About PILI X

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"My music, photography and all other artistic pursuits have always been grounded around themes of loving Black people and revolution” says Philadelphia's Pili X. X is a Modern Day Renaissance Man with his heart rooted in producing actual change for the Black families of tomorrow. His work can be seen all over the universe, whether through his exhibits for photography or collages, and the production for artists of many different flavors and genres or through his community work, Pili X’s passion can be felt in anything he touches. Now’s the time to press play and read up on one of the most important revolutionaries of our time. 

Before we even get started, Pili X is his real name, not a moniker, “my Dad loved the work of Malcom X and decided to name me after him,” X explains. Whether we’re talking about the artistic aspect or the community aspect of Pili X’s life, it all goes back to his childhood and his bloodline. “My dad and uncles were revolutionaries and seeing them active around different issues growing up influenced my worldview and ultimately my path,” Pili X says. On the flip side of this, X had been involved with music the entire time, singing at church, being a part of the music magnet program in High School as a vocalist and was a member of the Overbrook high school concert choir. When one combines the work his family has done, the amount of time he’s put into music and mix this with his introduction to hip-hop via Dead Prez’s “Let’s Get Free”, we can see exactly how Pili X became the Renaissance Man we see today. 

Everything Pili X does is rooted in trying to see his people do well, this is exuded in his community work, photography, music, or collage work. This includes the legendary work Pili X has done in cofounding the Philly Peace Park. Philadelphia is one among one of the poorest cities in the country and X looked to change that narrative. The Philadelphia Peace Park looked to have an influence on the over 50,000 lots in the area, cleaning them up and showing the positive opportunity the land presented. This meant taking that land and transforming it to bring urban gardens, marketplaces for small Black businesses to buy, sell and trade; they're even in the process of building and starting independent Black institutions like schools. “The motivation behind the Philly Peace Park” was that age old saying “Be the change you want to see,” X says. At any given time Pili X is doing his best to serve a need for the community, through a myriad of means and he’s still just getting started.