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M&B Media: Breaking Barriers in the Country Music Scene w/ Roberta Lea

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Award-winning singer and songwriter Roberta Lea takes the spotlight as she shares her incredible journey from Norfolk, Virginia, to the vibrant heart of the country music scene. We explore her transition from piano to guitar, inspired by her great-grandmother's legacy and her parents' passion for storytelling. Roberta's reflections on the role of narrative in country music reveal a deep, personal connection to the genre, making her story a must-listen for anyone fascinated by the transformative power of music. Together, we paint a vivid picture of how her roots and influences shaped her unique musical style, bringing authenticity and heart to every note she sings.

We also address the challenges Black artists face in the country music industry, shining a light on the struggle for recognition and the exciting resurgence of Black musicians redefining the genre. Roberta's insights emphasize the importance of collaboration, both in music and beyond, as she discusses her work as a children's book co-author and her partnerships with talented industry professionals. This episode promises to inspire with tales of resilience and creativity, illustrating how building connections and leveraging collective strengths can lead to extraordinary achievements. Tune in for a conversation brimming with cultural insights and inspiring stories that celebrate the enduring spirit of collaboration and innovation.

Carla Tuner:

Yes, welcome to another episode of M&B TV, where we love to shine a light on the best of the best, of those who are moving the needle in the 757 and surrounding areas. Today, on M&B Media TV, I'll be your guest host, carla Turner, and we have award-winning singer and songwriter, Roberta Lea. Thank you so much for being on M&B Media TV. Thank you for having me. Well, roberta, we believe that everyone has their own unique journey of how they want to navigate through life, and so here we are to talk about your journey. Now, I know we have something in common. Yes, we do. We are both from the city of Norfolk, virginia. We both attended Rosemont Middle School. Yes, we did Even different years. Now I'm a little more seasoned, a little more seasoned.

Roberta Lea:

Okay, not too much Not too, far, but we around there.

Carla Tuner:

I think when you came through I might have been a teacher over there.

Roberta Lea:

Okay.

Carla Tuner:

Yes, and also Norview High School, yes. So I am so interested. How does a young lady from my neighborhood? How do you decide country, especially when everybody would think hip-hop, rap, r&b, yeah, what would make you choose?

Roberta Lea:

country. It's interesting Sometimes I wonder if, did I choose country, did country choose me? Type of? That's been my experience. I started to do open mics, I started to play, I was writing my music. I had a piano at home that my husband had bought me when we got married and I would write my songs to piano. But when it came to going to open mics and trying to perform them, it was a little inconvenient to try to lug a big old keyboard everywhere.

Roberta Lea:

So I started to switch to guitar and as I started switching to guitar, I started writing to guitar and it kind of just took on the style on its own and I would just listen to the feedback, really, from other people. People would listen to my songs. They're like man, you got like a, you got like a country vibe to you. And someone actually coined the term country neopop. Yeah, shout out to my friend, josh, josh Sanders, and he was like you got like country, like if, if, ndr was country. And so I'm getting this feedback from other people and I release a couple of songs. I release Remarkable Lady, I release King Size and people are like oh, roberta, roberta's doing country and I'm like I'm not, I'm not trying to do country.

Speaker 3:

I don't know.

Roberta Lea:

So when I write songs, I don't think about it. I don't make a conscious decision to say this song is going to be R&B or this song is going to be country or this song is going to be pop. I write a song and however it gets expressed when I produce, it is how it comes out.

Carla Tuner:

And it seems as though country just felt a little more at home for me. Well, tell me a little bit about it feeling at home. It sounds like you're saying that your songs have a life of their own. Yeah, and so tell me about where you think that life originated for you.

Roberta Lea:

I think it. I think a lot of it leans into storytelling. My family, my mom, my dad they're big storytellers. Now that I visit them for the holidays and I'm a little bit more aware of it, they are storytellers. My dad loves history, my mom with the music and the jazz and you know, if she has a little weekend she would tell me all about her weekend and all these details. They are really great at telling stories and so I was a teacher for a little while.

Roberta Lea:

I taught at Lake Taylor High School in Booker T Washington. Shout out to the Titans, to the Bookers and that was a natural expression for me is to explain things Right and to help my students understand and tell stories like my parents told stories. So when you look at a genre of country music that is a very that's a key component in country music is three chords and the truth they call it that storytelling component that a lot of genres started with Um and as the genre started to move through the machine of the music industry, it's like, okay, well, what sells Um and the blues, country gospel, um, r and B was, and hip hop hip hop in the beginning was extremely heavy in storytelling. So all of those things are like true to to popular American music, and um country is one of the few genres that's still holding onto, still holding onto that element, and so that's that's how I feel like that's how I felt a little bit more at home in that space.

Carla Tuner:

Well, I know, before the interview we talked a little bit about your great grandmother and how we become a legacy, yeah, and how dreams and desires and just how we are actually a recreation of what came before us. Tell me just, I just was so fascinated by that. Just about your great grandmother yeah, I really do believe.

Roberta Lea:

I have. There's a picture of my great grandmother that's been around. I've seen it a million times since I was a little girl. It's just a classic picture. That's in that like sepia, like black and white sort of style, and I've seen this picture a million times. She's standing in front of a microphone with a guitar. I always saw that picture, just, and that's there's. That's my great grandma, and I never paid it any mind until 2019, 2020.

Roberta Lea:

I remember we were um visiting my uncle. He would have this big birthday party for my, my baby cousin and um we're all up there and he has those pictures, family pictures, all on the wall. And that was around the time that I really started to pursue music and say that I'm going to give this a shot, when I really decided and really made a decision and said, no, I'm going to do this, I'm tired of having one foot in, one foot out and not making up my mind. So I remember it was around that time like I made up my mind. I'm like I'm going to do this, I got to figure this out. And there we are. We're up there and I'm looking at the family pictures and I'll look at so-and-so when they're a baby and I see that picture.

Roberta Lea:

Oh, my God, that picture, I've seen it a million times. That is my truth. That picture I've seen a million times. That is my truth and I do believe there is.

Roberta Lea:

You know, scientifically I'm not too, that's not like my space, but there has been some notes that I've seen where they talk about your cells maintaining memory Right and, and of course, we get ourselves, we get our genetics from our mothers and our mothers, mothers and our mothers, mothers, right. And so the possibility and just the idea that the, the desires of my great grandmother whatever that looked like for a black woman in the 1930s, traveling and trying to do music, um found its way to me when I was an egg inside my mother, who is an egg inside her mother, who is an egg inside her mother. Right, it's absolutely fascinating. And all this time I I saw that picture and I just it just didn't dawn on me until I finally made that decision and I looked at it. I said it was there the whole time and I really do believe that. I believe that our desires, our goals, our dreams are not our own, but they're a constant manifestation, re-manifestation of everyone who's come before us.

Carla Tuner:

So how did that picture? How does that memory seeing that picture propel you forward in this business where you're an anomaly? Yeah, how does that? How is that connection between her and you? Help you remind you?

Roberta Lea:

Oh, there's work that needs to be done Okay, yeah, there's, there's something that needs to be completed and her journey in the 1930s.

Roberta Lea:

There were a number of reasons why it could not come to full fruition, right, and I'm sure we could put all the pieces together, whether it be, you know, you have depression over here and war over there, and discrimination over here, and racism over there, and sexism here and all that kind of stuff.

Roberta Lea:

So there were a number of obstacles in her way, obstacles and and in her way. And so, for whatever reason, um, for those reasons not just whatever reason, but for a number of those reasons um, there was a pause in that expression of of music, and although her, although she passed away in the sense of being hardware that had expired, she created new hardware through her daughter and her daughter's daughter and her daughter's daughter, right, and so eventually, the cells maintain that memory. I was like, oh, wait, wait, a second. I know one day I pick up that guitar and my cells are like, oh, I know what this is, I know what this is, I know what to do with this, right, and so for me, that connection with my great grandmother is I'm, I am the to be continued, right, the sequel, if you will.

Carla Tuner:

I have to ask this and I'm going to look at the other questions. He can edit anything I say any pauses?

Speaker 3:

I have he can edit out.

Carla Tuner:

How do you think you making a decision to pursue country music and you don't look, even though now we see that there are more artists who are pursuing country music? How do you think this impacts your daughter, not as a singer, but just as a person who believes that she can do anything, that she can pursue, anything that she's not defined by what other people see when they see her, that she creates. How do you think that influences just watching you, because I've seen your daughter at performances Okay, Watching you. How do you think that impacts her?

Roberta Lea:

Oh, I certainly hope that it instills in her the audacity you know. I want her to know that she belongs in any room that she sets her mind to, and that there are going to be obstacles, there are going to be challenges, there are going to be plenty of people who don't think you belong there, and that doesn't have anything to do with the assignment that you have to complete. It doesn't have anything to do with that. Right, all of the rooms that my great-grandmother could not enter into, all the opportunities that she was not afforded. Right, that didn't have anything to do with her seat later on. Right, it's like okay, it didn't happen here, but we could give it another shot later. And the difference between my generation and my daughter's generation, or whatever experience that she's going to have, there's going to be that much more of opportunity, that much more of freedom for her to pursue, no matter what it is that she that she decides to go for I like that word you use audacity.

Carla Tuner:

I think more of us need that. Yeah, I think that that's what motivates us to continue. So tell me personally. We talked about the challenges your great grandmother faced in the 1930s being an artist. What do you think are challenges that black artists in country music today face? Hmm, Um.

Roberta Lea:

So I think, as a black artist in um, the, the genre today, um, there are a lot of times in which I could write a song that is straight down the middle. I mean three chords story twang. It is a country song and, for whatever reason, powers that be, people with influence will hear my music and say, oh, but you're kind of more R&B, and it's like well, it sounds exactly like this song on the radio that you're playing in country. One of the challenges that a lot of black artists that are in genres that it's and it's very hard to express, because American music is black music Like we. We have influenced every single branch of popular American music. That includes rock and roll, that includes country music yes, it does. Okay, um, that includes dance and everything um is is ours, we can lay claim to. But no matter what genre that you decide to, that they say is outside of the box for African-Americans, they just there, just is this desire to just say, no, you're, you're hip hop or you're R&B, that's where you belong. And it's like no, I'm, like I'm, I'm trying to tell you that this is, it's a country song. So the challenge for Black artists and country music and in these other genres is proving ourselves and not having the freedom and flexibility that other artists get to experience.

Roberta Lea:

What do I mean by that? Chris Stapleton is one of my people. Love Chris Stapleton, I love Chris Stapleton. I love Chris Stapleton. I love Chris Stapleton. Their songwriting, vocalizations, everything and he can be as soulful and as R&B as he wants. There's a lot of songs where I'm like that's a little more on the R&B side, that's more on the soulful side, but he gets to be considered country.

Roberta Lea:

I'll never forget listening to Patsy Cline. Okay, virginia girl and I was diving into the country music world, so I was listening and catching up on all the standards. So I'm listening to Patsy Cline, who is this queen of country music They've, I've heard and I'm listening to her songs. I'm like that's pop, that is pop. That, that is a pop song. You know I'm I listened to another song. I'm like that's, that's jazz.

Roberta Lea:

I would listen to the Carter family, which is considered the first family of country music. This is where popular American country music all began. It's the Carter family, right, I believe, right in Bristol, virginia, and this is where it all started and I'm like that's gospel. They are singing a gospel song, they are singing about Jesus. They are singing a gospel song and they get to be called country gospel song and they get to be called country.

Roberta Lea:

But when war and treaty has a gospel under undercurrent, because of their, their, their big voices, they have a natural gospel undercurrent, but they're singing country songs. They're singing three chords in the truth, but because of that natural undercurrent, they're like oh, you're not, they're not country, they're, they're gone, they're this. Oh, no, you're not. You know, just because Britney Spencer has some runs and the and and some fluidity in her vocals, oh, that's, that's so. That is the challenge that black artists face in these different genres is, um, our expression of the genre gets picked apart and they use it as an excuse to exclude us versus when another artist does it, it's innovative, it's, oh, it's something different, oh, this is, this is fun, this is new, this is exciting, and they get number ones on on the radio and so, without getting into all of the, the things, that would be the best, that would be the best explanation for those challenges.

Carla Tuner:

I think, as I sat and listened to you talk about the challenges and you see, kind of this mass exodus into country music by black artists, the interest in country music, how do you think that will impact the historical roots, which are very strong, you know, being someone who loves music and loves museums and having gone to Nashville, if we look for the history, the history isn't shy about the figures but it's not put out there mainstream. Do you think that just this mass exodus will help revive the history of the people who look like you and I, who are were in country music before it was popular?

Roberta Lea:

oh yeah, absolutely, I mean, um, I think one of the best things on Beyonce's record is her feature of Linda Martel, who was the first black woman to chart country music charts back in the 1960s, um, and, I believe, the first black woman to have performed on the Grand Ole Opry, um, and so her presence on Beyonce's album was a huge deal, because the world didn't know who Linda Martel was. You know, she came and then she was easily forgotten and swept underneath the machine of the industry. So I think that this Black country music renaissance has definitely given platform to discuss the historical figures and the contributions that we've made to country music. There just needs to be a consistency, like we just got to keep being consistent.

Carla Tuner:

And who do you feel that the responsibility of that consistency falls on, and who do you feel that the responsibility of that consistency falls on.

Roberta Lea:

There are a lot of roles, a lot of parts that people play. So, as the artists, of course, we're the faces of the conversation, but then there are, for example, BET has a great opportunity to start providing platform for country music. Wow, Right, and so it's. It's a matter of all of those spaces. I I have my way of organizing myself as an artist, and so I call it the three Ps you have product, you have press and you have performances right. And so you create your product, you record, you get press to talk about your product and then you perform your product.

Roberta Lea:

And so, when we're talking about Black contribution to country music, in the grand scheme of things, well, we have Black artists that are creating this product. We need Black press right, Essence Magazine, BET, et cetera, the African American Museum of History and all of these different spaces to talk about it and to create a buzz around it. And then we need those places to create platforms, give us opportunity to perform right and to keep it going and not be just a little spark, a little fad, a little something that Beyonce did. Beyonce is going to do country. She probably might do rock next. We don't know Right, she's just. She is just the icon of her generation. She's going to do. We need systems in place that are going to maintain that support well beyond Beyonce, well beyond the artists that are going to come and go.

Carla Tuner:

Wow, I hope that anyone who hears this interview you lay it out beautifully how it needs to be structured, how to keep this going. There are so many reasons why what you're saying is important because, like you said, it's storytelling we need to hear. If there wasn't another time there, if there wasn't a time in history where we needed to hear these stories is now, and a lot of time. That's where change came. It came in the music. That's where change came. It came in the music. Understand, it came in the music and so we definitely need that today. Let me see you are not only a recording artist, but you're also a children's book author. Where did that inspiration come from?

Roberta Lea:

Kiki, curly, fuzzy, wavy Shout out to Demia Lindsay Mitchell, who is the author. I got to co-author the book with her and I met her at Booker T and it was like one of those conversations that happen. You feel like you've known that person for your entire life. And so she was telling me about the creative project she was working on. I was telling her the creative things and she shared with me this book idea that she had.

Roberta Lea:

And as a songwriter, I read her draft and I said, you know, as a songwriter, I need like the Dr Seuss vibes, I need the rhythm, I need like something to follow along, and so I asked her that day.

Roberta Lea:

I said, do you mind if I take it and like work on expressing it the way I kind of see how it's flowing? And so she gave me full permission to do that and by the time I got it back to her, it was just a fun, beautiful rhythm and it was something that was important to me because my daughter was small at the time. She was around four or five years old, and I've had tough conversations with her where she wanted to change her outward appearance to to something that she assumed was more valuable, right, and she didn't like. She wanted her hair straight all the time and she wanted Right. And so I had to take that opportunity to speak to her. And when that opportunity to create that book, to co-create that book with Demia, came about, it seemed like it all kind of just all the stars aligned. And that's how we ended up expressing that little message to not only just my daughter, but other little black girls who need to feel proud of the crown that they have on their heads.

Carla Tuner:

Like you said before, it's in the stories. A lot of lessons are in the stories. A lot of ways that will reach people, particularly young people. It's in the stories.

Roberta Lea:

I think storytelling is a lost art. It's a lost art.

Carla Tuner:

I think so. We've seen some of the plots of the current things that are going on. We've seen some of the plots. Let's see here what's next for Roberta Lee in 2025. What do you have?

Roberta Lea:

coming up. 2025, I'm hoping to get into my collaborator bag. Okay, is what I'm hoping to get into my collaborator bag. Okay Is what I'm looking forward to. The last three years have been quite a rollercoaster, in a very beautiful way, and I want to start zeroing in on the connections that I've made and the people that I've met along the way, and I look forward to collaborating collaborating with other artists, collaborating with producers and creating that momentum again. So 2025 is all about connecting, making those connections in the community and creating something beautiful out of it.

Carla Tuner:

Now I do have a question that says what would you say to a young person to inspire them, but I think I'm going to change it a little bit. Ok, what would you say to a young person about the importance of collaboration? We throw that word around a lot, but I don't think we really get the value of what that really means. What would you tell a young person about collaboration?

Roberta Lea:

There's a? There's a proverb I think it might be an African proverb, I'm sorry I can't quote exactly where I got it from, but it says if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. We are an extension of one another. I would tell a young person you cannot be in every room. It's physically impossible, physically, financially, right. You cannot be everywhere. When you collaborate with people, they have the opportunity to mention your name in rooms that you may not be able to step in. Prime example, my engineer is a seven time Grammy nominated engineer. He works with, I mean, he mentions casually and I'm not going to say the artist, but he mentions so casually. Oh yeah, so-and-so, I'm doing these tracks or I'm scoring for this person, this humongous person, right?

Roberta Lea:

That you would die to get an opportunity, a chance to work with them, right, um, you know, and, and that's just yeah, I'm doing this for them. And artists nowadays are very DIY. You can get studio equipment set it up in your room. You can get your little instruments here and there, and you could. It may not be great, but you could write on your own record on your own and release all by yourself. I could do that. I have a studio at home, I have a little sound booth, I have my piano. I could do that. I have a studio at home, I have a little sound booth, I have my piano, I have my guitar, I have the plugins, I have all the things. I could do most of that by myself, and I could go on YouTube and figure out how to mix it myself and figure out how to master myself to save myself a couple of dollars.

Roberta Lea:

That's fine, that's fine. But if, when I, when I look at that in comparison to spending that extra money and getting it, getting quality work made at a studio by a seven time Grammy nominated engineer and getting that work done and the network that he has, well, how many people am I going to reach here, versus how many people I'm going to reach? Just just the two of us. Just the two of us now he has. He he's in rooms that I haven't got. I'm not Grammy nominated yet, so I haven't gotten in those rooms yet, but he has, right. And so just that one, pairing that one, so I don't have to sit here and and go to 50 different studios and work with 50 different producers. Just one engineer could, could lead to who knows what's next, right. And so that's what I was telling people.

Roberta Lea:

I'm like you can't. You, your friends and your network are an extension of you. They're going to be saying your name in rooms when you can't be there. And in order to jumpstart that kind of energy and in order to begin that kind of exchange, is for you to mention their names when you're in rooms that they can't be in, right, that this is a mutual. You feed each other mutually and, uh, that's the power of collaborating that people don't understand is extension. You're trying to reach something and you you reaching up to the ceiling you can't reach. But if you get on top of somebody's shoulders, now you, now you have access.

Carla Tuner:

You beautifully explained even trees that we see. Yeah, it started with a bird, an animal who had a seed from a tree that went to another place and planted, and it's. It's a, it's an ecosystem yes, collaboration is the ecosystem.

Roberta Lea:

An ecosystem works so well together. Yes, right, the sunlight, the rain, the ocean, the precipitation, that, like it, all works together to create growth. A seed cannot grow all on its own.

Carla Tuner:

Yeah, so tell us how can people find you on social media.

Roberta Lea:

People can look me up. I am Roberta Lee. Spelled L-E -A. If you spell it with an E, that is not me. I am RobertaLeecom. I am Roberta Lee on Instagram and Facebook and all the things, and they can find me online and reach out and connect.

Carla Tuner:

Absolutely yes, listen, connect for music, music Connect for speaking engagements, because you're an amazing orator. Thank you, amazing.

Roberta Lea:

So y'all look, check her out for almost everything, all the things, all of the above, all the things, all the things Amazing. So y'all look, check out for almost everything, all of the above all things, all the things, absolutely Well.

Carla Tuner:

We have enjoyed our time with this interview. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself today, same. I just wish you all of the best. I'm excited to see how you pollinate. Yes.

Speaker 3:

How you get in all those rooms.

Carla Tuner:

Yeah, make sure everybody look up Roberta Lee on all social media outlets Remember it's L-E-A, l-e-a, roberta L-E-A, and check out this beautiful woman's music Absolutely.

Roberta Lea:

Thank you so much for your time. Check out Too Much of a Woman. The album is officially out. Oh wait.

Carla Tuner:

Before we do an outro, we can do an outro. You know, that's how we do on the fly when we're on an interview.

Speaker 3:

We're going to have an outro we're going to have an outro.

Carla Tuner:

You think you could just give us a little bit on the outro A little something, something A little something, something Okay check out Too Much of a Woman.

Roberta Lea:

The song goes.

Speaker 3:

If I'm too much of a woman, you can kindly step aside. A true king can handle me. He's got what it takes inside. Well, I hate to disappoint you. By now you should understand. If I'm too much of a woman, boy, you're too little of a man. Well, all right now. Okay. Well, all right now.