NATURAL HAIR FEST CHICAGO SUMMER OF BEAUTY AND CULTURE with CARLA PRATHER, OSIRIS THE SKATER, MARY-LUE, MARI REDD & KALA RA

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RED By KISS available at IVY USA







Carla Prather is a true Chicago legend of her time. A singer, songwriter, vocal producer, teacher and mentor of music, Carlas’ experience in the music industry spans across decades of honing her craft. She has graced the stage with greats such as Roy Ayers, Common, Amel Larriueax, Marsha Ambrosius, AL. B. SURE, Jon B., El Debarge,  Erykah Badu, Christopher Williams, KRS 1, and many more. To date, she has numerous releases worldwide, and shares her love of music as a member of Chicagos phenomenons Poi Dog Pondering, Zzaje, Ellis Clark,  and RC7 all while steering the wheel with her own band Carla Prather and Company. How Carla manages this all, many may wonder. But, in becoming a fan of Carla Prather, or following her career as a House, Neo Soul, Alternative and Pop artist since the beginning, one will find that her true artistry permeates through her music from her many musical experiences, a pure perspective, as well as her desire to create music that touches the lives of many whom can relate.Carla Prather is on the rise as one of Chicago’s greatest treasures.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois is rising hip hop artist Osiris The Skater who is eager to cement his spot amongst some of the top talent in the music industry. Ever since he can remember, Osiris has been hammered with the importance of discipline and staying focused on his goals.

With his mental clarity of the direction he needs to go and the work ethic to follow suit, it is only a matter of time before Osiris reaches his final destination. Until then he plans to continue to work hard every single day and recently dropped a new single called “Motion” showing off the progress that he has been making as an artist.Osiris The Skater’s latest song, “Motion,” delivers a unique vibe and summer feel that will put you in a trance.

As Osiris’ harmonious flow hits the rhythm, he talks about the desire to get things moving with the females in his life. He is willing to put in the pain for her, but he wants to know if she will be there for him in the long term and when he needs her the most. He’ll offer her the world if she can keep it together, but until then he isn’t tripping over it.

With his eyes set on the future, he doesn’t have room for anyone who is playing games. Osiris is invested in himself, and he needs someone to be the same way for the vibe to be right, and until he finds that he won’t put anything into motion. Be sure to stay up to date with Osiris The Skater as there is plenty more on the way.

Mary-Lue who is an Afropop singer and songwriter who was born in Ghana. She relocated to Chicago, IL at the age of 8. Growing up, Mary-Lue performed in various singing and dancing events as a child. She graduated with a B.A in Musical Theatre. She enjoys singing and dancing. She has perform at multiple major venues and festivals such as The Ghana Fest (2018,2019) Bantu Fest (2019), Bristol Afrofest (upcoming 2023), Afropop-up festival (upcoming 2023), and many more. Mary-Lue hopes to win a Grammy one day and be an international artist that will eventually breakthrough into Hollywood music industry. She’s inspired by Rihanna, Beyoncé and Michael Jackson. She’s also a dancer. She’s been in several dance groups growing up including FEETCO dance company, Dance Discovery and more. From her energetic, charismatic performance to her great writing scales, Mary-Lue is definitely here to conquer. 



Marielle J. Dickens, professionally known as “Mari Redd” is a Creative Director, Performing Artist, and Teacher. She is a proud native of the Chicago West Side and has been introduced to the world of entertainment since she was toddler. She first expressed her love for dance, when she was two years old watching her mom dance to house music. Since then, Mari has proceeded to use the arts as her escape from the world and a way to get a sense of therapeutic healing from her father’s traumatic death. At the early age of nine, she choreographed and danced for professional national sports teams such as the Chicago Sky, Chicago Rush, and the Chicago Bulls. When she was 16, she choreographed for the Chicago Music Awards, Nike, and traveled to Ghana, Africa to teach. She also choreographed the opening acts for the Universoul Circus and the Heavy D Tribute at the Arie Crown Theatre. During her college career, Mari Redd was fortunate to receive the title of Best Poet by the NAACP, was the Top 50 finalist in So You Think You Can Dance Season 11, choreographed a BlackLivesMatter Tribute, and performed viral tributes to Michael Jackson, Ciara and Teyana Taylor. She has featured with DLOW, Taylor Swift, John Blu, Sharaya J, Chris Brown, Pronto Spazz, WuTang, World of Dance, and Empire just to name a few. While Mari Redd is not busy entertaining the world, she currently spends her time studying to get her Doctorate in Business Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She is an alumna of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with her Master of Technology Management and a dual Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Communications. One of her dreams is to be able to use both her education and talent to build a successful performing arts school with a counseling center of both traditional and arts therapists to help her community learn how to cope and use their trauma constructively while also being able to use their talents to create financial stability.

Kala Ra, also known as Da Real brings balance to music by breaking rules and boundaries as he takes listeners to a higher realm of truth. “I rap about reality”, Kala Ra says. [his first mix tape's namesake.] “I just tell a story about everyday life. It’s not always glamorous. It’s not always happy. You always hear artists glamorize drug dealing and killing. I show you the other side of that life, the real side that has pain and consequences that they don’t want you to know about.” Perhaps his name, which means the word of Ra (God) in Ki- Swahili, describes his style best.

Kala Ra credits his father for being instrumental in helping to shape his songwriting ability because as a young boy he was forced to learn new vocabulary words every day. Being raised on Chicago’s infamous south-side as a very young boy, Kala could easily have become a statistic, a product of his environment. "I still am!" he exclaims. “But not all products must amount to the same thing; pressure makes some crumble, others become diamonds." And he shines in stereo, delivering his message with such poetic prose over riveting rhythms of live instrumentation that accent his raw unrelenting style.

With a background in jazz and spoken word Kala Ra intends to show a smoother side of Hardcore, while getting the point across in a minimal, acoustic manner. Favorably compared to John Legend and Tupac by listeners, Kala Ra plans to command the world with his next project, the "Word of God".

NATURAL HAIR POP-UP SPECIALTY SHOP

AVON REP LISA PRITCHETT

BODY TREAT BY MELL

DR BUCKNER'S WELL KEPT ELDER

ERICS ENTERTAINMENT

HAIR 2 HEALTH

HOLISTIC WOMAN LIFESTYLE, ETC.

K.E.A. CONSCIOUS MOTIVATION & GUIDANCE (Keen Elevated Awareness)

KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY w/KIM JOHNSON

MONAT SINGLE MOM EMPOWERMENT GROUP

MORPHED BEAUTY

OBIOMA FASHION

ONLY ONE BOUTIQUE

PAUL CHAMBERS SALON

P-BOND HAIR CARE

PRIMERICA FINANCIAL SERVICES

QUE TI CONTOUR JEWELRY

QUEENS BOULEVARD

RESTORE 3:16 TRICHOLOGY

ROYAL PASSION WAISTBEADS

SAMPSON by NATURAL MYSTIQUE

YVETTE'S CLOSET