Brooke Hogan -

By: Kimberly Helk

Brooke Hogan, daughter of the ever-popular wrestler, Hulk Hogan, has become a star in her own right. Fans watched her grow up from "Hogan Knows Best" to her own show on Vh1, "Brooke Knows Best," and her first album, "Undiscovered."

The blond bombshell has had a rough year between her brother, Nick's, incarceration and her parents' divorce, but Brooke is holding strong and keeping it real in her second album, "Redemption," due out July 21. TheCelebrityCafe.com's Kimberly Helk chatted with Brooke about her music, recent events, and the impact of this past year.

KH: How did you choose the title, "Redemption," for your new album?

BH: Because I feel like just me and my family have been through so much and I've been stuck with the brunt of it too, and it's been a really tough time, you know, this past year that we've gone through. I feel like now things are starting to look up, I'm really happy, I love working on my music, I feel really good about that. I love the people that are around me, I really feel like I'm surrounded with a lot of positive people, so I'm really excited about this stage of my life. That's why I think it's my redemption, I'm finally being redeemed.

KH: There is a piece of artwork, of you as an angel, circulating that is supposedly the cover art to your new album.

BH: Yes, that is going to be the album artwork, and I chose to do a piece of art for the album just because, first of all, the artist is very special to me; he is actually a friend of my family's and he has been for a very long time, and it was really, really nice of him to do that. Second of all, I wanted something so perfect and so angelic; now of course I don't look as perfect as, you know, an airbrushed picture, but it was the effect of just pure bliss. You know, we wanted everything to be just to perfection, you know? Which is just how redemption should be.

KH: How much of this album did you write yourself?

BH: I probably wrote, I would say, 99 percent of it. People did the music, but I came up with the lyrics and the words and the melody line and everything like that, so I really worked my butt off on this one.

KH: Like you said, this past year has been a very rocky one for you and your family; do you think that integrating your personal struggles into this album has made it a better album than your first one?

BH: Um, I think it definitely has, and I also think the fact that I got to write this album makes it better immediately. I think that any artist who is a real artist writes about real things. And that's what I had inspiration with: the struggles, and we caught the tail end of life kind of turning up, so it's half and half. I mean I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

KH: What is your personal favorite out of all the tracks on your "Redemption" CD?

BH: Actually there are a lot of songs that are single-worthy and there are a lot of songs that are going to be singles that I wrote that I love very much. The ones closest to my heart are the "Dear Mom" song or the one that's called "Redemption." It's not the type of song to be a single, I just love it because it's so powerful and it's kind of, it's really the energy, it's made out of the energy that I felt when I finally picked myself back up and was like, you know I can't let all this stuff get me down, I have to keep moving on. And that's what the song is about.

KH: I listened to the song, "Dear Mom," and it was really powerful. Are you afraid she might take it the wrong way or are you hoping that it will help build a bridge between the two of you?

BH: I'm hoping it will be a bridge you know? And it's been really hard to, you know, communicate with her and things like that, and I'm just hoping that by her hearing the song it will have a different impact. Because she knows that music is more meaningful to me than having a conversation. So hopefully, when she hears it through music, she'll know I'm serious.

KH: Now that you have turned 21, has you dad eased up a little in his protectiveness of you, or has he stepped it up another notch?

BH: Oh yeah, he has, he's eased up a lot, I'm very lucky. He used to be very overprotective, but now he's just trying to make sure I'm dating the right people and I think he's very pleased with the one I'm dating now, haha.

KH: The media is not always so kind in their reporting, so what's been the hardest for you to read or hear about either you or your family this past year?

BH: Um, honestly, no matter what kind of trouble my mom and I are going through, it's always hard to hear people make fun of her and I will be the first one to jump to her defense when somebody is disrespectful. But it's hard because you know I've heard everything that people have to say about me. Of course, they think that I'm too tall or I'm fat or skinny or this or that, and it's just, they have a million things to say about me. But when they say things about my family or the people that I love is when it hurts my feelings because it's like, I look at it this way, I am lucky to have two arms and two legs that work. You know, some people aren't that lucky and it's just shallow of people to go at someone like that. And that's pretty much how I feel about that, hah!

KH: Has it been harder to deal with everything that has been going on in your life with millions of people watching on "Brooke Knows Best"?

BH: Um, you know what, the people who watch "Brooke Knows Best" I think are mostly fans or supporters, and I know the people who watch and are fans understand what I am going through, and feel for me because they have been watching me grow up in front of the camera, so they have a heart before they judge me, you know?

KH: What else is in your sights for this year besides your CD coming out on July 21st?

BH: Um, I would love to just have some time to relax and kick back and chill out and yeah, you know, just have some down time. I've been working a lot.

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