00:00Hey everyone, this is Makon Jovoo and I am the host of Essence Now.
00:17Today is a very special day.
00:20Essence and Toyota have teamed up to make an amazing event.
00:23We have different rooms.
00:24Now, each room is set to ignite your senses.
00:27What do you drool for?
00:28What do you lust for?
00:29What do you throb for?
00:31Oh, I can't wait to hear your responses.
00:33Now, check this out.
00:34In addition to these amazing art installations, we have performances from Congolese artist
00:39Young Paris, singer-songwriter Ari Lennox, and my girl, choreographer-turned-rapper Shariah
00:45J.
00:46Now, come with me.
00:47Let's experience the sensory wonderland.
00:49I am here with the one and only Shariah J. Hey, Shariah!
01:07So you have such a unique sense of style and beauty.
01:10How did you develop your look?
01:11It actually was something kind of innate.
01:13I always, since I was a little girl, I played in fashion.
01:16I made clothes.
01:17My hair was always different colors.
01:19Yeah.
01:19So I always like to use my look, I guess, my image as a creative expression.
01:24And it is such a look.
01:25I'm so here for this blue hair.
01:27Now, you started out as a dancer and a choreographer, right?
01:29And now you're a rapper.
01:30How did that background sort of inform what you're doing now?
01:33Well, you know, I grew up in a hip-hop house.
01:35My father was in a 90s hip-hop group called XX Posse.
01:39And so my house was hip-hop.
01:41Like, I come in the living room, there'd be cyphers going on, Onyx would be in my living
01:44room.
01:44Wow.
01:45Music kind of was like an umbrella for me, but dance just took off for me first.
01:51And then after touring and doing all that, I just started working and trying to perfect
01:55my raps.
01:56And then it kind of just easily transitioned into the, you know, the next one.
02:00But both helped me to be, you know, just creative and more full of art.
02:13I am here with Afrobeats artist Young Paris.
02:17What up, Young Paris?
02:17Hey, I'm good.
02:18How you doing?
02:19Okay, so I mentioned Afrobeats.
02:20What does Afrobeats mean to you?
02:22Afrobeats is contemporary African music.
02:24So Afrobeats, it derives from a term called Afrobeats coined by the Great Light Fela.
02:29Right.
02:30And what we're doing now with the new wave of artistry through African music is a compilation
02:36of music that comes from all over the continent.
02:39So let's talk about the face paint.
02:40Yeah.
02:41I want to make sure I get it right.
02:42Okay.
02:42So what is it called in Congolese?
02:45We just call it a maquillage.
02:46Majiwa?
02:47Maquillage.
02:48Maquillage.
02:48I love that.
02:49What is it?
02:50Does it represent something?
02:51What does it mean?
02:51Of course.
02:52What does it mean?
02:52So in our culture, we would wear paint for different meanings.
02:57You know, some of it could be about challenging a colonial perspective of how our cultures are
03:03being taken advantage of.
03:04Or we wear different colors for the meaning of our country.
03:10We wear yellow for the sun that provides light and energy to us.
03:13The green is grass.
03:14And we wear white for those we've lost, our ancestors.
03:18So my father gave me this maquillage when I was very young, and he died in 2012.
03:22So when he died, the paint that he gave me, I just kept wearing it, and it became my staple.
03:26That is so beautiful.
03:27What a great way to tribute your father.
03:29We're here with a very special performer, my girl, Ari Lennox.
03:46Hey, Ari.
03:46Hey, girl.
03:47So we have to start with the fact that you sound so different.
03:50You have an amazing sound.
03:52Did you ever face a point in your career where label execs didn't know how to market
03:55you, and did you ever feel pressured to conform?
03:58Well, definitely before I got my start, because my label's been great and just always encouraging
04:04me to be myself.
04:05Shout out to Dreamville.
04:06Yeah.
04:06But before that, I did 106 and Park one time, and I remember a label executive saying,
04:13you know, she's cool, but her hair is a hot mess, and maybe she should try something
04:18different.
04:18I'm glad I stuck to my guns, because people like the way my hair is.
04:22And they were talking about your natural hair?
04:23My natural hair, yeah.
04:24That is so crazy.
04:32We're in the Toyota Drool Room.
04:34Yes.
04:34So I have to talk to you about what ignites your senses.
04:37Are you ready?
04:38First question is, what types of music make your heart throb?
04:41I love Jersey Club, but I live for some R&B, too.
04:45Come on, I can't leave R&B out.
04:47What types of futuristic technologies do you drool for?
04:50I like virtual reality.
04:52I think it's fun.
04:53What type of fashion or accessory make you lust?
04:56Ooh, make me lust.
04:57Make you lust.
04:58Great jackets.
04:59The jacket, okay.
05:00The last one, what's something you desire a hunger for?
05:02A nice double bacon cheeseburger, honestly.
05:06It was very desirable, yes.
05:07I'll see you next time.
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