EXCLUSIVE: Kim Burrell Tells Bobbi Kristina, 'Just Stop It'!!
Gospel singer Kim Burrell is everybody’s go-to for vocal inspiration, and the occasional “fix my life” moment. Like the time Whitney Houston’s family flew her to Germany so she could get into the late singer’s ear and whip her into shape. “That was my role for many years,” she says. “Whitney's not listening. Call Kim.”
Now, Burrell spoke with ESSENCE.com about returning to the show, her memories of Whitney, and what advice she’d give to Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina.
It’s been two years and a month since you lost your dear friend Whitney Houston. How are you coping? Are you in touch with the family?
It's still very hard. I talk with Pat Houston [Whitney’s sister-in-law]. We still visit to cope together. We just did a documentary; me, David Foster, Jennifer Hudson, Pat of course, Whitney's mom, CeCe Winans, her brothers, Clive Davis. I think they interviewed Dionne [Warwick] too. We all did our own contribution to this documentary about her that is going to be simply amazing. I think it's a view of her that we don’t get to see.
I miss her every single day. There are times I think she chases me. The world loves her so much and they commemorate her on the radio. But I'm like, is it always like when I first get in the car they start playing her? It's weird. I went out of the country, about two months after she passed away. I got to a restaurant in a place where they speak no English and there she comes on [Kim starts sings It's not right, but it’s okay] and I’m like, Come on, Whitney. Really? I miss our talks. When Whitney called, we didn't talk for 20 minutes. Whitney liked to talk for 7 hours at a time. And we spent 14 years doing that.
It seems like her daughter Bobbi Kristina is having a little trouble. If you could get in her ear, what would you tell her?
I remind her too much of her mama in a lot of ways. If I were to be in her ear, the first words I would probably say are, ‘Just stop it. And you know exactly what I mean. You know what time it is. Don't go there.’ The girl is smart. To me, she's a victim of circumstance. I'm not making any excuses, but she was born into craziness. At nine years old, your parents give you $5,000 to go shopping, and the money increases as you get older and you're pretty much on your own. And you're doing what you want to do and you're around all this stuff that she's involved in as a teenager.
So, I would just tell her, ‘Baby, just stop.’ And consider your life to be your own and not a reflection of anyone else's. Do your best to try to live from this moment forward as an adult because right now you're living out something that's killing you quickly. I don't want to talk too much about [her marriage] ‘cause it is a sore spot. She's young. And I just hope that at some point she'll let people in. She's very rebellious, but she loves me. She just doesn't want to hear what I have to say. And I get that.
Hopefully she’s listening!
bobbie, you realy need to wake the hell up and stop the stupidness in your life and let someone help you before you end up like your mother, and where is your father in all this that's going on with you, you would think he of all people would try to give you some guidance after the things he and your mother has done around you that has got you where you are today, wake up girl and pull yourself together, you are going down the wrong path of life.
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