The Back Room

Introducing... The Back Room

A new live performance podcast for showcasing local talent. Every Tuesday, starting May 3rd, catch new episodes on Memphis Artists for Change's YouTube channel!

Tyke T

Tyke T combined honest lyrics, bold production, and insight garnered from his graduate education to climb the charts without the help of a major-label. The indie artist -- who graduated with an MBA from Middle Tennessee State University -- studied the charts and organized his fan base, storming the Top 50 of four Billboard charts with his sophomore EP, 2017's The Prelude. Born Tyrone Stroble in Smyrna, Tennessee, Tyke's main influences were '90s R&B and New Jack Swing by the likes of Jodeci, Bobby Brown, and Bell Biv Devoe, as well as rap from Master P, Kanye West, Drake, 8Ball & MJG, UGK, and Outkast.

Adajyo

Sequoia, Stephani, Britne and Joy — the foursome that makes up the dynamic singing group, ADAJYO, first met in high school and became fast friends. In fact, the group was formed on the heels
of a three-way school suspension for skipping class. After noticing Sequoia’s gift, Britne, Stephani and Joy wanted so desperately to hear her sing that they forged a tardy excuse from their teacher, skipped their homeroom course and sneaked into the choir room to hear her. After the suspension ended, the group was properly formed, lacking only one thing - what to be called. Wanting a name that sounded different than the norm, they thumbed through a dictionary and stumbled upon the word ‘adagio’, meaning: a steady, slow and graceful movement in music. Thus, ADAJYO was birthed.
Originally desiring to be backed by instrumentation, the foursome was encouraged by friend and vocal mentor, Thomas Jackson, to use their first instruments - their voices. He rearranged Richard
Smallwood’s Total Praise for them and their journey as an acapella group began to take root. Since then, their sound has evolved from gospel to soul with inflections of jazz and R&B. With nearly two decades of friendship and life experiences under their belt, ADAJYO has since created their own genre, appropriately called “Heart Music”. This new genre, much like its creators, cannot be fashioned to fit into existing categories. Instead, Heart Music weaves together many styles, sounds and harmonious blends, all to share a message of light and life, love and unity. Surrounded by family and friends who also share deep roots in soul-stirring music, this band of
powerful women credits a lot of their sound to musical giants such as Stevie Wonder, Take 6, New York Voices, Tweet, PJ Morton, Shea Norman, Imogen Heap and a host of others.. Their unique, airy
voices continue to pave new roads in music and have reached the ears of many legends; even affording them the opportunity to back vocal powerhouse, Lalah Hathaway, on stage. When they are not stacking vocals in the studio or swaying gracefully on the stage, they can be found tapping into other talents, ranging from culinary to performance arts or spending quality time with their families. With hearts as pure as the lyrics they dream up and sing over their adoring supporters, ADAJYO is swiftly becoming one of the ones to watch. Follow along as they make their mark in musical history.

Nick Black

Nick Black is a fun, optimistic, and authentic artist from Memphis, TN. Influenced by the feel-good music of Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars, and the musicality of legacy acts such as Al Green and Sting, Nick has created his music to sound modern and unique, yet familiar and nostalgic.
His stage presence as an entertainer is quite something to behold. Nick pulls the audience in and doesn’t let them go. He creates an experience that he wants everyone to be part of. Pulling people up from the crowd, singing to a fan in the front row...everyone's included. He grew up between two worlds: his family’s deep ties to church, and his hometown of Memphis where Soul, RnB, Rock N’ Roll, and Blues legends made names for themselves, Black’s sound is an organically grown phenomenon, honed at open mic nights, in church, at hundreds of club gigs, and now on larger stages across the USA.
Since his first album in 2012, The Soul Diaries, his authenticity and passion has been the foundation of his identity, both as a person and as an artist. In March and April of 2020, with touring being shut down, Nick embarked on a record-setting 30 songs in 30 days called “Nick Black’s $ongs from $cratch” on his Twitch channel writing songs in real time from samples, riffs and lyric lines sent in by viewers. He has since written over 100 songs in front of a quickly growing live streaming audience, 12 of which landed on his brand new TWITCH #1 album, which has over 100,000 plays on Spotify.

Faith PQ

Kemmie Douglas, artistically known as FaithPQ (Poetikally Quoted), identifies as she. She is a poet, spoken word artist and member of The Traveling Poets in Memphis, TN. She has mentored youth in the community with Hattiloo's WOSO mentoring program. FaithPQ utilizes her voice in poetry to inspire self identity, self expression and bringing mental health awareness. She started off writing short stories and essays elementary that led to several award wins and she fell in love with poetry in the 6th grade. FaithPQ's first embark on the Memphis poetry scene was winning 2nd place at the National Civil Rights Museum's Drop the Mic Poetry Slam in 2014.

I enjoy slam poetry but I'm here for the art of it all. I'm a firm believer in collaboration. My new found love is collaborating my love of poetry with my love of music. Every opportunity to hit the mic is an opportunity to inspire creativity as an " instrumental poet".

Yung Titan

Memphis, TN native, Yung Titan creates music from his passion, pain, and process as he battles balancing his life as a husband, father and MC. "My addictions, struggles, faith and praise bleeds out in every song, I'm just grateful knowing I'm not alone, and I can inspire others musically that go through the same thing."

Titan, 31, looks to bring the missing heart in christian hip-hop as he embarks on his new Faith Season journey.

Cameron Ross

Energetic, inspiring, and smooth are some of the words that can describe the music of Cameron Ross. A native of Osceola, Arkansas, Cameron grew up in an environment surrounded by music. He began playing saxophone at the age of 11 in the 6th grade. By high school, he had his own band that played at various church and community functions. Upon completing high school, he earned a band scholarship to Arkansas State University where he earned a bachelor's degree in music education. He later returned to school to earn his Master of Music Education from The University of Memphis. He also is a music education researcher and has an upcoming article in Music Education Journal. Cameron is a twenty-one-year veteran of education and currently teaches band at Snowden Middle School in Memphis. He also serves as the jazz chairman for the West Tennessee State Band and Orchestra Association.

In 2012, Cameron released his first music project titled New Perspective, a collection of original and covers of inspirational and smooth jazz. In 2017, he released his second project Power which focused on contemporary praise and worship. He has also appeared on the projects of several other artists as well. Cameron has performed in several venues across the country such as Humphries Backstage in San Diego, The Perfect Note in Birmingham, and Wet Willie’s in Washington D.C. He has also been invited to perform several shows in Toronto, Canada. Some of the television appearances include The Bobby Jones Gospel Show, Good Morning Memphis, and The Trinity Broadcast Network. He has also performed the national anthem for the Memphis Grizzlies three times.

Cameron has been married for 22 years and has two children.

Doll Mccoy

Doll McCoy,is a singer/songwriter born and raised in Memphis,TN. She formed her roots singing,and directing in the church choir at Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church. Going on to become a student at Ridgeway Jr. High/High School,she met her 3 sisters,and together they formed the group,”ADAJYO” and have been together for 18 years. With a desire to expand her knowledge and artistry, she relocated to Los Angeles,CA from 2011-2015,working with artist such as Raphael Saadiq,and Leonna Lewis. In 2015, she went on to work for the B.B. King Blues Club,traveling the world aboard Holland America Cruise Lines until 2018. Now,back in Memphis,she uses all that she has learned and continues to perform in the city,create new music with ADAJYO,curate events such as “Doll’s Playlist”, and will release on her own music soon!

Bird Williams

Nicknamed “Bird” for his melodious style of singing, Bird Williams, native Memphis born & raised, has graced a great many stages in the mid-south area with his amazing soulful talent. Bird has that “ole skool” flow that pulls listeners directly into the song. Take a listen to Bird Williams and join the ever growing fan base who loves true R&B in its full glory. Available now at ALL streaming and download companies worldwide.