Drew Sidora is quite simply, Chicago’s next big thing. At the age of 23, the windy city native has a long history in showbiz, with film credits including White Chicks,The Game, and Step Up and television roles on That’s So Raven and Girlfriends. The classically trained pianist is also Slip-N-Slide’s newest artist, and somehow one gets the impression that this industry vet is only just beginning.
DXnext got the situation on her signing with Slip-N-Slide, working with Trina and Rick Ross, family, what she’s got on Britney Spears, and of course her debut album due out this year.
Long Road To The Spotlight: "I was always wanting to entertain my family from an early age. I was involved in tap and ballet and ice skating and jazz and all that. My mom allowed me to pretty much do what I wanted to do. I was classically trained in piano and I just kind of gravitated towards music and dance and playing instruments. I went to L.A. at the age of nine and with the help of my sister (who’s now my manager) ended-up landing a Golden Grahams commercial, which was a national spot, and a Nike commercial with Deion Sanders and Christina Milian at age 12… we laugh about that because she was starting her career as well. [Soon after], I was literally coming off an elevator this guy asked me could I sing, and I sung for him and two weeks later I was signed to Babyface’s label [LaFace] to a singing group. And I was working with Ronald Isley and Ginuwine. Eventually that group broke up and we got dropped from the label, but those experiences and my sister helped me and taught me a lot about the industry. From the relationships I had built my sister got me booking films. And I’m making money now, and then White Chicks came up, and that was amazing and one of the best experiences of my life because Keenan [Ivory Wayans] really allowed me to really test my own talents and do a lot of improv…in fact most of my scenes in that film were improv. They really just wrote me into that movie. That was not an original character. So that experience really steered my career, and then I did That’s So Raven and The Game and I just went to Africa and shot a movie. Now I’ve got a collection of films, and I’m blending that with my music and now I have my music deal."
Child Star Syndrome?: "I feel like I have the best family in the world. I think it’s a Chicago mentality. They didn’t let me pass because I was in Hollywood. My dad is a pediatrician, and he’s been very influential... he wanted me to go to medical school. When I would go to L.A. and come home, they made me do chores and be grounded and things like that- I had a balance. My parents wanted me to still be a kid, and run track and be a cheerleader and on the volleyball team, and I feel like I was very blessed to have both sides of my life...which is hopefully what people will get from my album. I have traveled internationally and I can tell you what the fashions are before they get here, but I also was a regular kid who went through heartbreaks and fell off her bicycle. So anyone out there can do it too. I can relate to those things. If it’s your passion you can follow it. I think a lot of people who didn’t have those childhood things looked for them later on in life, like Michael Jackson wanting to relive his childhood and putting a carnival in his house, or Britney Spears who was wrapped-up in the Mickey Mouse Club and stuff so a lot of people didn’t have the opportunity that I have and I feel very fortunate."
Going From The Disney Channel To Slip-N- Slide: "Yeah, for me it was a struggle and a journey, me trying to get a record deal for a long time… always having that stigma, like, 'You’re an actress.' 'Like Chantel is gonna sing? The girl from White Chicks is gonna do an album?' People feeling like this isn’t the norm is gonna make me prove that it can be done. When you are a legitimate artist, there’s nothing that anyone can stop you from doing. The great thing with Slip-N-Slide is that they’ve been following my career from the beginning; they’ve seen the YouTube clips of me playing the piano and singing at the Taste of Chicago and opening up for people like Fantasia and Faith Evans [click to read] when they came to town. As far as the branding and marketing side of it, we have a great plan that will tie everything together. Most artists are going from music to film now. I have a bunch of other films coming out, and as far as the album, I am being completely 100% open. I look at Jamie Foxx’s [click to read] career, and he really embraces the fact that he’s a musical genius. Today, its not just music, its acting and producing and writing and branding and you have to push your creativity to get noticed in all of the saturation. Its authentic, it’s not an act, it is who I am."
"It's Here, It's Here, It's Here": "[The album is] an open book, empowering women and letting people know that regardless of what you see on television, at home I go through what everyone goes through. It’s me being real. People are writing me and saying inspiring things. And I want to inspire women and young girls and talk to women and young girls about abuse and all this stuff. I talk at schools and they learn from it. It makes me feel like I can make a difference. Even if inspire one, then I’ve succeeded. And I want to entertain. I am an entertainer…I’m goofy and I hope that people will laugh and cry…there’s something for every body. [Young] Jeezy [click to read] is one a record, and Ne-Yo [click to read] has written a record for me which is crazy. I’m also working with Se7en; he did Danity Kane’s stuff and a lot of other people and we’re creating a new sound as far as the album, and I’m still reaching out to producers here in the city. I’m still formulating the album, so there’s still opportunity but the core of people I’m working with is set for success."
DXnext got the situation on her signing with Slip-N-Slide, working with Trina and Rick Ross, family, what she’s got on Britney Spears, and of course her debut album due out this year.
Long Road To The Spotlight: "I was always wanting to entertain my family from an early age. I was involved in tap and ballet and ice skating and jazz and all that. My mom allowed me to pretty much do what I wanted to do. I was classically trained in piano and I just kind of gravitated towards music and dance and playing instruments. I went to L.A. at the age of nine and with the help of my sister (who’s now my manager) ended-up landing a Golden Grahams commercial, which was a national spot, and a Nike commercial with Deion Sanders and Christina Milian at age 12… we laugh about that because she was starting her career as well. [Soon after], I was literally coming off an elevator this guy asked me could I sing, and I sung for him and two weeks later I was signed to Babyface’s label [LaFace] to a singing group. And I was working with Ronald Isley and Ginuwine. Eventually that group broke up and we got dropped from the label, but those experiences and my sister helped me and taught me a lot about the industry. From the relationships I had built my sister got me booking films. And I’m making money now, and then White Chicks came up, and that was amazing and one of the best experiences of my life because Keenan [Ivory Wayans] really allowed me to really test my own talents and do a lot of improv…in fact most of my scenes in that film were improv. They really just wrote me into that movie. That was not an original character. So that experience really steered my career, and then I did That’s So Raven and The Game and I just went to Africa and shot a movie. Now I’ve got a collection of films, and I’m blending that with my music and now I have my music deal."
Child Star Syndrome?: "I feel like I have the best family in the world. I think it’s a Chicago mentality. They didn’t let me pass because I was in Hollywood. My dad is a pediatrician, and he’s been very influential... he wanted me to go to medical school. When I would go to L.A. and come home, they made me do chores and be grounded and things like that- I had a balance. My parents wanted me to still be a kid, and run track and be a cheerleader and on the volleyball team, and I feel like I was very blessed to have both sides of my life...which is hopefully what people will get from my album. I have traveled internationally and I can tell you what the fashions are before they get here, but I also was a regular kid who went through heartbreaks and fell off her bicycle. So anyone out there can do it too. I can relate to those things. If it’s your passion you can follow it. I think a lot of people who didn’t have those childhood things looked for them later on in life, like Michael Jackson wanting to relive his childhood and putting a carnival in his house, or Britney Spears who was wrapped-up in the Mickey Mouse Club and stuff so a lot of people didn’t have the opportunity that I have and I feel very fortunate."
Going From The Disney Channel To Slip-N- Slide: "Yeah, for me it was a struggle and a journey, me trying to get a record deal for a long time… always having that stigma, like, 'You’re an actress.' 'Like Chantel is gonna sing? The girl from White Chicks is gonna do an album?' People feeling like this isn’t the norm is gonna make me prove that it can be done. When you are a legitimate artist, there’s nothing that anyone can stop you from doing. The great thing with Slip-N-Slide is that they’ve been following my career from the beginning; they’ve seen the YouTube clips of me playing the piano and singing at the Taste of Chicago and opening up for people like Fantasia and Faith Evans [click to read] when they came to town. As far as the branding and marketing side of it, we have a great plan that will tie everything together. Most artists are going from music to film now. I have a bunch of other films coming out, and as far as the album, I am being completely 100% open. I look at Jamie Foxx’s [click to read] career, and he really embraces the fact that he’s a musical genius. Today, its not just music, its acting and producing and writing and branding and you have to push your creativity to get noticed in all of the saturation. Its authentic, it’s not an act, it is who I am."
"It's Here, It's Here, It's Here": "[The album is] an open book, empowering women and letting people know that regardless of what you see on television, at home I go through what everyone goes through. It’s me being real. People are writing me and saying inspiring things. And I want to inspire women and young girls and talk to women and young girls about abuse and all this stuff. I talk at schools and they learn from it. It makes me feel like I can make a difference. Even if inspire one, then I’ve succeeded. And I want to entertain. I am an entertainer…I’m goofy and I hope that people will laugh and cry…there’s something for every body. [Young] Jeezy [click to read] is one a record, and Ne-Yo [click to read] has written a record for me which is crazy. I’m also working with Se7en; he did Danity Kane’s stuff and a lot of other people and we’re creating a new sound as far as the album, and I’m still reaching out to producers here in the city. I’m still formulating the album, so there’s still opportunity but the core of people I’m working with is set for success."
