Behind The Scenes of the J. Cole "Who Dat" Video Shoot

Check out this behind the scene footage from the J. Cole "Who Dat" Video
courtesy of Hustle Mill.





http://www.hustlemill.com

The Return of Monday Night Mic Fights (When: Every 1st Monday of The Month)

Monday Night Mic Fights is back!  This time it's being held at Jeff's Bucket Shop located 1601 Montford Dr., Charlotte, NC on every first Monday of the Month.  No dress code and no cover charge!  Come on out and watch performances from some of the most talented recording artists in the "Queen City" and surrounding cities. 

TheCarolinaInquirer@yahoo.com

J. Cole's New Single "Who Dat"

Listen to the new single from Germany born, Fayetteville, NC raised Roc Nation Recording artist J. Cole titled "Who Dat"!  You can stream the song by clicking on the embedded YouTube video link.

Take a look at J. Cole's official website here at

http://www.jcolemusic.com

Interview with J.O.T.

J.O.T. AKA Grande Gato gives us a one on one exclusive interview for The Carolina Inquirer.  In this interview J.O.T. talks about his past accomplishments in the music industry, the books he's published, the artists he's worked with and what he plans to do in the future! 

The Carolina Inquirer:  You go by many different aliases, Grande Gato, J.O.T., Supaflyy Preest, why the different names and which one do you prefer to use the most?

J.O.T.:  J.O.T. and GRANDE GATO are the two names I use the most.  J.O.T. is the name I originally started out with even before I used to rap when I was a DJ spinning at different events in both HIGH SCHOOL(parties at the SAWTOOTH building, the NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY, etc) and COLLEGE(NC STATE ATHLETE & SORITY PARTIES, NIGHTCLUBS, etc).  I started using the name GRANDE GATO when I started getting more serious about rapping in SPANISH, especially when I was performing at LATINO shows in both MIAMI FLORIDA and NORTH CAROLINA (UMOJA FESTIVAL in downtown MIAMI  by the old arena, the HISPANIC FESTIVAL's "FIESTA" in downtown WINSTON-SALEM, NC STATE'S "EL SALSABOR" event in RALEIGH, etc.  The name SUPAFLYY PREEST is just the pen name I used when I wrote the three books that were published (almost every book author has a pen name).

How would you sum up your style as an artist?

My style is very diverse....by that I mean I do a lot of different things and I feel this is due to the fact that I have been exposed to a lot of things from being a DJ (I got exposed to a lot of different types of music styles because I played everything from rap, hip hop, reggae, go go, R & B, spanish rap, reggaeton, house, etc). 

What types of beats bring out the best in you? 

Any beat brings out the best in me because I love to challenge myself.

 

Speaking of beats, what producers have you worked with so far? 

As far as NORTH CAROLINA producers I have worked with EDDIE KANE (FORTUNE 500), N.B. (ACE MOB ENT.), LESLEY BLAIR (PHATT TRAXX), and MYSELF.  I have also worked with a young upcoming producer from VIRGINIA name DJ LETTERS on the 2009 CD album PARA GANAR I put out.  My recent 2010 12 inch vinyl NORTH CAROLINA STREET HEAT project has some beats/tracks from FLORIDA producer J MUSIK(TRAK WORK ENT.) on it.

 

What artists have you worked with so far?

Rapper JONNOTTY aka RELL NYCE from NORTH CAROLINA, reggae artist FIRE MARSHALL aka CLOVIS DOUGLASS from the island of ST. KITTS, rapper DON CABAN aka SMARTY FRESH
from NORTH CAROLINA, R & B female artist Y.O. aka YOLANDA RODGERS from NORTH CAROLINA, Christian rapper CHANCE aka WAYNE WHITE from NEW YORK, rapper HOLLYWOOD aka HAROLD MITCHELL from NORTH CAROLINA, rapper CAPPASTRO aka BRIAN SHEAR from NORTH CAROLINA, Christian rapper PARABLE aka QUINTIN HILL from NORTH CAROLINA, Christian R & B female artist MS. CRYSTAL aka CRYSTAL DUPONT, and country female artist MONYA DENNIS.

 

 

Who would you like to work with in the future?

Any music artist known or unknown that's serious about their music!!!!  

 

 

You are a man of many different talents, you are also an author, could you tell us a little about the books you have published? 

The first book I wrote, titled "ABOUT J.O.T.", gave people deeper insight about my music and what I was trying to say with each CD album (for the record I have put out seven CD albums, four CD singles, and five 12" vinyl projects).  It also touches about me overcoming CANCER during the process of me coming out with my fourth CD single.  The second book I wrote, titled "BREAKING STEREOTYPES", talked about my career so far from beginning to the present (my brief beginning as a breakdancer, DJ, music producer, rapper, and now record label owner).  The third book, titled "I COULD HAVE GOTTEN REVENGE BUT I DIDN'T", talks about how I chose not to lose focus on my music goal even though I had daily obstacles like the police trying to trump up bogus gun charges against me for no reason, a failed marriage, and other life problems trying to tear me down along the way.

 

 

You were recently featured in the documentary titled "Authoring Action" by director Nathan Ross Freeman, could you tell us a little about that? 

I met NATHAN at an event that MYA ANGELOU's niece hosted.  We talked, and I sent him some of my original music tracks I made.  At a later date we met over an informal business dinner with other people he worked with and he introduced me to them as a music producer that he would be working with on his film projects.  He really liked my tracks and the rest is history.

 

Getting back to the music you also run a label, could you tell us about the acts you have signed to your label? 

MS. CRYSTAL aka CRYSTAL DUPONT, MYSELF, JONNOTTY aka RELL NYCE from NORTH CAROLINA, reggae artist FIRE MARSHALL aka CLOVIS DOUGLASS from the island of ST. KITTS.  Since I was the main artist with the most exposure at the time (music video "PRESS ON" featured on BET, all major Piedmont Triad television stations interviewing me, getting interviews on radio stations of different genres in the piedmont triad such as rap station 102 JAMZ with DJ SOUNDMACHINE, R & B station 97.1FM with BUSTA BROWN, and gospel station 1540 AM THE LIGHT with ANITA DEAN & STU EPPERSON) I concentrated on my career the most by promoting myself through CD ALBUMS, 12" VINYL, MUSIC VIDEO, BOOKS, and CLOTHING.  The other music artists signed to J.O.T. records were promoted mainly through live shows I booked for them in both MIAMI FLORIDA & NORTH CAROLINA, and also through the 12" vinyl NORTH CAROLINA STREET HEAT various artists projects I put out and distributed to both famous celebrity DJs and local DJs.

 

 

What's in the future for J.O.T. Records? 

Expanding the music globally so that artists on J.O.T. RECORDS can grow both finacially and creatively.

 

 

Speaking of the future where do you see yourself in 5 years? 

In FORBES magazine, on OPRAH.....all over both ENGLISH & SPANISH radio and television stations.

 

Where do you see the music industry in 5 years?

I see it becoming more diverse with music styles and also music artists thinking outside the box.  I have already seen it happening with multi-platinum secular artists like JAY-Z being successful with owning a record label, gospel artists like KIRK FRANKLIN & MARY MARY getting rotation on both gospel stations and secular Rap/R & B stations and still going multi-platinum, LATINO artists like PIT BULL and CYPRESS HILL are incorporating their SPANISH lyrics to mainstream rap and are recording more songs with AFRICAN AMERICAN artists as well.

 

 

You also have a clothing line, could you tell us a little more about that as well? 

It is still in the beginning stages, meaning that we haven't massed produced any clothing items yet.  We have to still secure a major clothing manufacturer for that.  It has been strictly used as promotion for my production company SOUL-FULL PRODUCTIONS and my record label J.O.T. RECORDS, but just to let everyone know the mens gear is called SOUL-FULL WEAR and the women's is called LADY SOUL.  We also have a urban part of the SOUL-FULL WEAR & LADY SOUL clothing line called NORTH CAROLINA STREET HEAT.  Like I mentioned before we are not selling any clothing yet just promoting the company.

 

 

Is there anything else you would like to plug, any shout outs? 

SHOUT OUT TO MY CITY WINSTON-SALEM, NC....SHOUT OUT TO NORTH CAROLINA....SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE I HAVE EVER WORKED WITH MUSICALLY....SHOUT OUT TO ALL OF THE PEOPLE BOTH IN THE INDUSTRY AND NOT IN THE INDUSTRY WHO HAVE SUPPORTED ME....SHOUT OUT TO GOD FOR GIVING ME THE STRENGTH TO GRIND LIKE I DO!!!!  THANKS to C. from THE CAROLINA INQUIRER for interviewing ME!!!!  Check out both NORTH CAROLINA STREET HEAT & SOUL-FULL on FACEBOOK!!!!  ALSO CHECK OUT WEBSITES:WWW.NORTHCAROLINASTREETHEAT.COM AND WWW.SOULFULLPRODUCTIONS.COM

Just A Preview of Sunday Night Sessions

If you have yet to attend Sunday Night Sessions, the weekly Sunday Night event held at Jack Sprat (161 E. Franklin St.) in Chapel Hill, NC then here is just a glimpse of what you  have been missing!  Check out the YouTube video bellow provided by Hustle Mill (http://www.hustlemill.com)



The weekly event is hosted by Kaze and Bishop Omega.  The video clip features performances by Phonetic, IC, Kutta Mane and Chillz!  For more information e-mail SOTC94@Gmail.com
 

The Line Up (When: June 19th)

On Saturday June 19th, come out and witness some of the best performances by some of the biggest and most talented recording acts in the "Queen City" (Charlotte, NC) AKA G.O.D. City at Club Prevue in Charlotte's infamous NoDa area brought to you by God City, Black Flag, and Blo Out Records!

The Line-Up will include performances by Jimmy Bass, Big Jillz, Ike Turnah, Denero, Big Treal (Joe Grizzly), A. Moss, and Rhythum & Bluz!!!

The event starts at 10:00 PM, $5 for men, ladies free all night.  The event will be hosted by Bluz with Selector E. DJing the event!

The Prevue is located 2909 N. Davidson St., Charlotte, NC.

Sunday Night Sessions (When: Every Sunday)

Sunday Night Sessions is a music industry networking event held every Sunday night at Jack Sprat (161 E. Franklin St.) in Chapel Hill, NC.  For more information on this event e-mail SOTC94@gmail.com

Spring Fling 2010 (When: April 24th)

DTP Recording Artists T.K.-N-Ca$h will perform during Spring Fling 2010 at American Legion located 101 E. Oak Grove in Mount Holly, NC 28128.

The event is being organized by the Ketchmore Kids Foundation a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting our youth by providing positive activities and self empowerment workshops to guide them in right direction.

For more information on Ketchmore Kids you may go to http://www.ketchmorekids.org

Billy B. Speaks Out!

Keyboardist and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina resident Billy B. would like to share some words with some of the readers here.

About His Music: "I'm 71 years old and this is my hobby! I play keyboard and I love music."

About The Myrtle Beach Music Scene:  "I love local bands, they work hard for low pay and get very little credit!"

 

About Publishing:  "I despise ASCAP and BMI, they are nothing more they a bunch of free load lawyers that rip of the entire music industry! They should not stop local small bars, niteclubs and restaurents from having 'LOCAL BANDS' from playing music! That is where all young artist get their start. Any of those places should not have to pay fees to ASCAP or BMI! These 'Local bands' can't even afford health care, leave then alone! I guess the rich boys won't it all and that's a shame! More bars taverns, and niteclubs would have live music here in Myrtle Beach, SC if we could get rid of ASCAP and BMI! That would be a big benfit for musicians across America!"

Be sure to check out Billy B's website dedicated to Myrtle Beach's rich arts and entertainment scene here at http://www.williambaylor.com 

RenoFest: Bluegrass Festival (When: March 26th, 27th and 28th 2010)

It's the 4th weekend of March, so you know what that means??  It's time to get ready for RenoFest!  This weekend March 26th - the 28th.

Come on out and watch your favorite Bluegrass Band, guitarist and banjo player compete in the largest Bluegrass competition of the season, held in Downtown Hartsville, SC.  It'll be fun for the entire family!  If you haven't already you should order your tickets here at
http://www.renofest.com/tickets.html

Need directions?
Click here http://www.renofest.com/directions.html

Here is the official site for RenoFest  http://www.renofest.com

Come out and enjoy some good food, great music and awesome people!

Mingleberry

Take a look at one of the largest nightlife and entertainment guides for North Carolina on the web right now.  http://www.mingleberry.com  

The Mingleberry site provides party-goers with a large database of events and parties held in North Carolina's major cities.  The list of events are thoroughly detailed, giving the users very specific information from the event title, address to the location where the event will be held, dates and times, right down to the phone number and/or e-mail address to the party's organizers.

The site also provides a large list of photos taken at the various social gatherings listed, to help viewers decide what places to go, and to let others know what excitement they have been missing.

For more information on the Mingleberry site and services e-mail them at info@MingleBerry.com

and visit the website at http://www.mingleberry.com

Welcome To The Carolinas

What is the Carolina Inquirer?   The Carolina Inquirer is an online newsletter dedicated to the arts, and entertainment scene in North and South Carolina.  This blog features news articles and interviews with bands, artists, comedians, actors, filmmakers and various performers and entertainers based in the Carolinas.  The Carolina Inquirer also lists events, parties and social gatherings held in this region.  Our mission is to open the eyes of the Carolina citizens to the rich arts, and entertainment arena growing and building in their own backyard, and to help the states blossom into becoming a popular tourist attraction for outsiders.  If you would like more information on The Carolina Inquirer please feel free to e-mail us at thecarolinainquirer@yahoo.com