Husband and Wife /// Fat Man Scoop and Shanda
- Jamila Manning

J.M: What made you do the show?

Shanda and Scoop: We wanted to have a show that helped people open up about intimacy and relationships. Who better to give advice on relationships than a couple that is married and been through those similar experiences.

J.M: What is the foundation of a good relationship?

Scoop: The foundation of a relationship is that both people bring 50/50 to the relationship. Whether one person's half is the financial part and the other half is to take care of the home and kids, everyone has to do their best part and bring something to the table to make it work.

Shanda: For me what's key is good communication. I need someone who is willing to talk things out and tell me about how they feel and if they are upset about something. I am a cheerleader in a relationship. People will talk about their relationship to their friend, co-worker, everyone else except their partner.

J.M: Did you ever think you were going to find love again?

Shanda: I never felt that. I married young and had doubts on the wedding day. My husband was well off. He built me a house with a white picket fence but it ultimately didn't work out . I took a lot of positive things out of that because I learned a lot from it. (Not take any shit from me, she knows what she wants- Scoop interjects).

Scoop: My situation was different. I was in something where the relationship deteriorated. I had to move on. But you never know when something is going to happen. I was always against meeting my wife at a club, and where did I meet her, at a club. Shanda doesn't listen to Hip-Hop; she went to the club thinking it was a Jazz club. But that night the promoter changed it to Hip-Hop and I was there and that's how we met. You never know when you will meet someone. It's when you're not looking that it happens.

J.M: How do you keep your sex life new and spicy?

Shanda and Scoop: We keep things spicy because we experiment and aren't afraid to try different things. We will do anything up onto bringing in a 3rd party. We make love outside, in the car and do things, crazy things to keep it exciting. Some couples are so into working and children that they forget about each other.  The kids are one aspect. I still need to be in lust and in love in my partner.

J.M: What are both the most thoughtful and annoying thing your partner does?

Shanda: The most thoughtful thing he does is takes care of my family. We have a blended family, I have an older daughter who isn't biologically his and he is putting her through college and bought her a car. He treats her like his own.  We love each others children. And in interviews we choose to say step children because we want people to know we have a blended family and that blended families work.

The most annoying thing he does is breaks wind in bed everyday, (A real man passes gas in his sleep Scoop proclaims)

Scoop:  The most thoughtful thing I love or that I appreciate is that she is very supportive. And the most annoying thing is getting blamed for things I don't do, like looking at girls butts. Look we have normal problems and have normal fights, but at the end of the day I love my wife.

J.M: What are your future career goals?

Scoop: I want to do TV, movies, and do more records.

Shanda: In the future I am looking to start a clothing line (something upscale and classy), I also want to have a bedding and linen line, and my own talk show. I think big.

J.M: Shanda, you had a child at a very young age but yet you managed to still follow a career and become successful. Any advice for young mothers?

Carry yourself with dignity and respect that is how people judge you. If you have a child it's not the end all and be all, you have to stay focus. It actually was easier because I was a single mom, the government paid for me to go to school. It is going to be struggle but you got to find a way to get around it. My mother used to say, “One monkey don't stop no show". I am an example of someone who had a child young and who had an abusive first marriage but came through it. You may take a little longer to reach your goal and may not go the route you envisioned but if you stay focused you can achieve anything.

Take The Empressmag.com Survey. We Would Love To Know What You Think!!

Click Here