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SXSW provides an excellent opportunity to enjoy international artists right here in our own city limits. Yet for some, the city-wide wanderlust can get overlapped by a desire to discover acts from specific regions. Well, fortunately for those folks, there are a ton of origin-curated SXSW showcases scheduled for this week, both officially and unofficially.
For UK music enthusiasts, consider stopping by BBC Presents: The British Music Embassy, whose eclectic across-the-pond 2023 roster includes stunning up-and-comer Yazmin Lacey. Like many singers-in-the-making, Lacey got her start in church choir before her ears caught on to hip-hop, soul, and R&B. But, like her contemporary Danielle Ponder, Lacey didn’t pursue music professionally until the late 2010s, when she was already past the “prime” age which most creatives launch their career. Nevertheless Lacey impressed us with beautiful, reactionary honesty in a three-EP progression at the turn of the past decade; 2017’s Black Moon, 2018’s When The Sun Dips 90 Degrees, and 2020’s Morning Matters.
Since the start of March, Yazmin Lacey’s been riding high on her astonishing, moment-capturing hour-long inaugural full-length Voice Notes, which has already cemented her status as a neo-soul sensation. If you want to hear this modern day mashup of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and more in person, you’re in luck; Yazmin Lacey entertains our airwave neighbors KMFA at 3PM today before making a two-night run on 4th Street: 9PM tonight for British Music Embassy at The Courtyard and again 9PM tomorrow for Jazz re:Freshed Outernational at Seller’s Underground. So show some support by diving into Voice Notes on streaming or by joining the crowd downtown. Either way, you’ll find yourself in delightfully “Bad Company“.
