hollyweird... bizarre emptiness.

grateful to share with you all my first single drop in two years. take a listen and watch the video.

whatup kin and folk,
i pray this reaches you in good health and spirits. it’s been awhile...
after spending the last few years touring as a bandleader, ive learned a great deal about myself. about music and poems. about heart and soul. about our people and connection. so im grateful for where ive evolved in perspective and sound...

last year, while living in Los Angeles we all watched the fires take the city by wind and storm. i wrote a poem during that time which i later titled “hollyweird” on scraps of found paper, frantically jotting down observations and sentiments of the devastation and its aftermath. i didnt quite know what would become of the poem but ive been collaborating with legendary musician, bass player, and poet the incredible Meshell Ndegecello as well as pioneer drummer and producer Justin Brown. Along with a powerful ensemble of musicians and collaborators. Together we’ve made “hollyweird” into an Afropunkesque ode to frustrations and feelings around our current culture of social isolation and performative solidarity. I wanted to speak to the emptiness of “hollyweird” not as a place but as a way of being where insincerity is normalized. Where social interactions become void of authenticity and we lose sight of community and connection.

it became a prompt and a call to action. we used the song to gather together community leaders and artists for a short artistic collage film and welcomed the vision of B+ (Brian Cross of Mochilla Productions) to help direct a visual for the poem where we could fully grasp the extent of the hysterical fascist world we are living in. we pray it can be a useful offering and spark discussion as well as critical thinking about where we are and where we are going in this country. offline.

listen to “hollyweird” available on all streaming platforms

Produced by Meshell Ndegeocello, aja monet and Justin Brown
Additional production by: Chris Connors and Nico Segal
aja monet - poem and vocals
Justin Brown - drums
Josh Johnson - saxophone
Daniel Mintseris - keyboard
Burniss Earl Travis II - electric bass
Georgia Anne Muldrow - adlibs
Engineers: Chris Connors, Dave Weingarten
Assistant Engineers: Laura Cuartas, Aaron Feeny, Alex Csak, and Adriana Duque

Video Credits
Production Company: Mochilla
Producer: Pablo Aguilar
Directors: B+ (@bpleasel) and aja monet
DP: Coleman (@ecoleye)
AC: Jeff Cerritos (@simpleassjeff)
Additional Camera: B+
Art Direction: Tsz Man Lo (@lozan816)
PA: Sam Wohl (@samwohl)
Catering: Vera (@veraheartbeatmusic)
Editors: Eric Coleman (@ecoleye) & Ollie Tristram (@ollietristrampost)
Post-Wizardry, effects and color: Troy Browne (@troybrowne)
Archival Research and Consultant: Antonio Buyard
Creative Consultant: Claudius Ansah

Cast:
Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter: Vic Mensa
Assata Shakur: aja monet
Eartha Kitt: Medusa
Eric Dolphy: Justin Brown
Horace Tapscott: Sam Lemoyne
Jayne Cortez: Veronica V.C.R. Ratcliff
Joe Hill: Lee Boek
Leila Khaled: Xuly Williams
Mike Davis: Mike “the poet” Sonksen
Octavia Butler: Georgia Anne Muldrow and Sabaah Foylan
Paul Robeson: Josh Lane
Ras G: Terry “Hymnal”
Ricardo Flores Magon: Marco Loera

Additional Talent:
James Tillman
Novena Carmel
Rocio Contreras
Ruben Molina
Yousef Hilmy
And the beautiful people of Los Angeles, California

In memory of
Mtulazaji P.E.A.C.E Davis