| Applejacque |
Applejacque is the pen name of J. Foster who resides in Frederick, MD.
Applejacque has this to say about his love of music and writing. "From mid May through early December of 2001, I looked over all of the poetry I wrote in this time period and assessed that a lot of my pieces reveal my love for both music and rap lyrics were reflected in my various writings.Music has become a very important part of my life. I developed a love for it at an early age, and used it to escape dealing with everyday inner city life. I also discovered that I possessed some vocal music talent and honed my skills in school and city choruses (my local high school and the Columbus Boys Choir). I also immulated various gospel and R&B artists until I found my own voice (I'm still looking, even though I don't know where I left it, but I digress,...). The way a ballerina expresses herself in such a way that you can almost feel the emotion that she puts into her dance on-stage, is relative to the way a concert tenor or baritone sings a piece with intense passion and feeling. There were rare occasions where I found myself feeling the same emotion and getting into the various songs that I sang. When I sing, it's like I'm lifted and carried into my own little world, and when the song ends, I fall back down to reality. It's like I'm a totally different person, but yet and still, this person is a part of me, and an extension of the person I portray all day everyday. Without my other half, I would lose my whole self entirely. It's one thing to sing, but it's another thing to rap. My love of music went into the hip-hop realm and as a child of the 80's I followed suit just like the children who followed the Pied Piper.
He continues "There were also key people during this stage of my life that inadvertently contributed in molding me to the poet that I am today." My music teacher in high school, Gloria Elliott, was one woman in particular who introduced me to forms of music other than gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. Another woman, Ann Bishop, who was more of a mentor, got the Upward Bound college prep program I was a part of, involved in a small stage production from play she had written called "Stepping Out". She was also the first woman who gave out copies of her independently published book of "Dedicated Poetry" to those who wanted a copy. I'm glad I was one of the ones who obtained that little green and white book, which is currently in my military alert bag. Both of these women taught me that variety is the spice of life, and that the versatility in a lot of my poetry is indirectly a result of their guidance. It’s also probably why various muses inspire me when I write most pieces. It would seem like if I had all that and reminisce on memorable times, I should always have something to expound on when I write various poems."
You can contact Applejacque via e-mail at applejacque@hotmail.com or by sending an e-mail to TimBookTu and it will be forwarded.