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Khalil Ismail gives us Freedom Fighters
Globetrotting, Hip Hop/Soul emcee and vocalist, Khalil Ismail, prepares for the release of his latest project, Freedom Fighters, while proving that perception can be reality, even in the make-believe world of entertainment.
Khalil Ismail is a rare breed. Audiences of Hip Hop music often find themselves victims of publicity campaigns by artists who have aligned with a trending topic or constructed a personality in order to sell or gain something, but they will find that KI tells a different story—in fact, a true story. READ THE REST
Missing in Action…
It’s February (the end of February at that) and I have not posted since the end of 2011… If it’s any consolation, I have been writing a lot, mostly on “behind the scenes” things that will broaden the brands under my entrepreneurial umbrella. One is the feature film that I co-wrote with Denton Adams and in which I will co-star. Visit Checkmate Studios website for more insight.
But what is primarily consuming my time is my music brand, The Brown’stone Recording Company. For starters, we have a new logo… Look, when you’re an entrepreneur, you’ll discover talents you never even intended to have. Although I don’t plan on marketing this gift, I have become a bit of a graphic designer. Check out the comps for the new logo: READ THE REST
Forget CDs, get ‘Cassette Music’
The year that Urban Cartel has had would be considered a successful one for any group of musicians, but for a band that until November only had a 6-track EP on its discography, they managed to find a way to make a name for themselves with a fresh sound in a crowded marketplace where Go-Go music reigns supreme.
With CDs becoming obsolete anyway, you should pick up Cassette Music…”
Cassette Music is the debut LP from DC-based Hip Hop and Rhythm & Blues-influenced band, Urban Cartel, a twelve-track project, which showcases the AJ, Andy and Sackey’s musical skills as well as the gifts of house emcee, Teddy, and crooner Seph, who’s vocals rival any well-known soul star on the airwaves today. READ THE REST
‘New voice’ in literary world
DC author touted as ‘new voice’ in literary world
Kayona Ebony Brown speaks for Generation Y with debut novel
Kayona Ebony Brown is making a name for herself as a “new voice” in literature with her debut novel, Tenth Letter, a comprehensive and entertaining look at a psychosocial dynamic that is plaguing generation Y: the question, “are women the new men?”
Comic art by Kate Beaton
Women date like men and men are more in touch with their emotions,” explains Brown. “But we embrace these differences as strengths and part of our uniqueness. The problem, though, is that men and women are drifting further and further apart as a result of not being subjected to gender roles. Now, it’s as if men are from Mars and women are from… some other galaxy!”
So are millennials manically confused or just misunderstood?
Are women really the new men?
Charismatic, confident, self-directed with a take-charge-attitude; competitive, successful, brash. A typical alpha male, right? Well, it’s also a spot-on description of today’s woman. So where does that leave men and the relationships these women are supposed to have with them?
Tenth Letter is a novel by Kayona Ebony Brown that explores this fascinating dynamic and the role it plays in the recent clashing of the sexes by introducing you to two people who share an intense desire to be with each other despite the barrage of issues hindering any real chance at success. Hers—she’s that alpha male persona: she’s selfish, rather self-centered, arrogant, and doesn’t know the first thing about how to love another person. His big issue? Well… he picks the wrong women.
The complexity of this love story is a step above others read this year. Brown is a new voice in relationship drama… I absolutely recommend this one!”
– Deltareviewer, Real Page Turners
Tenth Letter is more than a modern-day boy-meets-girl anecdote. With women being more independent and embracing personality traits traditionally associated with masculinity and men displaying more “old fashion” characteristics with the desire for substantiality in relationships… READ THE REST
Kariz Marcel: Changing lives 1 beat @ a time
In music, there are “beat-makers” and there are “producers.” Call a beat-maker if you want a song. Call the producer if you want a career.
The road from beat-maker to producer for Kariz Marcel has yet to be paved with yellow bricks, or rather, golden plaques, but built over the blood, sweat and tears familiar to the construction of iconic careers in the business of music.
The path to greatness is just like any other street or avenue or highway, decorated with signs and lights and lanes and a speed limit for the right direction. For Kariz, he found himself on a collision course with music well before he was even able to drive. READ THE REST
Alex Williams’ Epic Salvation: music for the soul
Alex Williams doesn’t consider himself to be a “gospel” artist. He is a Christian musician who makes music for, about and in praise of God.
Truly good food is both good to you and good for you. The same can be said about truly good music: it doesn’t weigh you down, make you sick or cause you to feel bad about who, what or where you are in this life. Rather, it lifts you up, challenges your being while encouraging you to be who you are or to be better. Good music can be considered salvation. Great music is, well… Epic Salvation.
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The White House Band Stimulates
As music becomes increasingly desegregated making traditional categories difficult in which to place new artists, The White House Band plays with this notion, producing a sound that is more of an experience that should be felt as it’s heard rather than a sound for any generic genre.
It’s Hard Rock, it’s Hip Hop, it’s Blues, yet it’s fun and it’s eclectic and it’s fresh, and it’s not something that should even be attempted with words to be described. So it may be best to call it what it is: “New Vogue,” an unapologetic, diversified fusion of influences that can be captured on their second project, a six-track EP (extended play) dubbed, The Stimulus Package, available for download. READ THE REST
‘Beautiful Things’ are often Komplex
As we are constantly bombarded with news of international violence, meteorological devastation, and Spike TV’s “1000 Ways to Die,” reminding us just how fortunate we are if we see every tick of the 86,400 seconds in each day, Jamaica-born, Brooklyn-bred, current DMV-native, Komplex, turns a subject rarely highlighted in the news into poetry—the beautiful things.
As a man, I have found that it is my job / I have to write ‘em down, these beautiful things—these beautiful words / I gotta find something beautiful in this ugly world / to give to my beautiful little girl…” – From the track, ‘Beautiful Things’
Take a listen: Komplex - Beautiful Things
“Beautiful things” is not only the focal point of Komplex’s latest release; it’s also the title. Komplex—or KoM or Kowboy KoM or Mr. Keep on Moving, which ever you prefer to call him—has a fine reputation throughout DC and Baltimore as a supplier of good stuff.
Urban Cartel provides free sounds from the red line
Destiny considered acquainting this eventual five-man group in high school, only the stars didn’t align during their days at Eleanor Roosevelt in Greenbelt, Md. All five then ended up at another school together; this time in college at the University of Maryland, and this time they would meet and realize a mutual love for music, as well as big-city culture and vibe, and decide to embody that in song. They became Urban Cartel.
The band’s first project is Sounds from the Red Line, a five-song EP (extended play) that is perhaps as complete as any 12-plus track album that has come out in the last year. READ THE REST