| Sevan Aydinian | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 14, 1983 Jerusalem, Israel |
| Residence | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Nationality | Armenian |
| Other names | M.C. Apollo, Apollo Poetry, The Traveling Poet |
| Ethnicity | Armenian |
| Occupation | spoken word poet and hip hop artist |
| Known for | -Traveling Poet Project, - Featured on MTV, - The first spoken word artist to perform at the Billboard Awards, - |
Sevan Aydinian (born on November 14, 1983 in Jerusalem, Israel), also known as Apollo Poetry, is an Armenian American spoken word poet, hip hop artist, filmmaker, humanitarian, and author. He is the founder of The Traveling Poet Project.[1]
Aydinian was born in Jerusalem and raised in New Jersey. Since 2003, he is living in Arizona. He became known as a spoken word poet and hip hop musician under the stage name M.C. Apollo (and later Apollo Poetry). He was the first spoken word artist to perform at the Billboard Awards (in 2007).[2] Aydinian's major appearances include MTV's True Life,[3][4] VIBE Magazine, The Wake Up Show,[5][6] Source's Unsigned Hype,[7] Showtime at the Apollo, along with performances at Madison Square Garden and America West Arena. Apollo has won the NJ Poetry Slam, NY Poetry Slam, Arizona Poetry Slam, and represented Arizona in the National Poetry Slam competition. He also documented the Brave New Voices Youth Slam.[8]
Aydinian did poetry, but wasn't exposed to the "slam scene" until he worked with Urban Word NYC.[9] Aydinian also performed at Madison Square Garden for the NY Knicks.[10]
VIBE Magazine was doing an article on Phoenix hiphop, and Power 93 recommended Apollo. This, in turn, was spotted by the Rap Olympics.[11] They signed Apollo and put him on the official Rap Olympics team. They decided to follow the rapper on his quest to the Rap Olympics and air it on MTV'S True Life.[3][4] He also became the No.1 voted hip hop artist in the country in MTV2's On The Rise Contest[12] and was the opening act on the Pussycat Dolls & Cassidy Tour, plus the Pitbull tour when it stopped at the After9Events Midnight Run. Apollo also appeared on the front cover of Press Boxx magazine[13] and was featured in XPOZ numerous times.
Aydinian then got involved in the professional world and became the Director of Marketing for Dizzler.com.[14]
In 2007, Apollo appeared on ABC and performed at the Billboard Hiphop Awards. He then appeared on Sway & Tech Wake Up Show twice in 2008.[5][6]
In 2008, Apollo started The Traveling Poet project, its goal being to travel around the world and promote education, culture, and peace. He entered some contests to try to raise the money. He got second place in Ludacris-endorsed WeMix.com's song-writing contest.[11] He then got second place again in the Name Your Dream Assignment contest,[15] in which the winner received $50,000. However, with his business experience, he managed to get sponsorship from DiscMakers, LaraBar, Raw Revolution, UliMana, InklessMagazine,[16] and a write up in Green Lifestyles Magazine, Indie Travel Podcast, & Matador Nights.[17] He also was interviewed and performed on Arizona Channel 3[18] and other media outlets. Apollo continued the activities in 2009 and spoke at high schools, colleges, (including the UCSB Symposium Lecture Series[19] & ASU), and other avenues.
He traveled all around America, living out of his van, as he shot a documentary and wrote a book. During his tour, he interviewed Matisyahu at the Harmony Festival,[20] Alex Grey, and Andrew Zimmern[21] from Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods.
