Baller Alert Entertainment & Lifestyle
Back in 2011, Somaya Reece joined the main cast of the first season of “Love and Hip Hop,” as an aspiring artist. Raised as a first-generation American in South Central Los Angeles, California, the show chronicled Reece’s move to New York and her attempt to break out into the music industry, which, in turn, helped catapult the reality star’s career in the industry.
But before that, Reece was discovered by Tom from Myspace, who introduced her to the industry.
“Does everybody remember Tom from Myspace,” Reece asked. “Tom discovered me. Tom was actually responsible for discovering me. I was still living in South Central, and I was going to auditions, and I was booking a lot of commercials. I had some commercials that were on television, and someone told me to do a website,” she said, adding that she had no computer at the time.
Instead, Reece revealed that she went to the Library to make a fan page, which, in turn, took off with about 75,000 fans that watched her content. From there, Tom reached out and encouraged her to join his website, Myspace.
“So I opened up a music channel there and I basically became the number one Latin artist independent in the world,” Reece said. “I was the first one that was brought in to sign a record deal with Myspace records and Interscope and other labels. That’s what people don’t know.”
From there, several reality television shows reached out to Reece to join, but that was just the beginning.
“I had a little bit of a five minute moment with that. But to be honest with you, I am so grateful because I’m grateful for the opportunity. I don’t care,” she said. “I was on there homeless. To me that was my story, I’ve always been very real.”
“I’m glad I did it because everybody got to know my story,” she said. “I have been able to tell my story in the most raw form because I was casted on a show that allowed me to because being on commercials or movies, I couldn’t tell my story.”
But now, after the “Love and Hip Hop” drama and the subsequent backlash on social media, Reece has leveled up with a clothing line, a fitness blog, detox teas and a feature on Forbes.
“To be honest with you, after everything that I’ve been through. I didn’t come from anything like I didn’t have a sugar daddy, I don’t have investors,” she said. “We lived in a garage growing up to an immigrant family, who literally almost dehydrated and died. Coming here to this country to growing up being a maid to being homeless to calling an attic my home to being in Forbes…I am so grateful.”
In fact, Reece even offered advice to others that are inspired by her story.
“You can’t let your circumstances stop you,” she said, as she plugged her new book series on how to make it with little to no resources. “You have to break out of your mental chain cause our mind won’t let us progress.”
“You have to see yourself in that position, I always did,” Reece added. “I called myself a boss forever, people clowned me for it.”
But now, Reece is a big boss with the opportunity to offer jobs to those that spoke down on her before, and now she’s an inspiration with a book on the way and a slew of projects in motion.
To see the full interview, check it out below:
