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Eugene IV born
and raised in southwest Atlanta , is a multi-talented vocalist, musician,
songwriter, actor, and educator. He began playing sax at age 9 and
has been writing rhymes since elementary school. Eugene IV has
played with bands for the National Black Arts Festival, Auburn Street
Festival, Funk Jazz Café, and even the Atlanta-Montreaux Music
Festival.
Eugene IV is a former member of the
hip-hop duo not-r-selz, who often performed with Gotee recording
artists GRITS and collaborated with Shawn J. Period (producer
of songs for Mos Def, Beastie Boys, & the Lyricist
Lounge compilation). The group had songs in heavy rotation on Spiritual
Vibe [Atlanta's Hot 97 (now Hot 107)] and was featured on numerous albums,
including several underground hip-hop compilations.
Eugene IV began acting at Tennessee
State University, where he earned a B.S. degree in Biology. About a year
after graduation, he canceled plans for grad school to pursue his passion
for the arts full-time. Since then, he has performed in countless professional
theatre productions (A Raisin in the Sun, Fences, Ain't Misbehavin', etc.),
commercials/industrials (Doctor's Hospital, Walt Disney Tribute to
Eartha Kitt , etc.) and television (Mama Flora's Family, Trumpet
Awards, etc.).
Eugene IV regularly works as a substitute
teacher in schools throughout Atlanta . He feels equally accountable
to both his students and other potential audiences.
"I feel a responsibility to positively
affect the lives of the listeners," says Eugene IV about
his current project, Starving Artist . Starving
Artist is his debut solo album and was chosen as the 1st
album to be released by the internationally acclaimed Youth Ensemble
of Atlanta, of which he is an alumnus. Starving Artist has
been described as a soulful hip-hop album combining the musicality
of jazz and soul with the rhythms of Hip Hop and the words of a poet. "My
musical inspirations run the gamut from Public Enemy and De
La Soul to Earth, Wind & Fire and Wayne Shorter," says Eugene
IV.
Starving Artist features a special
appearance from Arrested Development's Baba Oje. The twelve
original tracks also include a powerhouse of musical talent from the
vocal stylings of Julie Dexter ("Mama was a Freedom Rider")
to Atlanta-based musicians Takana Miyamoto , Khari Cabral
Simmons (bassist for India.Arie) and MC Divinity. Starving
Artist was engineered by Alex Lowe who has also worked with OutKast,
Sunny Emory and many others.
Starving Artist is
a powerful combination of explosive music and powerfully positive messages
of empowerment, responsibility
and redemption. "I know, and have known since well before adulthood,
that I've been called to make music that cries for social change. As
the child of parents who were directly involved in the Civil Rights Movement,
I feel it’s in my blood to, at the very least, speak out against
injustice."”
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