Known to his fans as Wisdom, Tevya Jones was born into a family of musicians and poets in Colorado in 1972. He was first exposed to hip hop culture at the Ernest Ingold Boys Club in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, after moving there with his mother at age 6.
Wisdom found refuge in writing and performing his first songs at an early age. Rooted in life experience, his diverse style incorporates lyrics that are streetwise with a political edge. He explains: “world issues and human suffering were common topics of discussion in our household, as well as exposure to many types of music and cultures. My music is a natural extension of this.”
After launching a successful clothing line called Wisdom Creations, he was invited to perform with Cyber Octave/Virgin Records recording artists Medicine Drum on their 2002album release “Original Face” and toured the world with them for two years. Returning from tour, Wisdom felt that his lyrical content was evolving to reflect his hopes of inspiring social change on a global level. In his own words, “if we believe, we can achieve anything. It’s all possible.”
After producing a new studio album, Wisdom’s natural next step was to assemble a group of musicians, which was soon dubbed the Wisdom Creations Band, and now includes bass prodigy and son of Tito Garcia (former lead singer of Santana), Luis Garcia; keyboardist Matt Berkeley; award winning gospel drummer Thomas McCree; Chicago underground lyricist and spoken word artist Seasunz, and the newest edition, DJ Cocheze from KRS-One’s Temple of Hip Hop.
Wisdom’s unique blend of conscious lyrics with live hip-hop and reggae continues to gain attention nationwide. He won the category of “Best Hip Hop/Rap” in both the 2005 and 2006 North Bay Music Awards and was labeled “one of Nor Cal’s favorites” by Urb Magazine (Massv Global Getdown, Dec 2004). He also appeared in the 2006 documentary film “The Indigo Evolution” along side philosophical greats Ram Dass and Don Miguel Ruiz sharing his views on the potential of gifted children to change the world. Chris Deckker, founder of Earthdance International Festival (www.earthdance.org), affirmed that Wisdom is “one of the most progressive and conscious bands to emerge from the hip-hop culture. Truly an electrifying performance!” Carol Bruno, lead producer of the legendary Reggae on the River festival (www.reggaeontheriver.com), agreed. She beamed: “Wisdom is conscious, lyrical, cutting edge hip-hop laced with reggae dancehall beats… Look out for these guys!”
His music can be sampled and purchased at www.wisdomcreations.com. In 2006, the band released the highly anticipated album, “Growth and Elevation,” which was recorded both in Prairie Sun Studios in Northern California and Moodswing Records in Hollywood, CA. It features Jamaica’s own VP recording artist Warrior King as well as female vocalists Jemini and Nasambu, and was produced in part by former engineer for Baby Face, BigChris Flores. As a result of an artistic transformation which followed the recent deaths of both his mother and grandmother, the new album transcends any previous musical production Wisdom has released.
An updated list of Wisdom’s upcoming tour dates and Wisdom Creations music and clothing can be found at www.wisdomcreations.com. For booking, email maria@mariamatiasmusic.com. For publicity information, email hunterpromotions@gmail.com.
que onda norcal homie. sending out positive vibrations from Mexico DF.
Light to this Life has your Azibo ridims... songs that get filtered out through these latin spaces, often times rollin through dark concrete lined streets or chillin on the beach in Oaxaca... amigos love them.
yo!!!!!!!!! i was jus about to hit u but u hit 1st. im doing good just tryin to finish this record im working on. sup wit u ?? call me man u got my num!!! peace and blessings. its always good to hear from u tev.. 1! A.
WITH ALL OF YA MIGHT MAN, THROW UP YOUR FIST AN RUN OUT ON THE FRONT LINE, FIGHT FOR THE CHILDREN, NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW TO BUILD THIS ENERGY EXPAND THE FAMILY WITH SYNERGY CHEMSTRY!!
