Hip Hop Poet SUPERSTEAD 5/8/14

 Lately I have been really into a lot of the local and or underground music that I have been coming across. This is just a little interview from one of the artists I have grown to like. His name is Steadman (also known as his performance name SuperStead) and he originates from London, England. This is a personal interview from the wonderful Steadman himself. Please excuse the content for some of  questions were asked at random and out of order :)

SUPERSTEAD BLOG

HIS SOUNDCLOUD

(His facebook) SUPERSTEAD POWER

Enjoy...

1. If you can put a genre on your writing, what would it be? (Free verse, poetry,etc.)

I write poetry, however it's free form poetry, which is almost a stream of consciousness that spirals from a start point that can be a certain topic, issue, feeling, experience, moment or thought. Many of my pieces do not rhyme, and its never really a conscious decision whether or not to make a certain piece rhyme - it just happens naturally as I start to write.

2. How old r u and where r u from?

I am 31 years old & Im from London England.

3. how long have you been writing for?

I started writing when I was around 7 or 8 years old. In my primary school there was an old lady who taught us English. Her name was Ms Sheldrake. I always remember her being really passionate about poetry. She got us writing poetry in school & was a great inspiration to me. She liked my poetry & entered me into an international children's poetry competition. A couple of children including myself were chosen as some of the british winners & sent medals. The local press came to our school & took our pictures & the story was published in the newspaper. That was one of my proudest moments as a child & it really inspired me to keep writing and I have been ever since.

4. Where does your inspiration come from?

My biggest inspirations are life & art. I see art in everything and i feel that we are constantly exposed to visions and emotions that can be expressed through art in many different weird and wonderful forms. I see art as everything, not just paintings in museums, but as everything - drawing, painting, sculpting, music, fashion, writing, poetry, novels, film, photography, theatre, dance, drama...

5. What do you prefer writing about?

Everything. Wherever my mind wanders, my pen follows.

6. Are you involved with any kind of music of your own? 

Yes. I have been writing songs, rapping and making hiphop since i was about 13/14yrs old. At the moment Im in a live HipHop/Reggae/Ska band. I write songs, rap & sing. The band is called 83classic - its a brand new band - we are releasing our debuet EP this summer. Theres a couple of acoustic clips on youtube you can watch - search for 83clasaic

7. What does super stead mean and how did you come up with this ? 

My name is Steadman so it was my nick name Super Stead Man

Also i love comics & superheros!

8. What 5 artists do you look up to?  Its difficult to mention just 5 but I like Common, Mos Def, Talib kweli, Nas & Busta Rhymes ( busta doesn't have the best lyrical content but his flow is my favourite in the game ) 9. Are you involved with the rapper REVERIE at all  ?  No im not familiar with reverie. 10. What advice can you give to young writers that are beginning? My advice would be two things 1) always keep writing - whatever thoughts or ideas you have just try to capture them on paper while u have them in mind - dont think too much just write. 2) Be your own biggest critic. Just because you write lots it doesn't mean you have to share all of it. There are many pieces I have written that I have never posted online or read to anyone. When you do choose to share something with the world don't rush - take your time - re-read & re-write or edit your pieces if necessary. Always be thinking about how others will understand, perceive & relate to your work. Be aware that your words can & will be received and understood in different ways & make conscious decisions about what you want to be clear for people to get from your writing & what you want to leave for them to ponder on and make their own mind up about. 11. When did you decide to come up with your own web site and ultimately how does it benefit others out there ?  I started my blog a few years ago at the beginning of 2011.  I write what I want to write rather than writing what I think people want to read, and then I look at some pieces and decide which one's I think Would be good to share with the world. I'd like to think that my pieces provoke thought & inspire people to live their lives in positive ways and treat their fellow humans in positive ways. My ultimate message is always PEACE LOVE & PEOPLE POWER! Together we as human beings are a formidable force and can achieve amazing things and sustain life for all on the planet - however divided we destroy each other and our planet. I hope that people of all backgrounds can feel a connection to one another and we can begin to bridge the gap that has widened between humans as a result of war, politics, religion, racism, prejudice & money.

Creative Writing (Beginnings 2) post 5/8/14

  When it comes down to creativity and just writing in general, writing gets me thinking because my mind thinks as a whole. It's not just 1 subject that I hyper focus on but instead many emotions come up depending on the context of the prompt. Creativity plays a huge role in my masterpiece because 20 minutes from now I will be interviewing the Santa Maria Sun staff writer Camilla because she happens to be a professional journalist.  This was all facilitated for me and my training purpose of becoming a professional writer with credidation to Dr. David Preston of course because he was the one that introduced me to Camilla in the first place. He provided the resource and this is me taking full advantage of it for my own overall purpose within this class. Creavitiy stems from within so three really is no 1 answer to the question: how can creativity help with a students masterpiece?

Masterpiece Interviews 5/6/14

  So far, some of my research has been very broad in the sense that each research project addresses different topics such as underground music, directors of newspaper publishing companies and so on. In specifics Camilla Lanham a staff writer at Santa Maria Sun is one expert that I have recently come in contact with whom I will be interviewing shortly for my final project. Aside from the "big interview" a side project that's in the process is my interview with Cory Grant aka Wepz. So far I feel content with how things are going right now both with school and my home life as well.

Underground Hip Hop Artist - Cory Grant 5/5/14

Cory Grant//18//Orcutt//CA
This image displayed is a personal drawing of Grant's and a representation
of his crew Adolescents Featuring Greg Pickleweed (Beats producer).

  Cory Grant is a local rap artist from Orcutt, CA that I have recently come across. Known as CWEPZ to the underground, Grant has been rapping since 6th grade and continues to make music up until this day. This young musician claims "I don't have a favorite artist I listen to right now because I've just been listening to a lot of my own stuff for tune ups and perfection." Grant primarily works with his good friends JP, Gruga and Jsilva; all of which are also heavily involved in the underground hip hop community. As I was talking to Grant, I asked him "What does self expression mean to you?" Grant replied with: "Self expression is a key thing in life. Music has really helped me find myself and my purpose."  
His favorite quote includes: " A smart man looks like a mad man to a dumb man." As we continued to talk I was able to really understand Cory not just as an up and coming musician but as a person as well. Immediately you can just sense the determination and passion that this young man has for his cause which is to create music essentially. Within 5 years Grant plans to be living the life that he says "I was meant to since I was kid." Although his high school career is coming to an end, Grant plans to attend college where he will eventually be able to acquire the skills in business and investment. Basically gaining a better understanding for the art of smart financial spreading. 


GLAD TO BE OUTTA ORCUTT! - CWEPZ

SELF EXPRESSION IS A KEY THING IN LIFE. MUSIC HAS REALLY HELPED ME FIND MYSELF AND MY PURPOSE - CWEPZ

Beginnings 5/2/14

  In regards to my masterpiece, I feel that it has completely opened up a new chapter for me in my life because now that I am becoming a more so familiar writer with all the interviews I have been doing and what not, I feel very serious about journalism. From the beginning of the year compared to now, I feel that I have completely applied myself because I'm getting to study something I happen to be very interested in; it's not just another school subject to me for this whole entrepreneurship style of raw journalism always sparks great ideas for me. I can say that due to all the self teaching I have been doing for myself, I have learned to connect better with people thus expanding my network of people that can act as an aid in my long term goal of becoming a journalist. I think it will be easier for me to step foot in an actual professional writing environment such as a newspaper press, magazine publishers, music based writings,etc. now that I have had some practice with how this type of work environment is going to be. This will be my future "chapter"/goal because everything I'm learning in this expository composition class is 90% self learned and 10% traditional teacher to student relationship which does involve teaching. Nothing that I have learned in this class will be going to waste in the future because all of this knowledge I hold onto now such as networking out, self promoting, entrepreneurship and so on are all skills I will be needing for this competitive world. My belief is that if there is a challenge proposed regardless of what it is, I'm more willing to accept this task,challenge, whatever you want to call it for I have acquired a better understanding of how to go about certain issues that will ultimately benefit me as a person and definitely have a better impact on my actual visual work.