Photo Credit-Global Alliance for Disability in Media.
A conversation with the Deaf interpreter taking hip-hop by storm
By: Dev Ramsawakh
This story and coverage of AccessFest is a part of a collaboration between DJA and Global Alliance for Disability in Media.
If you watched the Super Bowl this year, you might’ve seen Matt Maxey performing his iconic ASL interpretation of Kendrick Lamar’s half-time show. While this may have been the first time that some viewers have seen rap translated into ASL, Maxey has been innovating this practice for years.
His interpretation was first propelled into the headlines when Maxey joined Chance the Rapper’s Be Encouraged tour in 2017. But his career as a Deaf ASL interpreter began when he founded DEAFinitely Dope with a mission of “breaking barriers and connecting cultures through sign language and hip hop.” With his organization, Maxey offers education to Deaf and hearing communities alike to bridge the communication gap and spread awareness of Deaf culture.
Last month, he offered a lesson on signing music at the first ever AccessFest in Toronto and we had the opportunity to have a conversation with Maxey, discussing his journey as an interpreter, interpreting for major artists, and what it feels like to navigate Deaf culture as a Black Hard-of-Hearing person.
How did you get into ASL interpretation?
Matt Maxey: It was all an accident, to be honest. I just started learning sign language when I got to college, and I never really wanted to be an ASL interpreter, but I did love learning sign language through music, and I wanted people to have access to as much music as possible that wasn’t already available. That’s kind of how I got started. It definitely took on a life of its own.
So you didn’t start learning ASL until you were 18, going into Gallaudet?
Matt Maxey: Pretty much my first year of college. I was exposed to it in high school, but I wasn’t really with the program. I didn’t buy into it, but it wasn’t until my freshman year of college I actually started putting in the work to learn.
And so as a Black person, as a Black Deaf person, you have to navigate multiple spaces. What was it like to navigate Deaf culture in university?
Matt Maxey: So I went to a Deaf university. I went to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. I felt like being Black and Hard of Hearing was already like two threats, because there, at that time, they wanted people to be Deaf, not talking, not [using] hearing aids, just Deaf. I didn’t fit that, and I didn’t know sign language. Then, on top of it, me being Black, there weren’t too many people looking like me, so it definitely felt like a unique place to be in. But it certainly evolved over time, and the more people have felt the freedom and the courage to speak up and speak out, the more other people have followed through.
You’re also a pioneer in the rap-to-ASL translation space, and you’ve created a space that connects those two cultures. What does it mean to you to have that space?
Matt Maxey: I wouldn’t say pioneer. I think everything in history has just kind of been revamped. And, you know, we see an example of something we figured out — how can we add to it? And I saw people doing sign language with music, and I wanted to represent for my culture, what I like. So if I went to a cookout, we doing the Wobble, we doing the Cupid Shuffle, we have a sign language version for it so everybody can get with it… Now everybody wants to do hip hop and rap. I like it. I don’t like it, but at the risk of not sounding like that “old head,” I like the fact that it’s more accessibility out there, and I hope they continue. I hope that people don’t forget that the real purpose is inclusion, and you’re trying to provide as much as possible for the people who don’t have access to it.
How does it feel to be performing with artists like Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar on these large platforms?
Matt Maxey: It would have felt better if I saw him! (laughs) No, but really it was super cool knowing that they picked me to interpret for somebody talented and gifted, as much of a wordsmith as Kendrick Lamar was. And with great power comes great responsibility, so [I’m] honored for the nomination, at the same time, whew! [I’m] overwhelmed with the dedication to trying to do him justice. Now other people, like Chance the Rapper, that was just incredible, that was just family, that was just genuine. I’ve never seen an artist like, ‘Hey, you know what? I want you. I want to make my music accessible. Tell me, how do we go about it? Okay, let’s do this.’ We got free tickets for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. They need front row seats. They need to know that we can advertise that you’re providing interpretation, 50 free tickets, front row seats for an experience that they never had before. [We went] all in with it, and to this day, I still haven’t seen another artist go to that magnitude of actually caring about another culture or community without doing it for fame or for likes, or none of that.
Do you have any advice for young Black Deaf people who struggle in Deaf culture spaces?
Matt Maxey: Find your people. I mean, find your people. Sometimes your people is not always who they tell you to be your people. You know who your people are, and they may not always look what you expect them to look like, but you feel it. You know it. You’ll see the help. You’ll see the journey that you go on. You’ll see the positivity. Focus on the positivity. Focus on the people who want to help you without trying to take advantage of you. And I think now with the social media generation, if you get any kind of buzz popularity, people just want to be associated with you. And if we’re on the topic of Kendrick Lamar, everybody ain’t gon’ like you [referring to the lyric from “wacced out murals” by Kendrick Lamar, the words also printed on his sweatshirt]. Everybody ain’t your friend either. Appreciate your family. Appreciate your close ones. If you have less than five, that’s phenomenal. Do not be ashamed about it, but stay on your path. Stay close to your people. That would be my advice.
