Help Bring "The Tell Tale Heart: A Rap Musical" to Life!

Hi, I’m Carlos Aguirre—actor, musician, vocal percussionist, and educator. For over 25 years, I’ve had the privilege of performing and teaching in the Bay Area, sharing stages with legendary artists like The Roots, Erykah Badu, Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, Jam Master Jay, and LL Cool J. Recently, I’ve been guest-starring with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning Freestyle Love Supreme.

Now, I’m ready to take on the most ambitious project of my career: transforming my hip-hop adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart into a full-length rap musical. This dream has been over a decade in the making. What began as a 10-minute solo performance—combining beatboxing, rap, and live looping—has evolved into a bold reimagining of Poe’s classic tale as a 1-hour-and-15-minute musical with multiple characters, and a hauntingly original score.

Why This Project Matters

This musical isn’t just entertainment; it’s an exploration of themes like indigenous erasure, internalized racism, and the price of a guilty conscience. Using hip-hop and classical music with touches of operatic elements, it pushes the boundaries of storytelling to create something raw, unique, and vibrant. Now more than ever, I believe it is crucial to raise the voices of artists who are addressing the issues affecting marginalized communities in this country.

But the impact doesn’t stop there. I envision this work reaching audiences of all ages, especially young people, through live performances and educational workshops. Imagine students discovering Poe’s work through rap, learning beatboxing, acting, and songwriting along the way. This project has the potential to inspire creativity, bridge cultural divides, and bring diverse communities together in a shared love of storytelling.

How You Can Help

Like all high-quality art, creating this musical takes time, focus, and resources. Your support will allow me to:

Clear my schedule of teaching commitments in the next month or so, so that i can dedicate uninterrupted time to writing and developing the script including expanding the score into a fully realized musical production.

Lay the foundation through curriculum building for workshops and performances that engage students and communities

I’ve set a goal of $5,000 so that i can bring this vision to life. In addition, any funds raised beyond my goal could be used to invite other musicians into the creative process for building the theatrical score as well as complete the final steps for the short film version which include more in depth editing, film treatment and sound mixing/mastering. This short film can be used as a strong promotional tool for future productions.

*Note if you prefer an easier method of payment you can Venmo me: @emceeinfinite with the label TTH donation

*Bonus incentive: any person or persons connected to a school, community organization, or independently who contributes a minimum of $500 can request a one time solo live performance of the 10 minute version of this piece. As long as you have a place for me to perform it, I’ll make it happen.

Multiple Bay Area theaters have expressed interest in seeing the completed script, and your contribution will help me take this crucial step towards a full production.

Join Me on This Journey

This project represents my life’s work as an artist and educator. If you believe in the power of storytelling to inspire change and connect people, I invite you to join me. Together, we can create a groundbreaking musical that redefines how we experience theatre.

Thank you for considering this campaign—and for believing in me as a creator and storyteller. LET’S GO!

Bonus: As part of this journey, I’ll be releasing a short film of the original 10-minute script. As a teaser, check out one of my past performances to give you a glimpse of what’s to come. Check it out here: