Nomi Ruiz leaves us with her monumental hip-hop/R&B album Hi-Def Femme
Photo Credit: Kenny Rodriguez
Pop and dance music have been spaces that have generally been more accepting of artists from marginalized groups. However, when an artist from one of those groups chooses to venture outside of those styles, they are often passed over by the industry. That leads to a lack of press coverage and radio airplay, which directly impact exposure and sales. On her latest, and what will be her last, self-released hip hop/R&B album Hi-Def Femme, Nomi Ruiz refuses to be ignored. In fact, she’s going to stress each of the three syllables in the title on her way out.
The Brooklyn-born Nomi Ruiz is a true multi-hyphenate: singer, producer, songwriter, essayist, model and actress. Her music career has spanned almost two decades. In 2005, Nomi released her hip hop and R&B infused debut album Lost In Lust. Shortly after, she went on to explore dance / house music with the group Hercules & Love Affair. In 2008, she sang lead on “You Belong” and co-wrote and performed vocals on “Hercules Theme,” off the band’s self-titled debut. Ruiz continued to pursue electronic music through her project Jessica 6, releasing three albums including the group’s spectacular disco-tinted debut See The Light. Even on those Jessica 6 dance albums, Ruiz showed us her love for 90s jams. It runs deep. Hi-Def Femme is Nomi’s return to her musical roots.
The album embodies early 90s hip hop and R&B, specifically from the east coast variety. Producers Michael Moreno with Josh Werner and Gintas Janusonis, the latter known for their work with New York hip hop legends Wu-Tang Clan, provide the soundtrack that fluctuates between street anthems and swoon-worthy ballads. The album cover, a nod to the cult classic film Showgirls starring Elizabeth Berkley as Nomi Malone, sees Ruiz dripping in femininity. On the title track “Hi-Def Femme,” Nomi and actress/activist Trace Lysette, exchange verses about commanding power with their bodies and making men own up to their desires. The horns and wah guitar sonically push the track towards hip hop soul, while the lyrics and vocal tones bring Lil’ Kim to mind. The ballad “Someone to Love” sees Nomi moving on from a relationship, laying out her idea of a perfect love. On “Alphabet City,” featuring a verse by Coney Island rapper Nems, we get a picture of mean streets; you have to watch your back to survive. The sax solo by New York musician Ilhan Ersahin adds hints of jazz to “Sailing,” a song about making your way through life. The album is a cohesive collection of tracks that fuses these genres brilliantly, not unlike R&B icons Mary J. Blige and Faith Evans.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Grassi
Hi-Def Femme is more than a loving tribute to a variety of musical styles. Hi-Def Femme is a reclamation of power. It is about pushing through the walls built around us. Analyzing and breaking down ideas about love as a social construct. It is about self-love. This is Ruiz re-evaluating and expressing her worth as an artist on her own terms, turning her back on opinions based on conjectures and assumptions made on her behalf. Hi-Def Femme is Ruiz using her platform to advocate for other artists who have yet to come forward. It is a response to the music industry’s attempt at keeping artists like Nomi in the shadows. With Hi-Def Femme, Ruiz etches her name into the hip hop-influenced R&B musical canon.
The interludes on the Hi-Def Femme give us a view of life through Nomi’s eyes. The spoken word clips discuss the value our society places on trans women, the strength that comes with having a familial support system, and the significance of love. The snippets exemplify the struggles that Ruiz has lived, but they also act as a resistance against a system that has tried to silence her. The project’s lack of coverage from mainstream music media is a testament to that system’s refusal to support a hip hop/R&B project released by a trans woman, especially one that is so upfront about sex. That same defiance, along with the vulnerability and candor that Ruiz displays on this album is what sets Hi-Def Femme apart from her previous work.
soundvsystem connected with Nomi Ruiz to chat about the gatekeeping of R&B, writing nightmare-fueled songs, making straight men uncomfortable, and leaving the music industry.
First off, congrats on the new album! You’ve gone back and forth between creating dance and R&B tracks over the years. Do you think about crafting your art differently for those spaces?
Thank you! It was a long time in the making. The R&B side of me is more true to my soul, my raw emotion. It’s the music that runs through my veins, the music I always wanted to create and is at the root of everything I do. Dance music has been more of an escape for me. I’ll always be indebted to that genre and the fans I’ve made in that world because it gave me a career and independence as an artist. The R&B world never let me in, never let me strive as an artist. Dance was a gateway for me to make a living on my own terms.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Grassi
One of the things that struck me when I first heard the new album was the vulnerability in the lyrics, more than any of your previous releases. How did you approach the songwriting for this album?
I wasn't thinking about writing an album when the songwriting process began for this album. I met Michael Moreno who produced the record through a mutual friend who was in A&R and had heard Michael's tracks and immediately thought of me. He introduced us and Michael just sent me a bunch of tracks that I’d turn to over the years as I was touring as Jessica 6. I’d dig into those folders whenever I felt I needed an outlet to be healed or work through something I was going through. So every song was a sort of therapeutic remedy. After a while I realized I had a record on my hands. The record I’d always wanted to make.
The album opens with a clip of artist/songwriter Anohni on your podcast Bodega Dollz speaking on the value that society places on trans women, which often results in talent getting overlooked. You’ve also written about the topic as it relates to the music industry. Does that influence your creative output when you’re putting together a project like Hi-def Femme?
I wouldn’t say it directly influences my creative output but I think as someone who has been marginalized and has had my opportunities and talents oppressed, being ostracized has started to fuel me in a way where I just don’t give a fuck anymore. It pushes me to go against everything I’ve been told to do or not do in order to “succeed.” A lot of people, specifically cishet men, are offended by the opening of my album and don’t even make it past that. I guess telling men how myopic, nuclear and toxic their lives can be isn’t something an artist would do if they’re trying to make it in an industry that’s run by those same men, but I just don’t give a fuck anymore. As a binary trans woman in the music industry, my femininity has constantly been oppressed in order for cishet men to be able to comfortably absorb my work without feeling sexually threatened by my image and aesthetic. I think that’s part of why I decided to call the album Hi-Def Femme. I wanted to not only go against that form of oppression but turn the volume up full blast. I want to make men uncomfortable. I live for it. This album was made for me and those who’ve had their voices silenced and their talents, hearts and gifts suppressed.
There are several interludes on the album that give listeners a new perspective on who you are, including through the lens of your family. What motivated you to include those moments?
My family is such a huge part of who I am and how I operate in the world. My brother is my muse and my mother is my hero–but it wasn’t always that way and it isn’t that way all the time. We’ve been through a lot that has framed me so to bare my truth on a record and give people access to who I truly am, it wouldn’t make sense without including their voices and their stories. I wanted to feel exposed on this record and those recordings were private moments that were genuine and not originally made for a record.
You’ve always been unapologetically you. Did that happen naturally?
Yes, I was sort of pushed into that way of being. I think when you live in a world that constantly tells you that you don't belong, you find a way to exist on your own terms in order to survive. I used to be suicidal and I remember the time when I came closest to going through with it–I began to weigh the pros and cons to staying alive. When I finally chose life, I promised myself that I would live with a vengeance and that I’d pursue my dreams even if they were far fetched and would never come to fruition. I would at least die trying because it was striving for my art that fueled me. The journey is what kept my soul fed and little did I know that’s actually what it would take to succeed.
The album has a very east coast early 90s hip-hop/r&b vibe. Were there any specific artists that you wanted to channel for this release?
I was definitely influenced vocally by Mary J Blige, Lauryn Hill, Faith Evans and forever Sade. Sonically I would say Mobb Deep, Definitive Jux, Ghostface Killah, Madlib, J Dilla. I grew up with such a love for independent hip hop. I know Michael also has a love for blues and 70’s rock. I love when those moments seep through and blend with the hip hop elements like on ‘Sailing.’ that might be one of my favorite tracks on the record.
The chorus for “Alphabet City” is a total earworm! You teamed up with Coney Island rapper Nems on this one. How did the track come together?
I used to date a guy who lived in Alphabet City. The first time he took me to his place we walked from Avenue A to D and on the way he began telling me how it gets more dangerous the further you go. He said A stands for alert, B beware, C be cautious and when you get to D you're dead. When I heard this beat NY was running rampant with gentrification and it took me back to the NY that I remember. Where the threat of violence is what somehow kept us safe from being run out of our own neighborhoods. I want people to hear that song and remember that there are places in New York where you don’t belong. It obviously needed a feature from an Emcee that could also speak from that perspective. I had the opportunity to work with Nems on a film I starred in called Haymaker. In between takes I built up the nerve to ask if he’d feature on a track if he was feeling it. I guess he was.
The softness and sincerity in the vocals is often contrasted by the grit in the beats. You collaborated with New York producer Michael Moreno, as well as Josh Werner and Gintas Janusosis, who have together worked with Wu-Tang. Did you have a specific sound in mind when you started writing lyrics for this album?
When I first started making music my goal was to cultivate a sound that was like Sade meets Wu-Tang clan. That was always how people described my records. I love that contrast, that juxtaposition of sounds. I think it sums up who I am. A girl you don’t assume comes from a rough place.
Going back to the grit, “Didn’t I Kill You” could be interpreted as a song about an ex or a past self. Can you talk a bit about the inspiration behind the track?
When I heard that beat it was just so bonkers, I knew I had to do something to it but I was having a hard time trying to figure out a vocal. One night I had this awful nightmare about an ex-boyfriend of mine. I was searching through my closet and a keyboard case fell out and busted open. Inside was his dead body that suddenly sprang to life but he was a zombie and was trying to kill me. He chased me around for hours and hours. I woke up and the first thing I did was play that track on loop. The lyrics came out almost immediately. It’s sort of my version of Eminem's song ‘Kim’ where he kills his girlfriend and puts her in the trunk of his car.
You’ve announced that this is your last album. What’s next for you?
Yes… I think I did what I needed to do in music. I do have a couple of unreleased collab albums that I’m sure will make their way into the ether, but the music biz is trash and I no longer want to participate in an industry run by toxic ego driven narcissistic men and the women who are trained to co-sign their behavior. I have so much more to offer creatively and I want to make room energetically to nurture those other sides of me in ways where I can be of service to others. I will always find ways to tell my story but I want to build businesses with and for other females and femmes. Businesses that give back.
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