Skepta: The United Kingdom grime rap heavyweight dishes on deejaying, Flo Milli and more with Apple Music

A full-fledged interview from hip-hop artist Skepta? I’m here for it. The rap heavyweight steps up and delivers a more than memorable Apple Music interview with entertainment personality Ebro Darden dishing on topics ranging from deejaying roots and working alongside fellow rapper Flo Milli to his longtime inspirations.

It’s a super solid chat and while you’ll see some pulled quotes below, it’s a fire Q&A worthy of 30-plus minutes of your time. Tap in.

Skepta tells Apple Music how DJing was his first true passion

Ebro Darden: I was privy to you being a DJ first, your love for just music and playing music for people and bringing people together, culturally together, whether you're playing dance hall, whether you're playing house records, whether you're playing hip hop records. That was your original love, right? 

Skepta: Yeah, for sure. My dad used to DJ when I was younger, so it's kind of all I've ever known, bass music in the house. Even when I'm sleeping at night, I'll just always hear bass through the walls and stuff. So I feel like as an extension of that, I remember my dad had this karaoke ... It was a tape player, but it was a karaoke. But you could adjust the speed on it, and I had another turntable where you could adjust the speed. So I would always try and mix when I was young, young, young. I'm trying to mix in the house. Then just music Music 2000 on PlayStation, making this. I was listening to garage music, house, speed garage, all the early dance music.

Then I think slowly, how the grime scene formed was us. We was always looking for the breaks on these vocal tracks to MC. So after the singing's done, you'd find a little bit, and then you'd MC there and stop when the singing comes. So I think after a while of finding those breaks, we just started on these programs like Music 2000. I think I was working on Cubase at the time as well. We just started making our own beats. Yeah, I think it's the blessing of being from London. Everybody's so mixed. 

Skepta tells Apple Music about being inspired by other rappers such as Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot

Ebro Darden: We came up at a time where there weren't really boundaries on what a rapper could do or where hip hop could go. You even talk when you talk about grime, when you're talking about finding the break in garage records, that's the same thing they was doing in the Bronx when they was trying to figure out how to rock parties, was finding breaks.

Skepta: Yeah. Because I kind of know that without all of this stuff, deep down, I am an artist. You know what I mean? Even in my worst times, I'm going to create the best art. But I just know that I'm really blessed and I need to keep being the example for that young girl or boy who's sitting in their room one day, thinking, man, how do I break out of this frequency?

Ebro Darden: Or even break out of these silos and these boxes that everybody puts you in. Oh, because you come from this neighborhood, you got to be like this, or because you look like this, you got to be like this. 

Skepta: Because I used to think like that, but it's because of the frequency that I was in, and it was me looking at Biggie. You know what I mean? It was me seeing Busta in the 'Gimme Some More' video. It was me seeing Missy Elliott. They don't know how much they inspire. I'm sitting here right now because of these people. You know what I mean? And they never told me how to do it. They just were embodying it, and it was just for me to find time. There's this quote that I love. It says, "When a student is ready, the teacher will appear." Because they just have to keep doing that, and when I'm ready, I will find the lesson in that person. So yeah, I'm just on a real shooting start mission, man, until I burn out.

Skepta tells Apple Music about his song with Flo Milli, 'Why Lie?'

Ebro Darden: Let's get to that Flo Milli, 'Why Lie?' I like how you don't rap until the end of the record. You kind of give the ladies something in the beginning. You know what I'm saying? But then you get to the bars at the end. I like that. 

Skepta: Bro, I keep it 100. I wasn't even supposed to do that second verse, but Flo's verse was so crazy. 

Ebro Darden: You was like, "I got to get something." 

Skepta: Yeah, verse was so crazy. When she hits the, "True Religion greedy. Heart cold, I think I need" ... that, when it starts going, it started getting crazy. Then I was like, "Bro, wait. I need to do something." But yeah, man, it feels good to be back. I feel like a lot more people are in tune to what I'm doing right now. It feels like I'm at home now when I'm in the States.

Skepta tells Apple Music that Project Pat is featured on his next album

Skepta: Three 6 on "Ain't Safe," so over time when I come, especially if it's not a grime track like these tracks I've just mentioned, if it's not a grime track, I will always make sure I'm paying homage to the genre that I'm stepping into, to the arena that I'm stepping into. I know where I'm coming into, not that I'm just going to always take someone's flow for a rap record, but I will always have little nuances in my bars where people will know. Yeah, this guy knows what he's doing.

This is a leak, but I have Project Pat on my next album. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it was a long time coming, because I'm sure he's heard "No Security." He's heard "Ain't Safe." He's heard "Greaze Mode." All these tracks is Three 6 bounce and flow. You know what I mean? Actually, I made the track and I sent it to him. He hit me back and he said, "I'm going to flame-throw this record." I remember just sitting there. Like I said, I don't have no number ones. I don't have no Brit Awards. I don't have that kind of stuff. You know what I mean? I don't have no Grammy or nothing.

Post Malone: The Texas crooner dishes on fatherhood and aliens with Apple Music

It’s clear Post Malone has plenty to talk about these days. The Texas native, Utah resident comes through for a super in-depth conversation with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe and it’s nearly an hour of awesomeness.

From talking about being a proud papa to reflecting back on his classic ‘White Iverson’ tune, it’s all Posty. Tap in.

Post Malone on Becoming a Father, Slowing Down, and Taking a Moment To Appreciate His Success...

Post Malone: I guess having a baby really put a lot into perspective and it's really slowed me down a lot, party wise, going out and being crazy. But it's the most beautiful thing and I don't know. It's like I'm trying to get some land right now. You already know… the end is nigh.

Zane: You believe that though?

Post Malone: I don't know, man. It's weird. Yeah, I definitely do. I just want to get my stuff and I want to go out and do shows, but then I just want to... We got out of LA and now we live in Salt Lake. And that's like me... I just want to take some time now. And actually you mentioned all the accoutrement of success and everything that comes with that. Now I just want to take a second and enjoy it. I just want to take a minute and be like, it is that. It was amazing. It is amazing. But I never really got to stop and smell the roses. And then you get caught up in, it's not about the destination, it's the journey. And yeah, I never really got time or really had the bandwidth to experience the journey to its fullest. So I guess that's what I'm trying to do now.

Post Malone on Battling Social Anxiety…

I have a hard time communicating with people. And I don't know, it's a really... Especially now. I was saying before, whenever I was a kid, I would walk, run around, and I'd be like, "Hey." I didn't really care. Now, I don't know why. It's a really interesting thing.

Post Malone on Fan Concerns About His Health…

I mean, first off, I shouldn't have to really justify anything to anyone, but I appreciate the concerns that people... But then it just goes... It goes from like, Hey, I hope he's fine. But then the rumor starts that I'm doing hard drugs, which I've never done in my entire life. So it's like, oh….

Post Malone on The Process of Recording New Album ‘Austin’ and Embracing Guitar and Reverb…

It was so fun, I tell you, to play guitar on every song…I don't know necessarily if I've been waiting to make it. It's always something that's kind of been wanted to be made, if that makes sense. I don't know. A lot of the times we go in and we do the music and the melody has never really been...The way that I work it, the music and the melody has never been written at the same time. It's usually there's music there and then the melody comes after. But with that, just being able to sit there, like I said, reverb cross-legged here over in, I think Studio D… with the cans on and so much reverb…You know what I mean? And so it's really cool and it was a really eye-opening experience for me and how I could write music and how I could make music. And it's not just one way. There's so many different ways, like you said. It's just a song is there, you just got to find it.

Post Malone on Which Artists He Listened To As a Child That Influenced ‘Austin’…

I really never talk about Radiohead and how fucking badass they are. Never... Well, I talked about Stevie, but I love Fleetwood Mac. I don't know.

Post Malone Says Alcohol is a Weakness For Him But That He’s in a Good Spot With His Drinking...

Zane: I've never asked you outright, but I mean, do you think that you've come to the point where you can acknowledge that alcohol is a weakness for you? That it's a problem?

Post Malone: Very much so. It's very frustrating. But now if I do drink and I'm not doing a show or recording... And yeah, that's another... I have a very hard time expressing myself via recording if I'm not a little f***ed up. It's a good spot now because if I'm not recording or I'm not talking to people or if I'm not doing shows, I really do drink just to have fun. It's having a beer with my dad or with my bud.

Post Malone on Transitioning From Rock Star To Family Man…

I really love hanging out with my baby, hanging out with the lady, playing video games, and in my garage working on projects. That's what I love to do. And so it hasn't been that hard, but there's times to where you have...It's that one drink that sets you over, so you're like, you know what? I'm going to rage for two days. But the difference is I don't rage in social settings. It's usually me and a buddy. And we just stay up super late until the sunrise and we're just drinking and sitting out on the car and just hanging out listening to music. Removing the social aspect of it. And it's not... It's not full rage. And I think at those moments, I'm like, you know what? I used to go nuts and this is significantly better. I'm not running around town and I'm not... There used to be a time, especially at the beginning of our relationship, that I would just disappear and just go for a week. And I was like, oh man, that's so shitty. I'm such a turd. But now I don't. It's been surprisingly easy because this is the stuff that I've always wanted to do. I'm a homebody. I never want to leave my house. I never want to leave the property, and I just want to play games and watch TV and hang with the family. So I'm... It's been super easy.

Post Malone on Taking Mushrooms...

Yeah, I take shrooms… I like shrooms. I like shrooms. Not as much as I used to. It's really affected my short term memory... Maybe it was just a stint of habitual overuse. Daily. But now I take a little bar of chocolate with my buddies, a little square chocolate and just laugh and laugh and laugh.I was talking to a ranger buddy of mine. He was a ranger and he was saying they're giving it to guys for PTSD and stuff. And I was like, oh that's cool because a lot of the times, a lot of pharmaceuticals, they have negative reactions often. And it's cool to see that they're giving them this medicine and it's actually working. He was saying his buddy was going through it and it really helped him a lot. I don't know. It's interesting because it's improved. It has improved my view on things. Making the last record, I was so, so, so... Well, writing it, I was so, so sad. But now I'm so happy and it's definitely improved my viewpoint on life.

Post Malone on Time Management…

I don't know, it's just the schedule keeps getting... I find the more that the world opens back up and everybody's going on tour and everybody's doing stuff, which makes a lot of sense, but the schedule just keeps getting fuller. And now that I'm a dad, the schedule only got more full. And now that releasing new music, schedule gets fuller and fuller and fuller. But the one thing that's constant is the amount of time in a day and then the amount of time before we go on tour again or the amount of time before...I'm definitely more tired. Which I was always tired before, but now I'm more tired.

Post Malone on His Reputation For Being a Nice Guy…

Life's too short to be a dickhead. I think that's the Bible verse, right?

Post Malone on Preparing To Tour With a Full Band For The First Time...

Yeah. So we're taking a band on tour. First time. I think every record is super self-contained. You get a little bit of everything. Some more than others, but you get a little bit of everything and it's going to be so much fun. This is my first time with the band, so being able to experiment with them and see what new arrangements we can do with the music and cool transitions. We have a string section.

Post Malone on How He Defines Success…

People ask what success is. And success is being able to do what you want to do and not have to worry about not being able to. Does that make sense? I want to, I guess, incubate a creative and free lifestyle where she doesn't have to worry about that. You know what I mean? 

Killer Mike: The rap genius dishes on his new 'MICHAEL' project, Andre 3000 and more from Harlem

Rap veteran Killer Mike has ample things to talk about and what better place than in the comfort of Apple Music’s Ebro Darden hanging out in Harlem, New York?

He’s at Atlanta legend but hip-hop pioneer - yup, I said it - and getting to see him in his comfort zone for nearly 40 minutes talking about everything from new music and collaborations to his artistic roots, it’s pure must-see - and hear.

Killer Mike Tells Apple Music His New Album ‘MICHAEL’ Was 20 Years in the Making…

Man, I was raised by a God-fearing woman. I lost sight of who I was. Making this album, it brought me back. It brought me home. You got a chance over 20 years of my career to see me mature. I wanted to do this 20 years ago, I just didn't know how. And it felt right being at home in the middle of COVID, sitting there with my woman, my children, sitting there with the people who are still around, I love, I just got an opportunity to really say, "What do you want to say?" I wanted that little nine year old buck tooth boy to be free to say, "This is how the world has affected me. And this is what my parents and grandparents and my community has given to the world." And I hope I made Black people proud.

Killer Mike Tells Apple Music He Spent Half a Million Dollars Making ‘MICHAEL’...

This matters because I spent half a million dollars without asking my wife. Yeah, at about a quarter million dollars, she was just like, "What the f**k is you doing?" You know what I mean? I was like, "I'm making the album I've always wanted to make." And she's like, "We're a quarter million show." You know what I mean? That could have bought a whole nother quarter of a block.

Killer Mike Discusses the Origin of His Collaboration with André 3000 and Teases More New Music on the Way…

…with bro, I just kept it bro, him and B in particular. And there was a woman named Regina Davenport, who was the A&R at Aquemini Records. Those three mattered to me. And because they believed in me, I cared what they think about the music. So as I'm recording the music, I'm letting Torn hear it, I'm letting Ray Murray hear it, Rico hear it. And I came out to LA, and I was like, "Hey Stack ..." I want you to come through and just check it out. I had no expectations because every time I've ever asked, "He'll be like, Kill, it's hard, man. But, you know, Kill, I just don't feel it right now." You know what I mean? You hear that for about a decade. You like, "Man, I ain't even asking no more. I just want bro to here because I want bro opinion. I might get a gem out of it, the polish." And I think Stacks came through. I think everybody kind of cleared out to just let him have his space. And so, I'm hoping he like it. He listen through it, he like it. And then, I think the next day, he called, "Can I come back?" And he say, "Man, I'm going to just leave y'all something and see what y'all can do with it." So cousin already say, "Whatever he leave, we working with." cuz was like, "I don't care what we he leave." He left like eight, nine joints. And man, that was one of them. We was like ... The other one, he was singing on. We did both. He took the singing one back. He was like, "I want to do something else with it." We was like, "Bet." But he ended up giving me another record. So me and him got another record too that's like 11 minutes long, that, it'll come out the vault one day. But that one, that Scientists & Engineers, man. "I hope I'm 80 when I catch my second wind." That's a beautiful thought because, man, if you hang in there, your mind going to stay sharp, guard. He's always creating, you know what I mean? He's never not creating, it just may not be the thing we want him to be creative. He plays that flute good. The boy can surf. Ain't no water in Atlanta you could surf in. We learned it. We learned. He's lived. We spent so much time chasing what our goal or what we think it is that we forget to enjoy the journey… and he's inspired me to enjoy the journey. But man, he helped get corral Future, Helped corral Future, to get Future on the Future Dungeon Family member. It's a blessing. After I got it, I just kind of listened to it forever and ever and ever. And I wrote a few verses I didn't like and then I just got in the studio one night and it just blossomed. Just that first lick came in and I'm proud to say, man. Like somebody on Twitter said, "I did not get washed on my song." So Stag usually show up and show out, man. Oh no. I ain't taking no washing. I don't care if it's 4,000, five or six. Yeah, I don't give a damn who you are. I ain't show up to get showed out on.

Killer Mike on Run The Jewels’ Next Chapter…

…this is our 10th year as Run the Jewels. So thank you guys. A decade went by like that. We're going to do four cities. We're doing Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. We're going to do four shows, each album. Run the Jewels one, two, three and four for four nights. So we're going to play New York for four nights. I expect to see y'all out, man. Man, thank New York for giving me my rap partner from Brooklyn, so we could perform Brooklanta. shouts out to El man. “Don't let the Devil”, I put purposely toward the end of the record because I wanted people to get right like, "Hold on. Hold on. Is it?" And no, it's not a break up. No, it's not a separation. This Michael expands the Run the Jewels universe. And what I mean by that is Run the Jewels is an uncanny X-Men. You see El-P, Killer Mike, God Bless the Dead, Gangsta Boo's going to pop up. Many others from 2 Chainz to Big Boi, Zack de la Rocha pop up, Josh Homme, Mavis Staples, you never know. But the character of Killer Mike had an origin story. So I wanted people like Wolverine to Logan to see everything that goes into that. So to me, this record even expands further the Run the Jewels universe. So what I would like to see next is this record go through the roof. Run the Jewels have a successful tour in the fall and kill it. At some point, do enough mushrooms and weed to say, "Hey, it's time for five." Which we started playing around in the studio last year and we demo'd something that was stupid, dope, crazy. I'd like for Run the Jewels 5 to drop with the Run the Jewels Blues Brothers movie.

Killer Mike on Purpose…

I'm understanding I'm being used for a purpose to show that Black men are good. Working class men are good. Who we are is good enough. We can be better for ourself, we can be better for our family. We can be better so we choose, but we ain't nobody's second hand nothing. Measuring up for yourself matters more.

Killer Mike on “SOMETHING FOR JUNKIES”

SOMETHING FOR JUNKIES is what you see after you off the exit for about 10, 15 minutes. With the Today Was a Good Day-ism of it. We have to come back to sobriety of the crack era, the aftermath of these people that are beautiful people. To all the people who've been raised by addicts who have addicts in their lives, or people that may be addicts themselves. Man, most addicts are deeply sensitive people. My own mother suffered an addiction. But man, we have done such a horrible job as a community in terms of understanding addiction and being empathetic. So SOMETHING FOR JUNKIES was an opportunity for me to take a piece of a conversation that one of my mom's friends, I called a aunt, said to me when I was... "You know, make your first $10,000 in a weekend trapping, you think, "Oh man, I'm rich. Like this s**t finna happen. I'm going all the way." Whatever all the way is when you 17, 18 years old." And we just sat on the back of a car, had seven, eight cutlets, and we had a very sobering conversation. I got 10 bands. I'm like, oh man... And she say, "Let me out." I gave her a piece of whatever she on. She hid it in front of me. I'm just like, "Man, you tripping, man.”

Killer Mike on Spirituality…

I ran from the Lord a long time. Spiritually, I've been looking for God that loved black people. And I didn't think God didn't love black people. It's just that Christianity annexed us out where we were present, we were there. We inspired some of the stories that got copied and rewritten, but I didn't know how to... Unless it was music, I didn't feel God. You know what I'm saying? I only felt it with the feeling they tell you you get in church, the Holy Ghost...I only felt it with rap music in particular, but with music, I felt it. But I realized I had been on a journey, a search, and I was like a prodigal son. I was just out in the world. I was taking the good messages I had learned from Bethlehem Healing Temple and Bishop Jean Church, these little small Pentecostal churches. I was taking that out there, but I hadn't fully embraced it for myself. I hadn't given myself a certain grace. 

Killer Mike on the Influence of His Elders…

I'm proud to be a Black man. I'm proud to be a father. I'm proud to be a husband. I'm proud to be a good and clean, decent baby's father and father to child to the women who have given me children, thank God. And I think that that's more of our story than this and we have to ignore propaganda. There is going to be propaganda because they always need a villain or a heel. And just refuse to participate. All I've ever been around is good Black men. My dads, I have two dads, my grandfather, my uncles. Even the Black men that weren't doing good, even the ones that ran moonshine, sell a little drug, they still told us the right thing to do. They told us stay out of trouble, you know? So I want to give Black men their flowers.

Lil Durk: The Chicago rap star talks J. Cole collaboration, a decade in the game and meeting Allen Iverson

There’s never a dull moment when it comes to Lil Durk. The Chicago rap heavyweight recently chopped it up with Apple Music Radio’s Nadeska on a flurry of topics ranging from his growth as a hit-making musician to getting the chance to meet living NBA legend Allen Iverson.

The entire interview is insanely fire and if you’re looking for those key moments, peep some key quotes below and keep scrolling to see Durkio chopping it up.

Lil Durk on the success and popularity of “All My Life” featuring J. Cole and how the feature came to be…

Shout out to J. Cole. Even just to have that type of music out, just on a positive level, feels super, super good.

I think that the J. Cole feature was definitely unexpected for my fans. He went super crazy. And it's so crazy, because we've been talking for two years. He always be like, "Send me a record," and I'm like, "I got to find the right record."

And I'm glad I waited two years, because in my eyes he's a legend. So if you have a chance to do a song with legend, do you send him something just to send it, just to say you got one, or you're going to make it stick? So that's why I never just sent him a record, because I want something that's going to stick.

As soon as I did the record, he was the first person that popped into my head. I'm like, "I got it."

Lil Durk reflects on where he was 10 years ago versus now…

Yeah, a lot can change from then to now. You can tell the big difference on just character, the music, the beat selection, the entourage. Everything has changed from that point, but that's where it started from. That's where I get my motivation from.

Honestly, I didn't even have a direction. I didn't even have a goal. I didn't know I'd be a real artist. I'd be doing arenas and festivals and stuff like that, so at that time I was just doing it just on some local, "I got the trenches on lock," type stuff. So my vision wasn't as big as I would've thought it had been.

Lil Durk on having people like Swizz Beats as mentors…

It's important. Where I'm from, they don't really do it like that. So I'm saying ain't a lot of leaders, where I'm from. It's like whatever make money, the quick money. If it's violence, if it's this, they going to get to the money, but people like Swizz, and like my daddy, my mom, and a couple more people in my life, we've got something to prove, to show them we're going to be the difference and we're going to change the world. Because if you just look at this whole Chicago, it's like everybody doing the same thing: Not too many want to change a lot. A lot trying to change, but can't change because ain't no way to. So I hope I could be a platform for them.

Lil Durk on how he continues to turn out project after project…

I'm really like a studio head. Yeah, I'm just so much of a fan of music. I just spend all my time doing music. So when you say "having fun", when I actually do go have fun, we feel just super good. No bad energy. Then do therapy, then talk to your friends. Let me give you an example. So if I got my kids, and one of my guys probably see his kids but not like that, it'll motivate him to keep his kids around more. That's how I got motivated too, by bond.

Lil Durk on religion…

It keeps me sane. It keeps me stress-free. I don't really look at everything like, "Oh, he got good luck. He got..." I believe in a higher power. As I say, the rug is what we pray on. So whatever you believe in, whoever you believe in, if you believe in them and you've been through a lot of stuff in your life and you at a peaceful place, going to a happy place, I think you should get more into your religion.

Lil Durk on meeting NBA Legend Allen Iverson…

It was funny because it was me and French Montana in the club, and Allen Iverson pointed and I thought he pointed at me. So I'm doing all this shit, and they walk up to me. He walked to French. 

So I played it off like, "Damn, I thought you were talking to me." Then he turns around, like, "Man, bro, I fuck with you." I'm like, "Oh..." So that was one of the moments, with me and Allen Iverson.

Apple Music's putting big respect on UK girl group FLO's name

Apple Music knows good tunes when they’re buzzing. The popular streaming giant is giving a major nod to United Kingdom girl group FLO as its newest Up Next selection.

Check out the full-fledged details and keep scrolling to get a sneak peek at FLO’s chemistry together.

Apple Music today announced UK R&B girl group FLO as the latest addition to its Up Next program, Apple Music's monthly artist initiative geared towards identifying, showcasing and elevating rising talent.

Renée Downer, Jorja Douglas, and Stella Quaresma make up the trio FLO, the London-based R&B girl group who released their debut single and viral opening statement "Cardboard Box" earlier this year. The MNEK-produced hit amassed about 2 million streams within a month after its release and proved to be a major breakout moment for the group. The song was featured across major Apple Music playlists like A-List Pop, In My Room and R&B Now, and reached the Daily Top 100 in six different countries worldwide. Their debut EP The Lead, was the biggest R&B debut of the week by streams on Apple Music worldwide, and represents the personal and professional growth of a girl group who have created a sound that hasn’t been heard in the UK music scene for decades.

“It's so cool to be part of the legacy of Apple Up Next artists,” said FLO. “So many incredible musicians have come before us. How are we in the same breath as Tems and Victoria Monét?! We can't wait for more people to learn about the world of FLO and why girl groups are so important. We don't take the fact that we are the first R&B girl group to be part of the campaign lightly and we hope to inspire more young women to make the music they love without boundaries. Let's take the lead!!”

In their Apple Music Up Next exclusive short film out today, the group talks about their early start and continued hard work. Before forming FLO, Downer and Quaresma knew each other from school and only knew Douglas from social media; it wasn't until meeting each other at an audition that they hit it off. "The chemistry has always been there. That's what made us become the three of FLO,” said Quaresma. In an interview with Apple Music's Dotty, the group discussed their dream collaborations, their group chat with R&B singer Brandy, and the goals they would like to achieve within the next five years.

Mary J. Blige's giving all types of hype for tonight's big Apple Music Live Performance

As if the Attack The Culture’s Top 50 Must-Hear Apple Music playlist on the homepage wasn’t enough to get you to join the streaming giant, then allow the legendary Mary J. Blige to hype you up. The veteran crooner is gearing up for a massive live performance tonight none other than on the digital entertainment powerhouse.

Ahead of the big performance, check out her conversation with Apple Music’s Nadeska. Highlights from the conversation are below and keep scrolling to see Blige’s chop up session.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Crafting The Set List For Her Apple Music Live Performance...

I feel great. This is a special night. I'm just so humbled by the whole invitation to even be here tonight. I’ve been touring and doing shows for years now so I know what the fans want to hear from each album. So, you know...classics… you can’t lose with that and of course they love “Good Morning, Gorgeous” and they love the album. But if you do not incorporate those classics… it will not be good. So, you start from the beginning. The performance is definitely gonna be like a history lesson because most of my songs are sample driven. This is gonna be fun, what I’m gonna do. It’s gonna be fun, it’s gonna be crazy. You gotta incorporate the classics, give them some new, give them some out, give them a rest, pick it back up and go home.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music How Performing Today Differs From The Start of Her Career 30 Years Ago...

100% different from 30 years ago because I was nervous and scared and crazy 30 years ago. Now I just get a little bit of nerves and that's it. It's easier now, it's way easier than being young and not knowing what to expect. Now you're just like, "Okay, whatever happens happens, but I'm just going to give my best. I'm going to give 100% to the audience, no matter what.”

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Performing at the Super Bowl...

I don't even have the words to explain how full and how huge of an accomplishment that was. I just felt so strong. And I felt like first of all, grateful to have been asked, but I definitely felt like I earned that moment. I earned that moment. So when it was my turn, I just showed the world who I was. If you never seen me or you never met me or you never went to any of my shows, you know exactly who I am after the Super Bowl. I just couldn't wait to hit the Mary bopping. I just couldn't wait to just be myself and do what I do in front of that audience. That was the world, that was a big deal. I was so grateful.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music Why She’s Proud of Herself and Her Career...

I'm super proud of myself and I've never thought I'd ever be able to say that in my lifetime, I am super proud of myself because I did a lot of work to get here. And I'm proud of my heart, I'm proud of my soul, my spirit, my work ethic, the people that I choose to be around me, the energy that I give to people, I'm proud. I'm super proud of how far I came because I come a long way.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Being a North Star For A New Generation of Female R&B Singers…

It's a blessing. When I got the icon award, it all just started to register like, "Wow, I really did something, I really did something," but it's not like I did something because I was great all the time, I did something because I was going through all types of hell all the time. And I didn't have a choice. I had to walk through that hell. I had to watch all my business on the news. I had to listen to people laughing at me. I had to hear all this negative stuff. I had to go through all that hell in front of everybody for them to have what they have and they have great music and great songs and a lot of women are being more transparent because I tripped and fell a million times and got up. It's not like everything was great, a lot of things wasn't but now things are better than what they were and I'm acknowledging and embracing the good now. Although there's still bad stuff happening, I have to embrace the good to get out to keep from falling back into that. So I birthed a whole lot of beautiful, amazing female R&B singers because of the trials and tribulations that I've gone through and the lyrics in my songs.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music How Her Song “You Remind Me” Changed Her Life…

I mean, it changed my life because it went on to the Strictly Business soundtrack for Uptown Records. And there's a lot of songs on that album. My song jumped off the album into the hands of all of the mixed show DJs and radio DJs. And I was living in the projects and they was playing this song every day, all day. And I was like, "Oh my God, this is bad. This is not good where I live at if you got a smash on the radio." So I was just trying to ignore the fact that I had a song out. And even before then, I had the song with Father MC I'll Do For You, and a video. So I was trying to ignore everything, I had to, I had to, because the environment didn't allow us to be too proud of or brag. It was scary because I was hood famous. I was a star. But I just was trying to act like I wasn't and make everybody else forget, because it was hell. It was not a good thing to have something.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Battling Depression and Insecurity Between The Release of Her First Two Albums…

Oh, it was a lot because the depression and the fear that I was dealing with was all coming to a big head because I was in front of the world now and I was scared and I was insecure and I didn't think anything of myself. So I was doing everything under the sun to numb the pain, from drugs to alcohol, to just not taking care of myself and really just doing a lot of it. And so it was scary and I didn't love myself. And I was pushing through and it was like I was a ostrich, I had my head down in the dirt trying to walk and couldn't see, because I just didn't want to see myself. I didn't want to look at myself, I didn't want to hear myself. I don't know, just everything. Just when you get in front of people, you get in front of the world and you're on stage in front of the world and you are already insecure and you're young, man it's hell, it is hell and I couldn't handle it. So I was just turning to everything I could to not see myself.

Mary J. Blige Reflects on Early Diddy Memories…

... I was a knucklehead, so we bumped heads a lot. But it was for the good because at the end of the day, we loved each other and we made some beautiful music together.” "... Puff was really wanting it more than I did, and pushing me and pushing me. And I didn't know why he was pushing me so hard. And now today, I see why he was pushing me so hard.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Hearing From Fans About The Impact of ‘You Remind Me’ on Their Lives…

… when I meet all these fans, what My Life meant to be didn't mean that for them, a lot of them said, "This album helped me to get married. This album got me through college." I'm like, "I was going through hell," so it has different meanings for everybody. And what's crazy about that and amazing is that just me being transparent just touched a lot of people in a lot of ways. And I thought I was being sad, which I was, and people are like, "That's my song. I got married to that." I'm like, "Married? I was dying.”

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About The Title Track From Her Most Recent Album ‘Good Morning, Gorgeous’…

Well, I was going through another difficult time in my life and I was in the middle of getting out of that difficult time, but I was in it still deep. And I was never enough, I couldn't please this person, there was nothing I could do. And I realized that when someone hates you more than you hate you got to, you got some real serious work to do. And I didn't know what to do. And one day I was watching TV Jakes, and he said, "What you say about you is way more important and way more effective than what anybody else could say or think about you." And it just struck everything in my body. And I just started during my prayer, waking up and saying, "Good morning, beautiful, good morning, gorgeous. Good morning, Mary, I love you. Good morning, talented." I just started saying those things, even if I didn't believe it, but I used the word gorgeous because I didn't believe that. And I was like, "I need to say something that I never thought was possible." You think say gorgeous, you think of Apolonia, you think of all the beautiful wavy hair girls. But I had to say that. And when I started saying that it took a while, but it started manifesting from the inside. That's why I said, "I'm not talking my hair and makeup," and I do it in the morning when I look in the mirror morning, when I go to the bathroom for the first time and you look in the mirror and you like, "Good morning, gorgeous," little crust in your eyes. And it registers in your heart and your insides. And it's began to grow from the inside out. And that's why this is nice, but this is nicer, because this carries all of this, I had all this stuff when I was going through hell, but it didn't mean anything. Now it all means something and I appreciate it all because it's from the inside.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Collaborating with H.E.R…

The first time I saw her perform was at the Black Girl's Rock Show and I was getting honored and I was sitting in the front row where she came out with this guitar and all this hair. And I would say, "Who was this beautiful little girl with this bass?" And she was saying, and I was in love from day one. Her music was just incredible. So standing ovation and much, much, much love to her. And I always wanted to work with her. And this was the opportunity. She heard through the grapevine, we called her, it happened and the session was amazing because she's just beautiful and a musician she's got a bass, she's like, "So what are we talking about?" She's beautiful.

Mary J. Blige Tells Apple Music About Collaborating With Summer Walker…

And to meet Summer Walker, who's another beautiful person and super talented and to have my arms open and love on them because I was young and I didn't get that kind of love from a lot of the people that came before me. So I just wanted, "What we doing? How we doing it? You all can help me too, I need some help too. What's new?" You got to keep your ear to the youth so they can help you too.

Jon Batiste talks award-winning music, powerful Black women and musical goals with Apple Music 1

It’s a celebration these days for Jon Batiste. The popular musician has stepped up to speak on a flurry of topics with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden from making award-winning tunes to the impact of his grandmother’s heroics during Hurricane Katrina in the mid-2000’s.

Check out some interview highlights and kick back to see JB chop it up.

Jon Batiste Tells Apple Music About The Possibility of Writing a Musical To Complete His EGOT…

I've got to write a musical now. I got to write a musical. I actually might do that. I'm working on something right now. I don't want to say too much about it. It's based on the book I really like. If we can get the rights we working on getting the rights to it.

Jon Batiste Tells Apple Music About The Message of His Award-Winning Album ‘WE ARE’…

'We Are' is really a proclamation that Black culture is quintessential American culture. To express the level of innovation and the foresight in establishing modern democracy in America. And then the reluctance to recognize Black genius in the foundation of that. But then for it to emerge anyway. For it to emerge anyway, and to become a part of everything.

Jon Batiste Tells Apple Music About The Link Between Black Culture and Activism…

The idea of Black culture and what it took to get is a real thing. And it's got to be protected and understood. And it is universal. And my family, to go back to what you were saying about coming up, growing up in New Orleans and that role of activism in music, you got to remember that there was a time where you couldn't be on a stage and not in some way be representing your people. You couldn't be on a stage and it not be some kind of statement about your humanity or affirming your right to be there. Paul Robeson on stage at Carnegie hall, Mahalia Jackson and Duke Ellington. Music was integrated before sports. We don't talk about that. Talk about jazz bandstand, that was integrated first. And the statement of being there, and that's not that long ago. It wasn't that long ago to think that that was something that had to be fought for. And now we still are fighting for other things. It's more sophisticated marginalization on a lot of levels, but we are still making statements whether we know it or not is all I'm saying. So it's better to make a conscious, informed statement and know the holistic perspective. And that's all I believe activism really is about. It's about affirming humanity, as you said, and about knowing the full perspective and using your agency to make this generation progress.

Jon Batiste Tells Apple Music About His Grandmother and Recognizing The Contributions of Strong Black Women…

My grandmother, we escaped Katrina together. We were in the cold, my whole family, and my grandmother and we drove as Katrina was flooding the city out of New Orleans to Texas. Strong women are the backbone of Black families. I'm moved just thinking about how much they gave to us and how they gave with grace. It feels like we are in a time where I hope we're beginning to recognize that more, in the depth of importance of that, remembering those figures, there's a lot of unsung heroes.