February: BlaQ History Month & 2 Years of Us
What's up boo. Happy BlaQ History. We back and blaQ.
Happy Black History Month.
This newsletter, our fifth edition, looks to engage in the ideas of what it means to be authentically in your lane and providing space and opportunities for others to do so. House of Herbs reflects that messaging with its collaborations with DC organizations such as CreativeHouseDMV and the Generational Equity Movement. LIVe details what opportunities look like on the receiving end, as the Maryland native booked her first trip to the West coast to perform in Los Angeles’ rich musical landscape.
Our feature story of the newsletter is about the inaugural showcase SpitYoTruth which curator Steven Duarte, aka StevenX, is building on a linear level with his artistic community in the DMV.
Each story is an example of what it means when a culture is reflected back to one’s self and how its respective architects determine the next steps; an universal lesson of give-and-take, push-and-pull.
I’ve pushing and giving, so this will be my last newsletter for a minute. 2023 marks two years of blaQplight and I am so grateful to showcase what Blackness means to me but to others as well, who prioritize our community in the eye of their mission. While I bolster community and examine them in The bQ. Newsletter, I am actually very goddamn tired of doing these alone. To be quite frank, I’m exhausted. The community I elevate is not returned to me on an editorial side. I may dissolve the newsletter and write up singular articles on events, people and things (Holla at me for feature stories that's my true love). I don’t know yet. There is always less time to think and a Libra like me cannot make decisions to save my life.
I appreciate all who read these, dissecting them through the midst of a cloudy societal conscious. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to grow in my craft and together with you all. Happy Black History Month and may we reflect the dreams of our ancestors and light the way for our next generations. The blaQplight is on. May we never get off.
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Why House of Herbs is DC #1 for Tea Shop & Gifting
Great herbs…both kinds. 😎
Since 2021, House of Herbs has been serving local DC buyers with experience, health and entertainment — an excellent, affordable arrangement of teas, detox lemonades and more wellness items that are paired with marijuana merchandise. With an ongoing coat drive for a local church and uplifting Black entrepreneurs and body education, House of Herbs’ main priority is Black health and wellness. They hold membership in the Generational Equity Movement, a political network group composed of five, Black-owned cannabis businesses advocating for an equitable cannabis environment in DC. For store manager Chapeaux, this is a shop with substance...both kinds.
“It’s all around wellness – bringing the community together.” He said. “It’s nothing planned at all, but we learn and teach each other…this is one big positive Black vibe.”
The icy, eclectic downstairs space is split between a shop and a mingling space. Three mini basketball hoops are resting above the gifts. Creamy white marble floors illuminate artwork drawn by students attending Howard University. For CreativeHouseDMV’s Open Mic Night in December, my pick of the night was one a pre-roll of HoH’s London Pound Cake strain. Light and airy to be conversational, still strong and hazy, it was the perfect mood-setting gift to wrap the year. (The person who bought it stole my damn tea.)
Upstairs is a wavy vibe on its own; an emerald green couch to watch performers (don’t worry — smokers are in the back right by the extremely stylist, quaint orange-colored-curated bar). Wooden steps to the second floor are reminiscent of early 2000s house parties. CreativeHouseDMV seems to be the perfect fit — the eccentric, authentic style melts well into the goals House of Herbs has set for their community connections.
“I will say I do admire their work, stuff like that inspires and it motivates other people to get off their ass and follow their aspirations.” Chapeaux said. “They motivate me to step out the box.”
That’s why they’re our number one pick for tea and gifting in DC: It’s not just about that. House of Herbs reaches its audience by offering more than zen spaces and open mic nights, it is a place of networking, connection and positivity.
LIVe’s Trip to LA
How a trip to the West Coast was everything LIVe’s asked for in 2023
LIVe pours her heart our during her performance at TheSpotLA. Source: Don Lee Visuals
2022 fortified a true sense of artistry for many whose talents brewed during the pandemic. That is the case for Olivia Taylor, the indie R&B artist known as LIVe.
Her genre floats between classic R&B and the more recent, alternative sound.
She’s at her best when she juggles both, something she proves in her single “Still Yours” which has racked up nearly 5,000 streams since its release last June.
2022 was that year for LIVe’s artistry.
The first time we spoke was last December, two weeks before her 24th birthday. We discussed and reflected upon the year, one filled with stepping full force into music with school over and tying LIVe’s networks scattered. She was born in Lanham, Maryland but attended Towson University.
The Baltimore area is Taylor’s very first of the region, which prompted a task of transitioning back home and building relationships amongst the DMV area.
“I feel like it was a lot more supportive people out Baltimore, it felt like more of a supportive culture out there,” Taylor said. “(In the DMV) it was moreso a rat race type of deal. Crabs in a bucket.”
2022 was that year for LIVe’s artistry. She defeated stage fright. She eventually broke the ice amongst her DMV peers, meeting the rapper Rocky who eventually introduced her to his network, the GoodBoyzMob. GBM hosts Collab Cookups where artists throughout the region mingle and create music on the spot too.
“I got paid for my first show this summer, which was really great,” Taylor said. “I’d say 2022 was a really great milestone year for me, musically. I got to work with a lot of people in the industry that are actually making a name for themselves.”
2023 is LIV’s first full year of being an artist— her fifth making music.
She’s under new management of Elijah Vines and has ties with his friend Joshua Davis.
Davis is set to work with Kenny Lattimore as a creative director this year. Vines possesses a national network throughout the music industry, which prompted the impromptu LA trip to perform on the End the Violence Tour which included three shows at Sunset Blvd, The Candy and The Spot LA for Taylor.
“It built my confidence up for sure,” She said of the experience. “I have connections in LA now, so I have more reason to be on the West Coast. It was the first time we’ve gone to LA and it was to perform. It was a confidence booster, momentum building.”
In LIV’s eyes, the city of Los Angeles still oozed its expected glossy, glitzy energy, but it showed how local artists have the advantage with the resources they possess when they begin. Cameras were in each corner of every event. An undisclosed Hulu show following an artist filmed some events Taylor attended. A Grammy after party with the LA-native and hook king Ty Dolla $ign was only $40 a head.
LIVe performed her unreleased single “Options,” It was her smoothest performance yet.
“I didn’t have any stage fright, I just kept going.” Taylor said.
Because of the longstanding musical legacy and networks, opportunity is a bit richer in the West, but, to Taylor, the person-to-person interactions were a complete step up.
Nicolette was the End the Violence Tour headliner, one of Dame Dash’s new artists who sports a sleek, traditional rap sound and flow fueled by bad bitchery. The two instantly hit it off after Taylor’s performance.
“She liked my song and she’s down to remix one of the songs I released in 2020, so it’s just really cool to randomly get that connection just right off of basically performing one time, whereas here, you probably performed two, three, four-five times and people may or may not receive it.” Taylor said.
“I feel like it’s much more accepting because here, we have a cookie cutter sound and it’s hard to break the mold. The people receive different sounds better out there, like they crave it, they’re more open to it.”
Taylor has come a long way since performing four of her favorite Whitney Houston songs at her first recital in elementary school. The next goal is to sprinkle a little LIVe throughout the nation. Taylor is also interested in acting and other facets of artistic expression such as creative direction and wants to experiment into the Afrobeat scene too.
But, still focused on settling into the DMV, she’s planning on attending the nation’s capital Sankofa Conference, which will feature a majority of African artists who will open up her mind and ears to a new networking and music palette.
“I feel like I’m on the edge of popping, in a good way,” Taylor said. “(LA) was a spike in engagement, more connections are opening up because this year alone, I got paid for my first show, paid for making content on Instagram, working with different, verified artists and stuff. It all just started happening this last year.”
Source: Don Lee Visuals
blaQplight Spotlight: SpitYoTruthTV
This Saturday, artist StevenX will debut his very first curation with two close artists that reflect the DMV’s authenticity back to itself
When he was 17, Steven X. Duarte, formerly known as the artist StevenX, grieved the death of a close cousin through music.
Alone and a DC native, as a freshman at Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Duarte faced the moment of isolation as a means to grieve wholly. Uninterrupted. This connected him to his inner emotional workings but also created a pathway back to creativity.
“Making that decision to forego my formal education to pursue my artistry was a big pivoting point in my life.” Duarte said.
As an artist, StevenX’s sound is refreshing but familiar. His most popular single, “Undefeated” is the perfect get-me-up for a Black, indie film. StevenX’s persona is formed on what Duarte calls “positive self talk and affirmations.”
Duarte remembers the switches of consistency in the way he made music, how it transitioned quickly from hobby to lifestyle. The same is occurring with curation.
The intimate decision to grieve through music as an isolated teenager has now sprung into a full-on pursuit of artistic community connection at 30 years old.
On Saturday, Feb. 25, Duarte and two artists, Nomad Mal and Hunter aka HitmanHunna, will debut as Duarte’s very first SpitYoTruthTV Showcase curation show at the Small Wooden Box at 7 p.m. SpitYoTruthTV will serve as a seed to what’s to bloom for Duarte throughout 2023.
“The first one is always interesting, because the expectation usually does not always run in with what the reality is,” He said. “It gives you the best lesson on why it is important to be consistent with whatever you want to do.”
Duarte credits Kent Black’s Phreespace and WhatsDope’s Open Mics in Annapolis as examples to what could be achieved in building collective art spaces. His performance at Open Gem at the Fillmore was great, but his Instagram story was filled more with fellow artists part of the show than the crowd love he rightfully earned.
Attending and being part of these open mics and curated spaces initiatives was one thing, but stepping into a fatherly, overseer role that curation requires is a piece of Duarte’s goal of ascension as an artist.
“There is a willingness to allow people to come as they are rather than someone trying to box in the creatives and tell them what they should be doing,” Duarte said. “Those have been the ones that have provided me with the building blocks to feel like I’m capable of doing what is being done right now.”
If you’re around Duarte, you see him everywhere in the musical scene: the collaborative producer-artist meetups for on-the-spot music making, the open mics. His dedication to building a linear community is one of his greatest assets, and will be an integral piece of SpitYoTruth’s success.
“I just want to be able to really build the confidence that I believe I obtained last year, and then just project that as much as possible,” Duarte said. “I also want to make myself present and available for other people who are looking for that space…building and working with us in this community.”
Steven X. Duarte, the curator of SpitYoTruthhTV pictured chilling on a wall. Source: @RussellVisions
Since I’ve met Duarte, he’s always operated from a comfortable, assured space of self. Speaking fluidly, connecting naturally, moving accordingly. (Our only disagreement to date is his love for breakfast for dinner) We interviewed over a Friday night, Mexican dinner at the San Antonio Grill & Bar on 12th Street. His energy is quite melancholic, soothing and entertaining. It bleeds into his artistic craft.
After dinner, we darted to a Creative House DMV Open Mic Night. His attention to detail of watching each performance, including a handshake and Instagram follow of each artist, proves the readiness, an organic thoroughness of Duarte’s curation. (We talked about diction and pace of performance, and the closer of CreativeHouse’s V-Day event, Basic the Bassist, a funky Indianapolis native, embodies such a lyrical clarity that Steven and I instantly could agree upon).
As curator, Duarte wanted to “connect and embrace” creativity. With this being the very first edition of SpitYoTruthTV, he will introduce people who reflect his goals of personification of the DMVs sound and grit.
“I myself am going to perform just to kinda highlight and personify the idea of being the example of what I want it to be going forward.” He said. “But even outside of myself, the two artists that are included on the showcase are wildly talented individuals and creatives.”
Nomad Mal is a Maryland native that Duarte actually met during his stint at WSSU. Nomad Mal’s Instagram serves as an audio resume to his sound and performance.
Nomad Mal poses for his artist profile shot. Source: @RussellVisions
He does a fantastic job of fusing classic hip hop traits of lyricism and flow yet still ups the ante with a live performance band playing behind him, a sound that has gogo written all over it. According to Duarte, Nomad Mal’s songs “Tore Up” and “90’s Kid” are receiving international attention.
“When he performs, it’s a level of storytelling and that authenticity that I think is so important,” Duarte said. “He’s funny to me because, even without me knowing him on a personal level…and I heard his material, I would think that he would have so much promise.”
Hunter aka Hitman Hunna poses for his earthy artistic profile Source: @RussellVisions
Hunter is the other performer of the inaugural curation. Hitman and Duarte’s ties run deep; Hunter, a multi-hyphenate producer-songwriter-rapper, helped Duarte receive his first producing credit on Hunter’s project ‘Maybe in Heaven.’
Hunter’s ability to do so many things extremely fucking well speaks to both his professional versatility and vulnerability to grow, learn and expand in his craft. Duarte compared Hunter’s softness to early Drake, starting with Take Care yet before More Life, as he leads with emotional transparency.
“He’s also somebody who has helped me to find a new lease on how to promote myself in a more efficient way,” Duarte said. “He’s somebody who, over the course of the last two years, (we were) having conversations about personal life and business life as it relates to creativity, helping me to be more solidified and assured in the idea that I can actually do this.”
The SpitYoTruthTV sounds exactly what it is: an authentic curation of not only one’s hopes, dreams and lifestyle, but another chance for DMV artists to reflect themselves back to the landscape that fuels their own fires.
“If I don’t definitively believe that SpitYoTruthTV is going to be something that helps people expand their level of comfort and willingness in wanting to be their authentic self… if I don’t do that through my own actions, how the fuck can I ask anybody else to believe in it?!” Duarte rhetorically asked.
Tickets are $20. Those interested can reach out to Duarte on his Instagram channel @iamstevenx_ for payment options.