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Jaguar
grew up in a religiously devout household
where her father sang in church, weddings,
and other social functions, providing inspiration
for her to cultivate her own musical talent.
But she and her siblings were also left
thirsting for a chance to listen to the
sounds of artists like Minnie Ripperton
and Marvin Gaye since they were not allowed
to listen to the radio. "I used to
love block parties because I could sit there
and listen to Earth, Wind and Fire all day.
Otherwise, most of the time I had to keep
the radio off," says Jag who only got
to listen to the radio when she and her
siblings would sneak midnight listening
sessions in their backyard or garage or
on the rare occasions when their parents
were not at home. " As soon as I'd
see the front fender of [her parent's car],
we would jam to the last eight bars of music
and they'd come in there and we would be
sitting down. We were good," she exclaims.
Her father was so strict, he once threw
a notebook of her rhymes into the fireplace,
for it was through rapping that Jaguar found
her first performance outlet. As a skillful
and unique singer, Jaguar has come a long
way from rapping and jumping rope with her
first group, Philly Blunts, which performed
together for 4 years. She credits her experience
as a rapper for playing a strong role in
her improvisational, unpredictable, and
audience-centered performance. "Singing
and rapping feed off each other. Singing
allowed me to bring that rapping element
back into play, in terms of lyrics,"
she says.
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When
Philly Blunts disbanded, Jaguar retreated to studios
in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia to hone
her singing talents. During that time she was
singing hooks for local artists, covering songs,
and working on her own material. She was set up
with a performance at Black Lily, a female open
mic founded by the Jazzyfatnastees and Motive
Records. Black Lily provided an early performance
arena for the likes of Jill Scott and India Arie,
and at her debut, Jaguar stunned the crowd and
became a permanent performer with the show. Soon
after, she became a part of the Roots family collective
and debuted her vocal virtuosity on The Roots'
hits, "What You Want" from The Best
Man soundtrack and "The Lesson Part III"
from The Roots Come Alive. Her thrilling stage
performance also won her a spot on the national
Okayplayer Tour.
With
the word getting around about this new "must-hear,
must-see" singer, Jaguar's album is a highly
anticipated release. Jaguar is confident her debut
will live up to her electrifying live performance.
With songs that speak from her family's trials
to capricious love affairs, Jaguar likens herself
to a modern day Etta James. Most of all Jaguar
wants her album to affect people
positively. " I hope it will change somebody's
life or at least soothe or comfort somebody-which
is why I wrote an album full of real songs about
real situations," she says. "The whole
album is about my life situations that I have
lived and seen," says Jag who duets with
Bilal in an erotic get-down about a forbidden
love affair on the ultra mellow "I Can't
Wait," and with the help of Black Thought,
puts a jealous ex-friend in her place on "Ain't
Nobody Playin'." But it is on the empowering
song, "Self Love, Self Preservation,"
that the message from lessons lived and learned
truly comes through in the delivery of the powerful
lyrics: "Love yourself, believe in yourself,
be true to yourself, be you for yourself. Do you;"
which she sings like they are the most important
words she will ever belt out. All of the songs
on the album, aptly titled Denials, Delusions,
and Decisions, speak to some issue or situation
that has helped make Jaguar both the artist and
woman that she is.
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Denials,
Delusions and Decisions boasts production
from some of R&B's top producers and
musicians, who provide the perfect musical
mosaic for Jag's vocal prowess and adept
storytelling. Jag's production team includes
James Poyser (Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun)
Scott Storch (Dr. Dre , Snoop Dogg, Christina
Aguilera, and The Roots) and the musical
visionary Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson
of The Roots, who has worked with the likes
of D'Angelo, Bobby Womack, and Femi Kuti.
"It
was important to me to have an album that
was completely me, which is why I wrote
and co-arranged my whole album. Jaguar as
an artist is the purest part of me. I want
to uplift people the way music has for me.
I want people to put on my music and be
touched by it." She has no doubts about
where the real credit for her talent is
due. "I honestly believe that God gave
me this voice and right now I'm just warming
up." Already having been featured in
Vibe, The Source, Essence and Newsweek as
an artist to look out for, Jaguar is poised
to ignite today's musical landscape.
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Jaguar
Wright site - www.okayplayer.com/jaguarwright
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