Born on October 30, 1981 in the Hough community of Cleveland, Ohio, Jessy Jamez is another soldier in the war for the right to self expression in the hip hop realm for the black LGBT community. His flow is not characterized by excessive speed; he has the precise diction of an elocution student and the forceful, deliberate manner of a general: Jessy Jamez has something to say, and unlike many rappers in hip-hop, means for you to hear and understand it.

Jamez has been immersed in the culture, language, artistic values and rhetorical gestures of hip-hop from his youth and he found in the genre's raw, freely expressed rage a way to combat oppression. "It was a combination of things that inspired me to rap," says Jamez. "The two artists I'd say had the biggest influence on me were KRS-One and 2Pac. KRS really brought intelligence into the game, showed that it was okay to be educated, to speak well.

They brought that element of it to the streets and Pac…" he pauses briefly, filled with reverence for the departed master. "Pac brought the rage. Hip hop is about being real and I found out I could be myself, express what I was feeling inside". If we lived in a perfect world, this writer wouldn't have to tell you who Jessy Jamez is.

At 16, he signed with his uncle's label. Later the label got a multi-million-dollar distribution deal, but the deal fell through and he was relegated to relative obscurity, in spite of his talent. "Greed just took over and things that should have happened didn't. That's all there is to it" says Jamez. This twist of fate allowed him to meet two individuals who would have a decisive impact on his life and art.

One was L. Michael Gibson, with whom he helped build a youth center. "I always had an interest in people," Jamez says emphatically. "I have always wanted to get to know people and help them, and L. Michael became my mentor in that. He really helped me to be real, express myself in a real way." The experience lent his rhymes a heightened social consciousness.

The other man he met was the magisterial educator and spoken word artist Tim'm West. "T came to L. Michael's house on Thanksgiving and he introduced us. We struck up a working friendship" Jamez remembers. Here's hoping there's collaboration between them somewhere in the future; West's resonant, didactic rhyme-style and warm, sensual baritone singing voice would make for an electrifying contrast with Jamez and his hardened warrior's cry. Jamez was deeply affected by the extraordinary directness of West's delivery. "He can speak to situations. You can really relate" says Jamez.

The quality that so impressed Jamez in Tim'm marks his own work; hear "Heart of a Soulja", all swagger and seriousness and try not to nod your head in cadence. We'll have more from this fascinating artist in the second half of this interview.