I know we are a bit behind on this. But I wanted to share with everyone our excitement about our performance at Sound Session 08. Every Year the Black Rep and The City of Providence make this music festival bigger and better. We performed the Friday Night on the outside stage (which was already packed at 9pm).

It was an amazing time and we got much love and saw some amazing performances.

Chachi ripped it with his band

Joey Beats and Blak were dope

Fred Da Great killed it (Best DJ Set of the Night)

Who Dem? took it to the top.

To be honest, we felt like the Rhode Island Artist really held it down, it was a great time and we cant wait until next year! Thank you Black Rep for making something like this exist in Rhode Island.

 

Holler!

The Rhodeshow

(if anyone has pics of the night, please forward it to us)

 

Direct link: http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid62202.aspx

AS220's Broad Street Studio is home to the multi-talented performance art collective known as Rhodeshow, who recently dropped their second full-length release, The Growth Project 2.0, with none other than local legend Joe Beats providing the beats.

The AS220 Broad Street Studio program specializes in engaging local youth in various art-making workshops, with a focus on recently-released state juveniles and DCYF teens. But, Rhodeshow member and BSS performance art coordinator David Gonzalez insists, The Growth Project 2.0 is no after-school rehab special or corny 13-track Just Say No commercial; the Rhodeshow troupe lives the lyrics and rocks the mic with a nonchalant confidence and fluid, streetwise delivery without glorifying the negative choices surrounding young people.

"Personally I'm not so interested in the positive message but moreso a real message," Gonzalez noted, and reiterated by co-coordinator and Rhodeshow female emcee Anjel Newmann, "I don't feel that I promote positive hip-hop, just real and honest art as a whole."

Beats, he brings his usual A-game throughout. Dense rhythms and neck-throbbing percussion on tracks like "36 Hours," "I Had a Feelin'," and "Lego" are particularly vicious and complement the subject matter. "Corruption, lies, greed, drugs — this is how the media manipulates us," goes the chorus over a twinkling piano loop on "Listen To the Buzz."

Beats said: "This group of young adults are well on their way. I could easily duo up with any of them and release it to the audience at large. Throughout the whole recording I was consistently humbled by their efficiency, maturity, and candor."

The teaming of Rhodeshow and Beats shouldn't be missed. "I love our new CD but nothing can compare to the Rhodeshow's energy when we are live on stage," Newmann declared. The Growth Project 2.0 is available now at the Rhodeshow site (Myspace.com/rhodeshow or therhodeshow.com) and will be available for $10 at AS220 on Saturday, May 31 at the CD release party and live performance with Beats in tow (admission is $5). The show starts at 8 pm with the destined-for-stardom Mary Bee opening — think Tori Amos meets Bahamadia

We got a great review in the Providence Phoenix for the New Album(Thanks Chris and Lou) . Here is the uncut interview that Anjel Newmann and David Gonzalez did for the the Piece 

 

1. how did you originally get involved with the rhodeshow and Broad Street Studio?

 

David Gonzalez: I got involved with the AS220 Broad Studio Studio Program (BSS) as part of the AmeriCorps Vista program around 2001. At that time, higher education and I were not seeing eye-to-eye and the opportunity to work at BSS was extremely appealing. Umberto Crenca (Bert), the Artist Director of AS220 sold me on the mission of the program and artistic community and never left.

As for the Rhodeshow, Kareem Caines was the founder of the program. At that time, BSS was partially funded by the RI Department of Health's anti-tobacco, WORD Movement. Kareem put together a troupe of young people that performed a series of skits and songs about the negative effects of tobacco use. Shortly after that funding source ended, Kareem Caines returned home to New York and I stepped in as Rhodeshow Director.

Anjel Newmann: Back about seven years ago, my sister and I co-directed a local Hip-Hop dance troupe called "Xsplicit" out of the Cranston Teen Center. 

Different YMCA's throughout Rhode Island would come tour the center for field trips. One day, another local Hip-Hop dance troupe called "Y on Wheels" came through from Providence's Intown YMCA on Broad Street. There, my sister and I met 'Lil Suave a local b-boy.  We quickly became friends and started back up dancing for his performances, most of which took place at a place at AS220.

About six months later, Suave asked my sister and I if we would like to audition for a performance group called the Rhodeshow. We quickly noted that it was a paid position and had no reason to object.

 

 

2. What is the ultimate goal of the Rhodeshow? 

David Gonzalez: The Rhodeshow has many goals. To start off, our vision statement reads like this:

The Rhodeshow is a performing arts group that functions under AS220 Broad Street Studio. Through Hip-Hop, Jazz, R&B/Soul, and Spoken Word they foster creativity and change by validating the voice and talent of young people. The group is dedicated to creating and performing original works of art based on their life experiences, their community, and their passion for expression. We believe performing arts are an important means of developing an appreciation of all cultures and use them to promote diversity and critical thought. Their ultimate goal is to use their music and creative process as a tool to empower, engage, and educate youth.

Ultimately The Rhodeshow is intended to make the creation and presentation of art attainable for youth. Mainstream media sometimes paints artist as iconic figures that live on a pedestals with no explanation of how he/she/they got there. We believe that above all art is an everyday process and invite youth to be a part of that process by using Hip-Hop as an inspirational tool.  There is so much inspiration that can be drawn from the music of Hip-Hop culture than what is on the radio rotation. Hip-Hop is a powerful tool to share thoughts, opinions, and information.  We use it to invoke and validate the youth perspective in Rhode Island.  In doing so The Rhodeshow tries to break the negative stereotypes of Hip-Hop for both the artist and the listener.  

Anjel Newmann: The Rhodeshow creates music that inspires and educates youth and adults alike by encouraging critical thought amongst the masses of people who are being both directly and indirectly affected by today's changing society.

3. How long have you lived in RI?

David Gonzalez: I have been here for around ten years. Seeing the City of Providence change in that time has been amazing. Downtown is remarkable, AS220 is two buildings deep, and the amount of youth programs such as New Urban Arts, Youth In Action, Young Voices, College Visions, along with BSS in little Rhodey is phenomenal.

Anjel Newmann: Practically my whole life. I was born in Santa Monica, CA and then shortly relocated when my mom decided it was best for herself and I to be closer to her family in R.I.

3b. And being a BK native, what are your thoughts on promoting positive hip-hop here on the local scene?   

David Gonzalez: The local scene is amazing and diverse. The Rhodeshow did have to break the mold from being perceived as solely a youth arts program. Thankfully we really have been nurtured and supported by a lot of great local Hip-Hop artist here in Rhode Island. Chachi Carvalho, Meal TIX, and Joey Beats are just some of the few that really have opened up and provided amazing opportunities for The Rhodeshow as local Hip-Hop artists. 

As for positive Hip-Hop in RI in general, everyone has their one or two songs they perform that try to uplift. That's cool. Personally, I am not so interested in the positive message but more so a real message. These young people have amazing stories, point of views, and unique deliveries. I am interested in nurturing artists that wants to share themselves honestly rather then create some made up persona just to be accepted. I'm cool with that being considered positive. 

 

Anjel Newmann: I'm not from Brooklyn, but I feel that today there are so many different types of Hip-Hop but an overall lack of connection from where and how the culture started, especially the music. Back in 70's, this art form which has come to be known as "Hip-Hop" was a response and way of revealing the inner pain that America's injustice was creating. Some where along the line, we as a culture turned Hip-Hop over to Corporate America and have begun to settle for prepackaged art and dumb-downed lyrics. Today, I believe people need unsaturated perspectives and also a movement to break the stereotypes of what Hip-Hop is and has become. I don't feel that I promote positive Hip-Hop; I just believe I represent real and honest art as whole. While it is hard to fight against the pop culture and the growing music industry, it does pay off for me at the end of the day when I think about how many doors we have opened for unconventional artist who otherwise may have never dared to be different.

3c. Has it been challenging to get the word out about positive rap, particularly within the current state of rap music?

David Gonzalez: Generally, if you speak honestly and with great sincerity people listen. The Rhodeshow represents so much that we have been able to create a unique type of audience that is open to our art for various reasons. From the mission, to the music, the young artist, our connection to AS220, our development and process, there is so much that intrigues people. Whether it is a group of teachers in South Carolina trying to learn how to incorporate what we do in their classroom to the Hip-Hop Heads at a Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, The Rhodeshow has a strong appeal for a variety of reasons.

Anjel Newmann:  Again, I don't feel what we rhyme about is positive, just real. Personally, it is hard to get people to feel where I am coming from in conversation when I bring up my concerns with today's Hip-Hop and society as a whole. On the flip side, when people listen to our music, there is not much criticism that we receive in retaliation to the messages that we are putting out. I would have to say it is harder to get younger crowds to dig our style just because most of the time they are prone to be into whatever their peers are listening to which is nine times out of ten is mainstream music.

4. What can we expect from the live show?

David Gonzalez: We try and make whoever is watching to forget the Rhodeshow is a youth program. We never want someone saying "they did good for a bunch of young inexperienced artist?' We want people leaving saying, "Are you sure that was a youth program? 'Cause I know professional adult artist that can't rock the microphone like that!"

The show May 31^st is going to be the first time Joey Beats and The Rhodeshow perform together. He is going to perform all the music he created for us via is samplers while we rock. I am very excited and honored to have him with us.

Anjel Newmann: The live show is completely crazy!  Every song is different and brings a new element of energy to the stage. We never want people to simply see The Rhodeshow as recording artist but also performance artist. I love our CD but I personally feel like nothing can compare to The Rhodeshow's energy when we are live on stage.

5. How did you guys get Joe Beats (he went to my high school) and Mary Bee involved?

David Gonzalez: Joey Beats has always been open to working with the program. He and I were friends by default running into each other repeatedly throughout the years. He has always been part of the AS220 community and for a short time, acted as a mentor for youth coming out of the Rhode Island Training School through the BSS program. Sometime in March, we sat down and threw this Rhodeshow project on the table, he was open for it and by the end of the week we were connecting the dots to make it happen. Working with him was an amazing experience. He pumped out more beats in two weeks time then other producers can pump out in a year's time. Even the beats he created that he wasn't feeling were fresh to deaf! He worked with each kids to make sure they where happy with their product. Seriously, this guy is a great artist! 

As for Mary Bee, she works at AS220. We connected because I stopped in at a show and couldn't believe her amazing voice. She happily connected with some of the songs The Rhodeshow was doing before Joey Beats produced this album. She and I have been working on a project of our own. While recording one of our songs, I flipped on a track of the Growth Project 2.0 and had her do her thing.  I am so happy we connected with her.

Anjel Newmann: David had thrown the idea around about collaboration with Joey Beats for a while. I remember one day, David had come to a Rhodeshow practice all excited because he had just gotten out of a meeting with Joey. He said that they talked about a possible collaboration between Joey and The Rhodeshow. They agreed that within the following three months Joey would first lock him self in a room for two weeks and compose a ton of beats strictly for The Rhodeshow's second album. We then would have the next three months to write, practice and record all of our songs. It was a lot of fun and cannot wait to hear listener's response to The Growth Project 2.0.

The first time I had come across Marybee was when David emailed me a beat the he was working on called " Waiting for Heaven". The original song was by a local artist named Marybee who happened to work downstairs at AS220. I ended up having the pleasure of being the featured emcee on the "Waiting for Heaven" track, which in the end turned out great.

Direct Link: http://www.projo.com/music/content/wk-pop29_05-29-08_6PA9O6A_v6.1e4be1c.html

New route for The Rhode Show

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, May 29, 2008

Hip-hop group The Rhode Show celebrates the release of its sophomore album, The Growth Project 2.0, Saturday at AS220 in Providence.

The Growth Project 2.0, the second disc by The Rhode Show, the hip-hop group run out of AS220's Broad Street Studio, was made in a very different way than their first. And it has a different sound and feel. At the same time, though, the most important elements are the same.

The group took five years to come out with last year's self-titled debut; this one comes only a year later, and was only three months in the making. And while the first disc was produced by Rhode Show director David Gonzalez and some of the students in the Broad Street Studio's beat-making workshops, 11 of the 13 tracks on The Growth Project 2.0 were produced by Rhode Island hip-hop producer Joey Beats.

The difference is clear: a sleek, warm, old-school sound that takes from soul and jazz records as much as from newfangled electronica. Gonzalez says the producer came up with 40 to 45 beats — what would be about two years' output for Gonzalez — in 11 days. From there, the rappers listened, chose beats that inspired them, and put rhymes over them.

The content is a little different as well. While the first record felt like a debut record, with declarative statements about who the young rappers were and what they were about, this disc feels like a second record — a collection of songs by a group who has done it before and knows they can do it again.

So while there are earnest slice-of-life tracks such as the leadoff "Be Me," by Michelle Mancone, and "This One Goes Out," by Mancone and Anjel Newmann, there's also the battle rhyme "You Ain't Nothing," by Randolph Placide and Gonzalez, the romantic "Love So Divine" by Newmann and the harrowing "36 Hours," by Joshua Vega.

The Rhode Show takes young performers from all over Rhode Island in a variety of situations, including those transitioning out of the Training School (confidentiality regulations prevent Gonzalez from revealing which kids are from the school), and pays a stipend to learn the art and the business of music. These works are slices of the lives of real young people, without the lowest-common-denominator influences of corporate hip-hop and party music.

Gonzalez looks back on the first record and says, "We were so strong on defining what was different about the Rhode Show [from] other youth programs and hip-hop groups. … It was militant as hell; it was a reflection of our personality."

This time around, with the help of an outside producer, Gonzalez says, "it's like 'Let's introduce ourselves. Let's ride the intro; let's really enjoy the music and make that outro last.' We always felt like we needed to 'speak.' Now, a lot of things are just chill."

Gonzalez can be a taskmaster, and sometimes it's necessary, he says, but the accomplishment of finally getting out that first record helped him to develop "a trust in the process. … I notice I've calmed down tremendously. I've stopped screaming, but I've got a lot more gray hairs."

Working with Joey Beats was "a great opportunity for someone else to worry about the beats," Gonzalez says. The beat-making process is a slow one in the Rhode Show environment, with Gonzalez and his students producing for the group, for the workshops he runs in the Training School and associated projects. "Usually, there's a beat presented and we all write for it, and we fight over it. … I can't make beats fast enough," he says. Now, when the time comes to make a third record, he says, they already have about 30 tracks to choose from.

Joey Beats says he was impressed with the buzz around the Rhode Show after their performance at last year's AS220 Foo Fest, and ran into Gonzalez at the SoundSession festival.

"It's better to create the music within a concentrated period of time. If it gets drawn out too long, the music loses a piece of its identity."

Some of the beats he had lying around, and some were created especially for the occasion when he heard their ideas.

"This group is the most professional that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. There's a certain candor, maturity, regimen, that I don't have the luxury to experience in a lot of projects I associate myself with. … The thing that I like about them most is that they're a team. It makes them very powerful as a unit."

Some of the new blood in the group is responsible for the best moments. Akinola Daramola is represented on three tracks, including the foreboding "I Got a Feeling" ("Food for thought on Hell's dishes"), which showcases his dramatic rhymes and muscular voice, and the four-headed collaboration "Shine" with Mancone, André Bradley and Gonzalez.

"He is a phenomenal rapper — performance, everything," and a perfectionist in the studio, Gonzalez raves about Daramola. "This is a new voice that we [didn't] have to put into development," the months-long initiation that new Rhode Show members usually have to go through before they're ready to take the stage.

Vega, 19, of Providence, joined the Rhode Show as a dancer and did some spoken-word pieces, and has taken to the mike for the first time for this disc. He will graduate from the Met High School next month and calls Gonzalez "a great mentor [and] a big reason why I'm back in school."

"36 Hours" is about his aunt's cancer and the time the hospital mixed up his records and, for a day and a half, he thought he also had cancer. It was a hard experience to talk about, he says, but that's where the Rhode Show, and hip-hop in general, comes in. "People tend to be quiet about their experiences, and when they hear us, maybe they think, 'Maybe I shouldn't keep this to myself.'"

Daramola, 20, of East Providence, calls the Rhode Show "A place where I can really get my voice out. It's become an amazing life experience." He had produced some discs on his own, but the group structure and support of the program has widened his creative horizons. "They're allowing me to express myself in different ways. I had one direction, which was rapping about riches and fame. Now I rap about things that I see, things people go through. … It makes me feel good."

The Rhode Show celebrates the release of The Growth Project 2.0 Saturday night at AS220, 115 Empire St., Providence, at 8 p.m. Admission is $5; the disc sells for $10. Call..:NAMESPACE PREFIX = SKYPE /> (401) 831-9327

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX82ikj8fss

The Rhodeshow has been performing non-stop. We just got back into two and have a week break. With that, we love to share the first performance we ever did of a song called "You Ain't Nothing!" It is by Randolph Placide, David Gonzalez, hyped by Akinola, and Produced by Joey Beats. Please enjoy!

Whats poppin ya'll. Ight update. Our first ever ELEMENTARY SHOWCASE of 2008 just set off last Thursday (jan 10th) from 9-11pm. For all who dont know, ELEMENTARY SHOWCASE is a hip hop open mic that Hip Hop220 at Broad Street Studio produces. Every second Thursday of the month from 9-11pm @ As220 there is a spot where emcees, poets, b-boys, b-girls and upcoming producers can come through and rock the crowd.ELEMENTARY has been around for about 6 years in total. It was started by my homeboys Kareem Caines and DJ Tek. Every show we try to have an emcee battle but it only works if heads actually sign up. Good looks to Jason Reed for being the only emcee for signing up for the battle. Neways it was alot of work getting the show together. I (Anjel) was kinda flipin out cuz i cant draw but i needed a flyer done ASAP. Luckily I came across my homeboy Rascal and he hooked me up with a fresh to death flyer. Next on the agenda was actually go flyering.. A few heads helped me out with that like, Chinky, Hilary,Vega, Rascal, and few others. Thanks for the support ya'll. I think around 11 emcee's signed up the open mic and we had Z Jennings, Akinola and The Rhode Show feature for the night.. OO yea by the way good looks Z Jennings. I was going crazy looking for a collection of original beats so I hit up Chachi . He then directed me to a young man by the name of Z Jennings.My mans really came thru with his drum machine and played all of his original beats for emcee's to rhyme over and breakers to dance over the entire night. I gave him kinda short notice so I really appreaciate all his help. Lets see... Oh yea...big ups to Street Noise, Quick to Kill and Pro City for coming thru and getting down on the dance floor. Every one who came thru thanks soo much and I hope ya'll had fun. Every one who didnt attend no worries.We gon be making every second thursday of the month from 9-11pm at As220 in downtown Providence hot from now on. 2 dollar cover. Hope to see everyone on Valentines Day.

We back again with an update mah peoplez!!!! What else can really be said?? The Youth Showcase at the studio was more than a succsess, it was the jump off!! The night started off at 6pm on Thursday Nov 18 2007 with food, music, networking, portfolio sharings and a whole bunch off T-shirts, hoodies and Rhode Show c.d's being sold. At about 7pm we (this is Anjel as usual..lol..) all headed downstairs to the performance space.. This is where the party really got started! Michelle Mancone aka Meesha was the host of the event..It almost brought tears to my eyes seeing Meeshy up there all grown and unakward..lol..luv ya grl! Neways, my crew Procity hit the dance floor first. I think we ripped it. We danced to a mix of music created for us by our homeboy DJ Trap..Next, the Sister's program put on a 10 minute skit mainly focused on how to run a small buisness..The skit was really funny but what was even more funny was Benito wearing both a skirt and a wig ...go you!..lol..Lets see..??..Ah yes..last but def not least, my crew Rhode Show hit the stage.. I think it went great to be honest..We all (Me,Amber,Vega,Meesha and Hommy) sat on stools on the stage and let the audience listen to a few new songs such as "Break That" by Hommy and myself, Michelle and Mary B's new joint and also my new track with Mary B called "Waiting for Heaven". After showing our three newest songs we then performed both Sinner and Listen to the Buzz. It went really well. The night ended with some more networking, product and program promotions and also a dance cypher upstair in the hallway..lol.. We were getting down!!!  If you didnt come to this showcase you bettah come to the next one!!! please..lol.. Be there or be square!    Miss Anjel