ALL EYEZ ON ME - CLEOPXTRA - BADASS BUTTERFLY    })i({

THE WOMAN

Meet CLEOPXTRA - A 22 year old stylish spitfire who wants to be “that girl” and make a difference through her music: rooted in the weighty hip hop of Tupac yet infused with the soulful sounds of her musical mamas Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill.

During our chat, as much as I was struck by her confidence and ‘jungle pussy’ edge, a sensitive soul emanated bursting with idealism re: equality, fairness and justice.  

THE WORK

CLEOPXTRA recently moved from Calgary to Vancouver to commune with other creatives. Calgary is home, yet she has found a literal garden for her craft to grow.

She received her initial vocal training in choir, but it was after her siblings introduced her to hip hop and rap in high school she realized she wasn’t singing anything meaningful to her

Directing her focus to lyrics, poetry, and the structure of rap, when she got her own microphone and interface - things really took off!

Her process is simple, she finds a beat or instrumental and ruminates on it over and over and over again, much like a potter shaping clay on a wheel.

The best is when she she hits a wiggy line and is like: “I did that” and pushes herself further to make lyrics that generate memory association.

As any true artist, she is mindful of her sound and wants to cultivate and curate it to get better and better and push more soul and dig into the undercurrent.

But she knows she ultimately needs to share her vision…and an EP should be out by November, 2017. And she wants use a proper medium to release her music, whether it be Spotify, Soundcloud or Apple Music.   

It will be worth the wait…

THE IMAGE: THE BUTTERFLY  })i({

CLEOPXTRA’s strong identity originates from her Egyptian/Mauratian background and her constant push to be “XTRA” was ignited when she 19 living in Amsterdam and, through the love and light of a good gal pal, tapped into how to generate a living off of her art and her image via modelling.  

KATEHEWKO definitely helps augment CLEOPXTRA’s maxamalist fashion image as she gushed about her love of the faux furs, the patched denim romper, ALL the sunglasses, the vegan leather sweatpants, the Audrey arm-piece, the Diana cuff and the velvet boyfriend tee - true MUSTS for Fall/Winter 2017. 

Plus, for CLEOPXTRA it is all about the hair… 

The photo shoot was during a blue phase, as she changes her hair incredibly often.  She likened it to “being continually in a witness protection program”. HA!

With that, we noted that the butterfly emoji/motif is repeated in her Instagram.  Perhaps reflecting her constant change and metamorphosis.

CLEOPXTRA is in this cool cocoon and will emerge soon as another version of a badass butterfly.   

We @KATEHEWKO can’t wait!

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Photo credits:
Photography: @darrylpollockphoto
Wardrobe Stylist: @sheenaannestyling
Hair and Makeup Artist: @richelledawnmakeup
Model: @m4k4v3l1