» D-Nice

Heavy D: Officially Back in the Studio

Shavar — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:23:27 +0000

Would you believe it’s been over 11 years? Wow.

I recently caught up with rapper, DJ, and photographer extraordinaire (among other things), D-Nice’s blog and he mentioned that he was fortunate enough to…

“…join Heavy D at the studio as he started the recording process of his first rap album in over 11 years.”

Did you hear that ch’all? Heavy D’s officially back in the studio and DJ D-Nice has the photos to prove it.

Heavy D hasn’t changed much, looks great, and I can’t wait to hear the new tracks.

D-Nice takes the most amazing black and white photos. Check out his site and more candid pics from Heavy D in the studio here.

By the way, have you ever seen Heavy D in this movie called “Big Trouble?” He was actually really good in that, lol.

D-Nice Journal: Top-Notch Blog, Top-Notch Photography

Shavar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:15:25 +0000

One of my favorite blogs is D-Nice Journal. Not just ’cause he’s my Internet friend; I’ve always been a fan of D-Nice. Who wasn’t down with The Boogie Down (BDP Posse) Productions back in the day? “South..South..Bronx…” They put The Patterson Projects on the map! My mother AND my father grew up in Patterson. Both my grandparents, my aunts, my uncles AND my cousins (father AND my mother’s side) lived/lives in Patterson. For the first seven years of my life, I LIVED IN PATTERSON. So you see, there’s a special bond between D-Nice, BDP and I, lol.

What is D-Nice up to today? Quote from his blog:

“At the intersection of music and technology, Derrick D-Nice Jones has built a career as a respected musician, photographer, web-developer–and a successful entrepreneur.”

His blog, which gets a ton of daily visitors, is “off-the-chizzain” and his photography is absolutely brilliant, and I don’t say that about a lot of photographers, trust me. His black and white portraits are “outta sight” (just thought about Goodtimes for some strange reason, lol). D’s photos are not your average in that we’re constantly updated with the latest pics from all our favorite rap stars. D-Nice has photographed the likes of B-Real of Cypress Hill, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul, Kid Rock, Lil Jon, Common, MC Serch (Brooklyn Queens!), DJ Jazzy Jeff, Special Ed, Mary J. Blige…I can go on and on.

D-Nice is also married to the talented actress Malinda Williams.

Anyway, peep his website if you haven’t done so already.

D-Nice Journal

Twitterverse Prays for Actress Maia Campbell

Shavar — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:25:07 +0000

Today Twitter showed me more important reasons to love it. Believe it or not, Twitter is more than just about vanity and narcissism. No, it’s also about sharing information, unity and prayer and sometimes we forget that God can use the Internet to carry out his will for others.

Last year my wife informed me of the situation concerning actress Maia Campbell, best known for her portryal of “Tiffany Warren” on the television series, “In the House.” I was shocked at the photos I viewed of her on the Internet.

The daughter of the well respected author Bebe Moore Campbell, Maia fell into heavy depression, mental illness and drugs after learning of her mother’s untimely death to brain cancer back in 2006.

Anyway, early this morning, my first day back on Twitter (fresh new Twitter page) after being suspended, my friend, and the very popular DJ D-NICE and a few others were kind enough to let the Twitterverse know that I was still around.

Then, one of my very first tweets I received was a link to a video of actress Maia Campbell. Someone had humiliated her by titling the video(s) “Stupid Prostitute.” In this apparent recent video, she looked pretty strung out, and to put it bluntly–strung out on crack, and was talkin’ real crazy.

That video bothered me. I felt so bad for this woman. I gave my wife the update and told her that we needed to seriously pray for Maia.

I have never met Maia yet I had this overwhelming desire to pray and intercede for her. I haven’t felt that way in a long time for someone, not since the days of La Iglesia Viva, so I knew I needed to pray.

I tweeted and updated my Facebook page telling others to pray for Maia. If you’ve seen the video(s) and some of the photos online, you’d understand. The one video I watched was enough for me. It really gets to me when I see a fellow actor that has fallen by the wayside. Maia started her career young and I have a heart for former child actors. I can’t help that, probably because I was one myself.

Anyway, I noticed DJ D-NICE was engaged in a Twitter discussion about Maia. I started getting feedback on my Facebook page that people were praying for her. Then I received this tweet for which I retweeted:

RT @Thatz_Debz: @therealshavar Prayers for Maia have already gone up & for you for asking for the prayer for her…Peace & Blessings to you.

Then, to my pleasant surprise, I noticed that “Maia Campbell” and “#pray4maiacampbell” were one of the most talked about subjects on Twitter today. Twitter is powerful and so is prayer. Glad I’m not alone.

Special Update: Maia Campbell in rehab!

Photo courtesey of (UPN) The United Paramount Network (from left): Kim Wayans, James Todd Smith (LL Cool J), Maia Campbell, Alfonso Ribeiro.

D-Nice Photography

Shavar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:07:00 +0000

Flashback: Y’all remember rapper D-Nice, right?…down with the BDP (Boogie Down Productions) Posse? Anyway, his photography work is amazing. I chatted with him awhile back on Myspace and we exchanged some of our photography work. His portraits are extraordinary.

Anyway, lately Ive been thinking about playing some old albums on a record player lol. I’ve got an itchin’ to hear that “cracklin’” sound again! It’s been years. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, the last time I remember playin’ an album was back in ’91. It was an old Prince album. I forget which one. My friends and I were looking for “samples”. I called myself tryin’ to be a rapper then lol. I was scratchin’, lol, and as the album went backwards—we heard the Devil. We played it back….and it said it again….”I’M GONNA GET YOU SOMEHOW”. Slow and dreary, and scary. It tripped us out! I took it personally lol…stopped listenin’ to albums.

Today, as I was thinking about playin’ some old albums and how I was gonna find an old record player–I get a call from Pete “DJ” Jones. What a pleasant surprise.

Anyway for those of y’all who don’t know, Pete “DJ” Jones was one of the baddest, and prolly the most popular DJ in New York during the disco and early rap era. Some say he was the first DJ to use two turntables. The photo above is a recent photo of Pete “DJ” Jones and was taken by D-Nice.

Check out more of D-Nice’s photography work at: http://blog.d-nice.com

For more info on Pete “DJ” Jones visit: http://www.jayquan.com/pete.htm