An Encounter with Desdamona
Yesterday I met a women who embodies everything that I hold sacred to my heart. She is a fellow Hip-Hop devotee, a spoken word aficionado, and she is a founding contributor to B-Girl-B, and continuous project that celebrates women in Hip-Hop. As Desdamona describes it, B-girl-B is her baby: something she wanted to start because she felt women were being misrepresented in Hip-Hop. She does what I talk about. It was empowering and inspiring to be able to sit with her. I am ashamed I to say that I knew next to nothing of this amazing woman, which is most likely the reason I felt out of place when I sat down to meet with her, and two of my friends/associates, for a meeting to see how we could best provide a street team for her.
I walked into Dunn Brothers 20 minutes before the meeting was going to start, hoping to be able to get my soy latte, dump about 1/8 a mini-bear of honey into it, and quickly suck down a cigarette before anybody arrived. If I timed everything right, I would even be able to wash my hands and put in some eye drops. But, as I should have guessed, (this being a meeting of passionate, willing and able women) the three ladies were sitting down at the table, excitingly discussing viral video campaigns, design, marketing & basic promotion: there was stacks of stickers, flyers, and CDs scattered on the side of the table. Needless to say, I had no idea what was going on. A week earlier I had received a message from one of my friends, saying Desdamona asked if she could round up some women to help assemble a street team. I said yes because I figured it would be a great way to ride my bike before the summer is over, and it would give me a chance to explore my new city, ST. Paul. So, here I am thinking that this was going to be a simple “here’s the flyers, post them everywhere, peace” kind of a deal, I walk into a whirlwind of ideas, all way above what I expected. After five minutes of listening to Desdamona talk about what she does, why she does it, what she loves, what she struggles with… I felt like a complete asshole. I wished I could have done anything but sit in silence. In awe, actually. I wished that I had known, or even thought, to prepare for this rendezvous, so that I would have had something to contribute besides my blabbering when she asked us each what we were about, what we wanted to do with ourselves. This question could not have come at a worse time, because a month ago, I had a stone cold plan, solid as a rock. I knew exactly what I wanted and had a concrete plan to get there. Slowly build an army of urban artist, to eventually breakthrough and inspire the world. OK, when I write it like that it still sounds like a great idea, but I would like to be realistic, without losing my ambition. Realistically, business work doesn’t make me nearly as happy as creative work. This is neither here nor there I am getting way off topic, back to the subject:
Desdamona, was speaking, literally, out of my memory bank. She was saying phrases I have uttered only with an adverb or two different. She spoke impeccable truth. Women are misrepresented in Hip-Hop. You could type Hip-Hop into any search engine in the world and what would show up? Half naked women, in a gold bathing suit. With high heals, and her ass hanging out. B-Girl-B is finally, our chance to break this bullshit, to show that we are just as much a part of Hip-Hop’s soul, as it’s body. I had the pleasure of listening to Desdamona’s album “Inkling” (with beautiful artwork might I say), and found it enchanting. Spoken word artist, it seems (and maybe this is just where I’m from…I am still new to this area), are few and far between. Desdamona is a rhythm women, speaking to the heart beat of Hip-Hop. She is smooth, collected, yet her words burst, and pop into similes that beget metaphors that unfold into something that will make you close your eyes and lean into the speaker to make sure you don’t miss a word. I watched her video “The Source”, and felt progressed through every second. She has a magical way of weaving words and meaning leading any rapper to say: “damn”. I listened to Desdamona spit “We Will Always Be” off the Brother Ali album “Rites of Passage”:
“…vocals eclipsing ridiculously dope beats, and they are blind to the signs that the rhyme combined with the mind connects them to their feminine side, the groove slips through their thighs and makes their hips wide like mine, as mother Hip-Hop places her eternal child inside something impossible to see through these jaded eyes…..Redefining their DNA, so when archaeologists dig up the past, they will say these homo-sapients are from the era of Hip-Hop days.” (I apologize if this is misquoted, I had to write it out by ear).
Arguably one of the greatest rhymes about our culture, thought many men would disagree with me.
Fuck them, and thank you Desdamona, you have inspired me, and I will be there to support your poetry, and B-Girl-B, because you are one of those hand-full of people who are ready and starving to make change. To encourage better of people, as a whole. We need more Kick Ass Women like you.
“The Source” By Desdamona
“We Will Always B” By Desdamona
