SeanTheRobot: Hey Sinnamon! For people who never heard of you, please tell us where you're from and what you do.
Sinnamon Love: Hi Sean! I'm an adult film star, fetish model, Professional Dominatrix, sex educator, writer and relationship columnist for TheWellVersed.com. I grew up in Flint, Michigan, but I've called Los Angeles my home for the last 21 years. I currently reside in Brooklyn, New York where I'm raising some pretty amazing kids.
SeanTheRobot: You just celebrated your 38th birthday on Dec. 31st. Happy belated birthday! How would you describe the state of your life you're in right now and how do you feel about it?
Sinnamon Love: Thanks! I'm the happiest I've ever been, not that my life ever really sucked, but I lived in New York for 3 years a decade ago and have been waiting until I felt it was the right time to move back. Living in New York is exactly where I want to be as I approach 40. I love the energy of the city, the hustle and drive of its inhabitants, the art, culture and music. It's the perfect place to raise artistic kids, (of which I have 2 at home,) and gives me constant inspiration for my writing.
SeanTheRobot: You started doing porn in the early 90's. How did you manage to stay relevant for such a long time up until today? What's your secret?
Sinnamon Love: I don't really think I have a secret to staying relevant. I have always tried to stay true to myself and as I've grown as a woman and my sexual tastes have changed, I've made changes and adjustments to the things I've performed on camera or rebranded my image so my outside fit my insides. I love what I do for a living, every part of it. You know the saying, "If you can do what you love for a living you'll never work a day in your life?" Well that's me. I love this job. And although as I get older I find myself less interested in performing and more interested in teaching the public, I think I will always be involved in the business in some way, shape or form.
SeanTheRobot: You were admitted into both, the Urban X Hall of Fame and just last year into the AVN Hall of Fame. Now looking at how long you've been in the game, it took them quite a while to do that. You ever felt like they weren't acknowledging you the way you'd deserve it?
Sinnamon Love: There was a time when I was irritated at how long it was taking to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. One awards show says you have to have been in the business for at least 10 years to be eligible. There were stars that were inducted in barely 10 years due to the publicity they gained from being contract performers for major companies. But then a few years ago, Johnny Keyes, the first Black man to ever have sex with a White woman on film in Behind the Green Door back in 1972 was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame. I felt that if it took that long to induct someone that truly made history in our business to be inducted, I could wait. Sure, it was frustrating to see guys that did their first scenes with me inducted before I was, but I'd consider the vast number of movies male performers shoot in a year in comparison to female performers and realize their contribution to the industry was greater than my own. All's fair in love, war and business… It was just a matter of time. I understand the politics of any business. I didn't get in this business for the fame or notoriety so ultimately, while its nice to have the recognition, it isn't what motivates me at all.
SeanTheRobot: To me and a lot of other people you're a porn legend, how do you feel about people calling you that?
Sinnamon Love: I think it's funny when I hear people say that. Like I said previously, I didn't get into the industry for the fame. I recognize that I made my mark on the industry and I attempt to do something positive with that, but I don't know if I'm a legend. I definitely don't think of myself as a "star" in the traditional sense of the word. I'm just a midwestern girl that has a fun, decent paying job and takes care of her family.
SeanTheRobot: Some of my favorite scenes of you are the one from POV Cock Suckers 4 and the one you did w/ Justin Slayer for Phatty Girls 6. I know you've done a lot but do you have an absolute favorite scene that you've done, if so tell us which one and why it is your fave.
Sinnamon Love: One of my all time favorite scenes was in the movie Rough Sex 2 for Vivid Video/ Tristan Taormino. Being able to script and live out my own fantasies and be a part of a BDSM scene with hardcore sex and all Black male leads was really important me on both a personal and sociological level. I wanted to show that people of color do engage in BDSM and that race doesn't have to play a part in it. For many "vanilla" porn watchers, the early images of my being tied up and sexually tormented brought back images of slavery for them. Unfortunately, there are few men of color in the BDSM side of the porn industry, so seeing a White male or female lead Dominating me was very emotionally painful for a lot of my viewers and caused an uproar for many. Having an opportunity to showcase something that is very much a part of my personal sex life a little truer to form, with Black men, that included domestic service to a primary partner along with BDSM edge play and rough sex was my gift to my fans. I think its really important to break negative boundaries in sex, love and relationships. This was my way of fighting back with my online critics that didn't understand my professional decisions.
SeanTheRobot: People who follow you on Twitter will know that you're best friends with fellow Pornstar Sara Jay. Tell us how and when you met her for the first time.
Sinnamon Love: Sara Jay is certainly one of my dearest, closest friends. I love her honesty, unapologetic demeanor & nonjudgmental attitude. She's the type of person that you want as a friend; she'll have you back when need be, take care of you when you're sick, let you crash at her pad while on vacation, feed you and make sure you make it home safely without banging that guy you DON'T want to have sex with just because you're drunk. She's also a huge hip hop head, just like me. It was kismet that we got together.
A few years go, Sara and I were both in New York visiting & both just happened to be attended a concert by The Roots. I've known the guys since the first Okayplayer tour and was back stage. Sara and I had spoken online and by phone but had never met in person before. Questlove asked if I knew Sara and mentioned she was there that night. (Sasha Gray was also backstage with me.) I called Sara and found out where she was seated and went to join her & her then roommate. We just… clicked. We both knew all the words to all their songs. Over time we spent more and more time together at shows and spending quality time together. Oddly enough, Sara and I have had so much sex together… but never on film and only once on webcam. Sara is such a good spirit and I genuinely love her.
SeanTheRobot: Talking about Twitter, I've seen you getting attacked on there quite some time, by people talking shit about your kids or some other BS. I see you replying to that and you're always puttin them in their place but how do you deal with it on a personal level? Does it bother you or do you just let it slide?
Sinnamon Love: Honestly, it makes me sad that some people are so narrow minded that they can't respect that sex workers are still real people with real lives. I could let a few bad apples spoil it for everyone else, but I usually just shut down the idiots and keep it moving. The overwhelming amount of love from male and female fans and followers is pretty amazing. I wouldn't dream of making my page private or closing it as I understand that these things are expected. Some people just don't have anything better to do with their day. As for me, I try to keep my page relatively PG-13 as I understand the accessibility minors have to adult material on a public forum like Twitter. I have nothing to hide. I see it as an opportunity to open up the minds of people that might only have ever considered porn stars as walking fantasies that live in lingerie and stripper shoes so they might see us as "real people." Oddly enough, that approach has worked for me. I may not have 150k followers, but I do have almost 60k followers that are genuinely interested in me as a person and are more likely to buy my product from my "soft sell" technique. I spend more time blocking spambots than I spend blocking assholes… and I'm perfectly happy with that.
SeanTheRobot: One of the things I like about you is that you seem to really know your Hip Hop. Actually, I think the first time I noticed that you were on Twitter was when Questlove retweeted you or replied to one of your tweets. How did you first fall in love with Hip Hop?
Sinnamon Love: I've always said the opening line of my memoir will read, "I didn't fall in love with hip hop, hip hop fell in love with me." Its the truth… I was totally into pop music growing up, Duran Duran, Culture Club and Wham in grade school… Prince, Michael Jackson & Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam in middle school. I remember my older brother playing Stetsasonic, and The Fat Boys.
SeanTheRobot: I heard that you went on tour with Kanye as a massage therapist back in the day, is that right? How did that happen and how was it? Are you guys still talking to each other every now and then?
Sinnamon Love: It's true. I met Kanye when I interviewed him back in the day at Cheetah's for the (now defunct) Fish 'N Grits Magazine launch party. A few months later we bumped into each other in L.A. I was recovering from major surgery for Ovarian Cancer and decided to go massage school as I had no idea if I'd be able to go back to porn. My boyfriend at the time was a former NBA player and had connected me to a lot of athletes to work with. I ran into Kanye outside LAX airport heading to work on a client in Florida. He had missed his flight and was waiting for his driver to come back. He made his way through taking pics with fans and came over to my taxi. He helped me get my table out the trunk and grabbed a luggage cart indoors for me. We talked, exchanged numbers and he mentioned he'd loved to get a massage when we were both back in L.A. The first time I worked on him, he expressed shock that I was actually really good and it wasn't bullshit. He said to me at one point, "I only hire the best. I've had massages all over the world and you really are good." Shortly after, we negotiated a rate for me to go on the Touch the Sky tour. I didn't get any preferential treatment on tour. I slept on the tour bus with the band & the FOH engineer. I became really close with the harpist on the tour, Rebekah Raff who is still one of my close friends.
I will always be grateful to Kanye for that experience. He was just a really good dude. I had the pleasure of meeting his mom and his then girlfriend at the time. I was just… another one of the crew. I know people have made insinuations as to why Kanye would have a porn star on the road with him but it honestly wasn't that salacious. He is notorious for being a perfectionist and hiring only the best. At that time, I was it. I do still talk to him from time to time and consider him to be a friend. When my partner and I lost a baby last year, Kanye said to me, "I'm so sorry babe. Don't worry about losing the weight, you're beautiful just the way you are." I think people mistake his genius and perfectionist tendencies for assholishness. I've only ever seen good in him… granted, I haven't dated him, but I've known him long enough to be able to know a good person well enough to know one when I see one. Kanye gave me a job and a steady income when I was recovering from cancer because he found that I was really, really good at what I was pursuing. He didn't have to do that… but he did. I'll definitely rep G.O.O.D. music for life.
SeanTheRobot: Besides porn you also do a lot of other things, one of it being that you're a professional dominatrix. How did you get into that?
Sinnamon Love: I've always been into BDSM on a personal level and have spent probably half my career performing in fetish videos as both a Dominant and submissive. It was a natural transition to be able to session with submissive men, women and couples to help them explore their submissive fantasies in person. Many years ago I worked at a dungeon in L.A. called Den of Iniquity. It was a lot of fun and I've had some crazy experiences but I enjoy it a lot.
SeanTheRobot: Did you ever get into a dangerous situation since you've started doing it?
Sinnamon Love: Never.
SeanTheRobot: You're also a poet and you performed with the Punany Poets. When did you start to write poetry, was it something you always loved to do?
Sinnamon Love: I've always written poetry and short stories my entire life. I published my first short story in 5th grade. My mom used to tell me I was making up poems before I could even pick up crayons. I performed, (and won,) oratorical competitions and performed in Shakespeare's "As You Like It," in High School. Throughout my adulthood, my poetry has always been like love letters to my lovers. I've always been motivated by the work of Anais Nin and find a sort of catharsis in putting things on paper I'm too shy to say out loud. I'm in love with the written word; there is nothing more beautiful than the ability to express oneself. The Punany Poets tour was sort of an experiment for me. I wanted to see if people would pay to hear me speak and NOT take my clothes off, or barely do it. I was impressed at the sheer number of fans that came out to those shows. I chose to end my relationship with the tour due to professional conflicts but don't regret the experience.
SeanTheRobot: Is there anything that the public doesn't know about you, like something funny, a weird habit or anything that you want to share with us?
Sinnamon Love: I went to Space Camp. I used to read Isaac Asimov and build model rockets as a kid. I rebuilt motor cycle engines and dropped them into go-carts when I was younger as well. Imagine going 100 miles per hour down a country dirt road to the store. I'm an avid horse back rider. And for those that don't follow me on twitter, I'm a pretty dope cook.
SeanTheRobot: What are your goals for 2012. What can people expect to see from you this year?
Sinnamon Love: I relocated to New York from L.A. in the summer of 2011. My goal for this year is to take full advantage of the energy and love I get from this city and finish my first book and submit to more academic or feminist based anthologies on sex and pornography. I have trips to the UK planned to shoot for some European based companies. I am relaunching my advice column with TheWellVersed.com and have a new project in the works for BlogXilla.com. I'll be relaunching my Sinnamon Love website as a PG-13 portal for my various projects and ventures, and am looking into taking my advice column to the airwaves. I am already slated to speak on a panel on Feminism and sexuality in April. These are the types of things that are my priority this year. I'm far from being "retired" from porn, performing just isn't my priority at this time.
On a personal level, this year I am more involved as an Autism Parent-Advocate. I have an 18 year old son that has Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning form of Autism. I am also hitting the gym on a regular basis to make my 38 year old body tighter and more toned and am slowly returning to being a vegetarian.
SeanTheRobot: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, I really appreciate it. If you want to say anything else or want to let people know where to find you online, you can do so now.
Sinnamon Love: Be sure to check out my advice column on TheWellVersed.com, talk to me at Twitter.com/SinnamonLove and be on the look out for the new SinnamonLove.com in the future.
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