UB Anniversary ReVisit: Floetry Talks Songwriting + Weight Loss

Over the next year, we’ll be spotlighting features from our e-zines from the last 25 years. T M H Entertainment, T M Hxone and Urban Bridgez.

As the longest running website for R&B online, since 1999 – We’ve been able to conduct some amazing interviews with R&B Royalty, as well Hip Hop Legends.

“Poetic delivery with musical intent” – that’s what singer/songwriter Marsha Ambrosius and emcee/songwriter Natalie Stewart called the fusion of soul and spoken word that was Floetry.

The London duo’s name was suggested by a fan.

Natalie and Marsha both attended Brits Performing Arts School. Marsha studied business and finance and dabbled in a few creative courses: voice, performance technique, recording technique. Natalie pursued acting and directing. Then, they went off to college.

Marsha stated: “In ’95 I left the college I was going to because I had a bad injury that stopped me from getting my scholarship to Georgia Tech. I then did a certificate in marketing at a different school, but I kept thinking about music. I said to myself, ‘Okay, I do have a little something – let me try it.’ And when I did, I ended up doing a demo that was played on radio in Britain for a while, which got me a publishing deal.”

Natalie, meanwhile, had enrolled in Middlesex University, then transferred to North London University. “I met a lot of zombies at university, people who were trying to make themselves into this or that. They just didn’t interest me, and I really needed to fly. I called my father, who is very ‘let’s get a degree’ and said, ‘Daddy, I’m a poet.’” She immediately made good on her declaration, forming a poetry group with three friends. They called themselves 3 Plus 1.

Floetry promptly landed in Philly, playing Black Lily, the multicultural answer to Lilith Fair. The two-day trip became a week as the girls agreed to join the show for two additional nights. Shortly thereafter, they met J. Erving, the man who would become their manager.

Floetry‘s relationship with Scott Storch dates back to the duo‘s early days in Philadelphia; Storch, then-keyboardist for the Roots, and Floetry gigged around town as part of a new soul movement whose crusaders included Scott and Musiq.

In 2001, the late great Michael Jackson recorded “Invincible,” his first album of new material in nine years. It contained the sleeper hit “Butterflies,” a track co-written by Marsha, Michael and Andre Harris. When “Butterflies” became a much requested track on late-night urban radio and subsequent Billboard Top 20 hit, Ambrosius’s musical reputation, and that of Floetry, soared.

Within two years Floetry had signed a recording contract with Dreamworks Records, with Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff) executively produced and mixing their debut album, “Floetic.”

The duo notched its biggest R&B hit in 2003, with “Say Yes,” Grammy nominated for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. It would gain a second nomination, in the same category, a year later.

Floetry also penned hits for Earth Wind & Fire, Jill Scott, Macy Gray, Glenn Lewis and Bilal to name but a few.

“Floetic” went gold, selling over 788,000 copies in the United States alone. The album also spawned the singles “Floetic” and “Getting Late.” Following their success both in the charts and on the underground scene, Floetry released their live album “Floacism” in 2003, featuring the single “Wanna B Where U R (This Is A Love Song).”

“Flo’Ology” followed in November of 2005, with the lead single “SupaStar” featuring Common. Shortly after the release, the duo received another Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for “Superstar” and won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group in 2006.

Floetry appeared on the show One on One, and attracted more nominations from Soul Train and a BET.

On May 16th, 2015, Floetry reunited to perform their first show in almost nine years at the Pepsi Funk Festival in College Park, Georgia. After a critically acclaimed 43 shows Reunion Tour across the United States culminating with a homecoming show in Brixton, South London where their journey first began.

In 2005, UB spoke to the amazingly talented duo Floetry, about the release of their sophomore album “Flo’Ology” and songwriting for other artists.

Marsha and Natalie speak on pressure to follow-up the success of “Floetic,” and album sells in general.

Plus Floetry share what it was like performing at Sugar Water Festival and get candid on their weight loss and more!

UrbanBridgez.com: How do you capture the essence of another artist when you’re asked to write for them?
Floetry (Natalie): Sometimes you write for somebody else and if you know them you can kind of build with them. If you don’t know them, you just write a good song.

Floetry (Marsha): You also take an assumption on who you believe that the artist is which translates into which song you think fits them. Your assumption helps the creative process. “Butterfly” was not intended for Michael Jackson. I wrote that song personally. When he did it people thought it was tailor-made for him. What people don’t understand is I wrote that song in 1997 prior to even getting to America and prior to Floetry. And no one liked it at that time.

Floetry (Natalie): I liked it!

Floetry (Marsha): Well, when I say no one liked it, I had a publishing deal at the time and that song was shelved along with “If I Was a Bird” and all the other gems there were sitting there. I guess they just needed to age a lil’ bit. Like Nat said in another interview, art is like wine & cheese.

Floetry (Natalie): You like that one Marsh?

Floetry (Marsha): I love it.

Floetry (Natalie): Why didn’t you back me up in the other interview and say you liked it (laughing). Floetry (Marsha): I was just nodding my head in agreement but I love that phrase Nat.

UrbanBridgez.com: Since the both of you have a tight sisterhood professionally, personally as well as musically, how do you maintain it in such a hectic music industry?
Floetry (Natalie): Well, the way to maintain it is to not concentrate on the hectic music industry. The music industry will rip you into threads and spit you out! Marsha bakes me a cake every now and then and I’ll make her some chicken & dumplings. We support each other.

UrbanBridgez.com: Who is your ultimate dream artist to work with?
Floetry (Natalie): Ultimate? There is no way ultimate, but we did work with Earth, Wind & Fire the other day. Other than that, there is no one else for me personally.

Floetry (Marsha): I wanna know what it would have been like to duet with Marvin Gaye. I would have loved to have worked with Bob Marley and Billie Holiday. Her writing is crazy. Funny enough, one of the only places where women still write like that outside of Floetry is Country & Western music. They’re like look this is how I feel. For example a song would go like this: “I came there and saw you there with another chick, so I think you should take your keys…”

Floetry (Natalie): Yeah, and “you came here with me but your dancing with her. What the hell are you doing?” That’s the truth, ya feel me. The true voice of the woman is so important. To be able to listen to Billie Holiday sing “I couldn’t believe that you would be in love with me,” describes how it feels for a woman to be chosen by the biggest man, the peacock with the biggest feather. The one (man) that makes you say I’m not going to even try it. I love true, passionate voice. I love Marley, Fela Cuti, Marvin and Billie. Those type of beings aren’t here anymore and we are living in a different time now.

UrbanBridgez.com: What is currently in your CD Players?
Floetry (Natalie): In my bedroom I am listening to Jaqur.

Floetry (Marsha): As of right now I’m listening to some old Stevie Wonder.

UrbanBridgez.com: Did you all feel the pressure to come with a big follow-up album after the phenomenal success of ‘Floetic’?
Floetry (Natalie): You know what; Marsh and I were just talking about that. That was my first call to her this morning and I don’t even know if she was awake. I was like, “Marsh do you realize…” But there actually was no pressure because we love writing songs. It was nice to be able to go back in because mis-stress isn’t really my story today although it really was my story the day we cut it. As much as we still absolutely adore those types of songs, it was nice to be able to get in and do a new session and catch up to where we are now. Our intention was to write songs about where we are right now so there wasn’t a pressure on it like that. No one expected Floetry to work in the beginning because it was a new thing, a new concept, a new exploration. So, I don’t know how to feel pressured by there being no expectations. If we would have used a particular route to create this music then maybe so, because then you would try to go back in and do it exactly the same. But we were 21 and 23 and now we are 26 and 28; I wouldn’t try to compete with myself as a 21 year-old. And also, bless her heart, she (Marsha) was much younger than I was. So there is so much more articulation now, more understanding, peace, balance. There is woman-hood now.

Floetry (Marsha): It’s not really a pressure thing. That would be like someone pressuring me to live my life and I have a passion for that. The example of our grandmothers to live my entire life is thriving. So the pressure is non-existent. It’s the passion that drives you to experience and every emotion that is in you just comes out and that becomes the art. It becomes the wine & cheese (laughing).

Floetry (Natalie): (Laughing) The wine & cheese. To be an artist and only have 14 songs on a record for three years; we write much more than that. The day after you write “Mis-stressed,” you write the solution to it. We’re forever writing. We don’t only write songs in studios. There weren’t only 16 songs on ‘Floetic’. There were like 60 songs that we had and we had to narrow it down to 16 songs. And then there is all this stuff in the middle. Marsha has a studio at home and you don’t even want to know about Marsha’s catalog. She churns songs out everyday. And I have books upon books at home full or poetry. So it actually was a nice release to go back in and record some more music. I’m interested to offer (especially to the sisters) the trials and tribulations of mistress and headache. I’m really looking forward to them hearing “well how did they get to here from there.”

UrbanBridgez.com: So if you guys could, would you put out an album every year?
Floetry (Natalie): Shoot, we would put out one every 6 months (laughing). If we could, yeah. Although I have appreciated this time off. When we go into the studio we cut like 2 songs a day, so in a week you’ve got a full album. But what’s been beautiful about this process is that this album has the best of the best of the best on it. There is a close runner-up for every song on this album.

Floetry (Marsha): It’s a greatest-hits album for everything that nobody has heard from us in the last 3 years. It’s our greatest songs created since the last album.

UrbanBridgez.com: One thing that I find interesting is that different Hip-Hop artists release mix-tapes in between recording different albums. For artist like yourselves with such great material, I think it would be a good idea for R&B; artists to start releasing mix-tapes.
Floetry (Natalie): Marsha and I have discussed those types of ideas like a “Floetry Mix-Tape.” Unfortunately though when you start to become a whole with the machine, you have to be respective of the fact that you have a couple of silent partners in there and there are a lot of people that get paid off of your work. There is a fine line of it, but I know there has to be away of doing that to some degree. But that’s what is good about the live shows. At our live shows you are more likely to hear songs jammed together with new material.

UrbanBridgez.com: How concerned are you with album sales?
Floetry (Natalie): We’re not very concerned although I would love to have a platinum record on my wall. I would love to give my mother a platinum record. The concern comes more in as we are very respective of the process and the places that you can hit. When we went gold we were like “500,000 people geese.” There were only 4 people in the room while we were making songs. So we appreciate it just as much as we appreciate getting nominated for a Grammy. That is big. Then at the same time, it’s not where the artist produces from. We are not in the studio trying to create a record that a million people would like. We are in there creating through a joy of people listening to good material. And we also live in a day and age of technology where when you scan a certain amount of albums; you have to times that number by 3 because of the invisible number. But we are a band. So as much as album sales are a wonderful thing, I get more touched when I step on stage and you look and there are faces all the way to the back of the room. No matter how big that room is or what type of room that is. That has more of an immediate effect on my heart then necessarily album sales.

UrbanBridgez.com: Speaking of performing, the two of you were recently featured on the Sugar Water Festival with the likes of Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and Queen Latifah. How was that experience and would you ladies like to work with them on future albums?
Floetry (Natalie): Whew! That collaboration was hot. I’ve already begged, asked and prayed for Marsha and Jill to do a duet on a record together. But one of the most beautiful things about that tour was the fact that they even had a spot for us on that line-up. Also, the difference between each of our styles is great because we are all such different types of women. Of course there is a common thread that connects us to each other but we are very different. I was thinking to myself that we are blessed to be women and not be born with affiliation for pride in a way that our brothas are because I was thinking of the different line-ups that this could have been with a male set. With our tour everyone is #1 at being themselves; Queen is #1 at being Queen, Jill is #1 at being Jill, Erykah is #1 at being Erykah and Floetry are respectively #1 at being ourselves. Unfortunately within the male sense, there is only one spot for #1 and how beautiful it would be to see all of those respective, masculine counterparts on stage together. I was really happy to be involved in unification with the ‘Sugar Water’ line-up.

UrbanBridgez.com: Since you all got your start in Philadelphia, do you ever return to check out some of the up and coming acts at Black Lilly or at other venues?
Floetry (Marsha): When we get a chance. I don’t think Black Lilly no longer exist.

Floetry (Natalie): When we get a chance to yeah, but we’ve come to recognize that there is a responsibility in being Floetry. A lot of people don’t really want to see us sit down and watch. If people see us they want us to perform. We really respect that responsibility now. Sometimes we both personally within our journeys have become quite reclusive. Not in an unhealthy sense of that word. I usually have my head buried in a book and Marsha’s usually buried in the studio, producing and writing. We also spend a lot of time keeping in contact with our families because they are back in London.

UrbanBridgez.com: What does love mean to you?
Floetry (Natalie): For me my experience of love; Love is a connective energy that can inspire as nothing else can inspire. Love can inspire you to go beyond that what you know, that what you are okay with. It makes you go beyond the barriers and the things that we build up for ourselves. Love takes you past mediocrity. In that sense, it’s like evolution.

Floetry (Marsha): I agree it’s very forward moving in that same sense.

UrbanBridgez.com: It seems that the two of you have had a significant weight loss and you look great. Tell your fans how you achieved this?
Floetry (Natalie): We lost the 14-year olds (laughing). You know, it’s interesting because we’ve just gone through an interesting barrier of age. I think coming into the women that we are now, becoming reclusive there has been a comfort of just taking are ourselves. Weight can be a very good buffer when a lot of energy is asking of you. We came over here very young. The food over here is very crazy. A lot of our weight gain when we came to America had to do with a different diet and what type of food we ate. I think our weight loss didn’t come from “I hate myself.” It came from a little bit of health and finally getting our feet on the floor. We are much more grounded I would say. I also I think we both lost the weight we would gain if we were pregnant. It was quite a natural process for Marsha and I. We didn’t spend three years saying we need to lose weight. It was a real natural process.

UrbanBridgez.com: If you could put together your own Divas (who can sing) Live Show, which four singers/groups would the show consist of including yourselves?
Floetry (Natalie & Marsha): Jill, Pink, Erykah Badu, and Alanis Morsette.

UrbanBridgez.com: Any last words for your fans?
Floetry (Natalie & Marsha): We are re-introducing ourselves again, enjoy the music. Also stay strong and be brave!