Slick and Rose

The reviews are in from the Black Lily Philly show!!! Check it out...

Despite true emcee moments from Artistic Achievement honoree Bahamadia, a typical electro-fit from J*Davey (including a 'Carlton dance' on "Lazy Daze") and a killer 'built from the ground up' set by Jaguar Wright, the most impressive act of the night was Atlanta's Slick & Rose. Strutting onstage to the beat of their song "Breakdown," these chicks rocked an unbreakable funk face throughout their all too short set. If you made the mistake of catching eyes with campy Slick, staring back at you was a mean mug patented by the likes of George Jefferson, only in a tight skirt. Their over-the-top attitude was spot on hilarious and only added to the legitimate funk and rock spilling from the speakers.

The next day, archivist, film historian and Black Lily Living Legend honoree, Pearl Bowser said the show was her first hip-hop concert and that being there was like "cosmic glue" to everything she'd worked on. But I think the best summary of the night goes to Drunk Dude on Walnut. While waiting for a cab a few blocks from World Café after the show, an argumentative couple closely passed by me. The boyfriend paused and looked back at me, saying, "If you were at the Black Lily, you are the sh*t!" So true, Drunk Dude, so true.

- Candace L.

For more from the Okayplayer blog visit http://www.okayplayer.com/content/view/5651/60/

- Okayplayer

Slick & Rose: Sisters in Song
Posted By Ms. E On May 1, 2008 (12:01 am) In Feature

Atlanta-based twosome Slick & Rose has a sound all their own. Mixing hip-hop, R&B, rock and soul, they’ve attracted the ears of music’s biggest names and earned spots on the Okayplayer tour, Black Lilly showcase, and venues alike. Clutch spoke with the ladies to find out hoe life has been since meeting in 2000, recording albums, rocking the mic with some of the hottest acts in the business, and what’s to come for the dynamic duo.

Q: How did you two come together as a group?
Slick: We met at a jam session in 1997 and have been singing together ever since.

Q: How would you describe your sound?
Rose: We started out doing more hip-hop soul but recently expanded our sound to include our new wave, rock and dance influences but at heart we are hip-hop heads, so there is always going to be this in the pocket, edgy rawness to our music.

Q: Who are some of your musical influences?
Slick: We are greatly inspired vocally by a lot of jazz ala Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn but musically it runs the gauntlet from Grace Jones to Tina Turner, Heart, Gwen Stefani, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Prince, RUN DMC, Salt N Pepa, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, WuTang, Black Moon, Portishead, Sting, the list goes on..

Q: Is Atlanta home base for your both?
Rose: Yes, but I am originally from the Bronx and Slick is from Mobile, Alabama

Q: You’ve toured with Black Lilly/Okayplayer. How was that experience?
Slick: Touring with the Jazzys and Rahzel was a great experience. It is not often you find another duo, willing to extend an opportunity to another group who also happens to be a duo. Working with them was fun and we love Japan. The culture is so rich, the landscape is very beautiful, everyone is so fashionable and they really embrace African-American culture, hip-hop and soul in particular.

Q: Are you still signed to your label Soul Hippie Music Group (SMHG)? If so, what has been your experience with working on an indie label versus a major label?
Rose: Yes, SHMG was basically started out of necessity, when we returned from Japan business begin to move rapidly. Its basically set up to handle our business as Slick & Rose, the group and the brand. Being an independent artist is definitely a labor of love. It requires you to wear numerous hats: artist, label, manager (sometimes), booking agent etc. but you learn a lot about the business first hand so when you do get to the point where you are dealing with labels or just other companies you are lot wiser in how you make your decisions. We are still learning but have a better understanding of the business then we did when we first started. Despite what people may think, our only experience with major labels to this point has been meetings and more meetings so we really cant speak on be signed to a major versus not yet but from what we hear besides that some of the work may be taken off your plate, there can be advantages and disadvantages to both, I suppose it all boils down to how much creative control you have and percentages..(smile)

Q: Your debut album, Objects in the Mirror, received high praise from numerous music critics. Do you ever feel the pressure to “top” yourselves or stay fresh and relevant, and stay true to who you are as artists?
Slick: No pressure to top ourselves but more of a creative need to dig deeper and express ourselves as vocalists and songwriters to the fullest. The opportunity to record our first album,Objects, came very suddenly; we had recorded a four song demo, performed at Black Lily, The Jazzys asked us to go to Japan and then we were given to the opportunity to release an album, through P-Vine Records in Japan immediately after, everything was happening so fast-when we returned from Japan we had a month to record the album, almost every song we wrote at the time is on there. It feels really good to know that people appreciate our music. We are in the studio now, working on our new album, Ambitious Intellectuals. This time we get to spend more time in the process, writing, coming up with ideas, we cant wait to start performing the new stuff. We hope to have it released by Fall of this year.

Q: Are you currently working on any new projects?
Rose: Ambitious Intellectuals is our new project. AI is basically this sassy, baddass, chick album. It’s a blend of hip-hop, pop and new wave and we love it! We wanted to do an album that showed women as both powerful and smart. In music today you don’t always see black women represented with balance. Black women are both smart and sexy, both vixen and intellectual. These songs our a true summation of different aspects of our personalities and women in general.

Q: Who are some artists that you’re listening to right now?
Slick: Amy Winehouse, Chrisette Michele, Michael Franks, lots of Feist (various albums),
Rose: Jay-Z, Bilal, Little Brother, Radiohead and Radiodread which is a reggae CD of covers of different Radiohead songs. Citizen Cope has a hot version of Karma Police.

Q: When you’re not touring or in the studio, what are some other things you both enjoy doing?
Rose: We love shopping, reading books, I love autobiographies, and what else? (to slick)
Slick: Documentries, independent films, museums, cooking, cooking shows.

To learn more about Slick & Rose please visit myspace.com/slickandrose

- Clutch Magazine www.clutchmagazine.com

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Some of the biggest names in R&B and hip-hop released albums during fourth-quarter 2004. Destiny's Child, Eminem, Ludacris, 2Pac, Nas, Snoop Dogg and Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz are among the acts that provided end of the year fireworks.

Outside that superstar arena, however, awaits a host of diverse up-and-coming R&B/hip-hop acts. And though they may not be household names, a few sparked some buzz in 2004 and deserve honorable mentions now that the holiday dust has settled.
Following are several of these acts:
SLICK & ROSE, Atlanta-based Nikki "Slick" Ervin and Sabrina "Rose" Harvey first piqued interest in Japan. That's where the duo's debut album, "Objects in the Mirror," was released in 2003 via P-Vine Records. Opening stints for the Jazzyfatnastees, Kanye West, Chingy and Van Hunt followed, and Slick & Rose reissued "Objects" in the United States last March on their own Soul Hippie Music Group label.
Since then, the pair's brand of hip-hop soul has picked up positive reviews, a new marketing and promotion partner (Blue Maze Entertainment) and new management (Rasta Root).
After seven years of honing their sound, Slick & Rose converse lyrically on everything from spirituality to struggling working mothers, lacing jazz and soul over sumptuous beats. Repeat-worthy tracks include "Space" and "Milk & Honey."
"Our foundation is basically hip-hop," Slick explains. "Then we have live music played over the tracks. Our lyrics and the way we sing songs is also in a hip-hop style." - Billboard Magazine

R&B
Slick & Rose
"Objects in the Mirror." Soul Hippie "�Music Group. 14 tracks, �Grade: B

From Atlanta's independent R&B scene comes a promising new act and a compilation by someone with a proven ear for discovering such talent.
With Zhane an unfortunately distant memory and Floetry the only female twosome of note in this genre of late, the new duo Slick & Rose has plenty of room to establish itself. "Objects in the Mirror" is a fine start.
Much of it is cool drum taps, guitars and nice harmonies that easily wind their way around hints of jazz, reggae and drum and bass. But nothing really insists that you listen closely until the ninth track: "Watch U Weary." It is here, as they melodi-t cally describe a hard working mother who's been "wounded from the day/angered by the game," that they make their case for being storytellers. Three songs later, on "Milk & Honey," with some help from Atlanta's Ores tha Beatnik, Slick & Rose becomes especially vibrant and tuneful. And by closing ode "Hip-Hop," they've properly introduced themselves as an unqualified treat.

Sonia Murray - Atlanta Journal Constution - Atlanta Journal Constution

IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE THAT WITH THE CONSTANT BARRAGE of pop and R&B acts forced onto unsuspecting viewers of MTV one would grow weary of every new soul diva or pop sensation' that springs up weekly. But what local songstresses Slick & Rose offer is noticeably different and refreshing. Fortunately for them the Atlanta-based duo comprised of Nikki "Slick" Ervin and Sabrina "Rose" Harvey understand how to craft soulful yet catchy R&B, managing to maintain their roots without straying too far into the pop mainstream.

Both women come from vastly different musical backgrounds which influence their music. Slick is a southerner hailing from Mobile Alabama, where her childhood was spent in churches, listening to the gospel choirs that ultimately influenced her singing today Rose was raised in the urban metropolis of New York City, and claims that the hip-hop scene and her Jamaican heritage are the biggest influences on her musical style.

Luckily, their fusion of delicate, silky vocal stylings and urban mentality has not gone unnoticed. Before the duo even had any material recorded, they were asked to join Rahzel and the Jazzyfatnastees of the Roots on their Okayplayer Tour of Japan, a country where they are already receiving noticeable recognition. In fact, the past three years have seen them sharing the stage with such big-name acts as Kanye West, Common, Slum Village, and Chingy.
Now that their long-awaited debut album, Objects in the Mirror, was released back in March, Slick & Rose can expect to see bigger crowds and earn even greater recognition. The album is comprised of a versatile mixture of different styles of music, with songs like the track "Gods," that can both lull and relax you, and "Hip-Hop," which will get you dancing on your chair.

Therein lies the brilliance of the album: It's a CD that you can pop in if you just feel like hanging out and unwinding with a cup of tea in the comfort of your home, or something that can get you ready to hit the clubs. It's no wonder that the duo is experiencing the success that they are: a success that is well-deserved for two chanteuses trying to pave their own way sonically and artistically.

Michael Chau - South East Performer
- Southeast Performer

If you haven’t heard of Slick & Rose, hold your breath because it’s only a matter of time. The female duo that describes themselves as a hybrid of the best in hip-hop, soul and R&B have a knack for making the kind of noise that compels people to listen-in more ways than one.

Their debut, Objects in the Mirror, is constructed upon free-flowing grooves and mind-blowing harmonies with a dash of hip-hop sensibility. Its evolution is a story in itself: being whisked away to their first Okay Player tour in Japan after impressing the right people in the right places (Jazzyfatnastees at Philly’s Black Lily), there was instant demand created for a Slick & Rose album that had yet to be created.

So the Atlanta transplants came back to their adopted home and went to work. Not only did they produce an impressive debut album-released stateside in 2004-that’s earned them plenty of industry buzz, they laid an entrepreneurial foundation that has afforded them the ability to work on their music fulltime despite not having a major deal. “When we got back from Japan that opened up a lot of opportunities for us” says Nikki Slick. Today the ladies own their masters and all the rights to their indie label, Soul Hippie Music Group. “A lot of this has to do with your business sense,” says Sabrina Rose.

Indeed, they’ve come a long way for a couple of girls who didn’t even have passports when they first got the call to go touring overseas. But now, they’re ready for the world.

- Creative Loafing

Fusing live music and movement, Crunch's Acapella Asanas in Atlanta, Georgia is a weekly vigorous practice accompanied by the mellifluous hip-hop tones of singing duo, Slick & Rose. As yogis sink into resting postures like child pose and savasana, local musicians Nikki "Slick" Ervin and Sabrina "Rose" Harvey break into appropriate groove. "Certain vocal tones connect with certain points in the chakras" explains Harvey, a four year yoga veteran. "We make it as harmonic as we can, and I think its pretty soothing." The women say that singing for class not only enhances the yoga experience for others, but also meets their personal mission: "We get to join two things we love-music and peace of mind." slickandrose.com
- Breathe Magazine

Subtly and hip hop have become strangers recently. Sample these heavily edited lyrics, taken from Lil's Kim's 2003 duet with rapper Twista, "Thug Luv": "Here come a bitch with the fly (female anatomy), and a n***a with the fly (male anatomy)."

Anyone else in the mood for love? Atlanta-based soulsters Slick and Rose have the looks, and attitude, to take the conventional road to commerical success, but neither feels comfortable adopting the "thugette" persona popularized by a growing number of chart-topping female acts (including former Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera.)

"Nikki and I write music we wanna hear," says Sabrina "Rose" Harvey, who's been collaborating with Alabama-bred Nikki "Slick" Ervin since 200."That's just not what we're about."

Well maybe a little bit; their name implies a mix of "street" and "sweet," their target vibe.

But record industries tend to bow at the altar of predictability, pre-packaging and proven concepts. So befitting the strong sistas you hear about in their music, Slick and Rose have empowered themselves to jumpstart their careers. So far the results have been positive.

They've invested much of their promotional energies to new media outlets, including Myspace.com, a popular Internet destination for up-and -coming musicians and audiences seeking fresh above formulaic. Slick and Rose have already reaped benefits from their grassroots approach, securing inclusion on a much sought-after soulcompilation released by Myspace.

While they're not yer sorting through endorsement opportunities, Slick and Rose have already secured extensive street cred, preforming wit and/or opening for such acts as Common, Nappy Roots and A Tribe Called Quest. All that came prior to the release of their debut album, Objects in the Mirror, released through their own label, Soul Hippie Music Group in March 2004.

"We want to be able to map out our direction, and we want to eventually become an outlet to help break other bands," says Ervin, adding, "now we have bargaining power."

Not to mention the kind independence most artists crave, yet often willingly give up in their pursuits of the Top 40.
"We're proud of our first album, but part of what we had to do with it was show people that we were a viable act," Harvey says. "WE feel like we've proven ourselves, so we came into this next album feeling like we had more room creatively."

As proof of their "vulnerability," Slick and Rose have attracted some prominent producers, including Seven (a veteran of two Outkast albums) whose credits include Jay Z and the Nappy Roots), for their sophomore release.

If it follows that Atlanta has become the birthplace of urban trend, then Slick and Rose may be leading a hip-hop, as it were, with an emphasis on sophisticated lyrics amid background of jazzy cool. Their music doesn't demand attention, but it slyly invites you in for a comfortable, andmemorable, visit, appropriate in either the background or foreground.

"People are wanting more in their lives, and artists I think are really wanting to grow beyond singing about bitches and ho's," Ervin says. Somewhere, Teddy Pendergrasss is smiling.

- Georgia Music Magazine

Reality Gym:Crunch
Where: 3365 Piedmont Road
Atlanta based singers Slick & Rose perform during a flow hatha yoga class called Acapella Asana. The "movieoke" class teaches the choreography from fight scenes in movies like the Matrix and Kill Bill series.
Contact:404-262-2120 or crunch.com
Membership:$69 to $117/month
Celeb sightings: Usher, Mya, Terrell Owens, Dikembe Mutombo

- Vibe Magazine

Georgia Up & Coming, March 2004 By Roger Riddle It’s about head nods, your favorite sweatshirt, and chillin’ with that special someone. You’re comfortable and it feels good. That’s the music of Slick and Rose. Nikki Slick and Sabrina Rose have been working the scene in Atlanta for a little more than three years and now they are ready to bring their feel good style to a works full of listeners. The two first met while jamming out at a rehearsal with a band called Black Diamond. They realized their vocal talents blended well together and with a third member at the time, formed a group and released a single entitled [Get Away]. Later Nikki Slick and Sabrina Rose became the soulful duo, Slick & Rose. It wasn’t long before they were stretching out beyond their Atlanta home base. They got a chance to rock on stage with Chicago emcee, Common during a performance at small club in Savannah, Georgia. They went on to perform twice at the Black Lily in Philadelphia, which is a showcase that is responsible for launching acts the likes of Jaguar Wright, Jill Scott, Floetry and India. Aire, amongst others. They also took their sassy, soulful sound to Japan for the three-city tour of all the Blue Note clubs, with the Jazzyfatnastees. Even though they have spread their sound around the world. They are well connected with the music scene in Atlanta, opening for Joi in concert at Earthlink Live and working with the likes of DJ Rasta Root and Dres that Beatnik. Their connections eventually led them to work with Phife Dawg, of A Tribe Called Quest, on the Dexter’s Laboratory Soundtrack as “our introduction. It felt pretty good. It was a good place for us to be because Will.I.AM was on it. De La Soul was on it. Coolio. A whole bunch of different people. It was sort of our launching pad.” They followed up the Dexter’s Laboratory release with the single, “You Know You Want It” on [Smokin’ Needles Records] with Phife as well as the group’s own debut album release “Objects In the Mirror”. Japan gets the special treatment as “Objects in the Mirror” has been released exclusively in the land of the rising sun, on P-Vine Records. Critics may be quick to classify it as Neo-Soul, but Nikki Slick wants listeners to realize, “It’s a fusion. Actually the foundation of it is Hip-Hop, definitely. And it kinda branches out into Soul, Jazz, a little Reggae, some Rock but it still has that beat. You know what I’m saying? It’s sonically balanced out.” Slick & Rose concentrated on making an album that exposed the best of their talents in writing and production, opting to keep in slim on the guest appearances for the first album. “For this particular project, we would really like for it to kinda speak for itself,” said Rose. The formula must have worked well as their album peaked at #11 on the Japanese R&B charts. The Japanese have become purveyors of funk, soul and jazz in their own right and Slick & Rose are planning to return to Japan to blend styles with another tour and possibly work on some material with some of Japan’s funky stylists. We won’t have much longer to wait for some Slick & Rose action closer to home. The ladies will be performing on February 21st at the Apache Café and opening for Kanye West on March 1, [2004] at Earthlink Live. They are also expecting to have a regional album release in March 2004, followed by a national release in June. As for now, you can order the Slick & Rose Debut Album entitled “Objects in the Mirror” on Soul Hippie Music Group, LLC/P-Vine Records (Japan), from http://www.bls-act.co.jp. - Roger Riddle