Toki Wright | |
|---|---|
 Toki Wright performing live in 2012. | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Mamadu [1] |
| Born | March 27, 1980 [2] [3] Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. [3] |
| Genres | Hip hop [4] |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Years active | 2003–present |
Toki Wright (born March 27, 1980) is an American rapper and music educator from Minneapolis. His debut solo studio album, A Different Mirror, was released on Rhymesayers Entertainment in 2009. [5]
Toki Wright was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States on March 27, 1980. [3] He attended Patrick Henry High School. [6] He later graduated from the University of Minnesota. [7]
Toki Wright met Adonis D. Frazier in 1998, and they formed The C.O.R.E. (Children of Righteous Elevation). [3] The duo's debut album, Metropolis, was released in 2003. [8] As well as being a member of The Chosen Few, [9] Toki Wright has released a number of solo recordings, including A Different Mirror (2009), Black Male (2010), and Faders (2012). [10] In 2014, he released a collaborative album with producer Big Cats, titled Pangaea. [11] In 2017, he released an EP, At the Speed of Life 3. [1]
Toki Wright stated that "A Different Mirror", the title track from his 2009 album, was inspired by Ronald Takaki's A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America , saying: "Unless we look into a different mirror we will only see our own reflection. American history for example might be all apple pies and American flags for many, but the history of people of color in America is filled with poverty [and] hatred". [12]
Toki Wright also launched and led the hip hop studies program at McNally Smith College of Music, which closed in 2017. [13] In 2018, he became Assistant Chair of Professional Music at Berklee College of Music. [14]
The music of Minnesota began with the native rhythms and songs of Indigenous peoples, the first inhabitants of the lands which later became the U.S. state of Minnesota. Métis fur-trading voyageurs introduced the chansons of their French ancestors in the late eighteenth century. As the territory was opened up to white settlement in the 19th century, each group of immigrants brought with them the folk music of their European homelands. Celtic, German, Scandinavian, and Central and Eastern European song and dance remain part of the vernacular music of the state today.
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