Wordsworth

As his name suggests, Brooklyn-bred microphone fiend Wordsworth is the epitome of a true Hip-Hop wordsmith. At a time when the rap market is flooded with cookie-cutter sensations who churn out forgettable pop hits rather than solid albums, this Lyricist Lounge All-Star is looking to the past to reinvigorate the present by recalling Hip-Hop’s golden age of 1994 — when the beats were hard and emcees talked to listeners about relevant topics they could relate to. Not just about girls, clubs, and the current brand name of choice, Wordsworth raps about true life. “It’s a reflection of everything we go through as people,” Wordsworth says of his debut solo album, the aptly titled Mirror Music.

Mirror Music is refreshingly gritty — smart and ripe with wisdom only acquired through real life experiences. “I’m just gonna rhyme about what I feel and make it from the heart,” Words explains. “When people hear my album I want them to feel like I said everything they couldn’t say, so when a song ends their response is, ‘Word!’”

The album features Wordsworth giving personal insights, spitting narratives of everyday life, and of course demanding respect as an MC. “Nothing good to say keep silent/Cause the things that I wouldn’t want to say you keep rhyming/Keep firing, I seek like a missile heat guided/And I’m so hot I’m a be on top cause heat rises,” Wordsworth rhymes on first single “Gotta Pay,” later urging MCs that “Y’all don’t need to dumb it down, y’all dudes is dumb already.”

Much of the album is introspective, however, with tracks like “What We Gon’ Do” showcasing social awareness with lyrics like “Health issues got you scared so you don’t want to go/To the doctor, ‘cause if you got something you don’t want to know/White tees long like dresses, you booked and questioned/Shook witnesses, don’t get good looks they guessing.” Wordsworth explains, “It’s a list of problems and things going on not only in Brooklyn, but daily across the globe, almost with no improvement. No matter how many times we hear these stories on the news or through experience we make the same mistakes. So I asked, ‘What We Gon’ Do?’”

Other tracks like “Trust” focus on the more personal side of things. Wordsworth says, “When I found out I was having a daughter, I felt like I’m about to be the most over protective dad in the world and what I planned on protecting her from is part of my past. ‘Trust’ is a song for my daughter, to let her know what to look out for from guys, to respect herself, and a thank you, for giving me another reason to appreciate life.”

On the track, Wordsworth raps about his less than upstanding past with women, claiming, “3 girls at once, sometimes 4/Sometimes the same block,

same building, sometimes same floor/I was enjoying that, me and my boys were macks/All the girls that we tapped, behind they backs they get laughed and pointed at.”

Whether rapping about life on the streets or the angels he feels watching over him, the lyricism throughout Mirror Music shows that Wordsworth thinks vividly, outside of the box. Wordsworth explains of his style, “In my rhymes, I try to create pictures that illustrate emotions — like an audio art gallery of emotions.”

With a degree in English Language and Literature, Wordsworth has the all the tools to effectively craft that aural masterpiece. As an undergraduate at the State University of New York Old Westbury, Wordsworth distinguished himself by penning all of his papers and writing assignments in lyrical verse. Upon graduating, Wordsworth teamed up with fellow rapper Punchline to form Punch ‘N’ Words, and the duo began making the rounds on the underground Hip-Hop open mic circuit, quickly making a name for themselves.

After commanding the stage at a Lyricist Lounge showcase in 1997, event host Q-Tip was so impressed that he tapped Punch ‘N’ Words to spit on “Rock Rock, Y’all,” on A Tribe Called Quest’s 1998 gold-certified album The Love Movement. In addition to multitudes of guest spots (including Black Star’s famed “Twice Inna Lifetime”), Punch ‘N’ Words went on to appear in three Lyricist Lounge tours in 2000, both compilation albums on Mic Media/Rawkus, and MTV’s groundbreaking sketch comedy rhyme series The Lyricist Lounge Show, which Wordsworth co-created, scripted and starred in. After releasing a self-titled EP on Mona Hip Hop/Landspeed in 2001, the pair amicably moved on to pursue solo endeavors.

Over the years, Wordsworth has gained solo notoriety by performing on radio shows (including Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito, and Sway and Tech’s Wake Up Show), frequenting open mic venues, and appearing on popular mix tapes that have circulated worldwide. In addition to rhyming, Wordsworth has parlayed the experience he gained from The Lyricist Lounge Show into a budding career in film and television. He continues to study acting, has written a number of film scripts and television treatments, and was recently featured in the award-winning independent