Wesley Ellington Felton is an American singer, poet, rapper and actor, born and raised in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Personal life

Wes Felton had a very musical upbringing. His father is Hilton C. Felton, a jazz pianist who had performed with

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Green has been called one of the "most sampled guitarists." Biography Grant Green was born on June 6, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri, to John and ...

and many others. Wes has a son named Tobias.

Music

Wes Felton started out with a lot of open mic nights. As a teenager he performed on the

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...

tour and at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

. Ellington has been on stage with

Mos Def Yasiin Bey ( ; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), formerly known as Mos Def ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social an ...

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

Meshell Ndegeocello Meshell Ndegeocello ( ; born Michelle Lynn Johnson on August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. ...

and with his mentor UK Soul legend

Omar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muh ...

. He has been crowned "the future folk-soul hero" by

Complex Magazine Complex Networks is an American media and entertainment company for youth culture, based in New York City. It was founded as a bi-monthly magazine, ''Complex'', by fashion designer Marc Eckō. Complex Networks reports on popular and emerging tr ...

for his vocals on Prince Paul’s ''

Politics of the Business Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies politi ...

'' album.

Collaborations

His collaboration with JLaine and TFox under the name Antithesis has so far resulted in two releases on Tasteful Licks. W. E. Felton has also been working with

Raheem DeVaughn Raheem DeVaughn (born May 5, 1975) is an American singer and songwriter. His debut album, '' The Love Experience'' (2005), reached No. 46 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 album chart. It featured the singles "Guess Who Loves You More" and "You". His ...

. Together they are The Crossrhodes.

Acting

Felton studied theater for four years at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. In 1999, he starred in the critically acclaimed hip-hop play Rhyme Deferred, performed at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

, the

National Black Theatre Festival The International Black Theatre Festival (IBTF), formerly the National Black Theatre Festival (NBTF), was founded in 1989 by Larry Leon Hamlin in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Serving as its executive director, Hamlin’s goal in creating the Fest ...

, and the

Nuyorican Poets Café The Nuyorican Poets Cafe is a nonprofit organization in the Alphabet City, Manhattan, Alphabet City neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is a bastion of the Nuyorican Movement, Nuyorican (Puerto Rican New Yorker) art movement, and has b ...

. Ellington had a role in ''Multitudes of Mercies'',CentricTV
/ref> a movie that aired on BET worldwide December 1, 2005 as a part of World AIDS Day. His most recent film with the

Thievery Corporation Thievery Corporation is an American electronic music duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. Their musical style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, hip hop, electronica, and Brazilian music, ...

is called ''Babylon Central''.IMDB
/ref>

Writing

Wes Felton started writing when he was 13. He has so far published two books of poetry.Interview
/ref>

Discography

Releases

*1996: ''Experiments'', self-released *1997: ''The Final Day'', self-released *2001: ''Soul Sonnets'', Art Hurts *2003: ''Bluetopia'', Art!Hurts/Toronto August Music *2005: ''Postcards From the Edge'' *2006: ''A Dub Supreme'', Art Hurts *2006: ''Outrospective: Me Then, Me Now'', Genesis Poets Music *2008: ''Distraction City'',

Tasteful Licks Records Tasteful Licks Records is an independent artist-run record label in Raleigh, North Carolina. Tasteful Licks, also referred to as TLr, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Remedy Media Group. The name is derived from the musician's term for a quick and ...

*2009: ''Dub Ell 101 (the Vault vol.1)'', Hilton's Concept/Art Hurts *2010: ''Land of Sheep, Ruled By Pigs, Ran By Wolves'', self-released *2013: ''Imagine The Future'', self-released

Wes Felton x KeepanEyeonTheProduct

*2018: ''Kings in the Wilderness'', Fresh Kids Music Group

The Crossrhodes

*2004: ''Limited Budget, Unlimited Quality'', Urban Ave Music/Art Hurts *2005: ''The Invitation'', Urban Ave Music/Art Hurts *2017: "Footprints on the Moon", BMG/368 MUSIC GROUP

Antithesis

*2008: ''Antithesis'',

*2010: ''Love Daze'',

Production

*2005: ''The Love Experience'',

Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...

Appears On

*2002: ''The Healing'' by Urban Ave 31, song: Growing Up, Urban Ave Music *2003: ''The Healing Pt.2'' by Urban Ave 31, song: Antidote, Urban Ave Music *2003: ''

'', by Prince Paul, song: Beautifully Absurd,

Razor & Tie Razor & Tie was an American entertainment company that consisted of a record label and a music publishing company. It was established in 1990 by Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld. Based in New York City (with additional offices in Los Angeles and ...

*2004: ''Thinking Back Looking Forward'', Neosonic Productions *2004: ''Never Scared'' by

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s in which he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and obse ...

, song: Black Poet, DreamWorks *2004: ''Moments of Clarity'' by Wayna, song: So Long Heartache, Wayna *2004: "All Seasons" by the illpoets.com Collective, song: "Fall" *2005: ''The Love Experience'',

*2006: ''Ink Is My Drink'',

Rawkus Records Rawkus Records (or Rawkus Entertainment) is an American hip hop record label, owned by James Murdoch, known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial (Dystopia One) ...

*2006: ''Ruff Drafts Volume 1'', JapaNUBIA Musik *2008: ''A Mind on a Ship Through Time'',

*2008: ''Square Binizz'', Resurrection Records *2008: ''Conflict'' by

Sy Smith Sy Smith is an American singer. Early life and career beginnings Smith grew up in Washington, D.C. She began her career leading a six-person Washington D.C. go-go band called "In Tyme". After graduating from Howard University with a bachelor ...

, song: Reach Down In Your Soul, Sy Smith Music *2009: ''Music Fan First'' by

Eric Roberson Eric Roberson is an American singer, songwriter, former rapper and music producer. He is sometimes referred to simply as Erro, the name which he later used as part of his label Blue Erro Soul. His first single, "Represent", was released through W ...

, song: The Hunger, Blue Erro Soul *2018: ''Fresh Kids Vol.1'' by Fresh Kids, song: Horror Story, Fresh Kids Music Group *2018: ''...Smile'' by Davy Fresh, song: Black Pride, Fresh Kids Music Group

References

External links

Tasteful LicksWes Felton
on Myspace
Wes Felton
on Last.fm
Wes Felton
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Felton, Wes Living people African-American poets American male poets 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers Singers from Washington, D.C. Year of birth missing (living people) Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers