Audiofloss

I have a good buddy who’s a stripper … she recently started a blog on MySpace and it’s incredibly engrossing. Here’s an excerpt:

I’ve always known that I was going to have to be a real hustler in order to improve my life.  I was dirt poor and taking care of myself at an early age. The best hustle for a young, shapely tenderoni is strippin,’ you don’t have to have sex but you get to take men to the point they want to fuck and then collect your fee. Lucky for me I turned out to be pretty good at it. So, as soon as I was legal I did a round of amateur contests on the outskirts of Atlanta ending up at an out-of-the-way club with only two black girls on their staff where all of the clients were hillbillies, bikers, and truckers. Truckers can be dancers’ bread and butter-they come into the strip club like clock work with fresh paychecks and stiff dicks. Once I got on the stage, I didn’t want to get off- unless there was a table dance or a V.I.P. session that needed my attention.  This club would be ever changing but remain my headquarters. I ventured out to clubs in Paris (France), Miami, Key West, New York and North Carolina. Thus, I have a ton of experiences and adventures to share the strip life is full of drugs, sex, deception and misconceptions. Stay tuned for my tales and confessions day and night shift, Baby!

Check out her blog for more freaky-ass adventures: myspace.com/striplife

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Been writing a ton of stuff lately. This last week, I guest wrote Creative Loafing’s Scene & Herd column, which chronicles my adventures at the ATL movie premiere, the A3C hip-hop festival and hanging with the ladies from the Flavor of Love. The shit is funny! Check it out: http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A57599

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I wrote this piece a few weeks ago about Hot 107.9 radio personality Rashan Ali and her A-Team Morning Show crew. The story focuses on how the team is faring since star host Ryan Cameron left the show. Anyway, here’s a repeat just in case you missed it:

Life after Ryan
Rashan Ali and her A-Team vie to be radio’s No. 1 morning show
By Carlton Hargro
Published January 18, 2006

Morning commuters who haven’t flipped to Hot 107.9, Atlanta’s original hip-hop/R&B station, in a year or so may notice that the station sounds a little different these days.

For one, the space that was previously occupied by the powerhouse "Ryan Cameron Morning Show" is, after almost a decade, Cameron-less. Cameron left the show and the station in late December 2004 because of contract disputes. Instead of the on-air veteran confidently slinging jokes, listeners hear a fairly green team of personalities anxiously searching for ways to keep its audience from switching the channel.

And WHTA-FM’s morning crew - dubbed the A-Team and consisting of jocks CJ, Beyonce, Griff, Akini and ring-leader Rashan Ali - has a reason to be anxious: They’re on a mission to rule the Atlanta airwaves without the benefit of a bankable superstar.

That’s not to say station management didn’t attempt to rope in some big names to host the post-Cameron show. The suits at Hot 107.9 initially filled the airspace with nationally syndicated personality Russ Parr and later with a string of celebrity guest-hosts like music/film producer Dallas Austin. Meanwhile, Ali and her morning show cohort, CJ, played supporting roles.

"We had a whole bunch of celebrities trying to hold it down, because that’s what everyone thought was going to sustain any kind of value for the show," says Ali. "It was sort of all over the place for a minute. There was no direction."

Before long, station management put Ali and her old crew back in the driver’s seat on a permanent basis. Ali eventually asked comedian Griff, who used to provide yucks for V-103’s "Frank Ski Morning Show" until it became a syndicated program, to join the team.

By May, the A-Team had finalized its lineup, but the show’s ratings, well, sucked. While the "Ryan Cameron Morning Show" consistently bounced between a No. 1 and No. 2 rating, the new show came in at a lowly No. 15. You don’t have to be Angela Lansbury to deduce that the ratings drop was linked to Cameron’s absence. Ali, however, is confident that the current show, with a ratings position that ranked at No. 9 as of September 2005, will climb to the top - just not overnight.

"It takes time to be No. 1 in a top-10 market. It just does," says Ali. "[Hot 107.9's] CEO says it takes a full year-and-a-half to two years to really develop a morning show. So I expect that we’re going to go up and down until we finally find that exact formula that’s going to take us to No. 1 consistently. That might take some time, but I know we’re well on our way."

Even though she claims "everyone loves an underdog," being the underdog is new for Ali. In December 2004, Ali worked as Cameron’s co-host. Aptly helmed by Cameron, the show was the king of Atlanta’s rating hill for the 18-to-34-year-old demographic (and that’s all listeners between 18 and 34, not just African-American listeners), the shining star of its station, and basically, a radio personality’s dream. One month later, without its star, the "Ryan Cameron Morning Show" ceased to exist, and Ali’s radio dream suddenly became a nightmare.

"I honestly didn’t think I was going to have a job," says Ali. "I didn’t know if [station management] was going to bring somebody else in. I just didn’t know. My husband and I even decided he should go back to teaching so that we could have some type of stability and we could be ready for anything."

The shake up at Hot 107.9 was one of many chaotic occurrences that rocked Atlanta’s urban radio landscape in 2005. Long-running jocks such as WVEE-FM’s (103.3) Magic Man and Porshe Foxx departed from ATL airwaves in clouds of controversy, Greg Street returned to V-103 after serving a stint in Texas, and Hot 107.9’s Coco Brother left secular hip-hop to host a holy hip-hop show, among other newsworthy events. Ali notes that it wouldn’t be far-fetched for the winds of change to blow through her morning show.

"That’s the kind of game radio is," she says. "They could say tomorrow, ‘You know, we gave y’all a good run. So get the hell on.’ But I never get scared. I feel like I’m way too talented to be scared about how one job can determine my future. I just can’t allow that to happen."

In addition, she concedes that many listeners obviously jumped ship when Cameron left the building, but contends that time and the talent of her ever-developing crew will help draw old audience members back to the fold.

"I think we’re funny. It sounds like a black family outing when you listen to the show. We have our haters. Granted, we need to become a little more cohesive, everybody has to learn rhythm, and we need to find things that make our show stand out. But I think we gel very well," says Ali. "People don’t like change, but people learn to adapt to change."

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Shondrae Crawford
By Carlton Hargro
Originally published Jan. 12, 2006

Shondrae "Mr. Bangladesh" Crawford relocated from Des Moines, Iowa, to Atlanta in 1995 and in no time became one of the industry’s most sought after hip-hop producers. Responsible for crafting tracks like Ludacris’ "What’s Your Fantasy" and 8 Ball & MJG’s "You Don’t Want Drama," he’s working to inject his hard-to-categorize sound deeper into the nation’s musical landscape in 2006.

Although his style seems to change from project to project, Crawford describes his sample-free, keyboard-centric music as, "Bangladesh. It’s just Bangladesh. It’s foreign to the ears."

Besides Ludacris and 8 Ball & MJG, Crawford has banged out hits for Ciara, Missy, Kelis, Snoop Dogg, Lil Scrappy, E-40, Young Gunz and Petey Pablo. He admits, however, that his favorite artist to work with is Missy. "I always liked Missy because she’s always doing new, different stuff. I just like ‘different’ - as long as it’s good different."

According to Crawford, the music of Atlanta circa 1995 was innovative and fresh, but most of the hits that spring from the city these days are "dumb." "The music is not really innovative. Anybody can make them songs. But there are more dumb people in the world than smart people, so all that dumb music goes a long way."

Lacking any formal musical training, Crawford attributes his melodic aptitude to family history. "It’s in the blood. I come from a long line of singers and musicians."

This year, Crawford plans to launch a record label and he’s in the early stages of creating a clothing line. "I got a lot of flavor. Anytime you get looked at for your style [of dress], you got something going on.

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Recently, I wrote a pretty revealing piece about Atlanta’s great soul singer Donnie. Check it out:

Soul Survivor
Donnie dishes on his past, present and future
By Carlton Hargro
Originally Published December 14, 2005

When Kentucky-born, Atlanta-based soul vocalist Donnie scored a deal with Motown Records, folks in the Atlanta music scene figured he’d blow up just like his fellow Hitsville mate India.Arie. Donnie released one critically acclaimed CD, The Colored Section, but then seemingly vanished. CL recently caught up with the enigmatic singer and he gave us the low down on his new multimedia performance, “Color T.V.”

You’ve been missing from the music scene for quite a bit. What the hell have you been doing?

Being a person. Being a human being. Growing. Going through life just like everybody else. Having ups, downs, getting over issues, getting into new things, constantly doing my art, finding different parts of myself, and developing those parts also, artistically speaking.

Regarding your art, what specifically have you been developing?

Musicals. Writing musicals and scripts. Basically, I’m trying to find something more interesting than just getting on stage with three background singers and a band. It’s boring. I did a medley of songs from the musical Why the Cock Crows - which I wrote with Janice Watley - a few months ago at Apache Cafe, and I think people really responded to the script.

Are you planning to mount a full-scale production of the play?

Yes, I’m just getting investors lined up. It’s just getting money behind it because putting on a production costs. And it ain’t no little money.

Can we expect to ever see another album from you?

I’m doing an album with Steve Harvey, who did production on The Colored Section, and I’m releasing it independently. I just came from Los Angeles and heard some of the stuff he’s been doing and it’s fabulous. The new album will be released in the spring - April or May. But nothing beyond May. It’s been too long.

Are you still signed to Motown?

No, I’m not. Thank God.

What happened?

Nothing happened. Nothing happened! That’s the whole point! That’s the reason I say, “Thank God.” They didn’t promote [the album] - they didn’t do anything. And plus, I was not ready. I was just out of my mind. I had never had that much money in my life. Just having people call you that ain’t called you in 1,000 years. I was very paranoid. I was crazy during those times. It just was not the time.

When did your relationship with Motown end?

The relationship ended when it started. Technically, it ended this year, but I’m telling you, man, it was a nothing. I figure they signed me to shut me up. I just came to that realization last year. I heard somebody say that one day. ‘Cause it would have changed the whole flow of the industry. And I’m not bragging. I’m saying, it was art that was appealing.

I’m sure you’re aware that many people speculate that you have a drug problem.

I’m not worried about people and what they got to say. I’ve wanted folks to like me since I was a little kid, and I used to use my voice as way to do that. But I had to stop using it for that because when I started having troubles with my voice, what did I have left?

What was wrong with your voice?

It just wasn’t there, physically or mentally. Going through that period with my voice, I had to learn who Donnie really was. I’m a soul artist, man.

So what’s your upcoming show, which you’ve titled “Color T.V.”, at Apache all about?

“Color T.V., WTCS Rainbow Radio.” It’s just a take on vaudeville radio and TV; taking from all of those things and doing parodies and relating it to my music. There’ll be skits all through the show, I’ll do songs from the upcoming album, and I’ll do songs that I don’t do very often, like “Turn Around” and “Rocketship.” I just want it to be a new show. I don’t want it to be anything like it was.

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Audiofloss isn’t all about music, it’s also about urban culture. Case in point, check out:

Fiona Zedde

Fiona ZeddeÕs got a knack for making folks horny. Last February, Zedde, a former employee of Charis Books in Little Five Points, made Creative Loafing readers drool when she was featured on our annual Lust List of sexy service industry workers. And in August, the Jamaican-born, Atlanta-based author got the literary world all hot-and-bothered with the release of her debut lesbian erotica novel, Bliss (Kensington Books).

What is your process for writing erotica?
Usually what happens for me is I envision a scene, or a scene comes to me and then I kind of build a larger story around that. Like if I hear something on the radio and IÕm like, ÒThat sounds interesting and freaky,Ó then IÕll try to build something from that point. IÕm trying to be more disciplined in doing outlines and character sketches. ItÕs been somewhat helpful, but, truthfully, I rarely do outlines.

So, how do you know when a story youÕre writing is particularly hot?
When I feel it! When IÕm getting all tingly, I know itÕs good! Sometimes I use my friends as a test audience. But, really, if IÕm writing it and I think, ÒThis is really good stuff,Ó then I know itÕs great.

Did appearing on our Lust List change your life?
Um … no. It brought some publicity to the bookstore I used to work at, Charis Books, which is great. My book is selling there, too, and the book in turn supports Charis. So itÕs a nice little link.

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From the moment his self-titled debut album hit record store shelves in 2003, R&B vocalist Javier has been heralded as one of the new ÒlionsÓ of soul music. Now gearing up to release his sophomore project Ñ and, on FRI., DEC. 2, 2005 to perform on Atlanta’s Apache CafŽ stage, Javier took time to talk with us about his music and a host of other topics.

Q: Most people recognize the name Javier because of your hit single ÒCrazy.Ó Do you think ÒCrazyÓ misled people about what your album is about or what you are about as a musician?

Javier: It would be tough to sum it up in one song. I do like to do a bunch of different things and I think depending on the song, my sound varies. But I think it was a good representation of part of what I do. It really comes together when you can come to a live show. With a full band I play the guitar, and I also get on the piano. It ranges from old-school R&B, like a Donny Hathatway-ish kind of thing, to mainstream pop to more of a club-banging, straight-up R&B record. ItÕs a little something for everybody.

Q: It surprising to know that you served as a vocalist with rock group the Derek Trucks Band. How did you land that gig, and how did singing with the band influence your music?

Javier: Well, I was out of college about a month before I got a call that the Derek Trucks Band had heard about me and wanted to know if IÕd audition to sing with them. I was just excited to be getting out of college and going straight into a job as a professional musician, which is all I really wanted to be. I went into it with an open mind, and I really learned a lot. Those guys are unbelievably talented. The first year I was with them we did 180 shows. You learn so much just from being on the road and singing pretty much everyday. It teaches you how to take care of your voice. And all that stage time, singing in front of an audience, just makes you a better performer.

Q: You get played a lot on cable TV networks like VH1Soul but not much on the radio. How do you feel about a radio climate that doesnÕt regularly pump your music?

Javier: Sometimes itÕs tough. A lot of hip-hop gets played on mainstream radio and to have one of my songs follow one of those songs, it might not be the kind of flow that some people want on their station. Now with people like Alicia Keys and John Legend making moves, bringing soulful music back to the radio, it gives people like me a better chance at trying to succeed at radio. A lot of stations throughout the country have really supported my first album and the first single off my second. But I try to stay focused on what I can do and what I can do is live shows, bringing my music to the people whether itÕs on the radio or not. Hopefully, I can build a grass roots fan base and tour regardless of radio. ThatÕs the goal: to be able to tour when you want to Ñ not when someone is playing your record.

Q: Name some artists you love who you can count as a Òguilty pleasure.Ó

Javier: I listen to Coldplay. TheyÕre amazing musicians. Who else? James Taylor. As a guitar player, James is an idol. IÕve learned a lot by listening to his music. Everyday in sound check, IÕll be playing at least one J.T. song.

Q: So, what can people expect from a live Javier show?

Javier: ThereÕs gonna be some funk in there, some old-school soul and some songs from the new album that come straight from the club. My mother is Puerto Rican and my father is Dominican, so I do one thing in every show that shows that side of me. This is the first time IÕll be in Atlanta with a full band. For the first album I toured around the country with just myself and another guitarist. This time having the full band is gonna add a completely different element that people really havenÕt seen me do live, so IÕm looking forward to it. Folks can expect to be entertained.

JavierOnline.com

Bio, Music, Tour info & more

Upcoming Shows

12/02/2005, Apache CafŽ, Atlanta, GA

12/04/2005, Lincoln Theater, Raleigh, NC

12/06/2005, Amos’, Charlotte, NC

12/10/2005, Plus Club, Memphis, TN

12/13/2005, Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom, Little Rock, AR

12/15/2005, Gypsy Tea Room, Dallas, TX

12/20/2005, BB King’s Club, Universal City, CA

12/22/2005, Suede, San Francisco, CA

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The musical sub-genre known as neo-soul used to be all the rage.

At its height, there was a legion of artists Ñ such as India.Aire, DÕAngelo, Erykah Badu and more Ñ recording in the style. Recently, however, IÕve noticed several cats dissing neo-soul. Here are a few examples:

¥ The latest album by vocalist Jaguar Wright is titled “Divorcing Neo 2 Marry Soul.Ó

¥ The Platinum Pied Pipers, in an interview with Creative Loafing a few months ago, just flat out said that they Òhate that neo-soul shit.Ó

¥ Press materials for the new label by Kedar Massengburg, the man who discovered acts like Erykah Badu and actually owned the copyright to the term Òneo-soul,Ó show an image of a tombstone with the words ÒR.I.P. Neo-SoulÓ etched on it.

Is neo-soul dead?

Well, IÕd like to think it was never really alive.

Truthfully, itÕs always been a ÒFrankensteinÕs-monsterÓ of an art form. The term neo-soul was created as a marketing tool for a certain type of live instrumentation-based music and sometimes (sadly) for artists who merely rocked an earthy look. It helped stores and radio stations to classify the sound, but it never truly represented the music or the artists behind the music.

And usually, artists who actually embraced the title of Òneo-soulÓ were wack (i.e. Musiq, Pru).

Bottom line: if you make soul music, itÕs just soul music. Fuck the neo. Soul music was alive and thriving when folks like Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and Bobby Womack recorded it and it continues with artists like Omar, Tortured Soul, Esthero Ñ hell, even Kanye West and Alicia Keys.

Turn on a Stevie Wonder record right now and the sound is undeniable. The music, like jazz and gospel and even country, is timeless.

So Òneo-soulÓ may be dead, but soul music will live on forever.

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Recently wrote a piece for Creative Loafing about a great Atlanta-based group called Slick & Rose. They’re underground but definitely on the rise. Check ‘em out:

What women dare do

Call hip-hop soul duo Slick & Rose by any other name and they still sound street

By Carlton Hargro

Slick & Rose have changed.

Although you probably wouldn’t notice any signs of a metamorphosis if you saw the Atlanta-based hip-hop soul duo walking down the street or shopping in a thrift store. But watching the slender, eclectically clad ladies at work in a recording studio, it’s easy to see that they’ve made some drastic changes.

Peep the scene: Nikki “Slick” Ervin sits in front of a huge mixing board calmly scribbling lyrics on a yellow legal pad. As she writes, her partner, Sabrina “Rose” Harvey, belts out vocals in a booth to the left. Behind the mic, Harvey confidently sings various variations of the same vocal arrangement. She doesn’t flinch when Ervin’s voice pops in her headphones saying, “That don’t sound right.” After effortlessly spitting a dozen more variations, Harvey emerges from the booth and passes the mic to Ervin, who quickly throws down with her own freshly written stanzas.

A year or so ago, this process probably would not have popped off so smoothly.

“Before, it was a lot of being unsure and nervous,” says the Bronx-born Harvey. “Now, I feel like we’ve become more professional in the studio and more -Á-Á- “

“Definitive,” says Ervin, finishing her teammates thought. “We’re still developing musically, but we’re a lot stronger than we were before.”

No, these aren’t the same green singers who joined forces in 2000 and quickly found themselves whisked away on tour in Japan. They aren’t the neophytes who recorded hooks on solo tracks for A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife or the ones who scraped together a small stash of cash to record and release a critically lauded debut album, Objects in the Mirrors. Hell, they aren’t even the same chicks who were surprised to learn they were named one of five “artists to watch” in 2005 by Billboard magazine.

“We kind of call it ‘The Next Level of Slick & Rose,’” says Ervin.

The next level doesn’t just represent a progression in how Slick & Rose make music; it also marks a growth in what their music sounds like. Currently at work on two new CDs, the duo’s first project - a mix tape titled The Winter Spells - is due in January. It combines smooth harmonies with boom-bap-flavored beats provided by local hip-hop collective Vintage Imperial. Winter Spells - which they will sell through a handful of retail shops and bestow on some lucky folks for free in person - comes off like one small step away from the DJ Premier-meets-Zhane rhythms found on Objects.

“These are fresh new songs, different styles and a different approach. At the same time, [Winter Spells] is a cleansing of sorts,” says Harvey. “We had a lot of old business creatively - old songs that we never finished, old concepts. We thought it would be good for us to get these songs out of our system.”

While the tunes on Winter Spells only slightly differ from the group’s earlier works, the second new CD in the pipeline - their still untitled, official, full-length sophomore album - promises to plunge Slick & Rose deep into uncharted musical territory whenever the unannounced release date finally arrives. A good chunk of the project is set to be produced by the man known only as Seven, who crafted the hit “Roses” for OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The tracks he’s recorded with S&R so far ring with an undeniable freshness laced with a rock-skewed but still funky sensibility.

With such a pervasive air of transformation lingering about, one has to wonder: What sparked Slick & Rose’s current crop of changes? Part of the shift can be traced to a reorganization in the duo’s business affairs. Almost two years ago, they parted ways with their original manager, Vonico “Don” Johnson, so he could focus on personal issues that needed his immediate attention, Ervin says. After managing themselves for six months, S&R once again gained outside management in the form of renowned DJ/producer Rasta Root. Rasta Root, who also manages Phife, has been affiliated with S&R since the group’s inception, so the move into his new role was an organic one.

“He was already helping us out so much. A lot of the work we got in the past came directly through him,” says Ervin. “He can maneuver in different ways than we can. And since he started managing us, we’ve been open to a lot more opportunities.”

Another element that’s helped to push the pair to the next level is simply time. When the ladies originally formed the duo, they, like many doe-eyed wannabe recording artists, thought that landing a major-label deal was the proverbial pot of gold. But, after spending time in the trenches - performing at shows, establishing relationships with retailers, securing radio play and coverage in the press - Slick & Rose admit that now they’re in a better position to negotiate with the big boys.

“Although we didn’t think so at the time, it’s better this way,” says Harvey. “Because when we sit down at a meeting now, I’m not telling you what I think as an artist about our music, I’m telling you what I know for a fact. I can back this up with CD sales, hits on the website and the people that come up to us on the street.”

This better, stronger, faster version of Slick & Rose goes forward into a big, bad music industry with a new sense of self-confidence. “When it comes to Slick & Rose,” says Harvey, “nobody knows better than Slick & Rose.”

For more info on Slick & Rose: SlickandRose.com

Originally published on November 23, 2005 in Creative Loafing Atlanta. Photo by Jim Stawniak.

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