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 Muzilog Online Magazinemusic • entertainment • culture

May Issue 2011

Intimate, smooth andheartfelt would be thecomments made after experiencing the musicof Nigerian born Ezemdi.The multi-musician,songwriter and producer is about to take thestage, releasing his newalbum in June 14th 2011entitled “By Your Side.”He collaborated withJared Jones and J Sellon the songs. Productioncredits go to MarkGeohagan and Ezemdi.“Take Off,” is the firstsingle. Listen to asample.

Coming to the U.S. atthe age of 4, Ezemdishowed early signs of possessing musicaltalent, which his auntrecognized, resulting inhis introduction to piano,guitar, organ andtrumpet. By the age of eight, Ezemdi playedalong with the musiciansat Bethel GospelAssembly, Harlem NY on

Sundays.

His condition of albinismaffected his childhoodgreatly. He couldn’t playin the sun too long,which affected himplaying with other kidsoutside. 

"As a kid I use to hate that I couldn’t play with the other kids outside, I felt like I 

wasn’t normal and I wanted to be normal. I hated all theextra attention I needed.” Ezemdi Chikwendu.

Nevertheless, Ezemdifound his purpose andkept on the path. Heattended Randolph HighSchool in Massachusetts(his family relocatedthere after living in NY)and with encouragement

from his music Teacher;Ezemdi developed hissinging and learned toplay the trombone. He

then attended BerkCollege of Music adeveloped his craf

Ezemdi has beenproducing for sevelocal artists as welinternational artistshas done productiovarious acts such aStaxx, V.I.P CassieCardel, Bebe RexhKim Morrrell, Jared

Jones, ChidinmaOkebalama etc.Chidinma is a Nigerecording artist thaEzemdi has done swork with. Songs l“Show Me Your 32and “Obimmo,” arecurrently getting aiin Nigeria.

To check out Ezem

music visit: Preview“Cuddle.”

For further informaplease visit:www.crazzehouse

By S. Archer 

EZEMDI

follow on twitter: @Muzilog/Email: Muzilog@yahoo.com

In this Issue:

Maysa page 3

Nikki Jean Page 7

Crash Midnight page

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From the first guitar riff, no

thought comes to mind but toagree that Rock n Roll is back!Pounding drums with an almostfamiliar vocal and the element of fun. Lead Vocalist ‘ShaunSoho’ and Bass player ‘Bo,’

named the band after a late-night car crash, callingthemselves “Crash Midnight.”Making a name for themselvesthey describe their sound as acollision of the punk attitudefrom The New York Dolls andthe classic 70s rock power likeThe Rolling Stones. Their trademark sound is packingclubs on the east coast andthey’re being heralded asamazingly entertaining. CrashMidnight is poised to take over the world with their explodinghigh-energy stage show.

As for their musical direction“we were fed up with a lot of the stuff out on the radiotoday and wanted to makesomething that was real, trueto what  we were doing,”  explained Shaun Soho.

The formative years of CrashMidnight included hard partying,destruction and nightlyoccurrences of noise complaintswhile they lived in their crampedBoston apartment. As growingpains will have it, they also hadto deal with their share of scampromoters, scam managers andempty promises. This fueled theband to relentlessly attack

stages on the Boston musicscene with a ferocity typical totheir approach to everythingfrom promotion to partying. Theband began entrenching

themselves on the club circuitand expanding to tours.

“Made for the Money,” is their present single. When askedabout their choice for the single,Bo says, “It's the perfect first song for people to hear fromus, it really introduces themto our sound ... and you candance to it.”  The single openswith a riff and swing reminiscentof their Boston predecessors,Aerosmith - perhaps channeledthrough their West Coastcounterparts, Guns n Roses -

into honest, street-level lyricsabout a friend of the band'sstruggle with the lure of materialism and addiction thathas a distinct 70's punk flavor.

In 2009, the band inked a dealwith Bronx Bridge Entertainment(Universal/Fontana) and they've

 just finished all tracking on their debut full-length album. With theelectrifying guitar tandem of Jonny Coltrain and Todd

Friedman plus theincomparableTommy Maz ondrums, the band is set to hit theroad and hit it hard so buckle upfor CRASH MIDNIGHT tosideswipe the town with thatbrand of whiskey-soaked Rockn' Roll.

TommyBo

Todd and Shaun

Jonny

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MAYSA 

 A woman in love...interview conducted by Samuel Archer

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To sing is a gift, and tosing faultlessly isanother. Then thereʼstexture. These threework independently of each other and tohave all three workingis the ultimate. Maysais the ultimate artist,exhibiting all three

effortlessly. Maybe theCreator took sevendays to shape andmold her voicebecause it has beenspiritually touched.Sheʼs from Baltimore,born and raised,representing bravelyand purposely rendingher gift to the massesor whosoever will.One will be missingout greatly by nothaving any albumsfrom Maysa. Sheʼsscheduledto perform here inPhilly, May 2011. staytuned.Samuel: Thanks for saying yesMaysa: Ok, noproblemSamuel: Did you put

the coffee on?Maysa: (laughs)Oh no,I ̓ m ok, I donʼ t drink coffee too much.Samuel: Iʼm joking(laughs). I actuallyheard about you awhile ago, like aroundʼ99 there about. Ithink you had justreleased ʻSmoothSailing.ʼMaysa: Actually ʻ Smooth Sailing,

ʼ  

came out around 2004Samuel: So maybe itwas around that time.So now Iʼm getting achance to interviewyou.Maysa: Ok Samuel: So one of thefirst things I want toask is; what is the

meaning of your name?Maysa: Wow, thereʼ reseveral meanings, oneis ʻ walk with a proud stride,ʼ  and the other one is ʻ beautiful flower flowing in thewind.ʼ  Those were thetwo meanings I was

told.Samuel: Ok, veryunique, who namedyou?Maysa: My mother did.My father ̓ s name isMayso, so she changethe o into a.Samuel: Which one of your parents gave youthe talent?Maysa: My mother grew up wanting to bea singer, but shedidnʼ t get muchsupport, which is why she didnʼ t pursue it and then I ̓ ll hear my father singing around the house and my grand father, so it comesfrom quite a few 

 people in my family.Print Close [x]

Samuel: So thereʼstalent on both side of the family?Maysa: Yes.Samuel: Do you playan instrument?Maysa: The piano for my own enjoyment.Samuel: So, you playthe piano or you playwith the piano?(Laughs)Maysa: I play with the

 piano (laughs)Samuel: Do youcompose?Maysa: Most of my music I write.Samuel: Do you writewhen youʼre playingwith the piano or doyou write in a quietroom somewhere?Maysa: For the most 

 part I write while I ̓  m

driving the car. Themusic comes to memostly when I drive.Samuel: How manyalbums do you have?Maysa: I have eight.

 As soon as I left Incognito I did my first solo album, that wasentitled “ Maysa,” my 

debut record. Thenafter that I did “All My Life,” then “Out of theBlue,” the next onewas “Smooth Sailing,” and the one after that was “Sweet Classic Soul.” After that was“Feel the fire,” and then“ Metamorphosis,” and the latest one is“A Woman in Love.” Samuel: Wow, did youfeel like youʼve donethe masterpiece as yetor is there an ultimaterecord to be done?Maysa: I think thereʼ san ultimate one. I guess I can say my favorite one so far isʻ Metamorphosis,ʼ  but I think I have a really big one inside of me, I 

donʼ t know how toaccess it right now.

I ̓ m at a standstill right now; it ̓ s kind of weird.Samuel: Are yousaying in a smart waythat you needsome drama?(Laughs)Maysa: (Laughs) No I donʼ t, and that ̓ s thething, that ̓ sreally what it comes

from but I really donʼ t 

want drama inmy life right now, I ̓  vehad too much. Just a

 peaceful lovewill be nice; I donʼ t need the drama part.Samuel: Who are your influences?Maysa: For the most 

 part, Ella Fitzgerald,Sarah Vaughn,

Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Billie HolidaMelba Moore,

 Angela Bofill, a lot o people but those arethe main onesI listened while I wascoming up.Samuel: What do youfeel about the state o

the music industrytoday?Maysa: Weʼ re in a lotof trouble to behonest with you. Forthe most part we themusicians can dowhat we can to keepmusic going but as fas getting it to peoplit ̓ s the biggest challenge right now.The technology hashurt the system and the downloading (illegal), file sharing and all that stuff is

 just the way it is. Wehave to figure out away to get around alof that and get themusic to the peopleand enable us to stilmake a living.Samuel: Talk about

your fans.Maysa: They ̓ reawesome, I ̓ ve beenblessed beyond beliewith my peoplebecause they ̓ vesupported me for twenty years now.This is my twentiethanniversary in themusic industry and I ̓ ve been surviving this long without the

major machine behinme. I ̓ ve been doing this with the help of few people that ̓ s trietokeep me going youknow.Samuel: So youʼrefully an indie artist?Maysa: Pretty much.Samuel: What aresome of the creativethings youʼre doing

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now to help you stayafloat?Maysa: Touring ishow I ̓ m surviving right now. Since wecanʼ t get the music toall the people.Samuel: Ok. So, sinceyou brought it up,where have you

toured?Maysa: Russia last year, touring with

 Angela Bofill and Jonathan Butler thisyear so I ̓ m keeping busy even without anew record right now.Since I have eight solo albums, peoplehave their favoritesand I have a song with Incognito (Deep

Waters) that ̓ s very  popular still, so people want to hear me sing and I ̓ m happy about that.Samuel: Do you needme to bring the water for you on tour?(Laughs)Maysa: (Laughs) it ̓ s atrip, it ̓ s going to bean interesting 

summer.Samuel: If you werenot singing todaywhat would you bedoing?Maysa: Probably teaching elementary school. Hopefully I can continue singing 

 professionally, but you never know.Samuel: Any wordsof wisdom for up and

coming artists?Maysa: Donʼ t get discouraged, themost important thing you can do for yourself is to developyour own sound, your own look and try not to be like anybody else. At this point,you need to be asunique as possible in

order to have staying  power in thisindustry. Also, remainhumble, work hard,get a good attorney and do not let anybody takeadvantage of you.

For more information

please visit MaysaLeak.

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Word Play...

Page 6

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It’s clear that song writing ispassionate for Nikki Jean. She’sschedule to release her debut album

“Pennies in a Jar,” July 12th 2011.The S-Curve artist started themaking of this album approximatelythree years ago, collaborating withsongwriting greats such as Bob Dylan , Carole King and Burt Bacharach amongst many othersong writing greats appearing on thealbum. The album also featuresLupe Fiascoand Black Thought (Of the Roots).

It was her producer Sam Hollander with the vision to let Nikki embark onthis amazing journey. Mr. Hollanderhas also produced Tom Jones, Trainand Katy Perry.“ It feels amazing to make an organic record that also honors people who wrote many of the songs that helped shape popular culture,” she 

says. “Hopefully, I’ll get to have the experience of people falling in love with my songs too.” Nikki Jean.

Nikki hails from Minnesota, nowbased in Philly. She started takingpiano lessons at age eight. Todayshe thinks she should be so much

better and claims she wasn’t diligentas she should have been (See videointerview). Her singing inspirations

come from Diana Ross and SamCook. Nikki’s voice can be heard onLupe’s “Hip Hop Saved My Life.”

Last month Nikki shared stage with“Train,” at New YorkCity’s Webster Hall. Her connectionwith the audiencewas excellent. She accompaniedherself by playing herkeyboard and she played the ukulelein one of her

selections called “La Dee Da DeeDa.”(Written by Luigi Creatore & Nikki Jean) The showwas sponsored byOrigins ‘Rocks Earth Month.’http://nikkijeanmusic.com/ .

Nikki Jean: Pennies in a Jar 

Nikki Jean

TrainPage 7

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Samuel Archer is a songwriter,

musician (Keyboardist), music

producer and poet. He lectures

on songwriting, musicianship,

music business and recording.

He graduated from New York 

City Technical College with aliberal arts and science degree

and is presently working on a

Music Business degree at Full

Sail University.

Join the Muzilog Family

muzilog@yahoo.com