Smitty: I think so too.
KF: And wanting to keep it fresh so I’m excited that you grasped that. Thank you.
Smitty: Oh, you’re so welcome. It’s fantastic! In fact, I remember telling him, I said “You know, Najee, I don’t get to say this often, but I love every song on the project, all of ‘em.”
KF: That’s great.
Smitty: You know how sometimes you listen to a record and you pick out four or five and say “Okay, these I love.”
KF: Right.
Smitty: But this one, it’s like you can just hit random and let it play.
KF: Absolutely, absolutely. We’re all really excited about this new one.
Smitty: Yeah and, once again, the artistic work of the liner notes and all of that, it so well complements—I told him that. I said it just so well complements what’s inside.
KF: Good. That’s what we wanted.
Smitty: So when you’re doing things like film or movies or documentaries, or anything in the media like videos or that kind of thing, how important is it to you to have the right music, be it jazz or whatever, to really round out that project?
KF: Oh, it’s very important. Music is such an integral part of any project, especially if you’re talking about things like movies and television projects, because it hopefully enhance, not take away from, and certainly not distract from, but that it is able to enhance what it is you are trying to convey to the audience without manipulating the audience with the music. So I think it’s very important, which is why when I’m doing projects I find it important to bring on whomever is composing the project early on. I have a piece that I asked George Duke actually to be a part of for that very reason. Of course, Najee and I wanted to work together on certain film projects. So it’s very important.
Smitty: Yeah, absolutely, and I like what you said; that it doesn’t take away from it, or that it doesn’t distract from the project.
KF: Well, those are the goals. Now, not everybody is successful with that, so sometimes you do have a project where the music is taking away from what’s going on, or the music is trying to manipulate and make you feel a certain way.
Smitty: Oh yeah.
KF: Or the use of the music, when it comes in, how it comes in, the instruments that are used. I mean, there are so many different things that come into play when you’re considering all of that, but it is definitely a major part of storytelling.
Smitty: Oh, absolutely, you’re good. Can you talk about your book, tell me the title.
KF: “When Bad Women Happen to Good Men.”
Smitty: Very captivating title. (Both laugh.)
KF: Thank you.
Smitty: So is the book out now or when’s it coming out?
KF: It is out now. I did a limited edition that’s available currently on my Web site, which is Kimfieldsentertainment.com.
Smitty: All right, very cool.
KF: Thank you. So the book is available and where it even came from was I have a lot of male friends and people who are just genuinely good people, good guys.
Smitty: Yeah, we are.
KF: Not that anybody is perfect.
Smitty: Right.
KF: But guys who, you know, they’re not out to dog anybody, they’re not out to choke anybody, they’re not out to degrade a woman, but be a good friend, be a good lover, be a good provider, just things that just cover the basics, which after a while this could be kind of a lost art, you know what I mean?
Smitty: Indeed I do.
KF: And so I was getting really frustrated with hearing these horror stories that these men were encountering from women, and I got so tired, honestly, of women being able to have their say either in songs and movies and books and articles and plays about how they’ve been wronged and how they’ve been dogged, and don’t act like you haven’t done anything to provoke somebody.
Smitty: Thank you, girl! (Both laugh.)
KF: And my definition of a bad woman, so to speak, are those, it’s an extreme, the women who are the gold diggers, women who from out the gate they’ve got malice in their heart, women who use children as if they’re pieces in a chess game in a divorce, women who will out and out lie and steal, and it makes it difficult for good women.
Smitty: I’ve got to read this book!
KF: Because if a man is burned so much, it’s hard. I mean, it’s hard for anybody to get up after they’ve been knocked down.
Smitty: Absolutely, yeah. Well, I can’t wait to read the book.
KF: Oh, thank you. It’s a collection of short stories. It has some humor in it, it has some sadness to it, and it has some edge to it. One of the stories is not even a male/female interpersonal relationship—traditional it’s a personal relationship, but a mother and son—so there’s different ways that women can affect the man or a man.
Smitty: Right. I like it, yeah.
KF: Thank you, thank you. It was bittersweet writing it because even though I had a good time writing it and just getting so much off my chest, it was still painful because there are so many people—there are so many men who’ve experienced certain things that are in the book. None of it is based on any one person. I might hear of a horror story here and there and then my mind, just starts playing the “What if?” game. After all, it is fiction, not a self-help by any means. I hope people find it creative, humorous and real all at the same time.
Smitty: Right.
KF: So hopefully some man somewhere may read it and start to feel a little bit closer to the healing process if necessary. Some woman might recognize herself and maybe want to take a step towards change and healing herself from being that kind of person.
Smitty: Oh yeah, I love it. And by the way, I love your Web site.
KF: Oh, thank you.
Smitty: Yeah, very colorful.
KF: Thank you very much. It’s a place that I hope that people will visit again and again. The reason why I call it Kim Fields Entertainment is because I will eventually be streaming video on it and wanting to basically create almost like an online network, an entertainment network.
Smitty: Oh, cool.
KF: Where basically people can come and see inspirational projects, they can see concerts, they can see original comedies, dramas, short films. A lot of times very, very talented people and wonderful projects just don’t get the outlets.
