Vision

6'7 Philly poet known as Vision. One half of Quiet Rage.
Vision was born and raised in North Philadelphia. After graduating from Simon Gratz HS in 1996, Vision attended Dickinson College where he received a degree in Sociology. After leaving Dickinson, he returned to Philly where he began to work as a Social Studies teacher, writing in his spare time. In 2003, Vision started to hit the open mic scene in Philly and the surrounding areas where he garnered the title "hardest work poet in the Philly."
After a successful stint as a solo artist, Vision linked up with Damali in the winter of 2004 to become Quiet Rage. Philadelphia Weekly called Quiet Rage "Philly's hottest spoken-word duo." Quiet Rage were the Philadelphia Weekly's 2005 Fall Preview featured artists. They also headlined of the 2005 Mid-Atlantic Spoken Word Festival, headlined the Philly Spoken Soul Poetry Tour, and featured at The Black Expo & Philly Flavor at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. QRs debut CD, "You Can't Break Me" garnered critical acclaim, and featured Common, The Last Poets, Dr. Sonia Sanchez, Talaam Acey, Traycee Lynn & Bernard Collins. As a result, in 2007 Vision received an Alternative Soul Award as "Best Spoken Word Performer" as a member of Quiet Rage. Along the way, Vision has shared the stage with Joe, Tank, The Stylistics, Talaam Acey, Shyster, Just Greg, Amun Miraaj, Brotha Earl, Chris Cream, Sam I Am, Black Ice, Rhapsode, Queen Sheba, Rienne Scott, Lyrispect, The Twin Poets, Lizz Straight, Saul Williams, The Last Poets, The Delfonics, Jacob Winterstein, Georgia Me, Abyss, Shadokat, & Survivor.
The scene is once again buzzing as Vision embarks on a new project with Philly poet, and MGP comrade Just Greg. Sneak peaks of the upcoming Mixtape with Just Greg have received rave reviews.
ARTIST FACT SHEET
Born As: born as P.C.D., grew into Vision
When: September 23rd (Libras Rock!) 1978 (yep, just a mere 28)
Where: North Philly. Bred, born, raised.
Education: Simon Gratz HS ‘96, Dickinson College ’00. BA in Sociology
Style: Eclectic. My flow is unique since most times I don’t know where the hell I’m going with it. The words guide me, not vice versa.
What’s In A Name: EVERYTHING. Be it the one you inherited from your parents, or the one you take .. learning yourself. I love my birth name because I am named after two great men, my father and my grandfather. Vision is who I grew into after wandering this wilderness we call life, living, learning, and raising my consciousness. No, I don’t see dead people like The Sixth Sense, but I see mentally dead people every 2 to 3 seconds.
Influences: Everything is an influence in life whether it’s making you act, react, or sit on your @$$. Poetically, it’s elders like Sonia Sanchez, Allen Ginsberg, Nikki G, Gwendolyn Brooks, Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Last Poets, Gil Scott Heron, and my contemporaries like Saul Williams, Taalam Acey, Black Ice, Carlos Andres Gomez, Bernard Collins, Jacob Winterstein, Nina “Lyrispect” Ball, Maj Toure, Traycee Lynn, Rhapsody, Chris Cream, Shyster, Shadokat, Survivor, Black Ice . . . the list goes on and on.
Fast Fact: I’m 6’7, so I think I’m officially the tallest spoken word artist on the Philly scene right now. Also, I’ve read all the Harry Potter books. I guess that’s not the most masculine thing to admit to, but hey, it is what it is. I'm also a big History nerd. I draw a lot of inspiration from history.
Seen At/On: Colleges all around, Spoken Word venues in and around Philly, venues up and down the east coast, Canada & Europe, a few magazines here and there.
Favorite Spot to be besides Philly: Gotta be Montreal. The vibe up there is hot. There is something truly special about that city. Other than that, I love ATL, Harlem (damn I miss the Sugar Shack) & D.C. (peace to the D.C. poets!)
Seen With: The Spoken Soul Movement. The Master Griot Project.
In His Own Words:
“The Difference between having a dream, and living your dream, is sacrifice.”
Final Thoughts:
“Poetry is the link to consciousness, like Cliff to Theo
Morpheus to Neo,
See yo . . . The poets be God’s guitar:
When he strums,
We hum hymns for him . . .”