Born and raised in California, Alexander Williams received his Master's in Literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2021 and his Bachelor’s in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2015.Alexander’s pedagogy and writing strengthens his assertion that life is art. Creatively, he explores this assertion through haunted poetry and the archetype of the Black male rapper. Because the persona created by the Black male rapper in the United States is a social experiment, Alexander’s work becomes the ultimate case study for his scholarly pursuits as poet, persona, and critic. Besides creative and poetic projects, Alexander co-founded the educational collective Lyripeutics, comprised of fellow RAP Lab members Shawn O’Neal, Kalonji Nzinga, Marlene Palomar, Karia White, and others. Through critical discussions and artistic pursuits, he believes emotional intelligence, mindfulness, meditation, and other practices can allow students to unpack the trauma that plagues their lives and establish their own personas to push American literary, cultural, and artistic boundaries.
Currently, Alexander is a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Los Angeles where he studies under Professor Adam Bradley and assists him with creating a RAP Lab at UCLA.