Philly rapper and actor Bre-Z visited The Breakfast Club this morning (May 10) and delivered a gang of laughs and a tough 16 with a freestyle. She talked to the hosts about her come up (she was a barber for Akon and Chris Brown, before landing in the studio with J.Lo and Dr. Dre, among others), being mentored by Philly and moving from the small screen to the big screen. Check out some highlights below and then watch the full interview.

On Her Professional Beginnings

Before Empire I was a regular working person like everyone else. I was a barber, cutting hair. I’ve been cutting hair since I was 10-years-old. I never did nothing else. It was always good. Even with the song placements, that wasn’t something I was chasing. it was being in the right room, at the right time, with the right bars. I kept my rapping to myself, I wasn’t the here’s my mixtape, hear me out. My relationship with ‘Kon and Chris, those are my bothers. It wasn’t, ‘Get me in the studio.’ It was tough for me to leave the barbershop, because I loved what I do.

On Coming Up In Philly

He was a friend of my mom. And this was at the time when State Property was getting their buzz, Philly was on fire. So, for me, to be around somebody like him that’s like somebody from New York sitting with Hov. In our city that was lit. I used to sit around and watch. He put me in the studio and was like, If this is what you wanna do then let’s see what you wanna do.

On What’s Next In Her Career

I plan on continuing, God willing, with Empire, since I finished filming I did a comedy movie, myself, Vivica Fox and a few other people. We did a movie called “Fat Camp.” Doing this New Edition biopic. There’s a lot of people in it. I’m playing Ricky’s sister. Just continue to season myself and get acclimated with the territory cause I like it.