‘Walnut’ has CD release party at LynnArts Saturday

LYNN – Lynn resident and East Coast hip-hop artist ?Walnut-Da Lyrical Geni,? celebrates the release of his second album, ?Love Is In Your Face,? at LynnArts? Neal Rantoul Black Box Theatre, 25 Exchange St., from 6-9 p.m. Saturday with friends, fellow artists and fans.Walnut, who?s given name is Tyron Hawkins, has been a staple performer on the North Shore hip-hop scene for more than a decade and also performs in New York and Philadelphia.He considers his work “a positive movement” for human rights and harmony, and earned critical acclaim for his debut album, ?Once Tha Shell Is Broken,? in 2006.?I primarily perform in suburban areas to let people understand the true culture of hip-hop,” Walnut said. “It?s a way of life really ? It?s not what the record labels sell. Just like the with the movies, sex and violence sells and it?s the same with hip hop when it comes to the record labels. But it?s much more than that.”He said the body of his work, focusing on the everyday struggles of ordinary people, conveys a message of unity.?Poetry is really my first language and I observe everything I see around me,” said the 43-year-old North Carolina native who was raised in Dorchester with eight siblings. He has lived in Lynn for the past 15 years.?I?ve been writing since I was 7 years old. I don?t know how I knew then but I just knew how to write short stories,” Walnut said. “I?d take part of other stories – Nancy Drew or nursery rhymes – and make my own. And I remember presenting one to my aunt who told me, ?This is good. Keep doing this.? That inspired me to keep writing.?It was a great avenue for me,” he added. “Despite all the turmoil in life you see, writing was my therapy, my escape.”Walnut started putting his poetry to music with a middle school talent show and later as a student at West Roxbury High School, he and classmates launched a singing group, ?The Ultimate First Choice.? A highlight of that group, he said, was opening for New Kids On The Block at the Joseph Lee School in Dorchester.Since those days he has performed regularly on the club scene, both with a band and as a solo, a cappella performer.The new album, he said, “is very different from” from his first.?It still has a political punch to it, but there are so many different artists on this one. I have over 30 different voices on the album; artists from all different backgrounds, from folk to rock,” he said. “My mom was always had different music in the house and that was the beauty of it. I was never set on one type of music so I learned to appreciate all different genres.”The theme of the album and title track, ?Love Is In Your Face,? he said, focuses on how people don?t always see what?s right in front of them.?It?s really symbolic of how people take advantage of certain situations. Even with friends, we push people away when people are there for you. We idolize others when there are normal average folks who are there to support you ?(The song) talks about how if you just look in front of you, it?s right there in your face. Despite what you?re going through in life, no matter how purposely detached from it you have made yourself or afraid you are to embrace it, someone always loves you.”There are 21 tracks on the new album, including one that may best describe Walnut, ?Don?t Get It Confused, I?m Just a Friendly Dude.? His debut album has 24 tracks.?Folks ask me why so many (tracks) and I say ?There?s no guarantee I?ll be here tomorrow so I?m gonna give it you right now just in case.”Asked what music he most often listens to, Walnut said, “I?m an underground (music) kind of person. I focus more on the local artists.”And he also does his best to promote local artists.?I throw a parties in my home every month called the Building Community Series and I play music of all local artists so people can listen. And everyone brings guitars so we just jam,” he said, quickly adding “and there?s always eggplant parmesan.”Asked about the Lynn arts scene and if it?s headed in the righ