Properly Named: Arinze
What is in a name? For one of the artists of our city, the answer would be everything. Arinze, né Talonted, decided recently that is is was time to go back to his roots, in more ways than one, by foregoing his stage name for the abbreviated name of his birth.
Arinzechukwu, an Ibo name, means "Gratitude to God." It is this gratitude to something higher that seems to have sparked Arinze's new music and the challenge to himself, our community, and our culture as a whole. It is a challenge of exposing yourself to the world, with a true sense of vulnerability. By using his "Arinze," the artist is attempting to show us, the audience, a more multi-faceted artist and man than "Talonted," whom it was easy to just categorize as a rapper.
Arinze is much more than a rapper. He is the renaissance man for the "Renaissance City," a name uttered so often in the 80's and 90's that it was more common than the proverbial "Brick City." Arinze the man, who is now at one with the artist, is also a former Wall Street attorney, a restauranteur, real estate developer, and a student. He is the "new." And with new titles and self-descriptions come new conversations. It is this consistently new dialogue and boundary expansion that sets Arinze apart. Whether it was through teaching himself the piano or spitting in Spanish, he is constantly fighting and seeking internal challenges to push not only himself, but our community and culture to a higher standard.
It is also about honesty and consistency, which is the spark that Arinze has created with his latest video, "Newark, Politics, Etc." Not a political endorsement, but a open dialogue to Ras Baraka, one of our mayoral candidates, the song recounts Arinze's experiences of the past while trying to seek answers for our collective future. It is about the idea of "never compromising," which is one of the artist's true tenets. It is, as he said, the "end game."
In the spirit of not compromising, Arinze left a lucrative job as a corporate attorney to pursue his art full time and without any regrets. Having afforded all of the luxuries of rap stardom prior to the stardom, you get the sense that his ambitions are unfettered. If you are a brand or what you say you are, you cannot half step. And true to Big Daddy Kane, Arinze is doing just that, either through his ongoing vocal training, evidenced in the aforementioned new single, or through his media company, Flo Global. True to his entrepreneurial spirit, Arinze crafted Flo Global to be a different type of media outlet, which he envisions will seek to change the perceptions of Black men through the power of media. It will involve not only music, but film and television as well.
When you discuss music and art, culture, and business with Arinze, you are left with a feeling of integrity. That is not meant to be a comment on our community or the state of Hip-Hop culture, but a comment about the man that the young brother is fashioning himself to be. If he aims to have more and more influence, he asserts that he wants the central focus to be integrity and that he is a "certain type of man." That type seems to be the true definition of a Renaissance Man.
You can hear and witness the full experience, this Saturday, December 7th, at the In Transition EP release party. The event will also feature a photography exhibit, courtesy of Hycide's Akintola Hanif, food courtesy of HLS (Health Love & Soul), which Arinze owns with his brother Emeka, desserts by Cake's Babie cupcakes, and more. True to the passion, the event is meant to showcase the full spectrum of the collective and the community. The event will take place at Center Stage Cuts, which hosts events and was voted "Best in Hair, 2013" for Newark Pulse People's Choice Awards. The event will be from 9 until 12, and will have a $10 cover charge.
