B. Dolan

Independent from the jump and fueled at times by willpower and community alone, B. Dolan has expanded his creative influence beyond music into film, poetry, and songwriting over the past fifteen years. Known on stages around the world for his impassioned delivery, dynamic live performances, and dedication to challenging the norm, Dolan engages deeply in his craft while actively fostering a community among his fans and friends. With a crate's worth of LPs, mixtapes, and live projects already in his catalogue, the road-tested hip hop poet continues to navigate life, aging, liberation, trauma, and post-lockdown culture with vulnerability and curiosity on his latest LP “The Wound is Not The Body”.

In the midst of a difficult upbringing, the Rhode Island native discovered solace and purpose in hip-hop. Scribbling his first rhymes in the early 90s at the age of 12, he found healing and political awareness in music, and an outlet to guide and make sense of his inner and outer worlds. He moved to New York, dropped out of school, and began performing at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in NYC in 2001, years later he crossed paths with Sage Francis, signed to his indie label Strange Famous, and began touring the world in 2005.

In 2010 Dolan released "Fallen House, Sunken City," a hip hop debut produced entirely by Alias of Anticon Records, to critical acclaim. In 2012, inspired by CopWatch activists and following the murder of Oscar Grant, Dolan wrote and released "Film The Police", a video that went viral and spawned a hashtag and protest ethos that persists to this day. He also became vocal in defense of LGBTQ+ rights, beginning with the song and video for "Which Side Are You On?" that spread widely during this time. The popular mixtape series ‘House of Bees’, 2015's “Kill the Wolf”, and back to back touring and releases with Francis as the Epic Beard Men cemented his reputation on the mic in the decade that followed.

Notable tours include The Church of Love & Ruin, which featured the drag performer Katya on her first touring stages and combined drag, hip hop, and sissy bounce and marching bands, and toured on two continents in 2012.

Most recently the Minecraft concert series #NetherRap, created by Dolan during the pandemic lockdown, featured acts as far ranging as Kimya Dawson, Thursday, clipping. and Moor Mother. The shows connected with thousands of people and raised funds for the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers as well as sidelined bands and musicians.