The “So Fly” and “Refill” singer sat down with the magazine as its cover girl to talk about her new album, what it was like growing up in a musical family, her proudest moment so far, and more. She pressed her curls and went for ’50s retro chic while batting her uber-long lashes for the shoot. Loving the looks and the color in this spread, and of course, we just love Elle in general.

When asked about her musical upbringing:

“Yes my mother and father were both songwriters. Growing up in a musical family was like going to school before school. Everything I saw was a lesson in itself. I was able to be a fly on the wall. My mom had a lot of friends that were working actresses and musicians and I was just always around, like, taking lessons.”

She also talked about the naysayers who weren’t so sure her voice would take her far, and encouraged her to start off the Ne-Yo, Keri Hilson route by being a songwriter first:

“I’ve always wanted to be a singer since I was a little kid but I went through a phase right after high school where I wasn’t very confident in my ability to be an artist. I had a lot of people especially in college tell me, “Oh, you should be a songwriter first like Neyo. Get your feet in the game as a songwriter.” like, they kind of didn’t want to say, “I don’t know if you have it.” I just took that and I said, “You know what? I’m gonna do it my way.” Ironically I got an artist deal before a publishing deal so…”

And as for her proudest moment, it came when she had the chance to meet…a 10-year-old?:

“Let’s see… My proudest moment in music so far has to be [when] I was interviewed by a 10 year old. She did her school project on me and that was one of the proudest moments actually of my life because I said, “If I’m making a difference for 10 year olds I’m doing something right. I’m very proud of that.”

Great answers, awesome chick. Be on the lookout for her upcoming release, Perfectly, Imperfect, and check out her mixtape, Conversational Lush in the meantime. And check out the rest of her interview with AMMO on their website.

Are you a fan of Elle Varner? Are you feeling the shoot?

Images courtesy of AMMO Magazine.

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