LISTEN UP: DULCINEA DETWAH RETURNS TO HER HOMETOWN FROM NYC TO PERFORM AT SIDEWALK FESTIVAL
Dulcinea Detwah, an emcee and electronic music producer originally from Detroit, currently resides in Brooklyn. In 2011, she released her first EP Cool Kid, influenced by Detroit techno and has continued to create music with collaborations and live performances. Dulcinea Detwah returns to her hometown to perform at the Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts on August 2nd, 2014, alongside a stellar local line-up featuring Passalacqua, Tunde Olaniran, DUANE, and Underground Resistance.
Detwah’s music, [a clever play on the cities nickname pronounced, ‘dih-twah’] is gritty and unpolished, however her lyrical content deals with her experience as an artist and a woman from Detroit. Her sound is influenced by 90s hip-hop – Bone Thugs, Lil’ Kim, Nas, she also draws influences from the South and Detroit techno.
Trained as a dancer, her performances incorporate two fierce male back-up dancers, DeJaye and Craig who don stilettos during her sets to get the crowd hyped. Leveraging her hometown roots and the endless opportunities that NYC can provide, (recently she was awarded a grant to work with Bruiser Brigade) she is definitely an upcoming artist to watch.
Why did you relocate to New York City from Detroit?
Life isn’t easy as an emerging artist in the music industry working to ‘break-out’ in New York City. I left Detroit after my first year studying at University of Michigan. I originally left to pursue my career as a dancer- at first the transition wasn’t brutal because I was either in dance class or at work. Once college was over, I began to experience growing pains and homesickness. But- I had also developed a great network of friends who are now like my second family.
We heard you’ve been working with the Bruiser Brigade.
So far I’ve just been shadowing the Bruisers and learning as much as I can. I just finished my first collab with Trpl Blk, who is also now living in NYC. They’re a great group of dudes — very positive and optimistic. They remind me of home so much, which I can’t get enough of.
What have you been up to since your last album?
With the help of a Jerome Foundation grant I learned most of my technical skills from Mike Huckaby, so now I’m just creating and practicing as much as I can with Ableton and Maschine. I’ll hopefully release some of that new stuff in November. I also got a grant from the Puffin Foundation to produce a conference focused on female hip-hop and electronic music producers.
What are any differences or similarities between Detroit and New York City you see?
The biggest difference that comes to mind, especially working with producers out in NYC is that we have very different “ears.” I really like creating dance music, especially with that Classic Detroit techno sound- and I just can’t get that from producers in New York. The greatest similarity is the Grind in both cities, folks are hungry and are putting their art first by any means necessary.”
How did you get involved with the Sidewalk Festival in Detroit?
The producer/creator of the Sidewalk Festival, Ryan Meyers-Johnson is an old friend of mine from school. She reached out to me last year and my schedule wouldn’t allow me to make it out, but it worked out this year. Anytime I have the opportunity to be involved in a project I jump on it.
It’s very important for me to stay connected to Detroit. I just have so much love for the city, it’s history, progress, well-being, future…”
DON’T MISS DULCINEA DETWAH PERFORM at 6PM at the Artist Village Theater at the Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts!
Sidewalk Festival is an outdoor celebration of site-specific performance and installation art, in the heart of Detroit’s Old Redford/Brightmoor Neighborhoods. The festival launched on August 3rd, 2013 to a resounding success. Attendees came from far and wide to participate in Detroit’s independent and alternative art scene.
Also on the line-up……
4:00pm • Duane The Brand New Dog (Glam Rock, Pop)
6:00pm • Passalacqua (Hip Hop)
7:00pm • Tunde Olaniran (Pop)
8:00pm • D3 (underground Resitance Presents Mark Flash, Jon Dixon, Desean Jones – Techno Jazz Party)
[Location: Temple Of Dreams, Sidewalk Festival, 17340 Lahser Rd, Detroit, MI.]
The post LISTEN UP: DULCINEA DETWAH RETURNS TO HER HOMETOWN FROM NYC TO PERFORM AT SIDEWALK FESTIVAL appeared first on PLAYGROUND DETROIT.