Lemon, born Andrew Andersen (1975–) was born and raised in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

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Lemon is a critically acclaimed poet, spokenword artist, and actor. As a poet he has the most aired episodes on HBO's Def Poetry

Def Poetry

Def Poetry, also known as Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry or Def Poetry Jam, which was co-founded by Bruce George, Danny Simmons and Deborah Pointer, is an HBO television series produced by hip-hop music entrepreneur Russell Simmons. The series presents performances by established spoken word...

, eight times in six seasons, and was an original cast member of the TONY Award winning Russell Simmons

Russell Simmons

-External links:** * * * * * * from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum* *...

 Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. Lemon was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award

Drama Desk Award

The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...

 for his writing and work on the show.
Lemon has traveled the spokenword and theater scene for the last decade performing and selling out venues such as the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

Nuyorican Poets Café

The Nuyorican Poets Café is a non-profit organization in Alphabet City, Manhattan. It is a bastion of the Nuyorican art movement in New York City, USA, and has become a forum for poetry, music, hip hop, video, visual arts, comedy and theatre.-History:...

, Apollo Theater

Apollo Theater

The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...

, Chicago Theater, Hollywood’s Kodak Theater and most recently he brought the house down in front 50,000 people at Philadelphia’s Live 8

Live 8

Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...

 concert. Nike

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

 also chose him to write a piece to help them sign young basketball star LeBron James

LeBron James

LeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a...

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He has recently shot three films with Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....

, "Sucker Free City

Sucker Free City

Sucker Free City is a 2004 film directed by Spike Lee. The film examines white, black, and Chinese characters in San Francisco and the conflicts they encounter with each other. The film was intended to be the pilot for a Showtime television series. Showtime declined to pick up the series...

”, "She Hate Me

She Hate Me

She Hate Me is a 2004 independent comedy-drama film directed by Spike Lee and starring Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, Bai Ling and John Turturro....

" and "Inside Man

Inside Man

Inside Man is a 2006 crime-drama film directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe and Jodie Foster. The film's screenplay was written by Russell Gewirtz and produced by Brian Grazer...

" in which Lemon starred opposite Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...

 and Clive Owen

Clive Owen

Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...

. His theatre credits include "Slanguage" directed by Jo Bonney, “The Ride

The Ride

The Ride is the 11th album by Los Lobos. It features numerous guest musicians. The album contains new material and also new versions of earlier Los Lobos songs.-Track listing:#"La Venganza de Los Pelados" – 4:51 #"Rita" – 5:20...

” at Ps 122 and "U" at the Mark Taper Forum

Mark Taper Forum

The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...

, as well as teaching performance art workshops at different colleges, universities and institutions including Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, the University of Massachusetts

University of Massachusetts

This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...

 and Sing Sing Prison.

Lemon is currently starring in a one person show titled COUNTY OF KINGS the beautiful struggle which has been developed and produced through The American Place Theatre

The American Place Theatre

The American Place Theatre was founded in 1963 by Wynn Handman, Sidney Lanier, and Michael Tolan at St. Clement's Church, far west on 46th Street in New York City and was incorporated as a not-for-profit theatre in that year. Tennessee Williams and Myrna Loy were two of the original Board members...

's Literature to Life program http://www.americanplacetheatre.org/stage/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=99&Itemid=27. The performance has been staged at schools around the nation, The Public Theater's Joe's Pub

Joe's Pub

Joe's Pub at Public Theater is a nightclub that hosts live performances regularly. The venue, which is a non-profit operation, is located at 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City...

 and will soon be staged at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art

Portland Institute for Contemporary Art

The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon, United States was founded in 1996 by Kristy Edmunds, formerly the Director of the Portland Art Museum's "Art on the Edge" program...

's annual Time-Based Art Festival

Time-Based Art Festival

The Time-Based Art Festival is an annual interdisciplinary art and performance festival presented by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art . It occurs over a ten-day period in September in Portland, Oregon in the United States...

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External links

• http://www.lemonshood.com