Day: September 5, 2013

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