Interview: Rosemond Jolissant, Haitian Wunderkind
Suite903’s worldly reach has zoned in on Haiti with an interview with Rosemond Jolissant. A past winner of Digicel Stars (the American Idol of Haiti), he is one of the most promising artists coming out of the country. We sat around, chatted (in CREOLE no less), and then he played some music for us. Besides getting over his shock of flying to New York in the middle of snowicane, from a country where the average temperature is 85 everyday, he was pretty chill and super sweet. He was on a trip to raise funds for the organization that he works with, SOIL, a cause now spotlighted in the media due to the devastating earthquake, which he experienced. We were glad to have him come by and cheer up the office on a dreary Friday evening in the midst of his hectic schedule. Don’t get it twisted though, this kid is the one of the most laid back people we’ve ever met. You’d never guess he’s flying all over the world, recording albums with international musicians, raising funds for his country and still going to high school. All we managed to do in high school is develop bad life habits and sorta get into college. Check our translated interview and a video of one of his original songs after the jump. -Judnick Mayard
Recap: Chiddy Bang in NYC & Exclusive Video Interview
Straight out of Philadelphia, two-piece hip-hop/remix duo Chiddy Bang made a stop in NYC and sat down with Suite903 for a quick interview after the show with the help LooseWorld. DJ/drummer/keys extraordinaire Xaphoon Jones and frontman Chiddy Bang were on their game playing for a packed pro-Chiddy mob at the Webster Hall Studio. It was dope! Widely known for their remix of MGMT’s “Kids” called “Opposite of Adults,” Xaphoon and Chiddy are rising out of the Philly underground scene and into the mainstream hip-hop circuit. Between playing South By Southwest later this month and releasing a new album near the end of the summer, the name Chiddy Bang is sure to RAANG in a city near you soon enough. If you haven’t checked out their stuff yet, shame on you, get on it…now. Photos of the guys on-stage after the jump. -Eric Sandler
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Letter from the Editor/DJ: Richard “Treats” Dryden
It’s a rare feeling when you think you’re the only normal person in the room. It’s tingly, like goosebumps, or rubbing a balloon against the hairs on your forearm. No matter how weird shit gets onstage, albeit a girl being attacked from the waist-down by Theophilus London, or a gnawing thought of a Mickey Factz lyric prefaced by his need to emphasize “Truthfully,” these are musicians who can make magic. You see the strings being pulled by DJ Treats (no third person hubris). Playing the tracks, scratching the samples, my role as a music technician was the heir apparent to a Michael Caine in The Prestige. Despite where the spotlight shines—most of the time in the direction of the talent—there was always someone who can see the pledge, and the turn, before the prestige. That is what FADER Media did when they tapped me as Suite903’s new editor. Who knew that months after running through London town, Japan to California, that I’d be here as an eyewitness to the musical massacre journalists pen from a distance. We go in to give those first-hand accounts, the flashes of brilliance that come with the first four bars of an artist’s voice, or the glow of a true performer through Suite903TV. With that, I welcome you to total soul.
Has Bobby Ray Got Nothing On Bruno Mars?
For four strong years between 2006 and now, Bobby Ray couldn’t get any play from the ladies. Dude tried his best: he rapped, produced, played guitar, even sang his own hooks for the most part. The downside is that self-proclaimed weirdo thing, which doesn’t get the panties dropping like a hook from Bruno Mars.
CYRIOUSLY: Brown Sugar For Sale
Word, D’Angelo?
Wow, sometimes you wonder when a “great” thing really is over and done with and after reading some headlines from over the weekend, I have no choice but to accept the fate sites like MediaTakeOut and Bossip have already cemented….D’Angelo’s career being in jeopardy is beyond a likely possibility, it is practically a fact.
Apologies for running and gunning with this post without giving a proper set-up, so let me break it down…
Suite903 Presents: On A Truck with Theophilus London
We went out to Theophilus London’s hometown in the Poconos where he recorded a live version of “Humdrum Town” on the back of a truck. We shot a video you can watch after the jump, but today we debut the photos we shot, compiled into a sort of flipbook to the sound of the song. Theophilus is truly a legend in the making, and we were psyched to share this special performance in the woods with him.
CYRIOUSLY: We Invented The Relief Effort Remix
Okay, by this point most viewers/readers/stalkers should have a rough idea of how my writing steez (translation: ’style’) breaks down….with the usage of loose examples and a highly bias (not really, though) perspective on matters all related to R&B, I toss out a strong opinion on a matter….whether right or wrong, just what I was feeling at the time. Therefore, with that said, please allow me to introduce my stance on relief effort records.
CYRIOUSLY: Last Of A Dying Weave
(laugh) Okay, wait a second and be easy! (laugh)
No offense with the title (Amy Winehouse), but it’s very true…..the lack of trend-setting R&B singers has been something I’ve come across quite often when I scramble through my iTunes player.
Think about it for a minute, “who” out there is selling the most records? Beyonce. Alicia Keys. Shucks, let’s even consider who is coming in at second best……..Rihanna, Chrisette Michele, Mariah Carey? I mean, look at the R&B game right now, it took Sade dusting off her one-piece outfits after ten years just to drop an album that went gold in seven days….(with a major snow storm out in the East impacting those numbers, too…..)
CYRIOUSLY: The Future Is Now…
Hopefully by this point, readers have been able to take some of my postings with a grain of salt (and a gulp of Mountain Dew) because I have no intent on slowing down my mind flow and speaking freely. Cyrus x seriousssssly, man…so with that being said, I want to take a quick moment and focus on the future of R&B.
Video: Alice Smith Live at Suite903, Part 3
“Forever Yours” concludes our Alice Smith video series. Stay tuned for more Suite903 Studio Sessions coming soon!
