Asheru

Asheru

Infobox musical artist
Name = Asheru
Height=


Img_capt =
Background =
Birth_name = Gabriel Benn
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1974|12|29 Columbia, Maryland, U.S.
Origin =
Genre = Hip hop, Alternative rap, Underground hip-hop
Occupation = Rapper
Years_active = 1996 – present
Label = Seven Heads Entertainment (1996-2001) Guerilla Arts Ink, LLC: The Un-label (2001-present)
Associated_acts = The Els
URL = http://www.asheru.comhttp://www.myspace.com/asheru1

Asheru (pronounced “Ash-er-roo”) (born Gabriel Benn on December 29, 1974 in Columbia, Maryland) is an award winning, Black American Hip hop artist, educator, and youth activist. He is most widely known for performing the opening and closing themes for the popular TV series, The Boondocks, as well as his pioneering and innovative efforts to forward the Hip Hop Education movement.

Early Life and Beginnings As a Rapper

Gabriel Benn grew up in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of DC for much of his childhood, but also spent some of his time living and attending school in Barbados, West Indies, the birthplace of his father. As a youth, many of Asheru’s musical influences came from a wide range of Hip Hop artists such as Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, KRS One, Public Enemy, N.W.A., Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, Native Tongues, Pharoahe Monch, and more, as well as the classic Soul, R&B, and Pop records of the 70’s and 80’s eras that his mother used to play throughout the house. At the age of 16, he graduated from high school and attended the University of Virginia, where he finished in 1996 with a B.A. degree in Anthropology. In college he formed relationships with fellow colleagues, a group of like-minded individuals that shared a similar passion for Hip Hop music and the collective Black experience. After college, one of those colleagues, Wes Jackson, founded an independent Hip Hop label, Seven Heads Entertainment, and in 1996 signed its first group, Unspoken Heard, made up primarily of Asheru and Jackson’s older brother, Robert Jackson, aka “Blue Black". Asheru and Blue Black went on to release a series of 12” singles and EPs, and in 2001 released their first album, “Soon Come”, a critically acclaimed debut, still widely considered a classic in many Hip Hop circles. In 2003, the group released their second album “48 Months”, followed by the “No Edge Ups in South Africa” album, a compilation album of other 7 Heads artists featuring the hit, “Mood Swing” with Talib Kweli.

Asheru, both as a solo artist as well as with the group Unspoken Heard, has gone on to travel extensively throughout Europe, Canada, the US and Japan, performing alongside artists and groups like Common, Mos Def, Jill Scott, Bilal, Ludacris, Edo G, J-Live, Wordsworth, and The Roots, while collaborating and being featured on projects with Hip Hop greats such as Pete Rock, and Jazzy Jeff. His lyrics are categorized by reflection upon the state of affairs of the current-day Black American. Through his music, he demonstrates a desire to improve the attitude of Black people towards liberation through education and self-empowerment. He currently travels with a live band, The ELs, made up of a three (sometimes four)-piece band of accomplished veteran musicians and producers, namely Aquaman, Mr. Hu, and Zo!.

The Boondocks

Most recently, Asheru collaborated with Aaron McGruder to write and perform several songs for the hit TV series, The Boondocks, including the show’s theme song. Asheru’s contribution to the controversial "Return of the King" episode of the Boondocks series helped him to earn the prestigious Peabody Award for Journalism in 2006, making him the first rapper (emcee) to win such an award.

Education

Alongside his career as a Hip Hop artist, Asheru has also served as a teacher within Washington, DC Schools since 2001, specializing in curriculum development and arts-based instruction. In 2004, he went on to earn a Masters degree in Education from National-Louis University. He is the founder of his own community arts organization and independent music label, Guerilla Arts Ink, LLC. As an artist-educator, Asheru seeks to train and provide opportunities for artists of all media to deliver direct training and instruction in the classroom, and currently serves as Director of Vocational Arts at Rock Creek Academy in Washington, DC. He continues to advocate and mentor youth in schools and juvenile detention centers all over the country, with his unique message of promoting literacy as an intervention against youth violence, crime, unemployment, and incarceration.

In 2005, Asheru co-founded Educational Lyrics, LLC, an independent publishing company that creates culturally relevant cross-curricular teaching materials, the first of which being [H.E.L.P., or the Hip Hop Educational Literacy Program'.] [http://www.edlyrics.com] . In an effort to bridge the gap between Asheru’s two passions -- music and education, H.E.L.P. is a series of supplemental reading workbooks designed to HELP students of all reading levels through the innovative usage of Hip Hop lyrics for critical analysis, multicultural relevance, and effective literacy instruction.

Discography

*Cosmology EP...Unspoken Heard (1997)
*Better/Smiley 12”... Unspoken Heard (1998)
*Jamboree EP ... Asheru (1999)
*Soon Come LP ... Unspoken Heard (2001)
*48 Months LP… Unspoken Heard (2003)
*Mood Swing 12”... Asheru feat. Talib Kweli & Raheem DeVaughn (2003)
*No Edge Ups in South Africa …Seven Heads Entertainment (2003)
*Black Moses 12”.... Asheru (2005)
*Insomnia Vol.1 LP... Asheru (2006)
*Insomnia Vol.1: Sleepless in Japan…(IMPORT ONLY) (2006)
*… Asheru & Dub Floyd(2006)
*3 Stars, 2 Bars EP… Asheru (2007)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Asheru — У этого термина существуют и другие значения, см. Ашер. Asheru Фотография Asheru Основная информация Страна …   Википедия

  • Unspoken Heard — NOTOC Infobox musical artist Name = Asheru and Blue Black of the Unspoken Heard Img capt = The band as portrayed on the 2001 LP Soon Come Img size = 200 Landscape = Background = group or band Alias = Origin = Washington DC, United States Genre =… …   Wikipedia

  • Return of the King (The Boondocks) — Infobox Boondocks Episode Title = Return of The King Caption = Martin Luther King speaking at the church party. Airdate = January 15, 2006 Season no. = 1 Episode no. = 9 Production no. = 110 Writer = Aaron McGruder Director = Kalvin Lee Guests =… …   Wikipedia

  • 3 Stars, 2 Bars EP — Infobox Album | Name = 3 Stars, 2 Bars EP Type = EP Artist = Asheru Released = 2007 Genre = Hip hop Length = Label = Producer = Asheru Last album = (2006) This album = 3 Stars, 2 Bars (2007) Next album = Hip Hop Docktrine 2 (The Saga Continues)… …   Wikipedia

  • American hip hop — The United States is the nation of origin of hip hop, a cultural movement that began in the 1970s in New York City, among primarily African American and Hispanic audiences.cite news|title=The Birth of R… …   Wikipedia

  • The Boondocks (TV series) — For other uses, see Boondocks (disambiguation). The Boondocks The main characters of The Boondocks From left: Huey, Riley, and Robert Freeman Genre …   Wikipedia

  • The Sound Providers — are a Jazz rap duo formed by producers Jason Skills and Soulo. Formed in 1998 in San Diego, California, it originally included a third member, an MC named Profile, who left the group shortly before they were signed by ABB Records. The Sound… …   Wikipedia

  • Talib Kweli discography — This is the discography of Talib Kweli, an American rapper.olo albums* Quality **Released: December 16 2002 **Billboard 200 chart position: 21 Certified Gold By RIAA **R B/Hip Hop chart position: 6 * The Beautiful Struggle **Released: September… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Talib Kweli songs — The following is a list of songs by Talib Kweli organized by alphabetical order. The songs on the list are all included in official label released albums, soundtracks and singles, but not white label or other non label releases. Next to the song… …   Wikipedia

  • Kenn Starr (rapper) — Kenn Starr is a rapper from Suffolk, Virginia, currently residing in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Starr is a member of the Low Budget Crew and also the duo Isaac Jones. His solo debut, Starr Status , was released in mid 2006. Recording… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”