Last week was exciting!  We launched our Seattle Sweeties Series, the collaboration with Draze, and announced that part of the Seattle Sweeites’ sales will be raising money for Runway To Freedom.  The planning for our Seattle Sweeties project started four long months ago. Draze reached out to us on a project he was working on and partnerships he was creating in the Seattle community and invited Cupcake Royale to participate.

We LOVE supporting local artists. Whether artists make music (all types), literature, film, photography, sculpture or paintings Cupcake Royale has made a point to be involved in our city’s art scene.  We hang local artist’s work in our cafes and rotate in new artists monthly.  We’ve had the honor of showcasing photographs, handmade jewelry, prints, sculptures, ceramics, drawings and literature in our stores.  We’ve funded independent films by local film makers and story tellers and been a sponsor of SIFF for many years. Our portfolio is FULL of local Seattle artists and we are proud of that.

After many meetings and questions about Drazes art and the partnerships involved with the “Seattle Sweeties” song we happily signed on to collaborate on creating a series of cupcakes that would help raise funds for survivors of domestic violence and spread JOY!  We were also able to participate in the “Seattle Sweeties” music video (that will be debuting later this week) and collaborated in a behind the scenes video on the project. Click below to watch – https://youtu.be/NKNkcebL3HA

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So, who is Draze? Well, Draze is a rapper, an artist and musician, student, public speaker, and a Dad. He is a Seattle native and comes from a family of musicians, educators, and talent. Draze’ dad is Dumisani Maraire (1944-1999), the marimba superstar from Zimbabwe who became a University of Washington ethnomusicologist while igniting a musical movement throughout Oregon, Washington and beyond.  His mother, Lora Lue Chiorah, is a multi-talented educator, musician, and dancer.  His sister Chiwoniso Maraire (1976-2013) was the celebrated mbira artist and singer-songwriter behind the celebrated “Rebel Woman” and “Ancient Voices” recordings — she was called the “Zimbabwe Mbira Queen.”  His brother, Tendai “Baba” Maraire, currently tours the globe as half of the Sub Pop experimental hip hop group Shabazz Palaces.  Draze’s 12-year-old daughter Nya-J is already making a name for herself with original hip hop music performances and music videos.

In 2014-  Drazes released a single describing how gentrification hit Seattle’s South Side grew into a video picked up for Seattle Center’s 50 Next project, inspired a major art show at the Experience Music Project Museum  Check out his song, “The Hood Ain’t The Same” and music video https://youtu.be/XJGzsr7-Jtc

To learn even more about our featured artists read more in the links below:

http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/folklife-2015-celebrates-hip-hop-and-its-roots/

http://www.nwfolklife.org/festival2015/cultural-focus/maraire-family/

http://www.michellesanderspr.com/seattle-rapper-draze-teams-cupcake-royale-fight-domestic-violence/