The Genesis of Antonique’s career
As a young girl, Antonique was inspired by Whitney Houston. She would practice endlessly perfecting her voice to sound just like her. Growing up she was an only child for a long time, and her sidekick was a tape recorder she used to create her own radio show in which she was the host, the guests and audience. She even wrote and sang the theme song. This was her way of unknowingly honing in on her skills of character development for the next chapter of her life.
“I dreamed of being a performer, and I always knew that performing was what I was supposed to do.”
Playing/ paying the rent
One of Antonique’s first major gigs was on Broadway, performing in the stage play “Rent.” It was a great training ground and developed her not only as an actress but as a singer. After “Rent” Antonique went on to play Faith Evans in the Notorious Big biopic movie. Coming from acting on Broadway to playing the role of the wife to such an iconic music legend was a scary experience. Antonique was nervous about whether she would be able to depict the character correctly, but to her surprise, she was received with open arms by Biggie’s fans as well as Faith Evans and her family.
Her first love
While Antonique is having a love affair with acting and singing, singing has always been her first love. In 2012, Antonique’s manager Darryl Farmer talked Antonique into creating a Kickstarter to put out her first EP. Antonique was scared to death to put herself out there to the public in this manner, she thought to herself “What if it didn’t go well.” In the first 30 days, Antonique received an overwhelming amount of support from her fans and family raising $50k in donations. Keep in mind at this time Kickstarter was just introduced to the market.
In 2013 Antonique released her first single “Hold up wait a minute.” A song based on snapshot of her life at that time. She reflected on her ex using her money to go visit another woman and thinking to herself hold up wait a minute. And felt like it was a universal song that everyone could relate to no matter what you were going through. The song was such a hit she got a Grammy nomination.
“I feel like I’m still just getting started.”
Family first
Antonique holds family very close. Her parents have been married for 40 years, which is such a rare thing these days. Her parents are her inspiration. During the interview Antonique discussed her younger sister who is special needs.
“She is my whole world.”
Antonique tries to spend as much time with her family in her down town. One day, Antonique wants to have a family of her own. No time soon but it’s on her bucket list, along with traveling the world.
Fun fact about Antonique: “Most people don’t know I’m a big kid. I’m obsessed with theme parks, rollercoasters, video games, and laser tag! So much fun!”
