Kevin Coval's Everyday People

You know what it's like to be blown away by a poem?   It's as though you've been shown a secret door to another universe where everything is beautiful, or brutal, or ugly, or lovely, or all of the above?  I saw Kevin Coval on Thursday night, and it was like that for an hour and a half nonstop.  He's so cool.

I first met Kevin when I invited him to perform at the University of Wisconsin - Madison back in 2004, because several of my friends at that time had already been singing his praises.  I have been a fan ever since.  Thursday's show was the fifth time I've seen him perform live, and he keeps getting better every time.  If you've never seen him live, or if you don't have any of his books or CDs, now's the time.  Kevin Coval is a master of his art, and just as he proudly proclaims his Judaism and his fervor for the city of Chicago, Stereo Sinai proudly proclaims our fan-ness for him.

You'll notice that since the beginning of Stereo Sinai, our bio has begun with a quote from Afrika Bambaataa that Miriam and I both found very appropriate for our project.  We found it powerful, and we found it meaningful.

"When you hear the breakbeat/ you let your g-dSelf get loose…"

-Afrika Bambaataa

We found it in one of Kevin Coval's books.

Clearly, he's an inspiration not only to the world of hip-hop, but also to Jewish artists from the suburbs of Chicago, who later move to live inside the city limits out of love for Chicago (fine, I'm talking about me).  Kevin Coval's work is about being true to oneself, and being passionate about issues that surround us.  It's exactly what Stereo Sinai strives to achieve.