Kendra Morris’s Nine Lives, to be released on Karma Chief Records (a
division of Colemine Records) in early 2022, marks not only the culmination
of the decade since the release of her first LP Banshee, but also a turning
point in Kendra’s life. Nine Lives heralds the beginning of a new chapter;
label, and an evolution to the next level of adulthood. This collection of her
original songs encapsulates moments from what could be nine lifetimes.
Kendra, while very much a New Yorker and veteran of almost 2 decades on
the NYC scene, hails from Florida and aesthetically embodies the broader
sense of American culture, bringing to her contemporary sound influences
found in music and cinema dating back to the mid 20th century. Her music
conjures imagery evocative of road trips to weird and wonderful places.Concurrently a visual artist, filmmaker and animator, Kendra harnesses the
feline nine lives metaphor repeatedly. In the context of the chapters of her
musical trajectory alone, we see at least 9 lives. From discovering
multi-tracking on a karaoke machine as a child, to playing in bands in
Florida, moving to NYC and creating music alone on an 8 track, releasing
her first 2 LPs on Wax Poetics, releasing her 2016 EP Babble and
collaborating with DJ Premier, 9th Wonder, MF Doom, Czarface, Ghostface
Killah, Dennis Coffey, and David Sitek, to name a few.
The life of this multi-disciplinarian artist contains units of time and story
lines through which we can all relate to universal themes of love, loss and
overcoming one's fears. Kendra, never ceasing to heed her spiritual calling
to continue creating music and art, no matter what, has no plans of
slowing down but a belief in only evolving, eager to begin experiencing her
next nine lives.