User:BenFlowz

Name: Ben

E-mail: benflowz@hotmail.com

Website: www.benflowz.com

AIM: benflowz

MSN: (n/a)

Phone: 419.509.7706

Projects
1) Tomorrow: The Hip-Hop Renaissance CD promotion

2) Performances!!!!

3) www.BenFlowz.com development

General Bio
Benjamin Rush Miller works as a painter, photographer, writer, community organizer and hip-hop artist (www.benflowz.com) and is currently studying Design & Technology at the San Francisco Art Institute (www.sfai.edu). His involvements with community art under his partnership Artivism (art and activism in a blender) with friend and colleague Nathan Masternak and with performance and production have allowed him to work throughout the continental United States on various projects including a show with Talib Kweli in 2004 at Headliners in Toledo,OH a performance at the Remote Lounge in Manhattan, NY, and Bay Area rap journalist Adisa Banjoko's Book Release Party (www.lyricalswords.com). He has worked closely on projects with Mildred Howard, Hip-Hop Congress president Shamako Noble (www.hiphopcongress.com), hip-hop vocalist DraMatiQue and producer Rob Cypher (www.dspbeats.com/www.flowmatique.com) and has been interning at the MoAD: Museum of the African Diaspora (www.moadsf.org), a new addition to the Yerba Buena Museum district. Currently, he is developing new bodies of work in photography and painting with hopes to display and exhibit these works while integrating them with one of a kind, unique, and interactive performances.

Miller will receive his BFA in May of 2007 from the San Francisco Art Institute in Design & Technology with a focus on multi-media/interdisciplinary studies. He has studied with Mildred Howard and additionally with Dewey Crumpler, Paul Klein, Linda Connor, Robin Balliger, and Pat Klein. Previous projects include murals such as La Raza Por Siempre @ the Sophia Quintero Cultural Center (2004), Planet Happy Badger (2005), and Man Up/Chance4Change @ the Chance for Change Community Center (2006) all in Toledo, OH. He is affiliated with the Hip-Hop Congress (www.hiphopcongress.com), and recently released his latest CD Tomorrow: the Hip-Hop Renaissance independently through DreamScheme Productions.

General 4 Sentence Bio
Benjamin Rush Miller-Rios works as a painter, photographer, writer, community organizer and hip-hop artist (www.benflowz.com) and is currently studying Design & Technology at The San Francisco Art Institute (www.sfai.edu). His involvements with community art under his partnership Artivism (art and activism in a blender) with friend and colleague Nathan Masternak and with performance and production have allowed him to work throughout the continental United States on various projects including a show with Talib Kweli in 2004 at Headliners in Toledo,OH a performance at the Remote Lounge in Manhattan, NY, and Bay Area rap journalist Adisa Banjoko's Book Release Party (www.lyricalswords.com). He has worked closely on projects with Mildred Howard, Hip-Hop Congress president Shamako Noble (www.hiphopcongress.com), hip-hop vocalist DraMatiQue and producer Rob Cypher (www.dspbeats.com/www.flowmatique.com) and has been interning at the MoAD: Museum of the African Diaspora (www.moadsf.org), a new addition to the Yerba Buena Museum district. Currently, he is developing new bodies of work in photography and painting with hopes to display and exhibit these works while integrating them with one of a kind, unique, and interactive performances.

General 2-sentence
Benjamin Rush Miller-Rios works as a painter, photographer, writer, community organizer and hip-hop artist (under the moniker BenFlowz) and attends the San Francisco Art Institute. Currently, he is developing new bodies of work in photography and painting along with one of a kind, interactive performances.

General 2-word
Inter.disciplin.ary !?!!!?

BenFlowz Project Bio
BenFlowz returns with his highly anticipated sophomore set "Tomorrow: The Hip-Hop Renaissance." In this coming of age project BenFlowz deals with the angst of young adulthood while paying homage to the old school era by interweaving classic elements of underground hip-hop with the radio-friendly soundscape of today. Superbly entertaining from start to finish, BenFlowz captivates the listener over 18 original, well-constructed songs filled with spectacular wordplay, incredible lyricism, and a dynamic delivery backed by solid production both in-house and from a handful of producers worldwide. This project further reaffirms his commitment to the hip-hop movement while continuing to display his vast range and unmatched artistic ability as an emerging artist in the music industry.

At 19, BenFlowz displays a youthful energy while wielding a concentrated ambition. Though he currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and attends one of the most prestigious art institutions in the country his story begins in the Midwest. Since his early years in Toledo, OH he has been training himself in preparation for this project. As a creator he has been active since before he can remember, and as a musician his odyssey began at the age of 8 when he began receiving formal piano instructions. This early musical training gave him new insight into the sonic field that would later aid his development as both an MC and a producer.

The young BenFlowz began recording demos in his bedroom at the age of 12, and by 13 he was distributing them at local malls, in schools, and in the streets- not to mention establishing a presence on the burgeoning Internet music scene. Frustrated with his inability to meet quality artists looking to build he became a one-man-army, teaching himself how to produce and relentlessly sharpening his craft. While collaborating with the more seasoned artist DraMatiQue on his solo disc “Will I Rize” (2001) he became a member of a growing musical squadron known as Trauma Unit. Through countless sessions, BenFlowz, by then 15, produced three pivotal bodies of work; The most pertinent of these being his first full-length solo project in 2002 – “Symptoms of Systematic Control.” This album’s release, paired with his growing experience as a musical performer, led to a stronger, more determined artist, which became evident as his work pace increased. Since 2003 he has plowed through three additional bodies of work as a duo/group with DraMatiQue, done studio work with a number of local artists, and relentlessly refined his skills as evident in his upcoming solo release “Tomorrow: The Hip-Hop Renaissance.”

As “Tomorrow” draws closer towards today, and the current chapter of Hip-Hop comes to a close BenFlowz looks ahead to the future. No longer amused by the meaningless wars waged between defenders of the old-school and new-school, underground and commercial he has coined the term “True-School Hip-Hop” in description of his music. His unique approach to rhyme delivery, varying subject matters, and conscious messages create a style unlike any other on the mic. Quietly, he challenges current world affairs through his enigmatic racial composition, his diverse background, and sometimes directly through his against the grain mentality, and outspoken lyrical content.

How do we keep track of all these different media!?
Would we be better served to learn additional HTML skills before the class?

What experience do you have with HTML and the web?
I had a little experience, though not much.... hoping to expand.

What experience do you have with programming and what kind?
No programming experience.

What do you know and how interested are you in Free Culture, Open Source, and Programming?
I am very interested in Free Culture and Open Source as a medium for the construction of community. Most of my current interests lie in the discussion surrounding Intellectual Property rights during the ongoing digital revolution. Marketing, information dissemination, and capitalizing via these new resources, utilizing these subjects is key.

What type of installations / performances have you done?
Resume available on request numerous from NY to CA.

Have you done any public speaking?
Yesssirr.

What do you want to get out of this class?
Promotion for the project! Reviews of my current CD, upcoming musical performances and group shows, community building, etc... etc...

What is your website?
www.artivism.net; www.benflowz.com

What is your myspace account page?
www.myspace.com/benflowz