MACKG
a.k.a. NASTYNUPE
*I haven't found the source of this story yet*
Vibe: Good to see you K-ci. Good to finally sit down and talk to you after so many years. What's new?
K-Ci- I'm good. I'm blessed. I'm happy at this point in my life. My family is doing good, I'm doing good, real good.
Vibe: The fans are waiting for another Jodeci album. Is that going to happen soon?
K-Ci: We have been in the studio recording. We are not rushing, although our fans are waiting to hear from us. I want them to be patient. Jodeci is not over. It's not a wrap just yet.
Vibe: What about a solo project for you?
K-Ci: I've gotten a lot of offers from different labels. So stay tuned. *laughs* People think that we have retired. But I'm still writing and working with other artists. I've been behind the scenes here and there making things happen. I'm actually enjoying being in the background and out of the limelight.
Vibe: What is your response to the new video that Mary is doing with 50 cent?
K-Ci: That's crazy. After all this time she's making a video about me
and her? I haven't seen the video. But I've heard about it. It's supposed to be about a time in our life when we were supposed to get married. I never said I was going to marry her.
Vibe: So you two were never engaged to jump the broom? Did you ever give her a ring?
K-Ci: Yes I gave her a ring, not because I wanted to marry her. I gave her a ring after she came off tour and she kept hinting around that she wanted a ring. I never agreed to marry Mary J. We never talked about starting a family or anything like that. We were not as serious as people thought.
Vibe: So, she thought that the two of you were getting married?
K-Ci: Right. That was all in her head. I was young and living my life. I didn't want to be anybody's husband. I was young and living wild. I was celebrating everyday and partying and hooking up with different women. I wasn't ready to settle down with anybody. Mary knew that. She knew I cared about her but she also knew that I wasn't going to be tied down to her. She accepted that and continued to call me and come around me even at times I didn't want her around me. I would tell Mary over and over to go and find a man that is ready to settle down and play hubby.
Vibe: You had to have loved her at one point or another. You guys sang together, did shows together. There had to be something.
K-Ci: There was something. It wasn't what Mary wanted everybody to think. She wanted the world to think that we were living a fairytale and all of a sudden I ended it. We cared about each other, but I wasn't in love with here. The feelings were never mutual. We would do shows together and afterwards I wanted to hang out with the guys and party and talk to fans. Mary would go crazy. She would come up to my hotel and bang on the door, screaming and hollering at the top of her lungs until I came out. She would come up to me at parties and disrespect my company. I had to be careful because if she saw me with a woman she would try to start fights and put on a big show. It was crazy.
Vibe: Why do you think she was acting like this? There had to be reason. Do you think she was mislead to believe that you wanted to be with her?
K-Ci: I don't understand how, because I told her all the time that I didn't want to be in a relationship with her. That still didn't stop her from calling and paging me and showing up at the studio drunk. There were so many episodes. She was constantly embarrassing herself.
Vibe: Do you think the sex made her fall in love.
K-Ci: *laughs* I thinks so, but no woman should let sex control them and make them feel things for someone. If the feelings are not there, you have to let go and move on and work on building yourself. You can't let good sex control your mind and control your emotions. A lot of men would have loved to be with her, but she was into me instead of being into Mary J. Blige. She turned down a lot of guys because she thought they only wanted her for her money and fame. She would cry about this all the time.
Vibe: Were you ever attracted to her. She is a beautiful women. Very stunning.
K-Ci: I was attracted to her because she had so much ambition. She would be in the studio for 12 hours a day. She was determined to live her dream. That's what I was attracted to. Her determination and her drive is what motivated me.
Vibe: What about the physical? When you first saw Mary, what was your first thought?
K-Ci: She seemed very nice. Very down to earth. I wasn't attracted to her the first time we met.
Vibe: How did the two of you start dating? There had to be some kind of attraction between you and Mary. What was It? How did the two of you make a match?
K-Ci: We saw each other at Uptown records several times before we exchanged numbers. I wasn't trying to get involved at the time. When we recorded a song for her debut album What's the 411, we had a lot of chemistry. We slept together. She enjoyed it. We began hanging out at the studio. We became friends. We would talk a lot. She was very opened about everything. I respected her for that. She was honest. She would tell me the truth about myself. That's what made me want to embrace her as a friend.
Vibe: She was a good friend, so how did everything fall downhill?
K-Ci: Mary had a lot of problems. She came from Yonkers New York. She was from a broken family and she still had to carry those issues on her back. She had low self-esteem. She was very insecure. That's the part of Mary I didn't like. She was a determined woman and she was serious about her career, but she had no self love. She would always say how much she hated her big feet. She would complain about the scares on her face she got from fighting girls around her neighborhood in Yonkers. She wanted me to make her feel pretty. I couldn't. She was just a woman to me. I didn't see her the way people look at Halle Berry, Robin Givens or Vanessa Williams. She was just a regular woman. That was fine with me, but it wasn't fine with Mary. She didn't feel good about herself. Even with the clothes, the hairstyles and the jewelry, she didn't feel worthy.
Vibe: If you could go back and change things, do you think you would have married Mary J. Blige. Now that you are older, do you have a change of heart? What are your feeling towards Mary. Do you have any love for her as a friend.
K-Ci: I don't have any bitter feelings for her. I just hope she can somehow get over our affair and move on with her life. I have not made any songs about her. She has made albums about me. She has made people think I'm the bad guy when it was her that didn't know how to let go and move on. Her peeps would call me and tell me to stop abusing Mary, stop playing with her head, but she didn't tell them what she was doing. She didn't want anybody to know that she was getting high and drunk and calling me and showing up at the studio ready to fight me. Everybody thought I was controlling her and giving her false promises. I kept telling her to go on with her life and her career. She would tell me NO! I love you K-Ci. I can't live without you, I wanna be happy with you. I just wanna be your wife and make you happy. All that stuff she was singing about. I'll do whatever it takes to make this work. I would shut down because she had the whole world singing along to her sad lullaby. And I was considered the abusive bad guy. That made me upset back then, but know I'm happy for her and I'm glad she is married. I wish she would gave married someone back then. She was driving me up the wall.
Vibe: The two of you recorded together after the affair was over. You did some vocals on the My Life album and also on the Mary album. What was it like working with her after all of those episodes?
K-Ci: It was an experience. I did some vocals on the My Life album, because P Diddy was still producing her music and he asked me to be a part of the project. I didn't want to do it, but P-Diddy told me to go in and keep a business mind. So I did. Mary tried to stay in contact with me after that. I couldn't do it. She was heavy into drugs and alcohol. She was losing weight and her hair was looking messy every time she was not performing. She kept shades on to hide bags under her eyes. People were thinking that I gave her black eyes, but I wasn't around her at that time. The drugs were tearing her apart. I wanted to reach out to her, but I didn't want to start another relationship. I prayed for her everyday.
Vibe: What was the relationship like when you recorded with Mary J on the Mary album? That seemed like the turning point for Mary. We saw her grow from a girl into a woman. She was becoming an icon.
K-Ci: We recorded for a few days and that was it.
Vibe: Did any old feelings come up?
K-Ci: No, none at all, because she had already proved that we could never get back together. I was there to record and support her as an artist. Everybody thought we were together. But that was all false. The year before, Mary showed up at a big party in Atlanta that was for TLC. We were all hanging out and I was with a my date *a model from a video shoot* Mary was in Atlanta at the time doing a show and she popped up at the party drunk. She was a mess. Her hair was everywhere, she was dirty and she didn't have shoes on. P Diddy was there and he grabbed her and took her into a room and had a talk with her. She came out cussing everybody out. She tried to hit my date with a cane she picked up from a table. Everybody was laughing, but they didn't know how serious this was. She was letting drugs ruin her life. She couldn't stand up straight and she had powder residue on her nose when she came out of the bathroom. I went to my limo and prayed and cried for her. I felt terrible. I didn't understand why she was letting herself go. Her bodyguards couldn't control her. She was hoarse from screaming and everybody thought it was a joke. Some of the party goers didn't believe it was Mary. It was her. Yes it was.
Vibe: Why did you cry for her? Did you feel guilty. Did you feel as if you could have helped her in some kind of way.
K-Ci: I didn't feel guilty. I cried because she was far gone. She was addicted to drugs and the drugs were ruining her life. She had everything. She was away from the projects in Yonkers. She had a string of hits. She had just purchased a home in New Jersey, but she was still that same girl that with no self love. I wanted to call her and talk to her, but I wanted Mary to find her own way. I couldn't give her any solutions. I could lie and tell her everything was ok. I could lie and tell her she was beautiful. She had to feel secure within herself before anybody could convince her.
Vibe: Do you think Mary has moved on completely? Do you think she is content and sane now that she is married and back with a new album.
K-Ci: I hope she is happy. I hope so. I hope she can put closure on us and live for Mary and nobody else. If you listen to her music, she is crying out for help. Now she has this video about our engagement that never existed. I hope she is moving on. God I hope this is it.
Vibe: Good to see you K-ci. Good to finally sit down and talk to you after so many years. What's new?
K-Ci- I'm good. I'm blessed. I'm happy at this point in my life. My family is doing good, I'm doing good, real good.
Vibe: The fans are waiting for another Jodeci album. Is that going to happen soon?
K-Ci: We have been in the studio recording. We are not rushing, although our fans are waiting to hear from us. I want them to be patient. Jodeci is not over. It's not a wrap just yet.
Vibe: What about a solo project for you?
K-Ci: I've gotten a lot of offers from different labels. So stay tuned. *laughs* People think that we have retired. But I'm still writing and working with other artists. I've been behind the scenes here and there making things happen. I'm actually enjoying being in the background and out of the limelight.
Vibe: What is your response to the new video that Mary is doing with 50 cent?
K-Ci: That's crazy. After all this time she's making a video about me
and her? I haven't seen the video. But I've heard about it. It's supposed to be about a time in our life when we were supposed to get married. I never said I was going to marry her.
Vibe: So you two were never engaged to jump the broom? Did you ever give her a ring?
K-Ci: Yes I gave her a ring, not because I wanted to marry her. I gave her a ring after she came off tour and she kept hinting around that she wanted a ring. I never agreed to marry Mary J. We never talked about starting a family or anything like that. We were not as serious as people thought.
Vibe: So, she thought that the two of you were getting married?
K-Ci: Right. That was all in her head. I was young and living my life. I didn't want to be anybody's husband. I was young and living wild. I was celebrating everyday and partying and hooking up with different women. I wasn't ready to settle down with anybody. Mary knew that. She knew I cared about her but she also knew that I wasn't going to be tied down to her. She accepted that and continued to call me and come around me even at times I didn't want her around me. I would tell Mary over and over to go and find a man that is ready to settle down and play hubby.
Vibe: You had to have loved her at one point or another. You guys sang together, did shows together. There had to be something.
K-Ci: There was something. It wasn't what Mary wanted everybody to think. She wanted the world to think that we were living a fairytale and all of a sudden I ended it. We cared about each other, but I wasn't in love with here. The feelings were never mutual. We would do shows together and afterwards I wanted to hang out with the guys and party and talk to fans. Mary would go crazy. She would come up to my hotel and bang on the door, screaming and hollering at the top of her lungs until I came out. She would come up to me at parties and disrespect my company. I had to be careful because if she saw me with a woman she would try to start fights and put on a big show. It was crazy.
Vibe: Why do you think she was acting like this? There had to be reason. Do you think she was mislead to believe that you wanted to be with her?
K-Ci: I don't understand how, because I told her all the time that I didn't want to be in a relationship with her. That still didn't stop her from calling and paging me and showing up at the studio drunk. There were so many episodes. She was constantly embarrassing herself.
Vibe: Do you think the sex made her fall in love.
K-Ci: *laughs* I thinks so, but no woman should let sex control them and make them feel things for someone. If the feelings are not there, you have to let go and move on and work on building yourself. You can't let good sex control your mind and control your emotions. A lot of men would have loved to be with her, but she was into me instead of being into Mary J. Blige. She turned down a lot of guys because she thought they only wanted her for her money and fame. She would cry about this all the time.
Vibe: Were you ever attracted to her. She is a beautiful women. Very stunning.
K-Ci: I was attracted to her because she had so much ambition. She would be in the studio for 12 hours a day. She was determined to live her dream. That's what I was attracted to. Her determination and her drive is what motivated me.
Vibe: What about the physical? When you first saw Mary, what was your first thought?
K-Ci: She seemed very nice. Very down to earth. I wasn't attracted to her the first time we met.
Vibe: How did the two of you start dating? There had to be some kind of attraction between you and Mary. What was It? How did the two of you make a match?
K-Ci: We saw each other at Uptown records several times before we exchanged numbers. I wasn't trying to get involved at the time. When we recorded a song for her debut album What's the 411, we had a lot of chemistry. We slept together. She enjoyed it. We began hanging out at the studio. We became friends. We would talk a lot. She was very opened about everything. I respected her for that. She was honest. She would tell me the truth about myself. That's what made me want to embrace her as a friend.
Vibe: She was a good friend, so how did everything fall downhill?
K-Ci: Mary had a lot of problems. She came from Yonkers New York. She was from a broken family and she still had to carry those issues on her back. She had low self-esteem. She was very insecure. That's the part of Mary I didn't like. She was a determined woman and she was serious about her career, but she had no self love. She would always say how much she hated her big feet. She would complain about the scares on her face she got from fighting girls around her neighborhood in Yonkers. She wanted me to make her feel pretty. I couldn't. She was just a woman to me. I didn't see her the way people look at Halle Berry, Robin Givens or Vanessa Williams. She was just a regular woman. That was fine with me, but it wasn't fine with Mary. She didn't feel good about herself. Even with the clothes, the hairstyles and the jewelry, she didn't feel worthy.
Vibe: If you could go back and change things, do you think you would have married Mary J. Blige. Now that you are older, do you have a change of heart? What are your feeling towards Mary. Do you have any love for her as a friend.
K-Ci: I don't have any bitter feelings for her. I just hope she can somehow get over our affair and move on with her life. I have not made any songs about her. She has made albums about me. She has made people think I'm the bad guy when it was her that didn't know how to let go and move on. Her peeps would call me and tell me to stop abusing Mary, stop playing with her head, but she didn't tell them what she was doing. She didn't want anybody to know that she was getting high and drunk and calling me and showing up at the studio ready to fight me. Everybody thought I was controlling her and giving her false promises. I kept telling her to go on with her life and her career. She would tell me NO! I love you K-Ci. I can't live without you, I wanna be happy with you. I just wanna be your wife and make you happy. All that stuff she was singing about. I'll do whatever it takes to make this work. I would shut down because she had the whole world singing along to her sad lullaby. And I was considered the abusive bad guy. That made me upset back then, but know I'm happy for her and I'm glad she is married. I wish she would gave married someone back then. She was driving me up the wall.
Vibe: The two of you recorded together after the affair was over. You did some vocals on the My Life album and also on the Mary album. What was it like working with her after all of those episodes?
K-Ci: It was an experience. I did some vocals on the My Life album, because P Diddy was still producing her music and he asked me to be a part of the project. I didn't want to do it, but P-Diddy told me to go in and keep a business mind. So I did. Mary tried to stay in contact with me after that. I couldn't do it. She was heavy into drugs and alcohol. She was losing weight and her hair was looking messy every time she was not performing. She kept shades on to hide bags under her eyes. People were thinking that I gave her black eyes, but I wasn't around her at that time. The drugs were tearing her apart. I wanted to reach out to her, but I didn't want to start another relationship. I prayed for her everyday.
Vibe: What was the relationship like when you recorded with Mary J on the Mary album? That seemed like the turning point for Mary. We saw her grow from a girl into a woman. She was becoming an icon.
K-Ci: We recorded for a few days and that was it.
Vibe: Did any old feelings come up?
K-Ci: No, none at all, because she had already proved that we could never get back together. I was there to record and support her as an artist. Everybody thought we were together. But that was all false. The year before, Mary showed up at a big party in Atlanta that was for TLC. We were all hanging out and I was with a my date *a model from a video shoot* Mary was in Atlanta at the time doing a show and she popped up at the party drunk. She was a mess. Her hair was everywhere, she was dirty and she didn't have shoes on. P Diddy was there and he grabbed her and took her into a room and had a talk with her. She came out cussing everybody out. She tried to hit my date with a cane she picked up from a table. Everybody was laughing, but they didn't know how serious this was. She was letting drugs ruin her life. She couldn't stand up straight and she had powder residue on her nose when she came out of the bathroom. I went to my limo and prayed and cried for her. I felt terrible. I didn't understand why she was letting herself go. Her bodyguards couldn't control her. She was hoarse from screaming and everybody thought it was a joke. Some of the party goers didn't believe it was Mary. It was her. Yes it was.
Vibe: Why did you cry for her? Did you feel guilty. Did you feel as if you could have helped her in some kind of way.
K-Ci: I didn't feel guilty. I cried because she was far gone. She was addicted to drugs and the drugs were ruining her life. She had everything. She was away from the projects in Yonkers. She had a string of hits. She had just purchased a home in New Jersey, but she was still that same girl that with no self love. I wanted to call her and talk to her, but I wanted Mary to find her own way. I couldn't give her any solutions. I could lie and tell her everything was ok. I could lie and tell her she was beautiful. She had to feel secure within herself before anybody could convince her.
Vibe: Do you think Mary has moved on completely? Do you think she is content and sane now that she is married and back with a new album.
K-Ci: I hope she is happy. I hope so. I hope she can put closure on us and live for Mary and nobody else. If you listen to her music, she is crying out for help. Now she has this video about our engagement that never existed. I hope she is moving on. God I hope this is it.
