A Washington, DC & Northern Virginia native and graduate of both the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Howard University, Muhsinah humbly released her first self-produced EP, ‘Oscillations,’ in 2005, having little idea of what would come to follow…
Fast-forward to several iterations later with ‘Oscillations: Sine’ EP (2008) & ‘Oscillations: Triangle’ EP (2010), a feature cut (‘Changes’) on Common’s ‘Universal Mind Control‘ (2008) and a few years backing the rapper on stage, with synth and vocals – Universal Mind Control Tour with N*E*R*D in 2008 (including performances on Jay Leno, Ellen Degeneres, and Jimmy Kimmel), at Obama’s Inaugural Ball in 2009, and Maxwell’s Black Summer’s Night Tour that same year, and ending up at Chicago’s Democratic Rally in Hyde Park in 2010.
Not content to play the background, Muhsinah began touring solo, receiving invitations to perform at renowned concerts like the legendary annual Roots’ Picnic (2008) and Sonar in Barcelona (2009), David Letterman’s 5000th episode with the Noisettes in 2010 and The Soul Beach Music Festival in Aruba (2011), amongst many other prestigious stages.
However, Muhsinah’s success was not exclusive to the stage as she exhibited her ability to captivate in the studio as well – receiving a Grammy Nomination (Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009) for her work with The Foreign Exchange on the single, (‘Daykeeper’) and later, garnered a nod from Radio Head front-man, Thom Yorke, when he counted (‘Lose My Fuse’) a song she recorded with producer, Flying Lotus, among his top 10 of that time (2010).
A musician since the age of 11, the classically trained pianist has absorbed a plethora of cultural experiences throughout her musical upbringing, so it’s no wonder that the young phenom has the ability to float gracefully between the underground and the mainstream, crafting a sound that is both hard to classify and/or compare.
Her first explorations of this new Urban/Suburban sound was realized in her latest EP, ‘Gone’ (a $10,000 fan-funded release) on February 21, 2012. And with her first full-length album scheduled for release this summer, it seems that this is only just the tip of the iceberg for The Golden Girl.
