Marsha Ambrosius Talks Motherhood, Music and Where Things Stand With Floetry
By Samantha Hunter
DJ Khaled, T.I. and Tiny, and Rob Kardashian aren’t the only celebs gushing over their new babies. Grammy Award winning singer Marsha Ambrosius is head over heels in love with her new little girl, Nyla ("her father was born in New York, but raised in LA – NYLA). The responsibilities of motherhood and her music career have been keeping her too busy to share all the precious moments with Nyla on social media. Marsha is about to transition into working mom life as she embarks on a three-month tour. We caught up with her just as she was preparing to go out on the road, with new baby and bae in tow, to begin her “The M.E. Tour” with Eric Benet. As we close out Women’s History Month we thought it fitting to talk with this soulful singer about how she is managing it all – motherhood, being in a relationship, and juggling her career.
VH1: How is motherhood treating you?
Marsha Ambrosius: Amazingly, beautifully, terrifying and gratifying all at the same time. You have a new life that came into this world out of love, me and her father wanting this to be a reality, and now that she’s here it’s like, oh my goodness. Wow! We’re parents. I’m a mother. I gave birth to a child. And it’s so overwhelming. It’s like starting life all over again. I get to watch all of my Disney movies all over again through new eyes. My ABC’s and 1-2-3’s and all of these melodies that my kid doesn’t know yet. If her dad is singing to her, or dancing, or playing with her it’s all brand new to this human being, this new human being that’s ours, so that by itself is just so beautiful. So exhausting, but so worth it! Like every sleepless night, every moment is like a new moment, you know? It’s amazing.
How are you juggling motherhood and your career?
The two for me now, as I expected it to, must go hand in hand. And I’m not the first woman who ever had a kid and had to go back to work. It’s mandatory, it’s standard. It’s taking care of a household and now having a kid shouldn’t and wouldn’t change that. So for me it’s just managing my time a little better. I get up extra early to make sure her she’s fed and we’re fed. We’re micromanaging our time collectively. Where he’s having a nap, I’m taking care of the baby and vice versa. It’s just juggling the time, and we have time for each other so it kind of makes that a whole lot easier than I expected it to be. And getting back to work is just something we fearless women do.
Will your fiancée be on the road with you to help with the baby?
Absolutely. He is road managing so we have someone else with us to help us both so we can do our jobs and stick to it, but the baby will be with us out on the road. I didn’t want to miss any of that time. You know, from three months of six months? That’s a whole other person. I’ll come back and she’ll be walking and talking by then the way she’s growing right now. It’s just gonna be beautiful having us all together and making it work.
Are you planning on sharing your parenting journey with the public or are you determined to keep this part of your life private?
I guess being an artist kind of does force your hand to share a little bit. There are certain things I would want to keep private, but it’s only right that I share my experience, otherwise you won’t know where I’m at in my life. Something could completely be a surprise to you, because I hadn’t shared where I am at. So it’s definitely something that I want to share with people – other mothers, other fathers. I’ve been creating music that has made a lot of babies, now I’m having the similar story where now I have my own and I get what everybody else was talking about. Now I understand it, so there’s a conversation there to be had and I’m keeping that open dialogue, which is why even with the song “Don’t Wake the Baby” it’s something all parents can relate to. The type of music I make, whether me and my dude are going through it or we’re having a hard day, we still want to get some good loving at the end of the night. So it’s for every parent that never had enough naps to even have that as an option. It’s just making sure that it’s all relative, all relatable keeping people definitely up to speed with what’s going on with me.
The world fell in love with you and your fiancée when you posted videos of you two on Instagram, one of which was his proposal to you. Have you set a date for the wedding?
You know what? No (laughter). I don’t know when that will ever even really come to that. Thinking about that right now is not even a thing that we’re pressuring ourselves to figure out just yet. We’re so happy that it feels like it’s already happened. With our families being so close, we’re already a functioning family. It’s really when we get the down time to celebrate what that is. So bank on some good weather and being able to get that one day where my entire family from overseas can make it and his family from upstate New York, Buffalo, when we can get everyone together, I’ll figure out what day of the year that’s even a real thing and we’ll make it happen.
So you’re back at work and on tour, do you have any plans on releasing a new album soon? What’s on the horizon in terms of work?
An album definitely. It is complete and will be released shortly and I’m so excited about it. It’s my favorite piece of work that I’ve ever, ever, ever, ever done. It’s crazy, as it was recorded just before I got pregnant and while finding out I was pregnant, and then having to deal with what was then another tour, the Floetry reunion, and then going on another tour (Love Jones musical) and then having the baby. All of these songs were recorded over that period of time and all of the emotions that I’d gone through and it was only befitting that I gave it the title that it has, which will be revealed soon enough… it’s amazing. I seriously can’t wait for you to hear it, for everyone to hear it. I’d be jealous of this album – it’s one of those albums like, I wish I did that album.
Has your musical partner in Floetry, the Floacist, met the baby? What’s going on with you two?
After that last Floetry tour we haven’t spoken again, that was it. It was a very, very amicable goodbye. I seriously did everything that I ever could, and being a mother now, and seeing things with wider, open eyes, and an open heart, you really truly can damage yourself when someone else is just so damaged that it’s beyond repair. And there’s nothing that can change that, and sometimes that’s OK. You just keep it moving. It’ll all be OK.
Marsha will be performing tonight at the Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park. For more on Marsha Ambrosius and “The M.E. Tour” click here.
Marsha’s new single, “Don’t Wake The Baby” is available now on iTunes.
If you missed the All Jokes Aside documentary, watch it below.