Old-Soulz Ent Inc.: "The Spark" ep15: Amanda Diva talks to Spike Lee

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

"The Spark" ep15: Amanda Diva talks to Spike Lee

This week, Tony-nominated actor Brandon Victor Dixon stops through 'The Spark' and talks Naomi Campbell going bald, whether black folks have forgiven Chris Brown and more!
Spike Lee chops it up at the American Black Film Festival on LeBron James and the Knicks, directing Rick Ross's new video and Twitter.
Wrapping up, Amanda brings the jokes as usual in 'Things I Learned this Week,' talking ridiculous R&B songs, World Cup officiating and how she feels about turning 29!

Tony nominated actor Brandon Victor Dixon: Episode 15

The Chop Up with: Spike Lee

Be Sure to comment and catch new episodes of The Spark every Monday on AOL BLACK VOICES

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PESU

In '96, PESU started his artistic career as a graffiti writer in his hometown of Shizuoka, Japan. PESU relocated himself from Shizuoka to Kanagawa, and then to Tokyo. He moved to the U.S. in 2001. He spent 3 years in California schooling, painting, and experiencing the great splendor of “Mother” nature. The following year, he relocated himself to NYC. Since then, he has accomplished many achievements. Such as, winning the Art Battle competitions, appearing on MTV, working with Nike iD, EVISU, COACH, WholeFoods, EarthDay NY and so on. Once you’ve seen PESU’s artwork, you won’t forget the strong impact, and also the subtle details that have made PESU one of the most sought after NYC artists. He is also, a crowd favorite in NYC and around the world. If you would like to know more about PESU, please visit "www.PesuART.com".

Amanda Diva

Starting off as a young actress on Nickelodeon sitcom, “My Brother and Me” Diva is no stranger to the madness that is showbiz. Moving to New York in 1999 she was exposed and hooked to the hip-hop culture in a completely new way from her hometown Orlando, FL. Soon she was writing and performing on the spoken word poetry scene before being chosen to be on Russell Simmon’s Def Poetry Jam (’02 & ’05). When the director of Sirius Satellite Radio discovered her, she found herself unsuspectingly breaking into the music business as a radio personality on “Breakfast at Diva’s” (’03-’08). During that time she managed to obtained a Master’s in African American studies from Columbia University and also landed her dream job as the face of hip-hop on MTV2 interviewing close to every relevant hip-hop/R&B artist of the last 10 years including Jay-Z, Nas, Mariah Carey, Pharrell Williams, and even acting heavyweights like Tom Cruise and Jamie Fox. Diva’s love for music made a rise to be a recording artist herself releasing numerous EP’s, and she toured/worked with greats like Q-tip, The Roots, and Lupe Fiasco to name a few. She still continues to speak as a culture critic, a comedy commentator, and a music expert on VH1, a host & a creator of “Diva Speak TV”, a host of “Speaking Of…” on Music Choice, a host & a creator of “The Spark” on AOL’s BlackVoices.com, and a star of the reality web show “Technicolor Lover” on Dameon Dash’s CreativeControl. Diva has always expressed a commitment to creativity and originality not only in her music but also her visual arts. Her paintings are known for their vivid and whimsical abstract imagery and intriguing many celebrities including Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz. With murals living from Grenada, Berlin, to New York, her hand painted bag line “Spectrum” having been featured on Karmaloop.com and BET’s “Rip the Runway”. Diva’s work has been recognized globally.

Concep

Concep is Brooklyn's answer to the renaissance ideal of the polymath artist. New Orleans-born Concep's journey in pursuit of intertwining his passion for visual arts, design, and dance led him to Brooklyn, where he has began to lay the foundation to his visionary empire. He gained large notoriety by winning MTV's "Art Battles" competition in 2007 and has since painted for artists in the music industry and painted at events in connection to Swizz Beatz, Rich Medina, and Deeply Madly Living Gallery, Complex Magazine, Girbaud, MTV's “Wild'n Out”, and Scion. His ill skills in street dance also allowed him to be involved in video productions for artist such as Mos Def, Little X, Eric Sermon, Timbaland, and Sa-Ra Creative Partners. His work was shot recently in his Crown Heights' studio in Brooklyn for MTV2's Independent Music Week and MTV Africa's U.S. As a designer, he has worked for urban brands such as Ecko Unlimited, Ruff Ryders, Pony, and he eventually landed a home at Marithé Francois Girbaud, a French brand specializing in premium denim and fashion graphics. His design work is intimately connected with his fine artistry, as you can find textile patterns that serve as inspiration for his design showing up in his paintings, or his paintings getting canvassed on street ware. His growing body of artworks is an unfolding story of the evolution of the self through the language of color. With a special talent for translating ideas, vision and energy, He has an ability to paint concepts, emotions and vibration that has an immediate effect on the observer (similar to the effect of music, which is much harder to achieve in painting). Encoding his key to the secret of life, the ever-present Pythagorean theorem, a2+b2=c2 (a(nthony)2=past, b(rown)2=present, c(oncep)2= future) is a reminder of the infinite possibilities that stretch between life and death, connecting dreams with the path of self-realization.

Riz22

A member of an outcast family from the heart of Ethiopia to modern day Roman America, Riz22 personifies the divinity of creationist expression absent of blueprint or planned conclusions. Alongside having an unlimited arsenal of painted works, there is an extended trailer of erotic comic illustration, political satires, and comedic commentaries of society's kaleidoscopic nature. Clients and patrons of his work include celebrities such as Notorious BIG’s wife, Faith Evans, Clay Aiken of American Idol, and Buttahman of MTV. Riz22 has painted at private events for BET, MTV, Warner Bros., and others. He is currently working on a project with Mike Jones.

Pismo

Pismo is a professional emcee, singer, producer, and musician – one whom also can play multiple instruments. His talents have long been admired, first in Japan, and finally, he’s able to bring them to the worldwide stage. Pismo is an emcee whom, can really sing and his skills as a producer are top notch. He is one of the most charismatic exports from the United States to Japan. In fact, Pismo has been steadily building his fan base and his first official solo album “Within Transition,” had tremendous sales in Japan. Pismo’s musical style is a progressive mixture of organic sounds from his home state of California and a new wave of the variety of influences from his chosen home - New York City. Because his music has garnered so much love from audiences, there have been many offers of features from Japanese producers such as: DJ Tonk, Nomak, Cradle Orchestra, Tsunenori, Re:plus and Kenichiro Nishihara. Other offers abound for new projects, as each of his features lead to great sales. Pismo’s production work is prized as he creates music for movie soundtracks and commercials. Commercial clients include: Toyota, Macy’s, FedEx, and Time Warner to name a few. Pismo’s hard work, talent, and passion make him one of the most in-demand names in music.

Tokio Kuniyoshi

Born and raised in a tropical island Okinawa, JAPAN, Tokio Kuniyoshi is known as a fine arts photographer as well as a commercial and a fashion photographer. He moved to San Francisco in 2002 and got into the photography world. He started learning from the basic by himself and looking everywhere through the finder. After spending 4 years there he relocated himself in New York to seek his unknown possibilities and new opportunities. He currently works for magazines, CD covers, and fashion/club events, artists, and personal portraits. His clients he worked with in the past are HENNESY, Ray-Ban, WWD Japan, Steven Alan, Manhattan Portage, Bounce Magazine, Unihair, Ollie, and many others. He currently owns his own full-equipped studio, Studio 11, focusing on shooting more of his fine arts photography. The philosophy behind his photography is to capture the moment by analog and look into the objects differently. He has his own unique way of looking into the world and capturing the way that brings photography to not just a framed scene but also an artwork. His works can tell a story and stimulate your senses, and before you realize, you are in his world.

selector ARTS

Straight from Yokohama, Japan, Selector Arts is a completely new Reggae selector who can spin not only Reggae, but also can infuse Hip Hop, Soul, Jazz, Latin, Rock, African, and any sounds exist. Playing with many notable Reggae artists including Beenie Man, Junior Reid, and Tarrus Riley proofs his skill and talent. He started spinning at the club around Yokohama and Tokyo area in 1995, and after 5 years, he flew all the way to the Reggae origin, Jamaica to feel the real vibe and refine his skills. He started releasing his Reggae mix CD “First Class Series” in 2001 and has been releasing from volume 1 to 5. He is also the very first artist who made a Reggaeton mix CD in Japan and helped its recognition. Since he moved to New York, he has been playing with many talented artists such as Tonny Touch, J. Period, Rob Swift, Ge-ology, Kero One, Om'Mas Keith (Sa-Ra Creative Partners) as well as many known DJs on the hottest radio shows in New York, Hot 97 and 105 Power. He is currently spinning at online radio, Dailysesion.com and as a selector of Reggae sound called “Yardbeat” every week at the radio station and the clubs in Brooklyn.

Asahi Suzuki

Originally coming from Tokyo, Japan to study abroad at the University of North Texas in Denton, Asahi quickly discovered his talent as a Disk Jockey at student house parties. His reputation for party tunes and a diversified selection of music led to his being led by party promoters and booking events in Dallas clubs and bars with excess of 1,000 attendees a night. He continued professionally spinning as a residence DJ at Hailey's Club (Denton TX), high end Japanese restaurant, Nobu, in the Crescent Hotel (Dallas TX), and the Aura Lounge (Dallas TX). After acquiring a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, Asahi continued his pursuit of a career in music and audio at the Dallas Sound Lab/MediaTech Institute in Texas. While schooling there, he found great interest in recording Jazz that was skyrocketed by friends from UNT and the world famous UNT One O’clock Jazz Band. His recent project "Dancer" with “YT Little D” has brought him a reputation as an engineer of note in Jazz circles. Moreover, he ran the sound and recorded live for "Brian Girley Group" with 2 Grammy awards nominated pianist, Tailor Eigsti, and the winner of 2 of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition trumpeter, Ambrose Akinmusire. He had an opportunity to work at Luminous Sound Studio in Dallas under Grammy award mixing engineer Chris Bell to help Erykah Badu’s album “New Amerykah Pt.2”. His latest engineering album work involved with up-and-coming talented Jazz artist, Yoshi Matsubara’s “Victory Dance” will be digitally released soon. In addition to the engineering projects, he started producing his virtual band “Asahi Suzuki” and began recording indie artists on his original and remix projects. He uses his knowledge of recording, sampling, editing, and mixing techniques to create his own sound that is described as “light in blue sky”. Sorrow covered by the warm lights of sunshine.

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