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While most 14 year-olds are concerned about fitting in, one has decided to conduct a movement about standing out. She"s Keke Palmer, rising recording artist and actress.
Originally from Illinois, Lauren Keyana Palmer, nicknamed Keke by her
older sister, moved out to California to help
her budding acting career. She was only nine at the time, but her
acting debut in Barbershop 2- Back In Business, starring Queen Latifah,
was the jumpstart that Keke needed.
From that point on, Keke continued
to get more and more work, receiving endless awards and nominations.
Keke told us about what it was like working with Queen Latifah and
William H. Macy. She had this to say about Queen Latifah: "It was
just a great experience working with her, it was my first movie.”
So what did Keke have to say about her favorite actor, William H. Macy who starred with her in the movie Wool Cap? Apparently, Mr. Macy left quite an impression on her. “I did a movie with him, and just being on the set with him and working with him, I saw so many things about acting as an art.”
Keke has been seen from time to time on the Disney Channel, and was even cast for the pilot, Keke and Jamal. She talked about the experience. “ When I first came out to California, I was ten years-old. Keke and Jamal was about me and my brother. (She doesn’t have a brother in real life. This was just for the show.) Our mother had passed away and we lived with our grandfather. It didn’t get picked up, but it opened other doors.”
Eventually the doors opened for Keke to play the part of Akeelah in the movie Akeelah and the Bee. Her acting earned her a NAACP Image Award for 2007’s Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. Keke shared her feelings with us about this movie. “I was just so drawn in because it is so in tune with about what’s going on today. It had such a powerful message that you could be a good student and cool at the same time and that’s very important to me. People think you have to be a nerd to be smart, but that’s just not true. When I was in school, I was cool and on the honor roll!”
Apparently, being who you are, and more importantly, being smart is very important to Keke. She has the good sense to admire those who know how to be both. We asked her why she thought maintaining one’s individuality is so important to her and she was very eager to tell us. “...Because I think it’s important to love yourself and not try to fit into a shape. I want people to be just as free in their own skin, because it’s a beautiful thing to share your light with others.”
All of her views seemed to be strongly reflected on her debut album, So Uncool. Even the name of the album seems to inspire one’s own drive to freely express themselves without fear. When we asked Keke how she came up with title of the album and what it means, she said, “Actually, the word means being uncool is cool, because it means being yourself, which is very cool! If a boy does double dutch, or you do something that stereotypically is something you wouldn’t do then that is cool. Being uncool is cool!”
Obviously, taking chances, not worrying about what others may think about you all the time, or whether or not you fit in, is extremely important to Keke. The album reflects Keke’s way of living, which is free in her thinking and actions, and not worrying about trying to fit the mold, or keep up with what everyone else is doing just because everyone else is doing it.
We were eager to delve more deeply into the album, so we asked Keke about what it was like finding out that Atlantic Records had signed her on, who she wrote the songs with, how they made her latest video, “Keep Movin It”, and what it was like to work with Big Meech. “Oh my gosh, I was so thrilled and excited and happy, because I felt like I was following in my idols’ footsteps, like Brandy and Aaliyah. It was a wonderful experience!”
Keke went on to tell us about some of the songs on the album. “I have twelve songs. Me, my sister and Toby Gadd collaborated on some. Sometimes it was just my sister and I.” When Keke mentions her sister, she is referring to her older sister, Loreal.
One would think that someone as up and coming as Keke Palmer would be given the royal treatment from friends and family, but according to Keke, that is definitely not the case! When asked if her sisters treated her differently she answered, “No! I wish they did—only joking. They treat me just the same. Other kids act differently. Some act star struck; others act like they don’t want to talk to me because they think I’m stuck up. When that happens, I just keep moving on. I don’t let it bother me.”
So do her parents treat her any differently? According to Keke, “I have to keep my room clean, I get an allowance, and I have to turn off my laptop and phone at a certain time.” Why does this sound so familiar?
In summary, Keke Palmer, the fourteen year-old, wiser-than-her-years dynamo, with an Atlantic Records recording contract, still shares many commonalities with other fourteen year-olds. One thing that makes her stand out, besides her talent, is the most important quality anyone her age could possess. It is her strong and deep desire to maintain her individuality – not put on airs, but be proud of who she is and let her light shine. If others poke fun at her or think poorly of her, she will just ‘keep movin’ it’, because being uncool is so cool!
To find out more about Keke Palmer just go to her
Website: www.kekepalmer.com.
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