Harlem Arts Alliance Presents: On the “A” w/Souleo
Wyclef Jean is returning to music with a renewed sense of purpose that can be heard on his forthcoming mixtape, April Showers. The collection arrives April 29 after a challenging few years, which most notably saw Jean campaign to become president of his native Haiti. His attempt was short-lived after he was excluded due to supposedly failing to meet residency requirements.
“I was so confused after I got back to the states,” he reveals. “It felt like something I believed in my entire life and would fight for was gone. So I felt messed up psychologically and I decided to come back to the music and reactivate that side of my brain fully.”
On his mixtape the Grammy award winning recording artist, songwriter and producer finds strength in addressing personal and global issues. “Through music I feel like I can make a bigger change. Maybe that change would be the equivalent to what I was looking for as president,” he says. “Art is the only protection we have and with April Showers I am fighting with my art.”
On her debut album, Our Version of Events, Emeli Sandé also uses her music as a place of refuge. This Friday April 26 at 5 pm she is sharing those songs during an exclusive performance presented by JetBlue Airways to kick-off their Live From T5 concert spring season.
One of the leaders at JetBlue responsible for maintaining the success of this series is Tamara Young, manager of corporate communications. Young brings an impressive background in public relations and marketing having previously worked at prestigious companies such as UniWorld Group, Formula PR and Dan Klores Communications. Young expressed to us one of the key components that helps make the Live From T5 concert series unique is that’s its focus is on featuring established as well as emerging recording artists from all genres. “We do consider artists that appeal to our customers and they run the gamut from a range of music,” she says. “So we always look for new acts that appeal to our customer base. If emerging artists are interested they can submit information to the marketing team.”
Aspiring, mid-career and established visual artists will certainly want to attend the Harlem Arts Alliance’s Arts Development Seminar Series.
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