Jasmine’s Juice – R&B Icons Joe And Ashanti Are Coming To The UK!

So a quick win for Christmas presents on my side are tickets for music shows and one just popped up that i know i will be gathering a huge group together for a fun night out.
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JASMINE AND ASHANTI AT AN EARLY MOBO AWARDS IN LONDON.

R&B LEGENDS JOE & ASHANTI – are coming to the UK and Live in Concert for two big dates.

Saturday 25th February 2017 at the O2 Academy Birmingham & Sunday 26th February 2017 at the Hammersmith Eventim Apollo London.

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JASMINE AND JOE.

The two mega US R&B icons of the ‘90’s and the early 2000’s will come together for the first time in history for the first major R&B concert of 2017 and I for one am getting out my old albums from both artists to get myself ready.

I first met Joe at his very first London showcase at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill Gate. I remember it to this day. He wore really ridiculously baggy jeans, a red sweatshirt and a Tupac-esque bandana as he serenaded us with his hits from ”My name is Joe”.

After that I met him on numerous occasions for MTV News interviews, Christmas and New Years in Acapulco with Mariah, and he even came to one of my annual birthday parties in Kensington the same year as Usher and just got down with the vibes. A true legend. I can still play his albums back to back and sing along all day long.

Joe is a Grammy nominated songwriter,and certainly needs no introduction to die hard R&B fans. Serenading true R&B and New Jack Swing lovers of the ‘90’s with his debut album ‘Everything’ and hit song ‘I’m In Luv’; his second (sophomore) album, ‘All That I Am’ in 1997, earned him his position, as the King of R&B.

With over 14+ years of ground breaking and heartfelt ballads and songs, 12 albums and more than 15 million records sold, Joe has became the voice of many men and women in love, with some of his biggest songs of his career including ‘Don’t Wanna Be a Player’, ‘Stutter’, ‘If I Was Your Man’ and ‘Thank God I Found You’ featuring Mariah Carey and Nas.

Set to hit the stage performing his R&B classics and songs from his 2016 12th studio album, ‘#MyNameIsJoeThomas’ including his rendition of Adele’s diamond selling single ‘Hello’ and debut single off the album ‘So I Can Have You Back’.

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JASMINE AND ASHANTI AT AN MTV NEWS SHOOT.

Grammy award winning singer Ashanti is one of the most successful female artists of the millennium. Stepping on the scene with successful collaborations with Hip Hop heavyweights Fat Joe’s ‘What’s Luv?’ and Ja Rule’s ‘Always on Time’, followed by her triple platinum self titled debut album – ‘Ashanti’; the first lady of Murder Inc, released unforgettable hits such as, ‘Foolish’, ‘Happy’ and ‘Baby’, becoming the second artist of all time after The Beatles to have ever had their first three chart entries simultaneously in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

I first met Ashanti when Ja Rule and Irv Gotti introduced her to me many years ago at MTV. She was always TV ready, media trained yet fun and totally professional and fun.
I also filmed a few VMA shows with her in New York where we had fun during sound check breaks.

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JASMINE AND ASHANTI AND THE RADIO CITY HALL AT THE VMA’S SHOW.

The talented songstress will return to the UK for the first time in three years and is set to release her upcoming sixth studio album in 2017.

It’s always a risk to see our Nineties legends in concert so many years after their hey-day in case they do a K Ci and let us down, but i can honestly say i know this will be a great gig. Both acts have pipes for days and would never knowingly be anything less than great live onstage.

It’s time to celebrate the amazing music of these two legends in one night, taking you from the 90s, right through to the noughties!

Tickets for this EXCLUSIVE show start from £32 and will be available to purchase at www.ticketmaster.co.uk, www.ticketweb.co.uk and www.eventimapollo.com from Friday 16th December 2016.
See you there!

Jasmine’s Juice – Digital iS Media Awards 2016!

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NOEL CLARKE PRESENTS AN AWARD TO GAL-DEM.
All images – Richard Pascoe Photography / Digital iS Media Awards 2016.

Last night, hundreds of future leaders from the UK’s untapped digital world gathered at the May Fair Hotel in central London, to celebrate the biggest movers and shakers online from the past twelve months.

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Awards show hosts; Joivan Wade , Percelle ‘Percy’ Ascott and Dee Kaate.

The ceremony was hosted by Joivan Wade (Doctor Who, E4 Youngers and Wall of Comedy), Percelle ‘Percy’ Ascott (Silent Witness, Wizards v Aliens, and Wall of Comedy) alongside Dee Kaate (Wall of Comedy) – who were previously collectively known as Man Dem On The Wall.

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Presenters on the night included BAFTA Award winner Noel Clarke, who presented Gal Dem with Favourite Arts & Entertainment/Lifestyle Site/Mag.

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Global producer and hit maker Naughty Boy presented the Favourite Web Series Actress to Ola Adaeze, star of Boxx.

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Breaking the mould in radio broadcast were winners Not For The Radio who picked up Favourite Online Talk Show. With their basic panel set-up of four presenters interviewing one solo music star for over an hour, they have de-bunked everything that media content makers are told about creating short, snappy, highlights. NFTR viewers are tuning in and staying logged into these long informal chats for up to two hours at a time!

The NFTR award was presented by Jodie Abacus – the hot new soul sensation named by Elton John as ‘one to watch’ for 2017.

The coveted Favourite Web Series Ensemble Award was went to A Lesson Learnt, presented by actor Kofi Abrefa, best known for treading the boards at The National (A Taste of Honey) and staring in Channel 4’s future robot saturated world – Humans.

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Gal Dem winners!

Hood Documentary were the big winners on the night taking home two awards for Favourite Web Series and Best Web Series Actor, which went to Kayode Ewumi. The spoof documentary follows wannabe Grime MC Roll Safe as he guides viewers around the ‘hood’.

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Media Industry Key Influencers Attend The Evening To Check Out The Talent.

A Dot Comedian,a talent who I’ve known since his early days when he was hustling the underground comedy scene, is known for his theatre shows, MTV and ITV credits, and won Favourite Online Comedian.

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Google’s Social Media Manager Mercedes Benson presented an award on the night.

Charles Thompson MBE,is the man and founder of the Screen Nation Awards (over twenty years ago) and more recently the Screen Nation Digital iS Media Awards (in 2014). Charles is at the vanguard of celebrating and giving a voice to a ‘hidden community’ – a subject that my London360 reporters have just made a TV special about for Community Channel (SKY,Virgin, Freeview) and London Live, titled ‘London Undercover’, so it’s an area getting much focus currently.

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Aaron Roach-Bridgman Presented The Honorary Awards.

When Charles launched the Screen Nation Digital iS Media Awards three years ago to recognise and reward excellence, from this ‘hidden community’; literally millions of online Black British talent, YouTube superstars and business entrepreneurs had already saturated the digital landscape. Even major brands like Huffington Post have a Black Voices brand – they understand this is a rapidly growing, very economically-strong demographic with a commercial mind-set.

This hidden community with it’s DIY ethos, is made up of millennials who are creating vlogs, blogs, news platforms, apps, games, comedy and web series which are being viewed by millions of other millenials globally, yet are practically ignored by the UK mainstream media.

KSI for example, is a black Londoner who is one of the biggest web stars on the planet. Do you think he’s a household name? No. Yet when I attended his recent film premiere at the O2, hundreds of young people were hysterically screaming for him and his peers. The adults? No clue.

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The #DigitaliSMediaAwards has been the only awards show to recognise these talented young stars and give them validation and it’s growing annually.

For example, nominated for the Digital Achievement Award was Fanbytes, which reaches millions of millennials and is the UK’s largest social video platform. Forbes described Tim Armoo and Ambrose Cooke, the duo behind Fanbytes as ‘the millennials redefining how brands market to other millenials’. These innovators count huge brands like Disney, adidas, New Look, Go Pro and Nickelodeon as their clients.

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Emerging YouTube stars such as King Cas, (who can count BAFTA winning actor John Boyega as a fan) had over 2 million views on Facebook for his first show, yet you would struggle to find him featured in any mainstream media or Kayode Ewumi, 22 year old, comedian, creator and star of Hood Documentary. The online series was so successful it has now been commission by (ironically, now, an online platform) BBC Three.

A vast array of talent is being ignored by the old school media gate-keepers, yet this talent is clearly an enormous force to be reckoned with, commanding both trendsetting power and as well as tremendous influence.

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Internet stars Tights and Kay persuade me – actually not much persuasion was needed- to act a fool.

I’ve mentioned this repeatedly in the past in my past columns but all too often UK media often questions whether we need the MOBO awards, Asian Awards, BUFF Film Festival, Screen Nation Awards, British Black List, Screen Nation Digital iS Media Awards? Yes we do, for without these, all of this great talent would continue to go unrecognised and more importantly championed the way ‘the rest’ are.

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Jasmine with The Colour Network co-founder – Annika Allen.

Take Annika Allen, the Co-Founder of The Colour Network which is an online TV platform commissioning its own content from new digital stars of the future.

Or Dionne Grant, a former editor at The Voice news paper who has now left the old school print press brand, to set up her own news platform titled The Young Empire.

The Awards, now in their third year, were established to celebrate innovative Black talent in new media: web show creators and content makers, who write, cast, shoot and edit live on location on their mobile devices, bluetooth the content back to a live gallery for airing on mainstream broadcast networks as well as their own YouTube channels. A double win.

These superhero digital creators then market their content via social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope and more to generate voluminous fan bases all across the globe.

So the next time you’re sitting comfortably watching your favourite weekly soap on a mainstream channel, think about the digital monster that has its tentacles spread across young peoples eyes, ears and hearts.

There’s a movement that’s been going on right under your noses. Are you a part of recognising it’s power and journey and jumping on board? Or will you be crushed under it’s momentum and force as it sweeps past you into the new age?

#DigitaliSMediaAwards /#DigitaliSMediaAwards2016

WINNERS 2016

Favourite Web Series Actor
Ishmael Majid – Levelz
Kayode Ewumi – Hood Documentary – WINNER
Khaleb Brooks – Boxx
King Cas – New Skool Life
Kingsley Amadi – Spin (Season Finale)
Michael Gyekye – How Did We Get Here
Stephen Boyce – How Did We Get Here
Sylvester Akinrolabu – A Lesson Learnt

Favourite Web Series Actress
Joanne Sandi – A Lesson Learnt, TV Footballers
Kamara Bacchus – How Did We Get Here
Linda Adey – Dear Jesus
Natalie Gumede – Sally the Life Coach
Olu Adaeze – Boxx – WINNER
Scarlett Carter – A Lesson Learnt
Vanessa Donovan – Shrink

Favourite Web Series Ensemble
A Lesson Learnt S1 – Wondervision Films – WINNER

Boxx S1 – Joi Productions in Assn with Plot Lost Prods
Concealed S1 – Sandra Koree/Clever Lens Media Production
Dear Jesus S4 – Wonderlondon
Levelz S1 – Paul Opara, Shawn John, Malik Marli/Ezeo Media
New Skool Life S1 – Street Seven Films
Spin S2 (Season Finale) – Spin Drama TV

Favourite Web Series
A Lesson Learnt S1 – Priscilla Owusu, Danny Wonders/Wondervision Films
Boxx S1 – Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Yrsa Daley-Ward/Joi Productions in Assn with Plot Lost Prods
Dear Jesus S4 – Danielle A Scott-Haughton/Wonderlondon
Hood Documentary S1 – Tryrell Williams/TkCreatives – WINNER
Hot Pepper S1 – Destiny Ekaragha/2far Films
How Did We Get Here S2 – Cardy Films/Bwng
Shrink S1 – Katrina Smith Jackson, Trish M. Chanda/Auteur Vision Media
TV Footballers S1 – Matthew Allick, Chris Alozie/Allick Productions

Favourite Short Film
Deep It – Dir. Teddy Nygh / Prod Nick Bedu -WINNER
Fabric of The Royals – Dir./Wri. Verona Rose
New Beginnings – Dir Nicole Volavka
The Works – Dir./Wri. Elliot Barnes-Worrell
Wild in the Wind – Dir./Wri. Ejiro Okorodudu
Wilton – Dir./Wri. Cecile Emeke

Favourite Online Comedian
A Dot Comedian WINNER

Arnold Jorge
Ds Rants’n’Bants
Tommy Moutchi
Uncle Rafool

Favourite Podcast
3 Shots Of Tequila – https://soundcloud.com/3shotsoftequila WINNER

Artistic State Of Mind – https://soundcloud.com/artistic-state-mind
Half Cast/Chuckie Online – https://soundcloud.com/chuckieonline
Melanin Millennials – https://soundcloud.com/melaninmillennials
Mostly Lit – https://soundcloud.com/mostly-lit
Tea And Biscuits – https://soundcloud.com/tea-biscuits-1

FAVORITE ONLINE TALK SHOW
Not For The Radio

FAVORITE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE SITE/MAG
Gal-Dem

FAVORITE YOUTH ENTERTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE SITE/MAG
GRM Daily

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

FAVORITE WEB SERIES ACTOR
Kayode Ewumi

FAVORITE WEB SERIES ACTRESS
Olu Adaeze

FAVORITE WEB SERIES ENSEMBLE
A Lesson Learnt

FAVORITE WEB SERIES
#HoodDocumentary

FAVORITE SHORT FILM
Deep It

FAVORITE ONLINE COMEDIAN
A Dot Comedian

FAVORITE PODCAST
3 Shots Of Tequila

FAVORITE ONLINE TALK SHOW
Not For The Radio

FAVORITE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE SITE/MAG
Gal-Dem

FAVORITE YOUTH ENTERTAINMENT/LIFESTYLE SITE/MAG
GRM Daily

Digital Achievement (honorary)
Steven Bartlett
Timothy Armoo & Ambrose Cooke

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The London360 junior interns Miranda, Kavita, Rute, Eunice, Cleo), were on hand with social media all evening and #DigitaliSMediaAwards was trending!