Pull-Out
23 | THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012
SUCCESS
Jay-Z gets first UK No.1
D E S I C I T I R C
Willow branded ‘inappropriate’
CHRISTOPHER MARTIN
Jamaican Idol
24 ! THE VOICE JULY 18 - 24, 2013
STRICTLY BUSINESS
There’s no doubt that this is the ‘year of the entrepreneur’. Here, we list a selection of famous faces turned business moguls 1
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PHARRELL WILLIAMS The Neptunes star, who started out as a record producer, set up the Billionaire Boys Club clothing line and Ice Cream footwear brand – fusing his love of rock, hiphop and skateboarding
ALICIA KEYS The award-winning singer cofounded KrucialKeys Enterprises, a musical production and songwriting company. She is currently BlackBerry ’s Global Creative Director
QUEEN LATIFAH Queen Latifah, one of the most recognisable faces in hip-hop, is president of Flavor Unit Productions. She is also a spokesperson for Cover Girl cosmetics, where she has created her own line
BEYONCÉ Queen Bey has been entrepreneurial since her days as a member of Destiny ’s Child, founding her own fashion brand House of Deréon in 2004
DR DRE The former NWA rapper and producer changed the way music was to be heard by launching his successful line of headphones, Beats by Dre
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JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE The former *NSYNC singer has opened a handful of restaurants, including the new Southern Hospitality in New York City. He also bought a stake social network MySpace
JENNIFER LOPEZ After succeeding in music and Hollywood, the actress and singer launched a clothing line, which makes everything from jeans to lingerie, generating a net worth of more than £180m
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SWIZZ BEATS The former Ruff Ryders DJ turned producer is a partner to Kidrobot, which sells limited edition art toys and clothing. He has also produced a line of trainers with Reebok
SNOOP LION The rapper, formerly Snoop Dogg, entered the movie business in 2005 by building Snoopadelic Films – his own production company
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WILL.I.AM The former Black Eyed Peas star is also the director of creative innovation at tech giant Intel, where he provides guidance on how smartphones, tablets and laptops should be designed and developed
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LL COOL J The pioneering rapper set up his P.O.G and Rock The Bells music labels in 1993. More recently, he launched Boomdizzle.com - a place where aspiring artists can showcase their music
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50 CENT The rapper has made a fair few pounds outside music. He created and marketed a Vitamin Water flavour called Formula 50, which was snapped up by Coca-Cola for more than £60m
JAY-Z The rap mogul owns a production company, New York's 40/40 Club and has recently set up the sports management agency, Roc Nation Sports, dealing with some of America ’s best sportspeople
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USHER The R&B star is a part-owner of NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Additionally, Usher was responsible for the break-out of teen pop sensation Justin Beiber
EMINEM The rapper and actor set up his own online radio station Shade 45 showcasing the best of hip-hop and rap. He is ranked No.9 on MTV ’s ‘Greatest MCs of All Time ’
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JME The UK MC set up record label Boy Better Know with brother Skepta. The collective are responsible for club hit Too Many Man. They also have an apparel and mobile business
RIHANNA The singer has struck a seven-figure endorsement deal with Emporio Armani. She has her own fashion collection for River Island and released her own line of lipstick for Mac
STUDENT NEWS MORE THAN 2,000 young entrepreneurs will receive financial and business support in the next 12 months as a result of a new campaign allowing them to build the business of their dreams. EN Start-Ups helps business people from the black and Asian communities gain access to start-up capital – from business loans to equity investment. The campaign was launched at the British Library on July 4 and has the backing of property entrepreneur Lord Young, for-
mer Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and Reggae Reggae Sauce creator Levi Roots. Founder and director of EN Start-Ups, Samuel Kasumu said: “I ’m very pleased to have the Prime Minister ’s advisor on entrepreneurship supporting our campaign launch, and look forward to helping businesses receive the much needed finance to start-up. Of course we ourselves can only do so much and the banks still need to get their act together. ”
PLEASED: Samuel Kasumu
The initiative is available across the UK and the loans, totalling around £5million over the upcoming 12 months, will come from the Start-Up Loans initiative headed by 'UDJRQҋV Den star James Caan.
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JULY 18 - 24, 2013 THE VOICE ! 25
www.voice-online.co.uk/entertainment
Dancehall star Christopher Martin talks to YV’s Dionne Grant about life after ‘Jamaican Idol’, living his dream and wanting to make his parents proud
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ANCEHALL’S RISING star Christopher Martin has both music and flirtation down to a fine art. Let the record show, he is as smooth in person as the lyrics in his songs suggest. “Let me just tell you that both sides are lovely, I must say,” he retorts when I ask the photographer to capture my ‘good side’ during our interview. “I just want to clear that up,” he adds. But far be it for me to start planning a wedding and setting my sights on a dream house in the Jamaican hills. This is, at the end of the day, the man behind hit song Cheaters
Prayer. In the singer’s 2011 smash, he croons: “Don’t let me cheat on my girlfriend… But Lord, if you can’t stop me from cheating, don’t let me get caught”. He laughs when I recite his lyrics back to him: “There’s the Christopher Martin on stage and the Christopher Martin here with you. They are two very different people,” is his silky smooth retaliation. It’s easy to see why the Jamaican public, who voted the 25-year-old the winner of the country’s version of American Idol, fell in love with him. His charisma, charm and talent are undeniable. Martin beat thousands of hopefuls to secure the Digicel
Rising Stars title in 2005 and is the first contestant in the competition’s nine-year history to score a hit single in the charts with debut Love Is All We Need. “I can tell you that never in my wildest dreams did I see all of this happening,” he says. “And if my friends said to me when I was younger, ‘you know they’re going to know you around the world?’ I would’ve laughed, honestly. Coming from [the Jamaican parish of] St Catherine to here is a big movement.” Martin discovered his love of performance in high school, graduating just two years before entering the popular TV talent show with countless awards and accolades.
Recently performing to over 10,000 people at the St Kitts Music Festival, Martin has gone on to become one of Jamaica’s most sought after performers, signing with Big Yard Music Group, one of the most prolific musical entities in the country. Yet, despite his overwhelming success across the pond with songs Take My Wings, Gallis’, which features fellow dancehall star Busy Signal, and chart-smashing single Jamaican Girls, Martin has joined his studies (a degree in business management and accounting) with his flourishing career in music. The singer, who reveals his biggest extravagance since landing fame has been buying a new house, says his main motivation in life, and indeed music, is making his parents proud. “I grew up with my parents and I must applaud them for the wonderful job they did in raising me. We didn’t have the easiest of lives growing up, and I realise that many sacrifices had to be made. I’m in a position right now where we don’t have to go through that again. So I’m not only doing this for myself, I’m doing it for my family.” There’s a widely-held belief, and sufficient proof in the UK, that a number of stars from TV competitions don’t enjoy as much favour once they leave
the show’s sprawling platform, but eight years after the fact, is Martin happy he’s managed to avoid the post-TV show curse? “I’m living proof that anything is possible once you put your mind to it,” he says. “Music has changed my life in so many ways. It has changed my standard of living and I can now do things for my friends and for my family – and things for people I don’t even know by way of charitable events. Just being able to share my voice with somebody and help to uplift their day makes me feel good.” Although he says he’s still “learning everyday”, Martin says his advice to aspiring musicians would be to “put people first in all that you’re doing”.
“Give thanks for the gifts that you have and make the most of every opportunity,” he says. “I think God has been so good to me, so if I was to complain, I’d be so ungrateful. And I’m definitely not.” For his second - and last piece of advice, he says: “Always remember, there are no caps, there are no boundaries and there are no boxes. Be true to yourself. “I’m doing music because I love music. I love to sing and singing is my life. For me, the sky is the limit and if there’s an outer world beyond the skies, that’s my aim.” Christopher Martin features on Ding Dong’s new single It’s A Celebration out now. For more information, follow @Iamchrismartin on Twitter
HALLE BERRY:
JAY-Z:
The rap mogul celebrated his first No.1 in the UK with 12th studio album Magna Carta Holy Grail
The pregnant actress tied the knot with French boyfriend Oliver Martinez last week
BUFF OR BUSTED?
Dear Kat
I’ve recently stopped talking to a friend of mine because she was spreading hurtful comments about my relationship. The thing is, I really miss her. Crazy, right? She went around telling people that my boyfriend was gay and that she’d seen him kiss another man. She also said he was only with me because he wanted to get close to my brother. A trustworthy source told me about the stuff she had been saying and I confronted her about it. She lied to my face and said that my ‘source’ was trying to start drama. We went from talking every day to not talking for over two months. I don’t know what to do. Anon
WILLOW SMITH:
The 12-year-old singer was branded ‘inappropriate ’ for lyrics in new song Summer Fling
Hi Anon,
You’re not crazy! We spend a lifetime building good friendships, so when they go down the pan, we mourn them – and rightfully so! What your friend did was wrong, there’s no doubt about it, but it might be worth trying to get down to the root of why she may have started such a vicious rumour. That’s if you think the relationship is worth saving. Maybe she was jealous that your partner was taking you away from her, or something in that vein. That being said, can you really trust what your ‘source’ has told you? I’d be angry if my friend trusted a ‘source’ over me! Have a ‘real talk’ moment with your friend and see what comes out of it. It will help you make a decision on where you go next.
BUFF
BUFF
CHRIS BROWN:
A mayor in Canada says he doesn ’t want the controversial singer to perform in the country next month
TWEET OF THE WEEK Not one to shy away from controversy, US rapper Azealia Banks hit out at Lily Allen after the UK singer called her a one-hit wonder
RIHANNA:
Effortless sw ag!
“LOL ill be a one hit wonder but you have ugly children and a coke habit..... Shhhhhhh ”
JOURDAN D She makes it lo
UNN
ok so easy! Azealia Banks
ANGELA SIMMONS
26 ! THE VOICE JULY 18 - 24, 2013
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