| George Watsky | |
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| Born | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| Occupation | Poet and performer[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | San Francisco University High School, Emerson College |
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georgewatsky.com |
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George Watsky is a poet and rapper from San Francisco, California. Watsky performs slam poetry, and was featured on Season 6 of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry on HBO.[2] Watsky’s talents began to receive national and international acclaim in 2006 when he was the Youth Speaks Grand Slam Poetry Champion, and was also named Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam Champion.[3]
In 2006, Watsky was described as the "Bay Area's reigning teen champion" as the winner of "nearly a dozen slams" and "was on the team that took fourth place in the national contest" in 2005.[4]
Watsky's poetry incorporates political and social themes. In 2006, in the midst of "a lively performance" to a "sold-out crowd", Watsky "likened politicians behavior to a common bar pick-up line" and "won the night's top score".[5]
Reviewing a 2008 performance at Brandeis University, Sarah Bayer wrote, "Skinny, quirky George Watsky was next, with the night's most innovative piece. Watsky, a sophomore at Emerson College and a member of the grand prize-winning team from San Francisco at the National Youth Poetry Slam in 2006, adjusted the microphone to different parts of his body, imitated the sound of rewinding tape and recited binary code (a trope that caught the eye of headliner Saul Williams) in an altogether amusing performance."[6]
Watsky graduated from Emerson College in 2010[7] and has achieved newfound fame with his viral YouTube video "Pale kid raps fast." He was featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on January 24, 2011, performing a slightly modified version of that rap.[8]
In 2009, he produced a fifteen track hip-hop album titled Watsky. In 2010 he released the album Guilty Pleasures, which he made available as a free download on his website. Produced by Procrastination (San Francisco musician Tobias Butler), Guilty Pleasures contains mashups between popular songs and those from his first album.
Watsky was profiled in The Boston Globe in 2009. The Arts section reviewed his one-man show "Where the Magic Happens" favorably and called him a "poetry-slam star."[9]
In Summer, 2011 Watsky announced his new mixtape titled "A New Kind of Sexy", which was released on Monday, August 1, 2011, at 4:00 AM Pacific Time. In the weeks leading up to the release, a track would be released each Monday. One of the tracks on the album was called "4AM Monday".
Taking it to the page and stereo, George’s debut poetry collection and CD, Undisputed Backtalk Champion, was published by First Word Press in 2006. Edited by novelist Adam Mansbach, the book is currently in its fourth printing. As an emcee, Watsky has performed on both coasts with his band Invisible Inc. The trio’s self titled album, a blend of jazz and hip hop, features R&B sensation Passion. George’s self-released debut, Watsky, reached as high as #7 on the iTunes Hip Hop albums chart.
An honorary graduate of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership in Melbourne, George has emerged as part of a vanguard of artists involved in the sustainability movement. The inaugural Speak Green winner for poetry on climate change, Watsky was twice invited by Robert Redford to perform in Sundance, Utah. He served as host of Green Mic in San Jose, California and of the culminating concert of Powershift 2007 in Washington DC, and performed at Rock the Debate in Oxford, Mississippi, prior to 2008′s first Presidental debate. His work has brought him to the opening plenary of Green Cities 2008 in Sydney, Australia, and Greenbuild Chicago, where he took the stage immediately before President Bill Clinton.
Touring while finishing his college education on a condensed schedule, George has performed at conferences and universities in more than half the states in the US, and two in Australia, appearing at some of the nation’s most notable venues, including the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, the San Francisco Opera House and the Shrine Auditorium. He has shared billing with, among others, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt and Muhammad Ali.