TATAS & TWATS GALORE O MY!!

New York, NY

by: Trevor Jones

It’s a cold day at a photographer’s studio in Tribeca, New York. Artist Lucresia Linton is bringing on the heat, spread-eagled on a white mattress.”Damn, it’s cold in here!” she exclaims. In moments, her face quickly moves from slight irritation to vixenish demure. She says coyly, “Can you see my nipple imprint?”

“Yes,” I sigh. As any good natured gay man would sigh. “Good! That will give them something to chew on or at least they could go an-”

“My dear! You have changed!”

“Yeah,I got thicker,” her voice trails off.

“-skinned?”

“No,just plain-ass thicker” she laughs.

I remember Ms. Linton (Trust me kids in the next few months you will see why she deserves instant RESPECT!) as a struggling artist trying to make her mark in the world. However, I must point out that no matter how bad it got or how close she was threading on “brokedom” Lucresia was always and I mean always fierce on her dressing, style and demeanor!

“I always felt different. And I have always known that there was some reason for my difference and that one day it would become recognized.” she says. “I remember when I was 16 years old and I was struggling with my weight and I was at the mirror begging, no pleading with GOD to help me lose weight. And I remember hearing back, that “you have a social message to bring forth to the world and that, it will come across more effective if you are the size you are!”

“Boy that’s a lot!” I say.

“She’s a woman of many words,” states Lucresia dryly.

The one thing that I like about the girl is how candidly she speaks about her size. While most artists who are curvaceous talk about themselves in a self-depreciating way, Lucresia Linton expresses herself confidently and with love.

“I’m not going to lie to you, pardon the pun (remember folks she is doing an interview on her back in a bed) that it took me a short time to achieve this inner peace,” she says. “I still struggle inside, but I definitely have a firm stance of who I am and what I have to offer.”

Being young Lucresia feels that she can relate to her fans on any topic. However, she feels that she is always ahead of the game of life (that artist has a daughter from a previous relationship).

She proclaims, “Honey! I have the ability to walk the walk and talk the talk! ” she continues,” I don’t want to be just an artist who is there to look good and to talk about their views in a masked sort of way. I have seen a lot. Hopefully in some way I can help people whether it be with self-confidence issues or provide music business information. I feel strongly that my actions are as equally impressive with what I got to say.”

And her actions are impressive indeed! In her struggling days, Lucresia always knew that she had her vocal style down, but in order to survive in the music game she knew that she had to brush up on her business savvy. Her songs display a much more than a poignant dialogue of Ms. Linton’s trump cards she dealt in her love life. You can actually hear the coyness of her dalliances to the much-earned wisdom that she gained from the experiences.

Lucresia recalls, ” I wanted to give myself a chance to wear different hats, but mostly the more I read about the business the more I realized how low on the totem pole an artist really is within the record company.

“So what happens to all the accolades, screaming fans and the glory we see the telly?” I ask.

“Well,” she says, “that is only an extension of the life. It is only like a cover up. But they got that shit on so sheer that its cracks are beginning to show! That’s why we’ve been hearing about all those Toni Braxton’s and the TLC’s going broke and being cheated. Many artists fail to realize that the music and the business go hand in hand. If you are going to be an artist 24 hours a day, you better make sure that for at least 20 of those hours are spent handling your business!” she orders.

“Why?”I ask (Lucresia is being asked to turn over. So she doesn’t want anyone looking in case the sheet slips). So what would any gentleman do in this case? I turn around and slip a quick peek!

“GIRL! YOU GOT YOURSELF SOME BACK!” I scream.

“Trust me honey, YOU may be able to bounce a quarter off of Jennifer Lopez’s butt, however, bounce one off of my ass and it will bring back some change!”

SPREAD EAGLE AND FLYING

Paris,France

by: Cordell Jackson

I am sitting in a downtown bar waiting for the newcomer- on -the- scene Lucresia Linton to show up for an interview that her label has set up. She is two days late.Lucresia owns the label.

“Hey you!” her voice breathless. Everyone looks up. I mean I am slightly pissed, but I have to admit that the girl is stunning! But, who cares! I am still pissed.

I comment dryly, “Don’t you think that it is a bit too early in your career to start the diva tendencies.”

She shoots back, “Um…who says it’s too early. I’ve been doing this all my life!” she laughs.

I melt.

The first thing that strikes you about Lucresia is her image. Image-wise she reminds me of very early Loren and Taylor, but black. Plump and bursting at the seams; riped and waiting to be picked and eaten. And when she opens her full lips and breaks into song you are reminded of Billie Holiday, or even, dare I say it- Bjork!

“The vocal comparison doesn’t bother me. Ms. Bjork has sold millions of records and to be compared to Billie is an honor,” she states a matter of fact. “We live in a compare-everything -to -anything type of society. You are not going to be the first nor the last to compare me to anyone. I will just have to let my album and the videos speak loudly for themselves.”

The singer remembers a time where she too played society’s comparison game. Lucresia would daily compare herself to skinner girls when she went clubbing or even to the mall. She grew up with a very warped sense of interpretation that many young people struggle with. It wasn’t until she saw the rushes of her video for her first single “Introspectively ” that those mind games came to a full head.

Lucresia recalls,”When I saw my video for the first time I didn’t see the “bigness” I grew up with. I saw for myself what my sister and my close friends have been trying to tell me for years -that I was just a girl with a little extra meat on her bones. Nothing more than that!”

The images of the video ended up haunting the singer for a long time. Eventually, the depression that she seem to cling to turned into anger towards those who put those thoughts of her not being worthy in her head. To get out of her slump she realized that she had to do some forgiving and soul-searching. She dug up some old photos of herself from times when she was at her skinniest and regressed though the pain that all those past experiences caused. She made sure that she fought those head games dead on.

Lucresia indulges, “I was angry for [quite] sometime at the people-family and friends for putting those hateful things in my head. Then I turned that anger inwards and I was upset with myself for believing in it. I mean, I believed in it so much that I made it my own. I claimed it!” The singer is now on two missions -one socially and one spiritually. “I am at the time in my life where no one can place their beliefs on me-whether it be on my music or my image. No one!” she proclaims.

“I remember shopping everywhere for my clothes. I had to always try on everything I had my eye on and I could never buy anything off the rack,” she recalls. These experiences were probably daunting for the artist, but looking back she feels that her life’s purpose was unfolding before her.

“Even back then I had a strong sense of style. I always wanted to create something. From the age of thirteen I would go buy milk for our house and then take my dad’s change to buy Vogue’s with it. My parents thought I was crazy. I would get banned from buying the mags. And then I took to hiding them underneath my shirt. Thank God for giving me big boobs cause it hid the books quite nicely. Anyways, I saw it as a way to dream. For many years I lived off of those dreams in my head,” she continues, “I would scour the magazine and afterwards I would try to find a version of it that would fit me. Till this day I still get women coming up to me asking where I got that outfit? And how did you find it in your size!”

Needless to say she was offended of the constant reminder of her weight, but then the singer started to take them as compliments.

“I think that for any woman to come up to you and ask where they can get something is a very vulnerable moment [for them]. I promised myself then and there that if a person came up to me I would try to be as helpful as I could, but only if they are sincere.”

While, most people take their anger out by becoming self-destructive Lucresia took a different approach by being constructive. The artist began by erasing all negative thoughts that soon entered her head and started to replace them immediately with the positive. She also looked back and realized that she had a choice-either she dwell on her past or use all those bad things and create a new future. I am going to try to take to the masses any way that I can to build a career that will challenge any image out there. Says the singer, “BEING DIFFERENT, will now be the new nouveau!”

My music, my image, my beliefs are all extensions of myself. This is a chance for me to give back something to those same ladies who came up to me over the years. It’s daring and sexy; all the qualities I am trying to convey.”

“Oh I see,” I say. “So what is your first best feature?” I ask.

“My brain,” she states flatly.