Originally from Indianapolis but residing in Atlanta, GA, Lyrical A.J. is on a mission to change the lives of his fans through his music. With his witty delivery, energetic performances, and relatable subject matter, A.J. is continuing to make a name for himself by putting on live shows that resonate with his audiences.
The release of his third project, rightfully named Not Your Average Mixtape (N.Y.A.M.) gained him notoriety including a 5-star rating from Coast to Coast Mixtapes and enabled him to perform at popular venues in Atlanta such as Masquerade, Apache, I Am Music and Morehouse College. Recently, A.J. released another project “C.K.Season”, booked his second College tour in Indiana and given the opportunity to be an artist in social media hub Play Pro Media’s TARSTE II Music Expo.
A.J. is actively engaging with his audience through live shows and social media continuing to build relationships with his fans. He’s started a special group, appropriately titled his “Family List,” where he reaches out with inspirational posts, comments, and emphasizes feedback in order to provide material fans actually care about.Presently, Lyrical A.J. has achieved ground level recognition and is preparing to expand his growth to gain sponsorship, build upon his fan base, and book shows in new territories. He’s currently working on his first solo album, CINEMATIC: The Pursuit of Happiness, which reiterates his theme of being “Beyond Average.” Lyrical A.J. is on the verge of garnering major attention all that’s needed is the right opportunity.
My heart is stirred by a noble theme, as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer. - Psalm 45:1
These are the words and mantra that MJ Baker lives by.
Equipped with an angelic voice, thought provoking lyrics and her signature pink guitar, MJ is a prolific singer, songwriter, musician, and poet that takes you on a journey telling a story of life, love, loss and much more.
Her musical inspirations include India Arie, Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill, Billy Holiday and Taylor Swift. She says also that life, itself, is an inspiration to her in the way we live it, the decisions we make – for better or worse – and the consequences of those decisions. She also cites her mother as a huge inspiration saying she’s “76 and funny as hell”.
Music isn’t the only passion that MJ has, however. She has been active within the Jacksonville community as a youth counselor for the past 15 years. Along with two other local artists, Yolanda Webster and Taryn Wharwood (known better by her stage name Love Reigns), she is developing a non-profit organization to benefit troubled youth in the Jacksonville community.
Some of the other projects in which she is currently and actively involved include singing and writing her first solo album, due out late 2013 and her first Mixtape, due out Summer 2013. Both projects are being executive produced by Mr. Al Pete of Grown Folk Entertainment, Inc. (GFE).
She hopes that through building her brand, it will inspire those who don’t believe in themselves to move forward. She wishes, (in her own words):
“To motivate people who fear the unknown to pursue even in the midst of their fears. To trust that the Creator would not have given us such amazing gifts and talents if He didn’t want us to use them. As we discover the weird, the awkward, the mysteriousness within, that we would accept it, cultivate it and share it with the world.”
“Check the Rhymes”
Joel, a native of Brunswick Georgia, grew up singing in church and performing in local talent shows. Joel is the front man and matriarch of the band that blends distinctive flows, acoustics, dense piano and tranquil melodies to paint a rembrandt with his rhymes. Joel, with his eclectic swag, becomes one with his audience and pushes to reinvent the wheel of hip hop. He stands equipped to share his gift of music to the world. You can live today; say goodbye tomorrow but love, life and music will always ease future sorrow.
“Guitar Hero”
Gavin MacDonald, the guitarist from the windy city, brings a unique edge and component to the group. His style of charismatic play and riffs brings balance to TeenWolfe. With the guitar, MacDonald is experienced and confident; similar to a sword being yielded by a fierce warrior. He plays to the knowledge that Joel expels from his southern native tongue of Georgia. This results in a relationship that is melancholy, fresh and adds a uniqueness and distinct feel to the band.
“On the Ones and Twos”
Tommy Hart aka DJ Hartbreak is the man in the middle and is a major ingredient in this mélange. Also a native of Georgia, he’s had a passion for music since the age of 10. Hartbreak is a skilled artist that is accustomed to playing many types of instruments; such as the saxophone, guitar and drums. He brings the right amount of zest to group and has the power to captivate the audience. His energy is absorbed and reciprocated by the crowd with each performance.
“Bring the Noise”
Rounding out the group is Brandon (Bronzze) Mcleod from Florence, SC. Mcleod is the percussion specialist that brings the pulsating thump to the band. A music lover, experienced drummer and entrepreneur that recently joined the group in August of 2012; his aspirations include combining the art of dance with music and entertainment. He completes the puzzle and is the final piece of this nucleus.
“Don’t you think it’s time we think about the future? Whether our children are gonna be winners or losers?” – excerpt from The Mind by KRS-One
It really is bigger than Hip-Hop for Jacksonville, Florida’s aspiring emcee, songwriter and recording artist, Jasonplusone, who is out all of the hats that he wears a child of God, father and educator, first. The Florida Memorial University graduate’s aim is to combine his passion for educating today’s youth with his love for music and Hip-Hop culture, to create a sonic explosion that reaches far beyond the inner-city high school classroom that he teaches in every day. This desire was evident in his release of the Ghost of Trayvon Martin, in memory of Trayvon Martin, the 17 year old African-American teen, who was gunned down by a neighborhood watch vigilante in Jasonplusone’s home state of Florida. As an African-American man, with a young son, the emcee was especially affected by the murder and has been vocal in his call for justice. Jasonplusone’s ultimate goal is to use music and education to build a network of academies that would allow minority and inner-city youths to discover and hone their artistic skills, utilizing primary academics, while correlating it to Hip-Hop culture. He also envisions entering the political realm to advocate on behalf of said youths to effect change for generations to come. Jasonplusone’s passion and dedication to educating future generations stems from his upbringing in Jacksonville, Florida, having been educated at an HBCU, where he received a Bachelor’s in Education and the social ills and inequities that he has been exposed to growing up and as a math teacher at a inner city high school.
Fittingly, the words he lives by is, “Do the math, add it up. Everything happens for a reason.” Which is not only pertinent to his profession, but to life. As an emcee, Jasonplusone mixes raw, witty and thought provoking rhymes over beats from some of Southeast Florida’s dopest producers and beat makers. He is inspired by a wide range of Hip-Hop emcee’s and artists and counts Stalley, Big KRIT, Jay-Z, Mos Def, Paten Locke and Stillwater as some of his favorite artists. He is also a proud member of The Black Chain Gang (BCG) collective of artists which includes, Alias, Jay Kai and Mr. Al Pete, just to name a few. In 2011, he released the critically acclaimed single Dazed & Perks with producer, Absalom. And he is currently working on his debut album, First Coast Flights as well as BCG collaborative efforts, The Same Old Different Mixtape and Born Better. Jasonplusone has graced the stages of some of Jacksonville’s premier venues like Poppy Love Smoke and Lomax Lodge and is set to make his first appearance at the Savannah Urban Arts Festival in Savannah, Georgia in April of 2012.
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.
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/
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.
With influence from his Uncle and mentor Tru.Ski, Mr. Al Pete entered into the world of writing rhymes at the young age of 9. Perfecting his craft during his journey into a full grown emcee, 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 partner Shirl Dee Capital, to create GrownFolk Entertainment in 2004. GrownFolk would be an entity that provides an umbrella for many different entertainment aspects of Shirl Dee and Al Pete, including Mr. Al Pete’s emcee, DJ, Modeling, and Acting careers.
With his hand stirring so many pots, Mr. 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 continued 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 2009, Al Pete released his debut album “Talk About It”, which includes his popular singles “Something more”, “All is Good” and “The Truth”. The album received 4 out of 5 with Reax Magazine’s review. With this feed back Mr. Al Pete jumped back in the kitchen and mixed up his next project which was released December of 2009, “G3.0” a compilation album with producer Notsucal which received a rave review on The Lavilla Project website that states [G3.0] is a rare listening experience, where each track hits just as hard as the last and takes the listener on a lyrical and sonic journey that they’d be hard pressed to return from.
In 2010 Mr. Al Pete expanded his entertainment interests and began filming as one of the lead characters, Marco Lewis in the indie film “Treacherous”. The movie released in July of 2010 and is currently in rotations at film festivals nationally, with “Something More” also on the movie’s soundtrack. At the close of 2010 Mr. Al Pete released two compilation projects in October. The first being “H.N.I.C.” a Mixtape project with Swurv Radio DJ and Sniper Squad East Coast Mixtape Director K.G.B. The second project “A.A.A” was a compilation album with Producer Average Jo and fellow emcee Alias. Both projects have been receiving a dazzling response from the masses for these predominantly internet releases.
As of 2011 Mr. Al Pete began stepping back from the features and compilations to work on the individuality of his musical art. Putting all focus into the next project “Fish in the Forrest”, the album currently on track for a 2012 release, will be getting back to the essence of Mr. Al Pete as the solo emcee. “Fish in the Forrest” will be an interesting look into his growth over the past few years. In the mean time Mr. Al Pete has been receiving overwhelming requests for music from his fans which has inspired the release of “Evelyn Flow” a compact hard hitting 11 minute sampler which provides a quick look into the next level of artistry that we can expect in the future. Also helping to calm the riots is Mr. Al Pete’s “32 Bar Take Off” for which numbers have been sky rocketing since its release in March of 2012. While keeping up appearances through out the region in Orlando, Tampa, Savannah, and Atlanta, Mr. Al Pete has his eyes solely on his music, and nothing will slow down this artist from rising to the top!
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.
“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…)
