Entrevista 2 Em Inglês

dj: why does the press bug you so much about nick?
      willa: oh god i have no idea, im sick of it actually. hes human, and so am i. i don't understand why people care so much about someone they don't even know, its like the most annoying thing ever. it used to make me so mad when i was at their concerts, the fans would just come up to me and start asking if nick and i had *** and if he was "gifted"- understand what im saying here?

      dj: yeah, (laughing) yeah i do willa.
      willa: (laughing) i just thought how stupid they sounded and would ignore the rude nasty comments, which i still have to do to this day.

      dj: did nick help you get a deal?
      willa: no, no and NO. i recorded 'i wanna be bad' and three other songs way before i got a deal. nick didn't even know i was recording because at the time they were working on new material overseas. we were doing our own things. a few months later when i saw him again, i still didnt even mention it. i knew they were big and powerful and if i would have just asked he could have got me a deal with any record company out there. i can say this until im blue in the face and people are still going to say he got me a deal, this was something i wanted to do on my own, i wanted to prove it to myself that i was capable and talented enough to get this on my own. people dont give women enough credit, we are strong and we most certainly don't need our men taking care of us, babying us and giving us everything we need. i believe in girl power, totally. that is what im all about (in a non-spice girls kind of way). (laughter) but the answer to that question is no, i mean yes eventually i played it for him. actually i played it in front of him, brian aj and howie. amanda and leigh ann were also present. they all started moving to the music, they totally loved it. that made me feel good. im not saying he didn't offer, because he did. i had a lot of offers from many labels before they knew i dated him. i met with all of the labels personally, i played the tracks for them, i explained i wrote them, told them who produced and i didnt leave one meeting without some kind of offer. the problem with a lot of the labels was that they already had a female pop artist, they wanted to manufacture me. they were like "we'll send you to sweden and let you record with britneys writers/producers and we can have an album out in 4 months". yeah, im sure they would sound good to a lot of people, but not to me. i wanted to write my own music, be myself, do my own thing. thats something they wouldnt let me do. that really made me mad, it made me look at all the artists they have signed, it made me see that hardly anyone on this business is real. they are all told what to do, what to say, how to act what to sing how to sing it. anyone that knows me, knows thats NOT me, not by a longshot.

      dj: what was nicks reaction to the music you recorded, i mean what happened with everyone after you played it?
      willa: i think they were blown away. they all just assumed that if i were to ever do anything like that it would have been with nicks help and they would have all known about it. i can honestly say that was one of my proudest moments, ya know? its like this music is my baby, its taken a lot longer than 9 months to develop though. i dont mind that at all, i feel like ive grown so much as a person. i know im so much stronger than i was 2 or 3 years ago. totally. it's all about me now, no one else. i feel so free, like i can do anything.

      dj: i was expecting you to come in yelling and cussing
      willa: oh my god (laughing). yeah thats pretty much what everyone expects. they all think im a bad *** , and im not.

      dj: they say some pretty disturbing things about you.
      willa: yeah, no doubt. whatever though. im a survivor, i think ive proven that. everyone said i wouldnt release a single, here i am. its on the hot 100, its in stores now and now im looking forward to my album release july 17th. i feel like shouting from the roof tops "JOKES ON YOU".

      (laughter)
      dj: im sure you'll be able to that the week after july 17th, you know how many people are predicting a top 10 record for you, if not number 1?
      willa: i don't know about that, but it would be awesome. ive met some pretty cool people who usually diss pop music and they totally make me feel good. they are so encouraging. i just want everyone out there to know, my fans most importantly...if my album doesnt debut at number 1, i don't care. if it doesnt make the top 200 chart, i dont care. its not about how many albums i sell. i do this because i love doing it. i feel like im a winner already. i love each of you so much, my fans are the greatest.

      dj: so how back to the record deal, explain how that went, how you got to be with such a great lable...atlantic. i have friends that work there you know.
      willa: (laughs) yeah i know, i know. marcel!!!! (laughter) oh wow, well its a long story (dj: please, do tell, we have all the time in the world for you) (more laughter) it for sure was not easy. there were so many deals on the table at first, from a lot of well respected labels. it was tough going through them all. i think 3 weeks after the final offer came in, some story in the tabloids broke. it was all false, of course. they hardly ever tell the truth, and when they do they take and add stuff to the real story to make it what i call a lie. i got a call at like 3 am, i was in bed and my mom came in to wake me up, it was one of the labels retracting their offer. i was like "well everything happens for a reason, im not going to worry about this". the next morning, i wake up feeling great, i walk into our living room and my dad was holding my mom, my mom was crying hysterically. i thought someone died, i got all frantic and started to cry too (laughing). you have to understand, my mom and dad work so hard for me, not just me, but for everyone in our family. they are so special to me, words cant even explain. they want wants best for me, my mom finally caught her breath and told me that they had 3 faxes, 2 emails and 6 more phone calls while i was sleeping. every deal that had been offered was taken back. except for one. i think i felt worse for my mom, than i did for my own self. she held me and told me no matter what those bastards say or do, to never forget that i have a talent, and that someday i would be someone. if thats what i wanted to do, i could do it. i still had offers for publishing deals and stuff, for like writing for other artists.

      dj: so why do you think they all retracted their bids, their contract offers? and did you not want to write for other artists?
      willa: i guess they were scared, the bad publicity. they didnt want some abusive money hungry ***** on their label. they didnt take the time to get to know me. they would have seen that wasnt me at all. i just look at it as if they werent strong enough to stick by my side, so why should i give a **** about them? let's just say i sure hope that none of these artists who only sell 1 or 2 million copies of their albums ever have anykind of bad press like that, their labels will drop them at the drop of a dime.

      dj: what about the writing?
      willa: oh, yeah, no i mean eventually i do want to write for other artists, i think that would be kick *** . its just at the time i felt as if these were my words, and should only be spoken by me. you can put words in anyones mouth, but only the person who wrote them can express them the right way.

      dj: (yells) VERY WELL SAID WILLA!
      willa: well, its the truth!

      dj: anyway, back to the record deal! (laughter)
      willa: so, mca was the only one brave enough to take me on. at that point i just had the mind set of "whatever it takes". we had a lot of meetings (laughing) and oh god did they get to hear a lot of what was on my mind and what i thought of them. (dj laughs) they wanted to control me, cut my hair, style it just like britneys, change my name again, to something that rhymed with britney spears. i forgot the name...
      i basically laughed in their faces and told them to bite me. it was going to be my way or the highway, ultimately they chose the highway. they really didnt even think twice when atlantic offered to buy my contract. they just wanted me gone. before it was all settled, marc a guy that was going to be doing a lot of work for me at mca, called me up, flew me to meet him in NYC and we had lunch. he told me he admired me, respected me and that he knew that i would be big. honestly, you have to know how much that meant to me. i know i looked like a complete idiot, we were in a pizza joint and i was crying. at that point in my life, i was very emotional anyway. so many different things going on. if people only knew...(silence)

      dj: wow, you havent even been around 20 years and yet your life story is already movie material.
      willa: tell me about it. (laughter)

      dj: so what happened to these songs atlantic promised to be on your album in your earlier bios online...
      willa: (laughing) hmm...should i tell everyone? nahh...
      dj: come on now, im dying to hear "get a life"....
      willa: (laughing) trust me, you'll hear it...very very very very soon...
      dj: oh is that so?
      willa: yep!
      dj: where will i hear it?
      willa: i can't tell you right now!
      dj: sing it
      willa: (laughing) you're bad, i cant, i sware i would if i could, but i cant. im bound by contract.
      dj: are you doing a tv show? no wait! a movie??? a commercial???
      willa: shhh (laughing hard)
      dj: fine then, be that way willa. you money hungry ***** you
      (studio laughter)
      willa: you know it (laughing)
      willa: trust me, you'll hear that and 3 new ones that wont be on the album as well
      dj: can we have song titles?
      willa: "Get a life" "It's all about me" "You Want it *** Way?" "innocent girl"
      dj: "You Want it *** Way?"? that sounds familiar... we had to bleep out a 3 letter word. its not a dirty word
      willa: (laughing) no it's not. we just cant let it out yet. trust me its funny, everyone will laugh. probably more so nsync fans than anyone else. the backstreet boy fans will hate me even more (studio laughter). just so they know ahead of time, im speaking the truth in that song.
      dj: (laughing) hey everyone, ive actually heard it, and let me tell you...well...nevermind
      willa: (laughing) you cant be loved a *** guy if you're a woman unless you're his mother, i've learned that much!
      (studio laughter)
      dj: so many girls...heartbroken and disapointed.
      willa: funny thought isnt it? oh my god i was so just kidding. (studio laughter for about 5 minutes)
      dj: oh god willa, you're a mess. this girls gonna be huge, you can request her right now on our station, pick up the single its in stores now, with a b-side rap remix with our man royce (hollering) yeah we love him dont we DC? check out her album "Willa Was Here" in stores Tuesday July 17th. Get it or she'll hit you.
      Willa: (Laughing) bad bad bad!
      dj: we'll be right back with more willa.

      Dj: okay okay, let us know, what will we be seeing from you in the coming months
      Willa: well the album is out July 17th. check that out. ill be doing more stuff with MTV. a lot more touring, possibly with americas favorite boyband...nnnnnnnnnsync. umm...ill be going back into the studio in november to begin recording the new album which should be out next summer. im doing a duet with someone pretty cool. i know everyone will love that.

      Dj: cool cool, can't wait to see more from you. by the way what do you think the next single will be?
      willa: actually we just met about this last week, we are getting treatments from directors to do the music videos. more than likely the 2nd single will be different from the US and overseas which means i get to do two more videos probably sometime at the end of July. right now for the US we are looking at "Did Ya Understand That" and "Tired" for Europe, i actually think the 2nd single will be "All The Right Moves". the first single still hasnt been released their yet though.

      Dj: cant wait to see the new video, are you gonna be ***** in that one too?
      (slapping noise)
      (studio laughter)
      willa: (laughing) ahhh, no probably not. sorry. let me explain this for a second. many of my fans have already figured out, the way i dress and act in the video is not me. its the song, i was having fun. if i had on long black pants, red tank top, drove around in a green beatle, or if i was dancing in my school gym, more than likely people would have been thinking "great song, lame video" i went with the treatment that best fit the song. its about being bad, im not talking about being a genie in a bottle, eating candy, or asking someone to hit me one more time.
      dj: understood.
      willa: (laughing) and i didnt really hit him either!
      dj: (laughing) no, i hit myself
      (laugter)

      dj: wow okay back up. new album?
      willa: yeah, this album will be better than "willa was here". ive grown so much since that. i need new fresh material. i hope no one will expect a " i wanna be bad" part 2, because they sure as hell arent getting it. (laughing) its all new. trust me, no one will even know its me. im getting ideas together already. great producers. i just finished writing what i think will be a hot track. i cant wait to get in the studio and play around with it a bit.

      dj: can i come, and you can play with me too
      willa: (laughing) yeah right.

      dj: it was so nice chatting with you, good luck to you, come back very soon. im going to be watching you, you're gonna be a hit. im telling you. watch out everyone.
      willa: thank you so much. i love you guys!