Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcel P. Black.
Hi Marcel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started off in the church as a son of a gospel musician inspired by watching my father create music that touched peoples’ souls.
I saw the way he and my mother worked to help others in the community, so that’s what I wanted to do as well. At 5 years old, my older cousin, Meche taught me the words to LL Cool J’s “I’m Bad.” and I’ve wanted to be a rapper ever since.
I started writing rhyme when I was 11, record when I was 15, my first performance when I was 17. Went to college and signed my first deal when I was 2o, went solo 24, quit rap, and came back at age 27. Started making a name for myself in the region at age 30, became a nationally touring artist at 33, and I’ve been blessed to have done some incredible things within hip-hop culture.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was very much a struggle being an underground conscious emcee living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at a time when club & street music dominated everything. Baton Rouge didn’t have an established hip-hop scene, so I had to fight with venues in an extremely segregated city to throw shows. One venue even explicitly told one of my partners at the time, “We want rap music without Black people.”
People always told me “Nobody wanna hear that Black shit in Baton Rouge,” so I was kinda forced to become a touring artist so I can build my name with fanbases outside of Baton Rouge, and Louisiana as a whole. I went from never getting booked at all to touring an average of 65 cities a year, in as high as 30 different states in a calendar year.
And even then as a touring artist, there’s an anti-southern bias with some folks when you’re trying to get booked outside of the region. And these are just a few obstacles I had to navigate as an artist, but I don’t trip bc I’m better for having gone thru and overcome them.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an underground/independent conscious emcee who travels the country kicking southern Pan African Radical left conscious rap for gangbangers and backpackers.
I’m an elite live performer who has shared stages with likes of KRS-One, Jay Electronica, Common, Run The Jewels, Mobb Deep, just to name a few. I have songs with Skyzoo, MegaRan, Wordsworth, Big Sant, Supastition, Noveliss of Clear Soul Forces, and many more dope emcees. I’m the founder of Real Emcee Don’t Rap Over Vocals, and the leader of the Stop Rapping Over Vocals Movement as well.
What separates me is that I’m myself. I’m a husband, father, & middle school teacher, who is a Pan African Black socialist, loves basketball, strip clubs, and Ralph Lauren clothing. I make boom bap, country rap tunes, and trap music, all while never sacrificing my Radical Black Liberation Theology content.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I’m a serious believer in the transformative power of Hip-Hop, for better or worse. I chose to use it as a tool and weapon for liberation and freedom for all oppressed people.
Contact Info:
- Email: Maroonmusic@gmail.com
- Website: marcelpblack.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcelpblack
- Facebook: facebook.com/marcelpblack
- Twitter: twitter.com/marcelpblack
- Youtube: youtube.com/marcelpblack
- Other: marcelpblack.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
Duece Bradshaw & Glen Strong
