Reflections of the Sun Pt. 3 (Son Como Sangre) appears on the album Sacred Paths by Asia Jazz Project featuring Molina Soleil & Aju (2009)
Jazz meets Latin Reggae meets sultry Spanish vocals and spoken word poetry on the third Reflection of the Sun, highlighting Aju’s multi-faceted abilities as an vocalist, as well as Asia’s diverse sound.
Asia Fajardo-Wright is an avant-garde saxophonist and composer who leads Asia Jazz Project, plays in the Latin-Reggae band Mono Verde, and writes and produces original cultural and musical productions.
Sacred Paths – Soulaju’s 2009 collaboration with Asia – is very theme-oriented and theatric in its musicality. My hope is that Sacred Paths leads to some experimental modern dance productions in coming years. I would like to see a director/choreographer take Sacred Paths to another level, adding physical movement to these compositions.
Reflections of the Sun Pt. 2 (Life Rituals) appears on the album Sacred Paths by Asia Jazz Project featuring Molina Soleil & Aju (2009)
Listening to Aju’s Life Rituals Reflection I am reminded of the importance of rituals, personally, socially, and culturally. Not so much the Mannequin/mundane rituals of day-to-day life, but the spiritual rituals, love rituals, appreciation of moments that echo the circular and spiraling nature of this life.
Reflections of the Sun Pt. 1 (Solar Flare) appears on the album Sacred Paths by Asia Jazz Project featuring Molina Soleil & Aju (2009)
During weeks 32 – 34 of A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively, I get to write about and reflect on pieces that I did not write or record. Reflections of the Sun parts 1, 2 and 3 were written by Aju, recorded with Asia Jazz Project. These Reflections reflect, compliment, and contextualize my Letters to the Moon.
The Letters to the Moon and Reflections of the Sun explore the cosmic dance between the sun and the moon. This relationship has been revered and celebrated cross-culturally throughout human history. Life on Earth could not exist without the sun or the moon and the solar balance they create on the planet.
“Skydreamer” by Adrian H. Molina w/ Mannequin Rituals featuring Helen Chanthongthip, Up Before the Sunrise, released by CHiTT Productions (2008)
Skydreamer is the opening track off Up Before the Sunrise, my first full-length album. It was a dream. I had been writing rhymes for 10 years, constantly envisioning what my first album might look like. What would it sound like? What would I say if I had one chance, one album, to say something to the world?
I started writing material for Up Before the Sunrise during the summer of 2006. I had been through a lot during the years prior. In 2005 I left the life I was living. It was a life that wasn’t mine. It was beating me down, slowly murdering me, and it probably would have killed me, mentally and spiritually, if not physically. I faced my demons, handled my business, then tested out my wings.
This is one of two tracks SOULAJU released with DJ Ceiba for “My America”, a benefit compilation for Papers the movie, released July 4th, 2009. The other SOULAJU/CEIBA collaboration is “Believe It”.
Sending love out to Brotha Sean aka DJ Ceiba, who recently became a father. Ceiba is a Harlem-based drummer, DJ, and producer. He puts together jarring, head-nodding beats, fusing Reggae, Latin, and Hip-Hop influences. Ceiba flirts with some samples but relies mostly on his own musicianship.
Switchin’ up the vibe and pulse. Recent weekly Retrospectives have explored the lighter side of my work. A.M. Soleil, Retrospectively now moves back into harder-hitting territory.
Everyone’s heard the song “Gettin’ Mine.” Every rapper’s got a Gettin’ Mine track. The world is in a Gettin’ Mine state of mind. This is my version of Gettin’ Mine.
I was in Brooklyn when DJ Icewater sent this beat. This was before Aju and I were SOULAJU, before we decided to make an album together. It was a winter day in January 2009. I had the track on loop in my headphones, staring at the thick snowflakes falling outside Aju’s apartment window in Bedstuy. No doubt about it, this was a love song…
I had no interest in releasing love songs when I began making music.
I was on a train from Copenhagen, Denmark to Berlin, Germany when I wrote this poem. There was a lot of movement that day, in the waters and in the sky. The colors held me. I watched everything in silence, breathing it all in until it was time to write…
I wrote five Letters to the Moon during a journey through northern Europe in November 2008. Three of these poems became compositions on Sacred Paths.
This Letter was written near a small town maybe 30 miles or so south of Dublin, Ireland. I can’t recall the name of the town, but I remember the day well. I remember the way the pen felt in my hand, the coldness of my fingers as a I scribbled the ocean’s words.
Representin’ (4 Life) by Adrian H. Molina w/ Mannequin Rituals first appeared on Representin’ 4 Life EPin March 2007. It was re-released on Molina’s first full-length album, Up Before the Sunrise, August 2008.
My main goal with my first EP was to clearly define my work as an artist, to define what I represented. I knew that my music would not always carry the same serious tone… because Hip-Hop has always been about having fun… but after almost a decade of writing and performing poems and raps, I wanted everyone to understand how serious I was about creating RELEVANT music.
Mo-lee-na So-lay & Ah-joo = SOUL-AH-JOO: an independent, community-oriented, multilingual male/female music duo. SOULAJU fuses progressive Hip-Hop and Neo-Soul w/ world music influences. SOULAJU engages youth around issues of self empowerment, cultural identity, the power of the living word, access to education and the arts, gender justice, comprehensive immigration reform, and environmental justice.
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Asia Fajardo-Wright is an avant-garde saxophonist and composer who leads Asia Jazz Project, plays in the Latin-Reggae band Mono Verde, and writes and produces original cultural and musical productions. 
