Silence Please presents: Ayanna Heaven

Join DJ, educator, and collector Ayanna Heaven for a vinyl listening session exploring the corners of her record collection. From deep dub and roots reggae to jazz, soul, hip hop, and beyond, this afternoon offers a chance to slow down, listen intentionally, and discover the sounds that have shaped her artistic journey. Ayanna Heaven is a Brooklyn-based DJ, radio host, and event producer whose sound is shaped by a life lived across key musical landscapes—from 1990s dancehall-era Jamaica to Atlanta during the rise of Southern hip-hop, and later New York City, where she studied Ethnomusicology at The New School. Blending deep musical scholarship with lived cultural experience, she hosts the monthly Sounds of Heaven on The Lot Radio and is a bi-weekly selector on WKCR’s Across 110th Street. As a DJ, Ayanna has performed at leading cultural institutions and venues across New York City and internationally, with recent highlights including a Boiler Room NYC performance in 2023, features in Resident Advisor and DJ Mag, appearances on David Rodigan’s BBC 1Xtra show, and a 2025 set at Rototom Sunsplash Festival in Spain. Her curatorial work includes founding the Good Ting party series and producing community-centered events, with her sets spanning reggae, dancehall, hip-hop, soul, and funk—rooted in history while firmly forward-looking.