More About Felonious
"The moniker 'Felonious' suggests a criminally-minded jazz genius, which isn't that far off the truth." – Eric K. Arnold
Since the beginning Felonious has been a force in the Bay Area theater and music scene – often creating series, projects, and productions that merge the two mediums. From live Hip-Hop musical performances to award winning theater productions such as Angry Black White Boy, Stateless, and Beatbox: A Raparetta, this collective of rappers, actors, beat boxers, musicians, dancers, and writers are "known to turn Hip Hop shows into ass-shaking Musical Theater".
Dan Wolf, Tommy Soulati Shepherd, and Keith Pinto met at PCPA TheaterFest in 1994 during a production of Bill Cain’s Stand Up Tragedy. They met Carlos Aguirre, aka Infinite, in 1996 at the Greer Garson Theater Center while attending the College of Santa Fe. Felonious started on January 1, 1998 when the crew recorded their first demo songs together. These demos led to a booking at The Last Day Saloon in San Francisco, which led to their first weekly party, New Roots to Hip Hop, where they developed our first play Beatbox: A Raparetta. This was the first time they married our theatrical work with their live musical performances and they quickly became known for their unique approach to live musical performances.
Felonious' mission has been to utilize the history and tradition of Hip Hop and its power as the most accessible and prominent mode of activism and communication for young people and people of color. Hip Hop music and theater are critical contemporary methods for sharing history, news, and information and for reflecting the lives of people who are often marginalized. By nature, and because Felonious is a multi-cultural collective, their work fosters expression that is deeply reflective of the communities we serve. Felonious is committed to pushing the culture and elements of Hip Hop through the development of live Hip Hop theatre, music, performance, and training.
Felonious was born out of a need to create a voice for our generation and to encourage the next generations to do the same. They are a critical contemporary method for sharing history, news and information and for reflecting the lives of people who are often marginalized. They believe that Hip Hop permeates other performance elements and can be brought together to create a unique hybrid of work and training that goes far beyond the sum of its parts. Felonious is committed to creating inspirational work with a truly independent spirit, fusing the power and traditions of theater, music, dance, education, and outreach.
Past projects:
- Stateless, a hip-hop and beatbox infused theatrical collaboration between Grammy award winner Tommy Soulati Shepherd and Dan Wolf, balancing German and Jewish history with the problems of racism and the African American experience. Stateless has been produced in San Francisco, Hamburg and New York.
- Angry Black White Boy, based on the novel by Adam Mansbach, premiered at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco and was named Top Ten Best Theater Plays by the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner.
- Beatbox: A Raparetta has been produced in San Francisco, Oakland, Petaluma, Germany, and at the New York Hip Hop Theater Festival. Beatbox is published by TCG in the Hip Hop Theater anthology “Plays from the BoomBox Galaxy”.
Studio work with Felonious includes the single “Fiend” and albums “Fight For Light”, “The List”, “Bust-a-Nursery Rhyme”, “Produce Section: Vol 1”, “Up To Something” and “Live City”. Felonious has shared the stage with The Roots, De La Soul, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Premier, Black Eyed Peas, Zion I, and Living Legends.