MARC VILLA

Firmly planted 19-year old New Jersey native Marc Villa stands before a silver microphone in one of Phillys hotspots, Black Lily. He, just as The Roots, Jill Scott, and Jaguar have stood for the first time, overlooking hues of colored faces that wait patiently to witness the next best kept secret. The band begins and the charismatic tenor-squared bellows Stevie Wonders Knocks Me Off My Feet...and does. The blanketed eyes of disbelief are unveiled, the music stops and the echoes of applause resound like gunshots.
Born in New York City and raised in the suburbs of Teaneck, N.J., Marc Villa is no stranger to being under the microscope of an audience. At the tender age of 6, he was playing classical piano and since then his affinity for music has grown, allowing him to become a singer, writer, dancer and composer.
As a listener and lover of music, Marc was greatly inspired by Stevie Wonder, Carol King, and Donny Hathaway. Keeping their spirits in mind, he pens poetry to the music, placing him in the moment of emotions, heart pouring off the page with the hope that his words ungulf and uplift. Just as Hathaway and Wonder were and are, he is an observer of life who captures the pleasantries and hardships of himself and others. He decorates bars with words, creates infinite notes arranged on Beethovens scrap sheets to be implanted in the back of every listeners mind. He is an artist.
Although singers and songwriters influence him, he has not confined himself to that forte. Marc is also a student of dance who has a strong background in jazz, ballet and hip-hop. Under the inspiration of choreographers like Tina Landon and Fatima; he has been able to use his creativity to formulate By Any Means Necessary, a dance group he established at Temple University in 2001.
Marc Villa is Alicia Keys' fraternal twin brother, Craig David's cousin, Carol King's grandson and Ginuwine's best friend. He is everyone, yet no one youve ever seen but when you do youll swear youve met him somewhere before, for the first time.
- Broadhead