Music
Press
What happened to political hip-hop? Those of us old enough to assign meaning to the words “Native Tongues” grew up during an era when spitting meaningful lyrics didn’t mean you were flushing commercial viability down the toilet. Uh, so things have changed a little. The major labels may have Dead Prez, but for the most part it has fallen to underground MCs like Baltimore’s Son of Nun to carry the torch lit by the socially conscious artists of the ’80s.
S.O.N.’s freshman full-length effort, Blood and Fire (Morning Light), unabashedly places the politics of the left front and center. The Charm City MC (a.k.a. Kevin James) laces his lyrical content with the seriousness of issues like the U.S.’s firmly antidemocratic Haitian foreign policy and the injustices of globalization, all while keeping it illy for heads and maintaining a sense of humor about himself.
S.O.N. brings the battle-ready mentality of real hip-hop to the social-justice movement, recontextualizing mainstay rap references about slinging rocks on tracks like “Free Palestine,” where he assumes the identity of a Palestinian, rhyming, “It’s hard to fathom but even harder to manage/I’m a second-class citizen in the land of my origin.” - The Indypendent
When you’re an MC who absolutely, positively needs to let your rage be heard, don’t set
those lyrics in some banging beat. Spotlight it in blood-boiling a cappella. That’s exactly
what local MC Son of Nun did with his “Trent Lott” spleen off his 2005 debut album,
Blood and Fire. With nothing but his charismatic voice spitting the words, Son of Nun
imagines a world in which Trent Lott is punished for his sins in the way white Southerners
used to punish blacks: “Headline: White supremacists assassinated, / Strom Thurmond
and Jesse Helms found castrated/ Eyes dilated, bodies dehydrated/ Kneecaps crushed
and caps decapitated.” And he’s just getting started: “Trent Lott, you look as if your
seat’s hot/ ’cause you said out in the open what we knew was in your heart/ You’re not
sorry, you got caught/ And now it’s time to make your body cash in the check your
mouth bought/ I’ll apply for affirmative action/ so that I can be the first to put your ass
in traction.” Rap is chockablock with such salacious imagery, but here’s an example of it
coming from a sincere place of personal anger, meant to vent feelings that have nowhere
else to go, and not just cynically sell records to a hip-hop business that uses gunshots as
a marketing device. - Baltimore City Paper
Discography
Albums:
-Blood And Fire (2004)
*The Art of Struggle (early 2008)
Compilations:
-Peace Not War (2004)
-States of Abuse (2004)
-Free The P (2005)
-Cruel And Unusual Punishment (2006)
-Line in the Sand (2007)
Radio:
-Air America - On The Real w/ Chuck D
-WPFW (DC Pacifica Station) - Blackademics
-WMUC (Univ.MD Radio) - That Fresh Radio Piece
Photos
Bio
Hip hop artist, former Baltimore City high school teacher, activist, cancer survivor, sickle cell battler, and recipient of praise by Public Enemy’s Chuck D as “[Leaving] a mean look on somebody’s face” for being “More than relevant!,” S.O.N. doesn’t just entertain his crowds he empowers them. The name Son of Nun is a biblical reference to the one who took over where Moses left off. Inspired by the Maroons in his Jamaican heritage and countless freedom fighters past and present, S.O.N. seeks to help pass the torch to the next generation.
Growing up with illness influenced his perspective at an early age, as did being the product of a single parent household. Painful sickle cell crises and hospital stays made other problems seem more manageable, and seeing his mother struggle to make ends meet was a powerful challenge to the sexist stereotypes he’d encounter as he met the world. Far from being an attention seeker S.O.N. was quiet and reserved, when diagnosed with thyroid cancer he was confronted with the possibility of losing his voice during the surgery to remove the gland. This taught him to value his voice.
He attended a state college in Baltimore where he became politically aware and active while tutoring students in the city. S.O.N.’s writing reflected this process as he began to articulate what he was learning through spoken word, dnb, and hip hop. He taught high school history in the Baltimore City Public Schools for 4 years while being an advisor for a student group and helping to coach debate.
S.O.N. has shared the stage with artists like Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine as well as activists like Howard Zinn, Cindy Sheehan, Rosa Clemente, and Liam Madden from Iraq Veterans Against the War. Music from his 2004 debut cd “Blood And Fire” has earned him spots on compilations with iconic artists ranging from The Last Poets to Sonic Youth, won him a “Best of Baltimore” award from the Baltimore City Paper, and took “Best Song of the Week” on NPR’s website. S.O.N.’s forthcoming cd, “The Art of Struggle,” is a collaboration with producer DJ Mentos and will be released in early 2008.
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