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YorMajesty Khalifa Ali (born October 2, 1979) is an American guitarist, artist, actor, songwriter, composer, lyricist, poet and multi-instrumentalist from Harlem, New York. Best known for his electric guitar skills, YorMajesty is also a highly proficient bass and acoustic guitarist as well as a drum programmer , record producer, sound engineer, accomplished keyboardist and vocalist. YorMajesty is skilled in a wide array of musical genres evidenced by the many different styles incorporated in both his studio and live performances including rock, electric and acoustic blues, jazz, fusion, soul-inspired music, funk, Neo-soul, rhthym & blues, and hip-hop. YorMajesty is more internationally known for His guitar abilities, at the same time He has developed more of an Underground cult like following of over a half million fans for his abilities as a lyricist. Though He may be considered more underground than a mainstream artist, He has financially benefitted as an independent artist, more than most artists signed to a major label in the United States. His ten times platinum website www.yormajesty.com featuring, his album, Ghetto Prophecies, produced the singles, "My Soul", "Demons", "Rough On Da Streets", "Do Dat Dance", for which YorMajesty has received critical acclaim.
Early life[edit]Born in Harlem, New York, educated in Washington DC, YorMajesty had a childhood friend named Lewis Christian that was learning to play the drums & bass guitar. YorMajesty started learning the guitar at age 11 and rapidly began progressing through the music that would heavily influence his future style, including Al Dimeola, Eddie Hazel, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, Johnny Guitar Watson, BB King, Bootsy Collins, and Stanley Clarke, among others. YorMajesty and Lewis formed a band with their classmates Gregory Robinson, Eric Jackson & Stephan Hopkins and won first place in a talent show, at which point he decided music would be his lifelong pursuit, At the age of 17, he joined his first professional band—Strive, a top 40 R&B group, That played the Howard Theatre, various clubs, parks, block parties & school auditoriums throughout the DC, Maryland & Virginia tri-state area, playing on the same bill with popular DC Go Go Groups Experience Unlimited, Trouble Funk, Rare Essence, Peace Makers, Fathers Children, Captain Skyy, Junior Walker & The All Stars to name a few. Career[edit]After graduating from McKinley Technology High school, YorMajesty attended the University of DC, and/or Howard University for three years then moved to Los Angeles. He lived homeless on the streets of LA surviving by doing studio session work for various artists, songwriters and producers. YorMajesty produced, engineered and laid instrumental tracks for Gladys Horton (Former Lead Singer of the Motown Group The Marvelettes), when he lived with her in West Hollywood Calif for awhile, she introduced him to Holland-Dozier-Holland, Hal Davis, and a few others, but by that time the industry was transitioning from R&B to Hip-Hop, he mostly attracted attention from independent record labels and started to pursue modeling and acting for awhile. YorMajesty graced the silver screen in the Blake Edwards directed movie "A Fine Mess", the Reginald Hudlin directed movie "Cosmic Slop", the Doug Ellin directed movie "Phat Beach", the Kathryn Bigelow directed movie "Strange Days", the Steve Gomer directed movie "Sunset Park", the Desmond Nakano directed movie "White Man's Burden", the TV Show "Charmed", "Dragnet", and a few others as well as the video "I'll Shoot If I Have to by "EA-Ski" and How Deep Is Your Love by the group "Portrait". YorMajesty met Herbie Hancock at the Billboard Music Awards in Universal City, Calif, Herbie gave him a job as an assistant to his digital recording engineer Lawrence Du'Hart in his studio in Beverly Hills, California.
YorMajesty Khalifa Ali has been #1 from 2012 - 2016, and in the top 5 from 2017-2023 on the Reverbnation Hip-Hop Seattle Chart, (was also voted up & coming artist by fans of the social network in 2012). www.reverbnation.com
YorMajesty join the production team @ Crescendo Music
with digital recording engineer David Dyer & Songwriter Barbara
Jordan (close childhood friend of Teena
Marie), as a multi-instrumentalist as well as a solo artist YorMajesty
laid down most of the instrumental tracks for all the musical ideas
at that camp. While performing @ the Speakeasy on Santa Monica Blvd
near La Cienega in West Hollywood Calif, YorMajesty played Lead Guitar
& Keyboards in a jam session that resulted in him setting up the
home audio system for the club owner Mr. Kelly, also while performing
@ the Speakeasy YorMajesty’s Crew gain the interest of a production
company called Black Image Entertainment (The management’s attempt
to cherry pick certain members caused division & ill will amongst
the members of the group as a unit) so from that experience YorMajesty
decided to go it alone recording all instruments himself.Crescendo built
a studio where YorMajesty recorded his first single with on air KJLH
Radio personality Cortland Evans whom he was dating @ the time called
“I W.A.N.T YOU” , The project was never completed due to
internal issues between Crescendo’s Executives, though YorMajesty
had complete creative control and an open door policy, he chose not
to choose sides, then was later approached by Rowland Management @ The
same time he met and decided to work with the Viana Brothers (Max &
Mario) along with Shawn Shanklin they formed a Do Wop Group recording
mostly R&B. The Viana brothers were offered a deal by a millionaire
investor that did not feel that YorMajesty looked Puerto Rican enough
to fit into the group so he was out casted, and he started Da Black
Nation. (Occasionally doing side projects with Max Viana) YorMajesty
would wear the hats of the Producer, the Engineer, the Songwriter, Mixing
& Mastering, gaining knowledge on all levels of music production
as well as marketing and distribution. YorMajesty produced 2 songs on
JR Perry’s Album “Ready Now”, D-Town’s “Living
In The Z.O.N.E” (D-Town was working with Lamont
Bentley before his untimely death in 2005), a girls group Paris
& Taz, a song “ You Think I Don’t Know” for Krystle,
a project for Grape street Gary, and quite a few aspiring artist, as
well as session work for Rodney
O (of Rodney O & Joe Cooley), and a song “Guess Who”
Evil E & Hen Gee –
Brothers (Though credit was omitted) YorMajesty is also a computer hardware technician well versed in music software and digital audio workstations so he is also well known as the industry’s trouble shooter for computer repair, and has built many computers for many of the industry heads, as well as Recording Artists in Los Angeles. YorMajesty started a company called "Cipher Theory Technology", as a webdesigner, & digital illustrator specializing in Vector Technology Websites. YorMajesty developed and maintained the website for PPL Entertainment in Beverly Hills, California. as well as websites for many of the upstart independent labels & artists around Los Angeles, Affectionately referred to as “Wiley Coyote Super Genius” YorMajesty is a true Lyricist, a true Musician, a true Artist, a truly talented individual on all levels, simply “The Truth”. YorMajesty relocated to Seattle WA setting up Da Black
Nation Studios & recorded his projects as a solo artist, the strength
of YorMajesty's playing attracted a small cult
following , through his Myspace,
YouTube, and Reverbnation
pages as well as YorMajesty.com
his ten times platinum website received over ten million plus hits &
plays, he decided to go independent and started Da
Black Nation Record Label. (Occassionally collaborating with Dee
Jones & J.2.0 of M.I.H Entertainment) YorMajesty has acheived critical
acclaim all over the world and ranked @ least #5 on Reverbnation
Seattle-Hip-Hop Charts for 2 years, @ #1 about 6 months of that 2 year
span, aswell as #1 accross all genres for 1 month within 2012 to 2014,
receiving offers to collab with artists all over the world.
YorMajesty Khalifa Ali's Guitar Collection Guitar and equipment[edit]Guitars[edit]YorMajesty is best known for playing a glass Fender Stratocaster and Epiphone electric guitars straight through a Mackie Mixer (Usually chained through a Zakk Wyld Wah Wah Pedal & an Digitech RP6 or RP1 Pedal Board. YorMajesty has also played other guitar brands such as B.C. Rich, Rickenbacker, Ibanez, Kramer, Minarik, Gibson and a De Rosa (Uzi Guitar), which appears on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine. In 2011, YorMajesty added a Alembic Style Series II Custom 1979 to his guitars of choice. In 2013, YorMajesty had a fender custom guitar built,
the body was painted @ an auto body shop with gold flake car paint sprayed
with clear coats & buffed out to a mirror like shine, a custom gold
mirror plate, with matching mirror pickup covers, a fender neck with
a jeweled crown & initials YKA added to the headstock. Ernie Ball
extra light strings (8 gauge high E string) standard fender parts otherwise,
this guitar was featured in YorMajesty’s cover of Jimi Hendrix
composition “Pali Gap”, and the cover of Carlos Santana's
version of the song “ Smooth ”. YorMajesty has had a couple models built to his specifications.
In 2014, YorMajesty started designing a one of a kind YorMajesty Khalifa
Ali Signature Jaguar guitar built to his specifications. YorMajesty
has two other custom built guitars (1 from Romans Custom Guitar Shop
in Los Angeles & the Other from Manny's Music Store in Manhattan
New York). In 2018, most of YorMajest’s custom guitar (Luthier
& Tech) work was done by: Christopher
Adam Lomba, and Mike
Hitt of
Georgetown Music in Seattle WA ( 2 Zemaitis Casimere C22MF Guitars,
Gibson Flying V, 4 Stratocasters, 2 Gibson Gold top Guitars, and 2 Gibson
SG Guitars). YorMajesty tends to prefer his vintage guitars overall, usually performing with his Vintage Epiphone 1966 Worn Wilshire With Tremotone or his 1977 Kramer 650G, YorMajesty also has a Kay 1960 Speed Demon Guitar ( Though it’s a semi hollow body he uses it instead of a hollow body acoustic for tracking parts most guitarist would use an acoustic for) YorMajesty is known for getting the best possible tone out of whatever guitar he chooses to play @ the moment, which is a talent in and of itself, but just in case he always keep his Ibanez ewc30qherlg1201 or Josh acoustic nearby, when it comes to his acoustic sound.(See YorMajesty's guitar collection on Pinterest ) Effects[edit] He uses effect pedals such as the Tone Bone Radial Tube Drive Hot British Distortion, Tone Bone Radial Tube Drive Classic Distortion, Cry Baby Wylde Model ZW 45, Electro Harmonix Big Muff, Vox Joe Satriani Big Bad Dual Wah Pedal, Voodoo Lab MV Micro Vibe Rotary Effects Pedal, Mu-FX Tru-Tron 3X (Customized & Autographed by the inventor of the Original Mu-Tron III Mustronics (Michael Beigel), YorMajesty chose to retire His HAZ Re-Issue of the Mu-Tron III +, and to endorse Biegel Sound Lab), Sony HR-GP5 Guitar Processor, 1993 Digitech RP-1, 1997 Digitech RP-6, Digitech RP80V, Zoom 505 Guitar, and Morley CWA Compact Wah. Although the majority of YorMajesty's setup is vintage, he has recently started using more modern equipment, including a TonePort UX2 by Line 6, along with the Line 6 GearBox modeling software & occassionally a Banshee Talk Box, as well as a MXR M68 Uni-Vibe Chorus / Vibrato Pedal he received as a gift from guitarist Floyd Lark.
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YorMajesty At The Black Radio Exclusive Awards
YorMajesty in Georgetown Wash, D.C.
YorMajesty's 1979 Series II Standard Point Custom Alembic Guitar
YorMajesty's My Mother Of Pearl Zemaitis Guitar
YorMajesty's Black 66 Reissued Signature Fender Jaguar Guitar
YorMajesty has often been featured in Guitar Magazines
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