Ahya Simone by Shack Shackleford for Good Pals
TEXAS ISAIAH ON AHYA SIMONE
In the spring of 2016, I stumbled upon Ahya Simone’s music on YouTube. I was astounded by her dynamic cadence as a musician. It was a treasured discovery. Ahya is a Detroit-based harpist, singer-songwriter, and filmmaker who fuses R&B/soul, jazz, experimental, and electronic elements into multifaceted musical landscapes.
After connecting via Twitter, I traveled to Detroit to meet Ahya in person in November 2018. I had always had a curiosity about Detroit, but Ahya inspired me to get there. Ahya told me once, “My hope for Detroit is that it remains the tenacious and defiant city it has always been, one of the many major cities that shakes shit up and calls shit out in a way that reverberates across the world.”
Sharing space with Ahya invokes a burst of spirit. She is charming, witty, and insightful. Her infectious qualities are marvelously reflected in her work. I look forward to the opportunity to see her perform one day in the near future. I trust that it will be Black meditation—an ancestral blessing—a continuation of the beauty that she continues to bring into my life.
Ahya Simone by Shack Shackleford for Good Pals