SOULTREE EP RELEASE RE-CAP
Photos by Jamale “JJ” Johnson
Re ~ capture . Re ~ flect . Re ~ member . Re ~ minder . Re ~ view .
05.30.19
Iakwe, Mabuhay, Peace beautiful seeds & spirits,
I invite you to Re(WIND) & Re(LIVE) this magical evening with me. It’s been a month since the release of the Soultree EP online and in real life, real time ~ here in Chicago.
Allow me to do a digital roll call & recall of who was in the house that night. The house was HVAC Pub on Clark in Wrigleyville. In the house we had my blood and chosen family of all forms creative, cultural, work (past & present), collaborators, and a good handful that were strangers to me.
We had people from all directions of the city, from all over the world, and across all different backgrounds and experiences. And we didn’t have just any members of countless communities there, we had some pretty epic leaders, lovers, creators, and curators in this city present in the space.
It’s taken me a month to really just let the magnitude of what happened sink in and to also get my apartment back together from the two to three months it took to prepare for this show.
Releasing the SOULTREE EP and co-curating this show with my family & friends, I have no doubt in my mindbodyheartsoul that this is a major part of what I want to be doing for my entire life.
This beautiful gallery of photos was taken by Jamale Johnson (@jamaleyusan).
I have so much respect and love for all the people featured in this gallery.
Family & friends from our bio and chosen family came through for one of the warmest days this past spring. The evening felt like a family reunion and spiritual gathering at the same time.
THANK YOUS
To those who came through in all forms ~ I want to give a heartfelt thank you to all of you for being part of this momentous night. The love and support we received and continue to receive is truly affirming and confirming of the work we all collectively put into our crafts and creations to get to this point.
To our family and friends ~ thank you for being part of this special night & helping shape me to the person and artist that I am today. To our bio fam ~ thank you for supporting us and being so understanding for the ways we are and are becoming. Thank you for growing with us and being our greatest support in this journey. To our chosen fam ~ we could not have survived let alone thrived without ya’ll. You truly show us what family committed to our life missions and growth means.
To Funhouse & HVAC ~ thank you for inviting us into your space, allowing & accommodating our various needs, and following through & up after our event.
To Mo, Raven, Bo, and DudeBabe ~ thank you all for contributing your visions and visual gifts to the Soultree EP and to this release party. It’s amazing to see the collection of each of your work grow and I am so honored that I can be part of it.
To our Vendors FreshAssMonk, RahCrystals, Mahal Healing Arts, Ranvier Beauty, MadeByJulio, and Gratitude Blooming ~ each of your unique gifts and offerings sent a powerful message of love, care, adornment, and celebration of self in our fullest forms. Thank you for setting the tone of the space by your presence.
To our performers Gertrude, Koyotl, Karla Anaguano, C Rich, Fresco, MEL, and Wadadah II ~ thank you for weaving together a powerful night of music. No one would expect this line-up as much as they would expect the music I create. Y’all perfectly resonated many of the sounds & expressions that make up my music. Hearing all of you was a special gift to experience before and after releasing my first EP. I am so honored you were part of this night.
To our Soultree set Sounds Bri, DC, Jay, Koyotl, L O Kari, and Math ~ WE.DID.THAT!!! Our rehearsals were the most rigorous, challenging, and fruitful of all. I am so proud of us and so grateful to each of you for bringing your gifts. Every effort ya’ll put into this set was felt and heard. You brought the spirit and essence of this music to life.
To our Soultree set MoveMeant, Crystle, Jean, Kiam, Ernie, and Raheim ~ Ya’ll made it feel safe to be fully vulnerable in my/our body on stage in a way that I had always wished and knew was in me. I needed to release, reinvent, and recreate with each of you for this next phase of my artisTree. Thank you for the way you shift spaces with your body and essence. Each of you are so powerful. Together, we created an experience that honored our ancestors and re~membered us to sacred ways and movements from within.
To Nakhlite ~ thank you for connecting sound to image & light for our set! Your work really helped drive the messages home and made the crowd feel immersed and part of the show.
To J Bambii ~ thank you again for being the best host there ever could be! You connected the crowd through your words and playful, engaging ways.
To Kayla ~ thank you for bringing all your talents through for this release, for the art and visual creation for our stickers and lighters, to the impeccable photos and face art you create, to your management and support skills. I could not have done this without your support!
To CMPLX2010, Eco Collective, Healing Home, School of Rock West & Bahay Tubo ~ Thank you for allowing us the space & time to prepare & practice in your space in preparation for this release.
To DC ~ I’m gonna do a separate post about you in the future (with your permission;) to elaborate on this journey so far, but for now I will end with maraming salamat sa lahat, mahal. You were part of so many different aspects of this release and project. You are in this EP as much as I am & I couldn’t have dreamed to be able to do what we do, how we do. I stay in awe of your support, trust, and faith in me & in our life. Magpakailanman.
To our Universal Life Force, Creator, Bathala, Jah, God, Hip Hop, Music, UndocuForce, Vibrations ~ I accept, I commit, I continue, and I choose to participate again and again in the interest of love & our greatest good. This is what I always wanted to do & I am doing it in a way that I feel most aligned with and a pace that reflects the lands and ocean I am from. Thank you for all of those that have been an example to me.
There’s more I’ve wanted to share and I’ve been doing the inner work to be able to release it in a way that honors all life & sides & patterns & angles.
Moving forward with love,
s
P.S. more footage & writings to come.
