Jamila Woods
Chicago’s Jamila Woods made her mark as a poet whose work appeared in anthologies such as Courage: Daring Poems For Gutsy Girls and The Breakbeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop. She later began incorporating music into her projects because, as she told the Chicago Reader in 2015, “There’s a transcendence that music has that poetry doesn’t necessarily always have.” As a singer, she cites musical influences from Imogen Heap and Erykah Badu to Kendrick Lamar and Kirk Franklin. Her early recordings are as a guest singer on projects by far more famous acts she impressed with her smooth, soulful vocal chops. She adds notable groove to Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment’s album Surf, as well as to a socially conscious record from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “White Privilege II.” Chance the Rapper featured her on two high profile hits, “Sunday Candy” and “Blessings,” and she also collaborated with Noname, Saba, and others. Her first real solo splash came with the single “Blk Girl Soldier” and her 2016 full-length Heavn. A new album called Legacy! Legacy! is due May 10, five weeks before her June 18 appearance at the Casbah.