This week DeBraun profiles hip hop artist Allen Poe.
Allen Poe is a native of Frankfort, Kentucky but has been part of the local hip-hop scene for the last few years. Writing and rhyming was something that always appealed to Poe and music at one point, was just a pastime for him. After becoming a father Poe says his passion for music urged him to become more serious about it.
“I wanted to take it serious because I kept doing it out of fun, but then around 2007 my first daughter was born and I didn’t wanna stop doing music, but at the same time I knew, in my mind, I felt like in order to continue to do it, I needed to be able to go about it more seriously more so than just me and some friends going to hang out and you know, work on some music, and at that point when I had family and obligations like that, I felt if I’m going to do this I really need to devote and become more serious with it.”
Those family obligations are part of what makes his music connect with many different people. His music has been featured in various online blogs and music websites such as 2 Dope boyz and Okayplayer. Poe describes himself as a family man who does mundane family things, but that is something he says is a part of himself that comes out through his music.
“What I like to do is take the emotional experiences that I have and couple them with my different thoughts on culture and society and those type of things and to me, I feel like my sticking point, or what I like to do, is take the common every day, every person experience and kind of weave that into hip-hop soul, to me that’s what I try to stick to, I don’t like to go too far outside of my experiences.”
In addition to releasing his own music, Poe is a well known collaborator in the hip-hop scene. His approach is a little different. While he prefers to focus on his own music, as an artist he says he also understands the need to grow while collaborating with others.
“You wanna be on the same page and a lot of features can be like ‘here’s the topic, just say what you wanna say on it,’ so yeah when I’m alone and I’m doing my own thing, I can fully just immerse myself in the music and in my thoughts and in my writing, so I prefer that, but when you work with someone else too, the cool thing about that is, maybe you go different angles and different ways you would not have gone if it were on your own.”
Allen Poe has a brand new album out called Still Eatin’. More information about Poe and his projects can be found here.
