Due to public safety concerns, The Lyricist Live has been asked to not perform outside during this months Art Walk. If you’re not familiar with, The Lyricist Live shame on you. Just kidding, not really. Where have you been for the last seven years?
The Lyricist Live is an open mic rhyme Cypher that occurs every first Wednesday of the month during Downtown Vision’s Art Walk. Hosted by veteran emcee, Mal Jones,(CEO and founder of The Lyricist LIVE) and (Coral Castle ENT) who brings LIVE Hip Hop to the streets of downtown Duval every month, and puts local and national artist on display as a LIVE moving portrait of Hip Hop’s golden era.
Mal Jones is Duval’s main MC and one of Jax’s OG with regard to Indie Hip Hop. Some of y’all won’t know what I just wrote so I’ll add; he is a recording artist, a Master Folk Artist, a Hip Hop Artist Extraordinaire, he has collaborated with the Jacksonville Symphony, and he has served as a Cultural Ambassador of the Arts with The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville. He was the first Hip Hop artist in Florida history to be named a “Folk Artist” by The Florida Folklife Program, and is a well respected educator and documentarian within the local community and abroad.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
Jones runs a state-funded apprenticeship program to teach freestyle rapping to youth.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
Jones’s music and mentoring is guided by positivity, community and tradition.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
Jones uses community based verse and beats.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
His music is vibrant, fresh and progressive.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
The Lyricist Live is a living piece of artwork.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
Q: Well damn, Mal, what did you do?
A: He gave Jax “Lyricist Live, “His Cypher” “based on this circular, street freestyle.” ”A cypher is people coming together and working together. We give everybody this opportunity. Rap, listen, be inspired, come back, and it will keep on circulating.”
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
Mal has done nothing to endanger his own or anyone else’s safety. He has spent the last 25 years using music to bring people together as a community.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
The jest of this mess is that last month there were a very small number of protesters in Hemming Park during Art Walk that wanted to keep Jax’s Confederate Statues. There was also a group that wanted to take them down.
In the interest of full disclosure, the group that wanted to take them down is affiliated with Occupy Jacksonville. However, Occupy has been attending Art Walk and various other such events for years without incident of any kind.
But none of that has anything to do with The Lyricist Live or Mal. Nor does it explain why “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
Downtown Vision, Inc is the Business Improvement District for Downtown Jacksonville. Their stated mission is to create and support a vibrant Downtown. They also run the monthly Art Walk.
They released a statement. “We want to assure everyone this month’s changes to the next First Wednesday Art Walk are for the benefit of everyone….”
You can read it all on their facebook.
Basically their spiel is that their theme is the Dog Days of Summer and they’re going to move the artists inside with air conditioning, but not Mal.
Art Walk has been going on for years. It’s Florida. It’s hot. Lack of air conditioning has never been a concern.Why now?
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
As for the Dog Days of Summer; that’s the sultry part of the summer, which occurs during the period that Sirius, the Dog Star, rises at the same time as the sun: now often reckoned from July 3 to August 11. So that would have been July or August Art Walk, not September.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
In January people were shot after Art Walk but the following month all the artists, including Mal, were right back there.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
People have been robbed. People have been stabbed. Cars have broken into, before, during and after Art Walk, but the following month all the artists, including Mal, were right back there.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
No matter what has happened Art Walk has always run smoothly the following month, and for the past 6 plus years Mal and The Lyricist Live have been a great part of it.
Now some Confederate sympathizers want to keep “their statue” in “their park” and suddenly the Hip Hop guy isn’t welcome anymore.
Welcome to Art Walk: The 1960 Edition.
I hope that’s not the case. Last week I wrote about Ax Handle Saturday which happened in that same park. When I first learned about this I thought, there must be an explanation, please let there be an explanation beyond some good ole boys wink and a nod.
If there is I haven’t found it yet.
I have *calls into the city, JSO and Downtown Vision, Inc. To be fair to the others though, this is totally Downtown Vision, Inc’s call. I’ve been waiting almost 48 hours for answers. Previously when I’ve called any one of them I’ve had an answer within 2 hours. Not always the answer I wanted, but an answer nonetheless.
It’s fitting that Art Walk headquarters has been moved from Hemming Park to The Carling. The Carling is an historic building. It was formerly known as the Carling Hotel and Hotel Roosevelt,
The Hotel Roosevelt Fire, on December 29, 1963, was the worst fire that Jacksonville had seen since the Great Fire of 1901. 21 people died in their beds from smoke inhalation. That’s why today I associate The Carling with smoke.
A whole lot of smoke.
And “due to public safety concerns” he has been asked to not perform.
This article is the first in a series.
1. The Lyricist Live has been asked to not perform
2. Downtown Vision Inc killed the Art Walk
3. A Tale of Two Art Walks
*I will update accordingly if and when my calls are returned.