The people said they needed a break from the sameness. There was no creativity. They had given up hope and fallen out of love with Hip-Hop. Then, along came KidSyc@Brandywine.
In early 2010, KidSyc recieved an e-mail with the subject line, “We respect your MC abilities…”. This e-mail, sent by bassist Charles Hodge eventually ended KidSyc’s year-long search for a live band and sparked what was soon to become an artistic force to be reckoned with.
With a pair of plaid pants and an undenialby magnetic sound, KidSyc@Brandywine captivated crowds at the 2010 Savannah Urban Arts Festival and broke the monotony of Savannah’s Hip-Hop scene. Listing influences like Earth, WInd, and Fire, Radiohead, J. Dilla, Eminem, and Stevie Wonder, (to name a few), its no wonder a song like “Different” serves as a great snapshot of what these guys are all about.
If you take the thoughts, ideas, and emotions of your average misfit, sprinkle in some new-found confidence, and spread it all across a bold and adventurous soundtrack. What you will have is a KidSyc@Brandywine song…… and a new favorite rap.
As Above, So Below.” The ancient Hermetic saying from the legendary Emerald Tablet declares what is the above is from the below, and the below is from the above, and all these works of wonders are from the one (the source). Heady stuff for an R&B album title, but the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter AnthonyDavid has never been the kind of soul artist to “speak loudly, but say nothing.” WithDavid, the sage psalm aptly describes the ruminations of a seeker whose walk travels over roots, soul, blues, reggae and hip hop to unabashedly express the unexpressed in men’s souls, from the carnal and the provocative to the unsure and the vulnerable. Digging deeper with every project, David continues to peel back layers of public identity, political chutzpah, and playa propaganda to use what lies beneath as the clay for something honest and real.
AnthonyDavid’s third original studio album and debut release on Purpose Music Group/ E1, finds David culling inspiration not only from the headlines but also from the red Savannah soils of the singer’s birth home—from tea parties to magnolia makeouts. Fans of “Georgia Peach” and “ATL Sunshine” know David’s Southern roots run deep. Georgia’s son with the famously raspy voice never dreamed of becoming a singer, not with sangin’ kin who included members of the multi-platinum singing groups Xscape and Boyz II Men. So, the practical David entered the Army straight out of high school. Quickly learning the military wasn’t his bag, at 19, David left after one stint, moved to Atlanta, and entered trade school to become a sound engineer. For four years, David was an everyman: quietly writing lyrics, singing to himself, listening and learning from behind the studio boards, and beginning to nurture the seeds of a dream. He helped form and briefly recorded with funk/rap outfit, El Pus, on their Virgin Records debut, Hoodlum Rock. Eventually, at the urging of friend India.Arie, the 23 year-old David finally picked up the guitar and…it felt like home. Local fans soon came for an invitation toDavid’s musical sanctuary and suddenly the ordinary was extraordinary. Even after David began touring the world as a background singer and co-writer for India.Arie, he never forgot the beauty of the ordinary.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a National Poetry Slam champion, Broadway veteran, GOLDIE award winner, and inaugural recipient of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship which annually recognizes 50 of the country’s “greatest living artists.”Smithsonian Magazinenamed him, in 2007, one of the Top Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences.
Originally from New York City and currently living in Oakland, California, this acclaimed performer and arts activist has toured nationally and internationally including a performance at the 1st International Spoken Word Festival in Tokyo and in Santiago de Cuba where he joined the legendary Katherine Dunham as a part of the CubaNola Collective.
Bamuthi entered the world of literary performance after crossing the sands of “traditional” theater, most notably on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning “The Tap Dance Kid” and “Stand-Up Tragedy.”
His most recent work, the break/s has been acclaimed as a new level of hip-hop theatre. A mixtape for the stage, the break/s is a multimedia infused theatrical journey and international travel diary across planet hip-hop, based on Can’t Stop Won’t Stop by Jeff Chang. Bamuthi developed this piece while completing the prestigious Arts Institute Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and it premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays
In 2007, Bamuthi’s work, Scourge, was presented internationally in Belgium, Italy and Netherlands. The performance reflects
Special Guest, Marc Bamuthi Joseph
on the plight of Haiti in the post-colonial New World and was developed while Bamuthi was a Phillis Wattis Artist-in-Residence at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Collaborators for Scourge include renowned choreographer Rennie Harris, Grammy-nominated composer John Santos, dramaturg Roberta Uno, and director Kamilah Forbes of the New York City Hip Hop Theater Festival.
His other evening-length works include Word Becomes Flesh,De/Cipher and No Man’s Land. Bamuthi’s works, which have been performed on stages from New York’s Lincoln Center to the Contemporary Theater in Seattle, have been described as everything from “electrifying” (The Houston Chronicle), to “ever-elegant” (The Washington Post) and has compelled The Seattle Times to name him their “cutting edge performer of the year” for 2003. In their review of Word Becomes Flesh, the New York Times declared his work to be “eloquent…seamless…and remarkable.”
Check out an excerpt from Marc performance of “the break/s” at the National Endowment for the Arts
P. Blackk has came to the rap game to change a lot of misconceptions. The art of females that do more with their vocal abilities than their sexual appeal is fading away fast. P. Blackk strives to bring the “female rapper” back to the forefront. Blessed with a unique voice and lyrics that can match most male rappers, P. Blackk is releasing her debut album, “My Own Reality Show”.The album is 15 tracks of pure energy complimented with insightful lyrics. P, Blackk is able to go from playful teenager to serious poet easily.Lead by her first single, “Goin 2 Da Party”, which showcases P. Blackk’s ability to have fun on a record, this album is all original production with pounding bass lines mixed with soulful samples. Songs like “Serious”, “You Wanna Fight”, and “I Run This” showcase P. Blackk’s ability to transition from a teenager to skillful rapper. “Angel”, “Turn Around”, and “My Life” shows P. Blackk in a more poetic form.P. Blackk’s goal is simple…”I don’t want to be the best FEMALE rapper. I want to be the best RAPPER…PERIOD!”
Mahogany, Personal Trainer and Professional Dancer
Mahogany has performed on almost every stage in New York City. She cultivated her craft at Savannah Arts Academy where she graduated with honors in Dance Theater. Mahogany also has two degrees in Marketing Management, and Business Management from Savannah Technical College.
She is a well-received performer in many aspects of the visual arts including dance, poetry, theater, and fashion. Mahogany has been teaching dance since 1998 and has performed with the world-renowned Sankofa Dance Theatre for over ten years. She has traveled to Ghana, West Africa and performed in the PANA-FEST festival. She has received rave reviews in the New York Times and has worked with many famous artists including Steven Devines, Beyonce Knowles, Jermaine Dupree, Missy Eliot, and Juvenile. Mahogany began modeling with the Ford Modeling Agency, Wilhelmina, N.Y. after she graduated high school. Her modeling career has included runways for top designers such as Calvin Klein, Vera Wang, and Christen Dior.
MSB, Inc. students at work
Mahogany Shades of Beauty, Inc.
Mahogany now owns and operates Mahogany Shades of Beauty Inc. (MSB) MSB Inc. is a well respected modeling and talent agency in Savannah, Ga where Mahogany teaches dance, modeling, theatre, poetry, and job etiquette. Mahogany is also the vice-president of Universal Women of Savannah, a nonprofit organization grounded in community outreach and sister hood and she also works very closely with Tony Jordon of All Walks Of Life Inc.(AWOL Inc.) In addition to dance, Mahogany’s second love is her community. One of her great loves is the social work she does at a runaway shelter, and her outreach at the various homeless shelters in the Savannah area and the work she does with the youth at the Boys & Girls Club, The Crusader Center, and St. Pius Resource Center. Her passion for community, children, and dance are the driving force in her life. Her mission is to continue her career in dance and teaching while helping to cultivate the minds, bodies, and spirits of the next generation and help them understand that the sky is only the limit.
Adolfo Hernandez is a self-taught painter born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México and raised in El Paso, Texas. The border life between the third and the first world had a great effect on what Adolfo perceived art to be. He first begin to recognize objects and duplicate them on sheets of paper at the age of two, when he was forced to fill up pages with lines and circles by his mother. Eventually this lead to early self-portraits, farm animals, luchadores, comic book superheroes, etc. Many methods and styles of painting are influential in Adolfos paintings, such as surreal art, talavera art, graffiti and stencil art. Adolfo makes every attempt to experiment with painting on different surfaces, from traditional canvas to scarps of old wood.
Lieby by Adolfo
The Rock by Adolfo
Most of his paintings are reflections of his adulthood with the unconsciousness of childhood memories. Adolfo uses metaphors and symbols to illustrate stories and tell them to audiences using a visual canvas. For example, the “nopal” is his representation of a human with scars and wounds but disguises himself with flower buds to hide his imperfections. Adolfo has completed several commissioned art projects locally and abroad through is own arts company, Inope Visual Arts Studios. http://www.inopeartanddesign.com/
Kevin ‘Floco Torres’ Williams Jr. got his name from a childhood friends grandmother who noticed how “skinny” he was growing up. When she passed away he decided to take her last name “Torres” and create a brand that would influence people to inquire before they judge(Black Man-Spanish Name). At the age of 22, Floco has created his own hollywood called “Psycadelphia”, won two indie awards for that said hollywood and his music movement in general, created a fan base from his hometown Willingboro New Jersey all the way down to Macon Georgia, and continues to make his mark as one of the next influential entertainers/entreprenuers/inspirations in the industry. Born in Willingboro, New Jersey, he grew up five months at a time in places from New York to Pennsylvania, with a few years in the South thrown in for good measure. He’s in Georgia now, visiting family and building a base in the Southeast as he’d been doing back home. It’s been a little culture shock to say the least, but standing out just fuels the fire.
In an area dominated musically and culturally by mainstream country and thug rap, he’s a dude channeling a variety of influences, not only in his music but also in his very walk. That’s drawn a lot of attention from folks who feel just as isolated by their upstream efforts for individuality. They identify because he uses sarcasm and self-denigrating humor to defend the big gaping wounds on his shirt-sleeve heart. And they flock because he funnels it all back through a passion and intensity on the stage that matches the lyrical wit and charm in his recordings.
There are moments when, in the throes of a crowd-rousing chorus, you think he could be an old school soul singer, pouring it out like there’ll never be another performance, like there are generations of mixed-up sorrow and satisfaction that he’s got to unleash. Then, just as impressively, he starts a chuckle and the whimsy returns, playfully eschewing objectification, telling all the ladies in the crowd, “I’m not trying to be rude/I’m not lookin’ at your boobs/I’m just checking out your sneakers.” (from the song “Chicks With Kicks” featuring Al K!NG).
He’s just a dude being himself as best he can, navigating the gauntlet of simply being alive. Just like everyone else, except he’s recorded 300 songs in the process. His ambitions are no different than most folks: he wants to make a living and be able take care of his family. He labors in the studio and on the stage. There isn’t a blueprint for what he’s doing, but he stays on top of all his options, anchoring a seat in the bookstore, combing over magazines and researching changes in the world around him, keeping his toes dipped in several different cultural ponds, and looking for an opportunity to reach more people. If his gut and that growing throng of fans are right, he won’t have to spend as much time figuring out a way to reach people as he will being able to just enrich the ones who’ve already found him.
SUAFRadio Interview w/Mr. Al Pete-Click on SUAF Radio
Video: “Something More” featuring Tony White
In this day and age, true to heart Hip-Hop artists are far and few between, and Mr. Al Pete is definitely one of those artists. One part Emcee, one part DJ, and one part Musical Entrepreneur, makes up just some of the ingredients in the recipe for this hip-hop elitist in Jacksonville, FL.
Entering into the world of writing rhymes at the young age of 9, Al Pete has been perfecting his craft for some time now. Once he began his journey into adulthood, Al Pete decided to make moves towards his goal of being one of the top entertainers in Hip-Hop. One of his initial steps involved coming together with his long time friend and musical peer Shirl Dee Capital, to create GrownFolk Entertainment in 2004. Providing an umbrella for many different entertainment aspects of Shirl Dee and Al Pete, GrownFolk was just the beginning of many avenues to come.
In 2005 under the advisory of his Uncle, role model, and mentor Tru.ski, Al Pete decided to take his love for the genre, and enjoyment of creating musical sets for friends and family, to another level by learning the art of turntablism which is housed under the G.F.E. label as well. Al Pete began spinning for parties, poetry events, social gatherings, venues, and fashion shows. Along with all of this Al Pete was still working diligently to keep his own music flowing and to keep up with performances in and out of town.
In the spring of 2006, Al Pete and Shirl Dee decided to put together the first mixtape to come from GrownFolk Entertainment; “Exhibit A” which received an overwhelming response from the masses. That year momentum kept pushing forward, and in the winter of 2006 Al Pete joined alongside with The Elevated Hip-Hop Experience for a special live recorded album. Drive still pushing on in 2007, the spring brought another compilation album release “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” which included two of Al Pete’s close companions and fellow artists Tough Junkie and Picasso.
On February 10th 2009, Al Pete released his debut album “Talk About It”, which includes his popular singles “Somethin’ More”, “All is Good” and “The Truth”. Creating videos for “All Is Good” and “The Truth” has only continued to keep the buzz for the album going. Receiving 4 out of 5 with Reax Magazine’s review and also a write up in Jacksonville’s own Folio Weekly. Mr. Al Pete has been spreading through out the region with shows in various cities in Florida and Georgia.
Mr. Al Pete continues moving at full force with performances, features on various Hip-Hop albums, and mixtapes, and still offers DJ services with events such as Nokturnal Escape and Fashion Forward Inc. With his new album G3.0 being released in December of 2009 and the buzz for his acting debut in Be Dynamik’s upcoming film “Treacherous” to be release in 2010, nothing will dull Mr. Al Pete’s shine.
Dezaray Dawn is an exciting new artist on the future soul scene, possessing a voice which resonates with the depth of both emotion and experience. This German-born, Southern-raised Army brat is a self-described gypsy, having lived in 2 countries, 4 states, and 6 US cities by the time she was 16. She attended 16 schools in 12 years, and Dezaray states: “When nothing else was solid in my life, there was always music. Whether listening to what my parent’s were playing or composing tunes in my head, music was my solace, my friend, my release, my comfort.” Born to two military parents, and raised in an environment where the only constant was change, the one firm foundation was music. Dezaray’s mother was a part-time nightclub singer, and her father’s family includes several highly successful recording artists (neo-soul artist Anthony David is a cousin, as are Sean Stockman of Boys II Men fame, and Tiny from Xscape), so it was only natural that their home was always filled with music. “Soul, pop, funk – you name it. Everything except rap and hip-hop. My mom wouldn’t allow it,” Dezaray says with a laugh. But even this genre came to influence her own musical choices later on, as she grew to appreciate the tribal beats and syncopation of what she was spinning during her time spent as a highly regarded DJ at a progressive club in Nashville.
In addition to the sounds of Chaka, Aretha and Natalie from her mother’s collection, Dezaray Dawn’s early life was spent emulating artists she came to know on MTV. She wanted to “sing like Prince, dance like Michael, and be a showman like Madonna.” As her life became more turbulent following her parents’ divorce and the moves became more frequent due to her mother’s alcoholism, music was her escape. And more than anything, Dezaray came to understand the universality of soul music. Whether on the streets, in a shelter, or in the relative comfort of a stable home, soul music encompassed all she was experiencing and the feelings which ensued from being the victim of circumstances. Immediately following graduation, Dezaray struck out on her own, and, after a lifetime spent on the move, decided to settle right where she was: Nashville, otherwise known as Music City. (more…)
“Bored with the streets wanted to see the tree tops// Let my eyes get the birds eye view// ‘Cuz I’m sure flying’s cooler than walkin’// I mean look at Superman and Clark Kent//”
The opening lines from KidSyc’s latest project, The Fly High Mikstape, just about sums the Atlanta-bred rapper up in four bars. His style is intricate, but clear. Intelligent, yet concise and to the point. “I don’t think packing my verses with overblown vocabulary makes me a better artist. It just alienates the average listener, and that’s the opposite of what I want to happen when you listen to my music.” At 22 years old it seems Syc has found what it takes most emcees years in the game to discover. Complexity does not equal greatness. Without watering down his content, KidSyc draws you in with a flow that constantly surprises the ear and hooks that stick with you for days at a time.
The passion for creating music was almost forced on him. During the five years he lived in Minnesota after his parents divorce in ’92,KidSyc, born Lloyd Harold, attended a fine arts elementary school across the street from his house. “We had to play strings, a band instrument, take Spanish, and art classes. It was like basic training for the creative mind.” Growing up on the music of artists like Micheal Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, and Anita Baker, provided the blueprint for the type of music he would aspire to one day create.
“For You” (Live @ Tantra) – Kid Syc
KidSyc, had a late introduction to hip-hop. With a mother that kept close tabs on what got into the eyes and ears of her children, it was almost impossible for him to explore the world of rap music. “My mom wouldn’t let us watch the Simpsons ’cause Bart was disrespectful, so you can imagine how she felt about 2Pac.” These restrictions were something he would later come to appreciate, and view as necessary to his development as an artist. (more…)
