Droopy The Broke Baller True Things CD

New Orleans, Louisiana-bred hip hop artist, spoken word poet, host, screenwriter and high school teacher Drew Anderson (aka "Droopy the Broke Baller") has continued to innovatively utilize his talent for connecting with audiences big and small via the avenues of art and education. The son of an English teacher, Drew has always gravitated toward writing as a weapon of expression and a tool of informing through entertainment. While earning his Bachelor of Sciences degree in Biology at Howard University, he was a frequent contributor to the Hilltop newspaper and to the yearbook in the form of poetry and editorials that challenged the thought patterns of his peers. He also built a popular reputation as a performance poet, bringing his humorous spin on social and political issues to a slew of university functions. In 2001, he decided to capitalize on this audience by self-publishing his first collection of poetry, "Droopy: Dat Boy's A Fool", through his company Broke Baller Enterprises. The success of this first project led to the publication of his sophomore work "Feel No Way: The Drew Testament" (2002) and the compilation "I'll Probably Die Writing" (2003), which he edited and co-wrote along with The 5th eLement, a spoken word/theatre troupe which he co-founded in 2002. His publishing projects have caused him to be sought out to edit a number of books, including Brandi Forte's "Drama Girl: Diary of a Sistapoet" (2002), Dana E. Crawford's "The Evolution of an Ugly Duckling" (2003) and Michelle Sewell's "Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces" (2006). The latter work won the 2007 National Undergound Spokenword Poetry Award (NUSPA) for Book of the Year. Addicted to the stage, Drew has given many explosive poetry and theatre performances from arena to academia, New Orleans to New York, under his moniker "Droopy the Broke Baller". A member of the 2003 and 2004 DC/Baltimore National Poetry Slam teams, he has been a coach and judge at a number of performance poetry competitions, including the DC Scores Youth Slam and special activities with Higher Achievement and Upward Bound. Drew's natural charisma has led to many hosting opportunities, including events at such venues as the Carter Barron Amphitheatre, Between Friends, Dynasty Ethiopian Restaurant, Ellington’s on Eighth, Java Head Café, Mocha Hut, and the famous H Street Festival in DC. He is the proud winner of the 2006 NUSPA for Host of the Year as well as the "Why Didn't I Think Of That?" Award for his hit poem "Why Do I Like You?". Drew has enjoyed numerous radio appearances and television performances, including WPFW, WHUR, WYPR, WETA, WKUF, The Cypher's Corner, The Poet's Joint, 8101 with Michelle Wright, Local Celebrity Video, Somebody's Shorts, and Black Entertainment Television's 106 & Park. He has also produced and/or contributed to a number of poetry and hip hop recordings, including "Poetology: Volume 1" (2001), "Slamboozled: The Vitreous Humour LP" (2002), "Droopy: Live In Philly" (2003), "The Broke Album, Volume 1: Broke Baller" (2004), "The 5th L Presents Circle Circle Dot Dot" (2004), "Firewater" featuring Sir Reigns and Droopy (2004), and "illpoets.com Presents All Seasons" (2004), which won the NUSPA for Album of the Year. In 2004, Drew co-founded Straight, No Chaser Productions (SNC), an eclectic corps of filmmakers dedicated to giving voice to underexposed characters and lending reality to unconventional worlds. The group has produced a number of critically-acclaimed shorts for the 48 Hour Film Project. Their first film, the detective drama "Paper Trail", was screened at the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland, and was accepted into the Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival. The group has also completed the comic shorts "Crumbsnatchers" (screened at the Charles Theater in Baltimore) and "Half Fool, Half Empty" (starring Drew himself and recently nominated for a special award from BETJ) and written and produced