We have all experienced moments in our lives that have
seemed to the culmination points of many decisions, events, and meetings. This is definitely one of those times for Voice Monet, an independent hip-hop
artist, MC and teaching artist who calls New Orleans her home. A little over one year since the release of
Voice
Presents CuTZ, an eleven track CD that explores “relationships
and personal accountability” in Ms. Monet’s own words, she is slated to appear
at the Montreal Jazz Festival with Wax Tailor (French DJ Jean-Christophe Le
Saoût), with whom she collaborated on the certified silver 2007 release Hope
and Sorrow.
Speaking to me from her home in New Orleans, Voice shared
both her gratitude and her philosophy as an artist. Montreal
is “my biggest show to date, and I’m really excited about it,” she said.
“I’m really appreciative of it, too – work just comes to me.” I’m
not someone who’s always hustling – not that I think that doing so is beneath
me. My time is limited, and when I do have time I like to put
my energy into the art, believing that the recognition will
come. When I don't have solo projects coming up, you can
usually hear me on a collaborative project."
While the idea of simply focusing on one's work may seem
enigmatic in our world of social media and the constant pressure to promote
one's work that it has produced, Voice's philosophy has proven
true: in addition to her award-winning work with Wax Tailor, NOLA
Redux (a collaboration with Malkovich Music) made the top of Gilles
Peterson’s BBC World Wide Best Hip-Hop of 2009 list, and Voice has also
collaborated with artists including BBE, Ninja Tune (London), Public Transit Recordings (Canada) and Twisted Funk Records (United
Kingdom), the results being Voice Monet's presence on over a quarter million
records worldwide. These are all in addition to her four-CD
discography, which includes GUMBO (released in 2006), NOLA, the
aforementioned CuTZ and CuTZ
Remixed (2013).
Wax Tailor: "The Games You Play"
Coincidentally, it is through our virtually-connected world
that Voice's collaboration with Wax Tailor came about, as Tailor ("they
used to call him the 'French DJ Shadow'," she said, "but he's much
different.") bought a copy of GUMBO, and found Voice through MySpace and asked
her to collaborate on “The Games You Play”, which appears on the album Hope
and Sorrow. Both Hope and Sorrow and
"The Games You Play" were hugely
successful: not only was the record nominated for an award from Les Victoires de la Musique (the
"French Grammy") and the single went certified
gold. Voice was later invited to Paris to perform with
Tailor, and that snowballed into "This Train" (2009) which was certified
silver within a matter of months following its release.
"Wax Tailor: This Train"
"The beauty of the feature work is that I can lend my
art to another artist’s project in a truly creative fashion," Voice
shared. Undoubtedly, the opportunity to collaborate with a multitude of
artists does prove to be influential: "When I started
working with Wax, I started seeing myself as a visionary, able to apply all of
my gifts to the process of creation, and that has been a really cool
experience. The music game is bigger than the internet, and for me
it's not about proving to the world how 'fresh' I am."
Voice Monet's very genuine self-assuredness - which is refreshingly
absent of any trace of arrogance - is clear when listening to Voice Presents
CuTZ, the eleven-track 2012 release that speaks of relationships and
personal accountability. "Personal accountability is a
big thing for me," she said. "We all get to a space, time
and place with ourselves where we just stop BS'ing ourselves.
Recording CuTZ was both a comfortable and uncomfortable
process. We started recording it in January 2012, and that was
followed by release in March, and promotion that included both time at SXSW and
a seven-week European tour. The process of personal
accountability continued during all of that, and that has all created a very
interesting space where the new music is coming from."
Listening to CuTZ,
one can hear a great deal of thoughtfulness over beats and sounds that can only
be called a breath of fresh air: The
fast-paced, energetic “How
Can I Luv U?” explores the dynamics
of establishing and deepening relationships, while “Worry Her” – a slow, dark
and bass-laden number – explores one’s relationship with one’s self. “That
song (“Worry Her”) is very special to me
because I could tell that it was the makings of a new phase and a new me,”
Voice said. “When I listen to it I can
hear the new phase, and it does set the tone for the rest of the record. It’s not a finger pointing song, it’s
actually about me, and a lot of people appreciate it.”
Going further, Voice shared more of her philosophical
leanings: “This is where most people
fall on the spectrum: you want to be
devoted to being your best self, but we fall short, and it’s okay to fall short
sometimes.”
CuTZ features a
group of fantastic and multifaceted artists, including longtime collaborators Tondrae Kemp, Saddi Khali
(internationally acclaimed New York-born New Orleans-bred photographer,
performance artist, and poet who appears on "How Can I Luv U?"), P.U.D.G.E. (New York based DJ with
whom Voice has performed throughout the United States and Europe), and Voice’s
two sons, Ori and Yusef. “They
collaborate with me, too – we’re a very musical family, and creativity is a way
of life in our house,” she says with great joy.
CuTZ was mixed and mastered by Kevin Moon, aka Moonstarr of Toronto’s Public Transit Recordings,
and Voice Monet’s trip to Canada will include a reunion with the man to whom she
refers as “My wizard, my earth angel. Moon
was the first person in a position of gatekeeping who let me know that he
believed in me and saw something. We
recorded two songs when we first met:
one of them was released in Japan, the other in England.”
Their working relationship has continued now for over a decade:
“Moon has always been in my work: he
masters every record and he taught me everything that I know about audio
engineering, music business, publishing, royalties. I am very grateful that my introduction to
the music business was through a collective of artists who were already operating
at a high level. Wax Tailor, for
example, is VERY meticulous, and both he and Moonstarr have very devout
followings despite not being represented on major labels.”
Immersion in and adherence to high standards has been a
major part of Voice’s life experience.
“I grew up in a family involved in media and the performing arts, and
they very thankfully made Black arts, culture and tradition the way of life in
our house. It was not until GUMBO was
released, however – and when I had to start explaining the intention behind
certain songs – that I started realizing the magnitude of being a recording
artist. Additionally, I also come from
an era during which you did not step up to the mic unless you were real: Queen Latifah, Big Daddy Kane, and KRS-ONE.” “The mic”, of course, does not only
include that used by singers and hip-hop artists. As we spoke about influences and “north
stars”, Voice also mentioned the late Abbey Lincoln and writers Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez and Nzotake Shange.
“At one time my agenda was to prove myself as a rapper and I
just tunneled in on that,” Voice said. “Even
then, however, I pinned myself up to a very idealist view and I’m glad that I’ve
pushed myself not to be a schlep at the mic – I wanted to move people.” This reverence for Black American culture
and true hiphop is evident in all of Voice’s work, including a four-minute
musical voyage titled “Replay” (2006)
during which Voice pays homage to the Pharcyde, Jeff Townes (aka DJ Jazzy
Jeff), The ROOTS, and GURU (“…gifted…unlimited…rhymes…universal…”).
Visioneers featuring VOICE: Replay
With the last two years having been both a busy and fruitful
and now reaching a summit, Voice has shared plans for her
next venture – one which will involve all of the areas in which she is
well-versed. “For my next project, I’m
not planning to release a full-length album – I’m releasing four songs and four
visual pieces to accompany the songs.
The visual pieces could be video, photography or painting – more than
likely two videos and one small film.”
That project will also be a culmination – yet not the end - of
Voice’s journey as well: “When
I moved to New York to go to the Pratt Institute, I got involved in the spoken
word scene. Most artists that you meet
do not limit themselves to one thing.
Looking at it all, I’m thankful that I’ve gotten to a place in my
artform as an MC where I feel that I can actually express what I see and how I
feel in a very appealing way.”
VOICE joins Wax Tailor at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
on Tuesday, July 2, 2013 at 9:30pm. For
more information on VOICE, please visit www.voiceishear.com. For more information on Wax Tailor, please
visit www.waxtailor.com.
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