Sorry kids, the Gotdamn Editor-In-Chief has relieved Kevin Clark this week for good reason (don’t fret, he’ll be back next week). Due to the focus being on the porn industry, I got a chance to sit down with a retired porn star and discuss her career in an industry few know about behind the scenes.

Some of you may have heard the name India before. One of the few black porn queens that was able to crossover and become a big name in the business. One hundred and fifty porn films later, she abruptly decided to leave the game. Why? Well, that’s a question that I had to ask her.

Today, India is sitting pretty on a cushion of money and pursuing her first love – music. During porn convention week, I got a chance to have dinner with the Black Widow and get her to open up about the industry, taking your work home with you, racial bias and her future.

Enjoy!

B&B: So let’s start this off right – what made you get into the porn business?
India: I got into the business back in 1997 and my career started in 1998. The reason I got into the business wasn’t a financial thing, it was more like all of the girls that I saw in the magazines –different girls, black girls. I just looked at it like “oh my god, I can do this" and I thought that there was a market for black girls to really take off and we could build something and take it to the next level. So that was my whole thing. I came in and I kind of knew where I wanted to go and if I wasn’t there by that year then it wasn’t happening. So I set out knowing I wanted to be with this company and that I wanted to be a contract girl and that’s what I did. I came in with a plan. There’s money of course and its good but at the same time I just knew that it was something bigger than just the money. I can build something here for the rest of my life where I’ll be okay financially.

B&B: Since you didn’t get into it because of the money, were you a fan of the industry prior to becoming a part of it?
India: No.

B&B: No?
India: No. One thing about me is I don’t lie. I don’t want to sugarcoat anything and make it seem like I did. I didn’t watch porn but I knew there was something there because porn was becoming more commercial. I knew of certain people because of the magazines I saw. I knew the names but I wasn’t into watching the movies. If you would have told me a couple of years ago that I would have been a porn goddess, I wouldn’t have believed you. But my friend actually said I would be. When I was 16 or 17, we were having dinner and she was like “Meka is going to be a porn star when she gets older” and I’m like “No I’m not!” And it’s just funny that I turned out to be (just that). I didn’t know much about the industry so I did my homework. I didn’t just jump in to do a movie. I researched it.

B&B: What was it like when you did your first scene? Were you nervous or overwhelmed?
India: No, I wasn’t nervous which is kind of crazy because most girls are but I was actually relaxed. I don’t think this is done often but they let me go through a big book and I got to pick out the guy I wanted in my first scene. I met the guy, he was really cool, his name was Nick. The only thing that I was worried about was that I had never went down on a guy. It was my first time. That’s the only thing I was nervous about. I wasn’t nervous about sex because I look at the body as a beautiful thing that you shouldn’t be ashamed of. If I do it, I’m going to do it all the way. I’m not going to half do it.

B&B: How many movies have you done?
India: On the list it says 149 and actually that’s not a lot of movies for somebody like me who hasn’t been in the industry that long. There are girls like 100 movies in maybe three weeks. I think that’s good because you want to pace yourself. The less you have on catalog then the more your worth is. Most girls don’t know that. Some think that the more you do the bigger you are and it’s actually the opposite. The less you do, the bigger you are. You can go to them and ask for money and bigger things because they want you. You’re in demand.

B&B: Being one of the top tier porn queens, how do you think that you got there. Do you think it was because you had a different look.
India: I think I did have a different look. It’s not like there aren’t any pretty girls in the industry. But it’s how I approached it. There’s a certain way you have to approach this industry. I surrounded myself with the right people. I had a team. I’ve never been out there by myself. I was quickly picked up and schooled. I learned real fast what this industry is. There are girls who’ve been around for ten years and you barely know their names, which is pretty sad because they do the same thing as me. I wasn’t going to settle for second or third. If I can’t be at the top – no matter what the profession – then I don’t want to do it. Continued on page 2 »