Nomi Ruiz

Reception: Nomi Ruiz, Borough Gypsy

Singer/Songwriter Nomi Ruiz unveils her sophomore solo release Borough Gypsy, an album that has been in the works for 10 years and was completed during her two month residency at the Clocktower Gallery. Nomi takes the listener on a lo-fi cassette tape trip down memory lane using the grit of 90’s Hip Hop combined with Soul and acoustic folk elements. She relives intimate moments of her life growing up in Brooklyn, New York at a time when gang culture ran rampant. Topped with her poetic journalism, somber vocal arrangements and catty alter-ego rhymes, she weaves the tale of an urban gypsy who wheels and deals in sex, love, drugs, and darkness while sifting through the psychological effects of her upbringing.

The Borough Gypsy Fantasy Exhibition & Listening Party invites you to be one of the first to hear the album in its entirety and see accompanying video portraits directed by Nomi as well. The studio space is transformed into a world where visitors step into the mind of the borough gypsy and get to see and sift through the urban tale as they listen to the album unfold. Visitors are granted full access to diaries, sketchbooks, photo albums and song writing journals which document the albums progress as well as the emotional progression which inspired its content. Also on display are hand-made items used for stage shows, items from Nomi’s childhood, and some of her first ever recorded demos which are only available in reel-to-reel and cassette tape format.

The Borough Gypsy Mixtape is available as a free download on May 14th, 2013 on the Clocktower's Website.

Check out the Borough Gypsy Tumblr for more photos on videos of the recording process.

Nomi Ruiz, Borough Gypsy

Artist/singer Nomi Ruiz (Jessica 6, Hercules + Love Affair) has been working in our new recording studio finishing a new EP and now she has set up a Fantasy Exhibition & Listening Room to share costumes, ephemera, video, sounds and stories. She has a great blog for you to follow her daily explorations at nomiruiz.tumblr.com. Singer/Songwriter Nomi Ruiz unveils her sophomore solo release Borough Gypsy, an album that has been in the works for 10 years and was completed during her two month residency at the Clocktower Gallery. Nomi takes the listener on a lo-fi cassette tape trip down memory lane using the grit of 90’s Hip Hop combined with Soul and acoustic folk elements. She relives intimate moments of her life growing up in Brooklyn, New York at a time when gang culture ran rampant. Topped with her poetic journalism, somber vocal arrangements and catty alter-ego rhymes, she weaves the tale of an urban gypsy who wheels and deals in sex, love, drugs, and darkness while sifting through the psychological effects of her upbringing.

Nomi Ruiz: Borough Gypsy Mixtape & Interview

Jeannie Hopper speaks with singer/songwriter Nomi Ruiz about her recent Clocktower residency project. Over the course of her two month stay, Ruiz completed Borough Gypsy, her sophomore album. She talks about growing up in Brooklyn in the midst of gang culture and how that environment affected her work, particularly the recording of this album. Having taken 10 years to complete, Borough Gypsy is a combination of 90's Hip Hop, Soul, and acoustic folk that embraces the mixed tape format. In its entirety, Ruiz tells the tale of an urban gypsy who wheels and deals in sex, love, drugs, and darkness while sifting through the psychological effects of her upbringing. Born in 1986, Ruiz released her first album, Lost in Lust, in 2005. Since its debut, she has toured with artists such as Debbie Harry and CocoRosie. She also toured with Antony & The Johnsons as part of their “Turning” project. She then received worldwide recognition for her vocal contribution on Hercules and Love Affair’s self titled debut album and live show. In 2009, Ruiz formed the group Jessica 6 with Andrew Raposo (of Automato) and Morgan Wiley. They debuted “Fun Girl” that year and released the full album 'See The Light' in 2011. She has since collaborated with The Ones, Beni, and Eli Escobar.