The Floacist

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Natalie Stewart
Stewart in 2016
Background information
Birth name	Natalie Stewart
Also known as	The Floacist, FLO
Born	(1979-02-13) 13 February 1979 (age 42)[1] Germany[1]
Origin	South London, England
Genres	R&B, soul, spoken word, neo-soul
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, rapper, poet, music producer, actress
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Shanachie Records, DreamWorks, Geffen
Associated acts	Floetry, Marsha Ambrosius, Raheem DeVaughn
Website	www.flovortex.com

Natalie "The Floacist" Stewart (born 13 February 1979) is an English rapper, singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, poet, and actress. Born in Germany and raised in London, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, and rose to fame in the early 2000s as part of R&B girl-duo Floetry. Their hiatus saw the release of Stewart’s debut album, Floetic Soul (2010), which established her as a solo artist worldwide; which featured the singles "Forever" and "Let Me".

Following her establishment of her solo career, she released her second solo album, Floetry Re:Birth (2012), which contained singles "Say Yes", "Soul", and "Speechless". In 2014, Stewart released her third solo album Rise of the Phoenix Mermaid.

A self-described "modern-day poet", The Floacist creates songs that are often characterized by themes of love, relationships, and inspiration, as well as problems and solutions. Throughout a career spanning 16 years, she has sold over 2 million records.

Early life[]

Natalie Stewart is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. With her father in the British Armed Forces, she was born into a travelling family. The youngest of three children, she was born in Germany,^[1] started school in Hong Kong. After her father left the army, the family settled in London.^[2] She attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, where Marsha Ambrosius was studying Business and Finance. Stewart studied Performing Arts, Media and Art. She attended Middlesex University, and later transferred to the University of North London. She was a founding member of the performance poetry group 3 Plus 1, which was critically well received in London, Birmingham, and Manchester. Stewart found her true calling on the performance poetry scene, where she was able to natural merge all of her artistic expressional outputs as a writer and performer. This led to the manifestation of her Floetic ethos of 'poetic delivery of musical intent'.

Career[]

1999–2006: Floetry[]

Floetry was formed after Ambrosius joined her on stage in 1999 to perform at a spoken word night called Poets vs MC's, where they debuted a piece that they had written together called "Fantasize", combining spoken word and singing. In 2000, the duo traveled to the United States to perform on the poetry circuit. After frequenting spoken word/poetry spots in Atlanta, such as Yin Yang Poets' Cafe, they moved on to Philadelphia. There they met Darren "Limitless" Henson and Keith "Keshon" Pelzer of DJ Jazzy Jeff's Touch of Jazz studio and began recording.

In 2002, they signed with DreamWorks Records and released their debut album Floetic, which featured the singles "Floetic", "Say Yes" and "Getting Late". The album was also released in the UK with additional tracks, one of which featured the British singer-songwriter and record producer, Sebastian Rogers. Due to the success of Floetry's live show, Floacism, a live album/DVD was released in November 2003

In 2005, Floetry released Flo'Ology, their second studio album. It debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, and included the single "SupaStar" featuring rapper Common.

2006–2013: Solo career[]

In 2006, the duo parted ways and Stewart returned home to London but still moved back and forth between the UK and the United States. During the next four years, she focused on her craft and continued to explore her Floetic ethos of poetic delivery with musical intent.^[3]

In mid-2010, she released the EP "Spoken Soul". In November 2010, she released her first solo album, Floetic Soul on Shanachie Records. The album charted at number 95 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and number 20 on the Top R&B Albums chart.^[4] The album also spawned the singles "Forever", "Let Me", and "Keep It Going".

In 2011, The Floacist began recording her second album. In August 2012, she released a new version of the Floetry hit "Say Yes". In November 2012 she released her second album "The Floacist presents Floetry Re:Birth" and has stated that its title and theme represent a celebration of the tenth anniversary of Floetry's breakthrough as a recording act.^[5]

2014–2016: Rise of the Phoenix Mermaid and Floetry reunion[]

Floetry during their reunion in February 2016. Left, Stewart, Right, Marsha Ambrosius.

In March 2014, she released her third solo album, Rise of the Phoenix Mermaid. The album spawn the singles: "Feel Good" and "On It". In December 2014, Stewart reunited with Ambrosius during Ambrosius' concert and performed "Floetic" at The Clapham Grand in London. In February 2015, Stewart confirmed that duo would be touring in 2015.^[6] On 16 May 2015 Floetry reunited and performed their first show in nine years at Pepsi Funk Festival in College Park, Georgia. The duo continued to tour throughout 2015 and eventually announced plans to record a new album. Despite announcing they would be recording a new album, Floetry subsequently split after the second leg of their reunion tour in August 2016.^[7]

2017–present: Good Life[]

In August 2017, Stewart (under the stage name "FLO") released a single titled "Good Life".^[8] In November 2017, she headlined her first solo tour called the "Let It FLO Tour". In 2019, Stewart and her husband (Maddix) formed a musical duo called i'N'i.

Business and ventures[]

FLO Spoken Word Vortex[]

On 24 November 2014 Stewart hosted the first FLO Spoken Word Vortex.^[9] The event gives spoken word artists and poetics a platform to perform at Hideaway Jazz & Comedy Club in Streatham, London.^[10] The FLO Spoken Word Vortex event occurs monthly on the first and third Thursday of every month at Hideaway Jazz & Comedy Club. In September 2019, the FLO Spoken Word Vortex was performed at Warmdaddy's in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[11]

Personal life[]

The Floacist is known to speak of the ultimate focus of her life being the continual development, evolution and growth of her person; spiritually, mentally and artistically.^[3] When asked about her spiritual practices she simply responds that her spiritual practice is memory; remembering the peace before the confusion!^[2]

In 2017, Stewart married former Stone Roses drummer Robbie Maddix. She currently resides in the southern coast of England.

Discography[]

• See also: Floetry

Albums[]

EPs[]

Singles[]

Tours[]

• 2003: Floetry Experience (with Marsha Ambrosius)
• 2014-15: Floetry Reunion Tour (with Marsha Ambrosius)
• 2017: Let It FLO Tour
• 2019: FLO Spoken Word Vortex Tour

Filmography[]

• 2004: One on One (as herself)
• 2008: Reasonable Excuse (as Laila)
• 2010: Remaindered (as the Background Performer)
• 2010: The Creepy Doll (as the Waiting Room Patient #2)
• 2012: Spirit Stalkers (as the Restaurant Patron)

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• The Floacist at IMDb
• The Floacist at AllMusic