Feloni's Biography
| TV REALITY SHOWS: MTV's LOGO Network "Coming Out Stories" MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS: 2007 Los Angeles Music Awards Nomination: Best Rap Category MUSIC CONTESTS: Broadjam's 2007 Rap Lyric Contest Placement: Grand Prize Winner CORPORATE EVENTS: Sony Selected by Sony to host a "Remix Contest" For Sony's Acid Pro 6.0 Software BOOK FEATURES: "Hip-Hop Homophobes: The Origin & Attitudes Towards Gays & Lesbians" by Khalil Amani, S.A. (this book includes basic information about me and a few quotes from some of my records) Mo' Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Compiled by Aaron Pecham RADIO INTERVIEWS: Aug.2007 Pride Radio Denmark Pride By Lars & Martin Denmark Aug.2007 Mandrake Society Radio By JW Richard Dallas, TX March 2007 WJLB-FM 98 What's Next on the Menu By DJ DDT Detroit, MI Sep.2006 WJLB-FM 98 What's Next on the Menu By DJ DDT & Detroit Streets Detroit, MI MAGAZINE REVIEWS / INTERVIEWS: STUDS Magazine USA August 2008 Real Detroit Weekly Magazine USA December 2007 Fusion Magazine Denmark August 2007 Davey D's Hip-Hop Corner Digital Magazine July 2007 Choice Magazine (Cover) USA October 2007 New York's GO Magazine "Out Artists on The Rise" USA August 2006 Sapience Magazine USA August 2005 MAGAZINE BLURBS: New York's GO Magazine "Catching Up with Our Favorite Artists" August 2008 AfterEllen.com "Sound Check 2008" Feloni MTV's Logo Digital Magazine January 2008 AfterEllen.com "Sound Check 2008" Lori Michaels MTV's Logo Digital Magazine May 2008 The Southern Voice "On The Town" Digital Magazine June 2007 New York's GO Magazine "Catching Up With Our Favorite Artists" USA August 2007 DISCOGRAPHY / ALBUMS: 2008 "Love Spent" Executive Producer: Trish "Feloni" Best Label: Trak Diamond Records Detroit, MI In Progress for 08! Stay Tuned! 2007 "A Woman's Revenge" Executive Producer: Trish "FELONi" Best Label: Trak Diamond Records Detroit, MI SINGLES / COLLABS: 2008 "Girl Thing" Lori Michaels feat. Feloni Album: "Living My Life Out Loud" Lori Michaels Productions Label: Reform Records NYC 2006 "Here One Day...Gone The Next" Produced by DJ Razorblade Label: P Rock Records Detroit, MI 2006 "What I Want" Produced by DJ Maestro Label: B.O.M.B.Z. Musik Ent. Detroit, MI MIX TAPES: May 2005 Russell Simmons & WJLB-FM 98 2005 Official Detroit Hip-Hop Summit Mix Tape: Detroit's Finest, Vol. 1 MUSIC REVIEWS: December 2007 Real Detroit Weekly Entertainment Magazine "Feloni is a Queen Latifah for the new millennium, with the wicked tongue of Lady of Rage and sex appeal of Da Brat. Latifah, who has been denying gay rumors about herself for years, opened up her 1993 hit “U.N.I.T.Y.” by yelling “Who you callin’ a bitch!?” Now, the torch has landed in Detroit, with Feloni taking feminism further." -THOMAS MATICH July 2007 Hip-Hop Icon, Dj Spinderlella of Salt 'N Pepa "There's not a lot of female MCs out there, but I see you [Feloni] got what it takes to do it. Keep holdin' it down, Feloni." -DJ SPINDERELLA January 2007 Masterdisk, NYC "If you like your female rapper's rough, rugged, and raw you need to check out FELONi. In a different twist or flavor this female rapper can hang with the likes of Remy Ma, Lil' Kim, Trina, and Shawnna. With banging beats and vicious lyrics this rapper has a lot to say. So if you have an open mind take out some time to hear what she has to say." -TONY DAWSEY Note: Tony Dawsey is the prodigious mastering engineer behind multi-platinum selling albums by artists like Jay-Z, Nas, DMX, Ludacris, Kid Rock & Redman and many other platinum selling artists. August 2006 GO Magazine "...'Brand New'...is more reminiscent of Missy Elliott-if she had half of Feloni's swagger." -SOPHIA DORVAL CONTACT: For All Inquiries Email: trakdiamondrecords@gmail.com Official Fan site: www.myspace.com/feloni |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
"...And if God choose to put me through the fire, I hope he
understand I couldn't live as a liar."
-Feloni, Lyrics from "No Fear"
understand I couldn't live as a liar."
-Feloni, Lyrics from "No Fear"
Trak Diamond Records. All Rights Reserved.
*Please bookmark page to keep
up with updates to Feloni's Bio!
up with updates to Feloni's Bio!
Introduction to Feloni's Biography:
"Recording artist Trish Best, also known as Feloni, was born and raised in Detroit, MI. Feloni also spent some of her elementary years
growing up in Dothan, Alabama. In Detroit, she attended Winterhaulter Jr. High, located off of Tuxedo and Broadstreet. Although she
grew up on both the east and west sides of the Detroit, it was during her early teenage years living in the infamous neighborhoods of
Dexter, Tuxedo and Linwood that she developed her original "swag". Feloni had enough charisma to hang with the "gangsters" to the
top "athletes" at Central High--all the way back northwest to the intellectuals at Renaissance High. She could converse on any subject
matter from religion, politics, philosophy and the arts. She was always the first person to say the things everyone else was afraid to
say. Feloni was never considered a follower, and her good friends were always among the leaders within any given clique. When she
walked into a room, her presence was strong enough to inspire you to gravitate towards her or envy her from afar. Either way, when
she entered your life, enlightened, it changed. You could never forget her...good or bad." -Mike B.
"Recording artist Trish Best, also known as Feloni, was born and raised in Detroit, MI. Feloni also spent some of her elementary years
growing up in Dothan, Alabama. In Detroit, she attended Winterhaulter Jr. High, located off of Tuxedo and Broadstreet. Although she
grew up on both the east and west sides of the Detroit, it was during her early teenage years living in the infamous neighborhoods of
Dexter, Tuxedo and Linwood that she developed her original "swag". Feloni had enough charisma to hang with the "gangsters" to the
top "athletes" at Central High--all the way back northwest to the intellectuals at Renaissance High. She could converse on any subject
matter from religion, politics, philosophy and the arts. She was always the first person to say the things everyone else was afraid to
say. Feloni was never considered a follower, and her good friends were always among the leaders within any given clique. When she
walked into a room, her presence was strong enough to inspire you to gravitate towards her or envy her from afar. Either way, when
she entered your life, enlightened, it changed. You could never forget her...good or bad." -Mike B.
| Feloni's Biography: She's one of the most famous, unknowns. She's major without the Majors. She's the ultimate underdog of all underdogs in the hip-hop genre. She's unbossed and unsold. Feloni keeps it Live and Active in a game full of Clones! Many have seen the Detroit native, Feloni, on her own episode of MTV's Logo "Coming Out Stories" produced by two time Emmy Award winning, and Oscar nominated, Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman. The reality show focused on Feloni coming "out" to her father and brother before releasing her controversial debut album, "A Woman's Revenge." Per Time Magazine's "Best Websites of 2008", Urban Dictionary describes Feloni as "Known by many of her fans as the "Godmother" of the urban "out" lesbian hip-hop movement. That lesbian rapper FELONi is off the hook!" You should check out her album!" Although many newcomers to the game of "lesbian rap" hate giving her credit for helping to open doors and opportunities for them, when Feloni first released her castrating single "Brand New" in 2005 on Russell Simmons' Detroit Hip-Hop Summit Mixtape, you couldn't even find another "out" lesbian rapper on her level, let alone, a lesbian rapper that was internationally known. You can also credit Feloni with being the first "out" urban, lesbian to release a full-length album "A Woman's Revenge" from a lesbian's perspective, which to date, continues to sell internationally. Many of the new out "lesbian rappers" are still afraid to speak about their lifestyles in music in fear of being not getting attention. Instead, many prefer to follow the clone's blueprint in hip-hop and rap about bling, clothing, star fantasies and hyped lifestyles they do not actually live. However, Feloni refuses to "sell out" in order to be heard or to be accepted by mainstream. In fact, Feloni's music continues to be heard, via word of mouth, in spite of her not doing gigs nor having guest appearances on her album by major artists. Also, Feloni has not been reviewed in any major music magazine as some of the newer "out" lesbian rappers have. Why? The reason for the lack of coverage is not because mainstream media does not know Feloni exists. Per Feloni, her camp understands it has to do with the fact that her lyrics are simply too bold, truthful, and quite frankly, just down right "castrating"! Considering mainstream media and hip-hop is primarily controlled by "men", Feloni states, "For insecure men, my lyrics are intimidating. However, my lyrics are no more intimidating than the misogynistic lyrics that are often spoken against women by many artists in hip-hop." Feloni's sexuality is not the only subject matter Feloni raps about. In fact, her new single "DeadEnd Kid" - based on a true story from her upcoming sophomore album called "Love Spent" - will also focus on elements outside her sexuality without losing essence of who she is nor where she comes from as an artist, lesbian and a black woman. Her "controversial" debut hit single "Brand New" was first featured on WJLB-FM 98 & Russell Simmon's Official Detroit Hip-Hop Summit Mix Tape in 2005, which inspired the entire 'out' urban lesbian hip-hop movement. Feloni's music also helped inspire the phrase "My girl gotta' girlfriend." Initially, the radio station refused to allow Feloni on the mixtape stating her song "Brand New" was too "controversial". After meeting with the mixtape promoter, willy-nilly, they agreed to allow Feloni the first 16 bars only of "Brand New" to make to mixtape, which also featured music from national recording artists, Trick-Trick and Tone-Tone. Contagious and powerful, Feloni's 16 bars sparked an entire movement along with the surface acceptance of the entire "My Girl Got a Girlfriend" fad. In hip-hop's language, Feloni flipped the script on male posturing in an attempt to push the limits of hip-hop's sexuality, and to challenge the misogyny and hypocrisy that accompanies it. After appearing on the mixtape, intrigued by Feloni's style, she was approached by a popular Detroit DJ named DJ Hen House (a member of The Core DJs) who invited her to join The Movement (created by Y.B.I. Intertainment's CEO, Mr. Floss-A-Lot). The Movement consisted of CEOs from six independent record labels in Detroit whose primary purpose was to pool their resources to help promote their own artists on a national scale. After several successful shows and display of raw talent, opening with major acts like Jim Jones, Dipset, Jadikiss, D-Block and many others, The Movement's popularity in Detroit grew. This growth ultimately attracted the attention of Big Proof of D12 [R.I.P.] (DJ Hen House's close friend and Eminem's best friend) who later joined the organization with his group, "The Purple Gang". After being voted in as the only female CEO (Trak Diamond Records) in The Movement, Feloni was later allowed by the organization to open with "Brand New" at the Zoo Bar in Detroit for "D Block" featuring Styles P, Sheek Louch and J. Hood. As they say, the rest is herstory. Feloni studied Psychology, Philosophy and Film Theory at Wayne State University in Detroit. She dropped out of college to get a full time job to help finance creative projects to come in the future. However, she said she's willing to go back to complete her degree should it become part of her fate. Feloni says, "Although getting a college education is important, at this juncture in my life, as an 'artist' and not a 'rapper' it's more important for me to present truth and share it with the world than to finish my degree." With catchy beats, wicked lyrics and infectious hooks, Feloni's style has been described as a cross between "Jay-Z and early, Lil' Kim." She has also been compared to Da Brat, Queen Latifah and Lady of Rage. Feloni is a master at evoking emotion in her music, just ask anyone who has heard Feloni's debut single "Brand New", "Pussi Can" or "No Fear" for the first time. Feloni is a writer, producer and mix engineer who at age 16, began rapping the prose and poetry she often wrote in an attempt to release the internal anger she housed for many years since childhood. Feloni's mother was always on the run as a victim of domestic violence. To help her deal with the daily turmoil and conflicts within her home, prose, poetry and hip-hop became Feloni's refuge for venting frustration and positively channelling creative energy. Per Feloni, her name does not mean she is trying to be "hard" "hood" or "gangster". She states the name "Feloni" is merely a play on irony. It is a stage name she chose after growing up in the "hood" and unlike most of her friends, she never caught a felony. She states she also chose the name to exemplify that words in hip-hop rarely ever carry their denotative meaning, which purpose is to force people to think beyond what they see and hear on the surface. Several years after the violent murder of Feloni's brother, and the attempt murder against her mother, she began to focus more on releasing her debut album. Feloni says she knew it would be difficult getting a record deal being herself, but she did not want to change who she is just to get a deal. She said she knew the odds would be against her, but she would rather be hated for being who she is than be loved for being somebody she's not. In February 2007 of Black History Month, Feloni independently released her "controversial" debut album "A Woman's Revenge" on her self-owned indie label, Trak Diamond Records. Promoters across the country booked Feloni at many popular events and venues adding to a successful six month promotional tour. Feloni also joined the "controversial" 2007 Homo Revolution Tour in the South as a special guest to help promote human rights. Feloni continues to establish a growing following, and her music continues to spread internationally via word of mouth alone. To date, Feloni has opened for national recording artists Y.B.I., Donnie, D Block, Street Lords, Rita Mosely, DJ Spinderella of Salt N Pepa and many others. In 2007, she was invited to Houston to open for Solange Knowles. She was even invited to perform at Wellesley College in MA. Feloni also made history in 2007 by being the 1st "out" lesbian hip-hop artist to appear on the 2007 Grammy Award's ballot in the Rap category. She was also selected by Sony (her first corporate sponsor) to host a "Remix Contest" to help promote their Acid Pro 6 Software. |
Check Out Feloni's Official Blog!