Abiyah

It's like getting blitzed by Chuck D and Maya Angelou at the same time!
--Ezra Waller, cincymusic.com

Abiyah has an edge that you rarely find in contemporary women singers—White-bred and pre-packaged, ol’ girl isn’t. As a writer, she’s passionate and onstage she sings, rebel-yells, dub-chants or raps about empowerment like she’s this cunning linguist who studies different languages and stirs them up in her own little dutchie. Abiyah skirts convention, and there’s obviously some influences from a wicked orgy of pop-culture pacesetters; Cincinnati CityBeat writer Mildred C. Fallen hears Henry Rollins, the Runaways, Queen Latifah, Sister Carol, The Cure, Kraftwerk and Michael Franti.
Seven years ago, Abiyah began performing at spoken word venues, and wasted no time moving into pairing her words with music. In 2000, she traveled to New York to work with N8tive Sun, the creative and musical force behind both the spoken word/Hip Hop classic release “Eargasms: CrucialPoetics, Vol. I” (which featured Mos Def, Company Flow and Rha Goddess, among others) and Saul Williams’ “Ohm.” Her debut EP release, "Flow Tectonics," included "Free Wild Muse," a track produced by Sun, which was also featured on the 2003 MidPoint Music Festival CD compilation.
Known as an original positivity freestyle melody maker, Abiyah often makes her own beats and performs primarily solo (often accompanied by a backing vocalist and/or dj/laptop guru), but is also a fierce collaborator with an impressive roster of partners, including djdq (of Fat Beats Records retro-alternative Hip Hop group Glue), John Van Eaton (Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM), Dana Hamblen (Fairmount Girls, Culture Queer), and many more. djdq has accompanied Abiyah on several occasions: at the MidPoint Music Festival (Cincinnati), the Vans Warped Tour, and in a Hip Hop theatre piece, “break/beat,” which premiered at the inaugural Cincinnati Fringe Festival.
Abiyah's releases include the "datawaslost Split Single 05: Clabbergirl/Abiyah" (datawaslost; 2003) and the "Flow Tectonics" EP (2001; self-released). Her tracks have appeared on several compilations, including "Seventeen Year Itch: Mating Songs of Cincinnati USA" (Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; 2004); the "MidPoint Music Festival Compilation 2003" (MPMF; 2003); and "Bgyrl4Life" (b-gyrl.com; 2002).
Abiyah’s music was featured on the now-defunct, but critically-acclamed, independent terrestrial radio station 97X (now woxy.com). Her noteworthy performances include the Vans Warped Tour (Code of the Cutz Hip Hop stage), Scribble Jam, MidPoint Music Festival, Electrofest 2.0, and Chicks RockFest. Abiyah also has shared the stage with her contemporaries: avant Hip Hop MC Beans, Mike Ladd and Daemon Records trip-hop group phBalance. In 2005, she appeared in a commercial for the Viewers Choice Award of the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards.
The Cincinnati music scene has recognized Abiyah through nominations for Cincinnati Entertainment Awards in the Hip Hop category, and for a Cammy Award in the Urban/Hip Hop category. In addition to her musical achievements, Abiyah has been recognized for her evocative poetry. Her piece, "Fatherless Townships," appeared in the anthology "Bum Rush the Rage: A Def Poetry Jam" (Three Rivers Press; 2001).
In 2006, Abiyah’s focus was on recording. She appeared on Florida beatboxer Roman Beats’ debut CD “I’m the Beatboxer, They’re the Rappers,” with her dub poetry-tinged call to future female MCs “Hand Me the Microphone.” Abiyah is currently working with frequent collaborator Michael Bond (co-chief of Chicago-based Datawaslost Records and frontman for indie folktronica group Coltrane Motion), having recently recorded a new Bond-produced single “Don’t Go (Letters to Kafka)” at Bond’s Chicago studio. She has also branched out into an endeavor named “That Girl George”, with Dana Hamblen (Fairmount Girls, Culture Queer), that brings together experimental music, vocal and performance art a la Bjork’s “Medulla.”
Abiyah is electronic/world/pop anchored by Hip Hop roots and a rock diva with a Hip Hop soul, skipping across genres with ease, and hanging her rhymes on guitar hooks nailed to the wall with electronic beats. She smudges the line of class, race and music genre under her thumb, flipping the script of what people expect from a Midwestern white rocker chick. Just let her do her thing, ‘cause whatever it is, it’s more global than it is local.