A Very Special Intimate Evening With
Lil’ Kim
In Concert!

Monday, July 12, 2010 • 8pm
After making her presence known on Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s debut album, Conspiracy, Lil’ Kim launched a solo career in 1996 with the release of her first record, Hard Core. As the album’s title implies, Kim was a rarity among female rappers — one who not only concentrated on edgy hardcore rap but also explicit sexuality, two territories that had long been the province of male rappers.
 

Of course, Kim’s near-pornographic sexuality and hard-edged rhythms made her an anomaly within hip-hop, but Hard Core proved that she was no novelty, as it garnered positive reviews and strong sales. A native of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Lil’ Kim was raised by her parents until they split up when she was nine years old. Following their separation, she lived with her father, yet he threw her out of the house when she was a teenager. As a teen, she lived with her friends and, occasionally, on the streets. Eventually, she and her rhyming skills came to the attention of Biggie Smalls, who helped her cultivate her career. Smalls helped her become a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A., and Kim was a key part of the group’s hit debut single, “Player’s Anthem.” Kim also made a big impression on the remainder of Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s 1995 debut album, Conspiracy.

KPFA airing Prospect Sierra 8th Grade Students PSA Promos
Recently KPFA Radio DJ Doug Edwards and Gabrielle Wilson hosted a Tribute and Benefit for Khalil Shaheed on “Music of the World”. The event featured testimonials from many of the Nations and Bay Areas top Jazz personalities honoring Shaheed. During the program they aired for the first time the Public Service Announcements featuring the Prospect Sierra 8th Grade Students and their teacher Bert Kessler. Bert begins the PSA’s with an introduction of the students and their Community Service Project at KPFA arranged by Gabrielle Wilson and Associates with the Aaron & Margaret Wallace Foundation. You can listen to or down the PSA’s on the program here

The Stanford Jazz Workshop will be honoring Jazz Legend Khalil Shaheed with a Tribute and FUNraiser at his performance at the Festival on July 19, 2010 at 7:30 pm. Khalil will be honored by the U. S. Congress, State of California, City of Oakland, and Masjidul Waritheen.
Khalil directs the Oaktown Jazz Workshop two afternoons a week, runs the instrumental music program at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, serves as an artist-in-residence at the Oakland School of Music, and rehearsing and performing with three ensembles: the Khalil Shaheed Quartet (often including his daughter, Savannah Harris, 16, on drums), the jazz-meets-Moroccan music group cleverly named Mo’Rockin Project, and Redwood Brass, a four-trumpet, one-trombone quintet that mixes jazz and classical music.