Reflections In The Room
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Reflections In The Room

Columbia, South Carolina, United States | SELF

Columbia, South Carolina, United States | SELF
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"SPOTLIGHT ON TREACHEROUS: ill Clinton"

THE MUSIC:
ill Clinton


[1] What up Ill! Such an honor to have the beats wizard himself once again in the hot seat! You are like on of the most sought after cats in the game…real talk when I was thinking of music for the movie, you were the first to come to mind. So what has been going on since the last time we chatted?

Hmm… Couple of things come to mind. First, we wanted to make sure that when we make good music, it has the proper avenues to reach people outside of Jacksonville and our circle. We have been working on forming GiveLove Ent. & GiveLove Records to produce, promote, and release our projects.

One project we just finished is Reformed Butterfly’s poetry album. It’s going to be released on July 11th at Three Layers Cafe. This is not going to be your average poetry project. I produced music for many of the poems/songs and it features some of Duval’s most talented lyricists!

Oh and I definitely can’t leave out Takara Houston. We have been working on some stuff that people will be hearing soon. She has like a jazzy fresh style I think people will really like

[2] Give Love Entertainment. The IGive shared with us that your organization has under its umbrella some of the most talented people in Jacksonville, such as, Reformed Butterfly, Love Reigns and Monsta….wow! That’s just hot! Tell us what your vision for your organization and what are your plans for the near future?

Well basically, sheeeesh I could go on and on about this… Here is the bottom line: Jacksonville has a lot of great people and talented folks, but I don’t think there are the same kind of support systems here in this city compared to other cities that are considered
entertainment centers. What we, myself, The Igive, and Love Reigns, want to do is create that. I think it is crucial for us here to work together as a team with complementary components. So with GiveLove we have everything we need…. Production, musicians, recording studio, song writers, poets, visual design, vocalists, DJ, and promotions. In GiveLove Ent. Everyone has ambitions and we all support eachother. I also feel that in order to really make waves and attract business relationships with organizations that can help market and distribute our projects we need to put out a bunch of quality projects under one banner.

Oh and a special shout out to GiveLove visual design artist Ben Dodd for the amazing logo! Yall need to hit him up for pictures and logos! He wont give you that cookie cutter stuff, he’s real original

[3] You are one busy dude. In addition to creating some of the hottest beats around, you are also a multi-talented musician in your own right. Drums, the electric and acoustic guitar…damn man, you a savant or something!? Now I hear you’re playing with the band EvenStill. LOVE THEM!! Tell us what that experience has been like playing in a band with an existing fan base and does EvenStill have any upcoming performances that you want to share with our readers?

Hahaha yea right.. I am a decent guitar player.. I started making beats because I knew I would never be like a great guitarist. I have no chops and no training, but I was always good at constructing a groove. I just got back into guitar playing reluctantly, but it’s been really fun.

Working Tommy Bridgewater and EvenStill has been great! Evenstill backs up The IGive and other GiveLove artists at live shows and I play with them whenever I am free. We have just started doing monthly tribute shows to iconic soul and R&B artists. So far we have done Erykah Badu (a personal fav), Mary J, and Chaka Khan. Starting in July we will be doing a new tribute every 4th Fri at Cafe 331.

I can’t go without mentioning some people here… The guys from EvenStill are awesome! Bryant Wesley on drums, Howard Green on keys, and DeSean Kirkland on keys. We have some amazing singers that do shows with us: Eboni Star, Akia Uwanda, Takara Houston, Fatima Kargbo, Sumeka Jackson, Chris Williams, and even Monica Monet comes out now and again.

[4] ill, you are responsible for creating and arranging quite a bit of the music for the upcoming movie, Treacherous. So exciting! Now you’ve never done anything like that before but you still managed to take on that sometimes cumbersome task and make one hell of a musical score. What was your first reaction when J called you and said, “Ill, I have an offer you can’t refuse…” and what was it like creating the score?

Hmm…At first I was like “OK no biggie”. But then as we got deeper into it at times I was thinking to myself “you are in over your head”. It was probably like halfway into making the music that I actually started doing what would be considered “score music”. It was definitely kinda a challenge. I am always kinda nervous at first because I don’t know what different people expect. But it was fun. I think I learned a lot and know how to approach it better in the future. I just hope people like it. I know that this led to producing 2 really good songs insp - BeDynamik Productions


"Behind the Scenes with ill Clinton"

ill Clinton and his GiveLove Entertainment family have been making quite a bit of noise on Duval’s independent music scene as of lately and for good reason. They are a group of immensely talented acts individually, but as a unit they’re practically unstoppable. The LaVilla Project has already highlighted GiveLove artist’s The IGive and Reformed Butterfly, but for this interview we decided to go behind the proverbial scenes and talk to the man who is responsible for creating the signature sound of the GiveLove family. ill Clinton, part owner and “chief music music producer” of GiveLove Entertainment, has quickly become one of the most revered and sought after producers in Duval and for good reason. His work on various GiveLove projects, as well as his work with songstress, Monica Monet, has solidified his place as one of the dopiest beat-makers and producers that this city has ever seen. Find out more about the man behind the music in The LaVilla Project’s interview with iil Clinton.

Nakia: Tell the readers a little bit about yourself, who you are and what do you do?

ill Clinton: I’m ill Clinton, I’m a music producer and musician. I dabble in promotions and record label ownership here in Jacksonville, Florida. For the last few years I’ve been concentrating on putting out as much music as possible, promoting myself and artists that I work with and just really trying to get the ball rolling.

Nakia: Ok, now you’re a part of GiveLove Entertainment. What is your role?

ill Clinton: In GiveLove, I am part owner and I guess like chief music producer.

(Laughter)

Nakia: That’s a made up title? (Laughter)

ill Clinton: Yeah, I just made that now, but I think I’m going to go with that…Chief. (Laughter)

Nakia: Now you primarily work with the folks over at GiveLove right? Who are some of the artists in GiveLove and who have you worked with outside of the crew?

ill Clinton: We have The IGive, a local songwriter/emcee, he originally co-founded GiveLove with spoken word artist, Love Reigns. Reformed Butterfly, who’s a very talented spoken word artist. DJ Monsta, who DJ’s around the city, particularly at The Cypher and a lot of people don’t know that he’s a spoken word artist as well, we’re getting a project together for him. Also we got Ben Dodd, who does our graphic design and art, his role is like Art Director. And Takara Houston, who is a singer and songwriter. And because of that, we have a little crew that has agreed to help with promotions, those people include and they are worth mentioning, because they’ve done a lot for us, Aja Jackson, Shay Cason and Lori Sever, is the promotions director for us. There’s also Hector Fishhook, he’s a songwriter and singer, some people who have been to our shows having probably caught him, singing solos and singing background, he does a lot of studio work with us as well. There’s also Peaches who does some singing for us at shows and always supports. And we also have GiveLove extended family, people like Mr. Al Pete who supports us and we collaborate with.

Nakia: Now how did you personally break into the independent scene here in Jacksonville?

ill Clinton: It actually all started on MySpace. I’d spent a good few years, getting some schooling out of the way, so I could be in position to buy music equipment and have time and money to invest. So basically, I found MySpace, I came across someone’s page, I think it was JustWill and from there I saw who he was friends with and started listening to all of this independent, underground music in Jacksonville and I thought this really cool, way better than what’s on the radio and at that time I was still learning how to do it, but I had a background in playing music, I play guitar, I’d played in some bands, so I was really developing my skills at the time, just hitting people up, seeing who’d be willing to work with me and realize that I have more potential than the stuff I’m sending you now. Because originally I started making instrumentals; well first it was really stupid stuff for fun, like “Hey listen to this!” and I’d just play it for my friends who came over. I was making beats for this instrumental funk band that I used to play with called the International Dudes of Leisure and I would like compose beats on the computer and I would send those like this would be a cool groove for us to play at our next gig. So that’s the brief background and it really took off when I met Monica Monet on MySpace and I invited her over.

Nakia: That’s extremely random. (Laughter)

ill Clinton: Yeah, it was a completely random encounter. I was her hitting her up like, “Hey, I do music!”, I was desperate to like, do some stuff.

Nakia: It’s a good thing you didn’t turn out to be like a psycho, stalker, crazy person or anything. (Laughter)

ill Clinton: Right. I mean I’m kind of psycho and crazy, but in a non-dangerous way.

(Laughter)

Nakia: Yeah, I would’ve been like, I’m not going to come anywhere and listen to a - The LaVilla Project


"Gimme 5: Ill Clinton: 5 best places for music and spoken word"

By Heather Lovejoy
ILL CLINTON
www.illClinton.com
ill Clinton is a Jacksonville-based music producer. He has worked with the “who’s who” in the Jacksonville hip-hop, neo-soul and poetry scene. He is also a team member with The Cypher Open Mic Poetry & Soul event held at Deja Vu every first and third Thursday. Clinton’s latest project, “Presents: Vol. 1,” is set for release in February.
5 best places to check out Jacksonville’s burgeoning music and spoken-word scene
1 Deja Vu Art & Wine Bar: 1827 N. Pearl St. in historic Springfield. Deja Vu is home to the open-mic events “The Cypher” and “Artis(Tree)” on Thursdays, and Moses West’s “The Poetry Spot” every last Sunday of the month. The local talent and frequent out-of-town guests are definitely worth checking out!
2 The LaVilla Project Website: www.TheLavillaProject.com. Nakia Abreu and the crew (haha, funny rhyme) do an amazing job of staying on top of the scene and keeping visitors up-to-date on the latest releases and shows by Jacksonville artists. There are also interesting interviews and stories.
3 Cometry: A special night at Square One, 1974 San Marco Blvd., every Tuesday. It is a curious mix of open-mic comedy and spoken-word poetry. So, whether you are in the mood to laugh or contemplate, Cometry’s got you covered! So come try! (Get it?)
4 Poppy Love Smoke: 112 E. Adams St., home of the second annual J Dilla Tribute on Friday, Feb. 10. Poppy Love Smoke is a can’t-miss if you want to check out some good music. Thanks to promoters such as Rod Garner of Rightway Entertainment, there are frequently events there that feature live bands, spoken word, R&B and hip-hop.
5 Phoenix Taproom: 325 W. Forsyth St. It seems as if there is always something cool going on there, whether it’s a freestyle battle or an album release concert. Definitely keep an eye on what’s happening at Phoenix Taproom.
heather.lovejoy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4539

- Florida Times Union


Discography

"Reflections In The Room" EP

Photos

Bio

In late 2011, soul & hip hop producer "ill" Clinton and up and coming soul singing sensation MJ Baker decided to join forces to create "Reflections In the Room".

All writing sessions were conducted in ill's home studio where the two would sit around and discuss what was on their mind, hence "Reflections In The Room". The result was an honest, reflective, and sometimes witty self titled EP.

Reflections In The Room cover various themes such as loss, change, love, self discovery, and... stalkers!

Reflections In The Room's debut EP is set for release in the spring of 2012 and they are currently booking shows throughout Florida and the Southeast.