Cross Culture, Jules and the Jinks

After relocating to Staten Island, New York from Brooklyn, NY at 8 years old, lead emcee/band CEO, Saidu Ezike felt like an ...outcast. He had a Crown Heights, Brooklyn mentality attending Staten Island elementary, middle and high schools. As a result, his musical influences were very diverse, ranging from Korn to Ben Folds Five to Limp Bizkit to Jay-Z. His childhood friends were also diverse in race, ethnicity, class and life experience. Throughout his life, he discovered his many talents including the hurdles in track and field and academics. Though these talents brought him to the prestigious Cornell University, he continued searched for his identity. While at Cornell, he met Kenan Goggins, a member of the track team and an emcee who introduced him to hip-hop.

The rest was history…

Saidu continued to perfect his craft by studying emcees such as Jay-Z, Big L and Nas. After being dissatisfied with his life as a school teacher, he decided to pursue music simultaneous to teaching. After about a year as a solo artist, he sought out to create the All-Star band that would make a lasting mark on the music industry. After a number of roster changes, trials and tribulations, Cross Culture was formed. Bringing on the likes of top-notch musicians such as Scott Sugarman & Jude Kim, top-notch vocalists such as DeAnne Stewart, Cross Culture quickly is taking the NYC scene by storm. High-energy performances matched with the vivid story-telling and lyricism of Saidu has set this band apart from many others. The momentum continues to remain strong for this group of highly-motivated individuals as they released their first single "Leap Frog Loverz" in 2015 to much praise. The sky's the limit for this group as they look forward to taking both the national and international scene by storm in the near future.


Jules and The Jinks is the brain child of first-generation native New Yorkers Julissa Lopez and Erik Rosenberg. Despite their different backgrounds (Dominican from The Bronx and Jewish from The Upper West Side) the two were united by their love of Otis Redding, Etta James, and Led Zeppelin. Though their music flirts with various genres from Blues, to Funk, to Afro-Pop, the music of Jules and The Jinks is best described as Soul. Lopez and Rosenberg use the characters, story lines, and melodies of their songs to evoke familiar yet powerful emotions. Jules and The Jinks self-released their debut single "No Compromise" earlier this year. AFROPUNK has described "No Compromise" as "a song that deserves to be blaring from car speakers while driving through borough blocks."