British Music Experience

So I went to get an exclusive sneek peek of the British Music Experience exhibition at the O2 in Greenwich yesterday (Weds 4th March) and I have to say it's definitely worth a visit. It is essentially a look at the history of music in Britain, from all the way back in the 1940s to the present day and it features a full and extensive timeline and information on all of the different music movements from skiffle, to breakbeat, to pop, to rock, to hip hop, to rnb, to garage. The exhibition officially opens to the public on Monday 9th March, and is held in the top floor of the O2 bubble. In addition to the features I just mentioned, there are tons of interactive features including the Gibson Interative Studio which is a room where you can learn how to play instruments from the guitar to the piano to the drums to a personal favourite of mine, Hey Mr DJ, which is essentially a duke box with tracks dating back to the 60's.

Check out some of the biiiiig tunes I came across whilst using this feature ....

And these were just a few of the tracks that I heard that day thanks to an extremely friendly member of staff who was bubbling along to the music with me in the middle of the exhibition. What? What can I say? The music can take hold of you in the most random of places

SIZZLA KALONJI!

The following interview was carried out on behalf of Flavour magazine and will feature in the upcoming issue of Flavour magazine. For further information visit www.flavourmag.co.uk

Born Miguel Collins on 17 April, 1976 and raised in the ghetto community of August Town, St Mary by devout Rastafarian parents, the now 33-year-old man better known by his stage name Sizzla, is yet another prime example that anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it. Having experienced extreme hardship throughout his younger years, Sizzla is now considered to be one of the most prolific leaders of the conscious Reggae/ Dancehall movement.
I caught up with the Raggae/ Dancehall legend for an inspirational talk in light of his forthcoming album release, ‘Ghetto Youth-ology’.

1. How did the stage name Sizzla Kalonji come about?

Sizzla: That name come about based upon the attitudes people have of youths growing up in the ghetto. The youth got that feel for the music, that energy, that fire, and they just want to express themselves and be a part of the music and feel that vibe. Mr. Harris (jamstyle producer and mentor) is who called me Sizzla because he thought I was just too hot!

2. What types of things did you experience as a child growing up in the ghetto?

Sizzla: A whole lot of things. I seen my friends being killed, people suffering, people dying, people catching diseases, poverty, political warfare, and parents who can hardly find a good night’s dinner for their kids.

3. How did you succeed in your pursuit of your music career where others have failed?

Sizzla: Perseverance. You’ve got to be educated about what you want to do, about where you’re going, and about the music in general. So I really studied the music industry. I watched television and listened to a lot of icons like Bob Marley and all of the great icons. I knew early on that music was where I wanted to push my energy, so I started to go to live sound systems and working night and day in different communities. This is how people started to hear about me and they started loving my style and I started getting that confidence and that conviction. From there it just propelled!

4. You are an inspiration to many, growing up who were your inspirations?

Sizzla: My inspiration is from the most almighty, the Rastafari, creator of Heaven and Earth. And then my whole environment and experiences, and people around me like my friends and family and people in the music industry like Baby Sham also gave me a lot of inspiration.

5. Now that you are in a position to do so, in what ways do you give back to your community?

Sizzla: We keep concerts and we help out the school by paying the school fees, light bills and water bills. Then we have a number of community projects to help educate people and we belong to a lot of institutions who come together and we try to come up with solutions to the problems we see. So we do a lot in the community.

6. What can fans expect from your forthcoming album ‘Ghetto Youth-ology’?

Sizzla: More righteousness, more love, more life, more vibes, more Rastaman inspiration, more nice lyrics, more melody and a beautiful album to comfort the soul and help you see through the problems of today. Rastafari! More Love!

7. What is the reason for your album being entitled Ghetto Youth-ology?

Sizzla: The reason for the album is for the youth to have a better insight in their life, to see the world and see what’s happening presently. This album is for the youths to give them strength, to let them know that education is the key, to clear up all the corruption and to just look towards the future, heads high and just praise the almighty and believe in yourself and know that you can make it.

8. Your current single, ‘Black Man in the White House’ is obviously about Mr. Barack Obama. Do you believe that Obama will be able to solve the problems that deprived youths face?

Sizzla: The problems people face were present way before Obama, but we just hope and pray that someone with a good heart has the people’s best interests in mind, and knows that the family is the basic unit of society and so you’ve got to keep the family together and let them get a good wellbeing. But the Government system has been corrupt from way, way, way before now, and because of the lack of resources and activities, a lot of people turn to drugs and guns and all other negative activities. We just hope and pray that Obama can be an inspiration to the youth and try to make things a little better for them.

9. How does it feel to be considered as one of the Dancehall greats?

Sizzla: It feels good. It’s honourable to know that you are accepted and recognised. That’s what we have been working for, not just to be physically recognised, but for our work to be recognised.

10. What key messages do you want people to take away from your music?

Sizzla: That is love, help one another, live good, share and be kind. Love is the only thing, there is nothing else Rastafari! Continue in your education, educate yourself, educate your family, and help those that are not educated.

11. Why do you use your music as a vehicle for your positive messages?

Sizzla: That is Reggae, that is Rastafari, that is our culture, that’s our life, that’s the way we life, and we bring it all out in the music.

12. You have been releasing good music since the 90’s why do you think you are still amongst the top artists in the Raggae/ Dancehall game?

Sizzla: Because I think I’m uplifting the spirits of people and enlightening the youth of the world. People want you to keep providing them with righteousness, and this is what I do so this is why I think the people continue to like my music.

Ghetto Youth-ology will be the fourth album to be released on Sizzla’s independent label, Kalonji Records and is produced by the Firehouse Crew. The album will be in stores nationwide on April 21st.

Words by Susanne Singh

Michael Keith (Formerly 112) Interview

Hardworking and passionate, since then his untimely departure from Atlanta Georgia based RnB quartet 112, Michael Keith has been working on his career as a solo artist. Promising to offer the same high standard RnB that fans worldwide came to associate with 112, but with an added hint of individuality that couldn’t be accessed before, Michael has now released his debut album.
Ambitious Heights caught up with Michael to talk about his self-entitled debut album, leaving 112 and being a rock slut!

1. For those that don’t know, how did 112 come about?

Michael Keith: We all lived in the same neighbourhood growing up and we went to the same school and realised we had a natural connection and an affinity for music. We started building our name doing talent shows in Atlanta Georgia and winning them, and we finally met our manager who introduced us to Puff and we became 112 at that point.

2. How did 112 sign to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Bad Boy record label?

Michael Keith: Basically Puffy gave us an opportunity that nobody else was willing to give us at the time. Puff was serious about 112 and wanted to sign us as soon as we met him, so we were ready to rock and roll.

3. If you had never became an RnB singer is there another career path that you would have followed?

Michael Keith: I’d probably be out selling drugs. It’s that real. The people that grew up in my neighbourhood didn’t really have too many options, you either played sports, you were a musician, you tried to rhyme or you sold dope. I was fortunate enough to have people that believed in me.

4. Do you think Obama’s appointment will change that, and present more opportunities for the unfortunate?

Michael Keith: Absolutely, I feel like him being the President has opened up a lot of people’s minds and hearts. The mind set over here in the States is that we were always second class citizens and now for the first time it’s like we can say ‘I’m a part of this country’. It really speaks volumes to the nation about how well we have evolved as a whole. I’m very proud as an African American because we’re more than just rappers, we’re more than just athletes, we’re more than just singers, we’re also politicians, we’re also leaders, we’re just as much a part of this world as anybody else.

5. I read that you have an operatic musical background, what is the story behind this?

Michael Keith: The story behind that is really crazy, like I said I grew up in one of the worst areas of Atlanta Georgia and I grew up in one of the hardest schools in the district, so opera is the last thing that anybody would have thought would have come out of a kid from there. But I used to watch Tom and Jerry as a child and they always used to have operatic songs in the background so I’d always sing it. One day when I was singing in school, my music teacher who was operatically trained pulled me aside and she wanted me to start training under her. I tried everything I could to avoid her, because I wasn’t ready for the backlash I’d get from my homeboys but she made sure I didn’t waste my potential.

6. Do you feel that this has influenced your music throughout the years?

Michael Keith: Yeah, I mean I always loved listening to classical music growing up, but I just never thought I could apply it to anything. I have a song on my album entitled ‘Off Up In His Bedroom’ and if you listen to it, you’ll hear that its very operatic and that’s all me, it’s not a sample, it’s not Pavarotti, it’s all me, and it’s definitely influenced the music.

7. Which artists inspired you?

Michael Keith: Kurt Cobaine from Nirvana. In terms of RnB it’d be pretty much the ones that everyone says, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Donnie Hathaway, James Brown, Michael Jackson, but I think my writing style, ability to sign and my production skills started from the rock side of things. I’m such a dichotomy it’s ridiculous, because I sing RnB and I have a real soulful, gospel voice, but I grew up listening to rock music.

8. So what stopped you from becoming a rock singer?

Michael Keith: My colour. There’s only one Lenny Kravitz man, you know what I mean. We haven’t evolved enough in my opinion to expand on that type of music though it’s getting better. I definitely want to expand and be more of a universal artist, so if that means being called rock or pop I have no problems with that.

9. Do you have a favourite 112 song?

Michael Keith: I would have to say Cupid is my favourite 112 song.

10. 112 is often directly compared to Jagged Edge, what do you think of this comparison?

Michael Keith: They were fair comparisons because Jagged Edge and 112 at the time were the only groups that were out there doing something and we pretty much grew up around each other. I respect their craft and they put some great records out there, but if I had to choose between 112 and Jagged Edge I would say 112 all day long.

11. You left 112 in 2007, now I must ask, there was a rumour about a publishing cheque, can you tell me about that?

Michael Keith: Yeah absolutely. One of the main reasons why I had to leave and go do my own solo thing was because there were some discrepancies about a publishing cheque that was meant for Slim and myself. Basically Daron and Q felt like they were entitled to more of the money. Overall I felt like we had done so much as a unit that there shouldn’t have been a discrepancy with the cheque to begin with!

12. So what made them think they had more rights to it?

Michael Keith: In the beginning under the philosophy that neither one of us would be where we were if it wasn’t for the other person we would split everything four ways, regardless of who did what and we signed a contract to this effect. In the beginning when everything was even keel it was cool. But once everyone started branching off and doing songs outside of the group and producing outside of the group that’s when the discrepancy started.

13. Are there any plans to get back together for a follow up album to Pleasure and Pain?

Michael Keith: I’m going to be honest with you and say I’ve grown and lived long enough to never say never, so if that was to happen in the future I will welcome it under the right circumstances. I never felt like we had accomplished all that we could have, but right now I’m so focused on my solo project and everybody else, from what I know is focusing on theirs, so I don’t see it happening in the near future.

14. Other members of the band are also working on solo projects, would you ever consider collaborating with any of them in the future?

Michael Keith: Absolutely! Like I said this is a business and one of the main things that prohibits us from being like Bill Gates or Donald Trump is that we have an inability to work with somebody that we may disagree with. I have a tonne of disagreements with Daron, Q and Slim, but I can look past all that as a businessman to talk about what’s going to make the 112 brand and our solo projects bigger and better. I can definitely see myself working with the others, but it’s a four-way street.

15. You recently released your debut solo album, what can we expect from it?

Michael Keith: You can expect pretty much my soul and pretty much everything I’ve wanted to say for the past 13 years as a member of 112 and as a solo artist. This is something which is from the heart. My album is basically an album full of questions that I feel we as a people are too afraid to talk about, like why does love hurt or why is it that I love a girl who is promiscuous. Then I have a song on my album entitled ‘Father’ that Daron helped me to write, and I’m talking about the fact that like so many people I grew up without a father. So if anything I feel like the album could be a learning tool for people who have the same kind of questions that I have had through my life, because despite the fact that I’ve been successful, I still go through the same issues as everybody else.

16. Are there any tracks that you particularly like from the album?

Michael Keith: Each one of the songs represents me at a particular point in my life. So the first song is an emotion, the second song is an emotion and so on. So tomorrow you might ask me which is my favourite and I would say ‘Love’ and then the next day I’d say ‘Off Up In His Bedroom’ because that would be how I was feeling at that time. The album only has 11 songs for the specific reason that I didn’t want to extend on who I really was to just try and sell a record, but there is so much depth to it.

17. How have you found being on an independent label?

Michael Keith: It’s fun. I have more creative freedom, I know exactly where my money is going when it’s sent out which is definitely a good thing and I don’t have to go through the middle man. I don’t have to go through the A & R, I don’t have to listen to this executive and that executive, I am the executive along with my manager/ label head Carlo Farina, and so we just do what we feel.

18. Has the response to your debut album been what you expected?

Michael Keith: It’s been more than what I expected. I actually thought I was going to get more of a mixed review about the album, but from all the reviews that I got about the album, everybody loves it. I haven’t got one negative review, so I’m just really excited. The more I do interviews and radio the more people are going to hear about this album, so I’m really proud of myself.

19. How are you finding being a solo artist?

Michael Keith: Its weird, because if something goes wrong, its my fault, I can’t blame it on somebody else, but at the same time if everything is successful then that’s me too. For years I have been saying that I need to figure out who I am as a musician and becoming a solo artist has really given me that freedom.

20. How is your style as a solo artist different to 112’s style?

Michael Keith: Well I’m singing more! I think that’s the biggest difference. I’m a lot freer as Michael Keith as opposed to Mike from 112. I’ve introduced rock and operatic themes into my album which are genres I really enjoyed growing up but I couldn’t really experiment with them in 112 because we had a particular sound that people were accustomed to.

21. Describe Michael Keith’s musical style in three words?

Michael Keith: Soulful, eclectic and legendary.

22.What inspires your music & lyrics?

Michael Keith: I’m a big rock music dude. Since my first introduction to Nirvana in 1991 I’ve been a total rock slut. I just love the freedom that those guys portray in their music. We have so many confines in the RnB world, where you can only talk about love or how fly your clothes are.

23. What do you think of the state of RnB today?

Michael Keith: With the exception of maybe Kanye, Will-i-am and Timbaland, everybody else is just cookie cutter and it drives me crazy because we are so much more brilliant and so much more evolved than we are portrayed. As artists, we’re stuck in a catch 22 because the record labels want you to be an artist that sounds like everybody else, and being the ones that hold the cheques, artists pretty much have to do as they say. This was something that I had a real issue with because 112 had always been at the forefront of music and I just can’t see myself being anything else other than a trendsetter.

24. Back when Bad Boy came out, were there as many rules then?

Michael Keith: We had a lot more freedom as opposed to what’s going on with Bad Boy right now, because we were all just learning as we went along, and everybody started from the ground up. There are a lot more opportunities now, but there was a lot more freedom back then because everyone was just grinding. Now we can’t really give the new cats the freedom that we had because their coming into a situation that’s already built.

25. Are you familiar with any British artists that you like the sound of?

Michael Keith: I’m familiar with Dido, I love Dido. Everyone is familiar with Amy Whinehouse. I’m a big Sting fan because I’m old school. I’m a fan of Craig David, I loved his first album, and then Floetry. Them girls are incredible, I’ve seen them live and oh my God. Also I have to mention Oasis and Coldplay.

26. What’s next on the agenda for you?

Michael Keith: Just making sure that the world understands that Michael Keith is here to stay. You know how 112 did it and with me you can’t expect anything else.

27. Would you ever consider managing your own band?

Michael Keith: No. 112 was a special breed. A situation like that only comes around once in a lifetime for an individual, and there will never be another 112, or another New Edition, Boyz II Men or Jodeci. So as far as I’m concerned I couldn’t do it because if they couldn’t do a tenth of what we were able to do, then I’d be disappointed. I’m always going to have what we achieved as my bar and if you can’t live up to that then I can’t work with you.

Visit http://www.michaelkeithonline.com/ to buy a copy of Michael’s debut album.

Words by Susanne Singh

Recordkingz - 'Heavyweight' album review

Nurturing a vinyl addiction since the age of 10, manifesting as the link between some of the hottest producers such as Just Blaze (Rocafella), Alchemist (G-Unit) and Havoc (Mobb Deep) and officially the first UK artist-producer to garner widespread acclaim and support with the release of landmark LP, ‘The Weight’ in 2000, Juliano ‘Recordkingz’ Creator is back with his long-awaited sequel, ‘Heavyweight’. Littered with contributions from big in the hip hop game artists such as Mobb Deep, The Beatnuts, Little Brother, Aftermath’s Joell Ortiz and Bad Boy’s Assim to name but a few, and doused with the very rare breaks and loops Juliano himself sourced, it would seem that the album title is not a far cry from the truth.

Would you expect anything less from the founder of http://www.recordkingz.com/, the leading source of rare records for collectors and producers alike, and an individual who not only surrounded himself with, but was also well respected by the likes of Funkmaster Flex, DJ Spinna and Stretch Armstrong? If you did, you need to become better acquainted with Google.

‘Heavyweight’ is a compilation of all of Recordkingz favourite artists who he has met and worked with over the years. When opportunities to record came up, Recordkingz would hit the road running with a bag of beats, the end result being tracks like ‘Rock Ya Shoulders’ featuring The Beatnuts recorded in London, ‘Heat’ featuring Mobb Deep recorded in Paris, ‘Take A Walk’ featuring Joell Ortiz recorded in New York, ‘Playin’ To Lose’ featuring Little Brother recorded in LA and ‘Hip-Hop Throwback’ featuring Guilty Simpson recorded in Detroit.

With a healthy 18 track playlist featuring exclusive hit after exclusive hit, in true hip hop fashion, ‘Heavyweight’ features 4 skits, one being the intro, ‘The Heavyweight Muthaf**ka’ which introduces ‘that fat ba****d yet to be mastered’ Juliano Creator in all his glory. From there on out, the listener is treated to head bopping beat after head bopping beat (without which a hip hop album would be lost), many permeated with an obvious old skool, rare groove, gangster vibe, and paired off with some perfectly delivered hip hop lyrics working to fully reinforce the album title.

A fan of Mobb Deep, my favourite track has to be ‘The Heat’, which in true Mobb Deep fashion delivers the ‘realest’ talk about just how hard they really are. However, covering all topics essential to a hip hop album; money, drama, street life and illegal substances, ‘Heavyweight’ presents all of the featured artists, established and upcoming, on one equally impressive platform, the common link being Juliano Creator’s innovative production.

Truly international in its nature, all in all, I predict that ‘Heavyweight’ will bring the quality of many a hip hop listener’s album shelf up a notch or two and be a notably welcome addition to the collection of anyone who can appreciate good music. Delivering pure enjoyment from intro to end, the fact that Juliano is representing the UK is a very good look.

Words by Susanne Singh

Be sure to check this review out on the Origins Media website - http://www.originsmag.com/origin_pages/origin_content_main.aspx?thetable=reviews&thenum=54

No - No- No - NOTORIOUS

Everyone who loves them some hip-hop, will know a little something about one of the games most talented lyricists, Christopher Wallace better known as Biggie Smalls or Notorious BIG. For example it’s not too difficult to find out that he was born on May 21 (a date that has borne many greats *cough*ME*cough*) 1972 to Voletta Wallace and George Latore who left them when Biggie was only two. However, did you know that Biggie kept all of his rhymes in his head until freestyling them on the spot, that his mum used to call him ‘Chrissy Pooh’ and that he attended the same highschool as Busta Rhymes and Jay Z? Probably not, but all bar the latter fact are just a few of the points portrayed in NOTORIOUS, Fox Searchlight Pictures latest depiction of the remarkable rise and untimely fall of Christopher George Latore Wallace.

Directed by George Tillman Jnr (producer of such films as Roll Bounce, Barbershop and Soul Food), NOTORIOUS was in fact the creation of a joint collaboration between some of the people that knew Biggie the most intimately. From his mother Voletta Wallace to Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs, and screenwriter Cheo Hodari Coker who had not only had hours of one-on-one interviews with Biggie himself, but also had in-depth conversations with many of the principle figures in Wallace’s life, NOTORIOUS offers a no-holds-barred portrait of the A-Class student, turned on the corner crack dealer, turned innovative rapper from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Beginning with scenes from BIG’s last moments on March 9, 1997 just before he became the second fallen victim to one of hip-hop’s most controversial and conspired about fallouts, the audience is then taken back to Biggie’s younger and more innocent years, played by his son, and mirror image CJ Wallace. Here we learn that Biggie was sheltered from the Brooklyn streets he grew up on as much as possible by his stern, yet loving mother who would walk him to and from school and then forbid him to leave the front stoop from thereon out. However, learning that the good kids were easy targets for the gangsters and longing for all the flashy things in life, it wasn’t long before Biggie turned to drug dealing to make money, something which in turn led the straight A-student to be a highschool dropout.

In between drug dealing, becoming a father, serving time in jail for drug dealing, beginning an intimate relationship with Lil’ Kim and drug dealing some more, Biggie would freestyle quick witted tales about life on the streets amongst friends which gained him great respect and led to his demo tape falling into the hands of upcoming producer Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs. Wasting little time in signing him to new label Bad Boy records, it wasn’t long before Notorious BIG was a globally recognised artist and one of the major players in the hip hop game. Young, popular, successful, managing his own group, ‘Junior Mafia’ and recently married to artist Faith Evans, it was at this point as prophesised by friend and fellow artist Tupac Shakur that things started to go badly.

November 30 1994 saw the beginning of the Eastcoast Vs Westcoast rap war between Biggie and Tupac as Tupac blamed Biggie for his attempted murder whilst visiting his recording studios. Spiralling out of control, NOTORIOUS illustrates the events that followed including the released diss songs ‘Hit Em Up’ by Tupac and ‘Who Shot Ya’ by Biggie, which in turn led to the untimely deaths of Tupac Shakur in 1996 and Notorious BIG in 1997.

Understandably favourable at times, NOTORIOUS depicts an all round vision of Biggie from a mummy’s boy to a street dealer to a heartless player to a true friend, lover and innovative rapper. Coupled with a great cast, from a near identical Biggie, crouch grabbing Lil’ Kim and of course two stepping Sean Combs, NOTORIOUS is a must see movie for all hip hop fans, providing the perfect opportunity to understand the life and death of the late, great Christopher George ‘Notorious B.I.G’ Latore Wallace himself.

NOTORIOUS is released on Friday February 13. So ‘if you don’t know, now you know’.

Film review featured on Origins Media website at http://www.originsmag.com/origin_pages/origin_content_main.aspx?thetable=reviews&thenum=53

Also featured on Flavour Mag website at
http://www.flavourmag.co.uk/?p=1345#more-1345

Updates Soon Come

So, it's been more than just a hot minute since I last updated my official blogspot, http://www.ambitiousheights.blogspot.com/. My sincerest apologies, but please let me reassure you that my absence has not been time wasted, and I will be bringing you a taste of what I have been up to, as I continue to strive for that 'life less ordinary.

And so in the meanwhile, and doubling up as a tribute to my eldest brother Johnny who first got me into hip-hop, let me leave you with a hint of what is to come very soon ... One of rap's finest, Notorious BIG

That day I interviewed Angela and Vanessa Simmons

Certainly not ones to follow the crowd, the young, ambitious and innovative daughters of Run DMC rap legend Joseph ‘Rev Run’ Simmons are busy showing the world that they have troughs of talent in their own right. From acting and modelling to singing and writing, Vanessa and Angela Simmons have also found the time to pioneer their own fashion brand, which after taking the States by storm is now being launched in the UK. Flavour caught up with the talented duo to have a chat about fashion niche’s, family values and … Pastry!

1. So your brand is called Pastry, what’s your favourite pastry?

Vanessa: Well the whole collection started with the cake collection because that’s what everyone thinks of when they think of pastries so I’m going to have to go with cakes, but I’m good at baking cookies

Angela: My favourite is cupcakes

2. Why the name ‘Pastry’ for your company?

Vanessa: What woman doesn’t love pastry? It’s like that guilty pleasure that you have to run off all the time on the treadmill and we like baking, so when we were coming up with a concept we were like why not …

Vanessa & Angela: Pastry!

Vanessa: It’s like fun and interesting

Angela: And it’s different, there’s nothing like it out there, it’s really girly and feminine

3. Who came up with the name ‘Pastry’ initially?

Angela: Well it was like a joint collaboration. We kicked around a lot of names. One day we just sat at home, sat in my room and we were just going back and forth with different things like cake, and then cake was the initial and then we were like no Pastry! That would be cool.

4. What exactly can people expect from the Pastry line?

Angela: Well right now, we’ve already expanded to clothing and we’ve got handbags and eyewear. What else?

Vanessa: Everything, we’re just hoping to expand to a full empire and they can just expect fun. Everything in the sneaker/ athletic world is very male driven so what we used our initiative and we made stuff that girls like us would wear and we made it more fun, more chic and more feminine

5. Why did you decide to design trainers rather than shoes?

Vanessa: Because that void was just missing. In the market there was nothing out there for females made by females, there was nothing cute. Nike or Pumas or Addidas it’s just so male driven, so we went ahead and made the first silhouette which was the Cake Runner, then we branched out to Fab Cookie, and then to Glam Pie. We’re working on Fruit Tart right now and Secret Sundae. The list is expanding by the day it’s just really really exciting!

6. You said you like cakes and cookies do you have a specific trainer you like the best or a design?

Angela: Right now I’m still on the Glam Pie’s but the Fruit Tarts are going to be so cute!

7. So with Barack Obama winning the U.S Presidential election, everyone is talking about trendsetters, would you consider yourselves to be trendsetters?

Vanessa: Absolutely I don’t follow in the footsteps of anybody else we kind of just blaze our own trails and you know just do what we do.

Angela: I think this is definitely completely different to anything else that’s out there so I would say so.

8. How long has ‘Pastry’ been in the making?

Angela: Almost two years

Vanessa: Well it’s been around for about two years, but I would say like three years. We started a year before the actual launch which is a really really fast turn around time

Angela: Wait did it even take a year? I think even less time

Vanessa: Probably about seven months, eight months, very fast turn around

Angela: It was a lot of hard work but fun

9. So you guys launched Pastry in March 2007 in the States how have things gone in the past year?

Vanessa: Fantastic, I mean the percentages that we were getting in sneaker stores were unheard of. All the retailers were like really excited and I mean just being here in the UK and launching it, it’s like wow I mean when we started it started as a dream, as a vision

Angela: Just an idea

Vanessa: An idea and we’re here talking to you! I mean to have your sneakers in footlocker that’s like top of the top like that’s where people want to have their footwear

Angela: When we started off we had like one or two

Vanessa: Well like a couple of retailers but very few people actually believed in the idea, but we were so strong in it that we just kept pushing and kept pushing and the next thing you know we were having all of these amazing reviews and it was just like honestly it was such a dream come true

Angela: Yes it was

10.What are your specific job roles within the company?

Angela: Well we pretty much do everything, it’s like a 24-hr job we’re always having conference calls ,we’re pretty much on top of everything. We design and everything, and even though we have a large group of people that work with us we’re very on it and always come up with ideas and new ways to expand Pastry so we definitely own a lot of titles

Vanessa: We have a fantastic group of people that understand our vision that we bought on board afterwards and they work with us and they help us to delegate our ideas correctly and explain to us what’s good and what’s not. Angela went to school for fashion I went to school for business and communication so I feel like we make the perfect team when it comes to running a business

11.What separate qualities do you both bring to Pastry?

Vanessa: Angela’s flavour woman. She’s has great great fashion sense. I feel like I’m a little more classic.

Angela – I’m probably willing to walk on the edge more with fashion but it’s that bit easier when you’re going to school for it and you’re around it 24/7 its like you’ve seen the wildest of the wildest so you’re willing to experiment with stuff.

12.How do you find working as sisters?

Angela: It’s cool, what’s great is you really don’t have to hold your tongue with your sister. You can be like listen I don’t think you’re idea is going to work or I love that, it’s just easier to communicate because you already have that communication open. So when it comes to working for business it’s easier.

13.With your dad, uncle Russel and Aunt Kimora all already established icons in the fashion world do you feel pressure to live up to expectations?

Vanessa – Sometimes but I think that pressure makes a diamond so we accept that pressure rather than try to get it off of us

Angela – It’s good pressure it helps us to

Vanessa – Aspire to be better

Angela – Exactly!

14.What has been the best piece of advice you’ve received and who gave it to you?

Angela – My best advice definitely comes from my dad and one of the things that I learnt from him was just ‘Try your best and forget the rest’ and that’s just always stuck with me in life and its such an easy one but it just goes with everything.

Vanessa – My life mantra kind of comes from a combination of things that my dad has told me over the years and I made it my own words of wisdom. My thing is to ‘Expect a no but never to accept a no’ because people are going to try and put you down, they’re going to be like ‘That’s not going to work’ but don’t accept that because if you believe in your heart that that’s what you should be doing or that’s your thing then you should just be going for it and not listening to negativity or anything else around you

15.You are both very busy ladies, so with all the things that you’re doing where do you find time for family and boyfriends?

Angela: Any relationship you want you just make time. Family is number one so there’s always going to be time for that because that’s what keeps you grounded, that’s what keeps your mind sane. I think right now Pastry is my number one boyfriend.
Vanessa: I just don’t talk about my relationships just to keep something private to myself, but yeah we always make time for the things that we want to do, you have to have me time because that’s what keeps you peaceful and keeps you going and that’s what keeps us actually aspiring to be greater.

16.Would you say with everything you have done have you fulfilled all of your ambitions in life or is there more to come?

Angela: There’s always more to come. I just feel like the more we do the more there is, there’s just always new ideas and things to do so who knows in ten years what I’ll be doing there’s just so much that I want to do.

Vanessa: Yes the sky’s definitely the limit so that’s how we look at life and approach every day with a new mind and accept any challenge that comes our way in anything we want to do

17.Pastry is definitely sweet, chic and unique and has blown up in the States in the past year, are you hopeful that the same will happen here in the UK?

Angela: I hope so, I mean we hope everybody is receptive and likes it so we can’t wait to see

18.What do you think of the British fashion sense? Honestly

Angela: It’s cool! We got to go to Topshop the other day. I love it I think you guys have some stuff we definitely don’t have in the States.

Vanessa: Yeah you guys are more fashion forward and you do your own thing and I love that a lot.

19.Have you thought of adding a British edge to the line?

Vanessa: Yes absolutely you guys have to have your own special thing

Be sure to visit http://www.pastrykicks.com/ for further information on the Pastry line