We recently had the chance to connect with Chris Rockwell and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Are you walking a path—or wandering?
I’m definitely on a path. I know that because everything is going well in my life right now. Whenever I stray from my path, nothing seems to go right for me. Whenever I’m struggling with art, or money, or relationships, that seems like the ideal time to reevaluate my course. Invariably it means I’m not in the direction meant for me, and I’ve strayed in some way. Whenever I am creating genuine, honest art, maintaining good relationships, and helping others, things seem to go very smoothly for me. That’s when I know I’m on my path.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Chris Rockwell. I’m a poet and Hip-Hop artist from New Jersey. I’m the founder of Soup Can Magazine, a quarterly art and poetry publication, and NJ AMP Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting writing and art in the Garden State.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
In late 2001 I learned how close to home racism lived in my life. I didn’t realize how many brown friends I had until white people in school started bumping into them and calling them terrorists, threatening them with violence, and using racial slurs. It felt like a knee-jerk reaction to stand up for my friends and fight with bullies. I look back and realize that this wasn’t just personal browbeating, but racial injustice. It felt good to be a good friend. I wanted them to feel safe because it always felt like the right thing to do. Now, I’m organizing marches and working with activist groups to combat widespread injustice, as well as tackle food insecurity and wealth inequality. I really feel like all of this started back then in high school. I couldn’t unsee what I saw, and my eyes only opened wider and wider after that. There was no turning back.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
Probably around the time I wrote “A Patient Year” in 2014. It was the first time I very plainly stated “I’m depressed” in a song without being cryptic or using coded language or metaphor. I’d spent so many years watching other people speak so openly about their struggles in life at open mics and poetry slams that I can’t believe it took me as long as it did to open up about my own. But surprise surprise – the poet has feelings. Now I can’t imagine detaching myself from those parts of me because I’m a multidimensional human being capable of experiencing the entire range of human emotion, and as an artist I’m tasked with expressing all of it. That’s genuine. That’s honest. That’s the type of artist I know I need to be. And without considering it when I was writing, that’s what people ended up really responding to.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
I guess I’m going to take that to mean power in a somewhat traditional sense, comprised of fame or money or political stature. There are so many artists and writers in my community here in Jersey that are more committed to bringing truth to light than getting rich or famous. This is an especially tough task now that more people, especially in this local music and arts scene here, want to bow down to “the algorithm” and do things on social media for clout. It creates such a thick fog around the art itself. But I’m seeing so many incredibly brave poets and painters and photographers who really have integrity and possess an unwavering desire to be truthful to live in relative obscurity. I gotta respect that total disregard for clout and internet fame in the pursuit of authenticity. And I’m taking it upon myself to shine as much light on them as possible. The world needs more of that.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
I feel like sitting in traffic cussing each other out, people forget that we’re all interconnected and sharing the world. We feel so separate, but we’re all part of an ecosystem and an entire earth. Everything we do matters. How we treat other people from moment to moment. How we treat ourselves. It all affects the collective existence. So many issues are rooted in this deep disconnection and the only way to counteract that is to reach out more. Consider that everyone around you is living an entire life that exists outside the moment you see them, and that most of us are struggling and suffering something. Billionaires probably need to spend the most time thinking about this stuff and somehow seem to do it the least. Everything is connected. Everyone is connected. Be considerate of that, and just fucking be kind.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mrchrisrockwell.com
- Instagram: @mrchrisrockwell
- Twitter: @mrchrisrockwell
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrchrisrockwell
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/chrisrockwellrocks
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/mrchrisrockwell
Image Credits
Conni Freestone / Greg Molyneaux / Michael J. Pilato
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