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ARTIST PROFILE
Against the
Odds
By Alan King
On a Friday night, Ardamus (Artemis Thompson) lets
loose on a chrome-handle microphone upstairs in what
used to be Capital City Records on Washington, D.C.’s
historic U Street. A crowd of mostly White youth stand
along the shelves of vinyl records, bobbing their heads
to the bass-heavy track, rhyming along with the artist.
“Watching him perform, he also has great stage pres-
ence,” said Kimberly Glenn (emcee “Jade Fox”), who’s
known Thompson for seven months.
Though the turn-out’s far from that of any sold-out
show by mainstream standards, the 28-year-old wouldn’t
have it any other way.
“If I could do this right I could make this my job,”
said Thompson, who works full-time as a computer
operator for XM Radio Headquarters in Washington,
D.C.
He ended up there four years ago after putting in
16-hour days as a contracted employee, working beyond
the required hours before he was eventually hired.
“I’d have a gig during the day, a gig during the night,
and then I would do stuff for the radio show,” he said.
His personal power comes after 11 years as an inde-
pendent (indie) artist in the Disrtict., where Thompson’s
lived since he left Nashville, Tenn., at 17 to study
anthropology and sociology at Howard University.
“He works hard and is very creative – always coming
up with something new, always pushing what he’s trying
to do,” said Tyrone Norris (emcee “Mental Stamina”),
who met Thompson eight years ago, when they were
both undergrads.
Thompson’s motivation has always been his skepti-
cism of the creative control that major labels have over
their artists.
“I didn’t want any kind of control over my stuff what-
soever,” Thompson said.
That freedom led to the indie release of his EP, “Life
Is a Humbling Experience” (2001).
In a 2002 review, Howard’s Hilltop reported: “The
concepts grappled by Ardamus does bring an innovative
and refreshingly clear view as opposed to other hip-hop
artists [limited] to rapping about women, selling drugs,
Ardamus
committing crimes and chilling with the local gang…
Courtesy Photo
12 Trends A publication of the Afro-American Newspapers
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