“Riza '' is the Greek word for rooted. Creatives should find something that roots them and cleanse them. Not only to cleanse but to stay genuine to themselves and their work. Creative Temple Watkins also known as NOIRE shows us this through her poised etiquette for the arts.
NOIRE grew up in Harvey, Illinois in a family-oriented home. Many artists use their childhood background for their work but she uses it as fuel to keep going. Seeing that her family reaches beyond normal encourages her to do so also. NOIRE isn’t like your normal artist, she is humble and that causes her to be extraordinary. Besides her family being her drive she wears many hats in the creative world. She wears the hats of an artist/ painter, director, music artist, a poet/ author, and an entrepreneur. With these hats many people wonder how she manages them all, well it’s time for us to see.
Being rooted within herself and her beginnings helps with her artistry. Living in Harvey, NOIRE has seen circumstances people wouldn’t think you’d see in a suburb. Not only these circumstances but the people who she allows influence other than her family some are; Dean Koontz, Ari Simone, Common, Jaden Smith, Noname Gypsy, Lauryn Hill, Mick Jenkins, her sister Taylor, and her friend Lauren Ward. Through all of this including her struggle she says, “in pain there’s beauty—and in beauty there is art once again.” This is more than art to NOIRE. She uses her art to reconnect with her inner child because it is the closest thing we have to God being near us. Being connected to her inner child brings her right back to being in love with herself and the beauty of the pain in everyday life.
Through all this pain and returning to her inner child NOIRE released a book called
“What’s on Her Mind?” In this novel a young girl from Chicago leaves her current situation in Chicago. This meant leaving friends, family, and her toxic mother that drove her to weed and writing to escape her problems. Leaving everything behind was a good thing because it led to possibly meeting the love of her life. I can’t spoil too much of the book otherwise you all won’t read it. The book can be google searched by typing in “What’s on Her Mind” by Temple Watkins and currently only paperback copies are available.
As mentioned before NOIRE wears many hats, one that is coming back is her musical hat. She has been rapping since the third grade and gave it up until a couple of months back when she was featured on SK da Sensei’s album in their song Butterflies. With being on SK da Sensei's album she joined a family called Dojo. Dojo is more than a family but a way of life that encourages artists to keep going. Being in this family NOIRE has made many connections and a chance to start back over with her music.
Even with all her hats it's evident that NOIRE is persistent with not losing herself. NOIRE wants people to embrace the pain, the love, the joy, and all of the above. Without being able to feel an artist art you as an audience did not grasp the artist as a whole. If she could advise a new artist it would be to be able to take criticism to grow as an artist and that the end-product doesn’t make you an artist but you starting the project does. NOIRE’s story doesn’t end here but continues. To follow more on NOIRE you can follow her on twitter @daintyfile.
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