channelAPA.com‘s Steve Nguyen talks with actor/slam poet Beau Sia about the trials and tribulations of being a spoken word activist and graces the stage with his original piece titled “Chasing Bruce Lee.” Here’s more from Steve:

Every now and then, we often come across certain events in our lives that define who we are now.

These moments appear to be simple on the surface, but for individuals like Beau Sia, he can recall every vivid detail of how he came to be the famous slam poet that we all know and love to this day. Beau and I discovered each other through our mutual connections and throughout the last year, we found that we had more in common than we thought. As two small town kids with big city dreams, our interests kept us passionate about our respective art forms and our lives revolved around utilizing our voices for the world to hear. Because I consider Beau to be a well-traveled veteran in the APA circle, I’ve always admired his opinions and continue to follow his work wherever I may be. This segment was not filmed solely for the purpose of collaborating, but to embrace Beau Sia as someone I’ve respected since I’ve started this wonderful journey into the entertainment scene.

In the slam piece titled “Chasing Bruce Lee”, which many of you might have heard from the album Beau Sia: Dope & Wack back in 2001, Beau attempts to redefine what Bruce Lee is to him by today’s standards. In struggling to identify what we perceived to be the Asian American role model, Beau realizes that Bruce Lee embodied so much more/less than what we saw of him in film and television. We often question what it is to live up to certain standards as artists, but until we come to terms and establish our true identities, we will always be chasing Bruce Lee.

I also suggest that you listen carefully to the introductory segment that Beau reads that was addressed by his mother. Definitely some powerful stuff right there.

Beau Sia x Steve Nguyen