You meet a lot of kids in elementary school: the crybaby, the bully, the glue-eater … but six future bandmates? Almost unheard of. Which is why Dujeous is quite the Cinderella story. Friends since early childhood, the sextet grew into a band in 2004, hustling their demo on the streets of New York. Fast-forward to world tours with Kanye West, Mobb Deep and John Legend, and backup gigs behind Mark Ronson, Lily Allen and the Reverend Al Green himself. The band’s success is due entirely to their revelatory brand of organic hip hop, crafted not on the computer, but on instruments that include guitar, trumpet, drums, bass, accordions, mellotrons, Japanese koto, not to mention the vocal thunder of three fierce MCs.
Dujeous’ sophomore effort, Day In Day Out, shows their pitch perfect musicianship at full throttle. A swelling string section and an emotive little melody on the balafon provide the background for the album’s first single, “Break Bread,” both a soulful song of thanksgiving and a blistering cautionary tale. The group recruited GRAMMY winner John Legend to sing the mellowed-out chorus, and he delivers the Dujeous manifesto to perfection: “We’ve got the recipe that sticks to the ribs / No artificial additives, it’s clear / If you really need some satisfaction / Settle down for a home-cooked meal.” Funk-soul queen Sharon Jones, Koto master Masayo Ishigure and DMC champ DJ Staen 1 also make appearances on the record — proving that there’s room for everyone on the Dujeous playground.
April showers bring May flowers. What do May flowers bring? (Aside from pilgrims…) The winners of April of course, and what a great month it was! Our Grand Prize winner, Wild-Wood, were the first GP winners from Jazz since September 2007, which really says something about their quality and potential in the future. Also, check out this month’s winning vide, Fat City Band, for some awesome grooves. While we’re on the winners topic, you can also check out the winners from the March John Legend Contest!
The suspense has been killing us since the Be Legendary with John Legend channel judging closed, but at last the results are in. With so much talent getting involved it is no surprise that choosing a winner was such a painstaking decision for the accomplished singer. The channel ran last month and was a Radio-One/OurStage promotion in partnership with Columbia Records. Artists were prompted to come up with their own rendition of John Legend’s latest single “Everybody Knows”, and enter it. The Grand Prize winner would receive the honor of opening for John Legend at a high profile show, hotel and airfare included. John Legend has spent the past few weeks listening to the artists in the closing top 10, trying to settle on just one to give the honor of “Grand Prize Winner.” There was so much talent, however, that he couldn’t settle on just one. Instead he chose one Grand Prize winner and two runners-up. The two runners-up will have the unique opportunity to play their versions of “Everybody Knows” at a John Legend concert in their area. Without further ado, here are Grand Prize winner Porsche Smith and runners-up Michael Logen and Wil Guice!
Everybody here at OurStage is excited to announce our newest special contest with Radio One, “Be Legendary” with John Legend. John is inviting undiscovered and rising artists and musicians to cover and produce their own version of his song, “Everybody Knows”. Your creativity is limited only by your imagination – you can perform your cover however you like. If you don’t play an instrument, try performing an a capella version of the song! The winning artist will receive a trip for two, to open for John Legend at one of his shows this year. There’s even a chance that John will join you on stage and perform your winning song with you!
In case you thought we’d forgotten about all of OurStage’s fans – let me sweeten the pot. OurStage and Radio One will also be running a sweepstakes amongst everyone who judges in the John Legend channel. The more times you judge, the more entries you get in the sweepstakes! One lucky fan who judges in the channel will win an all-expenses paid trip for two to meet John Legend backstage at his concert. Have we taken your breath away yet? The fan will also win a complete Sony Xplod Sound System, courtesy of Sony and Radio One. Check out the complete rules, and listen to “Everybody Knows” on OurStage.
OurStage artists Pat G. and Lorenzo Marshall are ‘the men’ … or whatever your plural of ‘the MAN’ is. They call themselves “Trouble City” and they are smart, motivated, cute and charming as nobody’s business… so look out ladies, they could be ‘trouble’ on your heart as well! The cool thing about this whole prize was that John really took his time with the guys and gave them some killer advice. It will be interesting to see where these guys take their music from here.
To listen to more of their music visit: Trouble City’s Fan Club. To help decide who gets the next amazing opportunity click “judge” at the top of your screen.
