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BRAWLIN' BLACK Bio:
Born and raised in the South East Housing Projects of Washington, D.C., BRAWLIN BLACK, so named by DEF JAMS KEITH MURRAY, began rapping in early 92 but offically started 'recording' his career in 99. A prior "GO-GO" music band leader, BRAWLIN' BLACK truly lived THE HARD KNOCK LIFE. With weaponry ranging from a simple shank to an AK-47, BRAWLIN' BLACK'S brushes with death "so far" as he puts it -numbered "seventeen". Not seeming to glorify violence and degredation but "just telling the truth", BRAWLIN BLACK sought (and fought) to make life better for his family and himself. Homeless as 14, BRAWLIN BLACK, the youngest of seven and son to a single mother on welfare, was able to manuever through many of the entrapments that befall the majority of young men in the 'hood' -including his God brother and best friend -whose murder, thanks to HBO, was presented as nothing more than a footnote in their Undercover Documentary entitled THUG LIFE IN D. C. "His name was Lionell Watson" says BLACK. "He existed. He lived... he died... and after about a month... it seemed (that) he was forgotten. -Just like that! (Pause) I want to be remembered. I want to make a (positive) difference. I want to exist." BRAWLIN BLACK experienced many hardships -such as an incident he recalls of "whooping the asses of two 'bammas' at the same time" while his never accepting biological father stumbled past "on a mission for his next hit" of 'crack' cocaine. "Such is life" states BRALWIN BLACK. "I don't hold nothing against him. Besides, how can you miss what you never had...? -That 'pipe' got him -that's all. I ain't no superman... I'm just me! (Pause) I let it all out in my music... -that's my therapy." He smiles. With a talent for athletics and specialties being boxing and football, BRAWLIN' BLACK immersed himself in many avenues of competition and goal achievements, striving always for the best. An opportunity in a school production ushered in the first 'grand scale' taste of recognition. "I'd walk down the block and people would shout quotes at me from lines I said in a play weeks ago. It was slightly embarrassing at the time... -now I realize (that) it was all 'love'. That happened every time I'd do a play or perform a rap in a talent show. It happened like that for years...." He takes a moment. Thanks to his Jr. High school gym teacher-coach along with the support of neighborhood heavy 'weights', BRAWLIN BLACK began to focus on the stage. "That's where I built my confidence and honed my performance skills. The stage -to me- is a platform of expressionism." He was later accepted into Georgetown's prestigeous Duke Ellington School for The Performing Arts. BRAWLIN BLACK, the kid from the projects, was now apart of a new world that exposed him to cultural and artistic differences of which before he could only imagine. "I couldn't show it (a knew way of viewing the world) back in the 'hood'. They wouldn't've understood. But I started to teach them what I learned little by little in language we (people in the 'hood') do understand." It was his way of giving back. It has indeed been a life altering experience for the then still homeless young man who "but through the grace of GOD" became the first in his family to graduate from High School, have his graduation presided over by HILLARY CLINTON and join the Duke Ellington Alumni Family ranks alongside DEBBIE ALLEN and DAVE CHAPPELLE. "I put it all in my music. I produce my own beats. I write my own lyrics. I do all original music." This is what comes through in his music: PEACE! LOVE! VIOLENCE! DEATH! HAPPINESS! LONELINESS! SURVIVAL! REDEMPTION! LOYALTY! FAMILY! FRIENDSHIP! TRUST! GOD! "Ladies and gents of 'hoods' across the nation and world... be blessed, stay up and enjoy HIS STORY!!" REPARATIONS Y'ALL!! PEACE & LOVE!! R.B.G. Favorite spot? I'D BE BIAS TO SAY "D. C." SO OTHERWISE IT'S BETWEEN SOUTH BEACH (MIAMI) "SHOUT OUT TO THE STAFF AT THE CASTELLO DEL MAR" OR L.A. WHICH IS COOL ALSO -IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT... |
