Julie Dexter

DJ Spinna Part 2

“I met her after her second album” said DJ Spinna about when he met up with Erykah Badu for the first time. He continues, “She came to a rehearsal I had with Mos Def when I was DJing for him back in 1999. That’s when we met” DJ Spinna is a Brooklyn based DJ and is one of Americas most highly respected DJ’s. He plays every year for Stevie Wonders big tribute parties, and has released hundreds of impressive songs.

Once hailed the UK Queen of Soul, Julie Dexter’s career has some what taken a different direction. Julie Dexter says, “I’m satisfied with where I am considering the fact that I’m not a major artist, I’m not signed to a major label. So as an independent artist I’m satisfied, I don’t think I could have done much better independently on my own"

Choklate

Malena Perez

Malena Perez released her debut album Stars, it featured production from Kenny Dope, Carlos Nino & The Life Force Trio, Michael Johnson, Alix Alvarez, and Osunlade. “Hi, thank you for the opportunity. Well, I am originally from Atlanta and have always felt myself to be an artist, even when I worked in a corporate setting”, says Malena Perez. “My father and mother have both always held music in a sacred space in the home and in their and our lives"

Choklate released her self-titled debut album Choklate on KSD Music. When Choklate relocated from Seattle to Southern California, she was a key contributor to the community of local hip-hop and R&B music goings on. Choklate says, “I like to listen to Lauryn Hills first record, Maxwell’s first record, I’ll always enjoy Tony Toni Tone’s stuff, some of Jodeci’s first music, Mary J’s first few records were amazing to me, Van Hunts first record will always be a favorite of mine and a host of others that I can’t think of at the moment"

Kem

Carol Riddick

Philadelphia’s best kept secret finally came to the surface when she released her debut album Moments Like This. It was an independent released, with credits from songwriter Angie Stone and guest appearances by Black Thought of The Roots. Carol Riddick says, “In April I released my first solo effort entitled Moments Like This so I’d like to consider that the beginning”

“Actually I recorded the Kemistry album before I signed to a record deal, Shante was the one who helped us get the deal with Motown. It was a very good experience but also a very terrifying experience, but over all it was good”, says a sincere Kem. He continues, “Now it is very rewarding because I get to share my music to a lot more people than I could have done independently”

Georg Levin

Jay Denes

Jay Denes is a well-known producer who makes soulful house music and electronic music. Jay Denes started a musical outfit called Blue Six and released Beautiful Tomorrow as the debut album. Blue Six featured a collective of vocalists such as Lisa Shaw and Aya to name a few and in 2007, Blue Six released Aquarian Angel.

“When I’m With You’, was only a single. I did a demo of it on a four track tape machine (tedious work, but I had no other equipment, not even a decent computer. Then I recorded it with a Dixon (with whom at present I collaborated on an album for our project Wahoo), who had his new ‘studio’ set up and I didn’t know how to use most of the machines. It was one of his first recordings as well, so we fiddled around for ages on that track until we were happy with it. In the beginning, it was a bit hard for me I must admit. I have moved near to my College in South East London"

Soulisms 2008