New PDX Youth Hip-Hop Columnist: Who is Diezel P?

GREEN COMMUNITY — By rahmielmitchell on August 24, 2009 at 11:12 pm

What’s Up Portland? My name is Randal Wyatt; an aspiring MC by the alias of Diezel P from Portland, Oregon who is a firm believer in the potential hip hop has on positively changing the world, one community at a time. I am honored to dp1 be recently given the opportunity to express myself and relay my messages through my own column here on whatshappeningpdx.com and plan to utilize this position to its full potential.

I was born and raised on the East side of Portland in an interracial household, and being able to see different races co-exist in a loving environment proved to me that equality can exist in our society. I’ve been writing ever since I could hold a pencil, recalling short creative stories I wrote when I was just 6 years old about morale and some of my adolescent interests, also flourishing in English and Writing classes all through my schooling. I have been a fan of hip-hop as far back as I can remember, growing up in the golden age of Hip Hop when the majority of artists were associated with community activists, adamant about making change in their hostile environments. It was unfortunate that I was too young to fully absorb their messages and found their music to complex for my understanding, which eventually found me a victim to the trendy violent, drug ridden and sexually derogatory “gangsta rap”.

Though I grew up in the inner city around a moderate amount of drugs, sex, and violence, I never partook in such activities in my early youth and still found myself writing rhymes that glorified and expressed my false participation in such behavior. This is until I heard Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek’s album titled “Train of Thought”.

Before hearing this album in 1999 I was oblivious to the fact that you can actually be a rapper who raps about significant concepts that may benefit the whole urban community and beyond. Even with this in mind, Hip Hop fell second to my passion for basketball and was just a hobby to express my current feelings. After a failed attempt towards professional basketball due to multiple injuries in 2005, I decided to become serious about being an artists and activist in my community. With the additional motivations of becoming a father of twin boys and witnessing the fall of significant Hip Hop in our commercial airwaves and the effect it was having on the urban culture, I dropped my first album titled “Words of Wisdom” (no longer available for purchasing), a very experimental and amateur project that helped lay the foundation for the direction I was heading.

I didn’t begin to get recognized in the Hip-Hop scene until putting out my second coming “Poetry In Motion” (also no longer available for purchasing) a year later, which was a great showing of improvements in all aspects of my artistry and created a buzz all around the local Hip-Hop scene.

After first-hand experiencing the up rise of downloading music and the sudden decrease in record sales, I decided to release a free downloadable EP called “Eyes Closed, Mind Open” (available at http://www.mediafire.com/?3v42ewycxnx) in late 2007 to help promote my following release. It wasn’t until after releasing the EP that I started practicing what I preach and began participating in charitable benefits and incorporating charities with my hip hop events. I have participated in Hip-Hop events that have done everything from raising clothing and toys for under privileged families to supporting the prevention of sexual and domestic violence.

I released my first music video to my desired single “Get Involved” (the video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lRwA9qVNcM) off my most recent album titled “Write Now!” (Album can be purchased at www.cdbaby.com/diezelp) just a month before the album release. Get Involved is a song written to highlight the issues with the mind state of modern Rap and Hip Hop artists and influence them to start getting involved in dp3 their community in a positive way, rather than promoting and glorifying the negative aspects of their neighborhoods. Months after the premiere of my video and album I took my activism up a notch and dropped a music video to my second single off the “Write Now!” project titled “Modern Day Slaves” (video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T94mrzc4B4s). MDS is a favored song because of its blatant attack on our higher powers and the unfair positions many of us American citizens are placed in due to their greed, power, and dishonesty.

I am so appreciative of this opportunity to present my views and inform readers of upcoming projects and events through a different format of expression. I hope that you the reader are intrigued by my words and become interested and influenced by my advice and life experiences. My goal as an artist, activist, and most importantly a person is to correct issues I find in my community by reaching out and uplifting others to do the same. This weekly column will definitely assist in my goals and is a great opportunity to make a difference in my community. Thank you and have a great week!

www.cdbaby.com/diezelp- purchasing the album

www.myspace.com/diezelp- myspace page

http://www.mediafire.com/?3v42ewycxnx- Downloadable EP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T94mrzc4B4s- Modern Day Slaves Music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lRwA9qVNcM- Get Involved Music Video

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