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Todd
Mangatal
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Greetings to my on Line Family:
Last weekend was very interesting,
because Saturday night I attended the CD Release party in
Washington DC for Patrick
Glory who is an up and coming Reggae artist that is being
produced by Kenley John of Shortmus
Productions. I had the opportunity to listen to his CD
before the event and I was very impressed with his vocal styling
and hearing his live performance didn't disappoint me. I
think Patrick Glory has the potential to do some "big"
things in the future. The launch had a nice turnout even
though it was a very cold night. Tony Carr (www.dccaribbeanconnection.com)
came through from "Rhythms of the World" 89.3FM WPFW ,
and said some nice things about Patrick Glory and what Shortmus
is trying to do with the music in the DC area. Look out
for Patrick Glory's video clip on Arious TV.
The one problem I had with this
event was the Disc Jockeys (DJs). There was a very nice
crowd as I stated earlier who came out to have a good time,
but these DJs seemed like they were
more interested in hearing themselves talk on the microphone and
seeing how obnoxious they could act. It seemed as though
they had no interest in entertaining the people, which is the
priority of a DJ. One thing they failed to realize was the
event was all about Patrick Glory and Shortmus not themselves.
On Sunday we had a great day
chilling with our friends from Ice Entertainment (Brian &
Germaine) in Baltimore. They had a nice breakfast/brunch
"trini style" where they featured 2 of Trinidad's
popular breakfast dishes - Shark and bake and Salt Fish and fry
bake. A few of there friends attended as well, and it was
a pleasure meeting them. We enjoyed meeting Kenny who owns
has own clothing line called "Compete Clothing" www.myspace.com/competeclothing,
he was wearing some of his designs as well as his friend Nyha
(Nyha is an up and coming Caribbean Musical Artist) http://www.myspace.com/nyah_rastafari.
This "lime" was real nice,
it's not every day we have the opportunity to sit back and relax
for an entire day with no commitments and have lots of
intelligent conversations over good food, Heinekens and Guinness.
We even laughed a lot as well!!!! Thanks Brian and Germaine for
the invite, I am glad we were able to make it this time.
Great news...we can all hang out
together this Sunday with Ice Entertainment in Baltimore at the
Blue Caribbean Lounge as they do one of their first events in
the Baltimore area. Come Reminisce at this "Back In
times party", which should be something very nice for all
of us grown folks. Actually, I understand food is included
with the price (up to a certain time, so check the flyer
below). I suggest you come early because if the food is
anything like the food we had on Sunday, it's definitely going
to go quick. The DJs are Sprang International from DC http://www.myspace.com/djsprang,
and many of you know Sprang has been playing music for a while
here in the DC area and elsewhere, and he has lots of hits from
the past to the present, so I think he will be able to create a
nice vibe at this event. Also on the "bill" is,
DJ Easy E from Baltimore. I have not had an opportunity to
hear him play, but I've heard a lot of great things about him,
so this will be a treat for me. To our old friends and new
friends come on out and spend Sunday evening with us and support
Ice Entertainment as they host their 1st fundraiser for their
2007 Carnival Presentation.
One thing we talked a lot about on
Sunday was music, and one think that stood out in my mind was a
conversation we had about DJs and how a lot of Caribbean Promoters
and people feel when they hire a DJ for their club or event they
expect the DJ to automatically bring out a crowd. This is
a major misconception, because that is not the DJ's job.
It's absolutely not the DJs job to promote your event!!!!!
Yes, there are DJs that have a following, but you cannot expect
the DJ to be the promoter as well. The job of the DJ is to
play music that entertains and keeps the crowd moving.
It's also the DJ's job to read and feel his audience, which is
something that I didn't see happening on Saturday at Shortmus's
event. If a DJ can do this, then the DJ has done his
part. It is the promoters job to bring people to the event
for the DJ to entertain.
I can speak on this issue with certainty, because some years ago
I managed the largest mainstream DJ company in the Washington metropolitan
area located in Virginia, and I managed over 50 DJs and placed
them in area bars, clubs and events weekly. None of our
clients asked for a DJ that could bring a crowd, or that had a
name. They were only interested in the DJ's ability to
play the type of music they requested and to entertain their clientele
and keep them drinking. These clients paid anywhere from
$300.00 to $1,000.00 for a 4 hour gig, and never had any major
complaints. There only requirement was that the DJ be
entertaining.
However, in the Caribbean community
people want to pay no money and expect the DJ to bring thousands
of people. If you want a DJ with a following, you would
have to pay. I remember when Stone Love played you would
be guarantee a full crowd. Stone Love are more than DJs,
they are like artists. I remember in their "heyday"
they used to charge more than $5,000.00 for an appearance (which
I'm sure they charge more now), and they would walk into the
venue with a crate of records and no equipment, and sure enough
they would have a crowd. Lately promoters hire a DJ and
pay them very little and expect a Stone Love crowd...that is not
logical!!! Another thing that comes to mind is you can pay
for Stone Love but if you don't pay for advertising you will
definitely have a flop.
This leads me to another issue I
have observed with promoters
in our community. Many of them fail to have an adequate
advertising budged for the event they are promoting or
producing, they expect things to be done for free, and they
wonder why their events fail. It
seems they want something for nothing. They don't spend
money on advertising, and they expect crowds to just show
up,
For example, I meet a lot of people
who know what we do, and know what we have been doing for the
last 4 years. They also know our weekly e-mails reach over
35,000 people weekly and consistently, but when they see me at
events they hand me a flyer and tell me to put their event on my
weekly e-mail, and never once ask about cost or any type of
compensation. Well, if you want a successful event you
have to pay for promotions, what we do takes a lot of time
and effort and we should be compensated for our
efforts.
To the Caribbean promoters - for
your information...you have got to realize there aren't many
avenues to promote your event, so please try to utilize and
support the advertising means that is available to you before
they disappear. Stop trying to misuse people including the
DJs...let the DJs concentrate on playing the best music they can
and let the promoters promote!!!!
A word of advise from Arious
Entertainment to promoters Please realize we at Arious work
long, hard and diligently to achieve a means to reach a large
targeted audience, and if you have the misconception that we are
doing this for fun, you are wrong. This is a business, we
charge fees just like you charge fees, so don't expect us to do
things for free. If you want to do business, contact us
during business hours, (not at clubs or funerals or by sending
an e-mail and demanding that we post your event). We will be
glad to work with you to help you expose your event and make it
a success. The only exception to this would be events that
are free or for a charity, but then again something would have
to be worked out that would be beneficial to both parties!!!
Thanks to all of you who checked out
my new My Space Page and have became my friend. This have
been very exciting for me, and it's nice to have the opportunity
to see many of you and learn about what you are interested
in. This will help us better serve you in the future. www.myspace.com/ariousentertainment.
Don't forget another opportunity for
us to hang out together is on Tuesday, November 14th at the
Capital Star Talent Competition, which is now taking place in
Woodbridge Virginia. For those of you who are in this
area, come out and support One Heart Charities and all the great
talent that has been a part of this show. For the past few
weeks I am just amazed at the variety of talent practically
hidden away in this area. The admission is only $5.00 and
the show starts at about 8:30pm. The doors open around
6:00 pm, and the venue is Oasis on the Occoquan, 13188 Marina
Drive, Woodbridge Virginia.
Gather up your friends come out
this Tuesday, have some dinner and drinks and enjoy the talent,
as well as the sounds of SAM'O and the JFC Band. Also, if
you are talented in some form or another, feel free to contact
Toni Samuel @
703-405-7061 or oneheartcharity@aol.com for a chance to enter and be the next 1st Capital
Star. First prize is $1,500.00 along with 10 hours worth
of Studio time and lots of exposure. Hope to see you
there. I'll be the one capturing you via video, and be
sure to check out highlights of the past performances on Arious
TV, which includes the video
clip of Week # 3.
Thanks for the Support and being a
part of our on-line family!!!!
My
thoughts on the Mid Term Elections, and Highlights
of One Heart Charities Capital Star Search Talent
Competition
by Susan Mangatal
I hope all of you voted. As
for me I really didn't pay much attention to the midterm
elections because I feel right now no matter what party wins,
things will remain the same. Yes, to many the Democratic party
seizing control of the House and Senate is a major victory, as well as the
resignation of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, but I am so
disoriented with the state of this country that I feel nothing
will help make things better, not even those elections. I pray
though, now that the Democrats have taken over the House and
Senate they do
something about withdrawing the troops and bringing our family members home from Iraq
(especially now that the holidays are around the corner), and
also help do something about these gas prices. Well,
all I/we can do is hope for the best!!! I've been
disappointed so long that I can't seem to find the joy in all
these changes, at least not yet, and probably not for the next 2
years!!!!
You know as I think about our
current administration and what the American people have
witnessed and endured with the leadership over the years, I can't help but
compare it to my "small world". I realized the
leaders and the leadership of this current administration is
similar to the leaders and leadership of the *Organization I resigned from earlier this
year (DCCC).
Hum...coming to think of it, they are truly exactly the same,
and both run their Organization the same way!!!! America's
current Administration has led the country into war through
lies, deceit, mismanagement and corruption. Which is
primarily the exact same way the current leaders of the
Organization I was involved with have been running and misleading for all these years...also
through lies, deceit, mismanagement and corruption. This cultural
event we all love has suffered greatly, just as the country has
suffered greatly.
However, THANK GOD finally the
people must have gotten tired of the dishonesty, lies, mismanagement and
corruption and felt things could not continue going down this
catastrophic part. Therefore, they spoke up through the
voting process and have voted against the Republican Party that
had controlled the House and Senate for the last 12 years). This is clearly the only way change can be made,
this is exactly what must happen with the Organization I was
involved with, they must be faced with powerful pressure in
order for them to reassess, change and fix the catastrophic part
they are currently on.. So
instead of planning, plotting and trying to figure out how to
work with these deceitful people, a plan should be formulated to
remove them from continually tarnishing and destroying the
cultural event we all love with their awful ways, greediness and
mismanagement. As much as I hate to dwell on this topic, I
need for you to know that the survival of our cultural event is
in your hands!!!! Please do the right thing!!!!
 Highlights of
Capital Star Competition
It was a pleasure to be a part of this week's Capital
Star Talent Search, and despite all the
rain on Tuesday it was nice to see fans of this competition and
the contestants made it out. The Virginia venue is very
nice and a whole lot more comfortable. I found that
everyone was extremely relaxed and happy to be at this venue,
and to be a part of this
event.
Of course the
talent was wonderful, and this week I had the pleasure of
working with 2 new judges Mr. Robert Bates (Well known area
drummer who has been performing for a number of years, and
currently a part of Woodson Brothers Gospel Band out of
Nashville, Tennessee) and Ms. Rosie Parke of Peppy Entertainment
and Promotions (Producer of Caribbean Riddimz).
Hollis Flash
Lashley - the host did a fantastic job and kept the crowd
entertained throughout the entire competition. What a good
choice Ms. Samuel made in acquiring him as the host.
This week Mr. Joe Chapter
- 1st Place winner from last week (Week # 3) pretty much blew me away again
with his performance of one of his original songs. This young man
just has a way of sweeping the ladies off their feet. He
was really great!!!
Well, the 1st place winner of this week's competition,
practically had all the ladies in the palm of his hands with his
hip hop song "Brother Like Me". He certainly
worked the crowd and had everyone "rocking to his rap" His stage performance was excellent.
Along with myself, Ms. Parke
and Mr. Bates had no problem
choosing this young man as the 1st place winner.
Check
out the winners bio below
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1st
place Winner - Ryan Charity, "Skryptur" Performed
his own original rap "A Brother Like Me" "Skryptur"
is a rapper on the rise., and he is an artist who always
had rap/hip-hot in his blood. A born DC resident
who grew up near by in the Del Ra area of Alexandria,
VA, "Skryptur" started rapping at an early age
developing his skills and perfecting his
technique. With a born creativity in the music
"Scryptur" knows what it will take to become
one of the next recognized rapper's in hip hop, and he
is ready to introduce his talent, energy and flow to the
industry. "Skryptur has performed in local
shows. A true performer bringing a smoother flow
to today's rap game. "Skryptur" is
ready to launch his rap career and life experiences into
his music. Look out for "Skryptur's debut
album featuring hit singles "All I Want"
"Rules of Life, "Hold Your Head High" and
"No Love".
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2nd
Place Winner - Benjamin Jackson Caesar Mr.
Caesar a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, began
singing at age of six in the church choir. He was
first recognized in middle school by the choral
director. where he was first introduced to
classical music. Mr. Caesar is fairly a newcomer
to Washington DC settling here in 2002 and enrolling in
the UDC in the fall of 2003. Currently he is pursuing a
Bachelor's in Vocal and Piano Music Education.
Since his move many opportunities have opened throughout
the metropolitan area as a vocal and piano performer and
entertainer, he has performed as a vocal soloist, piano
accompanist for weddings, funerals, private parties,
churches, recitals and other special events. Some
of Mr. Caesar's credits and performances include
Langston Hughes "Don't You Want to Be Free?",
Debbie Allen's Broadway Musical " Ragtime. He
has also taught music and accompanied the production
"KIDS" at the Kelsie Collie Children's Musical
Experience Program. When he is not performing he
is working diligently as a private voice and piano coach
for beginners to both children and adults, consistently
with at least 8 students. Passionately driven, Mr.
Caesar strives to share his talent and skills globally. Mr.
Caesar is the great nephew of the renowned, legendary Gospel
singer Shirley Caesar.
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3rd
Place Winner - Beny Blaq With
his passionate Poetry Performance " Mr.
Blaq is a native of Brooklyn, New York. At the age
of 13 Beny began to discover his gift of and love for
poetry. It wasn't until the creation of HBO's Def
Poetry that he was introduced t the Spoken Word and Slam
Poetry. Beny calls his writing simple, yet
passionate, shadowing his own life experiences. In
a quest to quench the thirst of cerebral freedom, Beny
has taken his message to the masses. He performs
at many open mics, community events., conducted writing
workshops in area schools, and headlined the Larry Neal
Awarded Play "Prison Poetry" at the Lincoln
Theater. Beny proudly walks in the footsteps of
those who walked before him, knocking down the doors to
make way for poets and independent artists like
him. He believes that unifying through this art
form will open doors for himself and other independent
artists to realize and manifest their dreams. His
mission and passion is to not only write words, but to
help create a space for artists to share their talent
with the world, while also living prosperous lives for
themselves and generations to come.
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Before I close , I must comment on
two performances that did not place in the top 3, but to me are very marketable. Ms. Debbie Charles a native of New York,
performed a song she wrote and did a real good job on it, as well
as on her background vocals. Congratulations to Ms Charles
for
recently becoming one of the semifinalists in the Disc Makers
Independent Music World Series 2006 Music Competition.
Also, 3 young Hip Hop "Rappers" who call themselves
"SuburbaKnights" did their own rap song and their
"rimes" flowed very nicely, I particularly liked their
beats. They actually sound similar to Rap group
"De La Soul" (who had hit the billboard charts in 1989
with their song "Me, Myself and I"). I saw the
joy and fun they were having on stage performing, they certainly
were having a good time doing what they love. Look out for
their performance on Arious TV, which Todd intends to release
very soon, and once you see it, hit me up and tell me what you think.
Please make it a date and come to the
Oasis on the Occoquan to check out the wonderful talent here in Washington DC/Maryland
and Virginia for the next 6 weeks.
Anyone who think they can be the next
capital star contact Toni Samuel for all the details
703-405-7061 or oneheartcharity@aol.com
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