g-entertainment magazine march/april

Volume 1, Issue 2

Contributors

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I would have never thought that an idea that I had would have caught on so fast. The idea that has become the reality that you are reading now came into fruition because I didn’t see anything like it in the area (not to say that this magazine is the only one of its kind). I saw several prints that dealt with entertainment within and around the city, but I rarely saw anything that was focus-ing on all of the city’s talent. The artists and businesses that we have talked to thus far have been well receptive to my magazine and we appreciate everyone that has shared a portion of their lives with us. We really appre-ciate all of the feed back that you the readers have been sending. We will continue to bring the talent in Bir-mingham and surrounding areas to the center stage and hopefully continue to get your support. If there is any-thing that you would like to see in the magazine feel free to let us know. We are always open to new ideas to promote our city. Harold “G” Abram, Jr.

Meet the Man behind G-Entertainment Magazine

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G-Entertainment Magazine can not accept responsibility for claims made by it’s advertiser. Advertisers who place ads in G– Entertainment Magazine do so understanding that G- Entertainment Magazine will not accept responsibility made by them in their ads; nor will the publisher be held financially accountable for errors in advertising, regardless of fault, beyond the partial or full cost of the ads themselves. Opinions expressed in G- Entertainment Magazine are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the management, staff or advertisers.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF HAROLD “G” ABRAM, JR. MARKETING/PUBLIC RELATIONS LA’TOYA FLETCHER-ABRAM MIKE THOMAS CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS PAUL H. FRANKLIN KENNY LUK D. JEROME SMEDLEY GERALD MAKE UP ARTIST LA’TOYA FLETCHER-ABRAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER LA’TOYA FLETCHER-ABRAM

Photographed by Paul Franklin

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Contents

Features Gospel Entertainers

God’s Gift…………...……………………………10

Kryst Lyke………………………………………..16 Fashion & Style

Tonya Williams……………….…………..…….18

G-Hottie -Rynicka…………………….…..…....22 Hip Hop

Black Flock Gang………….……………..…….28

Soufsyde Records………………………...…...32

Don’t Sleep on ‘Em…………….……….…...36 Neo Soul

Jaafar………………………………….……..…….38 What’s Going on in Birmingham?

G-Scenes…………………………………..……...46

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CHECK OUT THESE HOT ALBUMS

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A Nice Place To Visit

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Homecoming Coffee is an eclectic meeting place for folks with new perspectives and creative ideas. Poets, artists, musicians, art lov-ers, neighbors, friends and family are drawn to our warm welcoming atmosphere. The aromatic pull of our coffees, teas and baked goods help bring the community and the arts together in an intimate, urban setting. Homecoming Coffee and Gift, is a nontraditional small business that provides nourishment for the body as well as replenishment for the mind and soul. Located in the heart of the his-toric Civil Rights District; we are a hub for a diverse, fast paced population. Our customers range from individuals experiencing tempo-rary homelessness to starving artists and middle class employees and employers. In response to the dialogues and conversations that have taken place in our venue, we have developed Community Connections. The Community Connections project encourages creative thinking and serves as a catalyst to connect small businesses, nonprofits, entrepreneurs with everyday folks. Currently, we offer free

and has an Associate degree in both Child Development and Biblical Studies. She was employed full time by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute as an Specialist from Jan 2000- April 2010. There she developed and imple-mented culturally specific programming for youth and provided curriculum develop-ment and training for teachers in the area of human and civil rights. She currently is em-ployed there as a Literacy consultant and Parent Educa-tor on a contractual basis. She has been employed as a Par-ent Educator at Child Care

Currently, we offer free com-puter access, Wi-Fi accessi-bility, word processing, email access, printing and copying. In addition, entrepreneurs and small business owners use our space for meetings and net-working. We have hosted or sponsored community work-shops, health fairs, literacy programs for faith based and community organizations, Spoken Word and Jazz events, consultation for non-profits, book readings and signings, and a monthly chil-dren story hour. All events are free of charge or at a mini-mum cost. Staff Overview Homecoming Cof-fee and Gift Shop is a family owned business. The owner Yvette Chatman has worked in the social and com-munity service field for over 30 years. She re-ceived a Bache-lors degree in Counseling Foun-dations from Sam-ford University

Resources, Family Service Worker and Case Manager at JCCEO (CenterPoint), Impact Family Counseling and Seraaj Family Homes in Birming-ham. She has worked as a Center Director for child de-velopment centers and Home/Head Start in Alabama and Illinois. Events Manager, Yvonne Thomas is responsible for the oversight and coordination for events, from its initial concept

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to the end of the event. She man-ages all staff and vendors. In addi-tion, she directs the participation clients and other attendees. She is also responsible for Home-coming Community Connection, a therapeutic community and re-source center developed to provide resources to address the mental, physical, social and spiritual needs of women. The goal of the center is to train and motivate youth and adults by supplying them with the

appropriate skills needed to estab-lish and maintain education, em-ployment and financial literacy.

www.wix.com/g_entertainment/gentmag

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-Mag: Where were you born? God’s Gift: Birmingham, Alabama. G-Mag: How long have you been in the music game? God’s Gift: three years. G-Mag: What type of style would you say that you have? God’s Gift: I have a crunk style, very energetic and still have a message to go with it. G-Mag: How would you compare your music to main stream hip hop being a Christian artist? God’s Gift: Well, I’m not going to say that all main stream hip hop is bad, but in my music I like to keep it honest, fun, inspiration and touch on things the youth can relate to. G-Mag: What are the pros and cons to being a Chris-tian rapper? God’s Gift: The pros, I would say are being able to share your testimony through your songs and reaching out to the youth to show them what a mighty God we serve. The cons, I would say is be-ing a gospel artist, the op-portunities to become a mainstream gospel artist are far and between. We work extremely hard to connect, market, and promote to the right areas. G-Mag: Who inspired you to make music? God’s Gift: My boy Alreddy Reddy inspired me to do Gospel Rap. G-Mag: What is your ulti-mate goal by the end of your career? God’s Gift: By the end of my carrer my ultimate goal is to have a team built.

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A team of young believers that will spread the Word of God world wide you dig. G-Mag: Do you think that Christian entertainers have a strong presence in Birming-ham? God’s Gift: I think we have a lot of great talent in Birming-ham and a very strong pres-ence. G-Mag: What should the lis-tener expect when they hear your music? God’s Gift: They should ex-pect a lot of energy, a lot of my past and what God has brought me out of, but most importantly they should hear a word/ message you dig. G-Mag: What do you think has contributed the most to your success so far? God’s Gift: All of the love and support that I receive from everyone. G-Mag: Do you have any last words or shout outs for the readers? God’s Gift: I would like to give a shout out to my wife and kids for being so suppor-tive and standing along side me. I appreciate everyone who has supported my minis-try in any way. “1 Goal Save Souls” God’s Gift Title: No LukeWarmNess Mixtape 1/29/11

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Kryst Lyke

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GEM: Where were you born? Kryst Lyke: I was born in Birmingham, Ala-bama @ St. Vincent’s Hospital. GEM: How long have you been in the music game? Kryst Lyke: I started when I was 18. I was with two gospel groups Crunk for Christ and Dem Deacon Boys. I just started my solo ca-reer back in January of 2010. GEM: What type of style would you say that you have? Kryst Lyke: My style is more hip hop rap style. I’m trying to include more genres so I can be more well rounded; but my first start was in hip hop and rap side. GEM: Musically, who have you worked with? Kryst Lyke: I’ve worked with Church Boy, G.I. Magus, L.P., and San-chez Tannhill. Mostly, the gospel artist around the city. Not too many people outside yet, but the big ones are Church Boy, G.I. Magus, and L.P. GEM: Who inspired you to make music? Kryst Lyke: Actually, I really didn’t want to do music at first. I kinda got dragged into it. Af-ter I saw the impact that it was having on the chil-

to have conversation is the most successful thing. GEM: How can the fans get in contact with you? Kryst Lyke: Yes, I’m in the process of creating a website right now, but facebook is my biggest tool right now. My face-book page is www.facebook.com/krystlyke and I’m big on twitter it’s the same www.twitter.com/krystlyke. GEM: With you being a Christian rapper do you think that there is a big difference between your music and main stream hip hop? Kryst Lyke: I do to an extent because we are fulfilling our purpose for God, so right there is a big difference. How-ever, you still have to have networking skills, you still have to have stage presence, and you have to have quality lyr-ics. So in that sense there the same, but we are doing it for a bigger

Children I started to just focus more on it. Really, as far as having an impact Kent Jones has had a big impact on my life. Kent Jones, Mil-lian, and Kurt Franklin are the biggest three that had an impact on my musical career. GEM: What is your ulti-mate goal by the end of your career? Kryst Lyke: Just to con-tinue on with the purpose and mission that God has for me. I don’t think that with any ministry you can think about anything but that purpose and goal that God has for me. I think if I full fill every-thing that God has placed in front of me I think I will be accom-plished by that. GEM: What do you think has contributed the most to your success so far? Kryst Lyke: One contrib-uting factor is that I net-work very well. So, most of the events that I have gotten are because I reach out to people. All of the out of state events, going on tours, just my networking skills being able to connect with peo-ple and being able to

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purpose. That’s the big-gest difference right there. GEM: Do you have any shout outs for the read-ers? Kryst Lyke: My shout outs go to, first of all, my parents for supporting my ministry and my dream, Tammy Turner who is my wonderful manager, Kingdom Works Entertainment, all of the Birmingham art-ists: T.I., Church Boy, LP, all the people con-nected to Kingdom Works, and my best friend Sanchez Tannie-hill, he is also a minister of music. He has been there for me since day one.

Mrs. Williams is a mas-ter cosmetologist. She specializes in maintain-ing healthy hair and she is also a make-up artist. She has been a stylist for twenty years. GEM: What made you want to beautify people? Tonya: Well, I believe that a person should not only be beautiful on the inside I believe that peo-ple should be beautiful on the outside. I believe that adding beauty on the outside just compliments what’s on the inside. GEM: Where did you grow up? Tonya: I grew up in Bir-mingham, Alabama. The West side of Bir-mingham. GEM: Who influenced you to get into cosmetol-ogy? Tonya: my aunt, I was a little girl as a matter of fact. I was about nine years old and I used to braid and play with my aunt’s hair. My aunt was a stylist. She never pur-sued this as her career, but she was the one that did everybody’s hair and everything. When I was younger I used to braid and play around with hair and they (family) were like she’s gonna take after her aunt. I also wanted to mention about the business side of it. I went back to school to pursue my B.A. in Business Man-agement, which added to me wanting to see the business side of being a stylist. Not only do I

like to do the work I also know that there are so many facets to being a stylist. You can go as far as you can go from the business to working behind the chair, so I just kinda like it all. GEM: Professionally, who have you worked with? Tonya: I’ve done Mary Mary, Wynita Bynum, I’ve worked with Kenny Luk, Mz. Joi, Laura Luke, Ms. Kim Cruz, and several others.

Tonya Williams Beautifying Birmingham

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GEM: How does it feel to own your own busi-ness? Tonya: It feels great. I have the opportunity to give back. Because being a business owner I can choose who I can give back to without expect-ing any kind of pay from it. I really enjoy getting the chance to promote other people as well. So it feels good to be able to help others too. GEM: What do you see in the future for your

company? Tonya: I plan to open a full ser-vice salon spa. The main thing that I want it to be is a private spa where we will be able to bring in celebrities. When I say celebrities I mean all of my cli-ents. I consider them as celebri-ties. So, it will be on a private setting where they will be able to get full complete service. I will also be able to add in some con-tracts when I’m done with law school. GEM: So your in law school now? Tonya: (smiling) I’m getting ready. GEM: What would you say has contributed to your success so far? Tonya: I think me just being a vessel. Opening up and allow God to take over and show me what my purpose is. GEM: Do you have a web page or site where people interested in your business can get in contact with you? Tonya: I can be reached by email at [email protected] and my cell phone number is (205) 587-2925. GEM: Do you have any shout outs that you want to give to give? Tonya: Shout out to Kenny Luk, of course, he is the man. I want to give a shout out to all of my clients, all of my face book friends... really everybody.

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“I believe that

adding beauty

on the outside

just

compliments

what’s on the

inside.”


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Photographed by Paul Franklin Makeup by LaToya Fletcher-Abram

“The craziest thing that I have ever done was set my first grade teacher’s bathroom on fire.”

What’s your eth

African American

What’s your Zod

I’m a Cancer.

Where were you

Birmingham, Alab

What’s the craziehave ever done?

The craziest thing done was set my fiteacher’s bathroom

What’s your favowhy?

Playing basketballrelieves stress.

What’s your guilt

I’m gonna have toMr. Good Bars.

Who do you adm

Fantasia hands dow

What’s one of yougoals?

To make it I aint ghave a lot of moneenough when I getback and give to thD.H.R. (girls)

What do guys comthe most?

My skin and my ey

What’s your favoon yourself?

My legs because th

What do you look

Money, personalitfamily oriented.


hnicity?

diac sign?

born?

bama

est thing that you

that I have ever first grade m on fire.

orite hobby and

l because it really

ty pleasure?

o say chocolate…

mire?

wn

ur personal

gonna say big or ey, but to have t successful to go he people in

mpliment you on

yes

orite body part

hey are long.

k for in a guy?

ty and he has to be


What is the first thing that you notice about a guy?

I get a vibe when I first meet someone. If I get a bad vibe then I know some-thing is off about that person.

What turns you on?

He has to have good conversation.

What turns you off?

Somebody that talks too much!

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Children

What super models do you aspire to be like?

Tyra & Iman

What major corporation would you

love to offer you a multi-

million dollar

contract?

Victoria’s Secret, I’ve

Always wanted to be a Victoria’s

Angel..

Do you plan on modeling for the rest of your career or are you using this as a stepping stone to do something else?

I would have to say that I’m in it to win it.

Are you willing to travel great dis-tances for a job?

Yes, I’ll go all across the world.

Would you be comfortable becoming a video vixen?

I would, I wouldn’t make a career, but I would do it a couple of times.

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What magazine covers

land?

Ebony, that’s my all time Magazine.

Are you interested in comway or both?

Both but more run way.

What clothing designerswork with?

CoCo Chanel

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s would you love to

dream to be on Ebony

mmercial modeling, run

s would you love to

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GEM: Introduce the mem-bers of Black Flock Gang.

Preacha Boi: I’m Preacha Boi, my brother D.O., Christian Dane, and Hood Shut-tlesworth and Shaka our pro-ducer.

GEM: Does the name of your group stand for any-thing significant?

Preacha Boi: It was mainly two groups put together as one, the Hard Heads and the Fam Boys. We were pretty much raised together and me and Hood was talking one day it was something that he said in one of lyrics about a Black Flock Gang and it kinda stuck like a rose in the concrete. I said why don’t we just use that instead of Hard Heads this and Fam Boys that. Let’s just use Black Flock Gang as the name. Were just one big group now you know its power in numbers.

Hood Shuttlesworth: Black Flock Gang stands for us be-ing us we're a flock we all can fly solo but together combin-ing our talents we form what people are afraid of were un-predictable a force to be taken seriously and knowing that only makes us more deter-mined more hungry more motivated than ever we stand for an new evolution in hip hop

GEM: Where did you grow up?

Preacha Boi: My brother and I are originally from Gasden, but we’ve been in Birming-ham about fifteen years now.

Christian Dane: I’m from Brooklyn, New York. I’ve been in Birmingham, AL for about three years now.

Hood Shuttlesworth: Im from Birmingham, Alabama born and raised Evergreen Bottom

Preacha Boi: Shaka is origi-nally from Birmingham.

GEM: What type of style do you have?

Hood Shuttlesworth: Diverse versatile I guess you can say I’m not afraid to express what’s on my mind my mouth is a paintbrush it paints differ-ent pictures for the world to see.

D.O.: I like hip hop.

Christian Dane: Club type of music. The stuff that you can get crunk to. Something that has an impact...you feel it.

D.O.: We make people dance and have a good time.

Preacha Boi: Good vibe mu-sic.

GEM: How long have you been in the rap game?

Preacha Boi: I remember I was starting to write back in the day when I was see-ing Mr. Maul, who is a legend a pioneer to us. When I came through school with him and I know that was back when I

was in the eleventh grade that’s well over ten years now. So I can just say we’re sticking with our craft its in our hearts this is our passion. I can say for me myself one of the oldest in our group me and Hood I probably been in it for about ten years.

D.O.: The same for me I’ve been doing it for about ten years. When he (Preacha) started I kinda branched out and caught on. We’ve been doing it ten… twelve years.

Christian Dane: I’ve been doing it since I was like twelve years old. I just picked it up and ran with it.

Hood Shuttlesworth: I been dedicated to the music since i was 17 9 years of perfecting and learning the craft.

GEM: How would you de-scribe working with a group vs. making music alone?

D.O.: When we are in the studio we just have fun as a whole...you know.

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Preacha Boi: We joke a lot.

D.O.: We participate on each other’s solos too.

Christian Dane: Me and Hood Shuttlesworth have a compe-tition sometimes. We kinda push the best out of each other. We want the best. We challenge each other in the studio. We strive for the best. If its not the best then we don’t do it.

Hood Shuttlesworth: There's a difference but not as much it depends on the chemistry you have together I admit the work is easier it has its pros and cons I believe your crea-tivity gets limited at times while working alone gives you all the freedom to explore ideas and brainstorm on how you want everybody to take you as an artist

Preacha Boi: These last few years have been a great journey. We’re learning from each other and our gel is get-ting a whole lot better. As far with the group or vs. me by myself I think we all have went and done shows by our-selves...It’s tuff, but I think it makes us stronger as a whole. Because we can come back and be like this is who I am and this is what I do best as an artist for the group. This is what he does. We all play our rolls. As long as we stick to our rolls I don’t think that we can be beat. I think we are better off as a group.

D.O.: We got a small circle of us four mainly in the studio. We got Young Yo and Ms. Fame they are some other additions to the group, but us four are basically the core.

GEM: Do you consider yourself to be an under-ground rappers?

Hood Shuttlesworth: Of course not but you have to start somewhere.

Christian Dane: I consider myself a Birmingham rapper. I rep the city right now. We go to these events and every-body knows us. We rep Bir-mingham.

D.O.: Our music speaks louder than just Birmingham though. World wide interna-tional you know...we’re with Universal Orders Interna-tional Shakers Productions. We’re branching out to a lot of other different venues.

GEM: I know that you guys appreciate a good beat. What makes a beat good to you?

Preacha Boi: It has to grab me within the first 30 seconds. I can know ok that’s me. Eve-rybody sounds different on different beats. It has grasp me where I can hear myself on that. It makes it a lot eas-

ier for an artist when that beat grasps you and you can just write something freely. Sometimes it may take days for a beat to get to you. For ma it just has to grasp me immediately.

D.O.: I like the snare, the drum, the pound and the 808. Once I hear that club vibe to it you see which way you want to go with it. The beat is very creative, so the lyrics need to be very creative also.

Christian Dane: I agree with Preacha Boi. It has to grab you.

D.O.: Yeah, you can’t grab the beat. You gotta let the beat grab you.

Hood Shuttlesworth: Origi-nality, the beat has to speak to me. When I hear it I also like the beat to catch me off guard, or drop where I never would've expected, you know.

Preacha Boi: It makes it a lot easier. If the beat is there you can just easily ride to it. If its one of those beats where your like I don't know I’m forcing myself to rap and I hate that.

GEM: What should the lis-teners expect when they hear your music?

Hood Shuttlesworth: Good entertaining insightful music from our own personal ex-perience in life Black Flock Gand is very consistent on staying true to our craft and giving the people what they want every time all the time.

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“We go to these

events and

everybody knows

us. We rep

Birmingham”

Christian Dane: Something that they feel. As soon as they put it in they start bobbin their heads immedi-ately. All four of us are different and we bring something different to the table. We’re all pretty lyri-cal, so every time you hear a new verse from a differ-ent artist your like oh this is something different. So if you don’t like the first verse your gonna like the second verse. If you don’t like the second verse your gonna like the third verse, but most likely your gonna like all three.

D.O.: Something you can relate to. Something that the crowd can really relate to.

GEM: Who have you worked with in the music industry?

Preacha Boi: Man, some of the greats. Mista Mal, one of the greats, Gangsta Drek, Dr. Snipe Young, Souf Syde Rec., Adub, Ms. Mayhem, Madam Krook, and the list goes on and on.

Hood Shuttlesworth: Mista Mal Trap House Coalition Snipe Young Gangsta Drek Soufsyde I.B.M. South Shavon Ms.Fame Adub Lil J Heavy Hoodzone Produc-tionz 5 Lettaz Jay-Are Murc Camp its just to many to name right now

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of our performances on there.

GEM: Do you have any shout outs that you would like to give?

Preacha Boi: Yeah, Every-body in Birmingham that’s within this movement.

Hood Shuttlesworth: Eve-rybody who truthfully be-lieved in us and to those who thought what we were doing was foolish. To those who wouldn't listen to our music and put us down every opportunity they got. Thank you for your contri-butions it was the fuel that kept this fire burning inside of us.

it’ll take all day lol.

GEM: Who would you like to work with?

Preacha Boi: Mz. Joi would be one.

Christian Dane: Shank D

D.O.: Drizzy Dro

Preacha Boi: Out-side of the realm of Birmingham. I would like to work with T.I. He’s one of my favorites.

D.O.: I would like to work with Ludacris or some-body like that.

Christian Dane: Lupe Fi-asco.

Hood Shuttlesworth: Who-ever wants to do work with me. I don’t really have a selected few.

GEM: Do you guys have a webpage?

D.O.: www.facebook.com/blackflockgang www.twitter.com/blackflockgang and www.blackflockgang.com

Preacha Boi: you can also check us out at www.universalartist.net

Christian Dane: www.youtube/blackflockgang that has all

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That’s really holding us down. They know how we get down. Everybody that’s behind us. Hey, we coming for your spot. D.O.: Everybody in Bir-mingham. R.I.P. Grandma Joanne Chambers & R.I.P. Uncle Mack. Christian Dane: Everybody in Birmingham, all the lo-cal artists they support us. We support them. Its just a big family. Birmingham, we keep it tight. We want everyone to succeed. We’re all doing the same thing.

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GEM: Hey brother, in-troduce the readers to the artists of Soufsyde Re-cords.

Savage: I am Savage, G.South (producer), Zone, J Gunz, DJ Bigg Mike, Garcia Vega (Ent. Admin-strator) He is the head of Fly League Ent., which is a separate company. They all come together to form another company called Black Committee; which is Soufsyde, Fly League Ent. and Ghetto Government.

GEM: Where did you grow up?

Savage: Birmingham, Ala-bama via Smithfield & Ensley, so it was a little bit of both.

G-South: I grew up in Ens-ley all my life.

Zone: I grew up on the west side, West End, back over in that area Pratt City... all in between.

J-Gunz: I guess you can just say west side for me West End, Green Acres and Ensley just all over.

DJ Big Mike: I grew up in Pratt city on the West Side.

Gracia Vega: Midfield

GEM: What type of style/ swagga do you have?

DJ Bigg Mike: We got a

variety. We are versatile with the sound. We got a little bit for everybody.

Savage: We are a record label, so we are mainly hip hop, but we love music. So pretty much don’t put ourselves in a box. We pretty much are all genres of music.

G. South: a breath of fresh air that’s what we are.

J Gunz: Just real music straight from the heart col-laborations. That’s how we do.

GEM: The last show that we saw you guys in you had a drummer. Who’s idea was that?

Savage: It was my idea along with G.South and Bigg Mike. That’s the way that we are going to do our shows from now on.

GEM: How long have you been in the rap game?

J Gunz: I’ve probably been rappin since ‘92, formed Dog Shade in ‘93. Mem-bers went their separate ways some incarcerated that’s where Ghetto Gov-ernment comes about. Just another branch off the Dog Shade tree, so I’m still in it reppin Soufsyde collab with Fly League brand new

family Black Committee. Like the new Dungeon Family.

Savage: I guess I could like three different answers to that question. I been rapping since about ‘93-’94. I guess that’s long time I don’t want to do the math right now. Yeah, that’s a long time. Souf-syde Records started on 2003 that’s about 9 years. It really started with a pen, a pad and a dream. We really didn’t have any di-rection. We just wanted to make good music. It was me and a partner of mine at the time. He is no longer with us. We just put the basics behind Soufsyde Records and it grew from there. All in all we’ve been doing it for about nine years getting our formula together and doing the re-cord label thing. I think every member in this room has been doing it six or seven years.

G. South: I’ve been making beats since about ‘98 as a hobby. It started in ‘98. Me and Chinchilla Slim, my best friend for fifteen years, he’s not here he’s a part of Fly League Ent., we was rapping and like he (Savage) said it started about nine years ago. It was about 2004 maybe I

Garcia Vegas’ basement making beats and that’s when it started to get seri-ous for me. Sometime later I met Savage at a store I used to hang out at on Warrior Road and it was on from there. I got super duper serious then and prosperous ever since.

Zone: I say about twelve years and I’ll split ‘em down and I’ll say six just trying to get myself to the point to do what I wanted to do. The other six actu-ally doing what I’m doing.

GEM: How would you describe working with a group vs. making music alone?

J Gunz: I guess I can say from my point of view I started out in a group. There’s nothing wrong with the group as long as everybody is on the same page. At certain times eve-rybody is not on the same page. I guess that’s why everybody is not always on every song. I guess be-ing solo you have more freedom. You can do what you want to do nobody has the say over your project but you. You got to fit in group wise. You got to be comfortable within the group, or there is no group if there is no chemistry.

Soufsyde Records

Volume 1, Issue 2


Volume 1, Issue 2

“No, we are not

from the south

side. Soufsyde

Records this

means the South of

America”.

Volume 1, Issue 2

Savage: I agree with J Gunz. I think that every artists comes into the game wanting to be solo. In or-der to have a good group vibe going everybody has to be on the same page. I love working with group, so it aint no versus. Like my partner Zone said it’s split in the middle it’s 50/50. Everybody in our group is a fan of each other’s music. We are each other’s favorite rap-pers.

G. South: The passion isn’t in a lot of groups. We are excited to work with each other. Like he (Savage) said we are each other’s biggest fans. I guess that’s missing in real groups now. Then each artist is solo, so its not a group per say. We just get together and make music together and call it such and such. Its an un-derstanding everybody has to have that understanding you know.

Savage: We are a family as well. You gotta have that family vibe. You gotta go to church with each and care about each other’s children and all that other stuff that aint got nothing to do with music before you can even successfully make music together. I think the only thing that is constant in all of our music

is the reality.

GEM: Do you consider yourself underground rappers?

Savage: I consider us to be independent artists. They kind of put a shade over underground like you can’t make to a certain point. So, that’s why I don’t con-sider us to be underground.

GEM: Is there a history behind the name of the group?

Savage: Yeah, there are a bunch of reasons.

DJ Bigg Mike: We repre-sent the whole South.

Savage: We represent the South, but it stemmed from one of my favorite groups ever the Far Syde. I really just liked the way that spelled Far Syde. It also stemmed from a joke. I grew up in Smithfield and we moved to far from Smithfield and all my friends used to joke on me saying you moved to the south side. I really lived on the east side they were just kind of hood. It just came together and we spelled it differently and the whole yesss. The theme came from a rap. It rhymed and it stuck.

J Gunz: I’m gonna say this for the people that be see-

ing me on the streets. Soufsyde, no, we are not from the south side. Souf-syde Records this means the south of America. This is what we represent. I get a lot of people coming up to me asking “You from the south side?” No.

G. South: (laughing) none of us are from the south side.

Savage: This is not a terri-torial thing. It’s a unity thing about the South.

GEM: What should the listeners expect when they hear your music?

Savage: Greatness.

Zone: Energy.

G. South: Motivation

J Gunz: You gone get me. I’m going to give you a little bit of everything. I aint stuck in one zone. I will just put it like that.

DJ Bigg Mike: you going to get some good music. Really good music.

Garcia Vegas: Charisma.

Savage: Stuff that will make you dance.

GEM: How do you feel about rap going more into mixing and sampling Pop music

DJ Bigg Mike: music is music.

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Savage: Yeah, let do what it do.

DJ Bigg Mike: You can blend in the boundaries of the music genres and it will still be cool.

Garcia Vegas: That’s what’s great about it. It’s diverse.

Savage: If you understand the definition of Hip Hop it came from sampling other people’s music. Hip Hop is a genre that can take an-other genre and make it cool.

GEM: What is the name of your current album?

Savage: Soufsyde Yesss. We have several group projects coming out. Black Committee album is com-ing out, we have another project called Crimson Ea-gle and we have a rock group project coming out called Semen (it means the seed of life).

J Gunz: J Gunz mix tape High Off Mixes Ghetto Government.

Zone: Product 2 coming soon.

G. South: Music Inspired by Life. Its out now. Half Time Show is coming soon.

Garcia Vegas: We got that Chinchilla Slim The Vil-

lain Wins coming soon.

GEM: How has the music industry treated you guys so far?

DJ Bigg Mike: We treat ourselves pretty good.

Savage: We are the indus-try.

G-South: We have indus-tries everywhere. You have one mother industry and you have branches of that industry. We’re build-ing our own industry in Birmingham.

GEM: Do you have a website where people can reach you?

DJ Bigg Mike: www.myspace.com/soufsyderecords www.twitter.com/soufsyderecords

GEM: Do you have any shout outs?

DJ Bigg Mike: Everybody

Savage: Shout out to the many supporters of Souf-syde Records and Out-house Productions, every-body that has a G. South beat or Outhouse beat, any-body that has ever got a mix tape done by DJ Bigg Mike, anybody that ever let me host your mix tape and any body that ever got us for features.

J Gunz: The whole west

side. I want give a big shout out to the people out here in the industry doing it. Not because it’s the thing to do. They do it ‘cause its in their heart.

G. South: Shout out to the west side… Ensley. Shout out to all our family that sticking with us now.


Volume 1, Issue 2

Lil Floss

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Lil Floss was born in Virginia, but

he was raised here in Birmingham,

AL. (West End). He has played

football for most of his life and he

is presently a student at Lawson

State Community College.

How long have you been in the music game? About five years. Do you play any instruments? I played the trumpet in the 6th grade and that was the last time that I played an instrument. What kind of style would you say that you have? My style is white boy/ black boy. I like to mix it up like Lupe Fiasco. Who made you want to make music? My dad because we had the type of relationship that was on and off. When I was born he was in the military, so I really didn’t know him. When I would see him I would start crying, so some of the stuff that say it comes out in my music. Who have you worked with in the industry? (laughing) Nobody really. Do you consider yourself an underground rapper? Yeah, I can say that. Why is that? I like to keep it low and I want to put more of my music out. I want people to know who I am before I become big. Seeing as how at this point in time you haven’t worked with a lot of producers and other artists. Who would you like to work with? I would like to work with Eminem. If not Eminem Lupe Fiasco. When do you plan for your al-bum or mix tape to come out? Between February or March. What is the title of your album? Gut Check. Gut Check is me gut checking myself because I was this guy that would never say anything now I’m ready. Are you on any of the social networks? Yes, on facebook you can go with lilfloss tristianmcfarland. Do you have any shout outs? Really I’ll shout out a whole bunch of people… I shout out my mom, my dad, sisters, my brother, grandma, my cousins, uncles everybody the whole family. My step mom too ’cause she helped me a lot. Everything that I do I tell her. She’s the first one that I tell.

Lo Cal

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LoCal is from Bessemer, AL, but he

was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He

has been living in Bessemer from

the age of 6-21, so you know he is a

southern boy. He has been rapping

for about seven years. Be on the

look out for one of Bessemer’s

finest.

How long have you been in the music game? It’s been about four years. Since I was about fourteen. What’s the name of your mix tape? It’s called Holding My Own acronym H.M.O. I released that back in ’08. I’m working on some new stuff now. What type of style would you say that you have? I would say that I have a conscience lyrical style. I don’t care about money and all that stuff. Of course, everybody that enters into the music industry wants money, but that’s not my biggest concern. If I do make I’m gonna give back to my community. That’s first and foremost you can look at my community… it’s not bad, but it could be better. Do you perform at a lot of events? I haven’t been I just haven’t had the right contacts. When I thought that I had the right contacts I felt like I was getting screwed. Who inspired you to make music? It was a bunch of people. I could go back to like Jackie Wilson, but as far as rap goes Lupe Fiasco, Jay Z and Common...guys like that. Andre 3000 especially because he’s from down here, but he doesn’t rap like it. Musi-cally, who have you worked with? Mr. Notebook, Chris-Style and Weezy Bama. These are the only guys that I have worked with. Who would you like to work with? Anyone that’s actually serious and who is touching on the same thing that I’m touching on. I don’t want to hop on a track that’s talking about drugs and I don’t know anything about drugs. Actually, I do but that another topic that I’d rather not deal with. Since there are so many people in hip hop what do you think it takes to get to the top? I think that it takes dedication and a lot of material. It seems like the more mate-rial that you have the better chance you will have to get put out. Do you consider yourself an underground rapper? Very much so I think I’m at the Earth’s core right now. I think that it’s gonna change this year, but I think I’m under-ground right now. Do you have a website? I have a twitter and reverbnation. My twitter is www.twitter.com/lokizzel06 and www.reverbnation.com/localrealpro. Do you have any shout outs? I just want to say don’t let anything stop you from being what you want to be, but at the same time know your limitations. I want to give a shout out to the city I grew up in Bessemer the south side of it 06 Productions and the crew.

DON

’T S

LEEP

ON

THE

NEW

JAC

KS

Volume 1, Issue 2

Inside Story Headline

Volume 1, Issue 2

“Its

surreal...motivating...to

uching that someone

connected so much

with my words and

experiences that they

play it is

insurmountable”

GEM: Where were you born?

Jaafar: Birmingham, AL

GEM: How did you get started in the music in-dustry?

Jaafar: It all started with a twinkle in my mother’s eye and my dad’s charm

(laughing), just kidding, I started singing at the age of four in church choirs and continued to elevate through elemen-tary, middle, and high school bands and choirs; which lead me to joining my first band “RJB” in 2004. Then progressing to “The Diamond Soul Band” in 2006, which began the grooming process to create the solo artist, performer, writer, arranger, trumpeter…

Jaafar.

GEM: How long have you been in the music game?

Jaafar: Well, profession-ally about five years, but I’ve been in or around music all of my life.

GEM: Who influenced and what inspires you? Jaafar: One of my main and many influences I

would have to say are: Bilal, Common, Mos Def, Prince, Frankie Bev, P Funk, Barry White, and Leon Ware!!! LEON WARE IS THE MAN! (laughing)

GEM: The music and radio industry can be tough on new artists. How has it treated you so far?

Jaafar: Well, I must say all of the radio stations have really embraced my art and vision over these past couple of years...but I must say that it was no cake walk and any artist that starts the journey of music with the idea that it is will have a rude awakening (laughing). But the program direc-tors that I’ve dealt with personally have given me a lot of knowledge and insight as well as Honesty. If they didn’t like a certain song they just didn’t and I had to be string enough to listen adapt and recreate.

GEM: How does it feel to hear your music on the radio? Jaafar: Its surreal

real...motivating...touching that someone con-nected so much with my words and experiences that they play it is insur-mountable; and I’m highly honored.

GEM: Who would you really like to work with?

Jaafar: (laughing) that’s a rather long list coming. More of my Birmingham artists, Jill Scott, Ceelo, Tweet, Erykah Badu, Common, Neptunes, Al-chemist, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Leela James, Estero, Cilla K, Amy Winehouse, etc...so on and on.

GEM: What type of vibe should people expect to hear on your album?

Jaafar: PURE SENSU-ALITY/ SEXUALITY (tastefully and gentle-manly spoken). The sound of love elevated to the highest level of en-ergy.

GEM: Where is some-place that you would like to visit that you haven’t yet had a chance to?

Jaafar: Hopefully, Lon-don soon! I’d love to see

Australia, Brazil, Egypt,


Volume 1, Issue 2

Africa in specific but truly the WORLD! GEM: What albums have you been listening to lately? Jaafar: Lets see… of course Jaafar “Supernatural Love” www.lovesoulmusic.com, Cee Lo “Lady Killer” has been on a pretty heavy rotation. I’m lovin the approach to modern old school sound, strong lyrics, strong production. This is a very nice album from Cee Lo. GEM: What should fans expect from you in 2011? Jaafar: In short, more layers being removed with me to make my connectionto this world stronger. As I evolve as an artist, but ultimately as a man. Learning to love this crazy world. This year I’m showing that its “cool” to be a MAN IN LOVE or WHO CARES WITH NO HESITATION. Its cool to approach a women with admiration, adoration and RE-SPECT. GEM: What is your ulti-mate goal by the end of your career? Jaafar: To have excited love, stimulated love, taught love, to have made a positive differ-ence through soul and music, and to change the



Volume 1, Issue 2

world’s lives, situations, and feelings through the gift of music. GEM:Do you have a facebook, myspace, or a webpage where fans can reach you? Jaafar: Indeed!!! Www.lovesoulmusic.com the CD can be pur-chased there as well. Keep in touch on face book =JAAFAR SU-PERNATURAL...Twitter= JAAFARSOUL GEM: Who would you like to give a shout out to?

Jaafar: Certainly! Thank you, G-Entertainment for the opportunity to be apart of your vision and movement! May God continue to give you in-sight, increase, and the tools to continue being a blessing. My team of producers over at www.soforealproductions.com, my family, my team of photographers, radio stations, most of all my fans and support-ers!!! I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!!!

Thanks again for the op-portunity!


Volume 1, Issue 2

(1) Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. at the MLK wreath laying ceremony (2) Spoken Word at the Coffee Shop (3) Battle Zone 2(4) Celebration of Gospel concert @ Old Car Heaven (5) Paint the City for Christ Tour (6) Open mic at the Homecoming Coffee Shop (7) Kryst Lyke, G, Erica B. & God’s Gift (8) Jazz Session (9) Neo School of Jazz performs at the Magic City Grill

G-Scenes… See W

Volume 1, Issue 2

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

What’s Going On In The City

Volume 1, Issue 2

(10) The Vulcan Performer’s Anti-Valentine’s Day performance (11) Brian King performing at open mic (12) Fy3 Sw@Gga, the Vul-can Performers and Cali hanging out (13) The ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. @ the Camille Armstrong Step Show

(14) Magic City Black Expo (15) Dr. Lieu from the Neo School of Jazz (16) Black Flock Gang performing at the Homecoming Coffee Shop (17) Fy3 Sw@Gga at the Camille Armstrong Step Show (18) Alpha Bowl @ the Parthenon

10 11 12

13 14 15

16 17 18

Volume 1, Issue 2

Laura Luke Video Release Party

Ms. Laura Luke hosted

her video release party at

B.O.S.S. Ultra Lounge

in Birmingham, AL.

The Lavish Laura Luke released her music video, Beautiful Mistake/ Are You Good with Kids, at the BOSS Ultra Lounge in November 2010. This video was directed by Kenny Luk. Ms. Laura Luke also gave live performances of her music off of her new album The Single Mother Chronicles now available at Muzik & More.

Volume 1, Issue 2

By: LaToya Fletcher-Abram I know you are probably thinking the same thing I was a couple of minutes ago. How can anyone be stressing about squeezing romantic dates into their budgets when bills seem to crowd your kitchen table, junk drawer, and closet space? With the unemploy-ment rate in 2010 being 9.8% and the 2011 results looking the same, it can seem depressing. How can anyone think about how to wine and dine someone, when so many are without jobs? Or, how can I wine and dine someone on a minimum wage salary? It sounds impossible, but it can be done. Dollar Movie anyone? You can manage to have a great date for $10 or less with this thrifty idea. All you need is $2.17 to get your movie tickets, make a quick stop by The Dollar Tree Store for refreshments, and put the rest in your gas tank or stash away for a rainy day and you’ve got a date. This is one of many ideas that were collected from a sur-vey posted by yours truly on Facebook. I asked, and within 2 hours, I had 31 plus comments on thrifty ways to date in this econ-omy. I can’t name all 31, but here are some of my personal favorites that were suggested…

1. Picnic. Who doesn’t love an old fashion romantic picnic? All you need to do is grab an old blanket, your picnic basket, some plates, silver or plastic utensils, beverages, make some sandwiches, pack some fruit, sunscreen, sunglasses, and you’re off. Romantic twist: How about stopping by The Dollar Tree and buying some fancy paper and a picture frame. Why do that you ask? How about writing an original poem on some fancy paper and putting it in a picture frame to pre-sent it to your significant other during the date. This too is a very sweet and inexpensive gesture to let someone know that you care and it didn’t cost you much!

2. Drive-in Movie. How about grabbing the portable DVD player or your laptop, his or her favorite movie, pop some micro-wave popcorn, bring along some beverages, drive to a secluded area, and snuggle up to each other in the car while watch-ing your significant other’s favorite movie. This would make his or her heart melt faster than the butter that’s on the pop-corn.

3. Late night drive to the lake. Wait until the peak of the night when the stars are bright, drive to the lake and watch the stars glisten off the water. So romantic! Romantic twist: Burn his or her favorite slow jams to listen to while star gazing. Also, if you forgot your picture framed poem for the picnic, then I couldn’t think of a better time than to do it while star gazing, sipping on some Barefoot Moscato and listening to Jaafar’s Supernatural Love.

4. Wedding Crashers. If both you and your date are completely broke, and you know a couple who’s tying the knot, then why not crash the reception. Great food, music and conversation!

5. Paddle Boat Ride at Oak Mountain Park. For $12 an hour, you and your honey can enjoy the fresh air, water, and have fun in the sun on a paddle boat ride. While doing this, take in the scenery while conversing about current events. Other op-tion: If your date doesn’t like the water, then how about loading up the bikes, and riding those around Oak Mountain’s Bike Trail.

6. Open Mic Night at the Homecoming Coffee Shop every 2nd Thursday of the month. For $10, you and your date can be en-tertained by poets, musicians, and singers. And for $2.50 more, you all can sip on some hot cappuccino or whip crème & caramel hot cocoa. This is a must!

7. Pizza & the park. Hello! Get your butts down to Little Caesar’s Pizza, pick up your favorite pie & beverages, and head on down to the nearest park. Grab the closet bench under the shade, eat pizza, sip on some cool beverages, and converse about the scenery. Other option: If you don’t have enough for a pizza, then how about stopping by McDonalds and buy ing two ice cream cones to cool your palate while walking around the park.

8. Take a walk. Sometimes getting out the house can do your relationship and heart some good. 9. Sharing an appetizer. Sometimes eating off of the same plate can be an adventure. 10. Attend a wine tasting (Whole Foods Market 3100 Cahaba Village Plaza, 205-912-8400) hosts wine

tastings on Fridays from 4:30- 6:30 p.m. No charge). Also, The Wine Loft has “FREE” Wine tastings on Wednesdays from 5:30p-7:30p. Call 205-323-8228 for more info. Be educated and romanced at the same time.

These were my top ten that I thought were inventive and thrifty. Some other notable mentions, Free Friday Flicks at Homewood Park, sign up for some dance classes and spoil them with a discounted massage at Birmingham School of Massage. That sounds oh so good. Well until next time, date thrifty and smart. However, you will need to breakout those big dollars every other month now. We can’t always be cheap. Love doesn’t cost a thing, but let’s not be a scrooge at heart. Also, helpful tips to the naïve, never, never ever use a coupon on the first date. This could come across as you being tacky not thrifty. Peace out!

$ Thrifty Ways To Date In This Economy $

Volume 1, Issue 2

Volume 1, Issue 2

Dosage Ent. Bringing Dance Dosage Entertainment was an up-and coming dance group. Now it is used to promote Battle Zones and different dance battles and dance competitions. Dosage Entertainment is composed of Lebarron “Cali” Todd and Willie Murphy. With Dos-age Entertainment you can learn some dance moves. You can learn Hip Hop, Crumping, Pop Lock, B– Boy and Ticking. GEM: How long have you been in your current busi-ness? Cali: I’ve been with Dosage Entertainment on and off for about three or four years. I just stuck my foot in it last year to actually really put it down and just do it. GEM: Where were you born? Cali: East Oakland, Califor-nia. GEM: Who and what influ-enced you to get into this business? Cali: Michael Jackson, Usher, Omarion, Chris Brown, and Tight Eyez. GEM: What have been some of your ups and downs being an entrepreneur? Cali: The ups are the dance group was pretty much do-ing their thing and every-body was coming out. The downs were the dance group fell off and people were not participating. The South is really hard on dancing. I

LaBarron Todd

Volume 1, Issue 2

Battles to Birmingham don’t know if they find it exciting or not. That’s pretty much the downfall of the South and then style that I dance on. GEM: What do you see in the future of your company? Cali: Basically, take the south to a whole new dance level and putting Birming-ham on the map with the dance competitions. Trying to get other states to come here like we go to them. Trying to get major dance groups to come to Birming-ham like they go to other states and cities like Califor-nia, New York, and Chi-cago. I want to host a dance competition on t.v. GEM: How does your busi-ness contribute to the social growth of he city? Cali: Everybody dances...it frees your mind. I feel like it’s a quick way out of trou-ble. GEM: What makes your vision for this business dif-ferent from other businesses of this type? Cali: Its different and I’m hungry. I love different… everybody sings and every-body raps, but who do you see out of the South that brings out dancing. You have battles in Memphis, you have battles in New York and you even have battles in Atlanta, but not like the city style. So, why not start the South with the city style and put them on

The winners of Battle Zone 2

Battle Zone 2

Starr doing her thang!

Ant merk’n the competition.

the map as well. GEM: Do you consider yourself a dancer, promoter, or just a plain business man? Cali: I consider myself all three. Because I still dance, I still help other businesses promote because what you put out the Lord is gone bless you back in and I’m a business man ‘cause I know how to take care of business when it comes down to it. GEM: I know that you can dance. What type of style would you say that you have? Cali: I have a more precise– unique style. If I was com-pared to anybody it would have to be Omarion and Mi-chael Jackson. GEM: Do you have a web site or page where people can get in touch with you? Cali: I’m on Face book for now (LaBarron Todd). I do plan on building a webpage and a you tube page for Bat-tle Zone. GEM: Do you have any shout outs that you want to give? Cali: Yeah, I want to give a shout out to all the major companies in Birmingham even though none came out (except Fletcher’s DanZ3 Co.). Good luck to every-body. Shout out to my man DJ Willie Murphy and I want give a shout out to all of my dancers.

Volume 1, Issue 2

g-entertainment magazine march/april

Documents

g entertainment magazine

g entertainment magazine

chief harold g abram

paul franklin volume

artist latoya fletcherabram

writer latoya fletcherabram

hot albums page

new ideas