Electronic R&B Artist Anna Wise Destroys the Status Quo

Anna Wise believes the time for silence is over. The Brooklyn-based electronic R&B artist no longer wears headphones while riding the subway, so that she can be alert to step in and defend anyone who's being marginalized or attacked. Similarly, her outspokenly feminist music stands tall in the face of sexism and misogyny. Wise started her music career in the late 2000s in the art-pop duo Sonnymoon. Soon thereafter, hip-hop superstar Kendrick Lamar recruited her for his albums good kid, m.A.A.d city, untitled unmastered. and To Pimp a Butterfly — the last of which earned Wise, Lamar, and collaborators Bilal and Thundercat a Grammy for the track "These Walls." Just over a year ago, Wise released her first solo EP, The Feminine: Act I. It contains the track "BitchSlut," which points out the lose-lose scenario women regularly face in matters of personal expression and sexuality. She sings, "If I say no / I'm a bitch / Say yes / I'm a slut." There's also the self-explanatory horror of "Decrease My Waist, Increase My Wage." Wise preaches her message without compromising her artistry — no spoon-fed "We Are the World" anthems here. Her latest EP, The Feminine: Act II, continues to push the boundaries of contemporary electronic R&B. She boldly balances the avant-garde with bump-and-grind beats and languid, memorable hooks. Though Wise performs solo, she does so with enough samplers, loop pedals and other gear to round out a full-band sound. Wise opens for Lewis Del Mar on Wednesday, April 19, at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in South Burlington. Seven Days recently caught up with her by phone. SEVEN DAYS: I read that you like to speak in metaphor. How would you metaphorically describe your career over the last year or so? ANNA WISE: I would describe it like a formerly blind, regenerating butterfly that didn't know it was a butterfly. Everyone was treating it like a butterfly, and [it] just kept giving itself to this beautiful day and flying around — but it was for the amusement of someone who could see it. And it couldn't see itself, and couldn't understand why she was being considered as such. And then, one day, the butterfly regenerated and was like, "Holy fuck! I can see, and I'm a fucking butterfly! This is dope! I'm gonna be that now." SD: OK. That's interesting. AW: Why? SD: I guess because it…