8 Million Stories starring E the poet-emcee
By: Ccep J. Dew
dews_ccep@yahoo.com
“E’s story’s the greatest story ever told. It’s pre-packaged pain for the mass market across the globe…”
-“The Greatest Story Ever Told”
If you’re a part of the “underground” open-mic circuit, then you’ve undoubtedly heard of E the poet-emcee, founder and CEO of Torchlight Entertainment. If not, then consider yourself out of the loop.
36 year-old Eric Muhammad, better known as E the poet-emcee and affectionately called E, is the embodiment of Torchlight’s motto: Expression, Revolution, Community. He’s been on the scene long enough to make quite a name for himself as well as his brand. Infusing hip-hop with poetry to create a sound that no one has ever heard before, this self-proclaimed poet-emcee has his hand in everything from production to being Co-Director of the newly formed Baltimore Black Arts which mixes the arts with community activism.
“I think spoken word has allowed people to be themselves and be more in touch with who they are.”
I recently had the chance to talk with E about his latest project and where Torchlight Entertainment is headed. His latest project, 8 Million Stories, is named after the tagline from an old detective show called Dragnet.
“They used to start their show like that: ‘There are eight million stories in the naked city and here’s one of them.’ […] Most of the poems and pieces on that CD are very story-oriented, so I wanted to draw the correlation between city life and telling stories.”
And he has millions of observational stories to tell as most of his writing is based on the everyday things that the human race sees and experiences. Take for example two pieces from previous albums, “He Needs Love” and “Anita”.
“‘He Needs Love’ is actually for women […] It’s giving women insight into how men relate to their emotions and how men relate to relationships. Or why certain things that you may not understand about a man, the whole root of it is that you have to understand that he needs love. So, at the very end of the poem I drew a picture of the woman leaving the seat and going home to her man ‘cause now she understands that he needs love […] Men don’t tend to talk about our feelings and things of that nature, but everything is still revolving around love just like you need love. It starts with the relationship that we establish with our mothers, our fathers, or what have you. And most men are in need of an extra hug, if you will, because women are allowed to give and touch with their feelings, but we live our whole lives not really dealing with our emotions. So, we just seem like we’re kinda cut off. So, we need that attention.”
“Most spoken word artists have to go to R&B producers or hip-hop producers or what have you, so I created a production style that’s suited for spoken word music production. There was a need, so I fulfilled the need.”
As for Anita: “It’s also talking about the wide spectrum of what men want in relationships. Things that are important to men. The opening line is like, ‘I need a ghetto philosopher with a political science major’. So, someone that tends to be a ghetto philosopher and someone who tends to be a political science major in college tend not to be the same person. That opening line is saying, ‘I want everything in a relationship; same thing that women want. You want the best of both worlds […] Then, it gets deep into the aspect of talking about the things that are essential to a man. Men need support. Men need to feel like--from their woman--that you are superman. ‘Yeah, baby, you can do it. I got your back. I believe in you,’ and this, that, and the other; all that sort of thing. ‘I believe in your dreams as much as you believe in your dreams.’”
This insight into a man’s mind led me to ask about E’s references to women as queens, which opened the door to his views about female artists and sexism in the industry.
“I refer to women as lots of things from b----, to queen, to sister, to sis. I think I use the term ‘sis’ or ‘sister’ more than anything else because I feel that we’re family. We’re talking on that level. Like in “Anita”, there’s a lot of ‘queens’ in that because I was projecting that onto women at that time in my life. That poem is old. I wrote that in ‘99 […] Whenever I use the term ‘queen’ I’m projecting it on to women to see themselves in a regal sense. That’s why I do that.”
“I see more sisters doing poetry and spoken word than I do doing hip-hop. And it’s unfortunate […] Hip-hop is such an aggressive sport, you know? I don’t see a lot of women having the opportunity to be themselves. It’s almost like if one girl hangs with a bunch of guy, how does she usually carry herself, you know? And that’s what I see a lot in hip-hop. But in spoken word, I see a plethora of sisters dealing with the far-ranging issues that are important to women and the viewpoints of women. So, I definitely dig that.”
E
expressed that even though there are as many great female spoken word artists as
there are males across the country, male names most often come to mind. This is
in part because “we live in a sexist society” where women artists don’t
receive as much respect as male artists.
“I think in hip-hop…the environment kinda pushes women to be either some gangsta chick with a gun or be some slutty chick because hip-hop only allows for one of two images. Even with the dudes. Either you’re the drug dealer or you’re the pimp. You can’t really be too many other things.”
“I’ve always looked at hip-hop as culturally masculine. Even with men, it’s too masculine for men. And I always looked at R&B as like, too soft. It’s too feminine. Even for men… The men are ultra-feminine in R&B and the women are too masculine in hip-hop. In spoken word, I see more of a room where everyone is being themselves. I’m a producer and my stuff, I think, is very balanced in the masculine sense. I’m very male-oriented in how I do my thing. But, yet, I still do production for Rebecca Dupas who’s ultra-feminine because that’s who she is as a person. HanaLyn is a white woman at that…There’s no hard-core slant on anything that I’ve done for her. It’s HanaLyn. I think spoken word has allowed people to be themselves and be more in touch with who they are.”
Established in 1995, Torchlight Entertainment has been responsible for weekly open-mic events, shows, and stage plays. Besides putting out countless CDs of his own, E has produced albums for such artists as his Torchlight partner Aquil Mizan, Love the Poet, Rebecca Dupas, Native Son, and JaHipster.
“I’ve been producing since 2002 and what led me into producing was the same reason I do poetry: bringing a new dimension to what music production is. There hasn’t really been music production catered towards spoken word. Most spoken word artists have to go to R&B producers or hip-hop producers or what have you, so I created a production style that’s suited for spoken word music production. There was a need, so I fulfilled the need.”
And he fulfills it through Torchlight Project Studios, which not only allows independent artists to record under the guidance of E’s production, but also offers assistance with album manufacturing, marketing, promotion, and show bookings.
When it comes to producing and poetry/hip-hop, E loves them both equally: “Both of them are an expression of my creativity.”
In other Torchlight news, E hosts a weekly open-mic called
The Art of Conversation where artists perform then engage in conversation
with the audience. I can say first-hand both as a performing artist and an
audience member that an experience at The Art of Conversation is like no
other. E’s influence has even spread to Louisville, Kentucky where they
host their own Art of Conversation. For the future, Torchlight
Entertainment will continue striving to stabilize itself, develop artists,
and premier Torchlight Records. As Torchlight progresses, the brilliance
of its creator will become more evident and E the poet-emcee will
continue creating more stories.
For more on E and Torchlight:
The Art of Conversation
@ The Yabba Pot
2433 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218
$5
www.myspace.com/ethepoetemcee
www.myspace.com/torchlightentertainment
www.myspace.com/torchlightprojectstudios
www.myspace.com/theartofconversation365
www.myspace.com/bblackarts