Kenya “Kao Ra Zen” Fulton is a spoken-word poet, rapper, multimedia performance artist, painter, director, and curator born and raised in Chicago, IL. For several years, he has been performing and organizing concerts, parties, film screenings, and art happenings throughout Chicago, notably his annual HIPPY HOLY DAZE art and music holiday celebrations; KULTURE KLASH art film/video showcases; and the ‘A PERFORMANCE HAPPENING’ series. Kao has performed and exhibited in Germany, rocked open MICs in Guatemala, was a feature performer during events such as the first annual Afro Utah Festival in 2021; the Chicago Hip-Hop Theater Fest and TEDx Showtime ChiTime events in 2022; and the New Performance Turku Biennale in Finland in 2023. Kao‘s creative writing has been published in numerous poetry collections, magazines, and websites. He has performed at notable venues in Chicago such as Symphony Center, Harris Theater, Links Hall, Elastic Arts, Alhambra Palace, and the DANK Haus. Kao is a member of International Art Group artist collective; the legendary Nacrobats Hip-Hop crew; and was a member of the Firqit Surayah dance troupe. He has worked on multiple projects with organizations such as ’Every house has a door‘, ’NON:op Open Opera Works’, and will soon be presenting programming with the Guild Literary Complex. Kao has an Associate of Fine Arts degree from Harold Washington College, a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is now in the MFA Creative Writing program at Chicago State University. He has released several music videos and is currently working on multiple music-related projects.