By JC Poppe Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Feb 17, 2012 at 10:11 AM

Milwaukee High School of the Arts graduates don't always get to pursue their dreams of being an artist or musician beyond the halls of the school, but the school gives teenagers a unique chance to receive training, encouragement and a dose of reality – you have to work really hard at your craft if you want to find ways to profit from it in some way.

I've written about MHSA alum and songstress Lili K., someone whom I'm looking forward to hearing more from in the future.

Today I have the pleasure of bringing you B-Free, another soul/R&B singer that graduated from MHSA and has actually done a fair amount of work with Lili K. as a part of her band.

B-Free, who now resides in Chicago, is releasing an album on March 1 and dropped a very nice single in advance of the debut of "Open Mic, Open Heart."

"U & I" is a soulful track that expresses the work that needs to go into relationships that was composed, performed and produced by B-Free herself.

Check her and her new song out here.

JC Poppe Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Born in Milwaukee and raised in the Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer, Concordia University Wisconsin alumnus Poppe has spent the majority of his life in or around the city and county of Milwaukee.

As an advocate of Milwaukee's hip-hop community Poppe began popular local music blog Milwaukee UP in March 2010. Check out the archived entries here.

Though heavy on the hip-hop, Poppe writes about other genres of music and occasionally about food, culture or sports, and is always ready to show his pride in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.