FELONI (TM)
Detroit
*FELONI is an undisclosed acronym; it has absolutely nothing to do with crime.
From the tough streets and rich musical tapestry of Motown, in 2005, FELONI broke out on the scene with her racy debut single, "Brand New" (1st feat. on Russel Simmons & 97.9 WJLB's 2005 Detroit Hip Hop Summit Mix Tape), officially setting off alarms in hip-hop of a new generation of "out" rappers to come. WJLB only allowed the first 16 bars of "Brand New" to make the mix tape stating the song was "too controversial." Ultimately, those 16 bars sparked an entire movement. FELONI pushed the limits of hip-hop's sexual expression by changing the politics of the game, empowering the genre's usual subject of domination. However, over a decade ago, mainstream wasn't as open to out artists as they are today.
In 2006, discovered on Myspace by Viacom's MTV affiliates, they stated FELONI music was groundbreaking for being the first 1st Hip Hop album ("A Woman's Revenge") that spoke exclusively from a lesbian's perspective. Later that same year, she was able to garner her own episode on the reality documentary series, "Coming Out Stories," which aired seven years on MTV's LogoTV, on "National Out Day." The series was produced by Emmy & Oscar Award-winning producers, Karen Goodman & Kirk Simon. "Coming Out Stories" was created by Lauren Lazin who also produced "Tupac: Resurrection," "The Last Days of Left Eye" and "The U.S. vs. John Lennon" making FELONI the 1st "out" urban, Hip Hop artist to have her story told on a major TV network. Unlike most artists, she accomplished this without a label, manager, mix tape, and without being co-signed by a mainstream, male rapper. FELONI was approached by a few labels who advised if she wanted to be successful in Hip Hop, she shouldn't rap about women. FELONI decided to remain indie, creating her self-owned label, TrakDiamondRecord.com