Luckily, Tha Good Life Reviews will have the privledge and the honor to host two interviews in the coming weeks with two big time musicians! Matthew Santos who has appeared with Lupe Fiasco on The Cool and on Lupe’s upcoming album, Lasers and Wiz Khalifa, who just put out the How Fly mixtape with Curren$y. Peep a little information and background on the two artists, and be sure to check back here for the interviews real soon!
Matthew Santos Bio:
Grammy-nominated artist Matthew Santos established himself as one of the rare and striking voices quickly emerging from the Windy City’s music scene. With a growing fan base hailing him for his ethereal voice, Santos secured his place in current music with his distinguished style and elusive musical gift. Santos and his band are featured in the Chicago Sun-Times as one of the top ten bands to watch in Chicago. They are currently recording and developing original material for their forthcoming album to be released in fall of 2009. His full band features Aviva Jaye (vocals, keyboard), Robert Tucker (drums), Graham Burris (bass) and Matthew Nelson (keyboard).
Native to Minneapolis, Santos discovered his passion for music at age six when he started playing piano and his inspiration for playing guitar began at the age of fifteen. At first Santos pursued the visual arts, but decided to dedicate his life solely to music and relocated to Chicago in 2001 to study music composition at Columbia College Chicago. He released his first independently produced album Change is Better in 2004 and EP As a Crow Flies in 2006. In November of 2007, Santos released an acoustic album Matters of the Bittersweet under Candy-Rat Records, with intimate video recordings available on YouTube.
“The acoustic, folk-pop fare is a far cry stylistically from what Santos contributed to many tracks on Fiasco’s latest album, “The Cool.” However, the soulful underpinnings of his voice are what remain consistent, containing a versatility suitable for his singer/songwriter styling as well as R&B.” Billboard Magazine.
“I want to be an artist that people won’t know what to expect from next, but they can expect that it’s going to be quality. I’m not a niche artist that writes and sings the same kind of songs over and over again, and I think that’s what sets me apart from other singer/songwriters,” says Santos.
Santos’ vocals are featured on multiple tracks on the Gold Record “The Cool” accompanying Grammy-Award winner hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco. Their collaboration is best known on the Grammy-nominated single “Superstar.”
In 2008, Santos joined Fiasco on his world tour, including debut appearances on MTV’s TRL and Spring Break, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Show with Craig Ferguson and David Letterman’s first live show after the 2007 Writer’s Guild of America Strike. They opened the 2007 mtvU Woodie Awards and performed on MTV’s 2008 VMAs. While touring, Santos performed in festivals including Bonnaroo, Coachella, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury and South by Southwest music conference. Santos and Fiasco opened Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark Tour.
It’s a belief in something bigger than himself and his musical vision that motivates Santos as a singer-songwriter. “I hope to inspire people through music to take responsibility for their own talents and use them to serve the greater good,” Santos says. “I want to show the world that you can do what you love and live in this society, finding a balance between coexisting in a social construct and following your heart.”
Wiz Khalifa Bio:
After bursting onto the national Hip Hop scene in 2006, Wiz Khalifa has continued his ascent to the top of the Hip Hop ranks. His debut street album “Show and Prove” was labeled by Okayplayer.com as “arguably the best hip hop release of the year.” Khalifa’s first video “Pittsburgh Sound” debuted in the spring of 2007 on FUSE and was selected by fans as an “Oven Fresh Keeper.” Later that summer Khalifa released his second mixtape, “Grow Season,” with DJ Green Lantern. He went on to perform on the DUB tour, and released his second music video, “Youngin On His Grind.”
Rolling Stone magazine honored Wiz in 2007 as a “New Artist To Watch” and his “Pittsburgh Sound” video was selected for the Editor’s Hot List a few months later. XXL’s March 2007 issue featured Wiz in their coveted “Show and Prove” section. Mass Appeal named Wiz as the lead artist for 2007’s “Next of Kin.” He was praised by VIBE magazine as “an East Coast star in the waiting,” while also being featured in their October 2007 issue as a “Next” artist. Major magazines overseas also took notice of the then 19-year old prodigy’s talent, with features in UK’s Hip-Hop Connection and France’s RAP US.
In June of 2007, Wiz Khalifa signed a major record deal with Warner Bros. Records through his long-time independent label, Rostrum Records. Wiz’s first single on Warner Bros., “Say Yeah,” peaked at 25 on the Billboard Rhythmic charts. He followed “Say Yeah” with his second single, “Make It Hot” and two critically acclaimed mixtapes. “Make It Hot” peaked on the iTunes Hip Hop chart at 23 while his mixtape “Star Power” (released in September of 2008) was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times. Wiz Khalifa recently released “Flight School” on April 17, 2009. With features in over 500 Hip Hop sties and blogs worldwide, this mixtape has arguably been Khalifa’s hottest and most anticipated release to date. Wiz Khalifa’s profile on Myspace has exploded, being visited in excess of 4,000,000 times, tracks played over 14,000,000 times, and accumulating over 70,000 “friends” from all over the world. Moreover, Wiz has been a “Trending Topic” multiple times on Twitter due to his name being mentioned with such frequency across the network. Wiz continues to record and performs across the country this summer. Wiz has shared the stage with acts such as Nas, T.I., Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, T-Pain, The Clipse, Ghostface, and Lupe Fiasco…among others.
Download How Fly Here
Download Flight School Here
Be On The Lookout For These Two Interviews In The Coming Days, & Be Sure To Go Out & Support These Artists!!!
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