Former Louisvillian, Teneia is now back in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi making strong waves with her music as is evident in her new single "Our Rebellious Hearts". It's a joyful feminist anthem and will appear on her new album called OMNI due this summer. It's quite the collaboration as she describes below:
The song was created for a Gender Equality organization called Tandem Equality. Who's working to change the face of philanthropy by supporting artists as a form of liberation. https://www.tandemequality.org They hired me to create a feminist anthem. So, I hired 4 other female musicians (Rita Brent, Dr. LaQuanta Nelson, Alicia Cruthirds (all MS based) and Polina Faustova (Ukraine) to create a feminist song that was an uplifting piece to share how we learn and gain knowledge from each generation. By sharing our stories, we hoped to help other young women find their voices. Especially as female musicians. The song also features a mini-documentary, directed by Talamieka Brice and produced by me, that is now an international award-winning film that shares more about Rita, LaQuanta and I and our musical church backgrounds.
Rita and I have been friends and working together for about 10 years and she's one of my favorite collaborators! We're been to Africa together through the US State Dept. program, American Music Abroad and just get each other musically and are great friends. She's an Emmy nominated comedienne and writer who also grew up playing in church like me in Mississippi. She's a drummer, rapper and singer who brings a lot of talent to the table. So, we bonded over being Black women from MS who play instruments, love to laugh and use our voices to support the state of Mississippi.
As soon as I started producing "Our Rebellious Hearts," I knew I wanted Rita on drums. She's one of the best drummers I've ever played with! And after tracking the demo, I felt like it needed a rap to tell more of a larger story. And I also wanted a way to showcase Rita that wasn't just on the drum kit. She's brilliant at what she does lyrically, so I felt like using another talent of hers would add an interesting touch! She sent me a demo and it was perfect and profound! It added so much fun and knowledge to the track. And all the other women are incredible to work with as well!
