Tiye Phoenix Speaks Out
By: Lyle Hickman
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Entertainment
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Heads swung like see-saws back and forth, sustained by the mellifluous words of Tiye Phoenix. As a hip hop artist and a woman named after the mother of King Tut and a mythical bird, Phoenix aims to entertain and empower listeners with her tactfully chosen words.
"A phoenix is a bird symbolic of immortality, change and progression, so I'd like to always think I'm getting better no matter what I'm going through," said Phoenix.
As an apprentice of Hank and Keith Shocklee of the Bomb Squad, the sound behind the iconic hip hop group Public Enemy, Phoenix learned about the music industry. Phoenix, once part of the D.C. based, all-female S.O.U.L. Food Symphony, left the group, eventually landing a deal with the highly-praised Rawkus Records.
While at Rawkus Records, Phoenix took charge of her career, being the first artist at that label to broker an album deal, while label mates like Mos Def and Talib Kweli had 12-inch single deals.
"The Rawkus era was a really indelible imprint on hip hop. I feel so privileged that I was blessed to be a part of it," Phoenix said. Label merges and changes with administration at Rawkus prevented Phoenix's debut album from being released, but it did not stop her from creating material.
"Featuring Tiye Phoenix" is read on the backs of numerous projects including Little Brother's And Justus for All, Reflection Eternal's Train of Thought, and Kendra Ross's New Voice. In 2006 the self-produced independent solo project Black Athena was released, followed by Break Glass, a collaborative effort between DJ Spinna, Mr. Complex, Shabaam Sadeeq and Phoenix as the Polyrhythm Addicts.
"Being that I'm a phoenix and a phoenix is immortal and it rebirths itself at all times, I would have to say that I'm as old as the universe itself," Phoenix said when asked her age.
Performing as Tiye Phoenix for fifteen years, she found herself at NJCU on March 5.
"I had an amazing time," Phoenix said, closing Women Speak Out, the annual Women's History Month celebration at NJCU. Phoenix shared the stage with students, Jerica Hayes, Tiffany Salas, Jennifer Morette and SueLye Guerra, staff, Renata Moriera, Tamara Tertulien-Jackson and Leah "Lyric" Jackson, and host Yamara Salazar. Each performer at Women Speak Out communicated through dance, musical instrumentation, spoken word, hip hop and rhythm and blues.
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