THE CURE
LEN BOWEN AND CHARLES PAYNE
A chilling and powerful piece by musician Len Bowen (Winnipeg) and spoken word artist Charles Payne (Madison), presented by the Consulate General for Canada in Chicago. Inspired by the Tuskegee Study, The Cure explores vaccine hesitancy and the history of medical experimentation on Black and Indigenous bodies.
“There’s a famous Black scientist who is involved in the development for the vaccine for COVID right now, which a lot of people don’t know. I want to bring attention to erasure…”
Len and Charles talk about the project and process with SDF Director Nick Green
“Just the perspective of Black and Indigenous people today as far as… this vaccine being rolled out to combat COVID-19, and people being reluctant to take it for one reason or another, certain reasons in regard to bad history. Learning from the past … and hopefully moving forward in a positive way”
LEN BOWEN
Often described as a "new throwback", Bowen's music is halfway between the boombap sounds of the mid nineties East Coast hip hop boom – think Common and Nas - and the earnest, honest content of more contemporary artists on the hip hop charts today (YNB Cordae, H.E.R, Drake). Through his music, you can feel the contemplative, negotiation he's having with the listener, defining his place in the landscape as the narrator of his own epic, all the while determined to remain sincere.
For those counting, Bowen is approaching 25 years in the craft. Under his list of accomplishments sits a few Muchmusic, Rap City top tens, a Western Canadian Music Award nomination and a number one slot on the campus radio charts. That's also two records as a member of the legendary hip hop outfit Shadez Ov Black – often referred to as The Shadez – and two solo projects, Long Story Short and Going Away Party.
Released in 2016, his most recent project, Going Away Party is what Bowen describes as a "closing of a chapter and moving on to bigger and better things". The record itself is a retrospective – from detailing the journey of a single mother raising two children, a letter to lost love or a lighthearted ado to the craft he loves, the project is a ballad to a life enveloped in hip hop.
CHARLES PAYNE
Charles Payne is a certified teacher, and a self-taught spoken word artist from Madison, Wisconsin. His work explores personal narrative and social commentary. He is the firstborn of a strict father and naïve mother. As a child, he loved hearing the sound of Paul Harvey's voice, whose innate ability to describe every intricate detail truly inspired Charles to tell stories himself. And yes, he can't wait to give you the rest of the story.