• Tweet
• Sharebar

• Tweet

By Michelle London Bell – Reporter

It’s not often that a local talent becomes an international sensation. Yet that’s precisely what happened to Geno Young following his debut album Ghetto Symphony in 2001 on his independent label Chocolate Star Music — after much time on the road touring in the US, overseas, as well as grinding and hustling.  Almost a decade later Young is set to release his long-anticipated sophomore LP, Ear Hustler.

For those who don’t know, Geno and his bandmates Camp Wisdom are part of the nucleus of an underground soul movement in North Texas. It points back to Young’s roots growing up in the church and musical training at Booker T. Washington’s High School for the Performing Arts.   Hailing from the same city and school as Erykah Badu and Norah Jones, Geno has blazed his own trail to success on his own terms.

He possesses a wide range of musical talents – from songwriting and production, to teaching music to students in Dallas ISD.  He’s served as Director of Music for Friendship West Baptist Church, toured with Erykah Badu, collaborated with Carmen Rodgers, Eric Roberson and N’Dambi, (also produced music for these talented artists), as well as hosted sets at Sankofa Arts Kafe.

In the midst of his hectic schedule and preparation to tour and promote the LP, my humble and open-hearted childhood friend tells the tale of the story untold.

MICHELLE LONDON-BELL: When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue music professionally, and how did you make the transition from Christian/Inspirational to Soul/R&B?

GENO YOUNG: “I realized at Booker T [Arts Magnet] that I wanted to do music on some level…not immediately as an artist, but perhaps teaching or something? At Howard University, with people like Eric Roberson, Taraji Henson and others around singing, acting, songwriting, and collaborating – it was such a breeding ground for creativity that doing music as some form of an artist was inevitable.  With the black church and gospel being the roots of music – it was a natural progression.  I got a lot of my influences with jazz at Booker T. and Howard University, but with gospel – it all fuses together. Pastor (Frederick D.) Haynes was extremely supportive, to the extent that I eventually hired all the musicians I worked with at Friendshop West to play with Erykah Badu. He is cool.

MLB: I am a fan of your music, and Ghetto Symphony is an indie masterpiece.  What was your inspiration, and how did you get Celia from Les Nubiennes to cameo in your video for “Honeydew”?

GY: It was a collection of songs that I had written for other artists.  After working with N’Dambi, Carmen and Erykah – they all encouraged me to do a record.  I was just inspired by the music at that time.  It was not necessarily a divine plan for the album – [I] just needed to get the music out.  [For the video of Honeydew] I was actually doing a lot of work in France at the time, and I was introduced to Les Nubiennes’ promoter, and we hit it off instantly.  I was in Paris to shoot the video and we were trying to cast a female lead, and couldn’t find anybody! So it came to us like an epiphany to ask Celia, and she said ‘yes’ on the spot.”

MLB: Your music is known around the world.  How did you accomplish this? Was it from touring, or the internet?

GY: “Well – yes, both.  Well – touring, grinding, and the internet. When my first LP came out, a lot of artists were coming out at the same time, so it was like the ‘perfect storm’; and it was the beginning of the download era, but before a lot of pirating.  Look at how things have changed from even five years ago.  Back then, if you wanted to download a song and it was not available, you could at least Google the artist and find out about them.  The European audience was the first to embrance the release. I definitely plan to tour this time around as well, beginning in July. I am also considering a plan to collaborate with other indie artists like PJ Morton on tour.

MLB: So, how did you approach this LP musically and why did you name it Ear Hustler?

GY: This release is a lot more mature, lyrically and musically.  I approached it more humbly, I removed the ego from the process.  A lot of artists, as I experienced myself with Ghetto Symphony, want to do it all – write everything, produce everything, sing every note.  This time I am not caught up with controlling everything – I turned a lot of production over to Camp Wisdom.

MICHELLE: So speaking of Camp Wisdom, tell me what that is all about.

GENO: Camp Wisdom is a group and production team, and all of us pretty much realized while traveling with Badu that we were all from Oak Cliff, so we all just came together.  The name originated from (late Gangstar rapper) Guru after a session of collaborating in the studio together.  Since another group of artists in Oak Cliff were named Camp Wiz, we modified it to pay homage to them.

MLB: Any other artist collaborations on the horizon? I know you have written, produced, and arranged work for Carmen, Erykah, and Eric Roberson.

GY: Actually, on Ear Hustler, I have collaborated with Sy Smith, another Howard University alum.  I also worked with Deonnis Cook, nicknamed Puma.  I am truly excited, for my next album – it will be a full collection of collaborations, including “Boy Meets Girl”, and a lot of songs with my favorite sisters of soul.

MLB: What’s next? I was watching Lady Gaga’s interview on Larry King Live last week, and she says that she wants to go out as an icon.  Any lofty dreams of what you want your legacy in music to be?

GY: “For me, it’s all about the quality of music and diversity as well.  Being able to document our times musically.  Even on this level as an independent artist – like putting out a project because it’s there for posterity – you will never know who will hear it.  We have a great legacy in music so I just want to carry the torch.
Geno Young’s album, Ear Hustler, drops on June 6, 2010, and will be available on iTunes.

Michelle London-Bell is a new contributor to Dallas South News with experience as a freelance writer.  She has a passion for fashion, the arts, and community and cultural affairs and can be reached at dallasurbanmedia@gmail.com.