Miss Mocha Presents: “Black Vibeday” w/ DJ Freakish Nerd [ Post Event Recap]
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What a Room it was when thinking back to the faces seen at Company Brewing on Black Fri- I mean ‘Vibeday.’ DJ FreakishNerd kept our favorite musical artists, both mainstream and local of course, in a grand rotation as the space was overtaken by creatives, known and unknown, along with the ‘average joe’. This was very tactful of Miss Mocha; bringing the Artistic Community together as an indirect way of experiencing a bit of that Thanksgiving energy with our peers. Watching the room gradually fill up with so many way makers, innovators, and game changers is something to be thankful for. Now of course when that first hour or 2 goes by, we start feeling good, including the DJ, having had a few shoots himself, we all get to hittin’ that two-step, whether we're still hesitant and keeping near to our seats or are casually making our way to the main floor, but that was not the case for too long. Towards the night’s end, the spirit of Milwaukee’s golden age of fun and youth came out as a circle of models, rappers, CEO’S, dancers, musicians, and entrepreneurs alike were provoked to form a circle at the sight of two creatives engaging into a battle: I’m talkin’ bout hittin’ the stollie and bangin’ like its ‘09! ‘Aye, Aye! Huh, Huh!’ Everyone was shouting and cheering altogether. Personally, what I believe to be the highlight of a night like this.
/Naomi-Re’a for CW
Get in on the act of BLACK NATIVITY 2021
/*Info Provided by Black Arts MKE
We all could use a little joy and hope in our lives right now! I encourage you to check out the beloved holiday musical Black Nativity by Black Arts MKE that runs one weekend only – December 9-12, 2021, at the Marcus Center's Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall. This year is a brand-new show, with a new Director, new music, new choreography, and a new cast! More info: www.blackartsmke.org
#SupportTheLocal
Besides being a great stage act to indulge in this holiday season, Black Nativity 2021 also showcases talent from some of our favorite creatives including:
Director, Dimonte Henning [From CopyWrite Mag Issue 18, “Glory of the Seat” fashion spread]
Choreographer, Christopher Gilbert [From CopyWrite Mag Issue 6, creative feature]
Stylist, Vato Vergara & Kyndal J [From of /CW fashion department]
See more of the great line up bellow!
Need a sneak peak? We got that for you too!
Want tickets? Click Here & Don’t forget to tell them /CW sent you!
Miss Mocha Music Presents: Black Vibeday
/DJ FreakishNerd will be providing Hip Hop, R&B, & Vibes in his debut solo DJ event. Expect a little bit of old, a little bit of new, and a little bit of music you’ve never heard before. Just the know the vibe will be major.
Friday November 26th, 10pm-1am, 21+
Company Brewing. $10.
735 East Center Street.
Milwaukee, WI
Never Feel Lonely - Sleepy Gary [SINGLE]
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Talk about a rollout! Artist Sleepy Gary has been tactfully dropping one song every 21 days since July as the build up for his Triple Volume, 21 song album, “21 Love Songs,” and we have caught him at his fifth drop, “Never Feel Lonely.” Before his solo endeavours began, Sleepy Gary was the lead vocalist for “Yo No Say”, an indie-rock band based in Baltimore and he is currently also one-half of the pop-synth duo Airplane Man with Tim “One Love” Sommers. Airplane Man has had quite a bit of success, from getting a million plus streams to getting positive reviews in Billboard.
As I took it upon myself to listen to his previous drops for his upcoming album, listening to songs like “W.D.I.L.Y.” and “Bodega”, I found that there's such a nostalgic element to Sleepy Gary’s sound as it reminds me of when I began to realize how much I actually appreciated the MTV early mornings of All American Rejects, Owl City, Gorillaz and even later, the more underground genius of Jon Bellion and James Fauntleroy. “Never Feel Lonely” is a song with an easy going tone used for the verses describing how easy life is without his lost love and the help that should come with it, finishing every verse with “...see you when I hit the bottom...” He continuously layers on the amount of contentment that he has with his solitude and then overwhelms us with the chorus with a defining attempt to convince his audience (and even himself) of how much his hurt has not taken over with the repetition of “...I don't ever feel lonely when you're gone.” Tell me how YOU feel about “NFL” Milwaukee.
/Naomi-Re’a for CW
Driveway Dreamers - TRP [album submission]
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If ya’ll still don't believe that the cloth of Hip-Hop has found its place in the Milwaukee culture by now then y'all are trippiiiiin….This year was a great year for music and I’m not even talking about what's going on mainstream. I’m talkin about the locals, the underground, the underdogs; I’m talkin about Milwaukee. Once again another head-nodder for the books. Local artists Big P and his right hand man, producer and fellow rap artist Lik, as TRP (The Roses Prevail), dropped their debut album Driveway Dreamers and the city’s influence is definitely strong. Milwaukee is all up and through there from the song titles referencing landmarks and different moments in time that we as Milwaukeeans are oh so familiar with, to the lingo and the accent coming through clear with every skit. On what, TRP came to represent! The intro, “Milwaukee Mall,” contradicts the grunge and grit that is seen as the aesthetic of Milwaukee rap with the repetition of the words “...But I dream in color, muthafucka…” after describing the typical scenery of an everyday walk through the hood, symbolic of how we all must look beyond what we see. The following and first official track, “White Dookies,” beautifully samples the instrumental to Sade’s “Cherish The Day” and just as Sade’s music already does for many of us, Lik gives us all of the nostalgia, going in on the first verse; “...Stuntin like a east nigga, but I’m ‘norf’ side like the speed queen feast, niggas paid the fee, been grinding since little league...way back I was t-timid with the speech, now I’m speaking what I mean, every word be a seed...” a feeling straight from most of our memories. Big P ends the song with a chant that we all can relate to “....All White Dookies with no crease my nigga, back when we was eating Tastee Twists for dinner….fresh white dookies in the top of the winter… ” Fast forwarding to the 7th track, the interlude, “Summerfest,” is a track for the lovers. This track is led by the beautiful vocals of a woman who describes what her love is and what it can do. Although Big P and Lik’s vocals are left off of this track, their intention is still felt. With this song we are taken back to our teenage years of Summerfest dates with our sweet hearts while also possibly being metaphorically reminded of how much we grew to be in love with our city as we got to know it with every summer day and night that was spent away from home on an adventure with the crew; “I remember when I used to get fly for you, used to throw on them new ‘95’s for you, used to smoke a little tree, coast the sky for you...cause you make me feel like way back, when mama used to drop us right off where the gate at and when you walked in and everybody waved back, I said I'm here to see ‘Ye, where the stage at?”
Tell me how YOU feel about “Driveway Dreamers” Milwaukee.
/Naomi-Re’a for CW
WoLF Studios Presents: “ReVibe” Vol.2- Soul [Post Event Write Up]
/"If you place the emphasis on getting the little things right, and address the everyday problems that come up, you can encourage a culture of attention to detail."
- Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Records
If there’s anyone who is all about that it’s Wanyah Leon Frazier, CEO of WoLF Studios, a Milwaukee based Multi-Media Production Company that knows what it's SUPPOSED to look like- whatever “it” is. On November 6th, WoLF Studios presented “ReVibe” Vol. 2 - Soul at MARN Art Bar + Culture Hub, Vol.1 being held last year in the heat of the pandemic at No Studios. Ya’ll, this presentation was splendid! Located in Milwaukee’s downtown area, MARN is already a cozy space to be in with the bar in eyes view as soon as you walk in, the walls and back bar having a vast array of wine, and the wall art, jewelry, and other art pieces from different creators on display and couch seating waiting for us to indulge in it all, comfortably. But WoLF Studios’s presence took it up a notch with a sold out full house audience. With melodic affirmations by Queen Mother of WoLF Studios and hostess Kenza Dawn (“Don’t it feel good to be aliiiiive...”), audience appearances from singer B~Free, visual artist Ashley Dallas, who was presenting art that night, poetry vet Brit Nicole, and some of us from Team CopyWrite, we all shared the experience of being witnesses to the wonderful siren-like vocals of Felix Ramsey, the lovely Lotus Fankh, beautiful interpretive dance demonstrations by DeMar Walker, Tori Lauren, Sophia Leon, Taylor Maurchie-Banks, more wall art displays by Adjua Nsoroma, and spoken word by Deolinda Abstract and Tori Zo. From the lighting to the servitude to the all around production of this event, anyone would want to be apart.
CW: I have to comment on how wonderful this event turned out to be- the setting is perfect, the audience is perfect AND diverse...everything is how it's supposed to be. Would you give [the readers] a background on what ReVibe is, where it came from, how long you've been doing it, how long you planned on doing it- what's the meaning of ReVibe?
WF: So, um, ReVibe is my interpretation of some of what the art community is missing, and it happened during Covid. Basically, during Covid a lot of the white-based organizations all had things [ready for] all for their artists but there weren't many organizations of color that were providing avenues for people to perform during Covid…I wanted to see more color...plain and simple. That's all I wanted to do, so we had ReVibe last year- it was at No Studios, we had a great time, we had a plethora of artists and it was just a vibe, basically. And so I’m like okay I need to do this every time now because as I move into it, even before, there aren't many platforms for us. We don't see them, they're not there, so I am a strong believer- I dont beg for things, I make them. I'm an artist, right? So I was like let’s make more platforms. Let's add more places where performers, of any genres really, can feel comfortable to step in, perform, have new pieces, have that same level of creative freedom that other white-based organizations or any organizations in general are able to provide for their artists and their employees; I want us to have that same level of artistic freedom here.
CW: Absolutely. And of course you want to start pouring that into where you're from- the home city that you grew up in, but do you plan on taking that elsewhere or is that something that you haven't looked forward to yet?
WF: So my hope- my real goal is to take WoLF Studios national and have a pop up organization that shows up in different cities, set up a base and does similar things to what we're doing here in other places providing that platform- that space where artists of different genres, of different talent levels can get together and produce meaningful works, so I see this as almost like a multimedia-art studio that just sets up shop in another city; we host performances, we have galleries, we have things that showcase and provide that platform for already talented artists to really make it a career.
CW: You said ‘already talented artists...’ What about the people who may just be figuring out what they want? Is there a lane for them in ReVibe... how do you operate with that group?
WF: We have it set to different levels. Depending on what it is we have entry level performances, which are more so our community performances, performance experiences for artistic development, we have that level of our organization that focuses on building the artists and making sure that the artists has what they need to succeed, and then we have our more professional setting of performances with more established artists who know what they’re doing and see the platform and showcase it.
CW: There's been a small wave of attention to detail, quality control, creative direction going around, even with witnessing it tonight with the attention to the lighting, the way that the lights were set to a specific artist, sound direction, the way the audience is positioned- why do you think that is? Why is that energy present in the Milwaukee art scene at this moment? We're leveling up alot.
WF: So I'm a little bit crazy, Imma say that as a disclaimer but I think that for the most part, the beauty is in the details. It's in those extra things. I wanna make sure that the artist can come and have everything that they need to make their artwork shine to its fullest potential and so in any of the work that I do I think that it's really about making sure that the platform is perfect and all it needs is the artist to play with it, right? And I think that's more so we're realizing even as a people, that quality matters like, it's very important to make the statement and say the thing that we want it to say. When it comes from a place of quality, it has so much more impact. And so how do we create those platforms? How do we provide those spaces, how do we push the artist to make sure every piece that they do has the impact that they intended to have? [By] making sure that we are providing the space that allows them to perform naturally.
CW: I agree with that 100%. You really care and it shows. Thank You.
/Naomi-Re’a for CW
