Everybody wants to be a rapper. Nobody wants to take the risk and pay their dues. Keisha Plum could be considered a rapper – yet she never has to sound like one. She sounds very sensuous and soulful as her poetic tongue glides down the back end of many Griselda tracks. A true spoken word poet – this woman gives hope to those who speak their truth in the form of soliloquys.
In Plum Poetry We Trust
Keisha Plum a.k.a Buffalo Jill drips Tears of Honey onto every page. A great deal of her poetry began when she would send meaningful letters to her brother who was serving in the military.
Her upbringing in Buffalo, NY saw her gravitate toward the African American Cultural Center to express herself. It is in that building that she learned what she could do with her craft. A young Keisha Plum learned about her roots through various mediums of cultural black excellence.
“If Rakim & Nikki Giovanni did the nasty, they would have had me.”
K.Plum on Flygod
Basically, she learned that she could write poetry and talk shxt at the same time. Obviously, it is much deeper than that but it is evident that she enjoys to paint vivid pictures with her poems. Drawing incredible inspiration from the likes of Maya Angelou – this phenomenal woman lays down piercing poetry that encapsulates the entire Griselda movement.
Griselda the Behemoth
What is amazing about Griselda Records is that they can hit you from so many different angles. With damn near 30 artists on roster – each one brings something different and puts the listener into a different perspective/bag on each and every track.
Not to mention, they are the head of the umbrella to all of these spectacular artists that hear their work and strive to go harder than they did the day before. It is such a blessing to discover all of these underground talents adjacent to Griselda who just want to put their own spin on it.
Clearly, Westside Gunn never even had to touch a mic and he would still be set – his kids great-grandkids would be set. But we are so glad he did! His lead-by-example no nonsense approach, creative direction and general tactics are truly God sent. God is the greatest!
WSG is the type of individual who ensures that his legacy will carry on for generations. AA Rashid said it best when he shared with us that humans can only be judged by their outcomes. Did you push yourself every day to ensure that your work will live on when your physical form no longer can? Wes is that type of person – hence all of the new artists and REAL RAP that has risen to the forefront in the past decade.
Buffalo Kids Stick Together
Westside Gunn and Keisha Plum went to Grammar School for the Gifted & Talented together. When Keisha had to settle for a retail job, Wes pulled up on her after he finished his stint in penitentiary. Everything was already meticulously planned and prepared – he wrote the poems for Keisha to lay down in the booth. It was just up to her to fine tune the content, plug & play words that she saw fit and ultimately execute the vision laid before her.
The most impressive part about Keisha Plum and her ascension is the way that she bends the genre backwards and flips hip-hop on its headpiece. She is living proof that if you know yourself – know your worth – know what you’re capable of doing – and act upon ideas you can be successful. This woman is single-handedly rearranging the constructs of hip-hop one spoken word at a time.
FreshNewsNow 