Raphael Ashanti

Born in Fulton County, Kentucky but raised in the Midwest-Michigan City, IN; Gary, IN; Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI. Raphael Ashanti (Actor, Poet, Singer-Songwriter) has been performing for local and national audiences for more than twenty years. After enlistment in the US Navy, Raphael used his GI bill to attend the Milwaukee Area Technical College majoring in Occupational Music. It was in Milwaukee where he met and trained with the two greatest musical influences in his life, renowned jazz vocalist Jessie Hauck and child prodigy jazz pianist and musical genius Tony King. He studied acting at Florida A&M University under the direction of Dr. Ronald O. Davis and was a member of the acting and musical touring group the FAMU Connection. He is a Poet-at-Large member of the Florida State Poets Association and the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS). Raphael's latest songwriting project is a collaboration and feature with South Florida artist Dirty Dankk. The brand new southern fried hot single "Welcome To South Florida (Anthem) is blowing up fast and going viral with nearly 30,000 YouTube views within a week after the official posting (http://bit.ly/Welcum2SoFLofficial).