Tag Archives: Media

“Spectacles may stay in Harmonie Park” The Detroit News (July 17, 2015)

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(Photo by Tafari K. Stevenson-Howard)

Zo! & Amp Fiddler (Photo by Tafari K. Stevenson-Howard)

Should she stay or go?

Zana Smith from Spectacles, the small, popular hip-hop fashion store, wasn’t that worried when she was told last month she had 30 days to vacate her downtown Detroit space (the building had been sold). Smith even hosted a party Tuesday celebrating 31 years in business. “Everyone has been so supportive,” she says. “We’ve had amazing offers to open up shop in spaces all over Metro Detroit. It’s a good feeling to see how supportive our community can be.” About 100 guests showed up to the party and were treated to a concert by Collective Peace featuring two native Detroiters, Amp Fiddler and Zo!. Guests were asked to wear their “Soul Detroit” T-shirts (a Spectacles exclusive). DJ Dez played the evening out with dance music as people shopped until 10 p.m. The kicker: Smith reports that the building’s new owners said they will present a “simple lease” to her in the next week or so. So yes, perhaps she will stay.

ARTICLE SOURCE

Interview: The Seven Mellow Concepts of ZO!

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The Seven Mellow Concepts of Zo!
Author: Hector De La Rosa
Source: Mellow Concepts

Detroit native Lorenzo Ferguson, known to the masses as Zo!, is a Multi-Instrumentalist/ Producer deemed genius. His recent release ManMade and his affiliation with Phonte (of Little Brother) and Foreign Exchange further enhances his artistry while fueling his creativity to stellar heights. Zo! sits down with Hector De La Rosa of Mellow Concepts: The Mellow Hang Suite and expands on the seven given concepts pertaining to his life, love for the art form, and the profound impact J. Dilla had on his artistic approach in music.

† Zo on the Concept of what makes his artistry unique:

Independent is one word that describes my artistry. I make music on my own terms, which is of huge importance to me in having creative freedom especially in a music industry that dictates how music as an art form should be marketed. It is necessary to have my hands on the distribution and marketing aspect of my music to have some kind of knowledge of where I am heading as an artist and entrepreneur. If I bring something creative to the table, I must make sure my product will not be shelved or flushed down the drain because it does not meet a certain music industry criteria or standard. I firmly believe music that comes directly from the head foremost heart is of purest form.

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“Making Time” Gets Love From Bossip.com

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It looks like “Making Time” from the ManMade album received some love from Bossip.com for being one of the “10 Essential Cuffing Season Anthems”. If you don’t have a clue what “cuffing” is, I suggest you find somebody special and get tah discovering… In the meantime, shouts to Bossip for showing kats love.

“Count To Five” in One Small Seed

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#BOTTOMRIGHTCORNER: THE CONTRIBUTOR EDITION

Source: One Small Seed
Author: Kelly Frazier

Every week we compile a selection of music to sing you into the weekend and list them in a post called#bottomrightcorner. Sometimes new tunes, sometimes themed tunes and sometimes we ask a music aficionado to choose the tunes for us. This week, we hand over the selection process to our unofficial Detroit contributor, Mr Kelly ‘K-Fresh’ Frazier. Kelly has been sort of a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ in the Detroit hip-hop scene for the past decade. As the years have gone by, his focus has been that of a tastemaker for not only the hip-hop scene in Detroit, but of the whole music scene. Here’s five of his recent favourite tracks – enjoy and stay posted for upcoming interviews by Kelly over the next few weeks!

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“Making Time” in the Washington City Paper

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Listen: D.C.’s Summer Jams

Source: Washington City Paper
Author: Marcus J. Moore, Julian Kimble & Ally Schweltzer

Look, summer jams are a thing. A stupid thing, maybe; a “bullshit media construct,” as Esquire (rightly) put it last year. But summer is also a construct. It’s a state of mind—a drunken one fed by U Street Tacos and lowbrow bangers. People do dumb things in the summer, like wear brown flip-flops and set off fireworks at 2 p.m. on July 5. So open your arms to D.C.’s very own supply of summer songs. Not all of them are mindless truck-rattlers, of course; several of the best tracks are soothing, like aloe vera for a sunburn. But the dumb ones aren’t harming anything, except maybe our brains, and you don’t need one of those to love a summer jam.

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Zo! In The Michigan Citizen (06.20.13)

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Source: The Michigan Citizen
Author: Steve Furay

Detroit’s Zo! Releases New R&B Album and Prepares For Homecoming Show

DETROIT — Detroit’s own Zo!, a soulful R&B music composer and master hip hop producer, has released a new album and is getting ready for a triumphant return to his hometown with a live performance June 29 at 8 p.m.

Critics and fans are celebrating his newest release, making this show a highly anticipated summer performance.

The show will be at the Elizabeth Theater at The Park Bar, located at 2040 Park Ave. in downtown Detroit.

“ManMade” is Zo!’s latest full-length album, released May 21, following his 2010 release “SunStorm.”

He shot a video for the song “Count to Five” featuring guests Gwen Bunn and Phonte, and the exposure has helped the album reach the Billboard New Artist and R&B sales charts for three weeks, marking the first time he’s been on the charts.

“The response has been great. I’m really, really happy with how things are starting to shape up,” says Zo! “I guess my thing now is I’m curious where the album and where the music is going to take me to. It’s going to be fun.”

“ManMade” is filled with the lush, soulful sounds that are a signature of the Motown experience. Tight bass and drum rhythms create a strong foundation for the keys and vocal melodies, a classic funk sound from an authentic Detroit musician, who now resides in Maryland.

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