Jamila Woods knows where she comes from, and is happy to share that with the rest of the world. On her second album Legacy! Legacy! (2018), the singer from Chicago's South Side has named each track after a key creative influence: from Miles Davis to James Baldwin, and from Frida Kahlo to Sun Ra. The title of her latest record, Water Made Us (2023), is once again from a major source of inspiration, this time from author Toni Morrison: “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.” Water Made Us is a genre-transcending song cycle dealing with love and relationships, in which Woods playfully alternates R&B with acoustic folk rock, crystal-clear dream pop and energetic dance music. She has won prizes for her poems, and is as much a multidisciplinary artist and activist as she is a musician. That latter role has seen her sharing the stage with Corinne Bailey Rae, Common and many other artists.
