Part 1

Name: Faybeo'n LaShanna A Mickens aka LiKWUiD
Nationality: American
Occupation: DJ, music curator, emcee, teaching artist
Current Release: LiKWUiD teams up with W4RP Trio for their new album Sermon of the MatriarK, out via Phenotypic.

[Read our W4RP Trio interview]

If you enjoyed this LiKWUiD interview and would like to know more about her music and work, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and bandcamp.  



What were some of the musical experiences which planted a seed for your interest in hip hop?

I had 4 very distinct musical experiences in my youth that influenced my love for hip hop.

Your first introduction to music is typically whatever your parents listen to and I consider myself lucky because my mom was a soul, gospel and funk fan. My mom enjoyed dancing, so naturally she had an ear for good music. Her vinyl collection included Maze, Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, Luther, Whitney- she had all the greats!

The second being my upbringing in church. I always felt that pastors, ministers and church leaders were melodic orators. Especially at the churches that I attended. At a young age, I watched my Aunt Lynn preach in Tulsa, Oklahoma; I watched my Aunt Johnnie Mae preach in Georgetown, SC; my mother made me and my sister go to church Sundays, Wednesdays, watch night service … all the lock-ins, teen nights, etc. I especially remember Bishop Bonner from Refuge Temple in Columbia, SC- sometimes he would be preaching and break into song mid sermon.

Church was a wondrous experience for me. No matter where you attend service, if you go to a Black church there are distinct parallelisms that cross state lines- it’s almost like an ancestral- memory genes activate in separate individuals that have never met each other. When pastors give their sermons, the cadence of the way they preach, speak, stop, breathe, pause, rhyme and use metaphor was akin to emceeing in my opinion. (I wish that I could mimic it for you verbally because I’m not sure if I’m accurately painting the picture.) The short answer is that church was a big influence.

The third was being on the drumline and in band during grade school. We would rap and play the drums on a regular basis - it was all music to us.

The last was the moment that I knew that I wanted to rap. I was listening to DJ Prince Ice on the Big DM, I had to be like 9 or 10 years old. Ice was playing KRS-One “Sound of da Police” and there was a lyric comparing a police officer to an overseer- and it just blew my mind.



I remember thinking, wow, this song has so much meaning and it’s like learning- but fun. I knew then that I wanted to do that with lyrics. I wanted to write songs that had meaning.

What does the term hip hop mean and stand for today, would you say?

Rap is what you do and hip hop is what you live. I think far too often people use those terms interchangeably and they aren’t substitutes. Hip Hop is a culture, a lifestyle and a movement. There are four elements. (Those elements include djing, emceeing, graffiti and dance- or breaking. The honorable 5th element is knowledge, fashion or beatboxing depending on who you ask).

Hip Hop started out in the Bronx with the intention of spreading love, peace, unity and having fun. Today, I think hip hop stands for more. It’s still a space for joy, fun, expression and confidence. However, I do think we’re having a full circle moment to the late 80s and early 90s to lean into protest, reclamation, reflecting the times, resetting and rejuvenating the voice of the people.

I am particularly proud that women are having our moment in hip hop now. I love that I can enjoy City Girls and Meg …



… while also enjoying Tierra Whack and Rapsody.

I think that Little Simz and Doechii are creating some phenomenal work in the space. It’s beautiful.



Hip hop has always been about a lot more than just music. For you personally, is hip hop a way of life – and if so, in which way?
 
Hip Hop has always been about more than music for me. Music is the medium in which I’ve chosen to share my writing, but even if I wrote poems or films or short stories- hip hop would still be in the thread of my work because of who I am as a person, my experiences and perspective.

As a queer, black woman in hip hop there’s a duality of invisibility and hyper visibility depending on which room I’m in. Because of that, I don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing when I speak for or represent the culture.

My job as an emcee doesn’t end when I leave the stage. If I’m speaking up for people on stage- I need to be just as vocal off stage or when there’s no cameras around or when my thoughts or opinions are NOT that of the majority in the room. If I’m not living that truth 100% of the time, then that makes me a “performer” or an “actor” if you will- not an emcee. I may as well have a ghostwriter.

So I would say for me, it’s a way of life - but it doesn’t have to be for everyone. I’m no better than any other artist who does perform or takes on a persona for a check- it just doesn’t work for me. I have to be intentional about my work, creativity and how I share it for me to feel like I’m fulfilling my purpose.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to creativity?

When I’m in my creative mood, I typically have several forms of stimulation.

I read the news, I’m typically reading a book or two, I LOVE going to art galleries- museums give me so much inspiration. I listen to a lot of music, but typically non-hip hop music- so jazz, funk, soul- the 50’s-70’s were great decades for music.

And I watch a lot of movies. TMC has gotten so many streams from me- anything black and white or in technicolor can get a pass from me.

Where do most of your inspirations to create come from – rather from internal impulses or external ones? Which current social / political / ecological or other developments make you feel like you need to respond as an artist?

My inspirations are mostly external.

Lately the Congo, Sudan, Palestine and India have been on my mind. LA is on my mind. Black women everywhere are on my mind. Queer people are on my mind, especially our trans and non-binary siblings. America is on my mind less since we’ve willfully opted into this Stockholm-Svengali-esque relationship with patriarchy and capitalism.

I’ve been more intentional about balancing the two- the external conflict, the internal love … finding moments of joy, peace and inspiration without rose colored glasses and being able to discuss and correct (and/or redirect) the conflict.

No one wants to be the angry black woman shouting at the screen. I want my work to be remembered as much celebratory as reflective; tragedy and triumph; war and creation; love and indifference- no room for hatred- I hope that it’s all there in some way.

Hip hop has always had an interesting relationship between honouring its roots and pushing the music forward. What does the balance between these two poles look like in your music?

I always believe that the best songs provide a feeling of nostalgia while giving the listener a completely new sonic experience. It’s almost spiritual- like a part of me recognizes this music and another part of me has never heard this before- I internally exclaim “WHAT IS THIS”? I want the listener to be like “who’s this familiar stranger???”

In my writing, I often pay homage to writers, poets and philosophers that came before me by sharing quotes and lots of “old sayings”. I’d like to think that I’m channeling the spirit of a griot in that way.

Also, I know that a lot of people don’t read or look beyond what’s directly in front of them- sometimes as an artist it’s important to pay homage so that we can always cast a light on the elders and the ancestors- sankofa.

I think that’s part of the intention in sampling (in hip hop production) and scratching (in djing). The process of resharing this really cool piece of art (that I discovered) is empowering both for the giver and the receiver.

But the balance comes in my desire to stay current- reflect the times and shed light on that which is hidden. I like to find a balance between informing, teaching and having fun (being comical)- almost satirical- but keeping my lyrics conversational.

I love challenges. I’m always in competition with myself- I love a good quadruple entendre, personification, assonance and interword rhyming. I feel like an emcee raps because they have something to say and rappers rap because they have to say something. Anytime I’m on the mic- I should be emceeing- unless it’s a jam session and we’re just having fun.

But if you aren’t raising the bar- what are you really doing?

What role do electronic tools and instruments, including AI, play for your creative process?

As a DJ, most of my creative process is digital. I still do vinyl sets upon request but everything is electronic at the moment.

AI isn’t for me as far as my musical creative process is concerned. However, I’ve seen some wonderful visual art pieces created by friends.