A mixture of cigarette smoke and herbal essences filled the air in a dive bar on Westminster Street in Providence, R.I. Women in Erica Badu-inspired head wraps and flowing skirts filled the building as they waited for their she-roes to take the stage. They were waiting for the chance to experience something floetic.
Directly from London, England, Floetry were the headliners of the night. Fellow underground hip-hoppers, Blackalicious, the opening act, warmed up the crowd with various tracks ranging from “Cliff Hanger” to “Alphabet Aerobics.” Participants nodded their heads and pumped their fists as they let the words flood their brains. After an hour and a half of crowd-pleasing, Blackalicious abandoned the stage and let the musical journey begin.
After 10 minutes of stage rearrangement, two mesmerizing beauties accompanied by their band took the stage. Their welcome was resounding. Women crowded the front of the stage and grabbed for their hands and clapped with appreciation. These two women, Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart, are better known as Floetry. Ambrosius is a musical songbird and Stewart is the emcee. The audience perked up their ears and opened their souls as Floetry took the stage. They immediately commanded the stage starting off with “Ms. Stress,” the women closed their eyes as they both sang:
“It’s better that it hurts/it’s better that it feels this way to me/I can’t be too comfortable/cause loving you is not my destiny.”
From the way the women entered the stage, it was easy to see that they were down to earth. They didn’t break into a diva stroll, rather they ran on-stage, anxious to please their awaiting fans. Each was dressed casually choosing comfort as their main style objective. Natalie was dressed in a long jean skirt, a T-shirt, a Rasta inspired hat and a Jamaican flag wristband. Marsha was equally as comfortable wearing
jeans, a camouflage T-shirt, khaki blazer and a page-boy hat. As the night progressed, the duo sang various selections from their debut album, “Floetic.” In fact, the ladies performed every song from their 16-track album. These included “Sunshine,” “Floetic,” “Getting Late,” “Say Yes” and others.
This group is a reflection of the music missing today. It’s surprising that with such a soulful album and writing credits for prestigious artists like Michael Jackson, Faith Evans and Brandy, their album, which has been released for over a year, has yet to go platinum. The emotions that are felt at their concert are something that are rarely experienced at other concerts, these women force the audience to look within themselves. Seeing them live is something one must experience for themselves and is truly inexplicable.
