Meshell Ndegeocello (2019 Creative Capital Awardee) has survived the best and worst of what a career in music has to offer. She eschewed genre for originality, celebrity for longevity, and musical trends for musical truths. Fans have come to expect the unexpected and follow her on sojourns into soul, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, rock—all bound by the search for love, justice, respect, and resolution. Performing under the banner of Hanif Abdurraqib’s transdisciplinary poetry series, I Guess It Was My Destiny To Live So Long, she shares the stage with Samora Pinderhughes (2019 Creative Capital Awardee), a composer, pianist, vocalist, filmmaker, and multidisciplinary artist known for striking intimacy, carefully crafted and radically honest lyrics, and high-level musicianship.

Meshell is always grateful for the opportunity to share the stage and believes music is a fellowship. She looks to spread that gospel with every creation and collaboration. A stretch for I Guess It Was My Destiny To Live So Long? Not at all: from the start, Hanif set out to show us where poetry intersects with our everyday lives, reflecting and infusing all the things we love.