*”Love & Hip Hop‘s” Rich Dollaz, Yandy, Karlie Redd and Paris Phillips kick it with Radio & TV personality Jazmyn ‘Jaz’ Summers, host of EURweb.com Spotlight on a new TV project tracing their African roots.
The stars of Vh1’s hit reality shows “Love & Hip Hop” and “Black Ink Crew” go on a unique, introspective journey in “Love & Hip Hop: Lineage to Legacy.” The show follows some of our favorite folks from both shows as they delve deeper into their heritage and lineage, with a little help from DNA testing and analysis
Hosted by “True Life: Crime” host Dometi Pongo, the 2-part special examines the harsh lasting impact of chattel slavery and challenges stereotypical views of Black culture while celebrating Africa’s rich history.
From our music and craftsmanship to our style, dance, and food, we explore learn how where we came from has influenced and impacted who we are today. You can catch it Monday and streaming on VH1.
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Yandy tells EURweb.com Spotlight it is a life-changing experience: “If you’re a fan of the show you guys have been with us. You’ve seen us some of us before kids, some of us before jobs, before established careers and you’ve watched us go on this journey so in true ‘Love & Hip Hop’ fashion with the climate of everything that is going on in America, it was so important for us to really instill pride and a different level of value to Black people living here in America. This show takes us on a journey of the proudest experience. We learn that all of us are rooted in Africa. We come from the land of the luxurious, we come from the land of the most abundant, the land of overflow and you’ll get to really go on this journey with us as we learn about our history. It was so much fun. It was emotional Every emotion you can think of. I even got angry just realizing how bamboozled we were.”
Karlie Redd says, “Finding out who you are is so important. All this time my mother was born in Trinidad. My whole family is from Trinidad. How about this after Dr. Gina Paige did my African ancestry, I’m from Nigeria. Rich Paris and Yandy are from Cameroun. I’ve been visiting Nigeria for many many years. I’ve been there five times and every time I go it feels like home. I filmed a movie in Nigeria. I’ve stayed there for months at a time. And it always feels like home that’s because I’m from Nigeria.”
Paris tells Jaz, “It was everything to me. I really felt like I was part of ‘Roots.’ ‘Roots’ used to be my favorite movie. We was really kidnapped I repped Brooklyn so much now I’m from Cameroon. There’s nothing like knowing where you’re from learning about the food, dancing, we even got tattoos. It was a great experience. I feel like everyone should get their DNA done.”
Rich Dollaz shares with Jaz: “It was amazing. it was powerful. You really get to see who you are. You get to dip into your ancestry. Like they say ‘knowledge is power.’ The connection that you build with other people that you did this with. We were brought here to America. We lost our identity but doing this African identity thing we got our identity back. Like Karlie happens to be Trinidadian but the reality is we’re all Africans. The Trinidadians, Jamaicans, the Haitians, the Puerto Ricans, the Dominicans … they were just dropped off first. They didn’t make it all the way here and now the connection is building because you get to see who you are and who these people are. The connection that we have from our ancestry is important. We weren’t taught that in America. We were never taught that. Critical race theory is a real thing. They don’t want you to know what you are supposed to know. That’s why you get the late-night TV with the little boy starving in Africa but if you ever went to Africa and that was your perception of Africa, you would be blown away because that’s not what Africa is. Just like I’m sure the Africans don’t have pictures of somebody sleeping outside of Port Authority. That’s not on their late-night TV. The hyperbolic marketing of America is so crazy now you look at it and you’re like we’ve been living a lie.”
Besides focusing on her businesses and family, Yandy reveals she remains an advocate for justice.
“Homelessness is really big to me especially in Atlanta where I am.  I hate the word homeless. There was a homeless shelter near me and they closed it down. There are so many people who were living near my store and they started getting arrested. I’ve been in constant conversation with the mayor about what we can do as a community. If you set up tents or give out food it’s illegal right now. it’s a constant challenge The other (issue) is the injustice against Black people. It’s still going on. It’s still crazy. Every day I wake up and I see another innocent Black person shot and killed by police and it doesn’t stop. No knock warrants are still live and killing Black people all the time. They don’t run up on 5th avenue in New York City with no-knock warrants. They don’t run into those houses. They come to our communities and they run in and they don’t say who they are. They don’t announce. Someone run-up in this house that’s the first thing you think let me grab my gun cuz they coming to kill me, they coming to rob me. Constantly we are being murdered for mistaken identity. Those are the two things I really want to focus on this year.”
Yandy said her foster daughter Infinity, who at one point was going through a tense and difficult relationship with the family, is doing well with the family. Rich Dollaz who was on “Marriage Boot Camp” in the past with MariahLynn who said they were in a secret relationship for 8 years, expressed love for his and Safaree’s ex Erica Mena on the last episode of “Love and Hip Hop: Family Reunion,” says he’s single. Karlie, whose ex-husband Mo Fayne was sentenced to over 17 years for fraudulently spending Covid -19 loan money, says she is focusing on her business and herself and not looking for romance right now. She also revealed that she and Lamar Odom were never in a relationship: “We were just friends.”
For the full convo, check out the video above, and don’t forget to subscribe to Jaz’s YouTube channel.
Interview/article by Jazmyn Summers. Follow her @jaztalk1 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Video editing by www.patrickhousefilms.com
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