LION BABE’S JILLIAN HERVEY (Daughter of Vanessa Williams) GRACES COVER OF ESSENCE MAGAZINE
LION BABE’S JILLIAN HERVEY COVERS ESSENCE MAGAZINE’S JANUARY 2017 ISSUE
ISSUE INCLUDES 3 SEPARATE COVERS, INCLUDING ONE WITH HER MOTHER, VANESSA WILLIAMS
For sensational singer and actress Vanessa Williams and her gorgeous daughter, Lion Babe’s Jillian Hervey, fierceness runs in the family—but so does staying true to who you are at any age. In the cover story, Vanessa + Jillian, the stunning duo chat with Essence about being in the business, the sacredness of family and loving the skin you’re in. Plus, visit Essence.com to see a bonus solo cover for each star!
QUOTES:
Vanessa Williams:
- ON HER UPCOMING “DAYTIME DIVAS” CHARACTER [BASED ON STAR JONES’ BOOK, SATAN’S SISTERS]: “She’s no joke. She’s smart, she’s connected, she’s witty. She’s dynamic. She gets things done. There are a lot of parallels with Star’s life…”
- KEYS TO HER SUCCESSFUL 30-YEAR CAREER: “When they yell, ‘Cameras ready!’ I am the first one there. The director and producer notice. I take whatever I’m doing seriously…”
- ON DEALING WITH PAIN: “You have to go through the fire. Avoiding the pain is why most people never resolve it. You have to dig deep, sit in it and ugly-cry. Pretending it’s not there and keeping busy are a way of avoiding it…”
Jillian Hervey:
- ON EMBRACING HER HAIR AT AN EARLY AGE: “Once I claimed my natural hair, I was like, ‘Okay, now I feel much more open to try singing and other ways of performing…’
- ON STANDING UP FOR HERSELF…AND HER LOOK [EXCERPT]: “I never saw myself as always having that hair. Ever. That wasn’t the plan. That was the label. They were like, ‘You need the hair, you need the hair, you need the hair!…” When the duo signed to Interscope Records, the label loved her video look so much that it insisted she wear it everywhere, even to radio interviews. Hervey, a self-described people pleaser didn’t have the heart to say no. “My hair was supposed to represent this freedom, and then it almost became a trap. You can’t even see my face sometimes because the wig is so big.” These days Hervey was found the strength to put her foot down and has the freedom to ‘transform,’ she says. That might mean donning braids or wearing her hair free and natural…”
ABOUT LION BABE Constantly embracing polarity, mixing and matching sounds and visuals to create something new and unique – LION BABE are the New York duo formed of singer/songwriter and performance artist Jillian Hervey and instrumentalist / producer Lucas Goodman aka Astro Raw. After the organic creation of the sultry, electronic soul track ‘Treat Me Like Fire’, they decided to give the song a home and create LION BABE. LION BABE draw on an eclectic mix of influences for their sonic and stunning visuals, which mirror the rich melting pot of cultures that New York offers. Citing the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and Sergeant Pepper-era Beatles as having a major impact on them both in their formative years, they identify with a generation brought up on the internet, with references from film and music of all genres, places and eras being just a click away. They released their debut studio album Begin earlier this year after a buzzed-about self-titled EP and string of singles, including “Treat Me Like Fire” and “Jump Hi” featuring Childish Gambino. The duo has since toured the world extensively, playing some of the largest music festivals in the world, and have collaborated with the likes of Pharrell Williams, Disclosure and more.
