BIOGRAPHY  Nana Camille Yarbrough Rarely does one come across an individual who fully understands and embraces their divine assignment in life. Even more rare is the artist who has done so. If we ever get lucky enough to be immersed in the lives of this sacred breed of artists, then it is cause for celebration and praisesongs. Let us begin then, the praisesongs for Nana Camille Yarbrough.   Nana Yarbrough was a faculty member of the Black Studies Department of City College of New York (CUNY) for twelve (12) years.  In 1994, Nana Yarbrough was enthroned by ABLADEI, Inc. (Ghanian),GA as Naa Kuokor Agyman I Queen Mother to the late Dr. John Henrik Clarke and she is the founder of the Throne House of Harriet Tubman.  In 2004, Nana Yarbrough was again enthroned in the village of Agogo-Asanti, Ghana as Nana Tabuoa Tonko II. Nana Yarbrough was a frequent guest host on Bob Law's WWRL radio program, "Night Talk" and is a frequent radio talk show guest host for Imhotep Gary Byrd's, "The Global Black Experience' aired on WLIB and WBAI in New York City.  She guest hosted and was a frequent guest on Dr. Carlos Russell's groundbreaking show, "Thinking It Through" on WLIB and has been interviewed twice on Bev Smith's syndicated show aired on WWRL in New York City.  Today Nana Yarbrough is internationally known as the ol' school gifted singer whose song and vocals were sampled by technomusician Fatboy Slim. His monster chart-busting hit, Praise You, is sampled from Yarbrough's original hit Take Yo Praise and after his version (led by Camille's vocals) found a spot on MTV's rotation, the song exploded commercially. It has been featured in movies (Cruel Intentions, Go, Thank God It's Friday, and Michael Jordan to the Max); on television shows (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Entertainment Tonight, the Golden Globes, the TV Guide Awards show); and on commercials for Mercedes Benz, Wimbledon, Air Jordan/Nike, and many others. Take Yo Praise, however, was originally recorded in 1975 for Nana Yarbrough's first album, the critically acclaimed, The Iron Pot Cooker. The Iron Pot Cooker was taken from the very successful 1971 stage dramatization of Nana Yarbrough's one-woman/spoken word show: Tales and Tunes of an African American Griot (with which she toured nationally during the 70's and 80's). But it was the song's new found popularity that prompted Vanguard Records to re-issue The Iron Pot Cooker in 1998. When it was first released in 1975, The Iron Pot Cooker received high reviews from local and national media, including this one from Billboard Magazine: "...Yarbrough has stylish traces of Nina Simone and Gil Scott-Heron but her own style of singing and recitation ...are outstanding. Her songs are all thought provoking". With its re-release, the praise continued with Spin Magazine claiming Nana Yarbrough as a "hip-hop foremother." Esteemed journalist and hip-hop/social critic Kevin Powell adds: "Indeed, there would be no Lauryn Hill, no Erykah Badu, no Me'shell Ndegeocello if it were not for the presence and model of Camille Yarbrough".  Beyond her recording career, Nana Yarbrough is an accomplished actress who shared the stage or screen with Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, Joe Morton, Claudia McNeil, Al Freeman, Jr. and Kevin McCarthy among many others.  More pages 1 ::2 ::