Lovie + Ayanna Heaven

Who they are

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  Lovie

  Washington DC · 90 bookings since Aug 2023

  “Lovie's musical discovery began in the digital music age: a young lover of local radio and after-school MTV marathons, her early mixes took shape in the form of burned CDs she made for her friends.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Lovie's musical discovery began in the digital music age: a young lover of local radio and after-school MTV marathons, her early mixes took shape in the form of burned CDs she made for her friends. After relocating from her hometown of Washington, D.C. to New York in 2020, Lovie's unique selection of soulful, spiritual music swiftly ushered her into New York's local music scene. At the taste-making Brooklyn radio station, Lot Radio, she gave birth to her homey platform, summer school radio. For five years Lovie's radio mixes—now being offered as one of the station's few weekly residencies—have thumbed through the intimate corners of her music collection. She saunters through slow-groove disco, dusty '70s funk and groovy '80s jazz at a studied pace that makes it easy to marvel at every timeless chime, trill, and drum beat. She's as tempted by the bedroom pop of Clairo as much as the cosmic funk of Lonnie Liston Smith. Outside the Lot, Lovie presents summer school radio as soothing listening sessions around Brooklyn, providing warm balms for city fatigue with artists like alt-jazz harpist muva of Earth and New Age legend Laraaji. As co-founder of Soul Connection with long-time friend and collaborator, Honey Bun, she imbues the power of friendship and Black femme empowerment into sumptuous house music and '90s R&B spun with the patience and musicality associated with the East Coast house tradition. Connecting the mind, to the body, to the soul, her club sets inspire the warmest, most community-minded dance floors you'll find in the city. Her diligence to the craft, musical curiosity, and deep focus on the listening experience earned her a spot on Mixmag's Top 25 Breakthrough DJs of 2024. She now holds a coveted residency at Brooklyn club public records, and has played at art centers like MoMA, Brooklyn Academy of Music and The Beacon Theater, where she opened for Kamasi Washington. Her work has also brought her to international gigs at Paris's Djoon, London's Spiritland, and more. Whether playing on her stomping grounds or rocking dance floors overseas, Lovie creates honey-sweet dance floor memories you'll want to replay again and again.
  SoundCloud ↗

  Recently at Gabriela, Eavesdrop, Good Room · often with Honey Bun, JADALAREIGN, Jenifa Mayanja, none of them here that night

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  Ayanna Heaven

  New York City · 64 bookings since Aug 2023

  “Ayanna Heaven is a DJ, Radio, and Event Producer living in Brooklyn, NY.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Ayanna Heaven is a DJ, Radio, and Event Producer living in Brooklyn, NY. She spent her childhood in her native St. Mary, Jamaica in the golden age of Jamaican Dancehall of the 1990s, followed by ten years in Atlanta, Georgia at the apex of Southern hip-hop. She moved to New York City in 2010 to pursue studies in Ethnomusicology at The New School. She can be heard weekly playing soul and funk on WKCR's long-running "Across 110th Street" program, as well as monthly on her show "Sounds of Heaven" on The Lot Radio. Her first regular broadcast platform was the Power of Reggae radio show. She has played at venues across New York City, including Elsewhere Space, Nowadays, Public Records, Lovers Rock, The Delancey and events including Coney Island Reggae On The Boardwalk. She recently performed in London, UK with Rockers London and Dubwise Jamaica. She has performed in Jamaica at The National Gallery in Kingston as well as Miss Lily's at The Skylark in Negril. With sets ranging from roots and rocksteady reggae, to afrobeats, hip-hop, dancehall, and funk, she brings a passion and the cachet of a diverse background to her DJ aesthetic and event curation. She recently launched Doing It In The Park at Brooklyn's new Under The K Bridge Park in September 2021. In her spare time, she enjoys dining out, facetiming with her sister Shaari, thrifting, relaxing in the park, and making art.
  SoundCloud ↗

  Recently at Elsewhere, Black Flamingo, public records · often with Honey Bun, Carter Van Pelt, K Wata, none of them here that night