eyecandy1.jpg

If you’ve seen Young Jeezy and R. Kelly’s “Go Getta” video, then you’ve definitely placed your optics on Karmen (no, not Carmen). She’s the sexy number who intros the music visual with that hypnotic bounce. After being too much booty for the first edit of Juvenile’s “Rodeo” video and Ciara’s teen-friendly “Oh,” the Pittsburgh-born, D.C.-raised, Atlanta-residing 23-year-old found a lead role for her thickness in Jeez and Kells’ latest.
As you can see, when it was time for her to shine, Karmen almost blinded, swaying a set of hips that are as lethal as her eyes. If the pairs didn’t grab your attention, that tattoo on her armpit had to. Actually, she’s got four and loves telling the significance of each. The armpit tat is of a female Indian warrior (“I’m Pomonkey Indian, and I think they’re very strong women, so it fit me”), behind her ear is her government name (“Angel”), on her lower abs lies a picture of an actual angel, and beginning on her lower back and ending at the top of her derriere is a multidesign picture of koi fish (“Koi fish stand for good looks”).eyecandy2.jpgAs interesting as her body art is, Karmen’s hustle is even more intriguing. Years ago, while stuck in a life of club dancing, the October Scorpio searched for an occupation escape. Honey tried modeling, but photographers would shoot almost entire rolls of film of her ass, mainly. So she decided to pursue a secret dream of hers: becoming a makeup artist. She quickly enrolled in Los Angeles’ Make-up Designory school, got smacked by reality even faster, and a year later found herself in Atlanta, dancing at Magic City. “When I moved to L.A., I was like, ‘I didn’t know there were so many makeup artists in the world. Like more than there needs to be.’ Then people were telling me, ‘You’re not gonna make money for the first five years,’” she tells, before addressing her stripping relapse. “I’m used to a certain lifestyle, so if you’ve never had a lot, you don’t wanna go back to having nothing.”Today, with her agent Carolyn Brown landing her leads as well as gigs like dancing in Young Jeezy’s BET Awards stage show, Karmen really wants to start weaning herself off of the pole, but not for employment reasons. “I never thought I’d be sick of dancing, but now I have a boyfriend, so I don’t think it’s a good idea to be [stripping] while in a relationship,” she says. “He doesn’t say he doesn’t like it, but I feel like I’m doing something wrong.”As fine as this hustler is, she really doesn’t like to flaunt what she’s got. She’ll do what she has to do to get it, though. But a great day will come for her when she can make a living by living her dream. “I really like being behind the scenes,” she says. “At shoots, I’m always watching the girls who put on the makeup and dress the girls. I’m always asking them questions, and if they let me help them, I do. That’s my passion.”

------- See more pics of Karmen in XXL’s May 2007 issue (#91)

More From XXL