New Music
32
CONTENT
Meet Miss Black Michigan USA 2015 Ashely Jones
11 All Eyes on Levi Stephens Singer Songwriter
NewMusic Jennifer Mekel W O R K S
14
W I T H
The 30th Annual 2015 Stellar Gospel Music Boys & Girls Chior of Harlem Alumni Awards Impact Las Vegas
Earnest Pugh and
18 THE LIFE, LOVE & LAUGHS OF
CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER
Levi Stephens March 2015 Performances
wsg Tara Hendricks & Adam Travis
wsg Tara Hendricks, Tondrea Kemp & Adam Travis
www.levistephens.com
THE LIFE, LOVE & LAUGHS OF
CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER written by Cheryl Patterson
A few months back, Cedric Antonio Kyles (Cedric the Entertainer) took time away from his very demanding schedule to participate in an in depth, transparent and yes, funny dialogue with us. Cedric is a master storyteller for certain. It is our pleasure to share it with you. I was very pleased and amazed at what we uncovered. I hope Cedric will inspire you as much as he inspired us. Most recently, Cedric dedicated and began building the Rosetta Boyce Kyles Women’s Pavilion at SSM St. Mary’s Health Centera in honor of his mother Rosetta Boyce Kyles. Cedric appeared in Chris Rock’s film ‘Top Five’ and returns to TVLand, March 18, 2015 as the star of ‘The Soul Man’ of which he is co-creator and executive producer. On April 17, 2015, Cedric launches his own reality show ‘Barber Battle’ on the CW Network and Cedric headlines The Black & Brown Comedy Get Down Tour with George Lopez, Mike Epps and others.
GROWING UP CEDRIC I grew up in a single-parent household. My mother and father were separated. My mother Rosetta Boyce Kyles was an educator, an elementary school teacher. I lived in a small town of Caruthersville, Missouri for the first part of my life, until I was about 10 years old. This was the city my mother grew-up in and my grandmother Rosie lived there, too. This was in the boot hill of Missouri, so we always say in between Memphis and St. Louis. Later, we moved to St. Louis. My younger sister Sharita is three years younger than me, but she was always the ‘grownest.’ Lol, as we would say, she was the youngest, but she was the ‘grownest.’ Look, my sister was so grown, I would actually give her Mother’s Day Cards, when I was a teenager. Sharita just had a lot of uhm . . . extra parenting skills going on. Lol. As a teenager, I really didn’t need my little sister trying to tell me what I needed to be doing. As a child growing up, I had a lively household. In a single-parent household, you know there are going to be issues trying to get bills paid, but regardless of any struggles, mom was a very lively personality. She wanted to make sure my sister and I had a good life. Yeah, we laughed a lot. Growing up I found a lot of joy in our household. I appreciate my mom for that.
COMEDIC INFLUENCERS Remember, I lived in the same town as my grandmother. I spent a lot of time with her. She enjoyed Jonathan Winters, Jackie Gleason and Johnny Carson. It was guys like that who I can remember watching as a child and liking them. Then came my man Bill Cosby. Then, the era of Richard Pryor who was the voice of a different generation that started to speak. Although I was young, I would sneak and listen to Richard Pryor’s albums, lol. I also grew up watching Billy Crystal and Robin Williams who I was introduced to by watching television shows. These were my influencers as a child. Later in my teens and young adulthood, it was Eddie Murphy, Damon Wayans and cats like that who later became greater influencers for me. As a young child, I loved to laugh and found comedy as my go-to place. I didn’t know it could be a profession! Growing up in a very small Midwest town, you didn’t identify yourself as someone who could grow-up to be on television.
Download the Digital Version to Read Cedric's Inspiring Story in Full!
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