TG LIFE's Own Kennidi Monroe Breaks Out With Her Own Music CD!
For the past several years, twenty-something Kennidi Monroe has been my good friend, writing a column first for the late GIRL TALK Magazine, and then continuing her literary composing for TG LIFE since its inception. Not only is Kennidi a bright and shining star on the TG scene, she has a heart of gold and shares her triumphs, and misfortunes, in one of TG LIFE’s most popular columns… A Girl’s Life.
Kennidi has a new album just out, so in case you missed her musings in the past, let’s start at square one!
Gina Lance: If someone hasn’t heard of you, give us a short description of who Kennidi Monroe is.
Kennidi Monroe: Well, I'd start by saying that I am Fabulous! No, I mean yes I am that but I am so much more than that. I am a pre-op transsexual who has been going through this change since I was fifteen years old. A southern belle that has blossomed into an uptown girl. I am originally from the Houston Area, that’s where I grew up, but now I reside in Chicago; where I am a hair designer, artist, activist, writer, singer, performer, and human like everyone else!
I grew up without a mother, and was the oldest of three children, so my life was about helping and pleasing others. For many years I had to focus on pleasing myself in order to find out where I belong in this lifetime. I think now at twenty-eight I have found that right place. I feel like twenty-eight is the year for me. So many things have come about this past year that, I have been working towards all my life. I think that I am finally ready to accept life as it is, because I just live in this body, my spirit has never changed. I think when you can finally accept life for what it is you can deal with life a totally different way. You become blessed with so many opportunities and this year I have.
GL: I know a big part of your life is helping out other TG people – how did that get started? And how did you become a helping hand/voice when so many others in the community spend more time on their makeup than you do aiding others?
KM: Now don't get me wrong I love playing in makeup and clothes but I know how to balance that with other things! So every since I was little, I was always helping people. I remember through church we would help the poor, and the mentally handicapped. I remember seeing those people and being touched, seeing their smiles because a stranger was helping them. For a long time I kept going back to the home where the mentally handicapped lived and help out. I fell in love with those people, I fell in love with the joy of helping people. I think if you can let go of your own life to help out another one’s, there is no joy any bigger. So when I got older and started to discover myself and playing in women’s clothes and makeup, I never had that role model. I never had Candis Cayne on television to look at and go ‘I want to be that one day’. Not till I was eighteen years old had I even seen or met a transsexual woman. It was when I met Erica Andrews and she embraced me and let me do this thing called drag is when I realized one day I want to be that role model to other people. When I won Miss Gay Teen USA and Universe, it jump started that idea of helping others in our community. Many times I wasn't ready to help others, because I needed to help myself, but through my journey there has been so many wonderful people who have blessed me in their help. I was very lucky and I feel like I owe my community something back! We all have different journeys and if my story can help someone's journey than I feel like I have done my job.
With the release of my upcoming album, I feel like I am giving the GLBT community the word that it needs in the music industry. I feel like I am putting my life, politics and raw emotion into this album that will allow mainstream America to see that we are like everyone else. This is a start of me launching out there and having more people accept us for humans.
GL: I know you just taught your first seminar at the Be-All convention in Chicago last month. What was your seminar called and what was it like entering this new phase of your life?
KM: Oh, my, was this one of the biggest thrills of my life, because I am such a giver. For me to be able to write out a seminar and talk about it to a group of trans people of all ages was amazing. My seminar was called Finding Inner Beauty and it is about finding ourselves from the inside first. Tons of times we want to rush into the makeup, wigs, surgeries, etc. and we never worry about who we are on the inside. I feel that this new phase of my life is a growing up experience. I feel like I have grown up, I don't feel like I am that young girl trying to discover myself. I am that woman now, that is helping other people discover who they are from the inside. I think when we start this process of change, we are like little girls and then we grow up a second time. I have grown up, and it’s an amazing feeling. I just hope that I can teach this seminar at more conventions and help as many people as I can. This is just a start of what great things are to come for me!
GL: Okay – your new album! How did all of this come about and what was the experience like?
KM: Originally it was suppose to be a tranny duo group, and the more I came up with this concept in my head I felt like I wanted to do it alone. I remember being young and in love with RuPaul, I loved his music and the way people embraced it. I wanted to one day do that, and I never knew how to do it. One of my good friends had recorded two singles with this producer last year and they had the number three dance track in Brazil. So, I told him that I wish I could do that, and he told me that I could. That’s when I started toying with ideas of what I wanted to say in my lyrics. I started writing lyrics down on paper and would shoot them back to my best friend who edited them or took my ideas in my head and turned them into songs.
I felt like that this was the right time for me to launch this. I was stable and firm in my life. I was ready to be creative again. I felt like drag was dying everywhere and I wanted to be able to perform anywhere and not be limited to a drag show. I personally feel that, if I didn't have the drag experience I wouldn't have been able to do this album. When we started this process I said I want it to be raw and in your face! I wanted people to know I was a tranny and that I wasn't a size zero. I wanted people to know I wasn't always this way; I wanted to bring issues to the forefront!
The whole experience was amazing. It was a little rough for me because the first day in studio I didn't know what I was getting myself into. Never knowing anything about music and beats, it was hard for me to grasp. It took eight hours to record two songs, and I was on a time crunch. They didn’t think I would finish my album in time. But in the end I did, and now I have this great fun single out now called Voluptuous Diva. When I decided to do this album I kept saying I want anthems for people, and that’s what I have created with a lot of these songs. I can’t wait to launch it on the world!
GL: Well spoken Ms. Monroe! And so here’s a short Press Release:
FOR, the debut album from Kennidi Monroe is revolution of dance music meets reality. This being her first attempt at music she has decided to dive into it head on, by having songs that are fun but also touch at home. The album contains eight songs produced by Yaxkin Retrodisko from Mexico and all songs written by Earnest Diaz. Even though the songs were not written by her personally, her best friend Earnest tapped into what she wanted to say.
The title track For, is a revolution of her life. Her debut single from the album, Voluptuous Diva is a camp dance anthem. Her second track to be released as a single is called Sk'n. This hot number with tribal beats will have you begging for more. Kennidi takes her seductive voice and ways and puts it on these hot beats. As you listen you can just feel the tensity and the heat coming off this track. This track will keep you on your feet and heat you up on the dance floor.
WHERE TO BUY IT:
http://www.soundclick.com/store/byArtist.cfm?bandID=853022
http://www.stage.fm/kennidimonroe/
And make sure you check out more of Kennidi at http://kennidimonroe.com
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