Meet the person I like to call The Wiseman. Rasul is A hip hop artist. He and I got together to chop it up on a plethora of topics including Richmond More

Meet the person I like to call The Wiseman. Rasul is A hip hop artist. He and I got together to chop it up on a plethora of topics including Richmond scenes, the Village Café, and hip hop in general. Please note: The amount of history and knowledge he had to share with me could send this site crashing, but here’s what he had to share with you. Q: Let everyone know who you are… Rasul: Im Rasul Mohammad Elder. Also known as Rasul the Knowbody. Q: Where does that name come from? Rasul: It derives from an Aramaic name. I was named after the Rasul Mohammed who was the Prophet Mohammed who was the man that created the Book of Islam. I was named after him because I was born on the day he died. Q: How did you get started in hip hop? Rasul: There was no really…getting started. When I was a kid my dad was a rapper. Me and my brother used to break dance for my father as he opened for influential East Coast acts like Queen Latifah, Naughty by Nature, Brand Nubians… Me and my older brother would be the background dancers but by the time I was five I actually started rapping...I think… In third grade was the first time I started writing my own raps. At that time I formed a group and I used to play every Friday in my classroom thanks to Miss. Penciata, she allowed me and my group, which I formed with all the pretty Puerto Rican girls from my class. All the really pretty Puerto Rican girls would come over to my house over the weekend coming up with really cool routines. [chuckles] I didn’t know what macking was for but I knew I needed a gang of pretty Puerto Rican girls dancing behind me… I knew that. The following week we were allowed to perform what we came up with in class. We were called, King Rasul and The Latin Queens… I’ll never forget that. Q: How has hip hop influenced you? Rasul: How did hip hop influence me? That’s like asking me how I influence other people. Because I am hip hop. See when you mention the word music, I instantly hear the term hip hop. The reason why was because I grew up around hip hop, so music was hip hop to me. I used to listen to Red Alert live on the radio. When I was a kid breakdancing, I would be there with Crazy Legs and Rock Steady Crew, things like that. Its not like it was a far away thing for me, I was there. I remember… not only was I there, but I was there when it was happening. So I am hip hop. And how do I influence other people? Many different ways… Q: What do you think you’ll bring to the 5-cent showcase? What’s unique about you? Rasul: Since I’ve been rapping for so long, I’ve heard every style of rapping. Most importantly, I want to honor my messages and make sure that my messages are more prominent than anything else. A lot of people are concerned with looking cool, being a certain image, but my image that I happen to produce is a by-product of who I truly am. Q: Do you think some people would think you’re arrogant? Rasul: There’s a fine line between arrogant and confident and knowing who you are. They’re both, from any voyeur, can be viewed as the same exact thing. Q: So as far as Richmond goes, because I know you’re from Jersey, how has Richmond influenced you? Rasul: Richmond immediately affected me as soon as I got here: I became part of the punk rock scene… that became legendary in Richmond. All these different, really awesome parts of Richmond that was underground at the time, now people look back and admire them… I was there. I’ve been influenced by people that influenced the world from right here in Richmond. Q: How has Richmond influenced you personally? Rasul: It helped me decide how I am and who I am individually. When I came to Richmond, I noticed people were honored to highlight their individuality so I was able to experiment to the extreme to find out who I really was. I didn’t let my game peak until I found out who I was. Rasul: I named the album the Hexagon Soundtrack because the hexagon is the most simple, 2-D shape in sacred geometry… right now I’m in the promotion process, as far as playing shows trying to get people to know the record. I’ve been all over the country since May doing shows and going to different conventions, talking about the album. Q: Three words to describe you: Rasul: Smelly, stupid, and fun. Liveasy O. Check out 'Rasul The Knowbody' on myspace: myspace.com/rasultheknowbody Learn about upcoming events hosted by 'Pri VilegedKid': privilegedkid.com/home
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