Centerfolds and strippers remain at the heart of comedians’ performed fears; their professions are often mocked during stand-up routines and touted as the surest way to signal patriarchal failure and shame. Still, Keyshia Ka’oir’s ascent from XXL Magazine feature to successful CEO reminds us that, in this cruel man’s world, it may be the business-savvy vixen who gets the last laugh.
1. Ka’oir captured Gucci Mane’s attention with a 2010 XXL Magazine centerfold.
At the tail-end of his 2010 stint in a Fulton County, Georgia, jail, Gucci Mane came across an image in XXL Magazine that would change his love life forever, Ka'oir told The Fader in a soul-baring interview. She was the magazine’s 2010 Eye Candy of The Year centerfold model, and Gucci Mane was intent on seeing her in real life. The two met months later when the Atlanta rapper flew her out for a video shoot, and the rest was history.
2. While he was incarcerated, Ka’oir aligned her and Gucci’s daily schedules.
In the same interview, Ka’oir told the magazine that Gucci’s return to prison only deepened her commitment to his success. The couple rose, worked out and ate on the same daily schedule and communicated via phone and email.
3. The couple chronicled their wedding plans in a reality show.
While there has been an element of secrecy — and, inevitably, folklore and rumor — concerning the children both parties entered the marriage with, the couple has been open about their own relationship. Back in 2017, BET launched The Mane Event, the reality show taking viewers behind the scenes of the couple's wedding plans. The show, which aired for 10 episodes, closed with the big day, and cameras followed family and friends into the $1.7 million wedding festivities.
4. Her beauty business, Ka’oir Fitness, Cosmetics and Hair, is reportedly worth $30 million.
A self-proclaimed hustler, Ka’oir doesn’t take offense to rumors that she stayed with Gucci for the perks, The Fader reports. Instead, she maintains that her brainchild, Ka'oir Cosmetics, was born before Gucci. The CEO says her original aesthetic of colorful lips and glitter paved the way for contemporary beauty and fashion. True to her hustle, the fitness leg of the multifaceted beauty brand tapped into the uber-trendy waist trainer phenomenon. The Ka'oir Fitness line offers "fat erasers" designed to wrap around the arms, thighs and, of course, waist.
5. She has a 17.5-inch waist, thanks to her Ka'oir fitness line.
For those who've missed the social media marketing Ka'oir does on Instagram, results of the Ka'oir Fitness lifestyle can be verified on the couple's reality show, where the bride-to-be's ever-shrinking waist kept her dress fittings interesting — and, apparently, inspired her seamstress to give the Ka'oir Waist Eraser a shot.
6. Ka’oir turned to the ladies of "The Real" to clarify a circulating rumor.
As a guest host on the talk show The
Real, Ka’oir used the platform to set the record straight about rumors of her wifely devotion. Revolt TV reported that Ka’oir cited bath time as the pointed arrow in Cupid’s bow, pinning her to Gucci. Still, Ka'oir told the ladies of The
Real, in Jamaican culture, “bathing” was a general term. She had only been referring to pampering her man.