Cleo, Orphans to star in
Arts District's Open Mic Night!
This Thursday
Sign in at 7 p.m. | Mics go on at 7:30 p.m.
ActivistArtistA Gallery
422 West Industrial Ave.
Boynton Beach, FL 33426
786-521-1199
Cleo Harris, otherwise known as Miss Cleo, the former well-known face of the Psychic Readers Network late-night TV infomercials, has reincarnated as a playwright, radio talk show host and spoken word artist.
Harris will perform her latest CD, "Full Moon Madness," at the Boynton Beach Arts District Open Mic Night from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday along with the newly incubated underground hip-hop rappers, Orphans.
Comprising Boynton Beach residents DJ Sebastian Cobos, 19, (aka wax specific), Matheus Macedo, 19, (aka math) as emcee and Mikey Goodman, 22, (aka Ripe) who produces the beats, the group is ready for their prime time debut at the BBAD Open Mic event.
Taking their inspiration from underground freestyle emcee hip-hop groups, including Slug, Eyedea and Sage Francis, Goodman said, "We're taking this opportunity to emerge under the radar, somewhat like an egg that isn't yet hatched but the mother brought outside for sunlight for a subconscious preparation for the real deal."
"We eat sleep and breathe hip-hop. We're nostalgic to the '90s era of our genre," he said. "We're three kids who make underground indie hip-hop in my room. We are having fun and hoping to make other people feel it, too."
Harris, who loves hip-hop and the spoken word, is a natural fit for the open mic night. "I perform anywhere they embrace poetry and share good vibes," she said from her home in Lake Worth.
She gets inspiration from her two heroes, poet, singer and spoken word artist Gil Scott-Heron, who died in 2011, and poet Nikki Giovanni.
One critic characterized Harris' spoken word performance as "straight-to-the-gut protest poetry."
These days in addition to performing at open mic nights from Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale, Harris hosts a blogtalk radio show, "Conversations with Cleo," in which she talks about everything under the sun, including "Blame it on the Sun – Solar Flares, Humans and Violence," "Black, Female and Gay," and "America and Drugs: An Historical Love/Hate Relationship."
A woman of many passions, Harris said she donates free advertising on her radio show for local businesses and farms and is having an upcoming fundraiser for the Passion for Paws pet rescue in West Palm Beach.
Rolando Chang Barrero, of ActivistArtistA gallery and one of the driving forces behind theBoynton Beach Arts District, said, "Open Mic at AcivistArtistA began a year ago with musician Rod Dusinberre and myself as a way to bring artists together who are interested in forging relationships, working together to establish hybrid groups where poets, dancers, singers and musicians can explore working and performing as one entity."
"To date the camaraderie among the various talented artists shows us that we are right on track," he said.
Visit activistartista.blogspot.com or email ActivistArtistA@gmail.com. The Boynton Beach Arts District is at 422 W. Industrial Ave., Boynton Beach. Call 786-521-1199.
For information about Cleo Harris, visit conversationswithcleo.com or conversationswithcleo.net.
Upcoming events include: Valyn Calhoun: A Retrospective with Rita Baum running from Aug. 22 to Sept. 27. Calhoun's photography features homoeroticism, fetishism, fashion, and nightlife in elegant and highly stylized imagery.
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