Jacksonville, FL Hip-Hop Artist-Mr. Al Pete

Artist Track: Listen and Love It! Hands Down, by Mr. Al Pete

Artist Myspace URL: http://www.myspace.com/mralpete

Support Local/Regional Artist: BUY THE MUSIC-http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mralpete

SUAFRadio Interview w/Mr. Al Pete

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.

Hip-Hop Documentary Film Trailer from DanPerezFilms on Vimeo.

Dan Perez

Dan Perez of Dan Perez Films is an award winning film maker from Miami, Fl. After a successful 10-year career in the high-end catering and special events industry in New York and South Florida, Dan Perez was looking for something more. He began to realize his unique talent for distinctive videography and video editing. This newfounded passion led him to walk away from a career he once loved and to start “Dans Video Creations” which has become of of South Florida’s fastest growing video production companies. Read more at http://www.danperezfilms.com

Dan’s documentary film, “P.A.T.H, which is an acronym for Preserving, Archiving and Teaching Hip-Hop History is an award winning film that documents the P.A.T.H. Hip-Hop Academy a summer program founded by one of Miami’s hottest hip-hop artist, Seth Brimston, AKA “Brimstone 127″. During the four week camp, teenagers from ages 12-19 studied Hip-Hop history, the art of deejaying, emceeing (rapping), B-boying and B-girling (break-dancing), and urban art. The film made its world premiere at the Chicago International Hip-Hop Film Festival and continues to draw standing room only audience all over Miami and South Florida. Now it’s Georgia’s turn to see one of the best documentaries of it’s time that focuses on how to use hip-hop as a positive tool to engage youth.

P.A.T.H Trailer on Vimeo

Hip-Hop Documentary Film Trailer from DanPerezFilms on Vimeo.

Interview with Dan Perez on SUAF Radio

P.A.T.H.

Founder of P.A.T.H -Brimstone127

The mission of P.A.T.H. is to preserve, archive, and teach hip hop history through educational community outreach programs such as summer camps, apprenticeships, after-school programs, lectures, workshops and concerts. The goal of P.A.T.H. is to instill leadership skills, community values and to encourage youth to pursue their passion. Through Hiphop culture we will inspire, educate and entertain. Visit P.A.T.H on the web:

Endeleza Trailer from Ana on Vimeo.

Film Synopsis-Endeleza is a Kiswahili word that means progress, prosper, and flourish. The film is a rare opportunity for viewers around the globe to experience the miracles that the Sarakasi Trust bestows upon its participants first hand. The Sarakasi Trust is an organization established in Nairobi, Kenya, to enhance and advance the lives of the less fortunate through the performing arts. Their energy, excitement, creativity, and encouragement give the participants the tools to transform their lives and positively influence the lives of others. By providing intimate vignettes into the lives of four amazing individuals that are part of the Sarakasi Trust, we will watch as they encounter the forces of opposition that hinder their daily life. Through interaction with their families, friends, and by participating in their day-to-day activities, we will experience the amazing talent and vigor of these struggling artistes as they learn life-changing lessons of performance and perseverance. Endeleza will take us on this incredible journey with them.

Ana Cetina, Director, Producer & Sound Designer

Ana Cetina

Ana Cetina is originally of Mexican and Colombian decent. She was born in Mexico and moved to Colombia when she three years old. As a child and teenager, she spent six years in Nairobi, Kenya before moving to the United States to complete her undergraduate degree in Audio Technology and Applied Physics from the American University in Washington, DC. She later moved to Savannah, GA to work on her M.F.A. in Sound Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design where she discovered a passion for Documentary Film. Ana has many films, commercials, animations, and industrial videos under her belt. She has worked professionally doing field sound and in-studio audio engineering to help put herself through her Master’s Degree program at SCAD. She enjoys every aspect of production and looks forward to giving back to a community that is close to her heart by providing her exceptional skills to this project.

Emily Ullrich, Co-Director and Co-Writer

Emily Ullrich

Emily Ullrich is an award-winning filmmaker whose work has shown in the Cannes Film Festival, The Savannah Film Festival, Chicago’s Hit Eight, and others. She currently teaches Documentary Film, Media and Society, History of Film, and Journalism at Georgia Southern University.
She recently co-directed, co-wrote, and co-produced a documentary feature film in Nairobi, Kenya, called Endeleza.

She has over twelve years of television and film experience, and is also currently teaching digital fillmaking at AWOL, working with students on a series of community-based documentary shorts. Emily graduated with her B.F.A. in Film and Television from Savannah College of Art and Design, and later went on to get her Master’s Degree from Antioch University in Writing Acting and Directing for Stage and Screen.

Endeleza Trailer on Vimeo

Endeleza Trailer from Ana on Vimeo.

Art, Beats + Lyrics is taking it back.

HISTORY OF THE TOUR:

Art, Beats + Lyrics was established in 2004 when founder Jabari Graham faced being laid off from his job.  Jabari figured he could look for new employment or create it himself.  He had long toyed with the idea of creating a showcase for unrecognized urban artists.  Jabari decided to follow his dream, investing his savings and severance package to fund an urban art showcase in Atlanta’s eclectic Little Five Points District.  The exhibition was well received.  The venue held 250 people, but over 400 attended.  With that initial success, Jabari teamed with Dwayne “Dubelyoo” Wright.  Dubelyoo had been creating his own art shows and brought experience, connections with artists and the inside perspective, being an artist himself, to the showcase.  Together they repackaged the event and “Art, Beats + Lyrics” was born.  Positive reviews from their first show made their second show at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art an unparalleled success in both AB+L and High Museum history.  The museum was filled to capacity within three hours of the show’s opening.  With the success of that and several other shows the next step was to take the show on the road. The concept for the show was pitched to a corporate sponsor and the partnership to produce one of the largest traveling urban art exhibition was born.

Dubelyoo "The Art Bishop", AB+L Co-Founder

Jabari Graham, AB+L Co-Founder

Art, Beats and Lyrics Houston Promo 2010

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Check out this HOT Track from DEZ!

Chameleon EP-Now Available on iTunes

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.

Dezaray held a variety of jobs, but it was her gig as a DJ in one of Nashville’s more progressive clubs that further enriched her already diverse musical tastes. Before spinning at this now-defunct Nashville hotspot, this avid music junkie had truly appreciated all styles of music, but it was Dezaray’s time in the booth which helped her re-discover electronica and the wide variety it encompasses, from house music to facets that include elements of soul and tribal. This led to horizon-broadening discoveries of artists such as Groove Armada, Armand Van Helden, D’Nell, Silhouette Brown, 4Hero, J*Davey, Muhsinah, Vikter Duplaix, Lisa Shaw, Georgia Ann Muldrow… the list goes on and on. Not only did Dezaray expose club-goers to an amazing array of artists many had never heard before, but each of these artists would later come to influence Dezaray’s style in her own music.

In addition to her time spent as a DJ, Dezaray studied music technology but came to realize that her heart was geared more to the artistic side of the industry. Having composed poetry throughout her life as a way of coping with all she was living through, she first ventured into the spotlight as a performing poet at various open mike events around Nashville. This is where she honed her reputation as a wordsmith, but given her love of music in all its forms, it was only a matter of time before she set her poetry to music.

Dezaray’s wealth of experiences in her young life, along with her total immersion in all types of music, has informed her musical choices as a composer and performer. Instead of being limited by genres and labels, Dezaray has pulled elements from many different styles and fused them together to form her own unique sound. From the driving rhythms and bass lines of hip-hop, to the futuristic sounds of electronica, to the far-flung elements of soul from around the world, all play a part in making Dezaray Dawn’s music what it so distinctly is today.

Dezaray has put together an EP that gives listeners a taste of what this young artist with the old soul is all about. The disc is titled “Chameleon,” which is quite apropos, given the widely divergent influences, which can be heard on the tracks Dezaray composed and offers for listeners’ enjoyment.

Dezaray, now based in Atlanta, has performed at several open-mike events, and is building a following in Atlanta’s future soul scene. In addition to her EP, Dezaray can be heard on several pod casts of up-and-coming independent artists, and she has been featured on Atlanta’s 89.3. She has also performed at Cenci in Atlanta to much acclaim.

Dezaray Dawn’s music is soul music at it’s finest - occasionally raw, often sweet, but always emotional and from the heart. Combine that with the solid rhythms of bass and percussion and the futuristic sounds of electronica, and you have one the most talented young artists of future soul.

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After graduating from Tech, Sheldon began to pursue photography wholeheartedly as a profession. While working as a business operations consultant during the day, Sheldon began to develop and refine his photographic area of focus: music and fashion portraiture.

He has published photos in The Atlantan Magazine, Skratch Magazine, USoul Magazine and Hip-Hop Weekly.” Sheldon will be unveiling a photography project long in the making, The Face Project will be on exhibit at LuLu’s Chocolate Bar April 18-25, 2010 for your viewing pleasure. Stop by and see this inspiring collection of photographic works.

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