Viva Vida Guerra !

  When aspiring model Vida Guerra got her "big break" by submitting amateur photos of herself for a lingerie spread in the December 2002 issue of FHM, nobody could have anticipated how quickly her star would rise. FHM's offices were flooded with reader mail requesting more pictures of the 28-year-old bombshell, and it's not hard to figure out why; with a booty that puts J-Lo to shame, a 36C bra size and a doe-eyed innocence about her, Vida's looks left little to be desired. In the four-and-a-half turbulent years since then, Vida's shown up everywhere, from the cover of Playboy to rap videos on MTV.

  Born in Havana, Cuba in 1974, Vida and her family moved to the United States when she was 5 years old, settling down in the city of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where she spent the rest of her childhood. But even as a young girl, Vida's butt stood out from the crowd, so to speak. "I used to get teased all the time in grade school because I was this really skinny girl, but my butt was huge. I would always be in the principal's office because someone had grabbed my butt and made me cry," she has said. "Once in fourth grade, this boy did it when I was handing out papers. I grabbed his hand and threw him—and he hit his head on the corner of a table. He had to get nine stitches. But now he’s probably like, Oh yeah, I touched Vida’s butt!". While the boys were preoccupied with her trademark feature, her treatment from other girls wasn't much better. "When I was growing up, I just wanted to fit in, but all the girls hated me for the attention I got from the boys because of my butt. So it’s funny now. Finally my butt has gotten me somewhere.” By "somewhere," she means appearances on Chappelle's Show, Nelly's "Shake Ya Tail Feather" music video, Kanye West's "The New Workout Plan" music video, and a starring role as the object of Cassidy's affection in his "Get Not Better" music video, which netted her a nomination for "Sexiest Video Vixen" at that year's Vibe Awards. She also scored a major role in the 2006 straight-to-video comedy National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2, playing a sexy Christian "good girl" who just won't give it up to her horny boyfriend.

  Like most other public figures, Vida hasn't been without her fair share of controversy. In the summer of 2005, after nude photos which appeared to be her began surfacing on the internet, Vida claimed that her camera phone had been hacked into, stating that "[the hackers] had some of my pictures, and they put in other pictures that weren't mine, in the nude". However, Flash Rodriguez, head of the tiny Flash Records label that allegedly signed Vida as a musical artist after she became popular, contradicted her claims, accusing Vida of intentionally releasing the photos to hype her upcoming single. Speaking to the hip-hop website BallerStatus.com, Flash said "when I confronted [Vida] about it, she said that the vagina shots were not hers ... but I told her that it had her tattoo, and her nails were done in a way I could tell that they were of her. She responded with 'Isn't this good publicity for my single?'". Vida, meanwhile, denies ever having been signed to Flash's label, telling HHNLive.com "I was never signed to that Flash Rodriguez guy. Ever. The guy is twenty something years old, and had no financial backing to sign a new artist." While it's almost impossible for a neutral observer to know for certain who's telling the truth, Vida did go out of her way to clarify one point in particular: what she looks like nude. As the covergirl for the July 2006 issue of Playboy, Vida bared it all in a sexy photo shoot. After the magazine had been attempting to feature her for over a year, Vida finally agreed to do a Playboy shoot to set the record straight on the cell phone-hacked photos, or more specifically, what her body really looks like, later stating "that's why I ended up doing the photo shoot with Playboy. To be like, Okay, you really wanna see me in the nude?". Whatever her motivations, there's no doubt that her fans appreciated a more intimate look at her.

  Recently, things have been relatively quiet and Vida has stayed out of the headlines, purportedly still at work on an R&B/Hip-Hop album of her own. She's also put out a 2007 calender and a "behind" the scenes DVD, which can be purchased at her official website. With people as eager as ever to see her, there's no doubt that we'll be seeing more of this sexy latina - and her booty - in the future.

About the author:

  Curtis is a writer specializing in politics, popular media and the entertainment industry. Based out of Vancouver, Canada, he graduated from Kwantlen University College with an Arts degree in 2006 and is now a contributing editor at TrendPimp magazine. His online portfolio can be found at CurtisSpring.com.