KZMOHD

OMG Studios Innovation Lab is an interactive and evolving music, art and literature immersion project that will function as a cultural content creator hub. Participants will create a wide array of multimedia, inspired by the Twin Cities’ rich music and art culture.
 
Mission Statement
To provide a creative outlet for youth for music, art and literary expression, development, and education.
 
2024 Innovation Lab Year In Review
 
We have so much to be grateful for this year! From opening our doors in February, to graduating our inaugural Youth Innovation Lab cohort. From releasing our fifth cultural film, to beginning production on the sixth (coming Juneteenth 2025). An unforgettable Celebration of Culture and Community at the Minnesota State Fair, including performances by Ludacris and T-Pain, Chance the Rapper, and Becky G. A special thank you to our partners and supporters for making the work we do in our communities possible, especially the investment in our youth. Which is why we are here at our 2025 Holiday Wrap Party to recognize the success of our Innovation Lab youth and to celebrate our beloved community who came along with us on this incredible journey.
 
Presenters:
Monique Linder, OMG Studios 
Kevin Lindsey, MN Humanities Center
This inaugural year project was made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. Supporting partners include: MN Humanities Center, MN Black Collective, City of St. Paul and Live4Love Charities.

Award-Winning MN African American History Film Tour to Duluth, MN featuring a post-screening discussion "Where Do We Go From Here?" with appearances by those featured in the film.
About the Film
This documentary challenges our understanding of slavery, its impact on Minnesota, and how we reconcile our past by taking viewers on a present-day journey to Ghana, to the quarters of Harriet and Dred Scott at Fort Snelling, and into conversations with current and future scholars about where we go from here.
 Featuring: King Odeneho Kwafo Akoto, III & Queen Mother Nana Afrakoma, II (Akwamu Traditional Area, Ghana, AF); Melvin Carter, III (Mayor, St. Paul); Kevin Lindsey (CEO, Minnesota Humanities Center); Dr. Christopher Lehman (Ethnic Studies Chair, Ethnic, Gender, and Women’s Studies, St. Cloud State University); T. Mychael Rambo; Thomasina Petrus; and Voices from Black Youth Healing Arts Center
Co-produced by: OMG Studios and Minnesota Humanities Center
“Best Short Documentary” (Santa Barbara International Movie Awards) and “Best Producer” (Hollywood Discovery Awards) film, Juneteenth Reckoning with Slavery: MN African American History, announces a 5-city tour happening this Fall.
Film Score: "Water Cries" produced by Thomasina Petrus, Walter Chancellor, Jr. and Monique Linder
WATCH ONLINE

Chance The Rapper’s Grandstand show is at the MN State Fair, Friday, August 23, 2024 at 7:00pm. Tickets are available at: mnstatefair.org.
This interview took place on 8/20 at KMOJ Studios in North Minneapolis. KMOJ Personality/ Hall of Fame Broadcaster: Walter "Q-Bear" Banks
In-studio:Monique Linder, CEO OMG Media Solutions
OMG Studios'  Innovation Lab Youth:Sister TearBrother RaSister AniyaBrother Sensae de Waelaah
Since 2016, OMG Media Solutions has partnered with the MN State Fair to promote an amazing celebration of culture and community, which brings people together from all over the US and 14 countries. It started in 2016 after the passing of our beloved Native son Prince, with Unite-In-Purple. Every year, OMG Media and its 15 loyal Celebrate Culture and Community Partners, distribute free concert tickets and family fun packs to marginalized communities throughout the Twin Cities.
About Chance The Rapper @chancetherapper
Hailed as “a generational voice” by “GQ” and “an outstanding role model” by President Barack Obama, multi-Grammy award winner Chance the Rapper has built a multi-faceted career, redefining what it means to be an independent artist. Chance has never signed a record deal, opting instead to make his music available for free. Born and raised in Chicago, Chance made history in 2017 when he became the first artist to win a Grammy for a streaming-only mixtape – collecting statues for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Album for his now-iconic “Coloring Book.”
Chance’s upcoming album “Star Line Gallery” intertwines the worlds of art, music and cinematography through interdisciplinary collaborations with fine artists from The Continent and The Diaspora. Redefining the notion of “album art” and creating compelling conversations and meditations on Black life, these groundbreaking works (“Child of God,” “A Bar About A Bar,” “The Highs & The Lows” and “YAH Know”) have premiered at art institutions around the world, including Art Basel, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art,
The Art Institute of Chicago and Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art.
Alongside his music, Chance’s expanding career also includes film and television. In 2021, he became the first artist to independently distribute a film through AMC Theatres via his “Magnificent Coloring World” concert film, written, produced, edited and distributed by Chance himself. His portrayal of the character Herbert on the HBO Max series “South Side” earned him a 2023 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Performance. Chance made his highly anticipated debut as a coach on Season 23 of NBC’s “The Voice” in 2023 and returned as a coach in 2024 for Season 25.
Coming from a long line of activists and community organizers, Chance was raised with a strong sense of purpose and dedication to giving back. Through his nonprofit organization SocialWorks, he aims to inspire and empower youth through arts, education and civic engagement. Since 2016, SocialWorks has contributed $10 million to the Chicagoland community, impacting approximately 10,000 students annually. Chance recently organized a self-funded free festival in Accra, Ghana, that drew 52,000 attendees. The Black Star Line Festival was founded with a mission to foster cultural exchange between Black people of The Continent and the global Diaspora.

[AUDIO] Co-produced by OMG Studios and the Minnesota Humanities Center, this documentary challenges our understanding of slavery, its impact on Minnesota, and how we reconcile our past by taking viewers on a present-day journey to Ghana, to the quarters of Harriet and Dred Scott, and into conversations with current and future scholars. Featuring Akwamu Traditional Area’s King Odeneho Kwafo Akoto, III and Queen Mother Nana Afrakoma, II, of West Africa, Ghana, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III, MN Humanities CEO Kevin Lindsey, St. Cloud State University American Studies Chair and Minnesota Book Award Winner Dr. Christopher Lehman, and Minnesota creative treasures T. Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus and concluding with voices of the Black Youth Healing Arts Center (BYHAC).
This year’s documentary film is brought to audiences thanks to MN Humanities Center, Ujamaa Place, St. Paul Public Library, City of St. Paul, National Endowment for the Arts and supported by C.A. Ellis and Black 2 Black Capacity Builder Project.
WATCH THE FULL DOCUMENTARY HERE .

Music Monuments are a powerful force in the KZMOVERSE and honor the artistic contributions musicians make in society.
Live from Studio B at OMG STUDIOS Saint Paul, MN with 
R&B and Gospel great Jevetta Steele, vocalist Kathleen Johnson and the legendary Thomasina Petrus with KZMOHD Music Monuments host Monique Linder, paying tribute to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
"The OMG Studios' doors and master control studio glass are from Flyte Tyme." ~Monique Linder, Founder/CEO of OMG Media.
To learn more, click here.
 
 
 

Juneteenth (June 19) is the federal and Minnesota-state holiday, which commemorates the emancipation of all enslaved African Americans in 1865. Juneteenth Brunch, It Starts With Me: Cultivating A Beloved Community Mindset, is a community brunch and conversation featuring Dr. Bernice A. King, daughter of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King and CEO of The King Center. Dr. Bernice A. King offers a fresh perspective on where we go from here and how we overcome ever-present inequities and injustices in our world house.  Presented by MN Humanities Center in partnership with Thrivent, Blue Cross Blue Shield MN and McKnight Foundation.  
Program 
An OMG Studios production.  All rights reserved.

It Starts with ME! Read Aloud by Thomasina Petrus Pledge to BE LOVE written by By Dr. Bernice A. King and Dr. Kimberly P. Johnson, Illustrated by Zoe Ranucci What did you think about the book? I loved it and my parents taught me all about this when I was little. Dr Bernice King’s parents taught her. Guess who her parents were? Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King. I am proud to be part of The Beloved Community Thank you for allowing me to read this book to you. Commemorate Black History & Culture consists of 4 powerful Black History Month events brought to you by . . . Saint Paul Public Library, MN Humanities Center, Ujamaa Place and Public Art Saint Paul for making this event possible, along with our community partners: City of St. Paul, Minnesota Arts Council, Young Rembrandts OMG Media. An OMG Studios production. Learn more at: https://sppl.org/black-history-month/ 

No stranger to adversity, the pandemic inspired the men in Ujamaa’s Music Therapy program to start their very own music group, Ujamaa Music Group (UMG). Finding music to be a cathartic way to tell their stories, UMG went to work on their first single, “On A Mission”, which debuted on January 25, 2021.
Learn more at: https://ujamaaplace.org/ujamaa-music-group/
About Ujamaa Place
Ujamaa Place provides holistic transformation opportunities for young Black men experiencing inequity at the intersection of race and poverty and helps them achieve brotherhood, stability and personal success. 
Stay connected at: https://ujamaaplace.org/ and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Center for Economic Inclusion's Reckoning Tour podcast recorded LIVE from Montgomery, AL on November 10, 2022, confronts our nation's history of slavery and lynching in the Deep South.  The tour traveled with C-suite executives from Minnesota's top companies, starting at The King Center in Atlanta, GA, then traveled to Montgomery and Selma, AL.  Listen to the Reckoning Podcast hosted by CEI's CEO Tawanna Black and Cultural Coach/Radio Talent, Lissa Jones.
 
Click here to learn more about the Center for Economic Inclusion's research and advocacy work. Follow #econinclusion on social media. 
KZMOHD podcast network empowers communities through our OMGisms – social constructs rooted in the arts that nurture and improve the health and wellness of youth and families.  An OMG Media company.

“Cynthia Robinson was the first and only black female trumpet player to be inducted in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.” –Jerry Martini 
KZMOHD presents Music Monuments, a powerful force in the KZMOVERSE honoring artistic contributions that musicians make in society. In this segment, we had the honor of interviewing The Family Stone before their first performance on the second day of their tour stop celebrating culture and community with OMG Media's KZMOHD at the Lionie Lodge Bandshell at the MN State Fair. This backstage interview took place in a conference room with the seven band members that included founding member of Sly and the Family Stone Mr. Jerry Martini, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 (Saxophone), Phunne Stone, daughter of Cynthia Robinson and Sly Stone (Vocals), Swang Stewart (Lead Vocals), Blaise Sison (Bass/Music Director), Nate Wingfield (Lead Guitar), Frank Klepacki (Drums), and last but not least, Jimi Mckinney (Keys/Vocals). Thank you to The Family Stone for honoring the legendary Cynthia Robinson in a way that no one else ever could!!
Join the KZMOVERSE, share and follow KZMOHD's Music Monuments at: https://kzmohd.com/music-monuments/