Cheko7even Bio
Cheko7even's story begins in the midst of the Salvadorian Civil War. The sounds of history echo into the emptiness of migration. The haunting nature of living in exile is the fuel of 7even's artistic force. The music was always a bridge to connecting to our roots. The music is brimming with militancy and urgency pushing the lyricism forward. The DIY thinking in Hip Hop Ethos made Cheko versed in production, DJing, sound engineering, spoken-word poetry & video production. He has also engaged the 5th element of Hip Hop, knowledge, completing a master's degree in diaspora, environmental studies and cultural production, developing his own Hip-Hop research methodology and contributing to studies on the cultural and social potential of Hip Hop.
Cheko7even aka Cheko Salaam aka Hyf the GypsySun aka Hyfidelik has gone through many metamorphosis. Every version of Sergio are all part of the world-making that Hip Hop allows. They are a testament that hip-hop and poetic life is a constant process of self discovery and transformation.
Sergio began rapping in high school, forming a rap group with friends, Mauro and Dj-T-wrecks called Fonetiks. This was the beginning of Chekos education into the world of music. He was a part of the infamous Presswon Collective, a rag-tag band of musicians and emcees. Continuing with Cheko's collaborative approach, he was also part of the versatile Missing LinX, a collective of four unique and multi-talented poet-emcees, Just Jamaal, Prufrock Shadowrunner and Cannon2x. They performed a brand of spoken-word and rap like a team sport, combining their profound and insightful poetic ideas with their unmatchable performance energy. He is also one-third of TAPAS, featuring prolific Jeepz on production alongside scribe, G.Grand, performing at Bluesfest three times, Ottawa's largest music festival.
Sergio began rapping in high school, forming a rap group with friends, Mauro and Dj-T-wrecks called Fonetiks. This was the beginning of Chekos education into the world of music. He was a part of the infamous Presswon Collective, a rag-tag band of musicians and emcees. Continuing with Cheko's collaborative approach, he was also part of the versatile Missing LinX, a collective of four unique and multi-talented poet-emcees, Just Jamaal, Prufrock Shadowrunner and Cannon2x. They performed a brand of spoken-word and rap like a team sport, combining their profound and insightful poetic ideas with their unmatchable performance energy. He is also one-third of TAPAS, featuring prolific Jeepz on production alongside scribe, G.Grand, performing at Bluesfest three times, Ottawa's largest music festival.
Cheko, also known as Sergio, has a long history in cultural event production. He played almost every position over a five-year period with House of PainT Festival of Urban Culture from 2013 to 2018, including operations, programming, grant-writing and reporting and stage managing. His stage manager experienced has continued as the in-house stage manager for the growing Cranium Arts Festival in Ottawa for 4 years. In 2014-15, he threw his own, inter-disciplinary event night called Nationless Nights alongside Just Jamaal, focused on temporally altering experiences mixing food, visual, poetry, band and hip hop elements. Sergio was also part of a organizing team for the on-going Urban Legends Poetry Slam from 2010 to 2012 alongside Sean O'Gorman and Sarah Musa. From 2008 to 2010, Cheko was co-founder of the Worker's Cooperative Legendary Arts spot, Umi Cafe, which at one point was a breeding ground for community art and events.
Cheko is also an experienced facilitator and offers consultation in cultural equity, anti-racism, anti-oppression, creative writing and beat production. He has also guest lectured in universities and is available for talks or guest lectures on the intersections of cultural production, the environmental movement and the diaspora.
For more information, requests or proposals, send an e-mail to countermagikrecords@gmail.com
