NJERI EARTH BIOGRAPHY Njeri Earth was born on the west side of Detroit, Michigan, in the late 70s. Ironically, her birthday, May 19th is the same day as one of her idols, Malcolm X. It was her mother and father who first sparked Njeri's interest in music. Whether sitting in on her Father's band sessions or listening to her Mother singing along to Motown's greatest hits as they poured from the radio, Njeri's musical education started sometime in the early 1980's. Of her father's influence, she states, "My father was and is my greatest musical inspiration. He's the very essence of everything I've learned musically, starting right there in the basement of our house on "Pasadena Street" in Detroit". In elementary school, Njeri took piano lessons, sang in the choir and picked up the violin. At the age of 8, Njeri's uncle bought her a set of drums. "That was it!" , she recalls. As soon as Njeri hit middle school, she dropped the violin lessons and continued on with drums and flute. Around this time, she also started showing a strong interest in social conditions and the written and spoken word. Her award winning poem, "Young and Black", written when she was 14 years old, illustrates this: Society labels me a failure because I'm Young and Black: Because I sport the baggy jacket with my hat in the back. I don't have a gat; I never loaded a clip; I never packed a grip; Crack, never took a sniff; Beer, never took one sip; So why Trip? It was around 1987 when Njeri began her love affair with Hip Hop. "I remember listening to the radio back then and hearing all of the male and female rappers do their thing and I liked what I was hearing. MC Lyte, Roxanne, Salt N' Pepper, Queen Latifah and others of that era is where my Hip Hop journey began. I would make my own tapes with a little electric drum machine, a Casio Keyboard and two tape recorders. I would record the instruments on one tape and then play it back and record vocals and over dubs. Sometimes I would add another part that I played on the drums." Later, Njeri attended Cass Technical High School, enrolling in their performing arts program. Her primary instrument was flute. Her second instrument was percussion. It was at Cass, that Njeri realized that music was going to be a way of life for her. Njeri met a very gifted young sound engineer named Jabril, who worked at Nations Studio in Detroit. During her time at Nations, Njeri wrote, co-wrote and performed on many locally received singles such as, "Sinister", "Geriatric Wars", "Father", and "Caramel Covered Brother". It was during this period that Njeri would often run into a fellow rapper named Eminem. Their paths were fated to intersect in the not too distant future. While performing in the Nation of Gods and Earth's Show N' Prove in New York City in 1998, Njeri was scouted by an A&R representative from MCA. MCA signed Njeri to perform on the upcoming GZA Genius' Album, entitled, Beneath the Surface. On this album she performed with the likes of, Masta Killa, Killa Priest and GZA. The singles she recorded on were, "1112" and "Victim". Both the album and Njeri were well received, even gaining an affirmative nod from Source Magazine. Njeri also performed live on the Detroit leg of the "Beneath the Surface Tour." By now, Njeri was writing and performing regularly around the Detroit Metro area. Her confidence and command of the stage was evident. Njeri ended the year performing at venues all over Detroit, including the legendary St. Andrews hall, and at the Wetlands in New York backed by the Roots. The year 2000 was a turning point in Njeri's career. She left Nations Studios, and hired new management. The first thing the new management company did was to enter Njeri as a candidate at the Atlantis Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. She made the cut and was scheduled to perform in Atlanta. Once in Atlanta, Njeri and her manager came across a flyer for a Media Company named Media1st. They were newly established and were interviewing artists for slots on their inaugural, worldwide internet radio show, "Digital Open Mic". Again, Njeri made the cut. The folks at Media1st, Marshall Hodge, Tymm Hoffman, Jay Berry, and Tony Reames loved her music and stage presence. She did a short rehearsal in the studio and shot the video live. The next night, Njeri performed at the festival's urban venue, Studio Central, while 1st Media shot the session. It was at Studio Central that Njeri met Atlanta DJ "Grif" of the Peoples Station. Grif was chairman of the panel that selected the urban musical festival acts. He said that after they played Njeri's entry CD there was silence. Then he said, "She's damn well performing, next". Njeri left Atlanta in triumph having successfully introduced herself to the South. The relationship with Media1st would prove even more mutually beneficial in the future. Back in Detroit, Njeri was introduced to piano player, guitarist and sound engineer, Mark ", the Swami," Harper. Their partnership culminated in the development of some very fine music. Swami was putting together an album for his "Professors of Faith" record label at the time. Swami acted as sound engineer and added some instrumental parts to Njeri's compositions. Some of the tunes that came out of that relationship are: "Pipe Dreams", "Benevolent Lt.." and "Last Friday at the Plaza". The name of the album is Unity. Swami and Njeri worked together later, in conjunction with the Jazz Band, JazzHead, on Swami's single, "Mystical Magical". But for now, Hollywood was calling. Something about a movie named "8 Mile Rd." In Mid 2001, Njeri learned that the Rapper, Eminem, was shooting a major motion picture and parts in the movie were up for audition. She went on down and in a minute...secured the part of a parking lot rapper in the cipher scene. It was a speaking part that allowed Njeri to compose the verse for the rap she delivered. That segment garnered Njeri increased recognition in the Hip Hop world. Njeri spent 2002 and 2003 further honing her performance skills at venues in and around the Detroit Metropolitan Area. She devoted much of that time to composing new music. In July 2003, she returned to BeeZee70 in Atlanta to record in sessions with Jay Berry and Tony Reames. Those sessions produced: Switch the Game and Preservation of Life released on Njeri's Debut Solo Album, entitled, Supa Sista, released spring 2005. Her second release entitled "20-20" is scheduled for release for the summer of 2007. Stay tuned at www.myspace.com/njeriearthcom for more! Peace!