MySpacea place for friends

Whether it’s his work as an MC and member of the MINDSpray crew, or the time he spends working in theater both writing and acting in plays, Dyalekt knows how to tell a story. In fact, it’s his deep roots in both Hip-Hop and theater that have made him one of the more dynamic storytellers of his generation.

A multifaceted performer, Dyalekt spent his early childhood in Philadelphia, PA, and his high school years on the island of St. Croix. After graduating at the age of 17 he was off to New York. He notes “I moved to New York for college and stayed for Hip Hop.”



As an MC Dyalekt’s performed all over America and has been on stage at nearly every New York City hot spot, including B.B. King’s, Crash Mansion and The Knitting Factory. Then there was the stage The United Nations. Dyalekt is one of the few artists that can say he rocked the UN as he and three other emcees were give then opportunity to perform during a seminar about the dangers of depleted uranium and the gulf war. Not your normal stage, not your normal topic matter, not your normal Hip Hop artist.

Over the years Dyalekt has become well known for his ability to rhyme about important topics and find ways to make them interesting. Whether it’s the concept of our histories being altered by present day ideas on the MINDSpray song “The Witness,” or the fictional tale about the fortitude of a young basketball player diagnosed with a life threatening illness on “Elwood’s Song,” Dyalekt never fails to put an idea in the listener’s head. His storytelling, however, isn’t limited to just his work in music.

Theater, and specifically Hip-Hop Theater, caught Dyalekt’s attention after reading about it in an issue of The Source as a teenager on St. Croix. Just like with his lyrics, Dyalekt wanted to make his playwriting as tight and vivid as possible. This was a goal he would accomplish quicker than expected as the first play he wrote, Heir to the Throne, ended up making him the youngest person to write and direct a piece for The Hip Hop Theatre Festival. More recently he wrote and starred in his own one man show titled Square Peg Syndrome, which opened at Primary Stages Theatre and will be touring internationally. As an actor he’s held leading roles in Miguel Pinero’s Short Eyes, Claudia Alick’s award winning Six Hits, and Yolanda Kae Wilkinson’s A Musing. He’s also appeared on stage at the Public Theater in New York City as a part of Suzan Lori Parks’ 365 play series.



In addition to these roles Dyalekt has also been playing the role of teacher in a very real way. In an effort to show others that Hip Hop can be combined with other aspects of life, and as a part of his role as associate artistic director of Smokin Word Productions, Dyalekt been providing workshops across the nation to help teachers use Hip-Hop along with their natural performance abilities to assist them in reaching today’s youth more effectively. He has also been an organizer for "Dbate" a Lincoln Douglas style debate that incorporates poetry for arguments and freestyle rhymes for rebuttals.

Through his work in both Hip-Hop and theater Dyalekt has appeared in a number of national publications, including Elemental, Black Beat and Beyond Race, and was featured in the award-winning documentary “FREESTYLE: The Art of Rhyme.” As an MC he’s shared the stage with a number of legendary Hip-Hop artists including Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz and The Pharcyde, as well as current favorites such as Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, C-Rayz Walz, J-Zone and Ugly Duckling, while his work in theater has seen him share completely different stages with everyone from Kamilah Forbes to Chad Bozeman to Daniel Beatty.

No matter what stage he’s on, or what type of show he’s performing in, one thing is guaranteed; Dyalekt’s work always draws an ovation. For info and booking email dyalekt@yahoo.com