Bo Benton Turns It Up

Poised as the next ‘Don Diva,’ daring enough to step outside the box, singer, songwriter, producer Bo Benton exemplifies the annotated lyrics below to her next single “Blue Flame (Turn It Up).”

Temperature rising…(turn it up)

On fire…(turn it up)

Hot, hot, hot…(turn it up)

Blistering…(turn it up)

Boiling point…(turn it up)

Ignite my soul/give it all you’ve got

It ain’t hot enough

Take me to the blue flame!

Turn it up!

In preparation for the July 28 release of her pop/rock/R&B/dance-infused debut album, Queen of the Night, exclusively on her own Gold Starr label through Bungalo/Universal Music Group, the electrifying vocalist is already riding the airwaves of urban from Chattanooga’s WJTT-FM  to Chicago’s WGCI-FM,  rhythmic and Top 40 from Tucson’s KOHT-FM to Salisbury, Maryland’s WOCQ-FM, and urban AC from Fayetteville, NC’s WCCG-FM to Augusta, Georgia’s WIIZ-FM.  Hot on her current single, “I Know You Want It,” radio is spreading the sound of what’s in store.

Backed by a stellar production team that includes producer Lil Ronnie (Bow Wow, Nelly, R. Kelly, T Pain), writer and Gold Starr labelmate Pusher Deville, and mixer KD aka Kevin Davis (Pink, Usher, NSYNC), Benton personally assembled the right ingredients to satisfy any musical thirst. “I have great producers,” she says confidently.  “This is a very exciting album. I wanted to make a classic album and that’s why it took me so long to complete. I did 40 songs, but I only chose ten for this album.”

Formally trained at the Chicago Sherwood Conservatory of Music, the Southside Chicago native began performing as a child.  A writer and producer as well, she also plays the piano and isn’t too bad with a guitar. “I was always a natural performer,” Benton shares. ” My father is a bass player and ran a small record label in Hollywood back in the ’70s.  My mother is a pianist and my grandmother was an opera singer. It’s in my DNA.”

“This is the first song that I ever made where I’m outside of it.”

Expect the unexpected on Queen of the Night. Cameos with Raekwon of Wu Tang Clan on the cut “Baller” with a rare appearance by Too Short. ” There are one or two slow songs and I’m rapping on this album as well,” says Benton. “Sometimes I might hear a track that motivates me or I might be in a certain mood and I want to write about what’s happening in my life. It’s not one particular thing that happens at one particular moment. The continuity, however, between everything is that it’s always in the moment, whether it’s a beat, the mood or just in the studio having fun. We capture those moments in time.”

These moments manifest in one of Benton’s favorite songs, “Blue Flame (Turn It Up).” “This is the first song that I ever made where I’m outside of it,” Benton exclaims. “It’s like wow! I’m a fan of this song. I knew when I was getting ready to record “Blue Flame” that I had to come out of myself. It wasn’t about Bo; I had to let it go.”

Letting go seems to be just one theme in many of the tracks. Empowerment is another. The title track, “Queen of the Night,” is a power anthem that aims to motivate women to rise above and live their own lives.  Inspired by a personal experience, Benton wrote the lyrics to “Queen of the Night” in 15 minutes during a stay in room 403 at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. “It’s a rock song. It’s a hellified song,” she explains, “about a girl getting her heart broken, but she finds the power in herself to not only move on, but also, not be bitter and to cherish what they had.  It’s like she’s saying, ‘Thank you for that, it’s going to make me stronger and better.’” Produced by Jason Edmonds (Michael Jackson, Jon B., Sisqo), Mark Tabb and Ansone and mixed by Rob Beaton (”Devil Wears Prada,” “Batman Begins”), the song radiates the heat and passion that radio and clubs can feel.

Referred to as the “hot chick on rollerskates” on one blog for her first single “Bounce” that independently surged to the top spot on YouTube.com and MySpace.com in December 2006 knocking out both P. Diddy and Jay-Z for the number one spot, Benton showed she had all the moves visually as well. Her second single, “Make That Move,” confirmed the buzz was real. Leaked to servers, it quickly attracted more than 3.6 million viewers.

“I strive for a perfect blend of style and substance,” she was quoted as saying about her early releases. “Style definitely has its place, especially since my album is upbeat fun music to be played in the clubs. People going to clubs are usually stylish and hot-looking.”

“Style definitely has its place, especially since my album is upbeat fun music to be played in the clubs. People going to clubs are usually stylish and hot-looking.”

But ultimately, she describes herself as “a hybrid of yesterday and tomorrow… I feel like I have a unique sound and do not sound like another artist. And that is the way I’d like to keep it.”

Inspired by such diva legacies as Diana Ross and Whitney Houston, Benton has been on a mission to establish and maintain her own identity. With an industry saturated with cookie-cutter starlets that many times are left to compete for a space on the charts through vamping up their image of seduction, Benton takes pride in discovering and signing herself to her very own label–Gold Starr Records. Described as “the female Jay-Z” because she both runs the label and is at the same time its main asset, Benton says she is very hands on.

Although analytical in her decisions as president of Gold Starr, Benton, nevertheless, sees the stuff of legends in herself as the artist Bo Benton. “Music has to be raw human emotion. It’s the purest art form for me,” Benton the artist explains. “I can be a glamour doll one day, be grungy the next and rock and roll, or go hood on you and street. I don’t think you can be a real artist unless you are making the art you’re feeling. How is somebody going to tell me I don’t want you to rap, I don’t want you to do a country song, I want you to do R&B? The industry is changing rapidly. It’s like the wild, wild west right now.”

And, with all guns blazing, she’s foraging her own path…doing it her way.

Applying the same standards for other artists as she does to herself, as a label executive she has also been building Gold Starr into an artist-friendly entertainment company.  “I have two super dope rappers–one from Atlanta and the other from Miami.” Pusher Deville, the rapper from College Park, is featured on Benton’s single “I Know You Want It” and already has his own release, “Bodies In the Club” on the streets.  Rapper Live Wire, whom she describes as “extremely talented,” is currently in artist development and almost ready. ” We have a pop female artist too,” Benton adds. “She’s 16 years old and very well-versed. Her mother is a trained opera singer and she’s been singing since she was four.”  The label’s website is open to more new artists and invites them to contact the label with the opening, “Are you ready to be a Gold Starr?”

“I met Roberto Cavalli in Milan and he promised me at the time, ‘Whenever your record comes out, find me and I will make you stage outfits.”

Looking at the long term, Benton is bent on building a career for herself as the artist and for the artists she is selecting to develop under her brand. “If it weren’t for the love of music that I have, I wouldn’t be doing this,” she assures us, “but music is in my heart and soul.”

Her planning and hard work are now paying off. With almost deadly precision, she has orchestrated the unfolding of herself, the artist Bo Benton. A 12-city promo tour kicks off in the coming weeks as radio continues to pump her singles. Her online presence at www.bobenton.com and myspace.com/bobenton add fans daily and she’s all atwitter on the Internet’s sites from blackhollywood to ca.askmen, celebritywonder to sumotv. People are calling in to find out more about Bo Benton. It’s heating up! The momentum is building for the album release on April 21.

“I’m finally feeling excited,” she exclaims. “I met Roberto Cavalli in Milan and he promised me at the time, ‘Whenever your record comes out, find me and I will make you stage outfits,’” Benton gushes. “I’m looking for Roberto Cavalli.”

BRE founder and Chairman of the Board Sidney Miller recalls the confidence and charisma Bo exuded when they first met. “When I first met Bo about two years ago at the Black Enterprise Oscar party at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, she came up to me and said, “Mr. Miller, you don’t know me, but one day I’m going to be on the cover of your magazine.” I asked her what label she was on and she replied, “My own.” I thought at the time this was someone who was going to make it.

Written by Tanisha Williams, freelance journalist/reporter and publisher of
Renaissance Women magazine. www.renaissancewomenmag.com

A True Messenger

Heather Headley inspired millions with her performance of “Jesus Is Love,” her duet with Smokie Norful that appears on both artists’ new albums, in Washington, D.C. at the HBO live concert special during the presidential inauguration activities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d give you the moon

But you’d never know the warmth of the sunshine

I’d give you the world

But exactly what would that do

I’d promise you wings to fly

But how would you ever learn to run

So I wish you all you need

To be than I could be

This is what I wish for you

                                    –I Wish

 

            Heather Headley inspired millions with her performance of “Jesus Is Love,” her duet with Smokie Norful that appears on both artists’ new albums, in Washington, D.C. at the HBO live concert special during the presidential inauguration activities. Dubbed his “favorite singing partner” by classical star Andrea Bocelli whom she joined as a featured artist on his international tour, his “Live In Tuscany” PBS special, and his “Under The Desert Sky” live concert DVD, Headley reached millions more. The accomplished Tony-award winning Broadway star has also wowed audiences daily in her long runs in “Aida” and “Lions King.” But her performance at the Harvard Bible Chapel she attends in Chicago registered just as resoundingly when she sang from her new EMI Gospel album Audience of One. 

Joining songbird Heather Headley at the refurbished Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood where she had recently returned from a jazz cruise, I knew I was in the presence of a beautiful child of God.  BRE has interviewed the multiple Grammy nominated R&B songstress (This Is Who I Am, In My Mind) before, but this new incarnation of Headley on EMI Gospel was just another barometer of her many talents. Comfortable in any setting whether on the world stage or performing for presidents, Headley remains grounded and balanced, beautiful on both the outside and inside.  And what you hear in whatever form is really who she is.

Her performance at President Barack Obama’s inauguration weekend on the HBO special of her single “Jesus Is Love” touched many that day when so much hope was manifest. But she’s actually performed for four of our U.S. presidents. In addition to Obama, she had performed for both Bushes and Clinton. “It was probably the coldest I have ever been in a performance before,” she offered, still recovering from the effects. “The rehearsal day was 10 degrees. We had tents but they had not yet installed the heaters. After I got back to my hotel I had to jump into a hot shower to warm-up. My toes had actually turned purple. The actual day of the performance warmed up to a toasty 22 degrees, but whatever the weather, it was worth it to just be there for such a momentous occasion. It was quite uplifting for me as well.”

This uplifting song may seem a change in genre direction for Headley, but recording a gospel album is a natural transition for her. “I spent most of my life in and around the church,” she explains. “My father was a preacher at a one-room church in Trinidad, and I lived either next to the church or above it most of my life. In fact, it was there where I first began to sing. I used to go in the church when no one was there, close all of the doors and windows and sing to the empty pews,” she confided. “My mother always told me I should do a gospel album and I would say, ‘Maybe someday.’ Now I felt the time was right.”

 

 

Actually, the concept for a gospel CD became concrete after label executives heard her breathtaking performance of the spiritual “I Know The Lord Will Make A Way” from the EMI Gospel/Vector compilation album, Oh Happy Day. They were so impressed that they suggested she record an entire album of songs of faith. Her 2006 CD In My Mind also contained the inspirational song “Change,” co-written with producer Warryn Campbell and Eric Dawkins. “God is such a big part of who I am, who I want to be, and what’s in my mind,” she had declared then.

 

Joining with Grammy award-winning producer Keith Thomas (BeBe & CeCe Winans, Yolanda Adams, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, Whitney  Houston), Headley says it was time to give back some praise for all her blessings. “This is my gift to God,” she declares. “I want to make sure God is happy. This album is for Him.”

Whether it’s the song “Ordinary Me,” inspired by her pastor James MacDonald’s sermons, that starts out, “Looking for an answer, trying to turn the page/but always holding onto the past,” or when she asks “I am a Christian/do you know what that means?” on “Simply Redeemed,” Headley addresses faith concerns that are both personal and universal at the same time. And when she goes astray, she always finds solace and forgiveness in a cover of one of Commissioned’s songs “Running Back To You” or “I Know The Lord Will Make A Way.”  From traditional hymns like “Here I Am To Worship” to the orchestral heights of “Power of the Cross,” Headley gives her all.

 ”Today I still transform myself mentally back to my father’s church in Trinidad by closing the doors and windows to my bedroom and turning the lights out to recreate those conditions,” she confesses. “It makes it easier for me to go back to that little church, the place of creative comfort for me both physically and mentally.  That’s where I went to play, that’s where I learned to play the piano and would use my brush for a microphone. Today, when I record I always request they turn out all the lights.”

Both Gospel and Urban AC radio formats have welcomed the inspiring songs from Audience of One. “My colleagues and I agree,” says Alvin Stowe, Program Director of Radio One’s UAC WQNC-FM (92.7) and inspiration WPZS-FM (Praise 100.9) in Charlotte, NC: “This rendition of ‘Jesus Is Love’ is as good, if not better than the original.”

The accolades continue for this little girl from Trinidad with the angelic voice and full range. “I grew up in the church and that’s where my roots are,” she contends. “If the sincerity of my performance connects, then I have won a true new fan. And even though it would be an honor to be invited to perform in some of the mega churches around the country, that is not a part of my promotional campaign to sell product.”

Indeed not, this truly gifted artist finds her ministry most fulfilling when she is singing to God. When she was talking to her husband about how she used to turn the church into a sanctuary, she says he told her that she was not singing to the empty pews but to God. An audience of one.

BMI Unsigned Showcase Returns to Atlanta

DJ Khaled will host BMI’s 12th Annual Unsigned Urban Showcase in Atlanta at Club E.S.S.O. on April 23rd. Nas, Trey Songz and Novel will perform at this showcase that will feature four finalists competing in front of a panel of music industry heavyweights including singer/songwriter Dallas Austin (Madonna, TLC); Capitol Records Senior Vice President, Urban Music Leonard Brooks; MySpace Records President, Urban Music Marquis Collins; manager and Imani Entertainment Group CEO Manny Halley (clients include Keyshia Cole & Lyfe Jennings); Def Jam Recordings Executive Vice President Chris Hicks; Polo Grounds Music President and RCA Music Group Senior Vice President, Urban Bryan Leach; manager and Czar Entertainment CEO Jimmy Rosemond (clients include The Game, Gucci Mane & Pleasure P).This year’s final four include the group 718, Kameron Corvet, Ryn Nicole and Rain.  Additionally, BMI will be presenting its Legends of ATL Award to a community leader who has contributed to the local music scene. Past recipients have included Dallas Austin, Organized Noize and Big Oomp.

The Streetz102.9 of Atlanta Silent

The on air and online stream from low power urban hip-hop FM Streetz 102.9 (www.streetz1029.com) was short-lived. Reportedly, Radio One had an injunction issued which shut the operation down. Former Radio One VP Steve Hegwood, who was reportedly involved with premature launch, still has abut three months to go on his non-compete clause before he is free to move about.

Tom Joyner Back In Chicago

The immediate fallout over the replacement of  “The Tom Joyner Show” with the “Steve Harvey Show” on Clear Channel urban AC WVAZ-FM (V103) radio has been less that positive.  Listeners have been e-mailing the station in great numbers voicing their disappointment.  Most see Steve Harvey as not having an adult show, saying that his show appeals more to young people. Some have even called for protests.
That’s been the Windy City mood since “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” disappeared from Chicago airwaves). Fans can now rejoice. According to radio consultant Tony Gray, the show is expected to return to its morning timeslot on Crawford urban AC WSRB-FM (Soul 106.3). A deal is in the works to return Joyner to this market where his ratings were higher than those of  the “Steve Harvey Morning Show,” which was moved over from WGCI to replace him at WVAZ.
As Clear Channel VP Doc Wynter explained, “It was strictly a business decision. We are trying to appeal to a younger demographic at WGCI and we have a vested interest in “The Steve Harvey Show.” The WGCI replacement team we have put together is extremely witty and funny.”
WVAZ  PD Derrick Brown commented, “I feel like V103 just won the lottery! Steve Harvey is an entertainment and marketing juggernaut. There are very few entertainers who have successfully tackled radio, TV, film, stage, online and publishing. His unique life perspective and riveting content fit V103 like a glove. Being a ‘King of Comedy,’ nobody can beat Steve being funny and I’m absolutely elated that he’s joining our team.”
On a sadder note though, Brown added, “Tom Joyner has been a great partner with V103 for the past 13 years, making it difficult to part ways. We appreciate all Tom’s hard work and wish him continued success.”
Obviously disappointed, Tom Joyner responded, “After 16 years, ‘The Tom Joyner Morning Show’ won’t be broadcast on a local Chicago radio station at this time. For Sybil and me, our relationship with the Chicago radio listeners goes back more than 20 years, and believe me it has not ended by any stretch of the imagination.”
And sure enough, Joyner’s back in Chicago.

Steve Hegwood Buzz: Extreme Media

With Atlanta all abuzz over the “All New Streets” hip hop and R&B hitting the airwaves on WWVA HD2 102.9 (website www.streets1029.com)–currently licensed to Clark University–veteran programmer Steve Hegwood quietly launched Albany, Georgia’s WZBN-FM as the new Power 105.5. The formerly Cumulus owned southern soul 6,000 watt station that covers Lee and Dougherty counties hit the airwaves March 30 with back to back music as new PD Jammin Jay took over the controls. Committed to Clear Channel urban crosstown WJIZ-FM (96.3 Jamz) until April 15, Jammin’ Jay says he’s juggling both responsibilities for now. Call number to reach Jammin’ Jay is (866) 877 6559 and he’s open to music days Monday through Friday. He says the station is looking to relocate to another building shortly and will be hitting the pavement hard for ad sales at very competitive rates.
Formerly head of radio network On Top Communications, Hegwood previously owned and operated WRXZ-FM (106.1) and WFFM-FM (105.7) in Albany as part of his On Top chain. Most recently Hegwood had been VP of Programming at Radio One.