Kyle Tran Myhre, better known by his stage name Guante, is an American hip hop recordings artist, National slam poet Champion, activist, and educator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Myhre's work has been published in Upworthy, MSNBC, Racialicious, Feministing, The Progressive, City Pages, Artists of the Year list, and URB Magazine's "Next 1000" list. He has also appeared on MPR. Much of Guante's music explores social justice issues like poverty, greed, and discrimination.
Musical career
Tran Myhre started in the performing arts using Guante as a stage name in 2004. Since the beginning of his performance career he has spoken out about sexism, racism, homophobia, and social justice issues through his spoken word poetry and hip hop. As a hip hop artist he has collaborated with Minneapolis locals Haley Bonar, Kristoff Krane, and No Bird Sing, and is a member of the group Sifu Hotman alongside rapper deM atlaS and producer Rube. Big Cats! produced his latest albums, An Unwelcome Guest and You Better Weaponize. Myhre founded the MN Activist Project and created the Hip Hop Against Homophobia concerts. Tran Myhre describes his talents as a combination of spoken-word and hip hop. Tran Myhre says, "Most of the residency work I do revolves around spoken-word. For people who may not know, "spoken-word" is kind of an umbrella term for performance poetry—it incorporates elements of poetry, theater, storytelling and other forms." He was COMPAS Artist of the Month in April 2014.
Activism and education
Tran Myhre spends time teaching writing workshops and poetry seminars to young people with an emphasis on community. Tran Myhre is on the teaching roster at the Community Programs in the Arts, which is an organization that teaches people of all ages about various forms of art. Within the COMPAS program, Tran Myhre teaches poetry and spoken word to high school and middle school students. Tran Myhre describes his commitment and motivation to the COMPAS program. "It's really about access. I can play shows and sell CDs as Guante, but COMPAS facilitates my sharing my work with thousands of young people whom I would never have met otherwise. I like to think that they get something out of it, but I know that I get something out of it-- exposure to a new audience, the opportunity to spread this art form that I really believe in, the energy that comes from working with youth, and much more." Tran Myhre is passionate about implementing arts into education. "Students who are engaged in the arts are more engaged in general. They become better critical thinkers. They enjoy life more. We have to think about education more holistically," he says. "For all the practical applications of arts techniques, there are some incredibly important intangibles on the table as well. You can use hip hop to teach a kid math, but you can also use hip hop to save a kid's life. Learning about spoken-word is never just about writing poems; it's about critical thinking, leadership, civic engagement, identity formation, having an expressive outlet, and a million other things."
