Can you feel the rhythm?

Illin & Chillin examines the situation of artists of color with disabilities who deserve recognition

Leroy Moore/Illin &Chillin
Friday, June 4, 2004;

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!!!!!!!!!!