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The Godfather of House, Frankie Knuckles Has Passed-He Will Be Missed

April 1, 2014 By

Frankie KnucklesI’m at a loss words as I’m just getting word that House Music pioneer Frankie Knuckles has passed away..Man this hurts my heart. Known as the Godfather of House,  Knuckles who was originally from the Bronx, New York moved to Chicago in the late 70s (1977) and started deejaying at a club called the Warehouse.

It was here that Knuckles introduced a style of deejaying accompanied with emerging uptempo soulful disco. This is not to be confused with the John Travolta/Bee Gees sound popularized in the movie ‘Saturday Night Fever‘ that led to the infamous slogan ‘disco sucks‘ and ironically a disastrous Disco Demolition Night by a notorious rock jock Steve Dahl in Chicago at Comiskey Park. The outcome of that event led to record companies abandoning disco and dance oriented music. The music being pushed by Knuckles survived and prospered.

What Knuckles highlighted was classic Black, urban, Philadelphia (Gamble and Huff) style R&B. It was disco as defined  by artists like First Choice, Loletta Holloway, Barbara Roy and MFSB. In fact many considered the drum patterns used in MFSB’s ‘Love is the Message‘ as a primary building block around House.

Knuckles brought his New York style mixing and sound to a city that was already into cutting edge music. This sound became popular and picked up by other deejays like Kenny ‘Jamming’ Jason, Chip E, the late Ron Hardy and Keith ‘Funkmaster’ Farley to name a few and paved the way for what initially was known as ‘Warehouse music‘ and was later shortened to ‘House’.

Knuckles deejayed at the Warehouse up until the early 1980s and then later his own club called the Power Plant. He also started producing his own records. What really helped put him on the map was the release of an underground classic that was only on tape of one of House music’s early anthems ‘Your Love‘ by Jamie Principal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOLE1YE_oFQ

By the late 80s early 90s House music started to explode worldwide and Knuckles was a key reason as he started to travel and do residencies in cities like London. he also developed his skillz not just a producer but as an incredible remixer. He touched everyone from Michael Jackson to Chaka Khan to Diana Ross to the Pet Shop Boys to Janet Jackson on down. There are simply to many to name.  One thing was certain a Frankie Knuckle’s remix was almost always good to go. His own projects released on Virgin records like the Whistle Song and Rain Falls are classics 20 years after the fact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXatWr1JJ5c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIdimVDuSEU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC0iX_JvYaE

Since its humble beginnings House music has evolved and splintered into numerous sub-genres with its history so distorted in terms of its history that many forget its a Black music genre rooted in deep soul and was the heart of the Windy City Chicago with Frankie Knuckles was the center piece. So admired was Frankie Knuckles is that he has a street named after him in Chicago, Frankie Knuckles Way.

Post by Barbara Allen.

The Godfather of House will be missed.. With his sudden passing I only folks all over the planet are stunned. Today House is a multi-billion dollar a year industry under the umbrella of what people called EDM (Electronic Dance Music). Names like Dave Guetta and  Deadmau5 are the big names that everyone likes to mention, but make no mistake there’s none of this EDM stuff if it wasn’t for the groundbreaking, pioneering efforts of Frankie Knuckles. He transformed music for the better.

RIP Godfather

Below is our HKR Interview and tribute to Frankie Knuckles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1HpY65cXDA

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News Tagged With: , , ,

500 Female Emcees: Meet the Cookie Crew-Hip Hop Pioneers from the UK

March 30, 2014 By
Cookie Crew (South London)

Cookie Crew (South London)

When we talk about Hip Hop  and its history its good to not only know the pioneering figures in New York where the music and culture was born, but its good to know who were the pioneering figures in other places. When we talk about the vibrant Hip Hop scene in London, you can’t talk about its early beginnings without noting the music accomplishments and social and political advocacy of MC Remedee (Debbie Pryce) and Suzy Q (Susan Banfield) collectively known as the Cookie Crew.

The duo formed Clapham, South London in 1983 which was about 2 years before  groups like Salt-N-Pepa formed. Their career took off after winning a national rap championship and recording two sessions for the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show. They gained a recording contract from the UK dance record label Rhythm King and were put in the studio with the production trio Beatmasters, who put them in a house music direction.

In July 1987, the resultant single “Rok Da House” was popular in the nightclubs. many consider it one of the first Hip-House songs. Their follow-up single “Females” also was a minor hit in October 1987. The continuing popularity of “Rok Da House” in nightclubs eventually renewed interest in the track and garnered a couple of television appearances on the No Limits programme.

The record was re-issued at the end of December 1987 and crossed over into the mainstream. The song became a Top 5 hit in the UK Singles Chart at the beginning of February 1988, and was even used for an advertising campaign. The track is often quoted as being the first hip house record.[who?]

Cookie CrewThe duo moved on to another record label, FFRR and different producers, resulting in a string of hit singles in 1989, with “Born This Way (Let’s Dance)“, “Got to Keep On” with Edwin Starr and “Come and Get Some“; plus the album Born This Way! which reached number 24 in the UK Albums Chart. “Got to Keep On” also reached #33 in the U.S. Dance chart.[2]

By 1992, there were differences of opinion between the duo, who wanted to pursue more of an orthodox hip hop/rap style, and FFRR’s parent label London Records, who wanted to steer the duo towards more of a pop oriented style of rap. This resulted in the duo parting company with FFRR and retiring from the hip hop/rap scene. Despite this, Pryce and Banfield have remained involved with other projects within the music industry.

The two continued to perform and travel the world. Banfield is the sister of The Pasadenas’ singer Andrew Banfield, and Pryce was formerly a chef for the Ministry of Defense.

Reach Debbie Pryce on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cookiepryce

Check out the full list of 500 Female Emcees Everyone Should Know

Cookie Crew ‘Females’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIUMP9xdpGg

Cookie Crew ‘Born this Way’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LQILQHUBOM

Cookie Crew ‘Secret of Success’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ18sAU44wk

Cookie Crew ‘How Long has This Been Going On?’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-IW9zo4Sbk

Cookie Crew ‘Rok the House’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEgJv4Qn1JM

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News, 500 Females page Tagged With: , ,

500 Female Emcees: Meet Alika from Argentina

March 30, 2014 By
Alika (Argentina)

Alika (Argentina)

Based on his early days of hip hop, Alika has become one of the leaders of the world reggae-dancehall-speaking After joining Attitude Maria Marta (one of the first hip hop bands Argentine)

In 1999 decided to start their own project based on the Rastafarian culture. Alika has gained recognition as a highly conscious voice emanating from Latin America, direct and clear writing lyrics that speak of respect, dignity, and self-confidence at the same time recounting situations and common problems in neighborhoods in the Third World.

Her charisma and stage presence have allowed you to take your music to festivals, theaters, clubs, schools, hospitals, prisons and even in different cities around the world, including the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Venezuela , Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain and Andorra, Building an incredible race for whom, to this day, remains an independent artist.

Alika has 5 studio albums to date and is credited with creating some of the great hymns of Reggae in Spanish. Songs like Ejercito Despierta, Do not be sad, Galang, Lighters, Custom and kill you Hey my friend, have helped to establish Alika as an international reggae star and have helped put Latin Reggae on the world map. An example of this is the 5th. Alika in claborcion album with world renowned dub producer Mad Professor. This 2009 album titled Mad Proffesor meets Alika was entirely produced by the genius of dub.

Alika Dem Gots No Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHh8kIEV5H4

Alika Galang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw4rtERX0zw

Alika Todo Lo Negativo 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNKN_ibe9OY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr08Cl5QeJA

Check out the master list of 500 Female Emcees Everyone Should Know

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News, 500 Females page Tagged With: , ,

When will the FBI Take Down Corrupt Police Like they do Corrupt Politicians?

March 29, 2014 By

Police warriorsGlad to see the FBI has been hot on the case, spending 2 years seeking out corrupt politicians who are gun trafficking and bringing them down. For that they should be applauded. With the recent take downs of Cali state Senators Leland Yee and Ron Calderon, some might want to ask when will the FBI spend a couple of years going undercover and rooting out rogue police who shoot, kill and beat people with reckless abandon?

Will the FBI be infiltrating the ranks of the Sonoma County sheriffs (Sonoma is North of San Francisco) to find out why 13 year old Andy Lopez was really killed? Will they investigate the writings and behavior of deputy Erick Gelhaus the officer who shot him who wrote an article explaining how to protect yourself from an egregious/wrong shooting?  Will the FBI investigate and find out why Sonoma County deputies have shot and killed 57 people in that small area over the past 10 years?

Will the FBI be hidden within the rank and file of Oakland Police  to find out why they killed Alan Buford? Will they find out why Oakland had to shell out 58 million dollars in settlement money over 10 years because of brutality incidents. Will they investigate to find out why its 2014 and OPD has still yet to adhere to the federal consent decree which was a result of the infamous Riders scandal? ?

FBIWill the FBI be undercover looking to see why  3 officers went and killed 28 year honor student Alex Nieto in his Bernal Heights neighborhood last week after gentrifiers ‘became suspicious’?  To the FBI’s credit they did open up an investigation after a local public defender released video footage was released showing officers storming people’s homes without warrants.. The end result was 57 cases had to be dismissed because of those actions along with falsification of  police reports?  is the FBI still investigating SFPD?

So yes the FBI took down Leland Yee, when will they take down rogue, out of control cops who have tainted law enforcement and terrorized poor and marginalized communities?

Keep in mind it was just 3 weeks ago that the FBI announced they would be investigating vandalism crimes in upscale Atherton which is 30 miles south of San Francisco in Silicon Valley. Someone had spray painted anti-wealth message on several doors and the FBI said they would investigate because they keep track of activist organizations. This means that there’s a likely hood the FBI will be out monitoring the March today (Sat March 29 ) for Alex Neito, will they be monitoring the SF police who are being protested?

 

http://bit.ly/1lqqMxZ

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News

Queendom Comes Together | Sellassie Speaks on State of Bay Area Hip Hop

March 28, 2014 By
Jazz Monique Hudson

Jazz Hudson

 Hard Knock Radio (03-28-14), c0-host Anita Johnson chops it up with long time artist/ activist Jazz Monique Hudson about women in Hip Hop and the upcoming Queendom event featuring herself, Aima the Dreamer, Aisha Fukashima, DJ Zita, Queens D Light, Coco Peila and Shy An G to name a few. 

Jazz speaks about the current challenges of dealing with sexism within the industry as well as the power moves she and other women are making to remain independent and better equipped. Queendom is taking place on Friday March 28 2014 at Betti Onos and will feature women repppin’ all 4 elements of Hip Hop..

Later in the show,  Anita chops it up with SF artist Sellassie about the state of Hip Hop in the Bay Area. He explains the concept behind his upcoming unity summit he is organizing which is intended to bridge the gap between local artists and club and radio deejays.

He feels that many deejays are not supportive of the Bay sound.. Many deejays feel otherwise and hence this gathering Next Wednesday April 2 between 7-10pm at African American Cultural Center in the Filmore district of San Francisco..

Sellassie also talks about police brutality incidents and what folks should be doing to fight back.. On this show he reveals his new song ‘Cops Keep Firing.’

https://soundcloud.com/mrdaveyd/hard-knock-radio-03-28-14

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News, Hard Knock Radio Intv Tagged With: , , , , ,

Forget the TV Show ‘Scandal’, Leland Yee’s Arrest Reveals the Darkside of Politics

March 28, 2014 By
Leland Yee

Leland Yee

With the recent arrest of California state Senator Leland Yee, many who work to improve their community will have lots to think about and factor in as it relates to gun related violence. One of the most disturbing things Yee was arrested for was weapons trafficking and we’re not talking something that’s minor or a big stretch  where he’s accused of selling a improperly gun to someone.

Yee’s accused of wanting to do 2.5 million dollars worth of business. That business included selling rocket launchers and all sorts of weaponry. On top of that they’re saying all the people arrested with Lee including his friend, long time political consultant Keith Jackson and his son Brandon Jackson, were part of an organized crime syndicate..

Jackson who is a well-known fixture around San Francisco and the Bay Area in general is high-powered politico who like Yee served as school board president in SF.  He was indicted for a murder for hire plot on top of weapons and drug tracking charges.

Again, if any or all of this is all true there’s a helluva a lot we should be thinking about next time we talk about how certain neighborhoods are flooded by guns and drugs. Is it really low-level street corner cats or high and mighty powerful folks who shot call and manipulate this system?

Mayor Ed Lee

Mayor Ed Lee

People should keep in mind that last year the Mayor Ed Lee was contemplating bringing Stop and Frisk style policing to San Francisco. He was concerned that there were ‘too many guns‘ on the streets. In nearby Oakland there’s a defacto stop and frisk program underway where Black folks who make up 28% of the population are 62% of police stops. You find similar targeting in other California cities. Perhaps the police should be stopping and frisking public officials and leave the average person alone. Ask yourself, where all those guns Yee and others were trafficking went to? Did anyone get killed with one of them? Let’s reflect on that for a minute.

Yee was a strong advocate for gun control. He penned some of the strongest anti-gun legislation in the state and maybe the country. He was named to the  Brady Bill Honor Roll for his strong anti-gun stances. Yee’s bottom line was all about making sure assault weapons were off our streets.

Leland Yee went hard on the industry for violent video games

Leland Yee went hard on the industry for violent video games

On top of that, Lee went HAM on the video game industry. He felt that many of the military and gun games were too realistic and would lead to folks being desensitized to violence. He also went after the military for investing money in these games. Yee was the go to guy for anti-violence and as a result was championed up and down the state, so much so that he had a good chance to become California’s Secretary of State. He just pulled out of that campaign.

Looking at all this strictly from a political stand point, Yee’s arrest alone has given the NRA and gun-lobby folks all sorts of ammunition (no pun intended) to not only make sure guns stay accessible with little or no restrictions, but it also lays ground work for folks to make arguments to enhance Castle doctrines and Stand Your Ground Laws.

One can easily see the gun-lobby making the argument that the public is at risk by ‘powerful people who are selling rocket launchers, guns etc’ to ‘nefarious types’ while an unwitting public is in the dark. The argument will be made that the public has a right to protect itself when such powerful forces using their political clout and connections are in the mix.

It should also be noted that Yee is accused of trying to buy rocket launchers for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in which the state department considers a terrorist organization. Maybe that was a freedom fighter move on his part because he supports their cause or maybe it was just him wanting to get money. Our concern should be whether or not this realization will lead to increased domestic surveillance or will the NSA and other spy agencies narrow their focus to rich and powerful vs the average person trying to make ends meet?

It’s probably safe to say that Yee is not really where the buck stops. Many feel he’s just the tip of the iceberg and while there were 26 people altogether arrested around this FBI sting operation that netted Yee, all of us should asking who else is in the mix? Are they Judges? rogue cops? the Mayor? Any Supervisors? Who else has their hands dirty? For example, in the report you read Keith Jackson’s associate stating that he got bullet proof vests straight from the police. They later corrected themselves and said the FBI? Were they stolen or gotten from someone involved?

Raymond Chow aka Shrimp Boy

Raymond Chow aka Shrimp Boy

When you read the FBI report its straight out of series like 24 or a spy novel. It has activities and people involved from all over the country. It has arms dealing on an international level. It has money laundering from here to Boston, it has marijuana grow houses around the Bay including one in Oakland. They’re shipping cocaine from here to Memphis, Tn. They’re shipping weapons all over the world. They have kill for hire plots and lots of powerful people in the so-called underworld as well as in political circles rubbing elbows. It’s all there.

The way it reads it has Raymond Chow aka Shrimp Boy the former high level gangster who had ‘reformed’ as a central figure who has been rewarded and honored by all sorts of high-profile politicians including our own Senator Diane Feinstein  but you get the sense that there’s a lot more to this-a lot more. One thing for sure, politics is a dirty, filthy, scandalous business. Check out the report HERE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FukuL6WVJeU

On another note in recent months there have been a number of Democrats up and down the state caught up in scandals.. That’s sadly ironic when u consider Dems are often railing about the Koch Brothers, Rupert Murdoch and other far right entities that are corrupt..One would think they of all people would keep their noses clean, but far too many have not. They are seduced by power and money like the people they criticize.

Adding to all this are the corporate payoffs to Civil Rights organizations which has resulted in them twisting their decision-making on key issues like GMO Food labeling, Soda Tax, Net Neutrality and Media consolidation (Yes a number of key Civil Rights orgs have been in favor of Comcast and Time Warner merging). Wonder what dirt doings are going on in those circles??

Its more than just Leland Yee who has a lot of explaining to do..

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News Tagged With: , , , ,

The Murder of Alex Nieto by SFPD and Scared Gentrifiers (Town Hall Meeting)

March 27, 2014 By
Chief Greg Suhr of SFPD addressing an upset crowd at the Town Hall

Chief Greg Suhr of SFPD addressing an upset crowd at the Town Hall

Long time residents in the City of San Francisco have been growing more and more upset with each passing day as word about the brutal murder of honor student & security guard, 28 year old Alex Nieto at the hands of SFPD gets out…

The police attempted to calm things down by holding a town hall meeting the other night which left people even more disturbed. Many felt what they were being told didn’t add up.

The family of Alex Nieto were on hand and so were damn near half the Mission and Bernal Heights district where Nieto lived. Everyone was demanding to know why Alex was shot and who called the police on him?

SF Police Chief Greg Suhr went all over the map trying to explain why his highly trained officers couldn’t tell the difference between a gun and a taser in daylight hours and why more than 50 shots were fired at Nieto.

What was gathered from the meeting was someone became suspicious of Alex and called the police 3 times. The first call was to report he had a gun, which was actually his work taser. The second call was to say he was pacing back and forth with ‘his gun’ (taser) still at his side.

A third call was made to say that Alex was eating with his ‘gun still at his side’ .. Police showed up on the scene 3 deep.. surrounded Alex from 75 feet away and shot him after they say he pointed his taser at them which the police thought was a gun.

Alejandro 'Alex' Nieto

Alejandro ‘Alex’ Nieto

Tiny Garcia who heads up Poor News Network and Poor Magazine was on hand with her crew and captured high points of the meeting.. You will hear that on this episode HKR. Here’s an excerpt from her article on the gathering, titled: GentriFUKation Killed Alex- the brutal murder by Po’Lice of Mission sun Alejandro Nieto

“We don’t want to hear Alex’s murderers,” People shouted intermittently into the air of the Leonard Flynn Elementary school auditorium. The standing room only Town Hall was yelling above the Po’Lice as they spoke  about the murder of young Raza organizer, City College of SF student and beloved sun de la mision, Alejandro Nieto.

check out the entire article at http://www.poormagazine.org/node/5083

 https://soundcloud.com/mrdaveyd/hard-knock-radio-03-27-14-the

Below is the interview we did with community activist and organizer Jason Wallach from the Center of Political Education who attended the both the vigil and town hall meeting and penned the first article around Alex’s murder. In our interview he brings up the tactics that are often used by police during these incidents which he says comes from a ‘play book’. It starts with demonizing and blaming the victim and ends with presenting a picture that the cop/cops were in fear and danger of their lives.

Wallach notes that insidious narrative doesn’t match up with Alex’s reputation and and statement from friends. It also doesnt match up with a guy who was trying to go into law enforcement

https://soundcloud.com/mrdaveyd/hard-knock-radio-03-26-14-the

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News Tagged With: , , , ,

SFPD Kill Scholarship Student & Security Guard After ‘Gentrifiers’ Get Suspicious

March 25, 2014 By

This story comes courtesy of local activist Jason Wallach.

Alejandro Nieto

Alejandro Nieto

I am upset this evening because today I learned about Alejandro Nieto, who was killed by a barrage of San Francisco Police Department bullets last Friday evening near the service road leading up Bernal Hill.

I attended the vigil in Alex’s (as he was known to friends) honor that took place at the site where he died, on the service road leading up Bernal Hill. At the vigil, I learned that he was a scholarship student at City College of San Francisco, studying Criminal Justice. He wanted to be a parole officer to help guide young men’s lives into good directions. He was a devout Buddhist who believed in creating the peace in his community that he wanted to see spread across the Earth. He was a loving, caring individual. I found out through a poem that his birthday was March 4th.

I also learned that the SFPD shot him last Friday as he ate a burrito just before heading to work as a security guard. He was wearing his work-authorized tazer on his belt, but the police did not ask him about that. They did not consider the source of racist fear that motivated the (mostly) white dog-walking residents to frantically call police because of Alejandro’s presence. The cruel irony is that his job was to provide a sense of security for patrons at a restaurant/bar — so they could eat in peace. But Ale’s presence — his simple presence IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT HE GREW UP IN — was enough to create a sense of IN-security for his recently arrived neighbors… and that not only could he not eat in peace, but because of it Alejandro is now Resting in Peace.

There is so much work to be done on so many levels to prevent this type of thing from ever happening again. It won’t be changed in a day. But if we show up for Alex in the coming days, maybe we can show that he did not die in vain. (Cuz for right now, it sure feels like his life was senselessly stolen from him.)

There will be a Town Hall meeting about this police murder of one of our community members tomorrow, Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at 6:00 PM at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School, 3125 Cesar Chavez. Alejandro’s family and friends are asking for community support and presence at this meeting. Please come if you can.

written by Jason Wallach for the Center of Political Education

Here’s another story about this

http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2014/03/25/sfpd-answer-questions-fatal-shooting-alejandro-nieto

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News Tagged With: ,

500 Female Emcees Everyone Should Know- ( Davey D’s Ultimate List )

March 25, 2014 By
maria Isa

Maria Isa

Below is a list of 500 Female Emcees and the first thing that everyone reading this should know is that the list is not complete. To be honest there’s more than 500 names, much more, but still the list is not complete nor will it ever be. There are too many places and spaces that I have never been nor have the incredible artists like Aisha Fukashima the Raptivist, Mad-lines, Aima the Dreamer, Raw G, Ximbo, Invincible and D’Labrie who over the past year contributed greatly to this list.

The list is not complete even as we have other wonderful lists like; the Illest Female Rappers, Women of Hip Hop, Female Rappers Tumblir, The Female Rappers Network or more recently Patrick McNease‘s Ultimate Female Emcee List. If we really think about it, we don’t want this or any list to be complete. There will always be more emcees to add as long as this culture call Hip Hop is alive, well and is global. If the list stops growing Hip Hop stops growing..

With that being said, the reason why the list came about in the first place was out of frustration and a realization that many within this industry , in particular my male brethren needed to be enlightened.

It was a frustration that many of my women friends within Hip Hop were having when they would hear some pompous music critic or ‘industry expert’ say some ignorant crap like; ‘all women sound the same‘ or ‘these women need to put out hit songs‘, women need to grind harder and promote themselves better or ‘there aren’t a lot of quality women emcees out there‘. All those statements are gross generalizations and reflect a laziness on the part of those making the claim or extreme bias.

The frustration many were feeling was one that would come after hearing announcement after announcement for some huge mega-Cochella-Sumer-Jam-Rock-the-Bells-Spring-Bling type concert that would feature 20 plus acts and only one woman would be on the bill. It was frustration that was felt after pointing out such egregious oversights only to be ignored and ridiculed.

female-emcees-psoterlightIt was the frustration of hearing promoters doing smaller shows claiming that women won’t attract an audience and hence would not be a sound business move even to have one open up a show.

It was frustration of going to a club featuring a popular deejay lauded for being a Hip Hop icon with a reputation for ‘digging in the crates’ and turning audiences onto new music from far off lands and forgotten times only to discover that they rarely dig in crates and ‘discover’ a dope female emcee…

And don’t get it twisted, this refusal to share space has been going on a for a while and many women have expressed frustration the ones I know have not been sitting around waiting for miracles to occur. Many have started doing their own shows and put on vibrant events..From Invincible out of Detroit who I saw do several all women showcases at SXSW and have them packed with lines out the door to Aisha the Raptivist who has traveled the world and and done her own tours to Raw G who promotes here in the Bay Area locally and always brings out incredible women emcees like Alika from Argentina Dunay Surez from Cuba or Ximbo from Mexico, folks are steady grinding and making moves

Where I think folks are getting short changed are in male dominated spaces where female voices, POV and approaches toward Hip Hop are not readily present. Its a cipher that’s incomplete and that has got to change.
The list below was ideally to serve as a guide of sorts to anyone who had this female emcee blind spot.

Its a guide for deejays caught yapping about how ‘there ain’t no good female emcees‘. Its a weak excuse often given for them not rocking any women during a deejay set or mixshow.. Out of all the emcees featured on this list there are  some hard hitters out there they can not and will not be denied. This list gives them no excuse. There are sistas on here who do Trap, Backpack, boom bap, raggamuffin, pop, underground, commercial, hardcore etc..The variety is endless.

The list below is guide for promoters who say there’s ‘no market out there for women emcees‘.  A quick look at some of the folks on this list crushes that assertion down to its very last compound. From the days of Her Story Hip Hop Tours and See It Live showcases to 5th Element gatherings to upcoming Queendom Concerts to all women showcases put on by Invincible to showcases like Black Women Rock w/ Jessica Care Moore to Rock Like A Girl on the Mic w/ Toni Blackman to Hip Sister Radio to name a few, the scene is healthy. No matter what city. No matter what country, there are emcees listed for you to check out.. From Brooklyn to Oakland to Russia to new Zealand to Pakistan and beyond..

Sa-Roc

Sa-Roc

The list is a guide for academic types who can speak at length about male artists over various eras in Hip Hop but when it comes time to referencing women, they only know MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and Nicki Minaj and maybe a Lil Kim. This list is for them to check out and help expand their hip hop vocabulary so they can reference dynamic women like; Sa-Roc, Stahhr, Rocky Rivera, Shadia Mansour, Keny Arkana, Cihuatl Ce, Kellee Maize or Farrah Burns. Rock their songs, play their videos, examine their lyrics

The way the list works is each name is linked to a video and in a few cases to a sound cloud page.. Some of the names are linked to 3 Dope Song series page or a 500 Female Emcee page. In putting this list together it was noted that one song or video often didn’t do artists justice. They are much more complex. As you will note, included on the list are several singers and  spoke nword artists whose presence and influence in Hip Hop can not be denied.

It’s hoped that folks will peep the music, read about the artists click on the links associated with them and start digitally digging in the crates. Not everyone is gonna be great. Not everyone is gonna have a masterpiece of a song or album, but many do and as lovers and protectors of this culture we all should be pushing ourselves to do a better job bringing forth ‘new finds‘ vs having it be dictated to us by corporate interests and their mouth pieces.

 

-Davey D-

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Posse Cuts

Da Ladies in the House

10 white Female Rappers

Compton Female Cypher

Team Backpack Female Cypher

Team Backpack female Cypher #2

Rocky Rivera, Plane Jane, Oh Blimey, Raven Sorina ‘Girlz Rmx‘

Reebok Female Cypher

Illest Female Rappers

Phuturehype 2006

Hip Sista Hop Radio

Women of Hip Hop

Mujeres Trabajando

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News, 500 Females page Tagged With: , , ,

Meet Jessica Care Moore Legendary Poet-Build Black Institutions

March 25, 2014 By

Jessica Care MooreLast week the Bay Area was blessed when legendary poet, playwright, actress, educator, businesswoman and mother Jessica Care Moore made the trek from Detroit to historic Merit College (birthplace of the Black Panthers) to give a talk. Inside the Huey P Newton/ Bobby Seal Lounge, Moore talked for about an hour to a packed room about a number of topics ranging from her friendship with the late Amiri Baraka and why she felt her generation were connected with the Black Arts Movement which is often erased and marginalized in history. She talked about some of the projects folks are working on the preserve the memory of Baraka and bring a larger spotlight on to BAM.

We spoke about her native Detroit and the legacy of techno music and its pioneers Juan Atkins and her good friend Mad Mike Banks who opened a techno museum. We talked about how many forget techno is a black music genre and why Detroit and its gritty conditions gave birth to it in the early 80s. Jessica noted that she had recorded her album inside the techno museum and was working on a project with Mad Mike that will soon be released.

We talked with Moore about her close friendship with John Doe aka J-Dilla who actually made beats for her spoken word that have yet to be released. Yes, there are unheard Dilla beats sitting around..

We spoke about her close friendship with Detroit’s unofficial mayor the late Proof of the group D-12. We talked about the early days of his now iconic Hip Hop Shop and what it meant to the city. We talked about Eminem and his rise to fame and what its meant for Detroit. We talked about the strong women artists who come from that city.

Jessica Care mooreWe talked about Moore’s current project Black Women Rock which went down last weekend and why she formed it and its overall goal of showcasing and empowering talented women not just from Detroit but from around the country.

During our interview we talked about the city in general and its current financial hardships and how Detroit is changing for the better if you are rich. She noted the city is deliberately changing to exclude and oppress the poor. She talked at length about what and how people are fighting back..

Moore talked at length about the importance of institution building and why its essential for Black folks and artists to make moves in direction. She talked about Black Women Rock is an institution and we spoke about her publishing company Moore Books which has been home to a number of important spoken word artists including Saul Williams. She talked about how she learned from Third World Press publisher Haki Madhubuti who was a key member of the Black Arts Movement

We talked about the work she did with Nas and her current project she has done that features stellar figures like Roy Ayers..

https://soundcloud.com/mrdaveyd/hard-knock-radio-03-24-14-intv

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News, Hard Knock Radio Intv Tagged With: , , , ,
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