GOOD LOVE.....GOOD MUSIC

The same elements that go into making GOOD love should also go into making GOOD music.  Spontaneity.  Creativity. Focus. Passion.

~QAMIL~

As the release of my album, SOUL DOPE, approaches I have so many thoughts racing through my mind.  I can’t think of many words to describe what I felt after I recorded the very last word on the project.  I suppose a roller coaster analogy would be most appropriate as I truly felt a wave of emotions.  One minute I was ecstatic then I was relieved to be done with the 10 hour recording sessions THEN I was sick to my stomach.    Hell, I even panicked a little bit as I thought, What if I didn’t say enough?  What if I said too much?  What if I would have sang this or that note differently?  What if nobody likes the music? 

It took me a year to finish SOUL DOPE.  The song lists changed.  The producers changed.  The direction changed.  The sound changed.  My LIFE changed which meant the things that I had to say changed right along with it.  This is not really a bad thing but it does create a challenge for an artist that is determined to write about things that are authentic and true to their life and experiences.  I am one of those artists.

The number one reason that I was so adamant about being the sole writer on this album was because I didn’t feel like anyone else could capture my thoughts, feelings and experiences better than I could.  I didn’t want to make songs that I THOUGHT people wanted to hear.  I wanted to make music that was REAL and the evoked some kind of emotion inside of me when I created it.  By taking my time and really focusing on exploring musically and lyrically I was able to do just that.

SOUL DOPE is my BABY.  This project and the process of seeing it come to life has changed me.  It has made me more confident in my abilities as an artist.  It has made me feel a renewed determination to do my part in bringing back and promoting REAL music.    Personally, I feel like real music never died.  People just stopped looking for and buying it after radio decided to stop playing it BUT that is a totally different topic so I digress (for now).   I am proud to be a part of the solution and not the problem and I PROMISE to always make GOOD MUSIC!

~Qamil~

SOUL DOPE drops Friday, September 28, 2012!!!!!

#STAYTUNED

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DREAMCATCHER!

"Tell me I can't have it and I'll TAKE IT.  Tell me I can't do it RECORD BREAKING."

I'm sitting here typing and smiling as I flashback to the video shoot for this song.  It was my first video and I was nervous as HELL but totally calm on the outside.  It was HOT and the shoot took almost 7 hours but we got some truly amazing footage so it was worth every minute in that 90 degree weather. The video was shot and directed by Kimistry of Shotsbyheardinc and it will be premiered at the SOUL DOPE album listening party on Thursday, Sept. 13th between 6:30-9pm @ Lounge 62. 

This video is conceptually inspiring as it tells the story of people who overcome obstacles and channel their inner dreamcatcher to make their goals become accomplishments.  I hope to inspire and motivate people through this song.  It has done that for me and listening to it makes me feel GOOD and ready to take on the world.

There were so many people involved in the shoot that I MUST thank:   Lee "s7" Martin, Nicole Weathers, Carla Jackson, David Wright, Robert Berry, Aminah Wright, Caiden Martin, Diggy Dulche, Kei Mari, Young Wise, Ev Jones, Brandee Baboski, Lucianda Scott, Jeremy Rogers,  Jermar Reese, Larry & Diana Jackson and little baby boy Jackson (LOL), chess champion Diamond, whoever delivered the Gatorade (I LOVE YOU) & ShotsbyHeardInc.  I apologize if I forgot anybody!  Just comment and tell me I suck and I will edit this. LOL

I wish we would have taken some footage of some of the funny behind the scenes moments liiiiiike me being strapped in a torture device all in the name of beauty and my hairstylist Lucianda Scott cussing the ice cream man CLEAN OUT. LOLOL.  See what had happened was....she bought some icecream for the kids but the ice cream man didn't have change for her $20. Sooooooooo  after collecting money from people on set who had cash, the kids were $1 short.  The icecream man had the NERVE to tell her to have the kids bring their half eaten icecream back!  Let's just say things got interesting. LOL

You really have to be a SUPER JERK to ask kids to return their icecream.  I mean....Come ON SON!

Anyhoo,  all was well and the big bad ice cream man left unharmed:D

Here are a few behind the scenes pics from the shoot!

Mentally checking out from the heat between takes.

Wardrobe change!

w/Diggy Dulche & Kei Mari of Empire Ent.

Larry, Diana and baby Jackson <3

Ev Jones is BOUT THAT LIFE (LOL)

Touch up time!  Nicole doing her thing.

The youngest cast members, my daughter Aminah and Caeden posing after their big scene:)

w/11 year old 7 time national chess champ Diamond and her father



Behind the scenes w/ rapper Young Wise



Robert Berry & Ev Jones chatting in up

aaaannd it's a wrap!  w/Kimistry

More behind the scenes pics to come! #STAYTUNED

A Dream Deferred....then REVIVED.

Music is as much a part of me as the blood pulsating through my veins.  I need it for survival in a world so consumed with pain, disappointments and unpredictability.  I've been singing for as long as I can remember.  To be exact, I remember my first solo as if it were yesterday.  I have what some would call a LONG memory.  I remember standing in front of my grandfather's church.  I was about 3 years old and I sang the same two lines over and over again, "I'm just a nobody, tryna tell everybody about somebody who can save your soul.  I tell you he can save...save...save your soul." 

I always loved music.  I always loved to sing.  I never wanted to be a singer. 

By the time I got to middle school I knew I had a gift.   Unfortunately, shyness and insecurity would plague me for many years to come.  I held back in choir classes because I couldn't find the nerve to tell the teachers that I WANTED THAT SOLO.  So I sang alto in the choir and I watched form the sidelines as my classmates took the solos.

Fast forward to my freshmen year of college.  I started singing around campus and decided that I was ready to record an album.  LOL.  I worked with a few of my classmates from the now defunct groups Not To Be Forgotten...NTBF. LOL...again.  Asaf Fulks, who has gone on to be an incredible producer out in LA and Franklin Grace who is making his rounds as an actor were there every step of the way.  GOD I hope that project never resurfaces!  WHEW!  I wrote the whole thing and I was proud of myself BUT my new found dream of becoming a singer were sidelined by my chronic and mind numbing stage fright.  I tabled that aspiration and eventually went on to write a couple books. 

Eight years later I found myself at home, bored and ready to record a few songs.  Thanks to the encouragement of my friend Dewayne Johnston....okay more like harassment, I started to work on my first mixtape "DOPE".   "DOPE" was a collection of cover songs such as "Unthinkable",  "Ready For Love" and "Moment For Life".  It is available for free download at www.reverbnation.com/Qamil.  I recorded it for fun with NO intention of starting a music career.  I honestly believed that ship had sailed.  I was wrong.

In August of 2012, I was literally put on the spot at the now closed Suite 143 when I was TOLD I would be singing and the band already had my song. (S/O to Jhade Barnes of Renaissance Events in Columbus, Oh).  I stood on that stage singing "Rolling In The Deep" having an internal panic attack but I made it through!  That night set off a chain of events that I didn't see coming. 

Here I am, ONE year later and I am a month away from releasing my first (sort of) album, SOUL DOPE.  I have performed all over Columbus and have dates booked in other cities.  I shot my first music video and I host my own radio show.  My current project "THE PREVIEW" is doing very well (also available for free download @ www.reverbnation.com/Qamil).  (S/O to my producer Lee "s7" Martin for working magic on that project).  My songs have been added to rotation on various stations here in the US and overseas in the UK and Australia.

If anybody had come up to me a year ago and told me that all of these amazing things would happen in such a short time I would have laughed in their face.  Although, I didn't plan for any of this to happen I am so GRATEFUL and BLESSED for everything that has happened.  I am beyond ready for what's next and I have an incredible of team of people by my side who are supporting me. 

FULL SPEED AHEAD! 

~Qamil


LINKS:
YOUTUBE:  http://www.youtube.com/user/qamilsmusic/videos
REVERBNATION- www.reverbnation.com/Qamil