| B. Dolan | |
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B. Dolan |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bernard Dolan |
| Also known as | Bombzo Way, Bombzo the Clown, Evel Knievel |
| Origin | Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
| Genres | Alternative hip hop, indie hip hop |
| Occupations | Rapper, spoken word artist |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Strange Famous Records |
| Associated acts | Sage Francis, Alias, Scroobius Pip, The What Cheer? Brigade, Buddy Peace, Sole, Mac Lethal, Cadence Weapon, P.O.S, Prolyphic, Reanimator, Curtis Plum, Prayers for Atheists |
| Website | Official Website |
B. Dolan (born 1981) is an American rapper, activist, and performance artist, based in Hanton City, Rhode Island.[1]
As an activist, Dolan is known primarily as the co-creator and co-founder of Knowmore.org, a wiki devoted to connecting consumers with Social Responsibility information about corporations.[2] As well as being a founder of Knowmore.org, Dolan is also an author of several articles within the site. He is especially known for an article on American Apparel's CEO Dov Charney [3][4]
Most recently, he created a package show titled the Church of Love & Ruin, which combined activism and art by bringing openly GLBT and Queer performers into the arena of Hip-Hop, in an attempt to address homophobia in rap.[5][6]
Contents |
Though he has since distanced himself from and frequently criticized "Slam Poetry," Dolan's first performances took place at New York City's Nuyorican Poets Cafe, where he gained respect as part of HBO's Def Poetry in 2002 and won numerous slam titles.[7]
In 2011, Dolan told the Boston Phoenix:
Doing spoken word was the first time I ever tried to present my writing on a stage, and that's what it was good for. It taught me some basic stage tricks that I still use — like how to change my voice and talk to a crowd. But once you've picked up those chops, you need to get the hell out before you become some asshole who wins the poetry slam for the 10th year in a row.[8]
After performing at a Def Jam industry party at the Rush Arts Gallery, Dolan realized he wouldn't be able to work within the major label structure. Within months, he dropped out of college, bought a drum machine, and began recording his debut album, The Failure.[9] During this time, Dolan slept on "park benches and subway trains" while working as a doorman at a building in close proximity to the Twin Towers. It was at this time that the [September 11 attacks] happened, leaving Dolan in a "paranoid mental state" which caused him to move back to RI.[10]
Once back in RI, Dolan tapped into the local arts community, volunteered for at-risk youth programs, created the consumer activist website Knowmore.org, teamed up with Sage Francis, signed to Strange Famous Records, and began to tour internationally since 2005 (most notably the Paid Dues Tour 2008, Rock the Bells Tour 2009, and Weight of the World Tour 2010.)
He has also remained prolific as a performance artist and emcee, releasing albums every year since 2008 and most notably creating the "Bombzo Way" and "Evel Knievel" characters, which make surprise guest appearances at his concerts.[11][12]
| Album information |
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Winter of my Disconnect Mixtape
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The Failure (tour demo)
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Live Evel EP
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Prolyphic & Reanimator "Artist Goes Pop" Single
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The Failure (Official Release)
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House of Bees vol. 1
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Fallen House, Sunken City
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