Yejide was raised in music. Being the youngest of 7, she was exposed to several genres of music, including her father’s Be-Bop and Jazz, her mother’s Rhythm and Blues and Disco and her siblings love for Funk, Soul and Hip Hop. Her older brother had her writing rhymes and blending and mixing records by 1980. She was an excellent student in school and was a technically trained dancer from the age of 8 until her sophomore year at Brooklyn Technical HS.
Her love of dance and music became her signature. She’s danced Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Modern, Bolero & East Indian Mudrahs on the stages of Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the world renowned Carnegie Hall. She won 1st place for singing at the NAACP-sponsored ACTSO Award for the Brooklyn Youth Council and was a delegate at the NAACP conventions for 3 consecutive years, introducing new bills to the legislative branch, before the age of 17.
Yejide was given the name, “The Night Queen”, by her mother because she always came home at the darkest of night. Yejide danced with a crew called the X-Men and they named her Storm because of the “powers and elements that awakened when she ‘tranced’ out on the dance floor”.
Simultaneously, she became a staple on the undergound Hip Hop and Spoken Word circuit, sometimes doing two or three shows a week. Since 1993, Yejide has accumulated thousands of physical photographs and tens of Hi8 analog video tapes of the underground House scene, the NYC Hip Hop scene, live shows and several parties and celebrations. She never leaves home without her camera.
Yejide was a contributing writer for Red Eye Mag and a few online periodicals. She had her own column in The Black Track Newspaper called, “Let Me Just Remind You” that covered African American socio-political topics and music reviews. In 1997, after she graduated John Jay College with her Bachelor’s Of Science in Criminal Justice, she created We Manifest, a performance and production company. She saw a need for talented women to express themselves without a man’s influence, and created the D.A.W.T.A.H.Z. Series: a 6-year running showcase featuring female artists that traveled throughout NYC.
Yejide was featured in Blu Magazine, Mass Appeal, Shout, Urb and Red Eye Mag for her thoughts on female MCs, We Manifest and the DAWTAHZ series. She danced for Fonda Rae, Afrika Bambaatah, Colonel Abrams, Barbara Tucker, Michael Watford and Whodini. She’s proud to have lyrically blessed stages with Pam Africa, KRS-One, Apani, Baba Israel, Lady Blue, Mos Def, The Anomolies Crew, Strong Hold, Jessica Care Moore, 3 Bean Stew, Second 2 Last, Imani Uzuri, Wunmi, Full Circle, INI Mighty Lock Down, StaHHr, Hydra and Scienz Of Life, to name a few. She’s performed at Theater Barbey in Bordeau, France with Breez Evahflowin and Poison Pen for “Per4Mentalz”, a 4-day Hip Hop Concert in 2000. She drove down to State of the Union in DC with Tah Phrum Da Bush to perform with Tha Remainz and Jasiri X. She dropped Seventh, her first CD in 2000, with production from Scienz Of Life, Mic One of Animated Cartunes and the world famous, DJ Evil Dee. She kept performing and being The Mama Wize throughout NYC and the college circuit for the next 5 years.
We Manifest branched out into: Hair By Nature – a natural hair maintenance service; Balance~Wearable Art – innovative, eclectic and colorful jewelry, oils, books and all-natural body products; and Finger Food & Photos – a cypher with business owners, activists, writers and artists building and reasoning while enjoying The Mama Wize’s culinary treats. As an avid party-goer and performer, she’s been a welcome family member of Da BeatMinerz since 1995, dancing to their selections at Sputnik, Opus 21, Joe’s Pub and their annual Bearthday parties at Sutra during the Memorial Day weekends!
Currently, Yejide is on DJ Evil Dee’s “Broadcasting Live” Mixtape Album and working on new music, selling Balance ~ Wearable Art at festivals and online, writing the BEATMINERZ Radio blog and building up the We Manifest brand. Thank you for your interest and look out for The Mama Wize.
MFIR RADIO MEDIA 
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