Jerriod Avant
USA
Jerriod Avant‘s work celebrates the sonic richness of southern Black speech communities, elevating the textures of African American Vernacular English and exploring themes of grief, community, and resilience through innovative, boundary-pushing poetic forms.
What’s It Hitttin’ Fuh
Artist Notes
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Jerriod Avant Transcript for What’s It Hittin’ Fuh
am I not tainted if I rank da langwich bank be painted stank be faint wit’ anguish can’t see languish be hangin’ an’ anxious can man fly stiff rainin’ I yank da paintings ban taut syllabi spied starched banquet angles damn I feign I can’t trust da langwich damn I feign I can’t fuckst da langwich ban taut syllabi spied starched banquet angles can man fly stiff rainin’ I yank da paintings can’t see languish be hangin’ an’ anxious bank be painted stank be faint wit’ anguish am I not tainted if I rank da langwich
Fuh Reasons I’d
Rather Ask Befo’ I Tell
Artist Notes
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Jerriod Avant Transcript for Fuh Reasons I’d Rather Ask Befo’ I Tell
too wohm fuh anything froze to freeze
too old tuh let bullshit grow mol’
country so sick they don’t eva have enough beds
I’m addicted to choosin’ where I move
whose address be gettin’ the mos’ o’ yo’ bread
and freedom been called everythang but a child o’ god
when the last time you said this gon be the last time
trynna save just make me feel even mo’ po’
I wrote my number down and handed it to love
jealously robbed love and only took my number
sometimes humans ain’t as good as the drugs they make
my mouth can a fix a lot of the problems I have
I’m mostly addicted to feminine touches
but okra make me go bat shit nuts insane
Freddie King Beatin’
Eggs and It’s All Love
Artist Notes
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Jerriod Avant Transcript for Freddie King Beatin’ Eggs and It’s All Love
my strut stew welts the fan a young sweet blood pops
sike the view helps to ban a tongue sweeps up sop
sly the newks dealt fuh hands o’ lungs ease fuck slot
die cuz you felt a klan o’ swung free mugs drop
fight fuh two belts but ran among each o’em hot
I love you betta dan a hungry hog love slop
I love you betta dan da hungriest hogs love slop
fight fuh two belts but ran among each o’em hot
die cuz you felt a klan o’ swung free mugs drop
sly the newks dealt fuh hands o’ lungs ease fuck slot
sike the view helps to ban a tongue sweeps up sop
my strut stew welts the fan a young sweet blood pops
Jerriod Avant
Biography
Jerriod Avant, previously featured in Obsidian Digital, creates work that celebrates the sonic intricacies of African American Vernacular English and Black speech communities, blending tradition, subversion, and innovation to explore profound themes of grief, fugitivity, dispossession, love, and community.
His contributions to Outta Sight embody the exhibition’s mission to amplify Black voices and make the unseen vibrantly present through sound and language. Avant’s work not only honors the resilience and beauty of Black linguistic and cultural inheritances but also invites audiences to experience Black listening as a transformative act of presence and power.
Black Listening's website front page header art and Obsidian 49.2 cover art were created by Nettrice Gaskins