A3C Hip Hop Festival Blog

Artist Spotlight: Stanza

Written by Mike Walbert | Sep 22

STANZA is Performing on Saturday, Oct 9th

A musical combination of Hip Hop, Trip-Hop, Blues and Soul, Atlanta’s own Stanza is a colorful lyricist with a reflection of the streets. "Talib Kweli meets Lupe Fiasco, with Kanye's confidence and Jay-Z's flow" is how DJ VooDoo of TJsDJs described Stanza's sound.

Stanza’s song, “A-Town Love: An Ode To My City" has gained him national recognition, radio play, newspaper & blog features, and his performance on BET where he was winner of 106 & Park’s Wild Out Wednesday. Stanza has shared the stage with KRS-One, Raekwon, Slaughterhouse, B.o.B., Rapper Big Pooh of Little Brother and Colin Munroe.

Fessa J of Thafeedback.com illustrates Stanza as being "a smart rapper who is concerned with the advancement of himself and his people, managing to describe the backward circular logic of the street without being judgmental."

Growing up listening to Gospel and R&B, it wasn't until hearing Eightball & MJG's "Coming Out Hard" that Stanza would discover Hip Hop. Initially he would try his hand at production, but quickly discovered his talent for writing. His first recordings were as a member of a group, but after going solo and meeting his future partners years later it was then that Stanza's music would be fully realized. All the hard work is worth it to Stanza because he knows that keeping people listening will be the easy part as long as he continues to make music that speaks to them.

Visit www.iamstanza.com / www.twitter.com/iamstanza / www.facebook.com/iamstanza