It’s 4:30 am in Manhattan on a cold November night. Genesis Be, producer and rapper, is in the studio running frantically to and from the recording room to the console, recording herself. “I have about four hours left” Genesis Be states as she grins at me. “Four hours of studio time?” I ask. After finishing a sip of espresso she replies, “No, four hours until class starts.” Coming from an artist who just released a video for a single called, “No Sleep” her response does not surprise me. Dressed in a form fitting dress shirt and vest, Genesis Be looks more like a business manager rather than an aspiring rapper as she playfully slides around in the chair in front of the SSL Studio Console. She has a childlike demeanor yet speaks with such conviction and intensity that I cannot help but surrender my full attention. Sipping Starbucks in the dimly lit studio at The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, Genesis shares her story of pain, resilience, ambition and vindication. Genesis Be has just completed her fourth studio album titled “Mississippi To Manhattan”. Utilizing what she has learned at New York University’s prestigious Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, Genesis took on the role of executive producer, writer, engineer, mixer and mastering engineer of the project. When asked about the difficulties of being a full time double major student and an independent performer Genesis Be says, “compared to what I’ve had to handle in my past, this time of my life is the easy part. It’s the perfect opportunity to prove my ability and show that this isn’t a game to me. This struggle is a blessing for me.” Raised in Mississippi, Genesis Be comes from a family with strong ties to the civil rights movement and was involved with activism and protests since age 6. “My grandfather was murdered for encouraging and educating black residents in Mississippi to vote in the 1960’s” says Genesis while glaring at the dog tags she wears around her neck that displays a hologram of her grandparents. “My father’s childhood home still has the bullet holes from The Ku Klux Klan and my grandmother, Geraldine Briggs, had to raise nine kids by herself, after the death of my grandfather.” When Jesse Williams was beaten to death by officers in Harrison County, Mississippi, Genesis along with family and friends protested in the streets demanding the indictment of the officers responsible for William’s death. The officers, who were caught on film committing the act, were not prosecuted at first. The pressure from the community for justice, however, resulted in the indictment of the officers. With help from her older brothers, Genesis drafted and circulated a petition to change the name of her community college from Jeff Davis (President of the Confederacy) to a more positive historic figure such as William Faulkner. She also took apart in protests against the Iraqi War and along with her father, John Ellis Briggs, she attended Ku Klux Klan rallies as an oppositional voice. Featured in numerous articles in southern Mississippi’s Sun Herald and featured on talk radio shows, Genesis Be has been utilizing her artistry and voice to make a change since she was young girl. For full bio visit: www.genesisbe.com