A multidisciplinary creative titan from West Louisville, KY, who's been weaving worlds in music, theatre, and film for over a decade. She rose to prominence most recently with an Instagram Reel of her rapping to John Coltrane’s “Countdown.” That video has been seen over 1.2 million times. It was reposted by Willow Smith and commented on by legendary Roots Crew member Questlove.

She’s also received public co-signs from Vic Mensa, jazz royalty Jason Marsalis, and Kimbra, to name a few. Her interdisciplinary approach directly expresses her heritage growing up Affrilachian. Kentucky, in her words, “is a complicated place to be Black–a place where the weirdest parts of the south and midwest collide into a soup.” That unique vantage point has, and continues to draw audiences into her ever-evolving universe.

My work is sound, word, and performance. My identity as a neurodivergent Black woman informs this work, often beginning with vocal stimming. Vocal Stimming “refers to self-stimulatory behaviors involving the mouth, lips, or vocal chords, often used by neurodivergent individuals (with autism/ADHD) to regulate emotions, manage sensory input, or self-soothe [as defined on expressable.com]."

I have moved through most of my life without a diagnosis. In other words, I have moved through most of my life without a fundamental understanding of who I was, and why my experiences of the world were ‘so loud.’ I now understand that vocal stimming is the primary entry-point into my musical compositions, sound art pieces, plays, poems, and now an impending debut album.

My Black Kentuckian heritage grounds me. I’m inspired by the spirit of The Derby; its legacy of Black jockeys, horse trainers, and farmers. These are the men and women of the earth that I come from. I’m moved to infuse their wisdom, their understanding of life and death into my work. In short, duality has an altar. I’m holding space for celebration and grief, for the carnal and spiritual; for love, fear, and everything in between. It is my own personal understanding that these aspects of life (and death) aren’t meant to be in conflict, but in agreement.

Still, my Black Kentuckian heritage conflicts me. I have reckoned, all my life, with many layers and 'flavors' of racism, misogyny, and ableism—often without any other language than stimming. I’m reminded of a Hooked On Phonics Set that my Great Aunts Emma and Arletta gifted me when I was a child. Educators themselves, they understood words as sounds first, as music unto itself. I am proud to be a living monument of their understanding.

It is one that I hope tuh pass on.