D.C. Native Christon “Christylez” Bacon Nominated for Grammy

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) just released the nominees for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.  Nominated for his first Grammy is Christon “Christylez” Bacon, a progressive hip-hop artist whose  recent collaboration with Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer on a children’s CD garnered him, Fink and Marxer a GRAMMY nomination.

Bacon has been featured at many venues commonly unassociated with the realm of Hip-Hop music including the National Cathedral, the Kennedy Center, and Strathmore Hall. In March 2008, Bacon became the first Hip-Hop artist to receive an Artist-in-Residence position at Strathmore Hall. Within months, he quickly became the first artist to sell out both public performances during his month of residency. In additon, he was one of  the first hip-hop artist to be featured at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

As a performer, Christylez multi-tasks between various instruments such as the West-African Djembe drum, Acoustic Guitar, and the syncopated oral percussions of the Human Beat-Box, all while creating imagery with his lyrics. His debut album Advanced Artistry  has been described as an example of the socially conscious and progressive hip-hop present in the underground scenes of many cities, but to which the mainstream is inexplicably resistant.

A graduate of the Duke Ellingtion School of the Performing Arts, Bacon has been teaching in Public & Charter Schools all around the DC Metropolitian Area for 4 years, and has the essential vibrant appeal to flip-flop from children’s jam sessions for 1st graders, to lectures and writing workshops for high school & college students.

You can see Bacon live on Monday December 7th at Busboys and Poets and on Sunday December 13th at DC 9. To purchase tickets and to learn more about Bacon visit www.christylez.com.

Posted by The Cotillion Online on Dec 3 2009. Filed under Art, Music, Culture & Lifestyle, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry