Asbury Park is a majority black
town that has played majority
white music in its venues for de-
cades.
That’s about to change.
More and more rock acts are
collaborating with rap acts in
the studios and on the stages
in and around Asbury Park. Bul-
letproof Belv continues to work
with rootsy punk-rocker Matty
Carlock, who’s now making a ca-
reer of writing and singing with
rap acts. Drew the Recluse is fea-
tured on The Cold Seas’ new sin-
gle, “Bloodstain,” which they cel-
ebrated the release of together
at The Saint. Drew, aka Barkley,
is a part of Black Suburbia Mu-
sic Group, which is presenting
mixed bills the first Friday of ev-
ery month at Asbury Park Music
Foundation.
And all of this healthy musical
and racial mingling has been
done for years by Chris Rock-
well, a Brick Township-raised
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 51
rapper, poet, spoken word art-
ist, published author, event pro-
moter and now a visual artist. In
addition to frequently perform-
ing with bands, including his cur-
rent backing unit, the Ballroom
Riot, Rockwell has been putting
together mixed bills for years
whether in concerts, open mics,
poetry slams or multi-art events,
which combine all three with vi-
sual works.
Those mixed bills didn’t take
off, however, until the success of
Bulletproof’s collab with Carlock,
alongside Rockwell’s well-stated
dis of the Asbury Park Music
Awards when they nominated
him as an R&B performer, hav-
ing never had a rap or hip-hop
category throughout the awards’
25-year history. Rockwell’s state-
ment subsequently was pub-
lished in New Jersey Stage and
inspired an article in the Asbury
Park Press about the longstand-
ing segregation of the Asbury
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