DJ Miss Ashley

Aloe Blacc executive produced Georgia Anne Muldrow's 2018 album 'Overload'. Watch Georgia Anne Muldrow's 2019 KEXP live in-studio set - closing with "Overload": youtu.be

Seattle's own! Their 2012 Sub Pop release 'awE naturalE'. Watch a great performance of "Sweat" by THEESatisfaction in the KEXP Bumbershoot Music Lounge in 2012: youtu.be

'Like Water for Chocolate' formally marked the formation of the Soulquarians, a collective composed of ?uestlove (of The Roots), Jay Dee (formerly of Slum Village), keyboardist James Poyser, soul artist D'Angelo and bassist Pino Palladino, along with other collaborators. This group of musicians would also be featured on Common's next album, 'Electric Circus'.

The 2000 sophomore release from rappers Baatin, T3, and producer J Dilla, the group debuted in the early '90s as Ssenepod, later changing their name to Slum Village for the release of their debut, Fan-Tas-Tic, Vol. 1, in 1997. Dilla is singing the chorus on "Fall in Love". Larry Mizell, Jr. interviewed Dan Charnas author of 'Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm' - check out that Sound and Vision interview: www.kexp.org

From the 1996 collection of classic Serge Gainsbourg tracks recorded between 1966 and 1969. This one features a duet with famed actress Brigitte Bardot. This French- language song is based on an English language poem written by Bonnie Parker herself a few weeks before she and Clyde Barrow were shot, entitled "The Trail's End". Here's the poem in its entirety: allpoetry.com

Singer from Bahia, Brazil. Music of the modern African Diaspora in Brazil, Xênia França is part of an art scene concerned with reviving and disseminating the African-Brazilian culture, she has become a reference of female empowerment and behavior, especially among black women. "Ancestral Infinito" was a KEXP Song of the Day in 2022. kexp.org 180g-xeniafranca.bandcamp.com IG: @xeniafranca

Duet between the two artists Helado Negro and Xenia Rubinos. Helado said the song is "about all the ways we feel and the complicated things we do to try to understand this feeling. 'Spaceship shaped words fly through your world unheard' is a lyric that describes how alien the feeling can be and how hard we make it to be known." heladonegro.bandcamp.com

The Xenia Rubinos remix of Meklit's "Supernova". meklitmusic.bandcamp.com

Each track on Jamila Woods’ 2019 album, 'Legacy! Legacy!' is named after an artist of color — from visual artists Frida Kahlo and Jean-Michel Basquiat to musicians Muddy Waters and Miles Davis to writers James Baldwin and Octavia Butler. The album title comes from a line in a poem by Chicago artist and poet, Margaret Burroughs. Woods said: “It's written to black young people and all about like, look at these people who have come before you. What will your legacy be now that you have all of these people who have come before? I'm not writing songs about people. I'm writing kind of the imprint that all of these people's legacies have had on me." Watch a 2020 KEXP in-studio performance of songs from the album: youtu.be

Celebrating the legacy of another Black writer. Akua Naru is hip-hop's spectacular global, poetic, intellectual, spiritual, political, female balance. Naru's musical and poetic gifts have been appreciated among hip hop circles and are amplified within live performance. Check out a live spoken word performance from Naru: youtu.be www.akuanaru.com

Ari Lennox and Anthony Ramos released a recreation of this classic Sly and the Family Stone song during the ongoing pandemic to support live venue relief for the small businesses central to music performance. www.mainstreetalliance.org

Oakland MC, and one half of Blackalicious., Gift of Gab sampled Sly and the Family Stone's "If You Want Me To Stay" on his solo debut '4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up'. Produced by Seattle's own Vitamin D!

Toronto native Charlotte Day Wilson collaborating with Hatian-Canadian producer Kaytranada. 'Bubba' features additional guest collabs from Tinashe, Pharrell, Kali Uchis, VanJess and more "With an exceptional collaborative spirit and a highly refined sound, Kaytranada blesses this woeful decade with one last great dance record." -- tinyurl.com www.kaytranada.com

Another great dance record! Chicago-born and NYC/Berlin-based, Honey Dijon, is a DJ, producer, electronic musician, and fashion icon. She has been a vocal advocate for trans rights and awareness, speaking from her experience as a black trans woman DJ in dance music. At an event hosted by NYC's MoMA PS1 museum, she led a roundtable discussion "focused on those who have, like her, found safety and creative expression within the New York club scene." IG: @honeydijon

This is from The Weeknd's debut "mix tape", the first of three critically acclaimed mixtapes released for free download by The Weeknd, 'House of Balloons', along with 'Thursday' and 'Echoes of Silence', were later remastered as the 'Trilogy' album in 2012, with one extra song on each tape.

Wayna reinterprets Minnie Riperton’s “Lovin’ You”. The R&B/soul singer and songwriter was born in Ethiopia and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. She worked as a writer for the Clinton White House before releasing three solo albums, garnering three Billboard-charting singles and a Grammy nomination for this song from her 2008 'Higher Ground' album. www.wayna.net

This cover of the Frankie Valli hit was included as a bonus track on Lauryn Hill's 1998 masterpiece, after being used in the soundtrack for the film 'Conspiracy Theory'. Hill’s engineer revealed that the singer actually recorded her vocals while 8 months pregnant and lying on the floor. Read more from Laura Checkoway's oral history of the recording of this album in Rolling Stone: tinyurl.com

The third of the three albums produced and written by Curtis Mayfield in 1974! The soundtrack album for the film 'Claudine'. Here, Gladys Knight & the Pips cover Mayfield's "the Makings of You".

From his 1976 album, this song celebrates the birth of Wonder's daughter, Aisha Morris (who you can hear in the background). www.steviewonder.net

Frequent Stevie Wonder collaborator and once-a-Seattle-resident. Stevie spoke with India.Arie, who had signed with Republic, before he decided to leave Motown (after nearly 60 years, since first signing as an 11-year-old) and go to Republic himself, to launch his own imprint – So What The Fuss Music. “Even though I have left Motown, I never leave Motown. That’s Detroit. So I’m sure that we can figure out how we can do some things at Motown. Maybe I’ll do my ‘Gospel Inspired by Lula’ with Motown. We’ll work it out." bit.ly

2021 debut EP from the Jamaican artist. www.instagram.com Check out the young artist performing live in Jamaica at Jamnesia Showcase - Jamaica Music Conference 2020. youtu.be

"'Wanted' is a song which highlights how rough the life of a criminal actually is. I hope it will inspire youths to go in a more positive direction. It’s also my intention that this song reaches parents or onlookers, who may have someone close to them headed down a dark path, and instead of turning a blind eye, encourage them to do otherwise." Video! youtu.be Watch Lila Iké's 2020 KEXP Live at Home performance and conversation with DJ Miss Ashley! youtu.be www.lilaikemusic.com

The word ‘wahala’ means trouble in Nigerian Pidgin, and with the record, both BREIS and Nneka address the truth that no matter who you are or where you are in this world, you will encounter some trouble or the other, but it all comes down to how you deal with that ‘wahala’ when it comes. For the visuals, which were filmed in South Africa, BREIS linked up with director Vee Makausu to retell an age-old tale of ‘wahala’ by way of adultery, heartbreak and violence. youtu.be

Nigerian-German hip hop/soul singer Nneka sings in both Igbo and English. onthebuzz.bandcamp.com jperiod.bandcamp.com

Jenny Lewis and producer/songwriter Jonathan Wilson teamed with Sanba Zao, Paul Beaubrun and Jackson Browne for “Lapé Lanmou (Peace and Love).” The track appeared on the 2020 benefit album, 'Let the Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit, Vol. 1' from Artists for Peace and Justice via Arts Music. bit.ly

Vox Sambou writes and performs in Haitian, French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and his music focuses on the traditional rhythms of Haiti mixed with elements of Afrobeat, Jazz, Reggae, and Hip hop. voxsambou.bandcamp.com