Instructors

AJA GRAYDON (Songwriting)
Aja Graydon is a songwriter and vocalist best known as one-half of the husband-and-wife recording duo Kindred The Family Soul, also known simply as Kindred. A native of Washington, DC, Aja had a solo deal at the age of 15. She met her husband, Fatin Dantzler, and began writing songs together. They began performing at Black Lily, where they caught the attention of Jill Scott, who introduced them to her label, Hidden Beach Recordings. They were signed and spent the next two years working on their debut album, Surrender to Love, which was released in 2003 and was named one of the “Best Albums of 2003″ by USA Today, and People Magazine. That same year Kindred received a Soul Train Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul Album, Band or Duo. Aja and Fatin have established themselves as core artists on Urban Adult radio with three Top 10 singles, “Far Away”, “Stars”, and “Where Would I Be?”. Their third release, The Arrival (2009), debuted at #7 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Album Chart–a small indication that Kindred has become a major force in the neo-soul movement and beyond. After nearly a decade together and five children later, Aja and Fatin are still making music that directly reflects their lives as parents and partners in a constantly changing business. Aja says, “We try to stay true to who we are and hope that people will be uplifted and inspired by what we’re doing with our music.”

ANTHONY TIDD (Music Recording)
Anthony is a bass player, composer and arranger who was born in London’s East End to Trinidadian parents in spent his childhood in an environment which offerred a kaleidoscope of influences, from old soul to calypso rhythms, from 80s pop to dub and reggae, and from western classical music to jazz. He received his formal training at the prestigious Newham Academy of Music (theory, piano, violin), Thurrock College of Music (composition), and Goldsmiths University of London (music technology, scoring). Anthony played with London jazz musicians Mano Ventura, Steve Williamson, Courtney Pine, Bhekki Mseleku, Louis Maholo, and as band leader of Quite Sane was an early pioneer of rap-jazz fusion. Anthony was later invited to play with renown saxophonist Steve Coleman’s “Five Elements” super band and with them came to the US to produce music for The Roots. After working with a myriad of artists in the UK such as Greg Osby and Björk, Anthony made a permanent move to Philadelphia in 1996 to begin working on the debut album of The Jazzyfatnastees. He later toured with Me’Shell Ndegeocello and Goapele. Since the late 90s producing has become Anthony’s primary focus–he’s worked with Erykah Badu, Zap Mama, Baaba Maal, Ursula Rucker, Common, and Talib Kweli–and along with Melvin “Chaos” Lewis and Michael Matthes formed the noted production company Noize Trip.

DEJHA TI (Video Editing)
Philadelphia-based multimedia designer, Dejha Ti, leverages versatility for creative problem solving. She utilizes various technologies and skills–design, programming, branding, webcasting, video/audio production—to output high standard interactive experiences. Her philosophy: execute concept-driven content via the platform that best connects with the audience. Every project is unique and demands the flexibility of cross industry collaboration. Her approach blends creative processes with entrepreneurial operations. As CEO of realizePhiladelphia and co-founder of web.illish.us, Dejha Ti has collaborated on projects involving Future of Music Coalition; National Geographic; Okayplayer; PhillyCarShare; interactive media studio, Educated Guess Work; Cee Knowledge of the Grammy-winning Digable Planets; and international musicians and DJs, including Jef Lee Johnson, Larry Gold and Rich Medina. She is consistently invited to speak at universities and consult organisations based on her experience in the creative industry.

HEIDI SAMAN (Video Directing)
Heidi Saman was awarded the prestigious Jack G. Shaheen Scholarship Award for her filmic depictions of Arabs and Arab-Americans. Her short film, Walkers/Drivers, received the Panavision New Filmmakers Equipment Grant. She was awarded the Princess Grace Honorarium Award and the Temple University Completion Grant for her master’s degree thesis film, The Maid, a short film shot in Cairo, Egypt. The Maid premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008. Currently she is an associate producer for On Canvas, a weekly arts and culture show for WHYY, the PBS/ NPR affiliate station in Philadelphia.

MAYA SHIPMAN (Video Editing)
Maya Shipman is an emerging media producer and graduate of Temple University’s School Of Communications & Theater. She is the recipient of the Sonia Sanchez Award and the NAACP Agnes Jones Jackson Award. Her notable projects have included Brown Girl Radio, a weekly radio program in Philadelphia that focuses on media-empowerment and culture for young women of color. She has also produced the documentary 33 Queen, a biopic on Coma-Chi, a leader in the female hip-hop movement in Tokyo, Japan. Aside from those projects, Maya works as a songwriter and producer of urban electronic music under the moniker Suzi Analogue. She resides in Philadelphia where she continues to work on innovative projects that promote a well-informed global world.

RAKIA REYNOLDS (Video Producing)
Since graduating from Temple University’s Fox School of Business, with a degree in International Business and Marketing, Rakia Reynolds has sky-rocketed to success by serving as a “media superwoman” of sorts. She is sought after by companies to provide her expertise in a wealth of subjects and projects like media and art direction, branding and strategic planning, creative development, and producing content for television outlets such as MTV networks and TLC and print outlets such as Lucky Magazine. She currently serves as the President of the Philadelphia chapter of Women in Film & Television and is the secretary of the Philadelphia chapter of NAMIC, the National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications. She is also CEO of Skai Blue Media, a full service PR agency, which she founded, with clients that run the gamut from a local politician, two.one.five Magazine, various restaurants, and the South Street Headhouse District.

RASHID ZAKAT (Videography)
Rashid arrived in Philadelphia in 2003 to pursue his film degree at Temple University and has since worked as a producer for TUVMedia, to work for clients such as Ebony/Jet Magazine, BET, and Burrell Communications. He has been featured in The Metro, Citypaper and The Philadelphia Inquirer for founding the Soul Aquatics Event series, which he most recently rolled over into a small freelance media firm working on short documentaries and client websites. Rashid continues to grow his abilities and expand his unique method of storytelling with longer documentary projects on the Philadelphia Hip Hop community and interactive narratives. He has recently been awarded the WYBE Philadelphia Stories Grant and continues to teach film and video for the Art Sanctuary’s Northstars after school program at Temple University

RUCYL MILLS (Music Producing)
Interactive artist Rucyl Mills jumped into music at age 17 as a recording artist for Columbia/Ruffhouse Records, with the genre-bending, alternative hip-hop band The Goats. In 2008, Rucyl completed the design and construction of the Elektro-07 Chakakhantroller, a hand-built wearable midi-controller for audio and visual performance. She also co-produced the interactive art installation Watch What You Are, which was featured as a part of Eyebeam Interactive Art Gallery’s Double Take exhibition in July 2008 in New York.  Fall of 2008 brought the launch of her independent digital record label, Elektrocardio, and several new releases including a track produced for Ursula Rucker’s record Ruckus Soundsysdom,  a release on this year’s Buddha Bar XI compilation, and collaborative singles for Pesto Records (Germany), Five Six Media,  and Composite Records (France). This fall she begins curating Saturn Never Sleeps with King Britt, a monthly experimental live performance at the Painted Bride Art Center. Rucyl is a graduate of New School University (BS), a recipient of the Dean’s Fellowship to New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Graduate Program (MPS), a certified audio engineer, and Digital Executive Officer for Borderline Media in New York. She is currently producing a new solo record entitled History Forgets The Pollen Of The Flower. Her website is rucyl.com.

TRACEY MOORE (Songwriting)
Tracey Moore is a producer, singer-songwriter, performer, and promoter with deep ties in the music industry. Tracey began her career as half of the critically acclaimed vocal duo the Jazzyfatnastees, which fused hip hop and jazz and soul for a unique sound that has come to be known as neosoul. With the Jazzyfatastees, Tracey collaborated with The Roots, Stevie Wonder, Me’Shell N’degeocello, Outkast, De La Soul, Blackalicious and Eric Benet, among others. In 1999, Tracey co-founded the Black Lily Women in Music Series, which opened at the Wetlands in New York’s Greenwich Village, and has since featured performances by many of today’s most celebrated artists throughout the US and Europe. More recently, Tracey co-founded the Black Lily Film and Music Festival, which expanded the mission of the music showcase to also elevate the work of female filmmakers.  In the summer of 2008 Tracey was hired as a consultant by Zeigiest Films to do artist outreach for their Oscar nominated documentary Trouble the Water. Last fall, Tracey joined the production staff of the Voodoo Music Festival, as artist liaison in charge of facilitating transportation logistics and overseeing VIP guest relations.