Tiffany and Co Recruit Elle Fanning and Lupita Nyongo For Reshaping Campaign

Written by. Chalise Macklin

Tiffany and Co is known for providing men with that special, little blue box and bringing joy to many women’s lives. But their signature jewelry and legacy is in jeopardy. The company is experiencing falling profits and stock prices, according to a business report from Business of Fashion. The jeweler is on a mission to turn things around and has enlisted some A-list celebrities to help do so.

Former American Vogue creative director, Grace Coddington, joined the jewelry house as a creative partner to help with rebranding. Coddington has signed teen star Elle Fanning and Lupita Nyong’o on to represent the timeless brand along with models Natalie Westling and Christy Turlington. A historic moment for the company because this marks the first time celebrities have starred in a campaign. Each lady showcases a piece of the brand’s new “Tiffany T” collection. Nyong’o posted a preview of her ad, which will be released nationwide in September.

The reshaped concept is titled “Legendary Style.” Upcoming campaigns will feature women in the studio instead of their iconic ads that are black and white and feature women wearing their jewelry on New York streets. A re-launch of the company’s affordable “Love” collection by designer Reed Krakoff with the slogan “#lovenotlike” will also be released soon.

Tiffany and Co are hoping to attract a younger buyer, particularly millennials. The company also intends to introduce it to new consumers and get skeptics to reconsider.

 

 

A Demi Grace Exclusive: Face of Sephora Releases New Track “Afraid”

Written by. Chalise Macklin  

It is not every day that an up-and-coming artist becomes the face of a cosmetic product and sings the jingle in a well-known hair product commercial. Demi Grace’s entertainment career is off to a good start with credible accolades behind her name.

Grace’s infectious voice can be heard in the current Dark and Lovely commercials and she is one of the faces of Sephora’s new “Makeup Forever” lipstick line.

“I’m so excited. It is a funny story how I got the job. My agent sent me on an audition, but I did not get it. Later, I got a call back for a voice over audition. I told them I could sing and recorded a track during the audition. They loved it and offered me the job. It was really accidental,” said Grace.

Grace has been singing all her life, but she didn’t start releasing music professionally until 2012.

“I always wanted to be a professional singer. I had a talk with God and asked him what I needed to do to get my start and walk through the right door. I started building my social media following and releasing music independently,” Demi Grace said.

Gone are the days that an artist has to be signed to a major label. The music industry is embracing independent artist like Demi Grace. She contributes her current success to her willingness to interact with fans on social media. The effort has caused fans to become more familiar with her sound which she calls Afro-Dance or Afro-EDM infused with a little bit of Pop.

“My sound is influenced by Hip Hop, Nigerian and Afro beat music, and Reggae,” said Demi Grace. “I am extremely diverse. I tapped into many genres and I am a singer-songwriter.”

Her musical style is also a reflection of her heritage. She is of Nigerian descent,was born in London, raised in California, lived in Atlanta and currently a New Yorker. Her time in New York has influenced her new single “Afraid.”

“I moved to New York and met a guy who was nothing like anyone I met before. The relationship was party-driven, but when we were by ourselves it was hard to get him to open up. It was just a mess, hurtful and I expressed that in the song,” Grace said.

She describes the single as an emotional record that you must be ready for.

“When you go out and hear a song like ‘Afraid’ and listen to the lyrics you have to be ready to feel and emotionally connect,” said Demi Grace.

Demi Grace distinct sound is not the only thing gaining attention, her beauty is as well. Her ebony complexion and tall, slender physique serves as an example to young girls that beauty is diverse and unique.

“I want girls to be okay with what God gave them and work it. I look up to Missy Elliott and Rhianna and how they wear their body makes it (their body) sexy,” said Grace.

The future is bright for Demi Grace. The Sephora campaign she is a part of debuts in August, her upcoming EP is tentatively set for release in September, and she just finished working on a mix with an Atlanta producer which include heavy hitters such as: T-Pain, Trina, Flo Rida and TI.

For those of you in the New York area, check her out at Webster Hall on August 16^th.

Google Offering New Emoji To Better Represent Women and Young Girls

Written by. Chalise Macklin

Most people express themselves on social media multiple times a day. In fact, Business Insider indicates 20 percent of total time spent online in the US is on social platforms. Usually, an emoji is a part of that message to further illustrate feelings. Women and young girls complain there are not enough emoji to accurately convey their thoughts and feelings. It will become easier for them to do so soon.

Although there is a wide range of emoji, there are not a lot that showcase the many facets of women’s careers, or empower young girls. The Unicode Emoji Subcommittee agreed to add 11 new professional emoji.

First Lady Michelle Obama spoke out in support of the creation of more emoji. Now; she, other women, and girls can rejoice. The new emoji will provide more options for both women and men. Google indicated that the professional emoji for women were unfairly limited before and included a bride and a princess, which is not the average woman’s career or career aspiration. The options now include a variety of careers such as: business, healthcare, education, food service, entertainment and STEM. There will also be more emoji with skin tone choices.

The new emoji should be available in future versions of Android and on other Google platforms.

Meanwhile, Facebook is testing a new messenger app which automatically deletes messages sent in a “secret conversation.” Messages included in the “secret conversation” are end-to-end encrypted and can be scheduled to be permanently deleted. The new messenger app can be used to discuss sensitive topics or share information that would be highly compromising if in the hands of a third party.

This new form of messenger is still in a trial period and there are limitations to the system. Facebook have said they will improve the system by the end of the summer.

Kelly Rowland Is A Favorite for Gladys Knight Biopic

By: Lauren Sims

A few years ago, Gladys Knight told a few different mediums that she would love for Kelly Rowland to play the Grammy award winning legend if she were to write, produce, and film her biopic. Knight told Instagram,

“You guys remember when I asked you all who you’d like to see play the role of Gladys Knight in my biopic? Well… Here’s what I think:) @kellyrowland”

Later, in an interview with CBS she proceeded in expressing her interest in the former Destiny’s Child member to be casted in her bipoic saying,

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gladys Knight (@msgladysknight)

“I like Kelly Rowland,” Gladys said. “We don’t know her as an actress but there’s something about her and her spirit that kind of reflects with me.”

Hopefully, she has considered her offer and that will be in the making soon. For now, the beautiful Kelly Rowland has not said anything about a potential biopic project going underway.

The Amazing World of Terrell Ransom Jr

In order to be awesome, you have to manage to do something amazing. Well, how does landing a lead voice role in a hit Cartoon Network television show and managing your very own YouTube channel sound? Sprinkle in the fact that you haven’t even made it to your teen years yet and I think you have the perfect recipe. 12-year old actor Terrell Ransom Jr holds that spectacular recipe and in his latest interview with Kontrol Girl’s very own TaLesha Oliver, we get to see just how amazing his life really is.

It was the tender age of three when Terrell knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. With his parent’s love and support in tow, the family moved from Houston to Los Angeles all so that Terrell could follow his dreams.

Photographer: Birdie Thompson

Stylist: Terrell Ransom Sr.

One of Terrell’s most notable role probably came when he portrayed the character of Theo Carver, an autistic child on the hit daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives”. Every year, Terrell participates in the “Autism Walk” to bring awareness to the disorder.These days, Terrell lends his acting and his voice to the character of Darwin on the hit Cartoon Network show “The Amazing World of Gumball” – a show that revolves around the life of a 12-year-old cat named Gumball Watterson and his frequent shenanigans in the fictional American city of Elmore, accompanied by his adopted goldfish brother/best friend Darwin. Terrell relates to Darwin’s character not only because the character is comedic and caring but also because just like Darwin, Terrell is often the voice of reason.

Terrell receives his education at an independent school program that is a combination of a traditional classroom setting and home schooling. Numerous other actors, musicians and athletes attend the school which makes it more of a family environment instead of a school, which makes the transition a bit smoother because they all have something in common.

As for Terrell’s already bright future, the sky is definitely the limit. He’s already contemplating staying in the industry as an actor and possibly venturing on to becoming a director or producer. Whichever route he decides to take, we will support and cheer him on!

 

@terrellransomjr 

Kontrol Girl Exclusive With Party Powerhouse Dj RootsQueen

Written by: Mark Pollard

Don’t let the pretty face fool you. DJ RootsQueen is a skilled turntablist, producer, strip club DJ and radio show host based out of Atlanta, Ga. Originally from Tampa, Fl., she began spinning Drum and Bass at 17 years old which catapulted her into mastering Hip Hop, Dancehall, Dub Reggae, House, and Classic sets.

“Well I started DJing when I was a teenager in the 90’s, so it was when rave and techno were really popular, so that was where I started on vinyl back then.”

 As Drum and Bass started to fade, she became obsessed with Dub Music and subsequently toured the East Coast with Reggae bands such as One Drop, Rocksteady @8, and Third World. A band member dubbed her “RootsQueen” at a show, and the name stuck ever since.

“I’m a professionally trained turntablist. My style of DJing is very multi-formatted so I can pick up and play any type of music, it really just depends on where I’m at. I can play whatever the crowd wants to hear, that’s what it’s really about, I’m not here to shove music down there ears, I’m here to make the party rock and make things fun.”

Her evolution in the art of being a DJ has, thus far, been a world wind of adventure in just the last year alone. Working alongside some of hip-hops most notable musicians from Future to Gucci Mane to Jeezy and Rich Homie Quan to name a few. DJ RootsQueen goes on to explain those experiences and also the difference in her career now than it was a year ago.

“I used to get star stuck, I remember when I first met Future I was trying so hard not to act star struck, so I pretended like I didn’t know who he was; I was like, “Hi what’s your name?”  But I’m not that way anymore because now I realize that they get star struck over me. As far as the difference in my career now, I would say is definitely branding and online presence, I feel like I do a lot more work that a mass amount of people can actually see now versus my usual small circle via social media.”

As one of the hottest female DJ’s in the game today, with awards honoring female DJ’s in the music industry to best female DJ, DJ RootsQueen is definitely a force to be reckoned with. However with such popularity in a male dominated career you have to ask the question is it harder being a female DJ in the music industry?

“Its harder being a female in the game because I’ll notice that there’s a lot of attitude and shade that being a male in the industry you can show, but if you’re a girl and you were to have the same type of attitude or lets just say if you were to post something online, you’ll get a phone call to fix your attitude. Whereas a guy would pretty much get away with saying whatever he want or do whatever he want and it’ll be ok.” She continues to say, “As for me I do understand that this is a male dominated industry and I don’t fight back with them. What I do is just shine even harder, make sure my promos are better, make sure my videos are better, and make sure my contacts and contracts are better. That’s really the only way you can fight back is to not worry about that and to just shine on them.”

Executively produced by DJ RootsQueen, “Rude Girl Radio” caught the eye of celebrity super producer, Drumma Boy, who put her on the roster for “Drum Squad DJs” and made her his personal DJ for his fashion line, Fresh Phamily.

“I’m still sponsored by Fresh Phamily, but just recently by Diamond Supply and Zaytoven’s fashion brand, Wil Ginger.”

In 2015, DJ RootsQueen was signed to celebrity producer Zaytoven Beatz (Future, Young Jeezy, Juicy J) management and subsequently moved her radio show, “Rude Girl Radio”, to his radio station, Digital Dope Radio. Where she is now a resident DJ at the world famous Onyx, in Atlanta, Ga. DJ RootsQueen goes on to explain her first meeting with the hot Atlanta producer.

 “I linked up with Zaytoven about two years ago through his manager Roland Williams, who’s my manager now. He’s like the best manager in the world, by the way. They needed a DJ here in Atlanta that could do the same thing that his other tour DJ that doesn’t live here does, so he could have that same push in the city and they chose me. They like to have females in the organization because he has a lot of female artists that he works with, so he’s always surrounding himself with pretty girls. It’s just a better look you know when we travel.”

Speaking of Zaytoven and Drumma Boy, she also just did a Red Bull event with the two producers in New York; she goes on to explain that experience.

“The Red Bull event in New York was amazing! We stayed at the Dream Hotel and Red Bull was super accommodating. Some people who were in attendance were Sunny Digital and Metro Boomin. Zay and myself went on after Metro and the crowd was hype and ready, so we just put on a really great show and showed New York what we do in Atlanta.”

With a sound so dynamic and eclectic as her personality, DJ RootsQueen is a party powerhouse, with an energy guaranteed to give life to any event. Also a female with a long resume and powerhouse behind her brand, she has just a couple of words for all the young female DJ’s out there that want to be the next top female DJ in the game.

“Practice practice practice, make sure that you master your craft because if not and your sloppy on the turntables people aren’t going to take you seriously on an executive level when you try to work and do other things. Also if this is really a career path you want to go into longevity wise, make sure you push forward to an executive level because at some point when you start to get older they’re not going to want to book you at these parties where there are twenty year olds, so your going to have to learn how to position yourself in this game.”

DJ RootsQueen’s next big vent will be at the v103 Car and Bike show Saturday July 16, in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center. Be on the lookout for that and also for more info, music, and events from this hot DJ you can check her out on social media @DJRootsQueen and her official website DJRootsQueen.Com.