Debut album
I’m not a mother, but I have children
06.18.21
White parents.
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@consequence premiere on Wednesday (4/14). Everywhere on Friday (4/16).
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Pre-save via the link in my bio. 💛
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📷 : @oprahtheactress
White parents.
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This week!
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📷 : @oprahtheactress
Maybe we’re
Humans beneath the stratosphere
Maybe we’re
Nothing but salt in someone’s tear
Maybe we’re
Nowhere, maybe we’re everywhere
I don’t care
We’re here now
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(Poem that became a beautiful song I made with @synematik. We’ll share it with you, in some shape or form, one of these days! 📷: @oprahtheactress)
Smile at strangers
Know your neighbors
Tell people you love them
Tell yourself you love yourself
Get really good at somethin’
Raise a houseplant
Name your houseplant
When birds sing, just listen
Learn how to forgive yourself
Get really good at livin’
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📸: @oprahtheactress
An actual photo of my soul. Until it encounters someone sexist, racist, classist, ableist, homophobic, discriminatory, or in the business of fucking songwriters over financially, contractually, legally, illegally, or in any other way — including songwriters who use clout, privilege and intimidation to take more than their fair share. There are lots of all of the above in the music industry. Swipe for my soul’s reaction to them.
As a child, I spent most of my free time in trees. I’d sit atop my favorite mulberry tree for hours upon hours — journal in hand, my dogs chomping on the fallen fruits below. I’d accept the punishment for not coming inside in time for dinner just so that I could spend more time up high. I was never hungry anyway; I was surrounded by the best of the berries, only reachable by me, the bugs, the birds and the snakes that ate the birds. In trees is where I really started writing, and unknowingly meditating, and becoming certain of the interconnectivity of everything. People on both sides of my family either live or once lived in harmony and in conversation with nature. I’d hardly call this house I live in, and the paved streets I walk my dog on, harmony, but I do respect all living things, from the greatest to the smallest, and most especially my elders — including every old tree I encounter.
I wrote this poem in memory of the victims of the Vegas shooting. Reading it aloud, three and a half years later, is so frustrating given how little has changed and the events of the past week. Peace and power to the lives lost to gun violence in Boulder, those lost to gun violence and racism in Atlanta, to all of the mourning families, and to everyone else whose stories don’t make the news. We won’t hear the majority of sad stories. We won’t honor the majority of victims of gun violence, racism, hatred and abuse. This is more than a passing dinnertime conversation; and it’s gonna take more than a few days of online activism to make a difference. Are you committed to caring, and to action, all the time? I promise you have something special to add to the cause.
Please, can we learn to care for each other as living, rather than as dying, beings?
He doesn’t know he’s not a lap dog.
I’m committed to using my voice as a human and artist to speak deeply about what’s happening both outside and within. I can’t speak for everyone, but I can speak from my experiences. It’s my hope that my songs make some of you feel less alone than I used to feel, more empowered than I used to be, and more capable of building the beautiful world that you envision, and deserve to be, living in.
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My debut album, “I’m not a mother, but I have children” comes out on June 18th — it’s 13 songs and 3 poems that I’m so excited for you to hear. You can now pre-order it wherever you buy music. <3
For the longest time, I’ve envisioned making a video in which I repeatedly get slapped in the face to represent how external stressors and oppressors — including digital ones — impact our internal selves. The “There’s only so much a soul can take” video is out now! Thank you to the wonderful team of people who made my visual dream come true, and turned it into something even more than I could have imagined alone:
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Shot and directed by @DPMikeyT
Produced by @thebenhoward
Edited by @ellenschwa
1st AC: @kristi.Hoi
Gaffer: @anaistheeditor
Slapper: @oprahtheactress
Premiere: @floodmagazine
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Swipe up in my stories to watch!
“There’s only so much a soul can take” is out NOW, and I can also now officially tell you that my debut album “I’m not a mother, but I have children” comes out on June 18th! “There’s only so much a soul can take” is a reminder that there’s power and importance in saying “Fuck you!” to the people and systems that fuck us; that while inner peace is aspirational, it’s also totally appropriate to admit that the state of the world has many of us tiptoeing our breaking points. Swipe for lyrics and credits, click the link in my bio for the full song, and check back tomorrow for another surprise. <3
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Special thanks to @ZaneLowe and @hookdegan for the premiere and love on @AppleMusic. To my phenomenal coproducer, @spencer_stewart, and beautifully artful mixer, @michaelfreeman12. Also, massive love to my team for being such believers in music with a message.
Important stuff: My new song “There’s only so much a soul can take” comes out tomorrow!
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More important stuff: I’m honored to announce that it’ll be @ZaneLowe’s World First on Apple Music 1! Head to http://apple.co/zane tomorrow (3/9) at 9:30 a.m. PT to hear it first. Special thanks to Zane, @AppleMusic and @hookdegan.
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Now swipe for the MOST important stuff!
What’s your relationship with the digital world like? Mine varies from beautiful to painful to totally hypocritical. Sometimes I wish I could erase myself from the Internet, or erase the Internet entirely, and at others I see the truest beauty and most meaningful change that come from sharing ourselves and our knowledge with each other so frequently and intimately. In some ways, we can be more intimate here. In others, less. I don’t know what the future of technology has in store for us. I just hope we don’t lose our uniqueness, our sensitivity, our kindness and our non-digital connections with each other and nature. Most importantly, I hope you’re well and doing whatever you need to do to stay mentally, physically and spiritually healthy, both on and offline. 💛
Turns out I’m your daddy. (Zoom in on purse)
But don’t you think it’s weird
To wanna be observed?
To share our every move?
To need all love returned?
To watch each other live
Instead of live our lives?
Sometimes the Internet’s
A place that I despise
@Diplo went and made “We’ll Always Have This Dance” the tearjerker it was always meant to be with this remix. (You’ll know what I’m talking about once you hear the intro.) Swipe for all of the versions of this song — from the banging @tshamusic remix, to the OG KUU release with @alexmetricmusic and @ritontime, to the first super rough demo straight outta my loneliness. Now please excuse me while I have a sentimental dance with the ancestors. Check @kuumusic’s account for a direct link. 💛
If you can’t buy it, make it. If you can’t make it, stop doubting yourself and make it anyway. So long as you like it, it’s good art. 💛
The “To be me” video is out now! (Link in bio.) Thank you, from the infinite depths of my heart, to everyone who has listened to and reached out about “To be me.” I’ve never connected so deeply with people over a song. Now, more than ever, I feel the power of our togetherness, and a certainty that the future will be brighter — and safer — because of it. 💛
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Story by Shungudzo
Directed by @g.smithofficial, Shungudzo
Filmed by G.Smith
Edited by G.Smith, Shungudzo
Produced by G.Smith, Shungudzo
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Special thanks to my visual soul sister G.Smith. To @paper & @justintmoran for premiering our work. To @bilgerorama & @oprahtheactress for acting out-of-character to help me tell this vulnerable story. And to @leftoversnacks for his helping hand on set.
What I’m telling myself today 💛