First, lets start with Maya Azucena. This name is no newbie on the block. She was been making serious moves in the music scene for years, as her own boss, and has even won a Grammy (from the track Let Her Dance on Stephan Marley's "Mind Control"). This woman means business. I recently met her at a MVMT Brunch (more on that later) and her aura filled the room with good vibes. Excited to see more of her live.. Check her out!
MAYA AZUCENA
WHERE DO YOU CALL HOME? Brooklyn, NY (all the way, Baybeee!)WHERE ARE YOU FROM? Flatbush Brooklyn, did I say BROOKLYN?
WHAT DO YOU DO? I am an entrepreneur, humanitarian artist. A singer songwriter, manager of affairs, producer of events. A survivor.
TRUE BEAUTY IS… what emanates from within. It is the glow in one’s eyes. It is that gentle yet confident sense of self. It is embracing who you really are.
BEATS… move me
TRUE SEXY … also emanates from within. Sexy is a swagger more than a surface thing. I’ve seen a lot of good looking dudes and scantily clad women who are not sexy AT ALL. Give me someone who knows who they are and has a fire in the eye, and gives off that sexual confidence without trying.
MUSIC IS MY… Calling
ART DOES NOT… keep within boundaries
MY NIGHTS ARE… endless...or should I say, my DAYS are endless. They keep rolling one into the other. Sleep is for suckas (haha, I’m just kiddin, sort of)
THESE 3 TURN ME ON… Deep eyes, Strong forearms (on a man), Chocolate skin, Warrior spirit, a good dancer, spiritual confidence (just three?)
SELF-KNOWLEDGE …is very important. If you are not aware of who you are, and what you are doing, you WILL stumble until you figure that out.
ENOUGH OF … reality TV and Auto tune. Word.
MY CREATIVITY IS… openminded
TRUE POWER IS… from above
LIFE CAN BE ... Hard sometimes but these struggles pass when we stick with it, have a little faith, and stay in tune with the big picture.
TO LOVE IS TO… hold someone down. To believe in someone and help them to believe in themselves. To love is not just an emotion, it is an ACTION.
I'VE GOT FLOW BECAUSE… I go with it and not against it.
WORDS YOU LIVE BY: Seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14
NEW PROJECTS FOR 2010? My new CD is nearly done – CRY LOVE. I also have various singles coming soon with folks like Stephen Marley, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Hasan Salaam, Mazzi, Eleven, Complex, Gibonni and more and more and more.
I am also producing an amazing event on FEB 5TH named “Dance for Brooklyn with Grammy winner Maya Azucena.” It will feature my live concert in collaboration with three dance troupes: Afro Mosaic Soul; L-Touch Tap Phonics; and Zifadanz Group. Check out our first promo video here:
DANCE FOR BROOKLYN with Maya Azucena starring Afro Mosaic Soul; L-Touch Tap Phonics; and Zifadanz Group At Galapagos Art Space 16 Main Street, Dumbo Brooklyn 10:00PM / $12.00
WHERE CAN WE REACH YOU? www.MayaAzucena.com
SHOUTOUTS? I like to shout out my baby mama. Psych! Sarah White for this blog, My Mom, Pilar Newton, Dad, Eugene Robinson, Caitlin Meissner, Vanessa Hidary, Pete Miser, Luquantumleap, Supa Nova Slom, Honey Larochelle, Chris Rob, Maurice Brown, Big Brooklyn Red, Spokinn Movement, Dujeous...this list is too long...I give up.
Maya Azucena: A SoulMentary from Beresford Bennett on Vimeo.
--Now next, we have Caitlin Meissner aka Caits. She is one of those women that you vibe with and know you've got a homie for life. In a world of bullshit, she is bringing something real and in the flesh. She is an amazing poet, community worker, performer, designer and also known to give you a kick in your ass if you need to get to work. I love this girl, and I'm glad to finally feature her. Aslo be sure to peep her livingroom sessions!
CAITS MEISSNER
WHERE DO YOU CALL HOME? Brooknam, heart of the city, Crown Heights, buk buk!WHERE ARE YOU FROM? A small town outside of Albany, New York. Which pretty much negates all of that fanfare above and the truth is, my heart is often in the mountains, anyway.
WHAT DO YOU DO? storyTeller/magicMaker... which is a fancy way of saying a lot at once: poet, writer, performer, music-maker, teaching artist, graphic designer. Lover of mankind and red wine. Extreme day dreamer.
TRUE BEAUTY IS… Embracing your unique being, full of flaws and imperfections and sometimes wearing face paint and big ol' fake eyelashes or just out of a bath naked, with those stubborn dry skin patches but my how fly you pull them off! Shining from the inside, didn't yo' mama tell you that one?
BEATS… are what I put words to, what I stream through my headphones, what I geek out with my friends to and make the ugly face and clutch at my chest, what makes life all red and hot and sweaty and puts the bounce in my step and flips up my heart on a bad day.
TRUE SEXY IS… confidence, talent and owning your bad self 'cuz that self is pretty bad, boy.
MUSIC IS MY… pulse, thanks to Dad's record collection and schooling me from the time I was a baby on why sound can be more crucial than food.
ART DOES NOT… leave you empty or unchanged. It incites, encourages, moves, pushes you past the edge, fills you with love or hate or anger. It gets you. Or it does not get you. But it gets someone, or else it's doing a lousy job.
MY NIGHTS ARE… extended into the morning, most days. Filled with solo creation sessions, dancing 'till my back breaks, laughing with my friends who's smiles damn near fill up their entire face, having spiritual revelations, being under the fire of a warm mouth, being an insomniac. To be truthful, sometimes wasting time on the internet. But there is always a discovery.
THESE 3 TURN ME ON… being magnificent at what you do. Having a record collection that rivals my own and puts me on to some new thing that makes my belly turn 'cause its THAT good. And good rhythm.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE … is a never-ending journey and shape shifts just when you think you've got a good handle on the sucker and shouts, "aha! Tricked ya." Other
days, however, I think we are the very same people we were at age five. I made a lot of little arts and crafts gifts for everyone. I still do that.ENOUGH OF … having haters being something to brag about. War. Greed. Jealousy. Bring on the light!
MY CREATIVITY IS… a tricky little kitten. Where is she hiding today? Under the bed? In the back closet? She do what she please and fancies herself the most beautiful muse, and the truth is, she is and I follow her all around the world and make myself all sick from airplane germs and not enough sleep but those red lips, ohhh how they pull the poems outta my deepest caves....
TRUE POWER IS… being able to say, "I was wrong, but I am committed to being right." And not right, like, I got the answer to the math problem right, but like Tiny Tim right. Like good heart right.
LIFE CAN BE THE... sweetest song, if you slow down long enough to put your ears against its hum.
TO LOVE IS TO… be in your most creative essence, wide open. To feel where the blood pumps to and put that into your pen, your lips, your dance. Why are there so many songs and poems and paintings and films about love. What else do we live for?
I'VE GOT FLOW BECAUSE… I grew up dancing to James Brown in my parent's living room. Cause, in inspired moments, I can be a fish. The ocean lives in my mouth and speaks for me.
WORDS YOU LIVE BY: "Well, that's one for the memoir."
NEW PROJECTS FOR 2010?
Writing for a short film /
Collaborating on music (still secret!) /
Meditations /
More Living Room Sessions /
Getting published /
Love
WHERE CAN WE REACH YOU?
http://www.caitsmeissner.com
http://www.twitter.com/caitsmeissner
caitlin@mvmt.com
SHOUTOUTS?
The MVMT team, who've put the fire under me for 2010
Always & forever my cousin Alec & lil' Sis, Lins
Sarah & Lichi for this inspiring blog, of course!
And y'all who know me, know I love you and we can
do shout outs for days, but I hope I say "I appreciate you"
enough for you to know who
See for yourself:
another taste:
Kissing
when I say you remind me of a book's broken back,
pages half-sewn and a coffee ring on it's face or
that moment in half-morning where the sun is hesitant
or after the ground's been cried upon and everything
is soft and open or holding the earth's guts in palm
just to feel alive amidst all this concrete, my god, what
I mean to say is this song is an off strum and I like the way
it hits my ears sideways and how I might be cold and you'll
put your coat around my shoulders like the movies and
I'll show my teeth and say, who spilled molasses over the window,
making the day golden? You'll say, beautiful is a dead word
and I'll say, so let's invent, they tell us that star up there blew out
ages ago and you'll say, but it still holds 10,000 wishes
tonight alone and we'll want to sing with our voices turned
on backwards, we'll want to laugh so hard we forget to
ask why and then lose any use for that word, too.
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