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Interview With Bree of “Miss Rap Supreme”

“Don’t hate when you find I turned your wife out.” Bree, a contestant on VH1’s Miss Rap Supreme, threw that line in the face of veteran rapper Too $hort during a lyric battle in Episode 3 of the reality show.

At the end of that episode, Bree was nearly voted off after finding herself in the bottom two of the remaining rappers. During that elimination challenge, viewers saw the 23-year-old fighting to stay on the show by performing a rap that ended with the line, “If women ruled the world, there’d be a lot of lesbians.” But according to Bree, that’s not how she ended her rap. She had four more bars that were cut out, and the editing made her appear “weak.”

The editing also made her appear to be a lesbian, but Bree was not at first interested in acknowledging her sexual orientation to AfterEllen.com. After our interview with Lady Twist, Bree agreed to speak with us, and this week, after she was eliminated, she talked with us about her experience on the show, her disappointment with Lady Twist getting voted off, and her previous aspirations to be an Olympic boxer.

AfterEllen.com: You had a promising career as a boxer. You had Olympic aspirations. What made you quit that sport for hip-hop? Bree:Well, I actually never quit it, I just pretty much put it aside. I was training way too hard. I was training seven hours a day. It was so much physical work. It didn’t give me enough time mentally to just focus on music. I’m actually still gonna box. I’m still gonna do it on the side. I did it because it was taking too much time from my music, and right now my music is my priority.

AE: How did hip-hop become a passion of yours? You’re 23 years old. When did you start? B:You could say Tupac. That was the beginning. That’s my biggest inspiration. I’ve actually been in music a long time. I played the saxophone for many years. I’ve always been into writing music and poetry since I was 11 years old. It’s always just been something that I love to do. But what really got me into writing, deeply and poetically, would be being inspired by Tupac’s music. That was the biggest inspiration in my music career.

AE: Is that because you’re from the West Coast? You grew up in L.A., right? B:It has nothing to do with where I’m from. It has everything to do with what he speaks about. It has everything to do with how he speaks, the way people view him and how strong of a person he is, just by his words and just by his music. When it comes to inspirations and influences, he definitely takes a major role in my music. A lot of people say that they can hear it when they hear my music.

AE: Well, you were pretty young when he died. How did that affect you? B:It was pretty devastating, not only for me but for the world, because you saw somebody who was more than just a powerball in music, he was a powerball politically, all-around. So it was difficult for many people.

AE: Who are your hip-hop icons besides Tupac? B:I love Eminem. I love Nas, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, people who have a lot to speak about. I’m more into the rappers who that speak mentally rather than just talk about clubs. I’m not into the club scene. It’s not my style. So people like Nas and Eminem, Mos Def. Those are the people I value a lot in hip-hop.

AE: What about other California rappers, especially underground and independent rappers like Medusa, Mystic or Melange Lavonne, this young girl who is in L.A. right now doing her thing on the underground scene. Do you cross their paths or have they been influential to you at all? B:The female hip-hop artist that’s underground that I admire the most is Jean Grae, but she’s in Brooklyn. She’s in New York. But man, hands down that chick has so much fire – I mean unbelievable. I think it’s amazing.

On the West Coast, I would say a lot of the guys on the West Coast are doing a lot. You know, even Game. I love Game – he’s not underground, but there’s not too many people that are coming around from the West Coast right now, you know. Maybe a few years ago or 10 years ago there was a lot of people, Snoop and Dre and the whole NWA clique, but now there’s not too much coming from the West Coast. So that’s why I’m here. I wanna bring that, bring that back.

AE: You were yet to be born when hip-hop got its start. How important do you think it is for young female rappers to familiarize themselves with older hip-hop artists like MC Lyte, Roxanne Shanté, Yo-Yo and Queen Latifah, who were rapping before many of the contestants on the show could even talk? B:You’re pretty much asking how important it is to know about them?

AE: Exactly. B:Oh, I mean it is very important to know about any hip-hop history, whether it’s a man or a woman. You need to study up on that. Period. Just because you need to know how it even originated. I think it’s very important, especially female hip-hop artists – you see how the game began and then compare yourself. Are there things you need to work on? Change?

Looking at people like MC Lyte and Yo-Yo – I mean especially with them coming from the West Coast – I think it’s probably more important for me to take a look at them because they came from where I’m from. It’s good to know where it all started, especially from females and how the industry has changed for female rappers from then till now.

If you look at the female rappers back then, they were wearing the baggy clothes just like me. They were wearing the baggy clothes and the baggy shirts ’cause that was the style. And now it’s show whatever you possibly can ’cause sex sells, and in a way it’s like I’m still dressing the way they were back in the day. And it’s working for me though, it’s definitely working for me.

AE: Well, MC Lyte is actually from Brooklyn, although she’s based in L.A. right now. So now we’re at Episode 5 of the show. You almost got eliminated in round three. You went from being a team captain to the bottom two in just one episode. What was that rollercoaster ride like for you? B:You know, at the time, being at the bottom two for that specific episode, it was not a good feeling because you have no idea what they’re [the judges] thinking – you don’t even know what they’re looking for at the moment. You could do the rhyme amazing, it could be the best that you’ve done, but then they can pinpoint something in that rhyme that they didn’t like or something specific that they had in mind, and you’re not going to be it that time around.

For that specific episode, I had actually said more after my last line, and actually they were not aired. And I actually put that out all over MySpace. … I ended my lines saying, “If women ruled the world there would be a lot of lesbians.” And that’s how they made it seem – like I ended my verse – but I actually spit another four bars after that.

Watch Bree in the Episode 3 elimination challenge:

So it’s kind of messed up because they stopped my verse right there for stereotypical reasons. Obviously for stereotypical reasons. It made me appear weak, and people who know me, who are fans of mine know that that’s not how I rap. So the only thing that I was most upset about is them not giving me my whole verse and showing the truth behind it all. That’s pretty much what I was upset about when it came to that episode.

AE: You said they ended it for stereotypical reasons, and obviously you’re out on the show. Can you talk a little bit about that? What has it been like for you in general being out in the world of hip-hop, and how does that tie in to you getting cut off in the editing process? B:Well, you know what. I am who I am, and that’s all I have to say. Either you’re gonna love me or you’re gonna hate me. Either way, as long as you follow my music I don’t care what you think about who I am, my personal business. If you don’t like it then you can listen to somebody else.

But my whole objective is not to take views on who I like or what my sexuality is, but just to listen to my music, because I’m here to please people musically.

AE: Why did you say it was a stereotypical reason, then? B:If you listen to me on the show, obviously you hear the things that I’m saying, and I’m open about lesbians. I’m open about the line about Too $hort turning his wife out. You know it doesn’t bother me to say those things, and because you look at me and it is what it is, you see the baggy clothes, the baggy shirt, it’s all for entertainment. It’s all to keep people interested, and I’m not afraid to talk about who I am and what I love. Like I said, I am who I am.

Watch Bree and her team responding to Too $hort:

AE: You were also obviously disappointed by the exit of Lady Twist. Why do you feel that she shouldn’t have been eliminated? B: Twist is an amazing artist. She is so talented. I feel that she shouldn’t have left. It wasn’t her time to go, and I truly felt that her elimination rhyme was amazing. Everybody knew what she was talking about. Everybody at the house knew what she was talking about. All the viewers knew what she was talking about, but they kind of used that against her and tried to act like they didn’t know what she was speaking on.

So I was think it was a little unnecessary for her to leave. … It wasn’t her time. She has a lot of talent and they talked a lot of crap about her not doing the dance, but at then end of the day she did an amazing job. She did the best that she could, and they didn’t view the fact that Twist had a bad ankle. She had sprained her ankle while she was at the show. They didn’t air that.

That was another reason why it was difficult for her to dance, because she did have a sprained ankle. At the end of the day I feel that it should be about lyrics and not about doing choreography. She should’ve stayed.

AE: Well, she got her degree. Do you still keep in contact with her? B:Yes, I definitely keep in contact with her. That’s my homie.

AE: Speaking of education, in one of your songs, “I Refuse,” you talk about the merits of education. Are you in college or do you have any plans to go to college? B:I went to school to become an audio engineer, and I graduated. Unfortunately I never even used the audio engineering degree because I have audio engineers who work the boards for me while I’m recording … so I haven’t really had the chance to use that degree. I’ve had it since 2003. I did go to school.

But right now I just want to concentrate on the entertainment industry … but I’m also into acting. That’s something I [am] definitely pursuing as well.

AE: There’s a lot of drama in the house right now. What’s your take on the beef between Chiba and Byata? B:That whole situation with Chiba and Byata is, well, to be quite honest, VH1 is blowing it up to be much more than what it is. And for the drama in the house, we weren’t there for the drama.

My whole take on that situation is – I don’t want to say too much. You check it out – there’s this one specific person talking a whole lot about everybody. I don’t even have to say names, but that’s definitely the person that should be focused on right now.

AE: Well, Twist tried to be the peacemaker. When the show first started, Khia was on the show. Were you surprised that she was on, given the fact that she had already sold 800,000 copies of a record? B:Yes, I was very surprised that Khia was on the show. I wasn’t expecting for her to be because honestly I thought it was for people who were still fresh in the industry. I was not expecting for Khia to be there, but hey, if that’s what it takes.

She knew what she was doing. She knew where she was before this show, so she came on the show knowing the consequences whether they were positive or negative, and so if they’re positive, I wish her the best. But my whole take on her being on the show – it doesn’t affect me. That’s all I have to say. As long as it helps her, then so be it.

AE: How has being on the show affected your career as far as getting your music out? B:Oh my God, the exposure from this show has been tremendous. I mean I can’t even go to the damn 99 cents store without getting noticed. And I love it. I love it so much.

You know, it’s a bittersweet feeling. The bitter part about it is I have to keep redeeming myself every time they try to make me appear weak on the show and not fully expose myself, and I don’t like that.

When it comes to the sweet part of it, it’s the exposure. Hundreds of people approaching or emailing me every day telling me how much I’ve changed their lives – like talking about lesbians on the show, that’s changed a lot of women’s lives. Me saying such open statements on national TV has helped a lot of women. My music in general speaks for itself, so this show has given me that extra push to show my music.

AE: We see you talking to your mother on the show, and obviously you have a close relationship with her. How does she feel about you being on the show? What’s it been like for you to have her support? B:My mother is the biggest fan of mine. She was ecstatic when I was on the show. She was so happy for me. That’s one of the reasons I was out of the drama. She was the one telling me you’ve got lots of friends even prior to this show, and you’re going to have so much more even after this show, and you want to give out the right idea and the right impression.

So you know, that was her advice to me. Don’t do anything that your fans might look at you differently at, anything negative. She’s been a big supporter. She’s helped me through a lot.

AE: She’s a single mother. Do you think a lot of your drive comes from the fact that it was just your mother raising you and helping you get through in the world? B:Oh definitely, I get my strength from watching my mother be so strong. My mom is the strongest woman I know. I get it from her. I get it from my mama. She is definitely the reason why my head is so strong.

AE: Hip-hop can be uplifting, cutting-edge and joyful, yet at the same you have legendary rappers who are also very sexist, very homophobic, just very disrespectful to women in general. How do you counter that walking in the world of hip-hop? B:As I said before, and I will continue to say, it is what it is. If you don’t like it, turn your face to the floor, you don’t gotta look at me if you don’t like what you see. I’ve never had problems. People have never truly had problems with me or approached me with problems with me because of who I am or whatever the case may be.

I think as minds are expanding and are much more open than they were 10 years ago in hip-hop, nowadays things are a little more common than they were before. I truly believe that hip-hop is open to all genres, all nationalities, all sexualities, and there’s not many problems like there were years ago. I think it’s great.

AE: Well, you did come back at Too $hort with a good line. B:I sure did. You better watch out. You don’t want it to happen now.

AE: Do you have a CD coming out with the tracks that you have online? B:Yes, in the next few days I’m going to have some of my songs ready for download. I’m actually hoping for my album to be ready and release on my birthday, which is August 24th. And so until then, people will be able to download my music. But I want that entire album packaged and ready to go by my birthday. I’m going to have a big birthday, a big celebration. So it’d be the perfect time.

AE: And how are you going to distribute the music? Are you going to distribute it yourself as an independent? Are you going to shop it around to labels? B:Oh, I’m definitely shopping it around. My production team and I are definitely shopping it around. I have different people interested in some of my projects right now. I can’t disclose too many names. …Hopefully I’ll be signed by my birthday. That’s definitely my plan.

But it will be available for download online. You’ll be able to purchase the actual CD and have a hard copy. Nowadays everything is digital. Nobody likes to purchase CDs anymore; they’d rather just download it off the computer, burn it and go.

AE: What is your biggest dream for your career, thinking big? B:My biggest dream when it comes to music, I think, is to change people’s lives with what I have to say and let people know that they’re not the only ones that go through bad situations or problems. … Musically, that’s what I truly want to do. I want everybody to hear what I have to say. I want all ears. I want everybody’s attention for one moment so they can understand that this is not a struggle just for them.

And also when it comes to me going further, I love the camera, I love to be in front of the camera. I definitely want a big career in entertainment rather than just music. I want a career in acting. I love being the center of attention. I’m a Virgo, so I can’t help it.

AE: Anything else you want to tell the readers of AfterEllen.com? B:The only thing that I can say is just be yourself and don’t change for nobody. Everybody can see I’ve been myself on this show. I’ve been who I am and not scared to talk about what I like or my choices, and I’m getting far on being who I am and not selling my soul. Don’t sell your soul for anything, because that means it’s not meant to be. When something’s meant to be, you don’t have to sell nothing – you just be who you are.

For more on Bree, visit her MySpace page.

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