Floetry to flow back together at the TLA

Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart, reunited as Floetry, play the Theatre of Living Arts on Friday  and July 26.

The British duo, who released three albums from 2002-05, were poetic queens of neo-soul, a hip-hop sound steeped in late-20th-century Philadelphia culture. Ambrosius (the sultry singer) is from Liverpool, England, while Stewart (the serious poetic "floacist") is from London, but both lived in Philly for a time, hanging out with the influential Black Lily crew of singers, rappers, poets, and players. They were as much a part of that seminal Philly R&B and rap scene as were locals such as the Roots, Bilal, and Jaguar Wright.

"Your city was a fantastic adventure," said Stewart last week from London. She lived in Philly on and off for about six years, with Ambrosius staying a little longer before moving to Los Angeles around 2010.

(In an Inquirer interview last year, Ambrosius, who was unavailable for this interview, said, "I was there during a magic moment in music history . . . hanging out with the Roots guys and their whole Black Lily open-mic nights, the older cats who were born of the Sound of Philadelphia, Patti LaBelle - that was something.")

"Philly was flowering," Stewart recalled. "There was variety in local people of the African diaspora making music. Magnificent. Plus, when we first got there, the 76ers were in the finals. The Eagles were in the finals. It was a nice time."

Also magical is how the duo has come together again after being apart for nine years. "The stars aligned just perfectly," Stewart said.

The two met as children, drawn together by their love of basketball. "Marsha at 11 was very much a performer, but she was a baller like the rest of her family - like me as well," Stewart said. "I was a big baller. This is a decade before we even figured out what we could do together musically."

The two were together at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in South London, where Stewart began writing poetry, and Ambrosius shifted between singing and basketball.

Then, an injury made the decision for Ambrosius. After she transferred to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, the two "kept in touch," Stewart said, "when I had a performance poetry group, 3 Plus 1, and she was doing soul songs like 'Fantasize.' "

Ambrosius wanted to ditch mainstream music in favor of something more fluid and experimental. In 1997, she asked Stewart to contribute poetry - not rapping - to be sung to "Fantasize," and Floetry began.

"We were audacious," Stewart said. Their words and music celebrated young girls becoming women. The jazzy soul of Ambrosius meshed with Stewart's love of sound-system roots-reggae and toasting.

Stewart insists that what she does is poetry, not rap: "Poetry is about content. Rap is about flow. I learned from Marsha about music and was able to find a space that was uniquely me: poetry but with tonality, flow, adhering to the notes, vibrations."

Floetry went to Atlanta in 2000, where they were a hit at spoken-word hot-spots such as the Yin Yang Poets' Café. Soon they decided on Philadelphia, met producers from DJ Jazzy Jeff's Touch Of Jazz studio, signed with DreamWorks in 2002, and released their debut album, Floetic, with its huge singles, "Say Yes" and "Getting Late."

Stewart calls Philly integral to Floetry's success, not only as their home, but also as a nu-soul scene, a "self-contained laboratory" including the likes of Erykah Badu, Musiq, Kindred, and Jazmine Sullivan.

The 2005 Flo'Ology album was their last effort. There was no argument or falling-out. Ambrosius just moved on. Stewart says she was both unprepared and unhappy: "I didn't set out to do this alone. I'm a collaborator." She does lay some blame on pressure from management and marketers, trying to make Floetry something they weren't.

As simply as they ended, Floetry reunited in December 2014, when Ambrosius had a London gig, called Stewart for coffee, and had her contribute poetry during her show. Ambrosius returned the favor during a Floacist show soon after. From there, things picked up where they left off, "because," in Stewart's words, "we never left angry."

There's no talk of a new Floetry album, but no talk against it, either. It would have to be good, Stewart said: "We never did one album too many, and left people wanting more. . . . Maybe longevity means taking a break every 10 years or so."

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Floetry

9 p.m. Friday at Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St. Sold out.

8 p.m. July 26 at Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St. Tickets: $35.

Information: 215-922-1011 or http://venue.tlaphilly.comEndText