NOW STREAMING EVERYWHERE!
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NOW STREAMING EVERYWHERE! 〰️
A New Name for My Love (ICL, 2021)
A New for My Love (#ANN4ML) is a tribute to the activists and grassroots organizers who give of themselves, day in and day out, to make this world better for everyone. No movement is effective without hundreds and thousands of committed people dedicating themselves to the cause. At the root of their efforts is radical love. A love so enduring it draws them to the frontlines of our efforts to protect our democracy and initiate the liberation of marginalized people everywhere. Advocacy is love. Self-love is love. Equity is love. Legislation can be love too if passed to the benefit of the historically disadvantaged. A new name for my love--us. This project would not have been possible without Civil Rights Corps.
Thank you for trusting me to re-imagine the legislation that could make life better for us all. Thank you Detention Watch Network for your ongoing work and encouragement. We will bring about more #communitiesnotcages. Thank you Broadway Advocacy Coalition for helping me to think more in-depth about how to bring my creative visions for policy to life. Without my time with you, I don't think I would have dreamed as big as I am dreaming now! Thank you Right of Return USA for the initial support that allowed me to breathe. Space and time to think is invaluable. Thank you to Black Mountain Institute for the much-needed light and space. This album was recorded within my first ten days in my residency in Las Vegas and the work will always have the light of The Lucy and The Writer's Block in it. Thank you. Thank you to Palette Poetry and Victoria Chang for choosing the poem "I Tried Dating Again" as the 2020 Sappho Award Winner. The poem was written during an especially rough moment in the summer of 2020 and is filled with all my fears about police violence and love after that violence. To have it uplifted as it was in your contest meant the world to me. Thank you.
CAUGHT IN THE RHYTHM (BENJAMIN BOONE, 2023)
From Origin Records
For a decade now, saxophonist, composer, and Fulbright scholar Benjamin Boone has artfully merged the works of vital, contemporary poets with the in-the-moment creations of astute, innovative jazz musicians, first through his two critically acclaimed recordings with U.S. poet laureate Philip Levine, and most recently with 2020's The Poets Are Gathering, providing a striking platform for the spoken word. The dance of imagery and rumination set in motion by Patrick Sylvain's "Caught in the Rhythm" supplies a running theme for this exploding kaleidoscope of diverse voices, with Ambrose Akinmusire, Greg Osby, Kenny Werner and Ben Monder being a few of the interacting musical voices, offering an aural front page of dispatches, reveries, declamations, and narratives from past and present. Leave it to music, melding with shadow and light, to make the case for poetry. That's what this album—and its varied supplications to the muse—are for.
"...important poetic works in the context of sound and emotive playing. There is no line of demarcation, only artistic unity afloat in a solution of truth."
All About Jazz
“The poets on the recording represent a wide cross-section of the US poetry scene. With four pieces included in the collection, black queer writer & editor Faylita Hicks offers compelling, dynamic storytelling which ranges from her modern poetic social narrative, "Hoodwitches," to the vocal- rap piece, "We Bring the Soul to It." Her artistry is living proof of where hip hop and jazz can merge to create a natural, important and inevitable journey within the jazz idiom that artistically achieves excellence.”
—PAUL RAUCH, ALL ABOUT JAZZ
Reviews
“The collection is more youthful, and 4 of the 13 selections are works of poet, singer, and performance artist Faylita Hicks, who shapeshifts from streetwise preacher protestor to soul singer at a rap slam, to a released petty criminal mired in spiritual and economic desolation singing the blues, to a twisted, noir, O. Henry-like storyteller mentioning George Floyd and reflecting how a $20 bill figures in life. Some of the 19 guest musicians are chosen for their youth to provide a contemporary hip-hop perspective to match Hicks' exuberant, zingy poetry.”
—DR. DEBRA JAN BIBEL, AMAZON
ONYX (2019)
Poet Faylita Hicks brings forth several poems from her debut collection of poetry, HOODWITCH, dropping October 15, 2019, from Acre Books Publishing through the Chicago Distribution Center.
credits
released June 15, 2019
Music production x Delano Taylor.
Recording x Troy Baham.
Mixing/Mastering x Gost.
Writing/Performance x Faylita Hicks.
COLLISION CITY (2015)
Spoken Word Artist Faylita Hicks uses raw lyricism to take on rock-inspired hip hop beats and street rhetoric in this album dedicated to the ongoing conversation about personal politics, being a woman, education, and personal growth.
There are a lot of things happening in the world around us. In the last few years, there has been an increased effort in the Hip Hop community to eloquently address the various issues facing the black community. As a female artist, I have found that there are many people who believe I should only talk about certain things. In this project, I have tried to step outside my comfort zone and be as honest as I can about how I feel when it comes to race and sex issues. I believe that my generation of creative artists are focused on insta-products and immediate gratification. This 8 track EP took a little over a year for me to complete and that's because I wanted to give every track the dedication it deserved and make sure that I meant what I said.
After spending the past decade being recognized as solely a Spoken Word Artist, I am excited to enter this next chapter of my performance and creative career as a rapper. Music is the beat of life and I am entering the next phase. I hope that you are able to... more
credits
released January 1, 2015
I am constantly inspired by the amazing artists that surround me. If it wasn’t for the following people and their hard work and support, this EP would not have been possible. I want to thank Lanier H.S. alumni and associate Ax Stinnett of NotABand for his outstanding and amazingly creative original tracks. It was an honor to write to your creativity. I want to thank Victor Bustos of the Martian Lab Studios for getting my tracks sounding great. You’re insight has always been helpful and as always, I love the Latin Guitar! I want to thank Chris Alvarado aka CA the Commoner for the on point graphic design! I also want to thank my roomie and label mate Symmatree for keeping me focused and pushing me to get things done. Lastly, I want to give a big THANK YOU to Grid Squid Entertainment. We work together, we create together, we build together. All songs written by Kazee Queen (Faylita Hicks).
©2015 APoetsTribe
©2015 Kazee.Queen Grid Squid Ent
All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.
Manufactured in USA
Artwork by: Chris Alvarado
VICTOR BUSTOS has over 25 years of experience as a guitar player, producer and engineer. He has worked with artists like Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, Jeff Beck) and Chad Wackerman (Frakn Zappa, Allan Holdsworth, Barabara Streisand), recording their Duets Vol 1 &2 releases; Patrick O'Hearn (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, numerous movie scores), Alex McHacek (Terry Bozzio, GIT Instructor, Solo), Rafael Dolinski (Pearl Drums, Paiste Cymbals, ByerDynamics), and many more international artists. He has also recorded several Texas area Artists/Bands: Millhouse, Grass, KazeeQueen, Alex Winters, and Tyler Carmen to name a few.
Victor has also performed, written and toured with such acts as Millhouse (Hard Rock), raisedbyaliens (Progressive Rock), Extracto (Instrumental Hard Rock), Maz Rios and the Waysiders (Latin Blues Rock), Calle 6 (Tejano), The Lost Groove (Fusion Hip-Hop), and currently plays in Rotel and the Hot Tomatoes (Cover Show Band).
Victor has also operated his own studio, the martianlab, for over ten years.
Contact info: martianguitar@yahoo.com
Rough Patch (2012)
The Rough Patch is dedicated to the man I loved and lost and all those that followed in these last few years. Tracks including on this album speak on my reality, what I've experienced and learned on this journey. Special S/O to: Symmatree for helping with another album and keeping me on the positive side of things, Aubrey Hicks-my dad for giving me the support and understanding I needed to get through this year, Amanda Perez for being a light in my life, Michelle Desiree and Brandy for being the example of love in all its forms, Billy and Candyce Tuggle for opening your home to me and giving me the hope that is moving me forward, Sonya Renee for reminding me that my body is NOT an apology, Jerome Horton for being you, Jerome Hays for being a great friend in all of this, Adrienne Kennie for being a listening ear and supportive heart, Kim Goodman for being you girl, Mike Hickey for reminding me to keep my pen moving, and Carmendy for reminding me that life goes on.
credits
released July 16, 2012
Producer: Symmatree, Vocals: Faylita Hicks, Symmatree