The Thoughts Of Just Another Brother: My Journeys Lasted Quite A While...

Wednesday 8 February 2012

My Journeys Lasted Quite A While...

My journeys lasted quite A while longer than I ever imagined, taken me through ups and downs in my creative path since the beginning way back in October. I pray that my path continues as I always endeavour to try and learn things about life. I have a little request though if you've taken time to read my blog, I would love to hear your opinion on things. Even if you didn’t like something, it can all be used to further my career. If you feel to share feel free to get in touch, remember this wolf doesn’t bite...

About Alph

Alph Arley

Performance Poet and Spoken Word Artist/ R.A.P Workshop Facilitator. It's deeper than R.A.P!

Twitter: @Alph_Arley
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Paragraph about me:

Hi my name is Alph Arley and I know that your certainly pleased to meat me, because I know that I am certainly pleased to you. I am a 90’s US Hip-Hop, 90’s U.K Garage and U.K Grime head, with a sneaker addiction which I had battled for 20 years.

I am a performance poet, as well as a spoken word artist who was born and raised in Stockwell, South London. I started writing poetry back in 2011, and started performing my poetry in 2012, whilst I was studying at university. When I am not playing Pokémon on my Nintendo DS, listening to Rap, watching Rap battles, watching cartoons, watching footie, watching anime or reading manga, I am thinking and writing. In my spare time I also facilitate and deliver poetry, spoken word and rap workshops which are called ‘The R.A.P Programme’ to young people. This is in order to help them to gain a greater, awareness as well as understanding about the importance their individual voices, as well as to help them to gain awareness, as well as help them to articulate their thoughts and emotions.

How I get started with poetry?

How it did I get started with poetry? I would say my poetic journey subconsciously started in 94. This was when I was about 3 years old. I grew up in a two bedroom flat, in a four flat building in Stockwell with Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Puff Daddy, Mase, Dre Dre, LL Cool J, DJ Rob Base, Run DMC, Eve, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, Wycleff Jean, Lauren Hill, Fugees, Eryka Badu CD’s being played on my Mum’s black Kenwood Hi-Fi, with two standing speakers.

I remember by the age of about 9 I had my own portable stereo in my bedroom and started to build my own Rap CD collection which included Eminem, Dre Dre, Ludacris, D12, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg. Like, I remember getting printed Eminem lyrics on A4 paper, as a present from one of my Mum’s friends, after that there was no looking back. I actually started writing both grime and rap lyrics in secondary school, but those lyrics remained in the drafts of my 6230 phone. I admit, I struggled to spit in time with a beat and the lyrics did not make sense in the slightest. In 2011, whilst studying at university, I remember scrolling through my Blackberry, writing my thoughts in my note pad. I would say that my life experiences made it difficult for me to express my thoughts and emotions, which led me to become frustrated adolescent. I started writing my thoughts down and I found it helped me to come to terms with my experiences.

What does poetry mean to me?

That’s a dope question. I would say that poetry means everything to me, as it has not only helped me to come to terms with my life experiences, but it has also helped me to use my experiences to help others. I have read so many books from different poets, like Pablo Neruda, John Keats, Allen Ginsberg, Phillip Larkin, Sylvia Plath, Gertrude Stein, William Shakespeare, Benjamin Zephaniah, Linton Kwesi Johnson. Poems such as ‘Stackolee’ and ‘The Signifying Monkey’ , which are two of my favourites. I would say that it is important that everyone feels that they have a voice to express themselves as well as share with others, as growing up I noticed many around me felt that they did not have a voice. I feel that poetry is an art form which can give all the young homies on the block, that lady serving at the tills in Sainbury’s, Bossman in the local corner shop, a chance for them to express themselves, as well as voice.