Talia Coles

 

MONEY TALKS

Written by ToneSwep

POP ARTIST, COUTURE MAGNET, LABEL HEAD – TALIA COLES KNOWS HAVING HER HANDS ON EVERYTHING IS THE ONLY WAY FOR A DIVA TO TRULY HOLD SHIT DOWN.  THE SENSUOUS SONGSTRESS STOPPED BY THEHIPHOPDIVA.COM TO TALK JAMAICAN TRAFFIC TICKETS, NIGHT CLUB PICK UP LINES, COUTURE MUSIC, AND THE MEANING OF MONEY.

(Tone Swep: TS) What’s good young lady. How is everything in Talia’s universe right about now?

(Talia Coles: TC) I’m good thank you. I just left the dentist. Gotta keep the teeth clean and real perfect (laughs).  

(TS) You driving mama?

 (TC) Yeah, Tone. Why? I need to pull over?

(TS) Hell yeah. I don’t know what that shit costs in New York. But here they’ll fine you for driving without a Bluetooth or whatever.

(TC) I was in Jamaica about 3 weeks ago. We got pulled over by their police for the same thing, and got a $6 ticket. But this ain’t Jamaica so…

(TS) … Jamaica Queens (laughs)

(TC) Nah, I’m in Manhattan. Ok, I’m ready.

(TS) Tell us about Couture Music. You’re the President of the label. Who are some of the key executives and decision makers? What have you done and what are you doing?

(TC) Couture Music is everything Fashion and Music. I look at music like I look at fashion. Creative, high quality. And each song, like each piece, should be different. My brother  Shareef Coles and JoJo Brim, who also manages Trey Songz, are the only Executives aside from me. And then theirs our extended family, which includes Kevin Lyles. I am the first project on Couture Music. My album will be the first project that we release. 

(TS) You studied Ballet and Jazz at the acclaimed Broadway Dance Theatre, this after graduating from New York City’s LaGuardia High School of Music and the Performing Arts. Seems like you were destined to do this.

(TC) Way before I even got into high school I was surrounded by the music industry. My brother was signed to Curtis Blow when I was 5-years-old. My father played with James Brown and Wilson Pickett.  Music has always been sort of an innate endeavor for me.

(TS) Cisum Couture, your clothing line. What is the look and feel of your line? Where is it sold?  When does it drop?

(TC) Fashion has been the driving force and inspiration for my entire life. We’re very fashion forward at Cisum. The line is in production right now, so in 2011 we’re launching the line. Right now, we make individually handcrafted pieces for buyers. If people are interested they can reach out to me. That is how we’re working right now. We’re sitting down putting a pearl or a diamond on a garment for an individual who ordered that specific piece. Very exclusive right now at Cisum.

(TS) Your first two singles “This Little Thing” and “Nikki Wine” are in rotation on radio. What’s the next move for your project?

(TC) I got a new single that I am super super excited about. “I Wish I Never See You Again”. We’re shooting a video for that in a couple weeks. It’s definitely a dance Pop Record.

(TS) You have written songs for everyone from LL Cool J and Deborah Cox to Musiq Soulchild and Irv Gotti.  Why not stay on that side of the boards, where the money is? Or your inner artist won’t allow  a homegirl to just sit and pen hits. Gotta get on stage.

(TC) I was always a performer first. The songwriting sort of came because, in the beginning, I got with a production company that wanted their songwriters to write for every recording artist, including me. They learned that they had to let me write more of my own material. All the songs of mine that they  liked, I wrote on my own. As a musician, I never wanted to be selfish with my music. The business side of it came later, as a necessity. Because you cannot leave your career in the hands of others. You have to be the driving force.

(TS) What is Sexy to you?

(TC) Confidence. Sexiness  is empowering. It’s just overall sensual. For somebody to be sexy, it’s not something that you do. It’s something that you are.

(TS) If a dude sees Talia at a mixer or party, in a club environment, and wants to get at you, how does he need to come correct? What does he have to get going for him to make that happen? Because you know how you have those cats that will buy a broad one drink and then follow her around the club all night?

(TC) uhhhhh, I hate that! And first of all, I don’t drink so you may want to offer me a bottle of water instead of alcohol (laughs). But I like the quiet mysterious guy in the corner who isn’t tryna bag me off the top. I like humor. So, I would say that he has to have a quiet confidence about him and he has to have a sense of humor and be able to make me laugh.

(TS) Does love still exist? Can two people on any level, in or out of the industry, accomplish love? Tough task right?

(TC) I can’t speak for other people, but I know love exists inside of me. People fall in and out of love, but you can love someone unconditionally and not be together with that person. The institution of marriage, love, those things still exists but it takes two powerful people. A relationship takes work. Your mess may not be my mess, so if our baggage don’t match we shouldn’t be traveling together.

(TS) When people talk about Money… Artists, everyday working class people, the poor, the rich, whomever. There are always varying opinions of what Money is. What money means. What is money to Talia Coles?

(TC) This is going to sound crazy, but when you’re talking on a material level, then money is extreme. But only on that material level. Otherwise, money is energy. Whether you are a billionaire or you’re only holding 10 grand, the main thing is… how can you change the world with the amount of money that you do have?