SACRED CYPHER CREATIVES 2022-07-07T19:41:29+00:00

2022-2023 Sacred Cypher Creatives

One Be Lo

                                                  Music: Arts Education, Emcee | Cairo, Egypt/Detroit

June 24-30, 2022 | A.L.B.U.M.S. Residency | Chicago

Join us in June for One Be Lo’s artist-in-community residency. Check back soon for event details!

About One Be Lo

One Be Lo is an artist/activist known as the OneManArmy; General SUBliminal. He is a Hip Hop producer who first made a name for himself as an Emcee in the Hip Hop group Binary Star. He is also a member of the World Champion B-Boy crew Massive Monkees. One Be Lo is a conceptual thinker who paints stories with words and Metaphors. One Be Lo is constantly evolving and growing as the names of his albums suggest; Project F.e.t.u.s. (For everybody that understands), S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. (Sounds Of Nahshid Originate Good Rhymes and Music), S.T.I.L.L.B.O.R.N.(Something To Interest Lo Listeners, Beyond Original Recorded Networkings), R.E.B.I.R.T.H. (Real Emcee’s Bring Intelligent Rhymes To HipHop), L.A.B.O.R. (Language Arts Based On Reality), K.I.C.K. P.U.S.H.

(Keep it cool kid, People usually show hate), and soon B.A.B.Y. (Being a Black Youth). The Fetus > Baby concept is about being pregnant with ideas, and always striving to remain fresh and relevant to the times. Dedicated to self mastery and finding new solutions to old problems, One Be Lo explains that after all of his years of living and learning, he’s still like a baby with much to explore and discover. Born in Pontiac, Michigan as Raland Scruggs, he was a convicted felon as a teenager for armed robbery. Now armed with a purpose to spread peace and love and building community using the elements of Hip Hop as his tools, One Be Lo’s music message is filled with Universal Teachings that empower Youth and promote entrepreneurship. His music is a force which allows him to travel worldwide, expressing His ideas in the form of original art. True Hip Hop is about authentic expression.

Tazeen & Lu Fuki

                                                  Music: Performance Art | Detroit, MI

August 17-24, 2022 | Artist-in-Community Residency | Chicago

Join us in August for Tazeen & Lu Fuki’s artist-in-community residency. Check back soon for event details!

About Tazeen & Lu Fuki

Composer and guitarist, Lu Fuki, and singer/songwriter and guitarist, Tazeen, are a duo that felt the need to connect hearts through sound in order to promote solidarity, freedom, and social action. Together, they formed a Detroit Afro Spirit-Jazz Collective, Lu Fuki and Divine Providence, which released its first album, Inner Horizons, in May 2018. The two also have an album together entitled Love & Light as well as two other acoustic bands: an Indian-Jazz fusion band and an Arabic-Jazz fusion band. Lu Fuki and Tazeen live in and regularly play live shows in Detroit at various venues, intimate concerts, and festivals as well as host and curate spiritual auditory sessions fusing artistic expression and spirituality.

Jacinda “Jah da Amp Mouth” Bullie & Liza Garza

                                               

  Performance Art & Music | Chicago, Flint, ATL

Date To Be Announced (2023) | Artist-in-Community Residency | Chicago

Join us in 2023 for Jacinda and Liza’s artist-in-community residency. Check back soon for event details!

About Jacinda

Jacinda Bullie aka Jah da Amp Mouth is an artist by temperament. Prior to rhymes, Jacinda was a natural critique of circumstances, interrogating the world through Hip Hop Poetics. In ’96, Jacinda, alongside Jaquanda V. and Leida GM., co-founded Kuumba Lynx, a twenty three year old Hip Hop art & culture collective. Jacinda is currently a co-curator of the Chicago Hip Hop Theater Fest. Most recently Jacinda was named a 2019 @3Arts Make A Wave awardee.  She is a contributing writer to the poetry anthology, Halal If U Hear Me and co-author of a poetic coloring book entitled FILLINZ…Put Some Respect on It!  In collaboration with her performance partner, she is currently embarking on their next publication, a memoir, entitled WE GOT 5 On It!, about the life and times of a winning slam poetry team.  Jah’s first children’s book,You Winking at Me? illustrated by Sam Kirk is in the works! Jacinda works to deepen a continuum of community healing, offering her gifts as a Doula, Divine Body Work Practitioner and 90’s Hip Hop preservationist.  She is Chicago’s only ToothKandy Inc. Technician.

About Liza

Emmy Award ­nominated Liza Garza is a lightworker, mother, activist, poet, vocalist, healer and facilitator who is passionate about Oneness. From her soulful sounds of Mexican folk tunes with the intricacy of Hip Hop rhyme schemes to her handcrafted adornments inspired by indigenous textiles, she bridges the ancestral with the modern.

With performances that include The Lincoln Center, The Apollo, NALAC, HBO Def Poetry and numerous stages worldwide, diverse people find a home in her voice. Possessing a self-formatted degree in Performance Activism from the University of Michigan-Flint, Liza spends the balance of her time speaking at Universities and Conferences.

Check out Liza’s past project and residency as a 2018-19 Sacred Cypher Creative!

2020-2021 Sacred Cypher Creatives

Tasleem Jamila

                                                  Performance Art:  Theater, Poetry | Kalamazoo, MI

Saturday, November 13
1-2:30p EST | 2001 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
 A drive-in food distribution to provide community members with free groceries and raise awareness around food sovereignty while inspiring healthy eating and dietary habits.
3-4:30 CST/4:00-5:30p EST | Virtual *RSVP for link.
Join us for this workshop in which we will learn essential techniques and artistic practices that will help us feel rejuvenated daily.
Sunday, November 14
11-2p EST | 1199 Fenwood Street SW
An intentional communal moment of healing through sound and distributing food in an effort to dismantle food scarcity in
African American Communities.
11am-12pm | Food Distribution
12pm-2pm | Sound Healing
5:30-8p EST | 2001 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
An event filled with healing poetry, yoga, and breath-work; a space curated specifically for women* in collaboration with The Muslim Mix.
Monday, November 15
6-7:30p EST | 2001 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
A writing workshop for community members and residents of IMAN Atlanta’s Green ReEntry Village and alumni of IMAN’s Green ReEntry program.
Tuesday, November 16
6-7:30p EST | 2001 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
A community conversation where we will have a safe space to express via a variety of artistic mediums, share experiences and learn from one another.

About Tasleem 

Tasleem Jamila Tasleem Jamila is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, poet, curator, fashion designer, actor and educator, whose body of work focuses on social action and community healing and revitalization. Her sound is a fusion of hip hop, spirituals, mystical chants, and lyrical soul. With performances that include The Kennedy Center, Excel London, Columbia University (NYC) and the African World Festival of the Arts. She has performed her works across the US as well as the UK, Africa, and Canada and continues to tour worldwide.

Tasleem recently published a book of poetry, Black Baptist Muslim Mystic which is receiving critical acclaim in addition to her album “Tasleem” and live and unplugged DVD “My Soul Speaks”. She is sought after for her captivating energy as a host, professional skills as a cultural producer and educating activist as a workshop facilitator. Look out for a 2018 world tour and book release.

Maimouna Youssef

                                                  Music: Performance | Baltimore, MD 

Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh is a global citizen, musical healer, and community pillar. The Grammy nominated singer, emcee, songwriter, activist has traveled worldwide rocking stages with music giants such as Sting, Nas, Common, Zap Mama, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Ed Sheeran, Bobby Mcferrin, Dave Chappelle, Lalah Hathaway, Femi Kuti, and more. Youssef’s discography spans from 2006 to 2017 with her most recent project with DJ Dummy entitled Vintage Babies already placing at number 6 on UK Indie music charts.

Yaasha Abraham

                                        Performance: Dance | Chicago, IL

Yaasha Abraham is a professional dancer, singer, and teaching artist that specializes in the traditional/folkloric dances of Brazil and Ethiopia. She has traveled the country and the world as a dancer, vocalist, and teaching artist, but is most dedicated to her work in Chicago’s inner city. Yaasha hopes to expand her efforts to IMAN and strives to create art and experiences that are spiritually rooted, spatially relevant, and socially conscious. She ultimately wants to show that within the arts lies the potential to empower, educate, and liberate.

Drea d’Nur

                                                   Music: Performance | Buffalo, NY

Drea d’Nur is a Buffalo-based singer and songwriter whose work has reached national and international acclaim with localized work that highlights the rich history of Black music and art in Buffalo. This 2017 Spark Awards Artist of the Year has performed in overseas, released two independent music projects, produced two short films about Nina Simone, directed a music video, produced two stage productions, and has album credits on the new Gorillaz album, HUMANZ. D’Nur recently toured the Spirit of Nina and founded Feed Buffalo the first halal food pantry in Buffalo all while raising five gifted children.

Mazzi Behi

                                                  Music | New York, NY

Mazzi is the mastermind behind S.O.U.L. (Sense Of Understanding Life’s) Purpose, which he calls “the biggest crew in Hip Hop for the simple fact that if you helped the music to prosper in any way, you are part of the S.O.U.L. Purpose collective!” A staple of New York’s underground Hip Hop scene since the mid-‘90s, Mazzi’s The Inspection album was hosted and partially produced by Statik Selektah, his City Permits album was hosted by Mick Boogie & Terry Urban, and his rapid-fire flow has graced collaborations with many influential artists. His debut 2003 S.O.U.L. Purpose album was on the CMJ college charts for 15 weeks straight. His most recent album “The Building” is being released in conjunction with The Rockwell Foundation (www.rockwellfoundation.org), where 100% of album sales will go towards buildingclean water wells & facilities in Africa. Through prior projects, events, & shows, there have been donations to charities such as NY homeless shelters, Boys & Girls Club, Haiti relief, sneakers for orphans, 9/11 relief, & a handful more.