Album Statement

This album is a thesis statement.

I recorded, produced, and mixed this album between 2022 and 2023 as a means of communicating with my ancestors through sound and story.

The album cover is a portrait of my paternal grandparents, Betty and Ernest Paulin; both of whom were active members of Marcus Garvey's UNIA. My grandmother, a lifelong intellectual and book collector, taught me the importance of knowing my people's history. My grandfather, a noted jazz musician and progenitor of the Traditional New Orleans jazz sound, represents my love for black music and culture. He was a culture-keeper, a djali who kept the stories of liberated Africans alive through music and ritual.

In this album, I use the medium of lo-fi hip-hop to explore Afrofuturism, Africana Studies, Black Sound studies and Pan-Africanism. This body of work incorporates the voices of several prominent figures that speak to the black experience: Malcolm X, Runoko Rashidi, Marimba Ani, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Big Chief Tootie Montana, and more.