BABAH FLY aka THE FLY JEDI
As a child Babah Fly’s soul was searching for “the music.” His great-grandfather sang opera in Sicily, his grandfather performed in jazz clubs in New York, and his mother played piano for the church. Music was in his blood.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Babah Fly grew up listening to music, searching through his mom and dad’s old school soul, funk, folk and jazz records. At eight years-old a particular song on the radio mesmerized him. A sort of trance took over the young Babah Fly as he uttered the words, “that’s the music!” That song was “Planet Rock” by Africa Bambatta. It was the gateway into hip-hop for Babah Fly as he became a skilled B-boy(break-dancer), DJ and MC. Growing up in Little Rock, Babah was surrounded by gangs, poverty, and violence. The golden age of Hip-hop kept Babah Fly moving in a positive direction.
Besides the musical influences of artist like Rakim, Krs-One, Run DMC and the Native Tongues, Babah was heavily influenced by the teachings of the Zulu Nation, Islam, and eastern martial arts. Babah moved from Little Rock to stay with his brother in Boulder, Colorado to go to school and work on music.
Babah Fly brought his beat machine to Boulder and continued to make beats and rhymes in his brother’s apartment. One night his brother got beaten up so severely that he was in a coma for a month. Babah had full confidence in his brother’s recovery, his faith was strong and his music was the source of strength. This was a sign to Babah that his music needed to spread. Babah met and performed with RaahFounashunn, Quibian Salazaar-Moreno, Jher, RTDK and Future Reference, staples in Denver‘s Hip Hop community. Babah began performing his music at places like The Mercury Cafe and Revoluciones, where hip-hop culture was thriving in Denver.
In 1998 Babah Fly moved to Denver, Colorado and began college at Metro-State and UCD. He played jazz music under the direction of trumpeter Ron Miles at Metro and studied Music Engineering and Production at UCD. Babah Fly met another hip-hop producer named Kwasi Connors, son of jazz legend Norman Connors, and formed a group/movement called Bugaboo. The two released the album “Parallel to the Universe” that recognition in the Amsterdam hip-hop scene, winning a contest title as “The Best Album to Smoke Weed to.”
Kwasi moved to Los Angeles and Babah got a job as a DJ at a local graffiti supply store called Art-n-Sol, where he held weekly MC ciphers. He met Mike Wird, Malik, Daymeon and produced another album called “Universal Devices.” The Bugaboo crew had expanded to four MCs and DJ SD. Their high energy performances served as an opening act for established hip-hop acts like Black Sheep, Saul Williams, AceyAlone, Abstract Rude and Sage Francis.
After the Bugaboo crew went their separate ways, Babah Fly hooked up with Url Gray-V and DJ Selector Sam, and they formed a group called “Tha Fly.” They released a mix tape and smashed shows around the Midwest region, opening up for Krs One, Slick Rick, Souls of Mischief, Kool Keith, Zion I, and Crown City Rockers.
Recently, Babah Fly has re-connected with his brother from another mother Mike Wird. These MCs have performed under the name BabahWird for the past three years, toured the West Coast together, and rocked massive crowds at The Dragon Boat Festival. They are also a part of “The Denver Avengerz,” a band with drummer Brad Lee Stevens, Bassist Lavell Flamon and multi-talented DJ Fast4ward.
With all of these projects underway, he still found time to form “The High-Tops” with Panama Soweto. They are a retro-fresh mix of true school Hip Hop and spoken word.
Along with working on a BabahWird album, a Denver Avengerz album, and The High Tops, Babah Fly has now finished his solo album called “Electro SUFI.” The name Electro-Sufi represents Babah Fly’s take on hip-hop being a timeless culture that has existed since the ancient times of Kemet. Sufism descended from the ancient kemetic sciences. The culture of the Sufi’s is relative to the culture of Africa Bambatta’s Zulu Nation “Planet Rock” hip-hop. From the desire to levitate in the dance; b-boy spins to whirling dervishes, to the desire to enlighten through song and poetry; Rumi to Rakim, Hafiz to Q-tip, the album Electro-Sufi is now available on iTunes.
