Bernard Dolan (born March 8, 1981) is an American rapper,

spoken word artist Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, screenwriter, and composer based in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

.Strange Famous Record
B. Dolan Biography
/ref>

History

B. Dolan's first performances took place at New York City's Nuyorican Poets Cafe, where he gained respect as part of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's ''

Def Poetry ''Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry'', better known as simply ''Def Poetry Jam'' or ''Def Poetry'', is a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. The series features performances by establ ...

'' in 2002 and won numerous slam titles.Boston Phoeni
B. Dolan Goes Where Few Emcees Have Gone Before
/ref> He has since distanced himself from and criticized

slam poetry A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. ...

. In 2011, he told the ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' and ...

'':

Doing spoken word was the first time I ever tried to present my writing on a stage, and that's what it was good for. It taught me some basic stage tricks that I still use — like how to change my voice and talk to a crowd. But once you've picked up those chops, you need to get the hell out before you become some asshole who wins the poetry slam for the 10th year in a row.

After performing at a Def Jam industry party at the Rush Arts Gallery, B. Dolan realized he wouldn't be able to work within the major label structure. Within months, he dropped out of college, bought a drum machine, and began recording the first album ''The Failure''. During this time, he slept on "park benches and subway trains" while working as a doorman at a building in close proximity to the Twin Towers. It was at this time that the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

happened, leaving B. Dolan in a "paranoid mental state", which caused him to move back to

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. Once back in Rhode Island, B. Dolan tapped into the local arts community, volunteered for at-risk youth programs, created the consumer activist website Knowmore.org, teamed up with

Sage Francis Paul William "Sage" Francis (born November 18, 1976) is an American independent underground rapper from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of Strange Famous Records. Early life and education Francis was born in Miami, Florida ...

, signed to

Strange Famous Records Strange Famous Records is an indie hip hop record label based in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded by Sage Francis. Artists on its roster include B. Dolan, Cecil Otter, Prolyphic, and Sleep, among others. History Strange Famous Records st ...

, and began to tour internationally since 2005. B. Dolan has also remained prolific as a rapper, releasing albums on Strange Famous Records since 2008 and most notably creating the "Bombzo Way" and "Evel Knievel" characters, which make surprise guest appearances at his concerts. In 2010, he released his second album ''

Fallen House, Sunken City ''Fallen House, Sunken City'' is the second studio album by B. Dolan. It was released on Strange Famous Records on March 2, 2010. Entirely produced by Alias, it features guest appearances from P.O.S and Cadence Weapon. Critical reception At Meta ...

'', the entirety of which is produced by

Alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the ...

Anticon Anticon (often styled as anticon.) is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1998 by seven musicians and manager Baillie Parker. It is now collectively owned among six musicians, co-founder Parker, and man ...

. In 2011, B. Dolan created the package show ''The Church of Love & Ruin'', which combined activism and art by bringing openly LGBT and Queer performers into the arena of hip hop, in an attempt to address homophobia in rap. On July 10, 2015, B. Dolan released his third studio album, entitled ''Kill the Wolf'', on Speech Development and Strange Famous Records. This was followed with a world tour, visiting the US, UK and Europe.

Knowmore.org

As an activist, B. Dolan is known primarily as a co-founder of Knowmore.org, a wiki devoted to connecting consumers with social responsibility information about corporations.About Knowmore.org
/ref> He is also an author of several articles within the website. He is especially known for an article on American Apparel's CEO Dov Charney. In 2008, due to a lack of workers and funds, Dolan decided to take the site down. Recently in 2016, he has started a funding page to redesign the site and get it up and running again.

Film Work

B. Dolan recently co-wrote, appeared briefly in, and composed the score for an independent film called "Almost Mercy", directed by Tom Denucci. He is also listed as writing a second film for Verdi Productions, which is currently under development

Discography

Albums * ''The Failure'' (2003) eissued 2008* ''

'' (2010) * ''Kill the Wolf'' (2015) EPs * ''Live Evel'' (2008) Mixtapes * ''House of Bees Vol. 1'' (2009) * ''House of Bees Vol. 2'' (2012) * ''House of Bees Vol. 3'' (2015) Guest appearances *

- "Broccilude" & "High Step" on ''

Human the Death Dance ''Human the Death Dance'' is the third solo studio album by American rapper Sage Francis. It was released on Epitaph Records on May 8, 2007. It peaked at number 97 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Critical reception At Metacritic, which assigns ...

'' (2007) *

Prolyphic Alfred Schoeninger (born June 16, 1981), better known by his stage name Mopes, and formerly Prolyphic, is an American hip hop musician from Rhode Island. He is one half of the duo Stick Figures along with Robust and is currently signed to Stran ...

& Reanimator - "Survived Another Winter" on ''

The Ugly Truth ''The Ugly Truth'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic, written by Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. The film was released in North America o ...

'' (2008) * Sage Francis - "House of Bees", "Sea Legs" & "SFR Pays Dues" on ''

Sick of Wasting Sage Francis discography. Studio albums ''Sick of'' Mixtapes * ''Sick of Waiting...'' (1999) * ''Still Sick... Urine Trouble'' (2000) * ''Sick of Waiting Tables'' (2001) * ''Sick of Waging War'' (2002) * ''Sickly Business'' (2004) * ''Still Sickl ...

'' (2009) * Sole - "Fuck Wells Fargo" on '' Nuclear Winter Volume 2: Death Panel'' (2011) * Scroobius Pip - "Soldier Boy (Kill 'Em)" on ''

Distraction Pieces ''Distraction Pieces'' is the second solo album by Scroobius Pip David Peter Meads (born 3 August 1981), known professionally and personally as Scroobius Pip (Dave), is an English actor and podcaster as well as a former spoken word poet and ...

'' (2011) * Dan le sac - "Caretaker" and "Good Time Gang War" on ''

Space Between the Words ''Space Between the Words'' is the first solo album by Dan Le Sac, released on Sunday Best Recordings in 2012. Track listing References External links * {{Authority control 2012 debut albums Electronic albums by English artists ...

'' (2012) * Sage Francis - "You Can't Win" from ''Sick To D(eat)h'' (2013)

References

External links

Official website

Knowmore.org

B. Dolan
on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolan, B. Musicians from Providence, Rhode Island American spoken word poets East Coast hip hop musicians Living people Rappers from Rhode Island 1981 births 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American poets