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| Tre Wheelz Keep on Turning Following up on the hot initial response to its first two artists Hyphen-One and Ranjini, Qwilite Entertainment -- the cutting edge new label launched by famed songwriter and producer Quincy Patrick (Babyface, Usher, Luther Vandross, The Temptations) -- heads into urban overdrive with the emergence of New Jersey based, multi-talented hip-hop/rap artist and songwriter Tre Wheelz. Wheelz, whose professional moniker is a clever reworking of his birth name Tracy Williams, recently shot a video and did the final mixes for "All You Need, " the romantic, old school vibin' first single from his eagerly anticipated label debut "Story To Tell." The track is set to drop to urban and alternative radio any minute, with the 15-track album to follow in the spring. Radio is already all over "Music Box, " the hit pop single he worked on for his labelmate, the exotic R&B/pop singer Ranjini. "I think people love to categorize artists like myself as just rappers, but I'm really about creating something fresh in the hip-hop world and music industry in general because I don't just write rap songs, " he says. "I write all kinds of tunes, from gospel to jazz to R&B." "Story To Tell" includes songs where Wheelz addresses hot button topics such as religion and world issues as well, in addition to people he knows who have been in prison a long time. Perhaps the most heartfelt joint is the title cut, in which he talks about his new responsibilities and wanting to take care of his two-year-old daughter Kazori. "I was just trying to put my demo together when a producer I knew named Earl "Uug" Walker heard about Quincy Patrick starting up his new label. Earl told Quincy about me, and Quincy said he was impressed with some early stuff, but told me to keep developing my craft and let him hear more as I kept recording. After I did another ten or twelve tracks, Q was feeling them, and signed me to Qwilite in August, 2005. "I think he liked my music because it wasn't the typical shoot 'em up hip-hop, " Wheelz says. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |