I am woman enough to admit that I live vicariously through her. She broadcasts on her blog various moments of her life, thoughts and crushes. I know if I can’t resist entering Va$htie’s world daily, there’s fly femmes and fellas everywhere getting their daily fix too. Va$htie Kola’s appealing life is a result of her multitasking and determination to always be herself. With a brief stint in the corporate world, Va$htie worked as a liaison between mainstream and what’s cool, lending her ideas to Def Jam. She soon realized that her creativity was being choked, so she left and chased her dreams of directing music videos. Signed to Box Fresh Pictures, Va$htie’s laced videos for Kanye West (“Us Placers” independently!), Solange (“T.O.N.Y.”), Kid Cudi (“Heaven At Night”) and Jadakiss ft. Faith Evans (“Letter to B.I.G.)—just to name drop a little.

In addition to calling all the shots on video shoots, she has her own clothing line—Violette—which defines Va$htie’s dynamic personal style. You’ll see her in combat boots, a Chanel bag, T-shirt and floral print—a constant contradiction, but it just works. So, in turn, Va$htie set out to make that same look work for other women. Everything Va$htie puts her hands on doesn’t turn into gold, it just benefits people. Plain and simple. Another Va$htie venture that benefits people—her party series Open and 1992. Together with Q-tip, Va$htie throws a NYC party without all the NYC hoity toity, “you can’t get in” red tape. Oh Va$htie, you make life a little sweeter for everyone. Is there anything you can’t do? Yes, there is. Va$htie can’t Tweet. I guess 140 characters or less up-to-the-minute updates would be a little much for Va$htie’s fan club to handle; it’s just TMI for Va$htie. I caught up with the downtown sweetheart and she opened up about all the hats she wears, Twitter and her career.

-Danielle Young

Let’s start from the beginning. You grew up in Albany and decided to move into the city to pursue directing. Was that something you always wanted to do?

Yeah, since I was really little. I was into movies and then I got super into music videos with MTV was playing music videos. When I was around 11 or 12, that’s when I decided that I really wanted to direct. That was the path I decided I wanted to take.

That’s not something a lot of kids that age think about. That’s cool that you fell in love with directing so early. Did you just know?

Yeah for the most part. I grew up with a fine arts background. I was always drawing and painting. I knew I wanted to do something in art, but at that age, I was reading magazines and immersing myself in all different cultures—skate, hip hop, etc. I love visuals and music, so it was a perfect package. It interested me and I wanted to be able to create those same visuals. It’s odd because growing up where I did with the kind of family I had, I don’t even know how that got nurtured.

Did they support you in your decision to move to NYC?

My family—it’s a weird situation. I wasn’t really close to them at all. I have an older brother and sister and my dad left when I was 14, so it was just me and my mom. I mentioned to her that I wanted to go to college and it was like, “Good luck with that because I can’t help you.” [laughs] I was also really rebellious, so it wasn’t entirely their fault that we weren’t close. The summer before I left, I mentioned to my mom that I was going to school in New York. I think because I’ve been so rebellious and independent, I think they knew I could handle myself in New York.

I was reading your bio and it detailed the many hats you wear. Let’s go through them and see if you can explain why these labels are good descriptors of who you are.

Ok!

The first one is director, and it’s also the most obvious…

Other than being in a lot of student debt for going to school for directing, [laughs] that’s what I am by trade. It pays my bills. I’ve gained a lot of recognition from directing.

Party Producer.

I have been doing parties in New York City for about four or five years now. It started out of boredom.  In New York City—I’m sure you know—there are lots of party promoters that are paid to bring people to the club and have attractive girls sitting at their tables. That definition doesn’t suit me because I started a party…to have a place where our friends could come, feel comfortable and not feel judged—that whole, “what are you wearing,” “you’re not cute enough, you can’t come in.” It was more creating a mood for people to feel open. Through that party—with only music from the late 80’s, early 90’s—I started another party with Q-tip at Santos…They have the same feeling. There is no dress code. We don’t play anything from the radio. It’s kind of a cool place to hang out, connect and feel good.

Those are the main parties you produce—1992 and The Open?

Yes. Those are the only ones I do. I’m just kind of chilling on that. Being in New York, you wear a lot of hats and people get confused. [laughs] Some people know me as, “Oh you do that party!” or, “I’ve seen that video that you did…” A lot of people don’t know the things that I do. Part of being a New Yorker is wearing a million hats. It’s a part of the hustle, but also contributing to the city. So many people here just do so many different things, whether to pay the bill or just for fun—but just to be a part of the city.

Another title…Style Maven.

That’s a weird title because a friend of mine gave it to me. [laughs] I don’t know. I mean, I guess I have been pretty carefree my entire life as far as style goes. I haven’t focused on following trends. I do what I want to do and because I’m so confident in what I wear, I think it comes off as me having expertise in that area. I don’t particularly think I do. I think I get attention for wearing things most people wouldn’t wear.

Lady of Leisure. What’s that about?

I think I’m pretty lazy. [laughs] it’s funny because all the titles you are saying are from a friend of mine—a creative director at Supreme. But I think his approach was that I just like to chill. I would much rather—on any given day—be at home on the couch, than going to an event. I like to be comfortable and be surrounded by good people.

Jordan 3 Villian. I’m not big on kicks, but I will assume that was what that was about.

Yes. I kind of feel like—I’m sure this is universal—but, despite my accent, (people think I grew up in a gated neighborhood) Nikes needed to be on your feet. More so Jordans. I think people can identify with that outside the hood too. Growing up, my family didn’t have money at all. I was in K-Mart sneakers. I got made fun of. I didn’t know have a designer label was to save my life. I just knew that was the epitome of cool. I’m not a sports person, but when I got older and actually had money to buy them, I just went nuts. I think that’s kind of what most people do when you can’t have something, especially at a young age when you’re figuring out who you are. I collected a lot of sneakers and I’m always wering my Jordan 3’s. They’re beat up. It looks like I kick rocks in them for a living. [laughs] I love them. They’re probably my favorite pair of sneakers.

Luxury Handbag Queen.

As I’ve grown into being a lady, I don’t know. I still carry a wallet in my back pocket. In the past years, I’ve gotten really in to the make of things. I can’t always have a wallet in my back pocket and be 40 years old with kids…I could, but you need to change it up every now and again. I think I started getting interested in brands and labels—who doesn’t like a nice label? I got into handbags and started collecting. I’m not just interested in the bag. I really like things that are wee-made, interesting and last a lifetime—something I can give my daughter, granddaughter or my gay son in the future. [laughs] I started to collect really great handbags.

Next title…Vintage Don.

I think a lot of what I wear is a contradiction. I’ll have a quilted Chanel bag, a vintage button up, vintage denim and a pair of Jordan 3’s. I’ve been wearing vintage pieces since before I could call it vintage. I had to shop at Salvation Army when I was little. [laughs] We couldn’t afford anything else. It just got cool to say vintage and I was already there. I was in vintage since I was little.

Fashion Addict.

I’m into fashion, but not so much runway and couture. I like things that are nice looking. To me, that varies. It could be HandM, Christian Louboutin.  I think fashion for the most part in our culture right now might seem superficial. Every culture is important. You go to any tribe in the middle of nowhere and they have looks that they’ve created and that’s known as the look. Fashion is important and helps you define who you are and it speaks to people. I think it’s important to me.

Last one…Art Nerd.

I’m into art. I’m not a sports girl. I have friends that are into athletes and that kind of thing. If a boy can talk about art, I’m in love. I’ve spent a lot of time personally researching art, going to art school and just surrounding myself with it. I’m probably OD nerding out on art.

There was one more nickname that is moreso your official nickname…Downtown’s Sweetheart. I read somewhere that it was a mean joke…

Maybe mean was a little too much. A friend of mine and I were hanging out and I needed to go to Soho. He was like, “I can’t walk with you because you’re going to run into everyone you know and it’ll take us two hours to get to where you need to go. I can’t do that right now. You’re like Downtown’s Sweetheart or something.” It was more of a silly joke, not so much mean and aggressive. It came out of knowing a lot of people. You know there’s the title, “America’s Sweetheart,” and that’s for someone America loves—the candy apple, perfect girl. I’m not that, but I am definitely a downtown girl. I know a lot of people everywhere I go—dowtown, uptown industry people or artists. It grew and I decided to keep it.

How have you been able to merge that gap between what’s considered underground and the mainstream industry?

Hmm. I think I easily pass as someone who would be in the industry just because I work in it. Also, there are other girls that look like me. I can easily meet people in the industry. My background is very much art and comic books. I grew up closer to being a skater white boy than what I look like. When people see me, they think I’m in music videos—not behind the camera, but in front. I look like everyone, but I have all these different type of friends and interests. We can sit and talk about so and so’s new album, photoshoot and video shoot, but I’m also downtown talking about an art show. That’s because I surround myself with different types of people. That’s how it’s always been. I hate going into a room and everyone is the same and looks the same, so I think just having the interest of wanting to know about these different worlds and cultures help. Then, too, I’m friendly and I can talk about any given subject at any given moment.

You were hired to work with Island Def Jam for that reason—to be the liaison between both worlds. Were you successful in that?

When I got there and what I was asked to do, I kind of realized what was needed in that position and what was being asked of me. I think because I’m in the center of a lot of things that happen, a lot of movements, it’s easy for a person like me to come up with new ideas. What’s the latest trend that’s happening and how can we incorporate that with this artist. It made sense to me. I realized while working at Def Jam that I was learning a lot. I was lucky got that opportunity. It was my first real job. It was crazy to me that I had that position at that time. As an artist and a person that makes things out of the love for it, it was hard for me to be happy at a job like that. It was so demanding and creative to a point, but it’s a business that has to sell and make money. When you’re working with a team of people that have been doing it for so long, it’s hard to get those new and creative ideas through. I was really frustrated and confused. I knew towards the end of it that it wasn’t for me at all, which is a life-learning lesson. A lot of my friends at the time were like, “You know you’re being ungrateful. You’re not trying hard enough.” I knew I wasn’t happy. I didn’t know how I could fake it for a paycheck and opportunity.

So after you left there, were you able to focus more on directing and honing the creative side of you?

Yeah before that, I directed two videos, but I had to give my all to the job. I had to figure out what I could do to make my situation work and my dreams happen. That’s probably why a lot of things exploded at once is because—up until that moment, I was working other jobs. I was comfortable. The Lady of Leisure worked against me to because I took my time. I didn’t do a lot of things that I should have done as far as working harder and putting my focus into it. So when I didn’t have a comfortable job anymore, I realize I had to make it happen.

What was it that you would say were valuable lessons for you that you learned in your first couple of directing jobs?

I think number one was that everyone has a role in music videos. I knew that in school, but in school when you’re working on your own productions, you do every job yourself—art directing, producing, running to get snacks. I think when I first got on my set, I realized I can’t get involved in those other positions. I can put my say so in, but I remember one video set, the flags were all wrong and decorated the wrong way. It was not at all the way I saw it in my head. I went to go move everything and one of the art department guys was like, “Don’t touch that!” I was like, “Why?” and he told me to let the art director do it. It was more so for me to focus on directing and not worry about what everyone else was doing, but it’s also because that’s their part too. If something needs to be done, I just need to say it and they’ll do it. I had to learn really quickly that I can’t do everything on my own, which is a blessing and a curse. That was a major lesson. .. There’s also the artist’s vision, the record label’s vision and my vision—all these different teams in one place. It’s about making sense of what everybody wants and pulling it together. Sometimes there is conflict and sometimes there isn’t; it’s about the bigger picture.

The stuff that you do is typically for the viewing public, so it has to be commercial. Are you interested or is there anything coming up for you [that’s] independent or a documentary?

Oh, absolutely. There are a couple things that I probably shouldn’t talk about because it’s not even close to being talked about. For sure though, that’s my background, making art and things that are personal.

Since you can’t really talk about it, how about some juicy morsel of information—the subject matter…?

There are some ideas that are close to me. A lot of it is very New York-centric, so I can say that.

It’s more of a documentary or are you doing a full length feature film?

Both actually.

Do you Twitter?

No I don’t.

How could you not Twitter?!

I don’t know! I’m turned off by the name alone, it sounds so weird to me. [laughs] I have no idea why. Every friend of mine is on it, except a couple. I understand why it’s important, but I feel like it’s too much information on my end. I’m already blogging. I feel like a lot of me is already out there in cyberspace.

It makes people more accessible, especially celebrities. But do you even consider yourself a celebrity?

No! I don’t. It’s a weird title for me. I might consider myself well-known in New York and certain circles. But definitely not!

There’s no one you’re dating in the industry?

[laughs] If I could repeat what you just asked me to my friends, they’d just be laughing. [laughs] Do you mind—I don’t want to be rude. [She asks her friend the question]. I’m definitely low-key and not dating anyone in the industry. I like regular things and regular boys. I work and am friends with celebrities and people in the industry. I really like to be on my couch, watching TV. I’ve probably been on a date once and that’s only because I’m not a dating person. I’ve never been a dater; I’ve been a serial monogamist. I’ve known people and we just started dating. It’s been like that for years. I don’t go on dates. I’m literally in front of my computer or working all the time, hanging out with friends.

What about your clothing line? What’s going on with Violette right now?

It’s going well. A lot of pressure of what I am going through now is just getting busier and having to balance that with everything. The line is going well. I just picked up these makeup bags that I [made]. I’m working on cut and show for spring…I’m loving it because I’m not bound by any rules. There are basic fashion rules, but there’s no one telling me what I need to do. I am totally doing it with my own money and it’s probably not the smartest or cheapest way to do it. For now, I like it this way because it’s pure and everything I want it to be. I never want to make something because I have to or it will sale or someone else wants you to make it. Everything I make, I’m going to wear or would wear. I love it.

Three fashion rules, especially when it comes to Violette…

Simple is always better. Balance is important. If you’re showing a lot of skin—wearing a short skirt—I would say wear a looser top. Always balance it out. If you’re wearing something flashy, balance it out with something subdued or similar. Classic is key, even in buying. If you are thinking of pieces to invest in, something classic is something you can wear forever.