AMN MAG, Issue #20 AMN MAG, Issue #20 | Page 16

Cover story Floacist: I am wonderful—blessed. Thank you. And thank you for having me; it’s a pleasure to speak with you this evening. LG: Thank you. I love the title of the new album ‘Rise of The Phoenix Mermaid’. Can you tell me how that title came about? Floacist: Thank you. The title actually came to me before I even started constructing the album. There are songs on this project that I’ve had for seven years, that I wanted to finally breathe and be shared. Additionally, there are updated spoken word pieces that I’ve had that I always wanted to manifest into actual songs. So, it’s quite a collaboration of the past linked with the present, in order to manifest my future. This album is really sankofa in that its touching some things that were created sometime ago, as well as things that are being created now. And for the journey of my spirit, its about bringing together two aspects of myself; the fire and the water—and having the two elements existing in harmony, so that you have the ‘phoenix mermaid.’ LG: How interesting! I love the concept and that you put real thought into coming up with a title that represent the songs on the new project. So...it’s fair to say that the title is about an evolution of sorts, yes? Floacist: Yes, that’s correct. This is the first album that I have ever made in acceptance of the fact that I am a recording artist. It was not something that I tried to be, but it’s something that I now understand with all of my studies and journeys have made manifest, so this album is created in submission and acceptance of that. LG: Well, I feel that you are not only a recording artist, but a very successful one at that! And so I commend you for accepting that part of your creative expression because if not for it, many of us—certainly here in the United States—may never have experienced your brilliance as a poet and music artist. Floacist: Thank you so much for that. You know, my original Floetic concept is, and has always been, `poetic delivery with musical intent’—I have always been a poet, it’s just that now I have learned to embrace the ‘musical’ part of myself as well. LG: And you have done so beautifully with your last two projects, ‘Floetic Soul’ and ‘Floetry: Rebirth’, and I have no doubt that your new album, ‘Rise of The Phoenix Mermaid’ will be great as well. Tell me, how would you describe your new project? Floacist: There are 13 tracks on the album, and each song is tracked on the album in the order that it was completed. The entire project was completed in two weeks! I am connected to each of the songs on this project, particularly the track, “Woman” because it’s a collection from pieces of poetry that I had written that I first performed at jam session. And by the end of jam session, I was being asked where could people get this song. What’s amazing is the song didn’t even have a title when I performed it—it started out a poem that told me that it was a song. Chris Davis (Big Dog) who produced the whole project, came in and immediately seemed to