Ove a.k.a. Oveous Maximus’ life as a poet began with a tragedy of the worst kinds. When his only brother and a talented MC himself, Carlos “Ziiinc Blue” Salcedo decided to end his own life in 2003, Oveous found healing and inspiration in continuing where his brother left off.

Starting at the weekly open mic sessions of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York, in a matter of just a few years he had become the accomplished spoken word poet/MC his brother had always wanted to be, eventually starring as one of the four spoken word poets in the documentary, SPIT and collaborating with soulful house masters like Louie Vega, Osunlade, Boddhi Sattva, and Bradford James, his co-founding partner at S.E.E.D records.

Oveous has recently re-released his Oveous Maximus LIVE! 2.0 Album and has teamed up with his long-time friend “Al Be Back” (from Kanye West’s Graduation album) to work on a hip-hop project that aims to “challenge the status quo of what is expected from rappers and lyricist”, according to Ove.

“A lot of rappers that sell units can’t write. We’re trying to sell units too, but we ain’t trying to sacrifice the level of writing and creativity.”

This Saturday at Club Love in New York, check out Ove debuting his first single “I Apologize” (out on Yoruba Records in May) at the second year anniversary of the “One L’Ove Concert”.

“The concept of “One L’Ove” came from my personal relationships with so many poets and indie music artists in New York City”, he fills in on the birth of the event. “I wanted to start my own mini-concert series with a cast of artists that all knew each other, but more importantly, had mad respect for one another. So we shared this “one L’Ove” for the art of words and music under one stage.”

This year, he invited fellow poet-musician friends Michael Cirelli (Urban Word NYC), Quetzal Guerrero (Yoruba Records), Caitlin Meissner, Eliel Lucero, Chachi, Swann, Soulful Jones, Jon Sands, Big Mike (HBO Def Poetry), Fish Vargas, Kelly Tsai (HBO Def Poetry), Kesed, Goya, Loot, Turnstylz, David Potosnak, and DJ MSG to celebrate spoken word as one of the most politically outspoken art forms today.

For more info, check Oveous’ myspace page.