Synopsis
“I tried to make a collect call to God, but he wouldn’t answer the phone.”
-Leroy “The Grandmaster” Young
Locked in the desperate clutches of a crack cocaine addiction, Leroy Young tried to commit suicide. He failed. So he tried again. Somehow, during these aborted attempts at dying, The Grandmaster was born.
The Grandmaster lives in a squatters shack behind Belize City Hall. His “office” is the dangerous alley he shares with some of the country’s most hardened gangsters. He wears a watch with no face and glasses with no lenses. His dreadlocks look like they need a good shampooing. Several of his teeth are missing. This is The Grandmaster. Just like that.
A product of the ghetto, The Grandmaster embodies contradiction. He easily makes himself welcome amongst Belize’s rich and powerful, yet is quick to return to his hardcore roots when the party is over. He sees nothing wrong with smoking a little weed before speaking to high school students about staying away from drugs. He is both a role model and an example of what not to do.
He’s part hobo, part entrepreneur. A dysfunctional genius with the soul of a scamp.
He’s also most prolific poet in the tiny Central American nation of Belize.
A former British colony (previously British Honduras), Belize only became independent in 1981. With independence has come a new set of problems: Crime is escalating rapidly. The nation’s economy is dangerously close to collapse. The divide between the haves and have-nots is growing wider daily. All of this serves as creative fodder for The Grandmaster.
His rhymes tackle the taboo - from corrupt politicians to organized religion. He’s never been afraid to take on the local oligarchy, and now with the international release of his critically acclaimed debut album, The Grandmaster is ready to take on the world.
But can a semi-reformed crack-head from a tiny backwater country compete on the big stage? And more importantly, will The Grandmaster get his shit together long enough to take a shot at success?
A bastard love child of Bob Marley and Hunter S. Thompson; he’s never pretty, not exactly law abiding, and seldom sober. But, in the words of The Grandmaster himself: “Welcome To My World!”
The Grandmaster lives in a squatters shack behind Belize City Hall. His “office” is the dangerous alley he shares with some of the country’s most hardened gangsters. He wears a watch with no face and glasses with no lenses. His dreadlocks look like they need a good shampooing. Several of his teeth are missing. This is The Grandmaster. Just like that.
A product of the ghetto, The Grandmaster embodies contradiction. He easily makes himself welcome amongst Belize’s rich and powerful, yet is quick to return to his hardcore roots when the party is over. He sees nothing wrong with smoking a little weed before speaking to high school students about staying away from drugs. He is both a role model and an example of what not to do.
He’s part hobo, part entrepreneur. A dysfunctional genius with the soul of a scamp.
He’s also most prolific poet in the tiny Central American nation of Belize.
A former British colony (previously British Honduras), Belize only became independent in 1981. With independence has come a new set of problems: Crime is escalating rapidly. The nation’s economy is dangerously close to collapse. The divide between the haves and have-nots is growing wider daily. All of this serves as creative fodder for The Grandmaster.
His rhymes tackle the taboo - from corrupt politicians to organized religion. He’s never been afraid to take on the local oligarchy, and now with the international release of his critically acclaimed debut album, The Grandmaster is ready to take on the world.
But can a semi-reformed crack-head from a tiny backwater country compete on the big stage? And more importantly, will The Grandmaster get his shit together long enough to take a shot at success?
A bastard love child of Bob Marley and Hunter S. Thompson; he’s never pretty, not exactly law abiding, and seldom sober. But, in the words of The Grandmaster himself: “Welcome To My World!”
posted by Brent Toombs @ Saturday, January 21, 2006
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