Tag Archives: spotlight

Meet Florga Records @FLORGAMUSIC

Since 2005 Florga Records has been providing quality recording for independent recording artists. Founded by Rapper Greg Riner aka Frog, Florga Records know what artists need to build a sustainable music career. In addition to offering a recording studio, their services include design for social media sites, advertisement, and music projects. It’s not the money that drives Frog to help others it’s the level of service. He states, “Studios have raised the price for recording so high that you have to be a big name just to record anymore (not to mention to have your tracks mixed and mastered.) Here at Florga we work with the artist to make it possible. It’s not about the money to us, although money does it make it possible for the wheels of this operation to continue giving chances to those that deserve them. We even have financing options available.”

Armed with highly-skilled music producers, they guarantee to do everything to help an independent recording artist realize his or her dream. That dream to use the best products available to achieve success. You can reach out to Florga Records on Twitter at twitter.com/FLORGAMUSIC. Tell them you saw their write-up on WUTZ-DB Wutz Hood Radio website. Further, you can check out some of their music below.

Minister G

For the first half of his teenage years, Minister G, formerly known as GunDei (Gandhi), gangbanged on the streets of Miami, chasing money and cheap thrills. Influenced and motivated by the style of music that permeated hip-hop in the early 90’s, Minister G and a group of neighborhood friends known as the  6th Avenue Boyz, affiliated with the Little Haiti gang Zoe Pound, began to commit home invasions and terrorized rival gangs. “I was lost in these Miami streets with no purpose, taking penitentiary chances,” recalls Minister G. Like most young black males in the ghettos of America, he saw crime as the only passage to the proverbial good life, and the gangster rap genre he related to at the time only reinforced this outlook. In 1992, Minister G, along with his parents, relocated to Montreal, Canada. He signed a record deal with Montreal indie label Zoobone Records, went on to release various singles, such as the underground classic “The Solution,” on 12-inch vinyl and toured throughout Canada and the United States. In 2001, after hitting many roadblocks in his career and personal life, Minister G says he had a transformative spiritual experience and gradually began to realize that he had been deceived into trusting the destructive values of a culture deeply rooted in crime, sexism and nihilism.

Fast forward to 2013. The ghetto intellectual, as he likes to refer to himself, founded B.E. Entertainment, his very own music company, and is preparing the release of his full-length album aptly titled Church fo’ da Thugz this coming summer 2014.

Why call it Church fo’ da Thugz? Imagine, a church full of thugs? At first, “church” and “thug” as concepts may seem to be contradictory, but for Minister G, they are simply symbols which are to be manipulated for a greater purpose. A church, at its root, is an assembly of people who come together for religious reasons. For Minister G, his fans gather around his music and form a community which he claims to be a church. His targeted audience are 15-35-year-olds who identify in one way or another to the street essence of hip-hop culture and feeling marginalized. They think of themselves as outcasts, rebels without a cause. “These are the thugs who I preach to,” says Minister G. The album boasts 18 powerful songs dealing with the ethics and consequences of the street life, but it does not merely paint a grim picture of “the life.” It invites the listeners to engage with this subject and pushes each one to propose solutions. The music is not created to passively entertain its listeners; Minister G has a message. He aims to provoke his fans to start thinking critically about the social and political contexts they exist in and to hopefully initiate change.

Church fo’ da Thugz, as a project, took two years to finalize because Minister G says he wanted to deliver an albums of superior quality and content. The album was mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineers, such as Leslie Brathwaite who has worked with Rick Ross and Jeezy, Kori Anders, Ben Diehl who is chief engineer at Miami’s famous Circle House studio and Jason Goldstein who has nearly mixed every project from the Roots and Jay Z’s classic album The Blueprint.

Minister G’s goal is to revolutionize rap music with this album and save the lives of children who believe the lies being propagated through some of the rappers currently ruling the charts. Minister G accepts the responsibility of being a role model with open arms, unlike most of his past rap heroes and peers. “When 2 Live Crew said, ‘Shake what ya mama gave ya,’ the young girls did that. NWA said, ‘I’ma be a zaggin 4 life.’ I believed that and explicitly manifested that attitude and did nothing constructive with my life for years,” said Minister G. “Music has power,” he says, “and I plan to use that power for the greater good.”

Those who have yearned for the redemption of a culture that they feel they have tirelessly poured themselves into, yet to helplessly watch it denigrate through the years, may have finally gotten the answer to their prayers in Minister G. Perhaps you, too, would do well to check him out.

STAFF PICK – KONY BROOKS

About Kony

“Grown into now a mature artist, Kony Brooks “Eats, Sleeps, and Breathes Music”

EmpireStateofGrind Entertainment – Music Artist, Ghost Writer, Musical Mentor, Lyrical Teacher, Basketball Coach and Rap Game Entrepreneur – THIS IS KONY BROOKS – King Of NY

Born in the 90’s as Andre Brooks and raised straight from Southern Blvd. in the Boogie Down Bronx, a young multi-talented artist who goes by the name of KONY (King Of New York) BROOKS is on his journey to take over the music industry. Starting at the tender age of 7, is when Andre, (KONY) wrote his first rhyme for a school project in first grade. Not taking it seriously at the time, he left it alone until the age of 11 and as Andre grew older, he began to notice he wanted to take music seriously. Therefore, his lifelong friend & classmate Zay Rhymes, helped him strive further into his newly found hobby.

Around the high school years is when KONY became more active in his craft. It was an added plus that his High School was involved with Hip-Hop culture and KONY joined a program that directly associated him with three other rappers that became “Tha Works Records” which included KONY and a poetic mentor, named Jive Poetic. Jive helped mold KONY from being a normal mixtape artist to being an all around artist in general. In fact, he helped KONY attend and become an extra in a video shoot and getting TWR their first performance at a center in the Bronx.

At age 16, KONY Brooks & Zay Rhymes decided to officially make themselves a group called “The Almighty Renegades”. Back then it included KONY, Zay Rhymes, and a female artist known as “Amazin”. The group consisted of the original 3 and a new member by the name of Hazz. Also being talented in basketball, KONY is the HEAD COACH for a girls and boys basketball team sponsored through Nike and the Department of Youth Community Development (DYCD).

With support from his Manager, Walter L. Morris aka Hustle Mo, CEO of EmpireStateofGrind Entertainment and his small ride-or-die circle of family and friends, KONY has acquired notches and accomplishments under his belt while he’s been in the industry. Within a very short period of time, KONY dropped 2 SOLO mixtapes, shot numerous music videos, and his FIRST ALBUM “DIVINE RIGHT” dropped in March of 2012.

The King Of NY has also appeared all over Internet Radio with Steph Lova on DTF Radio, Dj Dynasty (Niteline), Ivy SoMajor (So Major Radio), Dj ShownTell (Sunday Night Cook Up), MeloDream/IMG Radio, CoCo (Just Gimmie The Mic), AllCityRadio, Teknologist Radio, Underground Express (Connecticut), QSJ Radio, Extreme 104FM and Eddie Kayne (420 Radio) and many more…….

Learning from his biggest influences Zay Rhymes, the late Biggie Smalls, the great Eminem, and Lloyd Banks, now much wiser from being the “King of Rap Beef” and grown into now a mature artist, KONY Brooks “Eats, Sleeps, and Breathes Music”.

KONY Brooks’ Latest/Upcoming Performances included:

THE OFFICIAL OPERATION RADIO POWER 105.1 TALENT SEARCH Amarachi Lounge Brooklyn, NY
February 2012

AUDIOHYPE ARTIST CONTENDER SERIES
Shaheim Cynclair, Warner Bros. – Pearl Studios, New York, NY March 2012

S-ROCK and FRIENDS – New York, NY Underground Lounge March 2012

L2D4 SHOWCASE – Lower East Side NY, The Still Bar
May 2012

PASS THE MIC SHOWCASE
Tony Anderson, BET DJ 3STACKS, Desert Storm Brooklyn, NY May 2012

LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN SHOWCASE – Bronx, NY Ralphael Hernandez Academy

DABUZZ SHOWCASE – Harlem, NY Club Latin Fire
June 2012

ROC NATION SHOWCASE, Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Nights June 2012

GOTTALENT SHOWCASE, New York, NY PineTree Lodge July 2012

THE 5 BORO HIPHOP SESSION – Brooklyn, NY Public Assembly August 2012

STEPH LOVA’S UNSIGNED HYPE SHOWCASE – Steph Lova, Kim Osorio Editor-in-Chief of the Source New York, NY Tenth Rail Sept 2012

S-ROCK and FRIENDS/D-BLOCK AND BULLY –Headliner – Brooklyn, NY Knitting Factory Sept 2012

NONSTOP MEDIA, Bronx, NY Pompeii Lounge October 2012

THE WRATH ANTI-BULLYING CONCERT – I.S. 318 Bronx, NY November 2012

S-ROCK and FRIENDS/TONE TRUMP – Headliner, Club Touché Brooklyn, NY December 2012

The Art of Muzic – V-Henny/Indie Flava Magazine – New York, NY Sapphire Lounge January 2013

Ciroc Thursdays SHOWCASE – Laurelton NY, Dream Lounge January 2013

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACCOLADES

NON-STOP ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA GROUP SUPER STAR SUNDAYS ALL STAR INDUSTRY ARTIST SHOWCASE
1ST PLACE WINNER – MARCH 2012 $1000 CASH AND MEDIA PACKAGE

1ST PLACE WINNER – DROP ON TOP UNIVERSAL RECORDS SHOWCASE OPEN MIC

“KONY STATE OF MIND” – MIXTAPE DROPPED – DEC. 2010

“ACT OF AGGRESSION” – MIXTAPE DROPPED JUN. 2011

“DIVINE RIGHT” – 1st ALBUM – DROPPED – MAR. 2012

OFFICIAL VIDEO – Bronx Be Bangin’ feat Zay Rhymes – AUG. 2012

OFFICIAL VIDEO – We Want it All feat. Ed

JusMoni x WD4D – Queen Feel

JusMoni x WD4D – “Queen Feel [Deluxe] **FREE DOWNLOAD** carepackage.bandcamp.com/album/queen-feel-deluxe

Queen Feel is the debut album from Seattle to Oakland transplant JusMoni and her producer / deejay WD4D.  A true collaborative effort, this album finds both artists pushing their boundaries and soaring to new heights. The EP was released at the end of last summer, garnering many great reviews and extensive radio support. The duo is now taking it a step further with the release of Queen Feel [Deluxe], packaging both the original album with 11 new remixes from a handful of talented producers. The 11 remixers are OCnotes, Sabzi, Kid Smpl, Benito, eLan, Keyboard Kid, The Flavr Blue, Suttikeeree, Introcut & WD4D, Kid P, and Benny Loco. Seattle’s OCnotes provides a beautiful, melancholy house version of “Take All Night,” while California heavy-hitters Benito and eLan each recreate “Here For You,” taking it to the next level of bass and beat music.  On the more mellow, night-bus vibe, Kid Smpl provides his signature “reverb-soaked-vocals-in-the-back” version of “Tattoo,” while Lil’ B’s producer, Keyboard Kid, takes it in the opposite direction with deep, hitting bass and bright synth work.  Everybody involved truly has a unique take on each remix.  Sure to hit home with a diverse crowd of listeners, this is a mission accomplished!

PRESS

NPR
“Jusmoni brings both wisdom and playfulness to her songs, and delivers them in a wily soprano reminiscent of Erykah Badu. Her recent work with producer WD4D has an experimental edge that’s tempered by her enthusiasm and warmth… ”

Seattle Weekly
“It thrives in spacious atmospherics: echoey vocal tracks; isolated drum sounds; you feel like you’re floating in an empty space, kept afloat only by the erotically-paced beat and waves of sexual tension.”

92 BPM
“Imagine Purity Rings meets TNGHT, meaning imagine the slow plodding cadence and vocals from Purity Rings and the bouncy elements heard coming out of the TNGHT camp… ”

The Stranger
Seattle vocalist JusMoni and producer WD4D have linked up for a great, stripped-down-to-its-birthday-suit slice of future R&B (it’s a distant relative of Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand the Rain”)… Stellar work, everybody.”

MUSIC

JusMoni x WD4D – “Queen Feel [Deluxe] carepackage.bandcamp.com/album/queen-feel-deluxe (out 2/26/13)

JusMoni: jusmoni.bandcamp.com WD4D: wd4d.bandcamp.com | @wd4d

PHOTOS

dl.dropbox.com/u/12287741/JusMon…WD4D%20Photos.zip

@JusMoni | @WD4D
@CarePackageRecs

Next Collective – Cover Art

NEXT Collective is an ensemble recording by the next generation of jazz greats, including saxophonists Logan Richardson and Walter Smith III, guitarist Matthew Stevens, keyboardists Gerald Clayton and Kris Bowers, bassist Ben Williams, drummer Jamire Williams, and special guest trumpeter Christian Scott. The group explores their own interpretations of songs by such contemporary artists as Bon Iver, Drake, N.E.R.D, Little Dragon and more. From Jay Z and Kanye Westʼs “No Church In The Wild” to Pearl Jamʼs “Oceans” to Meshell Ndegeocelloʼs “Come Smoke My Herb,” to Drakeʼs “Marvins Room,” to Bon Iverʼs “Perth,” the album delivers a cohesive flow. Check how a tune like “Fly or Die”— a rock-fueled slice of R&B by N.E.R.D.—is recast by Ben Williams with the bounce and gear-shifts of a late ʼ70s fusion workout. Or how the metronomic beats and laconic lyricism of Little Dragonʼs “Twice” are faithfully recreated in an acoustic jazz setting, courtesy of Richardson; the reversed horn lines that kick off the tune (and the album) are a clear signal that this project is both as mindful of the studio-craft of its many musical sources as it is of the live interaction of the jazz tradition. Cover Art has its feet firmly planted in the overlap of as many styles as possible.