Random Abiladeze. The name most certainly fits the bill. A

multitalented artist, Abiladeze pulls inspiration from the

varied likes of immortalized rapper Tupac Shakur,

comedian George Carlin, basketball legend Michael Jordan, and his mother.

Born in Sacramento and raised in Roseville, Abiladeze was drawn to hip-hop from a young age, but was truly inspired to pick up the pen himself after hearing the song “The Art of Storytelling” by OutKast and Slick Rick.

“Something just really came over me when I would hear Slick Rick’s verse. I got so inspired one day I said, ‘I have to do this.’”

Abiladeze has come a long way since that day. Since 2004, Abiladeze has been working professionally as both a hip-hop and spoken word artist and has won several awards for his poetry.

Abiladeze has also since opened for the likes

of Nas, Techn N9ne, and Butterscotch (America’s Got Talent).

The Music

Somewhere along the way, Abiladeze began to realize the message in his lyrics was hard to understand for listeners. In hip-hop, sometimes the message gets “obscured” behind a distracting beat and music – so Abiladeze began to slow down his delivery, and subtract the background music.

Abiladeze’ evolution into spoken word poetry allowed the audience to hear his message loud and clear.

“I want to remind people of the importance and the power of the voice and thought,” he said.

And he most certainly is reminding them. Abiladeze provides a refreshing alternative to the monotony of formulaic hip-hop – socially conscious music.

In fact, many of Abiladeze’s songs and poems deal with controversial social issues, and these do not always easily win over a big crowd.

Abiladeze recalled one such challenge when he was asked to perform at the California State Fair.

Instead shying away from a serious song, Abiladeze chose to perform “African Connections” – a song that takes listeners through the journey of The Middle Passage and what it’s like to live in America today as an African descendant.

“(It was) a happy-go-lucky crowd. They were just there with their cotton candy, ready to go,” he said.

But needless to say, the cheerful state fair crowd was significantly sobered. Some of the audience even walked out in the middle of the performance.

Despite the challenge, Abiladeze still sees that particular performance as a victory.

“It was an accomplishment, because it means I touched (the audience), even if they didn’t like it,” he said.

“Some people can’t face the truth.”

Community Outreach

In the midst of focusing on his music, Abiladeze has not forgotten to give back to the community. He uses his music and poetry to reach out – especially to youth. Abiladeze is involved in the Peer Court program, which educates youth on the criminal justice system. Peer Court tries youth for real misdemeanor crimes in a court with their own peers acting as attorneys and juries.

“I speak to hundreds of freshman Health and Driver’s Education classes, talking to kids all the way down from Placer County to the Bay Area in the city of Windsor,” Abiladeze said.

Abiladeze has also worked with Skylab, an organization that organizes community activities to get youth involved. Abiladeze traveled to North Highlands to speak at a housing project, performing and holding poetry workshops for kids.

As a result of his social work, Abiladeze has learned a lot about people.

“I’ve noticed communication is so important,” Abiladeze said.

“I don’t think people have the opportunity to open up, but when people hear what I have to say, they feel more open to express themselves afterwards. And that makes me more appreciative of my life.”

That respect for human to human communication has translated into Abiladeze’s music as well – prompting him to write the song “I Understand.”

“‘I Understand’ (is) essentially about depression and dealing with issues in your life,” he said.

“I (perform) it every time I talk to kids because I realize that depression and suicide and anxiety – all these things are very relevant to teenagers especially.”

But it’s not just youth who need to hear a positive message.

“I’m always looking to do some sort of youth outreach, but I believe adults are human, too. I’m not limited by age. I’ve spoken to first graders and I’ve spoken to groups of people that include 50- to 70-year-olds, and the message still applies,” Abiladeze said.

Clearly, helping out fellow community members is crucial to Abiladeze’s philosophy and he intends to continue that dedication.

“I’m just about service right now.”

On the Current State of Hip-Hop

“There’s too much arrogance and a lack of conviction,” Abiladeze said.

“It’s just like cookie-cutter stuff gets pumped out for mass production and it has no real weight. There’s not a heart to commercialized music.”

But Abiladeze was quick to set himself apart from the hordes of critics condemning commercialized hip-hop.

Rather, Abiladeze acknowledged that he owed something to the hip-hop he heard on the radio as a child.

“I look at Puff Daddy as a kind of gateway drug. (Puff Daddy) led me to deeper things when I wasn’t totally aware. It got me into hip-hop looking for other people. So I can’t totally knock (commercialized hip-hop).”

Despite his stylistic differences with much of mainstream hip-hop, Abiladeze understands the deeper cultural significance of violent music.

“A lot of people like to criticize hip-hop. There’s a lot of nonsense and garbage out there, too much misogyny – it’s ridiculous,” he said.

“But at the same time, art should reflect life and I’m coming to grips with that.”

“I like to bring a more positive message, but…if there are people out there talking about selling drugs and killing people, the thing is, maybe they don’t do it, but (other) people actually do that.”

In Abiladeze’ opinion, music shouldn’t be censored to the point where the violence and gritty reality is gone.

“(Censorship) is like covering up the problems. There really are drugs and thugs and everything – that’s what this nation was built on, a bunch of gangsters saying ‘this is our land.’”

In an age of countless Federal Communications Commission regulations, it seems everyone is worried about being politically correct. But Abiladeze sees value in leaving life unmasked and allowing the people to see everything – the good and the bad.

“For people to start acting like just because we’re more ‘tame’ now…(and) just because some people have a little more money now doesn’t mean that the ugliness should not be shown.”

In fact, some of the most influential artists have been those who do not censor their lyrics for the sake of avoiding controversy.

“(Rappers) like Scarface and Ice Cube don’t hold their tongue. They just really hold it down in a way that’s not so pretty. And I like that – I like things that aren’t so pretty,” Abiladeze said.

And as for the future of hip-hop? Abiladeze sees currently popular music “phasing out” and underground hip-hop and spoken word poetry eventually coming more into the mainstream.

“When you have so many youth speaking from their hearts, it’s hard to deny that,” Abiladeze said.

In fact, according to Abiladeze, there is an entire movement of intellectual hip-hop in the Sacramento and Bay Area.

Eventually, Abiladeze predicts the fall of clichéd hip-hop and weak lyrics.

“You’re going to see the collapse of what is popular, and then the grass roots movement is going to rise up again,” Abiladeze said.

The grass roots movement can be compared to a deceptively stationary river.

“It’s just like the undercurrent of water. (On the surface) it looks like it’s just real slow and stagnant, but there’s all this current going on in the real heart of music. That will never die.”

* * *

Random Abiladeze will be coming out with his new album “Brutally Honest” in April 2008. Until then, you can listen to his mix tape “Space N’ Time” out now or visit www.myspace.com/randomabiladeze for information on upcoming shows and poetry readings.