DMV poet "Pasaro" premieres short film "A Nights Cry"
A dope visual from a rising artist
A true artist has the rare ability to transform their darkest times into some of their best works. For Javon Roye, this took on a literal translation, as a period without electricity in his household helped inspire a poem about the pain and fortitude that those times brought about. "A Nights Cry" beautifully depicts a young boy and his mothers plight through the darkness of their home, as well as the dark corners of their own minds. By the time we hear the poetry of the man referred to as Pasaro, we were hanging on his every word. We got the chance to chat with the man himself as we talked about his hometown, his future, and just how personal his latest visual is.
1. First off where are you based?
I'm from one of the most underrated spots in this country, the DMV. Lanham, Md to be exact.https://youtu.be/Zk3MZVsP6NA
2. What was your childhood like? Was writing always an outlet for you, or was it something that you fell in love with later on in life?
My childhood made me who I am today, which is a pretty cool person I think, so I'd definitely say it was dope in many ways even though things weren't always easy. In my neighborhood, everyone knew everyone so it was like a big family and every day my friends and I were always getting into something. That something usually led to me getting in trouble but that didn't outweigh the fun we had.My outlet wasn't always writing. My outlets were sports, fighting, and old school Hip-Hop. Although I wasn't always a writer, because I always listened to artist like Rakim, Wu-Tang, and Tupac I was always a thinker and their music helped raise me. Eventually, I started to take nightly walks around my neighborhood and stop by this pond for a while to write poems in a journal. It became a primary healing outlet after my family lost the house I lived in for 18 years.
3. How autobiographical was "A Nights Cry"? What drew me to it was how personal it felt. How closely based was that to your actual 2008?
"A Night's Cry" is 100% autobiographical and that pond I mentioned earlier is why there's a scene with a pond in the video. I based it on my life in 2008 because I view that year as a slow-healing wound. That was the year when the relationship between my mother and I became rough. One time during that year the power and the water were both off, and this happened throughout my childhood but this time they were off for nearly two months. During this time my mom and I argued often and said a lot of ugly stuff to each other. As I grew I began to regret those times more and more because I began to realize all the work she was putting in for me.
"It became a primary healing outlet after my family lost the house I lived in for 18 years."
Today, our relationship is still healing but its much better and this video was kinda a way for me to apologize to her for allowing that year to create a rift in our relationship. Not going to lie though, I was crazy nervous to show her because anyone that grew up in a Jamaican household knows that you're told that things like this are to stay in the family.
4. The visual for the poem was equally enticing. How did you go about crafting out the cinematography and the look? Was this your first experience with something like this?
Yo so to answer this I have to thank the director of the film and one of the dopest people around, Josh Nathan. After I spent some weeks writing the poem I decided on making a video for it. I knew I wanted the video to be as close to how my life truly was as possible. Also, I knew that I wanted to make a short film and not something that looked like a music video. I wrote out the full video idea scene by scene but had no idea who could bring it to life until I decided to ask my homie, Josh. We met up, I gave him the writeup, and then he sent me a script that blew my mind. From that alone, I could tell that he understood my vision. This was my first time doing anything like this so I was pretty nervous but when we felt the chemistry while working together we just gave it our all and focused on creating something beautiful and raw.
5. We seen 2008 and 2018...where do you envision yourself in 2028?
Using words to heal wounds. I do see myself with books published, multiple successful short films directed by Josh, and headlining events where I recite poems but the main thing is making sure that my words are still helping me heal and helping others heal. Community, healing, equity and inspiring the youth are what I want my platform to represent come 2028.