CC Clarke is the definition of a modern-day star. Last year she was named the most influential online beauty Influencer by The Sunday Times and has organically grown her Instagram following to over 2 million from her relevant, on-point and revolutionary content. CC is a business owner and beauty entrepreneur amassing a huge loyal online following through her legendary YouTube beauty tutorials. She is the CEO of Castaway Beauty and Hot Ombre Cosmetics both of which are experiencing a meteoric rise and huge growth worldwide. We caught up with CC to find out more...
Hi CC congrats on the new single - how did this come about? This single was created because of experiences and conversations I’ve been a part of where people think that being a successful business woman and enjoying beauty, wearing a full face of makeup, taking pride is fashion or any other passion women can have, are not compatible. This song’s message is that of course any woman should be taken seriously in the business world, no matter how she looks or chooses to dress. But also that you can play hard and work hard, if you run a business or are successful in the business world you can enjoy yourself, you can go out and party hard. It's a shout out to all women out there bossing it everyday.
You say music is your first passion what’s your earliest music memory? Like most singers, I was always singing at home. As a child I was performing for friends and family all the time! I would get all my neighbourhood friends to take part in my own X-Factor. Other memories I have is singing abroad on holidays at karaoke being cheered on by my family. I went to drama school at a young age as well, looking back this really helped me channel my creativity and stage performances.
Are there plans to release an album? Yes of course, this is a massive goal for me, the idea of seeing my album everywhere would be such a dream come true. The writing and music creation process takes years. You're creating and writing songs all the time, of which maybe 5-10% will ever be chosen to be developed further. I have been in the studio collaborating and writing songs for a while now, and I’m very nearly there, I do have a few songs ready now for release, so this year I'm excited to share them with the world.
Who in the music industry inspires you? A vast range of people inspire me, and for different reasons, vocally some artists are mind blowing like Alicia Keys, some artists are true performers and insane dancers like Beyonce and some artists inspire me through their pure creativity like Lady Gaga. I've met Rhianna and it was a surreal experience and we sang karaoke together, she was loving and fun and very inspiring. How she now has a huge beauty brand with Fenty while creating music and setting fashion trends encompasses exactly what 'Not Playing' is about.
How would you describe your sound? I write songs that are meant to either inspire others or that mean a lot to me personally which makes my music soulful, however I love R&B music, so the two combined creates a modern soulful pop. Vocals are important to me and I can be a perfectionist, so I try to write songs that i can use my full vocal range in.
Talk us through the writing process for you? Writing is like therapy for me. You can collate thoughts, happy or more traumatic experiences and sit in a room with other talented musicians and develop themes, lyrics and melodies that express how you feel or felt. It can be such an exciting, fun and also healing process. It's a process I really enjoy, it can be really energy consuming though, studio sessions are long days, but the process is pure creativity.
What’s in the pipeline with your music that fans can look forward to?I have a bank of songs now that I’m proud of, I have worked hard to perfect them and I couldn’t be more excited to share with the world, I love performing and I’m really looking forward to singing these live to people this year.
New single 'Not Playing' out now.
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