We were lucky to catch up with Law Bullock recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Law, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?
The kindest thing anyone ever did for me was asking me to speak. I know it doesn’t sound like such a big thing, but to a person who was used to being brushed aside it meant everything. It’s actually what made me pursue my career as a public speaker/spoken word artist.
I had been writing poetry years before I shared it with anyone. I had long before then crafted speeches on different topics. It wasn’t until 2011 that I was asked to perform a poem for my church’s watch night program. Mind you, I had never shared my work with anyone before then outside of giving speeches for projects.
I was twenty-one when I was tasked to write a piece that would take us into the new year, so I wrote this three-page poem. By the time we get to New Year’s Eve of that year, I am excited, nervous and jittery. Half-way through the program I hear my name called for me to take the stage. Standing room only crowd, and here I am sharing my poetry for the first time publicly. About five minutes on stage, reading this poem off of my tablet, and the audience is with me all the way.
I got off stage, and every bit of me is feeling accomplished for the first time ever in my life. This is when I knew I wanted to speak publicly as my career. Whether I did it with my poetry or just by talking, I knew I wanted to continue beyond that night. Twelve years later, and I am still going at it.
So, I give much appreciation to Shirley Wilson for tasking me with sharing my work on that night back in 2011. It was the kindest thing ever done for me because it led me to find my calling.
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?
My name is Lawrence Bullock II or better known as Law Bullock. Born and raised in Fayetteville, NC, I am a traveling public speaker, spoken word artist, photographer, event host, and the founder of “M.U.G., LLC” aka MUGwithUs.
I have self-published five collections of poetry including my latest work which is my first-full length book entitled “Abstract Intoxication.” I am currently working on my second spoken word album entitled “Blue Notes on the Crossfade”, which is a follow-up to my first album “Beautiful Tragedy.”
I’ve been blessed to be a spoken word artist for twelve years; I’ve been a poet for twenty plus years. My entire love for poetry began in elementary school do to my art teacher who loved all forms of art. It was her that pushed me into writing different types of poetry including haikus.
I will admit that my love for poetry was not always a solid one, but it never left me. I didn’t become serious about my craft until a classmate who was an aspiring rapper asked me to join him. I know, how does this fit in with you becoming a poet? Long story short, it was my commitment to learning the art of verse that pushed me further into poetry.
It became my muse, my voice when I didn’t have one. It was the essence of my soul poured onto paper. I remember filling about eight to ten notebooks up with my verses in a two-year time period. Eventually I gave up on being a rapper, but I couldn’t stop myself from writing.
From that night in 2011, I have been part of three collectives of artists. The first was “HIS Push Team” then “Forgiven”, more recently I was inducted into the biggest poetry troupe in the world known as “Black on Black Rhyme” as part of the Carolina chapter.
I’ve taken part in a variety of festivals, slams and showcases including the Nation’s largest slam festival “Southern Fried Poetry Slam Festival.” I’ve hosted in person and virtual events including producing my own entitled “NC Spoken, volume 1.” I am currently working on the next installment so be sure to keep your ears open for the news.
I say what makes me different from my fellow artists/creatives is simply me being the me. As a speaker, as an artist, as a photographer I am fully committed in what I am doing. I’m not the best but my drive is forever a burning fire that pushes me to improve every time. My clients can never say that I haven’t given them the best experience they could ask for. Every audience I speak in front of can never say that I haven’t always been a genuine soul.
I’m most proud of never losing who I am; even though I travel with some awesome people that I am honored to call my family; I have never lost myself in the shuffle of personalities.
As for my future clients, my future or returning audiences, I want them to know that my art, my voice is a welcoming one that only wants to showcase the beauty of this thing we call life even when it is a bit ugly at times.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Reaching new platforms. It gets me excited whenever I get contacted to step onto a new stage, whether that is as a speaker, spoken word artist, host or a photographer. I love elevating.
For years I spent more time circling the same stages that I began to become discouraged no matter who or where I would attempt to go. In the past year alone, I have seen more new platforms to share my craft on than I had in the past five years.
Even though my schedule is not as booked as I would like, I can say that I have walked through more doors than I expected to. I have my first credit as a photographer on IMDb, I produced my first spoken word showcase under my LLC, I released my 5th poetry book (first full-length), I ranked higher at Southern Fried Poetry Slam Festival than I had before. This past April I was inducted into Black-on-Black Rhyme Carolina, that in itself is a great honor, and is one that is based on your peers seeing what you have done.
There are many goals I have as an artist, so best believe that I’m still just getting started in what I can do.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Understand us. In spoken word alone I have come into contact with different people saying that they just never got into poetry, or they never even listened. The arts as a whole, despite being a global force are still overlooked by so many people who don’t realize what they’re missing out on.
Growing up I didn’t have the support system that pushed me to elevate as an artist. I used to draw before I became a poet. I drew all the time, I was becoming pretty good at it but I lost my focus when I had less people encouraging me. To them it was just a hobby that I was doing, not anything that was worth pursuing.
I picked up photography out of a love for nature. It wasn’t until I got into the greater poetry scene of Fayetteville, NC that I found people that appreciated my eye for capturing these wonderful moments.
It all comes down to society allowing themselves to understand why the arts are necessary, and how much our crafts can shift the very communities that we live in. I’ve seen the arts change cities, towns, states. I’ve witnessed the arts open people to new worlds that they would normally ignore.
Once society begins to understand, they can push for the arts to have more opportunities. We’re already gaining some big opportunities as I speak. We’re seeing more visual artists tasked with bringing a new, vibrant look to buildings, streets, avenues, etc. More poets are being booked on some of the world’s grandest stages, photographers are constantly stepping into new arenas. I know I’m leaving out some genres of art but that’s only because we have too many for me to acknowledge at this time.
Our ability to gain more ground, get more doors open is based on our communities supporting us more. Even with all the people that see what we see, there are just as many that still have yet to understand what we do so they can appreciate it. We have more mountains to climb, and that also means we need more support such as bigger grants available, more platforms for us to share our craft, less red tape, government bodies acknowledging what art brings to the table, etc.
This is not the whole answer, there are artists with a better insight than me, but I do know that understanding is one important part that leads to better support, because support itself has many definitions.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mugwithus.myportfolio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawbullock/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/law.bullock/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrence-bullock-ii-b90a3174?trk=public_post_feed-actor-name
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4gZvPZg6nqFOmxe5F5uUiQ
- Other: https://linktr.ee/LawdaPoet https://www.tiktok.com/@lawbullockii
Image Credits
Personal Pic: Big Bailey Pic 1: Monica Haynes Bowens Pic 2: Timothy White Pic 8: Unchained Melody Pics 3-7 MUGwithUs