May 22nd
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May 23rd
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Moderator, PANEL I
The Media Prince
The Media Prince is an Entertainment Journalist, Media Specialist and Owner/Editor-in-chief of TheMediaPrince.com, showcasing Art of all FACETS throughout the world. Internationally known for his work in showcasing the dopest, most creative work from all areas of art: from fashion, music, politics, athletics, Disk Jockeys, painters, poets, you name it, if there is an art to it, then The Media Prince will cover it.
With a degree in Journalism, PR & Marketing and a Minor in Music, The Media Prince holds the bar high in showcasing innovative works that go from Celebrity clientele to Up and coming. Credited with endless writing pieces, his work stems from The Washington Post, HBCU Buzz, Pride Magazine, Blank Canvas Magazine, WKYS 93.9 FM , Washington Informer Bridge & The UrbanInformer, while Interviewing some of the biggest Celebrities out, from Lonnie Love (The Real Daytime Talk Show), Jawn Murray (Radio & TV Personality, Coco Jones (Actress & Recording Artist), Ginuwine (Recording Artist), Angela Simmons (Fashion Designer & Star of Growing Up Hip Hop), Corr Kendricks (Recording Artist and Star of Empire) and Danielle Monét (Actress & Star of BET 'Rebel') and more. |
Moderator, PANEL II
Queen B DMV
“Don’t settle for the environment you were given. Create the environment you want.”
Brittney Lynnette is a multi-talented, multifaceted and dynamic black queen. She was born on the Army base in Ft. Hood, Texas. Her family settled in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, where she was raised. She currently resides in Baltimore City, even though she is known for her strong connection to the community and service throughout the DMV. From a young age she would spend hours listening, singing, and writing to all different genres of music. This love for music birthed a career in entertainment as a journalist and media personality. Feeling unfulfilled while working for a Fortune 500 company, she took a leap of faith and quit her corporate job to dedicate herself to make a full-time career out of her love music. Dedicated to learning her craft, she began working as an unpaid intern for WPB Networks. Her first time on-air during her internship impressed the team she moved to hosting her own show Queen B Radio. Throughout her career she had thanked many platforms and mentors who were key players to her development like radio legend EZ Street and Def Jam “big brother” Ant Williams. Beginning as Queen B of the DMV her brand continued to grow, thus The Queen of Coverage emerged. |
WES FELTON
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EZ STREET
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Introspective. Loquacious. Giving. Insightful. Passionate. Honest. Transparent. Artist. W.Ellington Felton long been described as a renaissance man and a ranter of his own thoughts, but if you talk to him or see him perform, it may all makes sense. He is a DC native and son of jazz pianist Hilton C. Felton Jr., and heavily influenced by his surroundings. Growing up in Washington, DC W.Ellington was introduced to the Fine Arts early on. Equipped at The School Without Walls with a backpack of notebooks filled with poems and rhymes, he hit the pavement running quickly making a name for himself on BET’s “Teen Summit”. He went on to study theatre at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. After returning from college he went on to teach and act for Arena Stage’s “Living Stage Theatre Company” while pursuing his music career. In 2000 he formed the Hip Hop Soul Group the “The Crossrhodes” with R&B Crooner Raheem Devaughn. He has collaborated and shared the stage with artist like Chris Rock, Meshell N’Degeocelo, Dionne Farris, Eric Roberson, Common, Dave Chapelle and many more. Still a DC Resident and Single Father he has taught Oratory and Acting part-time for Ford’s Theatre’s Education Department . With a featured role in the film “Love Dot Com” on Netflix and a role in the upcoming film “The Empty Walls” these are just reminders that passion, training and hard work pays off.
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EZ Street knew early in his college career that he was destined to be a D.J. As an undergraduate student at Kansas State University, EZ served as program director and a radio personality of the on-campus radio station KSDB. During this time, EZ was instrumental in developing the station’s distinctive Urban Contemporary format. Just eight months after graduating from KSU with a degree in Radio and Television Broadcast, EZ was offered his first full time radio gig at 100.3 JAMZ in Dallas, Texas. Armed with his fresh style, concern for the community, and eccentric personality, there is no doubt that EZ put the “easy” in easy listening during his 6pm-10pm-time slot. While in Dallas, EZ broke the Arbitron record for evening listeners. It was his record-breaking achievements and exceptional radio presence that caught the eye of Q-102 in Philadelphia. During his evening time slot, EZ brought Q-102 from fourth to first place in one rating period! EZ later left Q-102 to spread his positive energy to the morning listeners of Chicago’s WJPC. In 1995, EZ made the switch to Radio One family. He began in Baltimore and later moved to WKYS FM. After 10 years of the working the afternoon drive (2-6pm) in Washington DC, EZ accepted and afternoon drive position at KBLX in San Francisco. In only 4 months, EZ took his time slot 6th to the 2nd spot in the Bay area but something was missing. 4 months later, April 3, 2006, EZ returned to his original afternoon drive home at 93.9 Kiss fm.
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Neel Singh
Neel Singh grew up locally and graduated from The Washington Conservatory of Music, where he studied jazz. He went on to attend St. Mary’s College of Maryland where he studied Music and English. He has performed in many bands in the area including Drop Electric, Staycation, Nappy Riddem, Mary-eL Band, Carly Harvey’s Kiss and Ride, Sean Chyun and The DCeivers, and many others. Through playing with Drop Electric, Neel played almost every venue in town, including selling out headlining shows at The 9:30 Club multiple times, and performing at The Black Cat, Howard Theatre, The Kennedy Center, The Fillmore and more. They also played multiple sold-out headlining shows at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, and the final All Good Music Festival. With Drop Electric, he had original music placed in the trailer for the movie “300: Rise Of An Empire”, which premiered at Comic-Con, and scored the documentary “I Want To Be An Astronaut”, which premiered at the International Space Station, in Outer Space!
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DJ Heat
The nation’s capitol has a hometown hero that spins, scratches and blends music while staunchly staying true to her roots. You can’t mute D.C. and you can’t mute DJ Heat. In addition to rocking turntables, DJ Heat is an adept on-air personality with years of expertise. First there were classes at her high school’s radio program, then studying at Morgan State University that spurned into an internship at WPGC 95.5 An intentional, not coincidental experience, the position put her alongside Big Tigger at a station bursting with talent. A chance recommendation from a fellow radio colleague lead to a full-time on-air
position and DJ Heat later accumulated experience at Hot 97, Shade 45 and Baltimore’s 92.3 WERQ where she currently spins as a mix show DJ. She doesn’t just pride herself on a lengthy musically laced career; the disc jockey revels in providing experiences. She often does so onstage while DJing for Grammy winning songstress Mya and while DJing for Grammy nominated songstress Carolyn Malachi, respectively. |
Tamara Wellons
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Stephanie Mathis
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Tamara Wellons is an independent American singer, songwriter and producer of Soul, Jazz and House Music and has executive produced three full length albums (Life Is 2008; Songs for Janie 2012; Pretty 2016). She recently established and owns Maryland-based music company, Her Dreams Productions.
Off stage, Tamara moves with rhythmical precision to the beat of her drum. The record shows that at the heart of Tamara is her love of music, culture and community. She is an artist advocate and avid supporter of music, arts and education programs. Tamara’s most important work is being a resident artist with the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, regularly supporting the healing process through integrative health delivery of music services to patients, hospital staff and family. Tamara’s leadership and commitment to community is a complete match to her accomplishments in music. Elise Perry
Elise Perry is a Veteran Music Producer/Arranger, Film/Video Director and Content Creator for broadcast, web, corporate, government, Film, TV, Ad Agency and artistic & musical performance. From government programs to nationally broadcasted network news, Presidential Inaugurations and great performances, Ms. Perry has worked on a long list of these productions seen locally and worldwide.
Ms. Perry is a Music Producer/Arranger (Tamara Wellons “Runaway” Kindred The Family Soul “Far Away”, "Rhythm Of Life", "My Time" ) Film Score Producer/Music Supervisor (Harold Jackson’s “Last Night”, Sonya Grier’s “Citizen Consumer", "DogParks & CoffeeShops", BET’s “Hits From The Street”, “Uncut”, Maxie Collier's "Mind Games”). Vocal Producer/Arranger ("Tamara Wellons "Behind The Veil", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", ). Live Performance Director/Technical Director, Camera Operator, broadcast specialist for (NBC, BET, National Geographic, PBS, TEDxWDC), Video/Film Director (Tracy Hamlin “Talk To Me”, Kindred The Family Soul, “Going To The Go-Go”, “Behind (Zo's) ManMade", LilSoSo's "AudioTrip" ), Co-Producer/Director (“Kindred Presents”) Documentary Editor (“Citizen Consumer", "DogParks & CoffeeShops") Ms. Perry is the current President of the Washington DC Chapter of the Recording Academy. She is producing music for various artists and projects, developing bold distribution platforms and programming structures for Innovative programming for video and music. |
Stephanie Mathis, Esq., is an attorney and owner of DMV-based law firm, SKTLegal, a law practice focusing on entertainment law, copyright and trademark Law, nonprofit law, and business law. SKTLegal was established in 2015 from Stephanie’s desire to provide affordable, accessible, competent, and comprehensive legal services to entertainers and entrepreneurs. Notably, Stephanie has a passion for equipping independent artists with foundational legal literacy as it relates to intellectual property rights in the global music economy. Stephanie is also an independent singer, songwriter, pianist, attorney, and producer performing as SAINT T. Her 2013 EP, The Hour, was nominated for Best Urban EP for the 2015 Independent Music Awards. Her single “IDK” won the 2019 WAMMIE Award for Best Soul Song. In 2020, she released a follow up single, “Don’t,” and a new project is slated for release later this year.
Erin Frisby
Erin Frisby’s musical history lies at the center of a complex Venn diagram with interlocking circles that include a childhood immersed in mountain music and southern gospel, formal operatic vocal training that led to a degree, awards, and a performance at Carnegie Hall, Washington D.C.’s DIY punk and indie scene, and months upon months of road time playing music coast to coast and living first in a Honda Element and then a Sprinter van with Americana duo, Miss Shevaughn & Yuma Wray and Maximalist rock outfit FuzzQueen.
Erin’s music and voice have been described favorably along a dynamic spectrum as “surreally wonderful, savage and raw, yet deeply feminine, suggesting a universal element” by Huffington Post and as “winsome” and evocative of Emmylou Harris by Popmatters “A throwback to great folk singers of the '60s and '70s like Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell” by Gaper’s Block. Along with the other members of The OSYX, Erin created nonprofit organization, This Could Go Boom!, which offers record label services, professional development and opportunities, artistic platforms, and educational workshops centering people whose genders are underrepresented in different facets of the music industry. Erin completed Artist Activism training focused on working in community from The Sanctuaries D.C., she serves on the board of Girls Rock! |
Reesa Renee
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Rick Corrales
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Reesa Renee is a singer/lyricist & vibe curator based out of the DC Metropolitan Area. Her style is best described as a mesh of Neo-soul & Funk with the classic undertones of the heavy percussive feels of the DC GoGo scene.
After launching her solo career in 2011 and winning the prestigious “Amateur Night at The Apollo” with her song, "Got Me Loose," Reesa went on to release her debut LP, Reelease, a year later, which charted in the Top 20 for R&B/ Soul on iTunes and landed her first roadshow, "The Wonderland Cool Tour.” Her seven-track sophomore project, Lovers Rock, then took the summer of 2015 to sunny, sultry heights, nabbing head nods aplenty while whetting appetites hungry for more of Reesa's undeniably fresh song stylings. Her one-of-a-kind performances – including an attendance record-setting set at SXSW with Erykah Badu and D.C.’s iconic Rare Essence, among other innovators --have led to headlining gigs at the Fillmore, The House of Blues, Howard Theater, The Gladstone in Toronto, to name but a few venues where she’s left an indelible impression. Her 2nd single release off her upcoming project ‘Time Flies’, expected release Summer 2021, called ‘Wear A Dress’ was nominated Best Funk Song by the Washington Area Music Awards. Reesa’s music, as infectious as it is, conveys only a sliver of her talent and magic. Hers is the beautiful face of black music’s limitless future. ADST
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Rick started managing in 1999 with Artists signed to Interscope, Ruff Riders, Roc-a-Fella, Epic and Sony. Today, he owns Toro Artists Music & Publishing. Some of his current brand partnerships include, Electronic Arts, CVS, ESPN and Fashion Nova. These are all fundamental elements in the marketing of our music success.
Rick currently manages the Rebel 11 artist music catalog and owns an interest in two venues in Maryland. Prior to Covid, his concert and events company had produced over 300 events and festivals. Including contracts for over 4 years (2016-2020) with Univision, Nissan, DC Mayor's Office, US Chamber of Commerce, DC Chambers and MD Chambers. He currently sits on the board of the Hispanic Chamber for Maryland and Georgia and is a Grammy Committee Member and Curator. Malachi Robinson
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Andre St. Clair, also known as ADST Music and ADST Media, is an award-winning music producer, artist and artist media management professional. Driven by teaching from his own experiences in the industry, Andre puts care in providing the best PR with transparency for the artists on the ADST Media roster. As a resident of the greater metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., Andre takes great pride in showcasing the talents of the artists based in the region he calls home. After earning his degree from Bowie State University, Andre used his free time to explore his passion for creating soundscapes that paid homage to the soulful sounds of music’s past while highlighting the talents of local contemporary artists. Intrigued with music from a very young age, he taught himself how to create beats, play the keyboard and DJ.
Andre has been recognized and awarded by the Wammies for excellence in music production for Night Train 357's 'The Nightlife'. Earlier this year he released the follow up to his well-received debut ‘Good Lawd 2’ featuring 3 of D.C.s own lyrical juggernauts Killa Cal, Priest da Nomad and Tim Hicks of the Dirty Church. Having written and directed the video treatment as well as produced the song that garnered well over 13k views and international streams, Andre continues to create opportunities that shine the light on artists in the DMV area in the hopes of contributing to furthering the local music scene. In addition to his musical endeavors, Andre also owns and operates ADST Apparel, a high-quality urban fashion brand offering t-shirts and sweatshirts that put the focus on the wearer. |
Malachi E. Robinson is a Prince George's County native who is a graduate of Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, MD. He studied Entertainment Management with a concentration in Music Management at Coppin State University. After graduating, Malachi landed a position at a non-profit dance school in Washington, DC as the Communications and Development manager. In his free time, Malachi began to pursue his passion for filmmaking and artist development. His creative efforts landed a "Best Music Video" Award for his work on the single, Amazing by inspirational artist, Cvrter. Malachi has worked with numerous musical and entertainment clients including Traci Braxton, Joe Clair, Mýa, and Ryan Coogler. Now, Malachi is the Director of Creative Suitland Arts Center in Suitland, MD. In this role, Malachi works with local artists, community partners and businesses to integrate the arts in the re-development of the greater Suitland community. Malachi is also a yoga & meditation instructor and certified therapeutic art life coach.
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MaSheva King
MaSheva King is the Owner and CEO of Zimari (Zee-mar-ree) Entertainment Group a multi-servicing entertainment company. MaSheva has worked in the entertainment field for 15+ years as an Artist Manager. Booking agent and Tour Manager. Her career has afforded her teammates (artists) the opportunity to travel the world sharing the gift of music MaSheva currently works with Grammy Nominated Artist and Music Engineer Carolyn Malachi, and Singer/Songwriter and Producer Tamara Jade.
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Debórah Bond
Debórah grew up absorbing the golden age sounds of the 70s and 80s soul music that bellowed through her childhood home in New Haven, CT. Artistically, she stands at the intersection of Anita Baker, Sade and Chaka Khan, though she also credits Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder (among many others) for inspiring her to pursue a career as a recording artist.
Upon her arrival in D.C. to pursue a degree in journalism at American University, Debórah quickly fell in lockstep with the top musicians of the local scene. Eventually, she formed a life-changing partnership with the production team Third Logic, comprised of bandmates and songwriting partners Robbie McDonald, Aaron “Funky Chuck” Evans and Kinard Cherry. This partnership yielded two studio albums: DayAfter (2003) and the critically acclaimed follow-up Madam Palindrome (2011). Playing for eager and excited audiences, she headlined packed houses around the US and EU including: Warner Theater, 9:30 Club, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Blues Alley, Blue Note NYC, Cobb Performing Arts Center in Atlanta, and Jazz Café in London. In 2015, she headlined a four-week international residency for Jazz At Lincoln Center in Doha. In addition to her career as a performing artist, she’s a pillar of the D.C. music community, having served six (6) terms as D.C. GRAMMY Chapter Governor. As an educator, she’s been a mentor and voice coach to many aspiring vocalists, and since 2018 has served on the faculty of the Richardson School of Music. She also offers private teaching and coaching sessions. A highly in-demand studio and supporting vocalist, she’s spent the last 6 years touring and recording with legendary UK soul/r&b band Incognito. Debórah has also performed/ recorded with: The Foreign Exchange, Zo!, Ledisi, Melba Moore, Frank McComb and the late acid jazz legend Ronnie Jordan, among a host of others. |