Event Review: Roots and Wings Presents – The West End Poetry Opera

On May 22nd 2015, a collective of young artist and creative minds known as Roots and Wings put on The West End Poetry Opera at The Kentucky Center for the Arts. The West End is the lowest income side of town in Louisville and is also predominantly black. The broken family, violence, religion, police brutality and more were presented through music, dance, visual art and spoken word. It was a very heart felt and emotional experience as I watched from the audience as a young black woman whose also from the west end of Louisville.

Today, I wanted to share this presentation with our readers as all people with melanin and definitely those without should see this production for the great piece of work it is. The cast and writers had worldly talent and it made the show very captivating. The West End Poetry Opera was creative and most importantly thought provoking.

So here’s the full opera available for stream:

Hope you all enjoy just as much as I did.

This Melanin’s #AOTW: Lady Breezy

Yayyy! Its This Melanin’s first Artist of The Week and we are starting it off proper with femcee Lady Breezy.

Lady Breezy is a young hip hop artist from Louisville, Ky. She is solely interested in using music as a platform to express herself and uplift other people. She began rapping when she was 9 years old writing her own 8 bar verses and performing in front of her family and friends during holidays. Her first stage name was Bigg Brittany and she recorded several songs on her own under that moniker. In 2006, when she was 16, she got together with a local producer and two high school friends and the group Three Of a Kind was born. They recorded several songs including the local hit “Three Steps” before disbanding in the end of 2007. She decided to stay solo and began recording songs on her laptop. She released her first solo project, “A Girl And A Mic” in 2010:

In October of 2014 she released her second solo project “Walk With Me”:

With her new project, she is now focused on bringing uplifting and inspirational music to people around the world.

This is why I felt Lady Breezy was #AOTW material. She is making very RAW … very REAL music. Stuff that young people with this melanin need to hear.

We’ll be promoting and celebrating Lady Breezy and her music all week! Be sure to follow US on instagram @thismelanin twitter @thismelaninblog and facebook @thismelanin

Keep Up Lady Breezy:

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Youtube

Audiomack

Soundcloud

Facebook

www.ladybreezymusic.blogspot.com

New Music: Study – Wise Crooks

The highly anticipated drop from SP$’s own “Study” has arrived. My take? The song is a message from the young black man in America stating “You know I’m smarter than I look.” The vibe is chill, real hip-hop soultry and it allows you to really tune into the words that come off like poetry. To compliment the dope new record, there is a dope new black and white visual shot and directed by KC! Way to take it next level from the jump. Enjoy this Louisville native’s debut release “Wise Crooks” below:

Keep up with Study:

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spsbookinginfo@gmail.com

Meet Troy Yopp

I had the opportunity of sitting down and having a 1 on 1 this week with Dynastee Clothing CEO Troy Yopp. Originally from Detroit, MI, the 26 year old now resides in Louisville, KY. He is the creator and owner of Dynastee Clothing. If you’re from the Detroit or Louisville area you likely are familiar as Troy hasn’t been quiet about his success with the brand. From his Royal Court fashion shows in Detroit to showing off the brand on his Fashion Sense Sundays in Louisville – Troy is making his mark.

According to Yopp:

“The brand started because I was broke. I couldn’t afford the name brand. So one day me, my cousin and my bestfriend came up with this idea of making our own clothing line.”

He goes on then to tell me his cousin came up with a logo, he shows me his forearm and the original logo is tatted on him. I thought that said a lot. It told me how important the brand is to Yopp and that it’s something he will stand by for the rest of his life. The original Dynastee logo simply says Dynastee but the D was really fancy. Yopp told me the “D” was actually a D and a J in one. The D and J stand for Don Joe. Don Joe being almost like an alter ego for Yopp and a new way of saying “John Doe”. He tells me the story of how him, his bestfriend LaBaron Wilkins and his cousin who is now known as hip-hop artist Nobdy simply wanted to remain humble through any future success hence the very humble choice of stage names.

  

I wanted though to tell Troy’s story outside of the Dynastee line. Which is why I titled this story “Meet Troy Yopp” as opposed to “Meet Don Joe” or “Meet the Dynastee CEO”

Troy Yopp was brought to Louisville in 2012 with a transfer from The Ford Motor company, who he still works with today. He was working in his hometown of Detroit when the plant announced they were about to close. He was offered a transfer to either Chicago or Louisville and it’s evident the location he chose. As he had already been pushing his brand for years in Detroit, he wasted no time when he got to the city. He began networking and meeting new people from the bottom up. Troy was lucky as some of the first people he worked with were Will Green of So Fly Entertainment and DJ ZNyce who currently DJs for the Indiana Pacers and has been one of the hottest club DJs in the Ville for some time. Way to open up the doors and tap into the urban scene! Troy started again throwing his own series of events and marketing the brand in Louisville. He also continued to manage and promote his artist and cousin Nobdy who came down to settle for a while and network in Louisville as well just this past year.

I have a great example of how Yopp strategically tapped into the urban scene with his brand. Check out this dope cypher Yopp put together with DJ Q and a slew of dope I Am Royalty artist in 2014 for his Royal Court event:

Album Review: King Semi – Live As A Villain Die As A Hero

The highly anticipated Live As A Hero Die As A Villain album has arrived. Released 5/6/15 by King Semi via SoundCloud – The album includes King Semi’s crowd favorite “Patience” as well as “Call It” and “Danger”. King Semi has been rocking crowds and killing shows in Louisville all year. I say it was the perfect time to drop the project, at the height of his most charismatic time thus far during his come up as an artist.

King Semi is originally from Sacramento, California. He’s strictly an emcee and has been releasing music since 2008. He is also the creator of “2 Exclusive”. According to Semi:

“2 Exclusive is not a label, but a mindstate. A collection of talent with humbled excellence.”

The 14 track album features production from KleanBeatz, Lee on the Beats, Sevn Thomas, Nikk Blvkk, Cash Gordon, C.O.O.P., SeriousBeatz, and RawzMuzic. It only includes features from 4 other artist, some of the dopest picks to work with on the Louisville hip-hop scene if I say so myself: Study, Tay All Day, Dom B. and T. McAfee! Go ahead and press play now so you can listen for yourself:

I’ve done a quick chronological track by track review:

1) Villain (Prod by Lee on the Beats): This track introduces us to both King Semi and the album. He welcomes us into the mind state of a Villain in the Ville. Definitely a track for the Louisville DJ’s to bang in the club.

2) LiveDie (Prod by KleanBeatz): “Live as a villain, die as a hero.” This track tells us it’s not about the materialistic things. Semi also goes in on the fact that rappers are out here lying in their rhymes.

Happy Birthday Lindsay Jackson!

This Melanin just wanted to give an exclusive Happy Birthday shout out to our sister Lindsay Jackson who turned “21” today! Lindsay is from the Louisville area and is a mother of three whose happily married to her husband Justin Jackson. She works full time, does hair and make-up, manages Justin as an artist, and even has her own line of products for hair and make-up! YOU GO GIRL!! We hope you enjoy your day!

Peace.

Vibe With Me, Y’all

rewind

Thursdays are usually depressing for me. By this time of the week I’m ready for the weekend, but unfortunately I know that I have one more day to complete my 40 hours on the time clock. Depressing. But now the dark clouds have rolled away, and the sun is shining on The Vibe. Created by Sasha Renee at The Cure Lounge, this weekly open mic event is the place to be on Thursday nights. Need to relax from the stresses of work or home? Come to The Vibe. Date night? Come to The Vibe. Want to listen to great local music on a weekly basis? Definitely come to The Vibe. Whether I’m attending alone or with friends, The Vibe is the place I have to be at. Located in the front opening of The Cure Lounge, The Vibe offers a small, yet comfortable and intimate *ahem* vibe. The decor…

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Meet 2Deep

L to R:
S.G. Smitty, RoyalBoy Tez

If you’re from Louisville, KY you may already be familiar with the hip-hop duo that is 2Deep. B96.5 has even spun their new party rocking anthem My Party, My Show  released this past year. “This is my party. this is my show. I’m wit my peoples this how we roll.” S.G. Smitty and RoyalBoy Tez met in daycare in late 1990, and have been like brothers ever since. Tez, introduced S.G. to hip hop in 2003. They had both been singing much of their lives. 2003 is the official year 2Deep was formed. 

Since then the fellas have made strides and are now a well respected and much needed presence on the Louisville music scene. Their camp I Am Royalty Entertainment pays themselves. Some of the livest local shows and parties revolve around the efforts of 2Deep and the I Am Royalty camp.

Smitty and Tez both rap, and though both members could sing, Tez takes care of the vocals. They have a very diverse array of music. The guys had a busy week. Let’s start with last Saturday May 2nd Derby day when the group helped sponsor and performed at The Derby Local Artist Showcase at the Bard’s Town. Then on Wednesday May 6th the group had The Barasti jumping for Tez’s 26th birthday bash. Let’s just say they turned UP! They started with records released 5 and 6 years ago, it was dope to see them take it back – The best way to honor the day one fans out in the audience. Here are a few pics from the night:

New Music: Sasha Renee – Modern Day Emmett Tills (M.D.E.T.)

Produced by Flawless Tracks – M.D.E.T. was written and recorded in 2013 at Head First Media in Louisville, KY. The record had went unreleased until the most recent murder of Freddie Gray by Baltimore police. I sat on the track for the longest. I really wanted to do it right you know, drop a dope video. Its coming.. just wait for it. But its necessary to release more music to propel the movement and mentally prepare us for whats yet to come. We should all be deeply saddened by the madness that has led to the beginning of the revolution so – shed a tear for our “Modern Day Emmett Tills”. -Sasha Renee

Keep up with Sasha Renee:

http://www.sashareneemusic.com

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A Message to Nigeria from Ms Lauryn Hill

The concert, which was scheduled to take place on May 1 in Nigeria, would have seen Ms. Hill performing alongside a 20-man band. Unfortunately, yesterday via facebook, the artist and her team issued an apology for missing the show. They wrote:

“We are disappointed to report that we will not be performing at tonight’s concert. From our end, we did everything we were supposed to do, including waiting at the airport for many hours, ready to fly out and share the evening with you. Unfortunately, after much effort, the promoter was not able to get all of our travel arrangements taken care of. This prevented us from being able to fly into Nigeria in time to make the concert. We were all very excited to come, and very disappointed that we couldn’t make this one. HOWEVER, we are working to reschedule our appearance ASAP. From what we’ve been told, the promoter intends to honor all tickets sold. Our best to and for Lagos. Love and Blessings!”

On top of the social media apology Lauryn gave an acoustic apology. She says “Hello Lagos. We’re very sorry we couldn’t be there with you tonight. We were at the airport for seven hours yesterday trying to get to you. But we’re gonna make it there, we’re gonna get there,” before playing the Miseducation classic “Doo Wop (That Thing).” I enjoyed this thoroughly. I hadn’t heard L Boogie hit those notes in years. The background vocalist are just as in tune as Lauryn. Very funky. Enjoy the melanin filled clip below:

Peace.