Spoken word artist quits job to follow dreams
Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 2:04PM By Alexis Austin
From Oprah Show to HBO’s Def Poetry, Sekou “da Misfit” Andrews has let his words create a path for him.
The spoken word artist has been performing all over the country for the last eight years. Andrews quit his job as a fifth grade teacher to perform spoken word full-time.
“While I enjoyed teaching, I knew I couldn’t be a teacher and be chasing my dream at night,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been fair to me or the students.”
Andrews is no stranger to the stage, and his first stage performance was in the seventh grade.
“I was the lion in the play ‘The Wiz’,” he said. “I wanted to be the scarecrow like Michael Jackson, and I was really disappointed.
My friend told me to stop complaining, because he was a munchkin.”
Despite his role, Andrews found a love for being on stage. He is also an actor, voice-over artist, rapper and music producer.
Since beginning his music career, Andrews has performed using the name Sekou “da Misfit.”
“Originally, I would use stage names like ‘Shakespeare.’ Then one day, a friend asked why I didn’t use my first name Sekou, which means warrior,” he said. “I felt it was just my name. To me, it didn’t have any flair.”
Andrews said he is currently in a transition and has dropped “da Misfit” as part of his stage name.
“Winthrop will be the first college to experience me without da Misfit as part of my name,” Andrews said. “I haven’t decided if I’m going to go by just Sekou or Sekou Andrews.”
Even though he has been performing for 20 years, Andrews said he still gets nervous before going on stage.
“Even in a comfortable environment, I get a little nervous. You keep a little bit of nervousness in your pocket,” Andrews said. “It keeps you on point and gives your performance an edge.”
While spoken word has allowed Andrews to perform for President Barack Obama and large corporations, it has also helped him to try other ventures such as owning a company.
However, he does not plan to stop any time soon.
“My near future plans are to have my business expand beyond my capacity and become a business,” Andrews said.
He has landed a role in an independent film.
“I’ve been putting so much time into my company,” Andrews said. “For a while I’ve just been throwing kindle on the other fires just to keep them going. Now, I’m looking to toss gas on some of these other fires.”
Sekou “da Misfit” Andrews will be performing at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26 in Dinkins Underground.
Tickets are $5 with student ID, $10 without and free with a DSU spring pass.
