Jamila Woods

Biography

Jamila Abidemi Woods, born October 6, 1989, in Chicago, Illinois, grew up on the city's South Side, the eldest of four children. She sang in her grandmother's church choir, which shaped her layered vocal style, and was inspired by her grandmother's pastor who blurred speech and song. Attending St. Ignatius College Prep introduced her to poetry through programs like Gallery 37, building her confidence as an artist. She graduated from Brown University with a BA in Africana Studies and Theater & Performance Studies, where she formed the soul-pop duo Milo and Otis (M&O) with classmate Owen Hill, releasing albums The Joy (2012) and Almost Us (2014).[1][2][3]

Woods' career spans poetry, community organizing, and music, with her work centering Black ancestry, feminism, identity, self-love, and Chicago. As Associate Artistic Director at Young Chicago Authors, she organized the Louder Than a Bomb poetry slam, facilitated workshops, and developed curriculum for Chicago Public Schools. Her debut chapbook The Truth About Dolls (2012) appeared in anthologies like The Breakbeat Poets. Musically, she signed with Closed Sessions in 2016, releasing the critically acclaimed mixtape HEAVN that year, featuring Chance the Rapper, Noname, and others. Her style blends alternative R&B, soul, hip-hop, and poetry in a collage-like process. Follow-up albums include LEGACY! LEGACY! (2019), naming tracks after influences like James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni.[1][5][6]

Woods' legacy endures through her interdisciplinary art, uplifting youth voices and exploring personal and cultural themes. Her genre-blending sound, rooted in soul yet modern, has earned acclaim, while her poetry and activism continue to impact Chicago's arts scene.[1][3][5]

Fun Facts

• Woods' grandmother's pastor inspired her by blurring the line between speech and song, influencing her vocal layering.[2]
• She performed a poem 'Apocrypha' about HIV/AIDS in the Black community at the first Louder Than a Bomb college slam, featuring backwards talking.[3]
• Her parents include a pediatrician father at Cook County and a mother who practices reiki, meditation, and plays acoustic guitar, teaching Woods songs.[3]
• Woods chose Brown University specifically for its spoken-word scene.[3]

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Lucille Clifton - poetic influence (general writing style) [ongoing]
• Gwendolyn Brooks - poetic and stylistic inspiration (writing exploring blackness and Chicago) [ongoing]
• Toni Morrison - literary inspiration for chapbook (The Truth About Dolls (2012)) [2012]
• Frida Kahlo - inspiration for Pushcart-nominated poem (The Truth About Dolls (2012)) [2012]

Key Collaborators

• Owen Hill - bandmate in soul-pop duo M&O (Milo & Otis) (The Joy (2012), Almost Us (2014)) [2012-2014]
• Chance the Rapper - frequent collaborator on albums and mixtapes (M&O's 'Lift Up', HEAVN (2016), Surf ('Sunday Candy', 'Questions')) [2012-2016]
• Noname - collaborator on debut mixtape (HEAVN (2016)) [2016]
• Saba - collaborator on debut mixtape (HEAVN (2016)) [2016]
• Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment - vocalist on debut album (Surf (2014)) [2014]

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia