Oklahoma-based artist Lakeyshia AhKamaye Perry doesn’t just create art—she crafts cultural experiences that unite communities, turning everyday moments into movements of joy, creativity, and connection.
The moment may be an impromptu Harvest Parade or an informal after-school club. The moment may spark a year-round cosplay initiative or become an asset to home school parents.
AhKamaye Perry makes poetic music under the stage name Changing FrEQuencies, and her husband looks for ways to give the moments movement. Born in Tulsa, she’s lived in Oklahoma City for years.
The artist performs her improvisational, high vibrational hip hop and shares her desire for fun with her live and online audiences. She can often be heard leading a call and response chant or musical freestyle. “I like to show how easily we come together and create a moment,” AhKamaye told the Black Wall Street Times.
She also records music and makes live videos of her inspiration or creative process. AhKamaye seeks spaces that feed both the need for improvised creativity and for cultural connections.
The Playful HeARTtist: From creativity to community initiatives
AhKamaye Perry has more creative ideas than time and energy to implement them. Her husband and business partner Charles “CJ” Perry helps with the implementation. “I will often take the seed idea and find a home for it or context for it,” he explained.
CJ Perry described his wife as a creative and a wordsmith. “Words are her thing,” he said. CJ Perry described Changing FrEQuencies as primarily a performer doing poetry, hip hop, and dance.
He asks himself, “How do we take this idea and present it in a way that it’s beneficial to whoever it’s designed to serve?” The Playful HeARTtist initiative is a way for AhKamaye’s creative expression to find a bigger outlet than music.
The couple works from home, and one of their two children is homeschooled. Wanting to support the children in their Eastside OKC neighborhood, they noticed that many kids returned home from school to an empty house, with parents still at work.
AhKamaye Perry said children were asking for fruit and snacks. They were trying to work odd jobs to earn money. Both of the Perrys wanted to help if they could. AhKamaye Perry made a sign for the “Playful HeARTistry After School Kids Club” and neighbors and farmers markets began to donate. She calls it “grassroots community care.”
“It was really created based on the need in our neighborhood,” CJ Perry said. “We have a soft spot for kids.” she said, “providing a little bit of relief.”
The power of play: How it affects mental health and learning
CJ Perry has sought funding from grants to allow the initiative to reach further. That is how they put together December’s cosplay contest in collaboration with Factory Obscura.
AhKamaye Perry was inspired by Black Fae Day and an interest in cosplay. She said, “I wanted to get our children to see that it’s okay to go to cosplay events.” She wanted the Black community to feel part of cosplay activities beyond just watching anime.
“It’s a way to keep yourself working with your imagination,” AhKamaye Perry said. She noted the irony of low Black attendance at anime conventions when rituals like masquerade are part of Black heritage.
It is not just fun for fun’s sake. “We are interested in the power of play as it relates to our mental health and wellbeing,” CJ Perry said. The Perrys understand the connection between play and learning, too.
CJ Perry cited research on how play can increase “our ability to learn and assimilate new information.” When AhKamaye Perry is teaching she uses this idea to support her methods. The process goes from play to proficiency to professionalism. She calls it the “3P Modality.”
CJ Perry hopes their work will inspire others “not to downplay the role of play even in helping folks to maintain healthy relationships.”
Giving away ideas and sharing responsibility
Community relationships and connections are how the Perrys hope to sustain their work.
AhKamaye Perry wants to attend Black Fae Day and Black MerMay Day events as a support to someone who would like to take charge. She has been in contact with the founder, Jasmine LeFleur, and hopes plans develop.
The Perrys hope others with the time and resources will take an interest in the neighborhood’s children the way they did.
CJ Perry shared how they launched a creative wellness collective, a space for artistic expression and community support. AhKamaye Perry explained that her work is guided by emotion, allowing her to channel even the heaviest feelings into meaningful, positive action.
It can be hard to both create and serve the community. “I’ll do my part, but I need the group,” AhKamaye Perry said. She doesn’t want to keep all of her programming ideas to herself; instead, she shares them freely, hoping to inspire others to bring them to life. “I’m not attached to the idea,” she said. “I want the experience.”
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