As promised, we at WIB aren’t resting on our oars this year as we plan on giving you more than the music. The 2nd episode of the 2nd season of our WIB meets interview series brings back a familiar name in the form of emcee Allen Poe. The man shares some very interesting elements from once being fluent in Arabic, bumping Madvillainy with some Morrocan natives in Fez to opening for Lupe Fiasco and Rozay.
Without further ado, sit back and dive in
Be sure to get Allen Poe’s latest project How Gardens Grow HERE.
For the benefit of anyone who’s been living in an underground bunker for the last ten years…who on earth are you?
Allen Poe, a MC from Versailles, KY. I also shoot and edit music videos for myself and others. Trying to be well rounded and self sufficient as possible, cutting as many middle men as possible without stretching myself too thin to be an artist.
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How did you get started in music, and what drives you to continue?
I began around 6th grade writing rhymes, which was an extension from early on I wrote poetry. I started recording over blank tapes to whatever beats we could get our hands on, usually B sides of cassette singles. I keep it up because by this point hip hop is who I am. The music and culture is what I identify with, it’s also my creative outlet and its important to have something you enjoy.
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Do you remember the first recording/song you ever made?
I don’t exactly remember the 1st one ever, but I do remember some of the early ones. Nothing that I hope anybody hears I’m sure lol, we were having fun and getting our feet under us, probably sounds like teens freestyling after some mad dog 20/20s (yuck)
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If a movie about your life in music was to be made, what interesting/strange moments and stories would you share to make the movie cool?
I’ll share the timeI was in a study abroad program for an Arabic language school in Fez, Morocco. One of the students I met there was cool with a local guy our age. So we were walking through narrow alleys through the old parts of the city, and we wound up sitting down with a shop owner in his store after hours, drinking some beers and I think smoking some Kif, all things (muslim countries look down hard on drinking of course) that could’ve put me in a bad spot legally if caught (I was PARANOID) anyways, we were sitting there and I pulled out my Madvillian- Madvillainy CD, and there we sat, strangers half way around, limited ability to communicate but still jamming out to some Doom and enjoying each others company.Hip hop is universal, they loved Doom!!
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Are there any other interesting facts about you that hardly anyone else knows?
I used to be pretty fluent in Arabic, it’s been years since I’ve practiced or studied so I’m not very good anymore. I am an Army veteran, was deployed to Iraq from 2006-2007.
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What is the greatest thing about working in the music industry? And what would you change if you had the opportunity?
The greatest thing is the feeling of accomplishment you can achieve. To begin seeing a fan base grow, people all over the world who only know because of your music, sending you encouraging words and telling you they like what you’re doing and buy your music, makes you feel good to share your art. If I could change anything it would be the number of hours in a day. I work 8-4, my wife works night shift as a nurse. I wake, get kids ready for school, work, come home and hang out with family, get them ready for bed, put them to sleep and after they are asleep for the night I try to squeeze in as much music and video editing work I can, then squeeze in some sleep and repeat. I love my family above all else, but our schedules force me to get creative or run on fumes sometimes to find time out to write/record etc..
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Looking back, what have been the most important moments in your life so far?
Getting married—learning to stay with another human requires a great deal of personal growth (patience/empathy etc), I’m grateful for that growth. Getting an education—opening me up to consider knew ways of thought, the first time I was interested in learning for the sake of learning was in college, I just got by in high school, in college my mind and intellect really began to flourish and I began to understand the value of knowledge and wisdom. Having children—a higher purpose to lead a new soul in this crazy world.
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What have been the biggest highlights?
Opening up for Lupe Fiasco, Rick Ross and others in front of large crowds. Building relationships with hip hop outlets I respect (2dopeboyz, DJ Booth, WIB..etc). Having my peers around me who I respect telling me they are excited for my music and where I’m going. Getting to work with producers and MCs I always admired and getting positive feedback from them- we all can use affirmation sometimes. Showing up on a couple best of 2014 best of lists, being mentioned with some names of artists I’m a fan of is nice.
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What has been your biggest challenge…and how did you overcome it?
My biggest challenge was to get out of my comfort zone of just being a rapper. I have been able to achieve what I have because I learned how to be unafraid of what people would think of my music, I began believing in myself and that what I was doing was worth being heard. My own affirmation pushed me to learn a lot DIY skills like networking and learning how to be my own publicist, do my own videos, make my own website,do graphic work, throw my own shows, etc. Prior to 2011I had never done more than rap on a mic, post it online and share the link around to friends. There was no intent or understanding of how to create and build something bigger, until I dove in and started learning. This was a task because I am introverted and all these things required me to be more extroverted.
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Who are your heroes? Why do they rock your world?
I get inspiration from all kinds of people and ideas, but my mother has been the most influential person in my life. She gave me a sense of respect for others, decency and kindness. Also my wife, she is really down to earth. I tend to be cynical/a realist who can be pessimistic. She tends to find the best in people and situations, to be patient and very kind hearted. She is a perfect counter weight for me to keep from dipping too far into negativity.
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Who have been the coolest, most memorable people you’ve met along the way, and how did they make an impact on your life?
Working with Von Pea, yU, J57, AmerigoGazaway, Deejay Element, PJ Katz, SheistyKhrist, James Patrick (ActliveMusic.com / Duck Down Music) and others has been amazing. These are MCs/producers/creators who I look up to and who have shown me a lot of love whether it be with words of encouragement or going out of their way to give a cosign or help me build relationships with other entities (distributors/ venue owners/ online publications etc) put me on shows/ just general networking. When people you look up to you treat you like an equal, or look out for your with opportunities where they didn’t have to, it feels great.
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When you’re sitting on the porch age 97 what would you like to look back on and smile having achieved?
I will hope to see my daughters happy in their lives and my wife still glad she picked me to spend her life around. I hope that I will have left a lot of people better off for having met me.
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What has been your most memorable or inspirational gig and why?
Me and my homies have opened for Lupe Fiasco, Rick Ross, Juvenile and others, but my most memorable was probably a show last summer in Lexington KY for Al’s Bar Block Party. It wasn’t a big venue and it wasn’t in front of a packed crowd, but there was so much energy for the show. The crowd was really excited for hip hop and it was like hip hop church or something that night. I could tell particulars and try to describe it, but you just would’ve had to of been there, the energy was palpable—any show where it is a shared experience for everybody in the house and not just giving/receiving of entertainment, those are incredible things.
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What has been your strangest celebrity encounter?
I don’t know that I’ve had any celebrity encounters lol. I once was in Athens, Greece studying for school and happened to sit down and have lunch at the same table as Bob Huggin’s (then Cincinnati’s coach, now coach of men’s basketball for WVU) wife, neither of them are celebrities, but he’s a known name in sports and it was pretty random.
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Who would be your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would you serve them?
Probably my granddad, he died before I was close to adulthood and able to talk with him about ideas and philosophies. I have read some of his old poetry (he was a writer and very intelligent from what I understand) and I think we would’ve been able to have great discussions aboutsociety/philosophy. I’d serve him some coffee and doughnuts. He used to come by our home on Sunday morning and bring milk and doughnuts and drink up a pot of coffee and talk for hours about any and everything.
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What are the greatest songs, albums, books, movies, TV shows, websites you’ve ever come across?
This list will be based on what left a lasting impression or greatly influenced ME, maybe not widely considered greats by the masses. I’ll just mention a few in each category — Music: GZA cold world, RJD2 deadringer– Movies/Shows: The Wire, The Lion King, The Color Purple, Donnie Darko Books: Soul On Ice, Varities of Religious Experience, Roots, The Invisible Man, The Idiot Websites: OKP, DJBooth, Bandcamp, videocopilot.com, PBS on demand, movie4k.to
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Name 5 songs (yours excluded) that we would expect to find on your iPod or Music Player
Nas- The World Is Yours, Miles Davis- Blue in Green, Sade- Love is Stronger than Pride, Ka- Cold Facts, Outkast- Art of Storytelling
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What special-hero type skills are you blessed with?
Ability to empathize with people/ a good sense of humor/ good at “reading” people/ good at communicating.It’s a gift and curse because it causes me to continue caring about people who maybe should be cut off, but I think it keeps me honest and goes a long way to keep my heart pure. Life makes you callous, caring about others off GP because we are humans going through life together, helps keep you fresh, also helps keep you stressed sometimes. I can laugh through some fucked up situations and conceptualize undesirable things in positive ways. I think I have a high emotional IQ and try to speak with people in a way that builds them up.
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Where can everyone reading this interview keep up with your adventures?
IamAllenPoe.com is my website, all my videos are there, I need to update it a little bit cause there’s some new stuff that isn’t linked in yet (I manage my own website too). I contribute for Actlivemusic.com, so check that site out for new music in general. I usually keep updates forwhat’s on the horizon for me on
twitter: @allenpoe_ / facebook.com/allenpoeky
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Any final thoughts?
I appreciate WIB and what they do for indie/underground artists. You guys are a great source and I’ve found tons of new music and artists through your site, some I have gone on to collab with, so connecting artists and fans together is important for the culture. I have some exciting things musically coming this year, some things on the horizon that I’ve never done before and I think will be building blocks to continue growing and hopefully reaching new fans. PEACE!! AP
The Author
