Projects

Traiveon & Candi

Traiveon Dunlap is an up and coming Twin Cities based soul singer from Houston, Texas. He grew up within a musical family with both grandmothers being prominent singers. His father was a gospel singer who had a heavy influence on his beginnings of singing in the church. As time went on, he developed his craft and got his name known around the town which presented him the opportunity to perform at the House of Blues in Houston. Upon moving to the Twin Cities, he graduated from the prestigious Perpich School of The Arts. NiiBox adds electric bass and backup vocals to Candy jar.

Macalester African Music Ensemble
The Macalester African Music Ensemble, founded in 1987 and directed by Sowah Mensah, performs traditional African music primarily from Ghana, but also from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Guinea, The Gambia, Kenya, and Tanzania. In addition to singing, the 40-member Ensemble performs with a variety of African instruments including xylophones, marimbas, flutes, horns, an assortment of drums and gourds. As an alumni of the group, NiiBox has continued performing with, and composing original music for the ensemble.

Joe Davis & The Poetic Diaspora
The Poetic Diaspora: Radical Re-humanization and Community Building Through Poetry and Music. Journeying through the sonically diverse realms of old school and new school hip hop, R&B, funk, and soul, Joe Davis & Poetic Diaspora seamlessly blend melodic instrumentation with raw, poetic energy to tell stories of struggle, resilience, and celebration. Through poetry, song, and story, the collective of artist activist co-create an intentional space to share adventurous conversation, healing, and transformation. NiiBox adds electric and upright bass; West African hand drumming; drum set; atenteben (bamboo flute); Beatbox, Vocals and harmonica to the group's sound.

Sankofa
Sowah, an ethnomusicologist, composer and a “Master Drummer” from Ghana, West Africa, is the director of Sankofa, a Ghanaian Folklore and Dance Ensemble in the Twin Cities.

Manifesters
Versifier (Mike Fessler), NiiBox and Online (Joe Fessler) and have established themselves as one of the most diverse live HipHop acts in the Twin Cities. Combining beats, rhymes, beatbox, African percussion, vocals, bass, and choreography into their performances, Manifesters have performed in hundreds of shows across the Midwest. Manifesters have performed with such great artists as Mos Def, Mystic, Digital Underground, Brother Ali, Binary Star, Eyedea and Abilities, P.O.S, Los Nativos, Unknown Prophets, Toki Wright, Heiruspecs, Desdamona and Carnage, among countless others.

Mayyadda
Mayyadda is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer from Minneapolis who aspires to use her music to make people slow down, find themselves in another perspective, and feel their way towards individual and collective healing. With an eclectic mix of neo-soul vocals, folksy guitar, pop-style piano with trap beats sprinkled in for flavor, she likes to refer to her genre as, “BlackGirlMagic.” She has been active as a recording artist since 2015, releasing four projects since then: most recently, TRY&REMEMBER, a sonic journey thru the risks one takes on their way to healing, which she released in October 2021. Niibox supports Mayyadda with bass, percussion and vocal percussion.

Bad Rattles Guitar Band
Bad Rattles Guitar Band plays classic Highlife music from Ghana, West Africa, its repertoire ranging from acoustic palm-wine music to the electric guitar-band sounds of the 1970s. Highlife, the popular music of Ghana for nearly a century, is a style integrating guitars and other Western instruments with traditional Ghanaian rhythms, forms, and instruments. Most importantly, Highlife is the music of the people and is meant to be danced to! NiiBox adds percussion, bass and vocals to the group's sound.

Multicultural Youth Justic (MyJ)

MYJ22 is a volunteer-driven, BIPOC led experience to empower, inspire and educate youth and their leaders through the power of community. The MYJ 22 Team Leaders were originally planning ELCA's MYLE and wanted to find a way to connect with youth. We have partnered with the ELCA Ethnic Associations, and the ELCA Director of Youth Ministry, because we recognize that although the Gathering, MYLE, and the tAble will not occur, the need to gather, learn, support, and encourage, is still strong among BIPOC & European Descent youth in the ELCA. NiiBox is the Musical Director for the MyJ Band.