So often we see magazine features and don’t know the story behind the story. Where was the photograph shot? Why there? By whom? And who conducted the interview? Well, below I give you a little play-by-play of the sequence of events that led to my recent feature in SMOOTH magazine.

A few months back the good folks at SMOOTH Magazine reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in getting interviewed. Understanding SMOOTH is known for featuring photos that titillates the senses I was a bit apprehensive but was quickly relieved after I learned I’d be supplying the pics. So, I called on my cousin Efrain Rosas who recently turned his passion for photography into a profession [check him out @ www.bodybagmag.com] and went to my home away from home, Court Square Diner in Queens to capture some shots. At first glance the photos look self-explanatory, but the details within the photos are bigger than the photos itself. DROWN by Junot Diaz, a literary hero in my household, is resting on the table in one shot and I’m rocking my name-ring gifted to me by a Network I dreamed of working with in the other. And in two I’m shots summed up: Queens. Literature. and Realized Dreams.

Now for the interview…

I thought it’d be fun to meet with another journalist sit down and talk about our journey to journalism, share stories and tips and inspire one another in the pursuit of happiness in Hip-Hop but then it dawned on me it wasn’t a private pow-wow between peers this would just be about me, my journey, my stories, and hopefully it’ll be inspiring. While I’ve been interviewed on The Red Carpet the standard questions are: Why are you here? What are you wearing? And… Who are you? I’ve also done interviews that were conducted over the phone while multi-tasking so I never had the chance to wrap my mind around what was actually happening. This time I had what felt like all the time in the world to over-analyze myself, the magazine, and what my contribution to the reader would be. My pic wouldn’t look like the others and my story probably wouldn’t be as exciting, “A girl from Queens decides to interview rappers on radio and TV. The End.” Thankfully the Editor-At-Large, Mitchell Jackson, thought there was more to my story and wrote some pretty nice things about me in their latest issue featuring Dollicia Bryan and Tahiry. While you’re checking out the photos take some time and read the interviews, I hear they’re pretty interesting!