I recently sat down for an interview with hip-hop and R&B artist, actor, and Champaign native, $imba P, ahead of his opening spot for Open Mike Eagle at Canopy Club on April 19th. We discussed some of the ways he’s been expanding his artistry since moving to Chicago and considered his career-in-whole from a bird’s eye view, before moving on to some of the impactful work he’s involved with in Champaign-Urbana these days. This article will attempt to make connections between $imba P’s origin story as an artist and the ways his career has shifted and developed in the many eventful years since.
Let’s start at the beginning. We land at a time before this talented young man had begun making his mark as $imba P. DJ Pelmore was very active in his Champaign community growing up, citing his parents’ guiding philosophy of “an idle mind is the devil’s playground” as impetus. They kept him active in music and music-adjacent community activities. He recalls things like dance recitals, piano lessons, guitar lessons, and even leading roles in theater. Pelmore recalled these moments beamingly, as we discussed his love for acting. He seemed appreciative of his parents’ foresight about his proclivities and abilities, a foresight which would be faithfully preparing him for his life as it turns out. When he looks back over his experiences and reflects on how fitting rapping and acting are as expressions of his personality, Pelmore seems appreciative of those who helped him see that.
At 16, Pelmore was young, but his mindset was above those of his peers, perhaps in validation of his guardians’ ideas of keeping him busy. One day, he participated in a community event called Echoes of Emmett, a workshop & public showcase about Emmett Till that brought together local teens with local professionals to create art that would be then showcased to the community.
Unbeknownst to him at the time, this would represent the start of his rap career.
At that time, he didn’t have an established artistic identity, even though he may have identified with the arts through the generally creative nature of his rearing. But this event would turn out to be catalytic, because it is where Pelmore met the unmatched Mother Nature, a hip-hop group consisting of Klevah and Truth. True to their names, these Chicago-by-way-of-Champaign emcees have championed an unparalleled vision that marries hip-hop with education and mental health, and that runs on the pillars of mentorship and artist development.
In positioning arts as a therapeutic, reflective, and community exercise, this event would inform a lot of what Pelmore was to become. Doing such, it served to lay the foundations for his greater themes as an artist. And through the introduction of Mother Nature to Pelmore , it would empower him, directly shaping the contours of his early hip-hop experiences.
Truth: DJ, come up here and spit something.
Pelmore: I can’t rap.
Truth: DJ… you can rap.
He tells me that through the Echoes of Emmett workshop, what he learned how to do, what he actually practiced there, was poetry, spoken word. So when he was invited to that first Miseducation of Hip Hop event, it came with this challenge:
Truth: DJ, come up here and spit something.
When he accepted Mother Nature’s invitation to that particular Gr8 Cypher, following the Echoes of Emmett workshop, at the time he thought his lack of reputation as a rapper would save him from being compelled to freestyle. Nope.
Truth: DJ, come up here and spit something.
He had a positive experience at Echoes of Emmett and was developing this relationship with Mother Nature. But when he was challenged to step out of his comfort zone and spit on stage, he noticed how hip-hop wasn’t a totally new thing from what he had done before, but more like an evolution of his previous creative activities. He tells me it took him time to learn how to become a good freestyler, but there was an unmistakable comfortability on that stage that kept him working at it. And there was a willingly supportive community around him ready to embrace his learning path and witness his blooming.
And bloom he would.
He would go on working and growing with Mother Nature and their affiliated collective The TheGr8Thinkaz over the next couple of years. Starting out with a group called Good Vibes Only, he would work with the likes of cousins Delobe and Flipside Moton, taking what he was learning from Miseducation of Hip-Hop to build a studio in his grandfather’s north-end Champaign basement, with the help of The Letter L Beats (Professor Lamont Holden).
Not to mention his original mentors and his cousins, artists the likes of Dave2Litt, Moe Pesci, The Delinquents, Chase Baby, Sandman Slimm, and J Moses were the pillars of the Champaign rap community he was the newest member of. He would spend the next two years doing the groundwork necessary to build himself up and find his voice as an artist.
Over time, Pelmore would undergo all kinds of developmental experiences, learning more about music production tools, networking, life, and art, all under the graceful tutelage and guidance of Mother Nature and The Gr8 Thinkas.
To learn more about their impressive movement and the ways it’s transforming the world, please take some time to visit misedofhiphop.org.
This spirit of teaching and learning. This reverberating reminder of “The idle mind is the devil’s playground.” The confirmation, validation, and support from a strong hip-hop community, and reliable mentors. These are the lasting effects that will continue to inform Pelmore’s impact on the world around him.
It is through this lens that it makes sense that Pelmore secured acting opportunities and sought out acting classes. It is through this lens that it makes sense that Pelmore is recently coming off a collaboration with Kenwood Elementary school teacher Emily Kuchenbrod, helping facilitate her elementary music class songwriting unit as the “community artist.” You can read more about that exciting collaboration and the ways it is transforming the lives of young people in our community here.
Pelmore has been poured into faithfully and moves in a way that reflects an appreciative spirit. Success for him necessarily includes components of education and skill-sharing. To get a sense of some of the musical themes on offer from $imba P’s discography, check out As Above So Below, his latest release. In this project, he takes time to reflect on his journey and what it means for him and the people around him.
$imba P is the type of artist who is worth the price of admission. His infectious energy can be felt so much through headphones, but you need to see $imba P do his thing live. You will have a great opportunity this week, when $imba P opens the stage for Open Mike Eagle, alongside A$AVV at The Canopy Club this Friday. Doors open at 9, and the show starts at 10.
Learn more about $imba P on his Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), or listen to his work on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, Google Play Music or Soundcloud.
Open Mike Eagle with $imba P & A$AVV
The Canopy Club
708 S Goodwin Ave
Urbana
F Apr 19th, 10 p.m.
$20 to $25