Fnes Da Future

From the pitted pavement of Coatesville, PA emerged a warrior, the 5th element within the five-fold ministry of hip-hop. Sparked by the pulsating movement of rhythm and rhyme that swept the eighties and guided a generation into the nineties, Fnes Da Future, born Russell Dickinson on July 20, 1984, was amongst the ranks of young black boys who found solace in 16 bars of lyrical truth and imagery that painted the replica of his own reality. Representing the West Side of Atlanta by way of Harrisburg, PA, Fnes lived the common tale of woe that one might hear spewed out in the verses of many hip-hop artists who were immersed in the tumultuous upbringing of black youth in the eighties and nineties and exposed to the crack epidemic, housing authorities, and the unpredictability of the black family structure. Fnes moved to Atlanta, GA at age 15 with his mother and younger brother. Always finding refuge in hip-hop, recognizing its power to connect to the individual and provide a safe haven of release, it wasn’t until being exposed to the prophetic verses of Tupac Shakur that Fnes began to see hip-hop as more than an individual autobiography, but instead a political weapon capable of providing a viable platform for the voice of an entire generation to be heard. Hip-hop came alive as more than a musical innovation and took the form of a spirit of revolution rivaling that of the literature of the Reconstruction Era, the jazz of the Harlem Renaissance, or the outcry of the Civil Rights Movement. In his own words, at that time “creating hip-hop music became a spiritual calling to transcend self and embody the god-self intended by the Creator”. It became the foundation of his purpose and destiny to create music that will surpass the racial, generational and political barriers of our time, to add to the creation of a soundtrack to the revolution that will transform the face of the people. Since then, Fnes has cultivated his skill to embody the passion and fiery drive of a cultural leader. Reminiscent of Malcolm with a melody, Huey with a harmony, or Stokely in stanza form and function, Fnes da Future has embodied the fulfillment of a void that has for decades remained empty within the essence of a generation. Even beyond his music, Fnes personifies hip-hop culture. From his work as a mentor to the effortless construction of his veracious fashion sensibilities, he calls for those who encounter his presence to adopt a foreign state of mind that requires the individual to embrace and take ownership of self in all its truth and greatness, that inspires people to step forward as their own leader and project their authentic interstellar being. Like the ink etched into the weathered layers of his skin, Fnes openly bares his reverence and passion for the music, the culture that has served as the vehicle to his own enlightenment. And, in service, he returns for the people. The war-cry is alive in his cadence, his lyrics, and his voice.