JASMINE’S JUICE feat DAVID GEST AND PATSY PALMER’S JOINT BIRTHDAY PARTY!


MARTHA WASH, DAVID GEST, MAGICIAN DYNAMO , JASMINE and PEABO BRYSON.
David Gest’s annual birthday parties are now legendary. An American concert promoter and media personality, perhaps best known for his turbulent marriage to Liza Minnelli, his friendship with The Jackson 5 and appearance on reality television show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.

DAVID GEST, MAGICIAN DYNAMO, JASMINE and PEABO BRYSON.
David was nearly 60 this past month and parties and lives life as if he’s still a 20 year old! It’s fascinating to watch him as he hosts an event, totally in the thick of it with his mate and organiser Imad Handi, calm and friendly to all his guests in attendance. He really is one of the last greats alongside other showbiz legends like Benny Medina and Oprah.
This year David threw a joint birthday party alongside his friend, Eastenders actress Patsy Palmer (who turned 40), at the Grand Connaught Rooms in the West End. It was dubbed their joint ‘Music & magic’ birthday celebration to help raise thousands of pounds for ‘me&dee charity’ which included performances by 12 soul music legends and magician Dynamo.
A host of their celebrity friends attended on the night and everywhere you looked were household names.

JASMINE WITH EASTENDER’S ACTOR CHUCKY VENN.
A couple of tables at the front sat practically every Eastenders cast member I can think of. Kim Fox (Tameka Empsom) was hilarious as she ran in as late as I was just in time for dinner. Ray Dixon (chucky Venn) was there with his gorgeous lady Zoë-they were celebrating their first night out together since the birth of their new baby-congrats guys! . Ian (Adam Woodyatt ) was with his wifey and looked so happy and stress free I nearly didn’t recognise him! Denise (Diane Parish) looked very sophisticated in her frock and they were easily the most raucous, fun, sing a long tables in the house! Patsy palmer looked gorgeous and a far cry from her shabby grubby look on screen. She resembled a princess in her long fitted ball gown and hair in long flowing waves.

EASTENDER’S ACTRESS TAMEKA EMPSOM AND JASMINE.
Vanessa Feltz was there with her TV host beau Ben-they were dancing up a storm. Vanessa looked lovely in a gold fitted dress and even kicked her shoes off to get her 2-step on. Later in the eving she won the raffle too!
Magician Dynamo impressed the Eastenders cast and all the other celebs with his usual spooky magic tricks. He’d also not seen his girl friend for a few days and so both were very loved up during the evening- aw bless!
Loose women’s Carol McGiffin had the young lads with a flava for a MILF heads turning all night. I myself couldn’t stop staring at singer Candi Staton- so gorgeous and pretty at the grand old age of 72 still looked stunning-I can only imagine how amazing she looked in her youth!
The evening began with a cocktail reception (which my late ass missed). Next was a sumptuous 3 course meal which was so delicious guests at my table were sneaking in extra desserts!
Next came the celebrity auction where amongst other things that were auctioned included Lady Gaga’s hot pants, I looked around and tried to clock all the potential pop perv’s in the house lol. Next up was a signed letter and Bodyguard disc by Whitney Houston. There was a lot of excitement as Michael Jacksons contract for a live event went for a grand. A grand!? I know! Blasphemy! I wish I were loaded. I would’ve paid a lot more!
Meanwhile, my favourite performer of the night was Peabo Bryson (‘A Whole New World (Aladdin’s Theme)’ & ‘Beauty & The Beast’), peabo can really SANNNNG! His vocals were so strong! How can the elders singing strength be as strong as ever whilst current day stars all complain about weak voices etc?

JASMINE WITH THE GORGEOUS CANDI STATON.
The stunning Candi Staton sashayed as sexily as ever with her sweet outfit onstage to sing You Got The Love’ & ‘Young Hearts Run Free’.
Billy Paul sang one of my favourite classics ever- ‘Me & Mrs Jones’, and then there was much fanfare for Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (‘Dancing In The Streets’ & ‘Nowhere To Run’), which had the whole crowd sweating and jumping.
Martha Wash of the Weather Girls (‘Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)’ turned the ballroom into an Ibiza style rave as she belted out her classics with the crowds fists pumping the air.

DAVID GEST’S BEST MATE/ MAN ABOUT TOWN-IMAD HANDI
Later we were also treated to more motown legends/ Davids mates (who do this for him all cos they love and appreciate his presence in their careers and lives for free!) ….Kim Weston (‘It Takes Two’, ‘Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)’ & Helpless), The Flirtations (‘Nothing But A Heartache’), Dorothy Moore (‘Misty Blue’ & ‘I Believe You’), Brenda Holloway (‘Every Little Bit Hurts’, ‘You’ve Made Me So Very Happy’ & ‘When I’ Gone’), Eddie Holman (‘Hey There Lonely Girl’). Sheila Ferguson (‘When Will I See You Again’, ‘Year Of Decision’ & ‘Dirty Ol’ Man’) and G.C. Cameron, former lead singer of The Spinners (‘It’s A Shame’ & ‘It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday’). The musical side of the night was complete with a 14-piece band performing live with the soul legends.
According to Gest: “At this stage in life it’s not so much about celebrating a birthday as getting together with great friends and helping a good cause. Patsy and I have been friends for years and we thought if we could help put a smile on the faces of some people who are less fortunate than us that makes this whole evening worthwhile.”
And that my friends is my mantra-the more you give the more you shall receive!

JASMINE’S JUICE featuring ESTELLE, ROSES GABOR and CASSIUS HENRY!


JASMINE WITH ESTELLE.
There was much excitement in the air as West Londoner Estelle stopped through London on her European tour and did a couple of nights at the Jazz Café. Opening the night for her was mutual friend/songwriter/singer Roses Gabor who hit the stage with her feisty no nonsense attitude and told the audience from the start that they better get involved as she wasn’t suffering any fools. They immediately obeyed and as she sang track after track of her infectious quite grimy dub step tracks with a soulful sound and they sang alongside her, jumping and clapping-it was like a mini festival up in Camden town!.

JASMINE WITH ROSES!
Roses had the crowd sweaty and hot-(just the way Estelle likes em)-before jumping offstage to take a bevvy of photos with fans.

Next up-the main girl of the night-miss Estelle Swaray slinked down the legendary venues staircase and onstage wearing her obligatory high designer heels, a pencil skirt and low cleavage-teasing top, with her hair in an old skool jazz singer style turban, a la Nina Simone. Her fans were ridiculously excited and the whops and cheers were strong and consistent throughout her set, which contained many of her hits from ‘’no substitute love’’ and ‘’break my heart’’. Her remix version of the D’Banj hit ‘‘International’’ had a carnival spirit flowing in the venue with everyone shocking out’’.
It was ‘’thank you’’ that had the whole packed housed as silent as a church though as she sang the song with haunting passion, immense emotion and a powerful vocal strength not seen often. Her voice sounded strong. And dangerous. it made me as her mate want to cuss out the man that had brought forth such pain and heartbreak into her life. On the other hand I celebrated the fact that she made some financial gain by writing a great song that many of her fans could relate to and use to lessen their pain.
At the end she explained to the audience that for the past 4 years she had had to sing ‘’American boy’’ nearly everyday of her life. She laughed and quipped she wasn’t complaining as before that the song had been her first hit ‘’1980’’. The audience were more than happy to help her sing along to every word of the now ridiculously well known global classic.

JASMINE WITH PR GURU VANESSA AMADI, ESTELLE, EDDIE KADI AND ADIDAS HEAD HONCHO PAOLA LUCKTUNG!.
At one point in the night Stell decided to shout out a few of her friends in the audience including myself, Paola, DJ Big Ted, her mate Ahmed and best friend PR goddess Vanessa Amadi…. she said (and clearly this proves she might be able to sing but is crap at maths) ‘’ I want to shout out some of my friends that have been rolling with me for 15 years and more’’. Well how in the world is that possible when some of us aren’t even that old! I am eternally 12!
Backstage afterwards myself and Adidas head honcho Paola Lucktung went to pay our respects as did DJ Big Ted, comedian Eddie Kadi and many of her friends. I was impressed with how svelte Estelle’s waist has become- that’s that healthy eating American ish right there. I will next be seeing her in Jamaica in a few weeks where no doubt our bikinis will be in full effect so I’m off to buy lots of fresh salad ingredients now so as not to embarrass myself.

This week I also caught up with Cassius Henry –one of the current finalists in the BBC’S The voice who was being put through his paces something hard-core on the outskirts of London. I caught up with him just as he had finished dance rehearsals at the end of a crazy week rehearsing with his mentor Jessie J. He revealed that they were just finishing up rehearsing a group song together, which he was really excited about. He also said his week had been going amazingly with hard work and hard play with the whole of his group going off bowling as a way to relax and as a team bonding exercise.
Cassius excitedly told me ‘’Jessie J told me a lot about her own experiences and advised me to stop being tense and be myself and bring the real me out onstage, she keeps telling me ‘’Cassius let go’’.
But all the hard graft, constant live TV and being under the spotlight have started taking a toll on his vocals. He admitted ‘’I’ve Had problems with my voice recently with laryngitis, I was worried I was losing my vocal strength- but Jessie has encouraged me to stay mentally positive’’.
Many will know that Cassius lost his brother years ago to heart failure which threw him off his path for a while so its very admirable that he is now back on track and picking up his dream where he left off. He’s obviously had a few breaks in the past but now he’s come to close unfinished business. His brother now gives him strength, ‘‘before I hit the stage I carry around a key ring with a photo of my lil brother cos this is all in memory of him and he’ll get me through it. I have a strong team, they tell me all the time ‘you’ve got to be on your a game’.
Having hosted a live national huge show in my own past I know how terrifying live TV is. You get one shot to get it right. Under the hot lights, buzzing studio and tense production crew you either bring your A game or step aside.
Cassius agreed ‘’live before a show I can’t relax, I’m like a panther pacing around’’
Cassius praises the lord for his mentor Jessie’s guidance ‘’Jessie controls all our set and ideas and I really like her ideas a lot-her imaginations really good. She’s like an A&R person. She gets to know us as people and helps keep us real’’’.
Cassius hopes that we are all behind him as he tells me ‘’because even though I had a tiny taste at fame I’m now ready to take the baton and run with it fast’’. Alas Cassius didnt make the finals-but i have no doubt this isnt the last we’ll hear from him….after all, remember Sony once dropped both 50 Cent and Alicia Keys!

JASMINE’S JUICE feat my birthday party!


So this year my birthday party was nuts. My birthday is actually in January but I’ve never let that stop me having extra parties throughout the year. As it’s early in January and most people are away, skint, depressed or partied out, I always leave my party until a few weeks later. Hence many think my birthday is in February. This year a high profile pal of mine wanted to tour the UK with some comedy and we agreed I would delay my party to coincide with their dates. Long story short that didn’t happen but I then threw caution to the wind and settled on a May bank holiday for my party and yes it was still billed as my ‘’birthday’’. I’m like the queen darlings. I have 2 birthdays-this one was merely the public one lol.

JASMINE WITH DANIELLE BROWN AND HER RUN DMC CREW
I like to work hard and play hard and this year decided that my party theme should excite the men cos usually they hate me for strange costume demands like ‘’Motown’’ which was last years theme. So this year the men were enthusiastic and came with their best Slick Rick, Eazy E, LL Cool J and RUN DMC looks whilst the girls, who initially struggled with the costume theme, came as various versions of Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj, JLo, TLC and more.

SLICK RICK AND EAZY E CAME TOO.
Subconsciously I think I wanted to prove a point by throwing a party in Mayfair in the West End and letting all my mates turn up in tracksuits, jeans and trainers just to spite the usual doormen politics of dress sense issues. The other part of me was also concerned that if the police saw droves of people heading into town wearing tracksuits they might predict a riot and shut us down lol!.

PR DONETTE JODIE DALMEDA (SONYBMG / VIRGIN UNITE) ,JASMINE,BBC’S JAY DAVIDSON, COOKIE CREW’S COOKIE.
I had really gone to town with my look and the day before had celeb tanner to the stars James Read (based at the Sanderson) to spray paint me brown). Next I popped into celeb hair salon ThreeV in Notting Hill Gate to have celeb stylists Julien and Melissa put a ton of hair extensions in my head to emulate the wild curly haired Puerto Rican chics from back in the day. next celeb facial Nuz Shugaa gave me one of her unique facials and a mani-pedi and finally I topped it off with my make up done by make up girl in demand in London town- miss Kristina Theordoris!

ADIDAS HQ FIRST LADIES AKUA, PAOLA AND AISHA.
Finally Adidas bigwig Paola Lucktung sent me off with Adidas lady Aisha Badmus to personalise an Adidas Jeremy Scott dress with bling for me. They also suggested a 2nd outfit, which we turned into really corny yes amazing his & her’s matching white firebird tracksuits.
I had a bit of a nightmare pre-party as one of the club barmen nicked my phone-not a good look just before your party starts. Then the club decided to charge such high prices for drinks that were ludicrous. So bad that a few LONDON360 TV crew hired a tuk tuk rickshaw, had it ride them to the local Weatherspoons, downed 5 shots each-and got the tuk tuk back to the party-all at a cost less than one round at the club. Oh dear. Sorry guys!
Furthermore the club then told us at the start of the night that their credit card machine didn’t work. So not only could most of us not purchase drinks we were pretty mad. But like a trooper I grit my teeth and partied on.

JASMINE WITH MOBO CEO KANYA KING
MOBO CEO Kanya King dropped a mini black dress and silver cropped jacket. Scary Spice’s sister and actress Danielle Brown and her girls crew came as female RUN DMC’s with bright red pants and Chrissy Lou shoes-too fly- and looked like they were going to break out into a full out routine.

WARNER MUSIC’S TAPONESWA AND UK HIPHOP LEGEND RODNEY P!.
80’s female UK hip-hop groups Cookie (Cookie Crew) rocked her 20-year-old leather goose jacket with fur, former SonyBMG/ Virginunite PR guru Jodie Dalmeda, designer Wale Adeyemi and BBC marketing donette Jay Davidson all rocked matching Adidas trackies. Celeb DJ/actor DJ Jarren came as Rev Run. Rapper Rodney P rocked his old skool ‘fight the power’ leather jacket. Former Eastenders actress Preeya Kalidas came JLo-esque with her mate singer Cherry V who came in a skin-tight red cat suit and bright yellow jacket. We had 2 conscious brothers who came as Afrika Bambata and an Egyptian pharaoh. Young un’s looked at ‘Bambataa’ and screamed ‘’who’s the juju man with juju stick-I’m not going near him!’’ lol.

JASMINE WITH PRINCESS NYAH AKA LIL KIM!
Stylist to the stars Richard Shoyemi came as the ‘’American dream’’ in his stars and stripes look. Warner Music’s Taponeswa dropped a gangsta boss lady look but soon had her heels off, as the dancing got too wild.
There were a few Vanilla Ice’s and Marky Marks- sorry white dudes-you coulda come as Eminem but I guess he doesn’t really have a style of any sort. Oh well. **Shrugs shoulders**
My old music partner in rhyme SonyBMG’s Jennifer Mills wore her authentic bad boy jacket from the original bad boy days. Former head of SonyBMG international and marketing Mervyn Lyn took it all in from his observation spot and praised Richie P’s set.

THE #TEAMUK COOL KIDS
Choreographer / dancer Royston and Duane came in old b boy sweats whilst grime goddess Princess Nyah came as Lil Kim in a long blonde wig and had men drooling over her all night as usual.
Comedienne Gina Yashere was hilarious as she leapt into the front of every picture being taken. Who else could have captured the night but the UK’s best-known photographer for music- mister Paul H.
The triple threat ladies Adidas crew (Paola, Aisha and Akua) brought the room to a stand still as they entered in their white musical note trackies and then we had the room roaring again as I stepped out of my 1st look (a fierce Jeremy scott for adidas dress with diamond sleeves) into my all white 2nd trackie (beautifully embellished by the hand and lock team that Adidas use).

ME AND SOME OF MY GIRLS IN MY OUTFIT NUMBER 1-JEREMY SCOTT FOR ADIDAS BLING SLEEVE DRESS.
Even though the party wasn’t formally an Adidas event by the time all the guests arrived you could’ve shot an Adidas ad in there. Everyone had pulled out their oldest most classic 3 stripe looks and the venue looked amazing! The Adidas team even had huge tall cut out RUN DMC images for guests to stick their heads through. Like the ones on Brighton pier but more classic lol!

ME AND MY CAKE-TWITTER-COS APPARENTLY I’M ADDICTED!@
My partner had warned me that my cake would be a surprise. I assumed this meant he’s dug up some horrific old photo via my girl friends to have put on the cake but I was wrong. In his wrath at my constant addiction to twitter he put the thing that I apparently love most on my cake- the twitter logo! Surprised? I was!
DJ’s on the night were my big brother and former Rampage sound system member Richie P who flung down the best set from the 80’s and 90’s including Onyx, Lost Boyz and a crazy aerobic jungle set which had the club jumping and sweating so badly we had to have a slow session in the first 23 hours to get our breath back.

JASMINE AND FRIENDS.
Next up was DJ Kayper. Kayper is tinier than me. A pretty, slight Asian girl that can scratch, mix and drop a hot track like certain video chics drop the line ‘’I’m a model’’. She is fascinating to watch…that is if you could have seen her. The clubs DJ system isn’t really very well thought out for a hip-hop vibe so you can barely see a 6 foot man behind the decks let alone a 5 foot female so I kinda defeated the purposed there. But hey you live and you learn.

JASMINE WITH CAPITALFM’S ENTERTAINMENT HOST KEVIN HUGHES.
Immediately after Kaypers set girl group Rogue surprised me with an old skool rendition of Salt & Pepa’s Push It before launching into their own single ‘’Girls Anthem’’.
Finally the big man himself DJ Richie F- son of the legendary Mike Sweeny from RJS sound system took the decks and properly smashed it up. You have club dj’s, you have party dj’s and then you have a dj that just gets with the crowd to work them up into a frenzy the likes you’ve not seen since the Bad Boy party days. Richie. Tore. The. Spot. Down. With nuff call and response tracks like Lauryn Hill’s Lost Ones and Puffy and Mase hits, many party guests including me had lost our voices the following day. it was a night full of great vibes, non-stop dancing and outfits that had to be seen to be believed!
There goes another ode to hip-hop-the culture that nurtured and made me what I am today-! See you again same time next year!

JASMINE’S JUICE featuring OHTV’S REAL TALK, BBC’S THE REAL MCCOY and THE PRICE OF KINGS!


JASMINE JOINS HOST TRISH ADUDU ON THE REAL TALK DEBATE SHOW ON OHTV WITH BOE THE COMEDIAN AND MP DAWN BUTLER.
What a week. Never let it be said that I don’t live up to my own work ethos of work hard, play hard!
This past few days have seen me attend East London’s Streetfest where Wookie, Radi Dadi, Rattus Rattus (Urban Nerds), Knicker Bocker Corey (Urban Nerds),Spectrum City, Jon Burgerman, Project G, Stylinquents and more were doing their thing.
The same night I had my annual theme party!-more on that next week!
The following day all roads led to dance and spoken word impresario Jonzi D’s annual Breakin Convention jam at Sadlers Wells Theatre, the next night was the One World Media Awards and frankly my dears I am now pooped!
I also managed to fit in a night at a screening of the new Noel Clarke film Fast Girls and another screening for the Price of Kings series which is fascinating and a must see for all you folks that want to be leaders.

JASMINE WITH JOANNA-(PRICE OF KINGS PRODUCER) AND JODIE (PR)
The ‘Price of kings: Shimon Peres’ is a fascinating documentary, which captures the human side of what it takes to be a leader.
The first film was on Yasser Arafat and the third will be CostaRicanpresident Oscar Arias. These are all intimate portraits that reveal both the political and personal sacrifices made by leaders like President Peres and the impact on them and their families. The beautiful thing is you don’t need to be a history boffin to enjoy this is series (there are 12 leaders in theprice of Kings series) as it has a range of exclusive, insightful interviews with those that were there when these historical events took place and the man himself. Its good British documentary making- informative, thought provoking, beautifully shot, and emotional. I went with my femalepower players Jay Davidson (BBC marketing), Cookie (Cookie Crew rap collective), Terri Walker (singer song writer) to go support our girl JodieDalmeda who is running the PR on the series of films.

JASMINE WITH TERRI, JAY AND COOKIE AT THE PRICE OF KINGS PREMIERE.
Later that night the cast and crew went to the Haymarket Hotel for post-premier cocktails where a fewviolet martini’s went down a treat as I congratulated film maker Joanna Natasegara,(Producer/Director) on the inspirational work from which I would be noting and remembering for life some of the aspirational quotes within the movie. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of leadership. www.priceofkings.com
Next I joined a panel that included Boe the comedian and former MP Dawn Butler on the REAL TALK show (OHTV-SKY 199) hosted by the lovely Trisha Adudu. We debated the Olympics, young peoples access to negativity on the internet, whether London needs a black mayor, natural hair VS fake hair and whether we’d prefer to be beautiful and hated or ugly and loved. You know I could rant for hours about all of these subjects so it was hell for me to keep it short and sweet but we managed to get to the end without scratching each other’s eyes out. The big thing that came out of that was that both myself and Dawn Butler are considering running for mayor in the future LOL.

Finally we all got our comedy loving side together to attend a celebration acknowledging 21 years since the BBC TV show the REAL MCKOY began.
The invite promised an audience with all the shows original cast, producers and now black entertainment scene legends! it was a full nice turn out at the new BBC 8million cost building in town in their lush all bells and whistles theatre screening room.
As we entered I note it was like an old skool reunion with folks In the house who included Angie Le Mar, Kojo, Eddie Kadi, Eddie Nestor, police bigwig Leroy Logan, comedian Slim, DJ Daddy Ernie and many more. Our hosts Brenda Emmanus and Eddie Nestor had to deal with a very lively crowd who knew moreabout the legendary show than one of the BBC bigwigs who got all his facts about where and how the show started wrong-oops-fire the staffer that briefed that man! (clanger numero uno).The main man that runs BBC TV -our big man- mister Pat Younge came and did a welcome introduction where he urged the audience to e mail him TV show ideas. Straight away amongst the attendee’s was a discontented murmur as a few folks heckled ”we have, with no response”.Awkward moment number 2. And readers, to be perfectly frank from there on in whilst it was a brilliant night with great memories about the Real McCoy show with fascinating anecdotes from the cast and backstage crew , there were a lot of awkward moments one after another as cast and audience berated the BBC about not supporting black programming and not being up to date with the modern British cultural world. It was great to see the main cast including actors Felix Dexter, Meerya Syal, Judith Jacobs, Curtis Walker, Leo Chester (now Mohamed) and the producers all bantering with each other about their memories and current journeys. However, Ima keep it real. It was a BIG night and funny as hell. But the BBC bashing was dominant. The general feeling was that “Nothing in TV has really changed for black talent and black TV audiences in 20 years on the BBC”. I feel like I came to a party and we were trashing the hosts house. Someone suggested that if all the ethnic influencers and talent in this room united to form a company it could be huge. I agreed but know that only 1% of us sitting in that room would actually stick to our commitment in making it work whilst the other 99% would be all talking hecklers. I’d leave my full time paid job daily at 6pm to work on my own company for no money for months if others joined me. But who is really going to believe in themselves enough to do that? ….Luckily Angie Le Mar showed an exclusive trailer of her new TV show “The Ryan sisters” about 3 black sisters which looked brilliant!

JASMINE WITH CURTIS WALKER, JUDITH JACOBS AND BBC’S MICHELLE MATHERSON.
Part 2 of the evening showcased new faces with new heat coming like comedian/ radio host Kojo, comedian /radio host Eddie Kadi, Comedy promoting legend John Summit and comedienne/actress/writer Angie Le Mar all talking about doing it their way after being rejected by various mainstream broadcasters and establishments over the years. Kojo has made his own DVD from his sell out show at Hackney Empire. Eddie has sold out the 02!. Angie has had her work seen on stage, heard on radio and televised. All without mainstream corporate help.
I have to say from the internal staff point of view I have a lot of admiration for development and talent executive Michelle Matherson who has been at the broadcaster for years and must have seen the in’s and out’s with working with a corporation that does have to play it very safe and the internal politics must be horrible to deal with day in and day out. (I bet she couldtell some stories!). She must have to see a lot in her drive to bring in diverse talent.
In May the BBC Comedy teams/TV Collective and more are working with new comedy talent to find the stars of the future…….get in touch with the tv collective online. Like voting-if you don’t act you can’t change anything. If you’re not in the game you can’t even be a player let alone be a winner!!
See http://thetvcollective.org for more info……….if u don’t take your opportunities and responsibility for your own careers, who will?

JASMINE’S JUICE featuring PRINCE’S MANAGER KIRAN SHARMA!


JASMINE WITH KIRAN SHARMA!
Londoners! Its Voting day! I will be making time today to go and vote and make my voice and existence stand for something. I have relatives in countries where people die to fight for their vote and voices to be heard and spend hours queuing to make their cross on a ballot paper to bring in their leader of choice. Think I’m going to take this for granted? Hell no! Today I will vote! So many whine about their lives, the government, politicians and their community but when it comes to making a stand and being counted if you don’t vote- you have no right to complain.

After voting I’m popping down to OHTV to be a TV panel guest alongside MP Dawn Butler where the theme is…. you guessed it-voting LOL! (To be honest I’ll be glad when this London Mayoral Election is over- YOUTHVOTELONDON did sign up 600 new young voters so it’s a slower start than I’d hoped, but at least the car has pulled off the kerb. I dream that the momentum and understanding will grow until we have an Obama to call our own.

This week when I haven’t been yelling at the politicians in live TV studios, I attended a UK premiere of The Price of Kings: Film 2, Shimon Peres, and a 21 year celebration to mark the success and nostalgia of the old BBC ethnic sitcom –the Real McCoy.

I also caught up with a very understated lady who I think should be brought to your attention. Her name is Kiran Sharma and she is one of the movers and shakers that make the music industry run at a higher level.

Kiran has worked on all manners of music events and books artistes for everything from spectacular private parties to festivals and concerts, through her company, KIKIT Entertainment. She is also the manager of Prince. Yes, you read correctly. The legend that is Prince Rogers Nelson; the American singer, songwriter, musician, producer and actor.

Kiran was shaped early on by her days in her birthplace of Luton, which was “a bit rough and tough”, until she was eight. At the age of nine, due to her father’s work commitments, the family moved to Norwich which she recalls as being completely different. ‘’At that time ethnic minorities in Norwich made up a tiny percentage and there was hardly anyone to relate to. I was the only Indian kid in my school and got bullied for a couple of years.”

I imagine it’s this early need for self-defence and survival that has made Kiran into the tough cookie and astute businesswoman she is today. She could just as easily have turned into the bullied underclass, but she didn’t let it subdue her. She fought, toughened up and grew to be a bit of a tomboy.

So this early grounding shaped her character and she’s able to roll in the best of both worlds and adapt to all societies and circumstances.

Due to her traditional Indian background, Kiran’s education was more academic and less artistic. She was expected to get a corporate job, so did an engineering degree majoring in marketing “to please everyone” although she would have preferred to do art.

After graduating, Kiran worked in a very corporate environment and despite enjoying the challenge, she decided it wasn’t really for her and went through all the career stages as fast as possible. From being a marketing assistant for a small magazine to account director for an international marketing agency, Kiran ticked all the boxes for her parents and peers before casting her career net even wider.

She explored how she could merge her knowledge of business with her love of music and the arts. She knew that one day she wanted to work with established artistes, but had no expectations and just took the plunge to launch KIKIT Entertainment in 2005.

Kiran helped out a new unsigned American singer, managed a few events, put together the tours and generally worked crazy hard to build her experience and reputation. Thus came her early connections with acts like Martha High, Maceo Parker, Annie Lennox, Leon Ware, Mint Condition and Prince.

For two years she worked two jobs simultaneously, working her day job until 6pm then working on KIKIT until the early hours. She admits she had no time for relationships and family, but her time was well spent as she was so passionate and was having so much fun working on building a future, which would make it worth it. ‘’I was working with acts that had been in the industry for over 20 years and got to learn loads from them,’’ she enthuses her eyes twinkling with memories.

Of course I had to ask Kiran why she thinks Prince gravitated towards her in a business capacity in this later part of his career. “Well you would have to ask him that,” she judiciously responds.

She went on to explain that she first met him when she booked him for a London event, but that they didn’t even talk, (lesson 1, ladies — no groupie behaviour!), but eventually that all changed. “I was touring with Maceo Parker briefly and we met a few times backstage, but it was a friend who finally introduced us.”

TV companies and magazines really should be focusing more on characters like Kiran. Features about how a small town girl grows up to manage one of the biggest names in the world? The challenges of running a multi-million dollar business? How to earn the respect of male-peers? Its only logical as Kiran is one of the few higher ranked women to achieve success in the music industry.

“Everyone has this perception that successful women are hard-nosed. I realised that just being myself worked for me,” she tells me with a smile.

She knows that her ethnicity has of course aided her career and life values. ‘’My background and ethnic values mean I understand the concept of total respect for all people,” she says.

“Indian people tend to have a respect level for all other cultures and ultimately respect hard work. These things are instilled in us at kids. My granddad used to say to his four daughters, ‘I can’t give you a house or money, but I can give you an education. No one can take that away from you.’ Close family helps too. If I needed support tomorrow I know my family are there. It makes everything a little less scary.”

As with many big power players, Kiran’s attention to charity and giving back plays a dominant part in her work. Many of her music acts began performing at charity events like Save the Children and Kiran became increasingly involved in various campaigns. Today, she a trustee of Arms Around a Child, which supports kids affected by HIV and AIDS in India and Africa and builds orphanages for abandoned children.

Kiran has also been nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year in the Asian Woman of Achievement Awards 2012, which takes place on May 16 2012 at London’s Park Lane Hilton.

“Its great to be nominated alongside these women. The Asian Woman of Achievement Awards is such an important platform for British Asian women and I am hugely honoured to be shortlisted alongside such exceptional ladies. I met a few of them recently and they’re all fascinating and I felt proud to be in their company. One thing in common we all had was our similar experiences as women of Asian background. If you can come out of this industry doing something you love and can sustain your lifestyle, and you’ve managed to do it in a way that’s respectful to you, your culture and all around, then its a winning situation.”

Her entrepreneurial flair doesn’t just end with KIKIT Entertainment. Kiran is also launching KIKIT Ventures, which creates investment portfolios for artistes.

Now that’s business balls with a female chromosome!