9 for '99 - up-and-coming people for 1999 - Brief Article

Ebony, Jan, 1999

They've already crossed the first barriers, winning national attention and the approving nods of pundits and critics.

This should be their big year, the year they cross over into the charmed circle of personalities who are known and watched by almost everybody. They are not, of course, the only people knocking on the door of one-name fame. But among the people who will bear watching in 1999 are the 9 featured on the following pages.

Comedian and actor Jamie Foxx is positioned to hit it big time in 199. His successful The Jamie Show has been a favorite on the WB Network for the past three seasons, and his movie career is in high gear. The talented young Texas native has appeared in the films The Truth About Cats & Dogs, The Great White Hype and Booty Call. In 1999, he will star in the movie Inconvenienced with Nia Long. With talent so diverse and a personality so charming, Foxx is sure to shine in 1999.

Rap's most famous widow. Faith Evans emerges out of the shadows with a new album, a new baby and a new love. Since the death of her husband, rapper the Notorious B.I.G., in 1997, Evans has been a major personality in her own right. Keep The Faith, her first album in three years, hit record stores in November and continues to do well. The 25-year-old singer says more than anything else she wants to move on with her life, which includes a new baby, Joshua (her third), by a new love, a man whose identity she reportedly wants to keep private.

Success is nothing new to 18-year-old Monica. Her second solo album, The Boy Is Mine, is full of songs that could top the charts well into the summer of '99. Monica's role as Queen Latifah's little sister on TV's Living Single has set the industry abuzz about future movie roles. In the meantime, she's planning a concert tour later this year.

With his brand of edgy humor and hilarious antics, stand-up comedian Chris Tucker finally has bum-rushed his way into America's hearts, His latest project, the buddy-flick Rush Hour wills Jackie Chan, broke box-office records when it opened at an estimated 831 million and has critics calling him the new king of comedy. There's already talk of a Rush flour II. But for Tucker, who has enjoyed a following since he starred in Money Talks, Friday and The Fifth Element, earning laughs is nothing new. Along with making films, he recently opened the Chris Tucker Comedy Club Cafe in his native Atlanta and became a father, His son, Chris Jr., was born last fall.

Kimberly Elise's stellar performance as daughter of a runaway slave, played by Oprah Winfrey in Beloved, put her on the short list of Hollywood's young rising stars. Critics lauded Elise's touching portrayal of Denver as one of the film's best performances. Some say she stole the show. Already people are buzzing about what the future will hold for the talented star. The Minnesota native, however, already is enjoying a different kind of role--motherhood. Recently, she and her husband, photographer Maurice Oldham, welcomed the birth of their second child.

One of Hollywood's newest leading men, Taye Diggs continues to enjoy the career boost that has come in the wake of his much talked-about performance in the movie How Stella Got Her Groove Back. The Rochester, N.Y., native, who was an original member of the Broadway musical Rent, will be showcasing the talents that have endeared him to female moviegoers when he stars in the movies Go, which he describes as "a Pulp Fiction kind of thing," and Wood, in which he co-stars with Omar Epps.

Tennis' dynamic duo, sisters Venus and Serena Williams, is on the verge of winning major titles in singles competition and as doubles partners. In addition, both have brought a new attitude and intensity to the game, and have prompted a new level of interest in the sport among Black fans that hasn't been seen since the heyday of Arthur Ashe. As both continue to target the No. 1 ranking, there is growing anticipation among fans to see if 1999 will be the year when Venus, armed with her record-setting 127.4 miles-per-hour serve, will have to face her younger sister, perhaps in competition for a Grand Slam championship.

New mayor of Washington, D.C., Anthony A. Williams, succeeded Marion Barry, who retired. Williams is a former chief financial officer of the District and of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A native of Los Angeles, he is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale and holds a juris doctorate degree from Harvard Law School. He and his wife Diane have one daughter, Asantewa Foster. The new mayor says his first priority is to restore home rule to Washington, D.C.