Kareem Jackson is Tef Poe, a hip-hop recording rapper, musician and activist from originally from St. Louis, Missouri. He started out a battle rapper but has evolved into a musician with a passion for social change. His music reflects the complexities of humanity and the multidimensional human experience. Poe started writing music when he was only 12 years old. Currently he is in Boston as one of the 2016-2017 fellows at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University. Yet still he identifies as a rapper first and even has his artist name on his office door.
On May 20th of this year, Tef Poe presented his album, “Black Julian” to the Harvard Ed Portal Community along with other artists many of them also from from Ferguson, Florida and the Boston area such as The Knuckles, Cory Black, Oompa, Tashawn Taylor, Katani, Tu Anh Phan, McKersin, Brandie Blaze and DiDi Delgado. The show was phenomenal, the artists of the evening kept the crowd in awe with their thought provoking messages within their music, poetry and dance. The theme of the night was definitely justice, peace, art and culture. His album “Black Julian” is a mix of many genres of music from trap, soul rock-n-roll and R&B. He has had the chance to work with artist such as Talib Kweli, I-20, Killer Mike, Lupe Fiasco Royce Da 5’9, Big Boi and Common. The event was a great turnout and full of positive energy. The following day the kept the good vibes going with an interview with Boston’s urban station B87 FM. What’s great about the group is they all work together and support each other.
He recently shared a video on Facebook promoting a new music video for Harvard Square. Although he did not graduate from high school he takes each day in office seriously. Even with his artist name being on his door he is more than just a hip hop artist. While he is working on his music he also is working on a research project which will portray a more accurate picture of our cities, slave history, modern day corruption and how it is all connected to hip hop. He is also working on his first black sci-fi novel.
As an independent artist Tef Poe has made a name for himself and gained exposure through multiple media sources. He has been featured on XXL’s The Break, HipHopDX.Com, The Source’s Unsigned Hype (2012), BET’s FreeStyle Friday (retired champion) on 106 & Park (2013), MSNBC, Noisey, The Smoking Section, The Washington Post and The New York Times. He is also one of the co-founders of the Hands Up United movement. The Hands up movement is a social justice activist organization based out of Ferguson. We as a nation first heard of Ferguson, Missouri after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown at the hands of a police officer. The organization works to counter false narratives spread by the media and law enforcement. They seek to find preventions methods to avoid future incidents nationwide as well as more accountability for police across the U.S.
Tef Poe has consistently advocated involvement in improving the lives of African Americans and in racial justice. He actively works with human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Organization for Black Struggle. In his art and activism, he promotes the value of local people taking charge of conversations about their communities rather than relying on national media organizations. Tef Poe recording a song called “Change the World” and it seems that this is his mission. No wonder Pinelawn Missouri gave him his own day on August 6th. To hear more from Tef Poe listen to the interview with Harvard University below and follow him on social media, the links are included below.
Social Media Links
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Tef Poe Vs. Juice Freestyle battle
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