“Our new material has dinosaurs and robots and other shit that wouldn't really go as nicely with, like, neo-soul or whatever people like to put behind poetry.”

~ Adriel Luis

By Catzie Vilayphonh  |  Send to Friend

Adriel Luis is a Bay Area native, a lover of all things weird, and a busy, busy man. In 2002 he founded iLL-Literacy, a collective of 4 Bay Area poets, who have toured worldwide and received high acclaim in the spoken word, music, and theater scenes alike. They're kinda like the poetry version of Black-Eyed Peas... wait, on second thought, no they're not. In 2005 a video for his poem "Slip of the Tongue" received an EMMY Award and was featured in over 75 film festivals throughout the world. In addition to conquering the performance poetry world with his slick-talking, fast rappity-rap metaphors and witty word-play, he's got a new music project, Pretty Buoyant Society, set to debut in the summer.

Adriel is Chinese American, but often gets confused for Filipino, perhaps due to his Spanish sounding-last name although once he got a speeding ticket in Virginia, where it listed him as "Mexican". The story is, his grandfather and great grandfather moved to Mexico together and his great granddad divorced his wife in China and married a Mexican lady. So somewhere out there is a Mexican family with the last name Fong. No wonder he does so many poems about the complexities of race and identity.

Catz: It seems that being a spoken word artist does not pay the bills. The only two working options for performing poets it seems to be is a full-fledged entertainer -- putting your words over beats (making music) -- or you're working in some sort of educational/non-profits/arts program. Why do you think that is?

Adriel: You forgot the third option -- smuggling organs.

(Adriel asked that I write something arrogantly descriptive like “Adriel tossed his hair back and chuckled, while he ashed his cigar on his supermodel servant's back," but I like making fun of him and include this sidenote.)

Spoken word artists don't usually make enough money because spoken word in general doesn't make much money. But a lot of that has to do with the fact that it's still pretty new to the pop-art scene, therefore there aren't as many resources and outlets. Nowadays people look at all the famous hip-hop artists and see them making a bunch of loot, but it was only 20 years ago that A Tribe Called Quest got paid like $150 for creating their first album -- and they were the DUDES! Once the entertainment industry sees that it's profitable to invest in spoken word talent, you'll see more venues, labels, and resources for them to get rich and pop bubbly with Ne-Yo (every spoken word artist's dream is to hang out, of course, with Ne-Yo).

In terms of why poets go into music and education, I think those are just natural paths of growth for spoken word, at least artistically. I'm not so sure about financially because I still know a bunch of broke ass musicians and teachers. But I guess it makes more sense to transition from poetry to music as opposed to poetry to archeology.

Catz: Now that you're getting into making music, was this move something you always wanted to do, or a surprise discovery?

Adriel: I'm so in love with music, but I was always more on the side of the audience, even when I started doing spoken word. I always wanted to do it, but for some reason I always felt like I was too old. Even as a kid, I'd watch "Star Search" and see all these 5-year-olds doing flips and shit and [feel too old.] I had the mandatory piano lessons that all Chinese kids get, but besides that, no classical training, couldn't sing, and had never dabbled in songwriting. Then, in 2006, I started really desiring to create music, specifically because of two albums: OutKast's Idlewild and Mos Def's True Magic. Both albums are hellllllllllla slept on, but for me they demonstrated how far these artists had advanced since the beginning of their careers. I wanted to make music that makes other people feel how I feel when I listen to those albums.

On top of that, my new lovechild is Pretty Buoyant Society, a joint project with my homie, DJ Phatrick. The idea is that we're two computer engineers that accidentally uploaded themselves into the internet and now have to save Cyberspace by creating sick ass music. This is the first time I'm songwriting and singing, and the first time Phatrick's producing, so we're just having fun playing in new territory. It's definitely experimental but I wouldn't say that it's hella abstract or anything. When we're taking breaks in the studio we're bumping T.I.

Catz: You're also doing some writing for magazines too. Do you find it hard to keep up with deadlines and find the time to create new art?

Adriel: I'm so ADD, the only time I can ever get myself to write music or poetry these days is when I have something else to be distracted from, so these assignments actually help me. I love writing for magazines and blogs, it gives me a chance to be a bit more direct and loose as opposed to when I'm writing for the stage or the studio. In terms of deadlines, I'm horrible with them and I've decided to just accept that as a part of my being.

Catz: Your group, ill-literacy, is multi-racial and mixed gender, a rarity in many industries. How does everyone get along so well?

Adriel: We've said so many horrible racist things to each other that none of us has the right to be offended by anyone else in the group.

Catz: So many people associate spoken word with socially conscious topics, which is all good especially since that is how most kids are getting their information. But sometimes you just want to wild out to “ignorant” music. What happens when that self-righteous persona catches up to you?

Adriel: I think my self-righteous persona OD'ed while listening to Lil' Wayne. I love that shit!!! Some people look at his music and want to call it ignorant, but I honestly think that it's incredibly crafty and intelligent. Even though some of his content might be problematic, he definitely knows what he's doing just like Spank Rock. I could bump that all day, but if I know I'm going to be sitting in my car with a bunch of “activisty” folks I'll probably won't pop it in the deck. Not because I can't, but because I don't always feel like explaining the context of why I love the music I love. I know myself well enough to hear a song, dig the way it sounds, but know that there are some things in the content that I probably shouldn't internalize. I think before writing off music as “ignorant,” it's important to understand its context. For example, Spank Rock's music is a satirical commentary of the state of hip-hop and misogyny and it's pretty apparent if you listen to his work as a whole. If you just take snippets of a track and hear “Ass and boobs, ass and boobs” then of course it'll sound ignorant. There are people out there that still call NWA and Nas “ignorant.” Don't get me wrong there is definitely music out there that's blatantly ignorant, but for the most part the hooks and beats are hella annoying so I don't really listen to it.

Catz: Please tell the good folks out there reading who've never been, what's different about Oakland from San Francisco?

Adriel: I'll put it like this: San Francisco is like Batman and Oakland is like Robin. Batman gets all the shine and has all the crazy gadgets, but when it comes down to it Robin kicks ass without any of that shit. San Francisco is definitely a fine, fine city and I love visiting there, but as long as I'm in the Bay I'll be in Oakland. It doesn't seek to impress, there aren't any crazy tourist attractions and families don't come here for vacation, but when it comes to finding the hottest underground house parties or hella cool artist folk, there's no better place in the world.

Catz: What projects are you working on next?

Adriel: So, I'm hella juiced about these next couple of months because ill-literacy is getting ready for our fall East Coast tour, and it'll be the first full-length tour where we bring our band. In the past we've worked with great musicians but this is the first time we're working with people on the same wavelength with us, and that are willing to bend the rules of music to the lengths that are necessary in order to vibe with the spontaneity of spoken word. They're all a bunch of weirdos too, which is perfect because our new material has dinosaurs and robots and other shit that wouldn't really go as nicely with, like, neo-soul or whatever people like to put behind poetry. I'm all about trying new stuff.

 

 

Check out the group at  ill-literacy.com and what goes on in Adriel's head at his blog adrizzle.com.