We were lucky to catch up with Asia Rainey-Ani recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Asia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
In a convergence of different aspects of my work over the last 20 years, I am producing a short film featuring a composition of music at its core. My song entitled Freedom was born from my work in spoken word poetry, and takes a journey through spiritual hymn, escalates into hip hop, and crescendos with poetic storytelling. The visual combines powerful imagery and soulful movement to heighten Freedom’s message of Ancestral Reverence and legacy. I’m working with a phenomenal team to bring this project to life!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
At a young age, I was a writer and creative thinker, shyly gravitating towards the stage in music and theatre. I was a bit of a late bloomer in my creative career, getting my start when I fell in love with performing spoken word poetry. Storytelling has always been at the core, in the writing that continued to expand, and a pull to build confidence in other mediums such as music and visual arts (acrylics, canvas, wood, etc.). From paint to prose and poetry, I have been driven to make statements, capture moments, challenge perspectives, and provoke thought.
My music echoes the lyricism in spoken word – I’m a firm believer that songs with powerful lyrics are poetry in disguise – and it has always been my passion to create music that moves and inspires. My artwork is meant to reflect the perfectionist who finally decides to let go, making “mistakes” that become learning and growth moments. I love to be the multi hyphenate artist: my brand is to create what speaks to me, and to give people something that makes them feel.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Being originally from New Orleans, I went through many transitions after Hurricane Katrina – but for about six years it was actually a pivotal time in my growth as an artist, community advocate, teacher, and entrepreneur. Going back to what I did before the storm felt disjointed for me (bar and restaurant management, consulting…) so it was necessary to shift into finding alignment with all of these skills I’d amassed – especially out of necessity and survival! The conversations in my art, and the work I began to do within the community (from working with children to supporting a number of non-profit endeavors and social advocacy efforts) led to understanding how to move those skills into entrepreneurial opportunities. What I was able to do, from organizational management to writing to supporting the endeavors of others, all had marketable VALUE that could then give me something so essential to an artist in my position: the ability to create my own work time and space so that I had more freedom to be an artist on my own terms. This sparked the birth of my publishing company, Nine Pages Media LLC, which encompasses book publishing and other production work.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
At this point in my career, my mission isn’t to think or create outside of the box, but to move like there is no box at all. I have seen limited thinking burn artists out, such as when they believe they have writer’s block (I personally believe that is the state of running out of ways to write what others want to hear or expect of you). When I didn’t feel I had something meaningful to say that came from my spirit, I stopped writing for a bit and got still – and listened instead with spiritual ears. What then began to drive my creative self more was to no longer segregate that side of me with the spiritual thinker. I am now driven by a strong sense of connection with everything – which continuously expands my discernment, the breaking of dogmatic ideas, the challenging of bias and indoctrination, and the passion to keep nudging myself out of comfort zones.
Contact Info:
- Website: Linktr.ee/asiarainey
- Instagram: @asia_rainey_ani, @9pagesmedia
- Facebook: AsiaRaineyII
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/rMjLkSdLvLk?si=Mt0j0Pge6n3kXjZd
- Other: Oshun’s Book of Mirrors https://a.co/d/3NguLZe The Book of Mirrors: A Journal Workbook https://a.co/d/b7omxiv
Image Credits
Group Photo: WordPlay Tupelo, Link Centre (Tupelo, MS)