About AWKWORD

“Anything a writer writes should be written with the urgency of someone holding a gun in their mouth.” — Maya Angelou

Success is the best revenge

Rapper and Activist AWKWORD is one of the “dope artists” putting New York City Hip Hop back on the map (DOPEMusicBlog.com). He is also “the heart and soul” of World View (BuckMarleyXXX.com), the first-ever 100% For-Charity Global Hip Hop Album. Hosted/presented by DJBooth.net and also sponsored by End of the Weak (EOW) and The Morgan Stanley Foundation, AWKWORD’s “highly anticipated LP World View” (TheSource.com) is executive produced by AWKWORD and The White Shadow of Norway and mixed by Switzerland’s Vinyl Digger. With the intention of connecting us worldwide through Hip Hop music & culture, AWKWORD’s World View features contributions from every continent, approximately 20 countries and every United States region. The album boasts production from Harry Fraud, Domingo, Falside, etc., and guest emcee appearances from the likes of Joell Ortiz, Sean Price and KRS-One.

All of the proceeds from World View are being donated to Guns 4 Cameras (Aim to Live), a 501c3-registered nonprofit dedicated to eradicating street violence through the Hip Hop-inspired education and empowerment of our at-risk youth. The organization’s founder, Hezues R’ was shot at 22 times at age 22 and survived to re-dedicate his life to saving the streets. He and the organization’s Spokesperson, Hip Hop icon Pharoahe Monch, have traveled the country speaking to the youth about Hip Hop, making the right choices, and putting down their guns and picking up their cameras (or their pens or their microphones) to be productive instead of destructive. Future plans for the organization include local gun-for-camera exchanges nationwide.

AWKWORD has been featured by the leading Hip Hop magazines/sites, including Complex Magazine, Urb Magazine, The Fader, XXL, The Source, Hip Hop DX, Okay Player, Hip Hop Wired, Nah Right, DJ Booth, 2 Dope Boyz, Vlad TV, You Heard That New, The Well Versed, Earmilk, The Hip Hop Chronicle (UK), Rap Dose (Canada), Kevin Nottingham, Ashley Outrageous, The Sermon’s Domain, Xclusives Zone and more. He has also appeared on top news sites The Village Voice, Daily Kos, The Nation and Huffington Post, while his interviews and records get play worldwide, with features as varied as Hip Hop Nation Sirius XM, Rap Is Outta Control Radio, The Company Man Show on PNC Radio, Buzz Asia, Revolt Radio and Israel National Radio.

“Better get down with AWKWORD’s movement, he’s doing something very positive for the Hip Hop community.” — DonutsAndMilk.com

SELECT INTERVIEWS

1. The Village Voice (Sound of the City) – Print [*NEW*]
2. Hip Hop Dependency – Print
3. We Goin In – Print
4. PROTAILZ [Netherlands] – Print

*** AWKWORD Links ***

Hip Hop was created out of disfranchisement, alienation and persecution (the blues), fueled by creativity, infused with rhythm and soul, and enhanced by innovation. It is at once (a) a protest song, a call for freedom through revolution (e.g., AWKWORD – “The People’s Champ” [prod. J. Glaze]); (b) a inspirational song, a call for human connection (e.g., AWKWORD ft. Baje One [of Junk Science], Josh Martinez & Queen GodIs – “All My People” [prod. JoeBlack (of Brazil)]); and (c) a party song, a call for ‘freedom’ through the reclaiming of our own lives (e.g., AWKWORD ft. Whatzisface – “Cheers“). The history of the black American, product of slavery, descendant of Africa, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, is much like the history of the American Jew, product of the Holocaust, pogroms and the Inquisition, descendant of Palestine, Russia, Poland. Although the commercial success of rap music can be attributed to an increase in popularity amongst white, Christian suburbanites, the culture of Hip Hop’s home is in the ghetto. The first ghetto was inhabited by Jews in Europe — this is the source of the term. The ignorant — white and black — ask how AWKWORD got into Hip Hop. Get Your Mind Right: AWKWORD IS Hip Hop!

AWKWORD sees, sleeps, shits, spits and struts pre-Giuliani Hip Hop. Growing up an angry Jew worker-bee in a WASP nest, he found solace in the written word, the recorded song, and the live show. A straight-A student, running from cops, suspended from school for fighting, AWKWORD was forced to learn to filter his anger and alienation (awkwardness) through his words and his music. With a graffiti writer’s ethic, AWKWORD raps for the everyman and everywoman, those looking for a little piece (or peace), striving to represent, or to at least be represented.

AWKWORD — today an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Guardian of Liberty — has been affiliated with various anti-racist activist groups, leading actions across the country. His first foray into live Hip Hop performance was as a senior in high school, as the ‘headliner’ at a Diversity Day event he created with the Anti-Defamation League. His next opportunity came not too long after, at a ‘Holocaust Remembrance Day’ event he was asked to co-chair by a top History teacher. Before he left to study English and Sociology at Vassar College, he was the only non-adult or Hip Hop performer at a townwide annual Martin Luther King Day event. While attending Vassar, AWKWORD performed at various on- and off-campus political and Hip Hop events, as well as parties; served as a leader of school’s the Student Activist Association and Prison Reform Movement; worked at a Poughkeepsie after-school program and teen center; and volunteered at Green Haven (maximum security) Prison, an alternative-to-incarceration center, and the local soup kitchen.

It didn’t take too long after graduating for AWKWORD to land gigs at the Nuyorican, Bowery Poetry Club, Knitting Factory, etc., and form a Hip Hop crew/LLC known as Sub-Way Stiles, which featured himself and The Cool Kids affiliates Whatzisface and Blended Babies, as well as spoken word poet Voice1 and DJ & Engineer for Twista, DJ Syzygy.

Over the years, AWKWORD’s aesthetic has not altered much, signifying his dedication to the cause; but his lyricism and access to incredible music production, mixing and mastering, has brought his music to a new level.

AWKWORD, sponsored by Elemental Magazine (R.I.P.) early in his career, has performed for crowds nationwide alongside the likes of Grandmaster Caz, Masta Ace, J-Live, Asheru, Jabba (Hip Hop Pantsula) of South Africa, Cunninlynguists, Pumpkinhead and Poison Pen. His songs and videos have been featured by the leading Hip Hop magazines/sites, including Complex Magazine, Urb Magazine, The Fader, XXL, The Source, Hip Hop DX, Okay Player, Hip Hop Wired, Nah Right, DJ Booth, 2 Dope Boyz, Vlad TV, You Heard That New, The Well Versed, Earmilk, The Hip Hop Chronicle (UK), Rap Dose (Canada), Kevin Nottingham, Ashley Outrageous, The Sermon’s Domain, Xclusives Zone and more. He has also appeared on top news sites The Village Voice, Daily Kos, The Nation and Huffington Post, while his interviews and records get play worldwide, with features as varied as Hip Hop Nation Sirius XM, Rap Is Outta Control Radio, The Company Man Show on PNC Radio, Buzz Asia, Revolt Radio and Israel National Radio. His music can be purchased on every major music site.

After releasing “the Sub-Way mixtape” as part of the national Hip Hop coalition Sub-Way Stiles, AWKWORD dropped an EP, a double-single, and then his solo debut LP “See the Light“. This album, as detailed here, uniquely influenced AWKWORD’s forthcoming DJBooth.net-sponsored 100% For-Charity Global Hip Hop project, World View.

To date, AWKWORD has released 10 singles — FOR 100% CHARITABLE DONATION SALE — off the World View album:

• AWKWORD ft. SoulStice, Ess Vee & CuzOH! Black – “Requiem” (prod. ATG)
• AWKWORD ft. Main Flow, Rickie Jacobs & Mojo (of Dujeous) – “Rainy Daze” (prod. The Aqua League)
• AWKWORD ft. KRS-One, Dug Infinite & Brimstone127 – “Radio 2.0″ (prod. Vice Souletric)
• AWKWORD – “Thank You (A Tribute To My Mommy)” (prod. ATG)
• AWKWORD ft. ILL BILL, El Gant, Tenacity & Blame One – “Metal Music” (prod. Tranzformer)
• AWKWORD ft. Sean Price, The Kid Daytona & The Incomparable Shakespeare – “Bars & Hooks (Keep It Moving)” (prod. Harry Fraud)
• AWKWORD ft. Sha Stimuli & Viro the Virus – “The World Is Yours” (prod. Dominant1 [Malawi])
• AWKWORD ft. GuessWho? – “Doctor Doctor” (prod. MajoR R.E. [Malaysia])
• AWKWORD ft. Jade Foxx – “The Dating Game – Revisited” (prod. Flam & Aksim [Finland])
• AWKWORD ft. Punchline, Shabaam Sahdeeq & Beretta 9 (Killarmy) – “The People’s Champions” (prod. Harry Fraud)
• AWKWORD ft. C-Rayz Walz & Reks – “Imperialism” (prod. Jonny Lupo [Moldova])

[The first official release, the AUTHORIZED "World View Remix" of "New York Minute", produced by Harry Fraud and featuring Jadakiss, Vast Aire, Mazzi (S.O.U.L. Purpose) & Punchline, was originally slated to appear on World View but was deleted due to copyright issues with the original sample.]

Click here to listen/download/purchase.

Click here to learn more about the movement.

Since the summer of 2010, AWKWORD has released three well-received HD music videos:

While continuing to steadily complete and share World View records, On March 22, 2011, AWKWORD and fellow New York City-based emcee Y-Love released via RockTheDub.com (RTD) “Mr. President (The Wisconsin Song)”, a WORKERS RIGHTS ANTHEM produced by The White Shadow of Norway. This song — the lead single from RTD’s 5-Year Anniversary Compilation FiF has been featured by Huffington Post, The Nation and Daily Kos. [FREE: Song Download. Customizable Ringtone - Send to Phone. Youtube Video (featuring exclusive live Wisconsin protest footage!).]

Look out for more World View musical offerings leading up to the album release later in 2012.