“Her vocals penetrate your heart, the lyrics stir your conscience, the melodies are soothing and the rhythms are contagious.”

Taína Asili, a dynamic New York-based Puerto Rican singer, composer, interdisciplinary artist, and educator carrying on the tradition of her ancestors, fusing past and present struggles into one soulful and defiant voice. She is celebrated by NPR, Rolling Stone, and Billboard for her soulful, genre-blending music echoing calls for love and liberation. With powerful vocals and a multi-genre fusion traversing salsa, rock, reggaeton, Afrobeat, and other global sounds, Asili’s music is both unique and deeply rooted. Accompanied by her brilliant ensemble, she delivers energetic performances at diverse venues nationwide – from iconic stages such as Carnegie Hall with Toshi Reagon, to renowned festivals like the main stage of San Francisco Pride, to historic events like The Women’s March on Washington, to numerous colleges and conferences – inspiring audiences to dance to the heartbeat of social change.

KC Orcott of The Source writes, “Taína is a true talent, and a true social justice warrior.” Her songs and music videos inspired by social and climate justice movements have been lauded by the likes of Rolling Stone, Billboard, Mic.com, and Latina Magazine, and her music has aired numerous times on Democracy Now!. With her last three albums War Cry (2010), Fruit of Hope (2014), and Resiliencia (2019), Asili uses an expansive multi-genre and multilingual approach to connect with a variety of audiences. In an interview with Paste she says, “For me, it’s really important to use my bilingual voice, singing and speaking in Spanish and English, to reach as many people as possible.”

Musical Roots

Taína Asili’s music draws inspiration from the rich Afro-Latin rhythms of her upbringing and her personal artistic evolution. Guided by the musical legacy of her father, a Latin-jazz conductor, vocalist, and conga player, and her mother, an Afro-Caribbean dancer, Taína’s childhood was immersed in a diverse musical tapestry. She began studying European classical voice at the age of 14, but was also drawn to other musical styles including punk rock. For eight years Asili wrote and sang songs of rage and resistance with punk band Antiproduct, which gained underground international popularity throughout the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Asili later expanded to other performance art forms including spoken word and flamenco. Today, Taína Asili remains committed to the musical legacies ingrained in her upbringing. With a career spanning decades, she has graced countless stages across the United States and ventured to international destinations, including Ireland, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, and her beloved Puerto Rico.

Resiliencia Album and Film Series

The power of Asili’s most recent album Resiliencia springs from personal narratives. It is inspired by interviews she conducted with women of color from the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico about their stories of resilience, from surviving cancer, hurricanes, migration, and sexual violence to finding love of the body and the joy of creating art. In an interview with NPR’s Alt.Latino she says, “I think that it’s important that we not only recognize the ways that we are suffering, recognize our harm, but also to lift up our resilience, our strength and our power, so that we know that the next generation has that to hold to on as well.”

Asili also directed and produced a music video documentary series to accompany the album, allowing audiences a closer look into the stories that inspired the songs. The first in the series, also titled Resiliencia, shares interviews with four women in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Plant the Seed, the second in the series, shares the story of Black food justice farmer Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm. Asili’s films were selected at a number of renowned film festivals including: BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia; Global Peace Film Festival in Orlando; Reel Sisters Film Festival in New York City; Urban Mediamakers Film Festival in Atlanta where Plant the Seed was awarded “Best Documentary Short”; and The International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival in New York where Resiliencia was awarded “Best Documentary.”

Fever Pitch Production

Taína Asili’s latest interdisciplinary show is Fever Pitch, a groundbreaking multimedia show rooted her prolific two-decade artistic journey creating music that addresses the intersectional issues related to the urgency of climate change. Fever Pitch seeks to use Asili’s original body of work to inspire climate justice action on local, national, and global scales. Asili’s live music, performed by her exceptionally talented musicians, harmonizes with the choreography crafted by Gregory Theodore Marsh, guiding the movements of two phenomenal dancers. Adding visual depth, the show weaves a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of original footage drawn from Asili’s award-winning documentaries and music videos.

Creative Collaborations

In recent collaborations, Asili has shared stages with renowned artist Toshi Reagon at iconic venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She composed and performed for choreographer Edisa Weeks’ group, Delirious Dances, at The Kupferberg Center for the Performing Arts. Notably, Asili also contributed to the classical-fusion collective Many Messiahs alongside Seattle-based composer Aaron Grad, reframing Handel’s Messiah for racial justice. Their world premiere took place at The Meany Center for the Performing Arts in December 2023. Looking to 2024, Asili continues collaborating with Grad on “One Mother,” a project weaving material from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Stabat Mater into new compositions reflecting on the changing rhythms of the seasons and the plight of Mother Earth.

The Rhythm of Rebellion Podcast

Taína Asili forges innovative connections through her podcast, The Rhythm of Rebellion. In this series, she engages in enlightening conversations with influential performing artists committed to social change across diverse genres. Delving into the nuanced strategies they employ through their art to foster justice and healing in both local communities and the broader world, the podcast has entered its captivating Season 3. The show has an powerful lineup of luminaries, including Meklit, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Xenia Rubinos, Martha Redbone, Mireya Ramos of Flor de Toloache, and many more.

Art In Action

Taína Asili’s artivist initiatives have been a catalyst for collaboration with influential social change organizations and initiatives. In 2016, she participated in the Rock Against The TPP tour, performing alongside prominent figures like Tom Morello, Talib Kweli, La Santa Cecilia, Evangeline Lilly, Jello Biafra, Hari Kondabolu, and other renowned artists in a nationwide movement opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

In 2017, Taína performed at The Women’s March on Washington, alongside renowned activists such as Angela Davis, Janet Mock, Gloria Steinem, and acclaimed artists like Alicia Keys, Janelle Monae, and Toshi Reagon. During this impactful year, Taína spoke and performed her acclaimed song “Freedom” at TEDx Greenville. After Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico in October 2017, Taína Asili produced the benefit compilation album Viva Puerto Rico, featuring Anna Tijoux, Talib Kweli, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and others.

In 2019, she wrote and recorded “We Are Rising,” a poignant anthem for One Billion Rising, an international organization dedicated to ending gender-based violence, founded by V (formerly known as Eve Ensler). The subsequent year, Asili wrote the Spanish rendition, “Nos Estamos Levantando,” and created the theme song for Climate Curious, a web series by The Solutions Project, co-founded by Mark Ruffalo.

Asili assumed the role of the 21′-22′ Artist In Residence with The Social Justice Portal Project, a collaborative think tank that brings together esteemed scholars, organizers, artists, and activists such as Dr. Barbara Ransby, Angela Davis, and Naomi Klein. In this capacity, she conceived three groundbreaking music and video pieces titled The Justice Suite, exploring the themes of abolition, climate justice, and economic democracy. 

The liberation themes in Asili’s work are deeply rooted in her involvement in local and national activism. As a founding board member and Board Chair of Soul Fire Farm, she supports initiatives in food justice, while co-founding the New York State Prisoner Justice Network underscores her commitment to ending mass incarceration and state violence. Her impactful artivist work has earned her prestigious awards, including the Leeway Foundation’s Transformation Award, In Our Own Voices LGBT Community Advocacy Award, Holding Our Foundation’s Fabulous Feminist Creative Force Award, Citizen Action NY’s Jimmy Perry Progressive Leadership Award, The Hispanic Coalition NY’s 40 Under 40 Rising Star Award, and an award from the City of Albany’s Commission on Human Rights. 

Arts Education

Taína Asili is also an inspiring speaker and educator, leaving an indelible mark at conferences, colleges, and community events nationwide. Her presentations creatively synthesize teachings from over 20 years of experience as a professional artist, educator, and community activist. Through this education work she has served as artist in residence with The Social Justice Portal Project at The University of Illinois at Chicago in ‘21-’22, an artist in residence at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in ‘23, and an a artist fellow at Rutgers University throughout the ‘22-’23 academic year. Taína Asili earned a Master of Arts degree in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College, where she developed the curriculum that has become the foundation for the art and social change educational workshops she facilitates with youth and adults today. Taína Asili remains steadfast in her dedication to sharing the craft she has distinctly cultivated to utilize art as a powerful tool for social transformation. 

“If you look at our history,” she says, “you see over and over that music has played a central role in changing how people think, both for the good and bad. How we make change in the larger political landscape starts with how we affect one another individually, and music brings a message in a way that opens people—their heart, mind, spirit.”