Artist. Performer. Educator. Curator. Poet. Publicist. Host. Activist. Amanda Shea does it all. “My name is Amanda Shea; that’s shea like the butter — for all my melanated people, please don’t play me.” Known for being one of the co-founders of Activating Art, the host of GBH’s Outspoken Saturdays, and Boston Music Awards’ 2023 Spoken Word Artist nominee, Amanda is the person who will encourage you to share your own art and uplift your voice whenever she can. Amanda has been on 41 (yes, 41) track features in the past 6 years with many local artists, including Brandie Blaze, Intl Show, and Karim to name a few. Now, she is releasing her debut EP titled GOD, Again and having a release show at Rockwood on November 2nd.
“This is baby’s first project,” exclaimed Amanda when telling me about her 8-track EP. The EP follows Amanda’s personal story of facing toxicity and trauma in the beginning, leading to a breakthrough moment and finally reaching an epiphany about finding her authenticity and purpose in life. The EP is predominantly poetry, although she also sings on the last track “Movin’ On.” She also has some exciting features on the project (you’ll have to buy the EP to find out). When asked about the project’s genre, Amanda quickly and confidently responded with “all of them.” It encompasses hip-hop, rap, rock, opera, contemporary, jazz, R&B. “You can do poetry with anything; it has no boundaries,” Amanda said matter-of-factly.
“This EP has been 3 years in the making because life was lifeing,” reflected Amanda. She mentioned that a lot has happened in the past few years that’s caused her pain but also helped her find her purpose. Her husband, father of her youngest child, and a large reason her EP is what it is today, Tim, passed away almost 2 years ago. “He’s the love of my life.” When Tim saw Amanda’s cover in the Boston Globe through A Beautiful Resistance, he told her, “This is your purpose — You were meant to do this shit.” In fact, Tim’s presence is felt throughout the EP.
If you don’t know Amanda, she loves numerology and double meanings. The EP release show is on November 2nd (11/2 = 1+1+2 =4) and it’s officially out on Bandcamp on November 3rd. Both 3 and 4 have very special meanings in her life — 3 being her favorite number and 4 being Tim’s. Even the EP title, GOD, Again is a triple entendre (3 again!) depending on where you add the intonation, each version indicating a different emotion. The phrase “God, again” also shows up 3 times in the EP.
“Truth Teller” has Amanda’s favorite line in the EP, “When two people get together out of spite despite their efforts, they spite themselves with the same spit they lunged at you.” Like damn. “I’ve always been a lyricist,” mentioned Amanda — There’s NO doubt about that in my mind after listening to Amanda’s pieces over the past few years.
“GOD, Again is a release — a spiritual and emotional one. It’s letting people in who don’t know me for real. I want people to know this is only the beginning. This is my life and I’m doing what I love to do.” For people who are new to Amanda’s art, she wants you to know, “You are not alone. There’s power in your vulnerability. When we’re not scared to be ourselves, that’s when the magic really happens.”
“I’m a mirror reflection of the people around me and the community I’m in, and all the closest people have empowered me to release this EP,” Amanda said, thinking about the people involved in this project. Starting with Billy Dean Thomas and Brandie Blaze for consistently encouraging her to do this project, her amazing friends DJ WhySham and JD for all the support they’ve given her, Adam, the Talent Buyer at Rockwood who made the show happen, Phree, a fellow poet, and Karim, a fellow artist who helped Amanda find her love for singing again. Amanda also wanted me to mention the range of producers who made this EP sound amazing — Axestrumentals, Yac Marvelous, Amir Rivera, and Gibb. When asked who she’d want to collab with in the near future, she said Najee Janey and Phree, since they’re both like family and need some official collabs out in the universe.
Amanda also has some amazing people opening for her show — Zakiyyah, who has a powerful voice that people don’t anticipate; Axestrumentals, who’s not only a dope producer but also a multifaceted lyricist and storyteller; and lastly Yac Marvelous, who’s anywhere and everywhere creating live music.
Thursday, November 2nd is going to be a “LITuation” according to Amanda, so get your tickets and come to Rockwood for Amanda’s debut EP release show!