Work samples

  • Supernatural Superstition (Music Video, 2023)

    The 1st single from kLefta*maniak & MRDJXZ's electrifying album, Elevator Excursions, available on all streaming platforms!

    Directed by: GMDTV in Baltimore, MD

    Written by: Unique Robinson (as kLefta*maniak)

    Produced by: Xander B. Points-Zollo (as MRDJXZ)

  • 769 W. Saratoga St. (Short Film, 2022)

    Historical Archive & Short Film, featuring Lexington Terrace, a former public housing project located in the heart of downtown, Baltimore (1959-1996). This video was created to pay homage to this space, in spite of its notorious reputation, as her maternal lineage called it home from the 1960s-1980s. In addition, Unique was one of many children born here, and regularly frequented and played here as a child. The short film features familial photos, archival images, and clips of Lexington Terrace in the 1980 and 1990s. 

     

    Music Production: Unique Robinson (as Tha Noisy N.E.I.ghbor)

    Lyrics: Unique Robinson

    Film Edited by: Unique Robinson

  • Interjection Interception!!! (Music Video) (2022)

    The 1st single from the album Cosmic Drama (2022), available on all streaming platforms!

    Directed by: Mega The Creator 

    Produced by: kLefta*maniak (as Tha Noisy N.E.I.ghbor)

    Lyrics by: Unique Robinson (as kLefta*maniak)

    Shot on location in Baltimore, MD | 2022

  • "7 Generations Forward, 7 Generations Back"
    Uni Q. Mical performs "7 Generations Forward, 7 Generations Back", a poem which engages the physical and ancestral realms. Uni Q. imagines the words of ancestors, delivering guidance to their descendants on earth about their responsibility in the present day.

About Unique

Baltimore City, Baltimore City - Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts & Entertainment District, Baltimore City - Station North A&E District

Unique Mical Robinson (a/k/a Uni Q. Mical) is a multimedia performance artist, poet, professor, and proud Baltimore City native. At immediate glance, it becomes clear that Unique’s work embodies the widely circulated feminist phrase, “the personal is political”. And yet, for her, this is no cliche, but a lived principle. Unique pulls inspiration from Baltimore's terrain, with all its pride, pitfalls and possibilities, Hip-Hop Feminism, and the cathartic, igniting verses of the 1970s Black… more

(not) in service (2023) (Excerpt)

(not) in service (2023) is a chronicle of poetry written from 2017-2022, during a transitional period of Unique’s life in her late 20s-early 30s. Many of the poems were written while Unique was “in transit” on Baltimore’s public transportation, which she counted on for her entire life up until 2022 (when she officially became a motorist). Baltimore’s transit system, known locally as the MTA (Maryland Transit Administration), is a steady, yet often unpredictable system of buses, subway trains, and light rails, which close to 2 million commuters relied upon in 2022 alone. 

The title of the zine is derived from the MTA bus marquee in Unique’s youth, which frequently frustrated commuters who stood for lengthy time frames. This zine is meant to portray an unflinching, eyewitness account of the city Unique calls home, and a vulnerable disclosure of her emotional spectrum in this transitory period. Moreover, the collection speaks to Unique’s artistic mission to shift the international narrative of Baltimore City, focusing on glimpses of moments often overshadowed by tales of violence and destruction. (not) in service is published by Homie House Press, a woman-led, community-based radical press which specializes in work that is “personal, political, and poetic”.

 

  • (not) in service (2023) (Excerpt)
    Available for Purchase
  • (not) in service book cover
    (not) in service book cover

These Books Contain... (Short Film & Historical Archive) (2023)

"These Books Contain" is an original poem and digital storytelling short film by Uni Q. Mical, released in anticipation of her third book release, (not) in service, published by Homie House Press (2023). The video features familial images, Google Street View images of homes dear to the artist, long replaced, and archival clips of Baltimore City's MTA public transit system, an anchoring theme to the poetry collection in (not) in service.

Written by: Unique Robinson

Edited by: Unique Robinson

Photos courtesy of Unique Robinson's personal collection

Video Clips courtesy of Baltimore History Channel

  • These Books Contain... (Short Film & Historical Archive)

Elevator Excursions (with MRDJXZ) (2023)

Elevator Excursions is the 3rd out-of-the-cosmos collaboration between kLefta*maniak (Baltimore, MD) & MRDJXZ (Brooklyn, NYC). It features classic, boom-bap beats, remixed with obscure soulful samples. kLefta*maniak's rapid fire verses remain in the pocket throughout the entire project, riding the instrumentals throughout the galaxy. The album's single, "Supernatural Superstition", finds kLefta*maniak back at her old stomping grounds at Baltimore City College High School, where her life as an artist began, and includes several East Baltimore murals from the late Baltimore artist, Tom Miller. 


Written by Unique Robinson (as kLefta*maniak) 
Production, Mixing & Mastering by MRDJXZ (Xander B. Points-Zollo)
Album Artwork by Ái-Vi Lê
Recorded at Da Underground Sky (D.U.G.S.), Baltimore, MD
The Word Is All Productions, 2023.

  • Elevator Excursions
    Elevator Excursions
    Available for Purchase
  • THA VEIL IS OPENING!!!
  • Hear Me Out
  • Lorr Crybaby

Cosmic Drama (2022)

Cosmic Drama is a journey through life (and a world) in a time of transformation. It's a sonic wakeup call - a siren of the shifting of the ages. It's also a cathartic collage of moods & moments of Tha Noisy N.E.I.ghbor's metamorphic 33rd year in a host body. The experimental project's musical palette is comprised of 90's Hip-Hop, R&B/Soul, Funk, House, Trip-Hop, & poetic influences. The project's two singles, "Interjection Interception!!! (5:06pm)" and "769 W. Saratoga St." were released, with colorful, lively music videos featuring murals from Black Baltimore artists, and historical archival images from the city. 

This multidimensional journey is sequenced in 3 parts, with 7 tracks each (7-7-7). Each chapter is meant to stand on its own, but they transition well into each other, too. Select tracks from the project are featured here. 

Chapter I: Tha Fool (Tracks 1-7)
Chapter II: Temperance (Tracks 8-14)
Chapter III: Tha World (Tracks 15-21)

Written, Produced, Arranged, and Mixed by Unique Robinson (as Tha Noisy N.E.I.ghbor)
Album Artwork by Ái-Vi Lê
Recorded at Da Underground Sky (D.U.G.S.), Baltimore, MD
The Word Is All Productions, 2022.

  • Cosmic Drama (2022)
    Cosmic Drama (2022)
    Available for Purchase
  • Good Ova Here
  • Charm City Circus
  • Sunset Revelation
  • What Once Was...May Not, Will Be

GETCHA LIFE! EP (with MRDJXZ) (2021)

Getcha Life! EP is a collaborative musical project between Unique (a/k/a kLefta*maniak, in MC form) and MRDJXZ, a DJ/producer living in Brooklyn, NY. This project was written during Unique's first year in recovery, and so represents an overcoming of one of the most tumultuous emotional spaces of their lives. It also becomes a triumphant return to deeper truths, ones only found in the darkest nights of the soul. This project is soul-filled, both musically and lyrically, and harkens to 90s energy - an oft nostalgic era in hip-hop, yet simultaneously breathes 21st century life and perspective, with Unique existing as a Black queer artist, navigating the intersections of poetry, academia, and Baltimore's cultural arts scene.

Getcha Life! was released September 24, 2021 on all streaming platforms. It is the second collaborative project between Unique and MRDJXZ, the first being Tha 27th Letter, Vol. II: Tha Remix (2020). 

Alternatively, the full project can be heard here: https://klefta.bandcamp.com/album/getcha-life

Written by Unique Robinson (as kLefta*maniak) 
Production, Mixing & Mastering by MRDJXZ (Xander B. Points-Zollo)
Album Artwork by Unique Robinson
Recorded at Da Underground Sky (D.U.G.S.), Baltimore, MD
The Word Is All Productions, 2021.

  • GETCHA LIFE! EP Cover
    GETCHA LIFE! EP Cover
    The Getcha Life! EP cover, designed by Unique Robinson. It represents the past, present, and future state of Black life: what influenced them (Black radical resistance efforts, eliminated by COINTELPRO); poor living conditions, shaped by disinvestment in Black communities in Baltimore: Lexington Terrace - where Unique's family was raised (along with the similarly structured Flag House Courts, and Lafayette Courts, pictured here); and the future of possibility and new paradigms, as symbolized by the Kaballah (also known as the Tree of Life).
  • "Tha Funnies"
    "Tha Funnies", an original song written by Uni Q. Mical (a/k/a kLefta*maniak) and produced by MRDJXZ. Here, kLefta*maniak discusses a day in the life of being 8. Inspired by Beverly Cleary's book, Ramona Quimby Age 8 (one of Unique's favorite books as a child). Track 4 on the Getcha Life! EP, by kLefta*maniak & MRDJXZ.
  • "Overbite"
    "Overbite" - An original song, written by Uni Q. Mical (a/k/a kLefta*maniak) and produced by MRDJXZ. Here, kLefta*maniak turns a flaw into empowerment. Track 3 on the Getcha Life! EP, by kLefta*maniak & MRDJXZ.

ALL BLK. (2019)

"ALL BLK." was released in April 2019, the 4th anniversary of the Baltimore Uprising in honor of Freddie Gray, and the 51st anniversary of the 1968 Baltimore Uprising for Martin Luther King, Jr. April is a radical month, also home to the LA Uprising in 1992. Here, kLefta*maniak shares critique in lyrical form of the colonial systems that seek to control and suppress Black resistance. 

Written by Unique Robinson (as kLefta*maniak)

Produced by Lord Finesse (Original Instrumental for Big L, "All Black", 1995).  

Album Art by Unique Robinson

  • ALL BLK.
    ALL BLK.
  • ALL BLK.

The State of Black Bodies: A Poetic Stage Production (Excerpt) (2018)

Uni Q. Mical performs a series of poems and monologues: "7 Generations Forward, 7 Generations Back", "Why Can't You Just Dress Like Her?", and "Confessions of a Punk". These performances are excerpts from a poetic stage production, The State of Black Bodies (directed by Mona Webb & Dazie Grego). Unique co-wrote the manuscript for The State of Black Bodies as a part of Pr3ssPlayPoets (a 4-part Black Women's Poetry Collective formed at Mills College) from 2015-2018. 

The State of Black Bodies was featured as part of the 2018 National Queer Arts Festival, organized by San Francisco's Queer Cultural Center. This footage was filmed June 2, 2018 at Eastside Arts Alliance, Oakland, California.
Videographer courtesy of Queer Cultural Center.

 

  • "7 Generations Forward, 7 Generations Back"
    Uni Q. Mical performs "7 Generations Forward, 7 Generations Back", a poem which engages the physical and ancestral realms. Uni Q. imagines the words of ancestors, delivering guidance to their descendants on earth about their responsibility in the present day.
  • "Why Can't You Just Dress Like Her?"
    Uni Q. Mical performs "Why Can't You Just Dress Like Her?" an original poem addressing the complexities of discussing gender across generations of Black women in their maternal lineage.
  • "Confessions of a Punk"
    Uni Q. Mical performs "Confessions of a Punk A**", an original monologue detailing the tribulations of being a seven-year old Black girl growing up in Park Heights in the 1990s, but feeling too awkward (and well, like a punk) to be a fighter - much to the dismay of her family members and peers. The scars she avoided (and, endured, as a result) had more than physical impact. Here, she shares her funny, heartwarming, and, at times, agonizing story on just how.