| THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012 23

Pul

l-Out

BRAVE MOVE

Kelly Rowland admits she was jealous of Beyoncé

Cash Money’s new princessCash Money’s new princessCash Money’s new princessVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA VVERONICA V

SPEAKING OUTOUTOUT

Reggie Yates on lack of black

faces on TV

24 ! THE VOICE MAY 23 -29, 2013

RIO FERDINANDThe ManchesterUnited defender,known for his skillson the pitch, hasmade a whole new fan base withcelebrity magazine 5 and arange of hats

RIHANNAThe singer, whohas her hand inso many pies atthe moment,recently launched aclothing line with River Island

JAY-ZHe’s a multi-millionselling US rapper,so what betterbusiness venturethen to buy a NewYork nightclub toplay and endorse his hits

MARIAH CAREYWith a voice and a for-tune like hers, wewould just sit backand watch the cashroll in. Not ourMariah, she has a lineof fragrances under her belt too!

T IN IE TEMPAHHe’s disturbed nearly every cityaround the world, soit’s only right hestarts disturbingother avenues too.The UK rapperlaunched the DisturbingLDN clothing range in 2011

THE KARDASHIANSIf they can do it, they will. TheKardashian trio recentlylaunched a line in UKfashion retailerDorothy Perkins.Of course, this isjust one of theirbusiness ventures

BEYONCÉMrs Carter has a voice assmooth as chocolate, so it’s onlyright she smells assweet. The formerDestiny’s Child starrecently launchedher second fra-grance, Heat

LEONA LEWISThe UK singer hasone of the mostenchanting voices,we wonder if herfragrances have thesame effect? Shelaunched her self-titled scent in2011

KANYE WESTHe’s got a baby on the way, soUS rapper Kanye Westis maximising all ofhis revenue streams.He debuted hisspring/summer fash-ion collection in Parislast year

P DIDDYWith a lifestyle that involves lotsof drinking and partying,it’s advised to re-hydrate with plentyof water. Do youthink that’s why PDiddy launched hisown brand?

TINCHY STRYDEROur ‘Stryderman’is one astutebusinessman.He balances amusic careerwith his line ofpopular Star InThe Hood clothing

CHRIS BROWNWhen Chris Brown isn’t busyorganising his chaoticlove life, he’s spend-ing time working onhis new clothing line,Black Pyramid

NICKI MINAJEverything is pink when itcomes to US rap-per Nicki Minaj;her hair, heralbum title andher debut per-fume Pink Friday

USHERHe may have a very success-ful music career, butUsher is becom-ing quite the per-fumer, with agrowing list of fra-grances under hisbelt!

JORDIN SPARKSSinger Jason Derulo can’t getenough of his girlJordin. Want toknow her secret?We think it lies inher debut perfumeBecause of You

JLSUK boyband JLS,who last monthannounced theywould split,raised eyebrowswhen theylaunched their ownline of condoms with Durex

LETHAL BIZZLEHe rose to prominence with hitsingle Pow, but theUK rapper is reach-ing new heights(and audiences) withhis line of Dench clothing

CELEBRITIES WHO DIVERSIFY

UPON LEARNING that hermother had been in a car acci-dent, Warsan Shire could onlythink in poems.

“Every person I spoke to andevery scene seemed to be hap-pening to me in the form of apoem,” the 24-year-old said.

“That’s when I realised that ifI didn’t have poetry, I don’t thinkI’d be able to function normallyas a human being – I don’t thinkI’d be able to experience thingsand come out the other side,”she added.

But at the time of learningabout her mother’s unfortunate

circumstance, Shire heardsome other news: she had beenawarded the inaugural £3,000Brunel University African PoetryPrize, founded by creative writ-ing lecturer BernardineEvaristo, also a published nov-elist.

More than 655 entries fromemerging poets were received,which was then whittled downto a shortlist of six.

Shire was a clear winner. Oneof the judges, Sharmil laBeezmohun, described herwork as “beautiful ly crafted,subtle and understated”.

They’ve made a name for themselves in one field, but these famousfaces have blossomed in other areas too

Dear KatI met this guy recently and we exchanged numbers. We have been

talking every day since meeting and have gone on a few dates, butnow he has gone cold.

He doesn’t start any conversations with me and takes ages to replyto my messages or missed calls when I try and reach out. I’m con-fused because we were getting on so well.

I don’t want to ask him if there’s a problem in case he thinks I’mparanoid, but at the same time, I really want to know what’s wrong.

I’m writing to you because I really like him and don’t want to losehim or chase him away.

What do I do?Anon

Hi Anon,There are plenty of reasons why he may have withdrawn. They

might include school, college or work commitments, family issues orthings concerning a past relationship.

I can understand why you’re upset at the way things have gone,but you’re only torturing yourself by wondering what those reasonscould be. Just ask him.

Explain that he’s been on your mind and you’re just wondering ifhe’s okay. If he doesn’t want to answer, he won’t, but on the flipside,he may really like the fact you’ve noticed and taken an interest in hiswell-being.

It’s obvious he likes you, he wouldn’t have met you after datenumber one if he didn’t.

Be brave and call.

MAY 23 - 29, 2013 THE VOICE ! 25

VERONICA V is afirm believer inthe adage,‘everything hap-pens in its

time’, because her journey intomusic has been testament tothis.

Starting life in the church,often “forced” to sing notoriouschorus Jesus Loves Me at hermum’s request, and tirelesslyseeking a record deal inde-pendently, the US singer wasthen headhunted by CashMoney Records.

The popular label, foundedby rapper Birdman and Ronald“Slim” Williams, also the parentcompany of Lil Wayne’s YoungMoney empire, got in touchwith the owner of the Miamistudio where Veronica wouldfrequent to express their inter-est in the rising star.

She explains: “The owner ofthe studio called me and waslike, ‘Slim and Birdman heard

your music and they want tosign you.’ I was like, ‘What?’

“I’m a true believer in think-ing that God has his timing. Ijust think that all the other sce-narios just weren’t meant to beand that’s why they didn’t hap-pen. When it’s meant for you,it’s effortless and it just flows.When I got that phonecall, Iwas at home playing a puzzle.There was no pressure andthere was no drama.”

The singer/songwriter, bornVanity Gardner, hails fromChicago and already had aportfolio of work, whichincluded recordings withrenowned producersTimbaland and Mr Beatz, toname a few, pre-signing.

Despite her past experience,she admits she was still “intimi-dated” at the prospect of work-ing with her new label mates,which include Young Moneyrappers Drake and Nicki Minajand, of course, founder Lil

Wayne.“Although it’s a great honour,

I will admit that I was a littleintimidated to begin with. But Ibelieve that God doesn’t makemistakes, so I just roll with thepunches and learn from theveterans on the label. It’s actu-ally funny because the pres-sure I feel is more fun thanbeing bad,” she reveals.

On being dubbed the label’s“new princess of R&B”, shesays: “One thing I love aboutCash Money is that they allowthe artist to be themselves.They try and find the trueessence of you. Initially youwould think that it’s a rap label,so they’re going to make youdo this and that, but theytotally let you be you and Ithink that’s completely awe-some.”

And if one was in any doubt,Veronica’s debut single WhatHappened To Us is proof ofthis artistic freedom. VeronicaV, who worked on the sassyand sensual track with song-writer and record producerPolow The Don, explains thather personal experiencesplayed out on the bangerabout lost love.

“It was actually going to becalled The Break Up,” sheexplains.

“I definitely get inspirationfrom things I’ve gone through,things that I’ve seen my mumgo through and my friends gothrough. For me, going througha break up it was, you’rehappy, you’re sad, you’re ‘OhMy God, I’ll never find better!’Then the next day you’re like,‘Oh My God, I found better!I’ve actually experienced thesethings.”

We both laugh at the famil-iarity.

She continues: “There’s somany rollercoasters thatwomen - and men - gothrough. I think WhatHappened To Us is a greatstarter record because it intro-duces this character and she’snot saying, ‘I want you back’.She’s saying, ‘Hey, I see you’retelling this girl over here thesame lies.’ It’s showing a signof strength.”

And it’s that strength shehopes will filter to the womenwho listen to her music.

“I want women in particularto hear it and feel like, ‘I’vealways

wanted to say that’. I think somany women are victims ofbad relationships, but at somepoint we have to show strengthand show that we can over-come.”

The video, which featuresrapper 2 Chainz and hasracked up over 80,000 hits onYouTube, is sure to raise a fewtemperatures as she cavorts inbum-skimming hot pants andshows off her perfectly tonedmidriff in a crop top.

“It shows a strong womanwho has not lost sense of hersensuality,” she retorts when Iask her about the over sexuali-sation of women in R&B andhip-hop.

“I think it’s cool to touch onsexuality and it’s cool to showpeople that you’re a woman,but at the same time, you stillneed to do it as classy as pos-sible because it can affect allwomen negatively.”

The singer, who is keen tostand as a role model foryoung women, hopes to diver-sify into acting and modellingafter she has made her markon the music industry. Shehopes the latter will showwomen “that you don’t have tobe a stick figure to be a model.You can be a normal-sized girlwho is successful.”

“I would love to be the facethat promotes that,” she says.

“One thing I don’t believe inis perfection. I believe thateveryone has flaws and flawsare beautiful. Right now I wantwomen to hear themselves inmy record and my album.There is a lot of great music, alot of great production and alot of great lyrics. I think it willtouch a lot of people.”

What Happened To Us is out nowthrough Cash Money Records. Formore information follow@Veronicaymcmb on Twitter

UK comedian Richard Blackwood, who iscurrently starring in the West Endadaptation of Shrek, has announced thathe will launch a line of hats in thecoming months

�“R.B "Real Boss" snap backscoming out soon. Different

colours! My new line WATCH THISSPACE!!�”

USHER: OMG

BEYONCE:

REGGIE YATES: KELLY ROWLAND:

Slick, effortless, stunning

NAOMIE HARRIS: She’s gorgeous, dress isn’t!

ZOE SALDANA:

TWEET OF THEWEEK

Richard Blackwood

US singer Veronica V talks to YV’s Dionne Grantabout signing to Cash Money Records, workingwith Lil Wayne and empowering women

BUFF BUSTED?

BUFFBUSTED

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

26 !THE VOICEMAY 23 - 29, 2013

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