BOSSIP Exclusive: Jim Jones & Chrissy Lampkin Talk Marriage, “Old” Harlem & New Foray Into Reality TV

BOSSIP: Why’d you want to do the show?

Chrissy: “I think it gave us an opportunity to do TV in a different way. Coming from VH1 and that whole history, getting with We TV was an opportunity for us to do things that would ring true to who we are. Not that we didn’t have that experience before, but there was just so much chaos around us that you didn’t really get to know us for real….There’s still madness, there’s still arguments, but there’s the other side too.”

Jim Jones: It’s a good show, it’s reality TV, so it has a stigma already…but for the most part what we bring to the table has always been different and significant in its own way. We always kind of set our own precedent when it comes to letting people see what real life is as opposed to what reality TV is.”

BOSSIP: What are your memories of growing up in Harlem in the 80s?

Chrissy: “I don’t even know if that’s legal to talk about! (Laughs). Things were done a lot different then… I’m glad I grew up in the era I grew up in because I have different morals and values. I’m not saying that I was a trust fund baby, or that I was a hustler on the corner, but the streets of Harlem gave me an education that you can’t pay for. It taught me that survival tactic and you cant find that today, and I think it’s going to be lost with my generation.”

Jim Jones: “There’s a lot of things I miss in Harlem. They got all this gentrification going on…There was a time where things like Harlem Week, where 125th Street was at a standstill, and you could see every car you wished to have in your dreams up and down the block. All the females, all the ladies from Harlem would be out. All the hustlers. You had things like Rucker Park in the summertime, that was very famous. Just being outside in the summertime, nobody wanted to be up in the house. Everybody knew each other in Harlem one way or another. It was just like that. For me coming up at that age, the excitement of coming outside everyday, seeing if you could make a dollar, seeing which girl you could scoop. It’s not like that anymore. I’m glad I got to live some of those days.”

This interview had been edited for space and clarity.