Chris Rolle, also known as "Kazi" (a shortened form of "Kharma Kazi"Art Start Trustees
, accessed online 17 April 2007.), is a community activist, rapper, and founder of a record company. Beginning as a teen, he has been involved in New York City's Art Start program. In 1999, he founded the Hip Hop Project. He is a subject in the film, ''The Hip Hop Project'', which was produced by

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...

and

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe ...

. Since June 2004, he has been a member of Art Start's Board of Trustees. He is a motivational speaker on men's issues in the

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

community. He is founder and co-

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of One+One Records and a

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

performer.

Early life

He was born in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

; since 1990 he has lived in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

.''The Hip Hop Project'' (documentary film), 2006. In 1994, while in high school, Rolle began an involvement with Art Start as a student in the Media Works Project. He graduated in 1996 from the New York City Public Repertory Company (an

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

arts high school), where he won the Playwrights Competition.

Career

Art Start

In 1997, he taught the Media Works Project curriculum to teenagers coming out of

Rikers Island Rikers Island is a prison island in the East River in the Bronx, New York (state), New York, United States, that contains New York City's largest jail. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was orig ...

prison, and in 1998 he led Art Start's anti-racism public service announcement (PSA) project, which received coverage from the Bravo cable network in the documentary ''Fire, Risk and Rhythm.'' Since June 2004, he has been a member of Art Start's Board of Trustees.

Hip Hop Project

Rolle founded the Hip Hop Project in 1999, with Art Start's support, and which led to collaboration with

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has p ...

and won him praise from people like Doug E. Fresh. According to Cassandra Lizaire, the project "has been encouraging impressionable young minds towards meaningful and positive musical messages ever since." He was a subject of the film, ''The Hip Hop Project'' in which

and

were the Executive Producers. It was filmed between 2001 and 2005, and was shown at the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

during "VH1 Hip Hop Honors Week" in 2006. The film debuted at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. He was with the project until September 2003. He was succeeded in his role at Art Start by one of his own students, Diana "Princess" Lemon.

''A Brooklyn Story''

He was director, actor, and writer for Tomorrow's Future theatre company; his work there included the play ''A Brooklyn Story''.

Musical career

He founded One+One Records in September 2003. One of his good friends Nasir Jones, aka

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

, an American rapper who helped Rolles establish a career as the rapper, Kazi.

Awards

His awards include a Governor's Citation, and the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Fulfilling the Dream Award for his play, ''A Brooklyn Story''.

Notes

External links

Official site
* , accessed online 17 April 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolle, Chris Hip-hop activists American dramatists and playwrights American male stage actors Rappers from New York City Musicians from Brooklyn Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Bahamian singers People from Nassau, Bahamas Bahamian emigrants to the United States 21st-century American rappers