A wise man once said, ‘If G-d is infinite in his power and wisdom, then every life is equally precious. By deduction, nothing can be worthless or more.’ On the surface, many of us feel trapped by the physical restraints of the corporeal world. The boundaries, borders, and limitations we face oftentimes curtail our aspirations, clipping our proverbial wings before we take flight. So many of the challenges we face are summarily dismissed by cliched expressions – ‘That’s Life’ – ‘That’s the way the cookie crumbles’ – ‘There is plenty of fish in the sea’ – ‘This too will pass’, et al. When we seek answers, we need more than empty platitudes.
The trials and tribulations we encounter desperately require solutions.
Left to our own devices, the resolution is managed by an oftentimes frail emotional mindset. If we are broken inside, searching and yearning for answers, it is no wonder we can’t make any sense of the world we live in. It seems absolutely impossible to see the light when we are enveloped in a stranglehold of darkness. The suffocating embrace of emptiness and despair is truly soul-destroying. When the world appears to have turned its back on us, we often turn inward for resolution. We yearn for answers, from within the very core of our being.
Sometimes, we need to look beyond the obvious.
Well beyond the textbooks and literature. An innate understanding of the universe is beyond the scope of human comprehension, but every now and then the universe provides humanity with vessels with a deeper understanding of the great unknown. Indeed, in the space-time continuum, everything is relative, and it is theoretically possible to bend time and space to understand the future in the present. This metaphysical approach to understanding the corporeal world and all its maladies proves useful in the presence of guru guides. These soulful readers exist among us, in the form of palm readers, Tarot card readers, Fortune Tellers and Astrologists.
A natural degree of skepticism is healthy, but the true value of this type of metaphysical service is evident with a free psychics reading online.
The universe is a hotbed of unbridled energy
Perpetually expanding and contracting with each of its infinite components. This energy is never lost or destroyed; it is merely transferred across the universe occupying myriad different forms, ad nauseam. When these metaphysical elements are shared with special human beings, the power of insight is unlocked and it is at that precise moment that the ‘enlightened’ among others truly blossom with a gift so precious it cannot be ignored.
Photos courtesy of Mountainside Treatment Facility
For years, Leandro Carvalho won the Best Fitness Class in NYC award from New York Magazine. He was a personal trainer to the stars, and Victoria’s Secret angels, teaching his signature “Brazilian Butt Lift” and “Brazilian Groove” classes.
Today, he teaches a different kind of class. Rather than stars, his new trainees are members of the NYC recovery community. Carvalho is working for the Mountainside Treatment Facility, a rehabilitation center in Canaan, CT. A program graduate himself, he lives in an apartment in the program’s extended care facility. While there, he teaches fitness, yoga, meditation, chi gong, arts, painting, music, high, ropes, hiking, and spirituality. Every Monday, he teaches classes at Mountainside’s new NYC facility–Mountainside Chelsea–teaching fitness, wellness, and the arts which are open to anyone in the recovery community.
Carvalho’s classes and the students may be different. However, one thing has not changed: Carvalho still runs a fantastic fitness class. He brims with energy, leading by enthusiastic example as he directs a drum circle full of alumni. After 25 years, he still approaches every activity like it is his favorite new game that he has just discovered. It is an infectious attitude–one he and his students alike need to strive for. “Sobriety has to be fun,” he says.
Leandro
Carvalho first came to the US from Brazil 25 years ago to dance with Merce Cunningham. He stayed to get a Masters Degree from NYU in art therapy. As he learned, he taught as many fitness classes as he could. Carvalho rose to prominence as an instructor riding a wave of Latinculture, creating signature Brazilian-inspired fitness classes. He sold specials and DVDs and was even flew out to Sting‘s summer home to teach Sting’s family.
Then, a few years ago, a medical mistake nearly cost Carvalho everything. Lying in a hospital bed after the procedure, doctors told him that he would likely end up paraplegic or dead. His teaching career–and fitness career–was over. Carvalho had suffered losses and setbacks before–the loss his brother and his friends to AIDS in the ’80s, his own HIV positive diagnosis–but he had never turned to drugs. Back then, he threw himself into fitness, dance, and the arts. In one moment, that had been taken away from him, and he struggled to cope. “(Until that point) I didn’t realize how important wellness was in my life…It was everything I knew.”
Carvalho turned to drugs–meth–as an easy way to cope. It tore his life apart. His success, ironically, made it difficult for him to seek help. “I didn’t know how to ask for help. I was the guru, the trainer. I was embarrassed.” He reached out to Mountainside, whose staff he had trained several years earlier. They saved his life.
Carvalho has recovered physically, and he bounces as he leads a workout class or a drum circle. His sparkling energy is fueled by the knowledge that sobriety requires enthusiasm, and enthusiasm requires wellness. Relapse, he says, doesn’t start when you decide to drink. The relapse begins earlier, in your feelings. “My passion for wellness is because when I didn’t take care of myself–my body, mind, and spirit–I went down very quickly.” His goal, he says, is to pass the message that sobriety requires work on all three forms of wellness.
Dre Marrero, a personal trainer at The DOGPOUND. Photo credit Matteo Matty Matt.
By Andreina “Dre” Marrero, a personal trainer at The DOGPOUND
Dre Marrero stands on top of a tire that DOGPOUND members use for exercise. Photo credit Alice Teeple.
“Mind-body connection” is something we hear about in the gym, but many clients interpret it differently. What makes the mind create changes in the body? What causes the body to withstand the pain of the movements the create growth? There are numerous scientific explanations to answer these, but what about the unknown factor: your soul?
Welcome to personal soul training. Yes. You read that right. Soul training.
Embedded deep within all of us is that magic, or what I like to call our “Wizard of Oz.” Someone behind that mind and body which instructs us to lift that arm, get that last rep, and “listen” to what our body tells us. While mind-body gets all the attention, what about our soul training? This encompasses past pain, anger, frustration, and numerous lower vibrating energy that keeps us from making permanent changes with our bodies. Running is energy; Training is energy; Lifting is energy. All in all- life itself is all about ENERGY!
This takes us to our energy centers, which play a vital role in our training and our personal health/wellness plan. Our 7 energy centers (chakras) give us significant clues towards what changes our soul needs to project progress outwardly. In simple terms: heal the soul, heal the mind, heal the body–IN THAT ORDER.
Our first energy center, for example, the root chakra, is responsible for stability, rigidity, security, and a sense of “I Am.” As life happens for us, this energy center can be thrown off and cause restlessness, insecurity, excessive anger, and impatience. Performing grounding movements such as deadlifts/squats can help release this energy as well as associated feelings that are occurring in our personal lives. Staying consistent will eventually get you dual results: an enhanced body but, most importantly, a healed part of the soul, which can be life-altering. Our decisions are based on our thoughts, which are based on our feelings and beliefs. Who houses those feelings? Our soul.
Changing the body from within is vital for growth. We ensure we have the brain to grow, the courage to persevere, but most importantly, the heart to make these changes permanent and truly live a healthy lifestyle….from the inside out.
Remember- there’s no place like home. That home is your body & training the inner self is just as crucial as the outer shell. (Clicks heels twice…)
Every year when March rolls around, music fans in New York City know to expect a major concert benefit being presented by City Winery’s Michael Dorf. This year is no exception as Mar. 6 brings The Music Of Aretha Franklin at Carnegie Hall, the 14th installment of Michael’s Music Of series. Among the artists slated to perform the works of the Queen Of Soul are Melissa Etheridge, Kenny Loggins, Glen Hansard, Rhiannon Giddens, G. Love, Sam Moore, CeeLo Green, Todd Rundgren, Antibalas, Allen Stone, Taj Mahal, Living Colour, and Bettye LaVette. Arguably the most prominent and impressive lineup ever assembled by Michael and team.
Downtown had the pleasure of speaking with six of the evening’s performers: Kenny Loggins, Sam Moore, Ron Pope, G. Love, Ruthie Foster, and Richard Thompson. Few artists can bring entertainers of all genres together like Aretha Franklin, and this Q&A helps explain why that is. 100% of the net proceeds from the Mar. 6 event are given to music education organizations for underprivileged youth, including Young Audiences New York, Little Kids Rock, and Church Street School Of Music; well over $1 million has been raised through prior events.
More on Michael Dorf and his event series can be found at www.musicof.org. Those looking to catch a public dress rehearsal of the Carnegie Hall event can try finding tickets via the City Winery website.
Do you remember the first time you heard Aretha Franklin? Or at least the first song by her you’d heard?
Sam Moore: I’ve known Aretha since she was a teenager playing piano for her father the famous Reverend C.L. Franklin. That’s around 60 years ago.
Ron Pope: There was never a time in my life before Aretha. Her voice was always there. I remember singing along to “Respect” as a really little kid. Sometimes I’d sing lead, sometimes I’d sing the background parts. I remember when I learned that she was singing the word “propers” in that song; when I was little, I always thought it was “popcorn.”
Ruthie Foster: I grew up listening to Aretha. Her gospel recordings with her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, were a mainstay in our house when I was a little girl.
G. Love: I’m thinking that I surely grew up listening to the sounds of Aretha on the radio my whole life. I do remember my parents being crazy about the soundtrack for this movie The Big Chill, and I’m pretty sure “Natural Woman” was on that cassette. They wore it out! As I grew up and into music my Uncle Billy turned me on to Booker T & The MGs, who were the Stax Records backing band and recorded many of Aretha’s hits with her. So I always loved Aretha and the sounds behind her.
Richard Thompson: It would have been “Respect.” I was at school over in London, and that must have been 1964? It’s the first record of Aretha’s that got much airplay.
Do you have a favorite Aretha song?
Kenny Loggins: “What A Fool Believes” — I totally went to school on her reinvention.
Sam Moore: Well, she won the Grammy for my song “Hold On I’m Coming” in 1981, and I’ve stolen her arrangement done by the brilliant Arif Martin for my live performances. I recorded one of her big hits written by Ahmet Ertegun, “Don’t Play That Song For Me,” and I’ve heard her performing it and her shows with my arrangement.
Ron Pope: “Baby, I Love You” is my very favorite song of Aretha’s; it has everything I want in a record. Her lead vocal is lights out, the harmonies she sings with her sisters are interesting and effective, Jimmy Johnson’s guitar is so damn smooth driving it all along, they have King Curtis and those horn parts that feel iconic but are still understated. The recording is absolutely everything. The Swampers and King Curtis!? Unreal! And it’s like two minutes long! You want to explain to someone why she’s the Queen? Play them that!
Ruthie Foster: Her rendition of “Amazing Grace” is my favorite!
Richard Thompson: I love her version of “You Are My Sunshine.”
Where was the first gig you ever played in New York City? What do you remember about it?
Sam Moore: Oh my goodness. The Apollo Theater on the package as an opening act in 1963, I believe. I remember legendary female comedian Moms Mabley telling me, after Dave [Prater] and I sort of phoned in a performance because there were very few people in the house at the time we went on, “not to be lazy on stage and to get out there, even if there’s only three people in the audience and give them the show they paid their money to see! Do your best don’t ever shortchange the house, even if it’s just the waiters and waitresses at a club you’re playing as your career progresses.” Her words have never left me since and every time I walk out on stage I strive to give the audience 100% or more of me and my vocal gift.
Ron Pope: My first real gig in New York was at The Bitter End when I was about 19 or 20, playing with my band The District. I remember feeling excited. Here I was, just some kid from Georgia playing a stage Bob Dylan had been on! Lots of our friends came out since it was our first show — and we begged them. Afterwards, Paul and Kenny from The Bitter End were so complimentary of the band, and we established a relationship that put us back on that stage at least 200 times over the next few years. No matter how many times I go to that club, I’ll never forget that first night.
Ruthie Foster: My first gig in New York City was at a place called Terra Blues, just off Bleecker and Thompson in The Village. The blues artist — and actor — Guy Davis was playing and took a break, I talked to him for awhile about music and told him that I played and sang to and had just moved from Texas. He let me play during his breaks that night. I had a gig two nights a week at that venue for three years afterwards!
Kenny Loggins: Two months before I played for the first time in New York City, I was there as a tourist. When I walked past Carnegie Hall, I said to my girlfriend, “Maybe someday I’ll get to play there.” Ironically, two months later I played there with Jimmy Messina as the opening act for Delaney & Bonnie and Billy Preston.
G. Love: My first gig, aside from busking in Washington Square Park a couple times in 1991 on a road trip down from Skidmore College — where I went to school for a year — would’ve been The Grand for our showcase for the New Music Seminar. I remember the crowds were a bit tougher than the amorous crowds we had achieved at the Irish pubs in Boston but we kept our head down and played that shit proper. Right after that things started clicking and we played Brownies, Cafe Sinead, The Bottom Line and CBGBs Gallery, where we scored our first deal with Epic Records in 1993.
Richard Thompson: It was the Fillmore East, 1970. The bill was something like Fairport Convention — my band — Savoy Brown and Traffic. Bill Graham was at the side of the stage as we came off, and said, “Wow! I’ve never seen that before.” We were feeling quite pleased with ourselves, till he added: “I’ve never seen a band go onstage not knowing what the second number was going to be!”
Do you have a favorite restaurant in New York?
Sam Moore: There are so many great ones. I haven’t really been in New York a lot in the past couple of years.
Ron Pope: Awash on 6th Street, for sure. As I tour, I try to find Ethiopian food that good all over the world, but it never stacks up to Awash! When I lived in The Village, I’d eat there at least twice a week. When I come home to New York from the road, that’s the first place I want to eat.
Ruthie Foster: I recently visited and played New York City and had a great experience at a wonderful restaurant called Khe-Yo in TriBeCa, that’s become my favorite! It’s has a lot of Laotian-inspired dishes which are great for sharing with friends.
G. Love: That’s a tough one, but I sure love Joseph Leonard’s and The Diner in Brooklyn.
Richard Thompson: I love Avra, the Greek seafood restaurant. I think it’s at 48th and Lex.
What’s coming up for you besides this show at Carnegie Hall?
Sam Moore: On Thursday night, the 9th, I will be at the Beacon Theater with a bunch of amazing artists at the God’s Love We Deliver fundraiser, and then I’m going to Scottsdale, Arizona the weekend of Mar. 18 at the Celebrity Fight Night tribute to a dear friend who we lost last year, Muhammad Ali. I’m also in the studio recording an album project actually a couple of album projects with the award-winning and most amazing producer, an artist Rudy Perez. Rudy has an album launching in the next couple of weeks, and the single from that album is a duet I was humbled to participate on, a little song written by Charlie Chaplin called “Smile.”
Ron Pope: I will be back in October to play at Terminal 5. I can’t wait for that one; I’ve never played there but I’ve seen so many incredible bands on that stage.
Ruthie Foster: I have U.S. and European tours coming up with my new CD on the horizon! Joy Comes Back is the title; it’s a celebration of all the transitions in my life, love and music since my last recording.
Kenny Loggins: My new children’s book: a reimagining of Footloose in which Jack, now a zookeeper, secretly lets all the zoo animals out of their cages to dance under a full moon.
G. Love: I’m writing this in Byron Bay, Australia, where I performed last night at the Byron Bay Surf Festival. Next stop is NYC, and the day after Carnegie Hall, I fly to Phoenix to start a month-long West Coast tour with my band Special Sauce. The original trio is still going strong closing in on 25 years!
Richard Thompson: I’m out the whole of April, and I’ll be fairly local a couple of times — Tarrytown on Apr. 14 and Port Washington Apr. 19. I’m also releasing two acoustic records, Acoustic Classics 2 and Acoustic Rarities, probably in May.
Finally, any last words for the kids?
Richard Thompson: Listen to Aretha! There is such a thing as musical intelligence. Her voice is at the service of the song, not the other way ’round. She doesn’t show off, she uses her extraordinary vocal gifts sparingly to emphasize the emotional peaks of the songs.
Sam Moore: I actually working with my wife on a project with Florida International University developing curriculum to teach kids grades K through 12 the great and rich histories, legacies and contributions of the amazing American-born talented musical artists of past decades and generations who brought — to not only American culture — but the world the gift of music all of the joy it brings.
Also, my great-niece Courtney Trice is going to be duetting with me at Carnegie Hall. Not bragging or prejudice, she is amazing! I am so proud to have the pleasure and joy of introducing her to the world the right way and I want to thank Michael Dorf and his entire organization for affording me the opportunity to pay honor and tribute to my “Ree Ree” and do my portion of her salute justice with Courtney and her powerful vocal abilities at my side performing my duet version from my Overnight Sensational album of “Don’t Play That Song.”
Ron Pope: 10 years ago, I sang on the subway platform to make a living, and now I’m playing at Carnegie Hall. Whatever you decide to do with your life, stay focused and do it with your whole heart. You’ll end up where you’re supposed to be.
Ruthie Foster: My words for the kids would be to stay true to who you really are and when times get tough remember that music is a healer. It’s definitely been my light!
G. Love: Be original, be passionate, bring enthusiasm, energy and love. Make a connection and expect magic to happen. Leave it all onstage every night and stay on the hustle. It’s about the journey in music there’s no top to the mountain — you just gotta keep on climbing and enjoy the view! The best thing about music is that every night can be your best show ever, and that’s what I say the minute I wake up on show days, “Tonight I will play my greatest show ever.” Then I beat it the next night.
Kenny Loggins: Follow your dreams. They will always take you somewhere fun.
What do the blues, baseball and stand-up comedy have in common? Besides all of these concepts being entertaining to many millions of people, they are all undeniably art forms that originated in the United States. Without the blues there would be no rock & roll, and in turn, no hip-hop.
Bluescentric was formed in 2009 to fill the niche of there being “no online resource for people passionate about roots, rock & roll, blues and soul music.” Founder Matt Marshall started Bluescentric as part of a college project, putting his computer programming skills to work. Several years later, Matt changed the direction of Bluescentric, making it the seller of officially-licensed merchandise from legendary musicians and record labels. Bluescentric partners include the estates of Otis Redding, Bo Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Johnny Winter. The company also follows many green initiatives, even using recyclable packaging to ship its orders.
Downtown spoke to CEO Matt Marshall prior to the company’s holiday season rush. While based in Missouri, Matt is very familiar with New York, as he constantly checks out live music in other states. Beyond keeping up a website at www.bluescentric.com, Bluescentric can be followed on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
Matt Marshall
How would you describe Bluescentric to someone who hasn’t visited the site before?
Matt Marshall: Our mission has always been to connect music fans with authentic, quality merch in the digital age that actually benefits the artist or band estates in a meaningful way. Bluescentric.com carries unique, quality music merch for Blues, Soul, Rock n Roll, musicians, vinyl collectors, and live music. It’s officially licensed and paid directly to artist estates and independent labels.
How exactly did you go from being a computer programmer to the head of Bluescentric?
MM: I was always a business-minded entrepreneur. The programming came in handy because I actually wrote the first Bluescentric.com store from scratch. The website started as a college project that kind of of got out of hand…but there was this worldwide group of passionate fans of this American music culture that were really being ignored. So we set out to give music lovers quality apparel that would help express their love of American “roots” music, in the broad strokes of Americana, blues, soul, R&B and rock & roll. After shipping tens of thousands of tees to 70 countries, it’s awesome to keep discovering how many other diverse, music-minded people are out there.
Do you have a favorite item of what’s sold by Bluescentric?
MM: I’ve got a closet full of favorites, but lately our old soul music tees are too fun. Coincidentally and all at once, we got serious soul power: Stax Records, Otis Redding, Memphis Horns, Shaft, the whole party.
Before Bluescentric even existed, I was making pilgrimages to the Stax Museum in Memphis to stand on the hallowed studio ground where Otis was cutting “Dock Of The Bay.” Now every day we ship old soul tees to other blues pilgrims in Memphis, Brooklyn, Tokyo, France…It’s a special thrill to get to harness our excellent creative department on music so impactful.
Are any of your licensors or artists based in New York?
MM: The late Bo Diddley — the originator and the man who some say invented rock & roll. We also work with a couple licensing agencies in the city, like Perryscope Productions.
Do you have a favorite concert venue in New York?
MM: Terra Blues is a great little music club. Brooklyn Bowl books some of the best roots-leaning acts touring today, and the concept is too cool. We’re stageside for Grace Potter and that deadly Flying V of hers while somehow bowling on lane five. I’ve always wanted to go to The Beacon [Theatre].
Your company ships its items from Missouri, which is a lot closer to the origin of the blues than New York. Where did your appreciation for the blues first come from?
MM: My earliest memories were glued to oldies radio and digging into dad’s records, so the blues was a natural progression — or foundation, depending how you look at it. However, the name of the shop more subtly reflects that popular music today, in one way or another, is really all the blues.
There’s a whole subculture argument on what is and isn’t “blues music” — but between people like Janis Joplin and Big Mama Thornton, both lived it, both sang it in a way people simply cannot forget. Who are we to cast the first stone at which invisible boxes “art” falls into? Rap, soul, country, R&B, rock & roll, punk, et. al. grew with-and-from the “mother earth” of this Mississippi Delta blues, gospel, and work song music foundation.
Matt Marshall
What about the green initiative of your company? Was your environmentalism inspired by a particular person or event?
MM: Each American produces about 1,500 pounds of waste every year, which is frighteningly almost 170% more than we produced in 1960 — and there’s a lot more of us. Whew, it adds up quick. And it doesn’t magically disappear. I’m frightened about the way we treat the environment as a whole, and frightened at the rate which we’re killing the other animals who have a right to be here because we want microbeads in our toothpaste and plastic bottles of water.
I want my future children or whoever’s behind me to live in a better world. Just as with rent and power, a business owes its stakeholders a common-sense conservation plan and a policy that strives to make no negative impact on the environment in which it exists. We’re fortunate that our processes create low impact and, thanks to our town’s recycling policy, our waste is easily recyclable.
What is coming up for Bluescentric? Any new collections in the works?
MM: We’ve got new merch scheduled almost through the 2017 summer — there’s a bigger product pipeline than we’ve ever had. We’re launching more throwback “old dead record label” tees and merchandise, new blues and soul licensees, vinyl record merch and tees, apparel and accessories that fans will love.
For someone to become affiliated with Bluescentric in terms of licensing or selling merchandise, what should they do? Is there criteria to be sold on the site?
MM: We do have a narrow set of criteria when considering licensees. Each artist is different and caters to different markets. Often we work with “deceased musicians.” We opened the business of selling licensed artist tees because there were a lot of these incredible artists who had passed away, and eventually, merch wasn’t being produced for their fans or maybe never was to begin with, and because of that, bootleggers were filling some of the demand.
I once saw a bootleg tee sell $5,000 in merchandise online in days, then disappear before anyone caught them. Maybe 40% of that went straight into the pocket of a thief in eastern Europe, and 0% went to Howlin’ Wolf. In contrast, by the end of next year, we’ll have probably sent Howlin’ Wolf’s estate alone $5,000. When you buy an artist tee, especially online, it’s good to make sure it’s officially-licensed. Money made by the estates goes directly to family members, helps preserve the legacy of the musician you love, and funds artist’s non-for-profits that buys instruments for children, funds musical scholarships and more.
When not busy with Bluescentric, how do you like to spend your free time?
MM: I just got an ancient stand-up piano that I can suffer pretty good, and then there’s the record store tax. I enjoy a lot of cooking. My girlfriend and I travel for music pretty frequently. This year, we got stuck in a hailstorm to the music of Steely Dan in Red Rocks, Colorado. That’s an experience even Ticketmaster couldn’t tack a stupid fee onto.
What’s the best concert you’ve seen this year?
MM: That’s probably an unanswerable question; this has been my year for dream shows. Favorites: Sturgill Simpson, Vulfpeck, Buddy Guy, Nathaniel Rateliff, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and his Mardi Gras indians at Jazzfest — looking the prettiest in their full feather suits. There was Dr. Lonnie Smith, a brilliant jazzy B3 player extraordinaire. My girlfriend and I caught Lee “Scratch” Perry, this brilliant and super funky dub and reggae founder and luminary, in this old basement venue. That was an unforgettable experience I’d pay to see over and over.
Do you have a favorite album of 2016?
MM: I’ve loved this popular “reaffirmation of love” for soulful music lately, with acts making popular and creatively groundbreaking “new old soul” music. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats’ self-titled album is both fresh and still just smells like the horns and funk and gospel and sweat in those legendary 60s all-night Memphis jams. And they’re on Stax Records, the label that invented soul. Full circle. Also, I hear he’s a Missouri boy, born an hour down the road from our office, so he must be alright.
Finally, Matt, any last words for the kids?
MM: Buy music, buy band merch, love live music, and come by and see us!
Up-and-coming, hip-hop/ soul artist, Eddie James will be playing alongside Jindai and Friendships at Pianos Wednesday May 27th at 9:30 pm; 158 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002. You must be 21 and over to enter!
Eddie James’ latest single “Streets” can be streamed here. This single will be featured in an upcoming independent feature film, Chapter and Verse, starring Orange Is The New Black’s Selenis Leyva, Power’s Omari Hardwick, and Grey’s Anatomy’s Loretta Devine. The film is ready to be released later this year.
James’s latest video, “Why I Grind”, can be streamed here.
The new artist draws influence from artists like 50 Cent, Nas, and Mayhem Lauren. Praised by DJ Booth for his, “…Story-telling prowess…”, Eddie James executes the art of lyrical storytelling flawlessly, with the perfect feel-good, old school, street-rap vibes.
