THOMASVILLE- For TU junior Mahogany Menefee, music is therapeutic.
It is where she can showcase her talent and harmonize her emotions. Nicknamed Hogz, Menefee has embraced the name, making it her official stage name.
Since 2020, the Oregon native has released three singles, and an album called Pain II Passion that features seven rap songs. The album is currently available on different music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and iHeart radio.
Her voice was used in the introduction of one of her favorite artist, R&B singer and rap artist Teyana Taylor’s song, “Rose in Harlem”, after intentionally arriving hours early—during Taylor’s rehearsal—and was interviewed, and asked the questions, “What brought us here? and Who am I here to see?”
“Once you put your mind on something and stay determined, those wants become real,” Menefee said. “No real plan, just manifested in meeting her and it happened. Those same rules apply to life & what I’m trying to pursue.”
Menefee said her album is called Pain II Passion because she went through a lot of pain to find her passion.
“Without music, I think l would go crazy,” she said. “I think music keeps me sane. I really feel like I went through a lot of pain to find my passion. My music is me expressing myself, using words, putting them together and being creative. It is something that I love doing. I realized that when you go through something, you must find some type of peace, you must find some type of happiness, and I found that in music.”
One of the songs featured in her album is called “7/27.” It is dedicated to her childhood best friend who passed away in 2020. His death motivated her to purposefully pursue her passion for music, so she decided to pursue a new degree program at Thomas University called Creative Technologies, which offers a minor in music.
“Creative Technologies is truly a cutting-edge degree program,” Jason Dunn, Division Chair, Humanities, said. “Students in the major gain hands-on experience in website development, graphic design, videography, and audio-visual production and have the opportunity to pursue a concentration in music production, film, or art.”
Karl Barton, professor of music, said some of the music minor classes include songwriting, audio and music production, music, and multimedia. The classes focus on different genres such as blues, folk, punk, country, and hip hop.
Menefee is seizing on the different opportunities the program offers.
“In one of the classes I took with Dr. Barton, he was teaching us how to make beats,” she said. “I don’t have to pay anyone to make beats for me anymore.”
Menefee said she paid engineers to record her songs, but taking Dr. Barton’s class, she can record her own songs.
“Dr. Barton taught me how to vocalize myself and how to use the audios the right way,” she said.
Menefee also took Dr. Dunn’s digital media class. Using the skills she learned, she is creating a new website to market herself.
“It is going to be like a digital portfolio for myself,” she said.
The Creative Technologies program is just in its first year, but it is proving to be instrumental in changing the lives of students like Menefee.
“Each class that I am taking is helping me in my life,” she said. “I wasn’t jumping into this thinking I was going to do music, but with this new music program, I am able to learn a lot of things about music and pursue it.”