In the latest episode of ESSENCE’s Yes, Girl! podcast, hosts Cori Murray and Charli Penn talk to Whitney Houston’s confidante Robyn Crawford—who reveals a side of the iconic singer that only ESSENCE can share.

While at the height of a whirlwind tour promoting her book, A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston, Crawford shares her own truth with the Yes, Girl! team on life with Houston—weighing in on everything from their bond, the first time they met, their friendship after Houston’s ex-husband Bobby Brown came on the scene and more. She shares with ESSENCE’s Yes, Girl! (time codes included):

• ON WHAT WHITNEY WOULD WANT [12:09-12:35]: “…I asked myself that question, what would Whitney want? What would Whitney want? So my intent is to raise my friend’s legacy, honor our friendship because that’s what she deserves. That’s how I feel…”

• ON BEING YOUNG, FEARLESS AND FREE WITH WHITNEY [15:06-15:36]: “…We were young, fearless, and ready, and I was a believer. It was happening. Everything she said was happening. She didn’t talk like, ‘I’m going to have a hit record and we’re going to…’ It was none of that. It was like, ‘I’m a singer. I sing. I’m going to get a recording contract, and stick with me and I’ll take you all around the world.’ And that’s exactly what happened…” 

• ON THE FIRST TIME THEY MET [17:20-17:50]: “…It all happened at that first meeting when I walked in and we met that day. It just clicked, something happened, and it was just a friendship that developed and it kept growing and growing. And it was deep because we were open, we were bare, we were naked. And when I mean naked, with our feelings and we didn’t think about what we were saying, we just said it…”

• ON ROBYN’S BOND WITH WHITNEY [26:52 – 27:46]: “It was the bond, and the deepness, and the connection that we had. And it was beautiful. Those moments…I know I am very free when I express it in the book. And that’s because that’s what that moment felt like. Whitney used to always say, if you want a friend, you have to be one. If you love me, love me unconditionally. And that was something else for me to strive for, understanding what the word unconditional meant. And the love that I had for her was really deep. And that love she had for me was the same…”

• ON HER FRIENDSHIP WITH WHITNEY AFTER SHE MARRIED BOBBY [35:42 – 38:04]: “…I did not know Bobby before the wedding. We never really got a chance to know each other. And, when they became a couple, I still really didn’t get to spend any quality time with both of them. But, while I will say about Bobby is she told me she loved him. And his behavior and the way I saw him treat her… let’s just say this about Bobby, Bobby’s behaviors played out in the press. And he and I were not squaring off in Everlast shorts and boxing gloves. That never happened. I was still in the same spot that Whitney always wanted me to be. Bobby never approached me personally and said anything to me about the rumors of our relationship. Not once. But I watched him make a mess of her trail. Bobby was funny. He had a way of shifting the attention to him anywhere, any place, at any time. That was Bobby’s talent….But I wasn’t competing for anything. I had her friendship. I was her friend. And he could have been a better friend too…”

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