-Back to a talk-show audience chair situation.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Yeah! Exactly right!
It feels good, doesn't it? -Oh, it feels amazing.
The energy of humans. -Feel the energy, exactly right!
-Oh, it's so good! -We've missed it.
-Hello! Look! Look at that!
Look at that! -Yeah, we're real.
We're not Zooming! We're not Zooming! Yeah.
I have to talk to you about this, your song.
But, yeah, I mean -- [ Cheers and applause ]
-Hi, guys!
-First, I want to get to, the eighth and final season
of "Black-ish" is airing now.
By the way, what a season. [ Cheers and applause ]
-It's coming along well. -What a season already.
-What a season, Jimmy! -What a season!
What a season! -Way to take it out!
-What a season this one, whoa. -Hey!
-Now, recently we had Anthony Anderson on the show.
We love -- -Oh, I know him.
-Yes, you know him, yeah. -I know him.
-Of course you know him, yeah. And I was saying --
-Nice fella. -A nice dude.
I go, "Are you gonna get emotional when you say goodbye?"
And he's like, "Oh, maybe a little, not really."
I don't know if he will. Did he get emotional?
Did you get emotional? -I was a mess.
-Yeah, of course! -So, well, it was amazing.
Knowing that you're walking into the end is, like,
a really beautiful thing, so I felt very open-hearted.
The whole last season, I was aware.
Like, "Okay. I'm gonna take this in.
I love this. This is hard, but I love it."
And then, the last week, I gave myself permission
to just, you know, let it fly.
-Wow. -And I cried a lot,
to the point that Anthony, at some points, was like,
"Seriously? You're doing this again?"
[ Laughter ] I was like, "Yes, Anthony.
It's the end, and I'm sad." And then the last scene we shot
was a scene between just Anthony and I.
I can't say what was happening,
and I could not get through rehearsal.
You know when you have that cry that, like,
you feel like your neck's gonna explode?
Like, I was like -- [ Sobbing ]
[ Laughter ]
I was like, "Just do it! Just -- Just do it!
Just block it out, and I'll deliver the scene!"
I was a mess. -A mess.
-A mess. -I mean, it's such a great show.
-I mean, eight years, and, you know, you spend, like,
so much time with everybody. -It's your family.
-It's your family. I mean, I spent more time
pretending I was married to Anthony than not.
-Yeah. Isn't that funny? -You know what I mean?
And you're with them 5:00 in the morning till late at night,
and, you know... -And working on the script,
and Kenya Barris, who we love, and --
-Yeah, and the kids. We watched them grow up.
I fell like there were two things that helped me
remember that the time was passing --
the kids growing and Anthony's facial hair.
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, yeah, yeah, those things changed.
-Because by the end, he was like ZZ Top.
[ Laughter ] He was like...
-He did have a good giant beard. -He's like, "Hello.
My name is Dre Johnson." [ Laughter ]
-But we were talking about the cameos that you had.
No big deal. Michelle Obama.
-Who? [ Cheers and applause ]
-Hello! Michelle Obama.
-Ms. Former First Lady. Forever First Lady!
-Yes. But here's the thing that Anthony said.
He said that you got her to come on
'cause you texted her. -I did.
-Wait. But did you actually text her?
-Yeah, we're friends. [ Cheers ]
Shh. "Don't tell nobody."
-"Don't tell anyone that we're friends."
-"Nobody, but I friends with the lady."
-How did you guys become friends?
-Well, I was an early campaigner
in 2007 when he was just a senator.
And I always say I campaigned for the Obamas,
but it was for Barack Obama, who was,
you know, becoming president. -Right.
-And then, I became a part of their mentor program,
so I worked with both of them and went to the White House
a couple of times, and then, you know, I --
I don't know. I guess they liked me.
-Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
-I don't know. And they were like,
"Yes, Michelle Obama wants to be friends."
I was like, "Has she been vetted?
I don't know who that is." [ Laughter ]
"I don't remember her." -Do you call her First Lady?
Do you call her Michelle? -I was raised in the generation
where your teachers and your friends' parents
are mister and missus. -Of course.
-So in public, she is Mrs. Obama,
she's former First Lady, there's no question.
I was calling her that also as my friend, and she was like,
"Seriously, this has to stop." And I was like,
"Okay, Mrs. Obama." [ Laughter ]
And I curtsied as I did it.
And then she was like, "This has got to stop."
I was like, "Yes, Mrs. Obama." [ Laughter ]
And we were doing a conversation for the United States of Women,
and in front of the audience, she was like,
"Seriously, you have to call me Michelle."
And so, by the end of the interview, I was like,
"Michelle," and the entire audience was like, "Finally!"
-"Finally, you did it!
Finally, you called her Michelle!"
-Out of respect, my goodness. -She's the coolest.
-Oh, beyond. Beyond. -The greatest.
-Yeah. You know we have things in common, Jimmy?
-Yeah, you do, yeah. -Yeah.
-Well, you really are an entrepreneur, by the way.
-Oh, yes, yes, yes, and a CEO. -CEO, but --
[ Cheers and applause ] You're not fooling around.
The real deal! -Oh, yeah.
-Congratulations. -Thank you very much.
-We talked about this on the show, to just get
something launched, by the way, it takes years
before you even get to launch it.
-It took 10 years for me to get the company off the ground.
-Yeah. See? No one knows that.
-10 years of a lot of nos and a lot of --
But I really believe in what we're doing at Pattern,
which is exceeding the needs of the curly, coily,
and tight-textured community. [ Cheers and applause ]
And we are a company that is centered around
the celebration of Black beauty. And that is an area
that needed help and support, not because we do
but because the industry did. -Yeah.
-And so it has taken off, and it's beautiful,
and it's wonderful. -Successful two years.
-PatternBeauty.com. You gotta get your products.
-Yeah! You gotta get your products!
-Yeah. And then this. -But then -- No, but then --
So just to have that as successful, that's fantastic.
-Mm-hmm. -Pattern Beauty,
and it's awesome, what you're doing.
But then you go, "I'm gonna release a song."
-Yes, yes. That's right, because why not?
[ Laughter ]
So we are in Sephora Ulta in Target.
So, you continue expanding in the brand, and you think,
"What are other ways that we can continue getting
the information out there?"
And I believe that hair care is self-care.
And so the song is about the ritual of hair care
as self-care and that authentic legacy that we come from that --
where you sit down between the legs of your mother
and you get your hair done. So...
♪ Sit down between the legs of your mother ♪
♪ Your sister, your auntie ♪
♪ Remember the scent of grease, oil sliding down your scalp ♪
[ Cheers and applause ] Oh, no, no, no, no!
-Yes! Yes! -No, no, no, no, no!
-Yes! -[ Laughs ]
Oh, it's makes me nervous and sweaty.
-No. [ Laughter ]
-Singing, singing. -You're a great singer.
-Singing makes me nervous and sweaty.
-Sing-ging. -Sing-ging.
-But you're a great singer. But you must be nervous.
-I come from a legacy of quite a powerhouse singer lady.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah, I've heard of --
-Have you heard of her? -I've heard of your mom, yeah.
She's pretty much -- -Just a little global treasure.
-Oh, yeah. [ Laughter ]
"No big deal. My mom's Diana Ross."
-Whatever! [ Cheers ]
-"Would you like to sing something?"
"Yeah, no, I'm good." -I'm good.
-"Mom, yeah, she's got it." -"Go ahead, Mom."
-Do you remember, at one of your mother's concerts,
she put you on the spot to sing something?
-As a child? -As a child.
-Yeah. -And you did not want to sing.
-I said, "No, ma'am." -No.
And do you remember this at all? -I actually really do
because my sister, Rhonda, sang no problem.
-Yes. -Yeah. I mean --
And my grandma was there, who's no longer alive, yeah.
-We actually -- We have the clip.
'Cause I just wanted to show you being you.
Watch this. You're gonna freak.
-Oh, you guys are gonna die. -Hey!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Chudney, Rhonda and Tracee.
Hey.
Who wants to sing first?
-♪ Make this world a better place ♪
♪ If you can ♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-[ Laughs ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Giant glasses.
I was just like, "No, no, no, no, no."
-How cute, come on. -I was so shy.
-Yeah. -I was so shy,
and then I finally sang at a talent show in high school,
and I started too high, and I -- my voice cracked.
-Yeah. -And the entire school was like,
"Tracee! Tracee!" And my friend had to
come onstage and hug me, and then I tried again,
and then I took a break for 35 years.
[ Laughter and applause ]
-Since you're a singer now, I want to play
a fun singing game with you when we come back.
Tracee Ellis Ross, everybody.
"Legacy" is available now on all streaming platforms!