"lluminate my heart with light, and my eyes with light and my ears with light and let there be light on my right and light on my left. Let there be light below me, let there be above me and light and light in front of me and light behind me. O Allah, make me a light."
They say true love is a beautiful thing. True love that results in hip-hop is a beautiful thing with a great soundtrack. The Reminders have been making music for a while now, both individually and together. In 2005, Big Samir began performing with Aja Black around the midwest, sharing similar views on life, music and religion, they decided to come together and work on a concept entitled The ReMINDers. The sound is best described as "soulful" awareness and positivity influence their lyrics, with a focus on harmonizing and bringing a message. After a two year break to raise their children, they are back with a powerful debut record "ReCollect" that will gain them a solid position in the music world. Aja Black, born in Hollis Queens (New York), 25, sings and raps on the record while Big Samir, born in Brussels (Belgium), 27, occasionally flips back and forth from French to English with a dope bilingual flow. The Couple-Duo is very busy promoting positive vibes and great music for people of all ages in the world to enjoy. For the past couple of years, they have acquired much success by sharing stages with such artists as DeLaSoul, KRS 1, Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, Pharcyde, Talib Kweli, Mos Def and have also hit the road with Blackalicious and OneBeLo.
Lamajamal combines of a wide variety of musical styles, instruments, rhythms and songs into one universal expression that displays musically how specific traditions from around the world can harmonize with each other. Their current sound is influenced by music from the Balkans, Turkey, North-Africa, and the Middle-east, as well as a touch of '60's "Surf Sound." During a live set, Lamajamal takes the listener on a musical journey with the following destinations: Bulgarian folk dances, Turkish/Anatolian melodies, Moroccan music, Classical Arabic/Egyptian music, Balkan Gypsy marching band songs,and Greek dulcimer melodies.
Combining elements of soul, folk, hip-hop, and spoken word, Alex Schein is multi-talented artist who straddles worlds through a universal message of Oneness. Armed only with his voice, an acoustic guitar, and a digital loop pedal, Schein’s live performance is a rich symphony of soulful melody, poetic flow and conscious lyricism.
In April of 2006, Schein released his first full-length and self-produced album "Speed of Light". Later that year Schein teamed up with Emmy Award Winning Filmmaker Josh Lowell of Big Up Productions to produce the video for the single “RiseUp” featuring emcee Deirdre Breeden (Charlottesville, VA) and members of Breaks Kru (Kings of NYC 2006) and Evolution out of Brooklyn, NY.
Known around the globe as the leading creator of high quality climbing and bouldering films, Josh Lowell’s films “Pilgrimage”, “Dosage III”, and “Dosage IV” have all featured songs by Alex Schein. In December of 2007, Schein’s song “the Drop” was featured in Lowell’s Emmy Award winning segment of Chris Sharma’s ascent of The Arch at Es Pontas as seen on NBC’s Jeep World of Adventure Sports.
Najjar Abdul-Musawwir is a Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) alumnus who has exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally. He is an award-winning painter, community-arts organizer, educator and consultant. Presently, he is teaching studio/art history with the School of Art and Design and University Core Curriculum at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is Vice President of the African-American Museum of Southern Illinois and advisor to the SIUC Muslim Student Association. Musawwir has provided art and/or consultant services to Illinois Art Council, MacArthur Foundation, Jackson County Public Housing Authority, Attucks Community Services, John A. Logan Museum, Southern Illinois Head Start, Carbondale Community Arts and other public and private institutions. He has successfully written grants to a developed and organized youth art program for over twelve years. He has spoken at colleges and universities in the United States. In 1999, the Panafest Committee invited him to exhibit and speak during the International African conference (Panafest Conference) at the University of Cape Coast and Cultural Center in Ghana, Africa. His work has been seen in Japan, Europe, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. He has been featured on televisionand radio, such as Chicago WTTW-TV/Carbondale WSIU-TV program, “Artists Across Illinois.”
Super InLight is the founding member & director of Stick and Move Dance Crew. Like that of Stick and Move, his mission is to educate, entertain, and inspire humanity through innovative artistry. A multi-talented artist specializing in hip-hop, breakdancing, choreography, acrobatics, poetry/spoken word, InLight keeps his focus on the health and the well being of the human family and the planet. He has shared the stage with artists such as Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and KRS 1. In december InLight will be traveling to Uganda to teach breakdancing to youth and will have the chance to learn from a resilient community of Ugandans
Lamajamal
Alex Schein
Super InLight