Deb Antney is bringing her unfiltered wisdom to Deb’s House season 2 and telling BOSSIP why this bigger, bolder season is bound to bring back real R&B.
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Following its 2023 debut, which earned Antney a Telly Award, Deb’s House returned Friday, August 22, on WE tv with higher stakes and a sharper focus: finding R&B’s next breakout voice. Throughout the season, 10 aspiring vocalists, handpicked by Antney, will move into a luxury house, where they’ll live, train, and compete under her intense, experienced guidance. The women will take on weekly challenges, vocal boot camps, and live performances testing their stamina, style, and star quality, with guidance from rapper Waka Flocka Flame, soulful songstress Keke Wyatt, and SWV’s Leanne “LeLee” Lyons.
Antney said that when it came to scouting, she wanted to do things differently, so she took to social media after being flooded with DMs from aspiring artists.
“ I needed to go and meet you at the playing fields, period,” she told BOSSIP. “What better way [to do it] than to meet people than where they are? This is where everybody’s at.”
And when it comes to championing an artist, her focus, she said, is on substance, not superficial markers.
“We wasn’t looking for beauty. We wasn’t looking for size. We wasn’t looking for your sexual prowess,” she said. “We was looking for pure talent.”
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That emphasis reflects Antney’s frustration with the image-driven culture of today’s music industry.
“We as women carry tons and tons of baggage. I’m included,” she said to BOSSIP. “So when you turn your screen on, I want you to be able to see you. This is real women. This isn’t about the talent. It ain’t got nothing to do with it. I want your talent and that’s what I want to bring back.”
Part of what sets Deb’s House apart is its mentorship component. Antney draws on both her own experience and that of her co-judges. “When I tell you I love Leelee [Lyons], she’s so real,” said Antney.
She also called Keke Wyatt’s nurturing energy essential for the women in the house:
“Some of them needed that love. Sometimes the love ain’t always good, but it’s that tough love. That real mother love.”
Source: ANDREI JACKAMETS / ALLBLK
Antney sees her role as preparing contestants for the less glamorous realities of stardom.
“All the people start coming… demanding your time… and then one day, guess what happens? [The artist] just explodes and she breaks down,” she explained. “Now she’s either drinking, or she’s going to drugs, or she’s going for pleasurable things. Because although you accident, you really wasn’t ready for it.”
That grounding is what she calls “artist development,” a cornerstone of her career.
“It’s also important to me for me to have these women find, who are you? What is my sound for real?” she told BOSSIP. “The growth — you got the cheat code and [you] got to get in here and grow.”
For Antney, the series isn’t solely about music, but about discipline and self-respect, and she hopes people grasp the show’s broader mission, while enjoying the entertainment. “Women will definitely jeopardize their career for a man. But he ain’t going to jeopardize his career for you,” she noted.
