Grammy Winner,Common, Talks Music & Giving Back

Lonnie Rashid Lynn popularly known as Common is about conscience raising music and doing good deeds for “the people.” Common is controversial, dynamic, soulful, spiritual, experimental and consistently delivers lyrics that point to the big elephant in the room.

Born March 13th, 1972, the South Side Chicago native was aware of the hard knock life urban youths face in the ghettos across the USA; as he experienced and lived that reality. He would later use his mc skills to give voice to these voiceless souls.

The conscience pricking rapper through hard work and keeping it as real as real gets became an established name in the underground hip-hop scene. However, it was not until 2000 he made his debut into mainstream with his fourth album, “Like Water Chocolate.” Released under MCA Records, “Like Water Chocolate” featured, on its album cover, a picture of a young black woman in Alabama who drank from a “colored only” drinking fountain. Needless to say, that along with his strong mc skills, piqued the curiousity of mainstream. The album was also unique because Common did what most of hip-hop had not done uptill that moment. He paid tribute to Africa via Nigeria and Africa’s music legend and human rights activist, Fela Kuti with "Time Travelin' [A Tribute to Fela]."

If his 2000 release piqued mainstream’s interest, Common’s “Be” album released in 2005 and produced by Kanye West and J Dilla had the masses listening. By 2006, the album was nominated for four grammies. Since then, Common has continued releasing soul raising grammy award winning albums. Indeed, his seventh album released in 2007,“Finding Forever,” also produced by Kanye West debuted at #1 on the billboard 200. With hits like “The People” featuring Dwele, “The Game” and “ I want You” starring Kerry Washington, Kanye West, Serena Williams and Alicia Keys, it was no surprise that the album was nominated for three grammies and Common won “Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.”

From success on the mic, Common is now showing his flexibility on the big screen. 2007 saw him appear alongside Ben Affleck, Jeremy Piven and Alicia Keys in Smokin’ Aces. He also debuted alongside Hollywood’s greats like Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in the American Gangster. As of this year, he has appeared alongside Keanu Reeves and Forrest Whitaker in the recently released "Street Kings." The artist/actor is also expected to star alongside Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie in "Wanted," scheduled for release later this year.

In spite of all of these successes, for Common, he maintains it is about the people and specifically at risk youths. His experiences growing up in the streets in South Side Chicago; and the fact that Common is now a father to ten year old Omoye, is probably the driving force to give a voice and help at-risk-youths. Indeed in a society that pays more of lip service rather than truly make a difference with youths, it is refreshing to see Common is not interested in just talking but actually walking the talk. Common recently launched the Common Ground Foundation, his non-profit organization to empower at-risk youths. An organization that he believes is distinct from others because it has a mind, body and soul [approach to helping at-risk-youths].

LADYBRILLE.com:Your work with the Common Ground Foundation? Why are you so passionate about helping at risk youths?
Common: I grew up in Chicago where I saw a lot of people who didn't have opportunities. I have compassion towards children and I feel that children are the future. I wanna create a better opportunity to create a better world for themselves and others.

LADYBRILLE.com: A part of your program with Common Ground Foundation is to help youths with their mind, body and soul. Why did you think it is important to add that angle to your programs?
Common: A lot of times, we miss out on things that are essential to living like health, creating a happy environment, creating social skills and the most important thing to have is love for yourself and others. The main thing is that I would love to have for them to learn those skills.

LADYBRILLE.com: How do you feel when you discover others benefit from your work, some of whom have never met you?
Common: That's one of the greatest rewards of doing this. It is to know that you're touching people when you've never even met face to face.

LADYBRILLE.com: This month is the Africa music issue on Ladybrille.What do you think about Africa's music and particularly hip-hop scene?Common: Hip-hop comes from Africa so I love it. They feel the rhythm in it. They feel the soul in it. I love the African music that I've been introduced to, mostly Nigerian like Fela Kuti.

LADYBRILLE.com: You have a very successful music career and you are doing it BIG overall. How is it that you stay grounded and keep your core values in all the glory and a very fickle entertainment industry?
Common: God is my foundation and my light source of all these opportunities and blessings and I realize that. I also look at the conditions of people who haven't had the opportunity that I've had and it makes me wanna do more for them.
To find out how to win an autographed & limited edition CD: The People and DVD Videos: The People and The Game, click here.

Common--The People


Common-The Game


Common-I Want You

Read More

Top London Based Nigerian Bridal Designer in Chicago!

We featured top London/Nigeria bridal couture designer, Yemi Osunkoya, in our Wedding Issue last year. Click here for his feature. Now, he is in CHICAGO for the Bronzeville Bridal Show. The event takes place on Sunday April 27th, 2008 from 1-5pm. There will be couture, cuisine, bridal makeovers, luxury giveaways and more. Visit http://www.bridesnoir.com/ for more info. or click on image to enlarge. If you are or will be in the Chicago area, head out to the event and meet the designer in person!

Read More

LAGBAJA, Africa's Music Living Legend

We've written about the one and only Lagbaja on a couple of occasions. While he is not in our line up for our April Africa Music Issue, we wanted to do a quick spotlight on him, just in case you missed him in our previous feature. Lagbaja is a phenomenal artist whose musical creativity and talents show he intricately and intelligently understands what the world is looking for when it comes to music from Africa. With beats that are highly reminiscent of the motherland and heavy infusion of funk, jazz, rock, r&b and hip-hop, he keeps the fire burning for the world's greatest African music legends like Fela Kuti and Sunny Ade.

Meanwhile, a young upcoming artist who we include in our lineup is 9ice. 9ice is being hailed as having the characteristics of these music legends as he continues the legacy of creatively intelligent music. Stay tuned for his feature! Meanwhile, enjoy some of the great classics from Lagbaja below. To support Lagbaja, you can check out his site and purchase his albums here!

YOU ARE MY DREAM COME TRUE


KONKO BELOW [loosely translated to mean get down with me]


NEVER FAR AWAY

Read More

Visual Collaborative Art Exhibition, Miami 2008!

MIAMI, FL – Art enthusiast, community writers and various artists gathered on Saturday, April 12, 2008 to celebrate the opening of the week long art exhibition, April 12th-19th, in Miami called "Visual Collaborative." Produced by Adeave studios and Icy Public Relations, the yearly event hosted six [6] artists at the exclusive art event opening. Over 350 people were in attendance at the Undercurrent Arts, 2563 North Miami Avenue Miami, FL, the location where the event was held.

Artists for the 2008 Visual Collaborative Art Exhibition were: Ade Olufeko [New York], Dawn Okoro [Texas], Jens Karlsson [New York], Linda Zacks [New York], Miko Simmons [Minnesota] and Tiphanie Brooke[Arizona]. Simmons' work was the talk of the evening as it pushed the envelope with provacative art that challenged society's concept of sexuality. Indeed, it was definitely the highlight of the evening drawing over 35 people to his work, at one time!

ABOUT VISUAL COLLABORATIVE: Visual Collaborative is an annual group exhibition/networking event focused on creative professionals and visual artists from all around the country, showcasing a rich blend of media work. These works include New Media Design, Abstract Art, Interactive Design, Oil Paintings and Traditional Painting styles.

WHO IT BENEFITS:The charity of choice this year was the Voices of Children Miami- Dade. The mission of Voices for Children Foundation is to raise funds to ensure that every abused and neglected child in Miami-Dade County has a court-appointed Guardian Ad Litem and that financial assistance and other resources are available for their accompanying health, educational and social needs.


VISUAL COLLABORATIVE 2009: Next year's Visual Collaborative Art Exhibition will take place in New York City! To be a part of it or for more information contact ICY Public Relations at 305.940.0067. You may also visit the site at http://www.visualcollaborative.com/. Enjoy some pics from this year's event!

THE ART

THE PEOPLE

Read More

"One Love" With KAYSHA

Kaysha whose real name is Edward Mokolo Jr. is an exciting artist with great flexibility. He is an entrepreneur, producer, musician, designer, film director/producer, a father, multi-talented, multi-lingual.Whether it is giving us worldwide hits like “One Love” or doing a collabo with a rap hook with the equally talented K-reen, you will never find Kaysha wanting when it comes to showcasing his diverse creative talents and infusing the many languages he speaks to express his creativity. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1974, Kaysha immigrated to France at 7. The handsome and talented artist talks to LADYBRILLE.com about his life, music, business of music and family! Enjoy and click hereto see how to win an autographed KAYSHA CD!

KAYSHA THE ENTREPRENEUR

LADYBRILLE.com: “One love!” [laughs]
Kaysha: Spread love always!

LADYBRILLE.com:That song is so beautiful mehn!
Kaysha: Thank you so much, it was done from the heart so I appreciate the compliment...


LADYBRILLE.com: Kaysha, what don’t you do? Entrepreneur, producer, musician, designer,film director/producer, a father, multi-talented, multi-lingual, you are a super human!
Kaysha: Nah, I'm just trying to enjoy and make most of this life interesting. There are so many ways to enlighten your soul and most people just live a succession of gray moments. I'm trying to live in a brightly colored universe. .

LADYBRILLE.com: Hmmm . . .how difficult is that juggling those various hats you wear?
Kaysha: I love calling it breathing. There's no difficulty in breathing in the way that you do it naturally without thinking about it...That's the way I approach my different endeavours. I'm not wondering how to, I just do. And I learn from every mistake and every experiment. People often don't do things because they are afraid of what people might say. Well, I do things because I like doing them in the first place, then, if people love it, that's a blessing. . .

KAYSHA THE MUSICIAN

LADYBRILLE.com: Let’s start with your music. You’ve got such an eclectic style: Zouk, Salsa, Hip-hop, R &B, Afro-Carribean. How do you stay so versatile and relevant for your diverse fanbase?
Kaysha: It comes from the heart and there is a color. It's like different flavors of the same candy. That's why I call it “candyzouk.” I try to add what I learned from a country to another, so people can always find an ingredient that they can relate to.

LADYBRILLE.com: You are from the Democratic Republic of Congo. What is the current state of Congo’s music industry?
Kaysha: I live in France, so I can't really talk about it like someone who's there. People tend to associate congolese people with Rumba & ndombolo and nothing else. But there is a diversity and true talent that is waiting to emerge, and I hope that in the coming years, I'll be a part of the revolution that comes from Africa.

LADYBRILLE.com: What about the state of Congo’s fashion industry? I feel like there is a disjunct in Africa’s entertainment industry where fashion and music work hand in hand to make each industry even stronger?
Kaysha: Personally, I wouldn't really talk about an industry when there is clearly a lack of ways to help the artists, designers, musicians, e.t.c. protect their work of art, retain rights for what their intellectual property, get real exposure trough the continent and abroad. And again, I'm not immersed enough into the continent to be the one to give an insider's opinion. All I can say is that there is a real load of talent and I would suggest they try to build a real network that's solid instead of waiting for someone to make it happen.

LADYBRILLE.com: Back to your music. The ladies go wild especially when you perform songs like “One Love” and “I Just Wanna Love You,” among many. Do you have any particular preparation or routine before your performances?

Kaysha: I just do my cross sign and meditate buddha style before each performances. . . I think that they really get touched by those songs, maybe because they are true songs from the heart inspired by real people.

LADYBRILLE.com: Tell us some of the awards you have won? Kaysha: Three times Kora awards, nominee Best African artist MTVE, MJTX awards, and countless other little trophies but none of them compare to my parents pride.


KAYSHA THE BUSINESS MAN

LADYBRILLE.com: [Smiles] You are very much a man who is about the business of music. Tell us about your entertainment company Sushiraw. Why did you decide to strike out on your own?
Kaysha: People see me as a businessman, but I'm just someone who wants to give music to the people the best way I can. And I just realised that I needed to build my own road because the vision I had 10 years ago wasn't understood by the people I worked with back then. And still now, in this globalized world where the information travels at the speed of light, people still try to limit themselves to their origins, city, street, e.t.c. I'm going exactly the opposite.

LADYBRILLE.com: {True talk}What kind of challenges do you face as a business owner and how do avoid spreading yourself so thin with the many hats you wear?
Kaysha: As a friend said, never lie to yourself about what you can do. If you're good at this and this, just focus on those things and find people who are good at what you need. I'm not doing everything by myself, I have a great team of talented artists, business partners, radios, deejays, people all over the internet that understand the vision and follow the path. When I shoot a video, I have a vision and I hire the right people to make things happen the way I want. When I'm in the studio and I think of a nice guitar riff, I will hire the right fingers to play those riffs. Then there are a lot of things that when I see people do, I just learn from it. Suck the powers out of you [laughs]. For example mixing. I was always dissappointed that the songs sounded 'phatter' at home but thin after the professional mixer did his thing. As soon as you are ready to try and understand the process and know that all this is subjective, there is not one good mix but many different approaches to making things sound the way you want to hear them. Then you got tools to achieve this and anyone with patience can learn how to master these tools. Same goes for editing, shooting videos, understanding lighting, making websites, e.t.c.

LADYBRILLE.com: Now that you are a producer who also knows what it is like to be an artist, how do you make sure you cater to the company’s need to make a profit and that of the many artists under your label?
Kaysha: Being both, I can understand the frustrations of being an artist that feels that no one understands him. And at the same time, as a party freak, I know what's playing in the clubs and what I like to dance to. So as a businessman, I can visualize the thing with different angles and take the right decision. If one beat will not sell but make you happy, why don't we record that non-commercial song, give it away for free on the internet, then we sell the commercial one? That's the kind of pragmatism I have developed over the years.

LADYBRILLE.com: I see you also dabble in the business of fashion with T-shirts of all kinds. Do you design ALL of them like your site says?
Kaysha:Yes I do. For now, I just do this for fun because I just like the idea that when I have an idea, I can wear it, just like I do for music. And that's the way I do for everything. That's the way I think for music, websites, films, music videos, e.t.c.I learn how to do things myself so I do not need nobody. Then when I hire someone to do the work, it's because I like what he does, not because I couldn't do without him.

KAYSHA THE FATHER

LADYBRILLE.com: I understand you are a father. How old is your son? Kaysha: It's been 5 years since the miracle of life.


LADYBRILLE.com: What’s it like being a daddy?
Kaysha: It makes you strong and weak at the same time. You're a hero and you have great responsibility. Every day I wake up and hope that I will be up to the challenge. Because at the end of the day, you need to feed your family and raise your child with that good African education of respect for the values of life. Being a father made me respect my parents a lot more. Because I wouldn't be here talking 6 different languages without their wonderful education.


LADYBRILLE.com: Six languages! What are those six?
Kaysha: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, Lingala and English.

LADYBRILLE.com: Wow! I know you’ve put Congo on the map through your music and getting the word out via social media. Tell us the social media you use and which ones are your favorites?
Kaysha: I don't just put Congo on the map but the whole African generation. Metissage and unity is our only way to survive. I think I'm all over the internet. I understood the power of the net in 1996 when I designed the first version of Kaysha.com . Social media just gave us African artists exactly what we needed to open up to the world without even the need to have some jerk listen to our demos and not understand the value of art. I use facebook, myspace, viddler, youtube, flickr, twitter, odeo, imeem, ilike, hi5, e.t.c. It's a great way to communicate with people, fans, interact, people can send me sms directly from twitter and hear my last tracks on myspace, follow me on tour on my videoblog at kaysha.com/kaysha buy my songs on itunes, and so forth. It's a new world and we can make this giant jump if our leaders understand that the internet is a chance for our youth, our artists, our scientists, doctors, if we use it well of course.

LADYBRILLE.com: What next for Kaysha? When are you dropping your next album, and where can our readers purchase your music?
Kaysha: Well, I have a new double cd coming in october, a best of 1998-2008 ready for April and loads of free songs and songs to buy. The good start is to check [here]
and buy my music cause I love you. [laughs]

LADYBRILLE.com: Well we love you too. "One love" right back atcha! Thanks for taking time out of your very busy schedule for us.
Kaysha: Much love.

Read More

French Artist Shy'm's "Victoire"

TRANSLATION-- Click here for translation.

Read More