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The deaf rapper Sign Mark Performing in Ethiopia » Ethiopian News - Everything that Happens!
Addis Ababa witnessed at Trofrical Garden yesterday a performance of the Finnish deaf rapper Marko Vuorihemo, aka Sign Mark.
The show broke the rule that the two words ‘music’ and ‘deaf’ never go together.
Coming here for the second time, Sign Mark has done a previous concert at the National Theatre here two years ago. Adding flavor to his previous show, he collaborated this year with Ethiopian artists Haile Roots, Teddy Yo, Betty and Nathy, in this concert entitled ‘Talk to the Hand’ with the motto of ‘disability is not inability’.
Interpreting his music into singing, for Sign Mark the bass line is important to flow with the rhythm and beat and to express it with gestures and body movements.
The deaf rapper doesn’t see deafness as a disability but rather as a linguistic minority with its own way of understanding each other and culture.
According to him, the clean bass-line, strong vibrations, visual art, gesture are the reasons why hip-hop came into the scene in the first place. The struggles for freedom and emancipation, are also some of the reasons which made the artist fall in love with hip-hop.
“I read many of the-hip-hop artists’ lyrics and I realized that there is something in there I relate to. Hip-hop is a good channel of bringing your ideas to pass the message to ordinary people and it has also a very clear base line and rhythm which suits deaf people very well,” said Sign Mark talking to The Reporter through a translator.
Even if he doesn’t hear the music, he feels the beat and passes his feelings through his body movements by singing and Brandon, the other hearing rapper, gives voice to his lyrics.
Being the first deaf rapper to have a record contract with Warner Brothers and touring the USA, Japan, Iceland, Spain, China, Australia and Namibia, he feels definitely breaking the gap and bringing the two worlds (sign and the sound) together.
“For deaf people, education suggests that deaf people can’t do or can’t make music. The preconceived assumption was that deafness and music just don’t go together. It’s a very strong sort of idea to break away from the rule you grow up listening to,” said Sign Mark.
Born from parents that do singing, Mark’s musical journey started when he was a child of only 10 in translating Christmas Carols for his deaf parents, breaking the segregation he was able to bring his hearing grand parents and his parents through music.
Then he pursued the translation and continued doing that with songs from Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi and Metalica while he was growing up but started rapping when he was in the University 10 years ago.
From the different genres of music, hip-hop was more enticing for the artist for it suited his lifestyle. The style was handy to use as a tool to spread the message and in the 1990s rappers like Coolio and Ran DMC were the artists to whom he looked up as an idol. Sign Mark started expressing himself through the lyrics in his songs.
“Starting from their outfit the way they use their body and hands while they are rapping, I felt like that’s already sign language. So I thought that suited me well, and it did,” explains Sign Mark.
The artist had his public concert in 2005 and he remembers that vividly, which was a shock for both groups, the hearing and also among the deaf community.
“There were hearing and deaf people but they were both shocked seeing a deaf rapper pouring music in a concrete way. For some, it was positive but also it was negative. They thought that to be not only impossible but also inappropriate,” reminisces Sign Mark.
After the artist breaks the eyes, there was no stopping him. And Brandon joined him in 2006 and they did an album ‘Sign Mark’, which means sign language in Finish. Brandon says seeing their connection on the stage the audience assumes they are brothers. But he tells the communication developed through the years.
“In the beginning, I didn’t know what I was really stepping into, but gradually we started feeling at home on the stage,” said Brandon.
The second album, ‘Breaking the Rules (2010), was done in English in American sign language. The artist’s reason for doing an album in English sign language was mainly the acceptance of one English sign language songs from the previous album.
Sign Mark’s lyrics connote messages of strength and persistence. As one of the lyrics reads, “Even if the world comes crashing down, I stand tall proud back against the wall."
The artist, who has made a video for the entire songs of his album, is designed to be heard by all age groups.
Touring all over the world, the artist had audiences of hearing and deaf people. He was able to bring harmony through music.
The one message he also passes through his music is accepting equality, bringing humanity and his project ‘silence shout’ became a platform in Finland in bringing people together.
“Basically the whole concept of our concert is to have everyone who is deaf, hearing, young, old anyone who wants to come along, to come out and have a good time,” Brandon explains
Coming back from a concert in Tanzania, which was organized by the Finish Deaf Association, he said he always finds different experiences from his different concerts.
“In my Tanzanian performance, I heard a lot of compliments. As they told me, some have seen a video but didn’t see the live experience and it was an inspiration to see the live performance and to experience,” the artist explained.
Sign Mark says that there were some deaf dancers before him but he pioneered in being the first rapper and he definitely believes in bringing about change and feeling the gap between the hearing and the deaf people.
“There is music, signing, and passing of messages, and combining those is what I do,” explains Sign Mark.
Living every day as his last, the artist believes that he will bring a change in implementing a platform for the deaf community not to be regarded as strange or people with disability.
“I might not be able to hear the sound of music, but I understand it in a different language and I pass that on. We are a minority and what is a tool more than hip-hop which can be a mechanism to fight that,” concludes Sign Mark.
Addis Ababa witnessed at Trofrical Garden yesterday a performance of the Finnish deaf rapper Marko Vuorihemo, aka Sign Mark.
The show broke the rule that the two words ‘music’ and ‘deaf’ never go together.
Coming here for the second time, Sign Mark has done a previous concert at the National Theatre here two years ago. Adding flavor to his previous show, he collaborated this year with Ethiopian artists Haile Roots, Teddy Yo, Betty and Nathy, in this concert entitled ‘Talk to the Hand’ with the motto of ‘disability is not inability’.
Interpreting his music into singing, for Sign Mark the bass line is important to flow with the rhythm and beat and to express it with gestures and body movements.
The deaf rapper doesn’t see deafness as a disability but rather as a linguistic minority with its own way of understanding each other and culture.
According to him, the clean bass-line, strong vibrations, visual art, gesture are the reasons why hip-hop came into the scene in the first place. The struggles for freedom and emancipation, are also some of the reasons which made the artist fall in love with hip-hop.
“I read many of the-hip-hop artists’ lyrics and I realized that there is something in there I relate to. Hip-hop is a good channel of bringing your ideas to pass the message to ordinary people and it has also a very clear base line and rhythm which suits deaf people very well,” said Sign Mark talking to The Reporter through a translator.
Even if he doesn’t hear the music, he feels the beat and passes his feelings through his body movements by singing and Brandon, the other hearing rapper, gives voice to his lyrics.
Being the first deaf rapper to have a record contract with Warner Brothers and touring the USA, Japan, Iceland, Spain, China, Australia and Namibia, he feels definitely breaking the gap and bringing the two worlds (sign and the sound) together.
“For deaf people, education suggests that deaf people can’t do or can’t make music. The preconceived assumption was that deafness and music just don’t go together. It’s a very strong sort of idea to break away from the rule you grow up listening to,” said Sign Mark.
Born from parents that do singing, Mark’s musical journey started when he was a child of only 10 in translating Christmas Carols for his deaf parents, breaking the segregation he was able to bring his hearing grand parents and his parents through music.
Then he pursued the translation and continued doing that with songs from Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi and Metalica while he was growing up but started rapping when he was in the University 10 years ago.
From the different genres of music, hip-hop was more enticing for the artist for it suited his lifestyle. The style was handy to use as a tool to spread the message and in the 1990s rappers like Coolio and Ran DMC were the artists to whom he looked up as an idol. Sign Mark started expressing himself through the lyrics in his songs.
“Starting from their outfit the way they use their body and hands while they are rapping, I felt like that’s already sign language. So I thought that suited me well, and it did,” explains Sign Mark.
The artist had his public concert in 2005 and he remembers that vividly, which was a shock for both groups, the hearing and also among the deaf community.
“There were hearing and deaf people but they were both shocked seeing a deaf rapper pouring music in a concrete way. For some, it was positive but also it was negative. They thought that to be not only impossible but also inappropriate,” reminisces Sign Mark.
After the artist breaks the eyes, there was no stopping him. And Brandon joined him in 2006 and they did an album ‘Sign Mark’, which means sign language in Finish. Brandon says seeing their connection on the stage the audience assumes they are brothers. But he tells the communication developed through the years.
“In the beginning, I didn’t know what I was really stepping into, but gradually we started feeling at home on the stage,” said Brandon.
The second album, ‘Breaking the Rules (2010), was done in English in American sign language. The artist’s reason for doing an album in English sign language was mainly the acceptance of one English sign language songs from the previous album.
Sign Mark’s lyrics connote messages of strength and persistence. As one of the lyrics reads, “Even if the world comes crashing down, I stand tall proud back against the wall."
The artist, who has made a video for the entire songs of his album, is designed to be heard by all age groups.
Touring all over the world, the artist had audiences of hearing and deaf people. He was able to bring harmony through music.
The one message he also passes through his music is accepting equality, bringing humanity and his project ‘silence shout’ became a platform in Finland in bringing people together.
“Basically the whole concept of our concert is to have everyone who is deaf, hearing, young, old anyone who wants to come along, to come out and have a good time,” Brandon explains
Coming back from a concert in Tanzania, which was organized by the Finish Deaf Association, he said he always finds different experiences from his different concerts.
“In my Tanzanian performance, I heard a lot of compliments. As they told me, some have seen a video but didn’t see the live experience and it was an inspiration to see the live performance and to experience,” the artist explained.
Sign Mark says that there were some deaf dancers before him but he pioneered in being the first rapper and he definitely believes in bringing about change and feeling the gap between the hearing and the deaf people.
“There is music, signing, and passing of messages, and combining those is what I do,” explains Sign Mark.
Living every day as his last, the artist believes that he will bring a change in implementing a platform for the deaf community not to be regarded as strange or people with disability.
“I might not be able to hear the sound of music, but I understand it in a different language and I pass that on. We are a minority and what is a tool more than hip-hop which can be a mechanism to fight that,” concludes Sign Mark.