Singer + Songwriter, Amy Serrata creates music intended to heal and bring people together. Amy’s interest in singing arose at an early age listening to the sounds of Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong to name a few. She sung in choir and started singing lessons at the age of 10 years old when she attended Nido De Aguilas, an international school in Santiago, Chile. As she got older she sung in several gospel choirs and through that experience continued to develop her vocal improvisational skills.
When she began creating her own music, she improvised by using poetry that she had previously written. The melodies started to naturally form and she then worked with producers Hyp, HMD & Nyambezi to round out the sound of her self -titled debut album, Amy Serrata.

Amy also collaborated with Willie Norwood, father of R&B star Brandy Norwood. He acted as Amy’s vocal coach and producer for the album. “The vibe between me and Willie is incredible, “ says Amy. “He helped me refine my harmonies and adlibs.  The music was good before but it was even better after I worked with him!  I look forward to working with him again.”

Amy Serrata features a seamless musical blend of soul, hip-hop and jazz, tied together with Amy’s signature vocals, and uplifting approach to songwriting. “I hope people can listen to my songs and relate to the messages or be touched by them. I wanted to give a message of confidence to others its ok to be scared by life sometimes.  But to let fear stop you in life is not ok.”

Amy leads by her own fearless example, drawing on her own struggles to provide material for the album, but always with a positive and inspiring twist. Her universal message and passion, combined with diverse musical influences creates a rich experience for the listener.  “My experience while making my album was amazing.  It was rocky and bumpy but the overall journey was sweet.  Nothing comes easily in life but I wanted this badly so I fought for it.”

Amy’s music is largely about personal growth and evolution. “My music is meant to heal and bring people together because the words are positive and they make us see that we are only human.  We all go through similar things but we can all be better and inspire each other to be our best.” She also tackles serious subject matter such as child abductions on “My Baby My Child.”

Look out for Amy performing various dates around California, including opening for Aloe Blacc, as well as collaborative performances with Bay Area MC Niamaj.
For more info:
www.amyserrata.com

Check out live clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulD19g8C4DI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIe-ZZ77O3s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRfv221_8Ws

Listen:

This album charts many of the collaborations thorugh The Angel’s career. From back in the day; the one-time Garth Trinidad (KCRW) favorite by Jaz Klash, “Thru The Haze (The Angel Remix),”  where The Angel remixed her jazzy dnb collaboration with Bristol’s More Rockers, to new remixes courtesy of DJ Drez, who gives both versions of The Angel’s “Destiny Complete” feat Mystic, the Jahta  treatment. Divine Styler appears on the album on both sides of the mixing board; remixing The Angel’s “Make It Betta” (feat Tre Hardson), originally a limited vinyl only release, while also guesting on vocals on both the “Act I” and “Act III” mixes of  “Act As If.” The Dread Flimstone & Pale Face remix redub of 60 Channels’ “Ride With The Flow,” originally a limited vinyl only release, the O.G. version of which was featured in the TV shows “Six Feet Under” and “La Femme Nikita.” Headset’s (Plug Research) unreleased remix of “OK…Alright” by Mystic, recently unearthed, available here for the first time. Tre Hardson “10 Million Ways,” produced by The Angel is also previously unreleased.

Promotional MP3s for posting:
“Make It Betta” (Divine Styler Remix) The Angel ft. Tre Hardson

“Ride With The Flow” (Reflow Remix Redub) 60 Channels feat. Navigator & Cokni O’Dire

iTunes purchase:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=310692108&id=310691991&s=143441

If you are a member of IODA’s Promonet you can access a promotional download of The Angel “Destiny Complete (Bittersweet Version)” ft Mystic & DJ Drez

Check out Tre Hardson DJ-ing a set of songs from his collabs with The Angel and his own catalogue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmGKK6MHcoM&feature=channel

Tracklist:
1 Baltimore (Supa Crucial Mix)     The Angel feat. Mystic
2 Act As If (Act III Mix)      The Angel feat. Divine Styler
3 Ride With The Flow    (Reflow Remix Redub) 60 Channels feat. Navigator & Cokni O’Dire
4 Destiny Complete (Bittersweet Version) (DJ Drez Remix)  The Angel feat. Mystic
5 Make It Betta     (Divine Styler Remix) The Angel feat. Tre Hardson
6 Thru The Haze     (The Angel Remix) Jaz Klash
7 OK…Alright     (Headset Remix)  Mystic
8 Ride With The Flow (Supa Crucial Mix)    60 Channels feat. Navigator & Cokni O’Dire
9 10 Million Ways       Tre Hardson
10 Destiny Complete    (Ming+FS Remix)  The Angel feat. Mystic
11 Steppin’ To Tha Lite      The Angel feat. CB, Blake & Cokni O’Dire
12 Act As If (Act I Mix)      The Angel feat. Divine Styler
13 Thru The Haze  (Spearhead Blak Militia Remix Redub) Jaz Klash
14 Destiny Complete    (DJ Drez Remix)  The Angel feat. Mystic
http://www.theangelsoundclash.com/theangelblog/
http://www.twitter.com/supacrucial

Producer/composer The Angel is doing a 1 1/2 hour guest DJ spot on Kristi Lomax’s “Restless Soul” show on KPFK this Monday, March 23rd, at 10:30pm.
You can listen live at:
http://www.kpfk.org/listen-live.html

The Angel will be playing some of the new material from her next album release, “Supa Crucial Downtempo Remixes & Rarities” which includes DJ Drez’s new remixes of The Angel “Destiny Complete” featuring Mystic, Tre Hardson’s “10 Million Ways” produced by The Angel, Dread Flimstone remixes of 60 Channels “Ride With The Flow” and other unearthed gems.

More info on that album at a future date…
In the meantime you can download/post Covert Movements (Instrumental)

Following the grimey, dubby feel of 60 Channels “Counter Evolution (The Angel Remix)” are the two latest 60 Channels releases, “Scorched Earth (Earthstar Mix) and “Covert Movements (Instrumentals)” which are on the more evocative and mellow end of things. 60 Channels is The Angel’s alter ego. Angel describes the Covert Movements (Instrumentals) album as being a “look under the hood” for fans and producer enthusiasts as well as an inspirational backdrop.

http://www.supacrucial.com
http://www.theangelsoundclash.com/

“This is good underground hip-hop, and the best thing about it are Ellis’ beats – sometimes hard, sometimes smooth, always on point.” – Jonah Flicker, Lost At Sea

“From the jump, this project has that good ol’ Native Tongues feel to it. Two skilled emcees not willing to scream, drown their lyrics in negativity, cursing, gun play, drug dealing, and misogyny are blending their sound to provide an uplifting direction to a self-destructive industry….
All in all, Champs Vs. The League is hip hop’s return to love. Quite Nyce and Raydar Ellis have delivered a classic that will probably be slept on but has the potential to open eyes to the beauty that positive hip hop has.”
- BlogCritics.org

Here’s a new banger from Quite Nyce & Raydar Ellis -  “The Spirit” – soulful and thought-provoking, this is one of my favorite tracks from the album “Champs Vs. The League.”
http://wdl7.streamhoster.com/elemental/champs/the-spirit-quite-nyce-raydar-ellis.mp3

According to Raydar Ellis “The Spirit” is “a song about having enough self pride to go out there and better yourself and in turn the people around you. ” For Quite Nyce, “The Spirit” means: “Exposing everything you have inside without hesitation to showcase the true. Many people wear masks and hide behind vices to protect themselves. The Spirit is about being you and bettering people around you. We all can be The Spirit.”

Listen:

DOWNLOAD/POST:
http://wdl7.streamhoster.com/elemental/leela/its-a-mans-mans-mans-world.mp3

DJ Destroyer returns with the third installment of the Strictly Social mixed series. Nu-Soul Magazine’s signature monthly event Strictrly Social is the place to be for progressive soul artists and this ecelectic mix of future hip-hop, soul, and electronica is the perfect companion piece.

Featuring tracks from an astounding array of artists that have appeared at Nu-Soul events including Wayna, Vice Lounge, Replife, Kisey Asplund, and Sarah White plus renowned artists like Flying Lotus, Erkyah Badu, Q Tip, Black Milk, Dwele, and more, this third mix is truly the sound of Nu-Soul Magazine.

DOWNLOAD THE MIX

Track listing

“Jazz In Outer Space” (live):

“Venus & Mars” (live):

BONUS TRACK “Sexyness” ft. YAW – Free Download:
http://wdl7.streamhoster.com/elemental/bstc-sexyness.mp3

THE MUSIC
BSTC is soul. BSTC is disco. BSTC is hip-hop. BSTC is jazz. BSTC is…you decide. BSTC is all of this and so much more because, like music, BSTC is living and growing. Short for BlackStone Theatre Collective, the name pays homage to Chicago’s historic performing art theatre.
Showcasing a wide musical range the BSTC pull from a variety of influences including: Quincy Jones, Tom Creed, Marvin Gaye, Jay Dilla, Phil Cohran, Norman Connors, Roy Ayers, Anita Baker, Gladys Knight, and Lauryn Hill to name a few.
BSTC breathes. From the first horn stabs on “40 Days” until the final piano keys on self titled track “B.S.T.C.” BSTC is perpetual movement, effortlessly traversing the musical terrain from disco to soul to jazz…never standing still, the music takes you on an international flight from the south side of Chicago across the Atlantic to the dimly lit clubs of Lagos and due west to the thriving Sáo Paulo scene. Never an unwelcomed guest or an out of place intruder, BSTC builds a home in each musical milieu and allows listeners to drop by for visit.
BSTC is freedom. Free of the would-be constraints of definitions and music genres, BSTC does what feels right and what sounds right. This free flow of music was not conceived in a corporate boardroom as part of some dollar-driven marketing plan.  BSTC’s music is authentic and true to the deep roots of the genres it envelopes, but it is never confined or caged in to a particular era, feel or aspect of this truly universal language. BSTC’s movement through musical worlds is as natural as the movement of people…always growing, but never forgetting from where we came.
BSTC lives. If music is meant to touch us, to take us places and to teach us, then BSTC fulfills its promise. Songs such as “Jazz In Outer Space” and BSTC’s standard “Agua De Beber” use sound to paint picturesque landscapes, leaving us enriched and better for the experience.
On November 4th the BSTC will move you, soothe you…and most of all, groove you with their debut album Music For A Saturday Evening.

THE COLLECTIVE
BSTC is the love-child of Chicago’s acclaimed producer, Andy C. Having produced for a who’s who of music artists, including Janet Jackson (“Thinkin bout My Ex”), Mary J. Blige (“Willing and Waiting” and “When We”), Raekwon (“Clientelle Kidds”) and The Temptations (“Hurt So Bad”), Andy C. is now taking the reins on a full album and showing the world his full spectrum of his musical interests and abilities. Raised in the south suburbs of Chicago during the hey day of house music, Andy was influenced by diverse musical interests including soul, hip-hop disco and house. In addition to the above production credits, Andy has worked with artists such as Patrice Rushen, Vince Lawrence, Ramsey Lewis and Babyface.
With the BSTC he moves from the background to centerstage, and pulls with him some of Chicago’s most accomplished, yet little known talents including Keanna Johnson, Tunji, Yaw, and Zzaje.
With a voice like heaven, Keanna H. Johnson aka Kee Kee Rose has sang back-up for music’s hottest stars including R. Kelly, Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Notorious B.I.G., Ma$e, Carl Thomas, Common, Dead Prez, Monica and Keith Sweat, but now the Chicago native is stepping into her very own spotlight on with the BSTC. Keanna’s first solos were delivered to enthralled Black Church congregations on the South Side of Chicago when she was still a child.. Meanwhile, at home Keanna was surrounded with soulful R&B music from the likes of Anita Baker. That nurturing and musically rich environment shaped Keanna’s deep desire to take her God-given gifts to the international stage.
After graduating cum laude from Florida A&M University’s prestigious School of Business and Industry (SBI), Keanna moved to New York to pursue her dream of music.  A mild-mannered corporate assistant by day, and a stand-out vocalist at NY’s open mics and nightclubs by night, Keanna’s dedication paid off when R&B songstress Kelly Price, former background singer for Sean “Puffy” Combs, offered Keanna her first major singing opportunity. Price, who was looking for someone to replace her as she planned to begin her solo career, handpicked Keanna to travel with the Puff Daddy and The Family World Tour.  This experience opened the door for Keanna to tour with other major artists, including pop sensation Britney Spears.
Coming a long way from the grind of corporate America, Keanna has graced the stages of countless award shows as a background vocalist including The Grammy Awards, The American Music Awards and The Soul Train Music Awards, and her picture perfect face has appeared in the pages of Ebony and Jet magazines as a print model for Fashion Fair Cosmetics.
Keanna is the total package of looks, brains, talent and work ethic, all perfectly balanced on a strong foundation. The BSTC finally thrusts her and her undeniable gifts into the spotlight.
Multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer, Tunji, began his formal study of music on the guitar at the age of 10. By the age of 13 he added saxophone, flute and piccolo to his studies, later teaching himself how to play bassoon. During high school, beyond his formal studies of classical and jazz music, he was devoted disciple of soul music, 80′s rock and house music. After earning a Bachelor of Art in classical guitar performance, Tunji returned to his roots and produced soul-inspired tracks for Chicago hip-hop and alternative artists. His artistry and skill ultimately opened doors for him to deliver performances as lead guitarist for the United Kingdom’s undeniable god-father of neo-soul, Omar, as well as for the vibrant vocalist/songwriter, Julie Dexter. Never far from his Chicago roots, Tunji continues to collaborate with the city’s premier DJ’s on remixes and original music releases, frequently engineering while playing much of the instrumentation.

Nu-Soul’s signature event Strictly Social continues to bring the heat with the second installment of Strictly Social mixed. This time around resident DJ Myxzlplix gives us a taste of his flavor with an impeccable mix of electronic frosted hip-hop and soul. Featuring sounds from The Politik, Digable Planets, Black Spade, Flying Lotus, and Amp Fiddler, Strictly Social is sure to keep your soul nourished in between events.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Track Listing
1. Dial 7-Digable Planets
2. If I Fall-Naked Music
3. Pray Together-Amp Fiddler
4. Actioneer (Wajeed Remix)-Black Spade
5. Massage Situation-Flying Lotus
6. Could It Be-Noel Zancarella f. Baatin
7. My First Love (K2wizzle Rmx)-DJ Syren
8. We All Want The Same Thing-Kevin Michael F. Lupe Fiasco
9. Sweet-The Politik F. Replife
10. Me And Armini-Emiliana Torrini
11. The Duck-Belleruche
12. Crucify-Milez Benjiman
13. Inhale Exhale-J Rawls, Venus Malone & Wordsworth
14. What Do You Know-Beatphreak
15. Northern Girls-Belleruche

About DJ Myxzlplix
myspace.com/djmyxzlplix
myxmanifest.blogspot.com
djmyx.com

About Strictly Social

Strictly Social is fast becoming one of Los Angeles’ most unique monthly events incorporating listening parties for major releases, guest DJs, visual artist exhibitions and intimate performances from rising stars in the soul community. Organized by DJ Destroyer of Soul Union, Norman Mayers of Nu-Soul Magazine, and Lucy Beer of Elemental Consulting, this night if “Eclectic Soul Fusion” aims to provide a non-traditional perspective on soul by fusing genres and styles. With recent events in New York City and Atlanta, the brand has begun to spread beyond its original home. Artists that have performed at Strictly Social include Sy Smith, Anthony David, Lina, Peter Hadar, Jimi James, Maya Azucena, and Kissey Asplund.

www.myspace.com/lastrictlysocial