Clara Kent

Clara Kent joined WYEP in the Fall of 2022. She is an Afro-Indigenous multidisciplinary artist, a community liaison from Homewood, Pa, and the host of More Bounce on WYEP. Whether the medium is music, canvas, or curation, Clara will work to uplift the creative community, especially for Black artists and youth, as a whole through her actions in mentorship, her raw & vulnerable artistry, and her motivational words and posts. The self-proclaimed “Multidimensional Artistic Individual” was named Pittsburgh City Paper’s “Person of the Year” for Music in 2019 and has performed across many stages, opening for Wyclef Jean at SXSW, Cautious Clay at WYEP Summer Music Festival, Thundercat at Stage AE, Oshun, Jon Wayne, and OHMME. Clara also embarked on a summer mini-tour in 2019 with London-based music events company Sofar Sounds the same year, becoming one of their cohort performance artists.

Most recently, Clara is adamantly working on her personal growth and career path while continuously campaigning for other Black and Indigenous creatives in the city. In 2022, she launched her production company, Bounce House Studios & Productions LLC, a Black women-led organization whose purpose is to Elevate the Underground™️ in Pittsburgh and beyond. One of the first music projects set to release is The Four Winds, a collection of music from 2016 to the current day that will be used to garner donations for Black and Indigenous organizations that directly impact the local community and the national community. The Catalyst and Muse is a four-part EP series that is the medicine wheel and the ancestral connection to the elements and seasons. Clara Kent is also cultivating her painting skills for a solo exhibition and collaborative projects with a similar theme.

Clara Kent hosts More Bounce on Fridays from 6 PM to 8 PM.

My show More Bounce embodies creativity through a melting pot of genres within the African Diaspora and honors the undeniable contribution and notion that Soul music is a Mother genre, nurturing the many popular styles we love today. Showcasing Soul and its many elements is a part of my mission while I’m here. I want people to have a deeper view of the many genres within it, learn about the artists that are pushing the bounds of music, and find something beyond the confines of the stigmas around Soul and its many branches.

It is tough to pick just one favorite album! I have a handful of albums I love as staples, but the newer albums I can’t stop listening to are Drawing by Silas Short, Mother by Cleo Sol, Candy Drip by Lucky Daye, HYPNOS by Ravyn Lanae, Dawn FM by The Weeknd, and OF COURSE, Renaissance by Beyoncé.

The concert that changed my life was my first concert ever, Velvet Rope Tour by Janet Jackson. Her vitality and performance style is bar none. The opener was Usher, too. I was amazed at their ability to dance so intensely while they sang! Amazing.

Read All About Her: 

Pittsburgh’s People of the Year: Music, Pittsburgh City Paper

Clara Kent brings African Diaspora to the airways with More Bounce at WYEP, Pittsburgh City Paper

Tony Norman: Bouncing the African diaspora with Clara Kent, Next Pittsburgh

Stacks: Clara Kent, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh