Warren Snipe, also known by stage name Wawa (also stylized in

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in ...

), is a deaf writer,

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, actor and performer. He was featured in the R&B artist Maxwell's "Fingers Crossed" lyric video and has completed an album called ''Deaf: So What''.

Early life

He was born December 10, 1971. He graduated from

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...

in 1994 where he became a brother of the

Kappa Sigma Fraternity Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraterniti ...

. Snipe was also a founding member of the Wild Zappers, an all-male deaf dance company.

Career

"WAWA" has worked with The National Deaf Dance Company and has been featured on television and in music videos as a dancer. He has labeled his genre as "Dip Hop," which means hip hop through

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

eyes. Warren Snipe has also worked in two episodes of ''

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977), during ...

'' titled "The Book of Blood: Chapter Two: The Perdi" and "The Book of Blood: Chapter Three: The Sange" portraying Anaya's unnamed father. In the episode, his character's

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

was interpreted by

Charmin Lee Charmin Lee is an American actress. She had a recurring role as Jeanette Wood, Maya's Mother, on the series '' Girlfriends''. Filmography Film Television External links * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Charmin Living people American tel ...

's character Batina. In 2021, WAWA performed "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" alongside

Eric Church Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released nine studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billboar ...

and

Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B and soul singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, her debut album, ''Fearless'' was released in 2008. The record topped ''Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certifie ...

Super Bowl LV Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Conferen ...

Raymond James Stadium Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida that opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football program. The se ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. His performance was praised by many for its enthusiasm. On February 4, 2022, it was announced that Wawa and fellow deaf rapper

Sean Forbes Sean Forbes (born February 5, 1982) is a deaf American hip-hop artist."S ...

will be performing sign-language interpretations of the headliners' music in the

Super Bowl LVI halftime show The Super Bowl LVI halftime show, officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, took place on February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, as part of Super Bowl LVI. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by NBC, ...

. This was the first time that sign-language performances have been incorporated into NFL's halftime program.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

21st-century American rappers African-American male rappers Deaf musicians Gallaudet University alumni Living people 1971 births {{US-writer-stub