Nikki Giovanni never heard it…drowning in the open

Drowning in the Open: A Final Letter to Our Brothers will release January 23rd, 2026.

Nikki Giovanni and I had done some projects together here and there, but I never really wanted to ask her to do much for me artistically. I really wanted to make my own success, even though she had offered. Something told me though, in late 2023, to just ask her to be a part of this album. 

Jordan “Dxtr Spits” Holmes and Nikki Giovanni

We got into several conversations about the state of the world, and she said to me “how can people not see how much our men are struggling?”. She was talking more specifically about black men, but I personally would extend this conversation to many men in society. Every day, 100 men in the U.S. die by suicide, and many more deal with mental health challenges without access to support or the tools to open enough to accept it.

After putting together the poems I knew I wanted on the album, we wrote her pieces together and then had to find a way to get it recorded. If you know Nikki, she was a hard person to keep still for even just a couple days. She ended up coming to Chicago for a short window so I had to get creative

I literally built and brought a studio in a box to her hotel room and we made it work with the support of her partner Ginney, the homie Brizzy, and Audrey. (Big shout out to my producer Caleb Harris on the back end for making it sound like we did it in a booth lol)

Nikki Giovanni, Jordan “Dxtr Spits” Holmes, Ginney Fowler

Caleb and I then spent Thanksgiving Day 2024 in his studio tinkering with every single sound, vocal, and bit of atmosphere so that the tracks fall to the ears in a way where emotion is deeply felt. The spoken word tracks are basically movie scored so that the listener can really sink into the stories.

Even after hearing it so many times, it still hit me like a ton of bricks, and  I was so excited to call Nikki once we finished the final master because it felt like something special.

Caleb Miller Harris and Jordan “Dxtr Spits” Holmes in the studio on Thanksgiving Day 2024 completing album

Shortly after returning home, I still had it in my head to call Nikki. I would have of course during the holidays, but before I could, Kwame gave me the call that stopped time for me. Nikki never got to hear the final version. 

Jordan “Dxtr Spits” Holmes and Nikki Giovanni

I debated on never releasing it, but after putting my grief to the side, I see this work is greater than me, and the world needs to hear it. She did always tell me to just write and move forward, so here we go….

Drowning In The Open, Cover Art

Dxtr Spits & Nikki Giovanni dismantle the stigma around men's mental health, weaving personal stories and raw emotion into a multi-sensory experience that encourages an open conversation and emotional vulnerability.