P.S.........It Is Written Sincerely, Silent Tulip: Take a Look

At the Global Fusion Festival, I met a couple of people that stood out to me. 1. because their craft was very colorful and vibrant and 2. because they were both women,making a name for themselves. When I see strong women on the prowl for success, I like to acknowledge that and put them on a pedestal. If not us, then who?
The first young lady you may already know. You may have seen her on the hit Nickelodeon show My Bother and Me, hosted on MTV2, Sirius Radio, and also replace a group member of Floetry and went on tour. She also has amazing art work. It's colorful and eye catching.

AMANDA DIVA
I met her at the Festival this past weekend. She was a cool, down to earth girl. She hosted some of the performances, so it took me a little while to get the interview. But she was kind enough to take time to answer a few questions before being called back to the stage. So I thank her for that.

Me:So what got you into the entertainment industry?
Amanda:I started when I was really young, when I was 8 years old. I was doing television for Nickelodeon and I was dancing at Disney. But then you kind of start over when you get older because you're not just a kid. When I moved to New York, I went to SUNY- Purchase and started doing poetry. I got on Def Poetry Jam and that got me to do radio, which brought me to do MTV2. Thats how I ended up in the music industry.

Me: What inspired you to branch out do music?
Amanda: First was the music. In 2006, I was really frustrated with trying to figure out my purpose. What do I want to do? I think everyone goes through that at like 24. I had met a lot of my goals and it was time for new goals but you don't know what those are going to be. I ended up doing poetry at an event and there was a band there. It was the first time I heard my poems musically. And it was the first time I found out I could rhyme on beat. It sparked a buzz and made me progress doing music. I was Q-Tip album last year and I perform with the roots all the time. I also replaced Natalie of Floetry for a summer. That gave me confidence.

Me: How did you get into painting?
Amanda: Swizz Beatz, a good friend of mine is very into art. He caught me doodling one time. He was like "I didn't know you could do this". He encouraged me to do paintings and I told him I do. I showed him my painting and he was like your bugging right now. So I started putting my work out there a little more. Twitter also helped. I'm about to do an art show in New York. The reality is, I'm an artist to the fullest.

Me: Your painting have a lot of color. Does that have anything to do with your background?
Amanda: Well I'm West Indian, so definitely. It's also about my spirit.

Then she was off running back to the stage to host.