A day in the life of the grind

Francis' Theme song for BET's Leading Men Now Broadcasting

2008-10-29T22:58:00.003-04:00

LEADING MEN, a new series that highlights the dynamic lives and profound impact of today's prominent African-American men like Hill Harper, Wyclef Jean and Terrence Howard rounds out the show lineup with its season premiere on Wednesday, October 29 at 10:30 p.m. The theme music for Leading Men was written by Francis Phan of The Jugganautz.

Documentary Screening of "DiverseCity"

2008-04-22T12:33:00.004-04:00

Where he's my official foray into video! Naya and I have produced a short called "DiverseCity" that was accepted by the Cambridge Free Speech Shorts Video Festival. "DiverseCity" looks at a group of Brandeis students who tackle issues relating to race, gender, religion and class which culminates into a show which Naya directed. Naya and I hope that this would be start of documentary work observing similar issues in our own community.

Screening details from the CCTV website: Wednesday, April 23rd. Event will take place at Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) located at 675 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square, Cambridge. The event will begin with a networking and a reception at 6:30 p.m.; the screening will start promptly at 7 p.m. Following each screening, there will be a Q & A session with producers.

BET-J "My Two Cents" Theme

2008-02-11T23:33:00.001-05:00

It's official. I've produced the theme song for the 2008 early season of BET-J's talk show "My Two Cents". The song features Bryonn Bain, who is also a co-host on the program. Many thanks to Bryonn for helping make this happen!

2007 Urban Music Awards

2007-03-19T22:29:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year and I'm fortunate enough to be in the running again for producer of the year honors for the 2007 New England Urban Music Awards. The winners of each of the music categories are determined by artistic merit and online voting. I need your support - please cast your vote at urbanmusicawards.org. Also vote for Iyeoka for poet of the year, Omega Red for rapper of the year and The Jugganautz for producer company of the year!

Omega Red and The Press performs at The Modern Jan 6, 2007

2007-01-01T22:35:00.000-05:00

Backstage with Wu Tang at Avalon, Boston

2006-11-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

Method Man and Francis

Francis and Inspectah Deck

OIC 35th Anniversary Gala at the NJ Performance Arts Center

2006-10-01T12:42:00.000-04:00

The Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) was founded in Philadelphia in 1964 by Dr. Leon Sullivan. OIC is a decentralized network of employment and training programs, bound together by a common commitment of helping the poor, unemployed, and under-employed improve their quality of life.

Iyeoka prior to show at NJ Performing Arts Center

On Sept. 29, OIC celbrated had its 35th anniversary gala at the beautiful NJ Performing Arts Center, in which Iyeoka was one of the featured performers along with legends Marcus Miller, Al Jarreau and the beautiful and talented Rachelle Ferrell. The key speaker was Ambassador Andrew Young.

Francis with Civil Rights great - Ambassador Andrew Young

Francis with legend Al Jarreau

Francis backstage with the lovely Rachelle Ferrell

Iyeoka and Francis

Omega Red performing in NEMO Showcase, Sept. 29

2006-09-25T02:56:00.000-04:00

Omega Red is among the few Hip Hop artists selected to perform at the 2006 NEMO festival. NEMO is New England’s largest music festival in which over 300 bands and artists perform over 30 venues in three days from Sept. 28-30. Please come support Omega Red and the rest of power line up!

Friday September 29, 2006, Venue: Harpers Ferry. Address: 158 Brighton Avenue Allston, MA. Line-Up: Omega Red with Audible Mainframe, The Boston Afrobeat Orchestra, AfroDZak, Mr. Nash. Ticket Price: $8, Doors: 8pm, Ages: 21+

Come see Omega Red at NEMO

2006 Billboard Music Awards, Atlanta

2006-09-19T00:56:00.000-04:00

Chuck D and Francis at 2006 Billboard Music Conference

2006-09-19T00:55:00.000-04:00

Akon and Francis at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards.

2006-09-19T00:46:00.001-04:00

Francis with Producer Brian Cox

2006-09-19T00:46:00.000-04:00

Francis with his super publicist Ajuba Gaylord Gamble at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards

2006-09-19T00:45:00.000-04:00

Francis with Billboard Executive Editor Tamara Conniff

2006-09-19T00:44:00.002-04:00

Francis with Producer DJ Smurf

Francis wins two New England Urban Music Awards!

2006-04-16T20:46:00.000-04:00

Iyeoka and Francis winners at the 2006 NE UMAs

On the evening of April 15th, the Berklee Perfomance Arts Center hosted the inagural New England Urban Music Awards, which recognizes the excellence of individuals in the New England area music scene. I'm happy to say that I won producer of the year honors. It's really unbelievable as I was selected from a field of over 30 producers. More incredible yet Omega Red and I won company producer of the year as The Jugganautz. I'm also happy to say that Iyeoka won the female poetry category and that Omega Red also won in the rap category. Pal Justin Springer won promoter of the year, The Foundation won rap group of the year, and Ahmir (fomerly One Luv) won RNB group of the year. Big ups to Vudoo Soul who was a finalist for RNB male vocalist.

I like to thank fans and supporters who nominated me for the award. Those who know me know how much of a grind this music game can be. It's extremely humbling and satisfying to be recognized for the hard work I've put in over the years.

Get Loose

2006-03-15T21:26:00.000-05:00

Francis with Omar, Jimmy Conway and Omega Red after recording how new single breaking into clubs. Check out track here.

Debut of Sophie deep house remix for Scamper

2006-03-13T21:52:00.000-05:00

Boston Indie sensation Scamper

Francis branches out into Boston's indie rock world by remixing Scamper's hit single Sophie off their Leave Your Glasses On LP. The remix debuts on their podcat this evening. Download podcast episode 1.6. The remix concludes their podcast. Fortunately their music is a little tighther than their wit :) (just joking guys).

Blue Wave Saturdays

2006-03-04T22:03:00.000-05:00

Francis with promoter Justin Springer at The Blue Wave. You need to check out his RNB nites on Saturdays.

Omega Red opens for G-Unit and Roc-A-Fella DCU Worcester

2006-03-03T21:36:00.000-05:00

Francis backstage with Omega Red and Anthony Brice

Omega Red opens up for G-Unit and Roc-a-fella at the DCU. Although the show was little disorganized, it was nevertheless Red's biggest show yet. He was made special mention in the review of the show here.

2006-02-02T23:10:00.000-05:00

Francis is a guest panelist at Northeastern University Music program.

Move It & Use It

2005-11-05T23:44:00.000-05:00

Project: Think Different throws down its annual fundraising event featuring the Empowerment CD pre-release. This compilation includes tracks I've produced for Melissa Li and a track collobo between Iyeoka and the Foundation. There will be live performances by The Foundation, Iyeoka (which I will be backing her on keyboards), Lyrical, Mingo and Afrodzak.

Thursday, November 17, 2005, 6pm-9pm, Embassy, 36 Landsdowne Street, Boston MA 02215. Donation: $25+, $10 (under 21)* For tickets and information contact: Amelia at 617.557.9200 or amelia@projectthinkdifferent.org. Project: Think Different is creating a renaissance in music, film and video that increases civic engagement and inspires people to THINK DIFFERENT about their power to create positive social change.

Omega Red featured in Source Magazine

2005-09-25T13:40:00.000-04:00

Omega Red is featured in the October issue of Source Magazine in Off The Radar: "Boston's Omega Red sets tracks ablaze and shows off his lyrical dexterity with his latest street banger. Splitting gangsta and introspective ryhmes about sruviving the game of life, the kid continues to set the record straight about what goes down in the streets of New England."

Force to be Reckoned With

2005-09-08T00:56:00.000-04:00

Never leave home without your favorite lounge chair.

Omega Red is a Finalist in Scion Next Up Competition

2005-09-07T23:02:00.000-04:00

This is huge - Omega Red is a top ten finalist for the Scion Next Up Competition. The winner of this will get to have a music video produced which will air on MTV2. Needless to say that this would be huge if he were to win this, but he can only do so if he gets votes on this website. So don'tdelay - please logon to www.scionnextup.com by Sept. 29 and vote!

Lee Wilson and Iyeoka at the Blue Wave Gallery

2005-09-04T17:36:00.000-04:00

Much props to Lee Wilson for producing a great show at the Blue Wave at the Four Point Channel, which of course included Iyeoka and very impressive performances by JT and Sparlha Swa. It was so good to hang with Iyeoka and friends. She gave such a rousing performance of Blink of an Eye, which I hope she posts on her website soon.