Soundcheck: Meet British Beauty VV Brown
posted in: Exclusive Interviews • Music News • Urban
You may not be familiar with this beautiful British import, but VV Brown is no newbie. Born Vanessa Brown in Northampton, England, the beautiful singer-songwriter-model-actress is already a star overseas. Her debut album Travelling Like The Light soared to No. 1 on the French Digital Album chart and prompted a sold-out UK tour in 2009.
In 2010, she hit the road with Maroon 5, joining their North American tour before jumping on the UK leg of Pink’s Carnival Tour. She hit the stage with Jill Scott and Mary J. Blige for BET’s Black Girls Rock. She also made the television rounds on Ellen, The Late Show with David Letterman, Rachael Ray and Jimmy Kimmel Live! (among others) with her single, Shark In The Water, which eventually went gold in the US.
In November, she was featured on MTV’s documentary series, World of Jenks, chronicling her break into the US.
market. She describes her style as alternative pop, with her cutesy delivery disguising the deeper underlying notes on modern-day society that permeate her lyrics.
There’s something instantly cool about this soft-spoken import, who counts Q-Tip as a friend. She has played at huge festivals like SXSW and Glastonbury, and toured two continents with major headliners, and still she’s noticeably grounded.
A true artist in every aspect, VV casually references the amazing architecture of Chicago, or notes the beauty that can be found in the lines of a vintage jacket during a conversation about touring. I like being creative. I love it from the core of my belly. It’s what I would be doing either way. She seems to find the beauty in everything, and reflects it in her music, her personal style and her demeanor.
The whole process of writing and creating something from nothing is amazing, she says. What’s even more special to VV is when her music touches people’s lives in a real way. A fan proposed to his girlfriend during a performance of my song, ‘I Love You,'” she recalls. To know that my song is now part of their romance story is the most beautiful thing. That’s why you make music. For those special moments.
Aside from her musical accomplishments, VV is a celebrated model, and the first Black woman to spearhead a major campaign for Marks & Spencer, As a black woman, I hope I can do whatever I can to contribute to Blackness being more commercialized, she said. Although she’s now the face of a major retailer, VV’s heart is in vintage clothing. Vintage shopping is about more than the clothes, she says. It’s a memory frozen in time.
Next month she will launch her own online vintage store, VVVintage.com. It’s all about reinvention, recreation and recycling, she says. Rihanna, who VV calls wicked, is already a fan of VV’s redesigned vintage jackets. My passion for fashion is growing, she says. My love is evolving.
Her personal style is also evolving, as evidenced from her recent transition to a scaled down look, from her formerly flamboyant fashion sense. I love to experiment, she says. I have a Naomi look right now. It’s a more sophisticated version of me. I’m gravitating to a more elegant style. Simple.
Now, this British bombshell is ready to drop her sophomore album, Lollipops & Politics. The album’s single, Children features Chiddy of Chiddy Bang. We free-styled for three days before making that track, she recounts. We both make music about things we believe in. I knew it would be a great feature to have.
Children is an upbeat sounding song with a deeper message. Like many of VV’s songs, it provides a commentary on today’s society, with undertones of the impending revolution peeking through it’s candy-coated cover evident in lyrics like: Buildings come crumbling right to the ground/ And I can’t help noticing when I’m looking around¦Windows can’t see in ˜em/Too many lies/ We won’t be taking it/ Look ˜em right in the eyes¦If I had my way I’d throw everything away/I’d draw it all up again/ Keep walking with me.
VV Brown’s full length, sophomore album, Lollipops & Politics, hits stores February 7.