We've got a roundup of September and October magazine covers and Tyson Beckford, John Legend and Viola Davis are among the YBFers who'll be gracing magazine stands. See the fab shoots inside.....
SAG Award winner Viola Davis rocks her natural hair on the October 2013 cover of ESSENCE Magazine. Inside, the Oscar-nominated beauty talks about beauty, creative freedom and the evolution—both inside and out—that finally helped her get to happy.
The upcoming Prisoners actress talks about coming into her own as a Black woman in Hollywood:
“I had to defend myself as an artist, but I found myself defending myself as a dark-skinned Black woman in front of people who did not know my life. I took my wig off because I no longer wanted to apologize for who I am…”
Speak!
You'll recall that the issue of skin color was also a hot-button issue when Viola appeared alongside Phylicia Rashad and Gabrielle Union on "Oprah's Next Chapter". Looking fabulous as always Viola.
Also.........
For UPTOWN's Aug/Spet 2013 issue, supermodel Tyson Beckford becomes the quintessential gent with a collection of fall’s classic looks.
Not sure who he's inviting into this tub with these yes, but we're sure he'll have more than a few takers.
During a recent interview with UK's The Sun, Tyson revealed that he's received death threats over his job as a judge on Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model show.
"I got a lot of negative tweets... I got death threats: 'We're coming to shoot you when you come to London'. I come from America, I'm coming from ganglands. It ain't like I haven't been shot at before. Bring it on buddy! But I did alert Sky (the network). And I don't say where I am on Twitter. I might tweet a photo, but if anybody rocks up (arrives there) they'll find I left a few hours ago. But I'm not worried."
Yikes.....we 're glad that Tyson has beefed up his security. Now we know why his Twitter timeline NEVER includes where he's located!
Also.....
John Legend covers ROLLING OUT's latest issue, with a slihtly awkward in-the-clouds theme. Inside, he talks about his new disc, Love In The Future, the decline of R&B on the radio, the misogyny of rap music and his upcoming marriage to Chrissy Teigen.
"Hip-hop is the dominant music on black radio today. The stations that traditionally played R&B aren’t playing it as much these days. That’s a part of where music is going. At times, I listen to more hip-hop than R&B. I don’t blame radio stations for playing mostly hip-hop. But it’s our responsibility as R&B artists to make music that will attract the people. We have to make music that’s urgent, great and compelling.”
“Hip-hop has a strong misogynistic streak that we should try to get rid of. More rappers should be careful about what they say about women. I think they’re trying to sound tough, or sound like they don’t give a s—. But to me, it just sounds like you’re an a–hole. I think rappers should pay more attention to what they say about women. Some of the things I hear, I find pretty disgusting.”
On his future marriage to Chrissy Teigen:
“Nothing will be perfect. I know that our marriage will not be perfect, but I feel good about it. I think you should treat people how you want to be treated, no matter what kind of relationship you are in. It’s not that complicated. Everyone is selfish to a degree, we all have our own desires and we mess up in life. But the key to being in a good relationship is knowing how to listen and figuring out a way to not be selfish all of the time.”
On Kanye West:
“Kanye is good at pushing the culture, pushing the conversation and making people think and challenging his audience,” Legend says. “He does that with this new album as well. The music is interpreted differently by a lot of people. Part of what makes him exciting as an artist is that he makes thought-provoking music. It’s something that’s provocative and I think it’s a good thing.”
He spoke some truth about that mysogyny in the game.
Photos via UPTOWN, Rolling Out, ESSSENCE