“I’ve been slow-walking this whole thing: stewing it, getting it into people’s systems and letting them absorb the aesthetic of it. So anytime the music is able to get out of me, I consider that a success. The press, PR, whatever that other stuff is, that’s a different thing…….But once it gets out, and I’ve said what I wanted to say, fine…..  then it’s all good.”

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Stokley Williams is undergoing a professional evolution: his just-released sophomore project, Sankofa, is the continuation of his musical journey as both a musician and as a solo artist. His well-received 2017 release, Introducing Stokley, featured the inescapable jams “Level” and “Organic” and allowed him to build a style and identity aside from the Grammy-nominated soul and funk band, Mint Condition. Sankofa is also Williams’ first-ever recording project from his own boutique label, Blueraffe Entertainment, which is distributed by he and the band’s first-ever label home, the re-launched Flyte Tyme/Perspective Records (helmed by the iconic songwriting and production industry powerhouses, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis).

Just as the Covid-19 virus and pandemic rippled across the globe, Williams earned his first-ever Billboard Adult R&B Song with the adoring ballad, “She.” Instead of losing momentum, Stokley used the the subsequent shutdown to experiment and expand the direction of Sankofa into African-influenced, funk-fringed and contemporary soul grooves, interludes and jams.

Shortly before his live appearance in Dallas TX as part of the lineup in Groovefest III, Williams spoke by phone about his goal for Blueraffe, the messages in his music and where fans can soon expect to enjoy a ‘taste of the Mint.’…….

It will be wonderful to see you live again and to hear you toss songs like “Vibrant” and “She” into the line-up. What’s it like to be touring and performing live again? Do any of the new Covid-era restrictions hinder you at all?

“We wanted to have than instant back and forth ‘talk with the audience, it’s been great to be out here doing what we do, you know what I mean? As far as the changes, I don’t want anybody sick, I don’t want anybody dying, let’s just start there. Most people are doing the best they can with the information that they have. A lot of the venues are asking for proof of vaccines or testing within 72 hours, but I just want to just keep people safe. If that means to mask up, distancing……whatever it is, I’m cool with doing what it takes to return someday to our regular normal lives.”

How has it affected you personally?

“it’s been a little bit more unique; as you get older, you can start to develop allergies to all types of different things…..well, at least I have. So I’ve been wearing a mask on planes for at least  ten years now. People had been looking at me crazy like, ‘why is he wearing a mask?’ But now, what’s weird to me is seeing everybody wearing the mask. There’s a killer virus out here, so all you can do is adapt to the information that we have so we all can work and stay on the healthy side, you know?” 

Fans like myself copped the download when the music dropped on Friday, When can we expect hard copies?

“We don’t have the physical copies available yet, but there will be CDs  later and I also want to do a limited run of vinyl, so keep an eye out for those.”

There is a lot of music here, how purposeful was that aspect in comparison to Introducing?

“People are doing EPs now, but I wanted to get back to the journey of music. The songs and interludes speak to the feeling and the vibration of the continent, my upbringing with African instrumentation, drums…Someone asked me if all the one-word titles were an ode to Prince’s Come album, but to me, It’s just to help people remember. Nobody reads long-form anymore, everything is just falling into captions and no one can pay attention for more than three seconds, so it has to do with the sign of our times.”

What’s the Blueraffe/Flyte Tyme partnership been like?

“Me and my business partner created Blueraffe, my boutique label, while Jam and Terry were in the middle of resurrection of Flyte Time/Perspective Records and their own recording project, which got derailed for 30 years because of their work with the SOS Band and their work with, well….you ever heard of that girl named Janet, the one with the kind-of famous family (laughing)? Well, now it’s come full circle, since Mint was signed to Perspective, and it’s been so amazing. There’s so many things I don’t have to worry about; we speak the same language and we’re both learning this new era of business, taking some things from the old school analog way of getting these things done.”

Where did you want to go with Sankofa?

“The title, a Ghanian term, literally means ‘to go back and go get it.’ For me, that means to remember who you came from and what you came from, and thru. I pulled a lot of energy from the 70s, 80s and 90s and 2000s: If I missed music from a certain era, I brought it back. For example, ‘Cascade’ is a blend of something from Mtume and The Family, I’ve got something that reminds me of the Stylistics……”

I love that video you dropped last month for the song “Woman” (with KiDi). What was that experience like?

“I wanted to show us in our most organic form: different shades, different colors. Then there were the forts and the castles (in Ghana)….the tour guide told us about the two holding rooms where they kept 75 slaves for three months until the boats would arrive. And from above, there was a space where there was a hole, from where they would lower a cup of water….it wasn’t like [modern] prison, where you get an hour to be out and stretch your legs….no. 75 people in that single space, for three months, can you imagine that? We were even taken to where the enslaved would be branded….I was overwhelmed. I’m still unpacking it all, you know? Depending where you are in the moment, it was bittersweet: there were so many spiritual connections, I could see why we are such a creative and resilient people: the ingenuity….. I’d read the books, was told things by my parents, but man….smelling the soil, walking the land, hearing ‘welcome home Brother.’ It was mind-blowing.”

I also appreciate the positivity you bring to music about femininity, that’s very needed these days.

“‘Woman’ is a sweet and simple ode to you all, you can always count on that from me: the narrative will always be about the uplift when it comes to the ladies. I mean, you are the real producers in the world. Who is anybody without women? No one is anything!”

What was recording with Snoop Dogg like (“Vibrant” and “Jeopardy: Verbalize”)?

“He went in, heard the track and said, “Yeah, this is me all day Cuz! (laughter) ” He’s the only one I envisioned for “Vibrant,” period. It was right before the George Floyd tragedy happened: I contemplated back and forth like, ‘Do I release this?’ Then I figured, people needed it right then. As much as this is a serious moment and we’re protesting, the inhale and exhale it provided served its purpose.”

That was definitely a time that we needed uplift, the lack of live music taught us how essential it is.

“Exactly: Before the pandemic, everyone just acted like what we do—-entertaining—-is just ‘fluff,’ but now, we’re understanding more why it’s been referred to as ‘soul music.’ When I call myself a ‘sonic healer,’ that term has taken on a whole different depth …..people are healed with the vibrations from the music going inside….it rearranges the molecules and resonates in certain ways within your body, which changes the structure. When you go into a concert mad [about something], you come out happy, lifted. And to help tell that [musical] story, you may have dancers to illustrate the vibes, and that creates the ‘moving pictures’ that we get….live music creates that whole element that people had been missing. It matters.”

Speaking of soul music, will you be making more of it someday with MC?

“I’m getting my legs up under me [as a solo artist]: that MC journey has been one I’ve been on for 35 years, which is a long time for anyone to do anything. It’s remarkable to have been in a collective like that and leave a legacy like that and a gift that keeps giving, people are sampling our stuff all over the place, which is a beautiful thing. But the time, attention, detail and sacrifices that we’ve all given to that entity is something that I’m focusing on myself now. I’ve been a collaborator for years and years, giving giving and giving before Mint, during Mint and now after Mint, on other projects that have been my focus.

Mint is tried and true, it’s a lifetime. so all I’m doing now is trying to explore, expand, to fly…..everyone in the band is doing the same thing. Me and Larry [Waddell] just produced two tracks for the new After 7 project coming out, Rick [Kinchen’s] doing his thing, Jeff [Allen] has been scoring some independent films, so….everybody’s at a different stage in their life and you have to allow for that. I know people want their favorite thing, but they forget how long we’ve actually been together. We’re all multi-faceted people and it’s up to each one of us to explore all of those possibilities, because…..life is short. 35 years can be most of your prime.  I’m trying to figure out what’s for me, what I want to do for myself, my family….I’ve got ideas to get into acting, go back to the theater, which is where I started from, but I need time and space to do it. there’s no way I can do that with Mint. so before I get out of here, I’ve got to do the things that I want to do. I hope that at some point, we do come together, see where we are and bring it all back together, for us and the fans, but I’m just getting started on my next chapter in life.”

You know, it’s funny: It’s always been the opposite of what you’re asking now, ‘when are you going to do something solo?’ And now that I’ve done it, it’s back to, ‘well, what about MC?’ (chuckling) I mean, I just got here!”

I heard about a release coming soon from Mint, is that still happening?

“We’re trying to remaster Meant to Be Mint for its 30th anniversary, give it new life for the next few generations to enjoy, you know? It’s something we’ve talked about for a long time. The remaster will give people who’ve worn out their CDs better sound quality and lets them experience that same joy that fans felt when it came out. When there’s more information, you’ll know.”

We are loving the new music Stokley, congratulations: what do you hope listeners draw from Sankofa?

“First of all, thank you to all the fans: I hope you enjoy hearing it as much as I enjoyed making it. I want them to feel inspired: to reflect, to turn up, turn down, chill, dance….even to cry if they have to. Listen to Sankofa and celebrate the fact that we are all here, even in the midst of this horrible space…..we gotta show gratitude. Don’t lose sight of the light inside you, there’s always turbulence and hurricanes, so to speak, life is relentless like that. But music and the arts helps us to heal and journey through it. I’m proud and honored to be a musician to help with that process.”

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