Interview: Gina Lorring, hip-hop singer from LA, California

American Hip-Hop with Russian voices

First, you need to write with clarity and thought. Your poetry is a large piece of work on the paper. Second, you also need to learn to present it in a way to engage the audience, to learn how to project your voice and articulate, so people can understand you. It is important to have accomplishment in both sides: as a writer and as a performer


By CHRISTINA DEMENSHINA (christina.demenshina@wavemagazine.net)
from Yekaterinburg, RUSSIA


It is very unusual to see such a sunny woman as Gina Lorring walking through piles of snow. The hip-hop singer from LA, California came to Ural Mountains not like a regular tourist just to buy wooden Matryoshkas and drink Vodka. She came to the other continent with one aim: to promote American Hip-Hop among young Russians by sharing some experience with them.

- It is an amazing project I am participating in. Every day I work with students from Yekaterinburg who are interested in poetry and hip-hop, who like creating new things. It is always a nice experience for me to help young people to find their voices and to become more comfortable in expressing themselves. As I have noticed, Russian students are very intelligent and bright.

Do you feel any difference between American and Russian students?

The thing which I really like about travelling is the possibility to see how similar we all are as human beings. For example, students from LA, California like to write about emotions, feelings and opinions. Students from Russia also write about emotions and feelings, things they are thinking of. As human beings we all have the same spirit.

What is the main feature for being a good hip-hop singer?

I think it is very important to be strong in both ways. First, you need to write with clarity and thought. Your poetry is a large piece of work on the paper. Second, you also need to learn to present it in a way to engage the audience, to learn how to project your voice and articulate, so people can understand you. It is important to have accomplishment in both sides: as a writer and as a performer. That's why I've tried to convey to my students to write from the heart, to write with the conciseness, but also to present their work in a way that can engage others.

How does your workshop look like?

Mostly, we try to practice. I help students with writing, and then I help them read it to the class. It is a necessary practice when we are coming more comfortable in reading aloud. And I also show them some of mine poems and read for them. This experience provides students with a sense how they can do it in a way that everyone pays attention.

Which language is it better to use? Is there any difference if students write in Russian or in English?

No, I do not think so. However, they should choose that language they feel more comfortable within expressing themselves. My native language is English, though I speak fluent French. But I prefer English for my poetry. I think if you are more comfortable in expressing yourself in Russian, come across. I do not think it is matter what language you are speaking. It is matter what you are feeling. Most of students speak English, and there are some students who speak English and Russian equally well, so they are happy to help to translate.

Gina, what is your own hip-hop about?

I write about different things - things that I care, things that I experience, things that are really important to me. I just take whatever is happening in my life. I have poems about love, about heartbreak, about social and political issues. I am also interested in things that I see in the world, and I have my opinion on them that I want to share with others. I use my music and my poetry as a way to get it out of me, as a form of self-expression.

What is hip-hop for you?

As for me, it began as a hobby, but then hip-hop has become what I do in my life. I am a poet and a student, I am a vocalist, and a teacher. I am all of those things all the time.



(Published: 10.03.2010.)