STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

VH1 Exclusive Interview: Controversy Doesn’t Scare 'Love & Hip Hop Miami''s Veronica Vega

But her time on the show has taught her to be more compassionate and sensitive towards others.

Veronica Vega didn't exactly have the easiest first season of Love & Hip Hop Miami. After fans came for her for using the n-word, Vega returned for season two with one goal in mind: Focus on the music. As a result, we got to see a side of her that we didn't get to while she was caught up in the season one drama. VH1 sat down with Veronica to talk about everything from her new projects to advice she wishes she got coming up in the industry.

VH1: This season, your story line has been all about you trying to focus on the music--how is that working out for you?

Amazing! I’m very excited. A lot of my fans—you know, I’ve been working on music for some times now—so, for me to actually see the fruits of the things that I’ve laid down and actually have great feedback from it and actually feel like I’ve developed a lot, not just as an artist but as a person, I think that that reflects in my artistry. So I’m very happy about that. I’m really pleased.

VH1: Looking back on last season, what would you tell yourself? What do you wish you knew and how did that affect the way that you came into this season?

To be careful with how I articulate what I want to say because what I want to say is not necessarily bad, but the way that you say it and how you deliver that is really important. So, to be careful with delivery because how you deliver something is how someone takes it and how they’re able to change from it or how you’re able to find a resolution, but delivery is everything.

VH1: Last season, you took a bit of heat after the n-word controversy. How have you grown from that and changed this season?

Controversy doesn’t scare me so I don’t know if I’ve changed a lot as a person more than I have learned that everyone doesn’t have the same beliefs and the same experiences and the same lifestyle and the same background and culture and it’s very important to be considerate of everyone else and their upbringing and their life when expressing things about yours. It’s definitely taught me to be more compassionate about other people. If anything, I’ve grown in a compassionate way and just being to understand that we’re all very much alike, but we’re very different, too as far as where we come from and what we’re taught. I just see things different. I realize that my neighborhood, where I’m from, my family is not the only family in the only neighborhood and the only upbringing that exists, you know? So you have to be a little more sensitive to those things.

VH1: What do you wish you had known while trying to come up in the music industry?

I wish I would have known my power as a human being, not just as a woman or an artist. I wish I would have believed in my power. I think it’s very easy, especially in a male-dominated world, for me (not just generalizing, but for me specifically) to look at someone who is a boss, or someone who knows more than you, or who has accomplished or achieved more than you have, to look at them as the teacher or the mentor. It’s easy to see yourself in someone else instead of seeing yourself and that’s one thing that I wish I would have known before, that the power of you is the most important thing possible, and if you really start learning and understanding yourself, and investing in who you are, you’ll be able to accomplish more than you looking at someone else for validation. I think that’s the biggest thing I wish I would have known or for someone to have told me. I wish somebody would’ve come up to be and been like, “You know what? The most important thing that you’ll ever learn in your career and in your life is to be proud of who you are and know that there’s a power in you being you. There’s only one of you and there’s something really special about that.”

VH1: Tell me a little about the new music video for your song “I Belong.”

The song “I Belong” is produced by Polow da Don and the video is metaphoric. It basically takes you through a journey of what would metaphorically be my career and my life. In the beginning of the video my grandfather passes away, which is something that really happened to me in real life, and that’s symbolic for the fact that sometimes bad things happen, or you lose people, or you lose sight of the things that you really need to achieve. The lyrics say, “I belong to the money,” which is metaphorically your dreams, the things you want to achieve in life, your goals, your aspirations. When you watch the video it takes you through my grandfather’s passing, and you watch me walk through this journey, life, and all of these things that are trying to stop you from getting to your goals and ultimately I make it to the end and there’s this spiritual awakening that is reflective of you achieving what you wanted to achieve and you’re able to see a really nice dance break at the end of the video where you can actually feel that accomplishment at the end. It feels like a relief of energy, of finally overcoming all of the bad and attaining the great.

I’m really proud of this video because especially after I spoke about my family this season on Love & Hip Hop Miami and people know how important my grandparents are to me, to be able to see my go to my grandfather’s grave site --- which, I’ve only done twice in my life because I can’t bear it --- I think it is something really great for my fans to be able to see. I think it’s great as far as motivation for anybody because we all go through stuff like this. We all have goals, big or small. We all are the same in that way, so to be able to talk about that in the song and be like “I’m never going to give up on my dreams. I’m never going to let anything get in my way and I’m going to go after what I want no matter what it takes.” That’s what “I Belong” is.