By D. Moss | West Georgia Pulse
ATLANTA, GA – Underneath the glittering skyline of Atlanta, beyond the velvet ropes and industry posturing, something organic is growing. Rooted in struggle, watered by grief, and lit by the fierce fire of artistic truth.
His name is Miles Megaciph.
Marine veteran. Wordsmith. Songwriter. Emcee. Artist. Event curator. Vision carrier. He moves with the quiet urgency of someone who has seen both the bottom and the brilliance, someone who has fallen hard and risen with purpose. His platform, The Vital Movement, is not just an open mic. It is a sanctuary for the soul of art.
“This isn’t motivated by money,” Megaciph says. “It’s motivated by love, the written word, the performance, the healing that happens when people are seen.”
The Vital Movement is equal parts performance, spiritual reckoning, and family reunion. Creatively birthed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 2010, the event started as a space where overlooked voices could be amplified. Now in Atlanta, it has become a grassroots revolution. Weekly, 35 to 40 creatives gather not to compete, but to connect. Only 12 perform. The rest bear witness. No gimmicks. No lineup of 40 acts begging for five-minute slots. Just art, community, and clarity.
“Some people shy away when the mic gets close,” he says. “But that is where the chiseling begins. We are carving out our truest selves.”
Megaciph’s own journey is carved from chaos. After serving in the Marines, he returned to civilian life in Atlanta only to face incarceration four times. His stage name was born during that season—a mantra: “Mental Energies Gather And Circulate In Positive Harmony.” But the world wasn’t ready. Doors slammed. Labels ghosted him. He dropped his first album at 32 and was laughed off stage by younger artists. Still, he kept writing.
A decade after his first release, Megaciph had cultivated a sound that was globally resonant. By the time he launched his eighth album, he had two academic degrees, fans in Okinawa and Kenya, and a marriage that was unraveling. On the very night he relaunched The Vital Movement in Atlanta in 2023, his wife of 21 years told him she was leaving.
“I cried during my sets for weeks,” he admits. “I grieved on stage, in front of strangers. But I showed up every single week. That was the vow I made to the work.”
His music, always introspective and revolutionary, became more urgent. From Atlanta to Harlem, and all the way to Japan, his songs carried a message of perseverance. One of his most powerful chants—”Get your weight up, get your rate up, get your pay up, stay up, pray up”—has become a rallying cry inside the Vital Movement’s walls.
In 2024, Megaciph unveiled new projects that reveal both personal evolution and global ambition. He released his eighth studio album to critical acclaim, layering reflections on loss, growth, and divine purpose over deeply soulful beats. Tracks like “Pray Up,” “Don’t Let Up,” and “Get Your Name Up” became anthems at The Vital Movement, helping to stitch together a community of survivors, dreamers, and doers.
But music alone wasn’t the mission. Megaciph has also launched a cultural collaboration with a Black-owned coffee company, DOPE Coffee, which now sponsors the Vital Movement. The partnership provides free coffee on select nights, aligning perfectly with Megaciph’s vision of artistic gatherings that nourish both body and soul. The DOPE Coffee branded flavors, hand selected by founder/partner Michelle Lloyd have been described as bold, smooth, and energizing. Infusing Hiphop culture into every bag, like the artwork on every bag which is uniquely designed by co-owner and partner Michael Lloyd—black and family owned; much like the atmosphere Megaciph curates within The Vital Movement.
This partnership allows the event to remain accessible to the community, offering affordable admission while maintaining high-quality programming. Their ongoing support ensures that the Movement not only survives but thrives, and scales sustainably. As Megaciph puts it, “They aren’t just brewing coffee, they’re brewing culture.”
“This is more than a show. It is a sacred space,” he says. “And if you are going to speak your truth, you should sip something true with it.”
The Movement became more than therapy. It became testimony. It became tribe. Through his partnership with the CEO Self Coaching program and the unwavering support of mentors like Self and Juice, Megaciph turned grief into grind. He received free mental health care. Weekly coaching calls. Tough love. And a new blueprint for success.
“I had a five-year plan. They told me to do it in three. And now? I believe them.”
Every piece of the Movement is intentionally built. The space is intimate. Admission is $10. Water is a dollar. Features get paid. Always. The money is counted transparently and shared among the team. Every person on his 10-member crew is being written into equity contracts. Why? Because art needs to be communal, not extractive.
Megaciph calls it “socialist curation” where transparency and shared vision fuel sustainability.
His ultimate goal is to replicate the model. Not in name, but in practice. A Vital Movement in Detroit. A Movement in Nairobi. One in Oakland. Spaces where vulnerability, talent, and real connection matter more than clout or virality.
The blueprint was passed down from NYC legends like Freestyle Mondays and End of the Weak. Megaciph honors them, but he is building his own lineage now, one rooted in the South, wrapped in red clay and sweat, fed by the undying hunger of Black artistry.
“The Movement is a mirror,” he says. “It reflects what happens when artists are centered, not commodified.”
From gangsters to griots, professors to painters, The Vital Movement welcomes them all. No genre gatekeeping. No ego-led restrictions.
As Megaciph often reminds his community, quoting Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements: Be impeccable with your word. Don’t take things personally. Don’t make assumptions. Always do your best.
And he lives those principles in rhyme, in ritual, and in rawness.
So if you find yourself on Atlanta’s creative fringe some Wednesday night, follow the music. Follow the energy. You will find Megaciph, mic in hand, heart on sleeve, pouring truth into the room.
And if you are lucky enough to make the list, get ready to rise.
Stay up. Pray up. Get your weight up. Build your name up. The Vital Movement has only just begun.
You can find The Vital Movement weekly on Wednesdays at (beginning June 4th)
The Exclusive Speakeasy
2439 Memorial Dr SE
Atlanta, GA 30317
7pm Doors
