Cece In The City

Tag: Wib

  • Interview with Julian Lark

    Interview with Julian Lark

     

    By: Where It Begins

     

     

    Q. What have you been doing these days?

    A. Working, Grinding, working on real housewives of Atlanta.

    Q. You styled Anita Baker for the B.E.T. Awards: how was it working with her?

    A. It was amazing they found me on Instagram, and they wanted me to design a custom look for her.

    Q. What made you get into fashion?

    A. It’s always been in me. I have been doing fashion since 4th grade. I came to Atlanta after high school and went to AIU to get my B.A. in marketing. I own Kontrol Magazine, and it’s a national fashion beauty lifestyle publication based out of Atlanta and sold nationally through Barnes and Nobles. I am also creating a show called blended love which basically talks about different people that come to love; rather they black or white showing the different love couples. It showcases love in a different light; it shows love in a different matter.

    Q. Who was your biggest influence far as designing fashion. The person that made you say I want to do this.

    A. The people that inspired me would be Kimora Simmons and Tyra Banks. Kimora has always been fabulous and fashionable. That really sparked home with me what she gave wasn’t a typical fashion she gave me everything I wanted and to see in fashion.

    Q. What made you launch Kontrol Magazine?

    A. I wanted to showcase my work as a Designer and showcase my friends’ work who have a hard time getting put on. I decided to create the magazine as a platform for us.

    Q. Who was your biggest influence far as designing fashion design? The person that made you say I want to do this.

    A. The people that inspired me would be Kimora Simmons and Tyra Banks. Kimora has always been fabulous and fashionable. That really sparked home with me what she gave wasn’t typical fashion she gave me everything I wanted and to see in fashion.

    Q. Do you think fashion in New York is more advanced than here in the south?

    A. Yes, fashion everywhere is more advanced than here. We don’t have fashion here in Atlanta. Fashion here is like a clone everyone wants to do the same thing everyone wants to look alike. No one wants to be different.

  • Interview with Nappy Roots

    Interview with Nappy Roots

     

    By: Where It Begins

     

     

    Q. How do you feel about where the music is right now?

    A.  We like it. It’s always growing as we get older. Music means something different to us. Music means to us differently than the kids we think. It’s time for Hip-Hop to give some harmony to the older generations. Even on Netflix, you got shows like “The Evolution” that are really breaking down what Hip-Hop is. If you like something different, you can go to SoundCloud, we think this is a good time.

     

    The time is good with Hip-Hop, we like to look at how it used to be called the golden era. When I was appreciative of what was going on, and now it’s the new era. Some people complain about how things change. It evolves, and the evolution of Hip-Hop is a dope thing to see and experience while we are living within it.

     

    Q. What have you all been up to these days?

    A. Working on life, and we still make music. We been making beer and getting into the craft beer to a place we all get. We can appreciate it and the diversity. The industry and different beers are changing the world.

     

    Q. How did you get started with beer?

    A. It started with liking beer and trying different flavors that turned into a business opportunity. We drank it, tried different brewers, went to different places, and it was all about us trying different beers that led to starting Atlantucky. That is our beer brewing company. We had 2 beers that we did with Monday Night Brewing. We tour 100 to 150 days out of the year. It started as going around the country. Before the shows we would go find a brewery. We visited about a hundred or more breweries over 5 or more years. We learned more by trying new flavors and brewing in the country. We went to cool places people would never go to. We got an opportunity with Monday Night Brewing to do our first beer called “Front Porch Parallel”. It sold out everywhere.

     

    We found another revenue stream. Beer is something that will be around forever, even if we stop rapping, beer will still be around. If we can make that, we can still be creative as an artist. We saw it as a business opportunity and a passion project. Beer is sold everywhere. The beer industry is booming. It’s a $40 billion dollar industry a year. A lot of people are bringing the urban side to it. Nappy Roots are more than just a name on a can. We know how to make it.

     

    Watermelon Chicken & Gritz is in about 4 states. Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, and New York. The goal is to do a collaboration as well as travel, so we can do more meet and greets. We are also doing a T.V. show about it called “40 Akerz and a Brew”. Craft beer is about creativity and there’s a science to it.

     

    Q. What is “Nappy Roots” doing differently?

    A. Being “Nappy Roots” and doing beer is different. They need more diversity in Atlanta.

  • Interview with Kiara Craft

    Interview with Kiara Craft

     

    By: Where it Begins

     

    Q. Tell us about yourself: who is Kiara Craft?

    A. I am originally from Las Vegas, Nevada raised in Houston Texas. My family has a background in music. Everyone sings. My mother sang lead for a group called “The Platters”. She introduced me and my siblings to music. We married young and didn’t really get to explore our musical paths. But now that we’ve raised our kids, we’re revisiting music and creating a platform for our message on love, relationships, and marriage.

     

    Q. Let’s get the background of the song “Sophisticated Freak”?

    A. A lot of times people tend to put their cards right out on the table. You see exactly who they are, or who you think they are. So, I’m saying that just because a woman is not marketing her sexuality right off the bat doesn’t mean that she’s not a problem in the bedroom. Looks can be deceiving.

     

    Q. Who is the artist that influenced your career?

    A. Diana Ross, she is the personification of a pop star. From being a recording artist to a performing artist. She is the prototype and total package. Even my modern-day influences, like Brandy, Beyonce, Mariah Carey have pulled from her blueprint.

     

    Q. Who would you like to collaborate with?

    A. Definitely, Cardi B.

     

    Q. How do you feel about women in the music industry and how men do not take them seriously enough unless they are passive. What is your observation on it?

    A. I’ve had to deal with push-back, but not a lot. I come to the table to do business, and I refuse to let my gender be treated as a negative or a limitation. Also, I have the right people on my team. 

  • 30 day challenge

    Hey everyone, me and @Imodelbooth are doing a 30 day challenge we decided to shout out 1 person a day and their business. Day 1 we choose @trackbaby001. Make sure to check out everything she got going on.

  • Where it Begins Magazine

    Happy Thursday,

    Make sure to get your copy. We have some amazing people in this Issue

  • Interview with Phase VI

    Interview with Phase VI

    By: Where It Begins

     

    Q. You have this company called Phase VI tell us about it?

    A. Phase VI is a platform where we educate up and coming artists, executives, producers, songwriters and pretty much everyone that wants to be in the music business on all the ins and outs of the music video. They can:

    1.      Protect themselves

    2.      Promote themselves the correct way.

    Everything you need from A to Z is out in front of you. Concise, easy understanding. That’s what Phase VI is all about, also making sure people are there and businesses are other support services connected to those things, so they can get assistance they need to win, we are here for the future of music that’s what we all are about.

    Q. What made you want to start Phase VI?

    A. It’s been a long journey. I spend a lot of time working in the entertainment business. I was blessed to get in at a high-level business being young and in the mist. I did a project with a nonprofit here in Atlanta called Chris Kids. We partnered with NEO Foundation (NEO Compound Foundation), and we did a music therapy program, we are working with a lot of youth in various misguided situations. A piece of that was teaching the music business. I did that for two and a half years when I shut down, I saw there was a huge need to continue the business portion cause all the students kept reaching out to me.

    Q. Tell us about your books?

    A. Follow me at Phase VI and check out all my books. All my books I try to take complicated information and make it sound simple and be a great read. 

  • Interview with Tommy in the City

    Interview with Tommy in the City

    By: Where It Begins

     

    Q. Who is Tommy in the City?

    A. I can never be able to describe that because it is not made up. I am from New York, so you know we have an aggressive attitude, but at the same time I have Atlanta roots. They say I am a southern gentleman, so I combine both together.

    Q. How did you start Tommy in the City?

    A. I have always been a giving person. I have been giving back since day one. So, Tommy in the City came along. I was searching for names one day in the studio. Someone said Tommy in the city, and that was it.

    Q. What do Tommy in the City do?

    A. I am more like a connector when people need something they will ask me before they find out on their own. At the time you could not google anything, so I did the work for them. I took this and built a website. It was set up on Instagram before Instagram was out. The game was called find Tommy in the City. I would go around town and be places and post on Facebook. If you found where I was, we were giving out gift cards, sneakers, hair, and gas cards. People started playing, so I tried to get an app, but things didn’t work out. I am still here and going.

    Q. Tell us about one of your biggest projects?

    A. One of my projects I do every year is Grandmothers raising grandkids. I do this yearly. The grandmothers are stuck raising the grandkids, some parents are incarcerated, some deceased, some of their kids are out on the streets, so they give rights to the grandparents. So, we try to give back to them and help because the funds are not there for this program. I teamed up with DFCS. I started out with a friend asking to help 17 people. Now we are at 500 soon we will be able to go from state to state. Every year we get more and more and then we are going to branch out. 

  • Interview with James Worthy

    Interview with James Worthy

    By: Where It Begins

     

    Q. What was the inspiration behind “Blue Sunset” and its title?

    A. As you know the song talks about feeling good about who you’re with and giving off positive energy. You might have a messed-up day, and at that moment everything goes out the window, but you can continue to have positive vibes. As for the title, blue is my favorite color. Sunset is like the essence of feeling good.

    Q. What projects are you working on?

    A. My biggest focus right now is an album. It is called Blue Leisure. I also dropped a new song with Whodini. I’m doing television and movies, and I also have my own company.

    Q. Do you think being a music producer that you don’t get the credit you deserve working with so many people?

    A. I do now, but at one time I think I had a chip on my shoulder. There was a time when I was doing so much for other people, and I wasn’t getting much love back. Now, the industry is embracing me a lot more. Fanbases are bigger. It shifted and now I am a full artist.

    Q. Out of all your projects, what is the best one you worked on in terms of production?

    A. Hmmmm……that’s hard. It’s hard to say because I take pride in all my work. One is the Fetty, and Johnnie Record I did with Frank Ocean. I am also proud of the work I did with Whitney Houston. God rest her soul.

  • Interview with Reece Odum

    Interview with Reece Odum

    By: Where It Begins

    Q. What else do you do other than acting and producing?

    A. In 2017. I started my own production company GPS Productions, LLC. 2018 we facilitated several acting workshops under the series name “Connecting the Dots to becoming an Actor”. I look forward to creating films that help to educate, entertain, and empower my audiences.

    Q. Why did you want to become an actress?

    A. I love being a storyteller. From a very young age. I always had a passion for the arts. I feel most alive in front of an audience and a camera, it is truly my happy place. Breathing life into a character is one of the most fulfilling things I do as an actor, and even at times becoming a voice for the voiceless.

    Q. What are some of the projects you worked on in Atlanta?

    A. Well I have completed several television and film projects here in Atlanta. Some of the television shows include: The Vampire Diaries (CW) Saints and Sinners (Bounce TV) and most recently filmed Ambitions (OWN). Some of the films include: Mr. Right (BET), The secret she kept (TV One), The Last Time (Aspire TV) and so many more. My hometown, Atlanta has been very good to me and my acting career.

    Q. Who or what inspires you?

    A. My parents inspire me daily, they are true examples of how hard work produces success, and they instilled that in myself and my siblings from a very young age. They also encouraged us that we could do whatever we set our minds to do, and to always go after our dreams, for these reasons and more I love them dearly.

    Q. What is your favorite album or song right now?

    A. It’s an oldie but a goodie: DIVA by Beyonce, lol. This song actually made it back on my playlist recently. I was really inspired by Beyonce’s homegoing concert film on Netflix, so I have her live album from that concert on repeat right now. Love her old and new songs and her work ethic is amazingly motivating.

    Q. What advice would you give someone that is interested in pursuing an acting career?

    A. As an actor, you should think of your craft as if it is a muscle, the more you work it the stronger you become. All actors continuously get training, in classes or acting coaches, investing in your dream will help to keep you prepared for your big moments. And of course, Never give up!

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  • Watch “WIB interview with Rachel Wilson with Co-host Imodelbooth (Unmasking Barbie & Ken Conference 2022)” on YouTube