Chris Cubs, The Trinidadian-American, artist-meets-businessman, side walk poet. We ask if he lives a normal life outside of traveling with a typewriter from city to city. His response: “Oh no, no. I get paid to do poetry.”
The first poem he ever wrote was Do You Like Poetry? He started writing in 8th grade but donned the alias two years ago when his best friend suggested, “Won’t you just make it Cubs the Poet?” He agreed and began his journey. Cubs admits he didn’t start taking his art seriously until a year ago. Why?
“Because I just didn’t have a reason to. I was in my parents’ basement last summer for summer break. I was like if you really want to do poetry and music, you should do whatever comes to mind and the first thing that comes to mind is get a typewriter and type up poems. But before I did that, I was reciting downtown. That’s how I got in the paper, every day I was downtown reciting poetry. Then I got an article then I got invited to do the Delaplaine (Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center) and put my poems in frames. That was the goal last summer. I take this stuff seriously.”
The responses vary from surprise, joy, reflection, even some tears.
Originally from Louisiana, Chris moved to Frederick in the 7th grade and attended St. John’s
Catholic Prep. “To be honest, I used to take Jay-Z’s lyrics and say they were mine. I went to little St. Johns. It was an all-
white school and I was the cool black kid so they were like, “Do you rap?” I was like, “Yup.” I would spit Jay’s lines for days.
And they were like, “Oh my God! You’re so nice!” (Laughing) I was like, ‘F*ckin’ right.’” Though he attends Dillard University in pursuit of a Psychology degree, he has his own thoughts on pro-educational reform he describes as ‘self-reliant thinking.’ He explains, “we’re all built to survive on our own but then when we go to school we’re taught to memorize and do a whole bunch of stuff that we forget. And if they would teach us to support our own way of thinking then we would be better off. We would be happier, social relationships would be stronger. Everybody would be able to be themselves.” His end goal is to build a charter school in Frederick founded on these principles.
“I think that was the only reason I was able to fully dive into the poetry and art because I just really believed in what I was thinking.”
Poetry has taken him from local pubs, to the Union Station in Washington, DC, to the festive streets of New Orleans. He began sitting on Royal Street with his typewriter and that is where his reward became tangible. Cubs would create $10 to $20 poems for onlookers curious enough to approach on any subject they request. In Frederick he has performed at Café Nola, The Cellar Door, and the Griffin Art Center. He was even featured in the Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center that displayed an exhibit of his handwritten and typed poems. Then the Marc train landed him in DC in venues like Foggy Bottom and Busboys & Poets. But the experiences vary.
“It’s been fun,” Cubs explains. “I just think I got spoiled by the attention I got in New Orleans. I got a lot of attention in New Orleans. Well if it works here, everybody is talented and everybody is used to art, then chances are it can work everywhere else. Came back here hoping to ride the wave to DC but my first day back I went to DC and I got no love and I think that kind of brought me back down. Who do you think you are just because you have a typewriter and dress nice? (Laughing) That does not mean nothin’ to us in DC.” The generous giving dwindled the further north he traveled, including in Frederick. But heading to the Big Apple is in his future. The DMV/DC Metro area is not as embracing for the arts — well, his kind of arts — compared to the northern regions.
word — a genre of dynamic, theatrical poetry performance that he does not identify with; he has a lax, yet distinct delivery. “I was never the type of poet to give people fist pumps and project my voice like that. I was more chill. My words are heavy, I don’t like loud.” A person’s perseverance is his main inspiration. “Nowadays you hear a lot of stories. It’s whomever. I think it’s mixed with creativity and individualism and people who don’t lose themselves. It’s just those people that keep going. I realize everybody gets told no matter what they do, but the ones that keep going.” Cubs’ famous influences are rappers such as Jay-Z for his business savviness and refers to Kanye West as the “complete artist.” He also likes Pharrell and Bob Marley. His biggest inspiration is musician and social activist Mos Def. Rappers have the advantage of having a blueprint to success. It’s been done before. But becoming a poet — a profitable and accomplished poet is the road less traveled. Turning poetry into a business is no easy feat. However, Cubs finds himself at the crossroads of business and art—and is deciding to create his own path right down the middle of the two. “I run this thing just like a business, ya’ know?,” Cubs says. “A lot of people think an artist is free spirited, fly by the wind. I want to get rid of the whole “starving artist” thing. I believe in today’s time that you don’t have to starve with anything. If you’re dedicated with your ideas, are consistent, and you have a good reputation with your customers, then you can make money. It’s not that hard if you’re good.”
RHYMING IN FREDERICK
Cubs the Poet has been forewarned time and time again about pursuing his dreams in small time Frederick. He has been advised to not be too confident or too humble, not too loud but not invisible, be cautious of how he acts and reacts around various crowds and be aware of his perception in this town. But he has learned to remain true to his calling, no matter the audience.
“People ask why we come back to Frederick. Just to see how it works man, it’s not the end. If you can make it in Frederick…it’s small enough where you can f*ck up here and go somewhere else. (Laughing) But if you get it that will be a good look.”
THE COLLECTIVE
Cubs finds himself collaborating with various artists whom he has met along the way. On Call is one of them. These young men include a musical engineer, two rappers, an artist, videographer, and himself, the poet. Collectively they men contribute their individual talents to a common goal: establishing a Hip-Hop and poetry scene in Frederick. It’s been an uphill journey as these men have yet to fulfill monetary promise. They consider this venture the “last push.” He mentions he
has a special partnership with one of the rappers from the collective. Cubs says their collaboration competes with Hip-Hop heavy hitters like Q-Tip and Kendrick Lamar. On Call is working on bringing a summer festival to Frederick County as well as an alley show for artists to showcase their craft as a platform to gain recognition for their sound. Their objective debunks the “crabs in a barrel” mentality that Cubs says plagues artists in Frederick. He attributes this negativity to the lack of faith in each other’s projects. “We need to build a bandwagon big enough for everybody to hop on,” he said.
BLACK ELITE
name. Well Black Elite sounds like Black Superiority.” Cubs adopted the name two years ago from the W.E.B Du Bois’ Talented Tenth concept that emphasized the push for higher education in order to establish a leadership class among the most capable 10 percent of black Americans in the early 20th century.
Cubs creates the message. Dior manipulates the sound. Cali meet Hi-Hats. College financial aid allows them six months to leave school and take Black Elite to the next level. The duo even released their own mixtape Black Elite Vol 1.
So what exactly does Black Elite mean to Vincent and Chris?
“We can all say we’re Americans. So Black Elite is the top status of a black person in America. How we define it is not materialism, it’s not what you have, it’s how you think. You have the freedom to think for yourself. That’s what they gave us. It’s not jobs, or the chance to be President which are results of that free thinking but first it starts with free thinking and that’s what Black Elite is supposed to be. Like how we all see Barack Obama as an example as how a black person can be President in America, Black Elite is telling everyone that you can think for yourself in America. You don’t have to fall into anything. It’s
really just showing our peers and even our parents that we believe in ourselves so much we’ll do whatever the hell it takes to be happy. We’re not all Jordans, and Polos, and baggy, sagging pants. Or Presidents. We’re people, just like everybody else. People have to do certain things just to wake everybody up. I feel like it needs to be done. At the end of the day (Black Elite) is just a name and hopefully people will give us a shot.”
CURRENT PROJECTS
His first album, released in March 2014, is entitled That Day In Budapest. The title is connected to a book Cubs read about the historical event of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 involving the
student demonstration for political, societal, educational and economic demands. This spoke directly to Cubs’ own ideas on education reform.
He recently released his second album, The African Genius. But he finds the battle between
poetry and rap on tape to be a losing one. “Poetry is kind of hard to keep people’s attention. I mean even if you’re good, they hear one poem and they’re ready for somebody else. Because it doesn’t have the beats people don’t give it a chance.” After experimenting with poetry on his previous work, he chose to strictly rap on his current one. The album is a compilation of online instrumentals that he re-engineered to cater to his sound. One track Chris loves is “Janet Jackson.” The song explores unapologetically being who you are, grasping inspiration from the scene in Friday, when a romantic prospect lied to Smokey about resembling Janet Jackson. Cubs the Poet is already planning his third album to be tentatively entitled, The Book of Chris, an all-original production of instrumentals and poetry.
Of course, Cubs faces the normal ridicule any new artist faces and deals with the parental reprimand any temporary college dropout would endure, but he is in this for the long haul. He’s learning more about himself — his drive, his weaknesses, his obligations — than ever before. “I can’t give up. I know it’s not supposed to be easy but this is probably the hardest thing I had to do in my life man. This art sh*t.
It’s you waking yourself up every day telling yourself to keep going. You gotta go,” he emphasizes. In his future, he sees live sets
filled with poetry and music. And for those who think he is in over his head, Cubs says: “I just laugh at people who laugh at me and say,
“Well what are you doing with this poetry?” At least I’m happy and making money doing this poetry. It may not be a lot but who
do you know that’s making money off poems?” – END –
It’s you waking yourself up every day telling yourself to keep going. You gotta go,” he emphasizes. In his future, he sees live sets
filled with poetry and music. And for those who think he is in over his head, Cubs says: “I just laugh at people who laugh at me and say,
“Well what are you doing with this poetry?” At least I’m happy and making money doing this poetry. It may not be a lot but who
do you know that’s making money off poems?” – END –
Originally published on June 25, 2015 by OUT40 Magazine, LLC.