SO, SPOKEN WORD FLAVORED HIP HOP ACTIVISM?
I write and recite rhymes, raps and poetry of a performative nature. I consider this to be the core of what I call my career. I bring in money by acting and events organizing as well, but those are just convenient bill paying exercises. My real bag is Hip Hop. I have been a student of Hip Hop history and culture since I first learned to love Graffiti in early high school, around 1997. Since then I have been devoted to discovering how I get to play my part as a practitioner of Hip Hop arts. I have tried all the original elements of expression, a bit of breakdancing, some DJing, but settled on my real passions: performing and painting. Being raised in a family of critical consciousness means I have come to use my art to interpret or translate or make sense of my own awareness of the world and society at large. This has me at odds most of the time with many systems as they currently stand, but I am privileged enough to have been raised and educated right, enabling me to use my passion to play my part in breaking it down. Discovering exactly what “it” is has become part of my daily grind. I try and study things that either interest or upset me. The interesting things are what I would call my inspiration. The upsetting things are what become the content of my writing and reciting. Spoken Word is probably the combination of all of my inputs and outputs, some rhyming, some comic timing, some serious jiving and some straight shooting without the ducking and diving. I am also happily married to a like-minded awesome woman and together we have begun building a life together. This promises great adventure and excitement for our future, a fact that, together with our two children, keeps me keeping on.
EwokesSAy 