Checking In: Kenya Bell Explains If She’ll Return To ‘Basketball Wives’ And Her Upcoming Album With Crunk + Disorderly

Basketball Wives fans might know her has the Queen of Gucci kitten heels and Evelyn Lozada‘s archenemy, but fans of Kenya Bell are gearing up for her to takeover the music scene.

From the wine bottle incident with Evelyn to her battles with fellow newcomer Kesha Nichols, the ex-wife of NBA player Charlie Bell made an impact.

With her new single recently released to radio, the reality TV star talks to Crunk + Disorderly about her upcoming album “Choices,” working with Jazza Pha and if she’ll be back for another season of Basketball Wives.

Congratulations on “Hate Me” recently being recently being released to radio! One of our readers wanted to know if the song was directed at your reality star cast mates?

“Hate Me” is a song for any woman out there that is being hated on by another woman. As far as the cast is concerned, I’ll just say there was a lot of hating going on. Particularly, the hating came from one of the girls that I don’t get along with at all. That’s all that I will say on that.

“Hate Me” was produced by Jazza Pha, who was worked with everyone from Aaliyah, Mariah Carey to Ciara. Describe how that collaboration came about and what was it like in the studio with him?

My managers, Will and Prevail, contacted Jazze Pha and asked if he was interested in working with me. I was honored when he said yes. He’s a very talented producer and together we’ve made a hot track.

Basketball Wives really broadcasted you to the masses and got people interested in you and your music! Looking back now that time has passed since the season aired, was it all worth it?

I must admit that the first season was very difficult. The girls were very hard on me and my music. But at the end of the day people know that I have talent now and the show has opened doors for me. Believe it or not, I’ve also made some great friends on the show.

Reality TV has truly taken over the airwaves in the last few years. As an artist who used a reality show as a platform to showcase your talent, do you think it is a good way for newcomers in the music industry to get themselves out there? How has the success of the show assisted your career?

As I was contemplating whether or not to do the show someone told me that some television is better than no television. It was great advice. Reality TV is what’s hot now and it’s exciting to have been a part of this new era of television. Whether I do it again next year is up in the air.

Critics say shows like Basketball Wives give a bad rap to women, especially African American women. Do you agree with the critics and is that the reason you weren’t seen getting physically on the show?

I definitely restrained myself because I didn’t want to add to the negative stigma that had irritated so many people about the show. In Tahiti, all that went out of the window….it was going to be on & poppin’!

Reality Rewind – Check out the Basketball Wives “Tahiti Fish” incident:

There has been a handful of rumors involving you and your ex-husband. Explain how you handle rumors.

Hearing rumors about my personal life in the media is very new to me. I try to just ignore the stuff that’s not true and laugh at the stuff that is.

A lot of people might not know you actually have a masters degree in engineering. How did that transform into becoming a musician. Where did you decide you wanted to make music a career?

My dad’s a gospel singer and I’ve sang with him since I was kid. So I was actually singing before I was an engineer. I guess I just went back to my roots.

You are currently working on your new album “Choices.” What can fans expect from the sound of the record and the lyrical content?

The album is about my life and everything I’ve been going through to get to this point. It’s a very deep and personal album.

Who are you working with on the project that you can tell us?

I’ve worked with a lot of talented producers. Obviously Jazze Pha and my last track was done by Detailz of Young Money, who wrote and produced Lil Wayne‘s “How to Love.” I can’t wait to let the public to hear it!

What is your favorite part of the creative process – songwriting, recording, producing or performing your music live?

I like to write songs. It’s like therapy for me. It helps me to put my feelings on paper and realize all of the thoughts floating in my head.

Another C+D reader wanted to know if fans can expect a music video for “Hate Me?”

Absolutely! I’ll be producing it with Jazze Pha. It’s going to be hot!

Besides music, we know you are currently writing a novel. Could you tell us a little about that and how is the process different than making music?

I love to write so it’s actually similar to music but it doesn’t have to rhyme. I’m actually writing a “Stephen King” type of thriller that readers will enjoy. This is something that you don’t usually see – a little black girl from the inner city writing a novel.

Finally, we do a rapid fire with our interviewees so say the first thing that comes to mind!

Kitten heels - Gucci

Jennifer Williams - Nice

Your fans - Love

Beyonce - My twin.

Reality TV - Crazy

“Choices” - Beginning

| post by Brittney | bbcott