A native of Detroit’s west side, Redd seized the solo spotlight for the first time in 2010 with “No Discipline,” an eight-song EP of raw, bluesy soul. A year later, rather than watch a collection of songwriting demos languish in the dustbin, she offered an exciting and diverse 15-track mixtape as a free download through NecoRedd.bandcamp.com. October 2011′s “The Full Disclosure” shows off Redd’s powerful pipes, her versatility and her funky attitude.

Still, Redd promises that the real heat will arrive this spring with the release of her first full-length album, “Still Trippin.” She describes it as a “bass heavy, guitar heavy,” horn-driven album with live instrumentation provided by Tony Ozier’s West Coast band The Doo-Doo Funk All-Stars.

Read More at BLAC Detroit Magazine

The EP jumps and jits with four phenomenal tracks including “Lottie The Body” and “Black Bottom Stomp”, both mixed by EAPro’s J. Nadir Omowale.

www.UndergroundResistance.com

“Underground Resistance is like Harriet Tubman escaping from the South.” So says rebel leader “Mad” Mike Banks, of his label, musical collective and revolutionary electronica movement Underground Resistance. “She always had to reinvent herself. I’m sure they had to take a million different angles to get out of there,” Banks explains.

Founded in the late 80s by Banks and his former partner, Jeff Mills, UR charted a critical path through the history of music by packaging hard-hitting electro, house and techno with stark imagery, militant rhetoric, and a post-apocalyptic, futuristic vision of life in the streets of Detroit. Originally inspired by the activist hip hop of Public Enemy, the computer-generated funk of Kraftwerk, and the political philosophy of the centuries-old tradition of resistance movements across the planet, UR’s cadre of artists, producers, DJs and musicians continues to plant sonic landmines in dance and hip hop clubs on six continents.

Like Tubman, UR’s underground railroad moves largely under cover of darkness, in their quest to invent the cutting edge of music, and to combat what they see as the oppressive grip of mainstream media programmers. Banks rarely appears in public without a mask, and on stage, the groups perform in the shadows so the audience can concentrate on the music.

Timeline (feat. Jon Dixon & De’Sean Jones): Lottie The Body by nomowale

Timeline (feat. Jon Dixon & De’Sean Jones): Black Bottom Stomp by nomowale

“I’m a firm believer that music is greater than the men who create it,” says Banks. “If you ever needed any form of spiritual assurance, it is music. Certainly music is more powerful than man, because the man fades and goes, but the music – the spirit, and the work – lives on. Beethoven’s been dead hundreds of years, but somebody is playing Beethoven tonight.”

It was the notion of reinvention and evolution that prompted accomplished musicians Banks and Mills to experiment with a melding of techno and jazz music. “I felt like jazz had kind of topped out,” Banks reveals. “Of course, you have to be a great musician to play it, but a lot of times [jazz musicians] are copying [music] innovated in the 40s and 50s, and they’re innovating nothing.”

Influenced by artists like Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock who combined funk and rock with jazz, and employed synthesizers to create jazz-fusion, Mills and Banks applied a similar concept to create the song “Nation 2 Nation” in 1990. After Mills left UR to go solo in 1992, Banks produced the EP “Galaxy 2 Galaxy” which included a song called “Hi-Tech Jazz”, and the style took off internationally.

Banks later shared the concept with Detroit jazz and gospel musicians like “The Deacon” Gerald Mitchell, Derwin Hall, and the late Derrick Jamerson, son of Motown bassist James Jamerson. In 2001, Banks and Jamerson wrote a song called “Timeline” that exploded onto dance floors in the US and around the world. Dancers in Detroit still hustle, ballroom and jit to the tune today.

Then in 2007, Banks recruited keyboardist Jon Dixon, and saxophonist De’Sean Jones, two recent Wayne State University grads, to perform with him as part of Galaxy 2 Galaxy at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

“I know a lot of people who play jazz who have never played the Montreux Jazz Fest,” Dixon marvels, “so here I am 22 or 23 years old, and I’m playing one of the most popular jazz festivals in the world, and I didn’t even know who Underground Resistance was.” When he and Jones heard the song “Hi-Tech Jazz” on the radio in a cafe in Switzerland Dixon was asked by a customer if he was “Mad” Mike. At that point Dixon researched and learned about the rich heritage of electronica of which he was now a part.

After Montreux, Banks, Dixon and Jones added DJ, turntablist, producer and community leader Sicari Ware to the fold forming Timeline. The collective’s mission is to take Hi-Tech Jazz to the next level. Their critically acclaimed first performance was at an opening event for Detroit’s Movement Festival in May of 2010, and the group released its first EP in October 2011.

“The one thing I like about Hi-Tech Jazz more than anything else is that it really embodies what I think music should, which is complete freedom, creativity, flexibility and improvisation while having structure, but also giving the people a good time,” Jones says. He believes Hi-Tech Jazz invokes the spirit of Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, men who are remembered as great composers, and bandleaders, but who, back in the 1940s, played the dance and party music of the day.

At the same time, Dixon appreciates the complexity of the music.  “[Musicians] are looking for something different that they can challenge themselves on,” Dixon says. “Like with any new genre, this is a whole different approach. Everything you know, put that [to the side]. I feel like a little kid again. I can take everything I’ve learned and combine it and it’s just… fun!”

But Jones also stresses the importance of the message and what UR represents. “Music is do or die. It’s that serious,” Jones says. “It’s a gift, but it’s also a responsibility. If you take music seriously, you understand that you’re an ambassador to the world as a musician. It’s more than just the notes. The notes are just a medium for something much greater.”

For Banks Timeline is about continuing to innovate. “We never get stuck in one sound too long,” Banks says. “If an artist can’t grow, you can’t keep up with UR. Like I said, it’s like being a runaway slave. For us it’s a matter of survival.”

An earlier version of this article appeared in BLAC Detroit Magazine.

Efforts to promote Saxappeal’s 2009 debut album “Stay Saxy” were often rebuffed by smooth jazz radio programmers who judged it “too urban” for their stations. That was good news.

That first album by Saxappeal, also known as LaDarrel Johnson, blends hip hop and new soul sensitivities with a sultry contemporary sax sound that is meatier and more adventurous than typical smooth jazz fare. The prominence of the horn, however, ensures that Saxappeal’s music won’t be played on most R&B, urban contemporary or hip hop stations, where all songs must feature singing or rapping.

He could have bowed to the pressure and churned out a second album that conformed to the dictates of the almighty programmers. Instead, he stayed true to his art, titled his new disc “Unmarketable” and set about creating an album of music that he describes as “delicious jambalaya.”

Read More In BLAC Detroit Magazine

David Allie Strauss, otherwise known as D’Allie, grew up in a household where music was a family affair. He inherited a love for many types of music from his guitar-playing, Jewish father, Gary Strauss—who is featured extensively on his son’s albums—and his mother, Komeh Allie Strauss, who is from Sierra Leone.

“When I was maybe 6 or 7, my dad was playing at bars late night, and then waking up early to go teach,” D’Allie, now 28, remembers. “Occasionally he would bring me out for the first set, around 10 or so.”

Papa Strauss built a small, short-scale guitar for little David, but the instrument fell by the wayside when some older cousins introduced the youngster to “Yo! MTV Raps.” D’Allie began writing rhymes at age 7.

Fast forward about two decades, his hip hop duo Progress Report released the full-length album, “Eddie Logix and D’Allie Are Progress Report,” last month.

READ MORE AT BLACDETROIT.COM

The D is also musically influential because of the people you don’t see. Detroit has contributed some of the most innovative and gifted music producers on the planet.

From early Motown staff producers like Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield, to funk maestro transplant George Clinton, to techno pioneers Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, to rock legend Don Was, to hip hop genius J Dilla—these and other local producers have set the global standard for quality, creativity, musicality and innovation.

Whether or not lovers of soul, gospel, R&B, hip hop, jazz or electronica know it, producers from Detroit consistently reshape and reinvent music. Year after year, they are leaders in the development of new sounds that resonate with music fans around the world.

Because the nature of record production is behind the scenes, producers tend to be unsung heroes. They are often more responsible for the sound of a hit song than the artist whose voice is on the record, but their contributions may go unrecognized by the general public.

READ MORE AT BLACDETROIT.COM

In the April edition of BLAC Detroit Magazine, seven African-American men share their opinions and personal experiences with relationships and love in Detroit in a roundtable discussion, moderated by J. Nadir Omowale. Click HERE to read a transcript.

The Men:

• Army Mechanical Engineering Technician Allison Hester, 46, has never married but wants to
• Detroit Public Schools Teacher Spencer Murray, 46, is divorced and remarried
• Hair Stylist Antonio Mosby, 37, has never been married
• Locomotive Engineer Darryl Yarbrough, 45, is divorced and in a committed relationship
• Attorney and WDET’s New Soul Sunday Host Nick Austin, 29, has never been married
• Musician, Producer and Writer J. Nadir Omowale, 42, has been married for 12 years
• Retired Engineer Erick Hardy, 64, has been married for 41 years

Nadir: How would you describe the state of Black relationships in Detroit?

Al: A lot of people want to paint the picture that it’s doom and gloom on Black love in Detroit, but my experience has been just the opposite. I like to think that I’m wise in my choices and that I pick fairly smart women [to date]. They know what they are looking for in a mate and what it is they have to give of themselves to be in a relationship.

Nadir: We hear stories about there being a shortage of good Black men, all over, not just in Detroit. From a Black male standpoint, how do you guys see that?

Spencer: I still find it difficult to buy into. I certainly think there’s a shortage if you are looking for a particular type of Black male. If some female has a list of what she wants and things are not meeting up to her list, her perspective can be, there’s a shortage.

Antonio: “I need a man who is sensitive to my needs. I need a man that’s a good friend. I need a man that’s a good lover. I need a man that’s supportive. I need a provider.” You might not find all those qualifications in one particular man. Some of these lists are ridiculous. I do hair and I deal with women all day long, and I hear this all the time.

Spencer: I’ve been married for a short time now. This is my third marriage. And one thing I’ve come to understand is people become better in a relationship. I used to believe you get married and the next day that person has become everything you want them to be. But I see now that it’s a journey. You still have to put in the work.

Read more of the discussion at BLACDetroit.com

The awards show will be held Friday, April 15 at The Fillmore Theatre Detroit, 2115 Woodward Avenue. Cast your vote Today at DetroitMusicAwards.net.

On Thursday, April 14, join Nadir and fellow nominee Eliza Neals for at celebratory toast a Detroit’s Hard Rock Cafe. Nadir kicks of the night with a solo funk set that you won’t want to miss.

Thursday, April 14, 2011 – 8pm
Pre-DMA Rock & Soul Showcase with Eliza Neals & Nadir
Hard Rock Cafe Detroit
45 Monroe Street, Detroit, Michigan
For more info visit HardRockCafe.com

Now with the 2011 release of her long-awaited musical debut, I Am You Are And Love IS…!, IAYAALIS rouses the senses, painting contagious melodies and enlightened lyrics on a canvas of scintillating rhythms and speaker-knocking bass. Eclectic, esoteric and engaging, I Am You Are And Love IS…! offers an aural collage of hip hop, soul and spoken word that elevates the spirit while it heats up the dance floor.

Nashville-based Donalda Antonia Chandler, whose acronymic name, I.A.Y.A.A.L.IS stands for I Am You Are And Love IS (pronounced “i-yall-EE”), emerged from the Middle Tennessee arts community as an award-winning emcee, singer, poet, visual and performance artist. According to The Nashville Scene, IAYAALIS’ lyrical style merges “sensual physicality with deep spiritual insights and a distinctly feminine point of view”. The music infuses a cross-section of hip-hop and soul sounds with occasional flashes of African percussion, dancehall and other worldly vibrations.

Her Nashville Music Award nomination for Best Unsigned Artist sparked frenzied courtships by major labels, but ultimately IAYAALIS refused to compromise her artistry and independence. Finally IAYAALIS partnered with longtime friend and collaborator Nadir Omowale and his Detroit-based indie label, EAPro Inc., to release an album that displays the full range of her artistry.

I Am You Are And Love IS…! showcases the talents of several producers including Salle Vation, J Mink, Nadir Omowale, and Beat Kang Reavis Mitchell, III – co-creator of the Beat Thang music production system. The collection also contains posthumous releases of productions by late Afrikan Dreamland founder Aashid Himons and late Nashville hip-hop pioneer Bruce Dungee.

“For me, I Am You Are And Love IS…! is my expression of who I am and some of the things I’m about,” IAYAALIS says. “This album represents years of hard work, life experiences and hopefully an opportunity to inspire and cause people to think.”

I Am You Are And Love IS…! is available for purchase at IAYAALIS.com, EAPro.net, iTunes, Amazon.com, and other select retailers.

Please visit www.iayaalis.com for more information and updates.

IAYAALIS – the name
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Check out the video below!

It’s been said that nothing sounds as sweet to any person as the sound of her own name.

Names are important because they symbolize who we are. They offer an expression of our identity. The sound of a name sends a vibration that resonates within, calling us to attention. Traditionally, the meaning of the name implies the character and attributes of the individual, something to live up to.

In the case of Nashville-based emcee, singer, poet, and spiritualist IAYAALIS, understanding her name is critical to understanding who she is, what she is about, and why she does what she does.

“The name IAYAALIS is an acronym that stands for I Am You Are And Love IS,” she says. “Basically it’s a formula by which I live.”

Born Donalda Antonia Chandler, IAYAALIS has earned recognition (i.e. “made a name for herself”) as one of the most talented and versatile artists on the Nashville music scene. She’ll release her debut album I Am You Are And Love IS…! in March 2011.

“I’ve done a lot of research into metaphysics and different belief systems… all types of cultures and religions,” she told the Nashville Scene. “The one thing that they all hold as true, the one thing I saw in all of them is, ‘I am, you are, and love is,’ with love being the all-being, whether you call that God or Goddess or father or spirit or Allah or whatever.”

The first single from I Am You Are And Love IS…! fittingly is “the name”. “The song ‘the name’ is an expression of all the various things that comprise my world. It’s about the things that I’m attentive to, and that I resonate with, and that are real to me in my world.”

Learn more about IAYALLIS at iayaalis.com

By J. Nadir Omowale
Originally Published in Ambassador Magazine

“I think any attractive woman in any field is always going to be underestimated.

”Kenya Moore speaks from experience. The voluptuous hazel-eyed Detroit native is a former Miss Michigan and in 1993 was crowned Miss USA. She appears in movies (Waiting To Exhale, I Know Who Killed Me) and on television shows (Girlfriends, The Jamie Foxx Show). Her bikinied body and stunning features regularly adorn the covers of men’s magazines and fashion publications.

But Kenya Moore is much more than a beautiful package. She is a business executive, an author, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist. Beneath that curvaceous, chocolate exterior lies a bright, intelligent, funny, and driven woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to use what she’s got to get it.

“People tend to discount a woman’s intelligence if she’s beautiful, and I’m no different,”says Moore.“I feel great that people find me attractive, but the challenge is always proving the stereotype to be false.”

Raised by her grandmother, Moore attended Detroit’s Cass Technical High School. Kenya loved to perform, and studied dance. She was a member of the school’s dance team and fondly recalls performing at ballgames.

Moore’s pageant career began when she and some friends entered the Miss Black Star talent pageant for girls age 13 to 16, where Moore took first runner up. “Just for the record,” she advises, “singers always trump dancers.You can never beat a good singer! It’s just a rule of the world.”

Moore kept entering pageants, and started winning. The more prestigious the pageant, the better the rewards, including cash prizes, scholarships, and even a car.

Pageants also forced Moore to improve her communication skills, overcome any fears she had of public speaking, and polish her overall presentation, which, she says, helped her become the woman she is today.

Modeling and acting were a natural progression for Moore after her reign as Miss USA, but she entered a Hollywood that is highly political and notorious for its lack of decent roles for women of color. “What I learned is that the acting world is a business, and most of the time the best person doesn’t get the job,”says Moore.“It always has something to do with name value, or the relationship the person has with the casting director, or the producer, or the director, or the studio … It rarely is about the best person who shows up at the audition.”

So Moore decided to do something different.“I didn’t like my career path, and I felt a lack of control,”she reveals. She began to set her own course in 2000 as associate producer of the independent film Trois, which became one of the highest grossing African-American movies of the year. She has produced several other projects over the last decade and hasn’t looked back.

Moore is very enthusiastic about her latest production, The Confidant, which finds the actress/producer starring alongside Boris Kudjoe (Love & Basketball, Soul Food), rapper David Banner, Asian sex symbol Bai Ling (The Crow), and Billy Zane (Titanic).

The suspense/thriller was written and directed by Alton Glass, who Moore met at the American Black Film Festival where both were nominated for best film. Neither of them won, but after seeing Glass’ horror film, Marco Polo, Moore was determined to work with him.

“What I loved the most about the Confidant script was there was no reference to color. We could have had any ethnicity play any role, and it would’ve worked. I knew that the script was so powerful, I could get the cast that I wanted.”

Not content with just acting, modeling, and producing, Moore is also passionate about The Kenya Moore Foundation, which provides scholarships to underprivileged girls at Moore’s alma mater, Cass Tech.“I look for girls who have had a difficult time in school,”she explains.“One that may have gone from a solid B average to maybe a C minus, struggling with emotional issues or just having a hard time in life in general. It’s basically telling them, ‘Look. You can get your life together, but you’ve got to get an education.’For me it’s just inspirational.‘Here is something that can help you get to where you want to be in life.’”

Moore credits much of her tenacity, her toughness, and her “hustler mentality” to her upbringing in Detroit.“I’m gonna get it done no matter what,”she asserts.“I’m not gonna hurt anybody to do it, but I’m gonna get it done, and no one can tell me no.

“I attribute those aspects of my personality directly to Detroit, because without that basic knowledge and education from street to school, I wouldn’t be who I am.”

Moore Vision Media