Bobbito Garcia, Creative Powerhouse :: Axis
NYC's favorite creative powerhouse Mr. Bobbito Garcia, gets the spotlight treatment as he takes us a ride through some of his career highs, inspirations and a life changing moment in Africa.
Bobbito Garcia, Creative Powerhouse :: Artist Profile from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.
About Bobbito:
Manhattan, NYC native and world-renowned DJ Bobbito Garcia is the Creative Chief at Project 2050 (an ideas and solutions shop). The former Bounce Magazine Editor In Chief is also the critically acclaimed author of Where’d You Get Those? NYC’s Sneaker Culture: 1960-1987 (Testify Books). In recent years, “Kool Bob Love” has done live on-air halftime reports for the NBA’s Knicks franchise on MSG Network, voiced NBA 2K video games, and hosted ESPN’s It’s the Shoes series. In ’07, he designed seven signature Nike Air Force 1 25th Anniversary shoes. Currently, the renaissance man is the annual Boost Mobile Elite 24 HS All-American Game play-by-play commentator, has a CD compilation out titled Connection (R2 Records), and will collaborate with the PRO-Keds sneaker brand on the Royal Flash hi-top re-issue dropping in Fall ’09!
You may wonder when Bobbito has time to breathe, but in the last 20+ years he has been relentlessly pursuing his passions in music and basketball. After playing pro ball in Puerto Rico and graduating from Wesleyan University (CT) in ’88, he began working at Def Jam Records. He met DJ Stretch Armstrong there, and in ’90 the two started an on-air program at WKCR 89.9FM. By ’98, the Source Magazine voted it the “Best Hip Hop Radio Show of All Time.” The duo introduced the world to unsigned acts like Nas, Jay Z, Biggie Smalls, Big Pun, Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, and many others that would go on to change the face of the industry.
Although Bobbito a.k.a. Kool Bob Love is a bonafide Hip Hop legend, any former reader of his Vibe Magazine column would know that his musical passion goes way beyond just Rap. As a club DJ, crowds worldwide from China to South Africa have celebrated his unique blend of Rare Funk, Latin, Afro-Beat, Soul, Jazz, House, and Ballads. He’s opened up concerts for Latin Music legend Eddie Palmieri (5-time Grammy Award Winner), Afro-Funk progenitor Tony Allen (formerly Fela Kuti's drummer), Jazz-Funk legend Roy Ayers, and Soul singer D'Angelo.
What’s next? Who knows, but who would’ve ever expected a kid who started out in the music industry as a messenger to have accomplished so much, or a student-athlete who got cut from his college basketball team to one day get paid to play? Bobbito is a true renaissance man, a walking example of how it is possible to love what you do and pursue it without compromise.
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N’Dea Davenport, Singer + Songwriter :: Axis
N'Dea Davenport tells us what contributed to her development as an artist from childhood to LA in the 80s, her signature style.
Soul singing sensation N'Dea Davenport of the internationally critically acclaimed acid jazz-funk band, The Brand New Heavies tells us what contributed to her development as an artist from childhood to LA in the 80s to her signature style.
N'Dea Davenport, Singer + Songwriter :: Artist Profile from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.
About N'Dea:
The soulful voice of vocalist/ songwriter/ producer N'Dea Davenport first emerged in 1991 when she became the front woman for the Acid Jazz British funk band, The Brand New Heavies.
But long before worldwide notoriety was present, she fell in love with music, dance, performing and the arts. "I think I got involved in almost everything creatively I could do when I was in school, to keep my mind busy to try and stay out of trouble. From sports to theater, you name it. I probably did it." A regular routine of piano and dance studies were the core of her development. Ironic as it is, singing would later be the focus of her affections.
As soon as it was possible to "break out" as she calls it, she left her home town of Atlanta, with little more than 300 dollars on route to Los Angeles with the primary goal of just going somewhere she had never been to alone. Little did she know, that early sense of adventure would begin a chain-of-events that would change her life forever.
After landing in Los Angeles, she became inspired and apart of the burgeoning underground "club warehouse scene." Within the flourishing community of artists, fashion designers and musical talents, it was such as celebration of funk, hip-hop, rock, punk, graffiti, performance art and everything between. Meeting the late Keith Herring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and the very much alive Fab Five Freddy, was really special." And after a reluctant impromptu song for Fred, he quickly got word to his dj-club owner friend that happened to be one-half of the newly formed record label, Delicious Vinyl. Soon after, she found herself recording and planning for her debut CD.
As fate would have it, a British group called The Brand New Heavies, were signed to the label shortly after. With no lead vocalist, and N'Dea's love of collaborating, the tone was set for a magical combination. She relocated to London with the Heavies, where they gave birth to an international movement known as Acid Jazz. Fusing funk, soul and RnB, the term Acid Jazz has also been known as "The second coming of soul" re-establishing legacy, and opening the doors to Neo-classical soul.
In 1995, after years and at the height of their commercial success, N'Dea simply packed up heading back to the U.S. leaving London and her former bandmates. After returning, she continued to develop her solo cd, and collaborate with various artists including, Mos Def, Everlast, DJ Krush, Dallas Austin, Guru (Jazzmatazz), Natalie Merchant and Daniel Lanois to name a few. Her self-titled debut, the effort she put on the back burner for several years, was released on V2 Records in 1998, boasting the funky flavor that listeners have come to expect from her. It takes you back to the day when music wasn't lumped into preconceived, easy to digest categories. And personally leading her on to the experience of musical freedoms and self-exploration producing and orchestrating the mass majority of her projects. Her songs are often laced with social commentaries meant, not to provoke, but to trigger thought and inspire dialogue. She is continuing that process, by developing, and performing new material for a forth-coming cd.
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