Kwe Perry, aka Kweluude
Age: 17
Perry describes his music as “hangry, versatile and awkward.”
Kwe Perry draws inspiration from what’s present and what he sees.
For the Mixtape Project, he said he reflected on COVID, politics and the human rights marches from this past summer.
Tell me why they televised the lies
and advertise vacation,
don’t be surprised
when equal rights are nullified and vacant
“It talks about who the media has portrayed ... how there’s an agenda and everyone needs to make their own agenda,” he said.
Perry, 17, has known Daniel Oyinloye since middle school, and participated in his ARE Poetry group since he was a
high-school sophomore. He said his background in ARE helped during the Mixtape process -- but he has been writing for
much longer.
He opts for stream-of-consciousness writing and making space for “whatever’s in the back of my head,” he said.
Perry, aka Kweluude, has been making and recording music before he joined the Mixtape, and he said this process offered
some valuable takeaways. Among them:
It’s smarter to work at a pace that suits you, avoid forcing anything.
Plan ahead for how you’re going to get it done, so you’re not stressing, he said.
Music “becomes a part of you, or pieces of you, that you can just leave behind.”
You can write two rhymes on a piece of paper, drop it on the ground. One person could pick it up and that little thing
could mean a lot to them, he said.
Perry hopes others will hear the Mixtape, its messages and think about where it stands in their lives.
His advice for other creatives: “Don’t put the wrong type of energy into the work.”
Listen to More of Kwe Perry’s music
written by Melinda Lavine
