young voices bigz edition
DESCRIPTION
UK rapper Bigz talks to Young Voices Akilah Russell about his surprise love of R'n'B, overcoming adversity and living up to his lengendary status.TRANSCRIPT
| THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012 23
Stocking fi llersWe play Santa to the stars
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POSTER BATTLEBRANDY & MONICA
Stocking fi llersStocking fi llersStocking fi llersStocking fi llersStocking fi llersStocking fi llersStocking fi llersStocking fi llersStocking fi llersCulinary skillsModel Jourdan Dunn cooks up a jerk storm
Ready to take the crownReady to take the crownReady to take the crown
24 � THE VOICE DECEMBER 13 - 19, 2012
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WHILE ATTENDING school in Italyfor three years between the agesof 11 and 14, Doyin set up theVacation Bible School with herparents. The annual programmewelcomes around 40 disadvan-taged children from Italy and over-seas to enjoy a faith-led holiday.
From the age of 13, Doyin hasworked as a church children’sco-ordinator, offering supportand guidance to young peoplein her parish and has extendedher desire for “grassroots help-ing” in the wider community by
volunteering with the BritishHeart Foundation and establish-ing a mentoring scheme in herschool.
Moved by the injustices she wit-nessed on her trips to Nigeria,Doyin’s ultimate ambition is to setup a chain of orphanages acrossthe country – and possibly eventhe continent. Of her greatestambition to date she says: “Fromthe age of 14 I’ve been tellingmyself I want to do this. I want tolive my dream. I’m living mydream, and helping other people”.
Doyin Fagbenro
ALL THEY NEED FOR CHRISTMAS…
* www.rarerecruitment.co.uk
BEYONCEWhen money isno object, what newmum could resist these cutebaby Louboutins? Thank uslater Blue Ivy
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RIHANNAWhen you’re scantily clad formost of the year, thermals shouldbe at the top of your list. Here’ssome warmth on us Ri Ri
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LABRINTHHackney producerLabrinth took the YV editor’s ‘ILove Hackney’ badge at a recentfestival. Now he can have abadge for every outfit
WRETCH 32In a recent interviewwith Young Voices, the Britishrapper said he had a soft spotfor Britain’s Got Talent judgeAlesha Dixon. Call us cupid!
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We’ve decided to play Santa to the stars this year. Check out our virtual shopping list below
OPRAHWe’ve decided tobuy the media mogula plane ticket to Nigeria so she canmeet the person who has takenher ‘richest black woman’ title
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RITA ORAWith the weekshe’s had, we’resure UK songstress Rita Oracould make great use of theseboxing gloves
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SNOOP LIONEarlier this year,the rapper claimed he was a‘reincarnation’ of reggae leg-end Bob Marley. We’ve boughthim a house in Jamaica so hecan live out his dream
CHRIS BROWNIt was between a muzzle and aPR team. We chose the latter
KATTWILLIAMSThe troubledcomic has had usworried about his welfare forthe last few months. A few ses-sions with a counsellor couldhelp
TREY SONGZThe US singerfound himself thevictim of anattempted mugging in Londonlast month. A bodyguardshould prevent similar attacks
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AMBER ROSEWe’re sure themum-to-be is goingto follow the trend by snap-ping back to her pre-babyshape. Here’s a personaltrainer on us
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VYBZKARTELThe Jamaicandancehall star has been in jailfor over a year. We’ve decidedto send him some readingmaterial – he’s name-checkedin this book too!
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NICKI MINAJHer infamousspat with singerMariah Carey was caught oncamera and she recently accusedAerosmith’s Steven Tyler of being‘racist’. Nicki got a muzzle
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STACEYDASHShe controver-sially supportedObama’s opponentMitt Romney. Obama won.We’ve got Stacey two ticketsfor a tour of the White House
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JADEN SMITHWill Smith’s youngestson allegedly subjected afemale fan to a foul-mouthtirade. Naughty step for him
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ROCHELLEHUMESThe Saturday’s star, whoannounced she is expecting herfirst child with JLS memberMarvin, can make full use of thispaper mache pregnancy kit
CASSIEWe’re not sure ifP Diddy will get thesinger one of these any timesoon, so here’s an engage-ment ring on us Cassie!
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Dear Kat,I lost my phone while I was out with my friend a few weeks ago and Iwas really upset because I just got it. She told me that she wasgoing to get the same phone as me ages ago but her mum said shehad to wait until the new year. The next thing you know, she turns upwith the exact same phone I lost - a few days after mine went miss-ing.
My sister thinks she stole it, but I don't want to accuse her of doingsomething like that to me. In the past she has stolen things fromshops and stuff but never from me. I don't know how to ask her if it'smine but I honestly think it might be. What should I do?
Tiffanie, 15
Hi Tiffanie,
I think it's unwise to blame your friend until you have concrete evi-dence. If you accuse wrongly, that could spell the end of your friend-ship.
Did you see anything suspicious? Does your phone have any distin-guishing features, like a scratch or a dent that only you would knowabout? If so, calmly ask her outright. Remember not to accuse her ofanything, just simply give her a chance to tell you her side of thestory.
If that seems too daunting, maybe you could ask your mum or dadto speak with her parents and ask how much they paid for her phoneon the premise that they were thinking of buying you one forChristmas. You may have your answer there.
DECEMBER 13 - 19, 2012 THE VOICE � 25
YOU SHOULDalready know whoUK rapper Bigz is.But if you are notone of the 8,000
or so following him on Twitter, orbetter yet, one of the hundredthousands of people who havewatched his videos on YouTube,allow me to politely remove therock that you have been livingunder for the last seven years.
The star first introduced him-
self to the world in 2006 with hisdebut single, Cor Blimey, whichinstantly become a cult classic.
He has since released foursolid mixtapes with his latest,The Bigz Bang Theory, gainingnearly 10,000 downloads in aweek. An impressive feat consid-ering the high demand for his lat-est music managed to crash thedownload website.
He says: “I laughed when I
saw that it had crashed!Sometimes even when the musicyou are giving fans is free, youfeel like you have to force feedpeople and it can get a bit jar-ring. But to get all of that love formy mixtape felt great because Ifeel it's a great project.
“I put it together in four weeksand it was to serve a purpose. Iput out a track from it calledForever, which has a kind of a
dub-step sound and it got methe most radio support I haveever had in my life. After that Isaid let me release more musicbecause you have to feed yourfans. But honestly, I am happywith how it has been received sofar.”
Despite Forever being blastedacross the country as I write, hesurprises me when he says thathis favourite song on the mixtapeis the R'n'B inspired, Confident,which features British singer andsongwriter, J Warner.
Sensing that I need an expla-nation regarding his shockchoice, he reveals: “I am actuallyjust an R'n'B man even though Irap. For me, I think the bestmusic for my generation was 90sR'n'B.”
He laughs: “I still love Foreverobviously because I have neverreally heard house and trapmusic mixed together like thatbefore. I guess you could call it'Trap-step'.”
The north Londoner is nostranger to coining phrases afterfamously creating the now infa-mous slogan ‘Flygerian.’ It’smeaning?
He explains: “A Flygerian issomeone who is of Nigerian her-itage that is extremely fly,extremely ambitious and pushesfor the better things in life.”
On the question of copyright,he adds: “I seriously don't wantto hear anyone else say theycoined the term ‘Flygerian.’
“You got that definition fromthe source, so don't let anybodytell you any different (laughs).But for me, it's more of a lifestylethan just a word…make sure you
write that down!”Hailed as ‘one of the most
charismatic and instantly recog-nisable rappers in the UK’ byMTV he agrees that it is his “con-sistency in the game” and hisability to overcome personaltragedy, that has set him apartfrom the string of MCs who haveall tried and failed to succeed inthe often unforgiving musicindustry.
“A few years ago I lost myolder brother, cousin, best friendand grandmother in the space of12 months. That's why I had totake a brief hiatus from music. Ijust wasn't prepared for it at all, Idon't think in my whole entire lifeI have ever gone through any-thing as crazy as that.”
He adds: “I'd say coming backfrom that is my biggest achieve-ment. I achieved by finding away to smile again and live againdespite the catastrophes that Iwent through.”
With nothing to lose andeverything to prove, it seemsBigz, who has achieved hugeunderground acclaim, is eyeingup mainstream success.
“I wouldn't classify myself asunderground anymore. I'd saythat I am in between. Fans arethe ones that get to say who is alegend and who isn't, and mineare loyal so if I had a message tothem I'd say 'God bless them'.”
“The one thing that peoplewant to see is an artist get betterand I feel like I am doing that.Some people put out their bestwork in their earliest days, sothey end up trying to catch up tothat success. With me I am get-ting better not only as a rapperbut as a musician, so keep onsupporting me and you won't bedisappointed.”
� To download The Bigz BangTheory go to: www.mrbigz.co.uk Follow @MrBigzOfficial on Twitter
British singer Estelle took to Twitter toshare her excitement following newsshe had been nominated for aGrammy award:
“Happy. God is Good! Nawhe's amazing.....”
RITA ORA:The singer was forced to
deny claims that shecheated on reality TV starex, Rob Kardashian, with
“20 dudes”
JOE BUDDEN:A nude picture allegedlyof the hip-hop star was
leaked online andspread like wildfire
JOURDAN DUNN:The model's one-offcooking show, whichfeatured on Jay Z's
website, was an internet hit
JAY Z:The rapper's superstarwife Beyoncé bought
him a $4 million(£2.5m)watch for his 43rd
birthday
Chic, cute,understated
YOLANDABROWN:Unique, sexy,simple
SHINGAISHONIWA:
TWEET OF THEWEEK
Estelle
UK rapper Bigz talks to YV’s Akilah Russellabout his surprise love of R‘n’B, overcomingadversity and living up to legendary status
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26 � THE VOICE DECEMBER 13 - 19, 2012
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