Album Notes

Music is a miracle Iyeoka declares...

“and my goal is simple…I just want to move the world one poem at a time.”


Boston-based Nigerian-American performing artist and award winning poet Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo is at the forefront of creating a new artistic genre that gracefully interweaves spoken word poetry with jazz, blues, gospel and neo-soul influenced song. Embracing the power of words from writers such as Sonia Sanchez, Patricia Smith and Alice Walker, Iyeoka is a powerful songstress whose lyrical prowess invokes the spirit of the renowned soul-shaker Nina Simone.

Fresh off a 2007 Spoken Word Poet of the Year for Mass Industry Council Hip Hop Awards a 2007 nomination and a 2006 New England Urban Music Award for best female poet,a second top ten finish at the National Poetry Slam in Austin Texas(she placed 4th in the nation in 2000) and commissioned performances by Arnold Worldwide Advertising Agency and most recently at the 2006 Leon H. Sullivan Summit, "Africa: A Continent of Opportunities- Building Partnership for Success," in Lagos, Nigeria; Iyeoka is currently recording her follow-up CD to her highly-acclaimed full-length debut disc, Black and Blues (Phanai, Records, 2004), while seeking publication of her first poetry collection in 2007.

A story teller to the core, Iyeoka's hope-filled poems come from within and build
momentum with truth transformed into songs that reemerge as unique, emotionally
complex gifts to her audience, touching on a wide range of issues-love, women, culture, struggle, relationships, among many others.