At age 15, she moved away from her parent\u2019s home in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, to Tulsa, Oklahoma to live with her older sister and attend Central High School\u2019s magnet program for music. There she was trained in jazz, classical and musical theater. In 2013, she was introduced to a less structured style of music and performing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it wasn\u2019t until Cypher 120 when I got into the realm of being with other creatives, that it was so good for me because everything was improv.\u201d Saurez told the Black Wall Street Times.<\/p>\n
Embracing Creativity, Finding Love, and Fire in Little Africa (FILA)
\nHer first-time attending Cypher 120 challenged her as an artist because of her years of formal and classical training. \u201cOne thing being trained, I was always in a box,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cBeing at Cypher 120 was a way for me to experiment and explore the different facets of exactly what it is to be an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saurez compared her growth as an artist to peeling the layers off an onion. \u201cIt\u2019s like removing layers as far as like the training goes, because sometimes it\u2019s so hard for me to step away from technique, and just be and just create, like, it\u2019s okay if it doesn\u2019t sound correct or what I deem is correct or have been taught is correct.\u201d She added.<\/p>\n
Suarez met her husband, Devonte, aka IamDES, at Cypher 120 in 2013. She mentioned him being a major part of her growth as an artist because of their different artistry styles. \u201cWhen it comes to art, in creating, he\u2019s very open, like he\u2019s open to ideas. He\u2019s spontaneous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has been a heavy influence as far as the non-judgmental space. I feel like I\u2019ve never been good at that, because I\u2019ve been so stuck into a box, but I can say that\u2019s something that I\u2019ve gotten a lot better with, as a creative because there\u2019s no right or wrong answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
FILA album
\nSuarez, and IamDes were two of over 50 artists selected from around the state of Oklahoma to participate in the Fire In Little Africa recording process in March 2020.<\/p>\n
Their song, \u201cYoung and Free,\u201d which features Chris the God MC Cain and Written Quincy, was selected on the released version of the album, which released in May, 2021.<\/p>\n
The recording process for the album lasted four days, and Saurez eluded to how nervous she was when she found out she was selected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey talked about the format in which everything was going to be created and recorded. And I was like, dang, so we only got three to four days.\u201d She told the Black Wall Street Times. \u201cI remembered showing up like the first day, I was trying to figure out okay, so where do I fit?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Despite her nervousness on day one of recording, she mentioned that by day two, her confidence began to grow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Krisheena Suarez is no stranger to music. It\u2019s been a major part of her life since she was a young girl, growing up in church and singing in the school choir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":9794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31],"tags":[7,14,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-9797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-music","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"yoast_head":"\n