Host Sharon Hinton speaks to artist-activist Zakiyyah. She shares her many efforts to uplift marginalized communities, including founding Black and Bold Productions and serving as a trustee for the Free for All Concert Fund. This show features Zakiyyah's original music, which combines her background as a classically trained singer and a hip-hop artist: Hip-Hopera.
WBCA Podcasts
Black Teachers Matter
Host Sharon Hinton speaks to artist-activist Zakiyyah. She shares her many efforts to uplift marginalized communities, including founding Black and Bold Productions and serving as a trustee for the Free for All Concert Fund. This show features Zakiyyah's original music, which combines her background as a classically trained singer and a hip-hop artist: Hip-Hopera.
- Duration:
- 52m
- Broadcast on:
- 02 Jul 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
(upbeat music) - Good evening and welcome to another edition of Black Teachers Matter on WBCALP102.9FM in Boston. We're Boston's community radio station. I'm your host Sharon Eaton Hinton. And as usual, we got some bad, bad, bad people up in here. And her, you know, I don't know if you know about hip, hop, opera, I didn't. I kind of did, but I kind of didn't. But I do now. And you will too in just a moment because Zakia with two eyes is here in the studio and she is going to present what she does. We're here in Black Teachers Matter and she is a teacher, but we're gonna talk about how she is teaching people about this new genres. No, but it's kind of not new, but it's gonna be new to you when we introduce it. Another piece that we want to talk about if you are with us right now, and I'm looking for this, where's my mouse? Where's my mouse? I want to play something for you. This is July 2nd, we're live. And it's two days before what this country calls Independence Day, but it's not for, and it wasn't in 1776, okay, I can't find this mouse, and this is freaking me out here. It wasn't for the majority, if not all of the Africans, the enslaved Africans in this country. So this piece that I want to play for you is a piece that is actually wrapped around from democracy now, but the piece that I want you to hear are the words in the voice of James Earl Jones saying the words of Frederick Douglass. What to the Negro? What to the Negro is February 4th? - Day in this special broadcast, we begin with the words of Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. On July 5th, 1852 in Rochester, New York, Frederick Douglass gave one of his most famous speeches. What to the slave is your 4th of July? He was addressing the Rochester ladies' anti-slavery society. This is James Earl Jones reading the historic address during a performance of Voices of a People's History of the United States. It was co-edited by Howard Zinn, the late great historian introduced the address. - Frederick Douglass, once a slave, became a brilliant and powerful leader of the anti-slavery movement. In 1852, he was asked to speak in celebration of the 4th of July. - Fellow citizens, pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I or those I represent to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice embodied in that declaration of independence extended to us, and am I therefore called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common, the rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This 4th of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters, into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean citizens? To mock me by asking me to speak today? What to the American slave is your 4th of July? I answer a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year the gross injustice and cruelty, to which he is a constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham. Your boasted liberty, an unholy license, your national greatness, swelling vanity, your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless, your denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence, your shots of liberty and equality are all mockery, your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings. With all your religious parade and solemnity, are the hymn, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety and hypocrisy, a thin veil to cover up crimes that would, that would disgrace a nation of savages. There's not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than other people of these United States at this very hour. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument is needed. Oh, had I the ability and could reach the nation's ear I would today pour forth a stream, a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sartasm and stern rebuke, for it is not light that is needed, but fire. It is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. The conscience of the nation must be roused. The propriety of the nation must be startled. The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed and the crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced. James Earl Jones, reading the words of Frederick Douglass. Thank you. That was stirring, and it was inspiring. And for some of us, it was angering, but someone is going to bring some light to this because she is an arts activist, a change maker, singer, songwriter, actress, racial equity, and social impact consultant. And her causes of racial justice, gender equity and female empowerment, economic justice, entrepreneurship, education, criminal justice reform, arts, and art advocacy. Zakia, welcome. Thank you for having me. I mean, that's a hell of a thing to follow, Frederick Douglass, and it took a minute, right? I'm honored to have the opportunity. I mean, after the words, I actually got to meet him at Northeastern University. His voice sounds just like that. Wow. He's just so dynamic. And I wasn't even expecting to see him. I was working at the African American Institute at that time. And he was in the library. And it was years ago when he was the spokesperson for Verizon. And I'm walking into the library and there's Mufasa. I was like, "Oh!" Wow. It's true legend. You know, the students were in there. They didn't even know. They didn't know who he was. I'd seen him on Broadway. I'd seen him on "Great White Hope" in film and everything. And then he's in front of me. I wasn't even looking for him. I was like, "Oh, here he is." And then he was in front of me. And we had a question and answer. Period. Girl, I was dominating the whole thing because he was asking people, you know, they said, "Do you have any questions for him?" And you could have had a print drop in the room. I was like, "Okay, I'm going to step right up in here. Y'all don't even know." That's why black teachers matter because we got to make sure the younger generations know the legends that allow us to take up the space that we do. And you -- I know. And you are doing amazing. Now, black and bold productions, is that you? Is that all you? That's me. It's a production company. I started -- it's funny because making the music videos from my projects is one of my most fun parts to me because it gives me a chance to amplify the vision of the messaging I'm putting in the songs. And I remember as I was coordinating so much playing the producer role with these videos, someone asked me one time, you know, one of the actors I had hired, I'm going to actually put this on my resume. So what do I put as the production company? And I was like, "You know what? That's a good -- I'm sitting there doing the work of a production company." So I went and made it official. And so right now, black and bold is mainly producing my music videos, but the goal is to expand into larger media projects. Now, you're an actress, classically trained singer in opera, hip hop, jazz, R&B. Yeah. And I got to see you live at the Wright Boston fundraiser. You have -- let's see. You've re-sung at the House of Blues. Recently in the United Nations, you graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in political science and sociology. You work with a good friend of mine, Tito Jackson, who's now a legalized drug dealer. I'm just saying. I crack at him all the time. So he was never a drug dealer. Now he's just -- he's run to dispensary, a couple of dispensaries, so he's a legalized drug dealer. Oh, you also work with another friend of mine, Steve Tompkins. He's amazing. Sheriff Steve Tompkins. And you created Dash, defensive aides in situations of help, a women's self-defense program that travels to Boston. And you served as a trustee for the Free All Concert Fund. I'm trying to give you all your props, because you out here now. Thank you. I have an organization charged with providing the necessary funding to make classical music accessible to the masses. You shared this honor with former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis, Senator Sonia Cheng Diaz, and those were both friends of mine, too. And then it says after departing from politics, you haven't really departed from politics, have you? In an official capacity? Yes, but not in a community capacity. Okay, then you spent a year pursuing your artistic and scholastic ambitions, and this is a wide range. Like, she's an international mega talent. Y'all, you're scholastic ambitions in the Czech Republic, Thailand, South Africa, and Colombia hosting Black Lives Matter event, Black Lives Matter event. How appropriate black teachers matter, although we're not affiliated. In the latter two countries, and even recording with Grammy-nominated group, Explosion Negra, and here's where the education part is. You worked as an administrator at Conservatory, all the new, um, charter school conservatory lab, charter school, which is unclimmy road. Private voice training, Harvard's Holden voice program, Hamilton, Garrett, Music and Arts Academy, and you created an arts activism program for teens in 2020. It was four years ago. I had to do some quick math. Without a creative revolution, in addition to her artistic practice, Zakia, currently works as a racial equity consultant with arts connection into national helping arts organizations reassess their practices through the lens of equity and creative justice. You're also a seasoned partner for the Boston Children's Chorus, an engagement which comprises performing and composing for the choir, writing the script for the MLK show, studenting a video project, facilitating arts activism workshops with youth and your upcoming album, African Import, provides a window into both the beauty and complexity of the Black diaspora and the significance of his consumption by Main Street Society. So I'm reading off of her website, y'all. So if I'm looking down, you know, because when you see this in video, you'll see me looking down. So the perfect blend of evidence in allegory is the key of shades of Black, the hip, hopper. I need an applause track. [SPEAKING SPANISH] That is a lot. Yeah. I don't know how to sit still. That's OK. That is OK because when I'm looking at first, you're very young. I mean, and, you know, thank God off camera, I asked you about this [SPEAKING SPANISH] You know how to practice my little four years of, you know, high school French. [SPEAKING SPANISH] Yes. [SPEAKING SPANISH] So we talked about that, and we'll get into that after we see the video. So I think hopefully we've worked out all the technical issues here. But you, you're just bad, girl. The new face of hip-hop. And when I saw you performing, and you opened up the whole fundraiser, and you just took everybody with you with the interactive, almost back to church because you had people call and respond. People were, well, I'm about to crack on the audience now. The audience there was not primarily people of color, but they got up and they did their thing. Yeah, they did. They were clapping and they were rocking with you. Tell me the difference. I know the difference because I've actually performed in front of audiences and video is different and being on radio is different. For you, what is it like to be in the studio-- well, actually, to be in your head first to think of these things? And then you go into the studio and then you do it live. What is that like? Oh, I love it. I think one thing I love about the writing process when I'm just with my own thoughts is that I can kind of just be free of judgment and whatever I'm feeling in the moment is valid. And so there's a lot of material that I write that when it's time to perform it in front of an audience, particularly a mixed group of people, I'm like, I'm suddenly remembering all the lines. And I'm like, oh, I'm saying this and this and this and that. But I think it forces me to be authentic and be my truest self. And yeah, so what I love is that it provides me a space for healing. It provides me a space to really be in tune with myself so that when it is time for me to present it for an audience, I can connect with them that much better. So I want to play one of your songs. We're going to be looking at you. If you've just tuned in, you're on WBCA LP 102.9 FM in Boston. We are Boston's community radio station. This is another episode of Black Teachers Matter. And I have this black, black, black, black, black educator in the studio with music, yeah, teaching music, singing music, hip-hop spoken word. The next piece that we're, the first piece actually of hers that we're going to hear is called Rise. And then I want to come back and talk about it if you don't mind. Yeah. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] I try to keep my patience, but my spirit's growing hardy. Hope and I won't have to tell my predecessor sorry. The time's been up for justice, but it's usual. It's hardy, because we've been looking for our invitations to the party. I see that someone else is stable, leading smaller portions. Instead of pooling resources to create a fortune. We conceived our own ones, but opted for abortion. And the ones we brought to life soon became orphans. A black White House created in Indonesia. Put even the focus on delivering anesthesia. And we've always got a threat to our development. Because some of these supremacists are out here with a melanin. We giving accolades to people too quick to forgive and wonder why they keep challenging. Our basic right to live, all these years still dreaming. I'm OK. All these tears and they one bill been paid. How many cheeks turn before you just a pushover? How long before the chance to turn things around is over? Much respect to King, but now we need to understand. We can't afford a dream this time. We really need a plan. Only a fool placates to the morality of people who are get to face their own innate brutality. And if we really want a liberty, it's a reality. We want an estimation to protect our own vitality. [Music] Imagine having a stranger stab you in the back. Nightfall twisted up to leave a trail of plot to track. Then the next day, they invite you out to eat. Acting like a nuttin' happen, I still plantin' nice and deep. I can't think of anything more than salted. Besides the people who sit down to eat and feel exalted. Thick lips, big, bad fit for just a savage. Fast forward, white girls buy 'em, date the baddest. We could've taken up arms, but didn't take a look. 'Cause while the sh*t went down our heads were stuck inside the book, praying to a god who saw the chains and turned away. Much like the people he's protected up until this day. Could've had our own Wakanda and Piltination, but we chose integration begging for representation. We like equality, but prefer to be the token. Narcissism is rewarded by the cultures of the broken. A smile on the black face is revolutionary, but a smile that remains conscious is luminary. So we angry, but never let 'em still enjoy. Be peaceful, but prepared to deplore. Don't mistake the words that I'm singing in the song. We can still win, but can't repeat what we did wrong. It's not a sorry regret, but it's the cause to act. To put excuses down the phone, we make our visions happy. Rise, rise, fight, fight, vote. Me, me, rise, rise, fight, fight, vote. Me, me, rise, rise, fight, fight, vote. Me, me, rise, rise and vote. Oh, it's fine to hold. I wonder why they keep challenging our basic grades to let rise. Rise, rise, fight, fight. 'Cause someone leads to premises, so we're here with rebellion. Me, me, rise, resistism is rewarded by the cultures of the broken. Rise, rise, fight, fight. We can still win, but can't stop this, the cause to act. Oh, we need to repeat. Make no mistake about it, that God will handle your enemies. That love thy enemies as you love yourself. Can I get an amen? This young man may be gone today, but tomorrow we will see justice. This young man died in a tragic way, but I believe that God has a plan. Rise, rise, fight, vote. I just want justice for my son. Get on the ground, man, let me go. Get on the ground. He never bothered nobody. He was a good kid. It's resisting. Come on, it hurt. But I have to forgive them for what they done. Oh, but they can't breathe. Because they don't have to live with that for the rest of the day. Rise, rise, rise, fight and vote. I don't request E.D. immediately. Black Lives Matter. Directed by David Montoria, you just heard rise by hip hopper, opera, hip hop, opera artist. I mean, that's a lot, man. Hip hop, opera artist. Hip hop, pop, pop, pop, pop, rise. That was amazing. I mean, tell, you know, I looked at your website, right? And I didn't mean good as a privilege. So you've got a TED talk being good as a privilege, which highlights the ways classism compromises our efforts towards creating a world that is truly equitable, intersectional and inclusive. And I have to tell you that listening to your music, and, you know, the way that I met you was dynamic, because you came in performing. And then you were also introduced to me through a really good friend of mine, Dr. Abdi Ali, who's an amazing revolutionary educator who I know from there. And so it's just being in the room and then the electricity that you brought and the energy that you brought into the room. I can just imagine being in the classroom with you as a teacher. Tell me about this activism, because it's in everything that you do. This song here was serious, and all the songs are very empowering. And it talks about, you talk about creating a world that is truly equitable, intersectional, and inclusive. For you, what does that world look like? Well, one thing that I've learned, one thing I've learned for myself, particularly in the racial justice and equity consulting, where I spent a lot of time working with organizations who are predominantly white. One thing I discovered for myself is that I care a lot more about fostering agency for people of color as opposed to spending my time teaching anyone how to follow certain rules. I want a world where if someone decides they want to do something, whether they happen to be a black woman or any identity, they can do so and not have to worry about the obstacles that institutions are going to put in their way. They're not going to have to worry about the nepotism of individuals with a lot of power who historically had a lot of power and can use that power and leverage it to prevent you from stepping into your power. Yeah, so that's what that means to me. So does that say, okay, so let me give you something that's very philosophical, very intellectual, very, you know, fufu, that's good. It's grounded, but it's kind of fufu, so because I'm not sure. I know that we talk to a lot of different people and right now they're hearing in a radio, so they're hearing the magic of your voice, right? And the beauty of when they see you and the images, I mean, your images and the videos are incredible and you actually direct you, so you, I'm a director, so, and when people ask me, and I'm also a producer, when I'm the director, but not the producer, you have to bring the images in the world of whatever that producer sees in their spirit, in their heads of life. How did you bring the images from your videos along with this vision of this world that has justice and equity and inclusion? Why did you pick some of the images that you picked in this particular video rise? So the interesting thing about rise is that it's one of the only visuals that I kind of allowed my videographer to have more free rein because usually, and he knows me very well, I will have the video treatment, like with hip hop, or I had a video treatment all outlined, I knew what I wanted every scene to look like, and I'm like, it's gonna go like this, this, this, this, and that. And for rise, I knew what I wanted the impact to be, but as far as visuals, I think one of the only visuals I specifically mentioned was the one with me floating in the air, and that's because it says rise in the song, but I knew that I also wanted the educational component because I felt that part of rising and fighting is through knowledge, because I believe that knowledge is power. So I knew I wanted the theme of education to be woven throughout the video, but that I also wanted the theme of black visibility, black voices to be centered in this. So yeah, I actually allowed his team to have a little bit more free rein in this video. And it worked out very well now, of course, they all, they hold me everything they were going to do before they did it, because I do like my creative control. So if it didn't align or if it didn't feel authentic to my artistry, I would have the opportunity to say so, but no, they did an amazing job. The art director for that video was Sarah Espinosa, who's a lovely human being, and yeah, they did their thing. Yeah. Now this 2022, that's, we're talking George Floyd, we're talking the world is the world is saying, what in the heck is going on opinion, United States of America, ladies, killing black folks. Yeah. Did that have anything to do with the fire? I mean, you had some lyrics in there in terms of the protest stuff, but how much does that really influence this particular message or was it always there and it was just accentuated by the times? It was accentuated by the times. You know, something interesting is I first recorded rise, I believe in 2018. So it took a while to come out and I had written it after an episode of police brutality. I'm honestly not sure which one because there's, unfortunately, there have been so many at this point, but I remember I was feeling really angry. It might have been Philando Castile maybe. And yeah, so I first recorded in about 2018, but I think with everything that was happening with the pandemic, I felt a sense of urgency to push it out. And so that's what happened. Yeah. So that's what happened. And then we are looking at another video that is more operatic. And I asked you about this well, opera that it was based on, it's called Idea. And so I wanted to play that believe we're halfway through the program. I mean, that's, yeah. So we're already halfway through the program and I know I'm going to have to have you back because we're still talking about the um, thank you, Tommy, the sign fell down behind me. Sweet came in really quickly. This is what happens when you have live radio. If you've just tuned in, it's WPCA LP 102.9 FM. This is black teachers matter. I'm a black educator. I'm interviewing a black educator who is educating about an art form that we don't necessarily assume with black people. Although Marion Anderson was a premier, you know, operatic singer and historically, um, the whole talking about, you know, we're talking about for for July and that the, how do I, how do I sound so okay. So the, the women who claimed a legacy of patriotism in the United States, who refused to let her sing. And she sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. So that, so I'm just, you know, go Google it because that's not who we're talking about right now. Marion Anderson, we are talking to Zakia. And I want to play again, um, another piece of your music and then come back and talk about it. If we got a second here, let's see, set it up and act like we know what we're doing. And this, this piece right here is called a, yeah. But you're not a petite. And I'm not a petite. And I'm not a petite. And I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. And I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. And I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. And I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. Again, I need the plaz track. I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. I'm not a petite. I'm a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. I'm a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite, I'm not a petite. I want to say the beginning of 2020 or maybe towards the end of 2019, I was learning this area, because just because there's a pandemic doesn't mean I stopped training, and every time I learn a new area, I want to make sure I know what I'm saying, so I was looking at the words and I realized it was a story about beginning a new life and how essentially she's singing about this table we shared so many memories with and now it's sad because we're not going to be together anymore. For her, she's just going off to start a new life, but what it made me think about during the pandemic in particular was how families were being torn apart because of COVID and police brutality. What would it look like to perform this area again, but instead take it in a modern context where we're talking about a table that this black family shared so many memories around and now those memories are being torn apart because black people were disproportionately affected by COVID and then there's also this element of police brutality as well, so that's the story behind it. So earlier we talked about one of the greatest, most legendary, legendary controllers who happened to be African-American, Marian Anderson, and she sang at the Lincoln Memorial in Easter Sunday in 1939 and she had been refused to perform at Washington's Constitutional Hall by the daughters of the American Revolution because she was black and they were not, and so what are some of the, so here's the question I have for you. Who are some of the influences, the influences as singers, but also interest in artists who are singers who are opera singers? Yeah. My vocal mama is Liantine Price, just one of my, not only just my favorite singers, but like just one of my favorite beings because I remember being in a time in my opera journey where I was kind of thinking about leaving it, I just, my connection to classical music was fading and I wasn't sure what the point of it all was and I remember being introduced to Liantine Price and seeing the way she holds herself and just how she knows she deserves to be in the room and she was a soprano and Marian Anderson was controlled, so what do you consider your vocal strength? I'm a soprano, I'm considered a colorator, soprano, that's my specific voice type. But yeah, but Liantine Price is, those are golden vocals right there and someone told me the other day something I didn't know which is that apparently Liantine Price and Whitney Houston were related somehow and I was like that makes a lot of sense, but it's also like wow, how much golden vocal cords can exist in one family, that's a little unfair. But yeah, she actually, Liantine Price actually has, I'm gonna forget the exact number, but she has one of the longest standing ovations in history. And she also was the first African-American to sing a leading role, particularly renowned for performance of the title role in Verdes Aheda. Aheda, yeah. Wow. I think that's the one she had the standing ovation for, yeah, it was like, I don't know, like a half an hour or something or somewhere around there, but people were just could not stop clapping because she was just so phenomenal. Yeah, I saw the, I Wikipedia it right, which is how accurate is that, but it does say that Sissy Houston was her first cousin. Yes, Sissy Houston. And Whitney Houston was her first cousin once removed and you know, and then Dion Warwick and they are all relating to stuff we know about them. And her awards were Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Spingarn Medal, and the National Medal of Arts Academy born in Laurel, Mississippi. Yeah. So she's a southerner. She was a southerner. I'm trying to see where it was. She made her farewell opera performance at the Met in 1985 in Aheda. Okay. So that was her farewell performance, but after her retirement from opera, she continued to appear in recitals and orchestral concerts until 1997. So she, she was a Sanga. She was a Sanga, which is different than a singer. Yeah. She's so Leontine Price and who else? Oh, so many, um, there's Jesse Norman, there's Wirry Grist, um, but you got some, you got some R&B up in there too. Now you're talking about opera right now. Okay. I thought you wanted the opera. I mean, I do too, but you know, you got some R&B and some hip hop. I want to throw in some of them too. Yeah. Yeah. So, oh man. First of all, my first love was my parents' music. I grew up on a lot of Motown and old school R&B. So that hits my spirit like nothing else does. I'm talking Patti LaBelle, I'm talking Smokey Robinson, I'm talking Aretha Franklin. I'm talking, um, Chaka Khan, um, the Temptations, the four tops. Um, yeah. So I, I know a lot more old school than probably the average person of my, my age because I grew up on that music and I, I think it has really inspired my standards for music. Um, and as far as hip hop, the funny thing is I grew up with a Boston hip hop legend, my brother, um, who's, who's much older than I am, which gave me the benefit of really like learning from him. Um, and his, his name is Rip Shop, that's his stage name, um, and he is phenomenal. He's, he's someone, I was, I was scared is for the longest time to call myself a rapper because of him because he's someone who can go off the top for like forever and not a lot of people today do that, you know? Um, it ain't fake. Yeah. And I remember when it was wrapped before it was hip hop and you had to, well, I mean, you had battle rather than stuff too, you couldn't come with the fakeness because you would get hurt. You had to bring it. Yeah. You had to bring it. Or you would get hurt. Like literally you would get hurt. Yeah. And that's why honestly to this day, like I, I feel more comfortable with the term lyricist because I, having been exposed to my brother and stuff like that, I'm like, Oh no, I'm not quite, I'm not about to go off the top of battle someone, but I can, I can put together some good words that make you feel something, um, but yeah, rip shop, definitely one of my huge main influences. I mean, his, his flow, he, he's actually what taught me that art, that that rap is an art form because I think a lot of people, especially a lot of people who don't have a lot of exposure to MCing, they think it's just rhyming, putting together words that rhyme, but there's so much more sophistication to it. There's so much more nuance to it. How you play with the rhythm of your words, the cadence, how you, you know, use metaphors. It's, it's, it's poetry puts it to rhythm and it's just, um, there's a certain sophistication to it that I don't think gets, it's true appreciation. Also, I think your brother came up at a time when, um, rap was very, very activist, very well, and so you had to have a message and if you didn't have a message, you get ripped for that too. Yeah. Like what are you saying? We want to know what you're saying. What are you saying to motivate the people? Yeah. So what are you saying to motivate the people? I'm saying, you know, stop looking for other people to give you the power. You already have it. Now it's up to you to, to, to assert your agency and live your life the way that you know that you deserve to live it. Ooh. You know. And so, you know, we're coming down to the last moments of this show. Can you believe it? I mean, I know that this was happened. So I know I have to have you back and I definitely want to play the piece that actually had me thinking about you and bringing you on the show. And you did, um, you did actually did more, it was more, um, acapella. I mean, you had a track, but, um, this piece, Shades of Black, the Hip Hopa, was what I was showing everybody in the station. I said, she's coming in here. She's good. I had everybody hyped. She's coming in here. Man, she's going to, we got this artist is coming in here. You got to be here. You got to be here. And, um, so I want to play Shades of Black, the Hip Hopa, before you leave the station because I want people, um, really wanting to know who you are and why you are who you are. As your ears consume this opera mixed with rap. It's hip hop. It's hip hop. It's hip hop. It's hip hop. It's hip hop. It's hip hop. It's hip hop. Let your tongue form the smooth sounds yummy, but when they ask why, tell them that you're just chronic, thicker than the food, but even better, you got chronic. I like the people trying to copy it, how ironic, if you're gonna get professional enough for the corporate, don't assimilate a state, will you just be orbit, put your phone when the sun above it, and absorb it, and come wash, they thought that it shouldn't be. And, yes, this is real eyes, real eyes, recognize that nickel eyes make it last, put respect, ability, politics, and replace it with the strong strata black mind. As your ears consume this opera mixed with rap, know where the world is lacking and then fill it together. Now grab your neighbors hand and join in as we make the pact, to never let our wish to fit in compromise or black, never, never, never compromise or black, I know my history is excellence, personified, and if I do embrace it, then that greatness will be multiplied. I promise to reach out to my brother and hope for all the mission, it's just 'cause it's great about nothing, but that's the definition. I know black was made to represent all that's bad and evil, only cause power, this profound had to be illegal. Attempts to stand in my spirit, I'm renowned for violence, speak loud, but every loss, don't silence, just silence. I'm saying, like, you can't even follow that. Laquia, shades of black, the hip-hopper, directed by David Montoria. I love it, absolutely, positively, like, I saw you jam, and I had you most of the day 'cause I don't want to embarrass myself, you know, I was just like, what is up? You saw my hands getting thrown in, I was like, yeah, I see with you. Most definitely, so you know, we've got like five minutes left, do you believe it? No, I don't. I mean, I told you, you know, you were getting nervous, but I have to take care of you, sis. Yeah. I'm going to let you go out like that. You're a teacher. Yeah. Teachers matter, and WBCA, LP102.9, FM, in Boston, we are Boston's community radio station. This is the hip-hop opera queen, I mean, I don't even know, like, like, you know, whoo. What is the message that you want to give to your students? Well, first, I hope doing what I'm doing inspires my students to be the best version of themselves. It's so funny now that you mentioned that I actually got an email two days ago from one of my students that just warmed my heart because I'm not going to be able to teach your next semester. And she says, I know, I know we're not going to be able to work together next semester, but I wanted you to know the impact that you have on me. And I wanted you to know that thanks to you, I feel confident in using my voice and I'm going to continue to study, and it just warmed my heart so much. And so I think what I want my students to know is that there's nothing that is not within their capabilities. There's nothing that you can envision that you can't do. And I try my best to be an example of that as much as I can. And you have. And the other thing is as a teacher, as you know, you plant these seeds, you throw so much stuff at the wall, you don't know what's going to stick. And then they come back to you years later, if you see themselves and they all come up with stuff. It's like, you know, somebody that really influenced me that I love said such and such and such. And you're sitting there and it's like, well, who said that? You did. You're like, really? Let me write that down. That was pretty good. You caught me on a good day. Yeah. Yeah. You really never know the impact you have while you're having it. And I will say even with what I'm doing with my art too, I've worked with different people. I remember on the set of my music videos, you know, because I am an independent artist. Some people see my videos and think that I'm signed somewhere. But no, I just have a lot of willpower and different artists I've worked with say, wow, you're really inspiring me to really go for this. And it didn't occur to me that I'm not just inspiring just the people that I'm talking to specifically in my music. I'm also showing other artists, particularly independent artists, that they can do whatever it is they want to do. And they don't have to wait for someone else to validate them. Especially now when you see so many corporations that run the music business. Yes. So someone, you are independent and someone wanted to get in contact with you or book you or just talk to you, how would they do it? The email is bookings@zakia, I Y Y A H official.com. Say that one again. Bookings@zakiaofficial.com. I want to thank you so much for being here. I am, I'm blown away like I'm full. You know, you can go someplace like to a restaurant and you eat and then you're just like, you know, you get theitis, right? I feel like I have theitis for the music. Thank you. I'm glad. I'll take that. I am serious. And so what are you going to be doing this for July? Just think we've got like 30 seconds. I don't really celebrate, but I do have a show on July 6 for anyone who wants to come for the Mission Hill Arts Festival. So you're welcome to come to that folks. And if we wanted information about that, how do we get it? Mission Hill Arts Festival and you can put my name Z-A-K-I-Y-Y-A-H and it'll come right up. Thank you so much. We are leaving now and I appreciate you so much. For those of you who just tuned in, what's too late now, WBCA-LP, what are 2.9 FM. And we are Black Teachers Matter. [Music]