Music feeds the soul and fans of Hip-Hop culture worldwide are starving. They are malnourished having been fed a steady diet of violence, drugs and misogyny for years. The souls of these very fans have been broken and lost with it was the want and need for creative and uplifting music to further advance a culture that has a much too storied history to simply wash away.
The artist Verbs (previously going by the name of Knowdaverbs) is the proverbial chef in the Hip-Hop kitchen serving up pounding beats, raw lyricism and a vision for the future of Hip-Hop music. Verbs is by no means a stranger to the music business. Signed to powerhouse indie Gotee Records in 1998, Verbs released three albums with the label (“The Syllabus” 1998, “Action Figure” 2000 and “Unlocked” 2003) and was nominated for the prestigious Dove Awards in 2000 in the categories of “Hip-Hop/Rap/Dance Song Of The Year” and “Hip-Hop/Rap/Dance Album Of The Year.” In 2003, the demand for Verbs music was so high that two of his songs from Unlocked hit #1 on the rhythmic charts before the album was released.
Far from a one dimensional artist, Verbs is the new breed of Hip-Hop artist who is no longer relegated to promoting rims and a frivolous lifestyle. Verbs has made the trip to South Africa where he acted as an ambassador for high school assembly programs. He also had the opportunity to perform on countless stages around the globe and participate in various missions, showing that this message of hope in Christ transcends languages and cultures. He is the former host of TVU/Sky Angel Network’s Planet Hip-Hop and has been featured on BET’s “Teen Summit” and ever popular “Rap City” program.
On the home front, “The Train Station: Hip-Hop Learn shops” was launched in 2005. The workshops are designed to teach youth ages 12-20 the foundational basics of Hip-Hop culture in one of the four elements; DJ/MC/Graf/B-Boyin’ all under the tutelage of Verbs and his team. The program goes even deeper to encourage participants to utilize their God given talents and further speaks on life and purpose.
“We aim to challenge the students to explore what artistic or creative talents God has placed in them by using the 'elements' of Hip Hop because they cover audible, visual, and physical art forms,” says Verbs. “There may be a young guy taking one of our workshops who may struggle to stay on beat in the rhyme/rap session, but he is phenomenal at telling a story on paper and could be wired to be an author one day, we want to help him get there, you never know how God may want to use that to impact culture.”
Verbs current partnership with 1280 Music has given birth to the evolution of this forward- thinking emcee. His latest album The GroundWork Theory is as much the beginning as it is a continuation. The music is raw, passionate and a vision of what art is when it is untouched by record label influence and in truth as to what the artist intended. The new material from this critically acclaimed emcee is an intense breath of fresh air utilizing every lyrical moment as a chance to say something over well orchestrated production. Every Hip-Hop artist claims to be the savior of the culture and the fuel that is needed to restart the artistically challenged engine that once revved loud enough to create change and encourage thinking. And instead of claiming this title through braggadocio rhyming and appointing himself a “king” of anything in the press, Verbs prefers to let his actions and music speak for his mission and ideas.
