Sidney Riley: NY Slice Contest Winner
Sidney Riley (photo by James Jackson, courtesy of the artist)
Meet our other "NY Slice" theme song contest winner: Sidney Riley — he shares the grand prize with Brooklyn-based Rén with the Mane.
A Washington D.C. native who moved to New York City, Riley started down a musical path early. According to his bio, he began playing piano and started singing on a British television show called, "Children's Choice," filmed in the Middle East. Later he had the great opportunity to sing at the Kennedy Center Honors with Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles.
As a high school student, his music was put on hold as he battled serious health issues that left him critically ill, in a coma, and nearly unable to walk. He recovered after months in rehab, and eventually headed north to attend college at Fordham University. Here, Riley met his friend and mentor, John Cirillo, who would go on to help him write the winning "NY Slice" theme song for our contest this past summer.
I spoke with Sidney (listen in the player above) after he returned from his artist residency at the Silver Sun Foundation, part of the "NY Slice" prize. He also gave me an update on what some other projects he's been working on. Below, the video to Sidney's song, "Exposure."
