Pen2Paper of the Month:
L.I.F.E.
About
L.I.F.E.:
Intense! The best one-word description for the passionate and powerful spoken word artist L.I.F.E. Since 2001, he has blazed stages from London to D.C., educating and electrifying audiences with hard-hitting performance poetry that leaves you craving more, no matter how much he gives. L.I.F.E. is the recipient of a plethora of awards, including the University of South Florida-sponsored 2004/2005 Black Heritage Festival Poetry Slam, the 2005 Louder Than Words poetry slam, the Underground Poets King/Queen of the Bay Slam in Tampa, Florida, the 2005 Akoben Festival/Word Up! slam in Norfolk, Virginia, and numerous smaller poetry slams over the course of his short spoken word career. These awards and accolades are a testament to the way L.I.F.E. so powerfully and effectively conveys his passion and pain to listeners.
L.I.F.E. has recorded two spoken word CDs: "XpoZin' Maself," his latest, and his first, "forthepeople." L.I.F.E. organizes and operates "Black On Black Rhyme Tampa," one of the longest running weekly open mic venues in Florida and the largest in the Tampa Bay Area.
A few questions for L.I.F.E.:
1. What does poetry provide for you mentally, spiritually, or otherwise?
My answer best fits into the "otherwise" category. It is the inherent duty of every artist of the class and race I belong to, and every artist of all subjugated races and classes, to raise the level of consciousness of the people and contest the agenda of injustice of the ruling race or class, in an effort to overturn the oppression of the people. Poetry presents me with the opportunity to offer my analyses of the world and my ideas about how to change it, to people across the country who may never be exposed to the concepts I share with them if they don't hear it from me.
2. PlanetSoul.com is centered around soul music and related art forms. Who are some of your favorite recording artists?
Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Pearl Bailey, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway, Bill Withers, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, General Johnson, Honey Cone, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield... and a long list of others.
3.
Who are some poets or writers who inspire you and your work and why?
I'm inspired by the necessity to see the end of exploitation and oppression of poor people around the world.The two revolutionaries Frantz Fanon and Amilcar Cabral are the writers that most influence me. It is because of them that the pervasive theme in my writings is survival, and ultimately freedom, for Black people and all the oppressed peoples of the world.
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