Welcome to 2012 my readers, supporters domestically and internationally. 2011 was a great year for Xposure Magazine with lots of growth and progression. This year, I plan to give you all a more interactive reading experience. Be sure to log on to http://xposure365.com to keep up with all the details about the growth of Xposure. I chose Colby Campbell as the cover story this issue because I’ve watched his career grow to new levels consistently. He is the perfect example of the entrepreneurs I plan to introduce you to throughout the year. We had a great conversation as you will be able to read, I am so very excited for what he has in store. Next on Deck features some of the best independent musical talents I’ve been watching. Just Sincere, J Young, Lamar Starzz and Mark Henry talk about what all independent artists can relate to. Once you read their features, you will fully understand the reason I featured them in this issue. Of course as always, I want to give you something to talk about and think about. The intent of all this is to motivate, inspire and introduce you to the things you will be hearing about or talking about. After all, that’s always been the mission of Xposure and I hope you are getting exactly what you expect from me as a publisher. I want to take time to thank Colby Campbell, Mark Henry, Just Sincere, Lamar Starzz, and J Young for allowing me to feature them. The best is yet to come for all of us and you the reader as well. As we enter the third year for Xposure I want to thank everyone for their support, emails, and their encouraging words. Big announcements coming soon, stay tuned. See you in March!
Until next time............................................... Goldyn P. Smith Publisher/Editor in Chief goldyn@xposure365.com Twitter - @HoneyBFlyy @XposureMagazine
Xposure Credits &Contributors
Rolando Lamb is the newest edition to Xposure Magazine check out his column on page 16. Originally from Virginia, Rolando now calls Atlanta home. Check out his Next on Deck feature on page 9 to find out more about him and his music.
Photos - Delante Murphy, Honey B, Nick Trice
Xposure Magazine is a bi - monthly magazine published on a bi monthly basis. ISSN - 2158-0421. Copyright 2009-2011. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Views expressed by writers are not necessarily the views of Xposure Magazine. We welcome and accept unsolicited materials. Materials submitted to Xposure Magazine is the person’s guarantee that submitted items are not in violation of or infringing upon the rights of others and that said materials may be reviewed and subject to critique without any third party consent. 04
In This Issue
Headliner of the issue Colby Campbell
Features Headliner - 18 Next On Deck - 8 Pre Fall Fashion- 14 Heavy Metal - 28 Love Is - 17 Currency Matters - 24
2013 Bentley GT Coupe
Suze’s New Offer 05
Iconoclasts
Miss Ross will be honored at the 2012 Grammys with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Well deserved and long overdue.
Next On Deck
J Young Coming to A Screen Near You - Music is my passion but I think acting is where I’ll end up being. I’ve done a lot of extra work like in Stomp The Yard but I also filmed this pilot for HBO with Clifton Powell. Acting is something I really want to get all the way into, but I know music comes first. Unless a great role pops up, I can do it but I’m 50% with it right now.
J, Young
Intro - My name is Jermaine Carter aka J Young The Million Dollar Kid. I do music, I act and i do several other things entertainment wise. For those who have never heard his music - I would describe it as good music, I have good club songs, real life reality songs, I also have the flashy, flamboyant songs as well. J’s definitive moment - I moved to Atlanta and was Grady High School in my senior year, freestyling at school. Everyone kept telling me how good I was and telling me to go to 107.9, I went and won the freestyle battle. I retained the tile for about two months and I had just moved here. I kept winning and that’s when I knew it was something I could do seriously, they retired me twice and then I battled a kid named Cassidy.
The last couple of years - Before my legal situation and I got locked up, I had a single called Ain’t Sh!t Changed it had a lot of buzz. Before it even peaked, that’s when I got locked up and I was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison in South Carolina. I learned a lot through the situation, it’s nobody that can help you but God. I spent a lot of time reading, writing and planning, when I got out I hit the ground running. I got into the studio asap, started shooting videos and working, all of that has been leading up to the new project I’m dropping called Before I Go Hollywood. Before I Go Hollywood - A lot of people think I’m going to be acting Hollywood and its nothing like that. It’s more so a mind state. Its like we are almost there, it like before I blow up. Its being that one hit away or that one deal away. The project is 99% done, I have one more song to record and then it’s off to get mixed and mastered. You can expect the project to be well rounded, I’m touching on a lot of subjects especially relationships. I’m getting ready to shoot a video for Rick James, and I will let the people choose the next single. For More info - You can visit http://jyoungmdk.com, follow me http:// twitter.com/JYoungMDK, http://facebook.com/JYoungMDK
The Roc The Mic tour came to town it was Jay - Z, 50 Cent, G Unit, and Missy Elliott. They had a competition and the winner of the battle got to go on tour. I ended up winning the battle so that ended up well and I have the Roc The Mic trophy.
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Mark Henry
I have been producing for years, in 2008 I was doing beat battles and Raheem Devaughn reached out to me because he was looking for producers with the hottest beats. We met up, I let him hear a few tracks. He gave me the confidence to get to where I am right now. It all started with Raheem and since then, I’ve worked with everyone on his label, Diego Cash, Joell Ortiz, Fat Joe. I started working with Wale last summer on his More About Nothing Mixtape, I produced The Breeze Cool and The MC. All about placements - I had done a lot of work with Raheem, Fat Joe, Wale, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Marsha Ambrosius, Raekwon, Vado and more and hadn’t had a placement yet. The process is a grind, you have to put in work, give out a lot of free work. I look at free mixtape work as the artist testing out your records. When it came time for Ambition, I was ready. Miami Nights - I made the track at the end of the summer, while I was in the studio working on More About Nothing and Black Cobain’s mixtape. When Wale heard it, he liked it and months went by and he hadn’t recorded it. A few months later, he hit me up and told me he recorded it and once I heard it, I knew it would crazy. I have two songs on the album and it is a big deal being my first placements. Leading up to the album’s release, I had to keep in mind a rapper like Wale records all the time. My songs could’ve gotten beaten by other songs, when I went to the store and knew I could buy the album with my songs on it - it was a great feeling. Future projects - Right now, I’m working on all of Maybach Music’s projects, I’m also working with Luda, J. Holiday, Jadakiss, Raekwon and more. A Film he would have like to scored or sound tracked - It would be Remember The Titans and Love & Basketball. There is a difference between a producer and a beat maker - A producer is able to take things to a new level and a beat maker takes tracks to the battles and is known just for composing beats. A producer knows how to format a song, can formulate ideas and guide the artist in the right direction its similar to Quincy Jones. For more information - Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/MarkHenryDC, my website http://markhenrybeats.com will be up very soon. Last words - Thank you to everyone who has been enjoying my music all of the fans and supporters. I’m working so look forward to hearing a lot of good stuff soon. 09
Next On Deck
Previous projects - It was called The Resurrection, it was my senior year in high school and the CD took 4 years to do. I went through so many different changes during that time. I sold the CD the last week of high school, I think everybody got a copy. I didn’t think everyone was going to like it, I put it out thinking it’s my senior year so I don’t care if they judge me. I actually got great feedback from it. After that, I decided it was something I needed to continue to do.
Just Sincere Introduction - I’m from Hollis, Queens originally, moved down to Atlanta in 2000. Sound - I categorize myself as reality, everything I base my music off of is my real life experiences. It’s my life, my friend’s life and i put it together to make a song. How he became Just Sincere - I sat with my father, who is one of my biggest influences; we sat and went through the dictionary. Eventually, we came across the word sincere even then I went through all the possible names. So Sincere, I Am Sincere and finally I decided to go with Just Sincere. The defining moment - My father was a rapper and DJ and now producer. I grew up watching him, going to his shows I wanted to be like him. He gave up music so he could take care of his family, I’m trying to make it for him now.
After that, I released Telekinetic Energy which was totally different for me, it’s when I began writing R&B. The next project was Grindtime, and after that was Just Musik Vol. 1. Just Musik Vol. 1 was my life from 2010 until now. I was a stepfather, just moved out of my parent’s house and I felt like I really grew up. My relationship ended and its like I went backwards in my life. The project took a while to make because I talked about all of the things going on in my life. New project - I’m working on my EP called First Impression, I just leaked a song off of the EP called Phoenix featuring Ava. It basically talks about if the world is coming to an end, what would the new beginning look like? First Impression is just me talking about people finally paying attention to me and finally getting the recognition I want. Its going to be 5 -10 songs; just to show people what I’ve got. What he knows now - I work a lot harder now and I realize the positive attention I can get from it. I wish I would’ve started back then working like I am now because I feel I would be doing so much better. Sometimes you need trial and error to get to where you need to be. I feel like I’m in a great position right now. To find out more about Just Sincere - Follow me on Twitter http://twitter. com/JustSincere, like my Facebook Fan Page http://facebook.com/ TeamJustSincere. Last words – It’s a lot going on in the world right now, stay true to yourself.
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Lamar Starzz My name is Lamar Starzz, from Rochester, NY. I’ve been doing music for about 8 years, I left Rochester about 5 months ago came to Atlanta and met Sean Garrett. I was signed to his label and we’re here now. Lamar’s definitive moment – It’s the feeling I get, I’ve had a few jobs and wherever I was I was always singing. I love the fact that God has blessed me with a voice to where I don’t have to talk, I can just sing and capture someone’s emotion. I love the effect music has on people, it can make a person happy, hype, want to dance, love or cry. Lamar’s sound - I grew up I the hood, raised by an independent mother and I had to grow up fast. When it comes to music, I really like doing hood anthems and relating to people in the hood still struggling. I also like doing pop music that people can dance to, I can do ballads. I have a song called I Can Fix It that has gotten a lot of feedback and people really pour their hearts out to me with that song. I really don’t want to put myself in one lane, I want to keep things versatile. The story behind I Can Fix It - I was in a relationship and we were having our ups and downs and at the time we were not together. I was in the studio and heard the song and the lyrics just poured out of me. I started to think about how her heart was broken before I came into the picture. I felt like I needed to fix the issues and I could take care of it, if given the chance. Iono ft. CyHi The Prynce - With the concept of this song, a lot of people don’t want to see other people succeed so I put that into a song. Shoutout to G.O.O.D Music and CyHi he did his thing with the verse. He looked out for me and I appreciate the love. Sean Garrett’s influence - I met Sean the first time in my hometown, I opened up for him. I had been following his career especially after seeing the hits he’s written. He came back to my hometown about 8 months ago, I told him I was a singer/songwriter and gave him my CD. I didn’t get a phone call but I believe in 3 things - prayer, faith and a vision. If you’ve got those three things, you can do what you want to do. I packed my truck, drove 17 hours here to Atlanta, found a place here and I ran into him again. A friend of mine told me he was going to let his friend hear some of my music it got to Sean’s engineer who played it for him. Sean setup a meeting for the next day, I walk in and he recognized me. I sung for him and played him some of my records, the next day he called telling me he wanted to sign me to his label. I write about 85% of my music, Sean pushes me and believes in me a lot. He’s hard on me but it’s because he sees the potential in me and I’m very grateful for that. What Lamar knows now - I wish I would’ve known there were so many politics, before you get into the entertainment industry you’re on the outside looking in. Its not as sweet as everyone thinks it is, it’s a lot of ups and downs just like life. It’s a lot of hard work that goes into it, a lot of arguments, good times and politics. You have to have a lot of confidence in yourself and determination to get to where you want to be. For more info -You can follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/LamarStarzz Last words - I just want to encourage everybody who has a dream and show them it can come true. This is just the beginning for me and I’m grateful to be where I am right now. I want to make great music that everyone can relate to. As long as you work hard and put your mind to whatever you want to do in life; you will be successful. My name is Lamar Starzz, I’m a God fearing man and I believe in prayer, faith and vision. If you believe the same things, you can get to where you want to be in life. 11
Ciao Bella
At long last, Spring has arrived! Here arre some of the colors you will see on your favorite celebrities. Grab them now as you get ready for the mild weather and cute colors to obsess about!
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Haute Plate Pre Fall 2012
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Its that time of the year when the fashion houses release the pre fall looks for the year. Here are some of our favorites. Page to the left: 1st Row - Alexander Wang 2nd Row - Chanel 3rd Row - Giorgio Armani This page: 1st Row - Giorgio Armani 2nd and 3rd Row - Lanvin
Haute Plate
If you watched Life In The Fab Lane last season, you already know a little about Shinto Clinical. Making its debut this spring, Kimora tells WWD “This line is about their Eastern allure of diet and beautiful skin. It’s based on cultures that live from the sea,” she said, ticking a list of ingredients such as fish oil, pearl powder, omegas, beta glucan, mushroom and Wakame kelp extract. “The Western [influence] is the medicine, the efficacy, the delivery and the clinical results. That’s why we call this Shinto Clinical; this is really a clinical range.” Shinto means “of the gods,” she noted. The line will make its debut on QVC on Feb. 24 and the retail rollout will start in late February and early March, consisting initially of Nordstrom and Fred Segal plus the Shopping Channel in Canada.
Lil Wayne held a release party for his new clothing line Trukfit. Wayne tells WWD the meaning of the name The Reason You Kill For It. It’s a line consisting of T shirts and hats with different mottos like Respect Few, Trust None. Retailers are Karmaloop and Zumiez, check out the website for more information http://www.trukfit.com/.
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What if Love was one of us? What if Love was one of us? What would He look like? How would He talk? How would He treat those around Him? How would we feel about Him if we met Him? How would He live? Would He even be a He? What if Love was one of us? Love is the greatest power source in the universe. Love will make the strongest man falter. Love will make the smallest man a giant. Love is life-changing. The human manifestation of Love would be the most powerful being in the universe. Love would have an answer for each and every situation. There would be no circumstance that could not and would not be overcome. Love never fails. It would be physically impossible for Love to lose. Love would be beautiful. Their beauty would radiate from their inner most being. It would be so bright that we would see their appearance through the light that is love. And it would change us and how we view them and others around us. Love would see past our exterior postures and focus on what really matters. What really matters is our hearts. Love would see our hearts and nothing else would matter. Love would see our joys and our pains, our courage and our fears. All would be laid bare before them. And we would welcome it. The freedom to express ourselves with nothing held back. We would relish in that. It’s scary at first but that’s what we all are searching for. We yearn for the opportunity to freely give ourselves, without our inadequacies hindering us. Love would care. Love would heal. Love would find the imperfections and desire to see us healed. Love wouldn’t rest until all was made right. Even if we fought, they wouldn’t quit. They would continue to encourage and strengthen. Love never fails because Love would never quit. To quit would be to say there is no hope. Love travels with faith and knows hope far too well to believe that. Love would never hold these hurts and imperfections against us. Love sees us for what we could be not what we are at this moment. What does this mean for all of us? What if we decided to impersonate Love? What if we made the conscience decision to be Love to each and every person we meet? What kind of impact could we have on the culture? If we commit to Love we commit to the world around us. No longer could we be consumed with our own issues because the world has too much happening for us to be worried and only focused on ourselves. The world needs Love. The world needs us to be Love. Love is powerless unless we learn to live it out in a practical way. I encourage you to be Love to those around you. I encourage you to not only act like Love but to make Love who you are. We need you. I need you to be Love. I need you to see the best in me. I need you to see the beauty inside of me when I feel ugly. I need you to see my strength when my weaknesses are apparent. That’s true love and that’s what I am searching for. That’s what this world is waiting for. We are waiting for you!
Grace and Love, RoLando
Headliner
Colby Camobell My name is Colby Campbell also known as Mr. Plush. I own Plush Blue Entertainment, an entertainment Company that produces celebrity events all over the country. We also have a booking agency, I’m also the brand ambassador for X Rated Fusion. How Colby became Mr. Plush - I started in high school, I started a company called C30. The name was because it was me, two guys named Corey and my current business partner now Omar. It was a simple, unique name. I moved on to college, my parties became super huge and that’s when I formed Plush Blue Entertainment. We define Plush Blue Entertainment as the luxurious, sexy lifestyle. It’s the lifestyle we live, and it’s the atmosphere and experience we want to provide to those who attend our events. What’s in a name? - Plush Blue is the lifestyle, blue is my favorite color, it’s a calm feeling and a nice ambient color. It symbolizes everything we consider to be sexy, plush means luxurious. It makes perfect sense and it’s a unique name. Colby’s definitive moment - When I was a kid, I was an artist, seeing my creation come to life has always thrilled me. When I was in college and saw how people gravitated to me, I started to grow more charisma and my parties became more successful. When I started seeing how big my parties were, I wanted to define my niche. I wanted to provide parties for the people who were picky who still wanted to have a good time. Colby’s favorite events - I like doing a lot of private mansion parties, I did one for Kobe Bryant. I’ve done two for Tyrese, a couple for Lil Wayne, one for Kim Kardashian. To be the first to bring Kim Kardashian, Chris Brown, Amber Rose to Atlanta is great. I’ve done a lot of events and they have all been great. My favorite events are smaller, exclusive events with super VIPs - executives and presidents with 300 of the right people. Small parties are good because of the sponsors, the bigger parties are the bigger money makers. Weekly events in the city - I have Vanquish on Thursdays and I do private penthouse parties in the city. I do a lot of special events here and there. I used to do an event on Wednesdays at The Royal and I feel it created the trend of lounge parties here in Atlanta. 18
We used to have all kinds of stars in attendance. Jeezy and JD used to be there every week and one night it was Jeezy, Jermaine Dupri, Terrence Howard, Chris Tucker, and Evan Ross. It used to be like that every week. Typical day- I workout, spend a little time to myself. I have a lot of meetings during the day to plan for the next event. I do collaborate with other promoters from time to time so that consists of more meetings. I like to go hang out, smoke hookah, jet ski in the summer.
of celebrities all over. That’s the advantage we have over everyone else. Any companies or promoters who want to book celebrities for appearances or anything they can call us and we will give them a great deal. With us, you know it’s accurate, you see the celebrities with us in photos and videos.
What makes a great party promoter - Someone with charisma and who’s genuine, it has to be in their heart. You have to be in it for the right reason, some people are in it for power, chasing women etc. If that’s your reason, you won’t be doing it very long, if it’s really in your heart you will be successful.
For more information - My Twitter is http://twitter.com/MrPlush, my partner’s is http://twitter.com/SlimofPlushBlue. We have a heavy presence on Google.
XRated Fusion - I was working with the whole Diageo brand, did a couple of events for Crown Royal with Jill Scott. After the event, the buzz started going around that I could be a valuable asset to the Diageo brand. I started working with the Don Julio brand which went extremely well. Kenny Burns introduced me to the people at XRated and they were excited to put me on the team and we went from there. I’m a key influencer, branding consultant, brand ambassador, and I handle marketing and putting them into the position to be visible in a different light. I line them up with celebrities, executives and key influencers around the world. What keeps Colby motivated - The idea of success and the idea of not failing. What Colby wants to accomplish next - I want to own several lounges around the country, its my ultimate goal. I want to own commercial and residential real estate and doing concert tours all around the world. I may do a concert from time to time but not tours like AEG and Live Nation, that’s the goal. It keeps me excited, putting some of the biggest parties all over the world. Plush Blue Entertainment’s Booking Firm - Omar White is my partner, we have personal relationships with tons
What’s next? - I have a marketing firm I’m getting ready to launch. We are re launching Plush Blue with new nights, website and overall look. We are expanding, bringing in more interns, hiring more employees. There are a few things we are working on right now.
What he likes the most - What I like most about what I do is I’m free to do what I want to do. I like to watch my creativity come to life and watch it become magical. I like to prove to myself each and every time. It’s like what Walt Disney said “You can fail at something 999 times and you succeed that 1000th time, you never really failed - you just found 999 ways to not do what you were trying to do. That’s how I look at life and this business I’m in - every move I make is never failure it’s knowing what’s exciting for me. What he likes the least - What I like the least about what I do is when you are in the limelight so much you may not want to be bothered. People ask for things all the time and you know everyone is not genuine, you have to be robotic at times. Sometimes, you would not like to be in the limelight but it’s the price you pay. A wise man told me you can have a million friends who will help you get to the top, and will pull the carpet from under you - they are not really friends. Those are the things you experience so it’s best to keep your circle extremely small. Last words - My best advice is if it’s your vision, follow your vision because no one else could see your vision. If I asked you how tall a tree could grow, you would say as tall as it could grow. If I asked you how tall a person could grow, you would say as tall as the person could grow. I would say the reason why people don’t grow is because of the dark shadows, that blocks their light. Those dark shadows can be doubt or negativity from other people around you. Make sure you always find that light and stay focused at all times. When you deal with a lot of different people, they all want to latch on to you for something. You always have to stay focused on your vision and stay positive.
Visivo
Nominations will be announced January 24 for the 84th Academy Awards. We really hope Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, George Clooney get nominations for this year’s awards. On Oscar Sunday, February 26, Oscar.com will have live cameras strategically placed everywhere from the red carpet to backstage, and even the Governors Ball, providing the ultimate insiders view before, during and after the show. The cameras will broadcast online, as well as on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. “Oscar.com is for the movie fan in all of us,” said Christina Kounelias, chief marketing officer, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “The site not only allows us to share the latest Oscar news, but also connects fans everywhere with 84 years of unforgettable Academy moments.” Ceremony airs live February 26, 2012.
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Jet Set
Starting January 26, brand new airfare rules will take effect. New rules from the U.S. Transportation Department will require that advertised prices include taxes and mandatory fees. Currently, airlines just have to note that other charges apply, and provide a link or footnote to the details. Spirit Airlines, Southwest and others are fighting the government in court, hoping to stop the rule, but a decision in that case isn’t expected until after the rule takes effect. Transportation Department officials have been cracking down on airlines that, from their perspective, failed to make it clear enough that extra taxes and fees would be added to the advertised price. The new rules will only require disclosure of government levies for things such as security and airport improvements. They won’t include the proliferating airline fees for checking bags, getting an assigned seat and other items. Those must be listed somewhere on an airline’s website, but the Transportation Department this week delayed whether to require more prominent disclosure. Starting January 24 before the advertising changes kick in, several other new rules delayed from last year will also take effect, including a ban on airlines raising fares for tickets already sold.
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Allure
Christian Dior announced Mila Kunis as their new spokesperson. Starting with the Spring/Summer collection, more shots will become public January 15. Dior’s Delphine Arnault said in a statement “Mila Kunis is a very talented young actress; she embodies the true modern woman. Her performance in Black Swan was remarkable. She is very gifted.” Check out a few of the shots Mikael Jansson shot for the new campaign below.
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Currency Matters
Finance guru Suze Orman launched her new debit card to the masses this week. The Approved card will cost cardholders $3 for the card and $3 per month. Some of the perks of the card include unlimited Allpoint ATM withdrawals, free credit report monitoring and reports from TransUnion. Suze tells MSNBC “I decided to create The Approved card after I heard from so many people who were being taken advantage of by the tricks and traps of the banking industry. I want to help people who need a low-cost alternative to what’s out there, and who want to manage their money responsibly.” The Approved card has already had its critics due to the fees associated with the card for things like paper statements, card replacement, speaking with customer service. Ultimately, the consumer has to decide if the perks outweigh the fees. To find out more, visit www. theapprovedcard.com.
Heavy Metal
Meet your new obsession – the all new 2013 Bentley GT Coupe. This car is nothing short of what we have come to expect from the great design team at Bentley, Enough talk here is everything you need to know: ESTIMATED BASE PRICE: $176,000 ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection Power: 500 hp @ 6000 rpm TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode PERFORMANCE (C/D EST): Zero to 60 mph: 4.6 sec Zero to 100 mph: 11.5 sec Standing ¼-mile: 13.0 sec Top speed: 185 mph FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST): EPA city/hwy driving: 17/26 mpg 28