Free
Your
Mind
I AM SOUL
By: luminoUS
luminous7@msn.com
Stumbling on Baltimore’s spoken word scene almost two years ago, a few things stand out in my mind. Meeting Wordslave was one of those moments. It wasn’t so much as a formal meeting as it was a meeting with his voice. For those of you not familiar with Wordslave, in addition to being one half of the hip-hop duo AXIOM, he is an actor, poet, vocalist and lyricist. I approached the doors of Teavolve to attend my first “Spoken Serenity Be Free Fridays” and amongst the list of poetry open mic-ers, there was a singer with a voice to remember! This guy picked up the mic and began to sing “One Luv,” and from that moment on, I was a fan. With my right hand thrown up in the air, displaying the number 1, I began
to sing along with the crowd, “One love, one heart, one love…” And so, begins “The Art of Words Vol. 1.”
It all begins with Wordslave extending a personal invitation to the listener to not only listen to “The Art of Words,” but to enjoy. The next track sums up the overall feeling you will receive after you reach the last second of the last track. Wordslave truly is SOUL. Dubbed by some as a musical genius, I am inclined to think the same after listening to this brother’s CD. From thought provoking lyrics to a great voice to amazing musical arrangements, this CD has the perfect recipe to make you get up out of your seat and move. With that said, I’m pretty sure he had the intentions of making his audience want to dance when he recorded the track “Mover, Shaker.” Equipped with both an up-tempo beat and motivational words, how could you not want to dance? He goes from motivational singer to “panty dropping crooner” all in ten tracks with a pretty funny skit thrown into the mix. You will definitely be left singing the hook from track number three because it’s just that catchy. In fact, I’m sure Best Buy and Circuit City will thank Words for the sky rocketing sales in camcorders after the masses get a listen to “Record.”