Detroit band Black Bottom Collective boldly treads the musical arena in the spirit of artists who have bent the rules of music, only to create innovative avenues for fans to enjoy. Their sound mashes raw urban energy with the roots of rock. Their music is hip-hop. Spoken word. Soul. If you need a section of the record store to look for them, go to "Rap." But be prepared for much more.
Black Bottom Collective's live show is their signature. It's so ferocious, energetic and revivalist that it's been dubbed the "soul-stirrin' meetin'." Few fans ever settle for just one outing. They return for the band's lyrical content. No, for their gospel-tinged power harmonies. Maybe the angry guitars, or the DJ, or the rhythm section. Maybe they're so loyal because they've discovered a crew whose music helps them leave venues, or CDs players, feeling better than they did before arriving, or pressing play.
The eight-man band consists of emcee/poet/producer Khary Kimani Turner, also founder and leader; vocalists Tunesia "True" Turner and Karen "Kay Bosco" Bennett; Carl "DJ Invisible" Hollier, also DJ for rapper Xzibit; bassist Kamau Inaede, keyboardist/producer Mark "Swami" Harper; guitarist/producer Edward "Teduardo" Canaday and drummer Ivan "Groove" Prosper.
Christened in 1999, the name honors a Detroit neighborhood that thrived during the 1940s and 50s. As the band grew its membership - African-American, European American, Native American, male and female - began mirroring segments of the fabled enclave. This inclusiveness represents an unheralded part of Motown's history, the part that quietly boasts more than 140 cultures within city limits.
Black Bottom Collective's ethnicity influenced their sound as members contributed individual tastes to songs. Traces of The Roots, Bob Marley and Black Sabbath began to show up in their sets. No matter the makeup of the audience, or where the band played, crowds ate it up. Trails were blazed, and people followed. And not just in Detroit. After conducting a national search, Budweiser's True Music Live organization declared them one of America's best six unsigned bands in 2004. Their story and photo ran in Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair that same year.
Their growing fan base supported their debut album, 2002's Stay Low, Keep Movin', which won Detroit Music Awards for Outstanding Funk/Hip Hop/Urban Recording in 2003, and for Outstanding Funk/Hip-Hop Group in 2004 and 2005. Three award-winning years, from one album.
Black Bottom Collective insists that it's unnecessary to validate themselves by dropping the names of artists they've opened for or performed with. The truth is, however, their experiences span far and wide, and they've landed on stages with people worth mentioning. So...the names, anyway. Common. Mos Def. Talib Kweli. Angie Stone. Dwele. Stevie Wonder. Nnenna Freelon. Vinx. Jill Scott. KRS-One. Doug E. Fresh. Will Downing. Cee-Lo Green. Dianne Reeves. Joe Hunter of The Funk Brothers. Angelique Kidjo. Quincy Troupe.
Now for the next step, the release of a new album, People Mover. The project finds the band making life-altering music with groundbreaking arrangements to help usher listeners through life's isms. Eyes and ears to the street, the crew recognizes ordinary people who struggle with everything from alcoholism, to love, to life in the 'hood. The result is an album that speaks to all walks of life, streets to suites, hoods to havens. With People Mover, Black Bottom Collective triumphantly continues the trailblazing trend, and invites you to follow. Will you? Move, people. Move.
"Don't be shy about your creation. If it's dope, tell them it's dope. And then, give it to them." - KRS-One to Khary Kimani Turner, Detroit, 2005