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His Punch Line Smarts

Bomani Armah heads to an open-mike night at Sankofa Books. When his
Bomani Armah heads to an open-mike night at Sankofa Books. When his "Read a Book" parody went over viewers' heads, he found himself in over his. (By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)
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"He's been a good guy," says George Garrow, executive director of Concerned Black Men, which has utilized Armah in programs focusing on abstinence, teen pregnancy prevention and self-expression. "He's worked with the young people to get them to critically analyze the lyrics in the music, and to get them to understand that the same messages can be communicated with different lyrics."

* * *

On the Artmosphere Cafe stage, Armah, known as "D'mite" to his fans, performs one of his noncontroversial songs, "Shake It Off." The audience loves this one. They sing along.

You've had a day that was really wack

Shake it off

You've got too much pressure on your back

Take it off

You gettin' love with strings attached

Break it off

It goes shake it off, take it off, break it off

Five minutes later, back at the bar . . .

"I'm obsessed with Googling 'Bomani Armah Read a Book,' " he says.

What will they say about him next? Some have suggested he be excommunicated from the black race.

On the other hand, he has been fielding a lot of inquiries from record labels. He shot a documentary of the Jena 6 protests in Louisiana. He is working on an album, "Radio Friendly," and preparing for the release early next year of a music video highlighting what it means to be a grown man. Shot in Southeast Washington, it features fathers playing with their sons in front of a 30-foot mural of Martin Luther King Jr. and a slow-motion collage of young black men pulling up their pants -- a piece of counter-imagery that may be gaining momentum. Texas rapper Dooney Da'Priest, for instance, is getting notice for his song, "Pull Your Pants Up."

"Being positive is the new hardcore," Armah says.

"The whole gangsta bling-bling has not only played out socially," he continues, "it's played out artistically." His message to rappers: "If you don't have a family-friendly rap you can do in front of your grandmother, please go home and write one."

Which was part of the point of "Read a Book," he thought. Except some people didn't get it, and that still baffles him. The video is no longer airing on BET, having "just timed out," a spokesman says. Which suits Armah just fine. He's ready to move on.

"I didn't want to be the 'Read a Book' dude, anyway."

Sliding out of his bar chair, he scurries back to the stage, back to the mike. Back to his art.


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