We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Miss Pretty Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Miss Pretty, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
Yes! Coming from an education that trained us to fit into corporate spaces, often times I’ve been stereotyped or misjudged based on how I choose to express myself. Whether it’s in the way that I carry myself or dress, many people take one look at me and/or my work and assume they just have me all figured out. This actually happens in more way than one by my own people–which sometimes saddens me BUT it also motivates me to keep going so I can find my own community of supporters.
Miss Pretty, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have singing since I could talk. I grew up listening to all genres of music thanks to my parents. They loved to sing and act, so they raised their three children in that likeness! My mother used to be in a female group named ‘Natural’ with my aunts, but they decided that motherhood was more important for them to focus on. But, they stayed in church choir and continued to let their lights shine. I also graduated from John Casablancas Modeling and Acting school while I was in public school, which taught me how to balance different worlds.
As far as the industry, I dropped my first song: ‘Tranquilize’ before I entered college under the name Laurie Bee, but that soon because a work-related name so I need to move way from that. I also co-wrote and released my second song ‘Without You’ alongside a high school friend of mine, under our group name of ‘Nou.’
Looking back, I’m so proud of younger me for pushing myself to learn more about studio recording, marketing, etc because it gets really intricate as you’re working on your craft. Things were different back then, though. Now, there’s social media! So I am now reintroducing myself as Miss Pretty Brown because I know that’s who I am. I am pretty in spirit and physically, no matter what stage of life I enter, You hear about that “pretty brown” girl next door character in songs and they’ll describe her as a boss who can pop her own tags. That’s part of my story and is a great representation for Black Women of all ages to embody.
What sets me a part: I write all the time. Not only for my profession but just for fun. Every room that God has placed me in was to prepare me for this moment and I am so excited to be on this journey.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that professionalism had a certain look. That is such a white-washed point of view. Your work can speak for yourself and you gain the most authentic networking experiences through being your true self. I am layered and can speak to so many individuals without changing myself! But, a younger version of me allowed for people to push a narrative that I had to be “perfect” or do things a “certain way” to be successful.
I respect the people who came before me to create and disrupt rooms. I understand and acknowledge that my path doesn’t look the same because of those who walked so I could run. But there comes a point in time where you still have to be set free to fly and soar as high as you can. That is what I’ve decided to do going forward now that I am 25. This beautiful year isn’t something that I plan to subdue as “auntie stautus” because it’s way more than that. With my newest song “Sweet Tooth” that is out on all platforms now, I am excited to showcase my form of writing and expression to the ever-evolving R&B scene.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist/creative is the people that I get to meet. There’s a different world of people who once they clock-out of their “9-5,” they clock-in to their own personal brands. It’s so beautiful to watch. It is so freeing to watch how people express themselves and find other sources of income. Art is such a wonderful blessing to exist and it comes just like us: in many forms, shapes and sizes.
With singing specifically, it helps me release. There are so many things that I am battling that I typically only share in conversations with my family and God. Sometimes, I don’t even have the exact words to say to explain what I am dealing with or going through. But to hear beats and instruments play how I feel and add on words to help tell my story, it is such as magical moment.
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Image Credits
Lauryn Bass