Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III aka Aloe Blacc needs a dollar… At the heart of this musical character is a recession-age Robin Hood, a 2001 graduate of the University of Southern California. Aloe credits a myriad of influences – transcendentalist scholars Henry David Thoreau and French existentialism, for instance – with leading him from the inner streams of consciousness he possessed as a hip hop MC early in his career, to a more disciplined approach to songwriting, and now, the desire to affect change and induce compassion by way of his own success. It is his grand scheme, which, not coincidentally, is also the name of his backing band. The key is compromise and understanding the power of popular art. Aloe is willing to put the gloves on and engage in the marketplace. Good things lie ahead.