2014 Daily News | Hip-Hop and Politics

3 Dope songs from LA Rapper Ak’sent

February 14, 2014 By mrDaveyd

Ak’Sent aka Krystle Kantrece Johnson is from LA..I remember when she first hit the scene around ’05, ’06, she looked like she was ready to be that main person everyone was checking for.. But then she disappeared.. Not sure what happened, but her music was dope and as an emcee she was up there..

Her father is of African-American descent, while her mother is of Mexican descent. Ak’Sent grew up quickly thanks to a rough childhood. Her father was an aspiring rapper caught up in the gang lifestyle and was killed in a gang shooting when she was four years old, and with her mother unable to support her on her own, she was sent to live with her grandparents in South Central, Los Angeles.

Ak’Sent was signed to Capitol Records when she was only 16. Since then she has worked with a number of well-known professionals such as The Jugganauts, DJ Quik, & Beenie Man.

Ak’Sent aims to avoid the glorification of violence and prefers to think of Hip-Hop as a form of “street poetry.” Her first album, International, was released on September 26, 2006. She released her second album Gem-In-I under the Avex label. It was released on July 16, 2008 in Japan only. She is currently recording her third album and a mixtape.

Although Ak’Sent signed to a major label when she was only 16 years old, her African-American/Latino background had her wondering where to fit in. Adding to her challenges, rap music wasn’t allowed in her grandparent’s house, but as Ak’Sent learned more about her father’s hip-hop aspirations, she decided she should carry on in his honor. She eventually spent time in several R&B-based girl groups and began dance training with Debbie Allen. One showcase at the age of 16 had the young multi-talent signed to Capitol and working with the production duo The Jugganauts. Ak’Sent was especially excited about the Caribbean-styled beats the Jugganauts were working on, and soon she was writing a series of dancehall numbers. One was the future hit “Zingy“, featuring guest star Beenie Man, who Ak’Sent herself had chosen because she was a huge fan. Her debut International landed in 2006 with a Spanish-language remix of “Zingy” and an ode to her departed father titled “My Life“.

source wikipedia.. for more info on Ak’sent go to http://www.aksent.com/

Ak’sent ‘The Bomb’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izg4mcWrzTY

Ak’sent ‘Bounce’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXOKk3HC1Y0

Ak’sent ‘I Hate Love’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SauqNhpOm8

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News, 3 Dope songs, 500 Females page Tagged With: ak'sent, Hip Hop, Hip hop music, Music

3 Dope Songs from Alia Sharrief Repping East Sacramento

February 14, 2014 By mrDaveyd

Finally hip hop heads can rejoice in the emergence of Alia Sharrief. Hailing from East Sacramento and now living in the Bay Area, she is well-known throughout California, and now internationally. Alia’s message stresses that she is more than an image. She is #newfemalehiphop. New art. New revolution.

Remembering Malcolm X’s Long Connection to Hip Hop

February 14, 2014 By mrDaveyd

In the aftermath of the firestorm Nicki Minaj caused soiling the image of Malcolm X El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) by using him as a marketing tool for her new song ‘Lookin’ Ass Nigga‘, we wanted to take some time out to remind people of the long history our Black Shining Prince has with Hip Hop.

Malcolm X had such a presence in Hip Hop because he was sampled so much and his image was put in so many videos, many would remark that he was an emcee. His words of wisdom and powerful voice was a part of Hip Hop’s soundtrack and it informed us.

Those who are old enough will recall the early days of Hip Hop, before records were made, pioneering deejays like Afrika Bambaataa would rock Malcolm speeches over break beats. Not only did it sound funky but it helped raise our consciousness. For many of us it was our first introduction to him. It inspired many to pick up his autobiography which was transformative.

In all fairness it should be noted that Bam was doing what many within jazz had already started doing in terms of inserting Malcolm’s voice within their work. Many did songs that paid tribute to him.. Hip Hop had joined the circle.

In the pioneering days of Hip Hop, Malcolm’s presence was felt because many of us one of the hot spots for early Hip Hop jams was the famed Audubon Ballroom. Situated right across the street from Presbyterian Hospital on 168th and Broadway (where I was born), one could not attend a Hip Hop jam in the late 70s early 80s at the Audubon and not think of its sordid history. This was where Malcolm was assassinated (Feb 21 1965) . One could not enter that Audubon, see the huge hospital less than 100 feet away across the street and not wonder why it took over 45 minutes for the police and medics to get him inside that building after he was shot to work on saving his life..

It should also be noted that Malcolm’s presence was felt when folks picked up compilations of reissued break beats ‘Super Disco Breaks‘ on Paul Winley records. Winley also pressed up copies of Malcolm’s speeches. Many of us snatched copies of Ballot or the Bullet along with early recordings where Malcolm would spit fire. On some of the reissued speeches, Winley rearranged them to sound like press conferences. He had an announcer ask questions and than would edit in excerpts from one of Malcolm’s speeches.

Break beats and Malcolm X was the formula back in the early days. It was all crystallized in 1983 when Tommy Boy records released the song ‘No sell Out’ from drummer Keith Leblanc where bits and pieces of Malcolm were interspersed throughout the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPw85V1q7CA

During the so-called Golden era you had everyone from Poor Righteous Teachers to Paris to 3x Dope to Gang Starr to Public Enemy all rocked Malcolm samples in their songs.. KRS One mimicked the infamous Malcolm X pitcher, that Nicki Minaj soiled, where he was holding a gun looking out the window, ready to protect himself after his home had been firebombed. Many say KRS kicked things off when he featured Malcolm X in his My Philosophy video … I miss those days..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1vKOchATXs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra2JbaIcB60

Malcolm was sampled so much that he wound up being on the cover of the Source Magazine in 1990. Many forgot about that. Say what you will, the powers that be (Cointel-Pro, J Edgar Hoover, FBI) worked overtime to remove Malcolm from our collective consciousness must’ve been fuming when that happened. At the height of the crack era, Malcolm had reached young minds from the grave and was helping reshaped them..

It wasn’t too long after that Source cover that we started to not see and hear Malcolm as much. Some said it was because labels and his estate were smashing on people for sampling him and wanted to collect money if his voice was added to any record. Others said he was over exposed especially after Spike Lee‘s movie came out in 92 and folks started rocking X hats thinking it stood for the number ’10’ vs Malcolm X…

Perhaps it was a new version of cointel-pro working in overdrive to stamp out his presence once and for all and make sure he never got that far into the mainstream undistorted and un-maligned. Perhaps it’s for that reason when future generations of emcees sampled Malcolm X and did justice to his image that the songs were uncelebrated and damn near marginalized. They range from David Banner‘s Malcolm X to local artists like D’Labrie‘s It Aint EZ w/ San Quinn and Keyanna Bean to folks like DJ/ Professor Jared Ball (I Mix What I Like) taking it to another level and by editing and penning books about Malcolm X to keep his legacy in tact.. (A Lie of Reivention Correcting Manning Marable’s Malcolm X )

Maybe it was this effort to erase Malcolm that artists like Nicki Minaj felt comfortable maligning him.. She didn’t see him as a peer as was the case with past generations, but instead as dusty irrelevant relic of the past.

Nicki was pressured to remove this image and issue an apology thanks to other Hip Hop community leaders like Rosa Clemente who were outraged, still saw Malcolm as a peer and launched an online petition that garnered thousands of signatures opposing Nicki’s latest offering which many found offensive.

Here are a few other songs that were dope that came out at a time many were screaming for conscious music that evoked Malcolm and have gone unnoticed..

Killer Mike w/ Ice Cube ‘The Pressure’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKh5p8_XFFc

Akrobatik ‘Remind My Soul’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Zle34Y4Ns

Jasiri X ‘Universal Ruler‘

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlx2M_nnF0w

K-Hill For My People

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfhmTaf0ahI

Malcolm Meets Fort Minor Our Black Shining Prince (Davey D remix)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7o3zVD7rx0&sns=tw

Many have got it twisted in thinking Malcom X somehow softened or lightened up in his final days.. This speech given in 1965 one month before he was killed is anything but soft.. He stays sharply focused and unwavering in his fight for freedom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac3WliIKNPI

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News Tagged With: akrobatik, Audobon Ballroom, Hip Hop, Malcolm X, Nicki Minaj, Rosa clemente

5 Thumbs Down to KRON TV for their Misleading Report on Oakland Sideshows

February 13, 2014 By mrDaveyd

So yesterday KRON 4 News decided to do some cheap underhanded sleight of hand BS during their segment People Behaving Badly..where they focused on Oakland Side shows.. They lead into the segment with Pam Moore announcing they have ‘shocking new video’ and then reporter Stanley Roberts Kron kicks off the segment by describing Oakland as the Wild, Wild West.. From there viewers are treated to this ‘new’ ‘shocking’ footage..Only problem is the new footage is from 1-2 and maybe even 3 years ago..

KRON gives no context to videos to let you know if folks are from LA and other far away cities which many of the sideshow footage on YouTube clearly show..

Even though KRON ran a notice at the top of the screen that says courtesy of YouTube it was shown for less than 3 seconds while they put the KRON logo over the videos and make it seem like a reporter was actually out on the turf interviewing a young man shown in a year old video holding a gun that he shoots in the air..

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

This side show footage shown on KRON is damn near a year old

KRON cuts that part out and leads viewers to believe that at any minute serious drama is about to jump off…We don’t know if the young man is from Oakland.. We don’t know if he’s still around since the video is a year old. We don’t know anything except KRON tried to make it look like they were the ones who did the on the spot interview vs his homie whose voice they cut out in the report..

We don’t even know why this young man was holding a gun or not too concerned about being seen on video. My take is when your friends are filming you, you’re not too concerned vs when a news reporter is filming you and intends to show it on the evening news..

KRON also doesn’t give you the context of him hanging with a number of his friends in his own neighborhood. Instead they show quick cutaway of a woman walking by looking at her cell phone and offer their own explanation about how jaded and shocking it is that she’s not alarmed by dude holding a gun..They imply that this woman was an ‘innocent bystander’ navigating the mean streets of Oakland in the ‘Wild, Wild West’ and she was in mortal danger. A quick look at the original footage shows that the woman is hanging with the crew and even gets in one of the cars.. She wasn’t ‘all into her cell phone’ as reporter Stanley Roberts asserts.. She was using her cell phone to film the cars like everyone else.

In the back you can see the ‘innocent bystander woman hanging out with the crew at the sideshow

KRON misleads viewers by juxtaposing a relatively calm and uneventful scene with footage from other sideshows that were ‘turnt up’, including age-old footage where revelers throw bottles at police cars. The scene shown reminded me of the time when folks were throwing bottles at police cars in SF after the Giants won the world series. Maybe KRON should’ve shown that since they were using 2-year-old footage anyway it could’ve added to the sense of drama and mayhem..

They edit one video on top of the other so you feel like all hell is breaking out and it all went down over this past weekend. Here’s the original clip that KRON jacks to make it look like their own.. You can see the interview about 5 minutes in..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUd9aC97Wz4

With all that being said, while KRON was busy letting you know how ‘Oakland was Behaving Badly’ by showing 2-year-old side-show footage, they neglected to head on over to SF and show how our own US Senator Diane Feinstein is behaving badly by sponsoring a bill that would essentially legalize and give the President even more power to collect data and spy on us.. It’s called the FISA Improvement Bill and was subject to a worldwide protest that involved millions this past Tuesday..

Why didn’t KRON’s Stanley Roberts bring a camera to the Senator’s office and show her bad behavior and talk about her deep pocket connections to the defense industry that seems to sway all her decision-making?

Why didn’t KRON bring camera’s over to Feinstein’s husband Richard Blum and ask him why he’s leading the charge to privatize the US Postal Service and how he’s getting lucrative government contracts to sell off Post Offices all over the country??

Elders fighting the Ellis Act in SF…

Why didn’t KRON bring camera’s over to the SF’s DA’s office this past week where folks like Lisa Tiny Gray-Garcia of Poor Magazine were confronting unscrupulous corporate backed landlords and showing how their abuse of the Ellis Act in number of instances violates state law is a form of elder abuse?? They are pushing the DA to press charges.. Maybe Roberts should be covering that vs showing year old footage and passing it off as new…You can read the story Poor Magazine did on that ran in the SF Bayview here–> http://sfbayview.com/2014/the-crime-of-ellis-act-evictions/

Lastly I hope some of our esteemed council members like Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Libby Schaaf and Desley Brooks among others push back on KRON for such a misleading report..This is not to excuse reckless behavior. There are lots of people in Oakland trying to improve things as evident by this past weekends packed out Black Male Achievement Hackathon.. what needs to be checked is reckless news reporting…5 thumbs down for KRON on that one..

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News Tagged With: KRON, Oakland, recless Reporting, Sideshows, Stanley Roberts, Wild Wild West

3 Dope Songs From Sa-Roc: A New Day is Upon Us-True Mastery

February 10, 2014 By mrDaveyd

We continue our 3 Dope Song series by shining a well deserved spotlight on the very powerful and gifted Sa-Roc who originally hails from Washington DC, and is now based in Atlanta where she reps the God-Hop Movement.

Her new joint True Mastery is the biz as she lets folks know a new day is upon us in Hip Hop.. Either come to the table with heat and get your bars up or be removed from the cipher. Sa-Roc is not playing. Check out her new album Babylon

Here’s a bit more info about this sister as noted in her bio

A product of Afrikan-centered parents, Saroc developed a rebel mentality from an early age. She grew up on the music of Jimi Hendrix, Gil Scott Heron, and Earth,Wind & Fire. Her musical soundtrack was a klash of sounds, from gogo, to rock, to hip hop. This foundation began an aural quest for different sounds and concepts in music.

It wasn’t until 2002, when Saroc met Atlanta producer Sol Messiah, that she began her love affair with the mic. Armed with the lessons and musical genius of Sol Messiah, she developed a sound that was 1 part hood poetry, 2 parts otherworldly, and totally new and fresh. From subject matter ranging from melanin to pyramids, Saroc spits metaphysical ideas over melodic hip hop beats, seeking to fuse knowledge of self with great music.

Sa-Roc – True Mastery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq65f67_2bs

Sa-Roc – Queen’s Philosphy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBaDqpbckZc

Sa-Roc – Sun Tzu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVXh8Q12Ags

Sa-Roc – Black God Theory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkrWOJVAdb4

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News, 3 Dope songs Tagged With: 3 Dope Songs, God-Hop Movement, Queen's Philosophy, Sa-Roc, True Mastery

Today is J-Dilla’s Birthday.. Phife Dawg from Tribe Does a Tribute song

February 7, 2014 By mrDaveyd

J-Dilla

Phife from Tribe Called Quest released a new single, ‘#dearDilla’, which is an open letter to his long time friend and producer, legendary J Dilla (James Dewitt Yancey) whose birthday is today February 7th..He would’ve been 40..

Dilla passed away February 10th in 2006 from complications of a rare blood disorder. With a soundscape created by Dj Rasta Root, Phife talks to Dilla about the current state of music and how much he and his work are missed.

“Before J Dilla passed, he and I were playing phone tag, I didn’t even know he was that sick until it was too late,” Phife said. “We didn’t realize we were both going through a lot with our health and never got to sit and talk about it together.”

I felt like this song is that conversation. “I’ve been wanting to record a dedication to J Dilla for the longest, it just seemed to finally be the right time to do it,” said Phife from his home in Oakland, CA. “It was very therapeutic for me to do this. There are a lot of people dealing with renal failure and I wanted to make this a conduit, a way for people to put their health issues out there.”

#dearDilla combines the drum loop that Dilla used for Slum Village’s “Hold Tight” layered with Dilla’s distinct ad-libs sprinkled through out the track. Rasta Root enlisted the help of the DMV’s own V.Rich for the beautiful keys that make up the song’s hypnotic melody and a warm bassline by Atl’s own “DETOXXX”.

”The song organically came together piece by piece. Originally I looped it up to just have a new way of mixing in that song. Then it snowballed in to what you hear today. I wanted fans of Dilla and Phife to feel right at home with this track. I am very proud of Phife for opening up like this and giving the world this musical gem.” said Rasta Root from his Atlanta home studio.

#dearDilla also has an amazing visual directed by Chicago’s own Konee Rok. They shot the video over three days in Chicago and Detroit. ‘This is the most heartfelt project I’ve ever been blessed to be a part of.’ said Konee. ‘and represents the return of honest Hip Hop.’ Of the song, Konee also adds, ‘This is not just another rap song, but meaningful music. Art. If this was my last video, I would die happy.’

The visual for #deardilla will have a premier in Atlanta on Feb. 6th at the Midtown Art Cinema (7:30-9:30pm) with a Q & A. Then also premiered at Dilla Day in Detroit on Feb. 7th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPWYIkdsZtY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC3Cthm0HFU

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News Tagged With: deardilla, J-Dilla, James Dewitt Yancey, Phife

Founding Fathers Documentary: Hip Hop Did Not Start in the Bronx

February 5, 2014 By mrDaveyd

This is a throwback article from Feb 5 2009, penned by writer/historian Mark Skillz that talks about the clips that were circulating around about a documentary called Founding Fathers; The Untold Story of Hip Hop which chronicles the mobile deejay scene that existed in Brooklyn before and alongside what was cracking off in the Bronx in the late 60s, early 70s… Since this article was penned, we added some video clips to give the story more context..

This is a documentary coming out sometime next year, I don’t know who the producers of this film are, but they are on point in this joint. Some of the people I recognize off the bat are: DJ Divine of Infinity Machine, Sweety Gee and Pete DJ Jones.

One of the premises of this film is that hip-hop didn’t just start in the Bronx. One of the first people I remember is a guy who played all over Queens named King Charles. This was 1977 maybe early 1978, that I started seeing flyers all over the place featuring his jams, along with the Disco Twins and Cipher Sounds. At the top of the flyer it would say: Tiny Promotions, or something like that.

I hope Pete Jones says live on camera that he is NOT from Brooklyn! For years it has been reported that Pete DJ Jones was from Brooklyn – he isn’t, he lives in the Bronx and is originally from Durham, North Carolina.

I remember a couple of years back my home boy Davey D was on a panel somewhere in New York, when a brother in the audience got real heated up, when a Bronx cat, possibly Grandmaster Caz, said something to the effect of hip-hop starting in the Bronx with Kool Herc.

This brother, who was the maintenance man or something like that in the venue where the panel was being held took real exception to the whole “hip-hop started in the Bronx” thing. He said, hip-hop started in Brooklyn with guys like Grandmaster Flowers and the Smith Brothers and he named off all kinds of streets and projects where the different deejays did their thing at. To top it off, he said the Bronx cats never came around there, so how would they know what they were doing?

To be sure, there were all kinds of mobile jocks in New York in the early 70’s. Hands down, no questions. I’ve always asked the Bronx cats that I’ve interviewed this one important question, “Yo, what impact did the Jamaican sound systems have on ya’ll?”

Everybody from Toney Tone to Kool Herc to Bambaataa said: “None, none at all. They weren’t a part of our thing. They did their own thing.”

Which is more than likely true, with one exception Grandmaster Flash’s sound system the Gladiator was built by some Jamaican brothers on Freeman Street. And in Brooklyn, there is no way in the world those dudes in Brooklyn could not have heard the different sound systems. Deejay culture in Jamaica goes back to the 50’s!

The one time I interviewed Kool Herc I asked him about the Jamaican sound systems in the Bronx and he acknowledged knowing a few of them, but said that they had no influence or impact whatsoever.

What pisses alot of dudes from Queens and Brooklyn off is when the Bronx cats dismiss them (the early dudes that is) as being “disco”. That’s a diss, in the literal sense. It’s their way of dismissing those brothers as being something inauthentic. To be sure, yes, the brothers did play what was popular on the radio, but they also played breaks too! The real division between the Bronx and I’m gonna say the other four boroughs, is the fact that there was a heavier emphasis on breaks – rare breaks and scratching. Also the MC’ing was a little rawer too. But it was basically the same thing: Talking over funky ass beats on a sureshot sound system.

See the pic above for my personal opinion as to where hip-hop really comes from.

Here’s some clips from Founding fathers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GzRSvlF114 pt1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4LhmRBSvCM pt2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZtb25zbj3M pt3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5waJ7eZa6g pt4

Founding Fathers Part Two: My Disco Brother…

Because I want to be able to walk the streets of the Bronx in peace I better clarify my position on the last post.

Eh-hem.

Ok…the hip-hop of the Bronx was pioneered by Kool DJ Herc in 1973. Hands down no questions or arguments from me. What Kool Herc did back then inspired Afrika Bam, Flash, Theodore, AJ, Charlie Chase, Breakout and hundreds and hundreds of others.

Grandmaster Flowers (left)

However, in the other boroughs a similiar thing was going on. The differences weren’t major. Whereas, Kool Herc called his set the ‘merry go round’ (when he played break after break after break after break) cats in Brooklyn and Queens ie; Master D, the Smith Brothers, Grandmaster Flowers, King Charles, Disco Twins, Infinity Machine and many others were playing rhythm and blues and funk and soul records. They didn’t specialize in rare and obscure records with five second breaks like the Bronx cats did, but they did spin records like “Phenomenon Theme” and “Ashley’s Roachclip” and when the break came on they kept it going. Not by scratching or cuttin, but they extended the break.

At that time damn near everything in Black music was called disco as the producer (Ron Lawrence) of the documentary below asked me recently.

“Yo, what was Grandmaster Flash’s right hand mans name?” Disco Bee. He has a point there.

Lil Rodney Cee of the Funky Four used this line in one of his rhymes: “to be a dis-co sensation a rock rock yall.”

Or how bout this: (can’t remember the groups name but as the MC handed the mic off to the next MC he said) “My disco brother, get on the mic you undercover lover!”

There was an uptown group called the Disco Enforcers. There was another group (actually one of my favorite groups ) called the Disco Four.

All this to say, cats front on disco big time. But everything back then was called disco and there was no such thing or concept as hip-hop. Especially if we’re talking about 1975.

King Charles, Grandmaster Flowers and Pete DJ Jones had been doing their thing since the late 60’s! These guys mixed the hell out of records. What they did inspired cats in Brooklyn and Queens. At some point (don’t ask me when or where) the two different styles (the Bronx style and the BK/Queens style) started converging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7-8k6oiLO0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ869iY44Ds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6QcSajLWzc

written by Mark Skillz

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, 2014 Daily News Tagged With: Brooklyn Deejays, Disco Twins, Founding fathers, Grandmaster Flowers, Hip Hop History, Hip Hop Pioneers, Infinity Machine, mark Skillz, Pete DJ Jones

Is Hip Hop a Movement? In 2009 We Examined Our Political Relevance..

February 4, 2014 By mrDaveyd

Tonight the good folks from Hip Hop Ed will be hosting their weekly online twitter discussion with the topic being ‘Can Hip Hop Advance a Movement?’ We are reposting this article from 2009 along with some videos we did at the time addressing this issue. Obvious 4 years later we have a lot more things to look at in weighing this question, but its good to go back and see how folks were thinking at what was deemed a monumental moment in time..

President Obama

With President Barack Obama in the White House and more than 2/3 of the voters between the ages of 18-40 (the Hip Hop generation) voting for him, many are celebrating and talking about the political power and social movement potential of Hip Hop. Is Hip Hop a Movement?

That’s the question we been asking from coast to coast. If it is a movement how is that manifested? Is there a political agenda or does it even need one? Some say the movement is centered around the music and dance aspects and that Hip Hop has managed to bring people of all races and all creeds around one proverbial campfire.

The concept pushed forth by pioneer Afrika Bambaataa of Peace, Love and Having Fun as opposed to engaging in gang violence is a movement. The commitment to embrace Hip Hop’s 5th element-Knowledge is a movement for some. The fact that Hip Hop is practiced all over the world is proof of a movement.Many have argued that had it not been for Hip Hop President Obama would not have been elected because Hip Hop significantly lessened the type of apprehension and prejudices held by people in older generations who simply could not and would not vote for a Black candidate.
Others are saying that because Obama had Hip Hop super stars like Jay-Z and Will I am playing key roles in exciting voters and getting them to the poles, is proof that Hip Hop is a Movement.

Others say such activities is not a movement but a clever marketing strategy. In fact getting a president into office is not a movement-Having day to day political capital and people in office being accountable to you on local levels is what makes a movement. It’s been pointed out that if Hip Hop played such a crucial role in getting President Obama into the White House where is the payback? Has been addressing issues held dear by the Hip Hop generation? Does he have someone who understands the Hip Hop community in his cabinet? What sort of money is being directed to Hip Hop organizations in the latest stimulus packages?

We assembled a number of people ranging from Chuck D of Public Enemy to former Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Rosa Clemente to Professor Jared Ball to Hip Hop icons Paradise Gray of X-Clan and a host of others to tackle this question. Is Hip Hop a Movement? Take a look at the videos and weigh in.

We also show how Hip Hop folks are out and about making things happen. Some of what we depict are folks like Shamako Noble of Hip Hop Congress helping lead a Poor People’s march to Oakland rapper D’Labrie stirring up a crowd at a Get out to Vote rally to Baltimore rapper Labtekwon freestyling on a street about consciousness raising. The clips and corresponding links are shown below. Enjoy

Is Hip Hop a Movement? pt1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NYhPCuq_mc

We speak w/ former rapper Khari Mosley who is a member of One Hood out of Pittsburgh, Pa and an elected official who also heads up the League of Young Voters field operations & Dr Jared Ball who ran for Green Party Presidential nominee and does the FreeMix Mixtapes who offer up differing opinions on this topic on Hip Hop

Is Hip Hop a Movement? pt2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XzP_GCzEW8

Paradise the Arkitech

We continue our conversation about Hip Hop being a movement. Here we talk to two veterans of the Civil Rights Movements and the Black Power Movements. One is DJ Paradise of the legendary group X-Clan. Paradise was part of the Blackwatch Movement which fought for social justice. He was also a part of the Black Spades street gang at a time when Afrika Bambaataa was transforming it and moving it in a direction where members took on community responsibility.

We also talk with Fred Rush who is the deputy mayor of Erie, Pa. He is a civil rights vet who at age 15 went to the historic March on Washington where Dr Martin Luther King delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. He contrasts the Hip Hop Movement with the Civil Rights Movement and explains what is needed in order to have a successful movement

Is Hip Hop a Movement? pt3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jv-ZtAFrT8

Our discussion continues w/ TJ Crawford who put together the National Hip Hop Political Convention in Chicago 2006. We also talk with Rev Lennox Yearwood who heads up the Washington DC based Hip Hop Caucus. We also hear from rapper Haitian Fresh-who is defining the Hip Hop Movement for him and his fans. Where do u stand on this?

Is Hip Hop a Movement? pt4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlupyZYgCJc

We continue our discussion by breaking bread w/ Baltimore rapper Omar Akbar aka Labtekwon. We also talk w/ Shamako Noble & D’Labrie of Hip Hop Congress and see them in action fighting for social justice.

Chuck D

Is Hip Hop a Movement? We Interview Chuck D of Public Enemy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br6dC_4S8B4

We sat down w/ Public Enemy front man Chuck D and asked him to weigh in on the question of ‘Is Hip Hop a Movement? He tells us about the world wide impact of this culture and explains what we need to consider when answering this question.

Is Hip Hop a Movement? Hip Hop activist Rosa Clemente Speaks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjLMbgtYUfY

Long time Hip Hop activists and former VP Green Party candidate Rosa Clemente sat with us and gave us her take on Hip Hop and it’s political relevance. She offers us up a cold dose of reality and asks some very hard questions

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News Tagged With: Chuck D, Hip Hop, national hip hop political convention, Obama, Omar Akbar, Political Movement, Rev Yearwood, Rosa clemente, TJ Crawford

The Gentrification of Black Power-Making Sure History is Not Distorted & Erased

February 3, 2014 By mrDaveyd

A few weeks ago an online discussion about the concept of Black Power and whether or not it was being diluted and gentrified popped up on the facebook page of Jared Ball, long time radio host, journalist and professor at Morgan State and author of several books including I Mix What I Like and A Lie of Reivention Correcting Manning Marable’s Malcolm X . A lot of interesting points were raised about the systemic erasing and distorting of history in academic settings which was resulting in a younger generation of scholars building theory and ideas off of faulty information. This online conversation sparked off a round table that was recently hosted on the syndicated Hard Knock Radio.

A couple of other scholars Dr Quito Swan of Howard University (Black Power in Bermuda) and Professor Rickey Vincent of UC Berkeley and SF State (History of Funk, Party Music) were contacted for a robust round table discussion that covered a variety of topics ranging from the history and origins of the term and what inspired Kwame Toure then known as Stokely Carmichael along with Willie Ricks to kick things off during a rally in 1966 in Mississippi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpQ1woQ57j4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed3b7uS3fn8

We talked about the deeper meanings behind the term and how it jived with the political and social dynamics at that time. We also talked about the harsh reaction to the term from the US government and how almost immediately there were efforts to both eradicate and redefine it.

Dr Jared Ball

Initially Black Power was a call for folks to stand up against imperialism and over the years its been reduced to economic prowess and later Black people’s to get in position of power and mimic imperialistic actions long taken by the US. As Jared Ball noted Black Power has now become an ‘American story‘ of success where the status quo is maintained vs one that steadfastly opposed wrong headed policies put forth by this country.

Ricky Vincent built upon many of the points he put forth in his new book Party Music which chronicles the way music was influenced by the Black Power movements.. He noted that Carmichael tapped into an energy of resistence that was bubbling amongst Black folks all over the world. He just gave it a name. The state via the FBI recognized that energy and spent alot of time trying to dismantle and stifle that energy controlling and using culture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHnUFpCeGxQ

We also talked about how the concept of Black Power played out on the international stage. This is Quito Swan‘s area of expertise and he put forth a number of salient points and reminded us that one of the challenges we have today is that as some try to soften and redefine Black power, they leave out how the freedom struggles in the US linked up with freedom struggles elsewhere, from the Carribean , throughout Latin America and Africa. He focused in on the first Black Power Convention that took place in 1969 in Bermuda.

Below is our Hard Knock Radio show roundtable -Enjoy

http://www.audiomack.com/song/hard-knock-radio/the-gentrification-of-black-power

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News, Hard Knock Radio Intv Tagged With: Black Power, Gentrification, Jared ball, Kwame Toure, Quito Swan, Rickey Vincent, Stokley Carmichael

People Stay Alert as the Jordan Davis Trial Starts Today in Florida

February 3, 2014 By mrDaveyd

**Update*** The trial has already started with Michael Dunn pleading NOT GUILTY for the murder of Jordan Davis.. Guess he’s hoping it plays out the way it did for George Zimmerman..

Hope people stay alert and pay attention to the latest Stand Your Ground Trial in Florida which starts today.. This involves 17-year-old Jordan Davis who was shot and killed by a 46-year-old white man named Michael Dunn.. This killing took place 9 months after Trayvon Martin was killed..Jordan was unarmed and sitting in a car with several friends when Dunn who isn’t even from Jacksonville where the incident took place demanded the teens turn down their music..

According to Dunn, the teens complied but then turned the music up and an argument ensued.. Dunn claims one of the teens reached under his seat like he had a gun so he shot 8 times into the car where the 4 teens were at, killing Jordan Davis… According to Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law, the person who is shot does not have to have a weapon, he only has to look like he has one….

The mother of Jordan Davis notes that her son was like her shadow and was scared after Trayvon was killed. She had a number of talks with her son as to what he should do if confronted with someone determined to shoot him down… Sadly he was gunned down before he could even get out of harms way..

Meanwhile closer to home we had yet another teen gunned down over the weekend along with a 35-year-old man he was walking with as they left the Boys and Girls club here in Oakland..This was not a case of stand your ground, but sadly another case of unchecked nihilistic behavior, which gets highlighted on the nightly news and convinces all the stops must be pulled to contain, eradicate and suppress young Black males who are perceived as frequent perpetrators and the overwhelming majority of victims…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p02oLB3xi9E