Detroit-area hip-hop/soul artist and her band, known as Mahogany Jones LIVE, leaves today headed for Africa, after her group won a U.S. State Department contest to become one of 12 U.S. musical ambassadors sent abroad.
Patricia Montemurri of the Free Press reports the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors the American Music Abroad Program, which drew 300 applicants this year.
The group's first stop will be Washington, D.C., to perform for the Duke Ellington High School for the Arts before leaving Thursday for Zambia. The group will also perform at events in Rwanda, Uganda, Botswana and Ethiopia. They’ll also conduct workshops about hip hop for local musicians and youth.
Mahogany Jones, whose given name is Charyse Bailey, is 34, and lives in Eastpointe.
