Nadine Velázquez, Eve, Brandy, and Naturi Naughton are starring in the upcoming ABC drama series “Queens.” The show, set to premiere on Tuesday, October 19 at 10:00 PM, tells the story of Brianna aka Professor Sex (Eve), Jill aka Da Thrill (Naturi Naughton), Valeria aka Butter Pecan (Nadine Velazquez ), and Naomi aka Xplicit Lyrics (Brandy).
Four women in their 40s who reunite for a chance to recapture their fame and regain the swagger they had in the ‘90s when they were legends in the hip-hop world.
Eve, Brandy, Naturi Naughton and Nadine Velázquez
After achieving legendary status through their music Valeria and the rest of her bandmates will try to return to old fame and vigor. The audience will be able to follow the journey of the former megastars and reveal if they manage to achieve this ambitious goal.
In “Queens,” Brandy will play the role of a highly-skilled musical engine of the Nasty Bitches, while Naturi will portray the group’s founding member. Eve will tell the story of Brianna, a star that only raps about money, sex, and her all-around glamorous lifestyle.
And Nadine represents the Latinx culture as a Puerto Rican rapper. In the show, her character wasn’t an original member; however, thanks to her talent, she quickly became the face of the group, ruffling the other members’ feathers along the way.
Chicago-born and Puerto Rican descent actress Nadine Velázquez is known for her roles as Catalina Aruca on My Name Is Earl and Sofia Ruxin on The League. In her latest role, she will show the world how the “Nasty Bitches” from the 1990s still got in 2021.
Velázquez’s character is described as an “ambitious and ruthless hustler with cunning charm born out of a difficult childhood.” Wanting to learn more about her latest project, HOLA! USA sat down with the star who shed more light on Valeria, aka Butter Pecan.
Society has put an expiration date on female artists. However, many stars have demonstrated that after 40, you can still be a bestselling superstar and a queen. How is Butter Pecan proving that she still got what it takes?
So Valeria is constantly reinventing herself, and she keeps up with her beauty. She‘s not afraid to have a little surgery to keep up with what’s required, I guess in the entertainment industry. I love that character, and she’s just doing whatever she needs to do. She‘s also really business savvy, so I think that’ll take you into the rest of your life if you have business smarts.
Do you have anything in common with your character?
My character isn‘t married, and she is just a businesswoman without a significant other like me. At this point in my life, my career is the thing that I’m married to. I relate a lot to Valeria in that sense and how she is always reinventing herself. I‘m always into self-improvement.
What makes you a queen?
I‘m constantly evolving. From the time I was a little girl, I always used to say, ‘when I grow up, I want to be a woman.’ That was my saying so like I love being a woman, and I love embodying all the feminine qualities of a woman. I think it gets lost in this society...the beauty and the power of being a woman. Sometimes we take on extremely masculine roles, and we lose the essence of femininity. To me, being a queen is just being in touch with that power, but also adding to it like the grace and the beauty and the wisdom that also comes with being a woman.
What did you learn from your role?
Well, I‘m still learning from my role; we’re still in the process of doing the first season show, which comes with so many challenges. But what I’m learning so far is how fast you have to work, especially on TV. Being an artist is about being willing to put yourself out there, even though you may not be ready. You become a great artist with practice, but sometimes you don‘t get to practice, and you have to act as you’ve got it; you’ve got to act as you practiced. And so, it‘s all acting; it’s like taking on the mindset of I’m a legend to I‘m great. I have to match them. I’ve never been in the music industry, but I could pretend as I have. And so, this is what I‘m learning, the attitude of an artist and the mindset of an artist.
Jennifer Lopez performing on ABC‘s “Dick Clark’s New Year‘s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2021”
Do you look up to any singer who’s over 40 years old?
Jennifer Lopez! She’s the most extraordinary artists out there. She’s just an anomaly. I can‘t even try to figure out her whole psychology, it’s just so dynamic, and I never see her break a sweat, only when she‘s dancing.
After this project, what’s next in your career?
The position that I want to take in this industry is creator producer of content, film, TV. So that‘s what I’ll be doing next.
How are you celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month?
My friends sent me a list of Latinx authors to rea. I have only been able to get through one book because I‘ve been so busy, but it’s called ‘Plant Witchery’ by Juliet Diaz. I‘m going to make a Hispanic Heritage Year because there are so many books, and there’s so much that I want to learn. I think that is `what I love about Hispanic Heritage Month, especially now that I‘m doing this part, and she happens to be Puerto Rican like me, and the character is getting back to her roots because she’s been in Hollywood for so long. She admits that she‘s not so connected to it, and then she’s going to start to be. I feel that‘s another point of relatability between her and me. This particular month my friends were sending me authors, and I felt very inspired. We should do this all the time and not just this month because we should know about each other’s talents, we should know about each other‘s stories. And now, as I’m becoming more of a storyteller, that‘s what I want to immerse myself into anyway.
Watch the first look teaser of “Queens” below
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