| Kellee Maize | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kellee Maize |
| Born | January 18, 1980 |
| Origin | New Berlin, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop, Rap, Dub Step, Baltimore Club, Reggaeton |
| Occupations | Rapper, Emcee, Singer, Songwriter, Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Website | www.kelleemaize.com |
Kellee Maize (born January 18, 1980) is an American Rapper/ Emcee/ Dancer/ Singer/ Songwriter/ Entrepreneur. She was born in New Berlin, a small town in Central Pennsylvania, but moved to Pittsburgh at age 18 to attend college, fell in love with the city, and has been there ever since. Kellee has and continues to devote her time to her passions of music, art, and bettering the world. She started Näkturnal, a female owned and operated guerilla marketing firm, where she can promote her passions while also working on her music career. Her debut album, Age of Feminine, was released independently in May 2007, featuring traditional hip hop beats behind her activist message of exposing the wrongs in the world. She financed and released it herself, and distributed it online at iTunes. Age of Feminine got over 2 million plays and 100,000 downloads.[1] Aligned Archetype, released in January 2010, is Kellee's sophomore album featuring the sounds of Dub Step, Hip Hop, and Baltimore Club, behind spiritually inspired lyrics. The album quickly gained critical success online and became the featured album for Frostwire, where she became the Most Downloaded Aritist on Frostwire Ever, with over 145,000 full album downloads in 1 month.[1]
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When Kellee was born her biological parents could not keep her and she was quickly adopted by her loving parents. Being adopted, Kellee often felt alienated growing up, and dealt with deep seeded issues of abandonment. Little did she know that this would be a powerful influence in her identity and drive to succeed. To this day, she knows very little about her biological family, so she continues to grow her family of friends with the inspiring people she works and plays with. Kellee's mom always said "She was dancing and singing before she could walk and talk." She was a gymnast for over 15 years, which lended to her dancing skills. She loves all genres of music and began writing poetry and songs at a young age to entertain herself and escape reality.[2]
Kellee moved to Pittsburgh, PA at 18 years old to attend the University of Pittsburgh for Mass Communication, Theater, and African Dance. During college she was active in the local hip hop community, and performed with Mind Boxing Alliance and Kloaking Device, as well as working for the college radio station, WPTS. After graduation, Kellee felt dedicated to staying in Pittsburgh as she saw the tremendous opportunity for growth in the burgeoning city. While at the Pittsburgh City Paper, she worked her way up to the Events and Promotions Director and started an independent music series in Pittsburgh called Sound Kitchen, that featured hundreds of independent artists.[3]
In 2005, while working for the paper, Kellee developed her own company focused on providing alternative marketing opportunities for organizations beyond the traditional Print, Radio, and TV. She founded and runs her own female owned and operated guerrilla marketing firm, Näkturnal. The company is focused on bringing together arts and corporate communities to create a more vibrant music and entertainment scene. The offer access to cutting-edge "underground" markets through unique promotional opportunities and thought-provoking events that inspire, move, and excite people; give talented artists and musicians a platform; unite people from diverse backgrounds for entertainment and networking purposes and raise awareness for worthy causes and issues. Kellee wanted Näkturnal's main goal to be creating a better world where artists, musicians, young entrepreneurs and activists get what they deserve, whether it's a stage, and open mind, or an opportunity.[4]
Kellee was always interested in music starting at a young age, and would spend time writing poetry and songs. At age 9, she was writing and rapping as part of a homemade duo called Thunder and Lightning consisting of Kellee and her childhood best friend.[2][5] By the time she was attending the University of Pittsburgh, Hip Hop had become a passion and an outlet for her. There was a lot of cause for stress and angst in her life, including an a near-death battle her mother was having with cancer. Writing became a way for Kellee to cope with the problems.[5]
Despite her overwhelming passion for music, Kellee never expected it to go much further than just a pastime. She started performing onstage in 2000, but her lack of confidence and critical views of herself left her holding back. It wasn't until she graduated college that her dreams and aspirations really began to take form. Burnt out and exasperated from the workload of college, Kellee decided recording music would be a great break from her chaotic life.[5] Unfortunately, she encountered another rough patch, with her father passing away and her birth mother ignoring her attempts at a reconnection. As unfortunate as this was, it only fueled Kellee's musical aspirations more.[2]
While her company Nakturnal was growing, she found time to start recording and performing more. Kellee started recording her first album Age of Feminine in February 2006 at I.D. Labs in Pittsburgh with DJ Huggy. It was released in the beginning of 2007. The album was based on her philosophies about spirituality and female energies. Age of Feminine was made available for free online and received 2 million plays and 100,000 downloads.[1]
After the success of Age of Feminine, Kellee was motivated to keep going. By late 2008 she was back in the studio working on her latest project, Aligned Archetype. Highly conceptual, the album introduces Kellee's "alter egos" or archetypes, and the songs are arranged as the answers to a tarot card reading with the question, "How can I align all the energies affecting my body, mind, and spirit and all the different archetypes with my being to help create real change on the planet?"[6] The five different archetypes have different tracks on the album, all with their own messages.[7] "Mellee Kaize" is the political and passionate side of Kellee. "Nakturnal Lady", which is the business side, working hard to create an awakening with her promotional company and team of powerful ladies. "Ms. Apocolypse" focuses on environmental issues and protecting the earth. "Innerplanetary Fairy" is all about New Age and spiritual beliefs. Then there is "Princess of Pittsburgh", who loves her city and reps it at any chance.[8] Combine all of these different archetypes and you get the inspiration behind Aligned Archetype, which was released in January 2010 in the same free online method as before. This was another huge success the second time around, with Kellee becoming FrostWire's most downloaded artist ever.[1] The majority of the songs on Aligned Archetypes were recorded at Emmy Award-Winning Ya Momz House Recording Studio, based in Pittsburgh, by DJ Huggy. Tracks 4, 15, & 18 were recorded at Blazeh Blah Studio in Baltimore, MD and produced by King Tut and Scottie B from Unruly Records.[9][10][11]
Currently, Kellee is continuing to write and experiment with new beats and genres, while staying true to her unique style. She's constantly releasing singles and working on music videos for her tracks. Her main focus is to get her music heard so she can spread her energy to the world in hopes of inspiring some positive change.[11]
2007: Age of Feminine
2010: Aligned Archetype
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