We recently connected with Kerrie Joy and have shared our conversation below.

Kerrie, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

If I could go back to when I was about 11 years old, I would have begun singing and performing then. I’ve always been a writer; I’ve always been able to sing. However, I never believed in myself. For the most part, I was taught not to. I have found a lot of confidence in my voice and my presence, but it took a lot of unlearning and detoxing to get to this point. I didn’t really start performing until I was 21 and I didn’t take it seriously until I was about 27. I know I would be farther in my career if I started sooner but I’m grateful for the lessons that make me the artist I am today.

Kerrie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Well, I’m a poet. Everything I do is poetry. Whether it comes out with instrumentation or acapella, whether it’s through a song, act of protest, lesson plan, or fashion statement…it’s all poetry to me.

As I mentioned, I’ve always been a writer and I was always able to sing. I’ve been surrounded by music my whole life, specifically gospel music. My mother always sang to me and my siblings growing up. You will probably hear her singing at any point if you met her today. There’s always a song in our hearts.

I think I really started to tap in as a writer when I was about 10/11 years old. This mainly came about because I couldn’t seem to find the outlet that I needed to express myself. There wasn’t much room for processing my thoughts and feelings out loud…so my notebook became my dearest friend. My works would come out as poems, sermons, songs, and other random ideas lol. You’ll always hear biblical references and parables in my work. That’s just how I’ve learned to communicate.

Growing up in a very legalistic Christian environment, I was only exposed to slam poetry in a Christian setting. I was once closely affiliated with a Christian group of poets called “True Voices.” This is where I learned I could share what I was writing on a stage in front of people and found a community of wordsmiths doing the same. However, I still struggled with who I was. I was still stuffing myself down because the environment was not safe for a queer Black woman to step into her truth. So I wrote about stuffing myself down. I wrote about denying myself. I wrote about the disdain I had for myself as a sinner and my prayers for the sinners around me. I didn’t realize that it was hate. I didn’t realize that it was backward thinking. I didn’t realize it was judgment. I thought I was doing the right thing…putting the “eternal placement” of my soul and the souls of the people around me above the love they deserved in the present. I was wrong though. It’s that simple. And as soon as the scales fell from my eyes, the shackles were removed from my neck, and I was able to step outside of the “cave” I was raised in, I was exposed to the harsh truth about the hate I internalized and spewed and I had to choose to do things differently. It didn’t happen immediately. I mean, life is a journey, right? But I’m committed to doing better every day.

So a decade later from my first performance, I find myself more free, full of less hate and judgment, overflowing with love and creativity, and determined to live a life of peace and solidarity. I find myself unlearning the toxic behaviors I was exposed to when I was surrounded by people that were taught to hate themselves. I find myself redefining my relationship with myself, with my people, with the earth and the cosmos, and many times, you hear these conversations in my poetry and songs. I’m proud of myself for choosing to grow and evolve…in love…always in love.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

First off, I think we need to acknowledge just how much art we consume. In this consumer society, we find ourselves minimizing the value of artists because we don’t realize the large role they play in our lives. We allow the stigma of a “starving artist” to remain true because we don’t go out of our way to respect artists. We respect the businesses that can buy our attention and use art as bait. Let’s be real.

However, the chair you are sitting in was designed by an artist. The shirt you are wearing was designed by an artist. The software you are interacting with was designed by an artist. The music you listen to and the shows you watch and the books you read were created by artists. The food you buy at your favorite restaurant was designed by an artist. I think you get the point. My hope is that we can honor artists as the juggernauts of the world. We keep shit going and growing. We define culture. In order to help artists, we have to choose to literally go out of our way to respect and protect them. Seek them out directly so you can support them in ways where they can keep all of their profits. Go to their shows before they get picked up by LiveNation and AEG. Subscribe to their Patreon to support the 80% of their work you don’t see them do. Seek them out. Support them and their teams directly. Artists are their own businesses…so when you can…skip the middle person and love on them directly.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I want to be free. I choose to be free. I take my freedom as I recognize it will never be handed to me. My goal is to support the free, happy life that I deserve. It’s pretty simple actually.

Contact Info:

• Website: kerriejoy.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/kerriejoy
• Facebook: Kerrie Joy
• Youtube: youtube.com/kerriejoy1
• Other: patreon.com/kerriejoy

Image Credits
Ryan Landell Jason Melino Vince Chandler

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