The NYC Hip-Hop trio 3rd Party has already produced two Adam’s World Artists of the Week (
Hired Gun and
Rabbi Darkside),
and this week the third member of the trio, Farbeon, is ready for his
close-up. Born in El Paso, Texas, Farbeon’s musical journey started at
a very young age as a singer in his church’s choir. He jokes that
“little old ladies” were his first groupies. Farbeon would go on to
study poetry at Georgetown University during Allen Iverson’s reign
there and in 2000 he linked up with the Blow Up Co-Op in Phoenix,
Arizona. After moving to NYC in 2002, Farbeon quickly found Rabbi
Darkside and Hired Gun and the trio formed 3rd Party. This week I
caught up with Farbeon to discuss his many projects, from all things
music related, to his work with Alzheimer’s patients, to his
development of his own Master’s program at NYU. One thing is for sure,
Farbeon is far from being your average artist.
Adam Bernard:
I want to focus on your solo work, but before we get to that let’s talk
a little bit about 3rd Party. What do you feel you bring to the group
that’s unique?
Farbeon: I
bring the melodic soul with a poetic sensibility. The soulful power of
poetry lies in its precision and brevity. Poets cut away the fat to
develop texts that are rich and multi-layered. Their goal is to create
pieces that leave room for interpretation, but still deliver profound
truth and meaning deliberately through the use of concrete images. A
poet’s role is not to tell you that they are sad, it is to write a poem
that invokes sadness in the reader. My approach to writing songs is
based heavily in research and pre-writing. Once I decide on a theme I
look for the precise words to communicate what it is I want to say, and
then I weave those words into a lyrical form that lends itself to vocal
exploration, i.e. the use of melody and harmony. I guess you could say
I’m not as renegade in my approach to Hip-Hop, though I do love
freestyle. Oh yeah, I’ve also been known to drop Sinatra covers during
my solo sets.
Adam Bernard: Now you’re about to release your second solo album. How much do you feel you’ve grown as an artist from album to album?
Farbeon: Few and Far Between
will be my second solo release in… six… years. Not that I’m
self-conscious or anything, but having only two solo records in that
time has got me a little vexed. I think this record is as far a
departure from where I was six years ago as it could be for being six
years removed from the life of a 24 year old artist/emcee/educator
moving from Tempe, Arizona to the Big Apple. In many ways this project
is like a second debut record. My level of life experience is greater,
my mastery over music is greater, and the deliberateness with which I
approach each track is greater. I’m working more with non-traditional
song structures and relying less on a 16 bar verse standard. More
importantly, I’m working with some of the best producers of independent
Hip-Hop today, including Baba Israel, Yako 440 and Core Rhythm. If
someone had told me six years ago that I’d be where I am today, I would
have believed them, but I wouldn’t have been able to comprehend how
good it would feel.
Adam Bernard: What about
Few and Far Between do you feel people will relate to most?
Farbeon:
First off, my next project isn’t really an album in the traditional
sense. My goal as an artist is to continue to create new pieces of work
and give them instant life via the inter-web. In other words, I’m
looking to distribute my music for free… kinda. Starting in April I
plan to release three to four new tracks every month on farbeon.com.
With each installment of tracks I’ll also be posting new photos,
videos, essays, and survey questions that speak to the themes of that
month’s installment. At the end of four months I plan to produce a
limited hardcopy of the project with a couple of additional songs for
the diehard fans, friends and fam. All that I ask in return is
dialogue. I want heads to respond. I want them to share their ideas
with me. I want them to push me to think. In that sense, I think that
people will relate most to my desire to make an authentic human
connection. I’m not rapping about being a Super-Farbeon, minus the
single “farBEon,” I’m rapping about being a 32 year old artist,
educator and agent for social change. I’m not waiting for the world to
get better, I’m singing it into existence as best as I can with the
gifts that the Lord has given me. Hopefully, I can inspire others to do
the same in their own lives. So I think people will be able to relate
most to the inspiration, to the passion.
Adam Bernard: Speaking of your passions, tell me about your work with the Alzheimer Poetry Project.
Farbeon:
Beginning in 2005 I began working with the Alzheimer Poetry Project.
The APP is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for people with
Alzheimer’s disease, their families, and professional health care
workers. We perform poems, both original and classical poems that they
might have learned as children, directly to the folks, often holding
their hands. This is not the type of poetry reading that takes place
from a podium. The APP is about making contact with people who may have
very little physical contact in their lives. It is typical to be
reciting a poem and have a client wake up from their dementia and
finish the poem with me. To say that the experience is a powerful one
does not do it justice. As an emcee hustling to find that “big break,”
my work with the APP has been integral in keeping my feet planted
firmly on the ground. I was quickly forced to consider my purpose in
pursuing music. Though I’m still concerned about making a living with
my art, I’ve come to the conclusion that focusing too much on that
prevents fulfillment. I need to use my gifts to service the community,
both young and old alike.
Adam Bernard:
Both Hired Gun and Rabbi D are also involved in education in NYC. On
the low, are you the superintendent of schools? C’mon, you can tell me!
Farbeon:
Nah, not the superintendent, but I am a badass! I’ve been teaching for
about a decade. I began after college with a two year stint with Teach
for America. I quickly developed my own approach to teaching writing
that was extremely effective in helping kids who were two to three
years below grade level catch up. After teaching traditionally as a
full-time classroom teacher for five years I was finally able to make
the jump to being a teaching-artist. I’ve been working with the Urban
Arts Partnership for five years and I’m now teaching Hip-Hop history
and culture, poetry, performance, songwriting, music production and
even photography. I’ve co-taught classes with Pharoahe Monch, Talib
Kweli, Fab Five Freddy and Rosie Perez. I currently run an art program
that includes eight art forms at the Facing History School. I’ve been
with them since day one and this year we will have our first graduating
class… but not until they complete their final requirement. This
semester I’m guiding sixty 17 and 18 year olds in the development of
independent art projects. Master emcee? Arguable. Master teacher? Fo’
sho’!
Adam Bernard: A master teacher, and also a master student as I hear you’re developing your own Master’s program. Talk to me about this.
Farbeon:
This past fall I began developing my own Master’s in Hip-Hop
Re:Education at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Studies. This
program gives me the opportunity to take pretty much any class
throughout all of NYU, and even classes outside of NYU. I’m studying
Hip-Hop as an artist/ethnographer, both researcher and participant. I’m
looking at the historical/cultural foundations of Hip-Hop. I’m taking
private lessons in music production at Dubspot. I’m researching the
development of Hip-Hop throughout the world. And I’m also working on
developing a stronger business acumen, i.e. the
grant-writing/fundraising and telecommunication skills needed to make
all of my artistic endeavors financially viable. If culture is a
commodity, then it is up to each artist to come to terms with how he or
she earns a living. I’m renaissance about my approach. Whether writing,
recording, performing, teaching, or researching, there is a market for
my work. This Master’s program is just legitimizing what I’ve been
doing for the past ten years and creating a platform for me to take it
to the next level. When in doubt: Re:Define, Re:Invent, Re:Educate!