"Do You Wanna Go? Raffeal Sears Does: an indepth Biography of Raffeal Sears"

By Chasity Gunn

The twenty-something Kansas City, Missouri, native will never forget the night those words were played on the radio for the first time. On March 26, Raffeal Sears' original song Do You Wanna Go aired on 92.1Q. That night was a series of firsts - his first radio interview and his first performance at Lovenoise, a weekly event featuring local musicians and poets held at the Bar Car in downtown Nashville.

Raffeal described the interview as an amazing experience. "I laughed the whole show. It was so fun," he said. "It was a glimpse into my future. It felt good to know that I was doing my passion. Hearing myself on the radio, I think I almost passed out because it was like 'wow'!"

After Raffeal finished his interview, he walked across the street to perform at Lovenoise where he was greeted by familiar faces. He said one of the most memorable moments of that night was having the support from his friends. "Seeing the people there that know me and love me, I think, that was the greatest thing. And also the people at Lovenoise wanted to hear me and they wanted to know who I was. They were interested in my music, and that made me feel good. I had to perform to the best of my ability because I knew they wanted something, and I had to give it to them."

Raffeal gave the crowd energy, soul music and laughter. He danced around on the small stage. Each song was filled with emotion that could easily be heard in each note. By the end of the night, he had taken off his stylish hat, square-framed glasses and his jacket because he was so into his performance. The singers and the musicians smiled and bobbed their heads. They looked like they were enjoying themselves just as much as Raffeal was. A sense of fun and freeness filled the air. The crowd cheered and whistled loudly after each song. On the cramped stage, Raffeal had a full band and four vocalists backing him up. But, that's just the Raffeal style. He performs at the level of where he is headed and not where he is.

Twenty-five-year-old Raffeal Sears is driven by his passion of music. He hopes to get signed to a major record company and pursue a career as a musician. Recording an EP (extended play CD) is his current goal. Raffeal seeks after every opportunity that will put him one step closer to achieving his dream. The night at LoveNoise only increased his appetite for success.

"A lot of people want to be singers and want to be famous," commented Dwayne Parker, a friend of Raffeal. He said Raffeal is different from those people because he is actually following his passion and not just talking about it. "It's [music] built into the fabric of him. It's in his makeup. He is music. He says he wants to be a recording artist, and he actually puts it into practice."

Raffeal has sung background vocals for VERBS, recording Christian rapper. Last year, he was featured in Belmont University's Best of the Best Showcase, which was televised. He also has performed in the Urban Showcase this year and last year.

Raffeal isn't like many of the aspiring singers you see on American Idol or performing at local clubs. He doesn't expect success to be handed to him because of a cute face, a few slick runs (vocal technique) or fancy dance moves. Instead Raffeal is trying to earn his way to success by studying music and listening to great musicians. He doesn't sit in his campus apartment twiddling his thumbs wishing upon a star that his dreams will come true, but rather he is very action-oriented.

He has been this since he was a youngster. "A teacher [Miss Jennings] would say to me 'Raffeal don't say you're going to do it. Just do it.' I just chose to be proactive in whatever I aspire to do. It's crazy because I go for things when everybody thinks it's crazy."

Some may have thought waiting outside the Ryman Theatre in chilling winter temperatures four hours before a Jill Scott concert in hopes of meeting her was crazy. But Raffeal was determined to meet Jill, a Grammy award winning recording artist. When he read interviews about Jill, she seemed like a down-to-earth person.

There was a long period between Jill's first and second album. She took some vocal lesson, Raffeal reflected. "It showed me she valued the craft of music." He added that a lot of artists don't go back to get more vocal training after they have received a record deal. He wrote her a letter inspired by the novel Letters to a Young Poet. The book is a young poet writing to Czech poet Rainer Maria Rilke asking for advice about life and a critique on his poetry, Raffeal said. "He basically just discipled the young poet, and that's what I wanted from Jill Scott." At the time he wrote the letter, he didn't know that it was one of Jill's favorite books.

He attached a copy of a Sarah Vaughan Japan tour program from 1985 to his letter. Jill and Raffeal are both huge fans of Sarah Vaughan so he wanted to give her something that meant a lot to both of them. While waiting outside, he met a woman. "I didn't know that she was Jill's background singer, but I knew there was something kind of artistic [about her] and that she had some kind of involvement with the show," Raffeal said. He shared his story with the woman and gave her the letter. She took his phone number and his gift for Jill. After the show, Raffeal waited around because he felt within his spirit that he wasn't supposed to leave. One of Jill's musicians called him and escorted him to Jill's dressing room. "She gives me this big ole hug and was like, 'This is the best letter I have ever had'," Raffeal reminisced.

The two talked for about an hour. "She was telling me about school and how I should not lose my soul with conveying a song to an audience because school will rob me of that. I have already experienced that, and I had to confront it. She was told me to learn all that I can while I am in school and then forget it; and I thought that was just profound," Raffeal said. Through his conversation with Jill, he learned that performing has more to do with emotion and less about musical theory. "That changed my life." Raffeal got his wish. Jill now gives him advice like Rainer Maria Rilke did to the rising writer in Letters to a Young Poet. Now, the two keep in contact through email.

Raffeal's drive allowed him to meet another one of his favorite musicians, John Legend. "I was talking to my boss one day, and I was like I am going to meet John Legend one day," he proclaimed to his employer. The next day, Raffeal got a call saying he won a contest to see to John Legend perform in Memphis. Raffeal had taken a quiz about John Legend not thinking he would win. The day he received the call was only a day after he had told his boss that he was going to met John Legend one day. "There is power in the word and speaking it and believing that God can do some stuff," Raffeal said.

Raffeal doesn't label himself as a Christian artist, but he boldly brings his faith with him everywhere he performs. "I want to give people all aspects of who Raffeal is. I'm a Christian, but I shouldn't classify my relationship as a genre," Raffeal said. He sings from a spectrum of genres -- gospel, soul, jazz and r & b -- but his message is the same regardless of the style. He doesn't like to be categorized into one genre of music.

If I limited it to just gospel or if I just limited it to soul music, I am limiting who I am. I can't just say God, God because everyday I do not wake up and say God, God. I wake up [some days] and say God please help me... or it may be I'm in love today or this girl did me wrong. I think that people are scared to be real. I am not trying to throw Jesus, Jesus up in your face. I am just trying to show people that I am just as messed up as everybody else, but God is dealing with me. I try to be transparent as I can letting everybody know that there are days I want to walk with God, and there are days I'm like 'ok God, you're tripping." Therefore, he tries to shows people all sides of him through his music.

Raffeal's love of performing dates back to his school days. He didn't swing from the monkey bars or play tag like most his classmates during recess. Instead, he brought a Michael Jackson record and did a concert for his class. He had a faithful audience of students who cheered as they watched him do his Michael Jackson imitation.

When he went to his first concert, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nations, he knew he wanted to do some type of performing. He still remembers exactly what happened on that day. "It was a theatrical performance. She [Janet] came up off the ground and all you could see was her silhouette. It was so cool!" he recalled. "I was so intrigued." He didn't know that he wanted to be a singer, but he knew he wanted to be on the stage.

He took this stage during a solo for the fifth-grade graduation and in the eighth-grade talent show. "I was so serious about this show. I auditioned dancers to be in my act," he said. He had people work on wardrobe, and he even had a calendar of rehearsals. But all of that wasn't enough. "I had this dude bring in a fog machine. I went to the studio and recorded BG [background] vocals and this was all in the eighth grade." Early on Raffeal showed that whatever he did, he planned to do it on a large level. He wasn't satisfied with the ordinary.

Despite his early interest in music, he ignored the musical strings strumming his heart and suppressed his childhood dreams. He decided to pursue acting instead. Raffeal attended a performing arts high school and was slated to attend the American Musical & Dramatic Academy in New York. He said God had other plans for him, and the time wasn't right for him to leave his family and head east. He stayed close to home and enrolled in the University of Missouri at Kansas City as a theatre major. But music was still tugging at his heart, so he performed in a college talent show. He prayed that God would allow something awesome to happen if music was what he was supposed to be doing.

"I won first place and $600. I thought that was confirmation to me," he said. Shortly after the talent show, he told a friend he knew God wanted him to do music. They were chatting in Barnes & Nobles, and a complete stranger, who happened to be a Belmont alumnus, overheard their conversation. The man suggested that Raffeal look into Belmont's music program. Raffeal researched Belmont and after a campus visit, he decided it was where he needed to be. He felt the commercial voice major was the perfect match for his career aspirations. But a week before his audition something was missing.

Raffeal didn't have the money for a return trip for his audition. Both his mother and aunt were in the hospital. "It was a tough time in my life. Things weren't working right. It was right after 9/11. The economy was still bad for jobs. I was looking for a job to raise some money," he said. He shared his troubles with his mentor, Dell Thomas, after a church service. He told Dell, "I'm trying to keep my head above water, but every time I try to reach for something higher... I end up failing." One of Raffeal's friends brought down his book bag, which had been upstairs, inside Raffeal found an envelope with $233 - enough for a round trip to Nashville. "Right to this day, I still do not know who put that in my book bag," he said.

Raffeal enrolled into Belmont spring of 2003, but a rocky road lay ahead of him. Belmont was a new, unsettling environment for him. "It was a culture shock for me. It was different because it was predominantly white. The school was very expensive, and I thought that I would never be able to go to a school like that. I didn't know how to react to this environment." He said he had always been his family's "savior." It was hard for him because he could not play that role because he was so far away.

He also struggled with feeling intimidated. Raffeal said he was surrounded by people who could read music and studied music since they were young. He said he felt inadequate because he couldn't do those things. "I always thought it was things like that that made you a great performer," he said.

Raffeal focuses more on having fun while singing and less about hitting the right notes. Singers who have shared the stage with him said this was a benefit to performing with him. Mia Jones, who has sung with Raffeal, said his laidback approach brings out the best in her vocally. "We do not care about missing notes and making the music perfect. We just have fun."

During many of his performances, Raffeal does original material. Where he finds his inspiration to write songs is simple. "Life," he said. "I know that's very broad. I try to write what is honest to me. I want to connect with my audience and they are like 'wow. I went through that. I felt like that.' My vision is for people to embrace real music again." His song "Hotter than July" describes a girl he liked and "Convicted" is an autobiographical number about what he was going through one day.

The majority of the music that Raffeal listens to is old music. He is probably one of the few people who recently bought a record player. The covers of vinyl record albums of Nancy Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross and Michael Jackson line the top of his wall in his Hillside apartment. His DVD collection bears the names of his favorite musicians. Dwayne said Raffeal will make an impact by "giving the world honest music. Music today can be a formula of just creating verses and hooks that are appealing to the ear. His music comes from the soul - kind of the way music used to be."

Raffeal believes artists like Donny Hathaway, Sam Cooke, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan created real music. In hopes of following their footsteps, he avidly listens to their music and studies their lives. "They sang with passion. If they were hurt, they were hurt and you heard it through their songs and people connected with that. That's what I want - that type of connection."

His manager, Wendy Hintze said Raffeal's desire to study great musicians has helped him develop as an artist. "He loves to learn. He studies his influences. I think the difference between Raffeal and a lot of other people is that he is going to take the time to do something right the first time. He is going to educate himself and explore other options." She said it may take Raffeal longer to get where he desires to be because of his diligence to learn from musical legends. But, it will be worth it in the end .

Raffeal is also a passionate student of African-American history and culture. A copy of American Legacy, a magazine about African-American history, lays slanted on his coffee table on top of a stack of books about African-American history. Black and white photos of Frederick Douglass, Maya Angelou and Malcolm X rest in his burgundy wooden photo frame that hangs on wall. "Seems like he should have been born in the 1960s," said Ptahman Abuptah, friend of Raffeal. "Everything he listens to tends to be of that generation. A lot of artists today try to emulate what's on the radio."

Raffeal's latest performance was for the Tom Joyner Morning Radio Show Block Party at the municipal auditorium in Nashville. It was a slightly different performance for him. "I think it humbled me to get out there and perform where people didn't know who I was or heard me before," he said. "I knew somebody out there needed something and had gone through something that day."

Raffeal and his band were threatened with the possibility of rain canceling the show. "But God knew that somebody out there needed to hear us." Fortunately, it didn't rain that Friday morning during his 2 a.m. performance. "We had so much fun on that stage, and I think the people had fun too."

Raffeal strives to make a connection with his audience. Wendy believes that is one of the characteristics that sets him apart. "He genuinely cares about how his audience feels. I think that's a God-given thing," she said. "He puts his listener and his audience as a priority." When asking for feedback on his performance, the first thing he asks is - did he connect with the audience not how he sang.

Ptahman agreed. "When he comes on the stage, he gives the people his soul," he said. Getting the notes right is not his focus. "What's more important is getting the message across."

Raffeal tries to meet the need for positive black male role models by volunteering with the YMCA's Bridge Program. He has been mentoring Sebastian, a middle-schooler, for about a year and half. "It was a challenging thing for me. I have never been one to teach anyone. It was something I was passionate about: African-American history, music and black youth. A lot of those black boys went though the same thing I went through. My goal of doing the Bridge was to show them that you can make it."

Raffeal taught the students about African-American music and has influenced them to appreciate old music and meaningful lyrics."

"Sebastian is an amazing little kid. I learn so much from him. He writes rap lyrics. He's in a little [rap] group at school," Raffeal said. "He told the boys in the group 'what are ya'll rapping for? Ya'll up here rapping about stuff that doesn't even matter. Ya'll are rapping about lies. How are ya'll going to talk about cars and money and all of these girls and it ain't true? That ain't what comes from your heart. Ya'll rapping lies.' He told them he didn't want to rap with them if they weren't going to rap truthfully." Sebastian's boldness touched Raffeal.

He sees a little of himself when he looks at Sebastian. "He just has this big desire to succeed. He is always going to try for the highest thing. I think that's what I see in him that I saw in me growing up," he said.

Dwayne believes that Raffeal is paving the road for others, like Sebastian, to follow. "I think in your destiny there should be leaving of a legacy in there. He will reach back and allow access for others that want to do the same thing," Dwayne said.

Raffeal's talent stretches beyond the microphone. He writes poetry, draws and bakes. One Sunday afternoon, he made apple dip with cream cheese, toffee bits and brown sugar and sliced fresh green apples. While he was preparing the dip, he was talking about novels on Black America with Asa Briggs, a friend from church.

In high school, he made homemade cheesecakes for his best friends on their birthdays. His other specialties are butterscotch blondies, cookies and Cheeseburger casserole. "I can fry some mean chicken," he added.

"The world is his, and he just has to decide what to do with it," Wendy said. Many of Raffeal's friends believe he has many talents and want to see him tap into all of them. Crystal Jones, a friend who is like a sister to Raffeal, sees him as a performer in a broader sense. "I think he is looking in this little ball right now just focusing on his music, but I see him as a performer in all areas." Crystal sees him encompassing all of his artistic gifts - drama, poetry, music - as a performer. Wendy would like to see him write more "even if that's not in lyrics. Because I think he has a lot to say that people need to hear."

They all see great success in his future. Ptahman said after Raffeal has sold 3 or 4 million records, he will still be "a personable person. He will come across as a guy who you can talk to and has no airs." Ptahman sees him "doing the Will Smith crossover" and being successful in music and acting.

Raffeal has a strong and encouraging support system surrounding him. They have faith that he will be successful in whatever he does. Raffeal isn't like the timid second-grader or intimidated new music student that he used to be. He has become more confident in his musical abilities, Dwayne said. "He has found that sweet spot in himself to present to his audience."

However, he is still that little boy with big dreams. He wants to perform at Carnegie Hall and the House of Blues. He dreams of sharing the stage with Kirk Franklin, Alicia Keys and Musiq.

On his faith wall in his apartment hangs posters, pictures and quotes, which inspires him to reach his goals. "It's basically a vision wall. I believe that in order for something to happen you have to see it happen," Raffeal said. He has designed pictures of himself on prominent magazine covers with this philosophy in mind. He has posted pictures of Grammy awards on his wall. "His faith wall is right above his computer where he spends a lot of time. He can easily look up and be encouraged. "It keeps me going," he said.

In the fall, Raffeal will head to the Big Apple as a part of Belmont East. He prays greats things will happen. Interestingly enough, he sees the parallel between telling a friend that he believed God wanted him to leave Kansas City and come to Belmont. "Now I am telling everybody that God wants me to leave and go to New York. Ain't that a trip?"

Raffeal recognizes there will be challenges along the way, but he strives to stay optimistic. He knows the level of success he aspires to reach won't be birthed overnight. As far as his time in New York, "I am going to do whatever God wants me to do." Maybe his time in New York will linger beyond a semester.

"I think it will happen for him," Kelly said. "He'll never be the same once he goes to New York."

Raffeal Sears knows that his big dreams can become a reality with God's help. "God owns cattle on a 1,000 hills. He can do anything. You just have to believe it."

"Chasity Gunn"