Sunday 18 August 2013

@AWKWORDrap - Throw Away The Key (on Police Violence, Prisons) #hiphop #video



Rapper, Activist and Sociologist AWKWORD is one of the "dope artists" putting New York City Hip Hop back on the map (DOPEMusicBlog) — making "quality music that deserves to be heard" (Chuck D of Public Enemy). AWKWORD is also "the heart and soul" of World View (BuckMarleyXXX), the first-ever 100% For-Charity Global Hip Hop Album. Sponsored by The DJ Booth (DJBooth) and The Morgan Stanley Foundation, AWKWORD's "highly anticipated LP World View" (The Source) is designed to connect us worldwide through Hip Hop music & culture. World View features contributions from every continent, approximately 20 countries and every U.S. region. The album boasts production from the likes of Harry Fraud, Domingo and Numonics, and guest emcee appearances from Joell Ortiz, Sean Price, KRS-One, Slug (of Atmosphere), Chino XL, ILL BILL and more.

For AWKWORD, this is nothing new. Today he fights for change through music; his activism began in childhood, with the guidance of his mother (RIP). AWKWORD created his high school's first (now annual) Diversity Day with the Anti-Defamation League. While earning his Bachelor's in Sociology from Vassar, he founded the school's Prison Reform Group, lobbied New York State Congress for the repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws and worked or volunteered at Green Haven maximum-security prison, an alternative-to-incarceration center, a probation office and an at-risk youth center. From his World View project, all proceeds are donated to Guns 4 Cameras (Aim to Live), a 501c3-registered nonprofit that goes beyond the gun-exchange program, working to eradicate 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 — and not for cash either, for cameras and inspiration.

AWKWORD has appeared on/in The Village Voice, Huffington Post, Complex, XXL, The Source, Vibe, Hot 97, Urb, MTV, Vlad TV, AllHipHop, Hip Hop DX, Stupid DOPE, The Smoking Section, Okay Player, Hip Hop Wired, HotNewHipHop, Nah Right, 2 Dope Boyz, DJ Booth, Hip Hop Game, iFame TV, Radio Dispatch with John & Molly Knefel, ANDYOUDON'TSTOP Radio with Chuck D of Public Enemy, Hip Hop Nation with Statik Selektah, Halftime Radio with DJ Eclipse, The Emilio Sparks Experience, etc.

"Don't let the stage name fool you — when it comes to rocking the mic... AWKWORD is anything but." — DJ Booth

"Better get down with AWKWORD's movement, he's doing something very positive for the Hip Hop community." — Donuts And Milk

#itsoktobeAWKWORD
Contact AWKWORD:

twitter - @AWKWORDrap
instagram - @AWKWORDrap

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