TRUE VIBE RECORDS

 

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True Vibe Records (TVR) Background

True Vibe Records, based in Oakland, California, was founded in 2005 by owner Bill Jackson, who has had a burning passion to offer a new genre of music to the listening public.  This music, called Jazz Funk Hip HoPoetry, consists of inspirational and conscious-raising spoken word, hip hop lyrics, and singing over upbeat jazz, funk, R & B, Caribbean, and hip hop instrumental beats and music.  According to Jackson, the music is a potpourri of musical elements and influences designed to entertain, educate, enlighten, and inspire people.

True Vibe Records was an outgrowth of his background as a musician, educator for more than 20 years, and other life experiences.  Jackson’s first musical training started at the early age of 7 when he took piano lessons, after which he played trumpet in public school concert and jazz bands.  He later learned how to play bass guitar and played with a number of R & B and funk bands during his teen and early adult years in the San Francisco Bay Area.

His experience playing guitar bass in church and coordinating programs for assemblies as a public school teacher led to a profound interest in brining this new music to people.  Being a proponent of higher education and cultural enrichment, Jackson had long been yearning to create this hybrid of music to uplift people, especially in the African-American community, and to help raise the level of consciousness to affect positive social change.

Along with the variety of his life experiences, he also credits his educational background for shaping his approach to music.   He holds a B.A. Degree in Journalism and Sociology from California State University, Los Angeles and an M.A. Degree in Education from the University of San Francisco.  Upon graduating from college at CSU-LA, he worked at a staff writer for weekly newspapers in Compton and South Central Los Angeles over a two-year period.

The genesis of the first album the native Oaklander produced “Paradise Presents Jazz Funk Hip HoPoetry” was his pilgrimage to Senegal’s (West Africa) Goree Island (a United Nations Historical Site).  According to Jackson, visiting the holding pens for African captives during the slave trade there brought on a “spiritual awakening.”

He collaborated with Bay Area slam poetry icon Richard Moore (better known as Paradise) to introduce this new hybrid of spoken word/rap.  See reviews at Reviews. True Vibe Records promises to take this music to a new level with the release in March of 2008 of its upcoming CD “Jazz Funk Hip HoPoetry-Phaze 2,” featuring the highly talented new group Sounds of Urban Life Soldiers with a host of guest artists.

S.O.U.L.S. consists of poets Keith Thompson, Raquel Ramsey, and President Davis, along with hip hop artist Keldamuzik and songstress Shavone.  JFHP-Phaze 2 is bound to explode on the scene and pioneer a new era of music.

 

Track Listing:

1. "Squash it!" Remix-Radio Edit

2. Introducing S.O.U.L.S.

3. On the Street

4. Cleaning House

5. Bold and Beautiful

6. All the Above

7. I Can

8. The Role of Men

9.Rites of Passage

10. Let's Take a Ride

11. The Runner

12. Social Emergency

13. Connections

14. Apology

15. Vacant-eyed Revolution

16. "Squash It" Remix (extended version)

17. What Kind of Dreams Have You

18. The Man Upstairs

 

Track Listing:
 

1. How to Be a Black Man in America
2. Equal Opportunity Lover
3. Keepers of the Flame
4. Cocoa Venus
5. It's OK to Be a Black Girl
6. Ain't Yo' Mama Black
7. Two-minute Warning 
8.How to Be a Black Man in American-Single Edit

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