To most
Yandy Smith has to be the messiest chick on season two of
VH1's "Love & Hip Hop". She claims to be the peace maker wanting to bring everyone together she so far when she is around there is always a fight, tears, or shouting! Making her the ‘Don King’ of the show. But are we wrong?
The folks over at
NecoleBitchie chatted with Yandy by phone and got to the bottom of some of her reputation as an instigator, how she really feels about her cast mates and if her boyfriend really beat up Jim Jones.
Here's what she had to say:
Yandy, you came out the Violator Management camp. Exactly how long have you been in the industry?
I got an internship with Violator in 2004, right out of college at Howard. Then I turned that into a position there.
When and where did you meet Jim Jones?
I met Jim in 2005 on a private jet chartered by Russell Simmons. They were flying us to Detroit for the Hip Hop summit to register young voters and Jim and I sat next to one another. He kept telling me that he managed this group The Diplomats and I told him to hit me up if he needed any help. He started calling me every day and eventually I was like ‘You’re going to have to pay me for this.” So I became his official manager and left Violator in 2005.
On the show you’re definitely portrayed as a woman about her business. Were you always that way? Or was there a situation that brought that out of you?
You know what, when I went to Howard, I got a scholarship the first two years. But my mother made me pay for the last two years. So that really taught me to be about my business. Yeah, being social was great and I did that too but I definitely learned quickly that I had to handle mine. And when school was over, I brought that same mindset to Violator Management. I knew I had to hurry up and find a job so I could pay back my student loans. So I came in on my business.
How do you determine whom you take on as a client?
You know what, management is a life thing. It’s not a 9-5 thing. I’ve had Missy, Busta, whomever calling me in the middle of the night and you have to be there to be on your job. So when I look at a potential client I look for two things. First, they have to have something and it’s not always just talent. You might not think Jim is the best rapper but he’s got this hustler’s spirit that makes you want to work with him. So it’s not always about the most talented because (and this is second), I have to believe in you. If you’ve got this hustler’s drive where you’re constantly looking for a way to make money, that’s something I can believe in and if I believe in you, I’ll go hard for you.
So on the show you made the statement that at the end of the day, for you it’s about making money…
See that was only part of the statement. What they didn’t show you was that I also said how much I love Jim. See a lot of that is changed in editing or manipulated by producers.
Let’s talk about that. Are you happy with the way you’ve been represented?
(Groans) See, here’s the thing: most people don’t realize how this really works. If the producers contact me and say there’s a woman named Erica Mena interested in meeting with me about management, I don’t know what an Erica Mena is. But I took the meeting and all the sudden its made to look like I’m starting something. Or if Emily invites me along with the rest of the girls to her party, I don’t know what type of party it is until I get there. And really I didn’t come with Kimbella. The camera just shows us walking up to the house together, so now it looks like I’ve brought Kimbella and I didn’t.
