Chicago’s DMN Ology has been spelling his name about six different ways since he came up in the Chicago hip-hop scene in the ’90s. It’s not so much that he’s into Satan—although devils and demons do pop up in the imagery of his songs—it’s that “Demon” was his nickname growing up, a play on his real name “Damien.”
When he started rapping, he was looking for a good MC name and liked how “Demonology,” in this case, implied a certain amount of self-examination. It also fits with the alchemist style of his almost stream-of-consciousness raps.
Nor is music the only flow he’s known for—he’s also one of Chicago’s best graffiti artists, who tagged many a “Demon” on the routes of the Transit Authority. Now, he’s gone legit, painting murals in his trademark “wild onion” style for the Chicago public school system and others, and getting invited to galleries around the country and internationally. But he still organizes the global graffiti summit Meeting of Styles.
He’ll headline the list of guests artists this week at the “Leap Year Edition” of the Cypher open mic night at Johnny V’s in San Jose on Wednesday (Feb. 29), along with Self Destruct and Ackrite. Show starts 9pm; cover is $5.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqY-bKKZhBg[/youtube]
Rapper and graffiti artist DMN Ology headlines at Cypher
