JASMINES JUICE- 2013 END OF YEAR REVIEW! THE DOTIWALA AWARDS!

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WITH MY FAVOURITE NYC ANNUAL FESTIVE ART – ACROSS THE STREET FROM RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL.

The last 12 months have flown by! I just returmed from New York after a very festive week!. Did you achieve all you desired? A great friend once shared her family tradition with me and now I do this with my nearest and dearest. We all gather at Christmas dinners and pop into a box a list with our 5 desires for the next year. We share them with each other before putting them into the joint box and then one of us seals it. When we gather again a year later we open the box to see what’s been achieved. This makes us not only put our desires out into the universe- speak on it and it will come to you- but also means now we have shared our ambitions with others we are under pressure to actually take steps to make them happen.
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WITH MY SECOND FAVOURITE ANNUAL NYC FESTIVE ART-USED TO THINK IT WAS LIPSTICKS UNTIL CLOSER INSPECTION REVEALED CHRISTMAS LIGHTS LOL!

Last year mine included making the final months of my fathers life as comfortable as possible and sharing conversations with him that I’ll never have the chance to have again. It also included a wish to concentrate solely on my mother after he passed so she could really make the most of her life and enjoy her elder years- I just took her to New York for her first trip out there last week – she had a once in a lifetime experience. It made us both so happy.
Last year I had also added that I wanted to share as many perks of my job with everyone around me. I share the love whether its music gig tickets, fancy balls, goody bags, books and so on. It makes me feel good. The more i give, the more i get back in positive energy. The harder I work the luckier I get!
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WHILST IN NY NELSON MANDELA PASSED. THIS WAS THE HARLEM APOLLO SIGN.

I had additionally also wanted to work in an environment where I could scale down the rock & roll side of the job and still do what I am skilled up to do- work in the broadcast media industry- but to balance that with giving back to others. I do this with the LONDON360 TV show, which brings in 120 young 18-25 year olds annually from across London’s capital and teaches them EVERYTHING about being a one man/woman TV/radio/print press/multi media genius. These reporters make TV features about London and act as a mini Reuters style news hub. Their hard work has paid off as this March their show and they themselves have been hired for a brand new London TV channel!
The only thing I could’ve done better on is making more time to exercise and finally do that ballroom dancing course I’ve always wanted to- so that will be going on this years list with the rest. Will you make a list too? Let me know what’s on it. I’d love to hear what your ambitions are.

Here are other people who achieved well this year in my humble opinion.

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PHARRELL WINS MY BALLER OF THE YEAR AWARD WITH HIS HUGE YET UNDERSTATED COMEBACK.
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LAURA MVULA WINS MY BALLER-LADY IN MUSIC 2013!

Once again UK urban music acts continued to do well and pimped out the music charts both nationally and internationally. Honourable mentions go to Rita Ora, Naughty Boy, Tinie Tempah, Wretch32, Rihanna, Jay Z, and Emeli Sande but my BALLERS OF THE YEAR IN MUSIC crown goes to Bruno Marrs for an exceptionally strong body of work that works in the charts, on radio and parties, Pharrell for having the global charts on lock with his happy two-step grooves all year, Laura Mvula who came with the realer than real self, velvet vocals and brumy accent and smashed all music charts and finally Queen Bee Beyonce who flew in at the last minute and changed the game with new rules, like her hubby, by releasing a whole new album with videos with no promo!
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IDRIS ELBA WINS MY MOVIE MYSTRO OF THE YEAR 2013.

In the movie and small screen world, actors and directors that get a nod include Noel Clarke who silently, humbly continues to make diverse films and bring in more and more young uns like Femi Oyeniran under his reign as well as act in blockbusters like Star Trek. Ashley Walters for his consistent appearance on mainstream TV and film. However, MOVIE MYSTRO OF THE YEAR Idris Elba takes the gold for killing it this year with his triple threat acts of Mandela, Luther and continues to push his passion with his on going music career.
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MP CHUKKA UMANNA WINS MY POLITICAL POWERPLAYER OF THE YEAR 2013!

Politics has never been stronger on the public agenda with mainstream events like the Woolwich murder, youth unemployment and immigration issues. So many great organisations are stepping up to make a pro-social difference. Orgs like Spirit of London Awards, One Big Community, the Amy Winehouse Foundation and more are stepping up to take ownership and make a change. However my POLITICAL POWERPLAYERS OF 2013 are the UKYP (UK Youth parliament) who are slowly and steadily making changes to students learning across the UK with their ‘curriculum for life’’ studies now being taught across UK, as well as young south London MP Chukka Umunna who has made a sharp rise in profile and helps engage more of the young and black community into politics in a refreshing new way.
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SAMUEL BENTA AND CHARLENE WHITE WIN MY MEDIA MAVEN AND MAJOR OF THE YEAR AWARD 2013!
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In 2013, more black and minority ethnic students are taking media studies as degree subjects than ever. We are making strides in having our faces seen and voices heard in the mainstream media. Young faces are grinding away daily to generate new platforms for media digestion. Special nods in my MEDIA MAVENS AND MAJORS go to Huffington Post editor Carla Buzasi, Radio 1 newsreader Tina Daheley, KissFMs Rickie & Melvin, Capital Xtras multi talented Kojo, Radio 1Xtras Sarah Jane Crawford and Charlie Sloth, SBTV’s Liam Toothill, and Maleena Pone –former LONDON360 reporter about to blow up on mainstream TV this coming year. This year my winners are young screenwriter and actor Samuel Benta for having his online TV series ‘’All about the McKenzie’s’’ commissioned by new London TV channel London Live which launches in March, as well as ITV News reader Charlene White who sits on our news screens daily delivering London’s news with style and panache and being strong enough to withstand social media abuse and stand her ground when abused this year for her decision not to wear a poppy onscreen.

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GEORGE THE POET WINS MY SPOKEN WORDSMITH WIZ OF THE YEAR 2013.

In the arts and culture world, the art of the spoken word has had a fire reignited within poetry genres, young new names like female poetess Hollie Mcnish who is selling out venues and performing at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, MC Akala continues to move mountains with his hip-hop Shakespeare movement, young black gay poet Dean Atta who is fast and topical with his content. However my SPOKEN WORDSMTH WIZ award of 2013 goes to a young man breaking boundaries in music charts and performing live at sold out venues with politically, thought provoking conscious content- stand up George the Poet-inspiring a whole new generation of articulate fans.

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DARCUS BEESE WINS MY INDUSTRY INSIDER INGENUITY AWARD OF THE YEAR 2013!

None of these stars would be stars without the insiders working for their advancement daily. The press, marketing and PR departments at brands are the secret make or break teams that influence what you see, hear and watch daily. People that deserve a shout out in 2013 are Industry players like Twin B- both brothers but in particular Alec ‘Twin B’ Boateng was appointed Artist & Repertoire (A&R) director of Atlantic Records UK, Music manager Zeon Richards who has worked hard to have his artists become household names. His multi-talented roster which includes George The Poet, Jacob Banks, Wizzy Wow, Knox Brown and artist Funny Tummy is lead by Wretch 32. Kwame Kwaten – music manager of the year- manages this years big shotter Laura Mvula- formerly managed singer Rumer, but with Laura proved it wasn’t just a one off, Sonia Meggie who runs the Inspirational You sessions, connecting people and opening minds, the hip hop worlds photographer to the stars- Paul Hampartsoumian- man that has loyaly captured the music scene on his lens for the past two decades, Princess Nyah empowering young ladies with her sessions, Yvonne Thompson- a very successful business woman that’s campaigning to get more women and BAME awardees on the Queens honours list. However, the INDUSTRY INSIDER INGENUITY AWARD must go to Darcus Beese –Island Records President (Amy Winehouse etc) – this year marks 20 years in his job-that’s a milestone right there for any man let alone a black man in a very male white world!

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GOOGLES ADRIAN JOSEPH – GOOGLE WINS MY BOMBASTIC BRAND BALLER OF THE YEAR 2013!.

It’s always important to understand that none of these industry insiders could do their jobs well without the support and empowerment of the brands that they represent. Brands that continue to champion and empower the community with events or resource like THE VOICE, BET, Flava Magazine, Adidas and more need a nod, but its Google who have stepped up this year and opened their doors welcoming people from all walks of life with their community engagement projects that win the BOMBASTIC BRAND BALLER of the year 2013.

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MAGICIAN DYNAMO WINS MY LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN AWARD 2013!

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN AWARD goes to my old compadre Magician Dynamo, who has above and beyond all possible odds defied bullying, ill health and TV knock backs to making his own lane in global TV with his own show Dynamo Magician Impossible. a true example of the saying ‘ when you don’t have a lane to follow- build your own!’.

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PEOPLE TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2014- NOEL CLARKES NEW MUSIC SIGNING TZY!

People to look out for in 2014 include Noel Clarkes new music signing-a young man called TZY, singer Delilah who may have lost her UK record deal but was swiftly picked up by none other than the music legend- Prince- who has been flying her out to his studio in Minneapolis to record with his team. British singer-songwriter Sam Smith who already has a No.1 under his belt after featuring on Naughty Boy’s ‘La La La’ and 23-year-old Kwabs who reflects a mixture of his African roots with RnB & Gospel influences set against a backdrop of electro-synthesized soul. Maybe we’ll see some of them on my 2014 end of year champions list!

Happy holidays readers! Love and laughter! X

Jasmines Juice featuring Black Nativity, legendary London DJ Birthday Boys party, Hip Hop artist Akalas birthday!

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JASMINE WITH REVEREND GEORGE HARGREAVES AND ACTRESS ELLEN THOMAS AT THE BLACK NATIVITY PREMIERE.

Fox Searchlight Pictures & Reverend George Hargreaves invited me to a Gala Preview of the new Hollywood musical film- Black Nativity. The film stars an all-star lineup including Jennifer Hudson, Mary j Blige, Nasir Jones, Forrest Whittaker, Angela Basset, Tyrese Gibson and more. It’s a joyous Christmas musical, told through uplifting, soulful gospel sounds and featuring a stellar line up of academy award winning stars and R&B superstars. It’s the story of Langston- a streetwise teen from Baltimore who journeys to New York to spend Christmas with his estranged grandparents. It’s a surprising and inspirational journey and along with new fiends and a little divine intervention, he discovers the true meaning of faith, healing and family.

The invitation only evening was held at the ornate Coronet Cinema in NottingHill Gate where a mini red carpet awaited our arrival. In the foyer meeting and greeting everyone was the Reverend George Hargreaves and already I could tell this was a promotional event with a difference. Not the usual press hacks or bloggers, the audience was a very different preview crowd than usual. All was soon revealed.

The reverend welcomed us all in the auditorium with a rousing welcome speech where he explains that this was a film that needed black audiences to visit the cinema and engage in the Christmas feel good spirit with its message, hence they’d invited a specially selected group of church leaders from all across the country to attend.

In the audience were a scattering of influencers and celebs including Sinitta with her gorgeous family in tow, Michael Jacksons nephews Tito Jackson’s son’s Taryll, Taj and TJ, who are better known as R&B /pop group 3T, Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon (who must’ve been in a bad mood as she refused to speak to us or take a photo in the press room!), lead singer of 80’s pop group imagination- Lee Johns, Miquel Brown (singer & actress), Pearly Gates (singer), Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, chaplain to the House of Commons and the Queen, Pastor Nims Obunge, CEO of the Peace Alliance, Beverley de Gale & Orin Lewis, ACLT, Actor and singer Roger Wright, ex- Lion King, Thriller Live and ITV’s ‘Superstar’ , Ken Burton, judge on BBC 2’s eight-part series The Choir: ‘Sing While You Work’ fronted by choirmaster Gareth Malone.

After the film-which as promised was a great festive feel-good experience, we were asked to stay and mingle with drinks and food. If you’re looking for a film to watch with family and friends this Christmas this is a great option. Its out this week-December 6th- so lets show the movie houses that black entertainment movies can sell in the UK- after all, if we don’t prove that they do-then we cant complain that there is no industry here for us!

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JASMINE WITH BIRTHDAY BOY RICHARD PASCOE (TOP RIGHT) AND FRIENDS.

Saturday night saw 300 Londoners ‘of a certain generation’ come together to celebrate the joint birthdays of iconic DJ’s Richie P and Matt White at the new, exclusive London Edition Hotel in Berners Street. The hotel is breath taking from the moment you step up to the doors and very New York in style and décor. For a hotel so stush, their staff manners were surprisingly polite, friendly and welcoming to a crowd for an urban event. (We all know how established high end establishments can be with black music nights). Anyway the staff couldn’t have been nicer leading to a very friendly warm night from the get go.

The basement clubroom is fully sound proofed, so even whilst the eighties classics were pumping hard baselines, the guests mere metres away above us weren’t disturbed on the ground floor. The party was a roadblock with personalized cocktails for the birthday boys (a rampant Richie and wicked White). The guests danced hard until 3am and I laughed at young un- CAPITAL XTRA DJ Kojo as he was clearly having more fun than I usually see him having at those young parties that only play grime and no one knows how to dance. This party was a sweatbox from start to finish from the jumping up and down. Great night!

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AKALA AKA KINGSLEE WITH HIS TWO BIRTHDAY CAKES.

Ended the week with a family and closed friends night for Akalas 30th birthday gathering at trailer happiness in Portobello road, west London.
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ONE OF KINGSLEES CAKES WAS HIS LATEST ALBUM COVER.

The private party was full of Kingslees (Akalas real name) nearest and dearest and it was a night full of love, laughter and positive vines just as you’d expect from this mans close circle of friends. His mother, both grandmothers and an abundance of siblings joined him in sharing the two birthday cakes his ‘’wifey’’ had lovingly organized. One cake had his latest album artwork on it, whilst the other- suggested by his cousin- was a Wu Tang cake! Kingslee was laughing as they were presented to him alongside sparklers and champagne ‘’ I refuse to cut into a Wu Tang cake!’’
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KINGLEES FRIEND JUSIN (CENTRE) MAKES A HEARTFELT SPEECH ABOUT HIS MATE.

One of his best friends Justin gave a heart rendering speech about why Kingslee was an inspiration and how far he’d come in recent years. Kingslee made a lovely speech of course thanking all those attending.
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ASHEBER – KINGSLEES FRIEND POURS LIBATIONS ON THE FLOOR.

Then an amazing family friend and band member whose name is ‘Asheber toasted Kingslee’s journey and in true hip-hop style poured libations on the carpeted floor in honour of our ancestors, passing down positive lessons to the next generation and bringing us all together for such a momentous milestone in Kingslee’s life.
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KINGSLEE MAKES A SPEECH.

The evening was accompanied by a brilliant dj set where much old skool groove, salsa dancing and reggae was played. Kingslee had demanded ‘’the first songs to be played after my cake have to be reggae!’’ He danced happily to salsa and reggae all night as he told me ‘’I’m celebrating my birthday tonight but tomorrow I continue with my UK tour going this week to Exeter, Bristol and Cardiff
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JASMINE WITH KINGSLEE AND HER FRIEND CHANELLE POST CAKE AND SPEECHES!

HOW TO MAKE IT IN MUSIC- BY BOB LEFSETZ (one of my favourite bloggers).

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BOB LEFSETZ

Bob Lefsetz is an American music industry analyst and critic, and author of the email newsletter and blog, the Lefsetz Letter. The newsletter has tens of thousands of subscribers

PRACTICE

Your ability to play exceeds social networking.

Your chops are more important than your social skills. Frequently the best musicians are near mute, they speak through their music, which brings adoring fans to them.

First learn how to play. Everything else comes next.

WRITE

You can make it with other people’s songs, but it’s hard to sustain. Consider writing another club in your bag, not only does it give you more options it also makes you more attractive to labels and other investors.

RECORD

A great song translates with just you and your instrument on YouTube. But if it’s someone else’s song, you’re not going to go far. We all pass around YouTube covers, but none of the acts ever stick, because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but it’s not the way into our hearts.

RECORD 2

Yes, if you hire name people and record in a top-notch studio your track will sound better, but ultimately it’s about the song. Slick means nothing if the song sucks.

DISTRIBUTE

Put your music everywhere. Starting on SoundCloud. It’s the default home of the wannabe. If you get any traction thereafter, get it on iTunes and Spotify, et al.

YOUTUBE

Comes after SoundCloud. A lyric video is good enough assuming people want to see it.

But if someone comes to your clip and the count is low it’s going to work against you, especially if you told people to go there.

HYPE

You start with your friends. And try not to burn out your friendships. Seed them with material. Listen to their feedback. Don’t lean on them to spread the word, if they like your material they will. If you give it to them and two weeks go by and you’re not hearing from other people, especially those you barely know or don’t know at all, your track wasn’t good enough. Maybe good enough for you, but not good enough to make it.

MAILING LISTS

Retain all the contact info of anybody who contacts you about your music. You want to know who your fans are.

MAILING LISTS 2

Put yourself in the shoes of your fans, look at it from their perspective, not yours. You may be frustrated you’re not more successful, but that’s not their problem. Only contact people when you think they’ll be thrilled to hear from you, when they’re interested in what you’ve got.

MAILING LISTS 3

If you’re getting positive feedback, feed information on a regular basis. If you’re seeding people and getting nothing back, the problem is you. Back to the drawing board. Yes, you may want to tell everybody they don’t get it and you’re misunderstood, that’s your prerogative, but that won’t help you make it.

TWITTER

Almost meaningless unless you’re already a star. Then it’s purely the cherry on top. And sundaes taste quite fine without the cherry. The problem with Twitter is most tweets go unseen. But if you notice retweets and feedback feeding the system is not a bad idea, as long as it doesn’t take your focus away from your music.

FACEBOOK

A home for looky-loos before you can afford your own URL/website. But don’t expect any virality on Facebook.

PLAYING LIVE

Comes last. It’s after you’ve learned how to play, practiced, written and recorded. If you put it first, you’re probably gonna be in trouble. Especially if you don’t know how to play and make mistakes. Yes, road chops are the best. But that’s assuming you’ve got somewhere to play. That’s the problem today, live music is not everywhere. Venues don’t want to pay and certainly don’t want to alienate their patrons. They’d rather spin records. So don’t beg anybody to play at their venue unless you’re going to make them money. That’s the cardinal rule. It’s your responsibility to bring people in, not theirs. Certainly if you’re completely unknown.

Having said all that, it’s not a bad idea to start out as a cover band. But use originals sparingly. And if people stop dancing and/or leave the room, pull them.

If you can get places to play, more power to you. But don’t put the cart before the horse.

BLOWING UP

It’s gonna happen slower than your wildest dreams. It’s gonna be long after your buddies have graduated from college and have careers and are starting families. If you’re not willing to risk it all and fail, music is not the business for you. And if you do fail, don’t complain, either get out or go back to the drawing board and work harder.

BLOWING UP 2

Your one big break is never the one you think it is, and is oftentimes a series of mini-breaks.

TV CONTESTS

Are about the shows, not the talent, about advertising, not music. At first, they were such a hit surprise this wasn’t completely true, but Kelly Clarkson made it a decade ago. Contests are short cuts that usually lead nowhere. They tar your resume.

MERCH

Assuming people come to see you, and like you, they’ll want to buy something from you, to evidence both their support and their identity. T-shirts are great, but make sure they’re well-designed and made with good materials, otherwise people will buy once, if that, and never again. As for CDs…this is what they’re made for, live gigs. They’re souvenirs. The music is available easily online. But personalized, signed product is not.

A MANAGER

No act makes it without one. Don’t sign a contract if you can get away with it. If you do, give up no more than twenty percent, hopefully fifteen. And hire a MUSIC BUSINESS LAWYER to negotiate the deal, not your dad’s attorney buddy. Whatever you spend will be a pittance compared to how screwed you will be if you actually make it and have signed a bad deal. The bottom line is when you start no one good wants to manage you, and chances are you’re going to leave your initial garage manager for someone more experienced. It’s gonna cost you, remember that.

AN AGENT

More important than a label these days. Agents work on commission, usually ten percent. And they don’t like to work for free. So if you’re not making any money, an agent isn’t gonna wanna represent you. I know it’s a conundrum. You need an agent to get work, but you can’t get an agent unless you’ve got work. Figure it out. Oftentimes it’s the drummer who both manages the band and gets gigs before professionals get involved. As to why it’s the drummer, we’re still trying to figure that out.

A LABEL

You might feel good you’re signed, but that don’t mean diddly-squat if it’s an indie who neither distributes nor promotes you. Give up rights commensurate with how much you’re being paid. Up front. Upon delivery. Guarantees of marketing and promotion are worthless, even if they’re in the contract. If you’re not getting any money, you want it to be a one or two album deal, with a hefty royalty rate and a return of rights upon termination of the deal or shortly thereafter.

A MAJOR LABEL

You give to get. Your deal will be lousy unless you don’t need them. If you’re pulling in thousands of people a night and tracks are flying out of the iTunes Store the major label will cut you a good deal, otherwise they won’t. And just because you have the deal don’t expect the label to break you. The hard work is just beginning. Give them tools, i.e. music. And play nice. Otherwise the label will blackball you, they don’t need troublemakers, unless they’re guaranteed revenue makers. And major labels only want acts they can easily market and profit from, i.e. radio acts. Remember that. If you’re not one of these, a major label deal is worthless, furthermore you won’t get one.

TRACTION

Comes slower than you expect once you’ve got a deal. It’s all work with very little reward for a very long time. In other words, if you’re not willing to enter the Ironman competition, don’t be a musician. Just when you’ve scaled one hill, there’s a mountain range looming in the distance.

HITS

You need more than one to sustain a career.

MONEY

Comes long after you think it should. Not only does the label take most of it, what you deserve isn’t rendered for eons, that’s the nature of royalties.

GETTING SCREWED

It goes with the territory. You’re never going to receive what you’ve earned. You just hire the best people and try to get the most you can.

SUCCESS

Won’t be as sweet as you think it’ll be. But don’t freak out in the middle of it. Because we need neither you nor your act. Do your best to be humble and sustain. Otherwise, you’ll be replaced.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE ABOVE

Exist. But they’re rare. Do you want to bank on being the exception?


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