A Black Assets performance is not just an event, but an invitation into a ritual. You simply can’t help but be enchanted by the scene before you: arms raised, body grooving, her presence commanding every ounce of your attention. An artist, visionary, vocalist, performer, and cultural architect and producer, Ashley Yates, known professionally as Black Assets, serves proudly as a vessel. “I am one of those artists who respect the fact that it's a responsibility [...] to tell the story of the underserved, the underrepresented, my ancestors. It's my job, and it's my responsibility to tell those stories,” she says.

Her dedication to being a vessel for storytelling finds its beginnings in her roots. Raised in a small town of less than 1,600 people in the Mississippi Delta, music and community were involved in everything she did. The hums of her grandmother as she made ice cream from scratch, the sounds of Whitney Houston playing throughout the house, the hymns of the church choir—these were the sounds of her childhood. These sounds became lyrics on scraps of paper around her room, which became performances for her family on their fireplace, which became singing with the church’s choir. In all of her stages, music remained a constant. “My people always are a part of music, so it's culturally just a part of my people's makeup,” says Black.

Planning to continue the legacy of music and bring home the second Grammy to her family—her uncle Pinetop Perkins brought home the first—Black’s performances reflect both her roots and her responsibility to telling the story of her community. With the help of friends and fellow creatives, her stage becomes a sacred site. Canvases stretching from end to end are painted by one friend, then framed by another. Performers are handpicked from those who’ve traveled life alongside her—MCs, musicians, and poets who don’t just share the stage, but the story. Her songs are written not only from lived experiences, but from stories she’s heard and held closely. And then, of course, there are the outfits: unapologetically bold, very fly, and deeply personal. “I want to be comfortable. Everywhere I am, I want to be that feeling,” she says. “Fully accepted or not. I accept this body. I accept this being.”

For Black, storytelling moves beyond performing and enters into a space of intention.. It is care. It is a sacred service. Her work as a cultural producer finds its roots in a long lineage of care and overcoming barriers—from elders who picked cotton and served in the military, to a mother who left home to pursue her dreams, to Black herself, who holds space for others while learning to hold space for herself, too. “Service is what I know. I can feel it in the energy,” she reflects. “I don't want to take from a lot of spaces or from people or their energy. But I do want to add…[to] feel safe in the exchange of reciprocity.”

That care and reciprocity are why shows produced and featuring Black are so often described as unforgettable. Her goal isn’t to entertain—it’s to make you feel something. A Pisces sun and a vessel by nature, she’s learned to retreat, to cry, to rest, to be. Being intentional in these ways has allowed her to show up and share her voice, trusting her music to do the same for those who hear it. “I'm a feeler, and I evoke that. I'm going to bring that out of your body,” she states proudly. In that way, each show is more than a performance; it is communion. Simply put, “Music is the engine. It gathers us.”

From the small town of Itta Bena, Mississippi, to the world beyond, her voice carries melody and memory. Each note is an offering, and her work serves as a reminder that our stories are worth telling, our joy is worth making space for, and our presence deserves to take up space.

Images, by Madi.low, feature Black Assets alongside MC, Rich Rocket, poet, Jonté Luki, and musicians C. Jai and Sh3lly Webb from Black Assets: A Soul Stage Summer Edition 2025 at the Creative Alliance Theater.