St. Louis Rapper Reunites Hip-Hop And Poetry For The Kids

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Though it's probably already a fixture on wall calendars across St. Louis, April is National Poetry Month, and one local musician plans to celebrate by waxing poetic to young ears all over the city. Jason Braun, the man making noise with the poetic hip hop endeavor Jason and the Beast, will spend the month touring middle schools and colleges across the metro area with the goal of helping students discover the parallels to be drawn between rap and poetry. At a time when it seems hip hop is more commercial than ever, and AutoTune eliminates any shred of authenticity left in the genre, Braun says it's more vital than ever to remind young audiences that hip hop's poetic roots run deep. "It's important for students to see that our similarities are greater than our differences." says Braun, "Poets and rappers both tell stories and try to make music with words."

Braun boasts a rap resume that includes a run with the popular jazz/hip-hop group Jupiter Jazz, a gig that landed him opening spots for B.B. King, The Black Crowes, and others. Though that group disbanded a few years back, Braun says Jason and the Beast is the creative outlet he's been craving and he's more committed than ever to showing young audiences that poets like Shakespeare can still entertain with the best of them. "It's important to remember Shakespeare wasn't writing plays or sonnets to be put into a book for people to study, he wanted to pack the house. You want romance, you want fart jokes, you want images of peoples' eyes getting poked out?...Shakespeare has it."

Catch Braun's tutelage live at Cicero's on April 11 or Southwest Illinois College on April 22. For more dates, hop over to Jason and the Beast's MySpace page and click the Video tab for a peek at the group's most recent music video, Street Preacher.

Photos courtesy: Jason and the Beast

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