23 | THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012
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POSTER BATTLE
AMBER ROSE & ROCHELLE HUMES
Mic Righteous A divine start to the New Year
Movers & shakers
Stars who shone last year
YV Charts
Our favourite interviews of 2012
24 THE VOICE JANUARY 3 - 9, 2013
THE YV CHART
Great chats and laughs. Here’s our top 17 interviews from 2012 1
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WRETCH 32: Coming in at number one is our favourite north Londoner. Wretch, who covered our first issue, was funny, down-toearth and honest
JOSH OSHO: Josh takes second place. YV’s Akilah christened him ‘Johnny Shogun’ during her interview. He later announced on Twitter that it would become his official alias
TREY SONGZ: Beautiful on the inside and out. Trey proved that you can be both. He congratulated YV’s Dionne on her interview skills, posed for pics and gave great answers
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ANGEL: Angel makes our top 17 for remaining humble despite success. His coyness when asked about the masses of female fans gives him extra brownie points
LABRINTH: This interview was so good, Labrinth managed to walk away with our Dionne’s much-loved ‘I love Hackney’ badge. Another down-to-earth and funny star
JAMMER: Jammer had YV’s Akilah in stitches during their November interview. He spoke candidly and humorously about his beef with fellow rapper Snakeyman
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MIKEL AMEEN: As the younger brother of Hollywood star Aml Ameen, it would be easy for Mikel to shy away from questions about his famous sibling. Not so. Great fun!
OMARION: In another life, we’re sure the US singer could be a comic. He made the room full of press laugh non-stop during the St Kitts festival in July. He also gave his one and only picture to YV’s Dionne
BIGZ: The UK rapper surprised YV’s Akilah when he announced that he was a secret R‘n’B lover. He was really happy with his interview and told the world
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SWAY: The UK rapper, who we interviewed at BBC Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend in June, was funny as always. He even told his press team to give us more time to talk
ASHLEY WALTERS: Although it was an early morning interview, the former So Solid star was surprisingly chipper and upbeat. Another great interview
FAZER: The NDubz star was surprisingly honest, open and frank during his interview with YV’s Akilah. He talked about a reunion with the group and answered tough questions
MISHA B: The former X Factor star is a far cry from the tainted picture some in positions of power tried to paint. Softly-spoken, likeable and candid
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PERRI SHAKESDRAYTON: The London 2012 hurdler had our Ben singing her praises. He described her as mature, bubbly and down-to-earth
LOUIS ANTWI FOLLOWING HIS performance at artist Chris Ofili’s exhibition, which propelled him to become the youngest person ever to perform poetry at the Houses of Parliament, Louis Antwi was invited to read his piece Paradise by Night at the opening of the new Louis Vuitton store. The event was attended by designer Marc Jacobs, luxury goods billionaire Bernard Arnault and actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Antwi described the experience as “exciting but supremely surreal.”
Louis was also targeted for an interview and photoshoot opportunity by sportswear giant Nike. With fellow members of the Run Dem Crew, a “creative minds running collective,” Louis was seen in Nike's 2010 ad campaign. In the meantime, Louis - who has completed his second year of university and is preparing to specialise in Engineering and Process – is adding the finishing touches to a book featuring twenty of his distinctly evocative poems.
* www.rarerecruitment.co.uk
5 POPCAAN: Despite his bravado in songs l i k e Only Man She Want, the Jamaican dancehall star is surprisingly softly-spoken. YV’s Dionne found out some interesting facts and laughed her way through the interview
10 VIS: The Radio 1xtra DJ makes top 10 because he and YV’s Ben got on like a house on fire. Good conversation equals a great interview. He is also has a lot in the pipeline for 2013
15 CHIP: Chip is another north London favourite. He made our list because he gave us one of the first interviews since leaving for the US and signing to T.I’s Grand Hustle label
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JANUARY 3 - 9, 2013 THE VOICE 25
www.voice-online.co.uk/entertainment
UK rapper Mic Righteous talks to YV’s Akilah Russell about collaborating with Emeli Sandé, fatherhood and why he’s anything but a saint
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HEY SAY you should start things as you mean to go on and judging by the amazing things British rapper Mic Righteous has managed to achieve in 2012, this simple motto should really become his mantra. Having already featured on remixes for Grammy nominees, Emeli Sandé and Ed Sheeran, for stunning tracks Give Me Love and Wonder, the 22-year-old who hails from Margate - has set the stage for an epic takeover of the rap scene this year. However, you cannot accuse the self-confessed "conscious but not cocky" star of riding anyone else's coattail's to success. His last mixtape Kam-Pain
gained over 10,000 downloads in a week, one of his freestyles for veteran DJ Charlie Sloth has over one million views and his work has made fans out of Tinie Tempah, Ms Dynamite and ‘The Godfather of Grime’ Wiley. If that's not enough to convince you that Mic will be the face of British rap this year, The Guardian has already tipped him as their ‘One to Watch,’ and Radio 1xtra's DJ Semtex declared that the rapper "can do no wrong". As respected as he is, Mic says a saint he is not. In fact, behind the bars that are sure to get your mind thinking before your head starts bopping, lies a story that is much deeper than most realise. While explaining his journey
into music he reveals that life was not so grand growing up in the famous seaside town in Kent. "I think people hear 'Righteous' in my name and automatically assume that I am some angel, saint or Buddhist Monk," he laughs. "There has always been a conflict in my mind of who I really am and that's what I try to fight off in my lyrics and songs. That is where my name comes from. Mic Righteous simply means that I am being true to myself when I am rapping. When I make music, that's when I can truly be honest with myself. He adds: "It's like some people expect me to be perfect, but the truth is I am a guy who grew up in Margate and from a very young age, grew up in a pre-
dominantly white community although I am from an ethnic background. That troubled me, especially because at times my family wasn't around at all." Mic’s parents, who had fled Iran during the 1979 revolution and moved to England, quickly fell into a cycle of poverty. His mother left the family home and Mic watched as his brothers battled drug addiction. To add insult to injury, the MC’s father was sentenced to “considerable time” in prison, leaving Mic at home with his 13year-old sister. The family house was deemed unsafe to live in by the local council and Mic and his sister, who both faced the prospect of foster care, went to live with his brother, the former light-middleweight boxer Mehrdud Takaloo. Following his dad’s release from prison, Mic and his sister returned to the family home. "When I was very young and staying in this four-bedroom house alone, certain members of the community took notice of my situation. They wanted to know who I was and they turned out to be good people - one of them is actually my manager now. “He came to my home, saw the condition I was living in and he put me on my feet. From that point I started working in a small low budget studio, but that was all we needed at the time and that's how it all started. It wasn't until I filmed my first warm up session with [youth online broacaster] SBTV and it got such a good response that I realised that people want to hear me."
BUFF BUSTED? OR
The demand for his music is not slowing down either. Every freestyle he has on YouTube are laced is with thousands of comments from fans who believe in the rapper's "truth", and it's their support that he says keeps him going. However, Mic has one little fan that he loves more than any other. "My greatest achievement in my life so far is definitely my son, he makes me so proud. To know that I have come from someone who has no social skills to having a two-year-old child who I love, look after and care for is hands down the best thing I have ever done." As I resist the urge to literally cuddle him after his beautiful speech about fatherhood, I change the subject back to music and begin my probe into how to he hooked up his collaboration with UK singer Emeli Sandé. "I've know her [Emeli] for a very
long time, she's a good friend of mine. We are signed to the same publishing company and before she came out with [smash hit single] Heaven, we spent a lot of time in the studio working on that song and other tracks too. So I was around her whole journey and we always said that she was going to be massive and now she is." News that the MC is set to release of his first EP Open Mic on Feburary 11 has already set tongues wagging. "I don't just want my fans to enjoy my music, it is there for everyone. I want everybody to feel like they can come along for the journey and nobody needs to feel excluded. If you make music for people, the people will always respond." Open Mic is out on Feburary 11 via Naughty Words/Sony AVT To find out more about Mic Righteous visit: http://www.micrighteous.com
CHRIS BROWN:
EMELI SANDÉ:
She knocked Adele off the top of the charts with her debut album Our Version of Events and dominated the festival scene. She also got engaged.
The young talent scored his first Grammy at the start of the year before rekindling his romance with pop star Rihanna.
GOOD YEAR BAD YEAR
Dear Kat, I think that I am in love with a boy and I don’t know how to tell him. He is an amazing person and we get along, but I feel scared about getting rejected. I think he might feel the same way but there is a possibility that he could find out and run off. We have only known each other for three months, so it might seem a bit early, but from the moment we met, we had an amazing connection. I feel like I need to get it off my chest. BOBBI KRISTINA:
What should I do? Natalie, 17
The 19-year-old had to mourn the loss of her mother and icon, Whitney Houston, following her tragic death in February.
Hi Silvia, The best thing to do in any relationship is to have patience. If you tell him that you love him and you feel it’s not the right time, you may not get the outcome you hope for. It’s best to wait until you believe the feeling might be reciprocal.
BUFF
BUFF
If it is as real as you say it is, waiting it out for a while won’t do any harm. Let your bond get stronger and you might even find that he says it first.
ALEXANDRA BURKE: Following poor sales of her latest album, the star was allegedly dropped from her record label. Her footballer exboyfriend Jermaine Defoe also cheated on her.
TWEET OF THE YEAR Rihanna confirmed that she had reunited with fellow singer Chris Brown after tweeting a picture of herself sitting on his lap. She wrote:
It is easy to rush into things but true love will always prevail. Hope this helps! KELLY ROW
LAND:
Effortless, sli ck, stunning
"I dont wanna leave!!! Killed it tonight baby!!!"
CIARA: Understated, elegant, pretty
Rihanna
WIZ KHALIFA
26 THE VOICE JANUARY 3 - 9, 2013
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