FIRST DRAFT OF Double Page Spread Interview

Interview

Adriana is back with her fantastic new album ‘Ha to the Haters’, which is her fourth studio album. Two years, Adriana rapped for the stars – she provided vocals on hits by Drake, Jay Z, who mentored her, and perhaps most famously Kanye West, for whom she sang in his single ‘Otis’. We caught up with her to chat about the new album, a change in her sound and what lies ahead in 2013.

Your new album is ‘Ha To The Haters’ so what can fans expect from your new collection of tracks?

Well, what is different to this album compared to other releases is that there are more upbeat songs on this one - I think I would call it more hip hop. I have tended to write a lot of long raps in the past rather than singing and showing off my vocals, but this time I made a conscious effort to have more of a balance (laughs). I expect  my new single to be a  hit in America and travel the world.

You've got a brand new single ‘Just By My Attitude’ - what's it all about?

In my opinion I think that it’s a great song, because it’s about reality, it says it in the song really. It’s about everything that I do. It's very catchy, because my producer Mark Dwyane added some harsh beats to the introduction and then we sampled an old jazz track to get the rhythm going. I love being in the studio, it’s really fun with Mark because he always knows what sounds right and what works with my voice and my sharp lyrics. This single allows me to reveal a part of me that fans may not have heard of before.

Can you describe the process of turning your songs into a video? Do you have a lot of input?

Definitely! That’s my thing. Usually because I wrote the song, I have a story of where it came from. I talk to key people about that story and then we get a director and they have a vision and they write out what is called a “treatment” and summarise what the video could be about. From there I’ll ask, can we add this or change that, or is there anything else we could do to make it better?  And eventually it comes into place. I really do like to be involved so that what you see is part of who I am.  The best video director I’ve worked with is Warren Chambers, he directed some work by Madonna and Rihanna which I really liked, I like it when female artists can use the opportunity to be chameleons.

I was reading that it wasn't until you were about 15 that you wanted to pursue singing, so what made you eventually go down this path?

I don’t know really. I have always loved writing and I use to write a lot of poetry and I wanted to be a film director and all of that creative stuff. People don’t realise that I actually used to be quite shy and didn’t like attention much, but now that’s changed, I want to show the whole world what I’m capable of.  I did a school concert when I was fifteen and I sung by myself and I realised that I could sing by myself and I just started doing it like that really and just fell in love with it.

I had the chance, as everyone knows, to compete in X Factor USA when I was 17, a few years ago and that changed everything. It blew me away. The fact that everyone was looking at me, I was burning up. It catapulted me into the limelight and then nothing else mattered. Yes, I sang in that competition but they encouraged me to rap also when I was covering other artist’s songs. I have to rap. It’s miles apart from anything else in terms of how it makes me feel.

So, who is your role model?

Ummm, I would say Cher Lloyd, as I love her swag and her style, but preferably Nicki Minaj as she is my dream role model, my love for her is infinite. I love her! She has inspired me a lot, and I would love to meet her. She is a very strong woman and an amazing rapper.

 Tell me about your family, are they influenced by your talent?

Well, yes indeed, my father stood by my side since I made this decision, my mother however has died, and I really wanted her to see me succeed in my future, and here I am saying these words that I’ve been saying to my mother before she died. Now she’s in heaven, hopefully proud of me.