Parker gravitated to music from poetry.
Lucien Parker has no use for a pseudonym.
The 19-year-old emcee and UW-Madison student says he doesn’t need one — he’s the same person on- and off-stage.
“I decided if my music was an extension of who I was, and I was writing about my life and telling my own stories, I should just go with who I really was and use my government name,” says Parker. “I’m lucky to have a unique name, so that helps too.”
Parker is quickly gaining a reputation around Madison — both on and off campus — as one of the newest local emcees to watch. He performs Aug. 28 at the High Noon Saloon, where he’ll be joined by indie rock/hip-hop/soul hybrid Bien Bien and others.
With a crisp, clean and relaxed flow, Parker’s raps cover plenty of ground. In his first full-length album, Black Sheep, he touches on everything from failed relationships and life as a young black man to hanging out with friends and his hometown of Minneapolis.
Beats provided by DJ Pain 1, Geek Session and others give the album a laid-back feel that’s become his signature. He began recording it in his UW dorm room and finished back at home in his mom’s basement; he did the mixing and mastering himself.
“I’m doing what I can, learning what I can and asking questions,” says Parker. “It’s nice to craft my own shit from the bottom up.”
Before releasing the album in July, he dropped a video for “After Recess” that shows slow-motion scenes of Madison as Parker waxes about his ambitions and resisting the pull of the streets.
Like a growing number of rappers in his generation, he gravitated to music from spoken word poetry. “My poetry was already a lot like rap,” says Parker. “I just added in the fun parts, which is the drums and the rhythm.”
Parker, who is part of the First Wave scholars program at UW, says he was drawn to the mic because hip-hop “is a tool that creates community and creates dialogue.” He hopes to forge a future by merging music, politics and social justice. Although he is undecided about his major, he says he’s leaning toward communication arts or political science.
He also wants to help other emcees develop their art — and their brands.
“A lot of kids want to make music now but don’t understand all of the steps it takes to really embody this as a career,” he says. “You have to brand yourself, you have to have a logo, know what it takes to shoot videos, to manage yourself, to email venues, to promote on social media, and [know] what language attracts people. These are all things I’ve learned.”
