We recently connected with Aaron Dukes and have shared our conversation below.
Aaron, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?
There have been many times my creative work has been misunderstood and/or mischaracterized. I am constantly in a state of growth and the pursuance of truth. This means that some beliefs I used to hold, I no longer now hold. When you are humble enough to not know what you believe, sometimes you are willing to try on different perspectives and beliefs to see how they fit. Or sometimes you simply and naturally outgrow perceptions and understandings you may have held about a topic, or an event in your life, or the way things work. Being a creative, I have always allowed myself to work out these complex dichotomies within my writing and my musical content. It can be a vulnerable position to take a concrete stance on a given topic through lyrics in a song. And with all communication, there is always substantial room for misinterpretation from the receiver of expressions we have. I have a saying that goes, soft beats and hard rhymes .. or vice versa, hard rhymes and soft beats. Sometimes the feeling of the music can impact or influence the way a song is received separate from what is actually being said.
There are songs I have that are really very considerate and compassionate, but because the wording might include profanity or what is perceived as a “sharp tongue,” the genuine softness of the deeper message might be lost or mischaracterized. Another example might be a sentiment I held 20 years ago in a song someone is just hearing today, but my position has changed, and now the listener might hold my current essence to that of something they don’t understand was actually from a different time, place and perspective. Sometimes the way I present physically, say perhaps as a brown male dressed more in urban style, might invoke preconceived notions of who or what I am, without a single word spoken. And sometimes what comes out of my mouth may then alter or surprise the recipient and transform their original presumptions. There have been times where I look fairly “hood” and typically “uneducated,” and then I’m met with comments like “you’re so well-articulated,” or “I had no idea you graduated from a university.” Sometimes our misunderstandings and tendencies to mischaracterize are completely understandable, and sometimes they reveal unfortunate biases in an observer that suggest ignorance and unwarranted negative prejudice.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I developed into my artistic crafts very naturally and organically. From a very young age I was both very introspective, as well as creative. I was always drawn to music and the arts in various forms. Music from my first memories intrigued me, inspired me, and offered a sense of feeling and sentiment I may not have been able to identify or express on my own at such a young immature age. I found escape, understanding and validation through the music I was exposed to. As a young brown male born into the foster system, I didn’t have blood family to teach me about where I came from and a history of my people that would be important to know or shape me into continuing a legacy and a family philosophy into the next generation. I learned about things as deep as black history through hip hop music as a young boy. But I was also making jewelry, and sculptures and fine arts that had no implicit words and voices attached to my creations, leaving value and interpretation in the eyes of the beholder. I was placing 1st in fine art contests by middle school and high school. I was struggling and falling behind academically but thriving and finding my place in the world of artistic expression. I was also in my first band by 6th grade, dreaming of being a rock star.
My gifts for the arts, however, were heavily overshadowed by my chaotic childhood and upbringing. I grew up in a violent time, in a violent part of the country. I lacked guidance, mentorship and direction, and it led me into a world of misguided decisions and paths that could have ended more tragically than some of the unfortunate realities that did manifest. I feel lucky and almost like my life had some divine intervention that led me into new paths and directions that helped facilitate a type of salvation from my otherwise seemingly nihilistic and pessimistic foundation engulfing the course I had seemed destined to continue. By some strokes of luck, chance and an open mind, I eventually found myself in the unlikely institution of continued education out here in Boulder Colorado at C.U. and enrolled in the Fine Arts program which significantly swayed the direction my life was going. While I couldn’t read music, or get into the music department at C.U. I was able to pursue Fine Arts in general, as well as a plethora of philosophical, cultural, sociological and other studies that certainly helped refine my otherwise chaotic and occasional ill-informed views of the greater world, our history and my own identity.
My first ventures in combining the arts and business came from becoming a self-taught glass blower around the age of 19. By the grace of God, I developed a surprisingly lucrative business as a glass blower at a time when there weren’t many in the craft. I also had parallel ventures all the while with music, starting in bands, and then dj’ing at parties and clubs for cash money under the table. Life was good, I wasn’t crazy prosperous, but I certainly wasn’t broke either. In some ways I was incredibly naive about the future and my ability to succeed. This worked both in my favor, and against me in many ways. Around the time I was nearing graduation and attaining a Fine Arts degree, I was led into writing from a class I was taking in Native American studies by a man I admired very much named Ward Churchill, a man who significantly changed my life. Many people from the time around 2001 might remember Ward Churchill from the national controversies that arose concerning his writings and speeches that led to significant outrage and national discussions concerning his viewpoints and essays he had written, but I digress. Following a class of his I took, I began writing spoken word poetry and immediately had an incredibly positive response from my early compositions. From my first writing piece I would say I naturally began developing and creating more and more content that immediately turned back to music, specifically hip-hop styles, that refined and defined everything I had been internalizing from my adolescence up to my current state of being. My writings were heavily message oriented, focusing on history, oppression, culture, race relations, spirituality and conspiracies I had studied regarding the United States government and both the black and Native demographics in American history.
To this day, I am extremely proud of the way I seem to have been able to weave heavy “heady” subjects and content into a musical form that seemed/seems to transform what would otherwise be potentially controversial or confrontational content, into digestible and even uplifting artistic compositions that allow for a much different, much more palatable dish that was welcomed at the table of the people I was serving it up to. My craft became an ever-evolving tango, evoking feelings and memories of love, romance, heartbreak, vulnerability, deception, betrayal, growth, inspiration and so many of the generalized qualities humans experience and face that unite us through commonalities, despite our vast specific differences that also seem to separate us and even cause conflict and contention. I pride myself on always having the intention for betterment, individually as well as within our greater society. I often say that I have a passion for bridging gaps, especially in places where it would otherwise seem very unlikely to find common ground. My brand also invokes a sense of mystery, of not knowing what you’re going to get, or getting something you might not have necessarily expected.
Am I black, am I white, am I native, yes, I’m all of these things ebb and flowing both predictably and absolutely unpredictably together. But it’s aspects of all of these things that end up resonating and connecting with such a wide range of demographics to those who may catch me performing live or hearing music I’ve released publicly. I’m very rough around the edges and embody the essence of street culture, while simultaneously portraying features of a refined cultured student of life. I believe it’s this unique combination of elements that has kept me in the game to this day, after 25 years of consistent hip hop fusion music in my primary project called the Freedom Movement. And yes, while I was also in an incredible group called the Wandering Monks for years too, in my heart and in my head it’s all the Freedom Movement.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
While this story may seem slightly disconnected from my craft, I assure you it’s not. A major part of my music content and foundation has been dissecting, understanding and attempting to improve various systems and states of inequity, oppression, disenfranchised demographics and suffering that potentially might not inherently need to exist, or continue to plague aspects of our society.
My musical passions at a time were seemingly gaining tangible steam and momentum, moving towards increased reception and support from the community, as well as from a business aspect. In the midst of what otherwise seemed like consistent and stable increased growth, I found myself in a dynamic that would prove to be both soul crushing, and monumentally detrimental to the trajectory my musical ventures were heading.
While my creative endeavors were fulfilling and enriching my life, I was in a relationship that conceived a child with a woman who would radically change my life. I found myself in an abusive relationship with someone who would try to destroy me in a manner I never perceived was even possible. There’s no way to convey the depths and severity of the many ways I became the focal point of this human’s malintent. I can attempt to condense the primary challenges that subsequently forged a resilience I didn’t know I was capable of.
In my life, I have faced many forms of racism, violence and prejudice that impacted me deeply, but none compared to the 8 years I spent fighting to be a part of my daughter’s life in the family court system. There’s a phrase from a movie in 1963 called “Free, White and 21,” which exemplifies my experience in the family court system. I was a brown male, and my ex was a petite white female. I knew society had many discriminations and prejudice that I experienced, but I naively thought that surely the family court process must have restrictions and checks and balances that ensure a more stringent oversight for equality, civil rights and protections. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Over the first 8 years of my daughter’s life I was discriminated against and judged in a way that truly showed me where power was, and more importantly where it wasn’t. My ex girlfriend characterized me as every negative minority stereotype there was. An abuser, oppressor, drug dealer, pimp, extortionist, creep etc. With no evidence to back any of these claims against me, I found myself needing to defend myself against a whole slew of accusations. I had never been accused of a crime before, and I had never been charged with any crimes in my life, yet I was forced to turn over all of my financial documents, answer hours of discovery questions, undergo supervised parenting and pay exorbitant fees just to have a weekend here or there with my daughter. As I mentioned, this went on for 8 years straight, no breaks.
After 8 years of litigation with a woman who seemed to have endless resources to fight in court, I finally reached 3 parenting visits annually, while my ex had 85% of the remaining time with our daughter. For most of those years I only had around 3-5 % of the time. I was a foster child myself, and I had never known any blood related family. My children were the first true reflection of myself I had ever seen. I learned that there are forms of love in this world that you will give even your life to stand behind what’s right for. Every time the court delivered another blow that knocked me down, somehow, I found a way to stand back up. There are many times in our lives navigating in this world that our character is tested, or that our resilience is put to the test, these years in family court showed me how strong I truly am. The irony is not lost that over these 8 years I shed more tears than any other point in my life, and I felt weaker than I imagined any other human to be. I felt broken and had all the concrete faith I held in this world tested over and over again. But that’s what resilience is, being challenged to your core, having seemingly unconquerable obstacles, and continuing to put one foot in front of the other and push forward.
I feel so lucky and blessed to have had my creative outlet through the hardest times in my life. My craft was my release, my therapy, my journal, my mirror and my saving grace. Some of my best music to date came from these years of conflict. My philosophy was defined and refined because of what I went through. My conviction was sharpened and strengthened due to the resilience it took to not succumb to negativity and defeat. And my faith in God was solidified by my unwillingness to believe that it all was void of reason and a greater plan bigger than myself and my own limited perspective. Many of the lessons and value that came from this experience are mine alone, and to complex to outline in this interview. But I just finished an album this very week, that I know was only possible from the resilience I embodied to be here today despite the devastating years stolen from me and from my daughter.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I am a musician primarily, so I will answer this question in relation to the music world specifically. With the growth and popularity of modern apps like Spotify, artists are receiving less monetary value for their hard work and creations than ever before. While apps like Spotify make finding and playing your favorite music easier and more convenient than ever, the profits from these streams end up going to business owners who have virtually contributed nothing to the production and distribution of these artists blood, sweat and tears.
Musicians and artists typically need some form of tangible return for their hard work to continue their creative process. Most work labor in this economy is valued by a financial dollar return. Music should be no different. We say we love the arts, and our favorite musicians, but often we don’t put our money where our mouth is. One of the best ways to support artists is to literally pay them for their creations. Most artists have some way to purchase their music. At the very least they have a way to “donate” to them in some fashion. While tangible CD’s have fallen by the wayside, the fact remains, artists need money to survive and thrive.
Even though CD’s are harder and harder to find, many artists still have other merchandise they offer to promote and compliment their releases. Buying merch in any form is a great way of supporting artists. Additionally, many musicians ultimately want to play their music in a live venue and connect with their fans and expose unknowing music lovers to their work. Going to see live music is a great way to support the arts, and a great way to garner access to the merch they are selling. While national acts dominate the live music scene, it’s increasingly important to seek out local music in your own geographic region.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rhymes4thetimes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedommovementmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rhymes4theTimes
- Twitter: https://x.com/EmceeAD
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAZSeGWfPG941JTfP_dkgJg
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/freedommovement
Image Credits
Aaron Dukes (MCAD)