Celebrity Coverage
Backstage Pass: How Jason “J.” Carter powers Pulse Of ONE Music Fest – Essence

Source: Alexx Green @alexxshotthat
Running a two-day outdoor music festival with over 50 bands, 30 sponsors and tens of 1000’s of attendees takes a variety of people power. One such festival is ONE Music Fest in Atlanta; its co-founder and chief marketing officer, Jason “J.” Carter is certainly one of the people behind this power.
For fifteen years, the event has remained certainly one of the few independent black music festivals within the country. Despite the symphony of sounds that ONE Music Fest will certainly bring, the director begins his day with a moment of silence.
“I’ll wake up and I’ll just be still,” Carter tells ESSENCE. “I imagine myself moving throughout the day. And honestly, I look ahead to the success of the day and I like to see everything flowing. I’m a very visual person, so I just conceptualize it, internalize it. The idea of ”looking forward to success” and declaring victory is something Carter learned from his mother many years ago. “As mom says, ‘Pick it up.’ Own it. Make it happen.”
The founder’s morning practice also includes words of affirmation, prayer and hydration – two glasses of water, to be precise. The days begin slowly but deliberately – all in preparation for a large event that may take a complete 12 months to finish. “Feeling rushed, anxious and stressed. I try to not let any of this seep into my person, into my space,” he says.
After a moment of silence, Carter talks to his wife, does a number of push-ups, takes a shower and begins. Before heading to Atlanta’s Central Park, the principal makes a number of calls to his team. Doors open at noon, but he arrives closer to 9 a.m. to be sure the day goes as planned. Needless to say, this is just not a straightforward task. The director is a master of relationship management, connecting sponsors, brand partnerships, talent and other stakeholders. Somehow he manages to do all of it with none problems.
“I play a variety of ping-pong across the festival grounds, but I do not feel like working either. I believe the moment I feel like work is a day, I’ll stop doing it. Carter continues, “I really, truly love and appreciate the ONE Music Fest audience and family we’ve built through the years. So let’s hope this issue continues to evolve over the subsequent 15 years.
ESSENCE accompanied J. Carter on the bottom in Atlanta during day two of ONE Music Fest. Here, the entrepreneur and executive gives us a day within the lifetime of what exactly it takes to successfully organize a multi-day festival.

6:00
“The first thing I do on the day of the festival is still.” Carter continues, “I say a fast prayer, drink two glasses of water, and jump within the shower. But I believe peace is significant.
Despite the early hour, J. Carter doesn’t make breakfast. “I usually don’t eat before 12:00. So no, I drink water in the morning. I did 50 push-ups, I take a shower and this is my breakfast. Then I will eat a balanced lunch. This usually gives me energy throughout the afternoon and evening.”

7:30
The founding father of ONE Music Fest says festival mornings aren’t the norm. “I usually check into the hotel on Friday to be close to the event and close to the team if we need to make an impression before we go to ground zero.”
After fielding “a few” calls from his festival team, he makes sure his guest list and family have the precise references. He made the primary two phone calls with the event and festival coordinators.
“I take into consideration every part from what we want to do in production to creating sure my aging parents can get out and in of the festival freely. This applies to private matters in addition to team organizational matters.

9:00
“We usually arrive at the festival on the first day of the festival between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., depending on how much work needs to be done. This year was completely different for some reason. We were ahead of the curve when it came to procedures, production and staging. We almost got caught in the system this year, considering how hectic the entire year leading up to the festival was. When we got there, everything was in place.”

12:00
“You will catch me walking alone throughout the festival. Just feel it or just stand in the corner; I just watch people,” Carter tells ESSENCE.
Thanks to meticulous pre-planning, the festival helps avoid last-minute emergencies. “If you run a festival with over 50 different performers and talent, you employ over 4,000 people on the festival grounds. Everyone has their own life. Everyone has their own problems. Everyone has their own dramas and personalities. So the thought that nothing will ever happen is rare, especially for artists who have a team around them.”
“There are artists who can tour 100 to 200 days a year. It’s exhausting. So some artists might wake up to bad weather, miss their flight, or someone in the band might have some issues that then translate into what they have to do.” Carter continues, “But one thing I can’t do is stress about something I can’t control. Being in this space, you have to be very solution-oriented.”

14:00
As co-founder of ONE Music Fest, Carter definitely must “work the room.” It involves artists, politicians, family and the press. The festival is already 15 years old and boasts over 30 local sponsors – essentially the most in history.
The CMO explains: “I also visualize early within the morning who I want to the touch and see? Who must see me? Who should I confer with? Who do I even have to be sure they’re taken care of?

18:00
Managing a multi-day music festival means you could have to be flexible. Rolling with the punches is the secret. It’s value noting that each BossMan Dlow and Cardi B fell unwell ahead of the 2024 festival and canceled their performances. Carter’s job is to regroup and switch things around.
“It’s difficult. Nobody sees it this way, right? They want to blame the festival.” He continued: “BossMan Dlow announced earlier this week that he’s sick and is canceling every part. He continues to be a human being who needs to watch his well-being and health, mental and physical health. If he needed to take a mental break, let the person take a mental break.
The co-founder also reflects on how things have modified for the reason that news of Cardi B’s hospitalization and subsequent cancellation of her ONE Music Fest appearance. “Cardi had a baby and if she has postpartum problems, it happens. It’s not the festival’s fault, it’s not Card’s fault. It happens.” He continues: “At a variety of festivals you possibly can just say, ‘I assume we just do not have a headliner.’ But we said, “No, we won’t do that.” That’s why we deal with our relationships. ONE Music Fest has partnered with the management teams of Latto and DJ Drama – they created a set with several different artists, including singer-songwriter Jeremiah and Atlanta’s 2 Chainz. The set was definitely a hit.

9:00 p.m
This 12 months’s ONE Music Fest headliners included Latto, Jill Scott, GloRilla, Gunna and a couple of Chainz, but in J. Carter’s case, just one band took the cake. “Earth, wind and fire. Without a doubt,” says the founder emphatically. “I had to go to that stage to enjoy this show and I’m so glad I did.”
This 12 months, the Carter Festival hosted over a dozen relations. Watching the legendary band perform together as an entire was deeply remembered by all of them.
“What would I like to get out of this? [ONE Music Fest] the most? He looks at the connection between the people in this audience – the smiles, the excitement, the energy (sorry for the language), but “Oh, y–t!” moments,” Carter says.

22:30
“We’re removing people,” Carter says. “Typically, all departments – from security to website operations to media and promotional partners from Live Nation – come together for a toast and a sort of mini celebration. It’s right after the festival.” This 12 months, Hennessy and Don Julio provided libations for this commemorative moment. It’s a vacation!

12:00
“When I go back to the hotel, I do nothing. I do absolutely nothing. Thank you for a safe event, without any problems – no one was injured. Everything really went according to plan.” He continues: “And then I literally should fight myself to take a shower, I’m so drained. I just wish to be quiet and lie down. But I’m normally dusty as hell.
After a “good 30 minutes” of bathing, it was time for bed. Carter’s head hits the pillow around 1:30 a.m., but unlike most nights, he allows himself a number of extra moments (read: hours) of leisure. “I usually stay in bed for a good 10-11 hours,” he finally says.
A well-deserved rest.
Celebrity Coverage
ICEM: Megan Thee Stallion’s Coachella Red Curls and more – Essence

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Coachella
From red hair and a round blush in Coachella to the resurrection of the minimum manicure for Easter, this week the celebrity Beauty moments concerned heat and length within the spring.
Megan Thee Stallion took over the Coachella weekend in curly red hair. This color has recently been signed by many celebrities, comparable to Keke Palmer in Medium length cutting and Chloe Bailey in very long locations.
After presenting the SS25 collection last yr, Martine Rose rejected a pastel nail trend for a gray manicure, within the meantime, Lori Harvey’s micro-French suggestions reminded us of how small the impact could also be.
Hairdresser Vernon Francois showed an intensive consistency of her editorial work, while Lizzo and the Paloma Elsesser model undressed to underwear and bikini accordingly – distinguishing his bodies some love.
Finish the week, S’able LabsSabrina Elba revealed her supply chain in Ghana, on the occasion of the month on the occasion of the Earth-walking women behind their ingredients.
If you missed this, take a look at the 11 best moments of the great thing about celebrities from the week.
Celebrity Coverage
Jozzy says a new album, Old Faiters and “Stage Play 2 Get Her Back” – Essence

Jozzy, 2025. Photo Credit: Kobe Boateng
,,,, all of which became the premise of black cinema, but increased to larger heights as a consequence of the undeniably music accompanying their visualization. Today, it appears that evidently the outcomes have develop into a less priority, almost non -existent. In addition to such and – of which Ryan Coogler, for irony – sound backgrounds to probably the most memorable moments of the silver screen at the moment are limited to conversations about previous years. Fortunately, the artist is recognized with Memphis who goals to revive this nostalgia in some ways.
“I fell in love with R&B through soundtracks,” he says JozzyThe singer/creator of the lyrics on the sting of the superstardom and one in all the resumption. “They were a big part of me. Watching movies with a great song, and you would be:” Damn – what’s it? “And so I found a lot of my music, but now I don’t know what happened to the soundtracks – I think it’s lost art. “
Born Jocelyn Adriene Donald, combining musical media, and the film film was essential in telling its full story. Then she combined her craft with the theater to her stage debut. The just one -day event took place at El Portal Theater in North Hollywood, which provides viewers insight into the consistently evolving craftsmanship of Jozzy. The solid included Clarke Lauren, Janina Gavankar, Angel Ann Craig, Khadi Don and Sarae; Written by Brianca Williams, acquired by Stevie J, and presented a visual direction led by Pierre York. This undertaking was each passion and the goal of the musician, and the emotions were felt throughout your entire production.
“Making this art was an experience outside of the body and I love to create my own belt with things,” says Jozzy Essence. “I wanted to do something destructive because I needed people to eat music in a different way.” Today, the common date is a bit greater than just dinner and film, about which Donald is fully aware. “People want to enjoy something outside the norm,” he says. “So I thought that violating these two worlds – they both go hand in hand.”
She also served as the correct introduction to her upcoming set of albums to release this 12 months. Jozzy, who has been standing within the industry for many years, just isn’t a foreign to the creative process. Her subtitles for writing songs are “Old Town Road”, “Mr. At the moment”, “low” Sha and “Virgo’s Groove” Beyoncé with many others. She also appeared as a performance in songs with Lil ‘Wayne, Lecrae and SKOOLBOY Q, but now the 34-12 months-old is able to the world in her profession.

“People have not heard music from me as an artist – actually my shit,” he explains. “I was blessed that I was on the last album Q. I was blessed that I was on one of the biggest home songs,” 10 “with Fred. So I still dropped the songs. But it’s not like giving your own things – your own project that allows people to hear what comes from your mind and heart. ” Although this just isn’t the primary trip of Jozzy as a soloist (see 2023), her upcoming album means a little more.
“To practice this in the world – it will be a moment for me,” he says. Jozzy began implementing with the discharge of “MaybePlaying as the first installment of her theatrical history of love and turmoil. Strange, the singer feels that she has “Bigger Songs on the Album”, but she wanted to be “sensitive” for this particular song. Falling into the spirit of the legend R&B/Soul, Jozzy says: “I feel she needed a song within the atmosphere.”
“I just had to spend it because I was thinking about” what would Anita Baker did? “(It was in relation to the award -winning Baker’s performance in 1994” from 1994 “Sorry“The song that Jozzy felt was no less than unique.) She published [that song] And since then there was no album wherein the girl apologized to the person – he continues, laughing between the answers.
As an artist with several distinctions to her name, Penning Hits for Chris Brown, Summer Walker, Mary J. Blige, Chlöe and the artists’ collection, Jozzy still has a layer for her, which has not yet been seen. She wants the listeners not only enjoy music, but in addition understand every thing that concerns her process and how hard she works along with her craft. “I want them to see vulnerability,” he notes. “I want them to see a student in me.”
“I didn’t drop anything as an artist last year,” adds Jozzy. “I was in a dark space. I think I had to cleanse. I think I had to find my real goal – and this album was for me.”
Celebrity Coverage
Erykah Badu wore an orange bob on billboard women in music in 2025

Monica Schipper/Wireimage
Erykah Badu didn’t intend to simply accept the Icon Award for Billboard Women in Music 2025 without the long-lasting appearance. Even before her performance, where she appeared in a knitted, filled with “pitch” and blurred eyeliner-you couldn’t miss her hair from the red carpet, which was as bodily.

As an appetizer for what she was called BBL suitFruit hair appeared to be an ideal compliment to its message about fertility, femininity and image image. Her eye -catching, wealthy orange hair has been chopped in Bob, one of the popular cuts this season, with hit the ends of its jaw line.
The wig isn’t latest, nonetheless. Throwed here and there on her Instagram, then the disheveled Badu hair was first a golden blonde. But lifting her wig, immersing her in a bowl of hair dyeing just before this yr’s undisputed icon was similar to that.

To pair with him, the fronts reached the height of deep, matte red lipstick, while a big eyeliner and pale orange shadow were blurred about her beer eyes. While her hair was covered with a knitted hood for the remainder of the night, she couldn’t start more iconic prizes.
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