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Willa Ford Waiting in the Wings
If there's one artist who's been
a victim of both the entertainment
and business side of the industry,
it's bad girl Willa Ford. Her 2001
debut, Willa Was Here brought her
a top 10 hit with "I Wanna Be
Bad", but along with her success
came a few downfalls. Female audiences
weren't always so kind to Ms. Ford.
Maybe because she had dated Backstreet
Boy, Nick Carter. Maybe because her
thong stuck out of her jeans before
it was the style. Now in 2004, when
bad means good, Willa might just win
over those haters. With her new single
"A Toast To Men" and her
follow-up album just waiting to be
released, Willa Ford is back and is
as real as ever.
Willa Ford called me on her way to
Lowe's with a male friend. She screams
as he cuts a corner before laughing
hysterically. Still laughing, Willa
apologizes and tells her friend to
cut it out. Now it's down to business.
Willa's sophomore album, which has
been in the making for a couple of
years now, has still yet to be released.
Why? "My record company has been
in a lot of litigation stuff."
Willa explains about Lava Records,
which was formerly merged with Atlantic.
"Three different people have
bought the record company out and
sold it or something since I've been
on the label. Everything just keeps
getting pushed back on the label because
everything's going crazy. So I've
just been sitting around waiting."
She says sounding surprisingly patient.
"Oh you're leaving me?"
Willa shouts out as the car door closes.
"Okay fine, I'm not going into
Lowe's. I'm going to stay in the car."
She says spitefully before turning
her attention back to the interview.
According to one of Willa's fansites,
which seems to be updated more frequently
than her official website, she had
re-recorded her album because she
wasn't happy with it. "I knew
I had the time because obviously the
record company--their hands were tied
financially. So I came out with much
better stuff." Willa confirmed.
"I'm really excited. As soon
as it's on the shelf, I'll be happy.
I'm on the phone everyday with attorneys
trying to figure out what the hell's
going on." As Willa thinks deeper
into the release of her second album,
she sounds more frustrated, with good
reason too. "It's a really tough
business. It really is as far as if
things aren't proper and legal, you
can't even release your music, which
is so weird to me. We're supposed
to be entertainers, but instead we're
these business running machines."
She says, but she leaves it up to
God now.
Speaking of God, he's a touchy subject
for the sexy singer. During a recent
appearance on the always controversial
Howard Stern talk show, Willa was
in the hot seat when religion came
up. Howard pushed Willa's buttons
asking how she could call herself
religious when her image is more or
less sex. Willa defends her scantily
dressed photoshoots for FHM and Stuff
Magazine with, "Hey, I haven't
posed naked, have I?" She does
have a point there. "I got offended
really quickly. I figured religion's
not something we talk about. I believe
and that's all I need to say."
Willa stated. All in all, Howard Stern
was good to Willa, which is a surprise.
"He told me it was really nice
to have a beautiful, intelligent,
non-skanky girl on the show for a
change." Willa said with a laugh.
"Off the air too, he was like,
'I don't know how someone could date
you then Paris [Hilton]'. He was just
telling me really nice things on a
personal level." It's obvious
Willa's love life always comes back
to haunt her, even if it is a compliment.
Far away from love and religion,
we get back to the album. What's the
main difference between her first
record and this one, set to be called
Sexysexobsessive? "The artwork."
Willa teases, but then states the
obvious, "the music" before
going into more detail. "It's
much more cutting edge. It doesn't
sound like Britney [Spears]. We all
have so many stipulations that we
sound like this person or that person...It's
fresh. It's really fresh sounding."
She says, which is the reason why
the label is very careful about letting
any of the music seep out into the
media. Though Willa says she could
"give two sh*ts" if she's
compared to Britney or Christina,
she does seem to be bothered by the
way the industry is handled. "There's
a lot of pressure to put together
a certain record. We all kind of sound
similar when you put a lot of music
on it. These record companies just
think everything's about image now
and so we all get packaged in a form.
I wish people can really see who's
really talented and more of a facade."
Willa also finds trouble with people
taking her seriously because of the
way she looks, though she is comfortable
with her body as her recent photoshoots
prove. She also admits she thought
she was too skinny for the release
of her debut album.
The topic of image led us to a discussion
of women's sexuality in society. "They
really give [women] a lot of backlash.
They freak out when you do something,
but R. Kelly gets convicted of everything
but the guilty sentence on all the
stuff he did with minor girls and
it's like we've all forgotten already."
Willa says disgusted. "He's all
over the radio still, everybody loves
him still. We have on videotape what
he did and he's getting away with
it. I'm not okay with that and I think
that when people attack somebody like
me because 'oh well don't you feel
like you have moral responsibility
to the children?' Well, don't you
think everybody does?" Willa
asks. "...And don't you think
that if what I'm doing is horrible
that some other people should be in
jail?" Despite these feelings,
Willa admits society isn't as brutal
on her as they are to someone like
Britney Spears. "I never came
out saying I was good. Therefore when
I did something strange, it was shocking,
but it didn't really freak anybody
out."
Back to this album we haven't heard
enough about. "A Toast To Men"
is already featured in a CBS promo
for "Young & The Restless"
and "Bold & The Beautiful".
Deja-vu! So was "Did You Understand
That" a few years ago. No, Willa's
not a soap opera fan, though she was
into "Days Of Our Lives"
for a while. "Recently they've
been killing everybody off, so really
I don't give a sh*t anymore."
She says. Lady May is a featured rapper
on the single, but are there plans
to collaborate with anyone else? "There
might be. Probably. I'm kind of waiting
for the dust to settle and then I
can pick and choose." I wasn't
surprised to hear Willa mention Uncle
Kracker as a possibility since he's
a great friend of hers. Willa explains
most of the material is already written
for the record, but he's the only
person she'd want to write with. "He's
the one I really respect." She
says.
After talk of the album was done,
I asked Willa to name a moment in
her life she'd like to go back to.
"That's a good question."
She says as she thinks. "It wouldn't
be high school." Willa laughs.
"You know what? I don't think
there's a moment I'd want to relive."
She concludes, but mentions family
trips to the Florida Keys as happy
memories. "I'm at a point in
my life right now where I want a change.
I don't know what it is, but I want
something. I'll figure it out."
Willa confides. "Not my hair
color. Anything else, but not my hair
color." She adds in. I guess
the old saying still holds true, "Blondes
do have more fun."
Willa left this message of encouragement
to her fans who have been waiting.
"I think people that aren't in
my position might not recognize the
harsh business side of what it is
that's taking so long. Unfortunately
I've just gotten some bad luck as
far as all that business stuff is
concerned. I just have to keep hashing
it out harder than most people. Just
hang in there and when it comes around,
it comes around. That's kind of how
it works."
It's obvious Willa Ford knows hard
work and is not afraid to get things
done, but where does she stand in
this world of innocent and sexy? She
doesn't like to wear a bra and is
just another one of the guys. She
talks about sex freely, but isn't
a tramp. She may sound like a bitch,
but she really isn't. Willa Ford may
not be the girl next door, but she
doesn't pretend to be. Misjudge her
all you want, but she knows who she
is and what she wants. That's more
than most of us can say.
Source: http://www.starshinemag.com/
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