We recently connected with LyricallyGifted Brother and have shared our conversation below.

LyricallyGifted, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

Being misunderstood/mischaracterized is hilarious to me. People see my stage name and automatically think, L.G.B oh lesbian, gay, bisexual instead of doing their research. If they took the time to get to know the artist, they would know it stands for Lyrically Gifted Brother. You have no idea how many times I’ve been turned down for a feature, kicked out of a social media group or had my events deleted because them, being ignorant, assumed that they were lesbian or gay events. To those people, I say thank you because I don’t want to perform or be paid by people who does not see another human being as just that, another human being, regardless of gender preference, race, or any other reason they can think of. The only color and gender I see is the color of human, which is red, because we all bleed the same color unless you’re not from this planet lol.

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?

How I got into this, I was an inspiring rapper from New Orleans and failed miserably lol. A company I was trying to sign with felt like I was doing poetry after a studio session. They basically told me, bro, you are NOT what we are looking for in a rapper, you sound like you doing poetry. So, after that, I turned some of my raps into poems and went to an open mic in New Orleans for the first time called Ebony Square and here I am. Being disciplined is one of the most important things when you are a creative because basically your success depends on you, nobody else. So, if you are not writing on a regular basis, performing on a regular basis, competing on a regular basis you can’t evolve. Lately I’ve been struggling with that, and I need to get on it because I have several competitions coming up in the next month and I need to make my presence known and felt. As for problems I solve for my supporters, I try to make them laugh and entertain them. I also try to uplift and inspire all and show people that you have an ally in me, a genuine person who believes in being kind just because. As for what set me apart from others, the way I support others and everything they are doing. I want everybody to win. I believe this city has enough success to go around for everyone to grab, we just have to support each other which some don’t but that’s their choice. My personality and my sense of humor are other things that sets me apart, I’m goofy, I love to make people laugh because this world has enough of problems that causes people to be depressed and down and I just want to change that, provide that smile, that laugh while you are listening to me perform. One of the things I’m most proud of when it comes to my poetry career is not the poetry slams, I’ve won, the titles, it’s not even the features and hosting, even though I love performing and hosting, but it was putting on my first live poetry slam event Lyrical Warfare Revelations. I was nervous, scared, anxious and whatever else you can think of, but I had a great supporting staff. My Dj, slash manager, slash assistant, YoSwizz was a big help regarding the success of that night. Plus, the venue owner Michelle at Break The Moldz was really supportive and supplied everything I needed. Also, the turnout was phenomenal, a lot of poets that have their own events and shows came out that night just to show love and support. I have people buying tickets who couldn’t be there still buy tickets just to show support. I also had people/poets who knew they were coming alone buy extra tickets which really made me feel supported and loved and to everyone that donated money towards the winners and came out, to all of you I say thank you. To all my supporters and future supporters please continue to support me and just know if you see my name on a flyer or show that you are attending, get your popcorn ready because I’m here to entertain.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, it’s having someone from the audience come up to you after you perform and say how I’ve inspired or motivated them. How my women empowerment poems really uplifted them. How my funny poems made them laugh when they were having a rough and depressing day, those are the moments I live and perform for. Just to know that I connected with one person, inspired one person or motivated one person to go out and look at the world different, help someone they don’t even know, pull them up out of a dark place they could have been in before hearing my work, that’s the most rewarding. Just being able to relate to something somebody is going through and help them on their journey.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

One of my goals is to help poetry/spokenword/slampoetry sell out 30,000 seat arenas. We have so many creatives that are in our community that are beyond talented, and we need bigger stages. We have so many poets that can entertain large audiences and keep them engaged, wanting more, coming back but I feel like we don’t get the chances, the opportunities as other creatives because society has defined poetry as something non-entertaining but I know a lot of poets, if you put them in front of thousands of people, they will shut it down. We need our spotlight, our chance, we are hungry and ready. A lot of us want to be full time creatives but the opportunities are not there for everyone. Now on a personal goal, I want to be known as one of the most entertaining and funniest poets/spokeword entertainers that ever stepped on stage.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Lyricallygiftedbrother
• Facebook: Lyricallygiftedbrother
• Linkedin: Lyricallygiftedbrother
• Twitter: Lyricallygiftedbrother
• Youtube: lgbpoet or lgb504