Taína Asili, a dynamic singer, composer, interdisciplinary artist, and educator carrying on the tradition of her Puerto Rican 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 Lincoln Center, to renowned festivals like San Francisco Pride, to historic events like The Women’s March on Washington, to numerous colleges and conferences – inspiring audiences to dance to the rhythm of rebellion.

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 rooted in the diverse musical legacies of her past, while bringing her own unique voice to the present. With a career spanning decades, she has graced countless stages across the United States and ventured to internationally, including Ireland, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

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.”

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 uses Asili’s original body of work to inspire climate justice action on local, national, and global scales. Asili’s live music harmonizes with the choreography crafted by Gregory Theodore Marsh, guiding the movements of herself and two dancer-vocalists. Adding visual depth, the show weaves a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of original footage drawn from Asili’s award-winning documentaries and music videos brought together by media artist Joseph Amodei.

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’ 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.

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.

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.