Roy Kinsey is a Chicago-born rapper, librarian, and cultural strategist whose work lives at the intersection of hip-hop, literacy, and community empowerment. As the founder of the Rapbrary — a growing library and arts ecosystem dedicated to preserving rap as a literary and cultural art form — Roy creates spaces where books, music, and storytelling become tools for liberation, identity formation, and collective healing.
Roy is a Branch Manager with the Chicago Public Library and an Arts & Public Life Performance Resident at the University of Chicago. He released multiple critically acclaimed albums, including Dandelions: Gods Don’t Cry, and is the author of the forthcoming children’s book Deangelo and the Dandelion. His work has been featured across Chicago’s cultural landscape, inspiring dialogue around representation, imagination, and the power of narrative.
Through the Change Collective experience, Roy will focus on strengthening his leadership practices, developing sustainable community partnerships, and expanding the Rapbrary’s impact as a national model for arts-based literacy work. He is committed to creating pathways for young people, artists, and readers to see themselves reflected in stories and understand their own lives as literature worth preserving.