00:00The rock ballerina herself, someone who I rooted for from my sofa while I was chugging down on some ice cream every week of The Voice.
00:10Singer, songwriter who is praised weekly by the likes of Christina Aguilera, Pharrell, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton on NBC's The Voice for her showmanship, undeniable style, and of course, an amazingly powerful voice.
00:22Known as the rock ballerina, I am pleased to welcome the beautiful Miss Kimberly Nicole.
00:26How are you?
00:27I'm good. How are you?
00:28My blonde bang sister.
00:30Yes.
00:30The bald bombshells.
00:32Yes. I like the bombshell.
00:34Yes.
00:34It makes me sit a little bit higher.
00:36So we know you, of course, as I just mentioned from the eighth season of The Voice, but you've been slowly taking over this industry over many years now.
00:44So I'm going to catch up to the audience. You're from Seattle.
00:46Yes.
00:46You're a Spelman grad.
00:48Yes.
00:48Shout out to Spelman.
00:49And then you came here to New York to start your music career, and you ended up at the infamous The Box, which is a very risque club here in Manhattan.
00:57Tell me a little bit about that.
00:58How do you go from graduation to, I'm going to go to one of the most interesting, if you will, I'll say clubs here in New York?
01:05Um, well, actually, when I moved to New York, after graduating and living in Atlanta, I was in corporate America. I was working in HR, but I was singing as well.
01:15Really? Okay.
01:16It was like, by day, I'm Clark Kent. By night, I'm superwoman or something like that, right?
01:21Yes. Uh-huh.
01:21So I ended up, there was a job I had. I was working in this very prestigious clothing company, and they ended up firing me.
01:29And I remember I was, like, panicking. I was like, oh, my God, Mom, I have this apartment in Harlem. I can't pay the rent.
01:34And my mom was like, you need to get it together. Get your mind right. This is your moment to really live your dream.
01:40So I remember auditioning for The Box, like, a year or two before, and I reached back out to the producer of The Box, and I was like, hey, do you guys need someone that sings?
01:49And I started 2013 of May as the songstress, the Chanteuse, and then by October of 2013, I was the emcee, like, the mistress of the show.
01:59And I was there for three years, then I went on to The Voice.
02:02That is absolutely amazing. And I think it's such an inspiring story to share with our audience.
02:05You never know where a year or two years will take you on your journey.
02:09Absolutely.
02:10And so, as I mentioned earlier, you're going to be at Afropunk.
02:14Your band is opening on Saturday night, and you're hosting the entire weekend.
02:18Yes.
02:18What does this festival mean to you? That's a lot of responsibility.
02:21I mean, I've been a part of the Afropunk family for, like, about three years or so.
02:27And just, you know, the movement of the alternative.
02:30I don't like the word alternative, but, you know, sometimes black artists are put into a box of R&B or hip-hop.
02:38I understand.
02:38But some of us, we are rockers. Some of us are alternative singers.
02:41Some of us are the Grace Joneses.
02:43Some of us are the bad brains and the deafs and these punk rockers that really, you know,
02:49do something that's alternative to what you see in mainstream.
02:52So I'm definitely one of those artists, and I felt I did that on The Voice.
02:55I'm a rock artist.
02:56You know, people say it's rock and roll or rock soul, whatever you want to have it.
02:59So Afropunk is very important to that movement, but as well as the activism that you see in the black community as well.
03:06So I'm just excited to be a part of it, to be hosting and be able to bring on some of my favorites,
03:13Gary Clark Jr., Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, the goddess, Grace Jones, Lauren Hill, Khalees.
03:19I feel so fortunate to be able to introduce them on these stages and to open up the show with me and my band.
03:26Because we do it, we do, you know, we wear it out.
03:29You're going to do it.
03:30We wear it out a little bit.
03:31Is it a little, is there more pressure this year post The Voice to, I guess, take it up a notch or do something different this year?
03:37You know what?
03:38I just, I feel like The Voice has helped me evolve and become a better singer and performer.
03:43So it's just an extension of who I've always been from being on The Voice.
03:47It was kind of like boot camp.
03:48It was like industry boot camp almost.
03:50But I feel like even some people that have seen me after The Voice had saw me at The Box and otherwise,
03:55they were like, girl, you've really evolved.
03:58Like, we see it.
03:58And that's what it's about.
03:59It's about growth.
04:00Absolutely.
04:00So it's just, it's exciting to be able to be back with my band and do my original music and some favorites as well that are covers.
04:06It's about to be able to be back with my band and do my band and do my band and do my band and do my band and do my band.
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