Meet Our 2025 Juneteenth Artists!

We’re excited to have our friends, the multi-talented artists of VinylTap215, back to co-host our Juneteenth celebration this year. Get to know the faces, voices, and minds behind the music, poetry, and movement, and be sure to come get the live experience here on June 22, 11am-4pm!

STARFIRE  is a Curator of Energy & Creative Expression who has energetically collaborated with Harriet’s Book Shop, Vinyl Tap 215, Mural Arts, Kimmel Center, Monument Lab, The Barnes, Wawa Welcome America, Roc Nation, and so many more! 

Ash Phillips (they/them) is a singer/songwriter and teaching artist whose artistry is shaped by their love of the rich and bold legacy of Philly music, the great storytellers in our community, and their awe of the natural world. Ash has performed in living rooms, nightclubs, festival stages, conferences, marches, and community events from coast to coast, collaborating and growing with many amazing creators and dreamers along the way.

Karen “Magic Fingaz” Smith, Brooklyn native and Philly resident, is a professional percussionist, playwright, poet, director, teaching artist, curator, and now a member of the Philadelphia Musician’s Union Local 77! “Magic Fingaz “is the founder, artistic director, and lead percussionist of The Karen Smith Experience and Sistahs Laying Down Hands Collectives.

Jay is a Philadelphia DJ and lifelong music enthusiast. Her passion for music planted the seed that blossomed into a love for DJing. DJ Jay is a frequent face at Vinyl Tap events, stepping onto the scene in 2020 under the mentorship of DuiJi 13.

It’s a family affair with Jester’s Experiment! A local Lansdowne family of musicians exhibits chemistry as they align their talents. Prepare to be moved by their gifts as they share jazz standards and soul classics with our Juneteenth audience!

The Black Boys Makin’ Noise Storytelling Troupe was founded after an inquisitive student and his history teacher, Paul D. Best, turned a solo storytelling show for Kwanzaa into a seven-student collective of young Black boys. Black Boys Makin’ Noise embodies the principle, “Lifting as we climb”, giving Black Boys opportunities to try new things, learn their history, and see more of the world.

Comrade Cota is an Indigenous revolutionary and lover of music. They volunteer with the One Africa! One Nation! Marketplace in West Philly’s Clark Park as the Program Coordinator, organizing the annual Uhuru Health Festival and Uhuru Book Fair, which they’ve been deejaying for the past few years.

Yung nila is a Philly-based DJ and party organizer with roots in DIY punk, house party, and underground rave cultures. She enjoys playing high-energy sets that mix disparate genres and styles.

Quin Morgan’s live painting produces a visual expression of our collective celebration. Her medium captures the energy of the moment,  translating the magic of our experience into a colorful remembrance.

Nicole Pollard came to yoga in 2015, after recognizing the absence of presence and movement in her life. She obtained the 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certification from Studio 34 in December 2021, and a Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Certification from Transformation Yoga Project in September 2022. She is passionate about creating experiences that speak to her interests in both rest and play as core needs for individual and collective wellbeing.

Misty Sol and the Tiny Farm Wagon The Tiny Farm Wagon of CultureTrust of Greater Philadelphia ​is a mobile art classroom/greenhouse/gallery inspired by the work of George Washington Carver and dedicated to building new knowledge around community vibrancy through public art projects thar identify, preserve, and promote the threads of wellness that run through Black life. Tiny Farm builds gardens, leads workshops, curates stellar art events, and more, not to mention making delicious plant-based food from their cob oven.