Rapper-activist Linqua Franqa is on a mission to change both music and politics

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/ [login to see] /rapper-activist-linqua-franqa-is-on-a-mission-to-change-both-music-and-politics
Athens is often regarded as one of the best college towns in the country — but past the University of Georgia's tailgate parties and fraternity and sorority houses, 30% of the Athens-Clarke county population lives in poverty. That percentage is even higher among residents in District 2, just east of campus, explains Mariah Parker, better known to some as the hip-hop artist Linqua Franqa.

With a new album out, titled Bellringer, Parker is hoping to make change in their community — both by extending their reach as an artist and coming into their own as a public office holder.

A self-described "outcast weirdo band kid," Parker grew up outside of Louisville, Ky., listening to rap but not always hearing themselves reflected in the music. They participated in poetry slams at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C., but wished the scene was more open and inclusive.

Parker says when they moved to Athens in 2013, the creative community was robust, but not unified. "Every single person I met was a bassist or a vocalist or a keyboardist, or had a show this Thursday – 'Can you come?'" they recall. "But I noticed its lack of color. All of the rappers were relegated to the corners of the city, both musically and geographically."