| THE VOICE JUNE 14-20, 2012 27 | THE VOICE THE VOICE THE VOICE JUNE 14-20, 2012 27

Poster: NICKI MINAJ

WizKidFrom Lagos to London

What sparked Erykah Badu’s Twitter rant?Dad’s the word!

Father’s Day

SpecialN

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1. ONE LOVE: Bob Marley with wife Rita and their children (clockwise from left) Sharon, Ziggy, Cedella and Stephen in pram

2. RAPPER’S DELIGHT: 50 cent poses on the red carpet with son, Marquise

3. LOVE IN THE FAST LANE: F1 star, Lewis Hamilton, with dad, Anthony

4. SPECIAL GIRL: Singer Jamie Foxx with teen daughter, Corrine

5. GLORY: Jay Z cradles daughter, Blue Ivy, in this touching snap

6. THERE IS ONLY ONE: Singer Lenny Kravitz proudly poses with his model daughter, Zoe

7. GOOD KARMA: Rapper Ludacris

happily shares a snap with his cute daughter, Karma

8. LIKE FATHER LIKE SON: Rapper Master P with son and fellow rapper, Lil Romeo

9. PRIZED POSSESIONS: Beyoncé and sister Solange give daddy Matthew some love

10. FIRST LADIES: US President Obama shares a joke with his two special girls, Sasha and Malia

11. FAMILY PORTRAIT: Music mogul, P Diddy, with his large family on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

12. RUN’S HOUSE: Rev Run strikes a pose with his beautiful, and equally famous, brood

13. COURTSIDE LOVE: We dug up this old school pic of Serena and Venus Williams with father, Richard

14. FAMILY BUSINESS: Entrepreneur, Russell Simmons, shows off daughters Ming Lee and Aoki Lee

15. JUST THE TWO OF US: Singer Tyrese holds on tight to daughter, Shayla

16. RAYMOND v RAYMOND: Usher wth his adorable sons, Usher Raymond V and Naviyd Ely. Cuties!

17. BORN TO REIGN: Will Smith with his superstar family on the red carpet

18. SO SOLID: UK star, Ashley Walters, with daughter China and sons Paniro and Shayon

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HAILING FROM North West London via Uganda, George juxtaposes his experi-ences of African heritage, an inner city upbringing, and life as a Cambridge un-dergraduate to create social commen-tary through poetry.

When he performs, he goes by the name George The Poet and is commit-ted to using his creative spin on real life issues to engage and inspire students.

“I have a voice and a bright future and I want to spread the light,” says the politics, psychology and sociology student.

In early 2012, George was an-nounced as a winner of The Stake, an online competition organised by

Barclays Bank and Channel 4, inviting young people aged between 16 and 21 to submit business ideas with a positive community focus. George fought off competition from over 1,000 other ap-plicants to win a share of the £100,000 prize.

He plans to use his £16,000 award to create ‘The Jubilee Line’, a series of poetry workshops for secondary school students across London and his success was featured in The Even-ing Standard, as well as on the Barclays and Channel 4 websites.

“I feel like I’m in a unique position to relate to and inspire my peers,” he added.

STUDENT OF THE WEEKGeorge Mpanga

2

*Rare Rising Stars 2012 www.rarerecruitment.co.uk

Email us your Student of The Week candidates:

Young.voices@gvmedia.co.uk

DAD’S THE WORDWe profile a selection of proud celeb fathers

and their cherished offspring

1. ONE LOVE:Rita and their children (clockwise from left) Sharon, Ziggy, Cedella and Stephen in pram

1.Rita and their children (clockwise

Father’s Day

Special

JUNE 14-20, 2012 THE VOICE | 29

NURISHMENT_SHELF EDGE_235x35_vrs2.indd 1 12/03/2012 11:25

AS ONE of Africa’s youngest artists to lay claim to having the fastest-selling albums in his hometown, Nigeria, Wizkid has firmly set his sights on international stardom.

And with a little help from US music mogul, Akon, who signed the 21-year-old to his Konvict label – making him the first Nigerian artist to land a worldwide deal, he looks well on his way.

“It feels great. I just feel blessed. It just shows that my work is being appreciated and that all of my hard work isn’t in vain,” the star tells me as he takes a well-earned break from rehearsals ahead of his recent UK tour.

“I’m a studio rat and I have a solid team behind me handling business and I’m putting my all into it and being recognised and doing all this stuff at the same time is a great feeling.”

His current success is a far cry from days spent in the pews of a Lagos church were he could only dream about selling out venues over the world or the euphoria of hearing 20,000 fans scream-

ing his name or sing the words to hit singles from his debut album, Superstar, including Tease Me or Don’t Dull.

But even as an 11-year-old boy, Wizkid under-stood that nothing ‘good can ever come without hard work’ and went onto release his first album through his local church and hasn’t stopped since.

“I’m a workoholic. It’s been an amazing jour-ney for me so far and I’ve leaned a lot along the way. I’ve made mistakes and I’ve learned a lot and I’ve become a better artist because of it. I’m continuing to work on my craft. It’s fun and I’m really enjoying it,” says the star who was named the ‘Best African Act’ at last year’s MOBO awards and picked up the ‘Worldwide Act’ gong at the MTV EMA awards in the same year.

However, his success at the annual award cer-emonies was followed by a relationship break up a few months later, which forced the star back into the studio and press full steam ahead with new music.

“Stuff happens,” he says when pressed on the subject. That’s all he will say.

He does add, though: “I’m waiting for the right girl. She has to be sexy, have a good heart and be calm and collected. I don’t like it when my girl is all over the place. Maybe I’ll find her in Lon-don,” he jokes.

The singer, who has worked with the likes of UK rapper, Tinie Tempah and performed along-

side America hip-hop star, Rick Ross, is now busy working on his international debut, with a single, he promises will be “fire”, heralding its arrival in July.

“I’m about 80 songs deep,” he proudly states.“I could drop an album to-

morrow if I wanted to, but I’m taking everything one step at a time. In July I will drop my inter-national single.”

Speaking on the success of fellow Afrobeats artists, D’Banj, who enjoyed international suc-cess with top 10 UK single, Oli-ver Twist, recently, he said:

“D’Banj is like a brother to me. Him getting so high in the charts is a big step for all of us, it’s paving the way for the genre.”

As a Jamaican (albeit only half), I couldn’t let one of Ar-fobeats biggest stars escape without asking him to wade in on the ongoing debate that the genre for which he is famed has taken over from reggae.

“I don’t think they should be compared,” he tells me.

“I listen to a lot of reggae I love Popcaan, Demarco and

Vybz – reggae is definitely big and doing well as Afrobeats is with the likes of P Square, 2Face, D’Banj and of course Wizkid,” he cheekily adds.

Superstar is out now through EMEwww.wizkidonline.com

Singer Erykah Badu used Twitter to blast the di-rector of her latest music video claiming she was unaware that he would use so much nudity. “Perhaps, next time u get an occasion to work

with an artist who respects your mind/art, you should send at least a ROUGH version of the

video u PLAN to release b4 u manipulate or compromise the artist’s brand by desperately releasing a poor excuse for shock and nudity.”

Dear KatMy parents want me to go to college now that

I’ve finished year 11, but I don’t want to. I am half Nigerian and my parents are strict when it comes to get-ting a proper education. Doing my GCSE’s was proper long and I need a break. They’ve promised me that they won’t be angry if I get a job but my dad said he doesn’t want me to try and get one to just avoid taking my A Levels. I think I would be better off working but I don’t want to upset them, what do you think? Shak, 18, from Leyton

Hi ShakThe answer is simple, Shak. At no point in your letter have you stated how you will get this job nor have you provided any overwhelming explanation as to why it trumps FREE educa-tion.I’m billed here as YV’s ‘straight-talking agony uncle,’ so let me be straight with you. With the way the economy is now, em-ployers want more for their money. How will you compete with another hopeful who has A Levels or a degree?In my opinion, the benefits of further education far outweigh any whim you may have right now. Just remember not all that glitters is gold. Make and chase your dreams, but get those qualifications first. It’s not easy out here and, I’m not in this to let you become another person who failed themselves.K@

Juliette, south east London

Ines, east London

I’ve finished year 11, but I don’t want to. I am I’ve finished year 11, but I don’t want to. I am

Street fashion

TWEET OF THE WEEKSinger Erykah Badu used

with an artist who respects your mind/art, you should send at least a ROUGH version of the

TWEET OF THE WEEK

youngvoicesmagazine @youngvoicesmag www.voice-online.co.uk/entertainmentwww.voice-online.co.uk/entertainment8

YVs straight-talking agony uncle answers your problems

Young.voices@gvmedia.co.uk

GOOD WEEKBAD WEEK

Jermaine Defoe The football star had to

return home from training ahead of England’s first Euro 2012 game after his

father passed away.

Nicki Minaj The Young Money rapper pulled out of Hot 97’s Summer Jam

after falling out with one of the radio station’s DJs.

GOOD WEEKGOOD WEEKGOOD WEEKGOOD WEEKGOOD WEEKGOOD WEEK

TWEET OF THE WEEKTWEET OF THE WEEK

Will.i.Am The former Black Eye Peas member was

spotted all over the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert,

snapping photos of himself with everyone from Prince William to Stevie Wonder

Flawless The north London dance crew, who

made it to the finals of Britain’s Got Talent, joined pop star, Kylie Minogue, on stage at the recent

Diamond Jubilee concert

The Afrobeats star talks to YV’s Dionne Grant about his plans for world domination

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