Yuzima Philip

At the crossroads of race, rock, and noise (and ancient spirits) sits Harlem's own Yuzima Philip. Called by multiple rock mags New York's "prince of noise," Yuzima at 42, blasts through the narrow landscape forced on queer artists of color, skillfully stirring noise-rock, punk, old New Orleans style jazz, powerful multi-octave vocals, and skillful songwriting to tell the full American story. Yuzima Philip was destined for this path, from his rough upbringing in a working-class housing project in the Bronx. His grandparents moved to Gun Hill as one of its first black families. All of that history and early choir singing (and rapping) as well as trumpet skills, prepared Yuzima to move with his mother to Vermont, where he added alternative rock to his influences, playing with local bands. Now Yuzima lives in Harlem with his husband interior decorator Jim Fairfax. He has received numerous endorsements, including Marky Ramone from The Ramones, who called one of Yuzima's live performances "awesome" and writers from NPR, Paste, and Esquire, like Litsa Dremousis (who called his song 'Black Supremacy' "powerful as hell"). His most recent long-player POWER hits on many of these themes, including the current political climate, specifically, the corruption of the current administration and fascism (and includes all instruments played by Yuzima.) POWER has been featured from Impose Mag to Audio Fuzz and continues to conquer a world in turmoil. Yuzima Philip is the inventive power of early U2 at their most ambitious, mixing it up with Bad Brains, George Clinton, while followed by a brass band.