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| THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012 23 Pull-Out Reggae gets a makeover JLS star Marvin in new role CAREER CHANGE! Kim K tweet sparks outrage SHE SAID WHAT?

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Page 1: The Bobbi Lewis Edition

| THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012 23

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Reggae gets a makeoverReggae gets a Reggae gets a Reggae gets a Reggae gets a makeovermakeoverBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWISBOBII LEWIS

JLS star Marvin

in new role

CAREER CHANGE!

Kim K tweet sparks

outrage

SHE SAIDWHAT?

Page 2: The Bobbi Lewis Edition

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24 � THE VOICE APRIL 4 - 10, 2013

LEONA LEWISUK songstressApril 3

3

EDDIE MURPHYActor and comedianApril 3

8

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6 7 9 10

11 12 1513 14

PHARRELLWILLIAMSRapper and producerApril 5

JOSS STONEBritish singerApril 11

MARTINLAWRENCEActor and comedianApril 16

AKONSinger, producer, busi-nessmanApril 16

KOURTNEY KARDASHIANReality starApril 18

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QUEEN ELIZABETH I INo explanationneeded really!April 21

CEDRIC THEENTERTAINERComedianApril 20

TERRENCE JTV and radio presenterApril 21

MASTER PActor, producer andentrepreneur April 29

CHANNING TATUMActorApril 26

DJIMON HONSOUActorApril 24

TIONNE “T-BOZ”WATKINSSinger April 26

MS DYNAMITE UK ‘rapstress’April 26

Stars who celebrate their birthday this month

Zeni Sekabanja

1 5

KEISHA KNIGHT-PULLIAM ActressApril 9

MARVIN GAYESoul singerApril 2

EASTER BUNNIES

ZENI SEKABANJA, an aspiring actressfrom Peckham, south London ispreparing a final fundraising push tofulfill her dream of enlisting at a topdrama school.

The 22-year-old beat more than3,000 applicants to be offered one of28 highly sought after places on thetwo-year acting course offered by theprestigious London Academy of Musicand Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

But the south Londoner was forcedto defer last year because she couldnot afford the £9,000 course fees. Overthe past six months, she has raised£6,360 but only has until July to gatherthe rest.

“I’ve always wanted to be anactress. Like most people I neverthought about the financial aspect of itas I didn’t think that I would get in,”said Zeni, who moved to the UK as arefugee of the Rwandan civil war.

The ambitious drama student clearlyhas what it takes having playedCordelia in Shakespeare’s King Lear atthe Young Vic Theatre in 2010, andappeared in the play Fit for Purpose atEdinburgh Fringe Festival 2011.

“I want to show that someone likeme from an area like Peckham can fol-low their dreams. As long as you aredriven and determined anything canhappen,” she said.

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Page 3: The Bobbi Lewis Edition

Dear Kat,

My mum is dating some guy and I don't like him. It's not becausehe's not my dad, my dad is a wasteman. It's because I don't think he'swith my mum for the right reasons.

My mum has a house that she owns, has a good job and takes careof her appearance. He lived with his mum before he started dating mymum and is still 'looking' for a job. And not to mention the bag load ofkids he has with all these different women.

I told my mum that I didn't like him, but she just thinks it's gonna takesome getting used to. I think he is using her.

How can I make her see sense?Anon

Hi Anon,This is not an easy one as your mum is an adult and shouldn’t be dic-tated to by her child.

As much as it might burn, you’re going to have to let this relation-ship run its course. By you investing so much time in your dislike ofhim, you’re strengthening the relationship and making them want toprove you wrong. If he’s no good, let him slip up all by himself, thatway you won’t be blamed.

Your mum, it seems, has her head screwed on to have got this farin life. Trust that she knows what she’s doing and believe that every-thing will work out for the best. Let down your guard a little bit and tryand approach their relationship with a positive mindset. You might justfind that you got him wrong. Support your mum, be respectful and behappy for her.

Everything happens for a reason. If it’s not meant to be, it won’t.

APRIL 4 - 10, 2013 THE VOICE � 25

NEVER JUDGE abook by its cover.We’ve all heardthe saying, buthave, at one

point in our lives, been guilty ofit. Whether it’s assuming thatpeople who wear glasses aresmarter than the average or thatall men like football.

Cue UK singer/songwriterBobii Lewis, a flame-haired,reggae-loving 21-year-old fromnortheast London, whose storyreads nothing like the cover it’sencased in.

“I grew up listening to reg-gae,” he starts.

“My parents just loved play-ing reggae around the house, Idon’t know why. They alsoloved Motown. If I’m honest,you can play any song [fromthose two genres] made in thelate 1980s or 1990s and I wouldprobably know them.”

Although his music nowa-days falls within the R&B/grimegenre, as his new single Cut Me

Some Slack proves, Lewis, willcontinue to pay homage to themusical genre that shaped hissound wherever possible.

“Me and my guitarist Kennethwill go out at a show and per-form a Buju Banton song or aBob Marley song. It’s a realpassion of mine to perform reg-gae and sing it.”

And although that isn’t thegenre for which he is famed, hehas built up quite a following onhis travels. Fans across theboard are eager to sample aBobii Lewis reggae mash up. InFebruary, the singer was invitedto the Jamaica HighCommission in Central Londonto perform for a number ofhigh-profile guests at BobMarley’s 68th birthday celebra-tions.

“That was amazing,” he says.“They accepted me with

open arms. I asked the audi-ence to sing along, as I couldsee them itching to getinvolved, and when they did,

they came out with harmoniesand all sorts. I think as long aswe loved what we were doing,they were willing to appreciate itand show us love. From thatevent we got asked to do a reg-gae showcase, which werecorded recently.”

Bobii, an accomplished actor,has also moved into theAfrobeats genre, recently per-forming his hit Sweet Girl atGhana Independence celebra-tions at London’s IndigO2.

“The producer that I workvery closely with is Nigerian. Wegrew up together, went to thesame schools and college andwere pretty much listening toafrobeats ages ago, which wascalled highlife back then.

“Then I met my manager,who is Ghanaian, so I had bothGhanaian and Nigerian influ-ences around me. The thing is,people might assume that I justjumped on it, but we madethese tracks ages ago, we justdidn’t put them out because it

wasn’t the right time to do it.”Bobii started singing when he

was 11. He joined the localchoir, a ‘soulful’ group ofsingers who travelled aroundthe UK performing at venuesincluding the Royal Albert andRoyal Festival Halls.

He asserts: “I’ve done reallybig gigs before I was BobiiLewis the artist.”

In his later teens he startedrecording with some local rap-pers and musicians and honedin on his talents in singing, rap-ping, producing and songwrit-ing and says “now it’s justpushing stuff and showing peo-ple what we’ve been creating.”

It wasn’t long before SB.TV,the UK’s leading online youthbroadcaster, recognised his tal-ents and asked him to featurein their A64 series, whichgained over 30,000 views. Thesinger went onto receive‘Record of the Week’ accoladesand was hailed as ‘One toWatch’ by Radio 1 DJ’s includ-ing Reggie Yates. In fact, daysafter our interview, his managercalled to tell me that Bobii’s sin-gle Cut Me Some Slack hadbeen added to both Kiss TVand MTV Base.

The track’s hard-hittingbassline, produced by TheGahd, centres around the sacri-fice and gratitude an aspiringartist experiences during theirturbulent journey in both musicand life, which Bobii admits hasbeen “hard.”

“It’s a hard job, but I guessthat’s the same with any career.If I wanted to

be a doctor, I would have tostudy until I was 25.”

It makes one question whysomeone who was invited toappear on reality shows the XFactor and The Voice wouldturn down the opportunity tofast-track his career.

He laughs. “Me, my managerand the producer that I workwith, we built this from theground up and I just didn’t feelthat it was right for me. It justgoes against everything thatwe’ve built. It’s not anythingagainst the shows, but in termsof what I wanted to do, it would-n’t have worked.”

And his decision seems tohave paid off. Earlier this yearhe supported US rapper RickRoss in concert and his debutsingle Grenade independentlyreceived support from ChoiceFM, BBC 1Xtra and Radio 1.

However, when we discussthe highlight of his career thus

far, none of these make the cut. “Before I would’ve said it was

opening up for Rick Ross inconcert, that was huge, but per-forming at GhanaIndependence was a greatexperience. It was like everyonewas celebrating and I just feltthe love and the energy in thatplace.

And if we were to talk in fiveyears, what other highlightswould have made the list?

“I would have established anumber one single in the UK atleast. I would want to be promi-nent in the scene, would like tobe producing and writing forother artists worldwide and beable to give back to everyonethat has been a part of thismovement.”

Cut Me Some Slack is out nowthrough Playtime Entertainment. Formore information, visit: www.bobi-ilewis.com or follow @BobiiLewis onTwitter

K-Ci and JoJo of R&B group Jodeci tookto Twitter to blast ‘critics’ following

their terrible performance atLondon’s Wembley Arena

“Our critics we ask u readMatthews 7:3 Why do you look

at the speck that is in urbrother's I, but dont notice the log

that is n ur own eye”

JODECI: The legendary R&B groupwere booed off the stage

at a recent concert inLondon’s Wembley Arena

KIM KARDASHIAN: A tweet believed to besent from the reality

star’s Twitter accountcompared Nigerian

women to ‘apes’

CLEOPATRA: The UK girl group have

reunited and will trytheir chances on TV

talent show, The Voice

MARVIN HUMES: The JLS star has landeda weekly radio show on

Capital FM

Unflattering, fussy, mature

KIM KARDASHIAN:Cute, simple, pretty

ROCHELLE HUMES:

TWEET OF THE WEEK

K-Ci and JoJo

UK singer Bobii Lewis talks to YV’s DionneGrant about his love of reggae, rejectingSimon Cowell and why colour doesn’t matter

BUFF OR BUSTED?

BUSTED BUFF

youngvoicesmagazine @youngvoicesmag www.voice-online.co.uk/entertainment

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