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RAPHAEL
SAADIQ HEADS OUT ON HIS OWN:
LIVE
ALBUM TO BE RECORDED JULY 2, 3 AND 4, STUDIO ALBUM TO FOLLOW IN FEBRUARY 2004 June 23, 2003 -- After years of reporting to major labels for his solo and Tony! Toni! Tone! albums, Raphael Saadiq is going to do things his way and start a new chapter in his musical life by opening the doors to his own company. He’ll be releasing his first-ever live album in October (exact date TBA) on his Pookie Entertainment record label. He’s currently in negotiations with a major distributor (to be named in the coming weeks). It will be the first official Pookie Entertainment indie release since the critically acclaimed and Grammy® nominated self-titled album by Lucy Pearl (Raphael’s post-TTT project with Dawn Robinson from En Vogue and Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest), which came out May 2000 and was distributed by BMG. Three special live performances of Raphael and his 12-piece band, along with many surprise guests, will be taped in front of fans and radio contest winners July 2 in San Diego at the Belly Up Tavern, July 3 in Los Angeles at the House of Blues and July 4 in Las Vegas at the House of Blues. The performances will also be filmed for a forthcoming DVD, which will be released sometime next year via Pookie Entertainment. Meanwhile, Raphael will release his second solo studio album in February 2004, which will be recorded at his Blakeslee Recording Studios in North Hollywood, CA. All this excitement follows his “Best R&B Song” Grammy® Award win this past February for Erykah Badu’s “Love Of My Life (Ode To Hip Hop)” from the “Brown Sugar” soundtrack. He racked up a total of five nominations, including “Best R&B Album” for the critically-acclaimed INSTANT VINTAGE, which was released May 21, 2002 on Universal Records. Raphael was actually the first artist in Grammy® history to be nominated without having a major record label deal. He amicably parted ways with Universal in December 2002. Here’s how Vibe magazine described INSTANT VINTAGE: “If his new sound were an outfit, it would be a bell-bottom, patchwork catsuit of silk, suede, cashmere, and macramé, with funky armpit stains.” And People praised Raphael for being “one of R&B’s best-kept secrets.” Since Raphael concluded promotion of the album in February, he’s been keeping busy at Blakeslee Studios, producing songs for upcoming albums by D’Angelo, Kelis, Nikka Costa, Snoop Dogg and many others. In other news, Raphael’s venturing into the A&R world of the music industry and is looking for soul, hip-hop and rap artists for his label. Copyrighted material only can be sent to: Pookie Entertainment, 4850 Vineland Ave., #241, North Hollywood, CA 91601. Once again, here are the tape dates and locations for the live album:
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