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Poverty
Also known as	Poverty
Born	August 20, 1978(1978-08-20)
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, United States[1]
Genres	Hip hop, Political hip hop, East Coast hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, actor, record producer, poet,
Years active	1999 – 2007
Labels	ArtistDirect Records

Thomas Joseph Abate III (born August 20, 1978, in Lawrence, Massachusetts), also known as Poverty, is a hip-hop artist and actor from the New England area.

He was living in a homeless shelter in Maine when he produced a demo that was eventually picked up by Artistdirect records, the offshoot of Interscope Records chief Ted Field.^[2][3]. However, plans to release his album Rise from Ruin foundered in the wake of problems at the label.^[4] The album was eventually released in March, 2004, but is no longer available.

Abate has since started an acting career with a small role in the 2006 film Waist Deep.

[edit] References

1. ^ Thomas Abate IMDB page Retrieved on 2007-03-04
2. ^ Poverty article mtv.com, Retrieved on 2008-03-04
3. ^ Press Release Artistdirect.com, Retrieved on 2008-03-04
4. ^ Lack of marketing punch has ArtistDirect on the ropes Los Angeles Business Journal, April 14 2003, Retrieved on 2008-03-04