I'm interested in peace of mind (word to Julie Dexter). I'm also interested in becoming a better person. (Help wanted..) And in the "interest" of shameless self-promotion, I host a blazing weekly open mic event (along with my baby brother Dwayne B) at the Mocha Hut (1301 U Street NW, Washington, DC, Thursdays, 8:00pm to 11:00pm) and have a number of dope spoken word/hip hop projects out. Thanks to my main man Slyce D of Triflava, my funky-fresh music page is now up! (Check it out at www.myspace.com/thebrokeballer.) And you can feel free to hit me up to get on my email list for more about my products and other events.
(brokeballer@gmail.com)
Music
Muses as of 02/13/09: Right now I'm FEELING all the new tracks from my soon-to-be-released (for real this time) album "True Things" and my subsequent mixtape "American Prankster". Speaking of which, check out a few more of my tunes at www.myspace.com/thebrokeballer! Lasting Loves: New Orleans bounce (i.e. MC T. Tucker, Pimp Daddy, 3-9 Posse, U.N.L.V., Partners-N-Crime, Ms. Tee, Sporty T, Da Entourage, etc.), circa '95 hip hop ish (not to beat a dead horse, but it ain't been the same since), the type of goodies that show up on chillout/lounge/downtempo compilations, bossa nova (especially Astrud and Bebel Gilberto), reggaetton (i.e. Luny Tunes, Don Omar, Tego Calderon, Daddy Yankee), bhangra, all my DC-area "peer-oes" (peers/heroes) who hold down the spoken word and hip hop (especially the new wave of real cats/kittens like Triflava, Ill Harmonics, and Laura Perez), MAC (psychoward/No Limit; reppin' dat uptown New Orleans, ya urd mi?), Dirty Water (Cool Cee Brown & Joe D), Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli), Mystic, Si*se', Bows, Zero 7, Koop, Jem, Esthero, Ivy, 4Hero, Thievery Corporation, Massive Attack, Portishead, Bob Marley, Samia Farah, Amel Larrieux/Groove Theory, Bjork, Emiliana Torrini, Lake Trout, Doves, Elbow, Roni Size/Reprazent, Dwele, Bahamadia, Camp Lo, Hieroglyphics, Goapele, A Tribe Called Quest, Fugees (in the "Score"/"Carnival"/"Miseducation" days, which I dearly miss), Kelis, Outkast, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lovage, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Gorillaz, Pharcyde, Digable Planets, Swollen Members, Anti-Pop Consortium, Planet Asia, Common, Little Brother, Boot Camp Clik (Black Moon, Smif'n'Wessun/Cocoa Brovaz, Heltah Skeltah, Originoo Gunclappaz...."Fab Five, mad live, blow up the spot/ Dru Ha gets the papers, Black Moon still gets the props..."), Biggie Smallz (r.i.p.) and many, plenty more.
Movies
Last Film(s) I Saw In The Theater: "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans". Last DVD I Watched: "The Waterboy". And the entire series of "The Wire", which is a continuous viewing project, of course. Films that I co-wrote/co-produced: (www.straightnochaserfilms.com) "Multitude of Mercies" (winner of 2005 BET Rap-It-Up Film Competition and Cable Positive Outstanding Programming Award; screened at the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto), "A Weigh With Words", "Half Fool, Half Empty" (starring myself!)(as screened at the AFI Silver for the 2006 48 Hour Film Project), "Paper Trail" (as screened at the 2005 Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival), and "Crumb Snatchers" (as screened at the historic Charles Theater in Baltimore).
Okay, enough tooting my own horn. I love so many films that it would be ridiculous to name them all, so I'll give props to a few at a time. For now:
ANYTHING by Charlie Kaufman (especially "Synecdoche, New York" and "Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind"), "I Heart Huckabees", "Slumdog Millionaire", "The Dark Knight", "The Squid and the Whale",
"Sliding Doors",
"A Bronx Tale",
"Goodfellas",
"Malcolm X",
and all the "Karate Kid" joints.
Television
I don't really watch anything but CNN. And "Boondocks".
Books
Currently Reading: "The McDonaldization of Society" by George Ritzer. Last Read: "Whatever It Takes" by Paul Tough. All-Time Favorites: Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (particularly "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera"), "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, "Pryor Convictions" by Richard Pryor, "The Autobiography of Malcolm X", "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, "Trixsta" by Nik Cohn, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde, "The Monster At The End Of This Book" by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin (featuring Grover from Sesame Street), "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk, "Once Upon A Potty" by Alona Frankel, "Different Dances" by Shel Silverstein, "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak, all "Encyclopedia Brown" and "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, "The Indian in the Cupboard" by Lynne Reid, "Everybody Smokes In Hell" by John Ridley, "Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned" by Kinky Friedman, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (rest in peace), and others that I'll likely think of later (or have yet to read).
Heroes
Much respect to my favorite writers, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Paulo Coelho. And much respect to Chris Gardner, Mr. "Pursuit of Happyness". If he was given as little and can get as much out of life, what's stopping any of us? Also, my main musical inspirations as I prepare my new album are Mystic, Common, and my homegirl Theory (www.myspace.com/theorymuzik). Feeling Miles Davis for his frankness and fearlessness. Feeling Bruce Lee for being a true pioneer, small in stature but large where it mattered (the heart, that is). Feeling Aaron McGruder for giving us "The Boondocks". (As crazy as the cartoon seems, if you watch closely through all the cussing and antics, it's still speaking volumes in legitimate social commentary.) Feeling Amel Laurrieux for her positive presence in the midst of so much negativity. And eternally feeling Malcolm X for his boldness, intellect, and insistence on self-definition.
Howard University
Washington,Washington DC
Graduated: 1999
Student status: Alumni
Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Major: Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Clubs: Cross Country/Track Team, Campus Pals, The Hilltop, Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity
About me: BRIEF BIO: Hip hop artist. High school teacher. Slam poet. Garbage Pail Kid collector. Award-winning filmmaker. Transformers movie discrepancy pointer outer. Much could be said about Drew Anderson, aka Droopy the Broke Baller, but if it ain’t good, it probably ain’t true. This wily rascal and two-time DC/Baltimore National Slam Team member is wanted in 0.5 states, unarmed, and minimally dangerous. That is, unless you count his dangerously hilarious knack for spoofing contemporary pop and hip hop songs and converting them to compelling treatises on academia (“Failin’” from Jim Jones’ “We Fly High (Ballin’)”) and etiquette (“I’m A Jerk” from R. Kelly’s “I’m A Flirt”). Whether bearing witness to his zany hosting style at various events throughout the DC area or his unpredictable dynamic as a featured artist in venues from his native New Orleans to Toronto, many have found themselves inspired by the satirical ravings of the Impoverished Imp. And if you’re not careful, children, you may find yourselves next.. (www.myspace.com/thebrokeballer) EXTENDED BIO: New Orleans, Louisiana-bred hip hop artist, spoken word poet, host, screenwriter and high school teacher Drew Anderson has continued to innovatively utilize his talent for connecting with audiences big and small via the avenues of art and education. The son of an English teacher, Drew has always gravitated toward writing as a weapon of expression and a tool of informing through entertainment. While earning his Bachelor of Sciences degree in Biology at Howard University, he was a frequent contributor to the Hilltop newspaper and to the yearbook in the form of poetry and editorials that challenged the thought patterns of his peers. He also built a popular reputation as a performance poet, bringing his humorous spin on social and political issues to a slew of university functions. In 2001, he decided to capitalize on this audience by self-publishing his first collection of poetry, "Droopy: Dat Boy's A Fool", through his company Broke Baller Enterprises. The success of this first project led to the publication of his sophomore work "Feel No Way: The Drew Testament" (2002) and the compilation "I'll Probably Die Writing" (2003), which he edited and co-wrote along with The 5th eLement, a spoken word/theatre troupe which he co-founded in 2002. His publishing projects have caused him to be sought out to edit a number of books, including Brandi Forte's Drama Girl: Diary of a Sistapoet (2002), Dana E. Crawford's The Evolution of an Ugly Duckling (2003) and Michelle Sewell's Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces (2006). The latter work won the 2007 National Undergound Spokenword Poetry Award (NUSPA) for Book of the Year. Addicted to the stage, Drew has given many explosive poetry and theatre performances from arena to academia, New Orleans to New York, under his moniker "Droopy the Broke Baller". A member of the 2003 and 2004 DC/Baltimore National Poetry Slam teams, he has been a judge at a number of performance poetry competitions, such as the DC Scores Youth Slam. Drew's natural charisma has led to many hosting opportunities, including events at such venues as the Carter Barron Amphitheatre, Between Friends, The Basement, Dynasty Ethiopian Restaurant, Java Head Café, and Mocha Hut. He is the proud winner of the 2006 NUSPA for Host of the Year as well as the "Why Didn't I Think Of That?" Award for his hit poem "Why Do I Like You?". Drew has enjoyed numerous radio appearances and television performances, including WPFW, WHUR, WYPR, WETA, WKUF, "The Cypher's Corner", "The Poet's Joint", "8101 with Michelle Wright", "Local Celebrity Video", "Somebody's Shorts", and Black Entertainment Television's "106 & Park". He maintains an online presence through articles chronicling his exploits at www.thehilltoponline.com, album reviews and poetry at www.illpoets.com, and his own website www.brokeballer.com . He has also produced or contributed to a number of poetry and hip hop recordings, including "Poetology: Volume 1" (2001), "Slamboozled: The Vitreous Humour LP (2002)", "Droopy: Live In Philly" (2003), "The Broke Album, Volume 1: Broke Baller" (2004), "The 5th L Presents Circle Circle Dot Dot" (2004), "Firewater featuring Sir Reigns and Droopy" (2004), and "illpoets.com Presents All Seasons" (2004) (which won the NUSPA for Album of the Year), and "A Few Things From True Things" (2007). In 2004, Drew co-founded Straight, No Chaser Productions, an eclectic corps of filmmakers dedicated to giving voice to underexposed characters and lending reality to unconventional worlds. The group has produced a number of critically-acclaimed shorts for the 48 Hour Film Project. Their first film, the detective drama Paper Trail, was screened at the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland, and was accepted into the Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival. The group has also completed the comic shorts Crumbsnatchers (screened at the Charles Theater in Baltimore) and Half Fool, Half Empty (starring Droopy himself and recently nominated for a special award from BETJ) and written and produced Multitude of Mercies, winner of the 2005 Black Entertainment Television Rap-It-Up Black AIDS Short Subject Film Competition. Straight, No Chaser's latest film is entitled A Weigh With Words, the premier project of the "A Nu View" project which gives urban high school students hands-on filmmaking experience. A Weigh With Words is a documentary on the power of words (particularly in the wake of Don Imus, Tim Hardaway, Michael Richards, etc.), and features a number of key social and political figures including Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and DMC. In March 2009, Droopy will be releasing his long-awaited album "True Things", which, along with its follow-up mixtape "American Prankster", will continue his riotous tradition of informing through entertainment. The "twin" projects will feature the hit Jim Jones spoof "Failin'", the R.Kelly-poking "I'm A Jerk", the dietary diatribe "You Are What You Eat", and much more, with appearances by some of the DC area's artistic elite, including Bomani "D-Mite" Armah (whose riotous video "Read A Book" has took BET, Howard Stern, and YouTube by storm), Deborjha, Suga SP, Laura Perez, Shea Butterfly, Edith Sodolo, Asheru, Dwayne B, and Triflava. <a href="https://server4.kproxy.com/servlet/redirect.srv/p5.p1.pbcd.pobpqpcsujgnlxa.panm&sxsy/;><b>Myspace Layouts</b></a>
Who I'd like to meet: "Mighta took some time, but most good things do / Manifest when the time is true / I admit I was nervous 'cause things get changed / Somethin' 'bout my lifestyle makes love so strange / So many angles; entangled components / Everybody want a touch just for the moment / BUT YOU PUT A NEW HUE IN MY BLUE / Added a perspective to my concrete views / 'Bout tossin' caution into the breeze / Following emotion like streams to the seas / Top priority, believe you me / Like, 'Love, how you feel? You i-ight? What you need?' / It's more than your lips on the nape of my neck / Or your hands on my breasts with your leg on my thigh / Or the look in your eyes as you slide inside / It's the way you make me wanna live instead of die... / FOR YOU I'D DIVE INTO THE TREACHEROUS SEA / BRING YOU NEPTUNE'S JEWELS TO KEEP YOU HAPPY / I WOULD FLY INTO THE MERCILESS SUN / STEAL YOU THE SKY, 'CAUSE YOU'RE THE ONE..." - Mystic from "Neptune's Jewels"
'Nuff said.
www.cdbaby.com/cd/droopybrokeballer's Friend Space (Top 8)
www.cdbaby.com/cd/droopybrokeballer has 994 friends.
what's up Drooooooopy!?!?! I'm beginning to wonder, who DON'T you know!?!? we seems to have some mutual buddies, how's life in DC? miss running into you randomly on the metro
Hey my piscean twin... The book is almost here and I'd love for you to give me some serious feedback about the first chapter in my blog! Luv ya and talk to you soon.
Great catchin ya at the PPls Poetry Awards! I like the way you think. Your a super duper blast! Congratulations on your well deserved award!! K.O. to the Snow
Mad Jazz Poetry Productions Presents Holiday of Soul When: Sunday Dec 23, 2007 at 7:00 PM Where: Marlborough Golf Club 4750 John Rogers Blvd Upper Marlboro, MD 20772 United States Description: Mad Jazz Poetry Productions
