With rap & R&B being at the forefront of the black community, we are pretty much strictly bound to these things unfortunately. It's not very often that someone breaks away and tries to does something different, and even if they do it often gets met with disdain. This is not the case with Spoken Word artist, 'Lost ArCHIves.' While she does sing and play piano, pretty greatly, what stands out to me about her is her spoken word. They're insightful and the true meaning of poetic, I always enjoy when an artist clearly loves what they do and attempt to put their selves into their art. This is evident with her, listening to her spoken word, or even her covers you can tell that she is very passionate about what she does and she's put her time and soul into making these pieces. She seems like an artist that doesn't belong in this time to be honest, she seems as if she belongs in the era of 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.' When black women in popular music had things to say. I was lucky enough to get an interview with her which is posted below.
1. Tell everyone who you are and what you do?
So my name is Chioma, but I like to go by Lost ArCHIves, or LA. I’m a spoken word artist and as well as an aspiring vocalist. Surprisingly, I’ve been labeled as a rapper before, but that’s really a stretch, lol.
2. A lot of poets don't do spoken word because they're scared to show people their work. Is that something that you had to get over, or were you always open with your poetry?
I was scared to show people my work for a pretty long time. A year actually. My ex-boyfriend was the only person to see my first piece of writing – as a matter of fact, it was a piece that I had written for him. After that piece, however, I didn’t show anyone anything for an entire year until I found the courage to do so. I finally shared a heavy piece with everyone. I was scared that the piece would make people think of me differently and act differently around me, but instead I received a great deal of positive feedback. After that, it became increasingly easier for me to show people my writing.
3. What inspires you to make a poem, like does it have to be a large event in your life, or can it just be a tiny little thing that made your day or made you upset?
I personally believe that there is inspiration in everything. Inspiration for my writing can come from anything – from something big that happened to me to a person I saw to a song that I listened to. On occasion I sometimes write about made up scenarios or from the views of other people just to practice relating to others and stepping into others’ shoes.
4. How you did get into writing poetry?
4. How you did get into writing poetry?
As I sat in the crowd during a talent show and listened to this boy read his poem. I felt as though the words reached for me – they held my mind and pulled me closer, entangling me in endless lines of metaphors, similes, and rhymes. It was such a beautiful experience that before he walked off the stage – before he even said his last word – I had already promised myself that I would spend the next chapter of my life trying to understand the power of words. This boy inspired me. This piece I wrote explains it all: http://feelingthatempathy.
5. Have you ever considered getting your poems published?
I consider it all the time. I have wanted to release a collection of work for the longest time – whether it I end up releasing a collection of songs or a collection of poems. Right now, a collection of poems seems much more feasible than anything else. I’m currently trying to decide whether I would publish already released poems or completely start from scratch. In any case, expect something soon!
6. What are your hobbies outside of poetry?
As I mentioned before, I am very serious about creating a music career for myself, so outside of poetry, singing is a huge hobby of mine. In addition to that, I enjoy meditation, engaging in intellectual conversations and debates, playing the piano, reading psychology books, discovering new music, photography, video editing, and listening to song covers and spoken word performances on YouTube. I am also heavily into sports, which involves watching and playing basketball, playing soccer, and running track.
7. By far my favorite piece on your soundcloud is "Ten Things To Know Before Falling In Love With A Poet" could you expand on that poem?
This was a piece I started while on vacation in Vegas over the summer. I had the hotel room to myself, so I got my notebook out, got comfortable, played some Toro Y Moi and XXYYXX, and started writing. At first, it was going to be a piece about myself, explaining how difficult it is to be with me, but I figured that I could make this piece more dynamic by compiling several observations that I have made about the poets/ writers I have met in my lifetime. I called on several experiences and memories and got ideas from several pieces of writing and combined them all to create this piece. It was a difficult process, but the funny thing is that the hardest part about the entire piece was giving it a title – that alone took about two days, lol.
8. Another interesting one was 'Introduction To The Black Man' could you expand on that one also.
This piece was initially inspired by the Trayvon Martin case and Zimmerman trial. I started it the night that Zimmerman was found not guilty, and I continued to write over the next two days. As I wrote, I decided to use the piece to not only discuss the Trayvon Martin case, but to discuss many issues that are arise in discussion about the black community. I could have written it from the perspective of a black woman, but I figured that it would be more of a challenge for me to write it from multiple perspectives – a black man, a black woman, and myself – in order to properly address the different issues. This was not only an informative piece, but also a venting piece, as it was very relieving to be able to talk about all of these different problems within the black community.
9. Who's inspired you to write poetry? Also do you get inspired by musicians in your work ever?
As mentioned earlier, a boy that performed a spoken word piece at a talent show two years ago inspired me to write. His name is Farouk. I also get constant inspiration to continue writing from Malanda J, an amazing spoken word artist, thinker, and person. And yes, musicians inspire me every single day! The world of poetry and the world of music are so closely intertwined that is hard for me to separate the two of them. I get inspiration from all artists that I listen to in one way or another, but to name some of my major inspirations, you have Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Oddisee, Lauryn Hill, India Arie, Ab-Soul, Blu & Exile, and many others.
10. Well thank you very much for the interview I appreciate it, anything you want to say before you go?
And I truly appreciate you taking the time to interview me! I just want to leave you with a quote from Oscar C. Cisneros: "And so it goes, one candle lights another, and another lights another, and another lights another until the first spark fades to smoke and darkness, living only in the pinpoints that follow." That is the breakdown of the concept of inspiration. When you inspire one person, you enable that person to inspire another who is then enabled to inspire another, and so on. When you inspire one, you inspire many, so be sure that your inspiration is nothing but positive. Thank you again for interviewing me!
All in all, LA is an amazing with what I believe to be a great future, I'm more than excited for her future releases, I'll post the link to her Soundcloud below.
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