Tripti Joshi (Editor)

Genesis the Greykid

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Birth name
  
Russell McGee Jr.

Role
  
Musical Artist

Name
  
Genesis Greykid

Website
  
WordsInGrey.com



Occupation(s)
  
Poetry, Music, Creative

Associated acts
  
Creative Control TV Build Me A World

Also known as
  
Genesis the Greykid

Genesis the greykid i just wanna be a writer note to pharrell


Russell McGee Jr, better known as Genesis the Greykid, is a poet, creative, fine art poet, and underground hip-hop artist co-signed by the Media Label Creative Control TV (which used to be under the DD172 umbrella) by filming duo/CEO's Coodie & Chike. Genesis has recently become one of the few emerging Fine Art Poets in the world, selling over $12,000 in his first two-hour exhibition in Chattanooga, Tennessee titled "Through the Grey".

Contents

Genesis the greykid a thought


Early life

Genesis was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee while his dad was stationed in Georgia. Although his father was in the military and they moved around a lot, he spent a lot of time in Virginia Beach, Virginia where he attended First Colonial High School his freshman year then transferred to Frank W. Cox High School until he graduated. Inspired by legendary poet T. S. Eliot, Genesis showed an early interest in poetry and would later credit it as his reasons for getting involved with hip hop.

Music

Genesis started out ghost writing before coming out as an artist in the early part of 2010 with his first mix tape titled "Grey Skies". Later that year he released "Grey Skies 2" which included a track directed at Pharrell Williams called "Note To Pharrell" a.k.a. "I Just Wanna Be A Writer". Toward the end of 2010, Genesis the Greykid was introduced to Coodie & Chike who co-signed him to Creative Control TV and shot the video "Here We Are" in 2011 for the artist. Genesis the Greykid was one of the many performers at Baltimore's African American Festival (2011).

Creative

After his "Grey Matter" project in New York City, Genesis wanted to help creative outlets in Chattanooga and Virginia draw attention to the many politically and socially conscious artists who create music, art, and poetry. He soon started conducting poetry / creative sessions (or workshops) at different studios collaborating with different non-profits and art communities in Chattanooga, Tn. When asked in an interview about his creative interest, Genesis explains "Yeah, I'm a creator. Music/poetry is a medium I enjoy creating through, but I love all elements of creation...be it ideas for some marketing strategy, copywriting, short stories, etc. I just love being a part of projects that value creative people and allow them to build. It's hard to beat the grand feeling of making ideas tangible." February 27, 2015 Genesis was nominated for a YP Award for his Civic Impact through the Build Me A World project, mentoring and developing young creatives, poets, and artist who in large part came from some of the most chaotic areas in the city.

Poetry

"For Genesis, living as a career poet feels completely natural, because poetry is more than something he puts out into the world. It’s how he sees the world, how he takes it in...But Genesis’s work as a poet goes beyond pen and paper. In Chattanooga, he’s made a name for himself by offering his poetic perspective in the form of a service. He attracts a range of corporate and startup clients who are searching for fresh ways to view or approach something — their work, their audience, their office space, each other." On July 6, 2015, Genesis decided to release a collection of his poetry titled "Words In Grey". He mentions inside the flap of this 116-page book, "I developed a poetic/creative workshop [in January 2014] people in the community started calling 'Words In Grey'. In these workshops, I would get artist to think differently about the creative self, their writing, and collectively explore the pathway to that 'hidden wholeness' inside of us, through creative sessions and poetry. So this first book, 'Words In Grey' is a collection of my poetry with exercises in the back of the book so the reader can venture off into their own brilliance." In a Chattanooga Times Free Press article, Barry Courter mentions, "Since moving here (Chattanooga), he has devoted himself to creative endeavours, many in his studio at the Fancy Rhino offices in the Loveman's Building downtown. Soundcorp Executive Director Stratton Tingle attended one of Genesis' seminars 'on a whim because I had heard about them' and was inspired enough to attend several more. 'I had no idea what I was getting into, and pretty quickly he had me writing and reciting a poem in front of people, which is not something I'm comfortable with,' Tingle says. 'He stretched me in ways I'm not familiar with. I was pretty immediately struck by his creativity.'" In the summer of 2017, Genesis through his "Words In Grey" workshop in collaboration with Mark Making had "teens explore neighborhood issues affecting their lives through poetry, such as poverty, gang violence, and racism, and then expressed solutions to these problems in graffiti inspired murals."

Fine Art Poetry

After spending part of 2016 travelling 5,800 miles around the country by train and foot, Genesis was inspired to gather all the poems he'd written along the way, and turn them into large poetic mantras. Using oil, Genesis created 12 large Fine Art pieces that were presented in his travelling poetic experience "Through the Grey", with the goal in mind of pushing poetry beyond its current boundaries. "I’ve had some great people rocking with me through the process. Some really diverse patrons buying the work, from Pat (Chance the Rapper’s Manager) to Bmimms (CEO of Mogul Management), to Ted Alling (Founder of Access America Transport VC Lampost Group, and Dynamo), really grateful for everything that’s happening right now."

Music Videos

  • 2014 retroGREY aka Dark Matter shot by Genesis Elijah
  • 2012 Do you Know shot by Coodie & Chike
  • 2012 A thought shot by Coodie & Chike
  • 2011 Here We Are shot by Coodie & Chike
  • 2011 Music / Braille & Sign Language shot by Brenner Va
  • 2010 note to Pharrell aka I just wanna be a writer shot by Brenner Vas.
  • Discography

  • 2010 Grey Skies
  • 2010 Grey Skies 2
  • 2013 Grey Skies 3
  • Poems

  • Words In Grey - the book
  • I Wrote This In Class
  • Seeing the Invisible
  • flower
  • I left the front door open
  • References

    Genesis the Greykid Wikipedia