Today we’d like to introduce you to Rahzé Cheatham
Hi Rahzé , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Like a lot of performing artists, my performance origins start in childhood with a hairbrush in hand, a microphone through which I could channel and amplify the charisma of my dreams. And growing up, my mother always made sure that even if we didn’t have a lot, my sister and I looked our best. It is a long-standing tradition, one based in survival—cotton as body armor against people who weaponize everything from their tongues to their gazes. Reflecting on it now, it sometimes feels that I was destined to work in music and fashion, but it didn’t always feel so inevitable.
I wanted to work as a botanist, as a computer science engineer, a comedian, and a diplomat. I wanted to learn every language in the world, learn how to code, talk to plants, and make people laugh. I remember some of the adults in my life, in no uncertain terms, telling me that I would need to “settle and choose just ONE path” eventually. I don’t think they meant anything by it, but I can still remember the sound of their laughter. I’m not sure if she realizes it, but I always noticed the way my mother would cut those people the sharpest glare, declaring: “You don’t get to decide what my child does. Their future is theirs–how dare you impose limits on it?” She never laughed with them. She always shut it down.
I am certain most people will say they owe a lot of their successes in life to their families, but I think I owe much of my ambition to my mother. No matter what I saw for myself as a child, she saw it too, and was ready to cultivate it.
Now—well, we’re here.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In many ways, I’m not sure I was afforded many things the average person would consider a blessing. I come from a working-class, low-income family; I was raised predominantly by a single mother; I am Black, Queer, of trans experience. I did not have the same access to resources a number of my colleagues, peers, and mentors did. I didn’t attend prestigious summer programs, travel the world for expensive—or even inexpensive!—vacations. The first time I auditioned for the Baltimore School for the Arts, I wasn’t accepted. The first time I auditioned for the Peabody Conservatory, I wasn’t accepted! At every turn in my life, I feel I was met with so many obstacles. But when I reflect, I don’t necessarily feel that they were obstacles at all. It often felt that I was being asked by the Universe to really prove my commitment to the tasks at hand. If I really, really wanted them, I needed to do more than the average person to get them.
Thankfully, what I did have was a mother who wanted to support her children with whatever limited resources she had. I remember being in so many free academic, sports, and social clubs growing up. My mother always said that I was super independent as a child, which I suppose coalesced as a sense of curiosity about the world around me, and the ambition to do what I needed to do to manifest what I wanted. Plus, I had—and still have—a sister with whom I could laugh and in whom I could confide. You know, people don’t talk enough about how your siblings really offer you so much as your first chance to learn how to love someone other than yourself; how to share, how to laugh, how to endlessly torment with pranks!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m probably known best—or maybe most easily recognized?—for my personal sense of style. After working and living in the mid-Atlantic region for so many years, I’m often stopped on the street, given a compliment, and told, “Wait a second… you look familiar!” I’m shocked every single time. I can hardly believe that because of how I decide to show up in the world, it gives someone else the courage to do the same. Honestly, I forget that others can see me; still, it’s an honor and responsibility I accept.
As a musical artist, I work primarily in opera, musical theatre, concert, and contemporary classical vocal performance repertoire. My primary training—including my undergraduate and graduate degrees—comes from The Johns Hopkins University Peabody Conservatory of Music. Before that, though, I was a student at the Baltimore School for the Arts. In addition to performing original works, I really enjoy learning and performing works by little-known and unknown composers and poets, especially artists of color and LBGTQ-identified artists. It’s been such a joy to really focus on 20th and 21st century repertoire in particular.
As an arts educator I host a private voice studio of beginner, intermediate, and advanced students across multiple genres. Additionally, I maintain faculty positions at my alma mater, the Baltimore School for the Arts within the Music (voice, keyboard, music theory) and Theatre departments. Through a holistic approach to musical and artistic development, I try to not only cultivate technical proficiency but also foster a deep understanding of the interconnectedness between music, the body, expressive communication, and global community.
I began working as a model over a decade ago, completely by accident. My younger sister works as a model, and during her first agency call, I was scouted from the lobby I sat in to support her. After working in the industry for a few years, I began work as a fashion stylist, and then moved pretty easily in creative direction. Of course, in all, it was bit less linear than I making it seem, but that’s the short of it.
I love collaborative projects that allow multiple different sources to come together and create something new. At the heart of it all, I suppose you could say I’m a professional storyteller. On- or offstage, in front of or behind the camera, in and outside of the studio—I know it’s what I’m here to do.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
One of the simplest ways to collaborate with me is to reach out by sending a message! Some of my most fulfilling creative partnerships have stemmed from the bravery of being willing to send just one message. (In fact, my own engagement to my significant other began because of my courage to casually approach a stranger 11 years ago–but that’s a story for another time.) If our missions align, I find things move pretty easily from there. Feel free to head to: https://www.rahze.com/contact.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rahze.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rahze/
