Local emcee Gotta Be Karim just dropped an e.p. called Bean Pie, and he is working on a full-length to be titled Bullets and Books.
“The Ballot or the Bullet” was the theme of one of Malcolm X’s more memorable speeches, and the Nation of Islam leader was a famous bookworm who read the encyclopedia front-to-back while incarcerated (Malcolm really tripped off “aardvark”).
Gotta Be Karim (born Karim Hameed) is himself a Moslem.
Mix the bean pie with the Malcolm X echoes and the Moslem faith, and you would have to peg this talented young man from University City as an NoI brother.
Not so. The man is hard to peg.
“I was raised orthodox,” Karim said of his Moslem faith.
His father, Walee Hameed, started out as NoI, then converted to orthodox Islam. The family now worships at Masjid Al Mu’minun on North Grand Avenue.
Karim’s taste for writing – and he does write his lyrics down before performing them – he owes to his mother, Nailah Hameed, who studied journalism at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill. Karim himself left high school before finishing, going back later for his GED.
“I enjoy the whole writing experience,” Karim said.
“In a typical writing session, I like to sit back and get comfortable. Generally, I like to write in my car.”
He wrote most of the lyrics on Bullets and Books sitting in his black 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue at Heman Park in U. City. Much of that record, his or anyone’s mother might be interested to hear and proud of. Though this devout Moslem does have a street side and a club side, at least in his lyrics.
He also writes about love – love, not just lust or getting some – more than most local emcees. He has a soft side, in that respect.
Asked the name of his fiancée, he said, “Ashley.” Asked her last name, Karim said, “It’s gonna be Hameed in a minute,” before finally spelling out her last name as a single woman (Deshields).
Karim also has a strong and evident love for his crew. It is a highly talented group of local artists that includes Black Spade, Coultrain, Vandalyzm and Tef Poe. One of his affiliations is known as the 87 Billion Dollar Clique, which also includes the duo of twins who perform as Family Affair and Karim’s own blood brother, Juba. Karim also keeps tight with the guys in his former group, Metaphor Experience.
Many of these guys came up together in Soul Tyde, which Karim co-founded at the raw age of 14 (he is 23 now). They earned comparisons to The Roots before emerging as solo artists. They remain mutually supportive; Black Spade and Coultrain sing on hooks for Gotta Be Karim, and Karim often joins Black Spade at the mic.
Vandalyzm (who was not in Soul Tyde) is sharing the mic with Karim at a Vintage Vinyl in-store appearance at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 9.
“I generally write from personal experience about society’s ills, but without preaching,” Karim said.
“I add my flavor to it, with my way of rhyming – more colorful rhyme schemes.”
He has a very powerful approach at the mic. An underground hip-hop head and musician at the American (shout out: Melvin “Coolioliolio” Moore) compared Karim’s flow to a mix of Ghostface Killah and Cappadonna (from Wu Tang), plus T3 from Slum Village.
With thrilling beats from Vandalyzm and Stoney Rock – and hooks by Coultrain and Black Spade, who are just about as good at soul vocals as it is possible to be – Karim has got it all.
Whether or not he can make it pay is another question, which will be difficult to answer in a town that generates more talent than contracts or profits. But if it’s real music you want, with real talk, then it’s got to be Gotta Be Karim.
Gotta Be Karim and Vandalyzm perform at Vintage Vinyl at 8 p.m. Friday, May 9. The event is free and all-ages. Visit www.myspace.com/gottabekarim or www.myspace.com/vandalyzm.
