Y’anna Crawley

All posts tagged Y’anna Crawley

HAPPY 1ST ANNIVERSARY MusicMoviesThoughts!

Posted by Thomasena Farrar on September 2, 2012
Posted in: Scattered Thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , . 17 comments

Hey there Music Movies family! Can you believe that Tuesday, September 4th will mark the 1st year anniversary for this site? That went really quick! I have been extremely blessed in the past few months, having interviewed amazing talents like Glenn Lewis, Y’anna Crawley, and Tamika Patton, as well as co-sponsoring two major movie screening giveaways. I can’t wait to see what the next year holds, can you?

Please allow me to publicly thank a few of my dream champions and great supports – Nakia Stokes, Mike Dennis and Reelblack Presents, Janice Bowmer, LaVern Cameron, Tomeka Farrar, LeTonya Clark, and last but certainly not least Mr. Christopher Weaver, thanks so much for your contribution brother and I love you MUAH!

I sincerely appreciate all of the support and wonderful comments many of you have shared, and I look forward to blessing you all with entertainment updates, movie screenings, and celebrity interviews in the next year.

Thanks again and have a safe and blessed Labor Day holiday!

Until next thought, Thomasena

PS – click the link below for a throwback memory…couldn’t help this one Meka ;)

The Flintstones “The Hot Piano” episode excerpt (1961 copyright Hanna-Barbera Productions):

Sister Chats from the Praise Party (Part 2) – A Conversation With Y’anna Crawley

Posted by Thomasena Farrar on July 1, 2012
Posted in: Interviews, Music Musings. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 3 comments

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What’s new Music Movie Lovers? Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of attending Tamika Patton’s Praise Party at World Cafe Live here in Philadelphia, PA, and what a beautiful evening of worship it was!  What happened next was a pleasure as well, as I was further ushered into God’s presence and reminded of His promises when I interviewed two of the most amazing voices in Gospel music right now, Tamika Patton and Y’Anna Crawley.  In this post, you will read my conversation with one of those amazing women, Sunday Best season 2 and 2012 Stellar Award winner Y’Anna Crawley, whose highly anticipated début project entitled The Promise was released in 2009 to rave reviews. Currently in between labels and working on a new project, I asked Ms. Crawley to talk about some of her experiences since Sunday Best and what she would like to do in the future.

Me: I’m going to start by saying I am a fan from Season 2 Sunday Best.  I mean, I still You Tube your Grandma’s Hands performance for inspiration!  And (from watching the show) you could tell that music was just in you and a natural part of your being.  Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Y’anna: Well, my uncle was the late great Reverend Julius Cheeks, he sang with Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers.  My aunt is (gospel singer) Genobia Jeter, and another uncle is (R & B artist) Glen Jones.  My family is musically inclined and it’s in me, I can’t get away from it.  It’s just a beautiful thing.

Me: I’ve read in the past where you’ve described yourself as a non-traditional gospel artist, and in your first project you specifically chose songs that would crossover.  Tell me what challenges, if any, you’ve experienced being a non-traditional (crossover) gospel artist in a hip hop generation?

Y’anna: That’s always a challenge because I think people want to “keep God in a box,” and God is so outside of the box.  My thing is, I want to reach the world.  You can’t reach church people, because they’re already in there and they already have it.  Some people may say I’m too edgy or I’m doing too much, and it’s not the traditional.  But I don’t worry about that because I know what God tells me. Like Paul (the apostle wrote) you have to be all things to all people.  I sang secular music before I went on Sunday Best.  But I tell people there’s two kinds of music, good music and bad music.  Because I sing music that uplifts, embraces, touches the heart and encourages.  I will never sing anything that degrades or makes a person feel unworthy.  If I can’t put a smile on your face my music is not good.  So, the challenges I face I overlook them because I know what God has said about me.  And I am unapologetically doing what I need to do.

Me: Are you working on a new project?

Y’anna: I am.  I’m not with a label right now, but there are some things on the table.  And I am kind of doing things independently, I want to mash some stuff together. I’ve got some producers in Philly I want to work with, and some in LA I want to work with to get the music together, then present it to (labels) and say hey listen this is it.  I want people to know all the way around who I am and what I give to the kingdom.

Me: Earlier this year, you won the coveted Best New Artist award at the Stellar Awards.  Tell me what that meant to you.

Y’anna: It meant everything to me, because as you know I won Sunday Best in 2009 and here it is 2012.  Things happen, people look at shows and think everybody has it all together, the money, glitz and glamour, but it’s not like that. There is stuff that goes on behind the scenes that may get to a point where the artist says “I don’t want to do this anymore.”  Because a lot of people in the gospel field, sad to say, they don’t have the Spirit at all, it’s about business.  And I get it, but you still have to have integrity and the Spirit in you to do this music.  It’s been rough, and I’ve overcome a lot.  I have two boys, and had my first child when I was 17, so people said my dream was going to die.  But I couldn’t let people tell me what God didn’t, and He didn’t tell me that.  My Stellar award gave me that extra boost and let me know, like I said in my (acceptance) speech, just when people forgot about you, God always remembers.  Once He has a promise for you, if you keep moving towards it, He’s going to make it manifest.

Me: Now you mentioned your two sons, how old are your boys?

Y’anna: 17 & 4.

Me: Wow, you don’t look like you have a 17 yr old!

Y’anna: Thank you girl (laughs).

Me:  What do you want your legacy to be for your sons?

Y’anna: I want my sons to know that anything you want you have to put God first and fight for it.  Nobody’s going to give you anything.  If you want to make a mark in this world you’ve got to be seen, and be seen for who you are not trying to be somebody else.  Always be a follower of someone that’s great, your elders, and then you can become a leader once you learn what they did, to get what they’ve got.  So, I want to leave that fight for my children, because they’re men and they’re Black men and it’s already going to be hard for them.  And they already have a statistic placed on them because I’m a single mother raising them.  But I tell them all the time your father is not present, but your heavenly Father is omnipresent (and) He’s always around.  So, they’re gonna have that fight in them.

Me: Okay, last question.  I want to throw in something for my movie fans.  If you were blessed to segue into film…

Y’anna:  You’re about to speak my life, I’m getting chills.  Okay, keep going.

Me: Okay, you’re blessed with the opportunity to pick a role portraying any music legend, who would it be?

Y’anna: You see these tears about to come to my eyes, because this is about to come to fruition.  Aretha Franklin.   I want that role so bad. I am studying her, I’m reading her book.  And I’m believing God is going to give me that role.  Our stories are so similar.  Even her having children at a young age.  How she crossed over from gospel to secular, but still people respect her.  And that’s just going to be my movie.  I love her.

Me: I am going believe God and keep that in prayer for you, because I can see you in that role!  And I want to say thank you so much for taking the time to bless me this evening.

To say that Ms. Crawley was approachable and open would be an understatement.  I am very grateful for the time she spent sharing her personal experiences and those extra words of wisdom.  It’s not hard to see why God has been faithful with manifesting the promises He keeps in store for her.  And if, not if but when we see her portraying the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, please remember that you read it here first ;) .  Check the link below to view the Y’anna Crawley moment, from Sunday Best, that I still view when I need that extra bit of motivation during my day.  Let me also take time to mention the originator of the tune Grandma’s Hands, the magnificent storyteller and singer Mr. Bill Withers.  And, for those who don’t have it already, go pick up Y’anna Crawley’s début project The Promise (available at many retailers including amazon.com and target.com; you can find those links below as well :) ).

Until next thought family, Thomasena.

Grandma’s Hands,Y’anna Crawley 2009 Sunday’s Best performance (© BET Network): 

The Promise Amazon.com purchase link: 

The Promise Target.com purchase link: 
http://www.target.com/p/the-promise/-/A-12854276

Sister Chats from the Praise Party (Part 1) – A Conversation with Tamika Patton

Posted by Thomasena Farrar on June 30, 2012
Posted in: Interviews, Music Musings. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

Music Movie Lovers what a wonderful week I’ve had.  I shared with you two posts ago Black Music Month and it’s significance, and the last week in June is also labeled Black Music Month Week.  So how fitting it was to start the week with a concert featuring gospel music at Tamika Patton’s Praise Party, which took place last Sunday evening at World Cafe Live here in Philadelphia.  Headlined by Ms. Patton herself, the concert included Theresa Noye, Kevin Jarido & Nu Virtu, and a special performance by Sunday Best season 2 winner Y’anna Crawley (the latter of which I also interviewed so make sure you check out Part 2!).  When I say that it was the most engaging night of praise and worship I’ve taken part of in a long time, I really don’t feel like I’m doing it justice.  The lineup was incredible, the worship was real, and Ms. Patton came on stage and truly displayed why she was recently named Radio One’s Best Inspirational Singer, and why she has received so many accolades and performed with some of the top names in the gospel industry including Yolanda Adams, Karen Clark-Sheard, Vickie Winans, and Kurt Carr.  So sit back and get to know a little more about Ms. Patton and her highly anticipated new release Presence.

Me: What did it mean to you to become Radio One’s 2011 Best Inspirational Singer in America?

Tamika: What it meant to me was that the Lord was now taking our ministry on a national level.  It wasn’t so much a competition for me, because I don’t believe in competing when it comes to gospel.  But it was more so a launching pad.  So I said Lord I’ll go.  If this is an open door to speak to the nations what You’ve invested, then I’ll walk through this door.  I guess I had in mind, I know how these things work, it’s political or whatever.  And I already had in mind you may or may not (win).  I’m not a riffer, screamer, I don’t give you all the gymnastics and calisthenics.  I just sang because I love Jesus.  So, I went, I gave what God gave me to give, met some wonderful people, networked, met awesome worshipers, had no idea I’d win.  Came back the next day from church, and when they said my name, it didn’t register.  If you watch the video, when they actually announce that I won I did the matrix (acts out), I couldn’t believe it (we laugh).

I thank God for that opportunity and meeting James Fortune and having him pen the song More Than Faithful.  I had only met him once, but he wrote the words that were on my heart.  God has been more than faithful.  So I know the Lord gave him that song for me. And that was a concern because when someone that’s already in the industry says well this is your prize we’re going to write a song for you…my first thought was is it going to be me. Because if I can’t feel it then I can’t sing it effectively for anybody else to feel it.  But to hear the words of More Than Faithful, “You were there when I needed You, You were there when my friends walked away, You never left me standing all alone” that’s me.  That’s my life.  And He’s been there all my life every step of the way.

Me: You actually just answered my second question, because that song More Than Faithful is one of my personal testimony songs, but I wanted to know what it meant to you ;) .  I know that’s available on Itunes and Amazon and people picked up your CD here tonight.  But for people who aren’t fortunate enough to be in the area, when can they purchase it in stores?

Tamika: We did a regional release, because a lot of my base was like “where is it.”  And in Philadelphia it’s available at CLC bookstores and the Sound of Market store.  You can also order it on my website and we’ll ship it out to you.  Or you can follow me on my itinerary, come see me live and get it signed, a hug and everything (laughs).  But within the next month, we (management and I) are looking to release it nationally so we can show the rest of the world what Philly already knows, that God favors us.

Me: And it’s title is Presence, can you tell me what the title means?

Tamika:  We wanted to reach everybody, we didn’t want it to be boxed.  And the Lord directed us with each track that we selected. It’s a smorgasbord of music, but each song takes you into His presence in a different way.  So if you’re a praise and worship person, we got you, a traditional person, we got you.  You’re contemporary got that too. Mother of the church, got that, young person, got that.  So this is a CD you can put in, let it play in the minivan driving on vacation, and everybody has a favorite track.

And it ministers to each person, each facet of a person.  If it’s someone who’s like (I) grew up in the street, mom went to church but I really wasn’t feeling it, and I heard her singing a Mahalia Jackson song but it don’t do anything for me.  Okay, well we got (the song) Another Chance.  And the hook is the first two measures of the bass line. Gotcha.  And then when you hear the message!  That’s the one thing, I never have a problem with music being hot, but don’t compromise the message.  Don’t water down the message that you get so caught up in the beat that you…you’re not going to swing your hips to this because the message is clear. You might groove to it, might get a head nod, open the sunroof and lean to the side when you’re driving, but that’s about it.  The message is clear. And it’s a simple message that I think people forget because we mess up so much. We make so many mistakes in life and sometimes we bury ourselves in it, and we rile in it.  Instead of knowing that you got another chance to wake up; another day after you really screwed up royally on Thursday and you got to see Friday?  That’s another opportunity to right your wrongs.  That’s your day to forgive the person you didn’t forgive, that’s your day to go back and say sorry to the person you didn’t say I’m sorry.  That’s your day to say Lord forgive me.  That’s your day to repent.  So, we just wanted to drive that message home.

Me: My blog is music movies thoughts, so I want to ask something for the movie fans.  Now, I know that you have received accolades and acclaim for portraying Queen of Gospel, the legendary Mahalia Jackson in the theater.  I know about the play here, but I read you portrayed her as well in LA?

Tamika: It’s the same production, the director is based in LA now, and we’re going back out there in December of this year to do it again.  But, yes I’ve been blessed to portray her, we won’t say how many years (laughs).  That role changed my life.  Her life parallel(s) mine in so many ways that I think it no longer is a role.  She’s taught me, without even being here physically, how to handle myself with grace in ministry and yet still be in the (music) industry. Because if you maintain your integrity, and be real and transparent in ministry, then you don’t have to shift when you deal with the industry. You can just be who you are.  So all we did was bring her (Mahalia Jackson) to the 21st century. We paid tribute to her on the (CD) project and did Ode to Halie, Halie was her nickname.  And we did a medley of some of her more well-known songs.  We took it straight back porch with the scrub brushes, spoons, organ, and little church with the two pews, I mean it’s straight back in the day.   Sounds like bible water in New Orléans, or N’awlins (laughs).  And so we paid tribute to her, and everybody loves that track.  And it’s making people go and You Tube her, and it’s a blessing. I was honored to play the role, and honored to bring more light and attention to such a great woman.  She did so much for gospel music.

Me: My mother’s favorite movie is the Lana Turner version of Imitation of Life, and the Mahalia Jackson scene is one of my favorite scenes (as everyone in room nods or shares a word in agreement :) ).  So, you’ve played her and done it well.  If you could choose another person past or present to portray in film, in a play, who would it be?

Tamika: (pauses for a bit)…Me (laughs).  I can’t think of anyone else. I pray that my life will be something to encourage somebody.  I would like to play me in a Tyler Perry production, that is my dream’s dream.  Everybody’s like seriously? Yes.  I love Tyler Perry.  I really like to have fun and I’m silly; and a lot of people can’t shift gears from worship to just me being silly. I’ll say whatever God is telling me to say, but I can’t help it that I’m silly and I have a sense of humor.  So, I love his work and I think we’re blessed to have in this lifetime an African-American that owns his own studio, produces his own films, can bring to life whatever he chooses, and he helps others and reaches back.  And that’s what I can appreciate.

Me: I like that he has stayed true to his initial fan base as well. He remembers who made him Tyler Perry.

Tamika: Yes.  He didn’t go industry.

Me: Tamika thank you so much, this (interview) was a huge blessing and thank you also for the worship opportunity you gave everyone tonight.

Open and very transparent in her ministry, Ms. Patton remains in constant demand to perform both locally and nationally and if you listen to Yolanda Adams’s syndicated show on weekday mornings like me, you will often hear her describe Tamika Patton as one of her favorite singers.  I’ve attached links below, so you can go on her site to learn more about Tamika Patton, get her itinerary and listen to the first release More Than Faithful, written by Stellar Award winner James Fortune.  I will be sure to update this post when her album is released nationally, but for those not in the Philadelphia region you can go to her website or purchase the single on Itunes, Amazon.com and CD Universe.  And don’t forget if you live in the area, you can pick up the CD at CLC bookstores or Sound of Market.

Up next, part two of my sister chat featuring Ms. Y’anna Crawley, so no usual tagline here…check back tomorrow and click over to the next post! ;)

Tamika Patton Official Website: 
http://www.tamikapatton.com/

Amazon link for More Than Faithful: 

CD Universe link for More Than Faithful: 
http://www.cduniverse.com/sresult.asp?HT_Search=ARTIST&HT_Search_Info=tamika+patton&style=music