TheReelBizzz🍿✍🏾

I was born with the first names ‘Bizwayo’ (Biz-why-oh) and ‘Ryan’, but I go by ‘Biz’. ‘Bizwayo’ was chosen by my paternal Gogo (grandmother in my native Zambian language called ‘Nyanja’). ‘Bizwayo’ was also the name of my Gogo’s late older brother, along with others in our bloodline-making me the sixth in our family. ‘Ryan’ was chosen as a North American name for me. I was born on Sunday, May 27th, 2007 in Lusaka, Zambia. My faith in my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has always been the foundation of who I am. I come from a Christian background and family.

From as I early as I can remember, I felt immense excitement and joy watching different forms of media like animation, movies, and television. Legendary action classics like Predator, Rambo: First Blood, or The Terminator were movies that I grew up watching with my family and loved ones. Martial arts cinema was a staple for me too. I'd try to copy the moves on the screen. Watching wrestling on tv, or classic shows like The A-Team or MacGyver with my dad and Gogo. My dad grew up loving the action genre and martial arts cinema, and he passed that on to me. These moments were always and will always be so special to me. As I grew up, I explored more and more genres of cinema and tv. Genres like drama, horror, comedy, thriller, science fiction, romance, crime, adventure, musicals, romantic comedy, fantasy, fiction, animation/anime, mystery, and more.

Stories have always been part of me, especially through community and family. I’ve always been ambitious, emotional, sentimental, and one that lives in my mind. Constantly processing and viewing life as cinema, always playing scenes in my mind over and over again. I think about people. Not just my own story, but being able to be part of countless others’.

It was 2008, and Iron Man was released. Beginning what we know as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Don't think I didn't know my history even back then, I knew about Wesley Snipes' Blade movies. I already loved superheroes and comic books. NOW THERE WERE MORE MOVIES, I was so ecstatic. What I didn't realize then was that, that was only the beginning. I didn't understand the greatness that was coming. I was already an insanely huge fan of Marvel, and the MCU expanded that passion. It expanded my love for cinema. I remember going on my dad's computer everyday to look at Marvel news and watch videos about film & tv. I was already a big fan of DC too, but Marvel always felt like home. I discovered YouTube channels like “New Rockstars”, and other comic book content creators on social media. Watching the breakdowns, theories, predictions, and all the nerdy stuff. Eventually, I'd become a content creator of my own. To promote and talk about all the cinema and media that I love, and create a platform that's a safe space for my all.

One form of art that helps me to also connect with my own or to have my creativity jumping is literature and music. I loved reading growing up, I found language and vocabulary to be uniquely intriguing and natural to me. My family would point out how much of a bookworm I was. I can’t imagine life without music. Music and sound give cinema more life. My music taste is varied across french music, hip-hop and rap, instrumentals, latin and spanish music, pop, r&b, rock, soundtracks, and more. There are so many genres that I could name. I also very much love and respect classic and retro music spanning back decades. I appreciate my jazz and blues, and 90’s and 2000’s golden age hip-hop and r&b music. Overall, I’m personally attracted to lyrically-intentional and layered music, especially through hip-hop. I developed a very strong interest and admiration for artists like Kendrick Lamar and their work-exploring their entire discographies. I personally don't see people like Mr. Lamar as just musicians or rappers, but true artists.

The common idea of hip-hop or rap music is that it’s the type of music that solely talks about sex, money, drugs, gangs, and stereotypes like that. While a good portion of hip-hop and rap music does explore those themes, it's not always in the way people may generally think. Mr. Lamar grew up in Compton, which would be referred to as “the hood”. Being very intelligent and observant, and despite most people around him not knowing or realizing, he was becoming an authentic and honest artist growing up. The way he's used his personal experiences to unapologetically craft musical art with such intentional lyricism is what I admire. He inspires me beyond writing. He didn’t come from much, and neither do I. He and I aren’t exactly the same people, but the message that one isn’t defined by what or where they may come from, is what’s important. Everyone needs to truly understand that for themselves. My personal writing tone is expressed in deeper, dramatic, emotional, and symbolic stories. All forms of art can inspire one another.