JASMiNE SOLANO

Jasmine Solano, a Philly Motown girl turned "HIP HOPSTER SOUL GAL." Representing on the airwaves and turntables since she was 17, nowadays you’ll find Jasmine Solano DJing in NYC, Brooklyn, Miami, DC and LA. Winner of "Best Female Radio Personality" at the New England Urban Music Awards in 2006 and the annual EVVY Awards for "Best Radio On-Air Personality." She owes it all to the Boston community where it began on WERS 88.9FM. Jasmine put a ‘face to the name’ as a VJ for MTV2 and has been the host and MC for concerts featuring Grandmaster Flash, Akfrika Bambaataa, Questlove, Q.tip, De La Soul, GZA, The Platinum Pied Pipers, Dilated Peoples, M1 of Dead Prez, Jaguar Wright and Goapele.--side note: Goapele is a secret crush of mine.



In late 2008, she decided to pursue her passion full time: making music. Christmas day of that year DJ Wonder and Solano released her first single, “That’s Not It” and by the end of January, the buzz was undeniable. Performing for 700 people at the famed Hiro Ballroom wasn’t far behind. Stints at Miami’s Winter Music Conference, an international tour with Ninjasonik, gigs DJing for J*Davey, performing at Lyricist Lounge and opening up for fellow Philadelphian ?uestlove and Nina Sky all followed.



You can catch her rapping to a mosh-pitting crowd in Bushwick with Ninjasonik, performing for Roxy Cottontail’s birthday party in Midtown, or DJing a deep reggae bashment party in Brooklyn or at one of her long standing parties: Jasmine's infamous Reggae/Dance NYC party, ELECTRIC PUNANNY that she runs with Melo-X and Roxy Cottontail has become a downtown staple as well as “Sticky Mikes” the weekly reggae bash at Leopard Lounge with DJ Gringo & Bintou. Known for her contagious hip hopster spirit and unwavering allegiance to old soul, Jasmine effortlessly combines the cutting edge with the timeless in a mix of R&B, Soul, Reggae, Electronica, House and Hip Hop.

Thats Not It (Produced by DJ Wonder).wav - Jasmine Solano

Verve Christmas Remix Cd Shoot from Jasmine Solano on Vimeo.

Michael Jackson

Yesterday, Thursday June 25th, 2009 the King himself Michael Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26pm. Apparently he went into a cardiac arrest from being "addicted" so prescription drugs. Other sources say that he was also fighting anorexia and had just overcome a staph infection..but who knows, someone is always saying some shit about Mike.


What's crazy is yesterday was also my moms birthday, so I was in a good mood knowing my mother was blessed with another year of life, then this shit happens. First Ed McMahon, then Farrah Fawcett (FAUCET), now Mike? The shit is CRAZY! Well atleast it was still my moms birthday..[trying to look on the bright side]



So while I was doing my research I found out from a blog on Myspace that Lisa Marie Presley wrote, that Mike had a pre-concieved notion about his death. He discussed with her that he was frightened that he would end up dying just like her father Elvis "The King" Presley did. As much as she tried to convince him to get that thought out of his head, it was no use..she already knew that his mind was made..
[research how Elvis died because I'm not going to tell you, this post is about Michael Jackson.]





I'm not going much further into this post though, everyone knows what happened, you just can't have a blog and not blog about the death of a King. Below are some facts about his record sale history and such. Also there's some of my favorite videos posted below. Live In Peace, Michael Jackson. [1958-2009].

Five of Jackson's solo albums – "Off the Wall," "Thriller," "Bad," "Dangerous" and "HIStory," all with Epic Records, a Sony Music label – are among the top-sellers of all time. During his extraordinary career, he sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide, released 13 No.1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Jackson as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time and "Thriller" as the Biggest Selling Album of All Time. Jackson won 13 Grammy Awards and received the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award.


Michael Jackson, one of the most widely beloved entertainers and profoundly influential artists of all-time, leaves an indelible imprint on popular music and culture..

Blue Screen of Death!

I know, I know, I've been missing in action for a while now. I was supposed to blog about Summer Jam 2009 but I figured it's too late. You just had to be there...

The reason I've have been off the face of the earth is because of "The Blue Screen of Death!" You only see this screen when your computer crashes. In the past couple weeks technology has not been my friend. My ipod got fucked up somehow, so now that's dead. Then my computer crashed because of an update gone wrong..I'm like that's computer maintainence and it fucked my shit up?? Yeah I was tight. So I couldn't write blogs for a while and I don't like to write on anyone else's computer. But trust, I was going through withdrawl.

Also, when I took my computer to Computer Technical Services, they said they would be able to restore my computer and save all my docs, pictures, and music. So I thought I was good....no, I was wrong. I got my computer fully restored, basically brand new..BUT! THEY DELETED ALL MY MUSIC. I damn near almost cried..[deadass]. Like I was in total shock. My girl kept saying I could get it all back, which is true but if you're a go-hard music feind like myself, then I'm sure you can understand. I mean why the hell else would I do this blog?? Nonetheless, I am officially back on track, so expect a new blog post fairly shortly..

Miz Metro

Laura O'Reilly aka Miz Metro, is a creative, laidback, quirky musician from New York City. (She's also my homegirl). In H.S she received the award for musical theatre/spoken word from the Presidential Scholar National Foundation of the Arts. They ranked her in the top 5% of teenage singers and actors in the USA. [[THAT'S CRAZY!]] With such a natural gift for song writing, at 16 she began to write songs that later went on to be licensed to MTV's MADE!I wish I could be MADE to do that..Yeah so, in June 2008 she performed one of her hit songs "T.V Land" on Fox 5's "Fearless Music" tv show. The show aired internationally and she won the viewers pole for best performance.


Miz Metro is a New Media/Studio Composition dean's list student at SUNY Purchase. I recently saw her at a charity event at Marcy Playground and I remember her telling me that she couldn't believe she had achieved a 4.0 gpa for the last two semesters. I couldn't believe that shit either! I only recieved a 3.5 and she is way more busy than I am...anyway, with all that going on, she still made time to perform as an official showcasing artist at the 2008 SXSW first ever SOUL showcase. She has also performed along side Ladybug Mecca, of the Grammy winning group Digable Planets. In response to her performance at Mixtape Riot, URB magazine said that "Miz Metro's rare voice and style were something never heard before in NYC." Personally, I believe that Miz Metro's sound resembles Gwen Stefani's but I will agree with the quote since Gwen Stefani is not from New York.


Miz Metro has graced over 60 stages from California to London, engaging audiences with her quirky stage presence and well crafted songs. It is her "fresh dynamic", as Chuck Taylor from Billboard Magazine puts it, that is making Miz Metro a creative force in the music industry. "But it isn't her sense of style that pulls in the audience. Her powerful, controlled voice blends with and rises above the music to bring her message of social change," explains ClubPlanet.com.


The name "Miz Metro" came from Lady Sovereign at the 2006 WMC. Laura was interviewing Lady Sov and she happened to be wearing her favorite metro card doorknockers. Lady Sov called her "Miss Metrocard", the card got dropped, the Z got added and the rest is history. The name fit like a puzzle piece, at the time Miz Metro was also the ringleader of her "Urban Gypsy Circus." They were a series of loft parties at a 5,000 square ft. loft space in SoHo, New York.







She has done VJ work conducting exclusive interviews with Fab 5 Freddy, GZA and Spankrock working along side Santi White for Panjea.com. Miz Metro has also been featured as a solo artist on "Breaking For the Holidays" along side the likes of Chaka Khan, Ben Jelen and Sandra Bernhard. As co-presenter of the "Hip Hop Howl Mixtape" for the Lower East Side's HOWL! Festival, she's been featured next to Grammy nominated singer Emily King, Mickey Facts, Louis Logic among many other fierce talents coming out of NYC.



Miz Metro's debut album "UNLIMITED" is a mix of studio tracks and songs recorded with her 7 piece band "The Makebelieves." It will be released in early July 2009. From her experience with editing her own music videos, she designs all the fliers for her shows and promotions. Miz Metro is a bold communicator and a leader in building community within the New York's hip hop thrift shop scene. Poised to be a future media music mogul, she's the next Madonna, but the first Miz Metro.


Check out Miz Metro at:
Twitter
Myspace