Why Keri Hilson Joined the HIV/AIDS Fight [EXCLUSIVE]

Plus, she talks her latest movie & music

It's been years since Keri Hilson was first introduced to us as a songwriter-turned-solo star.

Now, she's fresh off the success of the box-office hit "Think Like a Man," in which she made a hilarious cameo and, more importantly, she has just become the celebrity ambassador of the first-ever MTV Staying Alive Foundation team that'll be participating in this Sunday's (May 20) AIDS Walk New York -- a 10K, and the East coast’s first (as well as the world’s largest) AIDS fundraising event that aims to raise money and awareness. 

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Here, she speaks to Loop 21 about why she joined the walk-a-thon and her latest projects.

Loop 21: Having already posed for H&M's Fashion Against AIDS campaign, what made you want to join another initiative?

Hilson: While I was doing my research as part of that campaign, I realized that we are really not as aware of AIDS as we are of other diseases. I mean that it's not as present and in our faces. It's not on the news, it's not something talked about in every day life -- it's kind of taboo. But when you look at the numbers, that is the exact opposite of what the fact is, which is that 34-37 million people are infected around the world, with 2.7 million new cases per year of young people. And I love Staying Alive's approach -- they start with educating the youth and I'm all about that. My music allows me [to reach] that same demographic as listeners. 

Loop 21: When you say "we are not as aware," do you mean the United States?