Vida Guerra: It's Vida's World 2

She's known for her ass, but according to Vida, she's much more than just a big booty and pretty face. The New Jersey loan officer stumbled upon stardom when her, at the time, boyfriend and his friends submitted a picture of her bending over to FHM magazine. After the photo was published, the magazine was flooded with requests for more of the unknown girl, and that's the day a star was born.

Today, Vida is one of the most sought after models in the industry. She's appeared in countless magazines and has shot numerous several page spreads, but this wasn't her first choice as a career. No, according to Vida, although modeling has been good to her, she's always wanted to pursue acting and singing since she was a kid. And now, she's finally making that happen.

She has a record deal with Bay Area-based In Ya Face Records, and is gearing up for the release of his debut self-titled album, where she displays her singing ability, and -- get this -- her rapping skills. But, before that, she's giving her fans an inside look into her personal life, via her new DVD, titled "Exposed."

BallerStatus chopped it up with Vida, as she explains everything from her pre-model days to why The Game put her on blast in his latest single. It's Vida's world and in her world she gets what she wants. Being that it's our second time featuring her, we present, It's Vida's World 2.

BallerStatus.com: Now before you became one of the most sought after models in the game, you were a loan officer in New Jersey. You submitted your photo to FHM and the rest is history. Talk about why you decided to submit your photo in the first place; was it your intention to become a model?

Vida Guerra: I didn't submit my photos; it was actually an ex-boyfriend of mine and his friend. People always said, "Oh, you should model." I've been hearing that since I was young. So basically they sent it in and from there, I wasn't thinking anything of it. I just thought that when I was older, I could look back and think I had a hot picture in a magazine. But, from there everything kinda just blew up.

BallerStatus.com: Before appearing in FHM, did you ever feel you had what it takes to become the name you have today?

Vida Guerra: Yea, I did, but I felt like I was too short to do modeling because I'm only 5'3." Models are supposed to be tall. I mean, since I was young, I always wanted to do the modeling, the acting and the singing, but it wasn't something that I thought was reachable. That's why I didn't pursue it earlier on, and I kinda didn't know because we came from another country, as far as how to go about it. It is such a competitive field, so I thought, "Does it really, really happen?" Those were all the questions that were going through your mind.

So instead, I went to school, did the full-time job like my parents wanted me to do, but I was never happy. I never felt fulfilled. I knew there was something else I was destined to do.

BallerStatus.com: Was the loan thing something you inspired to do, as far as going to school for it?

Vida Guerra: Nah, I didn't go to school for that. I went to [a trade school] that teaches you different business things. But I did go to college, but I didn't like that. I'm not a person who loves school. I never did. Basically, I kinda fell into it. Someone told me that I could make good money, so I went for it.

BallerStatus.com: Once the fame hit, how did you deal with it? Especially today, you're a sex symbol.

Vida Guerra: That's the downside to fame. My personal life is kinda hurt by it. Like, I recently got out of a relationship with someone that couldn't really handle it and couldn't handle the rumors that go along with it. It's like just because you're a sex symbol you are linked to everybody and you're supposed to be some kind of hoe. But, I don't care because everyone's always gonna have their own ideas and perceptions of who you are. As long as my family and friends know the real me, that's all that matters. But, my relationships have suffered because of [the fame]. It takes a real strong, secure man, and I have not found him.

BallerStatus.com: What about male groupies? I'm sure you have tons of them.

Vida Guerra: Yea, I've had a bunch of celebrities try to talk to me and I never tried to put them on blast any time I did interviews. I mean, I don't feel I should go that route. As a matter of fact, the same company [who put out Superhead's book], they approached me to do a book. At first, I was like, "Oh cool, it could be a story about me to give people inspiration, being I came from Cuban [to America] and succeeding," but they were trying to find out about celebrity guys that have tried to hit on me, or things they've done or gifts they've given me. So, I was like, "Oh no, I'm not gonna do that." This was like a year and a half ago, so I wasn't gonna do that.

Now, I don't know if you heard The Game's new song where he's talking sh--. I'm like, please. He was trying to get with me since last year. I'm gonna find a way ‘cause I'm gonna call T-Mobile to see if there's a way to retrieve the emails. Somebody told me I could. I wanna challenge him to a lie detector test. I'll take one too. I never dated his guy. It doesn't matter what you do, if I don't like you, I don't like you.

[The Game and I] exchanged email addresses last year at Jamie Foxx's Christmas party. He was cool, so I was like, "I'm working on my music, so maybe I could work with you in the future," whatever... It was cool, but then he started asking me if I wanted to hang out. I would just be like, "Oh no, I'm busy," just to keep it on a nice level.

BallerStatus.com: So, why do you feel he put you on blast in the "Wouldn't Get Far" track?

Vida Guerra: I haven't even heard the song. Somebody told me he did an interview and basically he said he had a sister that's trying to get into modeling, and he didn't want her to do it because he's basically saying that if you're a video vixen that you're a hoe. That's people's perception of a sex symbol. I know the truth. When I heard it, I was like, "Wow, I didn't know he took rejection that personally." Then I heard he said he did it to sell records, but why couldn't you go after another rapper? Why do you go and pick on the girls? He had to resort to that. Punk! [laughs]

BallerStatus.com: What have you heard from people in the industry about all this?

Vida Guerra: Well, somebody we both know told me he said that he just needed to use the hottest names in the industry for it, just to sell records. For me, that's like defamation of character. I take it real personal because of all the stuff I've gone through in my personal life, as far as having a relationship with somebody and going up against all these rumors. I'm so the opposite. I wish I got as much action as people think I do [laughs].

BallerStatus.com: Now, you have a new DVD coming out, called "Exposed," where you kind of show the personal side to Vida. Is that you intention with this? To show Vida as a person instead of this big celebrity you are?

Vida Guerra: Exactly. Exactly [laughs], you pretty much explained it... But, there's pictures of me when I was little and you see that I was in dance schools since I was young. People think that I was a model and then I woke up one day and was like, "I wanna sing and I wanna go act." But, those were the things I wanted to do before the modeling even jumped off. Modeling wasn't something I thought of, you know? If you ask any of my friends I grew up with, they would tell you I always wanted to be a singer and performer. The modeling stuff just kinda happened for me and from there, of course I'm gonna take advantage of all the contacts I meet and go from there. Anybody else would do the same thing.

BallerStatus.com: Now when some of your fans see the DVD, do you think they're gonna be able to see the real Vida? Not the one that people see and have perceptions of from the magazines?

Vida Guerra: Yea, I think so. Because I'm like really silly even though people see me as being this sex symbol or whatever. But, I'm really down to Earth and silly. You can see that in everything that I do. I mean, throughout the DVD, the cameras are following me, so you see all my antics. To me, I'm just a normal person with some unbelievable stuff that I fell in to. I always stay humble. I never let that get to my head.

BallerStatus.com: As far as the music you're doing, what would you categorize it as?

Vida Guerra: I think its R&B and hip-hop because I'm rapping too. It's no hardcore rap; it's kind of like a Fergie style or that "Promiscuous Girl" by Nelly Fertado – that new style everybody is coming out with. I was working on it since like last year and now everybody is coming out with it, and that's what I've been working on.

BallerStatus.com: As far as the self-titled album, you got Mike Jones and Paul Wall, so who else do you have on there and what can people expect?

Vida Guerra: My first single is called "You Got Me" and it's with Juvenile. We just shot the video for it a couple months ago. This one I'm singing and the second single, I'm rapping on it. I also got one of my label mates on there, his name is Prozac. I have a bunch of people that I'm lucky to have because people wanna work with me, like Mike Jones and Paul Wall, they did it right away.

The album, though, is an upbeat, up-tempo type album. It's real fun, I don't have no real sad ballads or anything yet. Ne-Yo did write something for me, so I don't know what its about yet. But, it's all about fun and party songs. I co-wrote with a lot of songwriters who really helped me get my writing skills up.

BallerStatus.com: Why did you decide to do Playboy?

Vida Guerra: Fat check [laughs]. Money talks. That was the third time that they had asked me and it was around the time that the pictures were surfacing on the internet saying that my phone was hacked in to. Some of the pictures were mine and some weren't, and I kinda got mad. People were making such a big deal out of it that I was just like, "Ok, people wanna see me nude, then I'm gonna do it the right way, classy." I love the [Playboy pictures]. I had photo approval and everything. Although I'm naked, I'm not naked. I'm not spread eagle or anything like that. As a matter of fact, they just asked me to do another issue, but we'll see.

I was the seventh Latin girl to be on the cover for the 53 years its been out. It was also one of the top-selling issues, so that's why they asked me to do it again [laughs].

BallerStatus.com: What's next?

Vida Guerra: The sky's the limit for me basically. I kinda wanna do everything.

GO BACK TO SITE