First Black Mermaid Tail Maker Releases Afro Caribbean Mermaid in 2018, shot by Shango edited by Naja of Najestic Entertainment.
First Shoot Najestic Did With The Afro Community In Mind!
To be completely honest with you, I did not want to offer my services to the "Black Community". When I started Najestic Entertainment in 2013, I got a lot of negative remarks, and turned down left and right when trying to make money off my services to the "Black Community". Some of my own family members watching me make my first tail from scratch, kept telling me I was stupid for spending so much time trying to make a silicone tail, saying things like thats "White People Sh!@", you're never going to make anything of this, you need to get a real job, etc. It was very discouraging, but Im the type of person that loves to prove people wrong, AND I DID!!! I went on to MAKE BLACK HISTORY!!
After making my first tail of course, the "Black Community" was fascinated, very fascinated. Like damn this ghetto girl actually did it. And of course they wanted to see it up close, in person and even try it on. Me not really knowing, how I would get this creation out into the world, I decided to showcase it at a power shoot in Atlanta. This is where a lot of Major "Black" Industry folks came and checked out new talent. You had celebrity hairdressers, celebrity make-up artist, celebrity photographers and videographers, producers etc. So I showcased 2 of the very first mermaid tails that I ever made from silicone, there.
I WAS THE BELL OF THE BALL, I WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE ENTIRE EVENT, I HAD ALL EYES ON ME, I WAS THE STAR!!! I thought nothing but great things could come from this!! My heart was full, my mind was filled with all the possibilities that could come from this experience. I had popular video models getting my info, following me on my social platforms, with interest of working with me. I had producers wanting to have my tails in major tv shows, I had celebrity hairdressers telling me the celebs they work for, that would love to shoot in my creations.......people left and right wanting to touch the tails, asking me SO MANY Questions! It was SUCH an Amazing night January 2014, It was EVERYTHING! A NIGHT I WILL NEVER FOGET!
FIRST BOOKING IN ATLANTA..........
The following day I got a call from a celebrity Make-Up Artist who was obsessed with fantasy. She said she had a client who was doing a shoot for her hairline and wanted to shoot with my tails, and asked me if I was interested, of course I was HYPE! She made the arrangements and said we would talk about compensation later. I was fine with that, I was just super excited about working with celebrities.
Shoot day came and The Client still hadn't discussed payment with me. My partner in crime at the time, Anthony Hunt helped me get the tails that he actually painted, to the studio where the shoot was to take place. We found out that my creations were going to be shot by a well known photographer and we started geekin, of course amongst ourselves, lol. We didn't show to anyone that we were a little star struck lol. We met the client and she saw the tails in person for the first time and was Ecstatic that she was going to have official mermaid tails in her advertisements. She kept assuring me that she was going to pay me very well for this project.
The first thing that kept bothering me was the photographer kept directing his compliments and questions about the tails to Anthony, as if I wasn't the one to hand make these tails. Anthony had no clue how the tails were made, he only painted them for me at the time. And Im the "Owner of Najestic Entertainment" lol so I was a little offended, especially cause Anthony never once said well Naja is the creator and owner, she's the one that deserves the praise and can answer all your questions. lol Trust, Anthony got an EAR FULL after we left this shoot, lol I didn't say anything there cause I didn't want to come off jealous, rude, or unprofessional.
The second thing that bothered me was, we were trying to get some behind the scenes photos and videos for The Najestic Portfolio, but the client asked us to stop and to not post anything at all, not even after she has released her ad. She said she will give me credit but she doesn't want these photos and videos anywhere but on her company page. In my head, i'm like you didn't pay for this, and deep down I knew she wasn't cause she hadn't yet and she never told me a set price and I never gave her one. So we did stop, but we kept what we had and I told Anthony, I don't care what she's talkin about, once she releases her project we will release the behind the scenes. She never paid us and we do not have paper work for this project.
Third thing that bothered me, was after the shoot was over and done with. I asked her about payment. The client told me to give her a moment, she had to pay the photographer, make up artist, hairdressers and models. I started to get a little irritated but I waited around. It started getting late, Anthony and I are like WTF! So I went to look for her and some people there said "she had left." HUH!!! What do you mean she left........... They said yea she left awhile ago. Me and Anthony looked at each like WOW!!! Fu#% Black People Yo! The make-up artist was apologizing to us and to the photographer cause apparently she didn't pay in full to the photographer either! Mind you we were on set for HOURS!!!! And the tail cost me over $1500 each to make. I need compensation Dammit!!
The photographer the next day ended up sending me EVERY SINGLE SHOT!! So we ended up with a free shoot by a well known celebrity photographer. We sorta won in the end but still had issues after posting the photos by The Client. She claimed that those were her photos and we needed to take them down immediately. When we all mentioned she never paid and never had a contract, she then went on to say she was going to pay but now she doesn't even want the photos, lol WOMEN IF YOU DON'T CARRY YO LYIN ASS ON. LOL!!
If y'all, would like to hear more of my beginnings with the "Black Community" LIKE this post, cause this is only the first shoot that happened, that drove me to not providing my services to the "Black Community" until 2018 when the Blixunami convinced me we had to start reaching out to our people. From 2015-2017 I absolutely refused to cater to the 'Black Community". Stay tuned for more Najestic History.
Checkout our Facebook Page ,where the first shoot that brought Najestic Entertainment back to the "Black Community" with it being a better experience, is posted. We changed up our structure and required a deposit, lol. The African Caribbean Mermaid was the first shoot we did to showcase Black Fantasy. All thanks to The Blixunami.
This shoot was shot by Shango in 2018
Model Unknown
Assisted by Fernando Depalm
Accessories and Tail by Najestic Ent.
Edited Photos by Natasha "Naja" James