Muhsinah

Artist bio

Pronounced [ma•see•na] – An unsigned, GRAMMY® nominated, singer, songwriter, arranger, composer, producer, engineer, out to find the magic in everything.

A Washington, DC & Northern Virginia native and graduate of both the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Howard University, Muhsinah humbly released her first self-produced EP, ‘Oscillations,’ via myspace very early on; duplicating, designing and mailing each disc by hand to a growing list of eager fans, having little idea of what would come to follow…

Fast-forward to a rehashed and refined 2 part digital release, ‘Oscillations: Sine’ EP (2008) & ‘Oscillations: Triangle’ EP (2010), while being mindful not to overlook the happenings between the two –
• A feature cut (‘Changes’) on Common’s ‘Universal Mind Control‘ (2008)
• Several years backing the rapper on stage, with synth and vocals
– Universal Mind Control Tour with N*E*R*D in (2008) (including performances on Jay Leno, Ellen Degeneres, and Jimmy Kimmel)
– President Obama’s Inaugural Ball in (2009)
– Maxwell’s Black Summer’s Night Tour that same year (2009)
– President Obama’s Democratic Rally in Hyde Park – Chicago, IL (2010)

Prepped and primed to play the foreground, Muhsinah began touring solo, receiving invitations to perform at renowned concerts like the legendary annual Roots’ Picnic (2008) and Sonar in Barcelona (2009), David Letterman’s 5000th episode with the Noisettes in 2010 and The Soul Beach Music Festival in Aruba (2011), amongst many other prestigious stages.

However, Muhsinah’s success was not exclusive to the stage as she exhibited her ability to captivate in the studio as well – receiving a Grammy Nomination (Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009) for her work with The Foreign Exchange on the single, (‘Daykeeper’) and later, garnered a nod from Radio Head front-man, Thom Yorke, when he counted (‘Lose My Fuse’) a song she recorded with producer, Flying Lotus, among his top 10 of that time (2010).

A musician since the age of 11, the classically trained pianist has absorbed a plethora of cultural experiences throughout her musical upbringing, so it’s no wonder that the young phenom has the ability to float gracefully between the underground and the mainstream, crafting a sound that is both hard to classify and/or compare.

Her first explorations of this new Urban/Suburban sound will be realized in her latest Double EP, ‘Gone’ (a $10,000 fan-funded release) on July 10th, 2012. And with her first full-length album scheduled for release this summer, it seems that this is only just the tip of the iceberg for The Golden Girl. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.