Album Notes

On Saturday, February 16th 2002 Fatal Prose was conceived at the exact moment an engineering student died in an empty classroom . A theory became his eulogy. “Words can alter the shape of now by changing the perception of the past, thus allowing us to transcend our fate , if one should exist, and create our own future.” For Prose, this meant a step backwards was just a step forward in a different direction. If this was true, his career as a poet began as a resident advisor at the University of Cincinnati. There he learned everything he needed to know regarding the power of words, building a just community, and counseling the human spirit. For three years, he organized the A.R.T. Show which brought the world of poetry slam and the planet of emcee battle to the barren moon of dormitory life and gave college students a positive alternative to vent their frustrations beyond the nights of drinking and smoking reefer. This was also a perfect time for him to develop his own hybrid of presentation, drawing from the influences of not only hip hop and spoken word, but traditional theater, gospel, jazz and rock and roll.

Prose has been blessed to share the stage with many of his original influences: Jessica Care Moore, Ursula Rucker, Common Sense and Illogic being the most memorable. His eagerness to collaborate with other artists has driven his work and he can be heard on a growing collection of projects, most recently Is What’s?! “The Life We Chose” released nationally late summer 2006. Co-founder of Fatal-Lyfe publishing, Fatal Prose joins with Aphasia Lyfe to form a literary tag team dedicated to words and the people who read them. Their first work “Spilled Ink” features Aphasia’s poetry and Prose’s illustrations, and wrestles with themes such as addiction, domestic violence, motherhood, self hate and real love. Prose can’t draw to save his life, but feels like the Picasso of Photoshop after hours of making flyers trying to promote shows and events. He hosted weekly poetry readings at the Greenwich Tavern until returning to his home in Cleveland to help his family and finish his first album.

His self titled debut can be described as the shortest distance between two points. For every song that stands to appear on it; two more are invisible men. Years are condensed into minutes and painted over a melodic canvas provided by ill poetic: one of Cincinnati’s most talented producers. The nine tracks symbolize the nine months from the conception of art to the birth of an artist and can be followed from February to the ninth month - September. For Prose, September is significant because it was the month his grandparents passed away while he was on tour in 2004. If there was anytime to let poetry die in an empty classroom, it would have been that following winter. Maybe fate does have something to say about our lives, but he has found that there is one thing for which fate will not give parental guidance. Fate will not make our decisions for us. Prose decided that a stumble was just a break in between strides and continues to share his words whether he be on stage or sitting at a bus stop with only the wind as a microphone. He is currently working on a second book with Aphasia, his own collection of short stories, and many other silent endeavors that shall not yet be named.

For booking contact Prose at pleasebookprose@yahoo.com