By Ashley Moyer
On a still golden morning at Robinson park downtown under the
trees I had a rare chance to meet the only female award-winning
beat boxer in Albuquerque – Ashley ‘Saywut?!’ Moyer. I established
her to be talented, smart, outgoing with a positive outlook on her career
and future. Together we discussed hip-hop, family and how cannabis
influenced her.
Kurple: Where are you from?
Saywut?!: I was born and raised in Albuquerque,
NM. My mom’s side of the family
is 7th generation New Mexican and my
father’s side is from upstate New York. My
great grandparents immigrated from Sicily.
Kurple: What inspired you to be an artist?
Saywut?!: I am sort of the black sheep of
my family, I have always enjoyed music,
dancing and the arts more than sports. My
family is super athletic so it’s easy for me to
play any type of sport, but I always tended
to gravitate towards music and expression
and creativity as opposed to sports. When
I discovered my classmate Darren beatboxing
in high school, I thought to myself
this is an amazing thing. How was he making
all these noises with his mouth? He was
imitating Rahzel.
Rahzel was one of the most famous beatboxers
in my era which was in the late
1990’s and early 2000’s. So, my classmate
was doing his full set and sounded just like
Rahzel. His skill level was really good at the
time and I just started to mimic him. I went
to my next class and started beatboxing
right away and felt that I was really good
at it. My teacher was getting mad at me,
but my peers were surprised because they
had never heard me beatbox before. They
even asked had I just started doing this
and they were blown away that it was my first day beatboxing. Their encouragement
kept me going and gassed up.
Other hip-hop enthusiasts and I started doing
cipher’s at Cibola High School, called
Freestyle Fridays, like on BET. Darren and I
were the beat for the ciphers and that’s
where I really cut my teeth. Listening to
what the freestyle artists were speaking
about encouraged me to change my
beat. I would match the mood and the
rhythm with what they were saying. Whether
the freestyle was funny, had a slow
tempo, was somewhat poetic, or angry;
that’s where I honed in on being receptive
to energy and volume. I had to learn
how to breathe to match that energy and
volume. I’m really glad that I learned how
to beatbox this way. YouTube didn’t exist
when I first started so there were no beatbox
tutorials for me to watch. I appreciate
that I learned the way I did, because
I have a unique sound and relate to the
audience in a really cool way when I perform
live. That’s basically how I started.
Kurple: What type of community or charitable
events are you part of?
Saywut?!: After performing in many Freestyle
Fridays from high school I searched
the community for beatbox related events.
The only forum that existed at the time
was at a local bar called Burt’s Tiki Lounge
which hosted Wednesday Hip-Hop Nights.
I ended up going one night and showed
up around 8 o’clock which was incredibly
early for a bar. After waiting for some time
people started showing up around 10pm.I
figured out who was hosting the event and
approached them and asked how I can
be a part of the show. The hosts walked
away to talked amongst themselves for
a few minutes. They came back and said
you’re going to battle.
I had never battled before but the hosts
and I just wanted me in the mix. I battled
against a couple of seasoned regulars that
had mic as well as crowd experience and
I won based off crowd voting. Once I won,
that’s how I became known in Albuquerque.
I started to get phone calls
from people in the hip-hop community
involved in Grass Roots and
non-profit organizations that offered
me opportunities to perform for their
organizations or fundraisers. That is
what laid the groundwork for working
with kids at the Youth Diagnostic
Detention Center(YDDC). Working
with at risk youths is my favorite type
of work to do. I am able to connect
with these girls through beatboxing
which helps them open up to me in
a really cool way. Music helps people
transcend in ways that allow me
to move past their walls.
Kurple: How did Cannabis come into
your life?
Saywut?!: Cannabis has always been a
part of my life. I remember being young
smelling it around my parents, aunts, uncles
and other family. From an early age
my dad grew Cannabis and was really
good at it. During my experimental years
my dad always taught me not to go out
into the community and try just any old
thing anybody puts in front of me because
as he used to say, doing any type of drug
can either kill you or change you forever
and there’s no coming back from that. Because
my dad was so insistent that certain
drugs could kill or alter you, I never wanted
to try anything other than Marijuana. He
believed in and spoke about how Marijuana
was safe, medicinal, and helpful.
Kurple: How does Cannabis relate to your
art?
Saywut?!: Once I started performing in
the Hip-hop scene, I realized Cannabis
is a prevalent tool to help with creativity,
writing and being comfortable in front of
crowds. I do smoke almost every time before
I perform or to get into a headspace
to record. I do have to be careful because
depending on the strain, I can get severe
cotton mouth and I basically lock up as if
my mouth is glued. With so much friction
and continuous movement happening
during beatboxing, my mouth, esophagus,
and respiratory system need to be hydrated
all the time. When I smoke, I have
to make sure I’m drinking tea with honey
and lemon as well as using throat spray.
With smoking, I had to find a balance to
catch the right buzz so I can still be able
to produce and not get too emotional. I
have cried on stage many times because
I have such a raw connection with the crowd, serving as a vessel for them. Smoking
has always helped me to focus on my
art. Cannabis helps me relax when I am in
front of a crowd and allows me to deliver
my best performances.
Kurple: Do you prefer Sativas or Indicas?
Saywut?!: I prefer hybrids personally. Before
Cannabis was legal, it was hard to fine tune
what it was that I was looking for. Now with
the oils and the pens that are available with
different ratios of CBD and THC I can use
Cannabis more throughout the day without
feeling tired or burned out. I’ve tried edibles
but find it’s hard to regulate how much to
take in so I prefer to smoke Cannabis more
than anything. I’m an analog girl in a digital
world, so I haven’t branched out to dabs,
wax or anything like that, just mainly flower.
A really good chronic strain is fine with me. I
keep it pretty chill.
Kurple: Is there any particular venue that you
have performed at that stands out to you?
Saywut?!: I have really enjoyed working
with all the organizations
that I have
over the years, and
I really liked performing
at the U.S.
Social Forum in Detroit,
Michigan. I also
enjoyed being flown
out to Chicago for
the Women’s Reproductive
Rights Conference
where I was
able to witness guest
speakers discuss injustices
in regards to
women’s rights. The
Essie Awards were
dope too, because
the criminalization
of Marijuana must be stopped. For Cannabis
to be a Schedule 1 narcotic makes
no sense to me. My dad now has Multiple
Sclerosis and is a Medical Cannabis patient.
Cannabis has helped him with pain,
sleep and anxiety during this trying time of
his. The Essie’s Awards show is an exclusive
venue because it was an opportunity to
work with all these great organizations that
came together to promote social change
and awareness in New Mexico. So, being
able to perform in front of many people
that are working hard on different levels
all over the state in the Cannabis industry
to get medicine to the patients was really
inspiring.
Kurple: Where can your fans find
your music?
Saywut?!: It’s kind of a tricky question because
people have been asking me that
for years. I really like the idea of catching
an artist during a live show instead of them
always being digitally available all the time
everywhere. By encouraging my fans to
come out and see me live it makes the
experience unique and special. Now, with
the quarantine, people are missing being
around each other more than ever. For
most of my career I have made it to where
you have to come see me live to hear my
material. I have had a small loyal following
of fans for years that come out and see
my shows, but it’s getting to a point where
the fans are getting aggravated that they
can’t listen to me in their car. I’m learning
not to be so selfish and I’m working on recording
new material with my friend on lyrics
while I beatbox. So, I can’t give you an
answer at this very moment but you can
look up some of my material on YouTube
and my website which is “beatboxbeauty.
com”
I am also a licensed Aesthetician, and I
own a business in Nob Hill. I don’t want
to be owned by anyone; I like calling the
shots in my life. I feel like 2020 is the year
that has forced me to create more at
home since I wasn’t able to perform live.
I’ve been working in my home studio filming
myself and editing. There’s stuff in the
works, stay tuned.
Kurple: What’s your message to the fans?
Saywut?!: My message has always been to
persevere and strive to trust who you are.
I believe that everyone has the right to
express themselves in a positive way. Trust
what you know and let your heart guide
you.
