Cruzmatik - Music

Cruzmatik - Music

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Spin Rich Records TM

     Cruzmatik

Dynamite Duo Making Their Mark

Photos by Tim Cattera

Crusmatik (L)  JWillz  (R) FMZ

     Two life long friends came together to forge a musical duo that has created a fresh new sound and the music world has begun to take note. “Cruzmatik” is a new duo created by two music veterans. The first member is rapper/producer Reggie Stephens who also goes by the name Famouz or FMZ. Stephens is a former player for the NFL New York Giants and the Arena Football League’s Nashville Kats.

Reggie Stephens aka FMZ

 FMZ gained notoriety for being the first person to legally sample a Jon Bon Jovi song on a hip-hop track (“Bad Name,” and get clearance for David Bowies (“FAME “) from his debut album, Ghetto Passport).  In addition to Bon Jovi, FMZ has worked with the likes of E-40, Bun B, DJ Unk, and Rankin Scroo.

Jason Williams aka JWillz

     The second member is singer/songwriter Jason Williams aka JWillz. Williams was been the lead singer for the group Ribsy’s Nickel for 12 years.  Growing up in one of California's premiere surf towns (Santa Cruz), JWillz and Ribsy’s have been playing their catchy surf/reggae/rock music up and down the California coast for close to 12 years, sharing the stage with bands like Slightly Stoopid, Pepper, The Expendables, Fishbone, Travis Larson Band and The Chop Tops. After having done their separate things, the two friends decided to join forces and go into the studio. Their first single “Not Gone Wur Bout It,” was the result and it started to catch on big time via them performing it on live shows. The duo has a new album that will drop soon.

JWillz & FMZ  Cruzmatik

     So what is the concept of the cruzmatik sound? FMZ explains, “We’re going for the main stream market basically. As you get more into our music, we are all about positive energy and good vibes. We aren’t trying to bring no negativity to the situation. So that’s kind of like where we stand. Our whole thing is having fun. If you ever watch both of our videos it’s like having a good time and having fun with friends and family. So that’s the direction we’re going, on a positive note, that’s what we’re trying to do.”

         There is an abundance of negativity and self hate surrounding hip hop that is being marketed and pushed to our youth. Does Cruzmatik find a tug and pull with their audience because of this? JWillz responds, “Sometimes it is like that and the negativity does come from all angles when you’re doing this music. Even though we are a positive group it still affects us because there is a lot of negative out there that people try to bring you down or whatever. The main thing with me, FMZ and this group its always been like you can’t pay attention to it. When people try to get personal with you, you really can’t take it that personal. I don’t know a lot of people that are on Twitter. I don’t try to get caught up with it. I’m trying to stay in a positive way. If you really stay focused and don’t get caught up in all of this negative energy it’s not going to affect you and its  been working every since we started this group. Since we began in the bay area and our success started to grow more, a lot of people have been throwing that negative hate around and it doesn’t affect us. Why should it affect us? We know where we want to go so we block it out and that’s a good thing to do.”

FMZ    JWillz       Cruzmatik

  

   Cruzmatik has taken off like a wildfire without the usual methodology associated with promoting a group. What have been the key elements to their rapid rise? FMZ elaborates, “Everything that we’ve gained has been organic. We have no radio play, we’ve worked the social media like crazy and people see what we’re doing. We work with a charity called “Grind Out Hunger” where we help feed kids who don’t have any food. Everything that we do is positive. People are looking for something different to tell you the truth. They're looking for something different from the same old stuff that these artists have been doing. You see these videos and all you see is jewelry etc., and I don’t hate on that or dislike that. They do what they do but where the times are with the economy and everything that is going on, people want to be happy when they look at stuff. They don’t want to be looking at the same thing, going down that same road. So that’s how we look at it and I think that’s where the fan base and the support comes from especially in the bay area. Check out the Curzmatik videos:

  

http://www.vevo.com/artist/cruzmatik?source=lucenesearch  VEVO  

http://www.youtube.com/user/CruzmatikVEVO 

E-mail: cruzmatik@gmail.com; Facebook and Twitter 

 © 2012 Rych McCain Media/Syndication tm 

(You DID Hear It From Me!) 

 E-Mail: feedbackrych@sbcglobal.net 

 

Cicely Tyson - Film

 

Cicely Tyson - Film

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Cicely Tyson

No Fanfare, Just Full Steam Ahead!

All Liongate Photos

     One would think that after a successful modeling and acting career that spans five decades; and being considered by many as an American artistic treasure and icon, she would be content to lay back and rest on her laurels and accomplishments but not so for the magnificent actress Cicely Tyson. 

   However, when you mention the word great in her presence she is quick to correct you saying “I’m not a great actress. I strive to be a good actress. That word “great” is bandied around entirely too much.” As mentioned above, there are many who would tend to disagree with her. After all this Harlem native is a “Best Lead Actress” Oscar® nominee for her role in the 1972 movie “Sounder” and was the first Black actress to win the “Outstanding Lead Actress in a TV Movie” Emmy® in 1974 for “The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman” as well as other critically acclaimed roles. Tyson began her career as a model after being discovered by a fashion editor at Ebony Magazine and worked her way to the top in that field. Then she studied and made the transition to acting. Her body of work is not as extensive as it could have been due to her commitment to portray only strong, positive images of Black women.

Cicely Tyson as Nana Mama

     Tyson’s latest role is a prime example. She plays Nana Mama, the grandmother/mother figure in the Alex and Maria Cross household. Of course we are talking the new Tyler Perry action/thriller movie “Alex Cross.” Tyson really enjoyed working with Perry again. There is a scene where Perry grabs her from behind and lifts Tyson off of her feet. Was that something she was expecting from the script? She laughs, “No, No, I did not. I mean, as his mother, I certainly did not expect him to do that to me. But we do have a lot of very playful moments and he does that at a time when I’m getting at him to change my attitude towards him.” 

     What is Tyson’s take on her character Nana Mama? Turning serious, Tyson breaks it down, “Well first of all I think and what I hope the audience takes away is the fact that she is a mother. To me it’s the most important feature in her personality. And then add to that fact that if anything ever happened to her son, she would not only be grandmother but mother to his children. And so, I was torn between his love for the work that he chose and the fact that any day he could not come home to me nor his children. So that was extremely difficult for me."

Tyler Perry & Sayeed Shahidi

     The stress of being Nana Mama shows as the character is always cranky. Tyson agrees explaining, “Because she’s living on the edge. She’s living on a very threatening possibility she can loose him any day that he can walk out of that door and never come back. So she’s always on edge about that. He has consistently tried to kind of slough it off as I know what I’m doing, this is what I love doing and so on and so forth. But she knows the facts that his life is in absolute jeopardy. And as a result, so is mine and so are his children.”

Tyler Perry as Alex Cross

    Because this is Perry’s first action-hero film where he is strictly and actor and not the writer/director what butterfly did both have about working with each other under these circumstances? Tyson muses, “Oddly enough he (Perry) said to me time and time again, ‘I can’t believe I’m in a scene with Cicely Tyson.’ ‘I’m doing a scene with Cicely Tyson.’ He went to the director and said ‘I don’t know how to act; I’m doing a scene with Cicely Tyson.’ By the same token, I’m looking at him and I’m saying, ‘oh my God, I’m doing a scene with Tyler Perry.’ I’m really doing a dramatic scene with Tyler Perry.’ So we both actually had the same anxieties about working in this particular capacity with each other.

     Tyson has an incredible body of work. So when a new project comes her way, is there any pressure to except a certain level of project or does she take it for face value for what it is? Tyson says, “No I never take anything at face value. I have always maintained one way of selecting a role that I would play and it’s through reading the script. And if my skin tingles, I know it’s for me, if my stomach churns, I know it’s a pass. And that’s my way of deciding.

© 2012 Rych McCain Media/Syndication tm 

(You DID Hear It From Me!) 

 E-Mail: feedbackrych@sbcglobal.net 

 

Katherine McNamara - TV

Katherine McNamara - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Katherine McNamara

A Gifted Teen Accomplishing Important Things!

Photos Courtesy of Disney

       Young people in Hollywood are often stereo typed as being all talent with little substance in the way of a non-vain, logical thinking process. Where much of that thought is reality, there are the exceptions that are far and few between. One shining example is sweet sixteen year-old actress Katherine McNamara. 

Katherine McNamara

  This astonishing young lady graduated from high school with honors at the incredible age of fourteen and will complete her B.S. Degree in Business & Finance next year at age seventeen from Drexel University’s LeBow School of Business online program. 

     The Kansas City, Missouri native began acting as a child and then relocated to New York with her mom and soon debuted in her first Broadway play “A Little Night Music” as Fredrika starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Landsbury. This lead to several other Broadway plays and as expected Hollywood came calling, then a second relocation to Los Angeles ensued. McNamara wasted no time booking TV commercials, TV show guest spots and roles in movies. 

   She currently has a recurring role on the Disney XD comedy “Kickin It” and will co-star as Myra in the new Disney Channel movie of the week “Girl vs. Monster” which will premiere Friday, October 12, 2012, 8/7C. 

       When describing her character Myra, McNamara says, “She’s a real fearless, spunky girl and eventually she ends up releasing all of these monsters. Then she and her friends have to fight to save Halloween and get the monsters trapped again. Myra is your classic high school mean girl. She has a huge rivalry with Skylar and she’s sort of very possessive, not so shaken and of course all of the wonderful things that high schooling goes on. 

  

       But eventually she get possessed by a monster which I thought was really fun as an actor because it gave me a chance to play a few different characters basically in this film. Then towards the end of the movie, there’s something that mean girls don’t get a lot. After my character becomes un-possessed, she sees the error of her ways if you will and becomes a nice person. So it’s a really nice alack for me.”

      How did McNamara get involved in show business at such a young age? She happily reflects, “I feel like I got started later than most of my friends who started when they were two and three. I didn’t start working professionally until I was twelve. Before that, I was just a ballet dancer and a softball player in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. Then I ran into a family friend who was directing a community theater production that needed some dancers. So she asked if I would come audition and of course I was the kid who always wanted to try new things, so I figured why not, it might be fun. From the minute I hit the stage from the first performance, I just knew it’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It just brought me this indescribable joy and I had no doubt in my mind that all I wanted to do for the rest of my life was act, sing and dance.”



    McNamara then became involved with the local Kansas City and regional Missouri theater scene where she performed in plays, studied her craft and got her acting chops together. When the opportunity for New York and Broadway beckoned, she was professionally ready. McNamara has soaked in all of her experiences living in KC, New York and now LA. This combined with her advanced education, all before she’s eighteen, has made her quite an impressive package! 

Katherine McNamara

      How does she stay as well grounded as she is? A smile and giggle says it all. McNamara quips, “My mom and I have a great relationship. She taught me the difference between right and wrong. I really only try to surround myself with positive people who are good people in general. And I also have a very strong faith which helps ground me. If you surround yourself with faith, good friends and family, there’s not much more you can ask for.”

 © 2012 Rych McCain Media/Syndication tm 

(You DID Hear It From Me!) 

 E-Mail: feedbackrych@sbcglobal.net