Nikki Patin: words, vocals, designs, theories, persistence, goofy song spoofs
Nikki Tease: hot sex on legs and underneath some serious fake hair
Astro Marvel: the star-filled hip-hop mouthpiece
Dreamy Boom Boom: the gyrating spaceship that doubles as flesh
The Phat Grrrl Revolution Team: you know who you are. infiltration: commence.
And we're all Tauruses and we're 30, not 109. Fuck MySpace for not letting bands change their birthday...booooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Influences
my mama. uncle david. my grandmama. billie holiday. etta james. nina simone. john coltrane. audre lorde. ntozake shange. dave chappelle. bell hooks. hip hop. blackstar. naomi wolf. nikki giovanni. pablo neruda. carlos castenada. esthero. mos def. the roots. fiona apple. missy elliott. M.I.A. erykah badu. dead prez. nas. tara betts. alanis morrissette. ani difranco. sophie's world. nomy lamm. ayn rand. richard pryor. pootie tang. the warriors. frida kahlo. salvador dali. mc escher. graffiti. toni morrison. sapphire. ruth forman. zane. anne rice. nancy friday. aerosmith. janis joplin. jimi hendrix. talib kweli. riot grrrl movement. bitch magazine. roller derby. maya angelou. c.c. carter. orson scott card. rita mae brown. buddhism. james baldwin. every fat, femme, queer, dope, independently thinking motherfucker i know. tao te ching. LIFE.
I started writing poetry when I was 7 and started singing when I was 13. Spoken word came at 19 and that same year, I cut off all my hair, got my first piercing and joined my first band.
It took them 3 years to remember my name on the Chicago open mic scene. I'd show up at the same place every week and talk to the same woman at the door and she'd ask the same question every week: and your name is? When she did remember it, she couldn't pronounce my last name, which is Creole, so she shortened it to Nikki P.
I will say this. Once people do learn how to say my name, they never forget it.
That's because I won't let them.
In 2000, I opened for Jill Scott at the Metro.
In 2001, I won a spot on the Mental Graffiti Slam Team.
In 2004, I was on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and voted one of Chicago's six most fabulous twenty-somethings by Chicago Tribune's Red Eye Newspaper.
In 2006, I won a gold medal in the Gay Games' International LGBT Poetry Slam. That year, I was also voted one of 30 under 30 most influential LGBTQ people in Chicago by the Windy City Times Newspaper.
In 2007, I taped a segment for "The Greatest Living Writers Project", an online archive of performances and interviews by living writers that's made available to over 8 million high school students.
In October 2008, I released my first collection of writing and design, "The Phat Grrrl Diaries."
And this past spring, from February through April, I completed a two-month tour of New Zealand and Australia, collaborating with local artists and performing my 60-minute, one-woman show, "The Phat Grrrl Revolution Show." I was nominated for "Best Standout Performer" in the Dunedin Fringe Festival and was featured in numerous radio, TV and print publications, including TV3, George FM and NO. Magazine (NZ).
Throughout all of these experiences, I've also worked as an educator and youth development worker at Young Chicago Authors, Center on Halsted, the Chicago Humanities Festival and Rape Victim Advocates. My original workshops include "Deconstructing the Body," which is a writing, performance and visual art workshop that deconstructs body image in the media, and "Safe Spaces," which is a workshop designed to empower educators, employers and administrators to create safe classroom, community organization and company spaces, in keeping with local, state and federal anti-discrimination laws. I was also on the production team for Louder Than A Bomb and Brave New Voices.
My show, "The Phat Grrrl Revolution Show," builds on my workshop themes. It is a show about feeling unsafe in the most sacred space of all: one's own body. It also explores what makes this space feel unsafe and how to create peace there again. "The Phat Grrrl Revolution Show" celebrates the joy found in resisting what hurts and embracing what heals. The revolution won't be televised because the revolution begins within.
The end of this week sees the completion of a recording project in Chicago and I'm also curating and producing shows for other performers and musicians here.
Below are some links to my performances and articles about and interviewing yours truly.
Facebook Profile:
http://www.facebook.com/nikki.patin
HBO Def Poetry Performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkeP47YeatU
Dear Ancestors:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrSCpY928As
Gay NZ Interview:
http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/22/article_7148.php
Radio NZ, Arts on Sundays with Lynne Freeman Radio Interview:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/.../art/.../chapter_and_verse_-_nikki_patin
TV3 NZ Interview:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Phat-and-proud-Promoting-positive-self-esteem-in-larger-ladies/tabid/572/articleID/95004/cat/587/Default.aspx
24/7 Girl Interview:
http://www.247girl.co.nz/lifeangel/inspiringgirls/index_dynamic/article/12263
Links to Chicago Public Radio Editorials:
http://chicagopublicradio.org/search.aspx?q=nikki%20patin
lol you're not gonna want to come home! i'm glad you're having a good time. im great. heading into finals week. blah but can't complain. thanks for reaching back, much love and respect.
About this page: I have been very active in Domestic Violence causes all of my adult life. I noticed a need in the world pertaining to Same Sex Domestic Violence. It happens more than people know. Unfortunately there are a number of gay people who barely consider themselves worthy or valued as a gay person much less a Domestic Violence Victim. There are also very limited resources, statistics, or information, for Same Sex Domestic Violence. Hopefully through empowerment and education we can change some of this. :D
SO THE FUCK ARE YOU BEAST WOMAN!! SO THE FUCK ARE YOU!! THE SINGER ANTHONY DAVID SAID IT BEST IN SOMETHING ABOUT YOU "FRAGILE BUT FREE, WE ARE ONLY HUMAN AFTER ALL"
