MOURNING [a] BLKSTAR is a multi-generational, non-gender and non-genre confirming collective from Cleveland, Ohio. They meld live instrumentation with harmonizing vocals and hip-hop production to share stories and experiences of the African Diaspora. Their sets are rooted in communing with the audience — an experience that is solidarizing, heart-warming, and vital for this moment.

The group’s seven members include musicians, writers, and multimedia artists. Their intricate arrangements, rooted in jazz, blues, soul, r&b, and hip-hop, are an afrofuturist examination of our cultural paradoxes that at times challenge; at times uplift — and constantly moor themselves in both sincerity and defiance.

shapeshifters of the black experience

“Because we’re predominantly a Black band, we get pigeonholed into certain spaces,” says singer LaToya Kent. “People will think you just do one thing.”

In reality, the band goes pretty much everywhere. With three deeply soulful vocalists and a horn section, they “draw on everything from spacey Afrofuturistic jazz to uplifting gospel-like vocals to apocalyptic hip-hop beats, all underscored by a lyrical commitment to social and racial justice and healing.” (Noah Schaffer, Boston Globe)