People who know Keith “Wild Child” Middleton may say, “That’s the funny
dude from STOMP, the hit show with the garbage cans, pots, pans, brooms --the one that makes beats out of stuff.” Other folks might say,” that’s the dude
from that rap group HYDRA” – or even “He emceed my son’s Bar Mitzvah.”
Sometimes I get, “That’s the guy from ‘TWILIGHT.’” I am so NOT that Twilight
dude!!!!!
However, I am the STOMP dude, I am that HYDRA cat, AND I even rocked a
few bar mitzvahs, but what most people don’t know about me is that I write
poetry and compose music. I found a way to combine the two, creating a
unique blend that celebrates my love for the two genres.
Thanks to my parents, my great uncle Clarence Collins of Little Anthony
and the Imperials, my uncle Pepe
Willie of 94 East and many others, my
musical influences are vast: jazz, R&B,
hip hop, house, classical, rock, world
music and so much more.
My spoken word poetry deals with
life in all of its complexity: love, loss,
and relationships and goes beyond
the personal to include theology to
world events. I’ve done this for years
mostly as a stress reliever, never sharing my work. Why not? It’s been too
personal, too exposing, too scary.
I’ve dreamed of overcoming that
fear and going for it one day by producing and performing my original
material. That day is now here.
In January 2008 I survived a horrible
car wreck and from my hospital bed
I promised that I would put my work
on an album. (Cont’d)
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