Be is a queer pop composer and storyteller from Washington, DC. Be earned a BA in Black Studies from Oberlin College and an MFA in film from Howard University in 2014. Be's thesis film, Vow of Silence, screened in film festivals around the world, including Black Star, HBO's OutFest, The Schomburg Center, and Inside Out Toronto. In 2019, Be composed the music for The Alvin Ailey Dance Company's production of The Gone. Later that year, Be wrote and directed A Letter to My Ex, the musical. In 2021, Be released their latest album, Succulent. In 2023, Be joined the cast of Parable of the Sower the Opera, by Toshi Reagon and Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon.

Ashley Lakayla Yates, also known by the stage name of ‘Black Assets,’ is a dynamic vocalist/singer-songwriter from Itta Bena, Mississippi, whose art is committed to reflecting the experience of Black people in the United States. Her most recent single, Being Black, is an eloquent display of her talents. She wrote the lyrics, produced the song, and designed the cover art. She is also the creator of The Living Room Social (TLRS), a platform for musicians and music-lovers in the Maryland area whose purpose is to make and experience music together in the name of love, peace, and light. For the past 3 years, TLRS has curated over 75 shows boasting loyal audiences of over 200 people per show.

Regie Cabico is a spoken word pioneer and the winner of The Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam and top prizes in three National Poetry Slams. His television credits include 2 seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, NPR’s Snap Judgement, and MTV’s Free Your Mind. His work appears in over 30 anthologies including Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café, Spoken Word Revolution, and The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry. Cabico received the 2006 Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers for his work teaching at-risk youth at Bellevue Hospital. As a theater artist, he received three New York Innovative Theater Award Nominations for his work in Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind.

Eric “E-Baby” Smith began writing poetry in July, 2000. Since then, he has opened for R&B artists Musiq Soul Child, Me’Shell N’degeOcello, and Lyfe Jennings. After joining Jus Wiggin Entertainment in 2002, his “1 Poet Poetical Tour” reached over 150 colleges and universities across the US. In 2014, he was named the Spokenword Billboard Award’s Hot100 Top Ranking Artist of the Year. In 2016, he received Best Poet at the DMV Underground Awards. He has two CDs, My Thoughts Are In This Ink and Inktoxicated, and a book of haiku poetry, HAIKU-N-U. E-Baby has performed on numerous cable programs and radio shows, conferences, and festivals. 

Dwayne B! is a DC native poet, activist, breakdancer, and CEO of Crochet Kingpin, LLC. He is one of the hosts of DC’s longest-running open mic series, Spit Dat, as well as host captain for the Busboys and Poets 450K location. In addition to featured readings at every Busboys and Poets location, SAGAfest Iceland 2015, Spirits and Lyrics NYC and Manassas, Woolly Mammoth Theater, and the C2EA “We Can End AIDS” march, Dwayne won the Best Haiku Award at the 2011 National Underground Spoken-Word Poetry Awards. His work to increase HIV awareness through spoken word garnered recognition from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, BBCAmerica, the Discovery Channel, and The Washington Post. 

Born in Washington, DC, Emory Diggs, Jr. appeared on his first recording, the BC Stars, in 1981 and later with the Earlston Ford Gospel Choir. Playing with The Universal Messengers of Music (TUMOM), he recorded “Jazz is a National Treasure.” The D.C. Commission selected TUMOM to represent Washington at the San Remo Jazz Festival in Italy. Emory played the bass guitar with  Blues Piano Man Nate Dove at the Smithsonian Institute Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. Diggs has also recorded with The Godfather Of GO GO, Chuck Brown, and opened for McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Smith, Ahmad Jamal, Dizzy Gillespie, Jean Carn, Rachelle Ferrell, and George Duke. He is currently touring and performing with David Cole and The Main Street Blues Band.