Nathan "Bionik Brown" Woods, a well-thought-of emcee in the New Orleans underground hip-hop biotic community, died Monday in a car crash in Denver, Colo., where he touched after Hurricane Katrina. He was 32.
As Bionik Brown, he recorded for the local Media Darling Records. Unlike New Orleans' considerably more illustrious rap stars in the stables of Cash Money Records and No Limit Records, Media Darling artists avoid violent and misogynous lyrics and ostentatious celebrations of wealth in favour of societal awareness and realism.
"Content-wise, we run away from the bling bling and the thug," Mr. Woods aforementioned in a 2005 interview. "We simply talk about what we have. We talk around our veridical lives as opposed to fantasy."
Mr. Woods' veridical life included a day job as the education outreach coordinator for the National D-Day Museum. His hometown figured prominently in his lyrics.
"We invest the geographics in the music," he said. "I'll make a reference to red beans or okra or New Orleans. We're not forsaking where we're from."
Mr. Woods grew up in the Third Ward, raised by what he described as a loving and well-educated syndicate that taught him to appreciate the value of words. He received his bachelor's degree in English from Loyola University.
From his earlier introduction to hip-hop in the 1980s, Mr. Woods preferred progressive rappers wHO spoke to social issues. He sculptural his have rapping later on them.
"Part of it was that I had this high gear, squeaky voice," he said. "None of the thugs and the gangster rappers really sounded like me. But Q-Tip sounded like me, and Souls of Mischief sounded like me, and Pharcyde and people like that. And they were public speaking a more than intelligent brand of rap music."
A towel draped round his neck or all over his head, boxer-style, became his trademark at "freestyle" rap battles and "Konscious Party" resistance hip-hop showcases at local clubs. He opened for such home artists as Talib Kweli, Common and The Roots, and worked with local funk band Galactic. His CDs included "The Darkness and the Light," "The Cold Gumbo EP" and "The Lucky Stiffs Mix Tape."
"People are exactly ready to hear some substance," Mr. Woods said. "But they want to hear it from mortal that pot make a catchy song. That's been my whole goal."
As Katrina approached, Mr. Woods and his wife evacuated to Alabama. After the storm, they decided to start unused in Denver, where Mr. Woods attended high school. Stunned by Katrina and the sudden death of his don from a heart attack, he initially distanced himself from music. He went to mold as a Resource Developer for Public Strategies Incorporated.
But he finally fell in with a community of like-minded hip-hop artists in Denver. Newly inspired, he recorded an album called "Platinum Thoughts, Aluminum Budget." It contained a song called "Katrina Tried to Kill Me." He on occasion returned to New Orleans to perform, including a show during the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
The Rocky Mountain News reported that Mr. Woods died around 7 a.m. Monday after a car driven by a 17-year-old traveling eastbound on East Colfax Avenue veered into the westbound lanes of traffic and hit the vehicle Mr. Woods was driving head-on. The teenager was arrested.
Mr. Woods is survived by his married woman, Iman Nouis-Woods; his mother and stepfather, Carolyn and Ferdinand Carr of New Orleans; a brother, Joel Woods, of Mobile; and a sister, Rachel Woods, of New Orleans.
A funeral armed service for Mr. Woods is 11 a.m. Saturday at Gideon Christian Fellowship International, 3401 Elysian Fields Avenue. Visitation starts at 10 a.m.
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