MINNEAPOLIS — Ten years ago, Geoffrey Lamar Wilson was living in Brooklyn and was part of folk duo, Jus Post Bellum.
Fresh off an undergraduate degree in American Studies of Black Literature, Wilson and Jus Post Bellum made music exploring stories of Black life around the time of emancipation. New to songwriting, Wilson found it easier to explore issues of race in America by looking outward and to the past.
“I wanted to explore those issues as I am now, but at a bit of an arm's length,” said Wilson, speaking on Centerstage Minnesota, “and with the context or with the sort of scaffolding of being focused on a subject matter that wasn't myself.”
Flash forward to the present, and Wilson issued his first full release in a decade, and his first music since moving back to Minnesota in 2016, the Flowers EP. Born and raised in Minnesota, he and his wife chose to return to be closer to family and community.
Wilson took a few years to settle in and then began to make connections in the Minnesota scene. He also started to write songs more rooted in the present. With lyrics referencing Breonna Taylor, Philando Castille and others killed by police, Flowers paints a vivid portrait of being Black in America today. Look for an in-depth review of Flowers in the coming weeks on kaxe.org.
Choosing to release the EP as LAAMAR, taken from his middle name, Wilson remarked on the changes in his songwriting.
“Singing about things that are much more rooted in the present day, it’s partially my own personal journey becoming comfortable being part of the conversation in a contemporary way,” he said.
To hear more from Goeffrey Lamar Wilson on his life and music, listen to the complete conversation above.
Centerstage Minnesota is made possible by the citizens of Minnesota, through the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
