Mara Brock Akil recently shared that Angie Stone wrote the iconic theme to “Girlfriends” in 15 minutes.
At the “Mara Brock Akil: Forever Our Girlfriend” event, she spoke about the creation of the song.
“I have a fun story about that,” told PEOPLE. “My dear friend, KC Saney — you know, you call on your resources when you’re trying to do it big and the budget is tight. I called in a favor and was like, ‘KC, do you know anybody that could really give some special sauce to a theme song? I just need something that call to arms, and everybody comes and shows up at the time.’ “
“He was like, ‘Mara, you want me to call Angie?’ I was like, ‘Bruh. Yes! Call Angie,” she continues. “And, literally, Angie Stone came and she did that song in about 15 to 20 minutes. Technically, she was in the building for about 30 minutes because she had to get to the airport.”
Akil said that the late singer immediately captured the essence of the show.
“I gave a direction [and] a sense of the energy that I wanted to the producer, Camara Kambon, because I had already been in conversation with him,” she explains. “He then said a few words to Angie and to watch her — a professional — work [was amazing]. We were done in 15 minutes.”
Akil also recalled that Stone needed to catch a flight immediately after the session. She and Salim Akil, her husband, led her by ” police escort style — in the right direction.”
“My husband, Salim, was with me at the time, and she’s like, ‘I don’t know which way to go to the airport,’” Brock recalls. “And, we led her to the freeway because there was no GPS [at the time].”
“I found out a couple of days later that she made the flight because there was also no texting.”
Akil also spoke about the possibility of a Girlfriends reboot.
“I’m a believer … so if God wants us to do it,” Akil said. It will be done, and it will be done in the right conditions. And probably better than I’m even imagining because God always delivers better.”