Biography
Formed around sociopolitical themes, The CrossRhodes unites Grammy-nominated R&B singer and songwriter Raheem DeVaughn with actor, poet, and rapper Wes Felton, also known as W. Ellington Felton and Dub Ell. Both DeVaughn and Felton hail from Washington, D.C., where each grew up as the son of a jazz musician—DeVaughn’s father being cellist Abdul Wadud and Felton’s father being pianist Hilton Felton. Outside their separate careers, the pair self-released several projects in the early 2000s, among them Limited Budget Unlimited Quality, before collecting that material on the 2010 compilation Been There Done That. Motivated by a fresh surge of activism that included Black Lives Matter, they revived the CrossRhodes name with the August 2016 single “Footprints on the Moon” and followed it the next month with a similarly titled, BMG-backed album marked by urgent energy. Rapsody, Scarface, Talib Kweli, and Timothy Bloom all appeared on the set, which focused on messages of uplift and empowerment while occasionally turning toward romance.
Albums
Singles
