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Shaun Boothe was inspired to create his Unauthorized Biography<\/i> series after music icon James Brown passed away in 2006. \u201cBrown was a big inspiration of mine, and a musical genius,\u201d says the Toronto-based rapper and public speaker. \u201cHis musical contributions are unparalleled. But what most people don\u2019t know too much about is that he was integral in the golden era of hip-hop. He\u2019s the most sampled musician of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boothe was working with a DJ, planning to rap a few bars over a mixtape. But he got the idea to do more. So he created a whole song in tribute to the Godfather of Soul. \u201cAnd then came the idea to create a documentary style music video to go with the song that I had created,\u201d he says. Boothe\u2019s flowing, rapid-fire hip-hop rhyming compressed James Brown\u2019s achievements and influence into a five-minute audiovisual feast. The resulting YouTube video was a success. \u201cIt was so well-received that we decided to do another one, and then another,\u201d Boothe says with pride. <\/p>\n
\u201cI started off in the music industry as a hip hop recording artist,\u201d he explains. \u201cI had aspirations of getting a record deal and going that route. And these bios did kind of help to kind of get me in doors and build relationships.\u201d He initially saw the videos as part of a way to make a name for himself. \u201cIf you didn\u2019t know or care about Shaun Boothe the rapper, but you did care about, say, Bob Marley, that was a way in for me,\u201d he says. But Boothe soon realized that he was onto something bigger than a hip-hop career. \u201cSo I created a business around it, and re-imagined myself as a speaker who also uses music in presentations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today there are 15 videos in Boothe\u2019s Unauthorized Biography<\/i> series, highlighting the life and work of men and women from across the social, cultural and political landscape. He has created hip-hop videos spotlighting Muhammad Ali, Jimi Hendrix, Mahatma Gandhi, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Oprah Winfrey, President Barack Obama and Canadian hockey superstar Terry Fox and several others. His live shows are an extension of those videos.<\/p>\n
Many of Boothe\u2019s chosen subjects are people of color, but that wasn\u2019t a specific part of his vision for the project. \u201cI just wanted to celebrate greatness,\u201d he explains. \u201cThis is really a passion project. I started it because I loved it, it was creative, it was fun and it was meaningful to me. And then it just kind of turned into something.\u201d<\/p>\n
That something is a celebrated presentation series that finds Boothe traveling the world, bringing his profiles of greatness to widely varied audiences. \u201cI started in schools about four years ago,\u201d he recalls. \u201cTeachers would invite me in to speak through the lens of black history or music education.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says that he fought quite hard to make sure his Unauthorized Biography<\/i> performance didn\u2019t get pigeonholed into what he calls the \u201cBlack History Month box.\u201d Using his Muhammad Ali piece as an example, he emphasizes that \u201cwe can extract life lessons from his legacy that relate on an everyday level, one that\u2019s applicable to not just black people, but to all people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dynamic Unauthorized Biography<\/i> presentation gets the audience involved. \u201cHip-hop artists are masterful at really engaging a crowd, and I\u2019ve had a lot of fun integrating that into what I\u2019m doing now,\u201d Boothe says. He points to the call-and response nature of the show, and a question-and-answer period. \u201cI\u2019m a believer that we all have a voice that is worthy of being heard, and we all have a message that we want to get across,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Boothe believes we live in a time in which there\u2019s value in celebrating greatness, wherever we can find it. \u201cI\u2019ve often asked myself, \u2018When do I stop?\u2019 he says with a warm laugh. \u201cBut I\u2019m still going. When it starts to feel like I\u2019m forcing it, then that\u2019s when I\u2019m going to gracefully bow out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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