RISING STAR: JUSTINE SKYE
Before signing with a major record label, Youtube star Justine Skye dedicated herself and time to her Tumblr page, where her purple hair, electric hued lipstick, and cool girl personality gained her thousands of notes and a massive following. It was on this social media platform that Skye honed her personal brand as “The Purple Unicorn”—an approachable, easy-going and magical girl—and started introducing her downtempo R&B music to a captive audience of Tumblr friends. This is also the platform that introduced Skye to her slew of A-List celebrity friends, including Jaden Smith, Kendall & Kylie Jenner, and R&B singer Kehlani.
Her debut EP, “Everyday Living”, helped the talented social media star ink a deal with Atlantic Records in 2013, followed by the release of her “Emotionally Unavailable” album. 2016 saw Justine leave Atlantic and signing to Roc Nation and Republic Records while recording a new album. It’s still surprising that someone with a voice as beautiful as Justine’s is still battling to break into the music industry. Hopefully, her new team will assist the 21-year old in making power moves that will see her releasing charting music.
In January this year, Forbes announced their class of 2017 30 under 30, 30 game changers in 20 industries all under 30 years old –600 in total. Justine, alongside bestie Kylie Jenner were included in this list of young people who are challenging the conventional wisdom and rewriting the rules for the next generation of entrepreneurs, entertainers, educators and more.
This month, beauty retailer MAC Cosmetics announced the return of its musician-centric Future Forward campaign. This time around, the brand announced a collaboration with up-and-coming cool kids Justine, dark-pop singer Dua Lipa and K-pop star Lee Hi. The three artists each worked with the brand to develop products that that sees the musicians all have namesake products in the limited-edition release.
The contemporary R&B singer is the first to kick off the campaign on April 13 with a soft purple iridescent highlight powder. “I love to glow and it’s important for me to have a good highlighter to brighten up,” Skye told Billboard. “It feels like a great thing to be able to support artists who are breaking through but aren’t necessarily at the top top, to push them forward,” MAC Senior VP and Creative Director James Gager added.
‘Justine Season’ is finally upon us, and I am here for it. Once again this week, retailer Forever21 has tapped the ultra cool singer to front its ‘Festival Collection’ campaign. “People enjoy going to festivals so much and put a lot of planning into it,” Skye told Refinery29. ” When performing [as an artist], we’re allowed to be kind of loud and head turning with our outfit choices,” she said. “Festivals allow everyone to feel like an artist. Your outfits while there have to match that excitement and energy you put out all year thinking about this moment when it finally arrives, ” she added. A preview of the collection is already available on Forever 21’s website, with the rest of the pieces expected to go live on March 24.
Images: MAC/Forever21/Galore