Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 October 2003 — Page 23

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2003

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

PAGE C7

Black Star' rising: Introducing Yahzarah

Electronic Urban Report Yahzarah is a rising talent that you will be glad you checked out. The selections from her debut CD “Black Star” are as thought provoking and genuine as they are aesthetically pleasing to the ear and the groove. The Washington, D.C., native has been making the rounds behind the scenes for quite sometime now. She was the nickel bag lady in Erykah Badu’s “Bag Lady” video, she has also performed alongside Badu on her “Mama’s Gun” set. Couple that with performing with Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker and a who’s who of the business and you have a young lady who’s primed and ready to follow her own star. Back then she was known as Dana Williams, but today she goes by the name Yahzarah, a hybrid of the names of her maternal and fraternal grandmothers. The name is a memorial to her deceased grandmother from Ghana, Yah Atchewincohma and a tribute to her living grandmother, Sara (Zarah in Arabic.) “Down South they pronounce it the way they think it looks,” said Yahzarah. “Some guy walked up to my van and said ‘Hey, y’all wit that girl Hezekiah?Tt was an older man and he was a sweet guy. It might have even looked like Hezekiah to him.” Music has taken the former Ms. Williams on a journey that few will ever know. Though we can hear the result of some her trails and tribulations on her new set, the beginnings can be found in

Independent Black Film Festival looks for entrants Special to The Rtcordor

Atlanta - the heart of AfricanAmerican cultural expression in the South and home to thousands of highly successful and progressive Black men and women in the arts and entertainment industryis this year’s location for the 2004 Independent Black Film Festival, Jan. 20-26at Magic JohnsonTheatres. In its first year, the Independent Black Film Festival was born from the need to provide more authentic platforms to promote and showcase the breadth and depth of inventiveness and creativity within the African-Ameri-can artist community - including filmmakers, composers, animators %nd screenwriters. Through a competitive showcase of diverse and provocative independent features, animation, documentaries, shorts, experimental and new media films, IBFF seeks to entertain and educate the community, while encouraging and empowering artists. Daymon Bradford and Bill Moore are the creators of the In- * dependent Black Film Festival. Bradford’s artistry as an animated filmmaker/writer/editor and Moore’s artistic eye and strong visual flair, combine in an effort to bring “Black Hollywood” to Atlanta. The Independent Black Film Festival is now accepting entries for films, screenplays and film scores. For more details, visit www.indieblackfilm.com. Admissions will be accepted until Oct. 31.

her lineage and conception. “It began in the crib. It’s definitely from genetics. My mother was a singer and violinist, my father was a guitarist, my grandfather was a music teacher and my grandmotherwas a concert singer. It was already a given that I was going to be a musician. They said my mother couldn’t have any Yahzarah children so she designated my life to God in the womb.” As mentioned before, the title of her newly released album is “Black Star.” The concept is both familiar and vague. It tells of life and pain, but also of forgiving and growth. “It is a focus on the pain and passion of life. Understanding one’s self and not blaming others for the mistakes that you make and loving others in life. A black star lives, explodes, it dies and is reborn again. I guess that’s what all the songs on ‘Black Star’ are about. Songs like ‘Bury It’ are about burying the things that people do to you in life. ‘Same Page’ is about knowing love for yourself. ‘Black Star’ is about showing just enough of yourself to keep someone interested. It’s not really deep as much as it is just life. I was just trying to reach out to people and sing about things we all understand,” she

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said. Although Yahzarah has been getting a good deal of positive media on her new 1,1\ chances are that it will be overlooked by some ofthe people who will benefit from hearing it the most ... young people. This is in part due to the current radio situation where uplifting music isn’t given much airplay. Some feel that Yahzarah’s style is the antithesis to that situation, but when we asked her about radio she had this to say. “I think that there’s some music that’s being played that’s not about the art form of uplifting people. I think that there’s some music being played that’s not bad, but there’s no balance. We all would like to shake a tail feather, but I would like to think at the same time. I would like to open up the airwaves to songs that not only soothe the pleasure principle, but also one’s intellect. Then we’d all get somewhere." Speaking of getting somewhere, the video for Yahzarah’s single, “Wishing," is getting rotation on BET and she is more than worthy of getting some love from you, too. “Black Star” is available now. For more info, visit: www.yahzarah.com

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