“An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.”- Nina Simone.
DJ LiKWUiD, born Faybeo'n LaShanna A Mickens, is a hip hop fusion artivist, DJ, emcee, teaching artist, writer and music curator. Mickens is an award-winning graduate of the College of Charleston, and earned her MBA from St. John’s University. She is a Hip Hop Cultural Ambassador to the United States, Voting Member of the Recording Academy and a part of GLAAD’s Black Queer Creative Summit inuagural class.
As an avid lover of the African American diaspora of music, LiKWUiD's style of djing is based around blending beats together as one tapestry of sound. Her signature "traphrobeats” genre bending style combines house music, hip hop and afrobeats- three of her loves representing her Sea Island Gullah ancestry, Harlem influence and southern upbringing. She was a resident DJ at Harlem’s Fela Kuti inspired and African owned Shrine World Music venue and it’s sister speakeasy venue, Silvana for over six years.
LiKWUiD has performed nationally and internationally for organizations such as Google, Sony Music, Photoville, Summer Stage, Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, Doku.Tech, The Apollo Theater, Meta, Super Fine Art Fest, Time Out Market, Brooklyn Conservancy and more. She has shared the stage with artists such as Talib Kweli, The Last Poets, Rah Digga, 9th Wonder and the legendary Slick Rick.
She is a recipient of the the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation grant, administered by LMCC, for her DJ exhibition MUVASHIP, a music healing journey that pays homage to “our Mothers of Music and Mother Earth. (Joy is a form of protest. Healing is a form of protest. Restoration is a form of protest. Wealth is a revolutionary act.)”
LiKWUiD is fully committed to combining hip hop and education to empower the youth and young women. She is an Alternate Roots Hip Hop Scholarship recipient and a South Carolina Governor's School Inductee. She has performed, presented workshops, lectures and participated on panels at academic spaces such as Columbia University, BAM, the Eleanor Roosevelt School for Girls, the Hip Hop Culture Center, Uptown Vinyl Supreme, Flocabulary, Comic Con and more.
As a songwriter, her film credits include placements with HBO Latino Films, IFC Films, Oxygen Network, MTV and several indie projects. LiKWUiD is an Artist in Residence at NewsBeat Podcast, lead vocalists for collaborative group EllaMaeFlossie and collaborates often with bands r.o.t.i (Resilience of the Intelligent) led by Grammy Award winning Simon Yu and Warp Trio. Ebony Magazine's Sonic Boom states "she can rap circles around most of everyone's favorite rappers. But she also has a good ear for beats and melodies, so her songs always flow (no pun intended)..." A pupil of both southern soul, gospel and the golden era of hip hop, LiKWUiD's versatile writing style often includes multiple entendres, extended metaphor and religious paradox.
In 2019, LiKWUiD released her collaborative album and performance piece EllaMaeFlossie presents Tea Time, an audio-visual-movement journey via the lens of afrofuturism. (The self-titled album was inspired by Gullah Gospel, Harlem Jazz, soulful hip hop with afrobeat undertones and was released by Black17 via The Orchard, a division of Sony Music. ) The performance piece premiered at the East Village Planetarium with a full cast and jazz band, in partnership with the Lower Eastside Girls Club. In 2021, the piece was reprised with the support of Art Crawl Harlem at Governor’s Island in New York City. On February 22, 2022 (or Tuesday 2/22/22), LiKWUiD presented a virtual talk with the Apollo Theater “Black Notes/Femme Futures” correlating afrofuturism to the social justice and real life movements of black women in America.
Mickens is the co-founder of Banjee Boombox, a QTBIPOC festival collective that centers the voices of women, non-binary and queer musicians. She is committed to using her creativity to empower the voice of marginalized groups (especially women and lgbtqai+ communities); while utilizing music, art and social justice based artivism to reflect the times.
Related Episodes
The Journey and Inspiration of DJ LiKWUiD: Discussing this year’s Banjee Boombox festival
This bonus episode of Queue Points focuses on the Banjee Boombox festival, a vibrant QTBIPOC celebration of diverse voices in music and art. Featuring an interview with festival co-founder DJ LiKWUiD, the conversation dives into her musical journey, the festival’s mission, and the exciting lineup f...