Not to be confused with the video ho, the video vixen is a woman of a different and astonishing nature. A video vixen is capable of causing multiple jerk off sessions during a video shoot. Maybe that’s just the urbane dictionary definition. The reality however is that the video vixen culture is branching out into a whole industry on it’s own with managers, tour dates and choreographers tagging along and becoming a constant feature of contemporary music.
The phenomenon might be fairly new in Ghana but it really is old news in a lot of places where they are not just marketing music with jaw dropping dance moves and graduated to award sweeping status. The Source Awards have a category for ‘the hottest video vixen’.
Pearl Darkey isn’t your typically convivial 22-year-old with a little fame to rub in your face. After clawing her way into the hottest music videos on television and sharing a stage with international stars, she still rehearses for six hours everyday and her motivation is driven by an unusual will to perfect ‘killer steps’.
Dancing comes easy to her. In fact it is so effortless it was the last thing she thought would make her a living. But after winning countless competitions it started to look like a new path to self-discovery. “It wasn’t like I woke up one day and got into videos. It took a long while to get used to. I turned down countless offers because I wasn’t feeling it then. Then one time this friend of mine, Lacop, told me about a music video he thought I should be in. It came out really good. Next thing I knew Abraham Ohene Gyan wanted me in every hot video. I guess that’s how it started.”
Pearl is the archetype of an artistic individual -- depending solely on her feelings and instincts for motivation. Her day starts with light exercises to loosen up the knotted joints: a little run around the house to put things in order and she’s off to practice. Like many young women in entertainment, she does struggle to deal with the day-to-day negative stereotyping and the general misogyny in an industry still trying to find its feet.
“Being a video vixen is not all about provocative dancing and gyrating flesh -- it’s an art”, she says. “So when the cameras start rolling everything else revolves around eye contact, posture and, of course, the dance. It’s about holding the attention of the audience and having fun with something you love deeply.”
“There is this misconception about women in entertainment being dropouts, irresponsible and lose. How do you make blanket statements like that? This is art, mind body and soul. The role of the vixen is to make the video look hot, and that translates into commercial success for the song. Our job is to accentuate the creative direction of the video -- period.”
Video vixens haven’t always been this big. There was a time when there weren’t avenues for their kind of artistic expression and society was at its stifling worst. So obviously they lost out on a lot of the action. Things have changed a lot however since satellite television and free on air MTV Base started beaming signals into homes nationwide. So seeing scantily clad women shaking their backsides on TV is not so outrageous anymore even though there are a few pockets of resistance.
“We still have a long way to go by way of attitude and skill. Everyday someone comes out with some moves that have the whole world going excited so that puts you on the alert. You can get away with almost anything in this country but I’m not trying to burn out any time soon so when the game steps up, you do same.”
She set off as a solo artiste until KOD came along and paired her with three other talented ladies to reinforce Wutah’s stagecraft. Since then they’ve been billed on several big shows across the country and the list keeps swelling. But her biggest moment came at the Kevin Little and Wayne Wonder concert.
“That was a beautiful experience. I think what made it so special was that Kevin and Wayne brought dancers who have obviously more experience and exposure. But when we got on stage the crowd went crazy with cheers. That was the time I really felt like a star.” Venus World Production was managing Pearl’s team before the group split just about a week ago and there are plans to have her try singing. But Pearls says it took her months to co-write a song with Wutah and admits that music might not be her thing. So for now she will be exploring ways of perfecting her craft as a video vixen.
“You want to be the reason people would like a particular music video and have them running to watch any time it’s on TV. Now that’s hard work.”
Not to be confused with the video ho, the video vixen is a woman of a different and astonishing nature. A video vixen is capable of causing multiple jerk off sessions during a video shoot. Maybe that’s just the urbane dictionary definition. The reality however is that the video vixen culture is branching out into a whole industry on it’s own with managers, tour dates and choreographers tagging along and becoming a constant feature of contemporary music.
The phenomenon might be fairly new in Ghana but it really is old news in a lot of places where they are not just marketing music with jaw dropping dance moves and graduated to award sweeping status. The Source Awards have a category for ‘the hottest video vixen’.
Pearl Darkey isn’t your typically convivial 22-year-old with a little fame to rub in your face. After clawing her way into the hottest music videos on television and sharing a stage with international stars, she still rehearses for six hours everyday and her motivation is driven by an unusual will to perfect ‘killer steps’.
Dancing comes easy to her. In fact it is so effortless it was the last thing she thought would make her a living. But after winning countless competitions it started to look like a new path to self-discovery. “It wasn’t like I woke up one day and got into videos. It took a long while to get used to. I turned down countless offers because I wasn’t feeling it then. Then one time this friend of mine, Lacop, told me about a music video he thought I should be in. It came out really good. Next thing I knew Abraham Ohene Gyan wanted me in every hot video. I guess that’s how it started.”
Pearl is the archetype of an artistic individual -- depending solely on her feelings and instincts for motivation. Her day starts with light exercises to loosen up the knotted joints: a little run around the house to put things in order and she’s off to practice. Like many young women in entertainment, she does struggle to deal with the day-to-day negative stereotyping and the general misogyny in an industry still trying to find its feet.
“Being a video vixen is not all about provocative dancing and gyrating flesh -- it’s an art”, she says. “So when the cameras start rolling everything else revolves around eye contact, posture and, of course, the dance. It’s about holding the attention of the audience and having fun with something you love deeply.”
“There is this misconception about women in entertainment being dropouts, irresponsible and lose. How do you make blanket statements like that? This is art, mind body and soul. The role of the vixen is to make the video look hot, and that translates into commercial success for the song. Our job is to accentuate the creative direction of the video -- period.”
Video vixens haven’t always been this big. There was a time when there weren’t avenues for their kind of artistic expression and society was at its stifling worst. So obviously they lost out on a lot of the action. Things have changed a lot however since satellite television and free on air MTV Base started beaming signals into homes nationwide. So seeing scantily clad women shaking their backsides on TV is not so outrageous anymore even though there are a few pockets of resistance.
“We still have a long way to go by way of attitude and skill. Everyday someone comes out with some moves that have the whole world going excited so that puts you on the alert. You can get away with almost anything in this country but I’m not trying to burn out any time soon so when the game steps up, you do same.”
She set off as a solo artiste until KOD came along and paired her with three other talented ladies to reinforce Wutah’s stagecraft. Since then they’ve been billed on several big shows across the country and the list keeps swelling. But her biggest moment came at the Kevin Little and Wayne Wonder concert.
“That was a beautiful experience. I think what made it so special was that Kevin and Wayne brought dancers who have obviously more experience and exposure. But when we got on stage the crowd went crazy with cheers. That was the time I really felt like a star.” Venus World Production was managing Pearl’s team before the group split just about a week ago and there are plans to have her try singing. But Pearls says it took her months to co-write a song with Wutah and admits that music might not be her thing. So for now she will be exploring ways of perfecting her craft as a video vixen.
“You want to be the reason people would like a particular music video and have them running to watch any time it’s on TV. Now that’s hard work.”
