Features
Invincible
By Katie Luscombe
May 13, 2008, 11:32

Invincible
Rhyme & Reason

“In a lot of ways, my gimmick is to stay away from having gimmicks, only being focused on the music itself.” And what a blessing that is. For Ilana “Invincible” Weaver, Detroit’s reigning rap queen, a gimmick would only get in the way of her raw talent, inventive wordplay and a strong message about what Detroit could be. Her first solo EP, ShapeShifters, is dropping in June (release party May 17 at Alvin’s) and she’s hoping it will funnel some attention over to our fair city and the music that comes from it. “I’m just really proud to be a part of the Detroit movement that’s going on right now, and everywhere I go internationally, people take note. I hope that locally, you know, we can also support our own.”

Invincible could have been famous already. She could have been the female Eminem of 1997, some major label’s cash cow. She certainly had the talent. But despite the numerous offers, she left New York, where she’d moved at 17 to work with her all-female group the Anomolies, back to the growing rap community of Detroit, where she would eventually start her own label,          Emergence Music.

We’re more than happy to have her back, because Invincible lives and breathes Detroit. One of her primary focuses is working with kids through the organization Detroit Summer to find innovative solutions to devastating dropout rates. “My work with Detroit Summer is really just amplifying the voice of the youth to be the leaders for the future of the city,” Invincible tells me. “They’re the ones that are most impacted by the crisis in our city, and they’re the ones who therefore have the deepest understanding of what the solution should be.”

Growing up, Invincible was uninterested in school. “Hip-hop was my education,” she says. It helped her learn English, her second language, and eventually she found that formal schooling took a backseat to her music, doing shows in Ann Arbor, Ypsi and Detroit when she was just 15. Though she had found her calling, she was struggling to get through the necessary credits for graduation. Luckily, a teacher at her Ann Arbor high school recognized her dedication and skill and was able to get her English credit for writing rhymes and her independent work. “I was fortunate to have that one teacher that acknowledged [my talent] and validated that in the eyes of the school system, but nine times out of ten students don’t have that teacher so they just end up doing poorly or dropping out.” Through Detroit Summer’s Live Art’s Media Project, or LAMP, ten youths created an “audio hip-hop documentary” about struggles in their community. They interviewed kids in the city about the “root issues” and edited them down to create Rising Up From the Ashes: Chronicles of a Dropout. They create workshops and do bi-monthly all-ages hip-hop shows at The Shelter.

Invincible also has her own agenda when it comes to merging art and activism with something she calls a “docu-music video,” included on ShapeShifters. It’s for the bonus track, "Locus" and focuses on gentrification and sustainable development in Detroit. “The video consists of the song as well as interviews with different community leaders, youth in the community, people who have been directly affected by gentrification, and they’re talking about what solutions could work.” But what about those who say Detroit is a lost cause? “My [favorite] motto, is 'opportunity in crisis,'" says Invincible. “We will rise again.”  | RDW

ShapeShifters record release f/ Invincible, Black Milk, Phat Kat and more! • 5/17 • Alvin’s


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