Bios
Mike Swift
Having spent nine years as a top radio DJ, Music Director and one of the premier radio personalities in two cities, Mike Swift, formerly known as Mr. Smith, knows music. He has spent time in the office as an industry administrator and time on the stage as a performer. It is this diverse background that led him to develop his unique sound. A fusion of Jazz, Hip Hop and Funk, Mike Swift’s music speaks the language of the soul. He began his entertainment career in 1991 as a songwriter/performer for an Atlanta area independent record label. This quickly led him into the local radio scene as a disc jockey for the then longest running hip hop show in the city of Atlanta, WREK 91.1, The Jam. During this time he took on many tasks such as artist manager, promoter and producer. In 1996, he earned a position with Atlanta’s first all hip hop format radio station, WHTA HOT 97.5 (currently Hot 107.9) under the name Mr. Smith. A short time after he was named HOT 97.5’s music directory. Seeking the next challenge, he departed HOT 97.5 and relocated to Tallahassee, Florida where he became one of the city’s hottest DJ’s at the heritage station, WHBX 96.1 Jamz and took on the name Mike Swift. It was during this time that he began his own production company, Swift Beats Productions. In 2001, he returned to the music mecca of the south, Atlanta, and gained acclaim among industry notables for his progressive remixes. Mike Swift is currently the resident DJ for Hip-Hop 101: The Mix Show.
Twana James Whitties
The Voice of Classic Hip-Hop Trivia
Twana James Whitties is a dynamic personality, on and off the airwaves. She has been the voice behind the mic in cities all over the country including Atlanta (WHTA, WALR, WRES), Washington, DC (WAVA, WETA), New York (WABC, WQEW) and Los Angeles (KNX1070). Her warm and eloquent voice has been heard in a gamut of radio formats from Gospel to Jazz, Hip Hop to Classical and Information/ News & Talk. But even if you’ve never heard her voice on the radio, chances are you’ve heard her off the air. Twana is the voice behind a myriad of corporate and private industry voice-mail automation systems; providing customized voice-mail greetings and voice-overs for audiovisual projects.
DJ RaeTone
Blogger
Jermaine “DJ RaeTone” Johnson was born in 1972 in New York, NY and was raised in the East Point suburb of Atlanta, GA. During his teen years, he attended Tri-Cities High School with then classmates Outkast (Andre “Andre 3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton). After high school, he served in the U.S. Army for 8 years (4 years active and 4 reserve) and in 2010 his passion and love for music lead him to become a DJ. RaeTone is a true music lover and connoisseur and his musical knowledge and powerful insights know no bounds.
Favorite hip-hop album ever: Midnight Marauders
Favorite hip-hop song ever: “t.r.o.y”
Favorite emcee ever: Nas
Favorite DJ ever: DJ Premier
Gudrun Hughes née Stone
Photographer and Social Medial Contributor
Self described “girl with the rainbow in her hair,” and an artistic menagerie on her arms. A notorious gear-shifter and comic book reader.
Gudrun is a bit of a film snob with a begrudging love of digital. She says often that she “simply wants to listen to good music and photograph the people who make it.”
She began her love of photography via her father as the subject of his compositions. Many winding roads through different artistic avenues (writing, drawing and finally photography), the darkroom felt like home and suddenly her creativity had a voice and a distinct image began to develop. A few years later she would find herself, almost serendipitously, as an intern/photographers assistant in the Governors Office. After her tenure, Gudrun decided to try her hand at low light concert photography and found her niche which would later lead her to work with the National Black Arts Festival(NBAF). The Festival provided the perfect blend of archive and cultural arts that truly speaks to her photography. She’s always armed with her Canon, and artistically dangerous.
Gudrun is the girl of the road less traveled, the Dutchess Of Smirk, an occasional giraffe whisperer, and most of all the keeper of God’s secret lore….
“I am a beautiful disaster but I am his poetry…”