Malachi Rivers
Malachi Rivers (born 1979) is a New York City-based rapper, poet, and actor. A native of Maryland, Rivers is best known for his work in the independent hip hop community. Rivers first cultivated a strong following in Washington D.C.'s jazz and spoken word scenes, which drew the attention of Blue Note/Revive Music recording artist Marcus Strickland and spurred a critically acclaimed collaboration with Strickland's "Twi-Life" jazz quartet.
Rivers' debut album with the Twi-Life group, named Open Reel Deck, generated heavy buzz when it was released in January 2007.
All AbOUT Jazz praised Malachi's artistry, saying "the music is perfectly balanced with Malachi's INCredible freestyle—expressing 'positive' words/poems about life, music, spirituality, and self-awareness. His voice is an instrument and his words are the notes, backed by the rhythm section and Moreno's chilled guitar riffs."
After a North American and European tour with Twi-Life, Rivers launched a film career and starred in the independent films Scrolls: The Book of Life, Parts 1 and 2. He also continued to grow his music career and released his debut single, "Cloud 9" in 2009. Rivers followed "Cloud 9" with his 2012 debut EP Stereo Sound Escape. As part of that EP, Rivers collaborated with Nelsan Ellis for the song "New World (Part II -- The Schizo Speaks)". In 2015, Rivers released his conceptual EP The Other I.
Rivers' music has been featured on TV One's Love Handles, and in collaboration with Latin Grammy nominee Tamela Hedstrom. Rivers has been cast in Peachanda DuBose's play "Ferguson" making its debut in Los Angeles in September 2016.