About four decades ago a music teacher and a substance abuse counselor had a lovely baby girl. Today, she’s all grown up and goes by the name Luvleeh, though her parents named her Leandrea Juanita Hill.
At 18, Hill adopted a new name, a hybrid of her birth name. Initially, the change came about as a result of her need to create an email account with a sign-on name that hadn’t yet been taken. But it was bigger than that. The sign-on handle that she became known by was an affirmation for a young woman who didn’t feel pretty, accepted or love for herself.
Luv plus Lee (her family nickname) and an H at the end for Hill became Luvleeh – a Black and queer creative artist who today, loves herself and does a darn good job of supporting and showing love to others as well.
Luvleeh will be appearing at Charlotte’s annual BOOM Arts Festival at the end of this month for multiple performances. During this interview, we took the opportunity to learn about the woman and her words.
L’ Monique King: Where are you originally from?
LJH: Newburgh, New York. Good ol’ Hudson Valley.
LMK: Do you have any siblings?
LJH: I have two brothers, both older.
LMK: How long have you lived in Charlotte?
LJH: I’ve been here on and off my whole life visiting family but officially moved here in 2006, left in 2009 and returned in 2012.
LMK: Where in Charlotte do you live?
LJH: East Charlotte, so I’m told. <Chuckles> In an apartment.
LMK: Do you share your living space with anyone special?
LJH: Yes, my mother. I’m so grateful to share a space with her [as her daughter and caretaker] and Shakespeare and Angelou, my two dogs.
LMK: What brought you to the Carolinas this time around?
LJH: School. Elizabeth State University. But I fell in love with the South. I always felt good here. Whenever I visited as a child, I’d stay with my grandmother. She was such a free-spirited carefree grandma. We played outside, she taught us how to swim and how to play spades <laughter>.
LMK: How do you identify?
LJH: As of today, Queer. It didn’t start out that way, but I found myself [through] the years and understanding that for me, it’s just above love. I started out as bisexual and went through several of the letters identifying the LGBTQIA+ [community] and eventually found my happy place identifying as Queer.
LMK: How’d you get into performing your poetry?
LJH: Poetry first came in my youth after finding my brother’s poem about the relationship he had with my mom. I took it, folded it up and kept it in my wallet for years, before losing it. Later, while attending ECSU [Elizabeth City State University] they had an open mic. At the time, I was too afraid to perform [my work] so I had a friend perform my poem. She did a good job, but it wasn’t how I wanted it delivered so I tried it for myself. After that I took speech and debate classes which spearheaded me to being more comfortable on stage. Later that year at another ECSU event I met J. Ivy [James Ivy Richarson] – the first poet to win a Grammy for a Spoken Word Album and was further inspired to continue to perfect my craft.
LMK: What’s the Charlotte Queer Creative scene like?
LJH: I wish I could honestly say more about it, but outside of parties I don’t know and that’s solely because I don’t see it existing where I am. At one time I was like the resident poet for “Free Your Mind,” an open mic [event]. Through “Free Your Mind” there were other events and opportunities for members of the community to perform. It was great, and fluid. But once the organizers moved away – I really didn’t have any other connections to creative things going on.
LMK: What’s happening in your poetic life now?
LJH: Currently I host an open mic that’s open to all art forms “Say It Tuesdays.” It’s free and we keep it free because we have a lot of artists who have come to us over the years who did not have housing or a platform to express themselves. Keeping it free means artists of all types have a place to come – even if they’re sleeping in their cars. Outside of that I have – there’s Boom and several other events coming up. I’m featuring at “Soul, Sticks and Stilettos” [an open mic] in Concord. And I’m always available for bookings of all types – private, commercial, non-profit, festivals, the works.
LMK: What if any challenges come with being a Black female Queer Spoken Word Artist?
LJH: I don’t know if it’s because of all those things but I recently realized that we’re not represented a lot. I don’t see us existing in spaces where I think we should exist. It’s very male dominated [the poetry scene].
LMK: Who are your top three favorite poets, known or unknown, living or not?
LJH: Poet Gold, she’s a Black lesbian woman from Poughkeepsie, New York; Sir Abstraxxx, I listen to him on Spotify and he’s from Charlotte. And oh! Tank from Tank the Bangers, she’s literally talked me off a ledge.
LMK: What have you not written about that you would like to?
LJH: I really want to write more spiritual poetry. I write about my own journey and my own healing but I’ve never written about the other side of being in tune with myself spiritually. I’ve written about trauma, survival energy – but now I want to write about how I experience and nurture my own African spirituality and put that into words.
LMK: What’s the best thing about performing for you?
LJH: Everything that I could be dealing with in my day to day [life] gets left on the stage because I can pour out my art and that is my healing, my walk. There are times when being on stage has saved me from going into a dark space. It’s my medicine.
LMK: What is the worst thing about performing for you?
LJH: Judgment, because I am not a poet who has my poetry memorized.
LMK: When you’re not writing, reciting or organizing a poetry event, what are you doing?
LJH: I am taking care of my mother, creating artwork, making jewelry, pressing shirts, volunteering, walking my dogs, probably crying because I need to release some shit or finding something to get into like an art gallery or an open mic, and by the grace of God if there is somebody who can watch my mother for an extended period of time, I’m trying to travel.
LMK: What’s on your playlist? Tell us the last three songs you listened to? No cheating, no judgment.
LJH: Today has been high energy, so I tapped into my Jersey Club Mix with Strings by Max, Do 4 Luv by Tre Oh Fie and Orange Soda, the remix by SJayy.
LMK: What gets under your skin? Tell our readers what works your last nerve?
LJH: <Without hesitation> Wasted time.
LMK: Okay then, let’s get right to it with a few little this or that questions? eBooks or hard cover?
LJH: Believe it or not, I’m a hardcover girl, but in the last several years I’ve gotten into audio books.
LMK: String beans or broccoli?
LJH: Bro-cco-leeeeee! <Laughter>
LMK: A walk in the park or a walk on the beach?
LJH: <Silence> Hold on, let me think on that. I would say, if I could, I would walk on the beach but my caregiver responsibilities often keep me away from the water. So, I often go to parks with water. Most people don’t know this about me, but I collect sand from all over the world. It’s part of my affinity for the beach, a connection that has me ask all my friends to bring me back sand when they travel.
LMK: Before we let you go, we’d love to leave readers with a smile. What makes you laugh out loud?
LJH: Goofy shit! I love those moments when you just laugh. Have you ever been at a place where it’s not appropriate to laugh but a thought comes into your head and you’re suddenly dying laughing? I love those moments.
Luvleeh will perform at Boom Charlotte on Friday, April 26, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at McFly Fresh. Additional appearances at McFly Fresh during the festival include Saturday, April 27, 5-6 p.m. and Sunday, April 28, 5-6 p.m. ::