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Fueling the scene's current sense of newness and excitement.
- Philadelphia Weekly
Think of them as the eye of the storm. While chaos and destruction swirl all around, in this moment things are peaceful, even beautiful. But its only a matter of time before the rains return pushing and pulling at our very foundation, clearing a path for newness and displaying the awesome force of nature. Such is the lyrical power displayed by the poetic duo known as QUIET RAGE.
Damali the dred locked dragon is the fiery rage of the group known for his high energy performances, and in your face lyrics. The South Philadelphia native has been poetically influenced by the great Gil Scott-Heron, and is now compared to Chuck D for his in your face delivery, and controversial content. Widely known for saying what people think, but are afraid to say, Damali stands up for what he believes, and opens eyes, ears, and minds in the process. Admittedly in a life long term relationship with poetry, Damali also does music production on the side after teaching himself to play 8 instruments, and has produced spoken word CDs for several nationally known poets.
Vision, the 6'7 North Philadelphia native is far from quiet, drawing comparisons to Andre 3000 of Outkast for his melodic delivery, and witty word play. Vision is a chameleon. Off stage, the urban griot is approachable, and light natured. In the community, he focuses on the next generation volunteering time with the youth. On stage, he's intense, focusing on what he feels people need to hear. He's not much concerned with what people want to hear and takes pride in bringing untouched issues to the forefront. He's organized a national spoken word college tour to take Quiet Rages message to the rising leaders of the world all the while dabbling in music production, and playing guitar on stage and off.
These individual stars of the Philadelphia spoken word scene decided to join forces in 2004 to explore the possibilities of their combined talents. While they are most noted for their fiery lyrical delivery, QUIET RAGE is also known to break out their guitars and strum while reciting for a decidedly more low-key and melodic presentation.
QUIET RAGE has been featured in national periodicals including the Philadelphia Inquirer and their talents have propelled them into the national spotlight as opening acts for such respected performers as Taalam Acey, Saul Williams, Sonia Sanchez and The Last Poets. They've also been featured on many radio shows including Power 99's Inner City with Tiffany Bacon. In 2005, QUIET RAGE was honored as Philadelphia Weeklys featured artists for the Fall Preview edition. They've been part of national poetry tours including Taalam Acey's HEAT tour, The Spoken Soul Poetry Tour, and the Sweet Verse Poetry Tour. In January 2007, QUIET RAGE was nominated for an Alternative Soul award given to phenomenal artists whose artistic endeavors don't quite fit into the mainstream mold.
In 2007 , expect to hear even more of QUIET RAGE with their new CD "Poems in the Key of Strife" slated for a Spring 2007 release, as producers on several R&B, hip-hop and spoken word artists projects, and as on-air talent with their forthcoming radio show. And you can bet that they'll continue to blow audiences away with their dynamic live performances including performances in theatrical plays in collaboration with First World Theater Company, and the Master Griot Project.
Philadelphia has always been prevalent in the American Artistic Community. From pioneering jazz musicians, to Gamble & Huff's Sound of Philadelphia, Philadelphia artists have always been at the forefront of musical movements and revolutions. QUIET RAGE now gladly carries the torch for Philly, on the front-line of the spoken word revolution and the spoken soul sound.
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