Image: BlackFilm.com

Antonique Smith, perhaps best known for playing Faith Evans in the Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious, is launching a real-life music career with help from Kickstarter. Over the weekend, the actress exceeded her fundraising goal of $50,000 (by $27). The money will cover the cost of finishing and promoting her debut album “Speechless.”

Smith has a solid acting career, having also appeared on Broadway in the musical Rent and in the movie Abduction (starring Twilight’s Taylor Lautner). This year, she’ll appear opposite Zoe Kravitz and Gabourey Sidibe in the film Yelling to the Sky. She talks with Black Enterprise about the risks and benefits of embarking on a music career that’s been crowdsourced.

“It’s not just fundraising; it’s also the growth and awareness of the brand. We don’t want to just do an album and put it out in a couple of months,” she tells the site. “We are creating the anticipation. We are centralizing my fan base.”

There is a rule about returning all of the money if you don’t reach your goal by the campaign deadline. But she was able to build a group of 217 “core supporters,” some who donated in excess of $7,500.

“Some people were from random countries like Austria and Finland who gave large amounts. Some are family and friends and people I went to 5th grade with. It was good to see names I haven’t seen in years,” she tells the site.

For more about Antonique Smith and her Kickstarter campaign, click here.

Source: corporateentertainmentnews.blogspot.com

Last time Alicia Keys put out a real single with a real video (with the exception of the song she released online called “Speechless” using Kanye’s “Devil in a New Dress” beat), she wasn’t a mommy, she wasn’t married, and she was still one of the top artists in the R&B game (and one of the few truly talented ones…). That was May of 2010. It’s now July of 2012, and after a hiatus that included getting married to producer Swizz Beatz, giving birth to son Egypt Daoud Ibarr Dean, and taking many a pretty and adorable Instagram photo for her Twitter, she’s trying to come back with a new single and new sound. The game has changed, but we think she can come back in it with no problem. “New Day” definitely isn’t like what we’ve heard from Alicia before, in fact it sounds like something your boy Swizzy put together in the studio and is very uptempo, but it’s also a very happy and triumphant song. It’s not bad, but it’s not really what I’m used to from her. To be honest, I’m still addicted to 2007′s As I Am so everything else pales in comparison, but hey, you might love it. Check it out and let us know what you think!

More on Madame Noire!

• Where Are They Now? Our Favorite Good and Bad Guys From “The Wire”
• Is This Real Love? How To Avoid Getting Into a Relationship That Does Not Exist
• Oh You’re a Freak, Huh? Good and Bad Ways to Surprise Him in Bed
• TLC Was Wrong, You Could Use a Good Scrub: 5 Must Have Scrubs & Exfoliants for Summer
• “The Decision,” Fake Marriages & Crispy Chicken: 9 Moments Celebs Can’t Seem to Live Down
• “Ho*s Be Winning!” 8 People Who Became Overnight Celebrities For Being Scandalous
• Peaches & Green: The Business Ventures & Side Hustles of the Real Housewives of Atlanta