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Dope Shit...shouts out to Leah Krauffman and James from Phrequency.com..

INTRVW: Goldie Jawn

Jawn of All Trades

by James A. Johnson

Zarinah Reed, also known as Goldie Jawn, has had her name on the tips of tongues throughout the Philly hip hop scene for the past year. The multitalented and multifaceted singer/emcee/actress is just as comfortable behind the mic as she is in front of the camera. We had the opportunity to chat it up with this triple threat and find her thoughts on acting, emceeing and even learned some things about her secret obsession with reality television.

Phrequency: Can you briefly introduce yourself for the readers?

Zarinah: I go by the name Zarinah, a.k.a. Goldie Jawn. I've been going by the name Goldie Jawn as my alias but I think I'm going back to my regular name because I'm not just a rapper. I'm from Philly. I used to live in New Mexico for a few years but now I'm back here.

P: What were you doing in New Mexico?

Z: Well, my mom was going to college out there for electrical engineering. They had this whole program out there with family housing and everything. It was real good. We moved out of there and then when she was ready to come back.

P: How long have you been back in the city?

Z: Since I was 15. That was a long time ago.

P: How did you come up with the name Goldie Jawn?

Z: I used to go by the name Golden Brown. My name, Zarinah, is Persian. It means "golden". But then, I didn't like it anymore. I was watching The First Wives Club and Goldie Haun, I think she's dope, and in Philly we say "jawn" for everything, so I was like "Godlie Jawn".

P: How did you get into music?

Z: I've always been into music. I went to Settlement Music School and took violin there, and was in the children's program. I've been taking vocal lessons at the Clef Club of Jazz and piano. I'm just a music head. I've been into hip hop forever. I sing, I rap, I play piano.

P: Do you feel like it’s harder to get respect in any of the disciplines individually since you're doing them all at once?

Z: It is kind of hard. For the longest time I was just the girl at the parties because I didn't tell people what I did. I'm kind of a perfectionist, so I need to be on point. If I come out rapping I need people to say "Oh, yeah. She's dope!" so I'm not one of those people to brag and boast about what I do. I'm starting to get respect for it. I really just started putting myself out there in 2007.

P: How difficult was it initially to get respect as a new artist?

Z: You know, I'm still not getting respect, honestly. A lot of people support me but a lot of people don't. I guess I have to show and prove. People are starting to see, though.

P: What have you been working on as far as the music side of things goes?

Z: Well, I've been doing guest appearances on other people’s mixtapes and stuff. Right now I have two projects in the works. I have a mixtape called Dope Becomes Her. That will be done within the next two months. I'm still getting drops from people and recording. Some people live outside the city. I'm working with people from New York, North Carolina and D.C. and I'm waiting for their verses to come back so we can mix it all down. I also have an EP I'm working on called The Lotus In Blooming. I'm going to showcase all of my talents on there: my singing, my rapping. Everything. My mixtape is more rapping.


P: When are you planning to release the EP?

Z: First I thought I would have it done by this summer, but I changed my mind and started working on my mixtape. That will be done next winter coming up or maybe spring 2010. My EP, I want it to be thorough.

P: What artists have you worked with?

Z: You know Kenn Starr from Low Budget? He's one of my favorites. He is a beast emceeing wise. Fel Sweetenberg. He's dope. I think he's top three, top two emcees in Philly. Hmm, who else? I've done shows with my vocal coach. She's a jazz singer, her name is Sherry Butler, and she's really dope. She used to sing back up for Teddy Pendergrass and I enjoy working with her. Oh, and you know who else? Charlie K. from Writtenhouse! That's my boy right there. That's my squad, Writtenhouse. I learned a lot from Charlie K. I got some good advice from Bahamadia, too.

P: Oh? What did she tell you?

Z: Just music stuff. Keep on pushing, how to practice and step my weight up rhyming wise. She was really dope

P: Would you say for the most part people have been helpful?

Z: You know, it depends on the people. Some people have been really helpful, really supportive and some people have been like "whatever". I mean, it's fine, I don't care, no big deal. The people who have been real helpful though, they look out. Honestly, people have given me advice but everything I know I've really learned it on my own.

P: In getting into making music and becoming an artist in your own right, what artists would you say have influenced or inspired you to create?

Z: Oh my god, I love so many types of music. I love J Dilla! Everybody who knows me knows I love Dilla. He was one of my big influences. I mean, I've been listening to music for a long time but certain groups stand out. Little Brother. Beyonce and Jill Scott. Those are two women who made me step my game up because they are so good. I love them. I love jazz. Nina Simone, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McCray, Thelonious Monk. I love Black Milk. Dag, I love so much music I just can't think of it right now. I love Aretha Franklin, Pattie Label. I know I've got some more hip hop in there...I can't think! (laughs). Slum Village. I like Sting, I like Incubus. There are so many different influences I have. That's a good little mix. I'm a music head. I'm always listening to music.

P: What would you say is the highlight of your career so far?

Z: I also do acting. I joined S.A.G. 2007 and I have two big memories. One was doing Cadillac Records. You should go see it because I'm in it (laughs). That right there was a big experience. Honestly when I went to go work, it was only to do background work but they were like "nah, we want you to be this character." So that was a good one, and then seeing it in the movies on the big screen. Also, one of my shows at Liquid Charm. I performed "Dangerous", "It's Dope" and this song called "The Highest" over this Black Milk beat. People saw me perform before, but the two newest songs, "Dangerous" and "The Highest" just build a lot of energy and I'd been stepping up my rhyme skills, and everybody was excited. The whole crowd was hype and that was my biggest moment.

P: How did you end up getting into acting?

Z: I'm trying to tell you, I really do everything. I used to take acting classes at the Walnut St. Theater, that was maybe in 2000, and they did a movie here called In Her Shoes with Carman Diaz. So me and my mom submitted our stuff, because my mom is an actress too, so we did extra work and after that I kept doing work, doing commercials, movies, music videos for my friends. I just kept doing it.

P: What things would fans recognize you in?

Z: The biggest thing is Cadillac Records. A lot of stuff, you might do the work, but they edit stuff so you might not even be in the scene. Cadillac Records is the biggest thing, but I worked on a lot of stuff. I worked on the 50 Cent movie, Cold Case, Law and Order. I go to New York and Jersey to do that stuff.

P: What was it like working on Cadillac Records?

Z: It was dope! It was kind of cold though; it was outside. We worked for two days straight in Newark, my mom worked on it too, and we caught the bus up there. We actually had to catch the bus up to New York, then they drove us to the place. It was pretty dope because I met everybody. The only people I didn't get to meet were Mos Def and Beyonce, but everybody else was pretty dope. I was dressed up like I was in the 50s, old school hairstyle and old school clothes, so that was pretty dope. It was nice.

P: Considering all the things you’re doing with your career in entertainment, how do you find the time? Has it been a struggle to do all these things?

Z: I don't work a nine to five anymore. Most of my income is from the acting thing. With S.A.G. I can just sit there and make money. The last job laid me off the beginning of last year. That corporate set, man, them women are crazy and catty and it's horrible. They can have that, for real. Not taking away from people who have regular jobs, but I'm not doing that anymore. Unless I'm about to be kicked out on the street, I’m not doing that anymore. I think it was a blessing in disguise. I got laid off the middle of January and two or three weeks later I did Cadillac Records. It was a hard transition because it's traumatizing when you lose your job.

P: Wow, people were really hating like that?

Z: People are in the way; I don't understand that logic. When you work with people, people hate on you and try to sabotage you. That's what was going on. People were trying to hate on me bad! I guess I'm just this young Black woman, I'm all cheery, I've got a college education, I've got a degree in biology, and I do all this other stuff? You're going to have somebody that's mad at you, just because they're not happy.

P: What did you want to do with a degree in biology?

Z: Well, I got that because I wanted to have that safety net, just in case everything didn't work out, but I used to want to be a doctor, then I wanted to be a vet, the I was thinking "I have my degree in biology, let me go study to be a pharmacist." but that was four more years. I got my minor in Spanish, too. I'm a little rusty now because I don't have anyone to talk to.

P: Considering your acting career, do you ever think about heading out to Hollywood?

Z: I might be moving to L.A. next year. That's a major, major thing I might do. I mean, you can go up to New York all you want, but all the work is in New York or L.A. I have a lot of connects out there, so I might just move and be out.

P: Aside from music and acting, what other interests do you have on a personal level?

Z: Well, I used to dance. Everything I do is like a performing thing. I had to cut out my activities because you can't focus. You can't take dance and acting and piano and singing and I was doing all of those at one point. First of all, it was taking all of the money out of my pocket and second of all, I can't master everything. For a couple years I was dancing hard. I was dancing at Koresh Dance Company, maybe 10 or 12 classes a week, so maybe two or three classes a day. I took jazz, hip hop, afro-modern, belly dancing...I was taking salsa but I didn't have a partner so I had to stop (laughs). Besides that, I like to really just chill out, listen to music, go out and have fun with my friends. I like watching TV (laughs). I like watching TV a lot. Whenever I have some down time, I like to watch TV and my guilty pleasures are reality shows.

P: What shows are you watching right now?

Z: Oh my god (laughs). I like The Hills, I like Keeping Up With the Kardashians, I like Kimora Lee, you know all those dating shows, right? For the Love of Ray J and I Love Money. All that VH1 stuff, I have to watch that. I'm bad about that. Hmm. I like to watch videos, but you know what, now there's not a lot of good ones out. Everybody has the same thing: all the girls with the butt shaking and in the cars that they don't own. So yeah, chill with my friends and family, watch TV, oh, and shopping. I don't know how I forgot that. I guess because there's a recession going on and I had to cut back, but yeah. Every time you see me I have on something different.

P: Considering that you're an actor, what did you think of the Oscars?

Z: Oh, they were good. Hugh Jackman did an excellent job. I thought that Taraji or Viola Davis should have won something, but I didn't see the other movies so I really can't judge. I thought Taraji did a really good job. It was funny. Beyonce did her thing.

P: Keeping the award show theme, the Grammys happened recently as well. What did you think of that show?

Z: It was good. I remember not feeling good that day and thinking I wasn't going to watch it, but I ended up watching and I was really surprised. Carrie Underwood, she's a country singer but her set was kind of hip hop. It was weird but I was like, I have to find that song. It was really good. Who else performed on the Grammys? Radiohead!

P: Jay-Z, T.I., M.I.A.

Z: “Swagger Like Us”. Yeah, that was dope.

P: Stevie Wonder and...uh, those little kids...

Z: The Jonas Brothers! (laughs). It was pretty good. All of the performances were dope.

P: What did you think of the actual awards that were given?

Z: I think everybody that won an award deserved it. I think Lil' Wayne in hip hop caused some controversy because you have people saying "he ain't that dope". I really can't call it because back in the day he didn't rhyme like that so it's like, how are you all nice with it? But that's what people say with me. When I first started I was kind of "meh", but I'm getting better and it's only been a year. So, I don't understand how's he's been out since he was 15 and you're just getting better 3 years ago? That’s 12 years later! I just don't get it, but he got better, so that's what's up. I'm not mad at Lil' Wayne. It was so many awards, I can't remember. I know I was super hype that Obama got two Grammys! That makes me love him even more, like "wow, you have two Grammys AND you're President!"

P: I take it you're a big Obama fan?

Z: Yes. Oh my god, when he won, I cried for two weeks. Every time I would think about it or see it on TV, I would cry. When he won, me and my mom drove around the city screaming out the car because you know everybody was outside.

P: It sounds like you and your mother have a really close relationship.

Z: Yeah, that's my best friend. She's my manager, too. My mom is really a dope person. She's the reason I am where I am. She's a big music head; she plays piano, too. I grew up on all that stuff: Earth, Wind and Fire, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McCray. All my music I took from her. And she does acting, so most of the time if I'm doing a movie, she does it too. We also just did the Jamie Fox movie. I was an assistant district attorney in one scene, and they bumped me up to be a stand in for his assistant in the movie. I've never been a stand in before, so that was dope.

P: Have you and your mom ever worked together on the music side of things?

Z: No, but she wants to. She writes music and will be like "I want to write you some songs" I'll be like "let's go, let's do it lady!" That's my homey. She comes to the majority of my shows. I go by “Goldie Jawn” and people call her “Mama Jawn”.

P: Tell me about the show you've got coming up?

Z: It's the Magnum O release party, it's going to be at Liquid Charm. I'm performing, Magnum O, Godhead the General, Jawnzap 7. There’s a lot of people performing. Also I'm going to be performing in Greece this April, so if anybody in Greece looks for stuff in Philly, I'll be performing. I'll be out there for two weeks so I'm setting up things. My best friend lives out there and my and my other best friends are going to see her. We might go to Egypt too, so if I can hook that up I'll perform there too.

P: I hear you also will be hosting a radio show with DJ Aura. Can you tell us a little about that?

Z: Shots out to DJ Aura. She's my new DJ. I have a radio show coming up on 88.1 FM called Beats In The City. It's going to be on Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., it's going to be online streaming and we're going to have a podcast. We're going to be interviewing all kinds of people. Philly, Jersey, local artists, international artists, all that stuff is in the works. We might interview you! We're not only interviewing musicians but also visual artists, painters, people like that. We just got the word we can start, so we'll be starting this Sunday coming up

P: Wrapping up, is there anything you would like to tell the readers?

Z: Support good hip hop! Buy some albums and go to the shows. I go to everybody's stuff. Krazy K just had a party at the Walnut Room, I go to the Walnut Room for DJ Statik, I go to all Stacy's stuff and all UV's stuff, I go to all the hip hop shows. They just had Heltah Skeltah, MAGr, Cymarshall Law. I went to that show, I'm about to go to that Foreign Exchange show. I really try to go to everybody's stuff because if everybody thought that way, there'd be more people there. It's not hard, plus I'm a music head anyway. I know there's a recession and people don't have money, but you can't complain if you don't go to anything. I go to everybody's events. Seriously, I should get paid (laughs).