Dizzy Fae is a 19-year old alternative R&B artist based in St. Paul. As a student of dance (TU Dance) and vocal performance (Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Arts), Dizzy developed an eclectic style that has landed her on stages alongside The Internet, Kehlani, Poliça, Empress Of, and Jorja Smith. Her debut track “Color Me Bad” debuted on Zane Lowe’s Beats1 radio show while she sat in senior-year vocal class, and shortly after graduation she embarked on a sold-out US tour with Lizzo. Her debut project Free Form—produced by Psymun (The Weeknd, Corbin) and Su Na (GoldLink, Gallant)—is set to release on January 19, 2018. The video for the first single from the project, “Don’t Hate For Me,” was edited by Niles Howard who also worked on Blood Orange’s “Best to You.”
1.
ANAYANCY GONZALEZ
This is perhaps my favorite photo that I discovered in 2017… so effortlessly inspiring! Gonzalez is based in Dallas, so I also feel a connection as an artist based in a smaller creative market, because it is from this sort of isolation where the most unique ideas can be created.
2.
DAIN YOON
SHE is a work of art! I love the way she manipulates her appearance to both blend in and stand out simultaneously.
3.
ROBERT GREEN
I have never seen a piece of Robert Green choreography that I wasn’t impressed with—the energy invoked is sooo incredibly contagious. My favorite from this year was his take on Missy Elliot’s “I’m Better” video and then more recently on N.E.R.D’s “Lemon.”
4.
POT LA
Mandy K is the founder of a new studio based in LA called POT, a “radical ceramics” studio owned and operated by WOC/LA natives. She knew it was important to open a studio that would provide a safe haven to encourage diversity within a whitewashed art form and provide an unlikely arena for ongoing discussion around racial injustice. Echo Park, where is the studio is based, is also one of the most gentrified neighborhoods in LA, so when designing the facade she made sure to translate the word “ceramics” into each of the native languages from that area (so cool). And it was decisions like those that have attracted everyone from Rihanna’s creative director to Usher’s wife to get involved.
5.
HAYAO MIYAZAKI
I spent a lot of this year in solitude, and one of the ways I found inspiration in those times was by exploring the worlds of Miyazaki. One of my favorite anime directors, I’ve probably watched Ponyo over 100 times.
6.
MAISON MARGIELA
I take my shoe selection (very) seriously, and Maison Margiela from Paris possesses my current favorite. Martin Margiela refers to them as “Tabi boots,” a name derived from the Japanese term for footwear, jika-tabi. I found a pair thrifting earlier this year in Santa Monica, but eventually (and you can consider this an official oath) I will own one pair of each shoe that Margiela has to offer.
7.
BJÖRK X GUCCI
To accompany Bjork’s single “The Gate,” she collaborated with Gucci to create a customized gown that would be worn in the video. The dress, designed by Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, took 870 hours in total to make, and it is breathtaking. Another collaboration I loved from Gucci was their line with Trouble Andrew (GucciGhost).
8.
LEIKELI47
She’s from Brooklyn. She wears a mask. She is the future. That’s all you need to know.
9.
“IF I WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND”
I listen to this song ev-er-y-day, and the feeling I receive still hasn’t changed—365 days in a row. And it almost goes without being said, but as a musician from Minnesota I feel Prince’s energy and am inspired to carry on what he started.
10.
HIPPIE MODERNISM: THE STRUGGLE FOR UTOPIA
Earlier this year I was in Berkeley making music with my friend Chaz, and after a full morning of sessions we needed replenishment. He had never seen Hippie Modernism, so we went to BAMPFA to check it out. I was familiar with the exhibition from its 2015 debut at the Walker, but that day I found a portion that explained the “free form” movement and was immediately struck by it. As a young artist, I am turned off by labels (genres, specifically) because I feel my music and being holds many different forms. So, from that experience, I was inspired to name my new project, Free Form.