Fat Joe and Dior Ashley Freestyle on Instagram live.
As we are all dealing with the effects of COVID-19, we have been faced with new and innovative ways of occupying our time on a daily basis. Millions of people across the world have taken to various social media video chat apps to connect with friends and loved ones. Zoom, Facebook Live and IG TV are just a few of them. Artists like D-Nice, Biz Markie and Erykah Badu have captured classic moments that have provided us with a way to release the many emotions we are feeling, as well as, entertained us. Lil Jon, T-Pain, Rza and DJ Premier, also a host of RBE and URL battle rap videos have given us an outlet to balance the constant mainstream media mix of informative, dreary and often perplexing news stories. In the midst of it all, a very passionate, Washington DC artist named Dior Ashley Brown has taken this time to reach out to professionally-known celebrity artists to share in the vibe of uplifting people and to display her gifts and talents to the world.
One day, as I was scrolling through Facebook, I happened upon a video of Dior on a split screen with the legendary Bronx, New York MC, Terror Squad leader, DITC member, The Don Cartagena Fat Joe. In this day and time, Fat Joe aka Joey Crack is an advocate for Latino and Black youth. He comes from a very tough background in The Bronx but these days he is clearly a changed man on a mission to save the youth and better the community. Seeing Dior on the live feed with Fat Joe was an especially proud moment for me because Dior has previously been featured in Full Bloom Magazine and I have had the pleasure of seeing her perform live and also sharing the stage with her. It was like seeing one of my cousins on TV with a star. I immediately began brainstorming on this feature and as days went by Dior posted more videos where she was spittin rhymes for other Hip Hop legends and prominent entertainers. After a inboxes, emails and a phone call, here is what I came up with in the wee hours of the night.
"Linking with iconic artists that I always looked up to was out of this world lol, shocking, timely, fun, inspiring. I feel like I’m building with everybody and they are just waiting on me to go hard.
Fat Joe showed mad love, brought me on three times. Rocked with me each time.
LL Cool J was in the back drop of my growing up, so I didn’t know how to act for the first minute lol. But he let me spit and I got to tell him how he inspired me.
I got a chance to spit for Daz Dillinger (from Tha Dogg Pound) and Sway (from Sway In The Morning) and have some cool conversations with Banjiraya, Lakeith Stanfield and Kenny Burns.
You can see all this on my YouTube: MIZZDABisBAD"
1.) When did you first start rhyming/performing? I started writing really young, writing poetry. I was about 8/9 years old. Rhyming as it pertains to Hip Hop, I was experimenting with it when I was middle school. I was listening to Nas, Mobb Deep and Outkast heavy. 2.) Are you originally from DC? I'm originally from DC. My parents are retired military so I was able to see different parts of the U.S. and overseas growing up. 3.) Have you studied your craft? Or is it more naturally occurring? My talent/gift as an Emcee is God's Plan. Everything prepared me for it. Singing and writing poetry when I was young to studying theatre performance as a child. 4.) What are your motivations? God. The journey within myself. My ancestors. My ancestry. The state of People of Color. 5.) What challenges you have faced as an artist?
Politics. Discrimination. Gender Inequity. 6.) Other talents?
Acting. Singing. Playwriting. Event curating. Organizing. 7.) What direction are you taking your career? All the WAY UP. I plan to inspire and motivate. 8.)Awards? Accolades? God's Child! Hardest working artist in DC! 9.) Upcoming projects/events/shows? A private show for my patrons-only on April 24th. Become my patron, by visiting patreon.com/diorashleybrownmusic My album Uptown Ashley Brown is in progress! DCMS 2021. Learn more at www.dcmusicsummit.org. 10.) Parting words of encouragement for aspiring artists?
Go first!
Dior Ashley Brown, Multifaceted Artist, Activist, and Founder of the DC Music Summit (DCMS) www.diorashleybrown.com www.dcmusicsummit.org YouTube: MIZZDABisBAD IG: @diorashleybrown IG: @dabbingtonlove
"Livin' her life like she's/more than melanin/but then again/they can't see past the synonym." - Dior Ashley Brown ©
You can now join our network by creating a free user profile. Customize your account to make it unique, you can also make your profile public or private. Connect with other site members daily, blog, like post and much more. Click the link below to join our network, It's FREE!
Get Full Access and unlimited Free Magazines by subscribing for 1 year!
Read and Download the entire back issue collections for free when you subscribe for 1 year. Subscriptions include Full Access to website, unlimited downloads to our digital magazine library (magazines can be read online and downloaded for personal use.
We also offer printed magazines that ship directly to your door.
Thank you for rocking with us and reading Full Bloom Magazine.
