“ NOT EVERYBODY WANTS TO GET OUT . NOT EVERYBODY WANTS TO EVOLVE .”
Sh ’ Kia , how did you prepare to bring such a complex character like Malika to life ? I auditioned for three other female rapper roles within the three months before . Because I had prepared for other characters that were kind of similar , I was able to easily make the adjustment . I feel like a lot of my inspiration for Malika comes from rappers like Nicki Minaj . I studied her a lot in terms of just the animation she has behind her rapping and her performance style . But also listening to rappers like Lil Durk , just being able to kind of take on some of their personas and kind of look at how they move in their real lives and kind of meshing these characters together .
Also , I will say that in a lot of ways , I feel like I am similar to Malika , just because of her relationship with Windy who ’ s played by Nijah Brenea … I feel like the relationship Kold and Windy have is similar to a relationship I feel like I have with a lot of cousins I grew up with . You ’ re growing up in an environment where you ’ re all trying to get out and all want better for yourselves , but maybe not everybody has the discipline to get out . Not everybody wants to get out . Not everybody wants to evolve . I feel like the emotional parts of Kold and Windy ’ s relationship have become kind of innate to me . So just tapping into looking at Windy as someone in my family , someone who is an actual relative , and kind of harnessing those emotions . And I feel like , honestly , it ’ s made me and Nijah , as women in real life , actually grow closer together as well .
That ’ s amazing . It really shows on camera . Kold x Windy delves into the challenges of the music industry . How does Malika ’ s journey in the show resonate with your personal experience as far as the overall television film industry ? Well , for one , it ’ s just hard out here … It is hard to make it . And honestly , I actually thought I was going to be a singer . I grew up singing in the church choir . I went to college for music . So , I was on the music track before I started acting . And somewhere along the line , music and acting kind of just meshed together , which tends to happen a lot of times with artists . But I remember being in college , and I was majoring in music and a lot of people would tell me you don ’ t have to major in music to be in the music industry . Why are you majoring in music ? I felt like I majored in music because I always felt like I needed some type of degree as a backup , just in case it doesn ’ t work out . And that ’ s kind of what
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