EDITORIAL PUBLISHER JAMES K.B TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY CONTIBUTORS MICHAEL IVORY JAMES K.B TAYLOR GOODLOOKIN LEE EDITORIAL CONTENT AMANDA ENZO GOODLOOKIN LEE JASON BOURNE CAROLINE L.THOMPSON CONTACT US ROYALPRESSMAG1@GMAIL.COM FOLLOW ROYAL PRESS TWITTER: @ROYALPRESSMAG_ FACEBOOK.COM/ROYALPRESSMAGAZINE INSTAGRAM: @ROYALPRESSMAG
TABLE OF CONTENTS
5
ADD A LITTLE SPICE PART 1
6
BAR QUEEN
11
BITE THE APPLE
13
NAI WILLIAMS
18
THANK ME LATER
20
POETRY BY CAROLINE L. THOMPSON
“Add A Little Spice” Part 1. Hi my name is Chivon I’m a 26 yrs. old manager at Starbucks. I have a boyfriend named Harrison who I’ve been with for 3 years. We’ve been in love with him for as long as I can remember, but our sex life is pretty much non-existent lately. I feel like there’s something missing. All my life I’ve known I have an attraction for women and maybe a 3 some will spice it up a little. With much discussion he is totally ok with introducing a woman. I don’t want him to bring home any random female so it was my job to find a potential candidate. One of my regular customers at NY store always leaves me wondering. She’s 5’1, shoulder length jet black hair, beautiful green eyes, high cheek bones and these lips so voluptuous you cant help but lick your own when you look at her. She wears this black leather jacket that hugs her curves in just the right way. She is stunning in a regular kind of way. Her name is Zoe. She came in today to get her usual; I had to work the nerve to ask her. Zoe is actually my second choice, the first girl I asked backed out the same day it was supposed to happen. So much for loud and flirty girls, she got scared. Zoe always comes to the store so up beat and bubbly but gets red in the face every time I tell her “ Good Morning Doll Face”. She’s shy, I can tell. As she asked for her salted caramel latte I smiled at her and asked to speak to her for a minute. She went to pay me and I wouldn’t accept her money, instead I said let me do the honors. I clocked out for break and sat with her at her usual spot in the far corner of the store. The store was dim but not enough that you couldn’t tell she was blushing when I sat next to her, and a lovely jazz melody played in the background.
By Grace P.
BAR QUEEN
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yrical to say the least. In a manner that might surprise you once you connect the face with the bars. Hailing from The Bronx, now representing Harlem Vaygez Blakk is widely considered one of the best bar for bar on the NYC indie scene. Credited with many dope performances and a slew of freestyle tracks she has released recently, her current focus is modernizing her catalog for the new generation of listeners. Once backed by Realz Records, Vaygez Blakk has returned independently to take a seat at the throne of Hip Hop in general, male or female. Check out our exclusive sit down with her below: Royal Press Magazine: Let’s start with the name - Vaygez Blakk it is very interesting, what’s the origin? Vaygez Blakk: I knew a young man from Harlem, who lived in the area of where I used to record (Shout out to Realz Records) and he was a cartoonist. He said that he had a vision for a character that he would create and the name was Vaygez Blakk. He said it fit me well, and he would like to work on that. At that time, I was going by another name - we’ll
VAYGEZ BLAKK leave that out (giggles) but I actually liked the idea and I ran with it. It’s been a rap (PUN) ever since. Royal Press Mag: If you had to say, who is vaygez Blakk; what would the answer be? Vaygez Blakk: A woman. In all facets: a mom, a hard worker, a daughter, a sister, a friend. I just happen to be talented in writing bars that you can nod your head to. I am an individual. I don’t dance to anyone’s tune, unless it’s on my playlist. I don’t look for handouts, I don’t complain. I work. I have a past, which has inspired me to go and get everything I want in life. For my daughter and me. I am intelligent, responsible and The Bar Queen. Can’t forget that part.
VAYGEZ BLAKK
Royal Press Magazine: How far back does your love for Hip Hop go? Vaygez Blakk: A lady never reveals her age, but I will say that I grew up with the Golden era of Hip Hop. A lot of people laugh when I tell them my favorites are The Lox. I guess they expect something else. Don’t get me wrong I was Lil Kim, Foxy, Eve and all as a youngster, but them D Block boys it’s something different about their content. And I’m sure you can see by my music that’s more of the time that I am on.
Royal Press Magazine: How much opposition or obstacle have you been met with in this industry?
Vaygez Blakk: It is a reality, but I look at life as a whole. Being a black woman is a tall task, we are burdened with a lot as Queens. My experiences in life help me deal with the experience of this journey into the music industry. I take it with a grain of salt, and always ask people to refer back to the music. I think that separates me in many, if not all cases.
VAYGEZ BLAKK
VAYGEZ BLAKK Royal Press Mag: You had a series of tapes titled, What Happenz N Vaygez, talk about that period in your career: Vaygez Blakk: It was a great time. I am thankful for the entire staff at Realz Records. We are still family to this day, and we were on it pushing the brand and my music. In hindsight, there are some things I wish we could have learned sooner as a whole. Myself, included as well as other key players. It’s a learning experience, but I wouldn’t change anything. The support and effort I got was amazing. The projects to me are dope. They are like Jay’s Reasonable Doubt. You can never replace a first born. Anyone who has not heard it, need them to hit up DatPiff and check them out. Royal Press Mag: We see you took a little time off from the music; any particular reason? Vaygez Blakk: Honestly, I had to adapt to how the music game is today. I am a lyricist, no gimmick, no crutch. At a certain point it changed. The demand and sound changed. I took time off to study and do some real self-inventory to see if I fit. I was reminded along the way that true talent always has a place. At the same time, I had to respect where the game is at now
and find a way to play by the rules in a sense. I had to get used to social media, and new faces. Besides that, in real life I am an entrepreneur, I was running a business while music was at a standstill. Once that was secure, I was able to jump back in the ring. Royal Press Mag: You have been on a run with the freestyles you have been dropping, warming up the people again. What’s that the prelude to? Those freestyles make me so comfortable. Wish I could put a bed in the booth, wake up tell the engineer to put the beat on. Anybody that knows me knows I do that effortless. What you have been hearing from me is the warm up for the #BarQueen project on the way. I think along way we have another surprise for those who love to hear me go off with 32s and 48s but the ultimate goal is to drop BarQueen. Stay tuned. Royal Press Mag: What do you feel about NYC Hip Hop as it is right now, winter 2017? Vaygez Blakk: I think it is great. I’m not one of those people mad at other regions. Hip Hop is boundary-less. As long as it continues to grow it benefits all of us. But I will say the projects that we have been
getting lately Dave East, Jada and Fab, and some others have the coming year looking real good. I feel like its back to the bars - that’s my game. Royal Press Mag: When can we expect #BarQueen? Vaygez Blakk: we are about 30% in on the project. For me it was just about getting back in the studio and recording tirelessly. Not everything is album or EP worthy, some things are for sport. So we are going to continue to release, and cook as we go until we think it’s ready as the main course. I would say realistically spring 2018. Until then get those freestyles, and stay tuned in to my social media feed, there’s a lot of great content we are releasing and bringing the experience to the people direct. We are in the branding phase
Special Thanks to: Vaygez Blakk, Jason Bourne “The Plug”
VAYGEZ BLAKK
BITE THE APPLE By Amanda Enzo
Lost
Are we being too honest? I n my last column, I wrote about how important I believe honesty is in a relationship, and soon after, the honesty in my relationship was tested. I was given a choice to be completely open and honest with my lover and I did, of course… maybe a bit too much because everything that I hadn’t been saying came out in one very big, very loud argument, and let’s just say this one is unresolved … I remember growing up as a young woman, my parents both always told me that if you don’t have anything nice to say then keep it to yourself. But, a few years before that, my mother had convinced me that lying was not only wrong, that is a one-way ticket to hell where you will burn for all eternity. Since then, I have familiarized myself
with truth and decided that the life that I am living would only be shared with an honest person. And so, my life went on and at the age of eighteen, I moved to New York City to make a life for myself and follow my dreams of acting. Along the way, I met some great men; some were very nice and sweet and others were more rough and tough. But one thing that all of the men had in common that I met, they were not open to complete honesty. Now fellas, before you jump down my neck and say I’m stereotyping let me please explain. I am a die-hard romantic, which means that I think that everyone has a person or multiple people out there for them (I’m a polygamist). I was looking for love in all the wrong places and instead of getting what I wanted, I just ended up scrapping by when it came to men. Until about two years ago. I met a man who I thought loved and cared for me very much and let’s just say it turned out that he
@OG.AE Honest ≠ Harsh
••• There is a thing called being brutally honest. This means that there is a way to be honest without being a complete asshole towards the person you are trying to be honest with. If you find yourself being drowned out do to your partner’s need to be in control, then ease your partner into understanding your side. Be clear, be concise and don’t beat around the bush. But also remember that just as you like to be heard, your partner might need that reassurance and may also be trying to reach out but may not know how. Be sure to get straight to the point. Open communication is the only way to make a relationship LAST. Two months of texting all day is great until a person gets busy and doesn’t have time for you. Talk to your lover(s)! They want to learn.
BITE THE APPLE loved drugs more than he could ever love me or himself for that matter. I was absolutely devastated by what he did to me, which was something hard to admit. It took me a long time after he went to jail to understand that it wasn’t my fault and that there wasn’t anything that I could have done to stop him from destroying himself although he didn’t have to take my dignity with him. I say all of this to say that in those moments, I hadn’t been honest with myself as much as he hadn’t been honest with me. He was self-centered, arrogant and had a lot of insecurities that I tried to help him conquer and in return, just ended up being fooled. After that, I
had to be extremely cautious about who I dated and the intimate details I shared with people. I learned very fast that although I was an honest person, not everyone else was. Honesty is always the best policy but it matters very much on who you decide is worthy enough to know your information. A person that comes into your life and only wants the best for you, doesn’t degrade you, accepts you, appreciates you, adores you… that’s a person to keep and be honest with. Also, honesty should always be given with polite and kind words but in the simplest of ways. Don’t make a mountain out of a mole-hill. If you cannot remember the specificity of what made you an-
gry then it probably wasn’t that bad in the first place. So yes, over-sharing is a phrase coined for defining inter-web relations but, it is also a term that can be used to describe some of our relationships. You don’t stay married for forty-three years by keeping secrets or over-sharing. You do it by addressing problems and conflict with respect, dignity, love, and honesty.
NAI WILLIAMS
MODEL: NAI WILLIAMS OF Fashion Inspires! styled by: DEBORAH GREAR-BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY BY: MICHAEL IVORY
NAI WILLIAMS
NAI WILLIAMS
NAI WILLIAMS
Thank Me Later This month I got to sit down with Flatbush bred creatives LordVilla(@ lordvillv on Instagram) & Mr. Meach (@mrmeach on Instagram) who together form the collective Rated R. Initially the brothers were very fashion forward in their social circles them being Caribbean (Big ups to Trinidad) they became the well dressed dancing brothers. Once they were known for their dress code and moves Meach tells me one day he just started free styling to an instrumental just playing around and it was a something he had to keep doing. It was only right they do it together. Taking inspiration from 90’s boom bap and trap music they’ve created their sound to cater to people who love to turn up just as much as love to appreciate their differences. The duo have tracks together but also work on separate solo projects, they also use their brand Rated R to get creatives together to help one another. They have in house photographers, visual artists, and LordVilla models on the side. As an advocate for all things creative, I was so happy to sit down with these guys and pick their brains. They understand that creating music requires more than finding a beat a recording some good verses. They are independent artists looking to do most if not all the work only using in house connections. These two young articulate Nubian Kings are helping to remind the youth that you can be you unapologetically and it is ok. They try their best to stay away from categories with creative content they just do what they love and put it out into the universe. It was a pleasure sitting down with these guys. Spread love that’s the Brooklyn way! To hear their interview with me listen to my podcast #ThankMeLater on iTunes,SoundCloud, and Google Play. Peace x blessings- goodlookinlee_
THANK ME LATER