*Tinashe, Dej Loaf, Lion Babe’s Jillian Hervey (also the daughter of Vanessa Williams and Ramon Hervey II) and Halsey are fronting M·A·C Cosmetics’ new campaign for Future Forward, the first of an ongoing series of collaborations and campaigns that spotlight newer talent who are making waves within the music industry.
“They run the gamut, but obviously they’re hitting different people in terms of who listens to their music,” Senior Vice President and Group Creative Director James Gager told Billboard of the initiative. “I think it shows a breadth of what M·A·C is about. When [the artists] came into the office, they each had unique personalities: one of them was very shy, another very outspoken.”
The rollout will begin on March 17 with Tinashe, who worked on the “Times Nine Palette” of eye shadow ($32; maccosmetics.com), which borrows names for each shade from track names like “All Hands On Deck.”
“I was really intrigued by the chance to bring my creative vision to this,” says the R&B artist who is about to embark on a world tour for her forthcoming sophomore album, Joyride. “I got to design the packaging, pick out the colors and create something that I felt like I would use.”
For Detroit rapper Dej Loaf, whose rosy-nude lipglass ($15) will hit stores on April 14, the opportunity is described as an invaluable one — the first of what she hopes will be many more lucrative collaborations.
“Music was just a stepping stone for me, I want to get into other things outside of music . . . creative things. This first step [with M·A·C] is a big first step,” she tells Billboard.
Below are excerpts from Tinashe and Dej Loaf’s interview with Billboard:
Tinashe, have you collaborated with other brands in the past?
Tinashe: I have but I’ve never been able to take a real creative kind of position and that was really what drew me to this. I mean, obviously I love makeup too, and I use it all the time for shows — but I was really intrigued by the chance to bring my creative vision to this. I got to design the packaging, pick out the colors, and create something that I felt like I would use. It’s shades that range between dark black to an army green, and then some burgundies. I’m definitely more of an eye girl than like a lip girl.
Do you remember the first time that you experimented with makeup?
Tinashe: I remember being around eight years old and doing my cousin’s makeup — painting it blue and green. I thought that was so much fun [laughs].
Dej, you have incredible gold eye makeup on right now, do you normally do a full eye makeup every day?
Dej: No not every day. Onstage for me is dramatic, you know, got the glitter. It’s crazy because I used to…I was anti-makeup just recently fell in love with it. I don’t want to perform without it anymore now I’m like, “Yo, let’s get some makeup on.” I like to travel with a makeup artist now.
Being someone, as you said, that was “anti-makeup,” but now enjoys it — why do you see importance in it for you as an artist?
Dej: It enhances beauty, you know what I’m saying? I wouldn’t say I was “anti,” I just didn’t understand why girls wear makeup all the time. Now I get it, I understand how it enhances beauty — how it makes me feel myself, a little more than I already was.
Did you work with M·A·C directly? Walk us through the process?
Hervey: The good thing about M·A·C is—and a reason I was so excited—was that they were very much about having the artist really implement their ideas and create a vision. So from day one I was sketching some ideas in my notebook. Lion Babe’s logo is actually my handwriting, which has manifested into a neon sign we use for our shows. So that logo is on the box.
Is this your first time collaborating with a brand?
Yeah! It’s definitely my first time doing anything like this. I’ve pretty much been focusing primarily on just the art and creating the singing and music. And this is such an exciting opportunity for me, everyone knows M·A·C and this was a really good way to get our name out there.
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