Mia X

"My parents died in ’99, “My parents died five months apart shortly after I dropped Mama Drama. And, my mom was the care-provider for my children. That allowed me to tour and to do the music thing. And my children were relatively young when she died in a car accident. And on top of being extremely devastated and heartbroken, I had to also make the choice to fill my mom’s shoes because she was mom to all of us. So I had to raise the children. That meant I had to go to the P.T.A. meetings and you know, be more proactive in the children’s lives and their extracurricular activities. My mom was also like my biggest fan. I also lost 14 family members in that 18-month period after my parents passed. And I had more personal tragedy before that. Thirty days before my mom was killed, my brother’s father was killed. I had a lot of things going on, a lot of things that I had to deal with. Master P decided to play basketball, clarifying of the origin of the tank’s decline once the No Limit Records CEO decided to play in the CBA and tryout for teams in the NBA. "There was a breakdown in the family unit at No Limit as well as my own personal tragedy.
I never had a contract with P" Mia would reveal. "We really & truly were brothers and sisters in the game. And at that time you know, he was pursuing basketball anyway. And he was totally understanding to what had happened. He had a close relationship with my mom. So he understood the pain that I was in. He understood that I really wasn’t gonna be able to just come in and record and go on tour. And he wasn’t really doing much of that himself anyway. He had decided to pursue a whole thing in basketball. And, No Limit, we was used to being just together. It was a family unit. We were very close. And when he decided to play basketball he had to bring in an unfamiliar staff. And so a lot of things just started to like breakdown. So, it wasn’t a situation where he was feeling like, you’re at the height of your career and I can’t let you go. He was like, damn, her whole family is dead. I signed a couple of confidentiality clauses and I still continued to write for other artists," she revealed. I just didn’t make any music for myself… I never stopped writing, I just had to fall back to be a mom. It wasn’t No Limit artists, it was all…high-profile artists. I was focused on my little sister – it’s two of us,” explained Mia. She had just graduated from university when my mom died and entered her master’s program. And then she went on to medical school. I’m happy to say that today she is a doctor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics. o, you know, I had to be Mama Mia for real. I had to really, really walk it like I talk it. That’s what was going on with me. Now, Ashley’s a doctor. And my children, my son Sean & my daughter Tye are grownups, 22 and 20… I had always put in the back of my mind that when the kids were grown and stable that I definitely was gonna throw my hat back in the ring.
My love is Hip Hop. I fell in love with Hip Hop in ’79. I started rockin’ mics in ’84. I put out my first record in ’92, hooked up with Master P when he came back home from Richmond, California for a visit to New Orleans in ’94… I’ve always wanted to be a rapper, ever since I heard Angie Stone [of the group] Sequence [who scored a hit in] 'Funk You Up.' When I heard Sha Rock of Funky 4 + 1 spit, I wanted to be a rapper. I realized girls could do it. And, this is my heart. This is truly my heart. And so now I’m able to freely record music and put it out and just do the damn thing. I’m a cook, breaking down her unique album title, “and most people in the game they know me for cooking just like they know me for music. My family had a catering company [for] 50 years. We are known in New Orleans for being a long line of great cooks… So, okay you know Betty Crocker is a popular baker and original recipe creator. So I am Betty Rocka, because I can cook and at the same time I spit that crack. And on the streets, when people get into the street game they aspire to have keys. So as far as this game goes, I’m the locksmith. I’m also linking up with my old road member from 1984, Mannie Fresh, and he is blessing me with a beat. I’m gon’ be working with Juvenile. He’s blessing me with a verse. B.G. is blessing me with a verse.
So, I’m very happy with the way that Betty Rocka Locksmith is coming together. Unladylike is not about being uncoof, it’s about having an unladylike flow,” Mia explained. It’s about going against all odds, and when people hear you they have to respect you for the contribution you making to the game. And not just because you’re cute, or not just because you like to pose and you like to shop. Unladylike is a representation of the real pitbulls of the game… Unladylike is a state of mind, and that’s what the mixtape is all about."