Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE

As you know, HelloBeautiful is all about women: uplifting and inspiring, legendary and up-and-coming.

And we were granted access to seeing some promising acts take stage, thanks to the Hennessy Artistry events going down in New York City. Don’t be surprised if you hear these names for years to come: Wynter Gordon, Erin Christine, and Maluca.

Just as Hennessy mixes the finest eaux-de-vie in the world to create each product, Hennessy Artistry embodies this philosophy by mixing unique musical talent and providing the finest mixed drinks to create an exceptional blend of music, style, culture and people.

On September 29 at S.O.B’s, WYNTER GORDON‘s voice was heard, before she was even seen.

From the shadows, she requested her music be turned up. She approached the stage nothing but a leotard and blazer, her hair as big as Leela James. But she won’t be crooning soul and sad songs for the next half hour. In fact, she prances around, playfully teasing her two male dancers (and the audience) as she solidifies her title as “Dance Party Diva.” If you haven’t yet heard her debut single “Dirty Talk,” download it now, set a strobe light up in your room, throw some glitter in the air and do your best not to dance. We dare you. Gordon isn’t all show, though. She’s not just a hype woman. She closes her set singing a cappella – and sure it was about a man become her “Toy Friend,” but the subject matter didn’t make her voice any less impressive.

_

On October 5 at the Canal Room, ERIN CHRISTINE sauntered onto the stage to Kanye West’s “Coldest Winter.”

She stared down the audience to prove she wasn’t shy. She begins to play the piano – always an added bonus for a new starlet showcasing her talent. The start is slow, but strong, and this is when we realize that her unassuming presence and stature does not match her voice at all. (Christina Aguilera, anyone?) Notes are held, loud and long. There are no dancers, no obnoxious light show to blind us, just Erin Christine giving a completely stripped down version of herself, as well as her song “Say.” She gets so emotional, she forgets to sing into the mic, her hands begin shaking and, as cliche as it sounds, I get goosebumps.

_

On September 22 at the Brooklyn Bowl, MALUCA entered the room.

And she did so in a manner that only a confident woman could pull off; after all she was wearing a silver cat suit that bounced light off of it at every angle, and black platform motorcycle boots. We weren’t sure if we should be scared, but the 28-year-old wasted no time making a statement. Maluca, meaning “crazy girl” in Portuguese has stated before: she doesn’t “do your typical Latina pop music,” but that doesn’t mean her work won’t 1) be culturally-inspired and 2) be popular. Her first single, “El Tigeraso,” was Latin electro at it’s best. And by the end of the second song she had already dumped a glass of cold water over herself. Her moves were animated and erratic, and even if they appeared to be seizure-induced, you couldn’t help but move, too.

The grand return of the Melanin Awards amplifies and honors the finest Black-owned beauty brands with honest reviews, and discusses the evolution of beauty in Hip-Hop culture.