Elle Varner Talks Next Album & Boyfriend Iman Shumpert [Video]

After rocking the boat on the Summer Splash concert cruise Friday (August 30), soulstress Elle Varner is set to make waves with a forthcoming effort. After her successful debut Perfectly Imperfect gained the co-signs of First Lady Michelle Obama and introduced her sultry vocals to the music world, the 24-year-old says she will be showing off a more mature side for round two. “My focus is really letting people know who and what I am as a musician, as a singer and songwriter,” she tells VIBE. “[On my first album] people kinda got it but naw! … It’s just going to be a very impactful album lyric-wise a sound-wise. There’s more maturity on the album. I’m not so shy … I know how to talk to boys, to men and I know what I want. I know what I don’t like. I’m still learning things as a woman but you still get to be part of that journey, that next step of Elle Varner.” The newfound wisdom could be drawing from real-life experiences as the singer recently began dating New York Knick Iman Shumpert, though she admits making a relationship public isn’t for everybody. “Making a relationship public draws a lot of scrutiny,” she says. “It makes you think about something you were never thinking about before so I don’t know if I would advocate public relations to folks but hey, it is what it is. We’re good. As far as his rapping skills are concerned, the NYU Clive Davis Program graduate had no shots. “He’s dope. You can’t even say he’s a good basketball player. He’s dope, period, and I support him with that,” she says. “He just keeps getting better and better from the first time I heard him to now and he inspires me in a way that he takes risks, doing what he wants to do. He don’t care what everybody says or how he looks. He does what he wants.” Watch the full interview where she reveals if she’ll be collaborating with Shump on a future record and how A$AP Veezy met A$AP Rocky above.