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Grammy nominee Tierra Whack recorded with Beyoncé on The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack, and she’s very thankful to Queen Bey’s husband for providing much needed career guidance.
“Hov [Jay-Z] is one of my biggest inspirations,” she tells Billboard. “He’s the one who told me to do Dead Prez‘s [“Last Dayz”]. When Hov tells you to do something, you gotta do it. That’s my guy, though. I really appreciate Hov. Anything I ask, he’s always willing to break everything down for me. I appreciate it so much.”
The 25-year-old artist from Philadelphia has recently collaborated with LEGO to released the video for her latest single, “Link.” In the clip, she talks with several of her cousins and used their ideas to create the video as part of LEGO’s “Rebuild the World” campaign.
“For them to actually be on set with the cameras on them,” Whack continues, “they were like, ‘Wow.'”
As her cousins look up to her, Whack looks up to music icons. She says three films about female stars were extremely educational.
“I just recently watched The United States Vs. Billie Holiday. Crazy. I watched the Tina Turner documentary, Tina. I watched What Happened to Nina Simone,” she says. “These were like back-to-back.”
Whack feels empowered after learning more about these famed artists.
“We’re just powerful. We’re so powerful,” she says. “We’re the original. I’m just so proud to be a Black woman.”
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