Pheonix The Firestarter
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exual lyrics in Hip Hop are as prevalent as gun talk and drug references. So Phoenix The FireStarter was slightly taken aback when an air-on personality questioned the content in her buzzing single, “Pull On My Weave” during a recent radio interview. “Sex is not negative,” the brown skinned bombshell defends. “It’s what you do and how you do it. There are a lot of songs that are on the air [about sex]. I’m an adult and I talk about what I want to.” Raised in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Phoenix was introduced to music by her Jamaican mother who worked in a recording studio in Jamaica and later, as part of Bob Marley’s management group. Phoenix found music as a way to express herself and realized music was her calling. “Music was always in my blood,” says Phoenix. “I couldn’t sing but I was going to do something that had to do with music.”
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After spending some time in Tallahassee, she relocated to Atlanta to pursue her rap stardom dreams. And with her single picking up spins on radio stations and rock, R&B, reggae and rave versions of “Pull On My Weave,” circulating, her move has paid off. She’s also collaborated with Yo Gotti, Rock City, Sunny Valentine, Willie Joe and T-Mo Goodie.
A self-proclaimed “girlie girl,” Phoenix’s music focuses on issues woman can relate to. Whether it’s the pain of a broken heart, the way women are treated in the music business, or hair extensions, she hopes to be a voice for females in a male-dominated industry. “My music is geared towards women,” she explains. “Men think, ‘Oh, she’s talking about me pulling on her weave.’ The issue is I have weave and most women do. Girls are like, ‘Yeah girl, I feel you with that whole pullingmy-weave thing.’ Now, everyone is okay with [saying], ‘I wear weave.’” Music is her passion but Phoenix is far from one-dimensional. As the host of an Atlanta cable show Total Access and owner of a hair salon, she insists that her movement is more than music. “I want endorsements from weave companies, everybody from Dark & Lovely and Revlon, to everybody that needs to be a part of this movement,” says Phoenix. “Cause it’s bigger than me and it’s bigger than music. And I just want to have some type of mark in history as a female that laid it down.” // myspace.com/phoenixthefirestarter Words by Randy Roper // Photo by Vonche Milteer
patiently waiting
P Batters P
icture this…it’s the 7th inning, bases are loaded and team “North Cack” is up to bat. Stepping up to the plate is seasoned emcee P. Batters (born under the government name William Rhodes) and he’s ready to knock all of the other competition out of the park. As a native of small town Williamston, NC, P is no stranger to “hard living,” as he calls it. And since he moved from the town he’s been making continuous moves to not return to that life. The baby boy of three older siblings, P. credits his appreciation for music to his older sisters and admits that “women have a better passion and understanding for music, which ultimately makes them better fans.” This influence has carried on throughout his lyrics. Though P. does admit to cursing and “keeping it real,” he also says, “I try not to offend people through my truth-telling.” Feelings aside, P. Batters has had his ups and downs with those who he nonchalantly calls “snakes” in the game. When asked about the way that the word persistence has played a role in his life, he defines it as “realizing what your purpose is in life and continuing to follow that regardless.” Though Batters continues to endure through the music industry to satisfy 92 // OZONE MAG
his ultimate dream, he does admit to a time where he wasn’t always as aggressive. Once a co-ed at St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, NC, pursuing a degree in visual art, Batters realized that he’d lost a passion for the genre because of the structure of the classes which seemed to interfere with his creativity. Unshaken and unashamed of his departure from academia, he admits that music poses the same threat with its structure surrounding production of songs and content of lyrics, but welcomes the challenge with a pioneering spirit and undeniable talent. Batter’s latest project is his forthcoming album Now or Never, which describes his rollercoaster ride through the music industry. Now or Never is the sequel to his mixtape Still Standing and provides a production list of diverse skill that stands in its own category. Using styles from Black Jeruz and 9th Wonder, to Manifest, J-Praize and D. Jay Cas, the album is sure to offer a class-act collage of talent as a background as P. Batters returns to the plate and knocks out hit after hit. // myspace.com/pbatters Words by E.L. Berry
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