Amplified Life Showcase 2012

Posted by AmplifiedLife on November 29, 2011

We are proud to announce the Third Annual Amplified Life Showcase

Please join us for a relaxed evening of world class performances and exceptional networking. If you visit the Amplified Life Facebook Page and “Like” us, your name is automatically added to the guest list for you and a friend. Here is a link to the Facebook Event Page for your review: on.fb.me/ALS2012

Announced Performers:

The Third Annual Amplified Life Showcase will take place on Sunday, January 29th, 2012 and will feature performances from all the clients currently signed to the Amplified Life artist management roster, as well as a few of our very, very talented friends.

The producer extraordinaire and gifted musician, Paul “PC” Collier of GRTRGDS will be providing the music for the evening. Also, a few more acts will be announced as the date draws nearer. Please visit these links to view our past Media Coverage:

- Amplified Life Showcase 2011 | http://wp.me/pJ64d-eL
- Amplified Life Showcase 2010 | http://wp.me/pJ64d-A

LOCATION: The AQ is downtown St. Paul beneath Great Waters & across from Wild Tymes. There is typically a ton of free street parking on Sundays downtown as well as heated parking ramps less than 1 city block away. You can reach the AQ by calling (651) 292-1359

Thanks,

Larry Lucio Jr.
Amplified Life Founder
@larrylucio

: Toki Wright of Rhymesayers Entertainment

: DJ Snuggles is exclusively represented by Amplified Life

Danami is exclusively represented by Amplified Life

PC - Freedom School 2011 at Stadium View Day 3 of Week 1

Paul "PC" Collier of GRTRGDS

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria of Palabristas is exclusively represented by Amplified Life

Mike Dreams Music

925ve

Villa Rosa = Maria Isa + Muja Messiah

See More Perspective

Past contributors include:

Bao Phi [2011]
Brandon Allday of Big Quarters [2010]
Chantz Erolin [2010]
Danami [2010, 2011, & 2012]
DEPth [2011]
DJ Miguel Vargas [2010]
DJ Ren [2010]
DJ Snuggles [2010 & 2012]
eg bailey [2010]
Globe Gang feat. Traci Coward
Guante [2011]
heatherlyn [2010 & 2011]
HC The Chemist [2011]
Hypel [2010 & 2011]
Justin Johnson [2010]
Lipset [2011]
MaLLy [2011]
Maria Isa [2010 & 2011]
Mastermind [2011]
Mike Dreams [2010, 2011, & 2012]
Muja Messiah [2011]
Orikal Uno [2011]
Palabristas (Brandon Lacy Campos, Lupe Castillo, Larry Lucio Jr., Tatiana Ormaza, Teresa Ortiz, & Rodrigo Sanchez Chavarria [2010 & 2011]
PC [2010, 2o11, & 2012]
Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria [2010, 2011, & 2012]
Shá Cage [2010]
Tish Jones [2010]
Toki Wright [2012]
TUSS [2011]
Twin Kingz [2010]
Villa Rosa [2012]

The 6th Annual Twin Cities Hip Hop Awards

Posted by AmplifiedLife on December 22, 2011

* UPDATE: The TCHHA ended early… *

Here is an audio recap of how it went down from my perspective: Press Play

Amplified Life is proud to announce that we will be stage managing the 6th Annual TC Hip Hop Awards at historic First Avenue. This will be the third straight year that we have partnered with DEPth and the TCHHA to celebrate our local Hip Hop scene.

I feel that applying our experience in event and stage management, is the best way we can contribute to an event that is of growing importance to our community.

Peace,

Larry Lucio, Jr. | AmplifiedLife.com | LL on FB | LarryLucio.com

VOTING ENDS JANUARY 9th, 2012

IT WAS NOT A RIOT. SHAME ON YOU FOR BLOWING IT OUT OF PROPORTION. A TAZER/TASER MAY HAVE BEEN USED, BUT THE EVENT KEPT GOING AFTERWARDS SO HOW BAD COULD IT HAVE BEEN INSIDE THE VENUE? THE TC HIP HOP AWARDS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENS OUTSIDE ON PUBLIC STREETS.

Introducing Ladybug by Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

Posted by AmplifiedLife on November 23, 2011

Watch Rodrigo explain the story behind his new song here:

“Ladybug is the first single off my upcoming EP titled “Don’t Let Them Erase You”. Ladybug is an attempt to highlight the wonders of being a father and at the same time challenge the preconceived notions society has of a Latino father. I hope you enjoy it as much as i have enjoyed creating it.
as always, thank you all for your support!”
-RSC

For your convenience, Ladybug is available for download below:

For those of you who prefer streaming, we have also posted Ladybug on the most popular and user friendly sites on the web:

About Rodrigo:

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria is a writer and spoken word poet of Peruvian heritage, heavily involved with Palabristas, a local Latin@ poets collective. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and is an involved activist in the Latin@ community. He writes about fatherhood, the duality of two cultures in English, Spanglish and Spanish, and issues pertaining to his community and life experiences. In 2006, he was a member of the poetry collective, “Found In Translation,” which was commissioned for the Minneapolis Mosaic Festival and one of the recipients of the 2005 SASE VERVE Spoken Word Grant. He has performed with Yellow Rage, Los Nativos, Chicano Messengers of the Spoken Word and Big Quarters. Sanchez-Chavarria hosted El Café Open Mic, located at El Burrito Mercado in the heart of the Westside of St. Paul. He also takes the power of his work to local high schools, colleges, and universities, both in the Metro Area and in Greater Minnesota, in which he engages in conversation with students in regards to the art of spoken word and how they can use it as tool of liberation. He manufactured and independently released a Spoken Word CD in 2006 titled “Desconocidos” with the collaboration of other local poets, and is featured in the Palabristas Chapbook titled “Outside the Lines.”

Artist Management by Larry Lucio, Jr. for AmplifiedLife.com

Common Freestyle Over Rahki Beat (2005)

Posted by AmplifiedLife on November 15, 2011

Originally shot on April 26, 2005, using a Palm Treo 650 with the Qualcomm PureVoice™, MPEG-4 Video codec at 10fps. The source file was appended with a .3g2 file extension (mobile phone compression).

Rahki won a GRAMMY in 2011. [YouTube: ABOVE / Vimeo: BELOW]

This is a very important video from the Amplified Life archives.
It is a brand new upload of my original 2005 source file featuring Common freestyling over a beat produced by Rahki.

In this video, we were all at the Universal offices in Eden Prairie, MN where Common gave a presentation to promote his 2005 LP “Be”.

I was working for Universal Music Group at the time, and I’m pretty sure Rahki’s manager Mark Webster Jr. was running the Def Jam street team in Minneapolis. That’s how cool it was to work with UMG… We could just sit in the conference room and watch artists like Common freestyle over our friend’s beats. INSANE!

If you look closely you can see all the suits leaving the room as quickly as possible, but we just stood there and rocked out for what seemed like forever… Good times.

Rahki went on to win a Grammy this year for his work on Eminem’s Recovery LP.

Peace,

Larry Lucio, Jr. of Amplified Life

Danami Finds Success with Innovative Fundraising Campaign

Posted by AmplifiedLife on October 29, 2011

We have exceeded our goal and raised 110% of what we set out to achieve.

Thanks to everyone who supported the succesful Kickstarter campaign: Experience Creating An Album With Danami

Peace,

Larry Lucio, Jr. of Amplified Life

Screen Grab of our "Funding Successful" Notification from Kickstarter

–

Press Release:

Kickstarter, an online funding platform, has helped creative people progress in their careers. Danami is one of the many bright artists using new age technology to raise funding. On August 29th 2011, Danami launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $3,000 in 60 days concluding on October 29th, 2011 for his sophomore album, Delayed Gratification. His project was successfully funded 12 days before the campaign ended. 75+ people contributed to this campaign and ultimately surpassing the goal by 10%, resulting in more than $3,300 raised.

When asked about reaching his goal Danami said, “It’s says a lot to successfully raise over $3,000 in this economy. Some of the individuals that pledged to my campaign only know of me from the internet. For them to reach in to their pockets and give, means they not only love my music, but they believe in me & my music. I am grateful.”

Originally from Detroit, Danami moved to Minnesota in the fall of 2007 to attend college. Since his arrival, he has been a fixture in the Hip-Hop community and has performed with Twin Cities’ renowned artists like Toki Wright, Dessa and Sims and Heiruspecs. Combining witty lyrics with conceptual driven songs, Danami creates music that is relatable, a sound that is both distinct and appeals to a broad audience.

Delayed Gratification is schedule for a release in 2012.

- TeamDanami

For More Info Visit DanamiOnline.com

October 29th was the last day to pledge

Steve Jobs: 1955 – 2011

Posted by AmplifiedLife on October 5, 2011

The media coverage thus far has been pretty lame, full of anecdotal stories about Steve Jobs, stories true Apple fans have already heard a million times. These stories have tended to be gross oversimplifications. The videos below are my way to let him speak in his own words. Mr. Jobs is a truly inspirational speaker. Watch the Stanford clip to be inspired and then watch the Bill Gates interview to see him at his most thought provoking. Most media outlets are playing “clips” from these videos but they are honestly worth watching in their entirety.

Apple products helped me get organized so I could make a living chasing my dreams.

Thanks for the tools Steve,

Larry

Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address (below)

Here is a link to the Steve Jobs & Bill Gates Interview on All Things D (Parts 1-7)

Here are the individual parts of the D5 Video via YouTube (below)

Steve Jobs D5 Session Photo

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Session Photos

Screen Grab from Apple.com/SteveJobs

Danami + Mighty Detroit

Posted by AmplifiedLife on September 19, 2011

Mighty Detroit is a strategic partner of TeamDanami

Amplified Life is proud to share this with the public (as the garments have arrived): we have secured a lifestyle brand partnership for Danami with Mighty Detroit, a clothing company from his hometown. We worked hard to make this happen and we are grateful to Robbie and his team at Mighty Detroit for the support so please show them some love by visiting their website: http://MightyDetroit.com

Thanks for your time,

Larry Lucio, Jr. of Amplified Life

Danami Kickstarter Update #3: We Reached $1,000+

Posted by AmplifiedLife on September 18, 2011

From Danami:

We recently reached $1,150 towards our goal. We’re very happy that people are still pledging. I guess it’s true slow and steady wins the race. With that attitude we’re bound to reach the goal if not surpass it. I’ve been reading tons of Kickstarter Tips and Tricks to help find that one method of successfully funding your goal. In fact the only methods I’ve found was the current methods I’m already applying or have applied.

Reality check for myself, we’re at a good place and things are going fine. Keep the faith and you’ll be alright. With that said, I’m pumped to tell more friends and family about this project. I encourage you to please do the same and share this project with your peeps: http://kck.st/pI8XYW

If you want to see the rest of Danami’s updates, login with your Facebook account at Kickstarter, make a pledge, and start receiving exclusive news, music, and other cool stuff.

Thanks for reading,

Larry Lucio, Jr. of Amplified Life

Kickstarter Campaign: Danami

Posted by AmplifiedLife on September 1, 2011

From Danami:

“The race begins to raise $3,000 in 60 days through Kickstarter! As you read this, I am currently writing songs for my new record entitled Delayed Gratification. I am so excited; this is my sophomore release and I am one step away from taking my career to the next level. Each achievement and recognition thus far has been a stepping-stone for this moment. I believe by releasing this album will elevate my career to a position which will allure more opportunities for me to expand as an artist. The greatest barrier from achieving this career move is the finances to record and release this album. Just a little push and support can help get the ball rolling.”

Anything you can contribute helps. Even if it’s only $1.00, please make a pledge. It will help.

Thanks,

Larry

Freedom School 2011 at Stadium View

Posted by AmplifiedLife on August 12, 2011

This is a collection of recaps from the six-week Freedom School 2011 program at Stadium View.

Photo Gallery (Weeks 1 – 6)
Week Six + Showcase [NOW VIEWING]
Weeks Four & Five Recap (4-5)
Weeks Two & Three Recap (2-3)
Week One Recap (1)
The DanamiOnline.com Recap

The photos below are from the last two days of our six-week summer program. Maurice “Danami” Champion was our writing class instructor with assistance from Lashowna & Joy and Paul “PC” Collier taught music production with assistance from Megan & John. Please note that due to facility confidentiality policies, we are not allowed to show you photos of our students so these images show us (staff) getting ready for the student’s final presentations and of our professional performances from DJ Snuggles & Maria Isa.

This project was made possible by Mr. Jon Berry and the staff of Stadium View, the staff of the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center, and the team from Amplified Life/youthrive: LIVE!.