G'Ra Asim explained

G’Ra Asim is a writer and musician, and an assistant professor of Creative Writing at Washington University in St. Louis.[1] He is the author of Boyz n the Void: a mixtape to my brother, published by Beacon Press. Asim has served as Writing Director at the African American Policy Forum,[2] a gender and race justice think tank at Columbia Law School[3] and a graduate teaching fellow in Columbia University's Undergraduate Writing Program. He sings, plays bass, and writes lyrics for DIY pop punk quintet, Baby Got Back Talk.[4] [5]

Early life

Asim was born in St. Louis.[6] He is the son of author, poet, playwright, and professor of writing, literature and publishing at Emerson College, Jabari Asim.[7]

Education

Asim obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University in 2018, and a Bachelor of Arts in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College in 2014, where he graduated magna cum laude.

Writing

Asim is an assistant professor of Creative Writing at Washington University in St. Louis.[8] Previously, he served as assistant professor of Nonfiction Writing at Ithaca College in New York, and as Writing Director at the African American Policy Forum in New York. His work has appeared in Slate, Guernica, The Baffler, and The New Republic.[9] His Salon essay, Obama Ruins It for Smart Black Guys, was featured in NYT’s Idea of the Day recommended reading section.[10]

Asim has hosted or been in conversation with other writers, including Colson Whitehead[11] and John Darnielle.[12]

Asim is the author of the Kirkus Review-starred book,[13] [14] Boyz n the Void: a mixtape to my brother.[15] Kirkus Reviews named Boyz n the Void one of the best nonfiction books of 2021.[16] The book blends music and cultural criticism and personal essay to explore race, gender, class, and sexuality in relation to punk rock and straight edge culture.[17] According to Washington Post “Asim presents the book as a compilation of personal letters to his younger brother, Gyasi, supplemented by its own song, usually of the pop-punk variety. Following a similar model as James Baldwin’s “My Dungeon Shook” and Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me” — works written, respectively, to Baldwin’s nephew and Coates’s son — Asim seeks to convey caution and road-weary wisdom to his young charge."[18]

Music

A Spike Lee Joint

In 2010, four Maryland musicians, including Asim, collaborated to form a punk/pop band called A Spike Lee Joint.[19] The Washington Post called them “budding irrepressibles,” and noted that the band: “arrived at its name by taking a touchstone of black culture and repurposing it.”[20] Days after The Washington Post wrote that story, Spike Lee hit the band with a cease-and-desist.[21]

Baby Got Back Talk

Asim sings, plays bass, and writes lyrics for Baby Got Back Talk.[22] The band was named one of Alternative Press’ “17 rising Black alternative bands who are leading the next generation.”[4] Formed in 2017,https://babygotbacktalk.com/ the band signed to Wiretap Records in 2022.[23] Baby Got Back Talk has released a pair of extended plays: Take This The Wrong Way in 2017 and Up In Open Arms in 2018. Their full-length debut, Genre Reveal Party, released in 2020, was mixed by Paul Leavitt (All Time Low, Senses Fail, Yellowcard). The band released Existential Shred, recorded at Nada Recording Studios with John Naclerio (Just Surrender, The Audition), in 2022. PunkNews's Best of 2022 list featured Existential Shred.[24]

Baby Got Back Talk performed at AfroPunk Festival in 2019, Punk Island in 2018, and the 5th Anniversary Remembrance Ceremony of the #SayHerNameCampaign in 2019.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bernhard . Blythe . English majors make a comeback at Washington University . 2023-05-11 . STLtoday.com . 29 December 2021 . en . 2023-03-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230307103339/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/english-majors-make-a-comeback-at-washington-university/article_2c848e68-a695-5d8d-8a8b-d55b8ddd6d46.html . live .
  2. Web site: 2016-07-07 . G'Ra Asim . 2023-05-11 . The Baffler . en-US . 2023-01-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230107122309/https://thebaffler.com/authors/gra-asim . live .
  3. Web site: 2021-09-06 . 'Energy, irreverence and imagination:' Punk and literature collide for new professor G'Ra Asim - Student Life . 2023-05-02 . Student Life - The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183642/https://www.studlife.com/scene/2021/09/06/energy-irreverence-and-imagination-punk-and-literature-collide-for-new-professor-gra-asim . live .
  4. Web site: Phillips . Marian . 17 rising Black alternative bands who are leading the next generation . 2023-05-02 . Alternative Press Magazine . 29 July 2020 . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183642/https://www.altpress.com/upcoming-black-alternative-bands-artists/ . live .
  5. Web site: Beltran . Kendra . 2022-09-05 . Getting Existential with Baby Got Back Talk . 2023-05-02 . ZO Magazine . en-US . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502185146/https://zomagazine.com/baby-got-back-talk-interview/ . live .
  6. Web site: G'Ra Asim's 'Boyz N The Void' Explores Being Black And Punk . 2023-05-02 . STLPR . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183642/https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2021-05-14/gra-asims-boyz-n-the-void-explores-being-black-and-punk . live .
  7. Web site: Dimambro . Angeline . May 19, 2021 . Left Bank Books Hosts Reading and Conversation with G'Ra Asim '18 . May 2, 2023 . May 2, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183644/https://arts.columbia.edu/news/left-bank-books-hosts-reading-and-conversation-gra-asim-18 . live .
  8. Web site: 2021-06-29 . Washington University in St. Louis Makes the First Selections in Its Cluster Hire on Race . 2023-05-11 . The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education . 2022-09-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220930011332/https://www.jbhe.com/2021/06/washington-university-in-st-louis-makes-the-first-selections-in-its-cluster-hire-on-race/ . live .
  9. Web site: 2021-07-09 . G'Ra Asim . 2023-05-02 . Arts & Sciences . . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183652/https://artsci.wustl.edu/faculty-staff/gra-asim . live .
  10. Web site: 2009-06-18 . About Bores, We Could Go On . 2023-05-02 . Idea of the Day Blog . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183642/https://archive.nytimes.com/ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/about-bores-we-could-go-on/ . live .
  11. Web site: Staff reports . Colson Whitehead . 2023-05-02 . STLtoday.com . 22 October 2021 . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183644/https://www.stltoday.com/online/colson-whitehead/article_a28746e2-2f4e-5672-bd10-76b2920cfcaf.html . live .
  12. Web site: Staff reports . John Darnielle . 2023-05-02 . STLtoday.com . 4 February 2022 . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183642/https://www.stltoday.com/john-darnielle/article_ad7693f8-a11b-5161-b116-a64bf48b7867.html . live .
  13. Book: Boyz n the Void by G'Ra Asim: 9780807055557 PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books . 2023-05-02 . PenguinRandomhouse.com . en-US . 9780807055557 . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183642/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/670592/boyz-n-the-void-by-gra-asim/ . live .
  14. Web site: April 01, 2021: Volume LXXXIX, No 7 . 2023-05-02 . Kirkus Reviews . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502190649/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/magazine/2021-04-01/ . live .
  15. Web site: MacLaughlin . Nina . May 27, 2021 . A memoir-as-mixtape, an art exhibit of book illustrations, and new prose poems about the healing arts - The Boston Globe . 2023-05-02 . BostonGlobe.com . en-US . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183641/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/27/arts/memoir-as-mixtape-an-art-exhibit-book-illustrations-new-prose-poems-about-healing-arts/ . live .
  16. Web site: Best of 2021 . 2023-05-02 . Kirkus Reviews . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183642/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/best-of/2021/nonfiction/books/ . live .
  17. Web site: 2022-04-04 . G'Ra Asim - Boyz N the Void - Paperback Release Party with special guests Baby Got Back Talk . 2023-05-02 . Left Bank Books . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183653/https://www.left-bank.com/event/gra-asim-boyz-n-void-paperback-release-party . live .
  18. News: Review In 'Boyz n the Void,' a 'malcontent with an allergy to authority' finds freedom — and confusion — in the punk rock scene . en-US . Washington Post . 2023-05-02 . 0190-8286 . 2021-10-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211019101320/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/boyz-n-the-void-review/2021/05/12/539ebe46-ae72-11eb-ab4c-986555a1c511_story.html . live .
  19. Web site: Witherspoon . Chris . 2011-04-07 . Spike Lee demands punk band nix 'A Spike Lee Joint' name . 2023-05-02 . TheGrio . en-US . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183646/https://thegrio.com/2011/04/07/filmmaker-spike-lee-demands-punk-band-to-abandon-the-name-a-spike-lee-joint/ . live .
  20. News: O'Neal Parker . Lonnae . March 26, 2011 . Budding irrepressibles: A Spike Lee Joint's onstage connection . . May 2, 2023 . January 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210130214943/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/budding-irrepressibles-a-spike-lee-joints-onstage-connection/2011/03/14/AFlTvldB_story.html . live .
  21. News: Source . The Reliable . April 7, 2011 . Spike Lee objects to D.C. band that borrowed his name . .
  22. Web site: Punknews.org . Baby Got Back Talk sign to Wiretap Records, to release new EP . 2023-05-02 . www.punknews.org . 26 April 2022 . en . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183642/https://www.punknews.org/article/77242/baby-got-back-talk-sign-to-wiretap-records-to-release-new-ep . live .
  23. Web site: Phinky . 2022-04-26 . Baby Got Back Talk Sign To Wiretap Records & Announce New EP "Existential Shred" . 2023-05-02 . ThePunkSite.com . en-US . 2023-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502183644/https://www.thepunksite.com/news/baby-got-back-talk-sign-to-wiretap-records-announce-new-ep-existential-shred/ . live .
  24. Web site: Punknews.org . Best of 2022 - Em Moore's Picks . 2023-05-02 . www.punknews.org . 8 January 2023 . en . 2023-02-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230205150941/https://www.punknews.org/review/17835/best-of-2022-em-moores-picks . live .

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