XO Edit No. 8 | Grace Gealey

the edit

ISBN 978-1-312-88599-8

Grace Gealey

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9 781312 885998

Š 2015 XO Magazine. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-312-88599-8

XO

the edit

Le’Keisha Sims Founder and Editor-In-Chief Jesse Ashton // West Coast Market & Multimedia Editor Natalie Baker // Graphic Designer Lola Odetola & Ashley Grace // Interns CONTRIBUTORS Cayce Campbell Shanna Fisher

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InThis

Issue

THE USUALS MUSIC FASHION RADAR

7 Editor’s Letter 5 Editor’s Picks 4 6 7 16

XO Listen #STUCKONREPEAT: Edit No. 8 Playlist Soundfile: gossling adventure time: Queens D Light

8 Label Of Love 10 iyra cisse 24 natalie dreyfuss 18 30 15 32

grace gealey #ONES2WATCH: ana coto #longread in this moment #5minuteswith: eden xo

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The XO Edit is a monthly newszine that delivers all of what of we love, none of what we don’t.

We review the past month’s happenings as well as things, people, places you might have missed. We feature submissions from creatives all around the world who share our love of visual joy.

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Welcome -to the -

Issue 3 XO EDIT welcome to the issue

XOlisten

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1

Until the Ribbon Breaks - A lesson Unlearnt

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Rae Sremmurd - SremmLife

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Emmy the Great - S

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Bjork - Vulnicura

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Death Grips - Fashion Week

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Milo Greene - Control

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Fifth Harmony - Reflection

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Night Terrors of 1927 - Everything’s Coming Up Roses

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Fall Out Boy - American Beauty / American Psycho

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Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper

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Editors Picks

Jeffrey Campbell Power Cut Leather Heel Black

Tracy Anderson TA Video Streaming Subscription

FOX Empire

5 XO EDIT editor's picks

Charlotte Tilbury The Feline Flick Kit

Halsey Room 93 EP

#STUCKONREPEAT

Playlist No. 8

1 Blessings (featuring Drake) - Big Sean 2 Loud - Gia 3 Quicksand - Bjork 4 Go - Honey The Hippie 5 Girl Pool - Chinatown 6 Like Beyonce - Lola Blanc

REPEAT

7 Minor Setback For A Major Comeback - Radio City 8Buried - Shlohmo 9 Sometimes - Heems 10 Begin Again - Purity Ring 11 Pedestrian At Best - Courtney Barnett 12 Dumb (featuring Meek Mill) - Jazmine Sullivan 13 I Don’t Mind - Twerps 14 Living For Love - Madonna 15 Tranquility - Matthew E. White

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#onestowatch

Ana Coto

Meet LA based actress and photographer Ana Coto! You might already recognize her from her breakout role as Sarah from the Michael Bay produced fright fest Ouija which came out last year. Kicking off 2015 with an appearance on IFc’s Comedy Bang Bang with Jennette McCurdy and Paul Butcher, we can expect to see Ana all over our TV and Movie screens this year! Keep up to date with all of Ana’s photography and adventures over on instagram (@ana_foto ) and Twitter (@hellocoto) and remember you saw her here first!

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LABEL O

Photography João Manuel Gonçalves Styling Sara Morais Jewelry Inês Nunes

Models Nelson Bolela João Pacheco at Blast Models Hair Carla Neiva

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Make-up Marla Make Up Artist Production Assistant Joana Santos

OF LOVE XO

This month we fell in love with Ines Duvale’s SS 15 collection entitled Karma.

This season Duvale was inspired by the concept of every action has a reaction and interprets this through the use of three circles in his SS15 collection.

Representing the movement of forces, these circles are present throughout the entire collection in the form of ear cuffs as well as printed on oversized and over relaxed jumpers. Juxtaposition and duality are both major themes of this collection as well and can be seen in the use of the monochromatic colour palette and the mix of textures all bound and brought together to become a whole.

#LONGREAD

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InThis

Moment

WORDS Le'Keisha Sims

The day started off as any

other day spent at a music festival in Texas in the middle of the summer - It started off hot. It was already 98 degrees outside and it wasn’t even noon. Still, I made my way to Mayhem Fest and it was there that I first heard In This Moment. To be honest I didn’t intend to catch their set, but I was totally captivated by their performance of the song Gunshow off of 2010’s A Starcrossed Wasteland. I had to find out who this band was! This band who with one mention of the Dallas Cowboys and a flawless performance of an “clean vocal” free track had managed to double their crowd size and create a legion of crowd surfers. From then on I was hooked. That was in 2010. Four years, a line up change, and many tours later, In This Moment have grown magnitudes. Now signed to a major, They have just released their fifth album, Black Widow, which debuted in the US Billboard 200 charts at #8 with sales of 36,000.

I chat with frontwoman Maria Brink about the band’s new album, growth and new tour.

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"Ou r crowds r ight now are really insane... they are ou r blood legion."

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Can you tell us a bit about your inspiration for this album? each release that you guys have put out revolves around some sort of narrative or idea. how did the concept for Black Widow take shape?

Maria Brink: I think that this album is definitely the more twisted sides of myself or the more darker sides of myself and I always like to put things into a metaphorical type story. So instead of just saying this is me and this is what’s going on and this is what happened, I like to kind of have a twist with it and turn it into something with my imagination combined with my past and truths.

So it’s the darker sides of me and I think also me and my road and my struggle and coming into my power and having some liberating moments in my life.

Your last album Blood, really had you guys focusing on the whole atmosphere of the album especially with your visuals, how did the album start to take shape visually for you guys?

Well, for Black Widow I always knew she or I had this black really mysterious hat and this cape and the really long nails and claws or whatever and sometimes I get these visions in my head and I’ll scout down little pictures and over a few months of time. Even when we started in the studio I kind of already had a concept of what she would look like.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process?

I usually like to write before I get into the studio but Chris isn’t a huge fan of that so we do a little bit of pre-production.

My producer has sent me a few songs and some ideas and I had some things you know loosely and some concepts that I knew I wanted to touch on. So it really starts once we get into the studio that’s when we really kind of all let go of everything going on in the big world and kind of just sink into the studio and to that magical process of coming up with, you know just we wanted this to be the best thing that we’ve done the most wildest and strongest and next level things. So we take it very seriously.

Blood was a huge departure for you in terms of your style, Black Widow really ups the ante with experimentation did you already have some ideas on where you wanted to expand musically on this album before you started to record or did these new sounds happen organically?

I knew that I wanted a bit more of an electronic side and some some drum and base to kind of make you move your head back and forth.

And I knew it was going to have a lot of some darker shades as well and I was a little nervous. I knew Kevin would be totally open to it and I was a little nervous with Chris but you know all of us together were really about following no rules and not having to keep ourselves pigeon hole to these pockets of what we have to sound like because we’re this genre of

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music and we have to do this and we didn’t want to follow any rules, we just wanted to create the best thing we could musically and that’s what we tried to keep focusing on.

Blood was also a huge departure for you guys personally it seemed you became more confident in your own skin as a band and as people. I was reading an earlier interview in which you said you went from being a girl to a woman with the album. could you touch on that a bit?

Yeah, well no I didn’t say that I went from girl to woman in that particular album.

I think that quote you’re taking is I was talking about since we started basically in our career from when I first started writing music with Chris on our first album to where we are now, and that I do really feel like musically and artistically and also just who I am and my experiences and my life and stuff that I did go from being a girl to a woman. Definitely with Blood we had these, you know everything fell apart right before we did Blood and we didn’t know if we would go on and that’s where I think that kind of “do or die, now is the time, shed your fears and you know do what you want started to happen.

And from there it just started blossoming and growing and when I just saw that this kind of freedom feeling that I was having in doing whatever I wanted with the show and performing and musically it just kept growing and growing and now it still is so just trying to really follow my instinct

and Chris and Kevin as well, I mean everybody is just trying to expand.

Speaking of visuals, you guys are currently touring Black Widow and the new live show looks amazing!

Can you tell us about what went into creating the new tour?

It took a lot of stuff I mean we were already pre planning things for the tour when we were doing the album because there was a lot of things that we had to have fabricated and hand made. Like the big web and these spider leg things that I kept envisioning and drawing out and I was having the Black Widow hats made and things like that.

So I think that it all starts then and then just even for the show itself I had to going two months early and do dance rehearsals and performance and there’s a million little tiny pieces that it takes to get to put all together.

But once you get the final product even though you’re tired or you worked really hard, it’s so worth it all when we see all the end results all happening right now.

We’re super grateful and excited about everything.

How has touring been so far? I've noticed the new crowds are insane everyone is really digging this record!

like a positive affirmation kind of blog and me kind of sharing I guess tools that I learned in my life about centering myself and the power of the mind and spirit and how we can manifest so many things with will and self-worth and love. So it’s kind of a place where I share that with them and it’s a special community that we have on there. I do like to try to share aside from the website but with the music just certain things that I had to experiences or traumatic things or you know horrible things. I think it’s a special connection that I can have with fans because some fans are going through the same thing and I can understand where they are at and how it feels but at the same time let them know that there is always light at the end of a dark tunnel.

"It's so worth it all when we see all the end results all happening r ight now."

Yeah, well our crowds right now are really insane and we are just so passionate about our fans and they are our blood legion. And we have this really special connection and you know I love to say it and it is so true but In This Moment fans really do become the show and not just come to our show. They dress up they’re in all these different Big Bad Wolf costumes and they’re in the different characters and you know they’re part of the show and having a good time and so we love them and they are the world to us.

From your Wonderland posts you’re really big on manifestations, affirmations and overall positive vibes, have these things played a huge role in your life?

Yeah they have and that’s really what the wonderland site is, it’s kind of

What were some of your favourite tracks or albums from 2014?

I am so horrible with track names; I mean this is not my thing but I love the Crosses’ album. Did that come out in 2014? I think it did, yeah. Yeah, I love the Crosses’ album.

There’s a new band called Black Mill, they’re just kind of like this atmosphere cool thing, but I don’t know if that album was 2014, yeah so I’ll say Crosses.

And lastly we all at XO have been dying to know who made your 'Sick Like Me' hat, its fabulous!

Oh my Goodness. It’s a hat maker in Las Vegas and he has been around for a really long time doing hats and I googled him and I think its D Bar J Hat Company in Las Vegas. So you can go to him and have any hat you want customized to made one of a kind and he puts your name inside of the hat and everything, so yeah it’s good quality.

You can catch In this Moment on the European leg of the Black Widow tour this Spring!

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Lyra Cisse PHOTOGRAPHY Pat Bombard Hair/MUA Spikey Love Stylist Lisbeth Cervantes Clothing Peplum Bustier Rue 114

#soundfile

Gossling Makeup Anthony Merante at Celestine Agency using MAC Cosmetics

Photography Shanna Fisher

Who Helen Croome

Hair Aaron Light at Celestine Agency for Bumble & Bumble

From Melbourne

File next to Julia Stone, Coldplay, Oh land, Lights Fun Fact Gossling originally wanted to become a soundtrack composer. "I loved writing music for horror films."

Why we Love her Gossling first caught our eye late last year with her standout debut album, Harvest Of Gold. Filled with haunting melodies and glistening, dreamy and piano heavy instrumentals that will get stuck in your head all day - we know Gossling is definitely one to watch in 2015.

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adventure time

Queens D Light

We’ve already

introduced you to MC Wunderkind Queens D Light in our last issue, now check out our full editorial that will leave you craving California’s warm sunny rays.

Spring is just around the corner embrace your inner spirit and shine this spring!

19 XO EDIT queen's d light

previous page Black t-shirt Queens own Golden Skirt Innamorato Visor I Still Love You, NYC Spiral Gold Cuff WXYZ Jewelry Other Cuff with arm up The Lab by Laura Busony

current page Jacket/Pants/Shirt/ Glasses Queens Own Necklace/Cuff (Hands) Leah Ball Rings Species By the Thousands, LHN Jewelry Cuff Aoko Su

Collar Aoko Su Rings Redwolf PDX Species by the Thousands Cuff on arm that is down Psyche Jewelry

XO EDIT // AFROPUNK

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Fur Jacket Unreal Fur Blue leather crop top Femmes d'armes Head piece Beaded Bangles Floral Shorts Harare White Platform Shoes Andrew Kayla Ring Heidi Gardner Head Piece WXYZ Jewelry

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#LONGREAD

Leather Jacket Banana Republic Wool Sweater Banana Republic Dress Olena Dats' Earrings Melissa Lovy Ring Isharya

Grace

e l a G ey

WORDS Cayce Campbell Photography Shanna Fisher Stylist Franzy Staedter Makeup Anthony Merante Hair Aaron Light

Brought up in the Cayman Islands, 30-year-old actress Grace Gealey is breaking out in a big way on Fox’s new hit series Empire. Gealey joins an all-star cast, including Academy Award Nominees Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, to tell the story of the Lyon family dynasty. The series follows Lucious Lyon (Howard), the CEO of Empire Entertainment; after he’s diagnosed with ALS it is clear that he must chose a successor in one of his three sons. Already facing a tough decision, Lucious finds himself facing a huge obstacle in the form of the recently released from prison Cookie Lyon (Henson), his ex-wife and former business partner.

Empire is full of complex, often devious characters and Gealey falls into the mix as Anika Calhoun, the head of A&R for Empire Entertainment and the current girlfriend of Lucious Lyon. Anika’s strength lies in her ability to navigate the complexities of the Lyon family as an outsider but still remain a powerful presence within the company. As one of the many fresh faces on the show, Grace Gealey gives a unique insight to the on set process as well as the importance of diversity and representation within the show.

As your series acting debut, were there any specific elements that drew you to choosing Empire as a project you wanted to be a part of?

Absolutely.With the caliber of powerhouses like Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson on board, it was a no-brainer to want to look at the project. But when you throw in the part of a high-powered executive who is intelligent, talented, tenacious and multidimensional (also a woman of color), then you have a recipe for my full attention.

Has acting always been an important part in your life or did you have other ambitions and passions when you were younger?

My desire has always been to express myself through various mediums: as a child, I danced, sang, played piano, painted, acted and so much more. As long as I was free to create, express and discover, I wanted it in my life growing up.

Because of the tremendous talent on the show, including lots of fresh, up and coming actors, what are some of the things that have most impacted you during the filming process so far?

The honesty and discipline I'm surrounded by. Everyone is such a purveyor of truth and is so present in each moment; it continues to inspire me on set.

What importance do

you find in portraying a high-powered and successful woman that is also a woman of color?

It's only more recently that we have begun to see high-powered, successful characters being played by women of color on television such as Kerry Washington, Viola Davis, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Octavia Spencer. This is such an important time to continue to shift this demographic because not only is it a more accurate portrayal of the society we live in today, but the stagnancy in these types of roles due to overwhelming stereotypes has been apparent for years. We are finally beginning to break molds and shatter generalizations when it comes to being a woman - and then also, a woman of color.

The family dynamic and power shifts play a central role to the plot of the show, what exactly does Anika bring to the table since she is an outsider to the Lyon family?

She finds her place through two channels: one being the head of A&R for the extremely lucrative Empire Enterprises and the other being Lucious Lyon's girlfriend. These two roles allow her to be a great asset in many ways: for the company she is able to discover, rear and cultivate talent which is a top priority and keeps her job from becoming obsolete. For Lucious, she's a firm foundation and a deeply rooted form of support.

She loves Lucious in a

profound way and this vulnerability is palpable and penetrating Anika is clearly at odds with Taraji P. Henson’s character Cookie Lyon because of her position in the company as well as her relationship with Lucious Lyon; how does the rivalry between these two characters shape any decisions made by Lucious? [laughs] THAT you will have to watch and see.

The fashion component to the show is cutting edge; do you feel like Anika’s style adds anything to the personality of her character?

Oh definitely. Anika's style is heavily discussed behind the scenes and goes through many forms of approval before it's decided on. Because [her style] is so specific, it definitely infuses the character on an additional level once it's in it's entirety.

Anika is sharp, chic, classy, elegant, specific, detailed, disciplined and refined. And this is always reflected in her appearance. Every time.

Hip Hop is almost a character in itself on Empire, especially with Timbaland creating music specifically for the show. Do you feel that this artistic expression adds another dimension to the intricate plot?

Without a doubt. It's not a musical in the sense that people break out into random song and dance, it is a culture where music is an art and is fully realized,

"We are finally beginning to break molds and shatter generalizations when it comes to being a woman - and then also, a woman of color ."

Dress Mac Duggal Jacket Banana Republic Earrings Isharya Pebbled Gold Ring Charles Albert

appreciated and highly regarded. It's seen as something that saves lives, creates legacies and speaks for the innermost parts of who people are. Music is absolutely one of the essential fabrics that helps to weave the heart of the story of Empire.

With such a diverse cast and Lee Daniel’s as an executive producer, do you feel any sort of pressure or responsibility with regards to increasing black representation on television today?

Truthfully, increasing black representation on television is in the hands of the network executives and teams. What I do have control over is what I exude as an artist and person and allow that to do the talking. As I craft, my goal is to deliver every time and tell the truth of my experience as a human, a woman and a person of color through my characters. I'm interested in shattering racial assumptions and stereotypes by bringing the focus to the art I create and the discipline I exhibit.

At the end of the day, how would you summarize Empire and why is it an important show for audiences to see?

GG: Empire is a show that speaks to not only the black experience but to the human experience. We highlight issues that push the envelope and we embrace being bold and risky while doing it. We address taboo topics in an honest and fearless manner and it has done nothing but continue to garner my respect for this project. There is at least one person, one experience, one situation or one event that every single person who watches will be able to relate to and connect to.

Guaranteed. If you want to be affected, if you love to be invested, if you want feel an array of emotions that will send you reeling and wanting more, then this is the show for you.

Faux Fur Jacket Faubourg Du Temple Top Endless Rose Silk Pants Banana Republic Heels Zara Earrings Isharya Ring Charles Albert

Already off to a tremendous start, Empire has received copious critical praise and stellar ratings that prompted Fox to pick up the series for a second season after just two episodes. Hopefully this will continue a trend of success in diverse representation on network television.

Be sure to watch Grace Gealey on Empire every Wednesday at 9/8c on Fox.

" As I craft, my goal is to deliver every time and tell the truth of my exper ience as a human, a woman and a person of color through my characters. I'm interested in shatter ing racial assumptions and stereotypes by br inging the focus to the art I create and the discipline I exhibit. " 27 XO EDIT grace gealey

#5minuteswith

Eden XO

Photography Rachel Thalia Fisher

Makeup Ann Benjamas Twenty-Two Makeup

Hair Anike Rabiu AKR Styles

Studio Styling Alexis Bergens

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Rebirth, evolution, a natural progression - these have been the major themes of 2014 for Eden XO. Having risen from the flames of her former project Jessie and The Toy Boys, Eden has returned with a new look and sound that fully captures who she is now in 2015. “I really wanted to create a return to fun music and the music of the era of the 70s and 80s just captured that carefree, fun vibe so we tried to recreate that. We got a lot of the same musicians who worked on songs from that time and just experimented until we got the perfect sound, that's really why I believe the vibe Too Cool To Dance gives off is authentic because who better to create that sound then the people who were there!” Too Cool To Dance, the single that everyone is

talking about since it fired up radio waves last year definitely is a fun song.

Produced by famed house music producer Fred Falke, the song is the perfect blend of disco and modern pop suited for 2015. What inspired such song? “ I was just sick of this ‘too cool for school’ attitude I would see at so many parties and clubs I had been too over the past few years - especially in LA and I was just like come on the music is great! its a party! DANCE!” 2015 is set to be a huge year for Eden with the release of her debut EP and a few more videos we can’t wait to see what tricks she has up her sleeves. You can expect a taste of new material later this month when she drops her new single The Weekend.

Natalie s s u Dreyf

Crop top + Skirt + Headband Cult Gaia Earrings Masion de Morgana

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