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Whitney Talks To WERQ 92.3 FM in Baltimore, Md.
submitted by: Rodney
source: WERQ 92.3 FM
Date: January 29, 2003
Earlier I was on my way back from lunch and was flipping through radio stations as usual. So I went to 92.3Q which is an Urban radio station in Baltimore. All of a sudden a song went off and the DJ's at the time (Conan and Poet are their names I think) said, "We have Whitney Houston on the line." At first I automatically assumed it was a joke because she is the butt of all jokes here lately and then a lady started speaking. I was like, "Hmmm, that really sounds like Whitney." And sure enough it was. I almost wrecked my car. I couldn't believe it. To bring you up to speed, it is a known fact that the program manager at that station is a huge Whitney fan and even has a big picture of Whitney and himself on his desk, and I can attest to the love that he has shown her music. His was one of the first stations here that played "One Of Those Days" (regularly, I might add) and all of her music in the past, especially from the My Love Is Your Love album, which is why she talked to them. Getting to the interview... I'll try to remember as much as possible, though it may not be verbatim but close.
The interview started off pretty jovial. Whitney was saying, "Hello. Are you there?" And they were saying, "Hello," back. Whitney asked if they had hung up on her but Conan said they had put her on hold for a minute. They joked around. One of the DJs (Conan I think) said something about her being a grown woman and stuff. Whitney joked, "Yes, I'm a grown woman now. Shoot I'm in my 30's now," or maybe she said, "I'm past my 30's." I forget but there was laughter. She also said, "I have a baby now. A big 9-year-old baby." All in fun of course.
So they started about talking about the album. Conan, who was doing most of the talking, mentioned her duet with Bobby and asked if there was a tour or whatever in the near future and asked about the chance of them (Whitney and Bobby) going on the road together. She said "Yes." They were talking about Bobby producing part/some of the album and Whitney got into how she contributed a little songwriting and she talked about how she co-wrote 'Whatchulookinat' and 'Dear John Letter' with She'kespere. She said that they would definitely be stopping in Baltimore when she tours. She said she'd definitely stop in Tupac's hometown (Baltimore). They were shocked that Whitney knew such a thing. Whitney was like " I know about my business now. I have to stay on top of things," or something to that effect, joking around of course. Then he asked something about little Bobbi Kristina working with her mother. Whitney said Bobbi Kristina sang some of the background vocals on 'Things You Say' with her and Tweet. Seems like she mentioned something else but I'm not sure.
Then Conan started to ask some really good questions. I was shocked. He brought up Clive being ousted from Arista and that he is now still doing big things in music, and asked Whitney how it was doing an album without Clive. That's when she said that about songwriting and producing, etc. Whitney talked about Clive a little bit and said they had a very good working relationship and history together. Then he asked how she felt about Clive being ousted from Arista. She said that it was such a shock and that no one could believe it.
He asked how was it making the album and working with L.A. Reid. She said L.A. has been her friend for 20 years, so there was a camaraderie there and she got to do things that she would not have been able to do with Clive.
Then Conan asked her if Clive was responsible for the Diva image that everyone came to know her for. Whitney answered that since her Mother was Cissy Houston and her cousin was Dionne Warwick and she mentioned Aretha, etc. (Conan interrupted with laughter and was talking about how she was name dropping, all in fun, of course). Whitney said she was already like that or already had such a presence/image even before she met Clive and that was how she was raised. She said Clive simply guided her, or gave her guidance or whatever she said, basically saying that Clive was not responsible for her image. Then Conan said, "This is totally off the record (which was untrue since she was on live radio) or maybe he said ,"Just between us," and wanted Whitney to be totally honest before asking the next question. I just knew he was going to ask about drugs. However he didn't. He asked if she thought Clive should not have been ousted and would she have preferred working with Clive. (It was something along those lines.) Whitney said she thought it was crappy the way they did it, but that God knows what is best and sometimes a person knows what is best for them, not always, but sometimes. But she felt some things happen for a reason, or something to that effect, and that she loved working with L.A. Reid on the album. Sounds to me that she didn't like the way Clive was treated but she didn't think it was bad for her career or whatever and that she knew what was best for herself.
So then they had to cut to a commercial but Conan said to stay tuned because they were going to talk to Whitney more after the commercial break and that she was going to introduce her new single. Finally the commercials were over and they said they were talking to Whitney Houston yada yada yada, and that they had an exclusive. So they let Whitney introduce her new single, 'Try It On My Own,' and they played the album version of the song. Of course it sounded out of place because radio is so Urban nowadays, so I'm not they will play the original version of the song. On the other hand, the program director is such a huge Whitney fan, he might just play it more than I think. When it went off, they said that a caller had a comment and they allowed the person to speak. The person (who's name was Tinnette from Baltimore) said to Whitney: "Whitney I just want you to know that with all the public scrutiny that you are subjected to, and despite everything that everyone says about you and your husband, you are a true blessing to music (or to the music business) and wonderful role model, yada yada yada and that we love you to death and are all praying for you." Whitney was trying to get "thank you's" in, but the lady continued to talk. She said God was on Whitney's side and if God was for her, no one else could be against her or something like that.. It was very uplifting and inspirational. Then they cut to the Hot 4 at 4 countdown (the four most requested songs of the day). I'm not sure if Whitney was coming back or not, but I went ahead and drove to my parking garage and got out of my car because I doubted she'd still be talking to them during the Hot 4 at 4 countdown.
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