KELEIDOSCOPE

I walked through the revolving doors into the quiet midtown lobby. In a hard but welcoming West Indian accent, the middle aged security guard says, “What’s up Boss? Mek me see ya ID.” As he signs me in, he asks, “Is what floor ya wanta go tuh?” I let him know that I’m supposed to meet some people on the fourth floor. “Oh ya goin to de studio?? You a big tingz man, eh?” I respond with a humble laugh and nod. I’m glad someone could make me laugh, because it’s not easy to come from THE ONLY FAMILY that you know of, who resembles the Huxtables on The Cosby Show and realize a few days prior, that what you know as family is about to fall victim to a word called… Divorce. I’m glad this man made me laugh, as he asks me to sign the clipboard and returns my ID. As I get off of the elevator, I see a gentleman dressed up as Motzart getting make up applied, surrounded by a small entourage of people wearing jackets, and diamond chain pendants that spell out, in an edgy street font, Ruff Ryderz. The gentleman in the motzart costume is a producer by the name of Swizz Beatz. They all give me a “What’s Up” in the form of a head cocked halfway back, hood nod as I walk to my area for make up and wardrobe. The year is approximately 2000/2001 and this is my first interview/photo shoot for a major Hip Hop publication called XXL Magazine. The shoot goes well and I sit down to do my interview with a gentleman named Jermaine Hall. We talked about all kinds of things like my decision to leave Morgan State early to pursue my new deal with Overbrook/Interscope, to my sports background,  to my associations with Will Smith and DJ Premier and MC Lyte, to even little things like Gortex Boots and Junior’s Cheesecake. The interview went extremely well, until…

A question was asked…

A simple question, yet the most complex question that a 19/20 year old kid could ever be asked…

Remember being a child in the lunchroom at school, and the chubby lady serving the food with the mole on her face and the plastic shower cap would ask you to hold your tray up so she could plop on a big spoonful of something that you probably won’t eat? That stuff that looked like a hybrid between mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding? Well, when the gentleman asked me…

“So Kel, what is your style like? Who would you compare yourself to?“

That potato pudding is exactly what my brain felt like… On top of what I’m already dealing with in my personal life. I’m trying to figure out who I’m going to become without having my family, and this guy adds to it by asking who I ‘m going to become in the music industry too…

I mean, I’m from Brooklyn and I spit! So am I Hardcore? Nah… Well, I love lyricism so I must be backpacker, right? Nope… Wait, Wait, Wait… I have a connection with the ladies so I’m probably going to be the next LL Cool J, Yeah that’s it… Hmmm… Nope, that’s not it either. Oh, wait… I know… Since I like to touch on things that matter, that makes me a conscious ra… Nah, that ain’t it either. Of course it’s not Mr. Hall’s fault. What he asked me was a logical question and I don’t think he was trying to confuse me or expose any of my insecurities or unsettled thoughts. I think he was genuinely trying to get the best interview possible. But his question, morphed into…

“Kel, How come you ain’t on the radio?“

“Kel, How come you ain’t spinning in the clubs?“

“Kel, How come you ain’t all over the blogs?“

I can honestly say that I have struggled for years to answer that initial question and the questions that my friends, and supporters as me. That struggle has reflected in my music… In my lifestyle… And especially in my choices. I have created from a place of needing to be like that person, Or needing to sound like this person. I have made decisions from a place of needing to please this decision maker or needing to appease this part of the market. That has caused my product to always fall short of where I’d like it to be. I have let so much time pass by, while sitting in a pool of inconsistency all in the name of answering “What is my style like?” When in actuality, that question never really even needs to be answered… Well, at least not answered using the typical labels and boxes.

No more boxes. No more titles. No more categories. The Fresh Prince of Brooklyn #FPBK project says just that. On the Fresh Prince show, Will Smith was taken from Philly and placed in an environment that forced him to be the “different” one… the outcast… the weird one… the one who didn’t really fit in the boxes of Bel Air. However, in time, he made the experience a successful one while not compromising who he was yet still managing to be accepted, loved and respected. I relate to that in so many ways… And I don’t think that it’s just some coincidence that I’ve been Blessed with a 10+ year working relationship and friendship with Will Smith, which you will all be privy to on this project. Expect no boxes with this project. Expect music that could fit in both the Gang Starr and Linkin Park catalogs. Expect music that could fit on both a Passion Pit or Aloe Blacc album. Expect the music to serve as the soundtrack to people who might wear Creative Recreations/Cardigans at a Friday night loft party and then Jeans and hoodies to a Basketball game in East New York the following Saturday afternoon. Lyrical Miracle wrapped in street symphony… Imagine Raphael Saadiq and Biggie making a freshman album together… THIS IS WHAT THEIR FRESHMAN PROJECT WOULD SOUND LIKE! If you LOVE gangsta-gangsta, or bounce-it bounce-it to the floor, or you LOVE the world handing you a mediocre, cookie-cutter, structured lifestyle that you’re going to accept, then this is the project… the movement… the culture that you’ll HATE!  Expect a soundtrack to short web movies that show me in the studio with established and up and coming producers, artists & musicians… that show me in classrooms with students showing them proper creative writing mechanics with my Pens of Power program… that show just how boring this world is and our lives are when we trap ourselves in boxes, labels, and categories.

#FPBK is an entire movement for those of us who define ourselves and don’t live by how others define us. #TEAMNOBOXES.

I’ll be holding an event soon. It will be a Live showcase with myself, and my band. This showcase will also serve as a video shoot. This showcase/video shoot will be FREE. This FREE Showcase/Video shoot is just one small piece of what #FPBK will be giving you for the next few months. If you live in a Box, I don’t expect you to take part. But if you’re a person like me who likes to define yourself by your own definition, then join me and some of your favorite Artists, Producers, Actors, Stylists, Bloggers and Musicians for what I’m calling The Fresh Prince of Brooklyn. #FPBK.

If you’ll be in the NYC area in Mid July and would like to attend the soon coming FREE shoot/show, please send a quick e-mail to 3HirdPowerEvents@gmail.com with “#FPBK Show/Shoot” as the title and info will be sent to you soon. In supporting this movement, you are indeed supporting me but more importantly, you’re supporting yourself…

-Kel Spencer

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God’s Favorite Emcee | Warrior Poet | 1/2 of Writing Duo ME & MY BROTHER | Lover of all non sucky stuff | Satan.Hater | #ChixDigMe | QB of The Urban Experience | #TeamNoBoxes