DC and Maryland based band, Urban Cartel, recently released their latest studio album, “Cassette Music”. The album contains a feature from Phella and also boasts production from great friend of Da Fam’s, J.Rob. The 12 track EP is available for download or purchase here.

Congratulations to Joshua ‘Zoe’ Johnson on his recent signing in Belfast. Josh flew overseas on Wednesday November 23rd to resume his pro basketball career and played his first game on Saturday November 26th. In that game he scored 34 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, leading his team to their first victory of the season. Look for Josh to continue playing hard through the winter and we await his return to the states in March.

I did a small photo shoot the other night wearing my friend Chris’ clothes. Chris Powell is a friend from high school and the founder of Unique Legacy. Chris always had hustle back in the day, always selling clothes or something. I was a bit more reserved but I always observed what he did and respected it. Plus we played basketball and stuff together often so that’s where the friendship came from.

After leaving school Chris and I lost contact because he headed overseas to serve in the armed forces and I was here at home performing my less risky services. At some point one year we crossed paths at Prince Georges Plaza mall and Chris had some of his face peeled off and that’s when he explained to me that he had been fighting in the war. My respect for him shot through the roof and we exhchanged numbers and vowed to keep in touch.

After the mall meeting, Chris began to keep up with what I was doing and for some reason looks to me as a source of inspiration as he now has started his Unique Legacy brand which houses several businesses including the clothing, community work and a Media & Entertainment group. Chris definitely doesn’t lack in ambition and we often meet up when our schedules allow it to trade stories and notes from books we’ve read.

The reason I’m so interested in Unique Legacy is because it’s from home and it’s positive. If you know anything about DC and PG culture, we had a bunch of street clothing lines in the 90′s and early 2000′s from Shooters to Hobo and many more. Problem is most of them used to be too expensive and the clothes were cut just for the streets of DC and PG. Now it looks like Chris is taking that inspiration and designing it for fashion ave. My number one rule for marketing or selling anything is that I have to like it and believe in it. I like and believe in this stuff. Feels good, looks good and comes from a good place. Those are all the ingredients you need to be successful.

So maybe not today or tomorrow but one day if you wanna add to your clothing arsenal and support a fellow DC area hustler who served our country and is now looking to do something positive in the community, I suggest you get your Unique Legacy on.

www.uniquelegacy.com

- Phella via iamphella.com

Filmed on Georgia Avenue in DC by Bryan Sona assisted by Matthew White

Shot by Bryan Sona.

Alexis Renee’s website, www.soalexisrenee.com will serve as a hub for all things related to her. It’s where you can find her merchandise, photos and video, and of course, new music. Visit today and see what’s going on.

For the second installment of our Stupid Love Songs video series, we hit the streets to share Alexis Renee’s latest single with people before it’s officially available. In exchange, they shared with us their thoughts on love and gave us a few of their personal favorite and least favorite love songs. Here’s how it turned out:

Next up, we had people from all over send in their favorite love songs of all time. The ones that resonate the most with them. Once we had a strong list compiled and perfectly sequenced, Alexis Renee dropped in a few personal stories of her own, added her latest single as a bonus and with that, The Stupid Love Songs: Fan Made Mixtape was born.

Download

Now it’s time to party. The official launch party for the Alexis Reneé brand is on October 14th in her hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Alexis is also going to be in the New York area a week before that to film the official “Stupid Love Songs” video.

We ask you to join her and us on Facebook and Twitter for more as we continue to build the Alexis Renee brand higher.

Video teaser #1 for Alexis Renee’s “Stupid Love Songs” single. This video was shot by Bryan Sona (Fresco) in our nation’s capital and it has Alexis delivering part of the first verse of “Stupid Love Songs”. Enjoy and stay tuned for a lot more Alexis Renee and a lot more Stupid Love Songs.

6S was the first artist featured on The Secret Stage, a new production by Travis Sims and Marlin North that has artists hitting the stage before a select audience and sharing the inspiration behind their work. In this first installment, she performs “Half French” and “MC Enough” backed by Kmeeze.

- Alexis Renee

Written by Nisarg Lives

From an outsider’s point of view, ‘Oklahoma’ conjures up images of Boomer Sooners, balls of dust alongside barren dirt roads, and the country serenity of old-school calm. But for Tulsa native (by way of Muskogee) Alexis Renee, Oklahoma is home – full of ups and downs, trials and turmoil’s, joys & successes, and emotions, old and new – as exciting as any vibrant city.

Poised, confident, and surprisingly soft-spoken, Alexis Renee isn’t your average MC. Born and raised in rural bliss by an underage mother and father, Alexis identified as a tomboy for the early part of her upbringing, which also included an obligatory stint as a choir member at the local Church. She began releasing music in high school, first for a kick, then as a hobby, and, finally, to satisfy surprisingly positive feedback. Far from mundane, a fierce independent streak was inherent from the beginning; so, when, at the age of 20, Alexis packed up and moved to Atlanta – forgoing any notion of the ‘norm’ – it came as a shock to no one.

Enrolling in the Art Institute of Atlanta, Alexis recalls the abrupt change of pace, and the rationale behind it: “I went out there with two suitcases and six hundred dollars in my pocket. I wanted – needed – music to work. I’ve always had tunnel vision, and everything I’ve done, I’ve worked really hard at it.” Crediting her mother’s struggle (she was fifteen when she had Alexis) as her motivation, Alexis left school to fully pursue music after just one semester – and hasn’t looked back since.

“I don’t think that school is for everybody, and I’m one of those people that it just isn’t for,” says Alexis. Networking, recording, and hustling, while existing in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment with no furniture and filled with studio equipment and air mattresses, where work is life, and life is work, Alexis lived and breathed sonically. Soon enough, hard work and tough chances finally paid off. After an unexpected audition at BET’s 106 & Park Freestyle Battle led to her being chosen to be on camera, Alexis’ career trajectory was supposedly on the rise.

“I was so pumped,” recalls Alexis. “I knew, I just knew I’d be there for all seven weeks.” But, as Murphy’s Law dictates…

“I did decent, but I lost. How do you explain losing in front of four million people? It’s like, ‘you choked, you dropped the ball’. I felt like I killed my career before it even started.” What Alexis didn’t count on, though, was the support of her fan base back home – which had grown substantially during her time in Atlanta – and their zealous reaction to one of their own finally making it to a national scale. A seemingly downturn flipped into further motivation, and an Alexis Renee resurgence was in full effect.

Pounding the pavement with momentum on her side, Alexis was booked on 106 & Parks’s Spring Break Bash, where she opened up for hosts Terrence J & Rocsi. Other local shows saw her share the stage with the likes of Roscoe Dash, Dorrough, Bow Wow, Soulja Boy, and Three 6 Mafia, as well as rocking in front of a raucous crowd of 5000 at Tulsa’s Expo Square alongside Lloyd.

Citing influences as common as Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Kanye West, to as far-flung as Flight Klub & Smack DVD regulars, Alexis describes her style as ‘contemporary hip-pop’. “I started deep within hip-hop,” she elaborates. “So the lyricism is always there, but it’s also very melodic. I leave my emotions on a track. Before I step away from the booth, I leave all of myself there, and I feel people can appreciate that honesty and emotion.”

Dedicated, focused, and unique, Alexis is brash and honest when discussing the perils of reality, often intertwined with the grandiosity of the stage: “I feel like I’m so close to success, that I can almost reach out and grab it. But it’s tough not being there yet. It’s a struggle, but this is what I want – I don’t miss a trip, a show, a studio session – anything.”

Looking to separate those trying to catch a ride from those who’re ready to roll, Alexis Renee has her sights set on the future; a future paved with success: “I want my music to be remembered as timeless. I want people to play it five, ten, fifteen years from now, and still get the same feeling I had in the studio, creating it. Music, at its purest, is something people can relate to, and people can always relate to timeless music.”

For more information on Alexis Renee, please visit imtooreal.com
Follow Alexis Renee on Twitter at @IamAlexisRenee