Tianna Esperanza
Newcomer Tianna Esperanza Is a Force
Tianna Esperanza may be an artist on the rise, but she’d been holding on to one of her most powerful songs for nearly a decade. In high school, a history teacher recommended she watch The Black Power Mixtape. The documentary, which looks into the history of the Black Power movement from 1967 to 1975, includes footage of the late civil rights activist and owner of the African National Memorial Bookstore, Lewis H. Michaux, whose bookstore focused on Black literature and became a gathering ground for activists of the era. Michaux’s words strongly resonated with Esperanza, and made her examine her relationship with her mixed heritage, as a biracial woman. “I think I was just looking for something that included my Black history as well as my white history. I come from European immigrants, so th...
Tianna Esperanza Unveils Debut Single ‘Lewis’
Rising artist Tianna Esperanza has shared her debut track “Lewis.” [embedded content][embedded content] The song slinks and struts through its powerful message propped against a relaxed-jazzy beat. Esperanza’s lyrics fall off the tongue as she savors every word on the track, emphasizing lyrics with a spoken-word-like cadence. Her sultry tone evokes a long-lost era of jazz helmed by acts such as Nina Simone. Her grandmother is punk rock icon Paloma McLardy who founded the 1970s band The Slits and later played with The Raincoats. The track serves as an homage to Lewis H. Michaux, the owner of Harlem’s historic African National Memorial Bookstore. Esperanza, a 21-year old London-based bi-racial artist, finds herself inspired by Michaux’s work. “Lewis woke me up to the reality of classism, rac...
