Free
Your
Mind
Inside the Mind of a Soul Slinger
By: Raven Ekundayo
Photos By: Quill Wordsmith
Editor@eXcapethematriX.com
You’ve been sleeping on Baltimore haven’t you? That’s ok. A lot of people do. Often times I don’t blame them. This city is teeming with talent. It’s everywhere you look. The problem is a lot of folks don’t follow their dreams. That’s changing though. There’s a different feeling in the air. The arts are alive and well in B-more and all you have to do is listen to Wordslave to hear that. Born Rahsaan Eldridge, Wordslave is proof that you don’t just get one talent per artist in this city. I’m pretty sure the brother hasn’t even tapped into all of his blessings yet. He and I met up at Peace and a Cup of Joe, a Black owned café in Downtown Baltimore. I wanted to talk to him about his latest project and what makes him tick….
Music has always been an influence in his life. “I just recently picked up the percussions and my father is a percussionist and he also plays the flute, but I was never interested in the flute. The percussion was always something that I liked, and my mother sang in church choirs so music has always been all around me. In 3rd grade I looked at the trumpet and I looked at the saxophone and I said I want to play one of these. Saxophone had too many buttons so I said I’d play the trumpet. lol”
Raven – When did you actually learn to play the percussion?
Words – The past 2 years or so I really started playing more. I feel like that’s more of an innate thing. Piano you have to learn….well with anything you need to have a natural inclination anyway, but for the percussion it’s been moreso of a feeling. I’ve always felt some kind of way about the drums in general I mean you know….Black people. Lol
Raven – Lol. Right! I was just about to ask you if you remember that episode of Chapelle Show with him and John Mayer going around playing music for different cultures. Lol.
Words – It’s not a stereotype. Lol. So I’ve started to do it more and over the past couple of years more people have requested it so that way I get more practice.
Growing up Wordslave was apart of several music ensembles including jazz and chamber. He says those experiences helped him to be apart of a team. “I learned how to work with people. I was always apart of big choirs. So you had like 100 people singing at one time and it’s suppose to sound like 4 voices. So it teaches you how to listen, and not only musically but personality wise as well. That actually played a part in why I stopped singing in choirs, because it became a bit too overwhelming. It exposed me to a lot of different styles and genres of music. I know when I was studying music I didn’t care for it as much so I didn’t put as much into as I should have academically.”
Raven – Now do you think as an artist it’s important to have the formal training or is it simply good to have the raw talent and go from there? Where do you stand in that argument?
Words – It matters matters matters. As much as I didn’t like the academia of it, it did help me, but you can study all day and all night and if it’s not there naturally it’s not going to work. It doesn’t matter if you know what kind of note it is if you can’t hit it. It has to be within you to want to do it.
Raven – Gotcha. So where did the name Wordslave come from?
Words – I remember where I was when I came up with the name. I was driving and trying to think of a name. I was focusing on me being a writer. I needed something to show the fact that I’m a writer. Wordslave came to me, but I was kind of leary about the slave part of the name. But it’s not about me, it’s about my love of words. I needed for the word “Words” to be in there somewhere. I got a tattoo that says “Forever a slave to the rhythm of language”. That’s what I’m about. So that’s where it came from.
He’s passionate about his craft. He’s passionate about words. “Words are powerful. I understand that more and more everyday. A good friend of mine….LOVE (the poet) actually. We’re together more than a lot of people might know. Lol. Literally everyday. We have something where we say “Put it in the air and let it be”. They’re powerful. What you say means a lot.”
Raven – You recently released “The Art of Words Volume: 1”. What was that experience like compared to your other projects?
Words – It’s funny because this one came about…well I don’t want to say by accident because nothing happens by accident.
Raven – Right.
Words – I didn’t plan for this to be a cd. A gentleman by the name of Chin works with T.R.I.B.E. LLC. So I went to work with them. They called Black Root (Words partner in the Hip Hop group AXIOM) into the studio too. Now I didn’t know these cats. So we went into the studio and wrote the song. They weren’t too big on it but they heard what I wrote for one of my cd’s and they were like “You wrote that?.”
Raven – Lol
Words – So we worked something out and we went about making “The Art of Words”. Now how it compares to the other projects? The level of professionalism has stepped up. It’s just getting better man. You have no choice to get better the more serious you become. I feel like this is the 1st time everything has bee reflected from a writing stand point, a vocal stand point, a production stand point, packaging. Just everything. From an overall perspective this is my best work thus far.
And he doesn’t believe in walking the same path over and over again. He has to be different. “My cd before this latest one is called “Urgency” That reflected where I was at that time and the project is primarily Hip Hop. So I go to these venues and I’m singing and folks ask me if I have any product and all I have is that product. Lol. And even though I’m apart of a Hip Hop group people are not apart of me jumping around and doing the Hip Hop thing all by myself. So I felt like I was taking a chance. The more I listen to new artists the more I see what can be done. So I figure why not do something like this, or why not try something similar to what so and so did while keeping my own flavor.”
Raven – You’re an Emcee, Poet, Singer and Actor. Do you have a special place in your heart for one more than the others?
Words – That’s a good question. I guess I would say singing and I say that only because that’s where I started. That’s probably a lie too because I was probably writing before that. They each help each other. Like if not for the writing I probably couldn’t feel what I’m singing. I don’t know how people only sing what others write for them. But because I wrote it myself there’s much more behind it. Poetry isn’t something I intentionally set out to do. I just wanted to get off whatever was on my chest and that was how I did it. So that holds a special place as well. The acting helps my overall performance because I have terrible, terrible stage fright.
Raven – Really? So before you were acting you were scared on stage? Singing, poetry, Hip Hop?
Words – Well the Hip Hop came around the same time as the acting.
Raven – Oh ok.
Words – I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a performer so I told myself that I have to get over it (The Fear). Hip Hop speaks to certain people and it spoke to me. You know that whole rebellious side.
Raven – What are you hoping to put into the universe when creating your art?
Words – (Takes a brief pause) I want people 1st of all to feel good within themselves. I don’t know how many times I’ve been upset and I’ve put on the right record, cd tape, whatever, lol, and it completely changes where I am. That’s a powerful thing to be able to do that. That’s what I want to be able to do for people. I want to be able to identify with them or help them to come out of a place. There’s so much inspiration within music and art in general. It’s an amazing thing. And it helps me as well. Like I’ll be driving and….I hate driving by the way.
Raven – Lol. Ok.
Words – Road trips and stuff are cool but everything driving? Naw. So I’ll be driving and I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard Marvin Gaye’s “Here my Dear”, but there a track called “Anger” on it. When I tell you that track is so funky…I forget that I’m mad about driving. Lol. I get to groovin.
Raven – Your latest ventures have been producing and hosting. What is it like being in those shoes now?
Words – I love it. Producing is great. There’s nothing like creating something and it coming out exactly how you envisioned it. I remember before I would pitch an idea to someone and then I would sing. They would create what they thought was my idea and it wasn’t what I was looking for. So coming up with something and then having it come out exactly how you want it is a great feeling. That’s why I love the production side of it. Hosting? I like it. I think I’m getting better at it. I’ve done it before but never like I am now, on a monthly basis. You become more and more comfortable with your audience. See you’re not an artist when you’re doing that. It’s a little more personal. It’s also helped me to become more business minded.
Raven – What is left for Wordslave to conquer?
Words – THE WORLD!!!!
Raven – Lol!
Words – Well….I still have to work everyday. So obviously I’m not where I need to be. Fortunately I have a job I like. It involves teaching. When I can make THIS my full time gig I’ll be happier. So I still have more work to do.
Raven – Do you have a timeframe for when you want to be 9 to 5 free? Or are you just letting the universe handle that?
Words – Yeah. I mean we can set up times if we want to, but everything happens in its own time.
His parents are important to him and they’ve helped to mold his art into what it is now. I came to his cd release party for “The Art of Words Volume: 1” and his mother, father and grand mother were all in attendance. I wanted to know what they thought of his music and how it felt to have them there. “They respect my music. The always let me know how proud they are of me. I’m a product of what they’ve done. You know? I let them hear everything, even when it’s raw. I’m glad that they’re proud of me. I have some songs on there that are sexual in nature. People ask me how I feel about them hearing it. My response it “They’re grown”, they know what it is. I’ve never held myself back. So I’m glad that they support me and that they came out.”
Raven – Ok, the final question. What does eXcape the matriX mean to Wordslave?
Wordslave – It means eXcaping the status quo. Not wanting to just go along with the flow and not wanting to blindly follow. I’ve never been that way. It doesn’t matter if it was on the football team or on the choir, people would look at me for an example of what should be done. It’s knowing that it’s ok to question. I was on my way here and I passed a mural that said “Believe” (A slogan made some years ago by then Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley). I take in what’s around it…boarded up houses and everything and I think to myself “Believe” what? What is it that you want me to believe? You want me to believe what it is that YOU want me to believe. That pretty much says it right there. Let ME find what I want to believe in. Let me go that route.
Check out more on Wordslave and support the brothers work:
www.myspace.com/wordslavetheartist