#BelieveWomen
#DefundthePolice
#AllBlackLivesMatter
BIO
About
DJ LiKWUiD, born Faybeo'n LaShanna A Mickens,
is an award-winning hip hop fusion artivist, DJ, songwriter, music supervisor and educator. As an avid lover of the African American diaspora of music, LiKWUiD's style of djing is based around blending beats together as one tapestry of sound. Her signature "traphrobeats” genre bending style, blends house music, hip hop and afrobeats- three of her loves representing her Gullah ancestry, Harlem influence and southern upbringing. She is a Cultural Ambassador to the United States and Voting Member of the Recording Academy.
PHOTO BY @SUPREME_REEN
LiKWUiD has performed nationally and internationally for organizations such as Google NextGen, Sony Music, Photoville, Summer Stage, Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, Doku.Tech, The Apollo Theater, Super Fine Art Fest, Time Out Market, Brooklyn Conservancy and more. She has shared the stage with artists such as Talib Kweli, The Last Poets, Rah Digga, 9th Wonder and the legendary Slick Rick.
She is a recipient of the the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation grant, administered by LMCC, for her DJ exhibition MUVASHIP, a music healing journey that pays homage to “our Mothers of Music and Mother Earth.
LiKWUiD is fully committed to combining hip hop and education to empower the youth and young women. She is an Alternate Roots Hip Hop Scholarship recipient, South Carolina Governor's School Inductee and a College of Charleston (BA) and St. John's University (MBA) graduate. She has performed, presented workshops, lectures and participated on panels at academic spaces such as Columbia University, BAM, the Eleanor Roosevelt School for Girls, the Hip Hop Culture Center, Uptown Vinyl Supreme, Flocabulary, Comic Con and more.
As a songwriter, her film credits include placements with HBO Latino Films, IFC Films, Oxygen Network, MTV and several indie projects. LiKWUiD is an Artist in Residence at NewsBeat Podcast, lead vocalists for collaborative group EllaMaeFlossie and collaborates often with bands r.o.t.i (Resilience of the Intelligent) led by Grammy Award winning Simon Yu and Warp Trio. Ebony Magazine's Sonic Boom states "she can rap circles around most of everyone's favorite rappers. But she also has a good ear for beats and melodies, so her songs always flow (no pun intended)..." A pupil of both southern soul, gospel and the golden era of hip hop, LiKWUiD's versatile writing style often includes multiple entendres, extended metaphor and religious paradox.
She was most recently the Senior Director of Marketing at a hit podcast company, where she oversaw the marketing strategy and execution for all of the shows within the company’s network including the #1 music and true crime podcast in the nation. Prior to working in podcast marketing, she worked in a variety of marketing roles within the world of entertainment; most recently at the on-demand fitness studio Aaptiv, where she was a Senior Music Curator, overseeing partnerships and brand initiatives with companies like Warner Music, Sony, Amazon, and Tidal, in order to help increase app subscriber growth by more than 200,000 members. She also spent over seven years at New Era Marketing (formerly NuDawn Entertainment), facilitating the entire marketing and promotion efforts for each city on an artist's tour. Artists Fay worked with included Ne-Yo, Jazmine Sullivan, Joe Jackson, Faith Evans, and more.
PHOTO BY: @ETHANSAWYERPHOTO
PHOTO BY: @KCPHOTOOGRAPHY03
In 2019, LiKWUiD released her collaborative album and performance piece EllaMaeFlossie presents Tea Time, an audio-visual-movement journey via the lens of afrofuturism. (The self-titled album was inspired by Gullah Gospel, Harlem Jazz, soulful hip hop with afrobeat undertones and was released by Black17 via The Orchard, a division of Sony Music. ) The performance piece premiered at the East Village Planetarium with a full cast and jazz band, in partnership with the Lower Eastside Girls Club. In 2021, the piece was reprised with the support of Art Crawl Harlem at Governor’s Island in New York City. On February 22, 2022 (or Tuesday 2/22/22), LiKWUiD presented a virtual talk with the Apollo Theater “Black Notes/Femme Futures” correlating afrofuturism to the social justice and real life movements of black women in America.
Fay is committed to using her creativity to empower the voice of marginalized groups (especially womxn and lgbtqai communities); while utilizing music, art and social justice based artivism to reflect the times.
LiKWUiD is preparing for the release of her final studio album "Likwuidation II" expected fall 2023 which will be the culmination of her 20 year career as an emcee. DJ LiKWUiD is the co-founder of BANJEE BOOMBOX,a Hip Hop 50th Anniversary Celebration Featuring LGBTQAI+ Artist at Governors Island.
ARTIST MANIFESTO
We call for the end of the murder of innocent black people by sworn civil servants.
We call for change on the federal, judicial and legislative level.
We call for an end to the funding for the militarization of police officers.
We call for the eradication of laws, practices, sanctions and policies that destroy black communities, communities of color and immigrants (this includes but is not limited to redlining, excessive bail, mass incarceration, stand your ground laws in red states and excessive force used by law enforcement on unarmed citizens.)
We stand with women who have every right to decide what is best for their minds, bodies and souls.
Further we stand with all survivors, the youth, the elders and those too afraid to speak up for themselves against the visceral grips of patriarchy and toxic policy.
L is for Love
-Fay 2022
JOY IS A FORM OF PROTEST
Joy is a form of protest
Healing is a form of protest
Rest is rebellion.
Rejuvenation is a revolutionary act.
Anytime you can restore, heal and rejuvenate yourself- you are in fact actively participating in protest.
Filling up your cup, instead of pouring into theirs is REVOLUTION!
PHOTO BY: @PHOTOROBNYC