Macy Gray |
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Mon. August 11.2003 2:11 PM EDT |
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Macy Gray: Trouble in MindNot the nut you think she is, Gray talks about shopping Prada in Japan, being Queen Elizabeth, and romanticizing Puffy. by C. Bottomley |
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Macy Gray (Publicity) |
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The Trouble with Being Myself? Oh dear. With a title like that, we could expect Macy Gray’s third album to be the usual whining about the sad life of a pop star. The limos never arrive on time. The fans are always asking for autographs. No
Gray’s problem is that everyone thinks they know what she’s about. Ever since she lurched into our hearts in 1999 with the disarming “I Try,” we’ve taken her for granted. She’s the six-foot-tall crazy lady from Ohio with the scratchy voice and a fashion sense that looks like a Salvation Army store exploded. In fact, The Trouble with Being Myself is really about all of us. Macy plays at being nuttier than a bowl of Fruit Loops, but when it comes down to it, she’s an acute diagnostician of the human heart, one who understands the intricate workings of sex and romance. “She Ain’t Right For You” is a smoldering anthem for the dumped, while “Screamin’” admits “all of my troubles/ They go away when you’re on top of me.” Of course, some of Macy’s stranger concerns come to the fore. “My Fondest Childhood Memories” lets her get psycho on the babysitter and plumber who are fooling around with her parents. “She Don’t Write Songs About You” is probably the nicest song ever written about P. Diddy. But all told, the transgressions of her previous disc, The Id, are kept in check in favor of classic R&B moves inspired by Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. Throughout, a heavy bass plays tug-o-war with upbeat horns and keyboard squelches. There’s no trouble dancing these woes away. Fresh from touring Japan, the chatty 32-year-old has plenty on her plate. She’s still trying to raise three kids while helming a career that lets her mingle with the likes of Elton John and Beck, who guests on “It Ain’t the Money.” The wild one told VH1 about wilder bikinis, her murder obsession, and why she’d want to be Queen Elizabeth. VH1: So what’s the trouble with being Macy Gray? MG: It’s about being yourself in the public eye. That can really be misunderstood sometimes. [I’m] not always accepted by the masses. VH1: What’s the biggest misconception people have of you? MG: Oh God. Everything! I read so many things about me that are off. What’s the biggest one? People think that I’m out of it a lot - like I’m on another planet or I space out a lot - but I really don’t. VH1: Can you play around with people’s perceptions if they have the wrong idea of you? MG: I’ve read some things about me that have hurt my feelings, but I think it does allow you to do whatever you want. Whatever your image is, it’s probably not you, but it affords you the freedom to live up to it. You can do whatever you want with it. I’ve never met anyone that is their image. VH1: Who was the person who really surprised you when they didn’t live up to their image? MG: Everybody! Elton John is this legend, but he’s actually a really gracious man. He’s really nice and down to earth. I talked to David Bowie on the phone and it was the same thing. They got these huge legacies and they’re really normal, down-to-earth people that you’d like to hang out with. VH1: So what’s nice about being Macy Gray? MG: The nice thing? I have three babies. They’re the best thing. And I get to see the world. I make a lot more money than I used to and I get to make records. I get to do whatever I want a lot more than I used to, which is nice! VH1: Speaking of seeing the world, you just got back from touring Japan. How was it? MG: Japan was great. I went a lot of places. I saw the new Prada store - it’s the largest Prada store in the whole world. I didn’t buy anything there, though. Everyone in Tokyo is really small so they don’t even make anything over a size zero. The shoes only go up to 8 or 8½. So if you’re tall you can forget it. I only saw three people there as tall as me. We were the only black people there, too, so we stood out! VH1: Ever wanted to be someone else? MG: Other than myself? God or Queen Elizabeth. VH1: Being Queen Elizabeth can’t be that fun. MG: I know, but she doesn’t do sh*t and she’s Queen Elizabeth. You know how great that would be? Being God would be the ultimate. If I were God for a day, I would have no more illness. No one would be sick. No one would be hungry. Everybody would have lots of money, everybody would be in love and all the girls could weigh exactly how much they wanted to weigh. And girls wouldn’t have our periods. VH1: Has there ever been an outfit that you regret wearing? MG: No! What’s that supposed to mean!? I was in seventh grade and I went to a pool party and I had on this bikini and it kept slipping up my butt because it was a little too small. So that was embarrassing - pulling my bikini out of my crack all day. VH1: On the new disc you kill two people in “My Fondest Childhood Memories,” and on On How Life Is you sang a tune called “I’ve Committed Murder.” What’s with your murder obsession? MG: When I was a kid, a man told me he killed someone. I asked him how it was and he said it was liberating. After he said that I looked up the word “liberated” in the dictionary, and since then I always wondered what he meant. How could that be liberating? I’ve been fascinated by [that idea] even though I would never do it, so when I make up stuff, it always comes up for some reason. VH1: How does a kid end up hanging around a confessed murderer? MG: [Laughs]. I don’t know! People tell kids a lot of things because they don’t think they’re really listening or they don’t think they really know anything. When you’re a kid you get a lot of information. VH1: You sing “She Don’t Write Songs About You.” Who is the last person you wrote a song for? MG: A while ago, before I was famous, I had this big crush on Puffy, when he was with Jennifer Lopez. And I wrote that song then. VH1: Still sweet on him? MG: No I don’t still have a crush on Puffy. VH1: Is it hard being a singing star and a mother? MG: No. Of course, you put your family first, but at the same time, when you have kids you have to have a livelihood, so that comes first, too. It’s a lot of juggling. My kids have been on tour with me a couple of times. Unless they’re in school they come on tour with me. VH1: They all sing on the album’s “Happiness.” Do any of them want to grow up to be just like mommy? MG: My oldest little girl actually wants to be a singer. VH1: Do you support that ambition? MG: Of course, if she wants to do it. But it can get a little wild. There are a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of rejections, and a lot of bullshit. I’d hate to have to see her go through all that. But no matter what she does, you kind of have to deal, regardless. VH1: What’s her favorite song on the album? MG: Her favorite song on the album is “It Ain’t the Money.” My kids know every word to every song. It’s amazing. They seem to get what I’m talking about in my music. VH1: Even a sex song like “Screamin’” or “Come Together”? MG: “Come Together!” No. I don’t think they read into it like you did. I don’t think when they hear “come together” they think come together. That’s your brain that’s in the gutter. VH1: Ah. What do you think about this whole Kobe thing? MG: Let me tell you something about Kobe Bryant. I have a little boy who is seven. He had no interest in reading, and had a hard time doing his homework, and figuring out how to read. Then one day I brought home the basketball magazine Slam with Kobe on the cover. My son stayed up for hours and tried to sound out all the words because he wanted to figure out what Kobe said. That magazine is what got my little boy reading, and Kobe Bryant was on the cover, so I love him. He’s a great basketball player, and that inspires kids, so I really hope the media doesn’t ruin it for him because that’s important. |
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