WATCH: Rye Rye on Music, Fashion and Album

At October 13, 2011
By NESHA
In events / features / interviews / music / Style / video / watch

NESHA chats with Rye Rye about music, fashion and a bit about her upcoming album. Rye Rye is a new artist signed to M.I.A.’s label N.E.E.T. Recordings. The 20 year old rapper is also unofficially known as M.I.A.’s protege, evoking a similar out the box sound and style. What seperates this artist is her passion and integration of dance in her performances. Check out the video above as NESHA chats with the up and coming artist about everything she’s been up to, and what inspired her to be more confident in the unique way that she likes to dress.

Summer Recap: At The Knitting Factory With Blind Benny & More

At September 6, 2011
By NESHA
In features / interviews / video / watch

Its been quite a hectic summer but one of the things that’s dominant about summers in NYC is the overwhelming amount of shows filled with new talent. Shawn Lawrence James, a young guy from Brooklyn, has an ear for new talent and puts on shows throughout NYC featuring the most buzz worthy up and coming artists. His last show at the Knitting Factory featured a band called Blind Benny. The band features a familiar face, Jade who released her first project as a solo act and is now part of a band. The show also featured Rachel Brown and another singer by the name of Anthony Flammia.

I got a chance to interview Jade (of Blind Benny) and Anthony Flammia after their sets. Check out the videos to watch a bit of their performances and my interviews with them.

Jade speaks on what she’s been up to since her last EP It’s My Heart, Cookie and the process of branding the new band she’s apart of and more.

Anthony was definitely a pleasant surprise and as a new talent this was his very first interview. We spoke about what inspired him to get into singing, and his album that he’s releasing.

The next show is in a couple of weeks. Details and link to buy tickets below.

watch: Qream nyc Launch Red Carpet With Pharrell Williams, Russell Simmons Miss Info & More

At July 25, 2011
By NESHA
In features / miss info / music / new york / pharrell / qream / russell simmons / swizz beatz

A rapper launching a liquor brand is not surprise, but an artist launching a liquor for women is something we haven’t quite seen yet.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I definitely didn’t want to be another dude coming out with some hard drink that’s flammable and tastes more like rocket fuel,” said Pharrell Williams half of the production duo the Neptunes and frontman of N.E.R.D. at the launch of his liqueur Qream. “I felt like Puff kills it with Ciroc so I definitely didn’t want to stand in that lane so I chose women because I felt like women were under served and indulgence is something hard for women to celebrate.”

Pharrell says he likes serving women and his latest venture is dedicated to hard working women who need to indulge in something just for them at the end of a long day.

Celebrity friends including Selita Ebanks, Swizz Beatz, Q-Tip, Russell Simmons, Jay-Z and more came out to support the New York launch at the Public Library in midtown Manhattan. With all the star energy in the room, there of course had to be some entertainment, and Williams had the newly signed viral duo Karmin perform.

“I’m always inspired when I see hip hop artists do entrepreneurial things, it inspires a whole community,” Russell Simmons expressed when asked why he came out despite being known not to drink alcohol. “I think that’s one thing that we’re lacking in our community is ingenuity and creativity and new ideas. Pharrell and hip hop in general they exude that kind of courage, to go out on new ventures and go out on a limb and make something different.”

An Inside Look At Internet Week 2011: Panels, Parties & More

At June 18, 2011
By NESHA
In features / internet week / interviews / Society / video

An Inside Look At Internet Week 2011: Panels, Parties & More from Rhonesha Byng on Vimeo.

All last week I spent most of my days covering and participating in Internet Week, and with every status update I received the general reaction of “what the heck is that!? –isn’t it always Internet Week?”

This year marked the fourth year of New York’s annual event of informative panels, conference sessions, speakers and other events surrounding start-ups, social media, online video, and more. Experts and executives from AOL, YouTube, Google, Yahoo, Meebo and more all gathered at the Metropolitan Pavilion, this year’s Internet Headquarters to diffuse knowledge and engage a tech ready and tech savvy audience. In addition, many organizations, start ups and tech folks partnered with Internet Week creating events in the surrounding area connected to the motives of what Internet Week represents. Amongst those included various meet ups, and even a couple of concerts including SOUND CTRL’s FlashFWD event and the Girls Who Rock Benefit Concert.

Check out the video to get a snippet of what Internet Week is all about.

Interview: Poet Jasmine Mans On Criticism, Culture and Control

At May 17, 2011
By NESHA
In features / interviews / jasmine mans / poetry / Society / video / young society

The general public knows poet Jasmine Mans from the viral hit poem “Nicki Minaj” — a poem Mans uploaded one day without anticipation of the world clicking play. Not only did thousands of people click play after the piece went up, but they embedded it across multiple blog sites and tried to dissect it, analyze it, or blindly criticize it. But to those who know the world of poetry and spoken word, you may know Jasmine as a stand out award winning poet from UrbanWordNYC, and featured on HBO’s Brave New Voices. Her accomplishments stack quite high for a 20-year-old college sophomore, so after her performance at an Alpha event at DePauw University I sat down with her to get a bit more insight on her life and her work in her own words through candid conversation. We chatted about how she started, how she’s dealing with the growing attention towards her and her work, and her plans for the future.

note: *Mans was 19 years old at the time of this interview and just turned 20 this week.

You can follow Jasmine on Twitter @KingJasmineMans

SOCIETY: The Weight Of Possibility–Defining Millennials

At May 17, 2011
By NESHA
In baby boomers / defining moments / features / generation / generations / Life / millennials / posse / posse plus retreat / silent generation / Society

photo from a past PPR at one of Posse’s partner schools. [courtesy C. Moore Photography]

From Disney dreams to recession stained realities, this generation grew up on happy endings and heroes, and grew into a less rosy reality.

Conforming, civility and the Great Depression defined The Silent Generation, while war and activism defined The Baby Boomers. While, the civil rights movement and the growth of new opportunities defined Generation X. But the defining issues of the Millennials didn’t seem quite crystal clear as a few Millennials debated back and forth about whether their generation has struggled enough.

“Yes we’re struggling, but what are we doing about it? We’re sitting here.” Light applause and a lot of mumbling met that statement as 18-year-old freshman Sandy Tran, stood up amongst 170 DePauw students in a small meeting room in the middle of Bradford Woods in Martinsville Indiana.

The Millennials, defined as those born after 1980 [81-2000], fall within the age range of 11 to 30. The first crop of Millennials turned 30 this year and as a flurry of articles and studies begin to take form about this generation, this Spring a slice of the DePauw University community came together at the annual Posse Plus Retreat (PPR) to map out their own definition of their generation.

The holders of power and influence in our society are shifting in a way it never has before. We are emerging into a new era where a new medium is playing a prominent role in the successes of young people and changing the blue print of how to achieve greatness and notoriety in our society: the internet. The internet is dominating everything and changing the definition of hustle down to the amount of influential people a person has in their email blast list....read more?