Muni Long isn’t here for anyone’s approval. For years, she worked behind the scenes in the entertainment business, penning hits for some of the biggest names in the business. Despite her undeniable talent, Long often found herself sidelined, with her artistic voice stifled by an industry that wasn’t ready to hear what she had to say. But in 2022, everything changed. Her single “Hrs & Hrs” from the Public Displays of Affection album catapulted her to mainstream success, revealing to the world what she had always known—that she was destined for greatness.
Now, with her latest album Revenge, Long—born Priscilla Renea Hamilton—is embracing her newfound individualism and revamped creative process. Reflecting on her growth since her breakout, the Florida-born singer shares, “I think I’m just more free. I think I understand who I am in relation to the world. You grow up learning all these boundaries and what you can and can’t do and just how to be. And I think I’ve shed all of that, like having so much success independently with, I don’t want to say no help, but the industry that I was a part of for over a decade did not give a shit that I had things to say as an artist.”
“So, I essentially had no friends,” she continues. “I couldn’t call the people that I had made money with or had hits with because all they were going to do was take the songs and try to pitch them to other people—they didn’t care about my dreams.” These experiences molded Long into an artist without limitations, and a “go get it” attitude towards her craft that stands second to none.
This unfiltered approach to her art is evident throughout the project, delving into her personal life with a raw honesty that she has never before revealed. From navigating the complexities of her relationships to asserting her independence as an artist and a mother, Muni channels her experiences into music that is as powerful as it is personal. With Revenge, Long is not seeking acceptance or accolades. Instead, she’s focused on creating music that resonates with her truth, reminding us all that success is the best form of revenge.
ESSENCE: In what ways do you think you’ve grown as an artist in the time since the release of your last album?
Muni Long: Seeing how on my own I was in this industry, especially early on. So, that taught me that you actually don’t need anybody to validate your desires or the vision that you have for yourself. So it just empowered me. It was tough. And there were times when I was just like, “damn that’s kind of f*****d up. I helped you all make all this money and you all can’t even help me on a song? That’s crazy.” But now I’m so fearless and I can do so much with such limited resources; although we want to grow from that and we don’t want to continue to struggle if we don’t have to.
But yeah, it just made me stronger. I really don’t care about people’s opinions because I know that it does not contribute to my success. I don’t care about the negativity. I don’t care about people feeling like, well, you should do this and you should do that, because guess what? At the end of the day, I’m listening to my gut, I’m listening to my heart, I’m listening to the guidance that God has given me because that’s what got me here and you guys didn’t. So I would say that’s the growth thing. It’s not coming from a bitter or angry place at all. It’s just like, wow, I appreciate that I had to do it that way because now I have literally no boundaries.
You’ve been in the music industry for quite some time, but your previous release catapulted you into the mainstream spotlight. With Public Displays of Affection: The Album being so acclaimed, was it any additional pressure when you were putting together this album from a creative standpoint?
There’s never any pressure for me. I think one thing about how I’ve grown as an individual outside of music is that the more successful I become, the less judgmental I am because I understand this shit is tough. It’s not easy to chase your dreams. And then once you get here, there’s all this expectation, outside expectation and really I’m just trying to live my best life. I’m just trying to allow music to take me to all the places that I’ve ever wanted to go. I’m checking things off my bucket list.
There’s so many things that I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl that music is allowing me to do, and that’s all I’m trying to do. I’m not trying to be better than anyone. I do want to be the best that I can be, like the best version of myself and just do things that I’ve never done before, which is a lot of things. So I’m just focused on that. I’m focused on making music that can take me around the world and introduce me to people and put me in rooms with people that I grew up watching on TV. That’s it. Pressure for what?
Why did you land on Revenge for the new album title?
I think people misunderstand me. I am public and forward facing but you’ll only see what I want you to see. I’m super private and I have a lot of things going on in my personal life that are very messy. I feel like that’s just the human experience, right? It’s just learning how to deal with life as it comes at you and how you solve problems and how you are in your relationships. So I have a lot of things going on personally; I’m a mom—I just revealed that on the tour—I have a two-year-old.
So, rather than be mad at all of the things that I could be mad at right now, I just decided to put it into the music and talk about how I feel internally, which you’ll hear in the songs. And the best revenge is success. So for all the people who keep trying to steal my focus, or derail me. Sometimes it can be your own family. You know what I’m saying? The person that you sleep next to every day, that’s really your biggest hater. So that’s where I’m at, is just being honest without saying too much because I do have a child.
Of course.
There’s a baby involved. I don’t want to say anything bad about his father, but it’s real. It’s like, it’s what I’m going through right now, and this is the first time that I’ve actually done this. A lot of times when I’m writing my music, I’m imagining these scenarios, but on this project, it’s actually real. This is my real life. I’m actually writing about what I’m going through. And again, rather than being bitter and rather than saying “fuck my baby dad, I hate this motherfucker.” I’m just like, “I’m going to just keep being successful.” That’s it. I’m going to just focus on my music. I’m going to put it into songs. I’m going to perform. I’m going to let this music take me around the world. And anybody who cannot appreciate that or get in line with that, you got to go.
You said something really interesting. You spoke about how this is the first time you put your real life in the music—why do that this time around?
I’m very detached, right? So I think that’s part of me being so private, is if I am going something you won’t know unless I want you to. And so I never allowed myself to put my real emotions into the music. For example, “California King Bed” What would it feel like to be about to make love in a bed? How would I be? What would I say? But it wasn’t attached to any real experience. It wasn’t attached to my personal feelings. It was really literally just me visualizing like a movie. And I would do that with all the music that I’ve ever written before this album.
I think there were maybe two songs on the last album that were real moments, and I was very uncomfortable doing that. I still can’t listen to those songs without tearing up. But this project was cathartic. I can vent about what I’m going through on this project, and once I put it on wax, that’s it. I could let it go. So yeah, this is the first time that I’ve actually put my real feelings and my real experiences into a form that people can listen to.
In using this album as a means of catharsis, in what ways do you feel it helped you, if at all?
I think I just realized that I needed it. I had partners in the past that really did not want me writing songs about them. They used to argue with me about it or you wrote this song about me. I’m like, “N***a I wasn’t thinking about you. What are you talking about? Oh my God, relax.” So I think I just developed this stigma or this unconscious fear of, “I don’t want anybody ever thinking I’m writing about them, so I’m just not going to do it.” I’m just going to detach myself. I’m never going to talk about how I actually feel until this album. I’m just like, “man, I’m grown as hell. I think having my son really helped me get rid of a lot of stuff because it just made me realize we’re each our own individual human beings.”
I don’t put boundaries even on a human that I created—he’s his own person. I can’t imagine telling him not to express himself. Because I don’t parent like that, I won’t allow myself to be restricted by any other human. It doesn’t matter who it is. I’m 35, and I journal, I have my diary, I go to therapy, all that stuff. But music is really where I can let it all out with sounds and drums, and you can really paint a picture and create a feeling with sound.
I don’t think it’s fair that I should have to be restricted because the person to my left doesn’t want anyone to know how they treated me. If you want the story about you to be good, maybe you should have treated me better, and that’s just kind of how I feel about it.
There’s a song on the album called “Made For Me” that Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox helped produce. How did you initially connect with those gentlemen?
I’ve been floating around and known them for a very long time. I’d been trying to work with JD for years and it never happened. Then, my A&R Naim asked me if I want to work with them. And I was like, “yeah.” So we brought them to LA, got in the studio. Johnta Austin was actually there too. We wrote several songs that night, but none of it was really resonating with me because I just know what I will and won’t say. We wrote songs that weren’t in alignment with who I am as a person, even though it may have been a cool song.
But I did have this one song that is just pianos and vocals and it doesn’t have any drums or final production, and I played it for them. They listened to it. They were very polite. And when I left the studio, I was like, “Well, damn maybe they’re not f*****g with it.” They ended up working on it when I was gone. Two weeks later, I got a version and I sent it to my team. I asked them, “Is this good? Do we like this?” Because I had been listening to “Made For Me” for so long, and I performed it at ESSENCE Fest, and at Summer Fast in Baltimore. I performed it three or four times and it was just piano. So you get used to it like that. So when [Jermaine and Bryan-Michael] put the drums and stuff on there, I didn’t know, I wasn’t sure. And then finally somebody from my team was like, “Yo, this shit hard. We need to put this out.” And the rest is history.
How are you feeling about the release of Revenge?
I’m super excited for people to hear. There’s a lot of sounds that I’ve never explored before on this project. I got a little rap verse on there. I’m excited for this injection of R&B into the mainstream again. I think that there’s something for everybody on the project. I think I only have one feature—and I don’t feel like I make songs that require features like that. It’s a song called “Leave My Baby” featuring GloRilla. I love her. She’s so funny and fun.
I’m ready for people to hear what I’m talking about, and for people to just start the conversation around R&B being healthy. We’re talking about love, we’re talking about relationships. We are not talking about pulling up and robbing anybody. I feel like R&B took a turn for a minute. It was like rap. So yeah, I’m excited to bring that conversation back and for artists to be inspired and start actually writing to chord progressions and maybe we’ll get bridges again. Also, I have a couple songs where there’s a genuine bridge with chord changes. I’m excited to hear how it affects people. Not necessarily whether they like it or not because I don’t really care if they like it, but I do want to see how it affects people and how they use it in their everyday life.