Saturday June 30th 2012 one of the hottest heatwaves here in New York City, I arrive to the city quarter to 11am, still early the haze of the heat haven’t arrive to cloud my thoughts! I gradually start to set up my equipment and wait to interview up and coming rapper ReP (Representing Extraodinary Poetry). …
If your looking for a hang out spot after work or visiting the New York City tri-state area check out the sounds of Compton & Friends! The band plays every Wednesday8pm at Bubby’s Restaurant located on 1 Main Street located near the striking scenary of the Brooklyn Bridge! Catch the movement of live soul, funk, r&b …
On April 17th 2012 I had the opportunity to attend Jamie Alleyne-Morris a.k.a Jay Blessed 1yr Anniversary celebration of the launch of http://www.jayblessed.com. This site is dedicated to everything Caribbean from news, gossip, fashion to interviews. The event was held at the stunning futuristic theme Yotel located on 42nd st and 10th ave in New York …
“Think Like A Man” directed by Tim Story is loosely based on the 2009 book by Comedian/Radio Personality Steve Harvey’s “Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment. The films characters describes every type of man Steve Harvey describes in his book. The ever so …
Hey everyone thanks for visiting Recognition Magazine! In my spare time I do photography on the side therefore if you live in the New York Tri-State Area or just visiting and want to capture special moments within your life then contact RM Photography Services! RM Photography services offers budget friendly prices for your events with …
I know it has been a while since Recognition Magazine had new articles. Currently I am contemplating on having more of a solidified team of writers to bring the public unique media of real quality. In the mix of it all not only am I the founder of this magazine I work a full time job, attend grad school, a photographer, try to squeeze in a workout and mingle with family,friends and my cat..yes I said it my cat! Oh and the holidays is not making it any better between events, eating and eating and events! LOL Despite I’m a very busy person I will never loose sight of my passion which is working hard to make Recognition Magazine grow and give a platform for people that are achieving excellence the spotlight that they deserve! One year ago this month I came up with the concept of the magazine after being so distance from Mass Communications for several years in which I earned my Bachelor of Arts from Lehman College in Jan. 2003 I continued to pursue this field however after the passing of my grandmother in February 2004 I went into a depression. I had to learn how to live on my own and worked my behind off to keep a roof over my head no matter what the job was, therefore I lost sight of the Mass Media Field. It took another event in my life several years later to spark my talents! In February 2011-June 2011 Recogniton Magazine was a blog and the transition of the magazine becoming a full fledge website was made July 2011. The goal for this magazine is to inspire those working hard with their God given talents, intelligence a “turbo boost” to keep them driven of never loosing sight of their dreams and in fact dreams can become reality if you work hard enough and bite the bullet when it comes to scarfice!
Look out for Recognition Magazine in the New Year. Happy Holidays!
Summer 2011, it was a mild rainy day and I just finished speaking to Firan Chisolm (former rapper, now audio engineer,music producer, song writer and actor) on the phone regarding our meeting spot for his interview. I flew up the subway stairs with my equipment staring into the dark tunnel pressing my lips together tight anxiously awaiting the arrival of the train, soon as it came I hopped right on going over in my mind what I would ask Mr. Chisolm during this interview. I met Firan previously months back through a mutual contact that we both had business affiliations with and was very impressed by his lively witty personality and hard work ethic!
Upon my arrival I waited for Mr. Chisolm leaning against a gray wall with my equipment staring at the translucent rain drops that reflected hints of silver. Moments later this tall figure came walking towards me as said hello with his “baritone voice” and greeted me with a hug. We talked about the crazy summer NYC weather and picked up some hero sandwiches along the way..Firan and I finally reached T.M.E. Pro Recording Studios (located in Bronx, N.Y.) where he spends his time audio engineering and producing beats for music artist. After a few minutes of settling down, setting up camera and lighting equipment we got straight down to the interview.
Firan’s parents divorced and as a child he was raised by his mother in the South Bronx. When Firan became older he moved to his fathers in Mount Vernon, N.Y. where he finished high school at Mount Vernon H.S. After graduating H.S. Firan dove head first into the Military (Marines). He explained how that experience had him come out of his shell “I wasn’t the most popular dude in High School, I played football, ran track and knew popular people but I wasn’t popular, I was still in my shell!..Went into the military traveled with my friends (fellow military collages)and you have this bond when you travel together overseas!” Firan came out of his shell because he his military buddies had his back and in turn it gave him the confidence of bringing his lyrical talents to the forefront as he did rap battles against other lyricist within the military.
After leaving the military Firan explored Rap for a while, writing producing and appearing on shows such as The Apollo and MTV showcasing his talents. In the early parts of his career you could find Mr. Chisolm in some of hip hops most popular videos such as Eve’s “Got A Man”, Ruff Ryders “Ride or Die”, Busta Rhymes “Get Out of Here” and Nas infamous video “Hip Hop Is Dead”. Still searching for his calling and with the advancement of computerized music production Chisolm became intrigued with producing music. The old school ways of analog music production didn’t catch his interest however when music became full circle in the digital age along with his interest in technology and eternal love for music, he knew from then on music production was indeed his calling. Firan is also an audio engineer as well, he went back to school to master the craft. Chisolm currently masters his craft on a daily bases at T.M.E. Recording studios located in Bronx, N.Y. along with music production for various artist, he has engineered for known rappers such as KRS one and participated in an up and coming documentary for rapper Ice-T.
In recent times Firan is currently wearing the cap as “Actor”, he has appeared in numerous stage plays one most notably as “Dino” the abusive boyfriend in the off-Broadway play “Love Doesn’t Hurt and appeared in CBS “Blue Bloods” with Tom Selleck. Chisolm didn’t go to acting school however he went to seminars and networking events to gain information from more advanced actors. Firan Chisolm’s source of inspiration come from the likes of Denzil Washington, Idris Elba, Will Smith, Robert Dinero, Al Pacino and Tyler Perry. Chisolm states “I am inspired by successful people that are doing what they love to do!”
In regards to Firan’s career he states “Anything that is associated with media is my plan A period end of discussion! This is what I do, this is my 9 to 5! I do this full time .. sink or swim, if i end up a bum on the subway at 50 it is what it is! ..I don’t believe im going to be like that <Firan chuckles>because I work too hard but at the same time I’m willing to deal with it! It is a sacrifice, the question is how much are you willing to sacrifice for your career? Are u willing to go all the way for it or not going to go all the way for it? You get out of it what u put into it..where you end up in 10yrs is based on the choices u make right now. You have to put the work in now to be successful later, your have to be consistent at it..consistency is a constant everyday grind!”
I truly enjoyed interviewing Mr. Chisolm but WAIT HOLD UP!! Recognition Magazine still has more to share regarding this multi-talent! I present to you the reader the Mini-Documentary Interview w/Firan Chisolm. Enjoy!!!
You may think hmm have I seen her before? Well you guess correct she appeared in a recent Kit Kat commercial, the Superbowl slot for Pepsi, Jet Blue and the list goes on! This multi-talented beauty is a also a model and singer! The dog days of summer it was mid- August in New York, we just overcame a heatwave..85 degrees felt like a relief, so I thought! I spoke to Brianna Colette over the phone to confirm our interview. Who is Brianna Colette? Ms. Colette is a very talented and unique singer on the rise..popular overseas in Europe as well as the New York underground scene she is driven to leave her footprints across the globe. Multi-talented Ms. Colette is also an actor and model. I met Brianna previously at Blake Harveys wine launch (to see previous article click here) and I felt a good spirit about this young woman, she sung her heart out without much effort, you could hear the genuine passion within her voice!
I left my house, lugging at my equipment for the video interview..soon as I head out the door the humidity hit me like a punch, the heatwave didn’t seem over with the abnormal humidity we have experienced. I reached our interview destination, waiting for Brianna instantly I spotted her from the crowd! Sun fire red hair mixed with darker undertones was swooped in an unsweep, her skin glowed, all she had on was a little gloss and maybe some mascara the natural beauty greeted me with a smile full of pearls. Ms. Colette let down her hair and a huge burst of the red sun kiss mane complimented her face! Brianna’s vibes were positive, she exhibited excitement and passion within our communication for this interview.
Brianna born in Nashville Tennessee, the black sheep of the family she always found herself getting into trouble, as she described it “just being bad”. Colette mainly grew up in a family of women, during High School she went through a “thug life”phase as she describes it ,wearing baggy clothes and not dressing like a lady. Colette mentioned her grandmother taking part in her upbringing and how the high school she went to was pretty rough. Brianna cousins criticized her for wearing baggy jeans and oversize clothes, as she states ”Women always have an opinion especially family members, they don’t filter anything! I had to have tough skin to deal with those opinions”. Short lived Brianna had a passion for fashion, she describes making a fake swimsuit and making rip tops however that phase quickly ended.
Brianna is multi-talented she has appeard in numerous commercials, most notably Kit Kat and Pepsi’s Superbowl slot commerical amongst several others. Colette models and her number one passion is singing, when I asked her other ventures she would like to become involved she said “It’s hard enough to narrow those things down!” Brianna chuckles “When you feel like you can do a lot of things it’s good but you have to focus on one thing to at least have something take off!” Brianna is currently in the works to start a foundation named ”Broken kids”, this foundation will be for children that have parents that neglected and abandon them. The proceeds will go to school clothes, lunch money and having the ability to partipate in afterschool activities. “My life has lead me to come up with this foundation and that’s what I’m really going to work towards” Colette explains.
Without further or due I present to you the video Interview w/Brianna Colette! Brianna talks about her the start of her career, the progress she has made as well as her plans for the future. Enjoy!
Recognition Magazine had the opportunity to interview up and coming fashion designer Khamani Q during New York’s Fashion week. This was a quick question and answer interview, this extremely talented man is very busy and I am happy I had the opportunity to grab him for a few minutes to get the scoop from Mr. Khamani Q! Side note: Thanks to Jay Paperz for lending me his flash for those “nightclub” video shots!
One of the hottest days in New York City on July 19th 2011 Freddy Fuego..Fuego which means Hot in Spanish ..coincidence is exact, no pun intended on the weather as Mr. Fuego walked through the flames of the weather to come through for the interview. I was very impressed that this man didn’t cancel as this weather was very dangerous, across the news various heat warning were made running down incidents and fatalities related to this heat. This interview was long anticipated Freddy was one of the first people that I met out of all the people I met in which I conducted their interviews in previous articles within this magazine.
It was almost a year ago when I attended a jazz concert at The Peoples Lounge located on the lower east side in New York City. I was relaxing with my friend and cousins, enjoying the company and sexy sounds of witty jazz in the air. Freddy Fuego and his band came up to the stage and set up, I didn’t think much of what would happen next. Freddy and his band hands down captured the audience that night, the group was extremely talented! The Fuego band were in beautiful sync as a unit! Every since then I have attended Fuego’s performances whenever I had free time!
Freddy grew up in an musically inclined family, with his father playing the bongos, an uncle that plays the piano and another uncle which is a singer. Freddy didn’t have much of an interest in pursuing music full time, however in seventh grade he learned how to play the trombone, piano and flute and throughout the years mastered the craft. Unaware at the time of his destiny Mr. “Fuego’s” awareness grew once he entered Fordham University to study Law originally. Fuego explains how he found himself spending most of his time playings at various music venues he drifted from Law and knew it was time to make a serious move! Freddy transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston to study music.
Freddy revealed a little secret to Recognition Magazine that in his early days to overcome his shyness he would play his heart out and close his eyes real tight so he wouldn’t have to view the audience staring back at him! In time his shyness became obsolete as the audience embraced Fred with positive feedback. He has performed with such music celebs such as Styles P, Brian McKnight, De La Soul, Mc Hammer,Buju Banton and the list goes on!
This man not only have the musical talents, but a savvy business man and music teacher! Fuego gives one insightful tip regarding contacts that one should follow when getting into this industry “ When you get a call back..establish a working relationship with people, let them know you’re a responsible dude so whenever they need you..you can keep them doors open so you can keep working” Fuego says with a stern tone. To learn about “Freddy the Teacher” check out the video interview, so…
With no further or due I present to you Interview w/Freddy Fuego video interview: He talks about the start of his music career , the progress, his band formation, teaching and his new album coming to i-tunes and Amazon on October 30, 2011 “The New York Chapter”.
Exclusive Interview with the woman that has vocal pipes of Gold JacQ.
I met Jacqueline Fletcher a.k.a JacQ several months ago at a networking brunch. JacQ entered the room in a sexy sophisticated outfit, tall heels, hugging pants, simple top with her blazer, hair in an up-sweep , and jewels danced around her neck and ear lobes. This woman looked untouchable, but as soon as she spoke you could feel the warmth of her heart and spirit! Through our conversation I discovered she is an upcoming singer and from there we kept in contact. I reached out to JacQ for an interview for this very article you see before your eyes! I met JacQ at her home studio, I could have talked to her for hours she made you so comfortable in her presence!
When I sat down to interview this raven hair beauty, I found out that she graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in Business. JacQ always had a passion for cooking as well and would like to use utilize her degree with the future opening of her own restaurant. In the present time though it’s all about JacQ’s singing career and this woman is working extremely hard to make things happen!
The phrase “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” can apply best to JacQ’s talents. Both JacQ’s Mother and Uncle have “the gift of song” but didn’t seriously pursue this career. JacQ however is planning and fulfilling each goal with precise execution step by step until every single one of her dreams becomes a reality!
Without further or due I present to you JacQ’s video interview. JacQ talks about how she discovered her talents, the good and negative feedback she received on her quest to notoriety, her new album “Victim of Music”, production and her business side!
In this exclusive video interview get to know Jamila Collymore. A native of the Bronx Ms. Collymore which is only in her early 20s has accomplished various achievements such as earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree. This soft spoken focused woman educates children with special needs in the early childhood education setting. Jamila has stated that she truly enjoys her teaching career and considers it a blessing anticipating each and every day she walks through the classroom door! Outside of the classroom Ms. Collymore is an active participant in her church assisting in various events, singing in the choir as well as solo amongst the many services this young lady does for the church. A talented writer, Jamila writes songs which she plans to “shop around” and in the process of writing a book. In the video Collymore explains once she is retired she will use her writing skills to educate the youth.
It was a pleasure interviewing this grounded and humble young woman! Recognition Magazine wishes her all the best in all that she has accomplished and set to accomplish. Now without further or due we present to you Jamila’s video interview. Enjoy!
In our search to overcome our battle of the bulge some of us try various methods in watching what we eat. Even some of us though fall from glory having crazy habits of packing on the pounds without being conscious of what we are doing to ourselves. I watched Joy Bauer a health nutritionist run down a list all of the habits that a lot of us have in case you missed it this is what Ms. Bauer listed:
Problem: Eating in front of the television- you can easily go through a bag of chips, cookies without being aware you demolished these goods like a garbage disposal! Solution: Make sure your eating without the television on or using the computer, you will be more mindful of what your eating.
Problem: Using food for comfort Solution: Come up with something convent and pleasurable instead of eating put on an I pod and walk! Also stop eating when your not hungry. (Side note: When Joy Bauer mention this it it home I had balloon to 250 pounds several years ago because I ate food just for the taste of it, never did I use food to fight any depressions but rejoiced in celebrations which can be dangerous health wise as well..therefore remember using good to rejoice and be as equal as a problem to resorting to food to fight negative energy!)
Problem: Over indulging on the weekends Solution: Selectively splurge on weekend at the most indulge in two “Goodies”. (Side Note: For example if you drink a milk shake and have some pasta lets just say that’s the limit for the weekend, it can either be eaten on the same day or two separate days.)
Problem: Standing up while eating. According to Bauer studies show standers ate 30 more minutes then sitters, grabbing more things to munch on because mentally they don’t register their meal as a meal. Therefore they have more craving. Solution: Sit down and eat your meal. Also stop eating out of packages which can apply to both sitting and standing situations!
I felt this mini list was useful and know there are a lot more habits that we can toss. Health and food is an ongoing concern regarding our health it will never be an obsolete issue! In the coming months Recognition Magazine will continue bringing you health articles bases on our extensive research, studies and through face to face interviews with health experts. We will keep you posted!
In Guatemla three former special forces soldier’s(of the Guatemalan military’s elite Kaibil unit) were sentence in court for the 1982 massacre of hundreds of men and women during the Central American Civil War. Manuel Pop Sun, Daniel Martinez and Reyes Collin were sentence 30 yrs for each death they inflicted on the people within the village as well as an additional 30yrs of crimes which degraded humanity. (Right photo insert by:Saul Martinez / EPA / August 2, 2011)
The surviving victims and friends/family of victims that unfornatey didn’t survive were extremely relieved that justice was served! According to the Christian Science monitor they quoted some of the victims :”We waited many years for justice,” said survivor Raul de Jesus Gomez. “I saw when they were killing people. They had us kneeling for five hours and would put their rifles in our mouths every time we asked them to stop killing the others.”
In December 7th 1982 over a dozen Kaibiles attacked the community of Dos Erres they were looking for missing weapons that guerrilla groups within the region have actually stolen. Paranoid you can say they falsely blamed the farmers of collaborating with the rebels. The men raped and killed women and girls, and banished hundreds of people from the community, according to the filings. The Christian Science monitor also recalls the witnesses experience, something no one should ever view. They saw first hand how their fellow villagers were tortured and robbed by the soldiers as part of a “scorched earth” effort to eliminate communities supporting insurgent groups at the height of Guatemala’s 36-year civil war.
Photo by:Saul Martinez / EPA / August 2, 2011
The corpses were retreived from a well within this community literally 8yrs later after the massacre and the remains from close to 200 victims were recovered in total all women , men and children!
Now almost 29yrs later to the day of this horrific massacre justice has finally been served! Look like there is no chance in hell for parole for these individuals. This is a lesson to those that think they can control the universe and people in it, basically you can’t and what you do negative upon others will eventually catch up to you!
I’m not in love with cooking and I always try to find the easiest way out of situations, especially in the summer. Though I can cook pretty well it’s not my passion. We tend to eat all of these unhealthy foods as a fast means of fulfilling our appetite. If we take a little more energy to make a quick meal instead of wasting money on heart attack food not only can we improve our health/body form but in the same token keep money in our pockets. It is amazing how much money you can save cooking your own meals, I use to chronically buy outfood but since making the transition even with making occassional fatty goodies still the calories and fat are less because you control the intake of what your putting into your body (unlike outfood in which we play russian roulette with..without even thinking twice about it).
Ok so with no further or due I will share with you a cook meal which I actually found on television. It’s called Tarragon mustard marinated chicken, basically it’s grilled chicken thighs packed with a moderate amount of flavor, served with a mixture of tomatoes and corn. Yesterday I went to the grocery picked up a few ingrediants and cooked this quick dish on the same day and it is tasty! Check out the video below from NBC’s Today Show:
I know it has been a while since Recognition Magazine had new articles. Currently I am contemplating on having more of a solidified team of writers to bring the public unique media of real quality. In the mix of it all not only am I the founder of this magazine I work a full time job, attend grad school, a photographer, try to squeeze in a workout and mingle with family,friends and my cat..yes I said it my cat! Oh and the holidays is not making it any better between events, eating and eating and events! LOL Despite I’m a very busy person I will never loose sight of my passion which is working hard to make Recognition Magazine grow and give a platform for people that are achieving excellence the spotlight that they deserve! One year ago this month I came up with the concept of the magazine after being so distance from Mass Communications for several years in which I earned my Bachelor of Arts from Lehman College in Jan. 2003 I continued to pursue this field however after the passing of my grandmother in February 2004 I went into a depression. I had to learn how to live on my own and worked my behind off to keep a roof over my head no matter what the job was, therefore I lost sight of the Mass Media Field. It took another event in my life several years later to spark my talents! In February 2011-June 2011 Recogniton Magazine was a blog and the transition of the magazine becoming a full fledge website was made July 2011. The goal for this magazine is to inspire those working hard with their God given talents, intelligence a “turbo boost” to keep them driven of never loosing sight of their dreams and in fact dreams can become reality if you work hard enough and bite the bullet when it comes to scarfice!
