Baker Artist Portfolios

Ashley Lakayla Yates, known by the stage name Black Assets, is a dynamic queer masculine-of-center vocalist and songwriter whose art reflects the lived experience of Black people in America. Born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, raised and based in Baltimore, Maryland, Black Assets blends gospel roots and blues grit with the pulse of rock and modern neo-soul but with “bounce”. An interdisciplinary, international recording artist, she has performed in over 20 countries, including Algiers, Taghit, and Bechar. She is also the creator of The Living Room Social (TLRS) and The Baltimore Soul Stage- a performance platform and artist incubation station that has curated 75+ shows, employing and showcasing over 10 Baltimore-based artists and drawing audiences of 200+ per event. Her music channels love, sensuality, resistance, and healing, making her one of the most compelling and community-rooted artists of her generation. Black evokes a feeling in every performance both as a goal but also as an undeniable fact she encourages one to sit and meditate in the stillness of the feeling that comes forth in you when you hear her performance.