Carmen Electra might be best known as a multihypenate pop culture phenom, but few remember that her big break in the industry actually came at the hand of The Purple One himself, Prince.

Electra has tried her hand in just about everything over the years, from hosting to acting to modeling — even a rocky stint in reality TV, but when it comes to her true passion, Electra believes she's always been a performer at heart, ever since her self-titled 1993 debut on Prince's own label, Paisley Park. "Being in music...it allows you to be who you really are and take more chances; when you’re acting, you kind of keep things simple. You’re a basic canvas. [It] can't go against the look that people know you for...music has been real fun for me because I get to be more creative and I really love that and THAT has been going along with more of the shoots I've been doing lately," she explained in a new interview with Javier Gonzalez for The Fashion Photograph.

While she never did deliver a follow-up, she evidently doesn't hold it against the music icon: "He's a bad ass; he writes, he sings, he plays guitar, piano, orchestrates his band, dances, directs, styles everything...he can play anything with strings, and I just learned so much from being a fly on the wall whenever I was near him."

Over two decades later, and Electra is getting back into the music industry. Her latest singles, including "Werq," "Around The World" and the incredibly subtle, not at all tongue-in-cheek "Bigger Dick" see the singer diving into the EDM scene — a fitting match for her role as DJ Cleopatra in the upcoming film Chocolate City alongside Vivica Fox. But it's not just an on-screen fantasy: She's aiming to make that role a reality, starting with an unexpected DJ mentor — Beastie Boys collaborator, Mix Master Mike.

“Mix Master Mike is a friend of mine! That's who taught me a lot and I'm practicing with his wife; I really just want to start with scratching first and then get into mixing dance music.” Could this be a possible next career move? “I'd love to go to Ibiza and all the big European clubs and parties; it's a skill I wanted to learn as a hobby but I never had time. During the movie, I started to learn how to scratch and mix into the next song when the next performer was coming on stage and I just had so much fun doing it.”

We're bringing you an exclusive look at one of the looks from Carmen Electra's spread for The Fashion Photograph, described by photographer Walid Azami as a "Middle Eastern harem" look. "We wanted to capture Carmen in a rare form, away from the bikinis and lingerie. We think she looks stunning and classic," he says.

We think she looks pretty stunning, too — and we're ready for her to start that Ibiza residency soon.

Carmen Electra
Walid Azami
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Carmen Electra
Walid Azami
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The Beach Babes of 2015

Writer/Interview: Javier Gonzalez
Photographer: Walid Azami
Stylist: Jason Sky
Hair: Michael Solis
Makeup: Rokael Lizama

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