23 | THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012
POSTER BATTLE
KEVIN PRINCE BOATENG & MICAH RICHARDS
Misha B Hitting a Home Run Ultimatum:
Kim puts Kanye on the clock
Fact check!:
What do Mariah and Ashley Cole have in common?
24 THE VOICE OCTOBER 25 - 31, 2012
You’d never have guessed!
We highlight some interesting facts about our favourite celebs
JAY-Z: Attended Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Downtown Brooklyn, with fellow rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes
ASHLEY COLE: The Chelsea footballer is related to singer Mariah Carey. Mariah’s grandmother was a Cole before she married and came from the same area of Alabama as Ashley's ancestors
OPRAH: At age 17, Oprah won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant
The US actress is the cousin of music mogul Damon Dash
The British rapper is managed by his cousin Dumi Oburota. Together, they founded the independent label Disturbing London
The singer studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, but stopped in her fourth year
CHRIS BROWN:
HALLE BERRY:
While the X Factor singer was at school, she played football for the Manchester United under16s. Misha started singing seriously at age 14
The Monster’s Ball actress recently revealed that she is distantly related to former Alaska governor Sarah Palin
DRAKE:
JOHN BARNES:
LEONA LEWIS:
In his first TV role the rapper played the wheelchair-bound character of Jimmy. Degrassi: The Next Generation won him an array of fans
The Liverpool football legend’s grandfather was the editor of our sister paper, The Jamaica Gleaner
The X Factor winner initially trained in opera, but went on to singing jazz and blues, eventually leading to popular music
The curvaceous rapper used to be an American football star. He gained a full scholarship to go to one of the most prestigious universities, but dropped out
JADEN SMITH:
The Promise Ring singer was offered a recording contract deal when she was 10 years old
In a previous interview, Blackwood claimed that if he had not made it in show business, he would have been "a graphic designer, designing buildings"
The Fortune star taught himself to sing and dance. He was the first male artist as a lead to have his debut single top the chart since P Diddy in 1997
Tom Chigbo
TIFFANY EVANS:
RICHARD BLACKWOOD:
MISHA B:
RICK ROSS STACEY DASH:
EMELI SANDE:
TINIE TEMPAH:
The actor son of Will Smith and Jada PinkettSmith is youth ambassadors for Project Zambia, which provides assistance for Zambian children orphaned by AIDS
AS CAMBRIDGE University's first black Students' Union president, Tom faced the formidable challenge of trying to convince a student body of 20,000 of the importance of fighting for what they believed in. Among his biggest achievements was securing £35,000 of university funding for the first ever Student Advice Service in Cambridge - a feat at least nine presidents before him failed to achieve. Cambridge is no longer the only Russell Group university not to have a full time student advisor. Tom also succeeded in getting Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, to commit publicly to
voting against tuition fees when he visited Cambridge to give a talk. "Nick Clegg! You've been talking about tuition fees all this time and you want students to vote for you at this election... Will you sign this pledge to vote against an increase in tuition fees?" Tom was appointed borough organiser for Lambeth by Citizens UK in the summer of 2011. He will be working with institutions in south London to train and develop leaders, bring together community groups and establish more campaigns. * www.rarerecruitment.co.uk
ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: The Lost actor has a law degree from King’s College London and a Masters in Law from the University of London
OCTOBER 25 - 31, 2012 THE VOICE 25
X Factor star Misha B talks to YV’s Dionne Grant about bouncing back from the ITV1 show, working with Missy Elliott and touring with Nicki Minaj
S
HE CAPTURED our hearts the minute she stepped on the X Factor stage and delivered one of the most memorable auditions the ITV1 show had ever seen. Misha B, a petite, confident, yet coy, Mancunian, belted out a show-stopping rendition of
Aretha Franklin’s Respect to celebrity judges Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland, Tulisa and Louis with the ease and grace of a pro. A star had been born, and we all knew it. But her journey on the show wasn’t as smooth as we all thought it might be. She unfairly faced criticism from some
judges who claimed that her ‘backstage antics’ could jeopardise her place in the show; a comment, which rocked the star, her subsequent performances and audience support. Fast-forward 12 months and this public rigmarole seems like nothing but a distant memory. The 20-year-old, who is now
London-based, boasts a critically acclaimed mixtape, a top 20 single, a highly-anticipated debut album in the making and a best newcomer MOBO award nomination to boot. She laughs modestly when I list her tremendous achievements thus far. “My journey has been the best [since leaving the show],” the singer tells me. “And I think that’s even an understatement. I can’t believe it. God is so good, I can’t complain. I’m now working on my album, I had a song that was in the top 20 and along with that, [my first single] Home Run is still being played in America on BET. It’s my dream to have anything on there.” We catch up on the day the video for her second single, the emotionally charged ballad Do You Think of Me, is released. The mention of the video’s content, which follows the life of a father who falls into a life of alcoholism and his subsequent quest to rekindle a relationship with his estranged daughter, is a sobering one. “It’s quite a personal video. At the time I was thinking, ‘how am I going to have a song that says what I want to say in the right way?’” Misha was left in the care of her aunt and ‘biggest inspiration’ when she was a baby. Following the singer’s stint on the popular TV show, her estranged birth mother made contact with the press. However, despite such parallels, Misha, who co-wrote the song, says it has more of a “general appeal that everyone can relate to.” She says: “When I was thinking about the treatment, I wanted to put myself in everybody else’s shoes. Whenever
anybody listens to that song, I get so many people say, ‘it reminds me of my grandma that passed away’ or ‘it reminds me of my ex.’ Now seeing the video it has so many different things that people can relate to. I really wanted to convey that with the video.” She promises that her album will be a solid body of work encompassing a range of emotions, musical styles and personal experiences encountered throughout her journey. It may also feature an appearance from hip-hop star Missy Elliott who has made no secret of her desire to work with the singer. “Well, I can’t say much, but we’re hoping to get something done for the album,” this is all Misha will tell me about a possible collaboration with the US rapper many likened her to throughout her X Factor journey. She is, however, more vocal about recent news that she will support Nicki Minaj in concert later this year.
RIHANNA:
Ri Ri has scored a cool £5m to turn on the Christmas lights at Westfield Shopping centre in Stratford, east London
“With the Nicki Minaj tour, I didn’t even know this was going to be an opportunity. I’m just very blessed and grateful right now. At first I thought my management were pulling my leg, but when I saw the email, it confirmed it. And then Nicki tweeted about it,” she explains. Adding: “I’m ready to share the stage with her. I’m nervous because it’s an arena tour and Nicki’s one of the hottest stars in the world right now. I’m very excited.” And also well prepared. The starlet reveals that she is receiving tips and pointers from her former X Factor mentor and singer, Kelly Rowland who remains in contact. When talk moves to the future, she pauses: “You never know what God has in store or what is next. I’m just very blessed and grateful for right now.” Do You Think of Me is released on Nov 4 through Relentless Records
BRANDY:
The singer’s latest album, Two Eleven, was met with scores of rave reviews when it was released last week
OR BUSTED? F F U B
Dear Kat, I am ready to have a baby but all my friends are begging me not to. My ex and I broke up earlier this summer but we still talk and are trying to work things out. Before we fell out we agreed to try for a baby. I have finished university now and I don’t see the problem with us having a child. We both work and he has his own place. My friends think we are rushing into it and keep asking me to reconsider. What should I do? KEYSHIA COLE:
Carmel
Hip-hop star Gucci Mane accused the singer of sleeping with music mogul P Diddy while she was in a relationship with rapper Young Jeezy.
Hi Carmel, Thanks for your letter. No baby should intentionally be brought into the world when the relationship between its parents is rocky. It’s unfair. The addition of a baby to the most solid of foundations can make or break a couple, so what do you think it would do if the couple are not seeing eye to eye to begin with? I’m with your friends on this one and would advise you to think long and hard about the decision that you’re planning to make. A baby is for life, which to some extent, means that this guy will be in your life for just as long. Can you handle that? Wait this one out and see how you feel after some serious thought.
BUFF MEAGAN G OOD Simple, sexy , chic
IC K DI ON NE W AR W
TWEET OF THE WEEK Rapper and reality TV star Flavor Flav retweeted a fan who commented on his recent domestic violence arrest in Las Vegas.
, Fussy, overdressed unfortunate
BUSTED
KANYE WEST:
The rumour mill went into overdrive last week with tabloids claiming that Kim Kardashian has set a looming ‘deadline’ for the rapper to propose.
Flavor Flav
"Someone forgot to tell (Flavor Flav) not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."
JENNIFER LOPEZ
26 THE VOICE OCTOBER 25 - 31, 2012
ATTLE B R E T S O P
KEVIN
ATENG PRINCE BO
and MICAH
RICHARDS
VOTE NOW!! Email us at young.voices@gvmedia.co.uk or tweet us @Youngvoicesmag #YVPosterBattle