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SouL-R Interview with Al St. Louis September 29, 2004 SouL-R:Greetings, I'm here in an alley on Adelaide St. next to La Rouge Night Club. We're at the MyUrbanProfile 2nd year anniversary. I'm here with Al St. Louis he just did a big performance on stage, you know and ripped it up for the crowd so I wanna ask him a few questions and what not. Ya, what's going on Al? St. Louis: I'm good man I'm in the place, you know? I'm grateful to be at an event like this and be able to showcase the talents that the creator has given me and witness the talents that he has given to other people in the world, you know? It's a blessing. SouL-R:For real. I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions. First of all, how did you get started in the spoken word poetry? ... St. Louis:You know what? Originally, you know how it happened. I just started writing and then um. (A sexy girl is walking across the street) Sorry there's this girl across the street and she's just got me completely. She got me completely. (laughing) She got me bugged, Son. SouL-R:Yo she's watching you, man. Look, she's checking you out.... St. Louis:She's got me bugged. Like...soo, what up? (calling across the street) Like, where is she going? SouL-R:Yeah she's smiling at you bro ... St. Louis:where are you going? Where is she going, son? SouL-R: I don't know man... You should have told her to come into the MUP party. St. Louis:God, are you looking at that, son? Sorry am I still being recorded? (Watching across the street and laughing) St. Louis:That ass is off the chains!! Yo, that ass had me forgetting what you even asked me!! SouL-R: Man... Yo, what did I ask you? St. Louis: Sorry. Yo, what did you ask me? SouL-R: I don't know man. But, for those people not here, we just witnessed something really big! St. Louis: You could rest a drink on that... SouL-R: Outside, on Adelaide the club district is pure jokes St. Louis: You could put a drink...on that. I gotta compose myself man. Yo we can't even conduct the interview properly SouL-R: Foreal (laughing) my original question was how did you get started in the spoken word? St. Louis: I started in the year 2000 in terms of performing. I was fortunate to win some tickets to see Dwayne Morgan Perform at Clinton's. He was doing a live taping of his I think 2nd CD, 'Evolution'. And, you know I sat in the crowd and I was like you know, I can do that, because I had been writing for a while before that and I was like I can do it. Soo, you know, I spoke to him and he had an open mike over at Southern Po Boys, which is actually unfortunately now closed down. But I was fortunate to go out there and you know, share some of my work and it was received well and I just gained confidence after that. SouL-R: Yeah, that's cool, so what inspires you in terms of poetry, like people? artists? .... What inspires you? Or, who inspires you? St. Louis: You know what? I am inspired by every and anything, um it isn't really one specific thing that inspires me. But I am inspired by a collaboration of many things, my own personal life, other people's lives. Cuz I mean, I work in a barbershop, I own my own barber shop called Perfection Barber Shop. If it ain't perfect y'all, remember we didn't do it. That's Perfection!! But, I speak to a lot of men, you know they come in and you know some women. I have quite a few you know lady clients and we just talk about life in general and some of their stories, conversations that we share. That kinda inspires me, you know? I can go outside and look at a tree or just sit down still and all of a sudden I'll get a notion from the creator and I just write. My inspiration comes from life as a whole... SouL-R: Hmm...You're doing a, series of shows called, "When Words Are Spoken." What do you hope to accomplish with that? And the new website, what are you planning for it..? St. Louis: I created "When Words Are Spoken." With the thought that I need to give other people an opportunity to perform. I also wanted to let people hear my words and my thoughts. So, through it all really and truly what I want is for people to come out and really listen to the, the unspoken artist out there. The artist that you know, that speak a lot but, don't really have the, the stage to do it. And there are a lot of minds out there that need to hear these words and in it I wanna continue to fuel the artists and at the same time I want artists to have a platform where they can speak and I want people to come out and eventually some of the artists that come out on stage may get a contract or a deal or they may get some type of blessing from blessing others with their words. SouL-R: That's big... In your career so far, what's been the highlight thus far? St. Louis: The highlight of my career? thus far. I don't know, I really haven't had a whole lot of highlights!!! SouL-R: You're waiting on It!!! St. Louis: I am, man! I am. I really am... I've been low key you know? Sometimes I perform. Sometimes I don't for the most part, usually when I put on my shows, that's when I actually perform. When I knew I was performing tonight. Or when I was asked to perform tonight it made me really excited because you know, there isn't the stress of putting on my show and having to perform at the same time. I'm just easy I just come and I perform and I give the people what I got. So, um my highlight is actually is performing when I'm not putting on my own show I guess you could say... SouL-R: Are you currently working on an initiative like a CD or a book or anything like that? St. Louis: Well, that's what I say!!! (laughs) Anybody asks me, I tell them ya that's what I'm doin. Which I actually am you know, I'm putting together all of my works, I collect all of my work. It's just that I haven't been able to write. Well, I shouldn't say I haven't been able to... it's just I haven't feel that I've written anything that's gripping enough to put out in a book or a CD. So, I'm still working on my craft, right now while I'm collecting. Who knows next few years down the road I may look back at what I've written and say geez this deserves to be in it. Soo, we'll see. SouL-R: And as I understand and as we just witnessed, you have a large female following!!! What are your thoughts on that... St. Louis: Spoken word itself has a large female following. I mean the majority of shows that you go to, you will see that it's, women that really flock to the shows because you know, in many ways it appeals to them sensually. And that's unfortunate that it's only women, or that the majority is women because we need our men to come out there. I think the women, they enjoy hearing these things and they don't take it as personal at times, I guess, maybe. Because sometimes the brothers kinda feel that we talk directly to 'em. Because, we haven't always been on the up and up ourselves so we need to get more brothers out there. We definitely need to do that. Soul-R: to end off I wanna? Get a quote either by yourself or someone else that you admire that defines how you feel in the moment or an idea that you have. St. Louis: Albert Einstein has this saying........ Forgive me if I don't quote it exactly, but you might get the meaning!! "the problems that you face today cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that you currently have. So in order to get out of the .... your current, situation or your current level in life you have to change you're thinking to a higher level to a higher degree, vibrate yourself and your soul to a different level and that changes things cuz thought is very powerful". "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Albert Einstein Soul-R: For real that's big man. St. Louis:Thanks brother Soul-R:So you can check out Al at. What's the website? St. Louis: Well, the website is www.whenwordsarespoken.com ...and they can always email me at deepthoughts@whenwordsarespoken.com Soul-R:When's that gonna be up? Or is it up already? St. Louis: You know what? It's up with just a flyer of my last show and, it's currently in the works right now. So, very soon I would say within about a month. Soul-R:Aight, cool. We'll look forward to it...Al St Louis thank you St. Louis:Thank-you SouL-R, I appreciate it. 8 Rooks. Big Up all the time When Words Are Spoken. You know how we do it. One Love! Soul-R: 8Rooks signing out........ Bless!!
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