AV ProductionWorld

The name Trackmatic is the fusion of my track & field background and DeeJaying... I run track & spin tracks. I am the artist, the DeeJay... I weave together different genres of music to create a collage that motivates and inspires artists to reach into their souls and discover who they are and their connection to the past, present and future. I am a Drummer, a percussionist, a visual artist, a coach and a teacher. Just as the African Drums speak to the souls of the people, the beats of the BeatGriot, speak to the souls of the artists. Just as the percussionist completes the music of the band, the beats of the BEat Griot compliment the message of the Emcee. The visual artist is able to bring out, highlight and accent important details unknown to the person themselves. The teacher, the coach motivates inspires and uplifts.

In Africa, the griot is the original storyteller. They are the keepers of family and community history, taught by their elders, and are trained over many years to learn the enormous quantity of traditional songs and to master the melodies and rhythms. Just like the griots of Africa, I was taught by my dad the African drums (Djembe & DunDun) at the age of 6.

My career started back before puberty -following in the footsteps of my father, drummer; sitting at the feet of my elders; listening to great drummers such as: Chief Bey in New York, the Original Sun Drummer, Bro. Atu, Mor Thiam (Akon's father) from Senegal, Musa the Drum Carver and Bro. Tyhemba's Talking Drums.

As I got older, I began to accompany my dad and some of the other drummers with Muntu Dance Theatre, Nubian Cultural Dance Theatre, Najwa and others. Every summer we would and still perform on the lakefront and in the Drum Village during the African Festival of the Arts here in Chicago, Illinois. I have a spiritual ear for music that is in my heart, my soul, which allows me to connect with it.

'83 and '84 was that Hip-Hop/House transition becoming potent influence in my life. I couldn't stop listening to BDP, MC LYTE, EPMD, but at the same time my parents bombarded my ears with them dusties. I started making mix tapes off of a karaoke tape deck in high school. Then I got a hold of some turntables in '95, my senior year. After highschool, college parties became the venue for me to spin for.

It wasn't until 4 years ago, well out of college, I accidentally came across a music program called Fruity Loops that I was getting ready to delete off the computer (too much bootleg software, I had alot of viruses lol). I said "Let me just try this out before I dump it" I thank God I didn't because now I can express everything that influenced me growing up.

Away from the audience, I am a Graphic designer/illustrator which was my first artistic career. I also been a track coach for the last 10 years, turning nobodies in high school into champions. I graduated from Columbia College in 2001, with a degree in Marketing Communications and right out of college, I was doing marketing promotional tours across the country and local to this day. I teach science and social studies from 3rd up to 8th grade...the portfolio is diverse, you dig!

In the marketing communication field, I'm always networking because the job mostly deals with talking to people. I have met a number of artist as well as other marketing associates my field. But I must say, the internet in the past 2 years has been my favorite networking tool hands down. It is one thing to tell 20 people, "I make beats" its a beautiful thing when you are part of a network of 200 million people that can come by your site and hear it for them self...yep, I'm talking about MySpace.

I make my tracks with a program called Fruity Loops along with Cool Edit Pro recording software, ASR 50 keyboard, and a MONSTER ENERGY drink to keep me high, because most of us producers like to start late and finish early in the morning.

What keeps me inspired is connection to music itself; the joyous expression of off peoples face after they hear one of my tracks. People like Kanye,
NO I.D., Jay Dilla, Timbaland. The proven fact that I have a product listeners, as well as the artist, will enjoy and I'm determined to get it out to them.

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