We’ve had our eye on Lisa Raye’s many talents since Players Club, so we jumped at the chance to talk to the beautiful actress and former First Lady of Turks & Caicos about the new season of TV One’s The Real McCoy, working on the Queen Latifah-produced film and original series Single Ladies and her new role managing her daughter Kai’s modeling career. The Chicago stunner also spilled a few things about sister Da Brat’s recent release from prison, how Lil' Kim and Tupac figured in her evolution as a hip-hop sex symbol and whether or not she’d let a rapper romance her. Is she still using what she has to get what she wants? Blessed with a body like that, we wouldn’t blame her if she is.—Janeé Bolden

XXLMag.com: In trailer for your new season we saw you talk about meeting TD Jakes and trying to live a more spiritual life – not drink or have sex and you were struggling with that. How is that going?

Lisa Raye: Yep. I’m still struggling with it. I’ve definitely worked on my relationship with God and TD Jakes definitely sat me down and said to me, ‘Let me have a conversation with you young lady, because you have no right to think of yourself in unhappy terms. Get out of your own way. Shake it up and shake it off.’ Sometimes you need somebody to put their foot down and that’s what he did for me. I said let me get out of my own way. Let me give it to God and see what he can do with it. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since… and I’ve struggled with it. But I want to live right, I want know what my purpose is, I want to know what my passion is, I want to know the things I’ve done wrong so I can do it right. If we have that opportunity, and we do everyday, to change it, why in the heck wouldn’t we? That’s a whole different story that I have to add to the story on top of the story that I’m telling about women coming together and moving through no matter what the hell you go through.

XXL: On the first season of The Real McCoy everyone was able to see how close you are with your daughter, there was even some controversy about you kissing up on her…

Lisa Raye: That hasn’t changed. I’m still kissing on her and I will forever kiss on her because if you don’t show kids love, they don’t know how to receive love. That’s the love of my life along with my mom and my puppy Diamond, so that right there will never change. Actually I’ve found new ways to get kisses from her, which is in second season as well. I think every parent who has a relationship with their child understood that. For every person that didn’t understand, there was double that did.

XXL: Were you able to visit Da Brat while she was behind bars? Do you still have a close relationship?

Lisa Raye: I took the cameras up to visit my sister during the first season [of The Real McCoy.] They wouldn’t allow me to bring the cameras inside, but yes I had to come visit her because when you’re locked up you have to be in touch with the outside world. That’s my sister and there is love there and I had to lay eyes on her and let her know that I was supportive and that we make mistakes but I couldn’t wait for her to come out and I’d be here with open arms, which is exactly what I was. It’s just a blessing that I’m filming here in Atlanta so when she got out, I’m here. She’s on house arrest and I see her and we talk and we Twitter and we love. I’m just glad that she just has a different perspective on life as well. She’ll be back out here brand new and I can’t wait until she comes out with some new stuff so I can support that as well.

XXL: You’re in Atlanta filming Single Ladies. That starts as a movie right, then continues a TV show?

Lisa Raye: The writer for the project is Stacy A. Littlejohn and she was a writer on my sitcom All of Us. She wrote the script for a movie Single Ladies and sold it to Queen Latifah and they took it over to VH1. She had me in mind for this character named Keisha. She’s a video vixen and she is opinionated, she’s sassy, she is the devil’s advocate to the series. She’s funny, but she’s a mirror image of the powerful man that’s out there that’s looking for a mate. She doesn’t play any games, she has money. We’re dealing with issues that we as women deal with every day, but each character deals with it in a different way so you’ll have a girlfriend that will be able to identify with each character. That’s what’s so fun about it, it’s like a modern urban Sex And The City. There is nothing on TV like this. So I am very excited about it. It’s shot in Atlanta. It’s rich, it’s positive it’s hot. It’s sexy. I have Stacey Dash as a co-star on there as well, Charity Shea is on there and Lauren London. It turns into a series after the movie airs May 30th.

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XXL: Have you ever dated a rapper? Would you ever date a rapper?

Lisa Raye: No I haven’t. I haven’t dated a rapper. Would I date a rapper? Hmmm… I don’t know who that would be right now. But I don’t discriminate on that. We have some smart talented rappers out there. You know? They’re smart in the way they’re guiding their careers. Look at Ludacris and what he’s done and Ice Cube. Even Baby from Cash Money, he’s built an empire with the people he has on the charts. That doesn’t come from people that don’t know the business; that comes from people who have paid attention to the business.

XXL: Speaking of business, you’re now managing your daughter’s career. Are their any issues you’ve been able to avoid with her because of mistakes you made?

Lisa Raye: She did her first video last season, with Lil Wayne, Sean Paul and Lil Jon. She was not scantily dressed. That’s not where her head is. She’s not trying to walk around in a bikini. And we all know that I have. She says, “You’re the sex symbol Mommy. That’s what you do.” And I said, “You know what, you’re absolutely right. You have to build your own brand.” There’s a lot of things now that I wasn’t even doing back in the day. Like you saw last season when I did Today’s Black Men I was totally pissed off when they put that butt shot on there. I was like how are you going to do that to me? You just returned me back to my video vixen days and I’ve been there, done that. I’ve graduated from that. There’s growth there. Why don’t you show the evolving of a video vixen? There’s things I can tell her… I’ve made mistakes that she can watch out for. And that’s life. Shit happens.

XXL: A lot of people might remember you being in Luda’s video for “Number One Spot” but Ice Cube actually first saw you in a Tupac video right?

Lisa Raye: I was in his very last video, the night before he got shot in Las Vegas. I remember doing the video, I wasn’t supposed to do the part with him. I was just one of four women that were supposed to be in the video and he didn’t like the leading lady for his part and he saw me at the craft services and he said, “I want somebody fine like… like… her,” you know and he points to me. I had seen him around, but never had walked up to him before and that actually caused me to be in the video for a little longer than my part originally was and it became a world debut because he was shot the day after. The video was with Danny Boy and Aaron Hall “Toss It Up.” And Suge Knight was there so I didn’t know what to expect because you know you hear all the rumors, from the drama and stuff… but they were so professional, and it was so much fun. We developed a relationship there that actually took me to Vegas the next day for the fight.

XXL: Most people first took notice of you when you did Ice Cube’s film Players Club, do you still speak with him and do you have any plans to work together again?

Lisa Raye: Cube knows how to pick ‘em. He started a lot of people’s careers... Michael Clarke Duncan, Jamie Foxx, Alex Thomas, Bernie Mack, me. A lotta folks came out of that movie as a star. Absolutely when and if Ice Cube ever needs me I am forever in debt to our friendship because he started me out and without him I would have never been seen. I haven’t spoken to him in probably about a year. He interviewed me when he was co-hosting one my hometown stations in Chicago and we had a chance to get current on each other’s lives, but I haven’t talked to him since then.

XXL: Do you have a favorite hip-hop album?

Lisa Raye: When I was filming Players Club I kept Lil Kim’s CD in my CD player. Her song [starts rapping] Yeah… What what! Ya got it going on …What what! I used to be scared of the _____ now I throw lips to the ____ ! That was my song. That was my ‘get it started.’ I like what Queen Latifah has done, she has really put it on the map. From [sings] Ladies night, ladies night – to Oscar nominee to producer to jazz singer. She really just evolved. Easy breezy cover girl, she’s doing it.

XXL: You have a nice voice Lisa Raye, nobody has ever tried talking you into a booth?

Lisa Raye: You know what’s so funny I did that one rap song with Benzino called “If I Could” and Jamie Foxx came and did the video for me. After that, I kind of just did that because I could, but I haven’t touched it since then. Who knows though, I’m feeling so great about me and so good, so ain’t no telling. I ain’t turning nothing down but my collar.

Season 2 of Lisa Raye: The Real McCoy premieres Thursday April 7th. The film Single Ladies premieres on May 30th and the series debut follows a week later, June 6th.

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