Nhojj
Circle City IN Pride 2010 Performer
Website: http://www.nhojj.com/
Gay artist Nhojj will be performing the National Anthem at the opening of the Circle City IN Pride Festival 2010, and he will also be performing a set of his award winning music later in the day.
Nhojj made OUTMusic Awards history when he became the first black male to win an OMA. The Alliance of LGBT Recording Artists & Performers voted his ballad “Love” 2009 OUTStanding R&B/Soul song of the year.
“Nhojj has been delivering high-quality jazzy soul for nearly a decade. A soul pioneer, Nhojj is one of a growing number of “out” Black gay performers releasing both universal and same-sex material…. Soul Sessions congratulates soul singer Nhojj for being a Black history and a gay history first!” – BET/Centric TV blogger L. Michael Gipson.
“Love” appears on the Nhojj compilation Love Songs and the 2x Velocity nominated Soul Comfort. It features keyboardist Carl Evans (Stevie Wonder, Barry White); David Stark on Guitar (Rick James & Teena Marie); Tommy Aros on percussion (Luis Miguel); and is mastered by by Robert Honablue, whose Gold and Platinum credits include Santana, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, and Miles Davis.
The official music video for “Love” was featured at 2010 Sundance Film Festival Queer Lounge, and is on MTV and VH1. Unlike current R&B music videos, it is the sensitive reflection of 2 male college students who feel a mutual attraction toward each other. Director Kirk Shannon-Butts spliced scenes from his highly acclaimed indie film “Blueprint,” which screened at 2008 Cannes International Film Festival, and footage of Nhojj as the angel of love. “I believe love is for everyone… homosexual and heterosexual” Nhojj explains, “One day soon our world will acknowledge this simple truth.”
In 2004, Nhojj’s sophomore CD Someday Peace Love & Freedom was nominated for OUTStanding New Male Recording, and won Best Musical Performance at the Homo Hip-Hop Poetry Jam Fresh Fruit Festival. Songs on that album covered issues ranging from homelessness to homophobia. Nhojj chose “Fighting for Love,” an original composition about a warrior fighting against ignorance and hatred, to perform at that year’s special OMA Nominee showcase.
Over the years Nhojj has contributed his gifts to MTV’s Pos or not, ALSURA, Lifebeat (HIV/AIDS), Gay by God Campaign, Lesbian Domestic Violence, Drug Rehabilitation, National Disability Awareness, September 11th Concerts, THAW (Theaters Against War), Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration, Earth Day Celebrations, Gay Prides and LGBT high school students.
In almost a decade of creating innovative music, Nhojj has released 6 CDs and an unplugged live DVD filmed by Emmy nominated director Bill Cote. He has performed at Lincoln Center, and toured the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom.
Nhojj.
Music from his 2001 debut I’ve Been Waiting for You was featured at the International Fringe Festival in the Award-winning play “The Making of the Black Man.” His 2005 gospel CD John Martinborough Coming Home, is a dedication to his mother, and features the work of Sam Archer (Barbershop Soundtrack). Last year, Nhojj released Karaoke Vol. 1 which includes the instrumental tracks to all his CDs.
Nhojj grew up in Guyana and Trinidad , where he performed for the Presidents of both countries. The son of a church minister, he began singing in church at the age of 5, but didn’t embark on a career in music until after graduating from NYU with a BA in Economics. Nhojj stays connected to his Caribbean roots and has performed “Love” at the Barbados Music Awards and Guyana Fashion Weekend.
NY Carib News Entertainment Editor Walter Greene, host of GFW concluded “Nhojj is on the cusp of becoming a household name."
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