LisaRaye: The Real McCoy Interview @TheRealLRaye

Balancing Motherhood, Career and Relationships With LisaRaye McCoy
By: Nicole Scott

On the heels off a successful season of LisaRaye: The Real McCoy on TV One, the launch of her new clothing line, and a new romantic comedy, Single Ladies, LisaRaye is putting the final touches on her career and proving that a woman can have it all; if she is willing to work through the nose bleeds. LisaRaye shared with Premier Guide Media her parenting skills with daughter, Kai and how her life experiences have molded her into the independent woman she is today.


Good morning LisaRaye how are you?

LisaRaye:  Girl, I’m good I’m in Atlanta working. I’m filming the last day of my new romantic comedy for VH1 called “Single Ladies”.

I heard it’s going to be a hit.

LisaRaye: I heard it’s going to be a hit too (laughs) and it will be. We are going to live up to that name.

Tell me more about your character Keisha.

LisaRaye: She was a video vixen, Keisha is sassy and fashion forward as we all are. She is trying to find someone who is trying to take care of her. She wants to find love but she has this wall up that’s stopping her from finding that ultimate one. She doesn’t want to give 100% until they give 100%, so then you’re in a Mexican standoff.

What can we expect when we watch the show?

LisaRaye: We are definitely bringing the fashion game to Atlanta. We are bringing a shoe game and a bag game. Also showing a different diversity in how to dress which is a very good thing. I think that’s where the comparison of Sex and The City comes into play with our show. It shows the unity of friendship and that’s what’s so polished and positive about the project as well. I think with me it’s the way LisaRaye promotes unity with bridging that gap between women. I like that these girls have a real strong friendship and they don’t always agree, but the support is there and I think that’s the story and the message that needs to be shared.  The idea of what happens in every episode is that there are 3 different females that are dating differently, yet they are talking about it amongst each other. We are all in a position like how long do you wait? Do you have sex on the first date? Or do you make him take it slow and try to get to know each other? Like how long does THAT take? It’s so many things you would be able to identify with that are so current right now. I think we are doing it in a fresh, forward and sexy way.

That’s great it’s something different from reality TV which is what you are doing now. This is good because it shows more sides of LisaRaye.

LisaRaye: Yeah it is very much so. It allowed me to get back to what I do. With the second season of The Real McCoy that’s the reality side, the personal side of LisaRaye. “Single Ladies” has allowed me to get back into my career of acting. So to have 2 shows on right now is actually a blessing for me.

So I was reading somewhere that Stacy dash actually had some “beef” with you on set. What’s up with that?

LisaRaye: There’s no beef between us. We have a difference in opinions and we are filming late nights everyday you know 15 hours a day, and yeah there are going to be some differences and some words are going to be exchanged but at the end of the day we are both making a positive show that we believe in. So all of that news saying there was a physical altercation no no we are grown we don’t do any of that and we don’t have time for any of that and I’m certainly not losing any sleep about how the media perceives that because we know it’s not true.

Of course we just wanted it to be cleared up because most sites do make up stories so now everybody knows what’s really going on.

LisaRaye: Exactly

Your daughter Kai is beautiful and definitely doing an amazing job modeling for Apple Bottoms.

LisaRaye: Yes, I think so too.

Did she always want to be in the industry or was it something that kind of grew on her?

LisaRaye: it was something that kind of grew on her, growing up in the shadow of a mom that’s a sex symbol and being small and curvatious. I think one of the most encouraging things about her of being a plus sized model for Apple bottoms is that she embraces her own curves. I think for that age it’s very appealing for that generation that are full sized. We live in a society where they make the models a size 2 which is all we see and it’s like this is what society likes? This is like nooo, embrace who you are embrace your curves and I think she’s doing that. I’ve never tried to tell her anything different and I love that she does that.

That’s a great thing because when the girls that are plus sized see other girls doing it and modeling it makes them feel a lot better.

LisaRaye: Yeah!  Even the partnership that I have with TZI jeans for my own jean line the LisaRaye collection I go all the way up to size 18 because we come in different shapes and sizes. My jean is for the woman that has a smaller waist, has a fuller hip area that has a little bit more junk in the trunk and wants a jean that really fits. I’m excited about the business side of LisaRaye the entrepreneurhip, the businesswoman side of me. I want to work smart and not hard. I want to be able to do investments so when I’m over in Paris or Europe someplace I can sit back and say, ok my money is working for me. It’s just another entity of what I’m trying to do how I’m trying to spread that business sense to all of us. You can do 1 thing but stay out there and do something else that you believe in. I found that in the TZI jeans for my collection it allowed me to put on the designer hat.

I’m very glad that you’re doing that even though I’m small it’s not hard to imagine how girls feel when they go to the mall and see jeans that are nice but they don’t go up to their size.

LisaRaye: What size are you?

I’m a 1-2. I’m small I need some junk in my trunk ha-ha.

LisaRaye: Well I know that you’re shapy so this jean will still fit you.

I know your very family oriented. Family is very much the core of LisaRaye. How does it feel to have your sister (Da Brat) back home after 2 ½ years of being gone?

LisaRaye: Yeah, I think I needed her more then I even thought, and she knew that before I knew that. Her showing up back at the house in the midst of that divorce. It actually gave me motivation it made me remember that even being a single parent I have to keep my eye on the prize. She let me know I had to move forward not only for her but for me. I’m grateful that we still have that bond and that closeness and that now she is physically there for me. It was right on time.

Well with all of that being said, we know you have B2B (Back 2 business) in Puerto Rico this weekend. Why did you pick Puerto Rico? Well besides the men? (Laughs)

LisaRaye: (Laughs) I picked Puerto Rico because it lets you travel outside of the country without a passport. Makes people feel like they are far enough from the states to say, ok I’m somewhere different. I love Puerto Rico, I know a little bit of Spanish so I’m able to speak the language. It’s one of my favorite cuisines. So Puerto Rico it was.

So who are you going for Heat or Bulls?

LisaRaye: Well now you know I’m from Chicago!!

Ha-ha I know! Just checking!

LisaRaye: Yeah, aha so you know I’m rooting for my Bulls.

Well I’m from Miami so Heat all the way…

LisaRaye: Well, we’ll see what happens (laughs)

Well LisaRaye thank you so much I appreciate you taking the time out to speak with me. Where can the fans follow what you’re doing?

LisaRaye: Let me give you my Twitter so that your fan base can reach out to me I’d love to talk to everyone its @TheRealLRaye

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