The Thoughts Of Just Another Brother: Something I Wrote A Year Ago...

Saturday 14 April 2012

Something I Wrote A Year Ago...

Well where do I begin, well I guess the beginning is best..

To think about life as a social construct is a difficult and challenging factor, but I guess it is what you make it. The main topic of my thoughts right is about the term of independence and how it can be applied to everyday life. The common knowledge of life is that you only live once; there isn’t a repeat or any second chances. If you’re a religious person then there is the promise of an afterlife, but in contrast if you’re not then this is basically it for you I don’t honestly mean to sound anti I’m just being a young realist. In all walks of life a person lives one life, is evidently able to be in control of his or hers destiny. The society that we live in today is led us to believe that we as people should live our life’s on others opinions. The modern society has shown us to base our very own dress sense, musical taste and other interests on the environment that we as individuals find us in.

This is where my actual argument begins to shape because personally, if my short stay on this earth was shaped by another I have personally not lived life. If I regard my dress sense, the way I act or even what eat to be influenced by another I’m not in control of my own destiny. The values of a person should be able to differ from person to person, another’s person’s views shouldn’t be stigmatised but if I personally don’t agree with something you do, who am I to pass judgement that’s how you choose to live your life and good luck with that. At the end of the day I’m 20 now and I don’t want to be 40 saying that I lived 20 years for another. As a person you shouldn’t feel the need to be dependent on another, but gain confidence and independence to be different and speak about your own personal beliefs...

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About Alph

Alph Arley

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

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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.