Okayplayer drops Chicagoan F.Stokes Story of Windy City Pimp Culture on New Single Carpe Diem

MP3: F.Stokes – “Carpe Diem”

New Album Fearless Beauty To Be Released June 17; Latest Single Hails Influence From Hometown Legends Twista, Doe Or Die, and Crucial Conflict

06.5.2013

Critical Praise for F.Stokes:

F.Stokes is a “gifted lyricist.” – Potholes In My Blog

The Song:

In just two weeks, on June 17th, rapper F.Stokes will release his new album, Fearless Beauty. The 10-track offering serves as a concept project for Stokes, as he looks back at his family roots through their migration from Arkansas to Chicago in 1954. “The aim of this record, aesthetically and creatively, is to capture the courage, strength, and resilience of my family,” says Stokes about the Fearless Beauty, “During the recording of this project, I spiritually – and physically – placed myself in my childhood room in Chicago. I revisited conversations I had with the junkies, the pimps, the prostitutes, the gangsters, all manifesting in the recordings.”

Today’s single, “Carpe Diem,” which was premiered by OkayPlayer and serves as the third release from Fearless Beauty, is the most literal interpretation of those revisited conversations, as Stokes calls on the childhood influences of hometown mainstays like Twista, Doe or Die, and Crucial Conflict to deliver his own version of the city’s legendary pimp talk. “All of those artists amplified the strong pimp culture of Chicago in their songs, so it was important for me to incorporate that influence into Fearless Beauty,” says Stokes. “This is my ode, so to speak, to Don Juan – his confidence, style, and way with words, it influenced an entire generation.”

Download “Carpe Diem” here: https://soundcloud.com/f-stokes/carpe-diem

OkayPlayer premiered the track and more info can be found here: http://www.okayplayer.com/news/f-stokes-carpe-diem-mp3.html

Listen to the song here: https://soundcloud.com/f-stokes/carpe-diem

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Please contact Michelle or Dan if interested in talking with F.Stokes.

F.Stokes Background:

F.Stokes is a Chicago born and bred rapper and spoken word poet now based out of New York City. He tells his story with punctuating imagery and glass-like clarity as he looks at the world through the lens of his family’s shared experiences. Growing up as one of six children to a single mother in the South Side of Chicago, he shared his home with people who lived on the edge of violent death, poverty, and ghosts of abuse and addiction. He found solace in writing early on in childhood and soon began to express himself creatively through verse and spoken word poetry as he grew into adolescene and early adulthood. In 2009 he began touring in Europe in preparation for the release of his first album, 2010′s Death of a Handsome Bride. He quickly grew as a prolific artist, releasing the Baked Goods Mixtape in 2011 and Love Always in 2012. F.Stokes has performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival, The Essence Festival, and the Metropolis Festival in Holland. He has also cultivated a particularly strong fan base in the UK, where he recorded an EP with the band Bastille, and in Paris, where has sold out multiple shows and has been featured on Nova Radio. Stateside he has been featured in XXL Magazine, Source Online and HipHopDX, among others, and has toured with the likes of Ryan Leslie, Chall Tuna, Mac Lethal, Arrested Developed and Nas. 2013 will see the release of his new album Fearless Beauty, which features production by Paper Tiger of Minneapolis indie hip-hop collective DoomTree, his most personal and political record to date, and more tour dates in Europe, including the Independence Day Festival in France on July 4th.