Georgia Anne Muldrow: No Limitations Just Freedom

“When you’re killing that many people and you still got a clean suit to wear, then someone needs to be addressed. If they’re gonna talk bad about Suge Knight; then they have to talk bad about the president too. A lot of these cats are paid off to talk good about the president and wear red, white and blue. I guess I am political, because I’m not here to just have a good time and numb people’s brains out. If that means political, then I guess I am.”

Georgia Anne Muldrow, twenty-four year old, a mother to one with another soon expected; singer, songwriter/producer (recent credit of Master Teacher on Ms.Badu’s latest) is reestablishing the magnum opus of unapologetic, raw music. Her sound is beyond categorization and she likes it that way.

“My mental peace has yet to come. Peace will arrive when justice is throughout the land. I’m in constant search for peace, from the inside out of course. There is so much injustice going on and it’s more like an instrument for me to vent and it’s more for me to just live. But, the peace of mind doesn’t come until a person is moved by it and sees it as a way to get through.” Align me with the truth she states….it’s her mantra. Her voice is soft, confident and tragic; she’s comfortable and relaxed which makes this conversation more than an interview.

?uestlove referred to her as the “De La Soul of the crew;” “the crew” including newbie musical artists/producers Sa-Ra and J*Davey regarding their pioneering approach to hip hop and soul music. Using her spiritual journal aka her heart, where she equates her delivery stems from. Her lyrical freedom is no clashed elegance. Consistent and balanced she uses the only approach she knows; honesty and tradition. “If you are not being who you really are in music, then stop it. That’s why music is here so that we can communicate. I’m blessed to be an African and I have to stay true to the tradition and honesty in lifting my surroundings. You can’t do that through just talking about yourself; you have to speak on the struggle of the times. I think it’s important, we live in a day in age where a lot of people are made up and unknowing that there is a war going on against our individual expression as a people and as a collective soul.”

We’re selfish in music especially. Artists are making music to fatten their wallets rather than to educate and uplift. A realist is how Muldrow describes herself. What she speaks on could make you uncomfortable, yet more importantly it’ll probably make you think. “I’m honored that people want to know what’s on my mind. I feel like my music is political in a sense that I’m singing on behalf of political prisoners because they do not have a chance to be free and in Obama’s place. You got Mumia Abu-Jamal in Philly and the Move 9 in Philly and a lot of Philly artists aren’t even touching that topic. Cassidy should have been said something!” Where’s the artist responsibility she asks me? Mumia Abu-Jamal for those that need a quick update is a renowned journalist from Philadelphia who has been in prison since 1981 and on death row since 1983 for allegedly shooting Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He is known as the “Voice of the Voiceless” for his reporting on police brutality and other social and racial epidemics that plagued communities of color in Philadelphia and throughout the world. Muldrow along with other hip hop activists are passionate about message music and believes that time is being wasted. “We don’t have time to waste and talk about ourselves; like ohh baby come close to me. Our elders are supposed to be guiding us. A generation that is supposed to prevent us hunting ourselves are locked up, just so that hip hop can be taken away from us.”

The never ending conversation about hip hop vs. America, itself and the media will forever continue until someone changes their focus and sticks to it. Are we destroying hip hop? Has the vision escaped through barriers of YouTube, MySpace and ersatz record deals that produce nonsense music? Unless you are aware of what’s out there to decipher between the options that are handed to us; I can see why many artists are in a mazy state of mind….they know nothing else. “There are a whole lot of things going on and you can go to YouTube and see what is happening to hip hop. Money rap was always there, but when did it start to be un-cool to be who you are and represent why you’re beautiful?” Her philosophy stretches wider than music. Sporting a combed-out afro, and laced in African garments, Muldrow will be the first to tell you she’s proud to be Black. Well read and spoken; the trend she doesn’t know she’s in the process of setting will be revealed soon. Black music is shifting and Black people are recognizing that the art form started by us is destroying us. “I don’t know anything about setting a trend. I think you have to really love children. If you don’t love children, then you’re not going to do it. You have to love them more than you love yourself, a strong love for the unborn souls that have yet to be here. You have to know that that’s what it takes. For us to be here on the phone talking; that took someone’s’ love for us to fight. That’s what it’s going to take, someone that has that same love to stand up for generations to come.”

It’s legacy for her. The spawn of parents involved in music as well. She observed, consumed and later turned her knowledge into what we consider the rawest approach in music to date. Her voice is sultry, with range that could be loosely compared to jazz musicians before. She brings pure persistence in her music and unlike many artists of today, consistency. She chuckles to think how society jumps on nonsense characterization from artists that used to have a message to convey. “Chuck D ain’t going anywhere, we have serious artists! He’s actually funkier than he was. But, it’s because they rather see the Flavor of Love. He (Chuck D) ain’t changing his story, he’s just there. I want to be like that. When he didn’t have any other means, he was definitely on the mic making it real. That’s what we have to do, because they were thinking about us. KRS-ONE, Arrested Development and others thought about me. Lil’ Kim did not think about me. I’m twenty-four. Their music was for the people that wanted to feel better, people that actually had a conscious about what was going on and taking a leading role.”

Influences such as KRS-ONE and Arrested Development made self actualization for Muldrow easier. Self-taught, she tested out of high school and eventually dropped out of college. “My mom taught me that it was okay to teach myself. I can write you a college essay or higher because I wanted to push myself and to teach myself what was vital to my survival. You gotta learn for your people and your art.”

She’s a master teacher, highly influenced by what she observes she challenges the ills of society for something or someone greater. It’s not enough to simply speak to an audience and walk away with everyone following you if you aren’t saying anything. “I don’t know if I have a fan base. I know I follow the spirit. I know that I’ve been hated on a gang of times. We (Dudley Perkins) get hated on so amazingly, just because we speak out and we’re the realists. We’ve gotten a lot of criticism and what we speak on makes people uncomfortable and I can dig that.”

Music is her reality. Today’s music doesn’t do it for her anymore. How can one grow, learn or even appreciate the message in music today? “People aren’t free right now. I think people are brainwashed. I don’t know if they are waiting, waiting would be better than what’s going on right now. They are brainwashed and the whole business of living good is Versace furniture. What are you going to do with that? What is that? They watch MTV Cribs and every time they show some Roman Architecture, they think they made it. Don’t nobody want to Chant Down Babylon, because everyone wants to get paid. You gotta have faith in the calling. If I would have sold my soul a long time ago, I probably would have a lot of things, but I wanted freedom. Not just for myself, but for all people.

Illustration by Donald Ely