{"id":21373,"date":"2020-11-18T16:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T00:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000016673"},"modified":"2020-11-18T19:51:34","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T03:51:34","slug":"long-beach-rapper-donnie-waters-chose-music-as-a-path-away-from-poverty-gangs-and-trauma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/long-beach-rapper-donnie-waters-chose-music-as-a-path-away-from-poverty-gangs-and-trauma","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach rapper Donnie Waters chose music as a path away from poverty, gangs and trauma"},"content":{"rendered":"

By day, 27-year-old Edwin Armenta works at an Amazon warehouse to earn an income to support his 2-year-old daughter. By night, Donnie Waters, his alter ego, spits bars with his lead producer and a few friends at a humble studio in the Wilmington neighborhood, just west of Long Beach.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s an emotional man, growing up in a household that didn\u2019t let him express his feelings of hurt and trauma surrounded by gang violence, becoming numb to the sound of gunshots outside his homes, whether growing up in the Washington neighborhood at 15th Street and Cedar Avenue or his current block on 56th Street in North Long Beach. Music serves as his therapy, allowing him to vent his soul onto a mic.<\/p>\n

Donnie Waters, as he prefers to be called, was born and raised as a Mexican American in Long Beach, and aside from the obvious get-that-bag goal, his greatest intentions with his music are to inspire and, in a way, console other people with unavoidable traumas that come from poverty, \u201crace wars,\u201d death or myriad obstacles inherent in immigrant life.<\/p>\n

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Donnie Waters stands for a portrait inside his North Long Beach home on Oct. 28, 2020. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His stage name came from the marriage of two people, one fictional, the other a renowned musician, who encapsulate Waters\u2019 persona. During a period of depression, he\u2019d rewatch the 2001 film Donnie Darko, which tells the story of a teenage boy who has either time-traveled to a parallel universe, is suffering from mental illness or is fated to prevent a world of carnage. The last name comes from his admiration for blues icon Muddy Waters.<\/p>\n

He translated his admiration for Muddy Waters, who, like him, expressed his emotions through music, when he dropped a new album last month titled \u201cKunga,\u201d crafting the sound of a dreamy nightmare in collaboration with his producers. The 12-track album distinguishes itself by short songs\u2014they average 2 minutes and 18 seconds\u2014utilizing wonky piano and guitar sounds behind trap beats. Waters\u2019 lyrics, some in Spanish, pay homage to themes around resilience, overcoming obstacles, strong women and cultural identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, man, OK, let\u2019s make something to distinguish myself. I just can\u2019t be out here sounding like all these other rappers,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially with that Latin vibe. I really wanted to make that sound come to life.\u201d<\/p>\n