Showing posts with label The Roots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Roots. Show all posts

Lori Kirk - Cavata Clothing

the basics:

name: lori kirk

label: unsigned (pick this one up and put some money in her pocket!)

label type: none

myspace visits: 3084

myspace friends: 319

albums: none but check out the music she has put out on the myspace page.

my take on lori:

this bundle of jubilance and soul is a rare commodity in the music industry. i could compare her to jojo and give her a shallow music comparison or i could compare her to the young, raw, emerging r & b and jazz from across the pond in the uk and give her an accurate description. ok... it's the latter. her hip-hop background and backups make for an incredible one, two combo.

in a post interview chat, she discussed the necessity and her appreciation of art in all forms:

"the arts are what life is all about....its not about being famous or choosing between street art and fine art....its just art for the sake of art"

she's currently bandless but is helping out with productions and doing hooks for boston based hip-hop bands. best of luck lori in that journey.

though she may not have created a platinum album or toured the u.s., she is having an impact in new england. lori has teamed up with local art programs and other organizations to help raise money for arts in the community and in the school system. cavata cloting is a phenomenal line that is due to release in five to seven days (straight from the lori's mouth).

all in all, i'd say this young lady has her act together. not to mention, a great person to work and converse with over gmail chat. my biggest hope is that she does not let her unique and powerful voice go to waste.

Art Star: Name:

LK: Lori Kirk (LK)

AS: Who would win in a fight between the beatles and the smiths?

LK: Beatles- The original British invaders!!!

AS: If you were a sticky note what would you be stuck to and what would it say?

LK: I would be stuck to my wallet and say "Stop spending money you don't have!"

AS: What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

LK: Chocolate or coffee

AS: Favorite Band Live:

LK: Not a band but I saw Janet Jackson a few years back and it was the best live show I've ever seen in my life.

AS: Favorite Band to open up for and/or that has opened for your.

LK: I'd love to open for P!NK

AS: Favorite instrument that you do not currently play

LK: Guitar. I tried and I suck! I'll stick to the keys.

AS: In the 2008 election, what issue do you feel is the most important?

LK: The economy, energy policies & who has the hottest VP

AS: What artist is currently revolutionizing music (other than yourself, of course)?

LK: The White Stripes. They do so much with so little & their music is insane. A band you may not have heard is Benedict Arnold. Like the Roots, they're hip hop soul music with a live band and a killer MC. Check them out!

AS: From what do you draw musical inspiration?

LK: From other musicians and every day experiences. It doesn't take something monumental to inspire me.

AS: What music did your parents expose you to in your youth?

LK: My mom exposed me to the tunes of James Taylor, Carol King & the Carpenters while my dad introduced me to music like Aerosmith, Sly and the Family Stones, The Beatles & Queen. I suppose that really influenced by love of rock & soul music.

AS: What was the toughest decision you have had to make as an artist? How did you come to that decision?

LK: The toughest decision I've had to make as an artist was just to be realistic about where the industry is going. There are thousands of talented people and it seems the industry is pumping out clone after clone. WHY!? As I reached my 20's I realized I wasn't in this to be famous & that I wanted to keep writing and performing for fun more than anything. I don't want someone telling me to write a song because it will appeal to a target audience. I want to write music for me and its just an added bonus if anyone else digs it.

AS: First Instrument:

LK: Voice (if that counts)...then later on piano.

AS: Favorite Venue to play at:

LK: Before leaving my old band, we played at the Paradise Rock Club. The stage was phenomenal and the sound system/guys were ace!

AS: At what moment did you realize you wanted to do live music?

LK: love live music more than recording. Sure, you can add bells and whistles to a track in the studio and redo anything you screw up but the feeling of playing for a live audience is pure energy & I love it. I realized I wanted to do live music from childhood. If there were people who were willing to listen, I'd put on a show.

AS: Most embarrassing moment on stage:

LK: I can't think of one in particular but I've forgotten the words to a couple of songs, dropped my microphone and have almost cracked my head open tripping over cables. Just gotta shake it off and keep going.

AS: And finally, is there anything else that you would like to share with the Art Star audience?

LK: Besides working on new music, I'm starting a clothing line called Cavata Clothing. (www.myspace.com/cavataclothing) A portion of each purchase is being donated to public schools in need of funding to support the arts which includes music education programs. I am so thankful for the music education I received in high school and feel its a tragedy that schools are more concerned with students passing one standardized test rather than focusing on producing more well-rounded individuals. Art and music aren't expendable & no education is complete without them!

in the words of the cavata clothing site:

art is power

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Allow me to speak a bit about forming a relationship with God--not to be confused with the religious talk that often confuses, if not deters, folks from getting close with the Creator. I wake up every morning and give God praise for a new day because I know that through Him all things are possible. I give thanks to God because I have life, and that He has allowed me to live in abundance. And I must be thankful for this because to assume that this comfortable life I have been afforded is normal for the millions of people living in this country would be nothing short of delusional. I would be falling into the trap that too many before me have fallen into--complacency. I remember reading on the NAACP's website a quote which was to the effect of more leaders having been eliminated not by an assassin's bullet but by a comfortable paycheck. So once again, I woke up this morning and thanked God for all that He has given me and for never giving me more than I could bear.

Yesterday I began reading Chinua Achebe's timeless work, Things Fall Apart. The story focuses on the life of a man named Okonkwo; a fierce wrestler and warrior whose success is driven in equal part by his desire to be productive and an overwhelming fear of failure. He is a man who cannot honor his father through working hard because his father was a man of leisure. Yet, through all his success and achievement, he could never find rest. His success only created a greater desire to succeed. There was no time (EVER!) to rest upon one's laurels or find comfort in one's ability to provide. In the depth of his being, his facade of strength only stood to conceal his weakness. And his attempts to escape weakness, appear to be an exercise in futility.

I say all this because Okonkwo got me thinking. How many brothers do I know who are attempting to do the same thing? Do we all live with the fear of reproducing the sins of our fathers? When we fail are we merely fulfilling the prophecy that our self-doubt produces?

I did not grow up with my father and I remember one particular instance when I was voicing my frustration to one of my aunts. She advised me to never let my anger become hate because I would "become that which I despise." In essence, all that I could not stand about him would become me. It makes me wonder how many people have become the object of their disaffection and how many sentences of failure we implicitly cast on ourselves...daily?

Lastly, this all makes me think of our race relations in the United States. Does it all boil down to our fear of being that which we despise? Are we afraid that our poor treatment of fellow citizens and malicious forms of prejudice have made us more like the injustices that our America was created in spite of?

Watch a little video clip and see if you feel what I'm sayin'...




Hahah...wats really good Art Star pham!?

It's about to get real later on in this post.

However first if you have a chance check out the 1987 movie Wall Street.

For now listen to this speech about greed being good

Another character in the movie says, "I don't go to sleep with no whore and I don't wake up with no whore. That's how I live with myself. I don't know how you do it."

I know many people are, in the words of Black Thought, "paper chase motivated". But when do we draw the line between making money and sleeping with whores.

It seems like Nas has drawn the line by NOT naming his new album Nigger

I was ready to kick down something when I heard Be A Nigger Too. Had cats from high school calling me wanting to know how I felt. Thought Nas was about to do something, start some riots, confuse the hell out of white people.

Even Alicia Keys had his back.

But alas Walmart and the forces that be caused Nas to change his opinion. Or maybe he just felt like he might become an irresponsible black person.

Still, when there is ignorant shit like this in the world, I can't help but wish that Nas was still dropping an album called Nigger.

Or maybe I'm just ignorant and what he is really trying to say is Negus

Or maybe we just all eventually find that whore.


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