Andra TRAVEL PICKS
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IN R M O E G PR M ER ORI 19 IN S CE A 58 N M –2 ELS 0 16 O N THE VACATION ISSUE GO THERE, SEE THAT! CHEERS TO 51EDITOR- APPROVED Andra TRAVEL PICKS BLESSED,Day BEAUTIFUL & ONE OF THE BEST HOW TO THINGS TO HAPPEN PLAN A TRIP ON TO R&B MUSIC ANY BUDGET PASSPORT TO PLEASURE TIPS FOR SEXY ADVENTURES SUMMER ABROAD NEW BOOK EXCLUSIVE! MICHAEL SLAY- BROWN’S MOM TELLS HER TRUTH CATION! p. 98 FESTIVAL-READY HAIR, MAKEUP, SWIMSUITS, SHADES, SANDALS AND OTHER SUMMER ESSENTIALS FOR YOU JUNE 2016 WITH A HIT DEBUT ALBUM AND TWO GRAMMY NOMINATIONS UNDER HER BELT, Andra Day HAS LEARNED TO TRUST LIFE’S TIMING AND ALWAYS SHOW UP, WITH GRATITUDE AND IN FULL VOICE BY REGINA R. ROBERTSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY NINO MUÑOZ A FASHION EDITOR: JOIEE THORPE LOvELY DAY 78 ESSENCE.COM JUNE 2016 GLAM ’N’ GO This page: Day wears a Naeem Khan gown, Jules Smith curved cuff and double-band gold cuff, Jewelry Storm t’s early spring in Southern California and the sun is and eateries just off the Pacific Coast pearl cuff, Thomas shining so bright and exuding such warmth that the Highway. “Iremember singing in front Sabo rings and Jimmy thought of an impending chill is unimaginable—until of a store that was opening here and my Choo sandals. thewindblows.Inthemoment,itseemsasthough manager at the time recorded a clip. It’s On previous page: MotherNature wereplayingtricks, but seconds so funny when I think about how I was On Day: an Apiece Apart later, the wind shifts and everything is right with the dancing around, wearing clothes that stripe top and skirt, Atelier Swarovski by world again. An afternoon spent at a tucked-away didn’t fit me properly. I think I still have the Rosie Assoulin cocktail haven in Malibu can have that effect. shorts I was wearing that day!” ring, Jules Smith cuff, Just beyond the shores of Point Dume Beach, That fateful day was six years ago. Back Love and Madness gold skull ring set, Andra Day looks up and out from the balcony of a then, Day (aka Cassandra Batie) was still Jewelry Storm pearl cuff spacious, rented-for-the-day guesthouse turned on her way to finding her destiny. She was and chain-link bracelet, music studio as her monster smash, “Rise Up,” plays living with her mom in a tiny apartment in Christian Louboutin heels and her own head inthebackground.Herhazeleyesarewingedwith herhometown ofSan Diego,and would scarf with flowers and black liner, her lips are painted crimson and she’s often make the two-hour drive up to Los gold hoop earrings. sporting a cropped red jacket over a pencil-slim black dress. From her lobes, large Angeles whenever an opportunity arose wide gold hoops dangle, and aside from a softly waved bang, her honey-hued tresses and she could “scrounge up some money are neatly piled into a pattern head scarf—knotted up top, just the way she likes it. to put gas in the car.” But it would be that Looking both luminous and pensive, Day has created a mood, a feeling. But she’s not storefront performance that put her on standing around soaking up breathtaking views just because. In fact, she’s in the midst the road she’s riding on today. In short, her of filming a documentary that is titled I Rise for her partnership with Coca-Cola and then manager crossed paths with fashion McDonald’s, which launched last month and includes a limited edition run of 40 million designerKaiMillardMorris,who wasso Icups and cans that bear her name, lyrics and likeness. It’s kind of a big deal. So is she. impressed by what she saw and heard that Last summer’s release of her bluesy, jazz-infused debut, Cheers to the Fall, she alerted her now ex-husband, Stevie earned her critical acclaim and fan approval. In a culture that thrives on cookie- Wonder. Then he called, they talked— cutter sounds, her rich vocals, coupled with her signature style, immediately set “It was amazing,” she remembers—and her apart. Day would even dabble in hip-hop by covering Eminem’s “Lose Your- he later introduced her to musician and self” and Notorious B.I.G.’s “Big Poppa.”Itwasalmostasifshe had emerged from thin air, and My album title, Cheers to the ironically many believed that hers was a success that had occurred Fall, means that I’m going for overnight. Not so much. “I always laugh when I hear that,” says the it without allowing fear to 31-year-old songstress, whose still-budding career is the result keep me from being who I’m ofa“long,evolutionarypro- cess of discovery.” During the 15 really supposed to be. years that she’s been chasing her dream, she’s weathered storms of disappointment and learned the hard lessons producer Adrian Gurvitz, who signed her that come with staying the course. For that, she’s a stronger woman, a stronger to his production company, and served as artist, and is just getting started. “She was so down-to-earth, so game and just cowriter and executive producer on her amazing to work with,” says filmmaker Yoruba Richen, who serves as director and album. There would be many stops and producer on Day’s documentary. Richen was also impressed by her focus and starts along the way, but finally she was dedication. “Because the entertainment industry can be fleeting, you have to make moving in the right direction. “Andra can the most of the opportunities that are presented, and I think we’re seeing that with sing and she sang,” says Wonder (who Andra. She’s really putting in the work.” also joined her on “Someday at Christmas” for Apple’s holiday commercial last year). “She has a very versatile voice.” FINDING HER VOICE But not long before connecting with By the time we place our family-style dinner orders at Mr. Chow, the sun has settled Wonder, she hadn’t really been in sync and the once warm, then cool air is now ice-cold. The day has been long, but her with it. On her quest to “be successful,” energy hasn’t wavered much. She is ready to talk, and clearly she’s the type who’s up shewas singingwhat shebelievedwas for whatever’s next, with a smile. Perhaps Day’s work ethic comes from remember- expected: mainly formulaic pop and ingallthatittooktogethere.She’scertainlygotthestoriestoproveit,evenstarting R&B. “I was shrinking my voice and try- withhowourrestaurant’slocation is alinkto her past.“As soon as weparked, I knew ing to do runs, but it just wasn’t me,” I recognized this place,” she says of the Malibu Country Mart, a strip of upscale shops Day says. She returned to the music w JUNE 2016 ESSENCE.COM 81 Listening to the stories told in Well, he thought he was jazz music and how those artists Luther Vandross,” she says expressed their truths about the laughing as she remem- bers the times when they times and what they were dealing sang together in the garage while he was fixing cars. with is what struck me the most. “Our favorite song to sing together was “If This World she loved and fine-tuned her sound. Were Mine.” But, really, that was his favorite song, period. He’d just let me join She also settled into the style that she in!” As she got older, she would learn of her parents’ former artistic dreams, now embodies. “I was always influenced whichexplainedtheirconstantencouragement.“Itwassuch a blessing to have bythemusicandculturefromthefor- their support. I realize that now,” she says. “I always joke that I don’t think my ties, fifties and sixties,” explains Day, parents thought I was capable of doing anything else. There were times when who professes her love of Lucille Ball’s I’d play around with different things I was interested in and they’d say, ‘Oh, okay, styletoo.“IliketosayIwasestab- sweetie. Just go ahead and keep on singing in your room.’ ” lished in the fifties, dragged through thedecadesand picked upacouple of things [from every era].” Speaking THE POWER IN SURRENDER of her style, the next night, at 9:44 P.M., Truth, vulnerability and fearlessness are among the ingredients Day painstakingly she steps onto the stage at the El poured into her 13-track album. Listening to the title track, it’s evident that she Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, during a bared her soul. “A lot of people think that Cheers to the Fall is about making stop on her national tour, donning her a toast to the autumn season,” she notes. “But the title itself means ‘cheers to scarf and a fur over a two-piece pants the possibility of criticism and cheers to the possibility of failure.’ I’m basically ensemble. But it’s what she wears on saying that I’m going for it without allowing fear to keep me from being who I’m her feet that reveals who she is at her really supposed to be.” core—a California girl. “You see I got Achievingthefreedomshesingsofsopassionatelythroughoutthealbumand my Chucks on because I’m back in the at her live shows didn’t come easy. It started with her need to be honest with her- West,” she says slyly into the mic. The self and to come clean to her former boyfriend, whom she’d dated for eight years. crowd goes wild. “We were really young when we were first together, like 17, 18,” she says. “But I “I always knew I wanted to be a per- was doing foul stuff behind his back, and just being selfish and promiscuous.” former,” says Day, who first began as a She makes no excuses about her past behavior but, instead, admits that it came student of dance—ballet (pointe), tap, as a result of receiving attention from other guys after not having felt attractive.