| THE VOICE JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2012 23

Career changeR Kelly’s heading to Broadway

Chart successThere’s no stopping Rihanna!

SAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENSAMUELL BENTATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA

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Man on a missionMan on a missionMan on a mission

POSTER BATTLEJADEN SMITH & WILLOW SMITH

POSTER BATTLEPOSTER BATTLE

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24 � THE VOICE NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5, 2012

SSEGAWA-SSEKINTU Kiwanuka wasstudying at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology (MIT) as part of an exclu-sive one-year exchange programmewith Cambridge University when hedecided to make the most of otheropportunities available to him in theUnited States.

He exhibited his photography in aBoston museum and spent one monthin Haiti researching the possibility ofusing sugar cane charcoal as an alter-native fuel.

His market research was later used tohelp win the MIT $100,000Entrepreneurship Competition in 2007,as well as the $200,000 World BankGlobal Development Marketplace

Competition in 2008.Ssegawa-Ssekintu became the

youngest ever nominee at the globalInstitution of Chemical EngineersAwards in 2010 and was awarded thirdplace in the Young Engineer of the Yearcategory. In March 2011, he was alsofeatured in The Chemical Engineer(TCE) – the UK's most widely read mag-azine for the chemical and processindustries.

Ssegawa-Ssekintu is also the leadvocalist in the classical-meets-hip hop-meets-dance outfit Clean Bandit.

"If you are going to do something inlife, you've got to do it and want to makean impact."

*www.rarerecruitment.co.uk

LUPE FIASCOSUPERSTARIf you are what you sayyou are - a superstar,then have no fear, thecamera’s here…

3

T.I FEAT RIHANNALIVE YOUR LIFENever mind what haterssay, ignore them ’til theyfade away…

8

4

6 7 9 10

11 12 1513 14

LAURYN HILLEVERYTHING ISEVERYTHINGWhat is meant to be willbe. After winter, mustcome spring. Change, itcomes eventually…

JAY ZDIAMONDS AREFOREVER (REMIX)I’m not a businessman...I’m a business,maaaaaannnn…

SWAYSONG FOR THE CITYTurkish, Indian, African,West Indies down toPakistan, Europeans andAsians…we’re the livingproof that Israelis andArabs can live together.We’re the truth – it’sLondon…

MS DYNAMITEIT TAKES MOREWho gives a damn aboutthe ice on your hands? Ifit's not too complex, tellme how many Africansdied for the baguettes onyour Rolex?

MIKEL AMEENWORLD CHANGERSThe world can’t changeme ‘cos I’m a worldchanger, have no fear soI’m in no danger, made inGod’s image, I was bornto be greater…

17 18

COMMONBLUE SKYAston Martin King,Luther with dreams. Theyoung Denzel the way Imove through scenes.I’m like a preacher thatonce was a fiendA story of change thatcame with wings…

BASHYBLACK BOYSNo we ain't hooligans,just young and talentednubians, with potentialand promise, innovativeyoung masterminds likeSean Wallis…

DESTINY’S CHILDSURVIVORI'm a survivor. I'm notgonna give up. I'm notgonna stop. I'm gonnawork harder…

AKALAFIND NO ENEMYI wake up everyday andI’m overwhelmed just tobe alive and like no oneelse…

ESTELLEWONDERFUL LIFEMy smile is OK at the endof the line and I'm fine, nothorns in my side Somebody remind me,it's a wonderful life…

GUVNA BFREEOne life so live it well. Inthis world we got free willto live as well…

TALIB KWELIK.O.S (DETERMINATION)At exactly which point doyou start to realise, thatlife without knowledge isdeath in disguise...

DAMIAN MARLEYROAD TO ZIONSingle parents we needsome charity, youthswhat need some loveand prosperity… by anyplan with any meansand strategy…

Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka

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NASI CANIf the truth is told, theyouth can grow. Nobodysays you have to begangstas [or] h*es. Readmore learn more, changethe globe…

NOTORIOUS B.I.GSKY IS THE LIMITSky is the limit and youknow that you can havewhat you want, be whatyou want…

POSITIVE VIBESInspirational lyrics from some of our most-loved stars

Dear Kat,

I am thinking about converting to Islam and my family think thatI have lost my mind.

My best friend at college is Muslim and she has shown me howmuch it can change me for the better. I will still go to church withmy mum and brother on Sunday if that’s what it takes to makethem happy, but I am 18 and I am old enough to make my owndecisions without being judged.

What should I do?Fi, 18

Dear Fi,

I think you should take time to truly consider why you want toconvert to Islam. Once you are certain about your decision,explain those reasons to your family.

If you communicate why it means so much to you, they willhopefully see that you are not acting on impulse or that yourdecision is based on the influence of your friends.

Religious people are always protective about their beliefs sotheir negative reaction may simply be a result of that.

Give them time to come around to the idea, keep an openmind and stay strong.

NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5, 2012 THE VOICE � 25

HE DECLAREDhis car off theroad to fundthe first seriesof award-win-

ning web series All About TheMcKenzies, so it’s ironic thatwhen I catch up with SamuellBenta he’s happily drivingbetween appointments in thecity. How times have changedfor the 26-year-old.

In 2010, and after whatSamuell describes as a “diffi-cult year”, the actor took a tripto Hollywood where he met thefounder of the LA Web Festivalwho encouraged him to putpen to paper and return withan online product that he couldenter into next year’s cere-mony.

Samuell, who had starred inEastenders spin-off E20 and hitseries Hotel Babylon, admits

he “never knew web series’existed” until he was inHollywood, returned to theStates a year later with AllAbout The McKenzies, a sitcomabout a black British family,and took home the award.

“I basically threw myself intothe project. We filmed forabout five days. No actors gotpaid, none of the crew gotpaid, the composer was freshout of university as was thecamera operator – they hadnever done anything on screenin their life. Just goes to showthat I can take someone brandnew and make a good show.”

In the year since its creation,All About The McKenzies hasracked up over one million hitson YouTube, seen Samuell fea-tured in The Guardian newspa-per and named as More maga-zine’s ‘man of the week.’

But for the hard-workingentrepreneur, this, it seems, isjust the tip of the iceberg. “Idon’t mind man of the week,but I need to be man of thecentury,” he jokes.

Despite the success of hisonline series, which he wrote,produced and directed,Samuell has faced a number ofknock backs when trying toconvince the mainstream thatit’s worthy of their attention.

“I received a lot of goodresponse online and I wasphoning around TV networksand had a few meetings. I’veproved there is an audience,but still people don’t seem toholler back.”

He explains: “I look at theshows we’ve had in the pastlike Desmond’s and TheCrouches and I think, ‘whyhave we stopped doing this?’I’m so going to change stuffup. I’m going to make a showthat is universal.”

For the new series, due inmid 2013, Samuell has joinedforces with popular onlineyouth broadcaster SBTV, hop-ing to reach new audiences.

He is also aiming to launchthe careers of new British talentwho he says have been“shunned by the industry.”

He says: “Now that I’mgoing through SBTV, I’m surethat it will make a lot of peoplesit up and say somethingwhereas before they gave meair.

“I’m going to use talent whowere shunned and make themgrow through my own show.For

instance, our comedians arebig, but they’re doing it onsuch a low scale undergroundthat the mainstream don’tknow who they are. I knowthrough my show, things canhappen differently,” he adds.

“People are scared to investin new talent. In productions,[using new talent] costs a lot ofmoney and producers want tokeep production prices down.But on a subconscious levelwhat they are actually tellingyoung black people who areaspiring to be something big-ger is, ‘hey guys, this can’thappen.’ It really does takeone person to change a wholeparadigm and I’m hoping to dothat.”

Asked whether he thought aglass ceiling was in placewhen it came to black comedyin the UK’s mainstream, hesaid: “It’s much bigger thanthat. There are massive come-dians like Lee Evans andMichael McIntyre who have ahuge following and support,but when it comes to black tal-ent, the only person whosprings to mind is LennyHenry. He has had major suc-cess, made attempts for TVand they have shut him down.

“To get All About TheMcKenzies on TV has been myintention from the start. I wanta universal show that everyoneis going to love, it’s just thatonline we have the freedom todo things for free.”

Despite his own setbacks,Samuell is full of admiration forfellow

online series Meet TheAdebanjos, which has succes-fully made the change.

He said: “Meet TheAdebanjos is an inspiration tome. They are a great exampleof independence. They didwhat I did, but on a TV level.They’ve met with TV networksand they were turned down.‘Oh the show’s too black,’ or ‘Itcan never do this’. They hadmore results with a foreignmarket and they’re doing theirthing. It’s not mainstream tele-vision, but they’re still gettingwhat they want out to the peo-ple.

On the new series, for whichhe will hold public auditions inJanuary, Samuell promises a“fleshed out” storyline with more“references to black history”.

“I understand that the youthare heavily influenced by whatthey watch and listen to so I

understand what must comefrom my show. They’re notgoing to listen to ‘MrStevenson’ at school, they’regoing to listen to someonewho is young like them, wholooks like them and has thecontent that will actually makethem pay attention.”

As our conversation comesto a close, and Samuell nearshis destination, I ask whatmight come of our conversa-tion if this interview happenedin 10 years. He laughs, thinksfor a second and says:

“I would say, ‘you’ve seen allof my blockbusters, right? Well,I’m just in talks with Denzel[Washington] at the momentand we’re going to be doing afilm soon and I’ve also got myown drama school. It’s been agood few years.’”

www.youtube.com/allaboutthemckenziesFollow @Sbenta on Twitter

A$AP Rocky was left fuming after his Torontoshow was cancelled following a ‘bogus’

bomb threat.“ALL THIS WORK TO GET ACROSS

THE F******* BORDER FOR MYSHOW TO BE CANCELLED BCUZ OF

A BOGUS A** BOMB THREAT!!!! THISS---- EXTRA LAME...”

NICKI MINAJ:DJs from Hot 97’s TheBreakfast Club were

blasted by the rapper liveon air for not ‘doing

research’ beforeinterviewing her

KATT WILLIAMS:The comedian was

arrested in connectionwith the assault of a

man in Oakland,California

R KELLY:The singer has

announced plans tobring his hit musical

soap opera Trapped inthe Closet to Broadway

RIHANNA:The self-confessed ‘bad

girl’ bagged her 12thnumber one on theBillboard charts with

latest single Diamonds

Stylish, cool,effortless

CHRISBROWN:Simple, sexy,sophisticated

ESTELLE:

TWEET OF THE WEEK

A$AP

British actor Samuell Benta talks to YV’s Dionne Grant about inspiringa generation, knock backs and the overwhelming success of hit webseries All About The McKenzies

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