Man of Many Talents
By Christine R. Walsh

He’s a hip hop artist, a graffiti artist and a performance artist. Yet Allie Bomba finds time to act as a muse to aspiring young musicians and actors. He recently penciled an interview with Pulse Magazine into his schedule.

Pulse: When were you born? What was it like growing up in Worcester?
Bomba: I don’t know my own age. Actually, I do. But I don’t tell anyone. I’ll tell you my stage age. Twenty three. It’s a nice odd number.

Pulse: Hmm. Haven’t heard that one before. What was your childhood like?
Bomba: It was really cool growing up in Worcester. I went to the public schools during the early era of hip hop. I would go to the school dances and hear some DJ playing an electro-groove and I’d be so filled with energy. The music electrified all of us and it’s that electricity that has inspired everything I’ve done.

Pulse: And you decided to make your own music?
Bomba: Worcester always had lots of people coming from New York City. I was always listening to their mix tapes and talking to them about the graffiti art they had in New York. I went to college for a year but when I found out that I couldn’t major in beat or graffiti, I was like, “I’m outta here.” I moved to New York. I got hooked up with some Brazilian musicians and we recorded some songs. I didn’t know it at first, but our music was huge in Brazil. Our videos were played all over MTV Brazil. I ended up moving there for about four years.

Pulse: You just suddenly moved to Brazil?
Bomba: It was totally unreal. I stayed in villages without running water. They bootlegged electricity. Some houses didn’t have doors. I taught hip hop and graffiti classes there. My band would put on these huge shows and the crowds would go wild. The people were all so positive and thankful.

Pulse: You’ve dabbled in just about every art form. Is there anything else left for you to do?
Bomba: I just had a meeting with the Worcester Youth Center and I’m going to help produce a feature-length hip hop opera. Hip hop is vital. It melts away class divisions and race divisions. The kids all listen to hip hop and it unifies them.

Pulse: Ooh. Talented and loves kids. What’s your sign, baby?
Bomba: Virgo. Yeah, we make good artists.

Need more Bomba? Go to www.albombz.com!