It all goes down at the Willis Show Bar in Detroit. Urban Organic founder Drake Phifer is celebrating his birthday on Dec. 14 with two live shows featuring Philadelphia singer RES, a guest drummer and DJ Berman Bush. The first show will take place at 7 p.m., while the second show will take place at 9:30 p.m.
Ahead of the performance, RES spoke to rolling out about her career and honoring Phifer.
What are you looking forward to with Drake Phifer’s birthday celebration in Detroit?
I’ve known him for a long time, a few years. Actually, longer than a few years, I’ve known him for over 10 years. So it’s always good, but I’ve never celebrated his birthday with him.
It’s always good to link up with old friends. At the end of the day, I just want to perform and get back to Detroit and sing songs and have my fans come out and have a good time.
What do you love most about the culture in Detroit?
I like that it’s a lot of Black people doing creative things and doing art. There’s a sculpture artist whose name is Vanessa German, and she’s an amazing sculpture, visual artist, and just an artist in general. I know she does work out there in Detroit.
I don’t know it as well as I should, because I don’t come there that often, but the handful of times I’ve been there, it’s been a good time. Good parties, a good event, the people there like to hear new music first. They’re open to hearing music they’ve never heard before, like style-wise music. That’s why I always look forward to coming there because I know I can try some new music and people will listen. It’s the whole Motown sound.
Well, now that I’m thinking about it and I’m talking about the Motown sound, I guess my roots there are through Wah Wah Watson. He’s a guitar player. We did a record together called “For Who You Are.”
He’s passed now, but he was my mentor. I believe he’s from Detroit or he went to Detroit. He became one of the Funk Brothers and all that kind of stuff. He played on over 150 Motown hits, so I guess that’s my roots to the city.
I just looked it up. Wah Wah was born in Richmond, Virginia, but relocated to Detroit by age 20 to focus on his music career.
He was an amazing person. He was a great husband to his wife, he was a great father to his dogs because he had all these like, pitbulls … He was great to have on tour, and to be on tour with. I met him when he was playing with Maxwell.
Why should people come to this next Detroit show?
We’re celebrating Drake, No. 1. He’s a really dope promoter, great DJ and he’s from Detroit. He’s bringing me out and Steve McKie, it’s going to be a very intimate show and I can sing my a– off, so you definitely want to come hear me sing.
