Singer INEZ Wants To Build Pittsburgh’s Sprawling Black Music Scene Into A Unified Whole

Native Pittsburgher INEZ, all caps—no last name, has an infectious laugh. It’s BIG. Like the letters of her name. The self-proclaimed “fireshorty” (sun sign: Leo) has a natural red-hot energy that roots her in justice, and to be clear – she will burn it all down if it means the people she cares about have what they need and are loved and safe.

Her stage presence is just as combustible. The Berklee College of Music-educated singer, drummer, producer and engineer sings of love, justice and the Black condition, while simultaneously trying to tame the sprawling soul music scene in Pittsburgh into a unified whole. She’s also a songwriter who speaks in couplets.

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Like when she describes her Detroit-raised maternal grandfather (once engaged to Martha Reeves of the Vandellas), whose jazz and blues records were a constant in her youth. His influence stretched way beyond music.

She has plans to give the world boundless music.

“He was the only older person [into technology],” she muses. “He was the first techie that I knew. He had a laser disc with The Wiz, and we would watch that thing at least two or three times when I was over there. I got all of that, and I’m so grateful, so grateful, because it rounds out not only my music but my production. It’s the thing that keeps lending itself no matter what I’m working on.”

Her family’s musicality doesn’t just stop there.  Her paternal grandparents grew up in and lived in the Hill District, during the time of Art Blakey and the prolific Pittsburgh jazz scene. And despite music ringing from all four branches of her family tree, she didn’t have to search farther than the four walls of her home for song. Her siblings all sing and play instruments. Her parents were musicians, too.

“My parents met in high school band. Band nerds. My mother played [tenor/alto] sax and organ and my father is a drummer,” she says. “My dad played drums and my mom was head of the children’s choir. She and my dad would write songs, write songs for us, and that’s how that part of my brain worked.”

In short, INEZ, now 32, was steeped in an environment where music was inescapable. And she pulled from it all—not just the music but sound itself.

“I was like one of those kids when a car alarm would go off outside, I’d be tapping along to it, seeing if I could keep the rhythm,” INEZ says. “Or being super impressed with Timbaland, like, Are those crickets in the song?”

INEZ returned to Pittsburgh from Boston after graduating from Berklee, and in 2019, released her debut album, Voicemails and Conversations. In 2020, she was named “Pittsburgh Music Artist of the Year” by Pittsburgh’s WYEP 91.3 FM. And yet, as a professional musician, she noticed some things about her hometown.

The goal for me is to continue sharpening myself.

“I say Pittsburgh is a great place … people say New York, but if you can make it in Pittsburgh—intact with your mental health and still want to do music? [Laughs uproariously] That is a task. That is a task,” INEZ says. “And I think for me, not only as a community advocate but as an artist in this space, I want to be able to be a part of the reason why somebody kept going versus a reason why somebody quit.”

Ah yes, in addition to the multi-faceted talent that she is, INEZ is also an activist, fiercely advocating for R&B and soul singers through an organization she created called BLKNVMBER.

“So BLKNVMBER started as a protest more than a need,” INEZ explains. “[Co-founder] Clara Kent and myself, between us, we’ve had so many experiences in Pittsburgh where we feel like R&B is not the forefront – slapping us on bills, not treating us with the respect that we feel that we are due.

“And so, we kinda got tired,” she continues. “We wanted to create a space that says, ‘We do R&B.’ If you are Black in Pittsburgh and you do R&B, we are here to advocate for you. We are here to put all of our resources and leverage every relationship we have to make sure that people know that y’all exist. It’s not just rap and punk. We’re here. Not only are we here but we’re booked a lot. That was our thing. So, we did it real guerilla-style.”

INEZ says she and Kent emailed every singer they knew in the city to start. They were able to collaborate with local press and they highlighted one singer per month. Their efforts made such an impact, they were able to leverage that into funding. And with that funding they were able to secure rehearsal studios, studio sessions, and other things that were difficult for their artist-peers to afford out of pocket. They also began taking singers on retreats in 2020, where participants don’t pay for a thing.

I’m so grateful.

“People, especially Black women, are not used to being treated with such care, and given opportunities to just be. To record and to just be an artist versus having to do everything all at once. So, we want to do more [retreats] but also we’re working on our partners inside of Pittsburgh – businesses and organizations. Any time an R&B show comes to a Live Nation venue, specifically with Black artists, they reach out to us and say, hey, can you help us promote? Because again, that’s an issue as well. People are not going to come here if we can’t sell tickets. So that is one of our passion projects as well. And [eventually] people would come to us and say, hey we need a singer for this this and this. Who do you recommend?” she says proudly.

She plans to release her album/project, Navigate in 2025. Currently, she is working on an EP that will preclude the album. She also plans to video document the process, including the sweat and tears that come with “pouring yourself into a project”—including the engineering, and production.

“[I’m] being very intentional about reclaiming things, and not only reclaiming things, giving things honor. There are Black people who compose music. There are Black musicians in the classical music space. Some of them are my really good friends,” INEZ says. “So, when I came up with the idea, I asked, how do I tell the story about me navigating my anger and healing myself? What better way to tell a story than orchestral suites? Like, when you go to see Swan Lake or you go see The Nutcracker, that’s what it is. So how do I tell the story of INEZ and her life, and her love and her anger with these additional pieces? Not necessarily a classical album, but if you were to put Tchaikovsky, Missy Elliott, Victoria Monae, and some other people in a room, what would it sound like?”

BLKNVMBER started as a protest more than a need.

Moving forward, this super-talented, always-busy singer wants to remain focused and intentional with her time. She also has plans to give the world boundless music.

“Even though I do R&B and soul and I do sample-based production, the goal for me is to continue sharpening myself,” she notes. “I had a realization last year; I think I was at a cookout. I was like, I want to have music that the people and the culture want to reference at moments of celebration in our lives. At least one record. Give me one “Before I Let Go.” Give me one “As.” Give me one – when you think of it, you just think of love and your family and being surrounded by your people. So that’s also something I’m in pursuit of.”

Angela Bronner is a writer and editor living in Harlem, NY.

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