Soft and Tender: The Newest EP from Respect the Mic Founder Rich Robbins

Robbins is a poet at heart: a fact that is immediately apparent from the lyrical content of his songs and from doing any cursory look at his background. Through his work as an emcee and as a teacher of spoken word art, it becomes even more apparent that Robbins is a student of the poetic arts through and through. He says on his Facebook page that his art is meant to bridge gaps between different worlds, which he does on more than one front through his work. His artist bio says that “his art acts as a means of finding legitimacy in a world in which he has yet to obtain a stable sense of self within…in both urban and suburban communities.” Not only that, but his work reflects a bridge between the power of performance art and slam poetry and the more structured, consumable art of songwriting. His feet are firmly planted in both worlds simultaneously, finding common ground between these seemingly disparate worlds and proving that art can be beyond just, as he puts it, “where you’re from.”