Charm Taylor

New Orleans-based do-it-all Charm Taylor graces the Okay-realm with an early look at her debut solo EP The Road Within; a whispery and soulful 6-track project that flaunts a sprawling vocal range and a compelling afro-futuristic narrative, entirely produced by Saint Rock. From atmospheric, trap-laced numbers like the lead-off “Clothes” to more boom-bap touched heaters like “Ascension” and the album’s super-swung, funky-as-all-hell title track closing things out; there’s something for every creed of music lover here. And the influences may be broad, but Taylor’s effortless transition from airy croon to full-blown spitter marks a level of dynamism comparable to Lauryn Hill or more recent soul music futurists like THEESatisfaction. All in all, Taylor’s sound is one that penetrates with its spirited approach to left-field-ism and we can’t wait to get some more. The Road Within drops tomorrow with, but you can put an early ear to the ambitious solo debut from Charm Taylor below. Preorder your copy of the record on Bandcamp today. Taylor will also be announcing tour dates in the days to come, so be sure to peep her site for the scoop. - OkayPlayer.com

Artist. Creator. Threat. The words are blazoned in bold on Ms. Charm Taylor's clothing. She's just woken up from a nap following a lengthy and productive studio session in New Orleans, Louisiana with decorative blue paint freshly brushed onto her welcoming face.

The rapper/singer has new music coming. She always has new music coming. From her role as frontwoman for New Orleans' electric soul band The Honorable South, to her collaborative songwriting ventures, to the release of her first personal solo work The Road Within EP earlier this year, Charm Taylor is steadfastly concentrated on the delivery of her conscious wave she refers to as Future Soul, but more importantly, the message behind it. Artist. Creator. Threat. It seems fitting.

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Is there a big difference between Charm Taylor the solo artist and Charm Taylor the frontwoman and when you were putting together your first solo offering The Road Within EP, what changes were you aware of conceptually and artistically?

I feel more myself than ever. I'm still carrying a torch so far as, my music is very much a tool for me to build nations. But, I just feel that I'm not necessarily making anyone accountable for what I say, think, or feel. It's more, I'm me. This is accountability for my own perspective. It's really done a number on identity. It's definitely been an exercise on identity. I feel like I've gotten to know myself so much more simply by having to stand, at least in the physical sense, alone. But it definitely hasn't been a solo effort. There's been many hands creatively. I was able to travel to one of my ancestral homelands in Cotton Plant Arkansas. I had the freedom within this project to dive into these very personal pockets of identity, while still working with other people. It's definitely been the narrative to realize and focus. That can be uncomfortable for anybody, to really say that, this is my voice and my story. I'm uncovering levels of my lineage. So it was just deep. The whole time, it was deep. Now that it's finished, it's still unfolding in these very real ways.

It sounds like it's been a really thorough journey of self-discovery, not just artistically but personally. So how did that process of tracing your lineage liberate you?

It's been super dope to channel these stories, because oftentimes as a creator, there's so much pressure to really give voice to the story that you're presenting. I always want to tell stories that I feel like the world needs. But in this process, it's very liberating because you surrender to the ether. You surrender to the fact that the stories that need to be told are just - on one plain, it's using me and just my voice and my ears and my aesthetic to communicate on some vessel stuff. I feel like, I let an energy move through me and now when I perform the music, I be like, "Who is that? What is that about?" Some stories fell on my tongue especially that I felt were a result of me just meditating on life and ancestral memory and "what are the things that I need to say now? Why is it important to radicalize every place I walk into as it relates to identity?" Stuff that fell on my heart that I realize, I'm just a door. I'm just a gate. The moment I think it's me, the door is going to close. So I just stay really balanced. It's an artistic surrender and me listening to creative intuition and me listening to my ancestors and my highest self. It's been very organic and feels like assignment or birthright. These are things that come with letting your life inform your art.

You became an artist because of the writing process, once you realized how writing made you feel and how it helped you accept certain realities in your life. So what realities did writing music help you accept?

Self in relation to the rest of society and the rest of the world. We're insignificant but we're so significant at the same time. You come to accept that which you can change about your immediate circumstances. As creators, we usher this understanding for the rest of society. They look to us to remind them that they can really create this other future. Are you a victim of your circumstance? Are you presently shifting energy in your life to really reach the most favourable outcome of yourself? I'm always giving the story like, this was the hand I was dealt and here's how we navigate the world now. People look to artists for the spirit of freedom and the spirit of resistance. I'm on some purpose and destiny stuff. It's a radical act.

For those people, fans or listeners that aren't creatives themselves that may struggle with self-awareness or self-discovery, what advice do you have for them for finding that path?

Listen to the wind. Sit and spend time in nature. Reconnect. The earth has certain rhythms that unlock certain things within us. I'd say, start now and figure out what your people's stories are. Even if that means calling your grandmother and speaking to the elders in your life. It's so interesting how they can give you a different lens into your future. But more importantly, don't spend so much time outside of self. Everything you need to know about self is already inside of you.

And speaking of future, you describe your music as Future Soul. So what is that exactly and how is it a reflection of your artistry?

It's the next wave. It's where we go when our experiences make us long for the future. There's a lot of different waves in music, but what making the most noise in the ether is this forward thought. When people start thinking about how to ascend and get to this next level. That's what we're doing. Clearly, there's a detest for mono-culture, this sameness that I think many artists are perpetuating within the industry. There's a bunch of independents that are, "No man, where's the culture? Where are the layers? Are you talking this or are you living it?" Thinking higher, thinking progress, thinking innovation, that's the move. It's challenging the listener to open this other door in your mind. It's relatable, but it's like "Man, let me tell you about this next thing."

That's what life is about, learning and discovering consistently.

Elevation. Elevate your love scenario, your circle, everything. I'm going to radicalize every space I walk into. I'm going to decolonize every space I walk into. I'm actively representing the divine feminine. We know we were designed differently. We have to usher in an age of lifting consciousness. There's a collective of us. We're really reaching back to that age of the Black Arts Movement or the Harlem Renaissance, or any of the really real cultural movements. I think that it's no wonder that what we're doing artistically exists as a compliment to the social shifts we're seeing. There's all these structural overhauls taking place. There's more conversations of trans-identity, more so than you've ever heard. More conversations and policy change around gay marriage and marijuana law. We have this #BlackLivesMatter call. There's a lot of radical movements in society and we want to make sure that we're staying with that as a catalyst to that and compliment that.

What's been the most rewarding part of that for you?

Just being able to relate to people. Suddenly, we're human again. In the midst of this wave of social media in general, I'm going to relate to you from this phone scenario, but at the same time, the closer we get artistically to usher in this new era, we're still the most human again. That's all.

Discover: mscharmtaylor.com - The 405

New music from Charm Taylor, who dishes out a very cool , Afrofuturist funk…excuse me, fonk…remix to the track “Ascension” from her debut EP The Road Within. Along for the ride is the legendary future-funk connoisseur Georgia Anne Muldrow, who adds her signature vocals and production to the track. Make no mistake though, this is a Charm Taylor affair, who has succeeded in getting me to scramble to find her debut and give it a listen. As far as I can tell, “Ascension (To The Fonk remix)” appears on a remix project entitled The Road Within | B-Sides and Remixes - MightyBurners.net

The Honorable South lands on the New Orleans Jazz Fest's Gentilly Stage the morning of Friday, May 1, with its funky amalgam of alt-rock, neo-soul and hip-hop poetry. A couple of days later, frontwoman Charm Taylor drops "The Road Within," her first solo EP. It's less solid rock and more ethereal space than what she does with the group, winding sinuous Lauryn Hill vocal cadences over downbeat jazz and chilly, spaced-out, abstracted R&B a la Tinashe.

Three of the nine tracks on "The Road Within" are streaming online now. "Mother of Nine," the opener, is a buzzy cloud of organ, clinking bells and snaky, old-world horn explorations that make it seem like something Daenarys Targaryen jams out to in her tent.

"The Road Within" EP is out Tuesday, May 5. Listen to a preview and check out the video for "Clothes," - nola.com

Listen to 'The Road Within', the new EP from Charm Taylor (formerly of The Honorable South). The 6-track solo project is a perfect introduction to the New Orleans native's afro-futuristic sound and lyrical flow. - AfroPunk

Future soul artist Charm Taylor released her debut solo, The Road Within in May. Currently on an 11-city US and Canadian tour, Charm sat down with fellow Ghanaian soulstress Sena who released her latest LP Slow Grow with DJ Vadim, to talk woman-to-woman about mysticism, ancestry, and how the pasts informs their music.

Sena: First off, congratulations on a truly brilliant EP! The record is so dense, with your vocals providing so much texture in the tracks rather than simply being a ‘top line’. Could you talk us how that came about?
Charm: I wanted to keep the final recordings rich in vocal layers to mimic the way that much of the lyrical content was developed. The entire project came about like an ongoing inner dialogue and I wanted listeners to hear and feel that dynamic so it’s super heady and cerebral at times.

Sena: The lyrical themes seem to center around an inner journey and transformation. Were they mirroring something happening in your life at the time of writing (if that’s not too personal a question)?
Charm: Absolutely. Following my great grandmother’s passing, something shifted in my spirit. It was like all the spiritual growth and change that I’d been undertaking was leading me to the discovery of who I was now. The project is my way of my conveying a connection to to lineage which ties us to a universal energy.

Sena: I found this record to be so very cinematic and visual. Tell us about your artistic influences outside of music?
Charm: We tell our stories for a living and we’re actively working on mastering the transformative arts. I am often tapping into healing frequencies from meditation to Kemetic Yoga to herbal medicine. The same is true for the producer Saint Rock who studies and practices Dharma Buddhism. He has scored indie films and so his hand was very strong toward that end. We wanted the project to sustain a very atmospheric vibe so as to bring the listener into our world and to reflect the experiences of a changing world and the presence of a higher consciousness.
Sena: It feels like some of the wild mysticism, jazz and even the accent of New Orleans has found its way onto the record. What does your hometown mean to you?
Charm: I was born in St. Louis – just north of the Mississippi River from New Orleans. I seem to follow that river! I’ve been living in New Orleans for eight years now and it has been the key to me opening the door to my evolution as an artist and creative. The city is such a fertile ground that nourishes the soul first. - URB magazine

New Orleans’ singer /songwriter Charm Taylor delivers her own brand of soul on her newly released EP, The Road Within. Injecting the spiritual into her music provides the 9 track project with an avant-garde aesthetic, making it a great companion piece to newly released albums by Kamasi Washington or TheeSatisfaction. Enter ther future. Enter Charm Taylor - Bama Loves Soul

What would it look like if you woke up tomorrow in a free world? Singer-songwriter, Charm Taylor’s latest music-video offering, “Moksha” from her debut EP, The Road Within, presents her vision of such a place. Opening with the voice of Marcus Garvey booming from the radio and Ms. Charm Taylor at the wheel of 1966 pink Ford Galaxie, this musical moksha is a vibrant afro-diasporic art- pop romp through the streets of a liberated New Orleans.

Combining elements of the esoteric and the avant-garde, Taylor and her circle of divinely clad goddess-bodies navigate the streets of post-Katrina New Orleans together. In a city where a party is never just a party, Taylor’s squad sets up a healing frolic in the streets, using ancient and modern tools of self-care and divination. Embracing Ifa as her preferred mode of spiritual liberation, Taylor seeks to introduce the world to the modern Black American iyawo and present the syncretic culture of Black Americans as something both ancient and new.

“Moksha” moves the narrative of the newly christened carefree black girl forward by anchoring her firmly to both time-honored tradition and futuristic projections. Pushing “Moksha’s” brilliant color and high energy movement ever forward are the song’s poetic, clear lyrics penned, as always, by Ms. Taylor herself. “Moksha” lives up to what Okayplayer refers to as “Taylor’s effortless transition from airy croon to full-blown spitter.”

From the first notes, “Moksha” is a resistance song rooted in joy. It is also a track you can dance to and the effect is elevating and mood altering. Taylor eases on down the road, picking up members of her circle along the way and we the viewer are invited to go along and partake in an unadulterated centering and celebration of feminine sexuality, spirituality and creation. - SHINE For Harriet.com