Join audio aficionado Aaron Roebuck, as he sits down with two east coast lyrical powerhouses, Mavi & donSMITH to talk writing, the come-up, and their music’s role in their communities.
Slide into the studio of multi-talented visual artists Jahniah Kum, as she shows us what it looks like to do it all! We’ll be signing off the session right, with an electric performance from Miles Ramone.
Tap into the official opening party to celebrate the show and all featured artists. Join hosts @whateverjewel and @em.ill.e as they speak on their own wrist game and enjoy live performances from Maiyah Blaney and Alicia Drayton.
Jewel Ham is a multimedia visual artist interested in using her work as a means of reparation. She is passionate about increasing accessibility to visual arts in Black communities, as well as utilizing visual art as a means of outreach, activism, and empowerment.
As a painter, she juxtaposes elements of portraiture and still life, exploring emotionality through perspectives and cultural settings familiar to the Black experience. In actively (and authentically) highlighting the beauty and fury of our narratives, she believes the work’s content holds equal weight as its distribution. With that in mind, she intends to continue to share her work in like-minded, community spaces; prioritizing its placement in spaces largely accessible to the same communities that are the heart of its inception.
As a curator, Jewel aims to reimagine the traditional gallery space, amplifying the work of powerhouse Black artists. Inspired by her own studio practice as well as the idea of “curating a mood” and the music video feeling that comes with finding *your* song, she came into this project wanting to visualize a vibe. Although not personally musically inclined, the unapologetic nature of Black femme rap and other lyrical genres has fuelled Jewel’s artistic practice from the start.
After interning for Spotify in 2019 and going viral for her experiences there, it became clear that the system for giving visual artists and designers credit where due on major projects simply did not exist. As the Black experience and its accompanying culture continue to define popular and consumer culture alike, Jewel felt it was time to create a table of our own. In partnership with Treble, a community-driven virtual music resource space, she hopes to further amplify the work of Black contemporary artists across the world, as they set today’s cultural stage.
Treble is a network that connects today’s scattered music industry through technology, events, and community. For artists and their partners, we offer a place to feel truly at home and connected. We are the best matchmakers in the game whenever you need a new collaborator or a game changing contact in the business. We are a haven. We are the industry’s biggest greenroom.
On treble.is, you can showcase your music-resume and connect with trusted talent through personal recommendations.
At Treble Tuesdays, you can party with your local Treble community and forge lifelong bonds with other cool people within your local music scene.
And all across our ecosystem, you can find whoever you need for whatever your goals are all throughout your career.
Today’s music industry doesn’t have to feel like chaos. Welcome home.
Stay tuned for more about Treble, and be sure to check them out on Instagram in the meantime. Special thanks to Jacob Lowy for reaching out, planting some of this project’s earliest seeds.
Music is a fundamental part of our lives. We might hear it in passing when we’re walking down the street or when we’re at a block party drinking Hennessy or when we’re randomly rifling through SoundCloud on a Wednesday night. This show is about that. Music: The soundtrack to our best days and the antidote to our worst.
The visual artists in the show—which include Tae Ham, Nia Wallace, Emily Manwaring, Jahniah Kum, and many more—help us to visualize songs by musicians—like Alicia Drayton, Black Haüs, Neon June, donSMITH, Joel Ross, and others—through lines, colors, strokes, and marks. Together, this dynamic blend of multimedia artists and musicians makes for a show that is an immersive, audiovisual experience.
Jewel’s show gives us the community we need, and allows us to control our own narrative, particularly in a world where too many black musicians die too young: The Notorious B.I.G. Tupac. Pop Smoke. Nipsey. DMX. The recent New York Times obituary on DMX’s passing described him as “wild” and “broken,” and I often felt that the piece focused too heavily on his trauma as opposed to his creative ingenuity. With this show, we have the opportunity to redefine these narratives about black musicians, to tell our own stories, and to see black music as a celebration of life. Read Full Review Here.
Isis Davis-Marks is a freelance writer and artist from New York City. Her work has also appeared in Artsy, Smithsonian Magazine, Elephant, the Columbia Journal, and elsewhere. She enjoys exploring the intersection between art, text and philosophy in her work.
One4Me x Black HausBlack Haus feels like the perfect alternative black boy-band with an expanding sound! One4me is a spot on, summer RnB breakup track that reminds us all that feelings fade, and when they do, someone is going to get hurt. Hopefully, they get over it. One4me delves into that moment when a person realizes “Yeah this ain’t it, soooo I’m out!” and fleshes out the attempt to let them down easy. No one wants to hurt anyone’s feelings, especially when feelings were once present. On the other hand, people have to be happy. Pick your poison, either way the sax solo at the end will make the acceptance a smidge easier.
End of the Earth x MaviHonestly, how much more praise does the mayor need? With infectious energy, thought provoking writing, and early comparisons to some of the best lyricists in rap right now, Mavi is the total rapper package in a 21 year old bookworm.
End of Earth covers Mavi’s travels, growing into his gifts, and still looking toward bettering the world around him. His grandmother telling him to eat his food while it’s still hot at the end of ‘Time Travel’ mirrors the mayor’s eagerness to share his truth and allow listeners space to confront their own. He is known for speaking and thinking well beyond his years, and this EP is further proof of that assertion. Outside opinions, high caliber co-signs aside, the ceiling is high for Mavi as his only competition is life itself and whatever it shows him along the way.
Aaron Roebuck is a Charlotte native, East Carolina University Graduate, and self proclaimed music dweeb; his reviews will remain a constant throughout the Wrist Game experience. While widely known as a great listener the perceived and expected resume’ to talk about music on a platform is only known in conversation and personal interaction. He’s one of those people that avoided what they loved in an effort to be practical and invisible, thankfully he has learned he loves way too loud.