ready today
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And it kills me. Wow. See, if you stay ready, you don't got to get ready
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You know what I'm saying? Okay. You better watch out. We need a round two from our interview that we did
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That viral moment. So get ready. You're going to be on standby. But as he said, I did, I put out a new project
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It's been the first one in a long time. It is a six-song EP named Say Yes
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Yes. Amen. Say yes to your truth. Say yes to yourself. Say yes to overcoming your fears
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Say yes to everything that you deserve in your life, because it's yours. It's just waiting for you
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And that's how I feel about this project and this season of my life. So I'm going to perform one of my favorite songs off the project
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This is called Mona Lisa Smile, because I often feel that we talk a lot about men and their pride
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but women have pride, too. And it's very important that we recognize how we carry that
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And that we are carrying a lot, especially as black women. So this is Mona Lisa's Smile
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Perfect picture in a broken framing. No one ever sees the broken pieces of the painting
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I know you're lying. I'm lying. It's crazy. I don't really know why in the hell I'm trying to save this
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If I didn't love you, I'd walk out that door. If a man can have his pride while a girl can have more
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I'd rather go to war before a letter teardrop hit this floor
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I'll never let you see me breaking down. You'll never have to pick me up off the ground
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I'd rather stand pretty than beg and plead for your pity And I'll go a million miles wearing this Mona, Mona Lisa smile
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Well, if they start coming down Mona Lisa smile Boy, I'm afraid I might drown
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Mona Lisa's smile. Yeah, before I lose my mind, I'mma let you know now
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I'll go a million miles wearing this Mona, Mona Lisa. You don't care to say that it's over
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Instead of giving up, I learned to give you the cold shoulder. I gave you time so I'm yours and you're mine
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My heart's on the line, love's who will stop Even if I could get my feet to run
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I'd go around in circles cause I know I'm not done We're gonna both lose it all
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Before a little tip drop hit this floor Let you see me breaking down
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You'll never have to pick me up off the ground I'd rather stand pretty than begging me for your pity
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And I'll go a million miles wearing this Mona, Mona Lisa smile
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Well, if they start coming down, boy, I'm afraid I might drown
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Yeah, before I lose my mind, I'ma let you know now. I'll go a million miles, wearing this long line
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Mona needs to smile Thank you guys so much
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That's a little classic, classic vibe. I think a lot of my first fans of my first project
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The Bridge and the MF Life, they appreciate that one. The Retro Soul is where it all started for me
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But you know, let's go to where it all started for me. Sway, are you ready? I'm ready
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And it kills me. Oh man How much I really love you OK So much I wanna So much I wanna Hoo hoo hoo Yeah hoo hoo hoo
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See, that's what we needed in the morning. We needed some champagne. Let's go. Let's get it ready
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And it kills me. Hey. You got your microphone. To know how much I really love you
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Don't shy out now. Hoo, hoo, hoo. So much I wanna. Hoo, hoo, hoo
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Go ahead. Take it from here, Mel. I got it from here
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Thank you. I got it from here. Y'all make some noise for Sway. And those immaculate vocals
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This song changed my life. Still changing my life. Oh, yeah, yeah
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I've got trouble with my friends. Trouble in my life. Problems when you don't come home at night
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But when you do, you always start to fight But I can't be alone
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I need you to come on home I know we're messing around
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But who the hell else is gonna hold me down? I've gotta be on my mind
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To think it's good work this time A part of me wants to leave
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But the other side still believes And it kills me To know how much I really love you
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So much I wanna Ooh, ooh, ooh You got it Ooh, ooh, ooh
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Thank you, Bill Should I grab his sail Call his chick up
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Start some shit Then hang out Or should I be a lady
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Ooh, baby Cause I wanna have his babies Oh yeah Cause I don't
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Want to be alone I don't need to be On my own
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But I love this man Some things I just can't say No
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I've gotta be on my mind To think it's gonna work It's high
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A part of me Wants to leave But the other side Still believe
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I really love you So much I love you
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Do you Do you Should I pay you back
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And it kills me To know how much I really love you
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So much To you Can y'all sing it out
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And it kills me To know how much I really love you
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To know how much A little special treat
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This one is for Sway specifically because when we did our interview on the project, I collaborated with an incredible rapper
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by the name of LaRusso. And we did a really fun summer joint
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I love it. It just feels like summer. And so I want to leave you guys with a summer vibe
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This is Make Me Feel Good. Okay, make me feel. Yeah, yeah
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Lately you're distracted when you come around And I be tripping out
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cause you don't hear me out Are you gon' turn me up or you gon' hold me down
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Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I know it's so good even when it gets bad
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And this thing is for life, there ain't no going back Cause you know I'm the best thing that you ever had
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So let's get back to that Wait, we're waiting out the rain
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I know it's this joy, this pain And for your love I will wait
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And babe it won always be this way Even if we both change My love is gonna stay the same so just make me feel Make me feel good like a Sunday morning
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Sunset Boulevard, sunroof open. Puffing on a tray with the palm trees blowing
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I know the plague, you ain't even gotta say it. Just make me feel good, you know how I want it
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I don't wanna wait, I just wanna jump on it. Ride itself with the baseline good wind
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Ay, you know how you make me feel. Like butterflies and bees
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When roses start to bloom. When hummingbirds sing. I'm hoping that it's you every time my phone ring
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Do-wop, do-wop, beware that thing. The sun don't always shine, but when you smile it feels like it
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Insecure about your weight gain, I still like it. You want this shit to last, then you gotta build like it
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know it might not last forever, but at least it feels like it. Wait, we're waiting out the rain
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I know we'll destroy this pain. And for your love, I will wait
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And babe, it won't always be this way. Even if we both change, my love is going to stay the same
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So just make me feel. Like a Sunday morning Sunset full of sunroof
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Open, puffin' on a jay With the palm trees blowin' I know the prayer
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You ain't even gotta say it Just make me feel good You know how I want it
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I don't wanna wait I just wanna jump on it Riding slow with the bass line
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Go away Yeah, yeah Thank y'all so much! I love you guys
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Thank you so much for rocking with me. Thank you. An incredible artist, and she's doing it independent
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She's doing it independent. Say yes. Can you say yes? Can you say yes
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Can you say yes? Yes. Yo, how'd I do, Mel? No, seriously, Mel, how'd I do
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You did great. I did real? You definitely redeemed yourself from our interview
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I didn't think I did bad in our interview, but so be it. I mean. That's how you feel
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I mean, I actually had a lot of grace for you that morning
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You did. You were a little hard on yourself. I was. But if you feel good about it, I feel great about it
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Because you told me you felt good about it. You know what? And I still do. Okay. I feel even better today, though
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Okay, thank you. A lot of inconsistencies here, Mel, but since you performed for us, I won't point them out
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It's Gemini season. Is that it? Yeah. Y'all flip a lot. You know, Gemini, there's two of them
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Yeah, yeah, y'all flippity. Y'all very flippity. There's no slander. It's just facts, guys
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Are there Geminis in here? Put a hand up. It's just facts. You are outnumbered
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Y'all are strange people. Wow. You don't even know yourselves. Oh, my gosh
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Except for my Uncle Rob. Rob, stand up. Rob, stand up. Your brother
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Uncle Rob. Uncle Rob. Barb, stand up. You got these two brothers
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Look at that. Stand up. Beautiful. Those brothers stood up for you. They sure did
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You know you hit the soul quotient. Thank you. When they stole the soul quotient
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Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Go ahead, guys. Yes, fam
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And the Grammy goes to? Melanie Fiona. I mean, Grammy award winning
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Grammy award winning. She is. Juno award winning. She is. And she just sang for y'all for free
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Live. And gave all the live, though. All of it. Say yes
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Yes. Say yes. Say yes. Yes. Melanie, this is such a powerful
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I told you what I feel about the project, and it sounds good. You're an outstanding performer
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Thank you. Yeah, man. It's my favorite part. To perform. Yeah. See, she's performed with some of the greatest from Drake on down, you know
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but you had a history before people knew who you were. How important was that process to your success today
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just the times that people didn't see you on stage? You know, it's interesting because I think a lot of people are still
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discovering my performance element, which I think is great. You know, I think it's something I've always prided myself on
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It's something that I put a lot of dedicated time into overcoming certain things
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It's funny because when I was a kid, I was terrified of singing live in front of people
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Oh, yeah, at all the family gatherings, I would make everybody turn around. My Caribbean parents would be like, Melanie, come and sing for the family
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And I used to be like, just don't look at me. And now I love looking at people directly when I sing
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just because I understand the importance of connection with your audience and truly what it means to really use that time
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to give people something to feel, to be remembered by, and to remember you for
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So it's just, that's what every encounter feels like for me, no matter whether it's speaking with someone, interviews, on stage
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It's about just the connection and the impression you leave with people and really with you
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I love this young lady, man. Yeah. She even, last time she came, I don't know where Mike is working
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Can you hear me here? Hear me? That one. Last time she came, she hung out so she could just take Heather's cooking home
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Like she wanted to cook Heather's food and Tupperware. I love this young lady
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I started saying yes to certain things in the past recent year
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I had to say yes to creating boundaries, personal boundaries for myself
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to pour into myself what I tried to pour into others. I hadn done that So I started saying yes to things I would never say yes to I took a vacation by myself Yes Yes Yes I went to Aruba by myself
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Yes. You saw the flamingos? I can't remember the hotel. I drank by myself
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I said yes to it. I can't remember. I'm not a drinker. Yes, yes. I went to Jamaica by myself
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Yes. Right? I said yes to just giving my, and it's been the best thing
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things my auntie Katie will tell you I worked for decades and even when I took
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vacation I took the family on vacation I didn't never take time
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to myself. What are some of the things that personal things that you had to recently say
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yes to that you normally have it? I had to say yes to putting
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out new music again. Yes. For all the reasons why things take time
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One of the mantras I've been living my life by is, take your time, it's yours to take
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Because we often feel like we're on a clock of somebody else's time. There's really only one clock we're on
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if we're given more time. Say it loud. And so for me, I just really value the space
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to make a life as well as making a living. To build a family, to develop my personal relationships
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with myself, my husband, God, my family, and really get to a place where there were times
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when I wasn't sure if I wanted to put out new music again. I didn't know how to
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I didn't know where to begin. I didn't know if I had the confidence to. I went through a lot of things professionally that really broke my spirit
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And I didn't know how I was going to continue. And so I realized that once I got to this place within the last year, I had to say yes
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to God's calling on my gift. because that's what I'm here to do
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That's all we're here to do, truly, is to answer the call of God and the universe and when they call
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And so I was being called, and I had to say yes through all the hurt or the doubt or the I don't know how
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Just figure it out. Just follow through. Just follow through. So now the project just came out in April
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and I'm so proud of myself. I'm so proud of myself. It's not about how many people
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although I would love everybody to listen to it. It's not about the streaming numbers or the biggest rooms
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It's about that it needs to reach who it reaches, but that I've fulfilled a purpose that I had with God
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And so that's why Say Yes is so important to me. Melanie, Fiona, y'all
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Thank you, guys. Mel, what I deeply appreciate about you is your spiritual connection
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You believe in a higher power, but you also believe in the higher power within
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that you possess. And I'm wondering, when I think about our throat chakra
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and how sometimes it can be underdeveloped, it can be overused. And I'm wondering in your personal life
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during the times of doubt, where maybe you were kind of clammed up
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you weren't vocalizing your needs, right? You were swallowing a lot, just hoarding a lot of feelings
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Do you feel like those times where you were unintentionally silent that impacted your vocal ability
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Oh, absolutely. There was a period of 2012 right after the Grammys
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the Grammy wins with CeeLo, right after, it was actually just before I toured
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with Mary J. Blige. I had just put out my sophomore project, The MF Life, and I'm coming off this extreme high
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the Grammys, success, highest heights, like the most fame I had ever experienced
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and my voice started to have challenges. And so songs like It Kills Me
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were very, very difficult to sing. I barely had 30 minutes of singing in me at some shows
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and I remember I would pray and I would pray and I would pray and I'd be like, what is going on
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And I went to see all these vocal doctors and they all were like
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nothing's wrong with your vocal cords. And it was one doctor that said
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what kind of a year have you had? and it just opened up a floodgate of taking self-inventory
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How was I feeling? How was I using my voice? Who was I hanging around and what was I saying yes to
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that I shouldn't have been saying yes to? Where did I need to say no so that I could get to this place
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to say yes freely? It was a lot of self-reflection, and essentially what happened was
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I was experiencing an energetic stress block in my throat chakra, which is, we all have, we're made of energy, and it directly attacked my voice
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And it made me pause and really made me shift my entire perspective of how and when and where I choose to use the gift of my voice
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And I couldn't just continue to say yes to everything. I couldn't just show up when I didn't feel well
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I couldn't just take a check because it was a good one. It was really about God, I think, pulling me by my vocal cords, really
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and saying, hey, I gave you this blessing. I need you to be very mindful about how you use it
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And I need you to be very mindful about how you protect it
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And I ended up going through just a few weeks of just deep meditative work
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energy healing, some acupuncture, some Eastern medicine. And within that self-realization and actualization
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I toured with Mary J. Blige and D'Angelo for six weeks and had no problems with my voice ever again
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just from answering the call. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Melanie Fiona one time

Melanie Fiona’s POWERFUL Return with 'Say Yes' 🎶

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Melanie Fiona’s POWERFUL Return with 'Say Yes' 🎶

swaysuniverse.com