2018 Independent Music Award for Best Album - Rap or Hip-Hop
Anthony Parker (born 1980), known by his stage name Wordsmith, is an American hip-hop artist and music label owner. He has released five albums over his career, and is a member of the nominating committee for the Grammy Awards as a songwriter. In 2009, he founded the NU Revolution record label. In 2018, he was the recipient of the Independent Music Award for Best Album - Rap or Hip-Hop for his fifth studio album, Perspective Jukebox.
Wordsmith uses different genres in his musical compositions, including Classical.[1] In addition to his recording career, he founded the NU Revolution recording label[2] in 2009.[3] As a songwriter, he has licensed his music to television, video games, and other mediums—for organizations such as the WWE, ESPN, NFL, Nintendo, CBS, NBC, and FOX.[4] In 2011 Wordsmith also became a songwriter for APM Music, working with companies including ABC, PBS, VH1, the Golf Channel, and Six Flags.[3] He is a member of the nominating committee for the Grammy Awards due to his songwriting credits.[citation needed] Television series that have included his music have included Russian Doll, which used his track "Get What You Love".[5] His music has also been used during television shows including ESPN sports talk show First Take, which featured his song "Energy".[6]
Albums
Wordsmith's first album was Vintage Experience, released in 2010.[7] He also released Bridging The Gap, a collaborative record created with Chubb Rock of the group the Crooklyn Dodgers.[3] Several of his albums were co-produced by Jerome Smith since 2011.[8] In 2012 Wordsmith released the album King Noah. Songs from the album were licensed by the NFL Network, MLB Network and CiCi's Pizza.[3] In 2013 Wordsmith release his third album, The Blue Collar Recital.[9] The concept of the album is to track the normal moments of the day for a blue collar worker.[10] In 2015 he released his fourth album Apt. 507.[8] In 2017 Wordsmith released his fifth album, Perspective Jukebox.[11] The album received the Independent Music Award for Best Album - Rap or Hip-Hop in 2018.[12][13] Reviews of the work have called it “substantial ... expressing disgust over greed and modern day values.”[14] The album reached number 58 on Amazon's top Hip-Hop albums sales chart.[citation needed] In 2021 he released his first jazz album Progressions, composed with Kory Caudill, and performed alongside them in a concert following the launch.[15]
Performances
While touring, Wordsmith travels with a live band.[16] He has made stops in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. He also performs for US service members at military bases overseas. In his home town of Baltimore, he co-organizes music events with the Concert Artists of Baltimore.[8] Wordsmith has also partnered with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, acting as narrator in public performances[17] and performing spoken word during a 2020 performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.[6] He has also emceed other events for the organization.[18] In 2020 he performed at the Carnegie Hall as a part of the ensemble that presented the show All Together: A Global Ode to Joy.[19] In 2020 he was named to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Artistic Team, to “serve as an advisor and collaborator, presenting original orchestral projects throughout the season” according to Baltimore Magazine.[20] In 2021 he narrated the commissioned work Destined Words at the symphony, written by James Lee III.[21]
Personal life
Wordsmith was born in 1980 while his father was stationed in Germany[8] and eventually became a native from Baltimore at the age of 19.[11] He currently lives in the Mount Vernon area and is the father of two children.[8]
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