“The soul of Otis Redding is in Chicago” – ‘The Ellen Show’ blog
Talk about pressure.
But then again, maybe not.
Meet spoken word artist, Harold Green. A Chicago native with impeccable wit and natural charisma. Add in a love for music and art and sprinkle a bit of poetry on top, and you’ve been introduced to the blueprint of what ‘Flowers for the Living’ (or #FFTL on social media) is all about.
Green, along with his wife Charisma, an artist in her own right, combined their adoration for music and creative wordplay into an idea that would promote love and positivity on the hip-hop music scene.
Since it’s inception in 2011, for two weeks each year around Valentine’s Day, the duo gathers in swanky, artistic settings with a live band and covers old classics and perform original music.
But this isn’t just another cover band on YouTube.
The difference: Green’s thought-provoking, raw and often sensual poetry aligned to each track.
“I write these original pieces so that makes it something new and that’s what I think makes it’s kind of cool,” Green says.
So what makes it special?
“Somebody could look at it, and be like dude is really emo, like ‘what is he on’? But I feel like people really look at it like, you can’t knock this. You know what I’m saying? This is some real [stuff].”
And “real stuff” it is. Green has been applauded by the very artists he covers via social media. Raheem DeVaughn and Erykah Badu have both reached out to the talented wordsmith expressing their amazement over his work.
Check out the group’s cover of Otis Redding’s ‘Try A Little Tenderness’ below:
Want more #FFTL? Click each thumbnail below to hear this year’s collection!
Like Harold Green and Flowers for the Living on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
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REGISTER NOW for the 2014 Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion taking place August 28- September 1, 2014 in Orlando, Florida! For booking information, call 407-248-9191.
(Courtesy Photo)
