DMV Edition: Oddisee

Oddisee is one of the most consistently creative producer/music artist in the game. He has been creating music for himself and for others for years and everything sounds good. Even the legendary Jazzy Jeff recognized him and put him on the Musik Lounge. The thing is that this brother was known as a producer but then got equally recognized as an MC. He is 1/3 of an equally dope group called the Diamond District which features two other favorite artists of my yU and X.O.

I remember back in the Myspace days, I was producing and he was already a pretty respected producer. This brother set up a forum where aspiring producers around the world could submit music to be critiqued. And this wasn’t some sort of elitist critique but solid constructive criticism. He never made anyone feel stupid or like they couldn’t do this. I remember he gave me a pretty good critique. When I met him he showed love and didn’t act Hollywood even though this brother has plenty of fans. He was just a humble dude who wanted to make good music. That’s why when I make my hard earned money and he drops an album I actually buy it and listen to it. This is coming at a time when I’m listening to very little hiphop new or old. His music is just refreshing and knowing what it takes to make music like this I know he has done a lot on his end.

Check out more from Oddisee at http://oddiseemusic.blogspot.com/

“You Know Who You Are” ft. Olivier Daysoul (Acoustic Version)

American Greed

Let It Go

Gentrification

DMV Edition: Maimouna Youssef

If you are in the DMV (DC, MD, VA) area and are familiar with the soul scene then you know the name Maimouna Yossef or MuMu Fresh. She’s Grammy nominated with the Roots, has added her voice to a number of tracks from established and up and coming artists and is just an amazing person. About a year or so ago, I had the pleasure of photographing her (yeah that’s my main thing) for a promo shoot. I knew her manager and he hired me to update her shots. There are a few perks with photographing artists. One you get to REALLY build with them because you have to talk to them to get the shot. The other is that you get to hear exclusive music that is a year away from being on their album.

Maimouna gives you music from every angle. The angle of a mother, as a daughter, as a woman growing in a beautiful relationship, as a black woman with Native American roots. The list goes on and on. Her music can be spiritual and moving or you can party to it. The common denominator is that er music will always be true to who she is. She adds no filler, and doesn’t compromise her values. That I respect. Plus her music is super dope.

Maimouna Youssef – “I Got A Man” (dir. Brian “B.Kyle” Atkins)

Maimouna Youssef – “An Ode to Monsanto”

Maimouna Youssef – “Gypsy Woman” (Syracuse University, 11/14/08)

Maimouna Youssef: The Realest Thing

Still MuMu Medley