Storytellers in the Performing Arts

In celebration of Black History Month, the next edition of Storytellers is honoring twenty Afro-Latino artists who are inspiring and impacting our community through their craft.

Our fourth and final list: performing arts.

J NOA

Born Nohelys Jiménez, J Noa started making music as early as five-years-old. As a teenager, her work caught the attention of the international music scene. 

“I feel like a journalist of my barrio, because when we’re raised in the barrio, in those places, there are very few people whose voices are heard,” she says in Spanish on LATV’s Storytellers.

Based in the Dominican Republic, the young rapper crafts lyrics that reflect the socio-political atmosphere of her community, shedding light on her Dominican culture from a new-age Afro-Latina perspective. 

“For me, it’s a big responsibility and honor to be the one who represents,” she goes on to say.

J Noa was nominated by the Latin Grammy Awards for her song “Autodidacta.“ She is signed to Sony and was featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts.

Looking to the future of her unfolding career, she hopes to leave a legacy of authenticity, happiness, and positivity. 

*J Noa bio crafted in collaboration with Susana Vaamonde

ZULY INIRIO

Vocalist and “artivist” Dr. Zuly Inirio is – most literally – adding an Afro-Latino voice to the world of opera.

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Inirio became enamored by the ‘spectacle of opera’ at a young age. 

“I was so blown away by the power of the human voice,” she says. “It wasn’t just the sound. It was the emotions. Regardless of the language, it was dealing with universal emotions that we could all understand: pain, loss, love, sacrifice.”

Throughout her international career, Inirio felt misrepresented by the classical music cannon that seemed to lack stories about Black Latinidad.

“Being in a predominantly European, white artform, there’s not a lot of representation of people of color,” she says on LATV’s Blacktinidad. “With the history of colonization that we have, there is no way that we didn’t contribute to this artform. There’s just no way.”

So she did her own research and found her own material. And when it came time for her doctorate performance, she was the first person to do a recital completely in Spanish.

She is involved in many organizations intent on uplifting the Afro-Latino experience, including the AfroLatinx Song and Opera Project, which she founded to both decolonize opera history and commission new work. She’s currently working on an anthology.

REY KING

Need a another definition of Latin-inspired hip-hop? Look no further than Rey King.

Born Israel Steven Mercedes in Providence, Rhode Island, Rey King’s childhood was heavily immersed in art and music—both in church and “por la calle.”

Growing up in the United States, the artist and producer was most influenced by American hip-hop and rap. Coming from a Latino family, his music-making journey often materialized in Spanish. He has creatively blended these two genres together in his current body of work.

“Rap was always the ultimate urban music for me. After years of having written songs in Spanish for other artists, a door was opened into making urban music, yes, but also Latin music,” he tells Flow Urbano in Spanish.

As an artist, King is consistently maturing his perspective, expanding his sound, and elevating the caliber of his lyrics. His recent albums, BLKTINO Vol. 1 and BLKTINO Vol. 2, have garnered him more of a public eye and industry attention. 

“The album seamlessly blends Latin rhythms with rap/hip-hop lyrics, uniting the rich cultural elements of Black Afro American and Black Latin urban vibes,” DMT Records writes for The Clout Magazine.

That fusion is a defining element in Rey King’s story.

FRANCIA

Francia’s artistic perspective is as diverse as his rich Afro-Latino heritage. Originally from Venezuela, his career first accelerated as a New York-based corporate attorney. Then, after a 10-day silent retreat meant to refocus his heart and reframe his passions, a re-inspired Francia retraced his vocation back to creative roots.

Today, he is a singer, a songwriter, a TV host, an attorney, a yoga practitioner—and he is currently exploring acting, directing, and filmmaking.

“I’m just giving my heart to all of these crafts in the hope that, in 10 years, I could have a body of work that represents me,” the multi-hyphenate tells LATV. “Any endeavor in the arts—music, acting, modeling—it’s going to be fruitful, because I can see it inside of me, and [yoga can] help you find that clarity.”

Musically, he was inspired by his father, the salsa singer, who also loved rancheras and music styles like R&B, jazz, and neo-soul. He is energized by his travels, the rhythms and melodies he encounters on the road. He cascades his discoveries into his songs.

“The way I write my songs, they come in different ways. Sometimes, a phrase sticks to me, and I figure out melodically how that phrase sounds to me,” he goes on to say. “I want to give you a flavor for fusing flavors. I feel like, having traveled, I can see how these connections are made.”

AJA MONET

Though poetry takes tangible form as written words, Aja Monet believes it starts with poetic perspective. So even though the Cuban-Jamaican-New Yorker started writing poetry as a teenager, she was a poet long before she picked up a pen.

Growing up in New York was sensory. Monet listened to her mother’s favorite artists, like Tupac and Sade. She remembers not just their lyrics, but the emotional impact of their tone.

“I was always very curious about how people held words in their body, and the way they carried them within themselves,” she says in an interview with NOT 97, “and what words we tell ourselves, and what words we speak over each other.”

Growing up, she also witnessed how relationships got strained, how over-communicating could make things worse. It was through these experiences she learned the power of words—and used them to express herself, to heal herself.

Today, Aja Monet is a surrealist blues poet, a performance artist, a writer, and an organizer. Her many forms of expression, her many methods of activism, are rooted in her personal storytelling. She hopes to inspire others to share their story, too.

“I’ve always given other people space to shine,” she adds. “Many of us can shine, and if we all rise to that, look what we can create, listen to what magic we can make together.”

Check out all of LATV’s Storytellers content here!