These days there isn't much variety as far as art goes. One of the saddest things is that many females aren't into art even though they're very talented. I think that this is something that needs to change, it's just a hard fact that males dominate in the arts. I see this as a huge problem, because there are certain perspectives only a woman can bring, and there are certain perspectives only a man can bring. I think that art right now is missing that strong female presence to kind of change up things and make them the way that they should be. With the lack of females in the field, what you get is only a males perspective. So even when a female tries to break into the art, she does it from a man's perspective because that's the art that she is used to seeing and or hearing. That's why I get very excited when I see people like 'Emancipate Yourselves.' She's putting out art from her point of view and no ones else's. She sings and does spoken word which is great. Her voice is beautiful and her spoken word is very thought provoking. As her name suggests, she wants people to free themselves of regular thinking and habits. Born in America but raised in a Jamaican household, she has an advantage that many other Americans don't. She was able to grow up immersed in two separate cultures, which I would imagine instilled in her a lot of the ideas she has today. After hearing her music and spoken word, I was itching to get an interview with her, and thankfully she said yes.
1. First of all, tell everyone who you are and what you do.
" Hi! Well first off, my name is Brittny Amanda. I usually go under the pseudonym "Emancipate Yourselves" on my blog and soundcloud. I'm a singer and spoken word artist."
2. In your cover of the song ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’ was that you playing piano? If so, how long have you been playing?
"No, I wish haha. My good friend Lydia is an artist as well and while hanging out, she started playing that so I decided to do a cover of it. I learned how to play a few years back, lost all of it, and now I'm self-teaching myself!"
3. Who has inspired you musically?
"Hm, musically.. so many people. First off, Bob Marley. Then his children, Nas, J. Cole, the entire Motown Era (I cant even pin point certain artists), Kanye West (incredibly), The Roots and Emeli Sande."
4. I notice you’ve also posted a few poems on your Soundcloud, one that stood out to me was ‘Letter To My Modern Day Slaves’ could you give us a little insight on that poem?
"So that piece I did randomly one night as like free writing while thinking about the Trayvon case and decided to write something kind of relating to how I feel we as a human culture are.. we're so comfortable in our "chains" and fail to see how blinded we truly are. I tried to hopefully shed some insight and get people to rationalize."
5. In another one of your poems, you stated that you were not a poet. What did you mean by that?
" Hahaa, I say this a lot but I really don't want to be labeled as a poet or better yet, confined to that title. I really just like the term artist better. I just love to write so much in effusive amounts and it almost looks like poetry because of identical techniques I use but I kinda just wanted that statement out there so I wouldn't be known for being one lol. Much love to the poets though, y'all have a mind of your own, truly."
6. Who are your inspirations as far as poetry goes?
"On the other hand, I'm in LOVE with poetry haha. First and foremost biggest inspiration in poetry is J. Ivy. Heard him first off in "Never Let Me Down" by Ye and that completely inspired me to get up and one day write something to move thousands of people as he did. He doesn't even know what that verse and his other pieces do for people. I love Malik Yusef as well and I mostly just sit and watch old Def Jam Poetry videos and fall in love with all of it."
7. There’s something about you that doesn't seem American, are you and your parents from another country? Or are you just really in touch with your roots?
"Both parents are fully Jamaican! Unfortunately, I wasn't born there but I've been going since I was 3 every other year and I'm heavily influenced by the culture. My roots are everything to me, I always want to be known for that and always embracing it. I can never forget what made me and the family who shaped this strong mentality I have.. Jamaica is home man."
8. How and when did you realize that poetry and music were something that you wanted to make?
"Hm, two different moments. when I wanted to do spoken word was when I first heard J. Ivy's verse and also this man named Luis Marrero "My Apology." Raw emotion. For music, man.. it's just been in my blood, I've grown up with so much music from so many eras that I felt like it was just a part of me. I think after one of my concerts I did with my 4 best friends and the amount of love I was given, I knew where my heart was."
9. Any big projects coming up?
"Yes, yes! I'm putting together a project and my idea is to fuse both spoken word and music together. The concept of the project leads from a mindset of ignorance/mental confinement to spiritual liberation, kinda hard to put in words but it'll be more evident in the music."
10. Thank you for your time, anything you want to say before you go?"Thank you so much for allowing artists like me to discuss their craft, what you do is empowering and so supportive. For everyone, I hope you enjoy the messages and stories I want to share with all of you. Spread love always xo"
Many things are sure to come from Emancipate Yourselves and I really look forward to them. I'll post her soundcloud link below.
Twitter: @xbrittnyamanda
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/brittnyamandaxo
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