Presence Brings Fire Medicine: Conscious Hip-Hop Live at humankind

When Trev Mental took the stage to introduce his brother Presence, he spoke of upliftment, strong medicine, and a voice needed "right now for us to step up and speak the truth." What followed was an hour of consciousness-driven hip-hop that turned the humankind center into a ceremony of sound—where breath became beat, truth became verse, and the audience became chorus.

Who Is the Voice Behind the Medicine?

Presence holds the stage like someone who knows the weight of what he carries. Based in Sedona, he describes his work as "AI-free music, conscious music produced by our hearts, from our hearts." The introduction from Trev Mental reveals the relational fabric behind the performance—Presence helped his brother with his "kingdom track," showing up as both artist and ally in Sedona's creative community.

Throughout the night, Presence moves fluidly between roles: lyricist firing rapid verses about sovereignty and natural law, guide leading breath ceremonies between songs, collaborator passing the mic to Sierra Marin and Raya Light and Patrick Hayes, and teacher contextualizing each track. "This song is about realigning ourselves with the divine," he says before the opening number. Later: "Everything that we already need is already inside of us." His delivery style blends the intensity of truth-telling with the warmth of invitation—he's not performing at the audience but weaving them into the work.

Watch the full performance to experience how Presence creates space for both fire and tenderness, bars and breath.

What Happened in the Room?

The performance unfolds as a journey through Presence's upcoming album, punctuated by moments of spontaneous creation and audience participation. Early tracks like "Realign" establish the call-and-response energy that will pulse through the night: "Choosing to realign ourselves with the divine, yes." The room sings it back, voices layering into harmony.

Midway through, Presence pauses to celebrate Donna's birthday, then invites collaborators on stage—first Sierra Marin and Trev Mental for a track started "right here in Sedona," then Raya Light for "Natural Intelligence," then Koop Mandala from Flagstaff for the unreleased "Irony," a searing examination of war spending versus poverty. The room becomes workshop and ritual space simultaneously.

"Stop Spraying the Sky," featured in filmmaker Ariana Victor's documentary Just Look Up, shifts the energy into prayer territory. "This is a prayer that our children can live in a world where they have clean water, clean air," Presence explains, his partner Jennifer joining vocally. The song's deeper teaching emerges: "We're the ones creating the weather through our consciousness... when we wake up and realize that power, we wonder what other kind of powers we might have."

The most electric moment comes near the end when Presence creates a beat from scratch on his equipment while Patrick Hayes freestyles over it, unrehearsed. "I have confidence in this man," Presence says. The trust proves warranted—Hayes flows about natural rhythms, DeLoreans, and refusing the "9 to 5 Gregorian hustle." The spontaneity crackles.

What Truth Does the Music Carry?

Presence's lyrics move at the speed of urgency. In "Realign," he raps: "I'm tired of being silenced by the fear of ridicule / It's time to rise up like a lion and to speak the truth / Because to know and not to act is not to know or care." The verses interrogate power systems, mind control, and what he calls "institutionalized belief systems" while offering an alternative: inner guidance, heart-centered knowing.

"Natural Intelligence" featuring Raya Light names "the highest form of technology" as consciousness itself: "Priests disactivate the temple with the sensuality / Warriors guarded only knowledge to keep the people free." Between verses, Raya's vocals soar: "We are the ones we've been waiting for / And there is no reason to wait anymore."

In the unreleased collaboration with Koop Mandala, "Irony," the hook hits hard: "They spending millions on the war but can't end poverty." Koop's verse asks the question on repeat: "Why, why, why, why / There's so many gotta die before they got time." The juxtaposition is simple, devastating, effective.

Throughout, Presence returns to breath as technology and liberation tool. "Take a deep breath in with me right now from the bottom of the room all the way to the top," he guides before "Breath of Life." The instruction is both practical and metaphysical—breath as rhythm, breath as remembering, breath as the thing no system can control.

By the closing track, the room has transformed. What began as performance has become participatory ritual, the line between artist and audience dissolving into collective voice. "Hope everybody has a beautiful night," Presence says simply. Then he names his digital home: PresenceMusic.com, where all the music lives for free. The gesture matches the message—abundance, accessibility, sovereignty.

Experience the full journey—from opening breath to final beat, through collaborations and freestyle fire, into the medicine Sedona's consciousness community gathered to receive.

▶ Watch the replay on humankind →