Your Custom Text Here
Another spotlight, and more on the way! Today, we have soul-pop duo (In)Body, a collaboration between singer/songwriter Ryan Amador and producer/multi-instrumentalist Daniel Weidlein! Coming together as a group, Ryan and Daniel came up with the name (In) Body, which is a mantra for them.
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Hip hop/pop artist, Drew Parks, originally from Detroit, is also a producer and songwriter, and has gotten major love from top networks and magazines like MTV, ESPN’s First Take, Billboard, Respect Magazine and VIBE. He started getting into hip hop around eight or nine years old, and became obsessed.
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
I have the privilege to share the story of Christian R&B/hip hop artist Rahn Anthoni!
In addition to his experience as a TV host, Rahn effortlessly creates inspirational music with R&B, hip hop, and gospel elements, hoping to reach someone else with his words. “Music is soothing to the soul and, when you have the right lyrics, it makes life easier especially when it’s words of encouragement,” he said. “If a person is going through [an] issue in life, music can help.”
Read More
Written by Brittany Shanwté
Glad to be able to feature another great person out here helping to impact others! If you or someone you know is actively working towards bringing awareness to a cause, promoting self- esteem, or working to make a difference in this world, visit my Features/Submissions page to see how to be featured!
Today, the spotlight is on Chay Rodriguez, entrepreneur and creator of #GOALS, a podcast “that caters to to the dream chaser, risk taker, and goal getter” in each of us. Chay uses the show to highlight the motivating lessons from entrepreneurs, which, in turn, pushes others to be greater and walk purposefully in their dreams and goals as well! When Chay reached out to me about the podcast and her story, I had to know more and then share her inspiring story with y’all.
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Today, we have indie pop artist Lauren Waller! Growing up in L.A. and spending a good amount of time in central California, the singer said she has always been surrounded by music. Lauren’s father is actually a singer and musician as a hobby, and she and her brother even grew up taking piano lessons. Lauren also took on the drums for a while, until she realized, to her dismay, that her parents weren’t ever going to ever get her an actual drum set!
Read More
Written by Brittany Shanwté
Here we have Atlanta-based neo-soul artist Nisan Joseph! Raised in Houston, TX, the artist revealed that he was brought up by traditional parents, who raised him on timeless gospel and old-school R&B, which eventually influenced his own sound and lyrics. Nisan actually didn’t start singing until he was a senior in high school after he was forced into choir as an elective. “It was pretty much fate, or in God’s plan, that I got into music,” he said. Currently, the singer is finishing up a chemistry degree at Clark Atlanta University, and is signed with Loud N Klear Entertainment, balancing school and music. Though Nisan admits that he has a love of science, he plans to focus completely on music after graduation.
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Neo-soul and R&B artist, K. James, whose music video for track "Koolin' " was recently featured on the site, has always had a great appreciation for good music with a message, containing real experiences. "Music has always been in my blood," K. James said. "Since I was 5 years old, I grew up listening to my mother’s radio full of artists such as Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Teddy Pendergrass, R. Kelly, and The Temptations." He went on to add, "It has been a dream of mine to express my creativity through song, giving people something to relate to and making a living while doing something I love was all the motivation I needed to pursue this dream of mine."
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Alternative pop singer/songwriter Madyx! Born Michelle Blanchard, has wanted to be in the music industry since she was a kid. “When I was 8 years old, my parents bought me a guitar for my birthday and my life was forever changed,” she said. Growing up, Madyx’s parents also always played a variety of music from classic rock to country, and that helped shape her diverse writing style. After playing in a bunch of bands during high school, Madyx moved out to LA to really build her music career and even started a band called Life Down Here. “We made a pretty good name for ourselves: getting to open for Paramore, played a bunch of high schools across SoCal and several LGBT pride festivals in addition to the Warped Tour,” she said of her band experience. However, as she grew older, her musical style changed and she parted ways with the band, and branched out her own as Madyx! “It’s been a wild ride ever since,” the singer excitedly admitted.
Written by Brittany Shawnté
R&B/pop singer, Yoji, was raised in London with a family of artists. With the support of her family, Yoji began learning how to play piano at the age of 8, but was trying her hand at song writing even before that. “I used to write songs in the playground with my friend and then perform them to everyone in a big showcase,” she said. “They didn’t really make any sense looking back but it was the best part of my day making music in the breaks.”
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Richard is the creator of upcoming inspirational and comical musical, Lord, Why Can’t I Do Right?, which premieres on June 17 at the Porter-Sanford III Performing Arts Center in Decatur, GA. The stage play, directed by Shelly Garret (Godfather of Urban Theatre, Beauty Shop), is a powerful work about two brothers with their own demons and contradicting motives, who collaborate to start a church. “I honestly didn’t know I had this in me,” Richard admitted, attributing the vision of the play to God. The play stars Ashford Sanders, who is known for his appearance on Season 5 of BET’s Sunday Best, along with other social media stars.
Read More
Written by PresidentELLA
Genevia inspires me. Every day, I decide what face to put on to face the world and she helps me decide. My former co-worker & fellow Aries has developed a phenomenal line of liquid lipsticks that remind me to be brilliant, resilient and beautiful. In June 2017, Genevia launched 3:27 Cosmetics, a beauty line for women who are comfortable with who they are; especially you, Brown Girl.
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Today on The Spotlight, we have brillianty talented and breathtaking poet Jonte "Luki" Barrett! Hailing from Washington, D.C. ("It's DC or nothing!" sje confidently said), Jonte started creating poetry back in 2007, and has recently started performing as Luki (pronounced "lucky"). In fact, she recently performed at the Moonz Conference 2016, an annual conference for fans of Wale to connect, support and build with each other!
When I asked her about her inspirations, Luki gave honor to the people in her life. "My grandmother [and] the dope people I do poetry with that are more than a squad but a family, have all inspired me to be a better poet and more importantly a better woman," the poet admitted.
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Music piqued Talisco's his interest at a young age, listening to his grandmother, who was Spanish, sing a lot, and Spanish music became his first inspiration. “I think it’s in my blood,” Talisco said of music in general. By 11, he had a guitar and by 13, he composed my first song. As he went on to create a career for himself, he found other instruments to get into as well. “I like tinkering with sounds,” the artist admitted, also getting into producing. In terms of his unique stage name, Talisco revealed that he took the name to “pay tribute to someone who mattered to me.”
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Juliane realized that music was what she wanted to do with her life after a label approached her with a deal when she was 15. “Unfortunately, I had to refuse their offer but I knew I was made for music and that waiting for the right team would pay off.” And it did! In October 2015, Juliane dropped her debut, self-titled EP, which she says is the introduction of who she is as an artists and a person to the world! “These are the sounds I love and create and this is who I am as a person. Sweet and friendly, a dreamer, but a real go-getter and not afraid to fight for what I want and believe,” she said.
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Today we have CBS Radio’s 98.5 KLUC DJ/radio host Alex "A.D." Davis! A.D. currently handles working at KLUC out in Vegas as the night jockey every Monday-Friday from 6p-11p. He also balances co-hosting the Fresh DOPE podcast, writing for music site GroundSounds.com AND operating the brand Elevated Livin’ LLC (Check out our spotlights on Elevated Livin' artists Sav and J. Smith)! We talked mainly about the podcast, some fitness and sneaker talk, and how A.D. balances it all!
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Last year sometime, the friends decided to crack the mic and throw their hand into the budding medium that is podcasting! Naming the show, Overqualified & Drunk , they describe the show as "raw, extremely jaded and uncut talk between two overqualified and drunk black lesbians living in New York City about spirituality, lesbian love and the two things that bind them together, music and booze."
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Alluri got his start in music through his father, listening to western classical music. He ended up taking violin and piano classes for a few years, but never really enjoyed it, so he stopped. The artist really had little to no contemporary music around him in his formative years. Eventually, others in his family were able to bring that influence to him. His older brother ended up introducing Alluri to his first taste of western rock music. Alluri then began to play the guitar around the age of 13, after his cousin introduced him to bands Deep Purple and Pink Floyd, and he’s been playing ever since. “[It] wasn’t until I played a few gigs in Finland while I was studying there in 2011 did I want to pursue this seriously,” Alluri said of his music.
Written by Britttany Shawnté
Growing up on an industrial estate forty minutes outside of Sydney, Australia, Vander (born William Vandermade) revealed that he didn’t grow up with a lot of money. However, from his childhood, he learned to be grateful for what he did have and to have a positive outlook on life. “I wear that proudly on my sleeve today. And I think it in turn influenced the music that I connected with - music that was inspired by the working class,” Vander said. “U2, Bruce Springsteen, artists who started from nowhere but had the dream to be the biggest and the greatest acts in the world. I feel I connected to their roots and was also inspired by their ambition. I felt that with them, anything was possible.”
Read More
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Happy to feature another great rising artist! If you or your client is an upcoming artist, designer, etc., and would like to be featured on The Spotlight, please visit our Features/Submissions page for more info.
Today, we have pop/alternative singer Samantha Paixao!
Hailing from Toronto, the artist has been singing basically all of her life, stating that music has always helped to make her feel happy. “I thought that if there was a way I could create what made me happy, and help other people feel the same way, then I was going to try my hardest to make it happen,” Samantha said. Though she always wanted to pursue a career in music, the singer admitted that she can be shy around people. However, when she gets on stage, she’s like a whole other person!
Inspired by artists like Twenty One Pilots and Halsey, the singer pays close attention to different sounds, applying certain musical styles into her own music “as creatively as possible.” We hear that creativity and Samantha’s awesome vocals on her single, “The Way I Am,” which is all about self-acceptance and staying true to your values. “I’ve always been really self conscious about my body and the way I look, and how it looked different from women in the media,” she said of the inspiration behind the track. “One day I came to the realization that nobody looks the same and no two people look alike. I wanted to help other people get to that realization as well, so I wrote a song about it.” Samantha hopes to continue to push that message to others, and plans to create more music about self-love, which is definitely needed in today’s society.
Currently, the singer is prepping to release a few new songs early this year, which will be featured on her upcoming EP. In the future, though, she would love to record a full album, and possibly tour, with dreams to play the Air Canada Centre in Toronto!
Her advice to rising musicians like herself? “Always strive to be the best you can be. Write songs that come from the heart, and write as much as possible,” Samantha recommended. “Don’t stop trying. Even if it seems like it’s going slowly, just keep going and keep doing your best.”
You can check out more from Samantha on her official website as well as SoundCloud. Looking forward to hearing more from her!
Written by Brittany Shawnté
Meet rising pop singer, Suzy Olson!
The 16-year-old from Arizona got her start in music by singing in church, alongside her four brothers. Her parents sang each week as well, and her older brothers played instruments, so she comes from a pretty talented family! Her mom was also a music teacher, and the artist began singing with her choir at the age of three. Suzy knew that performing was for her after her mom didn’t cast her in a lead role for a production when she was five. Undeterred, the young artist keeps working towards honing her craft. She’s also involved in shows at East Valley Children’s Theatre in Mesa, AZ, as well as her school productions and competitions at New School for the Arts and Academics.
Though Suzy’s proud to have been able to sing alongside her family, she admitted she wanted to branch out. “I also wanted my own sound and style,” Suzy revealed. “Luckily my family, friends and life have provided lots of material that’s found its way into my music.” Inspired by Taylor Swift’s personality, music, and work ethic, Suzy is working on building her own career, and is well on her way!
The artist recently released her song “Weird,” which is reflective of her own life. “Ever since sixth grade, I was the “weird, crazy” girl,” Suzy said. “My personality and appearance don’t seem to match. It’s like people are expecting someone else to show up when they meet me. So, in that way, I’m weird.” Suzy worked on the song with songwriter Brianna Angarole, who Suzy said “totally gets me.” The track is definitely all about owning who you are and being yourself in spite of what others have to say.
Though the singer is busy balancing school with upcoming productions like Crucible and a 12-minute cutting of Hairspray, Suzy still takes time to write in a journal every day “to keep my thoughts going, or to grab ideas that might float through my mind.” So new music may just be on the horizon for the up and coming singer!
In terms of what separates her from other artists out right now, Suzy believes it’s her outgoing spirit, and the fact that she’s not afraid to meet new people or try new things. She loves performing, but also loves learning from others, and strives to do her best in her craft. “I want to spend my life doing this work,” the singer admitted.
You can check out more from Suzy on YouTube, and be sure to follow her on Facebook and Instagram!
