Looking Ahead • Malcolm London's OPIA Release Show

“Young, black and gifted, been fighting for so long / Framed and acquitted, goddamn I’m too strong /
Nothin’ on me, goddamn I’m King Kong / Been to the UN, y’all just make songs
-Malcolm London, “Take Your Time””

Ever awkwardly catch eye contact with someone you don't know for more than five seconds walking down the street, on the train, or at a party from across the room? How intrusive it may feel to have someone staring you directly in the eye & yet simultaneously how vulnerable it feels like someone can see into your soul. Internationally recognized poet, activist & rapper Malcolm London wants you to feel exactly that when listening to his new project titled OPIA. Opia - which means the ambiguous intensity of looking someone in the eyes which can feel both invasive and vulnerable. When asked about what the unique name of his project, he says "I just want people to feel like they're staring me in my eyes when they listen." The project is executive produced by Save Money producer EB & features poet & songstress Jamila Woods, Donnie Trumpet, Vic Mensa & more. Malcolm London who is recognized all over the world for his activism & poetry via TED Talks & trending internationally (#FreeMalcolmLondon) is now taking a chance in the music realm. BIO: MALCOLM LONDON, called the Gil-Scott Heron of this generation by Cornel West, is an internationally recognized Chicago poet, activist, educator & musician. London brings vim & vigor to his energetic performances tackling tough contemporary issues head-on. He has appeared on PBS for the first ever televised TED Talk with John Legend & Bill Gates & has shared stages with actor Matt Damon & rapper Lupe Fiasco as a part of the The People Speak, Live! cast. He also appears on Season 2 of TVOne’s Verses & Flow. In 2011, Malcolm London won the Louder Than A Bomb youth poetry slam in his native Chicago, scooping the top award as both individual performer & with a team. The poet, performer & activist recently wrote & directed a spoken word infused play responding to the Zimmerman verdict called Two Years Later at the Goodman Theatre with an ensemble of five youth poets. As an organizer London was apart of a historic youth delegation to the United Nations in Geneva to address police violence in Chicago. In November of 2015 London was targeted & arrested by Chicago Police who claimed London assaulted a police officer but due to a international outcry via social media & hundreds of people's presence at Cook County jail for his court hearing to address false claims all charges were dropped the very next day(#FreeMalcolmLondon). London, who runs the largest youth open mic in Chicago alongside friend Chance The Rapper, sees art as the intersection between justice & poetic imagination. Malcolm is now taking what he's learned from teaching & becoming an artivist & transcribing it into music. His new project OPIA released Oct 17th will be available free on Soundcloud.

Malcolm London is an activist, organizer and artist, a musician trying to remake the world as it could be. He's put in the hours, though the work never ends. Growing up in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood and attending school in Lincoln Park, his worldview was shaped by life as a citizen of what felt like two different cities. He began in spoken word, eventually competing in and winning events like the Louder Than A Bomb 2011, before working as a Poetry teacher for Young Chicago Authors (teaching literacy through hip-hop and spoken word), and at the Know Your Rights Project, and the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100). Voice carrying over, he has relentlessly planned and prepared in creating waves of justice for the systematically marginalized. And after 3-4 years focusing exclusively on these issues, also London is taking on the music world.

His debut project is OPIA, the release party is tomorrow (Friday), November 11th at Chop Shop, and there's no better time than now to see Malcolm London spread his message. No stranger to strength in the face of oppression, rest assured that London will have plenty to say. OPIA is an album offering his honesty and understanding of the world as it is (as well as a look at Malcolm London, the regular guy). Start with the project's philosophy, based on the album's title. Describing the intangible feeling you get from looking a person in the eyes, it's a look at painful , necessary understanding, peering past the noise and inside the self. We are all vulnerable, and in that there is empathy. 

The concert will be a must-see. Malcolm London cut his teeth as both a writer and a performer, and he connects the audience with his words in a way that few else can. And given this is a release party for OPIA's debut, you can count on London at the top of his craft. The openers will spin your head too, consisting of Joseph Chilliams, UG Vavy, Noah Chris and more. You've got to hear what Malcolm London has to say if you haven't yet, and if you have, you already know. 

Tickets are $7, $10 at the door, Chop Shop in Wicker Park, music at 7, ends at 11.