IN THE LIME LITE

My Interview with Khleo Thomas

2011-04-17T23:15:00.000-07:00

Remember the movie "Holes"? How about the little boy with the curly hair that played "Zero" alongside Shia LaBeouf?

I recently caught up with him -- actor and music artist Khleo Thomas!
Check out my video interview above with Khleo. He discusses his path as a screen actor in movies, television shows, and now being a music artist, too.

Khleo Thomas has played roles in a variety of movies: "Hurricane Season", "Walking Tall", "Roll Bounce", "Friday After Next", and of course, "Holes".

He's played in TV shows: "ER", "90210", "The Bernie Mac Show", "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", and "House M.D."

Me on the left, Khleo on the right.

Khleo has stayed busy in the acting world and is now part of the music industry.

At age 22 Khleo Thomas has released two mixtapes, "The World Is a Cartoon" and "The Next Episode", both of which have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from fans.

Khleo Thomas is a very talented and dedicated actor and music artist. He has a positive movement going while a loyal, ever-expanding fan base.

Khleo is extremely active on social media so be sure to follow him on Twitter @Khleo_T and on Tumblr khleo.tumblr.com

Another shot of me and Khleo.

ABC Teen Perspective 2 News - The Show I Anchored

2011-04-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

I anchored this episode of ABC Teen Perspective 2 News. A 30 minute, local news show BY teens FOR teens. I also reported a story on the annual Poly vs. City High School Football Rivalry -- one of the oldest football traditions in Maryland.
Enjoy!

My Story for ABC 2 News - Poly vs. City Football Game

2011-03-02T15:12:00.000-08:00

A story I reported on for the annual Poly vs. City (Baltimore Polytechnic Institute vs. Baltimore City College High School)!
The rivalry was fun and energetic this year, as usual!
Enjoy!

January Show: ABC Teen Perspective 2 News

2011-01-28T16:08:00.000-08:00

My latest show on ABC Teen Perspective 2 News.

This is our January show -- I did a story on Kaiyla Ross, a dancer from Baltimore, MD who used her passion to raise money for people in Haiti.

Mikella Wickham -A&E - Tony Danza "Teach" Promo

2010-09-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

Check out my promo commercial for Tony Danza's new reality show "Teach" on A&E. On the show Tony Danza teaches a class of high school students in Philadelphia. The girl in the red jacket = me.

Artist Spotlight: Aion Clarke

2010-08-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

Aion Clarke is a really talented R&B singer. Drake fans, you might know him as "Voyce Alexander", the soulful, charming singer who collaborated with Drake on a lot of early tracks. Since then, he's put out a single called "Do You Right" which is available on iTunes.

His brand new mixtape, "The Leaks", is getting a really positive response with a lot of downloads already. Listeners are happy to hear "true R&B again".

If you want to hear Aion Clarke's voice on some older songs, listen Drake's "Special", "All This Love", and "Smile". It's good, simple, R&B music. Check out my conversation with Aion Clarke below. :)

MsTVAnkA’s Five Questions:

MsTVAnkA:Tell me about your new mixtape, "The Leaks", what can listeners expect to hear?

Aion Clarke: Listeners can expect to hear melodies reminiscent of 90's R&B (which to me was a great era in the genre), you're gonna hear real subject matter, you will also hear Bryan Michael Cox, Noah Shebib and more make for some of the best production on this planet, and I'm gonna be singing my you know what off!!

MsTVAnkA:A lot of people refer to you as a "true R&B artist", what sets you apart from other R&B artists today?

Aion Clarke: I'm no different from any other true artist R&B artist. I grew up a church boy, singing my first solo at 4 years old and continuing on, singing with choirs and groups, playing the drums and just using the gifts God gave me in a positive way. I'm just doing what God called me to do.

MsTVAnkA: What else can we expect from you in 2010? If you could work with any artist, who would it be?

Aion Clarke: For the remainder of the year I will be in the studio putting together my debut album, which doesn't have a name or date as of yet but I promise will be very special. In the mean time doing high profile corporate events such as performing for Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas next week. An artist I would love to work with is Chris Martin because I just love his concept for melody.

MsTVAnkA: What was it like working with Drake on his first mixtape, "Room for Improvement"?

Aion Clarke:It was an amazing experience working with Drake, although it wasn't a mixtape at the time. We were both young recording artists figuring out our sounds, but his lyrical ability had always been on an extreme level. Very inspiring to know with all of his success that he remains the same dude. I'm next.

MsTVAnkA: What top five songs do you play on your iPod?

Aion Clarke:LOL well, right now it's all about that

1) "BMF" by Rick Ross aka ROZAYY!!

But when I'm a bit more sober of course:

2) Marvin Gaye "Distant Lover" the live version,

3) Sam Cooke "Nothing Can Change This Love",

4) Bob Marley "Sun Is Shining",

5) Kanye West "Welcome To Heartbreak", I love great music of all genres.

To download Aion Clarke's mixtape "The Leaks" click HERE.

To see and hear more about Aion Clarke visit www.AIONCLARKE.com

To follow him on twitter go to www.twitter.com/aionclarke

-Mikella

Ground Up - New Mixtape 'Common Ground'

2010-08-14T18:32:00.001-07:00

A new project from Philly rap group "Ground Up"? Something is coming soon! Check out the preview here.

It seems like the members of Ground Up STAY in the studio. They just released their mixtape "Higher Ground" in July.

Azar, a member of Ground Up just released a new track called "Good Luck To Me" from the upcoming project. Check it out at groundupsounds.com.

Aion Clarke - New Mixtape: "The Leaks"

2010-07-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

Aion Clarke is a really talented R&B singer. Drake fans, you might know him as "Voyce Alexander", the soulful, charming singer who sang a lot of the hooks on Drake's first mixtape, "Room for Improvement." Since then, he put out a single called "Do You Right" which is available on iTunes.

His brand new mixtape, "The Leaks", is getting a really positive response with a lot of downloads already. Listeners are happy to hear "true R&B again".

If you want to hear Aion Clarke's voice on some older songs, listen Drake's "Special", "All This Love", and "Smile". It's good, simple, R&B music. :)

P.S.- Guess who produced some of the tracks for this mixtape? October's Very Own member Noah "40" Shebib. Check the production credits in the picture above :)

ABC 2 Teen Perspective Commercial

2010-07-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

This is the latest commercial for the ABC News show I work for in Maryland called "Teen Perspective News". I work with a really great group of people and we learn so much each week as we work to produce our news show. We write, report on, and produce our own half-hour news show, covering real news for a smaller demographic, TEENS.

In this video, Daiyaan Colbert, a member of our news team, gives you an inside look at Teen Perspective News and what the teens involved have learned.

"Go beyond Journalism 101. TV professionals teach teens the tricks of the trade. The Scripps Foundation's Teen Media Project gives hands on experience in all aspects of News Gathering and Production."

*The Teen Media Project is now excepting applications for the 2010-2011 season. Please fulfill all application requirments and mail them to the enclosed address by October 1, 2010.*

If you are interested in applying to the program click here: http://media2.abc2news.com/teen-app2.doc

Ground Up Show at The Fire

2010-07-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

Ground Up will perform this saturday at "The Fire" in Philadelphia.

They will be performing tracks from the new mixtape "Higher Ground".

Who: Ground Up

When: Saturday July 24th, 2010

7:00p.m. - 10:00p.m.

Where: The Fire

4th and Girard

Philadelphia, PA 19121

*All ages are welcome, 21 to drink.*

Knife Show features Ground Up music

2010-07-14T22:54:00.001-07:00

Ground Up teams up with Knife Show in this video.

Find out what Knife Show is here: knifeshowinc.com

For more info: groundupsounds.com

A 'Bria's Interlude' Discovery

2010-07-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is Bria's Interlude, the nice slow jam off of Drake's So Far Gone mixtape. The song sampled in Bria's Interlude is called Friendly Skies. It's a song by Missy Elliott featuring Ginuwine, from her Supa Dupa Fly album. I think that's really cool, so here's what Friendly Skies sounds like. Enjoy.

Friendly Skies - Missy Elliot ft. Ginuwine

Ground Up - New Mixtape 'Higher Ground'

2010-07-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's Friday July 2nd and Ground Up has released their latest mixtape 'Higher Ground'.

Ground Up has made this mixtape available for free download.

Go to myspace.com/groundupsounds to download it.

You can also check out some of their other mixtapes there. Ground Up has put in a lot of hard work so give this a good listen. I'm going to Florida tonight and I plan on just letting this music play all the way through :)

BTW: If you're looking to see Ground Up LIVE, you can see them at the

'M Room' at 5:30p.m. on July 11th, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA.

Drake Remixes - 'Thank Us Later'

2010-06-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

This is the remix album to Thank Me Later.

I like the artwork because it'd be a good poster. The colors make it have a 70's throwback feel.

The music is all blended, and it's really smooth. I like it. Go get it lol :)

Ground Up - "Higher Ground" Mixtape Drops Soon

2010-06-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

Make sure to get Ground Up's highly anticipated mixtape "Higher Ground" when it's released on July 2nd, 2010. This is good music. I caught up with Ground Up about a week ago when they performed at a Sweet Sixteen.

Ground Up also had a release party and guests received exclusive first copies of the mixtape.

Everyone is excited for this mixtape to drop. Support these true artists.

Check out groundupsounds.com or myspace.com/groundupsounds for more info on Ground Up.

Ground Up - 'Turn Around' (Official Music Video)

2010-06-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

Latest music video release from Ground Up's upcoming mixtape "Higher Ground".

"Higher Ground" release date is July 2, 2010.

Check out groundupsounds.com and myspace.com/groundupsounds for more info.

Ground Up - Sweet 16 Appearance

2010-06-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

Me and Azar, Malakai, & Bij Lincoln of music group "Ground Up".

The first is a picture of me and the members of music group Ground Up.

This weekend Ground Up performed for a bunch of eager fans at "Morgan's Deliciously Sweet 16".

They did a variety of songs including "Relax", "Lovehate", "Late Night Special", and "Just Chill". Different people in the crowd were cheering, others were listening, but by the end of the show everyone was chanting the song everybody wanted to hear: "Palm Trees".

Ground Up ended the show with "Palm Trees" and by wishing Morgan a great Sweet 16.

To see more of Ground Up check out their blog at http://groundupsounds.com

Follow them on Twitter: twitter.com/GroundUpPhilly

iSH - 'Hustle to be Free'

2010-06-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

This is the latest music video from recording artist iSH off of his mixtape 'The Name is iSH'.

The video is creative, concise, and well done. Congrats iSH!

You can check out my interview with him below on this page

at this link: http://bit.ly/andjt3

To see and hear more of iSH go to www.ishmusic.ca

You can follow iSH on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/TheNameIsIsh

'Thank Me Later' Photo Shoot

2010-06-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Welp, June 15th 2010 is an important date haha. Congratulations Drake! Your debut album is out and it's great. It's errrrrrthang I thought it would be.

So my friend & I are stuck in the airport. We decided to have our own 'Thank Me Later' photo shoot in the while we're waiting for our plane to come...
The album is great!! I'll be listening a lot. Hopefully our flight will come soon so we can make it home to Maryland tonight. I need some rest from all this TML hype lol :)

#ThankYouDrake

Artist Spotlight: iSH

2010-06-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

'iSH' is a talented Canadian recording artist and actor. His debut mixtape 'The Name Is iSH" is out now and he's nowhere close to stopping. He starred in the television series "SOUL" and soon you'll be able to see him on The Family Channel's 'BAXTER'.

For all the horror movie fans, you guys will also be able to see him play 'Alex' in the upcoming 'Saw VII' 3D.

I recently had the chance to interview him with five quick questions.

Here is what he had to say:

MsTVAnkA’s Five Questions:

MsTVAnkA: Which do you like more: acting or making music?

iSH: I can't say I prefer one over the other. I love them both for different reasons. What I love about acting is being able to be someone else. I love exploring a character and getting to do things i'd never do in real life. The great thing about music is it's all on my own terms, I dont have to audition or anything to do it. Making music allows me to express myself and the way i'm feeling at any given moment. So i love them both!

MsTVAnkA: What was it like working alongside Keshia Chante in “SOUL” ?

iSH: Oh it was great, we hit it off right away. I played her brother in the show and we really became like siblings during that time, you know always teasing and cracking jokes. She's still like my lil sis now. I believe she made me her honorary brother "iSH Chante" or something haha. The whole cast became like one big family and we all keep in touch.

MsTVAnkA: What can we expect from you in 2010?

iSH: Alot, i'm happy to be really busy rightnow. I just released my debut mixtape titled "The Name is iSH" which has gotten a great response so far. Plus I'm finishing up my first album and we are about to release the lead single to radio, it's called "Priceless" and you can actually hear it first at www.ishmusic.ca .

On the acting front, I just filmed a new series called Baxter which airs on the Family Channel at 10:00 am on saturdays and sundays and you can catch me in the feature film "SAW VII" 3D.

MsTVAnkA: If you had the chance to work with any one artist, who would you choose?

iSH: That's an easy one for me...Stevie Wonder. I think he is a genious. I had been wanting to see him play live for awhile now and finally got to about a year ago, it was the best show i've seen.

MsTVAnkA: What are the top five songs that have been playing on your iPod lately?

iSH:

1. Bruno Mars - Count on Me

2. Kanye West - Power

3. Daniel Merriweather - Ciggarettes

4. Collie Buddz - Come Down

5. Plan B - She Said

iSH's debut mixtape, 'The Name is iSH' is available at http://ishmusic.bandcamp.com/.

To see and hear more of iSH go to www.ishmusic.ca AND...

You can follow him on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheNameIsIsh

-Mikella

Ground Up - 'Turn Around'

2010-06-04T19:35:00.001-07:00

This song is the latest release from Ground Up's upcoming and much anticipated mixtape, "Higher Ground".

The release date for "Higher Ground" is July 2, 2010, but Ground Up's next show is tomorrow --

Saturday June 5th, 7:00p.m.

Phoenix Lanes, Phoenix, PA

Check out Ground Up on their blog at groundupsounds.com or on Myspace at myspace.com/groundupsounds

Quote #2: Drake - "Overdose on Life"

2010-05-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

"I used to cut the porch lights on, and now I cut the porch lights on just to let 'em know their foresight's wrong."

Foresight is a funny thing. I think Drake has a thing for going against people's expectations.

I, for one thought the "Best I Ever Had" video was hilarious, because it goes against the cliche music video where the guy walks along with his girl tell her how she's (allegedly) the best he's ever had. Drake made it funny & he also got to act in the video. A lot of people didn't like it though, because it wasn't the cliche stuff they expected.

The same thing happened with the "Find Your Love" video. A lot of generic people expected it to have shots of Drake & his love interest running through fields of summer sunshine falling in love lol. This didn't happen. Instead Drake expressed a message. I think it was a cool, grim idea.

Whatever it is, I think Drake likes to be unpredictable, keep people on the edge of their seat, & say what he wants to say with his music. With basically each new release, he lets the public know their foresight is wrong.

Enjoy "Overdose on Life" below.

Drake feat. Alicia Keys - "Fireworks"

2010-05-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

Once again, Drake AND Alicia Keys deliver. This song is inspirational.

After seeing Drake in concert in Baltimore, I was able to get a preview of this song.

At the time, however, I didn't know Alicia Keys was on the track. They sound great.

Drake tells honest, sincere stories; he never fails to do this. Alicia Keys takes up the hook & sings it with passion.

That this song is a commentary on Drake's pathway to fame & success isn't a surprise.

The chorus lyrics say it all in these four concrete lines:

"All I see is fireworks . . . Every night is fireworks . . . All I see is fireworks . . . Taking off like fireworks."

I almost wish I could have an entire duet album from Alicia Keys and Drake. Great idea for the future lol.

Quote #1: Drake - "The Presentation"

2010-05-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

"I'm perfecting my craft using _____. Tryna make some cheese off a single is a process. Get it? Craft, single, cheese, process. Sit back and admire the talent that I possess."

Yeaaaah. I like "The Presentation", a semi-introductory song on Drake's sophomore mixtape "Comeback Season." This song definitely reminds me of bright summer days and driving in fast cars lol. The main thing about this track is that the beat switches about a third of the way through & the second beat sounds good. I think I'll keep posting interesting Drake lyrics. I'll be able to comment on his experience with different women & people in the industry lol. I know Thank Me Later will be full of good listening music.

driiiiiizzzy. tml. 18 days.

Ground Up - New Website

2010-05-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

Ground Up has a brand new website/blog and they update everyday with different info.
You can check out their music videos, download their mixtapes, and learn what they'll all about.
Check it out: groundupsounds.com/

Ground Up - Upcoming Shows:

June . 5 . 2010 — 7:00 PM Phoenixville Bowling Alley
June . 29 . 2010 — 9:00 PM Sand Bar (New Hope, US)
Sep . 11 . 2010 — 7:00 PM Penn State University (University Park, US) w/ Wiz Khalifa