These days, fans of former “Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta” star Masika Kalysha will find her keeping busy balancing two of her passions — entrepreneurship and music.
In an exclusive interview with Atlanta Black Star, Kalysha touched on how she’s maintaining her company Kharie Barbie Beauty during the pandemic, the downside of her first record deal and the next steps she’s taking in her career.
In 2016, the reality TV star and mother of one decided to start a cosmetics and hair-care line for her 4-year-old daughter Kharie Barbie.
While some businesses have faced financial threats and declines in sales, Kalysha has found her products to be selling out during this time.
Kalysha attributes much of that success to products within the hair-care line filling “a void” and eliminating “a need.”
“I sell cosmetics and I sell hair products,” she said. “Now my cosmetic sales, people were still purchasing cosmetics, but not as much. The main products that were selling like hotcakes is my hair oils and my lip care. This is the perfect time to take care of your hair and grow your hair and not worry about it.”
Kalysha said once she posted pictures and videos of her natural hair and her Kharie Barbie products on social media, she immediately sold out.
Aside from the beauty industry, the former “Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood” star is also knowledgable about the stock market and plans on releasing a workbook titled “Stock Market Tips From a Bad B–ch.” If anyone is looking for free tips on how to obtain financial literacy, Kalysha urges people to follow her on Twitter.
In 2014, the serial entrepreneur became a fan favorite on VH1’s “LHHH” and displayed her musical talents for the first time in front of millions of viewers. Although she quit the reality show in 2018 due to producers portraying her in a negative light, she used the platform to elevate her music career.
Kalysha said she started singing and writing songs at age 9 and landed her first record deal at age 18, which she described as “terrible” because of what she refers to as improper representation and management. Since becoming financially stable, the singer said she’s finally able to enjoy her music career and not worry about being a struggling artist.
“As a female who didn’t have proper representation and was trying to figure out how to fund her own career, a lot of these men, even some of these women out here, become vultures and they feel like ‘you have the void and you need money I got money and so I can manipulate you to do these things.’ And that’s just not what I wanted. So I took a break from focusing on music to focus on making money,” Kalysha explained.
“I did not want to start putting out music or consistently working until I was financially stable to where nobody could ever try to dangle a dollar over my head. That’s what I did.”
The multi-talented star released her new single “Cappin” in May, which has nearly reached one million streams. She’s gearing up to drop another single while also working on her EP.
In addition to all this, she has a few acting gigs at hand.
“I have three shows I’m under contract for that filming has halted due to COVID,” she said. “I’m still working with my acting coach.” Kalysha starred on season four of the HBO show “Insecure” and is filming season 2 of “Legend of Karnoctus.”
She shared that she’s also working on expanding her Kharie Barbie Beauty line and will be adding new products in the fall to the brand’s website.
