Chris

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chrismikeName: ChrisHometown: Newark, New JerseyAge: 31Age You First Fell in Love: How old was when I first fell in love with hip hop? I have to say I was around 7 or 8, it's been forever. You gotta blur out my age, don't let nobody hear that.Love Is: Good planning, respect and open-mindedness meeting at one place. When you understand the balance of moderation and saturation. That's what I consider love, unconditional love and open-mindedness practiced to the fullest.Monique: What song made you fall in love with hip hop, or music in general?Chris: (without hesitation) Craig Mack, "Flava in Ya Ear"Monique: How old were you?Chris: I don't even fucking remember. It was crazy, my pops had brought me the tape home and he said, "Yo, you don't got to listen to that funk shit no more that we listen to." I grew up listening to a lot of funk, cause George Clinton is from Plainfield, New Jersey, so we were listening to a lot of funk. Then I heard Craig Mack "Flava in Ya Ear" and it was crazy, it was love.

Kanz

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canzName: KanzHometown: Brownsville, Brooklyn, New YorkAge: 29Age You First Fell in Love: That would be very hard [to answer], I would say 16Love Is: You don't know until you actually finish the whole thing.Monique: And what is love to you?Kanz: Matter of fact, I'm going to say twelve. I say that because love to me is love for music. I fell in love with music. I'm going to say twelve is when I was really into new art. But it all branched from listening to records that my mother and my family played. The evolution of jazz, built me to love music. I don't know how to express love as far as physical energy. The energy is within and it comes out as music.Monique: So music is then an extension of the things you can't outwardly say. I've dated artists before and I've found that the things they were not able to say to me, they were able to get out in song.Kanz: Exactly. You have to understand that artists are very dynamic people, at the end of the day, the best way I can say it is that, we're Superman, but when it comes to a female, we're Clark Kent.Monique: Why is that?Kanz: Because the woman has to be dynamic as well, to overstand the type of dynamic, you know, that they're dealing with. You know what I'm saying? And every artist is different, every artist deals with different things differently. That's why the best way I can say it is; I'm Superman but everybody can't know I'm Superman, so I'm Clark Kent. So when I'm in a relationship I'm the same way. So it might be a little hard to express your love, because the love that you put into the relationship, is not the exact love that you would put into your music.Monique: That's so true, I've found that most artists can be so vulnerable with their music. You can have these hardened men, hardened niggas, who are able to say, "My feelings are hurt" or "I miss my dad" in song, they're able to say that in song; but to sit down and verbalize it [is different] they're not going to go to a therapist.Kanz: Exactly, it's therapy. So the birth of art is the reason why we are here. It takes the job of a therapist. We're like therapy to the community or whoever we're around. Because we absorb all the energy, it's not just our own energy. It's energy from everything that we're surrounded by.Monique: Life imitates art.Kanz: Right, just like that huge canvas up there (points to the Heineken Art Pyramid). I seen them work on it yesterday. When they first started it, I had no clue what it would look like, they probably didn't what it would look like. That's what love is. You don't know until you actually finish the whole thing. Most women, they want to see it now. They need to see it now. But, we are the type of people where we will construct something for you and you just have to see the actual picture. But women are very impatient. But the love that's within that relationship, depending on who that is, it becomes so strong. You know what I'm saying? If they overstand the canvas that's being painted.Be sure to check out Kanz's music here!

Cookie

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LeathiaCookie Name: Leathia aka CookieHometown: Westhampton, New JerseyAge: 25Age You First Fell in Love: 22Love Is: (squeals and laughs) Um love is. . .Monique: (laughs) I always catch people off guard. They always say, "I need like a day to think about this."Cookie: It's hard to condense it; love is a lot of things. I think it's an awesome, amazing feeling, just being with that person and having that connection. But then it's also compromise and communication and just a whole bunch of shit! (laughs)

Camille

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camilleName: CamilleHometown: Peachtree City, GeorgiaAge: 26Age You First Fell in Love: 15Love Is: Now I would say it's deep, it's something from your soul. Two souls being able to be raw and vulnerable with one another. It's a really deep commitment to feel like you can trust that person and there may even be things you don't like about them but they're insignificant because you're in love.Monique: Have you been in love after fifteen?Camille: Not with another person; it's a spiritual love now.Monique: Now as far as being in love at fifteen and how you've grown into a spiritual love, what does fifteen year old look like now in comparison to twenty-six year old love?Camille: So futile, very fleeting, a very surface level kind of love, very focused on the physicality and what that guy could do for me; as opposed to me loving him and sharing our love. If that makes sense.Monique: What about your spiritual love, what does that mean to you?Camille: I feel like that is the foundation for all other love. The spiritual love piece is something that intermixes with the physical love that I would have with a man.