It's said that when a little girl is born, she has her father wrapped around her finger and R&B singer Lloyd, who recently welcomed a daughter into the world, is no exception. In a recent interview, he let the world know that the "Southside" singer that we knew before is long gone, and now, his new role as 'Daddy' is his most important job.
2017 was a big year for the now 33-year-old father of two. Not only did he make a comeback to the music game, releasing his first project in 10 years, but in September 2017, he and his girlfriend, Dehea Abraham, welcomed their first child together. Along with adopting a healthier way of living, the singer also had to make some major life changes. In an interview with Madame Noire, Lloyd shared:
" Fatherhood has changed me for the best. It has humbled me far beyond anything. It has also energized me and motivated me, not for anything pretentious, just to be the best person I can, the best man I can be."
In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, the singer revealed that the birth of his son, River took a greater toll on his emotional state than he could have imagined, especially after losing a child in a previous relationship to an abortion. So much so, that he cried for three weeks straight. He explained:
"I cried every day for the first three weeks after having my son. It made me look at my mom different and respect her a great deal…especially with her raising me by myself."
He explained that the most amazing gift that fatherhood has had to offer him is the power of self-reflection. In the past, Lloyd has been transparent about his battle with anxiety and depression as well as overcoming turmoil after the death of his little sister. The birth of his children forced the entertainer to take a hard look at his life and choose happiness:
"It's also forced me to look myself in the mirror on a constant, daily basis, and be cognizant about the things I can fix. That's the dopest thing that fatherhood has given me. I don't have to search anymore for fulfillment, especially in any place toxic or far-reaching. It's always inspiration at my fingertips."
"I never felt like that before. It's truly because of those real-life experiences that I'm able to express the sentiment in music. I think it's making me a better person."
Lloyd explained that his mini-muses have also been an essential piece of the singer's creative process.
"I recorded the rest of the 'TRU' album with him in the studio. I played instruments for him every day as a kid and sang him to sleep every day, just really enjoying it."
"[I've changed] as a man, as an artist, as a human being, a neighbor, son and a brother. I look at everything different."
The Atlanta-born superstar shared that his relationship with his children has even played a part in molding his overall worldview.
"Being away from them causes anxiety, but I also look at people's activities a lot different. If I see someone acting a certain way, I'll say 'dang, where her daddy at?' [I realized] everyone is someone's daughter. Everyone is someone's sister. Those are the most special people in my life."
Check out the full interview below!
Lloyd Talks Fatherhood, Tour Life, Irv Gotti, Ashanti + Morewww.youtube.com
Featured image by Gilbert Carrasquillo/WireImage
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak