The world hasn’t seen an emcee like Dynasty before. It’s rare when an artist combines heartfelt storytelling, commanding stage presence, and a deep and palpable audience connection. The soul of Lauryn Hill, and the ruff neck swagger of MC Lyte, all appropriate descriptions for D.Y. It’s easy to make comparisons when you start talking about female emcees. D.Y. herself says “I’m complimented by comparisons to Lauryn” but one look at her live and you’ll see that she truly holds her own in this game.
The soul of a dreamer, and the fearless determination to follow that dream wherever it might lead, her presence on stage is a guaranteed, take no prisoners, always leave them wanting more, show stealer. D.Y. has lit up shows opening for Erykah Badu, The Wu-Tang Clan, Mos Def, Fantasia, Redman and Method Man, Talib Kweli, KRS One and more. A Wu-Tang Clan crowd will not stand for anything less than ruff, rugged, and raw, so you know she has skills. She also did the Florida leg of the Duck Down 15th Anniversary tour along with the entire roster including Sean Price and Pharoahe Monch. But it’s her performance on records that truly sets Dynasty in a class all her own. While she has an affinity for hard beats and raw hip hop artists such as MOP and Slaughterhouse, she often finds inspiration from artists on the opposite side of the spectrum like the soulful Erykah Badu and the timeless, Ella Fitzgerald.
Along with her DJ, DJ Sandman, Dynasty has been making a name for herself, turning heads locally and all over the world thanks to a co-sign from DJ Premier who put her last single “Femcee” on his “On Tha Road Again” mixtape. The following year, he gave her the ultimate cosign by producing a song for her. “Epic Dynasty” was placed on his compilation album, Get Used to Us. The legendary DJ even appears alongside DY in the video for the song. Dynasty set off 2013 with a career high, releasing a song with one of her favorite artists world renowned Talib Kweli, Stay Shinin’.
All of that considered, one of her most favorite things is performing for and working with youth. She frequently visits juvenile detention centers and other youth programs to speak with teens about following their dreams. While she has so many things to be excited about, she finds the most joy and satisfaction in using her gift to encourage and inspire teens.
Her passion transcends the stage; her mass appeal transcends all boundaries. There is no “set demographic” for D.Y., no gimmick, no crafted agenda aside from making beautiful music. She rocks for the grown folks, the kids and people from all walks of life. Rightfully so, soul music touches the world.
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.
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.
