Artist Statement

6:30 p.m. on September 23, 2017

 

Artist Bio

Alexander Acosta—is a Community Leader, Arts Advocate, and the Executive Director of Soul
Food Cypher. In 2011, he had a vision of creating the cypher while mentoring at-risk teenagers at
the Whitefoord Intel computer clubhouse in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally, he aimed to teach students
media production at the clubhouse, but quickly found he could reach them directly through their
shared passion of hip-hop. As Executive Director, he has lead Soul
Food Cypher from the basement of Wonderroot community arts center to stages at Atlanta’s High
Museum of Art, A3C Music Festival, and Coca-Cola Headquarters and to classrooms on Emory
University and Georgia State University’s campuses.

Wahid Khoshravani—is a Co-Founder and Operations Director of Soul Food Cypher. He also is a
professional DJ and Producer under alias “Source One” with extensive knowledge and background
in music, especially hip-hop. Born in Shiraz, Iran and growing up in both Germany and the U.S., he was influenced by middle-eastern folk music and western genres such as jazz, soul, and rap. Self-taught, he has been producing since 2002 and began deejaying in 2012.

Mark Montgomery “Markmont.”—is the Creative Director for Soul Food Cypher. Markmont. has been a professional designer for the past 10 years in the Atlanta area. Hailing from Boston
Massachusetts, Markmont. used to have freestyle rap sessions with Acosta and several other
friends a few years prior to founding SFC with the rest of the team. When Acosta suggested
bringing the sessions to the public, it seemed like a great idea; and sounded like a good way to
bring the freestyle rap culture of Atlanta to the forefront.

Eric Ludgood—is the Membership Director of Soul Food Cypher. He was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. He has been an active participant in Hip Hop Culture since the mid-1980’s, specializing
in improvised rhyming, beatmaking and cartooning.