The Broke Baller Band aka the Poverty Players consists of : Triflava, with Myke-P the virtuoso on keys, didjeridoo, jembe, bass guitar, and anything else that's playable; Slyce-D on jembe and jokes; Christylez on every kind of guitar, tambourine, and spoons; and Shea Butterfly on smoking vocals! (Check them out at www.myspace.com/triflava and www.myspace.com/sheabutterfly!)
My influences as a lyricist and performer are "peer-oes" of mine such as Sir Reigns, Shea Butterfly, and Triflava, who continue to write what you wish you wrote leaving audiences saying, "Shit, you dope!" But the main musical inspirations for my upcoming album, "True Things", are: "Be" by Common, "Homegirls and Handgrenades" by Theory, and Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom (Learning to Breathe)" by Mystic. "
Sounds Like
"Sounds like" Chris Rock with a mean sixteen bars / Or Kanye without the "Louis Vuitton Don" part / Common sense kicked over funky guitar chords / "Crunk" minus the ignorance; spoken word without the fixed limits / Sounds like the cash-strapped lyrical HAZMAT got his swagger back / And gave all challengers backsmacks / More (en)light(e)ning in his knapsack than a Ghostbuster's backpack / Collecting glass bottles to save up for a Cadillac....(Now battle THAT!)
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.
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 2007, Droopy will be releasing his long-awaited album True Things, which, along with its accompanying mixtape CD, 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 recently taken BET, Howard Stern, and YouTube by storm), Deborjha, Green Tea, Laura Perez, Shea Butterfly, Edith Sodolo, Big Sll'im, Dwayne B, Sir Reigns, 13 of Nazareth, and Triflava.
just promoting a monthly set showcase in which Its 20 percent off all the food during the set, as well as live music with poets, emcees, singers, and Soulful Jones, as the feature. Other artist include Rhyme Cypha, Complete, World B Free, Richie Cartel, DJ the DJ, The Antidote, The Alleyway Records Family and last but not least the Currency Boys. I am still adding some others though, to bring the get some estrogen on the ticket. ne way all this is gonna take place at the ihop in forestville march 27 @ 9. its a thurs however the monthly set will be on Tuesdays
Peace and Blessings, I just wanted to drop you a line and thank you for participating in my project here. As a writer, I think that there is nothing more valuable than a reader. I would also like to ask a favor of you. Please take a moment and read, critique, contemplate, and ultimately enjoy the amalgamation of ideas presented on this page. And if you would like, please share your thoughts, ideas, rants, poetry, photography, art, or really whatever you like with us. With All Respect, Nick Dichotomy Press
P.S. "Surrogate Boyfriend" still kills me. Maybe it hits too close to home.
