TruSkool Tuesdays: Havana
Posted by: Coach Bundy
TruSkool Soul Edition
Tune in at 9pm PT!
Listen here for your music player: Earthbound Radio
View on Ustream at 9pm!: Ustream.TV/EarthboundRadio
Ladies and Gentlemen! hear ye hear ye! TruSkool Tuesdays is proud to announce that San Diego’s very own Havana will be our very special guest this evening on Earthbound Radio and Ustream!
We (specially me) at TruSkool are really amped and excited because this night is special. Tonight is a show that you most definitely don’t want to miss. I Discovered Havana on a couple of soul mixtapes and wanted to know more about her. Turns out she is from San Diego and I believe she is featured on one of Nicolay’s (Foreign Exchange) mixes on Scion’s mixtapes. Also turns out that Nicolay produced her track ‘Shine’ as well. Look out for her upcoming LP Entervention. So without further ado…
OFFICIAL BIO (From her MySpace blog)
Cuba has been making world headlines recently with its historic experiences of newfound freedom and—true to her name and the current global climate—Southern California’s soulful singer-songwriter Havana has a lot in common with the flava-filled Caribbean island’s fresh liberation.
“I used to wear this shirt that said ‘South America by way of Havana’ and everyone would ask if I was from Cuba. A few people started to call me Havana and the name just stuck,” says the matter-of-fact musician who, despite the sultry demeanor, keeps it straightforward and who has worked with producers like Nicolay, Symbolic One and Waajeed.
Through her honest-as-Mary J. lyrical life experiences and laid-back musical melodies, Havana’s blended the hotness of these elements together on her knows-no-boundaries new album Entervention—an auditory sensation that’s sexy like a sweet-and-sour Mojito on summer’s day.
“The Entervention project is me actually dealing with my past by venting my frustrations through my music. I am taking the opportunity to share more of my feelings, feelings that I haven’t touched on until now.”
Entervention follows up Havana’s 2005 debut album L.I.F.E., which caught the attention of big names like NBC, MTV, Scion and Adidas who each respectively reached out to the musician to link up .. licensing deals. Those large corporate names have been equally balanced by Havana’s success as an independent artist on the Detroit-bred, San Diego-based label Skoolcraft Music, where L.I.F.E. has sold an impressive 18,000 units (physical & digital) to date.
Havana is an artist who defies predictable first-impressions and lazy stereotypes. Part street, all real talk, Havana’s progressive, electronic hyper-soul can spin at the club, at a house party, or on the stereo on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Beyond trying to categorize her music, Havana’s baby face and outer beauty don’t reveal the hard struggles this singer has endured that make her inner character so strong.
A child who struggled through grown-up issues such as abandonment, domestic violence and drug abuse at the hands of an addict mother and a father who was in and out of jail, Havana sought and found through music the solace and shelter that her family didn’t provide.
“My hardships were most times easily expressed by others’ music. Growing up without my parents and seeing a lot of violence and abuse had me taking different songs and making them my own by relating them to my personal situations. It’s affected my music now because I have an outlet to help me further express myself and possibly help others. I look at my hardships as a story, a journey that can now be shared through my music,” says Havana.
Her new album Entervention, which features production by upcoming producers like Trackademicks, GB (Sound in Color), Brook D’Leau (J*Davey) and Beat$treets, celebrates the coming to grips of Havana’s hard upbringing with her life, using music to express her experiences and family issues, but never forgetting to have fun along the way.
Link Up:
Label: Skoolcraft Music
3 years ago | Tags: Havana TruSkool Soul Coach Bundy Skoolcraft Music Earthbound Radio
