“Why did the chicken cross the road you ask? To get to a Discopoetry concert! The funktastic, brain energizing music of Khari B. and Discopoetry is here. It's funk, it's soul, it's spoken word, it's sprinkled with bad ass guitar riffs and mixed with spirituality and history: it's just something that you have to hear on your own to appreciate. Educationally charged with underlying messages in every song. The Rockstar Poetry Project takes spoken word to another level. Eloquent poet/emcee/musician Khari B's beat poetry slam style demands your attention, not to mention sensei "esque" mohawk and outfit. "Weeds" and "Being Me Is The S***!!!" are cool cat hip rock that will inspire you to look within and enjoy the beautiful frequencies of live, jazzy, funky poetry all while being you. It is the shit after all. @Discopoetry”
“Freedom is priceless And it's funny when you see someone in their complete element of freedom. Not in the sense of ha ha, but in a sense of admiration and wanting to be in the same space. Wanting to just... be. When experiencing a live performance of Chicago band The Rockstar Poetry Project (TRPP), the energy hits you instantly. With a musical aesthetic of Jazz, Funk, Disco and horns that provide a seducing ambience, the "cherry on top" is the spoken word of Khari B. the Discopoet emcee. The sounds swarming the atmosphere lead your head to rocking and your body reacts to the shameless freedom witnessed before you. ...it was the flavor and solidified mix of funk sounds, disco instrumentation and delivery of a poignant wordsmith that sparked awareness of the band. It was more than just words spoken into a microphone; it was a celebration. The sound of the album is free, truth, challeng[ing], and at times a needed awakening with a balanced backdrop of fun.”
“THE KYLES FILES Chi-town Stars Rebooted: Khari B, Lil Rel, Roy Ayers Project and More 1. Khari B. "I'mma Bad Mutha! The Rockstar Poetry Project!!!" This collection of spoken word poetry hits hard over guitar riffs, percussion and blaring horns. The project-- a collaboration between Frankie Blaze, Khari B., and Corey Wilkes is thought-provoking and entertaining listen. Definitely worth checking out right here. I'm partial to "F U I Love U," and "Weeding."”
“It’s my favorite time of the year, and I don’t mean in a Bing Crosby kind of way. As I planned this interview on The Rockstar Poetry Project, a cutting edge 12-piece funk/rock Chicago band (and product of the Discopoetry Arts & Edutainment Collective) for Black History Month, it became more apparent how the rich legacy of Black people in America makes us who we are – a living history of sorts... It’s the Dred Scott Decision, it’s the arrival of Parliament Funkadelic, the election of Barack Obama and the afro first donned by Miriam Makeba. You can say, it’s the stuff that makes Afro-punk “punk”. With that in mind, I sat down to interview the Rockstar Poetry Project’s front man, Discopoet Khari B. The flamboyant and almost acrobatic artist who is also artist-in-resident at Purdue University’s Black Cultural Center... Afro-punk Talks Black History Month with The Rockstar Poetry Project's, Khari B Lead voice of The Rockstar Poetry Project”
“If you expect to sit down while The Rockstar Poetry Project performs, think again. Khari B. "Discopoet" will literally hop over you as he dances through the crowd... and perform standing on the armrests of any empty seats. An agile artist with a gift for spoken word, funk and an overwhelmingly talented band to compliment the Discopoet's every word, the audience got a memorable live performance at 8 p.m., Friday, July 24, in the DuSable Museum. Performing songs like "Being Me Is the Sh-t!" "F--k U, I Love U" and "Terrorism 101" there were plenty of claps, cheers and standing to cheer the Discopoet on when you could keep up with what side of the auditorium he decided to temporarily stop at. ...as his first album is called "Wordsound: This Ain't No Punk Assed Poetry!" this was not the spoken word performance where you snap your fingers. With the rhythmic blasting from the guitars, the power of the saxophones and the beating from the drums, you couldn't hear your fingers anyway.”
“Actors Larenz Tate and Nia Long may have made it look cooler to be a Chicago poet, but Khari B., also known as the Discopoet, was frequenting open mic nights and spoken word cafes a few years before the movie “Love Jones” released. With a background in architectural engineering and one year left to graduate from college at Tennessee State University, the Discopoet realized that major was not his cup of tea. “I left school, and less than a year later, I was doing poetry,” Khari B. told the Defender. Dressed in a black tank top; baggy wide-legged blue jeans; prescription glasses and a medium-length Mohawk, with red rubber bands on each side of his head, Khari B. munched on a Subway sandwich in the dressing room at the DuSable Museum prior to getting ready for his first CD release performance with his group, The Rockstar Poetry Project, on Friday, July 24. The name of their CD is “I’mma Bad Mutha: The Rockstar Poetry Project.””