My guest today, Chicago born and raised, Roy Kinsey is a bit of an anomaly.
A black, queer identified rapper and librarian, or as he puts it, rap rarian.
Roy's escaped from trauma and creative outlet.
As a kid, it was writing and music and also a love of books and learning.
And he began sharing his words and beats, rapping at a fairly young age, but really began to elevate the pursuit of music making in college, performing and refining his craft.
Graduating, he began making a name for himself, performing and recording and releasing albums while simultaneously earning degrees that would find him working as a librarian by day and an artist by night.
And a few albums in, Roy began to feel like an essential part of him was being kept from his music and also his community.
So he made the decision to come out as queer on an album at a time.
Very few others in the space of rap and hip hop were out.
And it was this moment that would transform him and his music.
Roy has since released a series of powerful albums, including his latest reflection, Kinsey, a memoir.
He's been featured on the COVID of major publications like Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune, in major and international publications like Billboard, LA Times, NPR, and others.
And Roy has even found a way to bring his love of music and books together, running workshops as a librarian in the teen services u media department for the Chicago public Libraries.
So excited to share this conversation with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is good life project.
Tell me if this is true.
Your parents met in a way that kind of foreshadowed your future in a little bit.
Like, they didn't meet in a bar, they didn't meet in a party.
Is it actually true that they met at a library?
Oh, yeah, of course.