The EP
Space Degree
The short-form statement, by Bookworm Brown and Budzso Supreme — the roots showing on purpose. Where the Bookworm Brown sound announced where it came from before it said anything else.
The Rhyme Line
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January 5th, performed on Soul Train. And I was transported into a world of beatboxing magic.
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Beat Street premiered June 1984. My cousins Vincent and Joseph had the Betamax and we wore that shit out. I memorized every line and dare you to come test.
Beat Street (1984) — the original cover art. -
Wrote my first rhyme for the Sunkist Elementary talent show. The crowd goes wild.
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Cinco de Mayo. A b-boy is born.
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In 1987, at Tower Records in the West Covina Mall, he bought his first vinyl: the Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill. Watching it on Soul Train was one thing. Owning it, needle down in his own room, was the next.
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In 1990, at Bassett High School, he formed the dance crews Strictly Mental and 2xDaHype — two crews, with names, moving together on purpose.
Takes home gold at the Bassett High School talent show.
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Steady mobbin’. Out for blood. Crime In Progress couldn’t be stopped.
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In 1992, at the Bassett High School talent show, he kicked original flows — his own rhymes, performed live, in front of the whole school.
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Also in 1992, he formed the Christian rap group Heaven Bound with Mike Parham — the faith and the culture in one act, years before the pamphlet made the same argument in print.
1992 — Carlos and Mike on stage as Heaven Bound, Calvary Chapel Golden Springs. His photo. -
In 1992, he battled classmates on college radio at Brandeis University.
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This training ground.
Open Mic / Open Mind — the Foundation’s weekly eastside open mic, every Wednesday in the Pomona area. One rule: represent with respect. 
The Foundation — Open Mic, Every Tuesday — “a funkollective.” Art by SH Graffx. 
The “K” Piece — Foundation handbill for D.J. Kionik, all question marks and handstyle. -
Before the bylines came the masthead. Underground Fire, Whittier, California’s gospel hip-hop magazine, ran at least 1997 to 1999 — the May/June 1997 issue carried an interview by Carlos, then an Occidental junior, and he rose to the credits page as Editor: Carlos “Proeski” Aguilar. The magazine ran through Winter 1999 and beyond — the same faith-and-culture argument as the pamphlet, argued in print, on newsprint.
The credits page — Underground Fire magazine, Whittier, CA. Editor: Carlos “Proeski” Aguilar. His photo of the page. -
The Recruits, Winter ’97 — the duo’s promo sheet, under their creed: sola fida. sola gracia. sola hip-hop. The sheet carried the Quiet Storm compilation, featuring the Recruits, Polar Bear, Shabang and Precious.
The Recruits, Winter ’97 — the promo sheet for the Quiet Storm compilation. -
Tokyo hip-hop with Calvary Chapel, 1998 — the Heaven Bound road went overseas. Bookworm Brown was doing hip-hop in Tokyo, carrying the same faith-and-culture act across the Pacific.
Tokyo, 1998 — Carlos, center, on the Calvary Chapel hip-hop trip. His photo. 
The concert program, Tokyo — Bookworm billed second, between the Committed Japan Praise Band and the Mike Barnet Band. The program’s billing, translated “A rapper active in the real L.A. rap scene, in Japan for the first time. In a rap scene full of lyrics about drugs, sex, rebellion and violence, he is a singular artist who raps with the essence of gospel — and he’ll let us enjoy that fresh rap on this stage.”
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Featured on Deviance’s album Weand Of Lyrics — the track “A Bookworm Bookmark.” Hear the full album on YouTube →
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In 2000, he was in emcee battles in Beijing and Shanghai — not performing at the culture, but testing himself inside it, round for round, on the other side of the world from Bassett.
Beijing, 2000 — Carlos on the mic at the battles. His photo. 
The room as it was billed — flyer for a hip-hop party at the D’28 club, Beijing: 5th July, 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The flyer prints no year. -
In September 2001, he embarked on a six-month backpack journey across Mexico and Guatemala, performing on trains and in public squares — the mic, a backpack, and whatever crowd the day put in front of him.
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In 2001 and 2002, he climbed and rhymed the pyramids — in Mexico City and at Chichén Itzá. Verses at the top of the ancient world.
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In 2002, he recorded “Space Degree” with Budzso Supreme on Zipolite beach in Oaxaca, Mexico — a record made on the sand.
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Featured in Battle for LA.
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In 2005, he released the album Heaven and Earth, produced by Odd Thomas — the full-length statement, nine songs between the sacred and the street. The album is in the Records section below, player and all. Hear Heaven and Earth on Spotify →
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Also in 2005, he was featured in Breakin’ vs Krumpin’: The Battle of the Century — the documentary film that put breakin’ and krumpin’ head to head.
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2005–2018, disappears on a boat off the coast of Huatulco.
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In 2019, he recorded music for the social campaign of the Oscar Zeta Acosta documentary — The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo. Back from the boat, back on record, for the Brown Buffalo himself.
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His first television writing job came at Mun2, Telemundo’s English-language netlet — and the name followed him through the door. On that side of the industry he was simply “Bookworm.” The worm was already the brand before the brand was a business.
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The records: the Space Degree EP, by Bookworm Brown and Budzso Supreme, and the full-length album Heaven and Earth — nine songs holding the whole tension of the act, the sacred and the street in the same breath.
The Flyers Gallery
Paper only — swipe throughFlyers, cards and covers out of Carlos’s own binder — the paper trail of the Heaven Bound and Foundation years, photographed as they survive, collated by year where the flyer itself prints one. Pieces that print no year stay undated. Tap any piece to see it bigger.
Represent
with respect.
The Photo Gallery
Not tied to a stop on the linePhotos that belong to the era but not to one stop on the rhyme line live here. Anything tied to a stop appears on the line itself, with that stop. Tap the photo to see it bigger.
The Records
Bookworm Brown on waxThe Album · 9 Songs · 2005
Heaven and Earth
The full-length, released in 2005 and produced by Odd Thomas. Nine songs between the sacred and the street — the same ground the pamphlet argued for in 2000, now argued in verse, hook and breath control.