Dr. Andrea Jacobo—creative wellness practitioner, researcher, and poet—spent years studying the science of how bodies move while her right brain staged a full-scale revolt. The first-generation Dominican American became an exercise physiologist, Zumba instructor, and yoga teacher, understanding intellectually that shaking your hips (aka shaking a$$) opens the root chakra where creativity and fear live together, but it wasn't until the pandemic that she finally stopped running from her own words. She started sharing poetry again at protests in the Bay Area, watching her bilingual verses heal herself and others simultaneously. The Memphis poetry collective We Keepin' It P gave her stages to stand on, though she still struggles to call herself an artist without formal training. Her dissertation on reclaiming space led her to a study proving what she already knew: declaring your testimony is healing, whether in political spaces or through art.

Dame Mufasa is a poet disguised as a hip-hop artist, "Trojan horsing poetry through gold teeth and hip hop.” His brain works in narrative connections, whether linear or abstract, creating entire universes from disparate thoughts before they become too big to execute. Dame's philosophy centers on art as sacred work—following in the footsteps of Tupac and James Baldwin—with every project carrying the weight of representation and the responsibility to prove hip hop is fine art. His recent album "Church in the Wild" emerged from a Crosstown Arts residency where life fell apart (lost job, lost someone close, car got smashed) but became fuel for the "fuck it, create" mentality. Dame admits to being a nerd with concepts rather than a traditionally skilled rapper, but turns limitations into strengths through high concept and intention, making do with minimal resources while creating maximum impact through storytelling and aesthetic vision.

At the age of 5, Suroor Hassan wanted to become a pop star. She discovered Britney Spears who taught her unapologetic self-expression and artistic presentation. This early fascination with pop as an idea has led her to experiment with the art form, blending sounds she heard growing up in Pakistan, layered hyperpop glitter, poetic themes of queer joy and angst, and performance. Not only is Suroor a pop star on the rise who recently finished a tour of the Midwest, she’s an adjunct professor and scholar working on her dissertation.