[youtube id=”ye83Bt6WbPI”] [youtube id=”PAbYepsqHPw”] Run The Jewels were guests on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and performed “Panther Like A Panther” with Trina and “Down” with Joi. They dedicated their set to the late Chester Bennington of Linkin Park.
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Soulfinger is the two-man production team behind Life, Love & Passion, which is a compilation of ’60’s and ’70’s R&B covers by contemporary artists. They have assembled Leela James, Syleena Johnson, Truth Hurts, Angela Johnson, Anthony David, Martin Luther, Joi, Teedra Moses, Kathy Sledge and a host of others to give their take on classics like Stevie Wonder’s “All I Do.” The project is designed to be a luxury piece for a limited number of collectors as there will be no digital distribution. The Kickstarter campaign for the project is running until April 12th and you can visit the official site to see and hear video clips of the artists working in the studio.
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Joi Gilliam is a native of Nashville, Tennessee and she has been based in Atlanta, GA for almost two decades. Her 1994 debut, The Pendulum Vibe was executive produced by Dallas Austin and critically acclaimed. Madonna heard the album and used it as inspiration for Bedtime Stories and she also helped Gilliam become the first Black model in a major Calvin Klein print ad campaign. “Sunshine And The Rain,” “I Found My Niche” and “Freedom” were the singles from the album. Mario Van Pebbles had “Freedom” remade for the ‘Panther” soundtrack. In 1997 Austin and Gilliam collaborated again on The Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome. Fishbone became the backing band for the project and the record company rejected the first single, “I Believe” because it was not a song aimed for the confines of radio. “Ghetto Superstar” with her then-husband Big Gipp, became the new single a year later. Rowdy Records dissolved but the album became hot on the bootleg circuit and gave Joi more artistic credibility. “Magic In Your Eyes” is from the soundtrack to the ’96 film “Fled.” Joi was handpicked by Raphael Saadiq to replace Dawn Robinson in the Lucy Pearl lineup in 2000. Star Kitty’s Revenge was her third album and it’s mostly known for the song “Lick” that was used on “xXx” soundtrack. “Missing You” was the lead single produced by Austin who she had not worked with since doing background work on TLC’s “Silly Ho.” She independently released Tennessee Slim Is The Bomb in 2006 and the single “I’m So Famous” went viral. As of 2011 Joi is prepping new music with the collective HOTHEAVY&BAD formed by her partner Devon Lee.
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Joi, N’dambi and Tamar-kali paid tribute to Betty Davis last night at The Schomberg in New York City. Exactly one year ago Tamar-kali participated in another homage to Davis in Detroit at the Charles Wright Museum. Davis was the wife of Miles Davis for one year but she highly influenced his musical transition into fusion by exposing him to the music of James Brown, Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix. She spruced up his attire and gave Bitches Brew its name. The former Mrs. Davis recorded four raunchy rock albums in the ’70’s that her ex-husband described as being ahead of the time and responsible for paving the way for people like Madonna and Prince. But the singer’s career wasn’t able to transcend America’s ideas about the image of the female performer. These days Davis lives as a recluse Pennsylvania.