| THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012 23

Pu

ll-O

ut

POSTER BATTLECHRIS BROWN V DRAKE

BRANDED “OFFENSIVE”

No holding backNo holding backNo holding backNo holding backNo holding backL L L L L L L L L L L L MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL

HEARTBREAK HOTEL

Keyshia Cole takes to Twitter

Has Lil Wayne gone too far?

24 � THE VOICE FEBRUARY 21 - 27, 2013

IDRIS BELLO is in the business ofinnovation. He calls himself an “afro-preneur: an entrepreneur with a focuson Africa” and although his ambitionand academic excellence have takenhim all over the world, he refuses toforget where he came from.

Idris, who studied social enterpriseat Oxford University, is currentlydirector of the Wennovation Hub, astart-up accelerator which hashelped over 60 of Nigeria’s brightestamateur entrepreneurs develop theirideas into viable businesses. He isalso founder and chief strategy offi-cer for AfyaZima Africa Ltd, a service

delivering low-cost health technolo-gies to developing countries.

He said: “It’s about taking owner-ship of our countries’ problems andbeing unafraid of daring solutions.

“Entrepreneurship and creativityare a powerful combination and Iwant to show the world that Africacan be a catalyst for great ideas.”

The Huffington Post named him‘Greatest Person of the Day’ in 2011and he is a 2012 recipient of the DellGlobal Innovation Ambassador prize.

Idris Bello

WHO ROCKED THE RED CARPET?The most anticipated segment of any A-list event has to be the red

carpet. Here are our top picks (in order) from the 55th annual Grammy Awards

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 109

11 12 13 14 15

16 17

*www.rarerecruitment.co.uk

RIHANNA

JANELLE MONAE

BEYONCÉ

JOHN LEGEND RICK ROSS

JENNIFER LOPEZ NAS NELLY ALICIA KEYS

DRAKE ESTELLE PHARRELL MIGUEL

KELLY ROWLAND CHRIS BROWN SOLANGE TYRESE

Dear Kat,

I recently got a tattoo. I haven’t told my parents, but I’m afraidthey’ll find out.

It’s a small butterfly on my hip and I can hide it easily when I amwearing clothes, but my sister keeps walking in when I’m gettingdressed and I’m scared she’ll spot it and tell them.

My friends like it and keep putting pictures of it on Facebook. I’vetold them to stop but it just seems like the secret is about to get out.

What should I do?

Lai la, 18

Dear Laila,In hindsight, I think you’ll agree that getting a tattoo without your

parents’ permission wasn’t the best idea!The fact that you’ve decided to hide it from them means that

you’re forced to be on guard all the time and run the risk of themfinding out from a source other than you, which is never the bestoption.

My advice to you is to tell them as a matter of priority, it’s as sim-ple as that. Sit them down and be honest. Explain your decision tokeep it from them and expect them to be upset, no one likes beinglied to.

It takes a lifetime to build trust, understand you have abused thatof your parents’ and that you may have to work quite hard earning itagain.

FEBRUARY 21 - 27, 2013 THE VOICE � 25

With the slightsound offatigue lin-gering in hisvoice, UK

singer-songwriter and rapper, LMarshall, tells me he has beenup all night and has only man-aged to capture a few hours ofsleep before our chat.

However, before I can probethe 25-year-old about hisnightly endeavours, he shutsdown my overactive imagina-tion and explains it was work in

the studio that had him up until5am. Sensing I suspect thereis more to the story, he laughsbefore promising there were“no strippers or parties”. Hethen reassures me that his lackof shut-eye will not affect hiswit and therefore shouldn’taffect my questioning.

Given free-reign, I ask theMercury Records signing, whoshot to fame singing the hookon Wretch 32's smash-hit sin-gle Traktor, to explain his jour-ney so far.

“I started out as a songwriterand I wrote Loick Essien's[number one single] How WeRoll and [songs] for otherartists, but I wanted to focuson my own music.”

He continues: “I have notdone anything other thanmusic. I couldn't even picturemyself doing anything else. Idon't even think there are peo-ple in my life, aside from myfamily, who even knew mebefore I was doing this, so thatsays it all.”

And it’s from everyday lifethat the talented star takesinspiration. “My songs are likesnapshots of conversations Ihave. For example, in theopening of my song Castles, Ising, 'I love 'em all, don't giveme fake looks! You know you'reonly gonna post 'em up onFacebook.' That's from real life.I was having a conversationwith a girl I was seeing and sheasked me what pictures sheshould post on Facebook and Itold her, 'look, you're going topost them all so just do that’”he laughs.

The video for Castles, whichwas shot in Barcelona, hasgained over 700,000 views onYouTube since its release lastyear and has gained the atten-tion of Radio 1, MTV and i-Dmagazine, all of whom havetipped L Marshall for success.

But while his star quality isclear for all to see, it is almostimpossible to know, just bylooking at the singer, thewealth of culture he has accu-mulated throughout his rela-tively short life. He spent timeliving in Brazil, Nigeria andEngland and tells me it wasthese experiences that haveshaped him into the musicianhe is today.

“Travelling has made megood at adapting. I am good atletting things that don't matterjust fade away. Moving aroundwhilst growing up meant I con-stantly had to make a new bestfriend and then forget all abouthim again.

“Overall it has affected mepositively, especially musicallybecause I can relate to soundsfrom Africa, sounds fromEurope and wherever I havebeen. Basically, I listen tothings that most people wouldjust find weird.”

He continues: “The morecountries you travel to, the morestyles you end up loving. So I'llbe like, 'yo, let's find out whatthat Brazilian folk music is say-ing' and people are like, 'erm,what?' But that's what I like.”

L Marshall's love for all gen-res comes through in his workand means his sound is hardto define, a problem that hebelieves is a “blessing in dis-guise.”

“I don't want to be boxedinto a style, that just wouldn'twork for me. Take Castles forexample, people will hear itand think, 'oh he has gone

commercial' because it is apop-sounding love song, butwhat people don't know is thatI can switch it up and rap. I'llspit bars over a hip-hop beat,I'm talking raw lyrics, and thenI'll make something else thatnobody will expect from me. Iguess I like to keep my fansguessing.”

On the topic of his fans, whohe admits have “saved” himwith their constant love, heends our conversation with aspecial message for his “stars”.

“They [the fans] are the stars- I'm not. I see how they talk tome and how much respectthey show me, and it meanseverything. I appreciate whatthey do and I want them toknow that.”

L Marshall's debut single Castles willbe released on Feb 25 throughMercury Records www.lmarshallmusic.com

ere ere l i s e s i ole srri e s i ro le e s eee ed o e o e r re

o irl o do red s e ll se o s o

o o do re ds e ll re l e o

LIL WAYNE: The hip-hop star’s lyricsabout teenager Emmett

Till, who was murdered ina 1955 racist attack, were

labelled “offensive”

DMX: Reports claim the

rapper was arrested fordriving without a

licence

TULISA: The X Factor judge

moved into a luxury £6million mansion earlier

this week

FRANK OCEAN: In the week following his

Grammy win, sales ofthe singer’s debut albumincreased 120 per cent

Confused, vulgar, wrong

THE DREAM:

Ill-advised, ill-fitting, ill-thought-out

RANDY JACKSON:

TWEET OF THEWEEK

e s i ole

UK singer L Marshall talks to YV’s AkilahRussell about travelling the world, addingstrings to his bow and keeping fans guessing

BUFF OR BUSTED?

BUSTED BUSTED

youngvoicesmagazine @youngvoicesmag www.voice-online.co.uk/entertainment

26 � THE VOICE FEBRUARY 21 - 27, 2013

POSTER BATTLE

DRAKE v CHRIS BROWN

VOTE NOW!! Email us at young.voices@gvmedia.co.uk or tweet us @Youngvoicesmag #YVPosterBattle

BE

YON

CÉ

AN

D J

AY-

Z

SCAN ME

To access Mobil appfor The Voice