Amber Rose Bio: From South Philly to Kanye West And The Kardashian Feud, Who Is Amber Rose?
Amber Rose is best known for her tough talk and her twitter war with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and all the Kardashians sisters. Isn’t there a lot more to Amber’s story, though? Does a heart of gold rest beneath Amber’s ample bosom?
Amber Rose is a host of contradictions. Ms. Rose is a devoted mother, but also a former stripper. Amber is a sexy militant feminist who once felt she needed to be “submissive” to a man despite her feminist leanings. While all that might be hard to understand, Amber doesn’t seem to mind revealing her story.
Kanye West, currently the husband of Kim Kardashian, introduced Amber Rose to superstar fame in 2009, after the gorgeously unique model caught his eye. Still Amber wasn’t exactly a stranger to bright spotlights. She was no stranger to conflict either.
Amber Rose, was born on October 21, 1983, in South Philadelphia. Her birth name was Amber Levonchuck according to Hollywood Life. Amber grew up hard, both financially and socially according to Ask Men. Amber was largely raised by her mother, while her father was in the military. Though her parents divorced when she was small, Ms. Rose managed to grow up feeling close to both her parents and saw her father whenever possible.
“We didn’t have a lot of material things, but we definitely had love. She [Amber Rose’s mother] taught me compassion, and she taught me how to be a good person.”
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s supposed nemesis, Amber Rose, also learned to fight back early growing up in South Philly. Frequent schoolyard fights typified her difficult childhood. Kids will always find a reason to bully, and for Amber, her light skin was reason enough. Little Amber was never one to walk away from a fight, but that was rarely an option anyway.
Amber Rose is half Italian and half Cape Verdean which made her different from the start. Different was great for Ms. Rose as a model, but on the schoolyard, it made her a target. Kanye West’s tough as nails ex-girlfriend had to be strong to survive. She had to develop a harder, tougher outward demeanor.
Amber Rose had to stick up for herself. She learned that lesson again and again. In seventh grade, a boy put his hand all the way up her skirt, according to the Inquisitr. When she went to the female principal, the principal blamed her and tried to shame her.
Amber Rose always had a dream. As a small child, she dreamed of being a marine biologist, according to Cosmopolitan. Later, according to AskMen, she decided she would like to own a restaurant when she grew up. It is really strange how she came to be Kanye West’s infamous ex-girlfriend, but her determination took her far from South Philly.
Amber Rose was always strong, but she needed cash to escape poverty and make her dreams come true. At 15, Amber tried to earn quick cash by stripping. The idea was simple enough, but actually doing that for the first time turned out to be a frightful experience.
“I was very, very young. I did it and I was like, ‘Oh, h**l no, I cannot do this.’ I was a kid. I think I was still a virgin at the time. Being onstage with my boobs out, it was like, ‘Oh my god, this is not for me.'”
Amber Rose also met her first love, a guy named Earnest, at age 15. Earnest took her to have his name tattooed on her arm. According to Ask Men, The South Philly girl kept her Earnest tattoo to remind herself of the kind of man she never wanted to end up with.
Did Kanye West end up on the same list as Earnest? What about Wiz Khalifa, who would come to be the father of Ms. Rose’s son. Of course at 15, Ms. Rose had no idea what lay ahead for her. What would she have thought about her chances of rubbing elbows with the Kardashians? Could she have guessed someday she’d be fighting on Twitter with Kanye West and the Kardashian family?
Amber Rose, though, still needed money in order to pursue her dreams and just to survive. At 18, Amber again remembered her plan to strip her way out of poverty. By the age of 18, Ms. Rose was tough enough to not only endure that way of life but to enjoy it. Ms. Rose told Cosmopolitan her stripping years from age 18 to 25 were the best years of her life.
“That was the best time of my life! Oh, my god, I had so much fun. I really did. All the girls were really cool. The guys weren’t allowed to touch you. I was never sexually assaulted or [anything]. I was young, beautiful, I was onstage, I wasn’t really ashamed of my body. I made lifelong friends.”
Amber Rose found liberty in the spotlights. While many women would have felt that stripping would be exploitative, Ms. Rose saw it as a way out of poverty. Amber picked herself up by her bootstraps, or perhaps her bra straps. Ms. Rose made some capital by stripping.
Kanye West’s life was about to change, and the impetus was a certain talent agent who discovered Amber Rose in 2007 and encouraged her to move to New York. Soon Kanye’s future girlfriend was dancing in Young Jeezy’s music videos, “Vacation” and “Put On.” Not long after she gained a featured spot in the “What Them Girls Like” video by Ludacris.
Amber Rose was gaining some real traction in the world for the first time. She was befriended by Rihanna, and she was making great money. Rose’s career was taking off, and she was moving into the friendship circles of major celebrities. Still, Ms. Rose told Cosmopolitan, she never wanted to be famous.
“I never wanted to be famous. I didn’t ask for that. I didn’t even say anything for years. The world can’t be mad at me because people took a liking to my look. No one even knew what my voice sounded like!”
Kanye West and Amber Rose made tabloid headlines starting in 2009 when they were first spotted together at New York Fashion Week. It must have seemed like a fairytale romance to the girl from South Philly.
The Kanye West and Amber Rose fairytale kingdom did last, though. In early 2012, according to Ask Men, Amber accused Kanye West of cheating on her with Kim Kardashian. It seems that while Rose was playing Cinderella to West’s prince charming, he had eyes for another queen.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian announced their engagement in March of 2012. Amber Rose hid her heartbreak in fury, as strong people sometimes do. She is quoted in Hollywood Life from that time.
“Kim Kardashian is a homewrecker and one of the main reasons why me and Kanye are not together.”
From Amber Rose’s point of view, that was bound to hurt. Just as everything seemed to be falling into place, the rug got yanked out from under her.
Amber Rose blamed Kim Kardashian and Kanye West for spoiling her happiness, but then she found love again. On February 21, 2013, Ms. Rose gave birth to her son, Sebastian. Wiz Khalifa was the father. Wis married Amber in July 2013, but the couple divorced in September 2014, according to Famous Birthdays.
The Amber Rose vs. Kanye West and the Kardashians feud still flares up from time to time. Resentment seems to run deep for Kanye West, the Kardashians, and Rose.
Not all Kardashians hate Amber Rose, though. Blac Chyna and her husband Rob Kardashian are quite fond of her. According to this Inquisitr article, Amber is godmother to their child, Dream Kardashian.
Blac Chyna and Amber Rose have been friends for years. Allegedly the Kardashian sisters are angry about Amber being in Dream Kardashian’s life. Possibly all that is for television, though. In fiction, one has villains and heroes. In real life, there are only friends, enemies, and a new flavor called frenemies. Reality TV is a mixture of truth and fiction in most cases. Reality shows tend to make villains of certain people, but in real life, it all amounts to your point of view.
Amber Rose has been a loyal friend to Blac Chyna. Many people outside the Kardashian clan also like Amber and the infamous ex of Kanye West tries to give back in many ways. She takes selfies with fans and has even started her own charitable foundation.
The Amber Rose Foundation is for women and art empowerment. Growing up in poverty, one would guess that Amber would be focused on helping the poor, but Ms. Rose overcame her poverty. Her continuing struggle was with her role as a woman.
Amber Rose explained her greatest struggle to Cosmopolitan.
“I was always about girl power, but I didn’t quite get it because I did always feel like I had to be completely submissive to a man. I was always very unhappy doing that. I think I needed time to grow up. You get to a certain point in your life where you really find out who you are, and sometimes that happens when you’re 25, but for me, it was 31. I didn’t quite know that before. I guess social media did help create the feminist monster that I’ve become.”
Amber Rose is no monster, however, nor is she a villain despite Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and reality TV. Villains are the stuff of fiction. Ms. Rose is a real human being and a strong woman, made tough by the harsh realities of her early life.
Looking past occasional angry twitter rants and rough speech, Amber Rose seems to be a loyal friend and a caring, fun celebrity. Whether one loves her or loves to hate her, she’s a real person with real feelings, not the stuff of fiction.
RELATED REPORTS FROM THE INQUISITR
Blac Chyna Making Amber Rose Dream Kardashian’s Godmother: ‘KUWTK’ Family Furious?
Amber Rose Talks Feminism: ‘I Was Sexually Assaulted’ In Middle School, Principal ‘Blamed Me’
Amber Rose Shares Photo Of Blac Chyna And Rob Kardashian’s Baby Girl, Dream Renee Kardashian
‘DWTS’ Amber Rose Dating Val Chmerkovskiy? Rumors Strike After Birthday Celebration
The Amber Rose Foundation, in order to introduce Amber’s cause, did not use the words of Amber Rose. Instead on her homepage is a quote from Nancy Pelosi in all capital letters.
“WOMEN ARE LEADERS EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK—FROM THE CEO WHO RUNS A FORTUNE 500 COMPANY TO THE HOUSEWIFE WHO RAISES HER CHILDREN AND HEADS HER HOUSEHOLD. OUR COUNTRY WAS BUILT BY STRONG WOMEN, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO BREAK DOWN WALLS AND DEFY STEREOTYPES.”
Amber Rose is certainly defying stereotypes. Rose doesn’t fit any label. She’s a host of seeming contradictions that are reflective of her experiences and her personal struggles. Rose is powerful, yet it was her nature to be submissive. Still, she fought back when others might give up.
Amber Rose, whether loved or hated by the Kardashians and Kanye West, has her own story to tell.
[Featured Image by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]
