So Much More with Keyshia Dior, XXL Outtakes

XXL: Did you always intend to be a model or was your break in Timbaland’s “Say Something” video out of chance?

KEYSHIA DIOR: Yeah, it’s something that just happened. I was more focused on my styling. It was kind of hard getting through to certain artists that I didn’t have connects to. So I was like, “if I do this video and it goes well and I do other videos, I will meet the artists on a first name basis whereas I go through an assistant.”

Makes sense…
So, that’s kinda what I had in my head, it was a game plan for me but it didn’t work out like that. I mean, yeah I met them and yeah I can style them but the modeling really really took off.

Wasn’t the main lead in the “Say Something” video originally slated for a trained actress?
Yeah, it was supposed to be for an actress because I never wanted to do video modeling because video girls were always stereotyped. And I didn’t want that behind my name.

What’s the stigma of a video model in your view?
That they sleep with the rappers that they work with. Once you do a video with a rapper or you’re seen with a rapper, you’re automatically sleeping with them because that’s what’s been done in the past or that’s what’s been said in the past.

Thanks for the segue, Keysh. After you notched a couple of vids under your belt, rumors of you and Gucci Mane being an item circulated the blogs.
Me and Gucci met on the “911” set, he was fresh out of jail. We grew really close together and we did a lot of events so the blogs ran with it and said Keyshia Dior is dating Gucci Mane. But we are just friends.

You don’t have any physical attraction to Gucci?
I mean, honestly before I did the video, and you asked me this question I would’ve told you no. But meeting him in person and the person he is and what you think of him as from hearing he’s not that person. So I grew attracted to him for being the person he is and not Gucci Mane the rapper. Because he’s nothing like I portrayed him to be.

How did you portray him?
I portrayed him to be really rough, and you know, they have the gold teeth in their mouth and the whole thug thing or whatever.

Hold on. You being Jamaican know for damn sure there are yardies (Jamaican men) who fit that description.
[Laughs] No that’s fine and I like a thug, I don’t like a nerd. I like a nigga to have a little swag and a little umph to him—don’t get me wrong. But when I met Gucci he was tall he took the gold out of his mouth, he just came out—he had lost like 30 pounds. He was a totally different person. And the way he spoke to me was totally different, the way he treated me was different, the way he handled me in front of people, like that meant a lot to me. Like, “wow, he’s really not like that.”

Fair enough. Back to you deciding to jump into music videos. What made you decide to forget about your reservations and jump in front of the camera?
I told myself, “So what if they stereotype me, it’s not true. Who cares, I can just show them something different than what other video girls have shown them.” Or what they think of a typical video girl, cause I don’t like to be called a video girl or video vixen.

So is it safe to say that you’re done with the videos so you don’t fall into that trap?
Right now, if someone were to request me for a huge video—and when I say huge, I mean like a Jay-Z or Kanye West—where I can play a similar role to the role I played in the “Say Something,” as an actress-slash-lead model, I definitely would do it. I’m not going to do any videos where I’m in a club, which I’ve never done anyway because I’ve always been on top of, you know, involved in whatever I do. As far as being in the club, shaking my booty to the camera—I would never do that, anyway. But it has to be something major. And yeah, I would still do it.

Wasn’t Jeezy’s “Lose My Mind” video set in a club?
It was a club video but it was just headshots and I was smiling and winking at the camera, it was nothing.

Nothing you’d see on, say, BET Uncut.
Exactly, I would never do that, never.

Because it would interfere with your brand, which now includes cosmetics maven to the umbrella? Did you always have in mind to do your own cosmetic line?
Never. Now, how that came about was I wore some blue lipstick to an event and was photographed with Lil’ Wayne and it got on the blogs. And everyone started talking and everyone was questioning, “where did she get this blue lipstick, I can’t find a blue lipstick anywhere.” So that inspired me like, “wow, everyone wants this lipstick. I need to make it so they can have it.” And that’s what inspired me to do Secret Kisses.

What was the event where you were photographed with Lil’ Wayne?
It was just an event on South Beach, just a regular club. It wasn’t nothing major.

And where did you get the blue lipstick from?
It actually was not blue lipstick; I created something and put it on my lips.

Don’t be coy. How did you create it?
I don’t have to tell the world that. That’s how I am, I create everything. I always create stuff, even if it were a dress, I would turn it into a shirt. My outfit was blue with a little bit of glitter and I was like, “I want to be different tonight, let me try some blue lipstick.” And I didn’t have any blue lipstick, what can I put on my lips that looks like lipstick. I just came up with some stuff and I put it on my lips and it worked. It did exactly what I wanted it to do as far as to go with my outfit. And look, I’m going to turn into a mogul with just that thing that I did that night. Look at that.

Impressive…
None of the cosmetic lines have blue lipstick because they’re not thinking to make blue lipstick. So being the edgy girl that I am, I like to set different trends. I got so many great responses from it and girls are contacting me daily about where can they get the lipstick. So I got a company to make the lipstick for me.

Right off of that, Secret Kisses was born.
There you go. —Sean A. Malcolm