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March 15th, 2011

Member of the Month - March 2011

By Emily Moldenhauer

Though born in Palm Springs CA, Dee Wilson considers himself a Bay Area native, where he was raised and has found an artistic community to pursue his life dreams in the arts. A well-rounded artist, Dee has been singing and dancing since the age of five, drawing and writing since seven, and now as a young adult of 18, is finding success in photography and modeling. Being a dancer, fashion designer, and so much more, Dee Wilson never tires to inspire others and be inspired. Throughout his run with singing/songwriting, Dee’s R&B-influenced style has been compared to Kid Cudi, B.o.B and Fonzworth Bentley and his sound can be found on YMR’s 2010 mixtape Run This Town. As an LGBQT activist and leader in his community, Dee will be remembered for his familiar smile, his willingness to connect to those around him, and his seriousness about his craft and art. Keep your eyes peeled for him in the future, as he plans to continue competing in dance competitions, writing, recording music, and designing fashion!

Watch the video before to hear more about Dee in his own words continue reading the rest of the blog for some fun facts!

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March 08th, 2011

Company Meeting Recap: Creating Your Vision

Yesterday, during the second company meeting of the spring programming season we discussed the concept of creating a vision.

We stressed the importance of planning and remembering what's most important to each of us. After handling our general housekeeping & updates we started off by each sharing a future goal or objective we hoped to achieve within the next 5 years. The main activity for the evening was to start creating our own physical vision board using images, words, and phrases from magazines to depict the lives we wanted to live. The idea behind creating a vision board is that when people surround themselves with images of who they want to become, what they want to have, where they want to live, or vacation, etc. their lives change to match those images and those desires. With such an ambitious and talented group of youth in YMR, we thought it would be key to support each other in making our goals not only more clear & specific, but more vivid as well.

RESOURCES FOR CREATING YOUR OWN VISION BOARD:
Below are some resources for finding more about vision boards and instructions to create your own.

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March 04th, 2011

YMR Artist featured on song placed in recent episode of One Tree Hill!

One of YMR's artists, Allante "Industry" Hunter (of GTO), lent some of his vocal stylings to a track called "Step Into the Ring" by Hammerwax. The song was placed in the episode of One Tree Hill that aired Tuesday, March 1, 2011 & is played throughout the show. Check out some of his rap skills in this short clip!

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March 04th, 2011

First Youth Open Mic at the Starry Plough a Success!

On Tuesday, March 1st, the artist development workshop represented for the YMR crew at the first of many youth open mics to take place at the Starry Plough in Berkeley. Everyone had a great time, and artists of all ages came together to support creative expression. Check out a few of the pictures from the event & try to make it to the next one on March 15th!

Shout out to Kelleth Chinn of Rolling Jack Records for putting this together and taking some amazing photos!

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March 04th, 2011

Company Meeting Recap: What is YMR to you?

During the company meeting on Monday, February 28th our focus was "What is YMR to you?" We welcomed a few special guests to join us-- consultants from The Berkeley Group (TBG). TBG is an organization at Cal that is currently working with YMR to strengthen its operations and further develop its brand. We spent the duration of the company meeting talking about what YMR means to each of us, reminiscing on the past, and sharing our visions for the future of Youth Movement Records.

The Wordle diagram below illustrates some of the words people shared about YMR.

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February 18th, 2011

YMR featured in the "Voicebox" at 7LIVE on ABC!

Tuesday, February 15th YMR was featured on ABC's show 7LIVE! Seven representatives of Youth Movement Records participated in the studio audience for the local TV show. You can even catch one of our members voicing his opinion live in the "Voicebox." ABC's 7Live airs Monday through Friday, from 3-4PM. Thank you to ABC's Rachel Wyatt for inviting us. It was fun!

Check out the full video for the episode online at http://bit.ly/ejdJkV.

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February 14th, 2011

Member of the Month - February 2011

By Tania Pulido

During the month of February, love is being celebrated all over the country. Here at YMR, we are highlighting the legacy of a youth whose big heart touched our community. Tyree Brown had an unforgettable smile with a personality to match. He was involved in the Media, Arts, & Culture Program (MAC) at the RYSE Center in Richmond, California. For about a year and a half, Tyree worked tirelessly as a rapper, audio engineer, and producer. Unfortunately, Tyree recently passed away just weeks before his 17th birthday. In honor of Tyree Brown, please check out the video as he is remembered by Fred Thomas, MAC Program Coordinator at RYSE!

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February 02nd, 2011

All-ages Music Symposium & AMP'd! concert February 20th

The All-ages Music Symposium & AMP'd! Concert unites allies of all-ages events and venues for music and art in the Bay Area

Oakland, CA (January 26, 2011) - Youth Movement Records (YMR) in association with the All-ages Movement Project (AMP) presents an afternoon of dynamic mobilizing conversations to generate momentum for the local all-ages movement through education and music, Sunday, February 20, 2011 at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley. The All-ages Music Symposium commences at 4PM and will feature a panel discussion and break out sessions amongst representatives from government and policy, media, community organizations as well as venue owners, promoters, artists, parents and fans about the viability of an all-ages music scene in the Bay Area. The evening will culminate in a production that epitomizes the movement, uniting artists of different genres and ages at the AMP'd! concert.

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January 19th, 2011

GRAMMY Career Day 2011

On Wednesday, January 12th, the YMR crew represented at the 2011 edition of GRAMMY Career Day at SF State. GRAMMY Career Day provides 700 high school students the opportunity to experience and learn about the many careers in music. Through interactive workshops, performances, and discussions, students learn about careers in production, performance, composition, arrangement, and business.

Check out a word from one of our attendees, songwriter & Leadership Collective member, Dee Wilson.

"What is Grammy Career Day?! It’s only the best day ever for any young aspiring musician in high school. It’s like Camp Rock but on a college campus instead of in the wilderness. Anywho, I went to Grammy Career Day last Wednesday and it seems to get better every year. New talent, new faces, new experts in the field; meaning that all the advice and such is fresh. I’ve definitely learned a few new things that I didn’t from last year's Career Day like songwriting formats and the importance of a songwriter, that’s me!!!

After all the fun and business, I got to experience Pop Lyfe. A group from Oakland School of the Arts better known as OSA, and man was I loving it. Way better than McD's. It makes me feel all warm inside to see young people, like myself, doing great things with their talents instead of letting them go to waste.

Well that’s all for now. Word of advice, 'Keep on swimming' as Dory would say, in the face of trouble."

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January 17th, 2011

Member of the Month - January 2011

By Tania Pulido

Happy New Year! As 2011 unfolds, talent at Youth Movement Records continues to grow. With the new year rolling in, many of us are still thinking about our resolutions but Ben White a three-year member of YMR is fulfilling his long-time dreams of becoming an MC, Producer and DJ. His involvement with YMR has opened up many opportunities to learn and develop his skills. Now at the age of 21, Ben's single "How Much I've Grown" reflects on his growth by emphasizing both his past and future. While his stage name "Watzreal" was originally a just screen name for an online poker game, don't be fooled-- he is no joke. His dedication has got him successfully to his 3rd year at San Francisco State University, studying Child & Adolescent Development, and made him this month's Member Of The Month!


Name: Watzreal
Age: 21
Craft: MC, Producer, DJ
Loves: Old school hip hop, Listening to undiscovered talent, Working with children, Learning unconventional information, ReverbNation, Chegg, My girlfriend Rowena and our cat Riley
Hates: H.A.M., Olives, Heavy Metal, Tuition Fees
Inspirations: My parents as well as my fans
Something Weird: My rap name was originally a screen name for online poker

Ben's talent surprisingly emerged from promoting other artists' music. It was through that process and with the help of a friend that he discovered the many talents he now shares with all of us. Watzreal uses his music to express himself to the world with lyrics of intelligence, a style he proudly owns. Ben's music is inspired by rappers such as Jay-Z, NAS, Eminem, and Rakim, as well as some underground artists. What sets Watzreal's music apart is the challenge he rises to creatively write about his life versus the all-too-common themes in mainstream hip hop such as sex, women and money. Ben continuously thrives to improve his craft, not only for himself, but the people in his community and his loved ones.

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