There are unexpected depths to Christopher “Prince” Michael Harty, also known as the Fresh Prince of South Beach. Leading conversations about emotional health and bucking stereotypes, Harty is breaking barriers and shifting norms — and having a good time in the process. He was no stranger to the fast life before his appearance on Love & Hip Hop: Miami, but the show certainly kicked it up a notch.
“My life was already pretty crazy as a [party] promoter, but being famous has a different effect on your life,” he shares. “It still hasn’t hit me. And I’m like D-level, like C, D. People are [star] struck and I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? I’m just a regular person!’”
Harty also adds that TV and media aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Like so many his age, the 28-year-old is still figuring it out.
“People assume that just because you’re on TV, you’re rich, your life is perfect,” he says. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. I think TV makes it that much harder, because now I’m under a microscope.”
And all that glitters is not gold. As Harty points out, life is not as lit as it looks on camera. In the entertainment industry, public scrutiny and rejection take their toll on emotional health.
“I’m actually very insecure, despite the bravado I give off on TV,” he says. “I’m 100 percent authentic — wild, eccentric, all over the place. I struggle with inner battles: between being emotional, slightly bipolar, or just trying to keep my thoughts together. There are things I wish I could change, but there’s nothing I can do about it, just try to improve on it.”
Harty says that “Black and brown men deal with much more than other groups. Also, the stigma surrounding emotional health and treatment, the need for support. All that.”
By initiating conversations around once taboo topics, Harty is set on creating change all around.
“I’m a walking oxymoron. For one, my best friend is gay. Super gay. Flamboyant. Bobby Lytes [his co-star on Love & Hip Hop: Miami], that’s my best friend and I don’t care what people say about me hanging out with him. ‘Oh, a heterosexual male has nothing in common with a homosexual male.’ Well, actually we have a lot in common. We both like to party, we both like to go out and have a good time. It’s about good vibes. We both like to shop.… The only thing we don’t have in common is he likes one body part and I like another. That has nothing to do with our friendship.”
Harty isn’t afraid to change the aesthetic of hip-hop, too.
“Another thing is how I dress and how I talk. Hip-hop for a long time has looked like one thing, and it didn’t look like me. And this isn’t me patting myself on the back or tooting my own horn, this is just me stating facts. Look at the world today. Everything is completely different and outside the norm. I’m trying to spread positivity and help people live their best lives.”
So what’s his advice for others who live outside the norm?
“You’re a visionary. You’re the one who’s really breaking barriers and doing monumental things in life. If you feel like you don’t fit in a box, you might want to explore your talent, because you just might be Kanye. You never know.”
Right now, the star is working on his clothing line, Roielte (pronounced “royalty”), described as very high-end urban fashion. “I’m trying to get signed to a modeling agency,” he adds. “Ten years ago, to be a model you had to look a certain way, be a certain weight, a certain height. But now different is where it is. And if you’re still in that old mentality, you’re lost.”
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