Stuff Magazine; August 2001


Willa Fortune

Willa Ford and I are sitting at the swanky Royalton Hotel 44 Restaurant in New York City talking about… urinals. I tell her that the Royalton's men's room doesn't have a urinal, but a giant waterfall that you pee into. She gives a courtesy "oh, yeah?" then stares desperately at her cell phone. I guess she'd rather talk about her newly finished album, "Willa Was Here," featuring the blistering single "I Wanna Be Bad," instead of the merits of places where I've whizzed. To each her own. In case you're dead - yet somehow still able to read -

Willa Ford is the stunning pop diva who's been kicking hip-hop - influenced dance tracks into everybody's ear holes and convincing your girlfriend to buy Pantene Pro-V shampoo. She's also the hated enemy of legions of jealous Backstreet Boys fans - one more reason to fall on your knees and worship the Queen of Naughty.

Stuff: In your press release, you proudly declare that you're "not a cheerleader." I was a cheerleader in high school. Does that make me girlish in your eyes?
Willa: No. I think a cheerleader is a term of bubbliness.

Stuff: Careful - I'm fragile.
Willa: A lot of my friends are cheerleaders, so don't get me wrong. I was in that whole pep-rally scene. Then in 10th grade, all of a sudden, I just broke loose. They called me Gansta Barbie. I'd come pimping into school with chrome concept rims on my prelude and my killer system bumpin'. I gained so much insight into how their brains work. So now when I wear my pumps and my miniskirts, it's like, I get it.

Stuff: Pumps just look so uncomfortable to me.
Willa: It's our sexuality, our one weapon that a man doesn't have, so you can take him down to size in an instant. I couldn't imagine not being a female, being able to go into a club and just work it and control the situation. Every guy out there is going, "Damn! She's on to our game."

Stuff: How do the ladies react to your gaming?
Willa: It is so weird how some girls react to sexuality. I can just hear the backlash I'm going to get for my video and for being in Stuff. Its really ridiculous that a female looks at another female who's absolutely stunning and Is like, "Ugh, I can't believe she did that." Were you always so very, very bad? My previous label tried to manufacture me. They wanted me to be cleaner, squeakier, sweeter and nicer. And that's why we didn't get along. I mean, I like to curse. The F-word is just such a great adjective, it's not even funny.

Stuff: It makes me giggle from time to time. With all the social unrest in the world, do you think it's responsible to say you want to be bad?
Willa: I'm into entertaining myself, I'm into entertaining others and right now, I want to be bad - and there is nothing wrong with that.

Stuff: Let me just tell you right now: it's a beautiful thing. I'm wearing triple-pleated pants right now. Is that bad?
Willa: It's so evil.

Stuff: In your video, you have a run-in with the cops. What are we to infer happened before you left them on the side of the road and drive off with their car?
Willa: The cops and I were eating doughnuts, and this jelly doughnut exploded on my face. But you couldn't really see it, and the director told us to keep going. So then I pulled the cop down into the ground out of frame. I'm not saying anything happened, but it leaves a lot to the imagination. When I stood back up, I wiped my mouth because of the doughnut, but on film it totally looked like I was wiping off something else! And the director cut it into the video! I was like, "I'm bad, but I know my limits on MTV, you know?"

Stuff: Ever have any real brushes with the law?
Willa: Yeah. I got in trouble once for pimping. Cops had a problem with it. I'm not sure why. All I was doing was entertaining the customers. Just kidding. I got a speeding ticket once.

Stuff: You've performed at theme parks. Did you ever get hit on by any of those big walking Disney characters?
Willa: The other day I was at the Hard Rock Hotel, and they've got some mascot that walks around. I was trying to check into the hotel, and it would not leave me alone. It was like a bird - Woody Woodpecker, maybe. Some satanic-looking thing. He couldn't talk. It was all body language. The whole staring up and down, tapping on my shoulder, being like, "Hey, how you doing, baby?" I was like, "Get away from me."

Stuff: He tried the same shit with me. You list Boyz 2 Men and Jodeci as influences. Do you like anyone good?
Willa: I love sultry people. Like Basia, a jazz artist. Mary J. Blige - I like the toughness in her voice. There's the obvious: Madonna, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Janet [Jackson].

Stuff: I read that you don't like to be compared to Britney Spears.
Willa: Yeah, who, by the way, is very talented and a very hard worker. Magazines are always trying to pit all the girls against each other. We're dominating the market. We're all for each other. You know? We don't hate each other.

Stuff: OK. Just to pit you against each other, say aliens abducted you and Britney and you had to fight to death for the winner to be returned to earth. What would you do to her?
Willa: [Laughs] I think that me and Britney have enough sexuality between the two of us that we could conjure up something and get those aliens to let us both go back home!

Stuff: You're less than popular with a lot of Backstreet Boys fans. I've seen some of the "I hate Willa" web sites. What is wrong with these girls?
Willa: It's crazy! It all started when I went on tour with BSB and all these rumors about me mistreating them and their fans began circulating. These fans are writing, "Willa is Satan. She will destroy Earth!" It's like dude, I'm strong and I'm powerful, but I'm not that good. I've got to be honest.

Stuff: Is there anything you'd like to say to them?
Willa: Do something more constructive with your freaking time! Go start a freaking organization to feed the homeless guy on the corner of your street. Get over it, people.

Stuff: One girl said she's boycotting Teen People, Pantene, and Atlantic Records because of you. Think she'll boycott us?
Willa: If she boycotts everything I'm involved with, before she knows it she's going to be Amish.

Stuff: Do you hope to get guy groupies on tour?
Willa: Of course I want guy groupies. I mean, come on. Dumb question. I'm in rock 'n' roll for the men! [laughs] Guys say it's all about rock 'n' roll, hard-core chicks, drugs, whatever. I'm not into the drugs, and I'm not into the chicks. But I could be into the guys and maybe the booze. I can proudly say to America - this is a good message for the kids - I did my first keg stand the other day. It was proud, proud moment. We have it on tape, too. I'm sure it'll be on Hard copy soon.

Stuff: You've changed your name a couple of times. Do you have anything else in common with P. Diddy?
Willa: I have an obsession for guns, man. [Laughs] just kidding. Totally a joke. I think he and I look a lot alike. People often mistake me for his twin sister.

Stuff: Any other passions besides singing and staring at my pleated pants?
Willa: I'd like to be an actor. But I want to be in something that makes people say, "This girl can act" vs. "Dude, she looks hot." But they can go hand in hand. Angelina Jolie is beautiful. If I had to say who I was most like, it'd be her. Minus the kissing of the brother.

Stuff: And here I thought you were bad



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