New York, NY and Atlanta, GA, November 13, 2007: As part of the national songwriting mentorship program,
ASCAP Songwriter Residency @ America SCORES, hip-hop songwriter
Algebra will spend time with thirty boys and girls from a local metro-Atlanta elementary school to teach them about the craft of songwriting.
Algebra will spend three days working with students from
Carter G. Woodson Elementary School (1605 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, NW, Atlanta, GA) discussing her approach to writing music, and co-writing and recording a song with them. Two classroom sessions will take place today and Thursday, November 15, 2007, and one studio session will be held on Tuesday, November 20, 2007 at
Dirty South Studios ( 500 Bishop Street, NW, Atlanta, GA) from 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Earlier this month, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer
Adonis Shropshire spent time with students from
F.L. Stanton Elementary School in Atlanta, GA. Their three-day program resulted in the creation of a song recorded at Dirty South Studios.
Terrell Owens , owner of Dirty South Studios, has generously donated studio time for both the Adonis and Algebra sessions.
America SCORES is an after-school program that uses soccer and poetry to inspire literacy, healthy living and civic responsibility among urban youth. The
ASCAP Songwriter Residency @ America SCORES was established in 2006 to provide an engaging and inspiring way for kids to express themselves through songwriting, while teaching them to value and respect their own creative work and that of others.
The ASCAP Foundation, a public charity dedicated to supporting music education and talent development programs, funds the program.
Upcoming sessions in the
ASCAP Songwriter Residency @ America SCORES program will include acoustic/alternative/power-pop songwriter DAN MACKENZIE and hip-hop/punk songwriter and poet SAUL WILLIAMS in Los Angeles. Previous sessions have featured Latin songwriter ROBERTO POVEDA in New York; Americana/rock songwriter JOHN FRANCIS in Washington, DC and New York; traditional children’s songwriters CATHY FINK and MARCY MARXER, hip-hop songwriter LYSETTE TITI, rock/alternative/indie songwriter VINCE SCHEUERMEN from the band ARMY OF ME, and songwriter/producer CHRIS KEUP (Jason Mraz, OAR) in Washington, DC.
About AlgebraIronically there are no textbooks or classroom instructions that could help one balance the equations of Kedar Massenburg's newest protégé, Algebra. The Atlanta native insists that one can only discover her sonically. As an R&B solo artist with such a simple solution, when mainstream success seems to be more about the right hair, nails and make-up, Algebra is the perfect curriculum for breathing life back in to a genre overwrought by factory made clones.
No stranger to singing or songwriting, Algebra’s been lending her melodic voice to projects by Monica, Joi, Bilal and Laurnea for years and her signature songwriting can be heard on the Grammy© Award winning CD,
Voyage to India, by India.Arie. However, singing and writing for other artists was about as out of character for her as having someone write songs for her. "Even when someone else wrote a song specifically for me, I felt like I was still being a background singer for myself."
As the music scene in Atlanta became the hot bed of popular music, Algebra taught herself to play guitar and performed regularly at open mic performances. This pivotal point in her career afforded her the time to develop her writing and performance even further without the harness of a prescribed format. "Soon you learn not to care what others think, you learn to perform for you. I would come back week after week and I learned to perform for balance and for freedom. I was becoming alive."
This organic approach permeates her music. Algebra can easily be pop, rock, rap, funk or crunk, yet she can breathe ballads effortlessly. Her debut single “U Do it For Me,” finds this songstress boasting her willingness to return to her man all the love he gives by catering to his every need, confessing “I do it for U, cause U do it for me”. Collaborating with award-winning songwriter and producer Brian Michael Cox (Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Usher) on "What Happened" quickly proved to be a true showcase of her brilliance. This soulful ballad is delivered so honestly and with such vulnerability that it appears as an autobiography. Her debut CD,
Purpose, also contains collaborations with Carvin & Ivan (Faith Evans, Musiq and Jill Scott), Duane Bastiane (112, Lil’ Mo) and Ronald “P-nut” Frost (Boyz II Men, Jill Scott, Miri Ben-Ari).
Algebra's definitive voice and identity is one of full disclosure. "I don't want to be boxed," she asserts. The litmus test of what she would create lies in being relatable and in offering complete truth in every word she sings. On the song "Nothing to Prove" from
Purpose she boldly introduces herself with no apologies. She places all of herself on display and invites listeners to look past her stunningly beautiful physical and into her prayerful, soulful mental and the response to her music and magic has been amazing. After opening on spot dates for Common, Lyfe Jennings, The Roots and Vivian Green, Kem quickly added her to his “So Into You” tour, which led to her opening for Keyshia Cole’s spring tour.
As one of the first artist to be released on the revamped Kedar Entertainment Group, Algebra enters the contemporary soul music landscape following legacies created by artists like D'Angelo, Erykah Badu and India.Arie, all of whom developed under the watchful eye of Massenburg. However her sound is unique. Algebra at first is unassuming, but it takes mere moments for you to recognize that she is not just a tempest in a teapot but more like the catalyst of a paradigm shift.
With there being only two universal languages in this world -- Mathematics and Music -- fate would have it that southern songbird, Algebra, represents both! Besides a world of talent, Algebra has universal law on her side!
Purpose hits shelves first quarter 2008.
About America SCORES Atlanta:America SCORES Atlanta, one of 14 affiliates of the national non-profit America SCORES, was founded in 2006 with the mission of empowering students in urban elementary schools to become agents for positive change. Our creative writing program hires public school teachers to serve as writing coaches and provides at-risk youth with curriculum-guided after school programming five days per week. The curriculum contains an innovative combination of soccer, writing, creative expression, and service learning and is designed in part to combat illiteracy, an issue especially pervasive in low-income communities. With teamwork as the unifying value, our program inspires youth to be engaged students, life-long readers, and agents of change in their communities. In its inaugural year, 2006-2007, America SCORES Atlanta was able to provide after school literacy tutoring and soccer to 120 inner-city children at four elementary schools.
www.AmericaSCORESAtlanta.org
About The ASCAP Foundation Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education and talent development programs. Included in these are songwriting workshops, grants, scholarships, awards, recognition and community outreach programs, and public service projects for senior composers and lyricists. The ASCAP Foundation is supported by contributions from ASCAP members and from music lovers throughout the United States.
www.ascapfoundation.org
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 300,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with over 90 music rights organizations such that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American Performing Rights Organization owned and governed by its writer and publisher members.
www.ascap.com
