ALONE
" 0 born with here
open, " ys her mother J n
Gay . "She w looking round,
v ry aware, very alert. A friend
of min said This b by has a
very old oul.' She w
that Nona's oul had
fore ... "
I t's not unusual for gifted en
tertainers to be described in
such an aesthetic manner. It
ms they a literally born to
be performers. Nona Gaye
knows sh was to be an artist.
"I've al ways known. This is all
I can s myself doing, " she says.
One might say for Nona it' all
j 0 .the genes - genetically
speaking, that . . With her fa
th r being the legendary Marvin
Gaye it would seem abnormal for
her not to have talent. Nona's
debut album, Love For The Fu
ture, gave evidence that the
Washington, D.C. native indeed
was given her calling as a birth
right.
The album also proved that
sh could really sing and wasn't
just another studio vocal concoc
tion. The album caught the at
tention of the guy formerly
known as Prince. He. was im
pressed enough to work with
Nona on her next upcoming al
bum and to also invite her to do
a duet on his "Love Sign" track.
pl'Olm.wmaJ
ci tion really turned into a per
sonal thing?'
Read on as Nona Gaye shares
the details about her career and
other tidbits about her life.
In addition to singing,
, don't you also model?
NONA: "Yes, I've been mod
eling for .about ten months now,
80 it's still quite exciting to me.
Since I'm 5'10, I guess it was-sort
of the natural thing for me to do.
I haven't done that many assign
ments yet. aut I've done an ad
for Armani. I'm still kinds hav
ing a problem keeping my
weight down to modeling size.
To me, I've always had a little
weight problem. I tend to over
eat every once in a while. My
agent sometimes gets a little up
set with me about it."
It' difficult to ee that you
have any kind of weight prob
lem:
NONA: "Well, it's not your
typical no 1 ight problem.
But it i if you're a odel. Peopl
in t modeling ind try j t
want you to be ultra-thin for
everything. And h n 1 ant to
1 a f w poun , I j t simply
don't t. I also enjoy running.
But doing th Armani ad lly
cam by accident. I w doing a
pho 0 shoot for tl Italian r
sion of Glamour magazin , and
th ph ograph r recomm nded
me for th Armani ignrn nt."
What waayourmom' (Jan
Gaye) initial reaction about
you going into how busi
rae ?
NONA: "She was quite ap
prehensive at first because sh
knows what the business is all
about and how many sharks are
out there. 1 really think that she
was scared for me because 1 was
16 at the time. But now she
knows that I really want this
and I'm not stopping until I get
my career to the exact point that
I'm striving for. I've always
wanted to be in how busi
It was either acting, singing or
dancing, and nothing else. I've
got some acting related projects
that will be released very soon I
can't give too many details but I
can say it's for both TV and film."
Since you grew up in a
"'NA.OI&aUI ... f4 " u
a breue cloinf your (irst al-
bum' . .
NONA: "Not at all. But this
next album is now so easy. That
first album was just so difficult.
1 had problems expressing my
self musically when other people
were around - other people like
the producers. But this time
around since I'm working with
Prince 1 have no problems at all."
So what is it about work
ing with Prince that eems to
bring out the best in artists?
NONA: "He' just magical
when he's in the studio working
with you. I mean it's when you
hear th music, you just can't
deny it. So 1 had to just belt out
the music and I couldn't hold it
in."
How did you and Prince
first meet?
NONA: "It's a re By long
story but I'll shorten it. We first
J esse Jackson says
•
ac
•
,
"While we're willing to
talk, we're also willing to
walk. I t's n w tim for ag
gressiv dir c ction," he
said.
dor Hollywood d 11 W U, t
n mo p y ith the nnoun m nt t
lop d rve
e producer on
the proj , hich
a top priority at
rPict
E ho to broadcast
a fictionalized ve ion oft
documentary -t cingt
step of t inn r city Chi-
cago tee with pro bas t-
b 11 d - during t
1995 NBA pl yoffs.
Th y hope to peg a major
NBA nam to star.
Id ally, Lee would also
tak on th role of director,
. but given the fact that he
re ntly began production
on hi n film, t grit y,
urb n thrill r, "Clocker ",
chan are he won't be fin
ished in time.
In fact, L e's ummer
dance card is more than full.
Earlier in the year, he
SPIKE LEE
signed on to serv as executiv producer for "Tales From The
Hood", an urban horror anthology al 0 sporting a summer
production schedule.
before I do anything like that. I'd
like to really firmly e tablish
myself musically, th way that
Natalie did with her ca r. I
would want th public to or
hear what I can do musically as
Nona Gay nd th 11 take on
such a proj , which would
such an honor for m to do."
Have you had to overly
prove yours If b ca you're
Marvin Gay , daughter?
Do you think your father
would've wanted you to b ; n
how busine ?
I asked. our mother thi
que lion. What' two of our
fccoorit am ng our father'
ong?
'par
r" 1-
You'll probably ha to
it to believe it but
W leySni ill don long
hair and gold gown for his
role a drag q nin "To
Wong Foo, Thanks For
Everything, Julie New-
"
mar.
Just shocking is word
that Sni has fired long-
time mana r Delores Ro
bi n on (actr sHolly
Robinson's mom) after a
five-y r run that aw
Sni rise to becom one of
Hollywood's key box offi
play ,sooring a report
7 million on hi I film,
"Drop Zone" (with Sylv r
Stallone).
WESLEY SNIPES
Family Matters
- Stephanie and LeVar Burton are celebrating the birth of
their first daughter, Michaela Jean, born earlier last month ..
- Sorry to h r of Whitney Houston's recent miscarri
looking fo ard to t birth of their
child.
By The Way
- TV toppers Martin Lawrence and Will Smith have teamed
up to star in an upcoming featu film entitled "Bad Bays".
- Cab Calloway is back hom from an extended hospital
stay after suffering a massive stroke in June. Th 86-year old
perform r is still very w k. Let' k p rum in our prayers.
Tha w re the a ·t tw
that our mother al.
ted ..
:A. "At 0\1' >rl .') I
He is also believed to have gotten a similar deal on another
not-y -released film, "Money Train", and even more for his
I test picture "To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything .... ".
Rhone: Boss Lady
She' Black, be utiful and savvy. And now 42-year old
Sylvi Rhone (CEO of East/We t R rds) ha n named
ch irman a El ktra R rds.
That will make Rhon , a 13-yearexecutive with the Warner
Atlantic group: th first woman to become a major label presi
dent.
ful tenure at th label is capped off with th
SWxai. of t . En and rv rt. it that a
thatledtoherlaunchingE t/Westin1990. Inth meantim,
on th slate of upcoming releases for Elektra is the latest from
Anita Baker.
Spike Does Hoops
Remember "Hoop Dreams", the documentary that earned
top marks at the Sundance Film Festival and subsequently
landed the filmmaking m of Steve James, Pe r Gilbert and
met at a record company func
tion and it kinda of started from
there. We got to be friends and
later we started working to
gether .. .l had been such a big fan
of his. When we had our first
conversation it was such a won
derful experience for me because
I was always such n fan. I w a
little, just a little bit nervous in
doi ng th "Loue Sign" du t with
him. But he made me f I so
comfortable. "
NONA: til have no idea. But if
you find out before 1 do, let me
know! (laughs) But in case I'm
ru ked, I'm ready."
So is it true that you and
Prince are a hot item?
I ther a po ibility that
you will tour with Prince?
a
boyco
uJ
f w rno y
What did you think about
you mom g tting a tattoo re
cently?
JESSE JACKSON
- A t re any plans for ou
to do n album proj twit h
your [ather'. nui ic in a imi
lar format the way alali
Col did with her father?
b
can't believe it. I had no idea.
Th t just blow me away, re-
By." .
other than your album
and modeling, whflt are your
immedia� plans?
NONA "I'm writing a movie
cript, and I'm learning how to
play the b ss guitar. There
r n't that m ny femal b
pl y . I think it would re
funky. I'm r dy to j t go out on
th and ar it up! And I
don't mind bre ing any finger-
n il n il , " m ilz", who
c: ?"
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