An Africa Business Community

These artists are definitely something to look out for!

Karina Pasian

"I`m 16(at war) 16 (at war) I`m 16 on the Block 16 on the Block" Karina Pasian was born on July 18, 1991 to parents of Dominican and Armenian descent. She first began taking piano lessons at the age of three from her babysitter, and began classical piano training while in kindergarten. She began working with a vocal coach at age eight, and attended the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City. In 2003, Pasian met Quincy Jones, who invited her and her family to his home in Bel Air, California. Soon after this, Pasian performed and won on Star Search. She also performed at Quincy Jones' We Are The Future concert in Rome. On June 22, 2007, Pasian performed at the White House for President George W. Bush, in celebration of Black Music Month, making her the first person of Dominican descent to perform there. Pasian became the subject of a bidding war, when she was thirteen, between three major record labels: Def Jam, Interscope, and Bad Boy Records. She ultimately chose Def Jam in 2006, because they "made the best offer." In 2008 Karina was nominated for the Best Contemporary R&B Album Grammy for First Love. She is known for appearing on many remixes from hit songs such as Kiss Me Thru the Phone (Soulja Boy) and With You (Chris Brown). Her single "16 @war" released in 2008 introduced her as a young artist who is completely relatable and has had a change to incorporate her life into her music. It was clear that she was definitely the artist to see before she chose a label, but now that she is with Def Jam, we are sure to see more coming from this 18 year old R&B princess.

Johnta Austin

Johnta Marice Austin was born on June 28, 1980. Austin grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1989, at the age of eight, Austin hosted the daily television show, Kid's Beat on CNN. Covering current events, sports and the entertainment world, Austin went on to become the Atlanta Bureau Chief for the CNN weekly news program, Real News for Kids and the reporter for the TBS half hour weekly, Feed Your Mind. Austin grew up singing in church choirs and wanted to become an actor, and he interviewed such celebrities as Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan, among others, and in 1993, made his television debut on The Arsenio Hall Show, where he admitted he loved singing and was offered to sing with Arsenio Hall's band. He was originally signed in the mid-late 90s to RCA Records before being dropped in favor of R&B singer Tyrese Gibson. However, he ended up writing a few songs for him (including the hit "Sweet Lady") as well as writing for other artists. Austin has been extremely busy and successful during the last several years. He co-wrote Mariah Carey's hit 2005 singles, "We Belong Together", "Don't Forget About Us", "It's Like That", and "Shake It Off" from her album "The Emancipation of Mimi". Austin also co-wrote Mary J. Blige's single "Be Without You" from her #1 selling CD "The Breakthrough" and Monica's single "Everytime Tha Beat Drop" from her album The Makings of Me. He is also featured as a guest artist on Jermaine Dupri's 2005 song, "Gotta Getcha" and has co-written a few songs on Chris Brown's self-titled debut album in 2005, as well as "Can I Call You" from Marques Houston's debut album in 2003. Austin produced and was featured on the songs "Shortie Like Mine" and "Outta My System," both singles by rapper Bow Wow off his album The Price of Fame'. Both of the songs were successful, "Shortie Like Mine" reaching #9, and "Outta My System" reaching #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Austin also went recently worked on albums by Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri.

Goapele

Goapele Mohlabane was born on July 11, 1977 in Oakland, California. Her name means "to go forward" in Setswana, the language of her paternal grandmother. Her South African father was an exiled political activist who struggled against the Apartheid System. He met her New York-born Jewish mother who had been attending protests since the age of 12 and the couple married while in Nairobi, Kenya. Both her parents inspired Goapele to become very involved in community affairs at a young age. She attended the Berkeley Arts Magnet School where she led a pre-teen peer support group. She also became involved in various groups and organizations that combated racism and sexism. Today her music often highlights the need for political and socio-economic change. She says she has been influenced by many including Stevie Wonder, Etta James, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Portishead, Miriam Makeba, Prince, Caiphus Semenya, Zulu Spears and Hugh Masekela. Goapele returned to Oakland after her stint at Berklee College of Music, where she concentrated on writing and recording songs. In 2001 she self-released her debut album, Closer. At the same time, she was building a devoted audience through her popular live performances in the Bay Area. "Closer" peaked at #63 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 2002 she reworked Closer, adding five new songs. With the help of her family formed their own independent label, Skyblaze Recordings, to oversee her musical career. She released her first nationally distributed album, Even Closer, featuring the single "Closer," through Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings. "Closer" was also featured on the soundtrack of the 2003 movie Honey. In 2004, Columbia/SME Records picked up Skyblaze Recordings for worldwide distribution and rereleased the album with additional tracks. She co-wrote and co-produced the entire album, which is a mixture of neo-soul, trip-hop, lieder, and jazz. She also toured North America with the band Spearhead. In 2004 Even Closer peaked at #24 on the Billboard Charts for Top Independent Albums. Apart from her solo work, she has collaborated with West Coast MCs such as Aceyalone, E-40, Zion-I, and those involved in the Hieroglyphics Crew, as well as Clyde Carson and Mos Def on the track "Different."