HIP HOP TO THE CORE: Steph Lova

BRONX, New York | STEPH LOVA

interview KB Tindal

Steph Lova is a Howard University Graduate and she started her career at WPGC 1580 AM in DC. She eventually moved on to host a number one-night show on WKYS Kiss FM. She then went on from there to co-host the morning show on the illustrious Hot 97 in New York City. Then she moved on over to Power 105.1 in New York as well. Eventually, she went back to WPGC 95.5 in DC. She has been a host on BET’s Rap City and MTV’s Hip & Soul MTV News. She has been a judge on BET’s 106 and Park. Nowadays, you can find her raspy voice holding it down on IV The Culture Thursdays to Saturdays from 8 to 10 pm on Taste Radio One, which is on the Dash Radio Network, and on weekends on Magic 95.5 in Baltimore. She has earned the title of legend after being in the industry for over 20 years. She is a lover of Hip Hop, a mother, a sports junkie, and a DJ.  Validated Magazine got the chance to catch up with Steph so tap in and enjoy the ride. 

VALIDATED: I liked your Instagram. It said you're a mother first, a radio lover, a DJ, and a sports junkie. That combination is awesome. It doesn't get much better than that combination.

STEPH LOVA: I get bored, really easy. I need things to keep my mind occupied. I am West Indian, you know what they say about the Jamaican brethren. We wear many hats. I am from New York, I'm used to multitasking, having a lot of information coming at me, and kind of juggling and doing a lot of things at once.  I like to be busy. Some people like to have nothing to do, I love having my to-do lists at the top of the day and just periodically, checking things off.

VALIDATED: Let's go back to the beginning just a little bit. Where exactly did the name Steph Lova come from? And the reason that I ask is that is because, in the ’90s and 2000s, there were only two Lovas. There was you and there was Ed Lover. So how did that work out?

STEPH LOVA: We worked together. I was in Zulu Nation back in the day. Everybody was wearing the beads and such. My crew, we thought we were flipping these dudes like burgers. So, we were all lovers. My whole crew was The Lovers. My best friend, Tif Lover. Then we had Josh Lover, it was so many Lovers. That was just kind of a thing for us back then. As time went on, I never changed it. I've had other derivatives, other names, and stuff, but a friend of mine in college, one day, I was doing something, and he was like, yo, why do you call yourself Steph Lova, nobody calls you Lover? Everybody says Lova. It kind of made sense. When I hooked up with Ed Lover, it was so funny that in the beginning, he didn't know me. He kind of had an issue with another lover, even though it’s spelled differently. When I first started at Hot 97, I was Big Steph. I had to adjust for the big guy. After we started working together, he was like, alright Lova you cool. You got to defer to the OG. People always ask me, why did you keep that, and I was like, I don't know. The old thing if it's not broke, don't fix it. I didn't really see a need to change it. It is not like I was a rapper. I wasn't trying to drop an album. For me, more important, now the name is like Steph love her. It's like, love her. I'm not out here trying to build the game. It's about the love. That's the reason I got into Hip Hop. It was mostly about the love. I still love it. It's like, the biggest love affair of my life. It’s always been Hip Hop. Probably the reason I'm not married is because I had a lifelong partner and sometimes, they just don't understand that. Everybody always be second to the music.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Even my daughter knows, that when mommy got to go to work It's just this love affair. That's kind of where it started, back in the day running around, being a teenager. My best friend, she passed away, I kind of kept the name as a tribute to her because I loved her. She was Tif Lover, and I was Steph Lover. Real quick, Drake one day, I forget what song, but I remember, he goes, “Tiffany, Stephanie, they used to always check for me.” If she was alive as I'm sitting here talking to you, she would have told everybody. You know my homegirl, she is on the radio, she knows that nigga. He wrote that for us. I don’t know Drake like that. When he came out with the track, I'm like, that's my bestie. That's how Hip Hop makes me feel. It just makes me feel good. Because even though that's the furthest from the truth, I know had she been alive, she would have told everybody that’s my friend, she knows everybody and what am I going to say that didn’t happen? Stories like that just make me love it that much more that she's still riding with me. I would never change anything to get with the times. That's just not my style.

VALIDATED: What was your absolute earliest memory of Hip Hop?

STEPH LOVA: I know my first memory of Hip Hop was from my Dad. He used to always be like, you know Steph, you always asking for a $1. This song is for you. “Dollar bill yall, dollar bill yall,”  and I was a kid and I remember, it was a rap, and I do remember that. It was my father. He introduced me to that he used to be like, you're gonna like this joint. He played the Blondie “Rapture” joint. I just remembered a video of like a burnt-up car. I remember The Rap Attack and Ralph Daniels and all that. I was a fan from the beginning. I was on the sidelines from the very, very beginning. I just had to figure out how to get in the game. I started out trying to be an artist. At the time, the artists that was out, I really wasn't for all of that showing my body and talking crazy. I was more of the boss era. Female independence, empowerment, and that kind of stuff. That didn't mesh. You have some records to sell over here. I love that these females nowadays that they own that. You don’t have to worry about Meghan talking about none of her activities. She let you know what she's trying to get at when she is about to get in it. I love that, that's female empowerment. It used to be exploitation, but now it’s empowerment.

VALIDATED: I got to ask you this. I know you had the honor of meeting one of the great Notorious B.I.G. before he passed away. Can you tell me about his energy when you met him, and where were you on the day that you found out that he passed away?

STEPH LOVA: I met BIG twice. I had a friend of mine that I went to college with, and her brother was A Tribe Called Quest’s DJ, Muhammad. So, he would give us access when we were in college, he would give us access when BIG and all of these people came down. They would always stay at the Howard hotel next to the Starbucks. If you were going to Howard, or you were going to homecoming, that's where you stayed.

It wasn't all this fancy stuff in Georgetown. We were over there, and they were staying in the hotel, and we went up and we were hanging out with Craig Mac in the hallway and BIG came by, him and Diddy. The first time we met, and it was just kind of hi and bye. But later that night, we went to the room, and he was playing dice. He was so animated. It was just like, wow, you forget these niggas aren’t but, two weeks removed from the block.

When they're presented to you in this larger-than-life format, you're like, wow, look at them niggas playing dice, (Laughs) knowing damn well I done seen 100 niggas play dice. But then it was one time he came down to Howard homecoming. It was the only time that I believe him, and Method Man performed “The What” together. I remember this so vividly. It was in a library. When the beat came on, the books started falling off the shelves, it was in the library, and the books literally started shaking. I am like this is crazy. This was like two weeks after he married Faith and he was backstage having a water gunfight. Little stuff like that just etched in my mind. I was mad that I never got to interview BIG. When he got killed, he was just starting his promo run. It was gonna be the Vibe Awards, and then he was hopping state to state. We had him on the calendar. We were counting down. I loved BIG so we were counting down and it never happened. I think BIG was the first non-family member that I ever cried for. He wasn’t a family that I knew personally. It was just a sad day. We were just in the crib when we heard the news. My old boss, Mike Fox. Mike works at Hot 97 now. He called me and I remember it was a Sunday. I've never worked on Sundays. I work Monday through Saturday. I used to do nights. Saturday night we would party hard and sleep all day Sunday more or less. You in your 20s, it’s go hard or go home. He called me on Sunday he was like, I need you to come in and I am like I don’t work on Sunday. You know that and he was like, wake your ass up, get in here, BIG is dead. He said like so matter of fact. I was like, no, no, niggas get shot every day b. Remember Tupac, Tupac had gotten shot and he died seven days later. I was like nigga don’t get killed, niggas get shot and he was like, he's dead Steph. He was like come in and do a dedication. I just bust out crying, that hurt me to my heart. The only time I've ever seen my father cry was when we were riding, and we heard on the radio Marvin Gaye died. That was my equivalent. Because I've never seen my father cry. Not even when his brother died, all these things that happened in his life, I've never seen my father cry except when we heard Marvin Gaye died. That's how profound some of these artists in Hip Hop or whatever genre you listen to are, it's a part of our lives. It’s very, very personal. Hip Hop is super personal to me. I done almost got into a fight about who's the greatest rapper. I have seen best friends log off like, you know what, we can't be friends if you think Tupac dah dah dah. People always wonder why our era, that they love the 90s so much. Why do they love that era? To me that was the realest era, it was before the money. The money was coming but the money wasn't the factor. I don't think Biggie was rhyming for the money but he knew that Diddy was gonna get him to the bag. He was conscious about bringing the East Coast back. Don’t think Biggie lost on that, he wasn't lost on the fact that he was the Savior that was going to bring the shit back. He understood that was the assignment. He knew that. I don’t think he knew what came with that. But he knew that was the assignment. That was the goal.

VALIDATED: I did some research, and I saw you on an old episode of Teen Summit on BET, and you're talking about the deaths of Biggie and Tupac. How you felt it wasn't Hip Hop’s fault. It wasn't the music's fault that they were killed. But unfortunately, we’re still losing a lot of our young kings. We lost Pop Smoke, we lost King Von. These young guys are really dying at a rapid rate due to a lot of violence. For nothing. So what would you say to this generation of artists about what they need to change so that we don't continue being the only genre of music that kills its own people?

STEPH LOVA: I heard to date we are three months into 2022 and they said it's already been 200 rappers that got killed. That sounds a little excessive 200! I don't think all of them have dropped albums. Maybe they got a mixtape, or they got a YouTube and  they are considered a rapper. All I would say is you got to look at society as a whole. Kids don't see a future. They don't see no tomorrow. They are really living for the night. It was exciting going to a club back in the day and something might pop off because you never anticipated getting killed. It was always somebody shooting in the air and everybody scattered. It never was turned on the lights and you stepping over bodies. These kids are different. It's like social media really makes these kids want things that they shouldn't have that level of thirst to attain. But when you constantly see things in your face and I can understand that it could get overwhelming that you think if you get these things that your life will be better, you'll be more lit. Then the violence part about it, it's been violence before Hip Hop so they can stop that. But I do think the constant taunting is a problem. I have seen something where dude was having sex with one of his opps, baby moms over his gravesite, like where do y'all even think of this? All disrespect and then it was one that he did a video where he is peeing on the opps grave, and then they shot up his car with his kid in it. What did you expect? What's gonna happen? That’s the part that's so amazing to me, it’s a two-way street. You all do something, something gonna get done. You haven’t figured that part out yet? Live to fight another day. I just don't understand and the only good advice I could give them to is to relax. In a box they are going to forget about you. Look at my man Casanova now he’s screaming at the top of his lungs. When you are in a box you in the box. The idea is to stay out here. Things will eventually get better. Hip Hop is way different, remember Hip Hop was super homophobic. Now some guy from TDE just got outed, and somebody dropped the video of him doing whatever. His career is not over. Mr. C at Hot 97, he got blown up. His career is not over. Mr. C, out here doing Gay Pride it’s emotion, he can turn it all around. Live your truth. A lot of these kids, that street life that's not your truth. You're out here trying to be something you are not. So when some real niggas run down on you, what are you going to do, call the cops? Look at 6IX9INE now the money running out, now what? I would have stuck to 50 Cent like glue.

The nature of Hip Hop was very competitive. Just like the radio game. We're all competitive. If you're in the entertainment business, you're a risk-taker. Because nothing is promised in this. A lot of my radio contracts are year to year. You don't even know how long you're gonna be in that town. That's just what it is. If you don't have the stomach for that then don't do it.

VALIDATED: It brings me to my next question. I know, the journey for a radio personality is similar to the journey of a recording artist, like you said, like you could be at one station one year, and you could be somewhere else the next year. You’re constantly moving around and trying to stay busy and trying to stay involved. What are some of the sacrifices that you've had to make over the years because you invested so much in your artistry as a personality?

STEPH LOVA: A lot of personal sacrifices, like anything else. You watch Kobe, how obsessive he was about basketball. It's the same thing about anything you are passionate about. If you're a scientist, and you want to find a cure to something, look how quick, they came up with the cure for COVID. To be good or great at anything, you have to be a little selfish, a little bit obsessive, you know, a little anal and I'm all those things. Over the years, I've learned how to loosen up, because I got a daughter. My daughter is 14, I only got one, so I got to get it right. I never want it to be a situation where she felt like, I wasn't around. You always hear these stories of these kids, the parents gave them everything in the world and they hate their parents because they weren't there. One thing they couldn't afford to give them was time. During the pandemic, we were there. That was two to three years from what she was, from 12 to 14. We were basically on top of each other at that point. As far as living arrangements and stuff. That busy stuff really got slowed down to a livable pace.

Sometimes you chase the check, so crazy trying to provide for said child that you forget, the most important thing which is being there. I try not to forget that. Like I said, I only got one daughter, and I want to enjoy it. I know a lot of women in this business that are successful, have amazing careers, big dogs, and they have no personal life. They don't have a husband, they don't have a child. All they have is pictures at events, with celebrities that wouldn't call them up. That's all they have. Then one day, the job is taken from them and then what? I was super mindful of that. Not like I was trying to have a baby but when it happened, I welcomed it because I was like, well, God's plan. This must be the time that I need to slow it down or start thinking bigger picture of life after radio.

I'll always love radio, radio was always the denominator, but after having my daughter, I started thinking about other stuff. Investing in Real Estate and I started a company and just doing a lot of independent stuff that is not about a check. It's about making my own way. You got to have like, four or five incomes, it's crazy. I never wanted to be dependent on anything because I've been at stations where literally they’ll come in and say today is your last day at this station tomorrow you’ll have to find another way. Who can you get mad at when they lay off everybody. It’s not like couldn’t give me a heads up. I've learned not to take none of this shit personally.

Some people think it's super personal. One thing about the pandemic, that was weird is that it happened to all of us. It happened to everybody. I always tell people, you are feeling bad for yourself, what are you feeling bad for. You are acting like it happened to you. It happened to everybody. So don't feel isolated like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. That’s not what it is. This is God telling everybody to sit down. You all got on my nerves. Everybody is in time out. It is a learning experience definitely.

VALIDATED: Tell us about your show for the culture. And also, what you bring to the airwaves on Dash Radio One.

STEPH LOVA: Think of Dash Radio as like Sirius XM. Dash is the umbrella, that's the bubble. Then underneath, they have dash pop just like XM would have. Shade45 or the hip hop channels. The same premise, Taste is their Hip Hop station, my man DJ Sussone, he does the morning show on Taste. I pretty much do their evening show, which is Thursday, 8-10. It's really like a younger station. It's like, a lot of unknown artists. A lot of artists just breaking through. A lot of trap, a lot of drill, that kind of stuff. I wouldn't say it's a lot of our traditional artists like the Jay-Z's or the Jeezy's of the world. Those to me are the couture, Hip Hop. That's the good Hip Hop. That's the linen Hip Hop. That’s the upgrade. If you want to get the bodega sandwich that comes with the soda, then it's the station for you. I think we're at that place, so it gives me a good balance. It's skewed younger, and more independent, with a lot of independent artists and then I’m in Baltimore, which is a Radio One station that brought me back after the pandemic because radio, especially black radio, took a hit. A lot of people started spending their dollars online. It trickled down to the air personalities. That's why you're wondering why the DL Hughley and the Ricky Smiley that was syndicated in 50,60 markets that’s why.

But the money is not there to pay talent locally. When you're in let's say Philly and you hear somebody from North Carolina you are like what?  That's why. You have to support local radio. Remember back in the days when they say support PBS, public television. You are going to start hearing satellite radio, you're gonna hear his music, no personalities, no news, no gossip, no nothing. If satellite radio was so dope, it would have taken over. It would have shut all the personalities up. They would just be listening to music, music, music. If their premise really worked. But no people want to hear interaction. Like what’s today?  Today is Black Women's history month. Today is Women's history month. Mary's album just dropped. Little tidbits, keep me up to speed with my pop culture. That's where the purpose is now. Radio One and Miss Hughes is the biggest urban radio broadcaster that we have. So I'm at one of her stations out in Baltimore. It's an R&B station, the skews are a little older. But what's weird about Baltimore that's unique is that Baltimore is like one of those 40 is the new 30s town. It's a weird town because even though they're older, they're very young, and spirited. There are so many shows that come through there and comedy shows. It's always something going on in Baltimore and Baltimore is really hit as far as jobs and stuff like that. But the cultural side of Baltimore, listen, listen it's amazing. I love that about it. So being on both of those stations gives me a nice blend, what we really do with IV The Culture is, we try to take it beyond just the radio show. We do live skits, we do live performances, we bring elements of the show to live venues like we just did one of the elements in IV The Culture the radio show is Where we spotlight indy artists. Just recently, we just did that live. Some of the artists you hear on there, we brought them together live so that they could have an even bigger platform to showcase their talent. It's a lot more interactive and that's just the digital age we're living in. With social media, you could pretty much do anything. Creative content. That’s it. That’s what pushes the needle. Just being creative and do what you do. People like genuine, craziness, just being yourself.

VALIDATED: We had talked prior to the interview, you had told me that you were managing someone from real housewives or something like that?

STEPH LOVA: I was managing Sandra, she was on the real housewives of Potomac. Being in this business for so long. You always want to help, you want to help people, and you want to hopefully help them avoid some of the booby traps. Because it is a lot of vultures out there. In this entertainment business, you could really be an overnight success and wake up and be like, oh shit, and it'd be very overwhelming. The people that have been doing this for a while, know how to set the traps. It started with just dibbling and dabbling and a friend of mine had a daughter and we were working together and then I kind of got my feet wet with that. Then I started working with this young man named Myles Frost. He was an R&B artist, a young kid. I was co-managing him with somebody. The Co-manager situation he just wanted me to use all my allies, all my contacts. He didn’t really want me to be a part of it, he just wants to use my little black book. Big up to Myles Frost, he's playing the lead role now in the version of Michael Jackson on Broadway.

He's doing big things. I don't know if he's with the other manager guy or not. What it taught me is that if you're going to help somebody, if you're going to manage somebody, they got to be into it as much as you are. I can't want this more than you want it. A lot of people, when they want a manager, they want a babysitter, they want somebody to pay the bills, I got a kid. That’s a whole new era. When I got the kid me and her both went to Howard. She was doing Housewives at the time. She was on The Real Housewives of Potomac She was working with, rest in peace Chuckie Thompson. He was working on some other projects, but he was like, you want to work with her go ahead. We had a good working relationship, but then just down the line, we had some creative differences and we are not working together anymore, but God bless. It just taught me when you are in this you just try different things. I realized that management is not for me, because I do not like babysitting artists. I tried because I believe in all those artists, that’s one thing, you have to believe in them. If I'm gonna put my time or money, my effort, and the belief in what you're doing but if you don't believe in what I'm doing, then we got a conundrum here. Because if you don't believe all these things I'm doing are in your best interest, It's not gonna work.  

I've retired from managing folks. It’s like a child you didn't birth if you are not going to listen to my advice. If you're not going to follow the plan that we set out then this is not going to work. I can't keep starting from point A. God bless those artists. I've never tried to hang on to a situation that's dead. One thing about this industry it teaches you to move on quickly. When I left PGC I I didn't say nothing. You just move on, no point in lingering on that. You're not getting that back. Move forward and that is equivalent to being an artist. It's like the next show or an athlete's next game. Even if you go 0 for 12. Next game, I got to do better. That's how I look at it. I never looked back. Any of them old situations I got no animosity towards any of those people. We all good. The working relationship just wasn't meant to be. I always try to stay positive B I swear. I don't want to be the angry black… That’s so easy to pin that on us. I don't want to be that. Obviously, we all get angry, do stupid things every day and of course black women we are the most disrespected. But you still can't react to it. It's a shame, you can't, what I just try to do is put my head down and look for the next opportunity. Then when I get to where I'm going and I have the power the leverage or the ability the bread, the bag, whatever, I'll just distance myself from people because they always come back. They always come back. Some people embrace that. They love people under there, sucking them off. I'm like this nah B. You just going to shed your skin and bite me again. I’m not going to give you that opportunity twice.

VALIDATED: Recently you met my favorite artist that I haven't met yet. The God MC Rakim. Now, considering that you've been around and interviewing celebrities for years, I know you don't get starstruck, but I saw your post on Instagram about meeting Rakim. Tell me how special that was for you and why was it special.

STEPH LOVA: Let me tell you Rakim the God. Rakim was Jay Z before Jay Z. He was the swag God, he was more of an introvert I think than Jay. Jay knows that he got to be out front to get that, to get them B’s. Rakim was more behind, but I just never crossed his path. It was just weird. I spoke to him on the phone one time when I worked at Hot 97. We were doing the top five MCs and I was like Rakim, Rakim and he called up and Ed Lover gave me the phone but I had never physically met him. So when they told me I was hosting at CIAA I was like aww shit bucket list.

To do this for as long as I have doing this, you have to be a fan. You have to be a fan because at some point it will get old and you be like, on to the next. I'm a fan. I'm a fan first and foremost. I met Big Daddy Kane too. Jazzy Jeff these people are the foundation of what I'm standing on. I've made a career in Hip Hop, because of these artists in a roundabout way. So I had to give them their flowers and just acknowledge them. Literally when I met Rakim, I was speechless. I can’t express to this man, the love I have for him. The love of his presence, standing in front of me. I felt so blessed to be in his presence. I don't know if people could fathom what that means. To really feel like, God really put you here just for that moment. I sound crazy. I stood next to the dressing room. I was hosting. But I know if he went on stage, I wouldn't get my minute. I kept hovering over his area. I just needed to, real quick before he gets on stage because afterward he might not be in a mood and I can't chance that. He was so gracious. It was just one of those things that you’re just like, wow. If I never meet him again, I'm cool. Just because of what he means to me. I was a teenager, know the ledge, knowledge he brought a different element. It wasn't just cat in a hat and a rat. It wasn’t just rhyming, it was schematic, it was like you had to really think to piece that together. I still have niggas nowadays they don't know that know the ledge is knowledge. It's just moments like that, I cherish those moments because those guys are elder statesmen. Look at Biz, Biz is gone. I met with Biz, a friend of mine says Biz wants to see you. My man Kenny K, he DJ with Biz a lot. He was like come on, we are having lunch. Something made me go and two weeks later, I was like thank God I went, because I normally I would have went right home. He was just like, just stop by and I was like alright, whatever and that was the last time I seen Biz. I'm happy I did. We just make those little moments you never know.

In our genre of music, I'm glad people are in the mindset of giving niggas flowers. People treat them bad and say they broke and that's because they were getting robbed. How are you going to hold a nigga down because they was getting robbed?

Like the old ball players. You see LeBron and they'll be looking at Kareem and them and they just be looking at LeBron's pocket like you getting four million a game, that’s three years’ salary. I'm always mindful of that. When I meet the new artists. I'm dying to meet Kodak Black he is one of my favorite artists. He might be ignorant, he might be this and that from the outside looking in, but I think there's depth to him.

I would say the folks of the rap industry nowadays kind of stole his flow. His cadence. Cardi B pretty much made a whole career off his cadence. I hadn’t heard his version of Bodak Yellow. When I heard it I was like somebody owe him a check. I never heard somebody take somebody's whole cadence. That's different from a nigga biting your lyrics. Your cadence is different. If you listen to Bodak Yellow, and his shit, you're gonna be like, wow, all they did was jumbled up the words. I love Hip Hop. I’m a fan.

VALIDATED: My next question is, what was your most memorable moment in the industry up until now? Was it that Rakim moment or was there another moment that was your most memorable?

STEPH LOVA: No, I would say my most memorable is, there is so many of them. I can't say one tops another, but I will say like, one of them where I was like, damn, was when we interviewed Whitney. Whitney Houston and it was such a big interview because she's Whitney. She's that type of artist. Whitney, Mike, Madonna, a handful of them that don't have to do nothing if they don’t want to. They drop a project, and they can go sleep and niggas will pay to watch them snooze.

Whitney when she came in, she wasn't at that weird position, she wasn't superstar diva Whitney. She was still beloved. But she had to make a little bit of effort to let people know that I'm still here. It's funny, if anybody got that interview, please send me a copy because that's the only interview I don't have a copy of. I just remember I couldn't stop staring at her.  I was like how this person sings, she got the gift from God himself. He just came and touched her. That to me was so amazing, how she was just so regular. She was Jersey.

I think another as far as career-wise, was Berry Gordy. He came in, we did an interview with him and him telling us all these old stories about recording with the greats and he had Frank Sinatra's ring. He told us how, he orchestrated for Frank and Frank held him down back then with all the racial shit. Frank was like, that's my band leader. In other words he was saying If this nigga don’t lead the band, there aren’t going to be any songs being sung. I just thought that was dope that, Frank Sinatra, the goat of goats, the real Hollywood movie star, superstar singer type, had his ring on like, wow. I'm a history buff. So all that stuff that you could touch like, wow, just being in those moments, those little quiet moments. I remember stepping out on the stage at Hot 97 Summerjam. I'm from New York, and I remember plenty of days being in that audience, then from the perspective of the stage. I remember, I was just standing there, and I was just looking out like, oh, shit, like it's an amazing feeling like you never think that type of stuff is going to happen to you. I grew up in the projects and you never think good stuff is going to happen to you. I was born in the Bronx. I grew up in Staten Island. I spent some time in Jersey when I was in high school. I'm a New Yorker I am going to be one through and through. you hear about these Hot 97 Summer Jams, selling out in seven minutes. Then when I got there, I was like, backstage, I am really talking to Missy. You have those little moments you are like a kid in a candy store. But the most important thing is you really, and I tell my daughter this, find something that you would do for free. Find something that you would absolutely do when nobody's looking, when nobody's around, when you are dirty when you are tired, that you would do, that no matter if somebody told you to stop doing it that you would still do it. The most important you would do it for free when nobody's looking, there's no adulation to be had. That's what I do. That's how I feel about Hip Hop and radio. If there wasn't any broadcasting situation, I would still be putting little tapes together. That's how I started. I was always the music controller. I was always the one with the cool tapes. I listen to what I like. I got all the tapes. I'm the sole controller. That's how I started. So even if it was never no money to be made, I was always still gonna be the one with all the tapes and all the new Hip Hop. It was just a blessing I found the avenue to eat. I still enjoy the music.

VALIDATED: How do you like to give back to the community? Is there a specific nonprofit that you deal with it or is it something that you have on your own? What's your way of really giving back?

STEPH LOVA: I mentor, I do a lot of community stuff, and whatever is asked of me, I try to extend myself. I mentor, go to schools, the whole nine. I'm working on my first foundation it’s called WWWD. That’s a good friend of mine, he passed away. His name was Will. Will was always about helping artists, he was always trying to connect the dots, and give the artists a platform to succeed. It's called What Would Will Do. It's deeper than just the music, it's about helping out. Some of the females like we do stuff around prom time. We might help some of the young ladies in some of the high schools get a prom dress, they might not be able to afford one.

So I'll get some of my friends to give me old ball gowns, prom dresses and such. Then the fellas, we get them jackets or some dress shirts and I partnered up with New Era, and New Era was giving them hats and just to ease that burden a little bit around prom time. For my man Will, out here at Berry Farms in DC, they have a basketball tournament. We do a day in there for Will they do like, I haven't gotten into a tournament yet. That day is Will’s Day, and all the games are in dedication to him. Because we used to go out there and sit and watch the games all day long. As a dedication to him. I partnered up with the park and he passed away from kidney failure. So it’s also to bring awareness too. Black people be scared to go see what's wrong. Trying to get a donated kidney from black people. Black people be like don’t cut me up after I’m gone. It might save a life. A lot of kidney awareness.  Will was a good friend of mine. He was holding my hand when I was pushing my daughter out. That's how close we were. He was a big part of the community down here in Washington DC. So I am just trying to keep some of his visions alive. This year, we're probably going to do the first concert. The pandemic just set everything back so hopefully, we will get it done this year. We did one in 2019. We are trying to do a yearly one but hopefully, this year will be the year. We kick it off in June so that it would be the What Would Will Do foundation concert to raise money to try to give a scholarship to one of the kids. Pay it forward. That's the name of the game.

VALIDATED: What does Hip Hop mean to you?

STEPH LOVA: Hip Hop means everything to me. It's a lifestyle, it's not something you could turn off. I'm Hip Hop 24 hours a day. My daughter, she's at the age now where she’s like ma, and a song would come on, and I'll just be like. (Vibin Out)

VALIDATED: I saw you doing the remix reel to Tay Roc’s battle rap shit. 

STEPH LOVA: I have been listening to a lot of battle raps lately.  My inner battle rap burning up. Tay, I love him. I watched that clip so many times. Before I did it, I watched it. Because of his passion. You could see that he wanted to get it right. He was really cooking that dude. 

VALIDATED: Who was it against?

STEPH LOVA: I forget the guy's name, another one of my guys is Charlie Clips. I love Charlie Clips. The guy he was battling he got a hell of a lot of one liners too. Light skin chubby kid. I forgot his name. He got the battles where he answered him in one line, but Tay had the other line too where he was like something about “above the rim and I had to raise up / and I was cutting you and cutting you and it looks like the seatbelt won’t buckle up. You don't know where he's going with it until he gets there.

What always fascinated me about the battle dudes is I used to always be like none of these niggas make records. These are some of the most prolific rhymers on Earth and it seemed like none of them could make a record, but that's okay. Because they niched out their own lane.  Can you name one battle rapper that was a legitimate battle rapper not Cassidy, Cassidy was an artist. I can't name one of them that was a battle rapper and then became a bona fide commercial artist. But none of them had like a hit song. Cortez is my man. Cortez brought a house battle rapping. I can't name one single from Cortez and I love the kid and that’s the honest truth of it. That's what it means to me in a long-drawn-out roundabout way. Hip Hop means everything to me. It is air to me. If they said Steph, we'll give you $100 million, or no Hip Hop, I might have to ponder that. It has been such a big meaningful part of my life and it's been a constant throughout my life. Every time somebody counts me out or I might leave a radio station or whatever. Right around the corner be Hip Hop be like, what's up bitch you know I ain’t forget about you. I have a sports show. It's called Field Pass Sport. Again, it’s sports but the numerator is Hip Hop, it’s music.

Pretty much everything I do, the denominator is Hip Hop. I love everything that Hip Hop has done for me. The gift that keeps on giving. You get out of it what you put into it. I have a genuine love for this.  I like the Young’uns, but I like my era too. I like good music. I don’t care where it's coming from. If it’s coming from Louisiana or it's coming from Britain. Have you heard some of the international Hip Hop when they be rhyming in French and all that?

VALIDATED: I got some shit in my playlists and I don't know what the hell they are saying, but it sounds good to me.

STEPH LOVA: Online they had drill music in all different languages. They had drill music in French, Germany, Africa. The Africans out there with no shoes on. They were on their drill. I love it. That's funny because Hip Hop is a non-judgmental zone. Keep your opinion to yourself and enjoy the music. I love that about Hip Hop. If you notice the homophobia is gone. The misogyny is kind of gone because women do it. They have been treating women like men too. You got white artists, Asian, Black, Latino it is such a level playing field. It is really the melting pot. I think when they was talking about this American dream, it was Hip Hop that's what the melting pot really is. Because you can come from any background and kick a rhyme and if your shit hot…

VALIDATED: Final question. What else are you working on? What should people be looking out for, any kind of merch? What's next on the horizon for Steph Lova?

STEPH LOVA: Since we are talking about merch, I got a THC company because it's legal down here in these parts. You can check my THC company called Mr. Nice Guy and being from New York, we got the good nutcrackers in these parts. We got a infused nutcrackers. I got the website. Obviously, I can't ship them to you. Sorry about that. But if you are in New York or the Washington DC area, holla at your girl mrniceguy.com. We got them in a couple of locations. We do pop ups. Besides that, I have to say I have a marketing and promotion company too. We do events, we just did a bunch of stuff for Black History Month. We are always doing mentorship. I'm working on opening up a little sneaker store. I'm a sneakerhead. That's the long-term goals. Working on a little store situation. The regular drill. I'm here, I DJ also so I'm always doing weddings, anniversaries and, stuff like that, like, I like to stay active.

Being still is the devil's workshop. So I try to stay moving, stay active, keeps you young, keep you out of trouble, keeps your bank account up. I'm doing a bunch of stuff here in DC. I'm hosting Emancipation Day coming up which is big here in the city. BET awards will be covering BET awards for Dash. I am probably covering the Espys for my sports show.  I'm trying to get into an EDM concert at some point. My motto for what I do is do it for the love, the money will come, the money always comes. If it doesn't, it wasn't meant to be, that’s my motto.

Just do it for the love and the money always comes. Sometimes when you do it for the money, the love is not always there and you can’t enjoy the money. When you work for that money, and you get it and you enjoy it, but when you got it in the wrong way, it goes so fast, and it doesn't feel as good, because you know you're wrong. You can lie to yourself, but for so long. I try to be righteous, and I don't talk about it, I try to also be about it. A lot of artists, when they are coming out, they just want somebody to agree to whatever they do. If your’re a new artist don't just do it for the money. You could want to be famous, you could want to put your family in a better situation. It’s got to be for something bigger than that. It has to be for something more than that. It has to be for the message. You know what they say, the message in the music that’s timeless. I think a lot of artists lose that. They are so busy chasing the chains and all of that. Listen to these artists, they be like they are depressed. When you are the only one that got it, you become the prey. You have to be careful.

VALIDATED: Steph, thank you so much. I know you don't do a lot of interviews. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. Tell everybody where they can follow you on social media platforms to keep up with you?

STEPH LOVA: Holla at your girl @StephLova100 I Always try to keep it a buck. That's my IG. That's my Facebook and that's my Twitter.