Meet the Celeb Stylist Who Styled OG Beyoncé
Say her name, say her name.
Two days ago Billboard released its list of 100 greatest girl group songs of all time. Coming in strong at No. 7 is Destiny’s Child’s iconic anthem Say My Name. The year was 1999 and Destiny's Child was starting to make serious moves (take a 4-minute break and relive this greatness).
On set for the song's video, stylist Negar Ali Kline was holding it down in the wardrobe department. Glossy lipstick was en vogue. There were still four members of the group to dress. And though she recalls it being her longest shoot ever, ("a record 26 hours!!") the styling maven says, "There’s nothing better than being in a wardrobe truck with my team and in the trenches together. In battle together."
As for Queen B? "Even at the very beginning, Beyoncé was just pure magic and such a force," she says. "I remember all the ladies were so gracious and down-to-earth Southern girls. The video shoots were epic, this was the height of the big budget video."
"There’s nothing better than being in a wardrobe truck with my team and in the trenches together."
Tweet this.
In the early 2000s that was the life of celebrity stylist Negar Ali Kline, who has styled everyone from Beyoncé to Tom Hanks to comedian Maya Rudolph and badass Jessica Lange. If it sounds like a dream career, it is, but Kline has put in years of hard work, building relationships with people across town, and navigating the styling space with smarts and class. The sought-after stylist says she "really paid her dues" in New York, developing her confidence and experience at Paper Mag. "At the time," she notes, "there were only a handful of stylists— celebrity styling wasn’t a thing."
When we meet up with Kline, she’s wearing her LA uniform: jeans, sweater, and a block heel. But she doesn’t carry any of kind of industry bravado. We're at Palace Costume, a beloved industry spot only open to pros. It is owned and operated by Melody Barnett, who opened her doors in 1960 as a vintage clothing retailer. Barnett was the first vintage retailer on Fairfax. Today, the 36,000-square-foot emporium houses over half a million different pieces, making it one of the largest vintage clothing collections in the entire country (and not open to the pub, sorry!) Also on the scene is Lee, the costume house's second employee. Kline has known him since her first pull.
Despite having come for twenty years, she’s like a kid in a candy store. "The first time I walked in here," she says, her eyes already moving toward the rows of racks on racks, "it was intimidating and overwhelming, but at the same time I knew this is what I was meant to do. I was 19, but it was very obvious." As we walk through the rooms and floors of goodies, Kline points out some of her favorites and for whom she's pulled. "The Western room, I've pulled for Beck." She casually mentions one of her first jobs assisting on an Elton John video. She's more enthralled by the clothes than the big names she's worked with. A stylish though-and-through.
The costume house is organized by decades and themes. There's a veritable polyester playground. “Wardrobe at That ‘70s Show has definitely pulled every single shirt here,” she jokes. There are rows of 1920s gowns and piano shawls, the likes of which you’d see mostly on extras she says, in period movies like The Hours. Being here with Kline is like walking down memory lane with her via articles of clothing, and is a testament to the longevity of her twenty year career.
Along her career the Los Angeles-based stylist and mom has weathered every storm. Part of her strategy has been mixing up the work. She’ll work on big agency jobs, styling big brand commercials, as well as editorial shoots and press tours.
"I think the biggest misconception is that its 'glamorous,' she shares. "The truth is that it is a tremendous amount of hard work- literally and metaphorically 'heavy lifting.' The process really requires left brain and right brain. It is creative, but there is also managing the budget, team and client expectations, and an insane amount of organization."
She continues, "I always find it hard to describe what I do because there’s a bit of range from advertising styling to red carpet to costume design on a film, and they each require a different philosophy and approach. There are many levels to it."
For Kline, her 360-degree approach to the biz keeps things from getting stale. "I feel very grateful that I have a range," she explains. "One day we’re shopping or pulling at Tom Ford and the next we’re at Kohl’s in Sun Valley for Lauren Conrad." Though some jobs are inevitably more glamorous than others, she maintains that she's much happier working like this. "I like to constantly be challenged, with styling there is always a new problem to be solved. With every project it’s different."
Like one of her most recent jobs styling yet another QUEEN, Jessica Lange, on the Feud press tour. "With editorial and music video, there are quite a lot of creative liberties one can assert. On a press tour, you are not dressing a 'character,'" she says, explaining the various nuances of her job. "It’s more about feeling authentic and comfortable in what they are wearing and cultivating a personal style."
With more corporate clients, Kline says those companies are hiring her to have a POV, even if that means gently pushing back against their comfort zone. "When I find myself in those situations, for instance, in a room with a creative director and the agency and they’re looking to me for an answer, I have to explain the 'why.' Why I believe your hero character should be in denim rather than a suit— that’s really the job of a stylist. Something as small as the hem of a shirt. The width of a tank top strap. There are so many thing that go on behind-the-scenes." Kline says that clients appreciate, and continue to hire you, when you have the knowledge to back up the 'why.'
Though she no longer works on music videos (BTW she's also done OG Snoop and Puffy videos NBD), explaining that "3am fittings are not conducive to morning drop-offs when you have a family," someone she'd still love to work with is Sofia Coppola. " I love the aesthetic of her films and I am very much drawn to working with female directors."
To check out more of Negar Ali's work, see her portfolio here.
Arianna Schioldager is Editor-in-Chief at Create & Cultivate. You can follow her @ariannawrotethis.
MORE FROM OUR BLOG
How These 3 Working Moms Are Handling This Crazy Stat
Kids are so dang expensive.
photo by Could I Have That?
In case you haven't heard Beyoncé is pregnant with twins. What you might not know is that in Jay Z's and Beyoncé’s prenup it states that she gets a cool 5 million for every baby she bears that’s his. Do the math babes. That means Queen B is carrying around 10 million dollars in her uterus. Which is, unfortunately, more $$$ than most of us will see in a lifetime.
Also another unfortunate fact: CNN recently revealed that raising a child to age 18 will costs $233,610-- pre-college. So what is a working mom to do? We checked in with three of our favorite working moms to get their life tips and tricks on saving money, even with baby at home.
Angela Sutherland, investment executive and co-founder of the new organic children's food delivery service Yumi, has two kids and three great tips for saving money-- especially as it relates to your TAXES. If you already filed your taxes this year, take her advice and make this a priority in 2018.
First, she says, "Depending on which state you're in you can actually buy pre-paid tuition, locking in the current rate of tuition, which is actual an amazing deal given the rate of inflation. The only downside is you have to decide early (very early!) which college your kid will go to, however, if you have a very strong state school it could be a great way to save." For those legacy families, look into this.
Second, she shares, "Be a lifetime learner! Few people know that you can claim up to $2k in tax credit every year for the classes you take. That's not $2k off of your taxable income like other deductions, that's actually a straight credit off your calculated taxes owed." And finally, says the mom and business owner, "There's a tax credit that's called the Dependent Care Credit- of which few people take advantage. But you can get up to $3k per child of tax deductions when you use a nanny or someone who cares for your children if you work."
Mom-to-be and writer Jane Helpern shared this practical advice: "Drive a Prius. Bring your lunch to work. And swap your Equinox membership for the YMCA which offers free childcare. Don't have a pool because they cost a lot to heat and don't be afraid to send your kids to daycare."
Postpartum doula Stephanie Matthias takes a slightly more holistic approach to the numbers game. "If you count your rent and gas, everything that costs money," the single mom of two explains, "summer camp, classes, buying birthday presents for kids in the class, or the fact that they want to go a vending machine at school because their friends do, it adds up." But she has some positive ideas on how to flip the script.
For one, "Enlisting family to help with childcare is huge, if it's possible," she shares. "I've chosen to have the kind of career where I work freelance, where I make my own hours. I'm not only doing what I want to be doing, but it's also really conducive to motherhood. I've made very strategic career decisions in order to accommodate being a mother."
She also shares, "I've never been a good budgeter. I'm not a frugal person. Even when I was working four jobs living in a $1000 dollar one-room apartment on the East Side (of Los Angeles), I would still go to Whole Foods and buy water. I used to think of money in terms of scarcity, in terms of what I could and couldn't afford. Now I think about money in terms of what kind of life I want to have. Do I want a life of experiences? What kind of life do I want for my kids? And what do I want to teach them about money? This approach has helped me spend less. It's almost like eliminating sugar. How I want to feel longterm is analogous to what I want my life to look like longterm. This reworking has completely changed the way I think about money. The money that I make during the time that I'm working, that's time that I'm spending away from of my kids. That makes the money more valuable to me and makes me more mindful of what I'm spending on. That money better be going toward stuff that makes our lives great. I'm not gonna work all these hours and spend money on shoes." Half of the time she says she doesn't get home until after her youngest in already in bed and there's an element of mom guilt that kicks in. The voice that says, "I didn't spend the day with you, I'm gonna get you something."
Matthias continues, "It's easy for working moms to feel like, 'I'm gone and I'm making x amount of money, so I can afford these really cute toys and it will make them happy.'" Not true she insists. "All your kids want is quality time with you. The more hours I work, the more money I make, the more that voice kicks in. That's when we do things to placate our kids. That's a massive waste of money. Every fifteen dollar tiara and thirty dollar ballet skirt, that all adds up. That's money you could put into their college fund."
She adds, "From a super practical standpoint, I am super strategic about where I do my food shopping. I want everything to be super high quality, but it's not always practical to only shop at Erewhon. I joined Thrive online. It's an online grocery store that doesn't sell produce. But instead has all of the snacks that go in lunches, etc. Everything is super discounted."
Extra credit pro tip: Babies grow and they grow fast. You're replacing their clothes every couple of months and many of them are barley worn. If you plan on having more than one, buy gender-neutral items so the next child can wear the hand-me-downs. And for new moms who are nesting (that innate desire to get ready for baby) don't be fooled by the marketing world. Babies don't need their own everrrrything-- from body wash to detergent to hair brushes. Don't nest yourself out of a nest egg.
Have more money saving tips? Share below!
MORE FROM OUR BLOG
Brooklyn Decker On Why Tech Is More Supportive Than Hollywood
Sure it's 94% male, but who run the world?
Photo credit: Smith House Photography
When Brooklyn Decker and Whitney Casey, CEO and founder of Finery, the new online platform that's been described by users as "the Clueless closet on steroids," took the C&C stage at SXSW last Sunday, they broke down the realities of being women in tech.
Alas, truth bombs are kind of Decker's MO. Of her friend and the company's Chief Design Officer, Casey told the Austin audience, "There is always one girlfriend in everyone’s life who will tell them the truth and that is Brooklyn Decker."
“It’s brutal,” chimed in the actor. “But it’s the truth.”
A former anchor who has won two Emmys and is a published author, Casey said she's had plenty of bad ideas before Finery. And when it came to bringing the idea to Decker, she came armed with a Powerpoint presentation. “Yes," she said, "for my own friend, because I knew she would want to know.” Decker did. (It worked.)
What unfolded, power point by power point, was a service that might revolutionize the way women shop and dress. With patent pending technology that harvests data that already exists online, Finery skips over the manual labor part of an creating an online closet. At its simplest Finery culls through your email (and thereby every purchase you've ever made) and loads it into a virtual closet.
“There’s all sorts of software to manage your finances, your travel, your music, but we found the millennial women will spend more than 250-300,000 dollars on clothes in their lifetime," shared Casey. "So why isn’t there something to manage your wardrobe that’s not analog? Some sort of tech that could find anything you’ve ever purchased and put into a wardrobe?” Therein is the meat of Finery, the world's first wardrobe operating system, and the reason Brooklyn came onboard.
But making a career shift is difficult for anyone-- let alone someone doing it under the public microscope.
"Modeling to acting is the most cliché transition one can make," Decker shared about her first career switch. "The biggest challenge is that you’re making big mistakes on a pretty big stage. You don’t have the luxury of making mistakes in private or on a small scale." But in a way it prepared her for this next role. "It would be silly or ignorant of me to say that it hasn’t opened a ton of doors, but people are instantly skeptical and people instantly doubt you. I certainly don’t come from a tech background. You have to work that much harder and find women who are willing to help you along the way and teach you-- teach you how to pitch to a VC, for instance, because how does one learn how to do that?" the Austin-based actor asked.
Photo credit: Smith House Photography
It's something they did, first going the traditional $ route— approaching VCs.
"It did not go well," said Casey. "One asked us to set him up on a date. So we decided to go with angel investors-- they are all women." Women like Miroslava Duma and Decker herself who is an investor in the company. “Also,” added the author, “because they wanted 30 percent of the company.”
"Luckily with women in technology— it’s an incredibly supportive environment," said Decker. "Without those women I wouldn’t have been able to make the transition.” Beta users include Man Repeller Leandra Medine and Lauren Santo Domingo.
Casey told the crowd that figuring out your bottom line when you’re first starting is all about looking into the future. “You have think about the company when it is wildly successfully,” shared the CEO. “Look at what 20 percent of that success means. You also need to think about your employees. As a startup you’re not going to be able to hire the people that you want without giving them equity. And as a startup you want everybody there to have equity because when things do go wrong you can look at them at say, ’This is your company too.' That’s our mantra. Everybody who enters is part of Finery. And the more you give to a VC the less you have to recruit really great talent. The more you keep giving away, the less your employees are gonna get. You always have to be thinking about your employees first.”
"You always have to be thinking about your employees first.”
Tweet this.
"It was disheartening to realize the kind of things I needed to do to get into these VCs,” shared Casey. “Calling a friend of a friend of a friend… what if I didn’t have those friends? It should be a meritocracy. Money should be available for every good idea out there. I found that was not the case.”
Even the connections Brooklyn and Whitney did have, didn't mean they'd it was a shoo-in. Sometimes they would't even open the Finery deck.
“I have this crazy thing that everyone should have called MixMax. I know when you open my email and I know when you’ve opened up a link,” said Casey. This service gave the pair a competitive edge when walking into pitch meetings-- they knew if they had to start at the beginning or if they could launch into why Finery is different and why it will be successful. Their other bit of advice? Decker told the C&C crowd, “Be incredibly well-researched on the market that you’re entering. Understand it so well and it will help you prepare for any meeting.”
“You have to sit back listen. And then do your own spiel. Know every single one of your competitors so you know your value add,” said Casey. “Your value prop[ostion] is the most important.”
Photo credit: Smith House Photography
Despite the uphill VC climb, neither women were deterred. In fact, Decker told the crowd that she's been invigorated by the community of women she's encountered.
“Coming from the Hollywood side of things I have never seen a more supportive bunch of women than I have seen in tech. They really do come together. It’s difficult as a young female, but you can do it.”
"I have never seen a more supportive bunch of women than I have seen in tech."
Tweet this.
Decker brought up tech investor Jesse Draper of Halogen Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund focused on female founded consumer technologies. “She has no skin in our game, but as a female in technology she wanted to introduce us to other people. That’s what women are doing. When she [Draper] invests in a company, she tells them once you’re successful you must invest in other female-run, female-founded companies. That’s a really strong choice. And it’s a place we want to get with our company.”
“Look we can’t all be founders, we can’t all have money to invest," Casey elaborated. "But we can all buy from women, use products that women make, and then we will all be successful.” She also told the crowd: "If I were a young woman right now I would learn how to code." Simple, but truthful advice. 94% of tech startups are male. It's up to us to change it.
“Women are successful because they support each other,” added Decker, who also gave attendees some pertinent info. Not everyone has access to capital or app developers, but the actress explained, “There are now apps to help you build apps. They provide a standard map. It won’t be super innovative but it will show proof of concept. Also, in all of these big cities there are development bootcamps now. The whole point is to give people jobs. If you have a startup idea and you’re far enough along, I highly recommend tapping into that resource.”
As for who Finery wants to tap? Casey wants the average woman who wears 10% of what's in her closet. Decker got a little more specific. “I don’t want to be a total cliché, but Beyonce,” the Chief Design Officer said about her dream user. “She has so many events, has her kid, two more on the way. She’s our user, she’s our girl.”
MORE FROM OUR BLOG
Links We Love: Solange, Ivanka & a Black Lady Liberty
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
As a country we are in the midst of a transition. For some, it's welcome. For others it means a March on Washington. A big one on the 21st. But that's not the only headline. Here are a few more that caught our eye.
President Obama's farewell sendoff to VP Biden is better and more tearful than anyone could have imagined. Including Biden who was surprised when Obama awarded him a Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction -- an honor awarded to only three previous recipients.
Along the same lines of brother and sisterhood, the Bush sisters wrote the Obama sisters an awesome letter.
Planning on attending the Women's March in Washington on the 21st? These are all the things you need to bring with you.
Related: anti-Trump but refusing to march? You won't be needing any of the above.
Solange tells Beyoncé which Selena song is her favorite.
Designers reflect on dressing an immeasurable Michelle Obama for the last eight years.
An interesting take on Ivanka Trump's brand of feminism.
Dismantling the Affordable Care Act will have a massive impact on women and LGBTQ people. Here's how.
All call for media created by Latinx. Do you know what that means?
The United States Mint just released its newest commemorative coin and they put a black Lady Liberty on its face for the first time ever.
MORE FROM OUR BLOG
10 Defining Moments for Women in 2016
Shed a tear for our favorite First Lady ever.
2016 was full of ups and downs, peaks and valleys, but no matter where you're standing now, it was a monumental year for women. We are counting down ten of our favorite defining moments.
FEMALE-LED POLITICAL TEAMS & KATY TUR
Reporter Katy Tur lived out of suitcases for over a year and a half. Received endless threats (to the point where she needed Secret Service protection), and bullying at Trump rallies, but the reporter never stopped doing her job. Of the campaign trail she wrote, "For one thing, the boys on the bus are now the girls on the plane. Fellow NBC reporters Andrea Mitchell, Kasie Hunt, Hallie Jackson, Kristen Welker, and I are the first women-led politics team in the history of network news—just one remarkable shift in a campaign season where the only rule seems to be that there are no rules."
SIMONE BILES MAKES HISTORY
The reigning floor champion in gymnastics, American gymnast Simone Biles became the first female gymnast of this generation to take home four Olympic gold medals. At 19 she is considered the greatest gymnast in the world.
She's also a powerful advocate for radical self-acceptance. Biles who was just named the AP female athlete of the year has taken so much criticism about her body that she felt the need to address the bullying on Twitter recently: "you all can judge my body all you want, but at the end of the day it's MY body," she wrote. "I love it & I'm comfortable in my skin."
Call it a gold medal mic drop.
SAMANTHA BEE CHANGES THE LATE NIGHT GAME
With one of the best and most diverse writing staffs and its boss front woman, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee easily became one of the best shows in 2016. Bee might not have changed the outcome of the election, nor should a late-night comedy show have the ability to, but her satirical overtones are the best in the game. And she does it standing up, as if to remind people that she wears the pants. Beyond that, her writer's room diversity efforts have paid off and she's leading the charge, challenging other shows to do the same.
HRC
She won the popular vote, didn't win the race, but Hillary Rodham Clinton made history. For women everyone. For little girls who saw a woman command the national stage. For women who never thought they would cast their vote for a female nominee. At the DNC Clinton accepted her nomination saying, “When there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit. So let's keep going, until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves. Because even more important than the history we make tonight is the history we will write together in the years ahead.”
SARAH MCBRIDE MAKES STRIDES FOR THE TRANS COMMUNITY
Sarah McBride became the first transgender speaker at a major political convention when she spoke during the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. She's interned at the White House, helped her home state of Delaware pass protections for the LGBTQ community and is now the National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign. Though she one worried that her dreams and her identity were incompatible, she has become a brilliant example of the power of inclusively. "Will we be a nation where everyone has the freedom to live openly and equally?" she asked the convention. "A nation that's stronger together?" Will will if she has anything to do with it.
THE FOREST THROUGH THE TREES: SENATE SILVING LININGS
We may not have realized our first female president, but there are now a record number of women in the Senate. On Tuesday, three women of color were newly elected to the Senate, quadrupling the number of sitting members. Prior to Tuesday's election, Hawaii's Sen. Mazie Hirono was the only woman of color in the Senate. She became the first and only Asian-American woman elected to the Senate in 2006, along with the first woman elected senator in Hawaii. Amongst the newly elected members of the Senate is California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is both African- and Indian-American. Catherine Cortez Masto, the first Latina senator in U.S. history and the first woman elected senator in Nevada. Tammy Duckworth became the first Thai-American senator in history after she beat out her Republican opponent for an empty seat in Illinois.
COMPANIES ARE MAKING MAKING MATERNITY LEAVE STRIDES
This past April Etsy employees became eligible for 26 weeks of fully paid leave over the first two years after a child's birth, with at least eight of those weeks taken continuously during the first six months following the birth.
American Express will offer twenty weeks of paid leave will be offered to men and women bringing a new child into their families through surrogacy, adoption, or birth, with an additional six to eight weeks for birth mothers.
Coca-Cola, EY, IKEA, and Basf are all expanding benefits as well. Though policies in the U.S. regarding paid parental leave are up in the air, the steps taken by these companies are important for the county overall. There is still a long way to go, but when big companies set the standard, others follow suit.
TAKING OUR ACHIEVEMENTS TO THE BANK
In America we believe in money, and in a move that’s long overdue, women will gain representation on U.S. paper currency for the first time in over a century. In August, the U.S. Treasury announced that women suffragists will appear on the back of the $5 and $10 bill, and Underground Railroad abolitionist and escaped slave Harriet Tubmanwill become the new face of the $20 bill.
BEYONCE GOT EVERYONE IN FORMATION
With her all female, all women of color drum line Queen B performed "Formation" at the Super Bowl to the tune of unapologetic black feminist overtones. She paid homage to the Black Lives Matter movement, Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers. A few months later, she dropped "Lemonade," a revolutionary visual album that Rolling Stone named the best album of the year.
MICHELLE OBAMA DELIVERS ONE OF THE BEST SPEECHES OF THE CENTURY
She may have been on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton, but when First Lady Michelle Obama took the microphone in Manchester, New Hampshire, she delivered one of the best political speeches many of us hear in our lifetime. She was raw, emotional, and brutally honest about the sexually abusive comments made by now President elect Trump. It was a rebuke that will reverberate for years to come. "It has shaken me to my core," she told the crowd. "If all of this is painful to us as grown women, what do you think this is doing to our children?" she asked. "What message are our little girls hearing about who they should look like, how they should act? What lessons are they learning about their value as professionals, as human beings, about their dreams and aspirations? And how is this affecting men and boys in this country? Because I can tell you that the men in my life do not talk about women like this."
Move over Jackie, we can expect alllll of the Michelle Obama biopics.
Have more favorites? There are plenty more to choose from. Share in the comments below!
MORE FROM OUR BLOG
Meet the Poet Behind LEMONADE's Jaw-Dropping Interludes
Beyoncé could not have done this without her.
“I tried to make a home out of you/But doors lead to trapped doors.”
So goes the beginning of the first interlude for "LEMONADE," Beyoncé's new "visual album" released on April 23rd on HBO. While many critics have noted the deeply personal aspect of the hour long special, a rare glimpse into the artist's innermost feelings and thoughts, especially in relation to hubby Jay-Z, some of the most personal language is not hers. It's Warsan Shire's, a Somali-British poet who takes second billing in "LEMONADE's" production credits for 'Film Adaption and Poetry." That's right, her name appears before the directors. Shire's words reframe the entire album, making the tribulations that Queen B calls out the struggles of all women.
How the relationship between the poet and Beyoncé came to be is not known, but "Lemonade" would not be the same without the poet's work.
Here are 7 things to know about the young poet.
1. In 2014 she was named Young Poet Laureate for London. Of the honor Shire has said, “Being Young Poet Laureate for London has been an incredible experience. It has been challenging, humbling and rewarding. I’ve had really beautiful moments connecting with Londoners over the transformative power of poetry. It has been truly inspiring and I’m excited about the way it has informed and accelerated my work as a poet.”
2. She's been working on a full collection of poetry since 2012. It is set to be published this year. In 2011, Shire published “Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth,” a collection of poems. She has published one other pamphlet, "Her Blue Body."
3. She was born in Kenya in 1988 to Somali parents and immigrated to the UK at the age of one. She writes primarily of her experience as an immigrant, but is also deeply focussed on love, the human experience, and telling the stories she sees unfold before her. "Character-driven poetry is important to me," she said.
4. In "LEMONADE" Beyoncé recites adaptations of her poems including: "For Women Who Are Difficult To Love," "The unbearable weight of staying," “How To Wear Your Mother’s Lipstick,”“Dear Moon,” “Grief Has Its Blue Hands In Her Hair,” and “Nail Technician As Palm Reader.”
5. Where does she get her inspiration? Shire usually writes at night, with music and film are crucial to the process. “My writing is always inspired by film,” she told africainwords.com. “If I don’t watch a film, I won’t write. I watch about 10 films a week.”
6. Her name almost seems like foreshadowing for her career. Warsan means ‘good news’ and Shire means ‘to gather in one place.’ Her parents named her after her grandmother of her father's side. Of her name she has said, "It is not easy to pronounce, it takes effort to say correctly and I am absolutely in love with the sound of it and its meaning.”
7. Writer's tip: She uses a Dictophone when recording the experience of her relatives, so that she has authentic and true accounts before turning their stories in poetry.
More from our blog:
#Facts: What Beyonce Did Right That Kanye Got Wrong
Always stay gracious. Best revenge is your paper.
In the music world (and the world in general) it's a widely accepted fact that Beyoncé is Queen. It's not just her music, her sweet dance moves, her all female drum line, and that hot sauce in her bag, she's a proper shrewd business woman who understands how to werk online and offline engagement in ways that boost her brand and staying power. Remember when she banned photographers from her world tour after unflattering images emerged? That image is locked up.
ON THE OTHER HAND.
While there are some who believe Kanye can do no wrong, there are others who think Ye's methods are spastic, unedited, and unpredictable, but not in a business savvy way. Though there is much more to Yeezy than shoes and strange Twitter outbursts, his lack of self-control is one of the reasons he's *maybe* $53 million in debt.
From a marketing perspective we're breaking down #facts.
Pressing the Button When It’s Hot
Did anyone see Formation coming when it dropped on us that week like a gift from the heavens? Probably not. Beyoncé has mastered the art of surprise by releasing music without marketing it at all. With loyal and powerful fans like The Bey Hive, they flock to anything Queen Bey drops. Everything she touches is essentially gold, and her marketing strategy is making sure that it drops at the right time. There’s no teasing - no keeping you waiting. However, as we saw with Formation, releasing the video right before the Super Bowl was the perfect opportunity to have millions of eyes glued to their screens that Sunday and start a conversation that is still keeping some people a little salty.
Kanye on the other hand…
For months now, Kanye has been tweeting endlessly about his album The Life of Pablo (formerly known as Waves, formerly known as SWISH). Okay, we get it Kanye, you can’t make up your mind. It’s ironic that the new album talks about things that were just trending a month ago, however, we can see that timeliness is not Kanye’s forté when it came to releasing TLOP. We kept waiting…and waiting…until finally, he released it. Last time I remember, the album was supposed to be released on February 11th, but Kanye must have missed the calendar alert and remembered that he needed to release three days later. Trust us, we understand the need for perfection, but we're not sure if stalling is the best strategy to keep your fans waiting, especially when you’ve been hyping it up for months.
The Medium Is Not the Message
Formation is on Tidal. The Life of Pablo is on Tidal. Guess who’s not forcing us to listen to their music on Tidal?
It seems like everyday Kanye is force-feeding Tidal to us, but is Beyoncé forcing us to listen to Formation on there? No. It makes us think, was The Life of Pablo truly the masterpiece that Kanye has been getting us ready for the past two years, or was it just an album to get people to give in to Tidal? Kanye keeps stressing how “cool and great” Tidal is, but Beyoncé released the video, left it for streaming on Tidal, and her work was done. With the song and video released and a mind-blowing performance that started a very heated nationwide conversation, it was evident that Beyoncé’s message extended far beyond that “hot sauce in my bag” lyric. Beyoncé is well aware of the power her name and brand holds, and doesn’t need to constantly push her fans, because she knows how they will react.
Although Kanye is authentic and speaks what’s on his mind with no filter, he doesn't consider the reaction his fans and followers will have to anything he says, endorses, or releases. Granted, it is his brand, however, the lack of strategic marketing and awareness of what his fans respond well to can definitely dilute the power behind the brand. Kanye is essentially a persistent salesman that won’t stop knocking at your door, but he needs to face the #facts, and learn that nobody likes it when they’re being sold.
Lack of strategic marketing & awareness of what his fans respond well to can definitely dilute the power behind the brand.
Tweet this.
Is All Press Good Press?
Safe to say that most of the times that Kanye is on a headline, it doesn’t put him in the best light. And after Formation, press for Beyoncé has seen the good, bad, and ugly. However, both Bey and Ye know that everything that they do is under a microscope when it comes to press, and both have reacted in significantly different ways.
Just yesterday, Kanye made headlines ranting about Taylor Swift, his album, and oh what a surprise, Tidal. There's a vicious circle to the Kanye show because everything he says or tweets is bound to make headlines. More often than not, it’s not positive. However, he’s very well aware of this, and only continues to fuel to fire. But noise for the sake of noise? At a certain point people will change the station. What is he truly talking about besides himself? Is he really using the press to show that he is the next Pablo, or are we missing the real masterpiece?
In Beyoncé’s case, although there’s been both negative and positive comments about Formation and the Super Bowl performance, she has directed the conversation to address a much bigger societal issue about race and the importance of being unapologetically black. She has ignited an important discussion, whereas Kanye’s message gets lost in translation.
She has ignited an important discussion, whereas Kanye’s message gets lost in translation.
Tweet this.
Queen vs. King aside, if there' s one we've learned it's that staying cool, collected, composed, and savvy a la Beyoncé is the way to go. Know the power behind your brand, use it strategically, yet always be unapologetically *professionally* you.
In the words of Formation, “always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper.”