Streetwise Radio Black Music Month Exclusive—Veterans and Rising Stars Illuminate Grammy Pro Songwriters Summit in Oakland, CA

By Shelah Moody

This spring, veteran artist D’Wayne Wiggins and rising stars Kirby Maurier, Fantastic Negrito and Kevaun “Kevo” Williams led an evening panel discussion at the Uptown nightclub in Oakland, CA. The Grammy Pro Songwriters Summit, held on May 12, was presented by the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy.

Four of the music industry’s most influential black artists performed, also spoke candidly about their experiences in the music industry and offered advice on both the creative and music ends of the business.

Chart topping singer/songwriter musician D’Wayne Wiggins of the R&B group Tony! Toni! Tone!, opened the panel with an acoustic guitar performance of one of his favorite R&B classics, William DeVaugn’s “Be Thankful for What You Got.” As the “OG” and moderator of the panel, Wiggins said he plays “Be Thankful” to this day because of its unforgettable hook: “Diamond in the back, sunroof top, diggin’ the scene with a gangsta lean.”

Along with producing hits such as “Feels Good,” “Anniversary” “Lay Your Head On My Pillow” (inspired by the Spinners) and “Let’s Get Down” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKEL-g166ac) for Tony! Toni! Tone!, in the 1990s, Wiggins helped establish Oakland as a music mecca, producing hits for Beyonce and Destiny’s Child, Alicia Keys and Keyshia Cole to name a few on his Oakland-based Grassroots Entertainment, which he runs out of his recording studio, House of Music.

Guitarist Kevaun Williams and SF Recording Academy Chapter President Michael Winger

For this writer, the highlights of the Grammy Pro Songwriters Summit were the ebullient solos performed by Miami, FL based R&B singer/songwriter Kirby Maurier, accompanied by Jamaican guitarist Kevaun “KevoGitz” Williams on the Epiphone Lespaul Custom Pro.

A 2016 Grammy Amplifier winner, Maurier is the founder of the Miami Museum of Music and released her debut album “Doing the Most” on Valholla Entertainment. Propelled by William’s soulful guitar riffs, Maurier wowed the panel members and the audience with her original love songs “I’m Just Sayin,” and “Paradise,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfClY4aGh-4) which she originally wrote for another artist.

Inspired by the “Gimme that Uh!!!” hook in “Paradise,” Wiggins mused at the double entendre. Fantastic Negrito proclaimed that he has an “Uh!!” and knows how to use it.” (Seriously, you can’t make this sh_t up!

I first saw Oakland local Xavier Dphrepaulezz perform about 20 years ago as leader of black alternative group called Death from Sex at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. Now reinvented as a semi-superhero, Fantastic Negrito, he describes his genre as black roots music—a mixture of R&B, blues and alternative. Fantastic Negrito described the highs and lows of his career as an indie artist, including a car accident which resulted in three weeks in a coma, a brief period running a ganja farm and mismanagement and neglect by his former record label.

Fantastic Negrito

Fantastic Negrito performed his wildly popular compositions, “An Honest Man,” and a song exploring the downside of relationships with an unforgettable hook, “Bitch Eat My Cancer.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp1Oo9WEd5s.

Indeed, it was an honor for 26-year-old Kevaun Williams to perform with Maurier at the Grammy Pro Songwriters Summits in Oakland and Los Angeles. A graduate of Kingston’s prestigious Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts, Williams played on Morgan Heritage’s 2015 album “Strictly Roots,” which won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album. This summer, he will tour with chart topping Jamaican vocalist Etana, and the tour will include a performance at the 2016 Sierra Nevada World Music Festival. www.snwmf.com.

Both Wiggins and Fantastic Negrito praised the natural and firey chemistry between Williams and Maurier as a duo.

“It's funny, because two years ago, Kirby and her team had an open audition where my band auditioned and we were selected, “said Williams. “Two years later, she contacted me to work with her on the Grammy Pro Songwriters Summit Showcase which was my first show with her. I like working with Kirby and her team because they're super cool, down to earth and I believe they have the right approach to this business and I share the same sentiment also. And, of course the chemistry on stage is FIRE!!”

For more information, go to www.grammypro.com.