Lyrica Anderson is back with her new single “Marriott,” and it comes with a statement. The “Love & Hip Hop” star has had her relationship drama with A1 publicized on national television, but now it’s time to focus on only two things: her son and her music.
Regardless of the rumors, the media, the bulls##t, Lyrica loves to sing down to the core. What fans may not know is Lyrica actually has an incredible pen game, getting her start writing for all the greats including Chris Brown, Missy Elliott, Beyonce, Demi Lovato… the list goes on. When it comes to her own artistry, she continues to feed the people with 3 studio albums, 4 EP’s, and now a forthcoming project that she describes as her best one yet.
AllHipHop caught up with the Santa Clarita, California native via Instagram Live to discuss working with Ty Dolla $ign and Wiz Khalifa, her new single “Marriott,” and more.
AllHipHop: How are you holding up during quarantine?
Lyrica Anderson: I saw a post about people having nightmares, that’s me. Severe! It’s so hard because you’re wondering. You don’t know what you’re going to wake up to man.
AllHipHop: Congrats on the release of “Marriott!” How’s it feel to have it out for the world to hear?
Lyrica Anderson: It feels so good! Finally. I definitely wanted to do something special for the fans, really tell my story. Every other time, it’s “oh, just doing dope songs.” Sometimes everyone gets caught up in chasing the wave or what’s the hottest song. “Let me do this or let me do that,” that’s not real to me right now. What’s real to me is what I really am going through, what I’ve really gone through. That made me really want to talk about my truth.
AllHipHop: What was A1’s reaction?
Lyrica Anderson: [laughs] He’s like “whoa” at first because I was letting it be known. I moved, I’m leaving. This is what happened while I was gone. This is what I was feeling, it’s a real story. He’s so used to working on my projects with me. In the past, us chasing the wave. Not even listening to, sometimes you don’t even mean to. You think “oh, that’s a hot song. That’s the new wave, that’s the new sound. I have to do something like that.”
With “Marriott,” I ignored what every artist was doing. People still have to tell me “did you know such and such dropped a project? Such and such just released a video?” No I didn’t because I’m blocking off any other artist to focus on myself. That’s how I get the most organic me because I’m my biggest competition. It forces me not to be like “oh, what’s this person doing?” Instead I’m locked in on Lyrica, her story and what I’m doing. That’s how I came up with my best project recently.
AllHipHop: How was it working with Ty Dolla $ign?
Lyrica Anderson: I love working with Ty$, he’s one of the nicest people in the industry I’ve ever worked with. Him and Wiz Khalifa are 2 of the nicest people. People don’t always get success and stay sweet and nice. There’s been some cocky people I’ve been around, it’s pretty crazy. It’s cool when you get rich and famous and you’re still cool. Ty$ is a really chill, cool, humble, nice, genuine guy. I met both his mom and dad, and I see why.
AllHipHop: How’d you meet his parents?
Lyrica Anderson: I actually met them at the video shoot, but I recently ran into his mother and her husband at Katana right before the quarantine. She stopped me, we’re talking. So sweet, it made sense why he’s so cool like that. Wiz Khalifa’s another one, super nice to me. Jumped on my song when I had no real buzz as an artist. I didn’t have a lot of followers, I didn’t have a lot of anything. I wasn’t even on the show yet, I was promoting and trying to get myself out there.
He told me he really loved my voice and my energy. He said “I love your spirit.” I was ahead of my time because King Me 2 was such a 90’s album vibe. It was so dope. I didn’t have any backing yet so I was putting out great music not knowing where to go. I had Wiz Khalifa on a feature like “omg, how do I do this?” I didn’t know about doing extra viral stuff online so I learned a lot.
AllHipHop: People want to know are you coming back to Love & Hip Hop?
Lyrica Anderson: Um… I don’t know. That’s one of those things where if it makes sense and the story’s about my album because that’s my focus, then yeah. I’m not coming on there and giving people shine on arguing about people that I barely know, beefs that I’m not really in. That’s so old.
AllHipHop: Are you sick about being asked about A1?
Lyrica Anderson: Yeah, I am. Because we have a son, so we have to co-parent and be about your son. It’s so much “oh, how are ya’ll? Are ya’ll good?” That’s annoying as well. Right now, it’s about the music. It’s about “Marriott.” It’s about Ocean, that’s my son’s name.
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AllHipHop: How was swimming with Ocean?
Lyrica Anderson: It’s so fun! Omg, I don’t even swim that much but I started swimming. That’s my relaxation. That makes me feel better. It’s getting hot in LA, we’re burning up!
AllHipHop: You taught him how to swim?
Lyrica Anderson: I didn’t teach him how to swim yet, he’s so young. Babies do learn young. I’ve seen people have their freaking few-months-old in swimming lessons, but I’m not doing that yet. What I do is I hold him with me in the lowest end, the end that’s not deep. I hold him the whole time. I let him splash his legs, he goes “wooo, yay! Cool!”
AllHipHop: People keep asking if you’re dating.
Lyrica Anderson: Are they asking? They’re so funny! I’m not dating right now. I’m focused on myself, music, getting my body right. My health. My son.
AllHipHop: What are some goals for yourself right now?
Lyrica Anderson: Getting me together, really. Honestly. Being happy, less anxiety, trying to get focused basically.
