The M Pire Mag November 2013 Issue is Here

We followed through with our theme for this issue, which revolves around Comedy. We actually did so to break the assumption that we're just a magazine for music. We're a magazine that promotes all types of art. Anyways, we managed to get a hold of and interview our cover feature, Shang Forbes. You will find our video interview of him, and others, inside the new issue below.

Among other comedy features are Lil Rel, and some of New York's hottest comedy clubs where you can showcase your talent, such as Eastville Comedy Club, Stand Up New York, and we also did an interview with Al Martin, who owns New York Comedy Club, Broadway Comedy Club, and Greenwich Village Comedy Club. Pretty meaty stuff!

And for our Hip Hop artists out there, we also got a hold of Wes Jackson, who is the founder of the Brooklyn Bodega, which hosts its annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. We were able to cover their recent event which was the Red Bull Sound Select Presents New York at the Knitting Factory, and were able to interview one of the performing artists, Kiah Victoria.

And for those in the Fashion world, we have an exclusive article with blogger Kiersten Heath with her trendy favorites for fall (speaking of which, we're discussing Fashion to possibly be our next theme for February 2014, so stay tuned)...

We have many other useful surprises in our issue so feel free to dive in and see what we have for you:

Music Needed for our Video Interviews

I know it's been a while since we wrote anything up here, but we have a request. This is another perfect opportunity to get your music out there to our readers, which is what M Pire is all about. We have collected about five videos worth of interviews, which we will be putting together for the November issue.

Problem is, we have no background music.

The styles that we're looking for for background music for these videos is Pop, R&B, Rock, Hip Hop, Gospel (one of our interviews is with an owner of a gospel label and production company). If you guys have music that you want to submit to us (for free), please send an mp3 file(s) to either awebb@m-piremagazine.com or info@m-piremagazine.com. Try to send each mp3 file in a separate email so it won't be too big to send. Each of our videos will probably take up at least two to three songs, so we'll pick out about 10-15 songs to put in our video interviews, and of course notify you if your song has been picked! We will also post your credits and website in the "description" section of the video interview on YouTube.

Please try to have your music submitted by 8pm PST on Thursday, October 31st. Thanks for all of your help!

Check out our August 2013 issue below:

Live Podcast Interview with Marissa Speakman

This Thursday (October 17, 2013) at 8pm EST/5pm PST, we will be having another live podcast interview with artist Marissa Speakman. Speakman exudes haunting, hypnotic and sensual vocals over hip hop, trip hop and pop grooves. Her unique presentation is ethereal. In music some music circles she has been called the "Pink Floyd" of hip hop/pop.

You can listen in at that time right from this blog post. Below may show our previous podcast interview at the moment until we have tomorrow's interview. Feel free to listen to our recorded interview with Author Betty Jean Nobles, along with some of our other past interviews (click the second icon from the left showing on the top of the player).




Also feel free to check out our latest magazine issue below!

Live Podcast Interview with Author Betty Jean Nobles

Hello,

We have an interview tonight, October 4 at 8pm EST/5pm PST with Philadelphia author Betty Jean Nobles. Nobles’ first novel, “A Small CandleLight,” is based on her life, as well as that of her son, Larry. The book, while telling the tale of fictional characters, is a reflection of her life’s journeys, including the harshness, sadness and confusion that can sometimes cause people to make poor decisions. She also runs KandleLight Productions, which is a non-profit organization whose mission is to effectively promote peace and decrease violence among African American males by teaching conflict resolution through literacy and the expressive arts. Check out her book by Clicking Here and check out her site regarding KandleLight productions by Clicking Here. You can listen in below!

Also, for the November issue, for artists who are interested in advertising their material in our magazine, we are offering discounted ad space (as in 50% off discounted ad space). Our rates go as low as under $30 because we cater to upcoming artists who are looking to promote on a budget. Again we are open to any type of artist (visual art, music, literature, comedy, fashion, film, etc). For more information, contact me at awebb@m-piremagazine.com.




Also check out our August issue below!

M Pire Visits Stand Up NY Comedy Club

I just wanted to let you all know that I went to one of our soon-to-be featured comedy clubs last night in NYC, and that was my first time ever going to any comedy club. So, I wanted to share my personal experience with all of you...

The club I went to was called Stand Up NY, which is in uptown Manhattan (click the club title or more on location and the club itself). I could tell it was recently renovated, so it looked polished and had a nice VIP section. Here was my seat compared to the stage:

Yup, complete front row guys! I swear NY loves me, but at a comedy club if you're in front row, you will more than likely be one of the ones to get roasted by the acts and host (and I was)! For one, I was the only African American in the audience. Of course some jokes were thrown in there about that and I was rolling.

Aside form the fact that they had some really good acts there, including Chris Gethard, Calise Hawkins (the only other black woman there) and Sean Donnelly, they also had a good food menu. I picked fried calamari:

Which was good, but I couldn't finish it.... not sure if my body can handle squid. And that's pineapple juice by the way (I don't drink alcohol).

The show itself lasted for about close to 2 hours, and for someone who can't even sit that long for a Star Trek movie, I could have stayed there forever and watched acts all night. Needless to say I had a really good time and would put Stand Up NY on the "to go" list for those who are traveling to NYC at any point! Also, as I said before, look for their feature in our upcoming November issue.

I also forgot to mention, We are offering discounted ad space (as in 50% off discounted ad space) for artists who are interested in promoting their material in our November issue. Our rates go as low as under $30 because we cater to upcoming artists who are looking to promote on a budget. Again we are open to any type of artist (visual art, music, literature, comedy, fashion, film, etc). For more information, contact me at awebb@m-piremagazine.com

Check out our August issue below!

Update with Podcast and Ustream Interviews

Hello everyone,

I apologize for the inconvenience, but we haven't heard from tonight's guest, Lil Rel, which by default means that the podcast has been cancelled until further notice. We will definitely let you guys know when we reschedule, as well as inform you of our upcoming podcast interviews.

In the meantime, we do have a live Ustream session scheduled for tomorrow night (Friday September 27th, 2013) at 6pm with special guest, B. Moore! We'll be streaming his album release party as well as an interview with him, and it will be an interactive session where you get to chat with us/type in questions to ask us and be a part of the interview!

The Ustream can be found on our website at www.m-piremagazine.com under the On Air tab, or you can watch it right from this post (below)! We have also attached the social stream under the ustream screen where you can access our previous sessions.


Live streaming by Ustream

Until then, check out our August issue of M Pire Magazine below!

We Will Have a Very Special Guest Comedian On Sept 26

And his name is Milton "Lil Rel" Howery!

Lil Rel takes you inside his world of growing up on Chicago's West Side when he hits the stage. Introducing characters from his mother, father, uncle and of course your favorite neighborhood "hoodrat," his character style comedy leaves audiences in stitches. He currently tours the country leaving pieces of himself and his life on every stage and city he touches.

Lil Rel is perhaps best known as a semi-finalist on NBC's Last Comic Standing and from his show stopping performances on Comedy Central's Russell Simmons Presents Stand-Up at The El Rey, Martin Lawrence 1st Amendment on Starz, and HBO’s Diddy's Bad Boys of Comedy. His Comedy Central special aired in June 2013, and his Comedy Central sketch show, Legion of Goons, is currently in development. He also recently appeared on Shaq’s All Star Comedy Jam and on E’s Chelsea Lately and has performed at some of the most prestigious comedy festivals in the world including the Just For Laughs Festivals in both Montreal and Chicago, the South Africa Comedy Festival and NBC’s Diversity Showcase. Lil Rel was also cast in the reboot of the Fox series In Living Color spearheaded by the original creator Keenen Ivory Wayans. His new CD, "I Know You Hear Me, But Are You Listening" is available on iTunes. With all of this already under his belt, it is no surprise that Lil Rel was also named by Variety as one of 2012 Top 10 Comics to Watch.

We will be interviewing Lil Rel live on Thursday, September 26 at 8pm EST/5pm PST. You can listen in right from this blog (below). Right now it shows our last guest, Penelope Trunk, but that will change to Lil Rel once the interview takes place.

In the meantime, check out our free August issue below if you have not already. Feel free to press the "play" button in front of the flaming mic to watch it move!