EPHRAIM ADAMZ

Early Life & Career Beginnings

Effrem J. Adams, known professionally as Ephraim Adamz, is a U.S. descendant of chattel slavery born on September 5, 1985 in Hartford CT. His grandmother Nancy J. Adams was born in Mississippi through a midwife, but registered in Alabama on her birth certificate. Nancy traveled north during The Great Migration and had five children in Connecticut . Ephraim Adamz began his career as a DJ in 2001 at the Plaza Roller Rink on Pembroke Ave in Hampton Virginia. In 2004 he began guerrilla filmmaking while attending Capital Community College in Hartford CT. Themes included science fiction, martial arts fantasy, suspense, and fan films posted on MySpace. Horror Movie: The Movie and Safe Haven: A Zombie Movie have garnered over one million views on YouTube. He would also perform as a background extra in several major studio films listed on IMDB

2014-2019 Music and Humanitarian Efforts

In 2014 he debuted the music video Twerk Bitch (You A Bottom), a collaboration with drag queens, gender nonconforming performers, and sex workers. The video received backlash as it was the first time he came out as non-heterosexual to his followers. The song was not included in the mixtape Innocent after enduring death threats. Ephraim Adamz admittedly regretted the decision as the song became a viral hit in queer spaces. People of color, queer, gender nonconforming, and sex worker representation have continuously featured in his content. 

In 2015 he wrote a letter to U.S. first legally gay married mayor Pedro Segarra, expressing interest in reviving Hartford Connecticut's pride festival which had been inactive for four years. The event titled Hartford Capital City Pride was a success with his involvement from 2015-2018. His experience in the arts, nightlife, and entertainment would make him a key attribute for stage management at pride events around the nation. He continued to advocate at over nineteen pride festivals leading into Stonewall 50 WorldPride NYC 2019 as the grande stage DJ. CT Voice Magazine

During summer of 2018 Ephraim Adamz created PrideFest, an annual queer event at Six Flags New England. The event was usually held in September as to not compete with Pride Month in June and serves as a kick-off to National LGBT History Month in October. Focus on small business and marginalized owned vendors were included with emphasis placed on diverse families, transgender issues,  rallying, education, and the meaning of Pride.  In 2022 the cast of HBO Legendary surprised and  honored Ephraim Adamz as a "Global Pride Icon". He received the "King of Pride Award" for outstanding contributions and profound impact on queer culture.

2020-2021 COVID-19, Global Pride, and U.S. Racial Unrest

In 2020 Ephraim founded and produced New England Virtual Pride in response to in-person events being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The interactive presentation was broadcast on Facebook June 20, 21 and 28. It compiles drag and musical performances, footage from past New England and New York pride events, and interviews with queer people talking about Pride. The event was originally supposed to be one hour, but blossomed into a 4 hour documentary style segment titled "Pride Before COVID". The Hartford Courant

Ephraim Adamz simultaneously worked on Global Pride 2020, the worlds largest virtual Pride event in history as one of 24 video editors. The broadcast reached 57 million viewers. He is credited on the official site under production team.

On August 28, 2020  Ephraim Adamz marched in the protest against police brutality at the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks rally in Washington D.C. hosted by Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. Personal video diaries of his experience have been used in his documentaries and music videos. The Hartford Courant

In 2021 he produced the documentary interview "T-Girl: The Truth In Transitioning" which follows a trans woman's journey through Gender Reassignment Surgery. The Hartford Courant

The same year he released an EP "Uprising 1969", a retrospective on The Stonewall riots and the police brutality protests in response to the murder of George Floyd. The single "Pride Month" went viral on the social media platform TikTok. Entertainer and singer Todrick Hall co-signed the EP

2022 Return to music and the Erotic Industry

Following "Uprising 1969" he released a second EP titled "Day of Remembrance". The songs were launched on March 31, 2022 in celebration of Transgender Day of Visibility. 

On June 2, 2022 "Sex Work Is Real Work" was released during International Sex Workers Day. Adult film star Ricky Roman and erotic dancer Logan Starr is lube wrestling in the Sex Work Is Real Work music video. Transgender advocate Carmen Carrera announced him as "The King of Pride" for a performance at New London Pride on the Beach.  

Ephraim Adamz is featured briefly in the short film "Gay Spirit Radio: Not Afraid To Be Different - The Keith Brown Story" discussing the AIDS epidemic. He later attended the 2022 New York Sex Expo to advocate and consult with content creators about mental health, trauma expression, and personal agency. The focus centered the history of Pride and how it has been built on the resilience of gender non-conforming people who did sex work. A key theme was how male hustlers are rarely considered in the sex worker rights movement due do to sodomy laws driven by homophobia.   

2023 RacePlay, The Model Minority, Sundown Spooky Town, and Transgender Legacy Flag

Promotion for the "RacePlay" album began on January 26, 2023 during International Fetish Week and was released on February 1st 2023 for Black History Month. The audio drama explores mental health, racial trauma, sex work, gender, and activism. 

"The Model Minority" EP was released on May 1, 2023 during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. 

"Sundown Spooky Town" debuted on October 16, 2023 during World Mental Heath Week and Depression Awareness Month. The cover art is of an original work made for hire character owned and copyrighted by Ephraim Adamz named Kool Kotton Kandy, a manifestation of generational racial trauma put into cartoon form. The music video for "Howdy Town Welcome Town" recaps Ephraim at a tailgating rally to promote a message of love and dismantle anti-blackness outside a Jason Aldean concert. 

In November 2023 Ephraim Adamz created the Transgender Legacy Flag and Ceremony to honor Black bodies lost to anti-transgender violence.