Another great feature for you guys today! As always, if you are or represent an upcoming artist, designer, writer, etc., please visit our Features/Submissions page for more info!

Today, we have writer Dee “Mz DeeVa” Shields! Raised in the live music capital of the world, Austin, Texas, Dee was born into a family of musicians and writers. “I took on more of the skill of writing, alongside a deep love and appreciation of music from many genres,” the writer stated.  Dee graduated in 2000 from Austin Business College with a degree in Administrative Specialization, but went on to study Social Work and Psychology at Central Texas College and the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor. She is also set to receive her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Phoenix this spring, and will continue on to receive her masters and eventually doctorate in the field.

In the midst of her studies, Dee went on to develop and grow with her writing over the years.  

Inspired by Pastor Joel Osteen , Iyanla Vanzant, and Terry McMillan, and using her own knowledge and experiences, she has been able to write several self-published books to help others. Her first project was her own memoir, Great Sex Is Not Love, which was released in 2011. “I wanted my future readers to know my personal life story before any other project,” Dee said of her memoir.

Dee has gone on to write several self-help books surrounding love, heartbreak, forgiveness, and other topics for readers. “I see so many suffer behind broken hearts and struggle at finding a sense of normalcy when their world is turned upside down by heartbreak, that I knew I could relate and had some strategies that worked for me that the world of the broken hearted needed to hear,” the author said of her desire to help others with her words.

Her most recent book, Reasons He Dates Plus-Size,  was released in August 2015, and is the start of a new series for Dee. “With the ‘Reasons’ series I plan to touch a variety of dating topics,” she said. Inspired from a topic on her Battle of the Sexes web radio show, the author dives into why men from all walks of life gravitate towards plus-size women. “I know now, after experiencing some years in a plus body, the type of games certain types play,” Dee said. “I wanted to highlight it in a published project that could be shared to prevent another lady from the games that are played out there.”  Currently, Dee is working on the next book in the “Reasons” series—Reasons She is Obsessive Over a Man.

In terms of what sets her apart from other writers, Dee believes that her combined education and experiences make her stand out. “My personal experiences, along with my psychology studies, give me a positive edge to relate to my readers and what they, or a friend, may be going through at the time,” she said. In the future, Dee hopes to expand to hosting seminars, men and women’s empowerment retreats and other speaking engagements where she can get more of her advice out to the masses!

You can check out Dee's various works on Amazon! Also, be sure to connect with her on Twitter! 

9:47:00 AM

Another spotlight to start the week! As always, if you are or represent an upcoming artist, producer, designer, etc., and are interested in a feature on The Spotlight, please visit our Features/Submissions page for more information.

Today, we have poetry/songwriting duo XpressionsEnt! Nicole and Rae have both been writing for years, but, in the past few years have been steadily pursuing their dreams of writing and working together as a group.

Raised a self proclaimed “army brat,” Nicole discovered her love for words at an early age. After buying her first CD, Tim McGraw’s Not a Moment Too Soon, at the age of 8, she was truly captivated by the way the music made her feel. “I knew I wanted to make people [feel] that way at a very early age,” she said. Nicole began writing when she was about 12 years old, just occasional short poems that were a way to express herself. “I just knew that it was a way to release the things I was afraid to speak,” she admitted. Nicole admitted that settling down with her family in the city of Nashville had a great impact on her and her writing. “There is something about the Nashville grind and beauty that makes you want to get out and learn more, experience more, and grow more,” the writer said. She has also more recently been inspired by poet and novelist Charles Bukowski.

Rae herself has been writing for the last 14 years or so. “I knew early on that I had a gift when it came to writing,” she said. Originally from Los Angeles, the writer believes that the city had a huge impact on her. “The hustle, the will that’s required to survive [there] just helped shaped me and make me that more diverse of a writer,” Rae said. She acknowledged having her share of highs and lows in life, including being diagnosed with diabetes at 16. “No one has a perfect life,” Rae stated. “Adversity makes your life more relatable. Our words [have] real, raw emotion.” She began taking her craft more seriously about three years ago. “Life changed directions and it forced me to look at things differently,” Rae disclosed. “Once I did, my choice was clear. I have to write.” Rae is admitted obsessed with the talented writers and spoken word artists from creative arts company The Strivers Row, especially Alysia Harris, as well as the late, great Maya Angelou.

Nicole and Rae previously connected through mutual friends in high school, and quickly realized their shared love and passion for writing, poetry, and music. “Til this day, I remember us writing poems for each other whenever our crushes were acting crazy,” Rae laughed. “We became writing partners before we knew exactly where this journey would take us because we simply trusted each other’s ambition and talent,” Nicole added. Thus, XpressionsEnt was born!

XpressionsEnt regularly posts unique poems and quotes on Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr. “We really try to make sure that we are offering readers something different,” Rae said. “Whether it's in our approach or format, we try to give them more than the norm because that can get boring.” Nicole added, “We take risks with our writing to see how our audience reacts. We put our hearts on the line every time so that other people can relate.”


Currently, the duo is working on a body of work showcasing their songwriting skills, as well as a few books set to be released next year. Nicole and Rae hope to expand more into music and songwriting in the future, but don’t rule out other writing opportunities. “We are definitely trying to branch off into a little of everything,” Nicole said. “Once we get our foot in the door, nothing is going to be off limits.” Rae agreed, stating that she sees XpressionsEnt being a force to be reckoned with everywhere. “Words are so powerful. They can heal,” she said. “As long as I’m able, I want us to provide that for others in any way that we can.” Be on the lookout for this dedicated group in the future!

You can check out more from XpressionsEnt on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and YouTube!

8:11:00 AM

Happy Friday yall! We have another great spotlight for you! As always, if you are or represent an upcoming artist, designer, producer, etc, and are interested in being featured on the blog, visit our Features/Submissions page for more information. 

Today, we have blogger Sonia Grace! Originally from Alabama, Sonia got her start in blogging back in November 2013, as a hobby while she went back to school to study nursing. She realized it was something that she wanted to seriously pursue when she began doing celebrity interviews, starting back in 2014 with her first interview with actress Drew Sidora. “I was super nervous because I didn't want to ask her the wrong questions to offend her,” Sonia admitted. “But after that I did tons of other celeb interviews, and then I realized my calling was in broadcast journalism. This was my first time I was happy with a job I was doing.”



Inspired by other bloggers like Necole Bitchie, Karen Civil, and Claire Sulmers, Sonia recently launched her new site, The Voux, which offers a variety of topics for readers including beauty, celebrity news, fashion and fitness. “First I wanted the title “vous,” meaning you in french, but that name was taken, so I decided to put the x on the end,” the blogger said of the title of the site. Sonia said that The Voux is a website for the people, dealing with real issues, offering sections as well about life and love. “I even have [an] “Ask The Experts” section where you can [ask] relationship experts questions and they answer in [a] brutally honest manner,” she stated. “No sugarcoating answers like [other] websites will give you.The mission for my site is for the people (you) to give the readers what they want.” The Voux also has a “Beauty Pick of the Week” section, which showcases regular people as well as celebrities.

In addition to working on The Voux, Sonia is set to begin hosting her own radio show next month on Blog Talk Radio on the Royal Thieves Station. She will also be launching a fashion blog and boutique with her best friend later in the year.

Sonia’s advice to upcoming bloggers? “Stay consistent [and] build relationships,” she said. “Always have great people on your team if you trying to make your brand bigger, [and] do your research.” In terms of her own future, Sonia would like to see her site be one of the top websites of them all. She would also love to see celebs wearing her upcoming designs from her boutique, as well as styling celebs herself. “I would love to see those take off in the next year, and just for me to continue to be successful in my life and career in the entertainment industry,” the blogger said.

You can check out Sonia’s work on The Voux! You can also also follow her on Twitter and Instagram!

7:01:00 AM

My fellow Moonz are so talented and inspirational, I promise you! Check out this new project from poet Jah' Bless entitled Balladry!

Combining his love of music with his great poetry, Jah' Bless came up with a great project in Balladry, choosing the name because the project is spoken word set to music, with each piece having something moving to say. "My inspiration behind this project was purely based on the need to escape a fear I had," he said. "I wanted to do this project to challenge myself in a way I haven't before." The poet already had material prepared, but the recording process was new to him. However, he was able to get all the instrumentals together and figure out recording over them himself.

Check out a few tracks below!

His favorite track (and one of mine too!) is "The Children," which uses singer Jaheim's song "Fabulous." Jah' Bless said, "It's a beautiful song and the poem just fits," he said. "My future career will be a counselor or mentor anyway. I plan on helping our youth, hopefully saving as many of them as I can."




Overall, the poet hopes that listeners take in the positive and impacting messages, and apply it towards their own lives. "I did it for the poets all around the world, as well [as] the individuals...that aspire for dreams that people mock and say can't be reality," Jah' said. "Be expecting to hear more from Jah' Bless because this is just the beginning."

You can hear the project in full on SoundCloud. You can also follow Jah' Bless on Twitter and Instagram. Proud of you Roddo!

6:46:00 PM

Keeping these spotlights coming! As always, if you are or represent an upcoming artist, designer, producer, etc., and are interested in a feature on The Spotlight, please read our Features/Submissions page for more details!

Today, I’m happy to feature one of my fellow Moonz (aka strong supporters of Wale and each other!), poet Christian Richardson! Christian started writing poetry in his senior year of high school back in 2007, with his first poem being a love poem to a girl he was “foolishly in love with,” he joked. “We were not communicating at the time, so I wrote her a letter instead.” Poetry soon became a way for him to truly open up about his feelings and emotions about his life circumstances.




The poet honestly stated that his upbringing made him resentful and angry, and he internalized a lot of his emotions. However, writing gave him an outlet. “I didn’t really know how to express myself any other way,” Christian admitted. “I couldn’t articulate my emotions clearly and lucid so I indulged myself a lot more in to writing my emotions down instead of talking about them.” I personally know that feeling so well! Regardless of what you write about, many writers, or at least the ones I know, often struggle to express themselves verbally, and can sometimes hold their emotions in. However, writing is always a freeing release. I know that for myself. Christian personally uses those emotions in his performances.

Christian knew that poetry was something that he wanted to seriously pursue once he graduated from college. In school, he continued to write constantly, but was focused more on graduating as well as fraternity life, which kept him away from pursuing a career as a poet full time. Though even now he has a 9 to 5, he spends the rest of his time writing and practicing for performances, with the goal of eventually becoming a full-time traveling poet and motivational speaker.

Inspired by friends in the poetry scene Greg Long (aka Tripp Fontane) and Amber Steele (aka Poetic Am), Christian uses his gift for writing and spoken word in a powerful way! Two outstanding pieces he shared with me are “Venting” and “Black Man, White Cop,” which you can view below!

“Venting” showcases Christian speaking about his own personal issues as well as his issues with society. “I talked a lot about insecurities, my dissatisfaction with the amount of debt people accumulate after college and how sometimes we buy in to that ‘American fantasy,’ (I can’t even call it American dream) that things are all gravy if we get a degree,” he said. He says in first line, “I find comfort in low fat yogurts, and 50 calorie pita chips” which he said was basically a stab at society’s constant push for perfection. “We are never skinny enough, or have enough muscle to be that ideal person people want and accept. And it definitely gets deeper throughout.”



In the second piece, “Black Man, White Cop,” Christian took on the role of current cases of police brutality and racism with black men including Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner. “Those particular cases and verdicts actually made me feel something,” he disclosed. “When I heard the verdict of Eric Garner case, I’ll never forget, I was in my car sitting in Chipotle parking lot and I just broke into tears. Like any of those cases that could have been me. And I really questioned my value to the world as a Black male today.”


In the future, Christian would like to travel around the world and perform his poetry. “I don’t even want to be rich for real, just enough to maintain and do what I love,” he said. “See the world, gain perspective, write and perform the rest of my life away. That’s all I really want for real.”

You can connect with this amazing and humble poet on Twitter and Instagram,” and see more of his work on YouTube!

11:07:00 AM

It has been confirmed that legendary poet and writer Maya Angelou has passed away at the age of 86.
Her literary agent, Helen Brann, confirmed that Dr. Angelou died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As many of us know, Dr. Angelou’s work spans over 50 years, and goes beyond just writing. She’s recorded albums, starred in several films and productions, as well as directed film.

One of my favorite works by her would have to be her famous book, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," an autobiographical book. Self-taught, she made a name for herself and was a true inspiration to look up to. I’m saddened to hear about her passing, but it’s good to know that she lived a full life of purpose and joy, doing what she loved and impacting literally millions. That’s a great legacy to leave. 

Thoughts and prayers go out to her loved ones. For now, I leave you all with one of my favorite poems by Dr. Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Woman.” Rest in Peace.

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7:20:00 AM