The Rhythm Healing Sessions Vol II

'First I was a afraid, I was petrified,' another celebrity DJ? Please no and please not Joi. But indeed, Joi Gilliam (yep, that Joi), has joined the ranks of singers and musicians who have taken up the decks and she's damn good. I've had the privilege to kick it with Joi and watch her  find her way around the DJ process. It's been an amazing experience to watch one of your musical heroines create sound collages that explain their development and artistic signature. She is definitely a child of funk, classic rock and cosmic soul (think Labelle), but I was surprised to learn about her mean collection of early 90s hip-hop from the east coast, west coast and the dirty south. She speaks fluent golden era rhyme and pays close attention to the southern voices that never make it to the hip hop hall of fame of classics. So really Joi on the mix is a win for black southern folks who felt compromised by their love for east coast/west coast rap because too often that love felt unrequited.  I was so moved by Joi that I asked her to join me for the second and final installment of the Rhythm Healing Sessions in Los Angeles, an event I produced in response to the global protests and mass organizing efforts calling for an end to police brutality and state sanctioned violence against not just black men, but black people. This event speaks to the need for a reclamation movement, one that honors the musical genius that gave birth to an American soundtrack that is too often celebrated but removed from its root.