*****NINA MARIE IS CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR PRODUCER/CO-COLLABORATORS. FEMALE PRODUCER WOULD BE PREFERRED, BUT ANYWAY INTERESTED IN A SOUL/HIP HOP PROJECT PLEASE MESSAGE GAIA REZ*****
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The New Mixtape, Ylem's SCALE DA FENCE featuring Gaia Resurrect, OUT NOW!
Click the Mixtape Cover for Order Information
~~NINA MARIE COLLINS~~~
Born in Ithaca, NY (holla!) and raised in Durham and Chapel Hill, NC, Nina Marie is a mama-loving poetic firecracker. Her poetic inspiration is drawn from what wilderness there is left, and her poetic and vocal talent have evolved alongside her love for hip hop (Hip hop matters! check out Can't Stop Won't Stop by Jeff Chang). A well traveled backpacker, Nina has seen the private parts of the mountains of North Carolina, walked in the 100 mile wilderness of Maine, and is just starting to know the Southwestern Desert. Red rock and rhyolite, the land is so sacred.
She wants you to speak truth to power, and to aid her in doing this very thing, she is working towards a degree in Environmental Management and Policy at UNC Asheville.
~~~EMILY (MaLeigh) TERESA STICKNEY a.k.a. MS TAFYAH, formerly Ylem~~~
Born and raised in Asheville, NC. Hitting the scene at 16, she hosted an open mic at Akumi where she met Nina Marie. Her passion for poetry was doubled by her love for hip hop, and her involvment in the hip hop scene in Asheville led her to her second obsession: dance. At 17 she recorded her first poetry album with the help of DJ Knowone, titled Rhymed Release. After traveling to Tempe, AZ to study herbalism, she returned to Asheville and continued to cultivate her knowledge of herstory and the Divine Feminine. At 18, she left for the woods of California where she studied permaculture, natural building and pagan ritual with Starhawk. From there she went to San Francisco, where she immediately linked up with the Collaborative Arts Insurgency, taking over subway trains and street corners with spontaneous attacks of spoken word. (Big Up, 16th&Mission!) Soon after, she became initiated into the Goddess Alchemy Project. (www.myspace.com/goddessalkemy) In the winter, she traveled to Costa Rica where she wielded a machete around in the jungle. Upon returning, she danced, recorded, modeled and performed in San Fransisco, Oakland and Sebastopol. In the summer of 06 she came home to Asheville to perform in and help produce Rant and Rave (a Catalyst production.) Planning to return to Cali in the fall, she was struck with illness and nearly died. Around halloween, with the help of a Cherokee shaman she miraculously recovered and she and Nina threw Raise it Up in gratitude and celebration. She has studied photography, women's studies, linguistics and Spanish at various colleges. Today she is a freelance graphic designer (all Gaia design by Emily Stickney), Henna artist, model and hip hop dance teacher for the Asheville Arts Center and YWCA (when she's there.) Currently in Puerto Rico studying Spanish.
Influences
Gaia, Pacha Mama, Jaya Ma, The Dark Mother, Queen Omega THE GODDESS original ancestress, mother of thousands...Saul Williams, Lauryn Hill, Goddess Alchemy Project
Sounds Like
magnificent orations from fluent and fluid sorceresses of divine nectar,ill Asheville poetress hop
Gaia Resurrect is an Asheville NC based feminist, humanist, green productions company/women's collective/spoken word and hip hop crew. At the core of the crew known as Gaia Resurrect are dynamic duo Ylem and Nina Marie, two young, inspired lyricists who unabashedly fuse poetry and rap, creating goddess-inspired, organic hip hop. Their performance is unique and lively, blessed from the beginning by "prayerformance" rituals that develop organically into poetics, and flow seamlessly into soul-stirring song and rigoddessdamndiculous rhyme. Their performance is truthful, unapologetic, entertaining, and above all, healing.
The Gaia Resurrect Company is a green productions company, hosting diverse, community-centered performance arts events featuring female dancers, poets, musicians and visual artists. Gaia Rez works out of the public school system, universities, environmental organizations, dance studios, farmers markets and festivals offering hip hop shows, workshops, potlucks, dance classes as well as a developing line of ital foods and teas.
Gaia Rez was conceived by EmmaLeigh Stickney and Jaclynn Weinke in the summer of '05 with the production of the fist Gaia show, entitled Gaia Resurrect: An Evening of All-Female Talent. The proceeds went to Our Voice, a local rape crisis/prevention center. The two hour poetry, song and dance performance was followed by several talented female DJ's, live art, a dance party and fire spinners.
Since '05, many spoken word events have been thrown in the name of Gaia Resurrect, sometimes in collaboration with Catalyst Productions.
These days, Gaia Rez is in transition since Ylem is away from home (traveling in latin america. currecntly Puerto Rico).
Please check out our gallery "epic gaia momemts" to get an idea of the productions we have produced, promoted and performed in. all graphic design by Ylem.
Poets Nina Marie and Ah'B can be caught occasionally at the Courtyard Gallery open mic on Thursdays in Asheville. Watch for the crew praising goddesses, and sometimes gods, in the streets and on the porches of Asheville and in the woods of Appalachia. Mountains, valleys, streams, sun, it's summertime at home and we're singin Gaia's praises.
To contact Ylem please see her personal site.
Having recorded and performed in California and Asheville, NC, Ylem and Nina have created a name for themselves through their unique performance and event production. There are also working on recording projects out of San Francisco, California, and are open to collaboration with beat makers, vocalists, and MC's. Their soul-stirring, powerful poetics (not to mention their ill rhymes) speak of faith in the survival of humanity through educating and empowering the people. At its core, Gaia Resurrect represents celebration. Celebration of life and all things vibrant, of diversity, of the divine feminine, of victory over the darkness that is threatening to consume our world. "We got the counter-spell"
We are thrilled to announce Midnite will be playing their only two east-coast shows in the month of April at The Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC. Arguably the best live reggae band around, Midnite has sold out every show they've played in Asheville since 2005. We strongly encourage you to pick up your tickets in advance so you can be a part of the festivities.
Click the below poster for additional information about Midnite's back-to-back nights at The Grey Eagle.
Greetings! We have a very cool show coming up which features The EGG, live and direct from Oxford, England! The EGG was considered one of the highlights of CAMP BISCO 7 and can be found at Stella Blue in Asheville on Wednesday, March 11th, with special guests The Malah ...
Greetings! We have a very cool show coming up which features The EGG, live and direct from Oxford, England! The EGG was considered one of the highlights of CAMP BISCO 7 and can be found at Stella Blue in Asheville on Wednesday, March 11th, with special guests The Malah ...
Got some hot shows coming up. Eliot Lipp this thursday, Telepath and DR. Fameus this Sat. Pretty Lights on the 28th and edIT in Charlotte on the 13th!!
Come out and enjoy some reggae/dancehall vibes on Sat night Aug16 @ Stella Blue in Asheville... Featuring The Imperial Fire and Ethos this is gonna be a night of sweet music. Bless up Jahselves everytime
~~NINA MARIE COLLINS~~~
Born in Ithaca, NY (holla!) and raised in Durham and Chapel Hill, NC, Nina Marie is a mama-loving poetic firecracker. Her poetic inspiration is drawn from what wilderness there is left, and her poetic and vocal talent have evolved alongside her love for hip hop (Hip hop matters! check out Can't Stop Won't Stop by Jeff Chang). A well traveled backpacker, Nina has seen the private parts of the mountains of North Carolina, walked in the 100 mile wilderness of Maine, and is just starting to know the Southwestern Desert. Red rock and rhyolite, the land is so sacred.
She wants you to speak truth to power, and to aid her in doing this very thing, she is working towards a degree in Environmental Management and Policy at UNC Asheville. 
~~~EMILY (MaLeigh) TERESA STICKNEY a.k.a. MS TAFYAH, formerly Ylem~~~
Born and raised in Asheville, NC. Hitting the scene at 16, she hosted an open mic at Akumi where she met Nina Marie. Her passion for poetry was doubled by her love for hip hop, and her involvment in the hip hop scene in Asheville led her to her second obsession: dance. At 17 she recorded her first poetry album with the help of DJ Knowone, titled Rhymed Release. After traveling to Tempe, AZ to study herbalism, she returned to Asheville and continued to cultivate her knowledge of herstory and the Divine Feminine. At 18, she left for the woods of California where she studied permaculture, natural building and pagan ritual with Starhawk. From there she went to San Francisco, where she immediately linked up with the Collaborative Arts Insurgency, taking over subway trains and street corners with spontaneous attacks of spoken word. (Big Up, 16th&Mission!) Soon after, she became initiated into the Goddess Alchemy Project. (www.myspace.com/goddessalkemy) In the winter, she traveled to Costa Rica where she wielded a machete around in the jungle. Upon returning, she danced, recorded, modeled and performed in San Fransisco, Oakland and Sebastopol. In the summer of 06 she came home to Asheville to perform in and help produce Rant and Rave (a Catalyst production.) Planning to return to Cali in the fall, she was struck with illness and nearly died. Around halloween, with the help of a Cherokee shaman she miraculously recovered and she and Nina threw Raise it Up in gratitude and celebration. She has studied photography, women's studies, linguistics and Spanish at various colleges. Today she is a freelance graphic designer (all Gaia design by Emily Stickney), Henna artist, model and hip hop dance teacher for the Asheville Arts Center and YWCA (when she's there.) Currently in Puerto Rico studying Spanish. 
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