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by Leroy Moore/Illin &Chillin
From Hip-Hop to Gospel to Rock to Soul to World
Jazz to Spoken Word, local artists, musicians, and
poets of color with disabilities are holding the mic
captive while shocking the local artistic arena.
From Lotus, a Philadelphia Rock\Funk band whose led singer,
Bird Williams, is a short person to the up
in coming Chicago's Paraplegic MC with his new CD
single Pieces of Dreams are blowing up the stage. We
can't forget the first ever spoken word CD, Until, by
a deaf poet from Boston, Ayisha Knight. The list is
endless but nine times out of ten I can't find the
above artists CDs at record stores! Why is that? Is
the music industry not willing to take on disabled
artists especially disabled artists of color? It is
striking how the music industry has the same practice
as the publishing arena when it comes to authors with
disabilities especially us of color, invisible.
The music industry has its door crack open for
certain artists with disabilities i.e. blind artists
like in blues, jazz, soul, country and now Hip Hop
with Tony Touch but artists with other disabilities
especially physical disabilities can't fit through the
little crack. The music industry is a carbon copy of
the publishing world! In the publishing world the
door is slightly cracked more but mostly only to the
medical system, universities and stars like
Christopher Reeves. However with every industry there
is an underground, independent labels, small presses or
do-it-yourself productions which most of the disabled
artists I mentioned and will talk about have gone this
rout. This is a mixed bag! Although I'm excited that
I found out about people like Rob DA Noize Temple,
the first disabled song writer\producer on Jive
records, I still have to special order his music.
He is the longest standing, well known disabled
producer in the music industry today. It is awful
that I had to search the internet to find his work and
like I mentioned above, most of the times I can't find
their work including his in local music stores!
Please don't bring up spoken word to your local
record store! Many times they don't have a spoken
word section but if they do it is very small.
In2003, Ayisha Knight made history by being the first
deaf poet to put her poetry to music on a CD entitled,
Until, performed by her friends. How did I know about
her? I was very lucky to have a mutual friend that
knew Knight and also doing research on the internet
about her work. How did I get her CD? I got her CD
by emailing her. Knight's CD is a spoken word CD with
hip-hop and soul music in the background. Knight used
to live in Berkeley, CA. Now she resides in Boston,
Mass. Her CD, Until, speaks about being Jewish,
Black, Deaf, and a lesbian and other issues young
women face in our society i.e. rape, body image and
becoming an independent woman who shares her love,
strengths and flaws with a commune of women, men,
youth, gays and lesbians. I checked in all record
stores and they didn't even have her in the computer.
Get this hot, groovy, finger popping CD by checking
out her website www.ayishaknight.com.
The same story is repeated from many upcoming
disabled artists in the local music arena from the
East to West Coast and in other places in the US. So
come on and feel our rhythm as I describe some
incredible CDs by the hottest local disabled
musicians, singers, rappers and poets of color today!
If you want the real deal, go to your local record
store and tell them to order these artists CDs or surf
the artists website or call them directly.
I'm so proud that Avotcja, music junkie, DJ on
KPFA & KPOO radio stations in the San Francisco Bay
Area, has accomplished what her fans and I have been
asking for and that is a CD of her poetry with the
international flavor of her band, Modupue. If you
haven't seen Avotcja & Modupue, well you haven't
lived. It's like being on a jazz cruise around the
world; you 'll hear music from all parts of the world
in one place. To help her band make more CDs go to
their performances. You can get in touch with her by
calling KPFA 94.1 FM radio station in Berkeley at
(510) 848-6767or KPOO radio station in San Francisco
at (415) 346-5373.
During Christmas holiday of 2003, I had the
opportunity to meet Bird Williams AKA Bird in New
Jersey. After talking about my poetry, Bird gave me
his CD entitled Knock A Wall Out. Bird is the lead
singer of a band called Lotus. Bird has a voice like
a humming bird on a Spring day. He gave me a little
piece on what he can do and I was blown away. This
strong and instrument like rhythm flew out of his
mouth and wrapped around my ears. Lotus mixes it up
with everything soul, hard rock jazz-fusion and
hip-hop. You name it Lotus can do it! Go to their
website at www.lotusband.net and if you're in Philly
catch them live.
They say Gospel is the music that keeps you
grounded and can put you on a higher plane all at the
same time. Well Michael Manning, a brother with a
disability that have been release from jail on bogus
charges after four years teamed up with Tanaj Perry to
return to his passion, music. Michael wrote in one
letter to me that, he wants to educate his people
through the music he writes and produced. With the
gorgeous soulful voice of Tanaj Perry, Michael returns
to the studio to assist on their debut album, The
Calling. Come fly with the hip-hop soulful holygost
on their album, The Calling. Michael Manning is from
Pennsylvania. Email Michael Manning at
www.justice4mike@pnpa.net and help them with
distribution and promotion of their CD. What a bag of
treats, The Calling, that is. This CD's hip-hop &
soulful gospel made my spirit dance beside me. This
album will be out later this year.
The whistling in the Chicago air is not the wind,
it is the tornado that Tony Green aka The Paraplegic
MC has been whipping up with his single, Pieces of
Dreams. I had the chance to speak to Paraplegic MC
and he told me he has been writing and rapping for
more than 15 years and his father said that, he is
really good! I'm waiting for his CD. In August last
year Paraplegic MC was interviewed by abc7chicago.com.
By bumping into this article online I had a chance to
talk to Tony and will receive his CD. Thank god for
the internet! Drop him a line at
medoxx@ameritech.net. He is looking for distributor
and agent.
Lets stay on this Hip-Hop thang! Hip-hop has
been blowing up everywhere in urban areas, the
suburbs, in the political arena, in the publishing
arena and in the media. Hip Hp has become more
diverse with women MCs, White, Latino and yes, Chinese
rappers but once again disabled MCs, rappers and DJs
are missing from this diversity. Like Blues, gospel
and jazz blind musicians are the first ones to enjoy
recognition and Hip Hop is no difference! The success
of Tony Touch and KRS One DJ is another example how
the door of hip-hop is only slightly open to blind
artists. Leave it to the underground to blow the
doors off its hinges! I would like to see the
Paraplegic MC in Chicago connect with the thumbin
sounds and lyrics of Fezo da Madone aka Keith Jones, a
one man rapper, producer and DJ of Boston, Mass.
Fezo has been making music and rapping for years.
Although he has Cerebral Palsy, Fezo is truly a
hip-hop head and dope producer. He writes all of his
rhythms and mixes his beats and sounds with his feet.
Yes with his feet!! His first album, Who is Leon
Soze? dropped on his own label, SeoulSpitahz
Entertainment. I'll be receiving this album soon but
from his website, www.dasoultoucha.com it says that
Who is Leon Soze? speaks on Fezo's life experiences
of being a Black disabled man. He is working on his
second album, Here I AM expected out on July 12th
2004. Fezo also talked about how hard it is to break
into hip-hop and also said that many have told him
that hip-hop is not ready for a hip-hop artists in a
wheelchair. He told me over the phone. Fezo and I
talked about our goals for our artistic talents and
the future of other disabled musicians. Something is
cooking in our rhythmic kitchen! Watch out because we
are cooking up something for all of us.
As I'm a researcher, I can't let a good topic
just slip between my fingers, so once again I turned
to google to find a long time producer, songwriter and
keyboard musician of Noizemozis, Rob Da Noize
Temple. The title of his article was the medicine to
my invisibility in the artist arena. The title of
this article says it like it is, Where are the
Disabled Musicians in the Music Industry?You see,
Rob Da Noize Temple, has only one arm. He has
played keyboards for more than thirty years. This man
has been around and he had a number one international
hit, Free, However in this article Rob Da Noize
Temple makes it clear the discrimination he faced in
the musical industry because of his physical
disability being called names to negativity of well
known artists toward him. He sends out a call for
disabled musicians to contact him so he and others can
work together to do a CD featuring disabled musicians
and to support each other. His email address is
Noize53@aol.com Listen to his music at:
http://www.ofmbsite.com/ofmbsite/noismos.
Once again I took the name of his band,
Noizemozis, his hit song, Free, to four different
record stores and nobody had this record or his recent
CD, Peace Thang. The only thing left for me to do was
to contact Rob Da Noize Temple. Hopefully soon I'll
receive his CDs in the mail. Thank god I'm a
researcher and resourceful if I wasn't I wouldn't have
known of these talented people I mentioned and would
never hear and feel their incredible music and
rhythm!! What can you do? Go to your local record
stores and demand that they carry these artists and if
you are in their area, go to their concerts. It is
called SUPPORT! Music industry, watch out, we're
coming kicking in your doors!!!!!!!!!!
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